• Happy birthday, Thom!
• Did Rush win Indiana for Hillary?
• Is Obama sure to be the nominee?
• What is the working class?
• Guest: CNS Editor-in-Chief Terence Jeffrey.
• Everything You Know Is Wrong: Guest: Barry Reid, Eden Press. "How to Disappear in America".
• Guest: Congressman Peter DeFazio. Economy, gas tax.

Topics, guests, upcoming events, quotes, links to articles, audio clips, books & bumper music.

Wednesday 07 May '08 show

• Today is Thom's birthday.
• Many headlines, for example on Drudge, are calling Obama the nominee.
• 27% of Republican voters voted against McCain in North Carolina, 23% in Indiana.
• Bumper Music: Ghost Chickens in the Sky, Sean Morey.
• Article: Seattle Pigeons Attacked With Darts.
• Article: Exit polls show signs that Limbaugh's minions turned out for Clinton.
  "Indiana exit polls showed that four in ten Democrats who said they would vote for McCain over Clinton in a general election nonetheless voted for Clinton on Tuesday; however, just twelve percent who would vote for McCain over Obama voted for the Illinois senator.

  Citing this figure, the Obama campaign sent an e-mail to reporters Tuesday night arguing that 7 percent of the Indiana electorate could be attributed to the "Limbaugh effect" -- 41 percent of the 17 percent who said they'd vote for McCain over Clinton but still supported Clinton.

  "
• Oregon is likely to go for Obama. Thom thinks Hillary will not stop until after May 20, to go out on high note.
• Clip: Obama inching closer to Democratic presidential nomination.
  "You know, there are those who were saying that North Carolina would be a game-changer in this election, but today what North Carolina decided is that the only game that needs changing is the one in Washington, D.C."
• Clip:
  "Not too long ago, my opponent made a prediction. He said I would probably win Pennsylvania, he would win North Carolina, and Indiana would be the tiebreaker. Well, tonight we've come from behind, we've broken the tie, and, thanks to you, it's full speed onto the White House. This has been an extraordinary experience, traveling across Indiana, having an opportunity to meet so many of you.

  And for everyone who holds your breath at the gas pump, afraid to see how much it cost today, and for everyone working day and night because you want the world for your kids, for every young person with big dreams, who deserves a world of opportunity, and for all those who aren't in the headlines, but have always written America's story, tonight is your victory right here in Indiana.

  I want to commend -- I want to commend Senator Obama and his supporters on their win in North Carolina.

  You know, we are, in many ways, on the same journey. It's a journey begun long before we were born. It is a journey by men and women who have been on a mission to perfect our union, who marched and protested, who risked everything they had to build an America that embraces us all.

  And tonight, once again, I need your help to continue our journey.

  "
  Excerpts of Clinton's speech Tuesday.
• More people voted than for Kerry in the general election.
• Bumper Music: Happy Birthday Mr. President, Marilyn Monroe.
• Bumper Music: Crazy, Gnarls Barkley.
• Clip:
  [Brit Hume]: "We're fascinated here when we hear these designations we've come to give certain groups. We've got people who are designated as working class. Mort and Megan described those as those without a college degree. Well, everybody at this desk has got a college degree, I think. We all work, why are we not working class? What class do you belong to?"

  [Mort Kondracke]: "It's got something to do with income as well. And it distinguishes between people who do have a college education who are not, you know, generally regarded as working class."

  [Brit Hume]: "I think that the better question is what about the so called downscale voters that we were talking about earlier with Fred? Fred Barnes has a view that all those that support Hillary Clinton are ‘downscale’, and so I think we ought to get Fred to further elaborate on his view that they're all downscale."

  [Fred Barnes]: "When I stop chuckling. Mort couldn't explain it but I can explain to you why the phrase, we use the phrase ‘working class’. It is a euphemism because it’s kind of mean to say, ‘lower class.’ It's as simple as that. That's why we call it working class. Everybody knows who we're talking about. We're talking about, Mort, forget it, we're talking about lower class, lower income, less education…"

  Brit Hume: You’re not talking about lower social class are you?"

  [Fred Barnes]: "Working people, in the United States of America, working people - union members - are regarded as middle class. Maybe lower middle class, but middle class. Lower class people, are almost by definition, poverty stricken, and these, the working class Democrats, and working class whites, and the rest of them are not... [Brit Hume]: "Lower class, they're middle class."

  [Fred Barnes]: "They are middle class. Quit dissing them all the time!"

  [Mort Kondracke]: "I rest my case."

  [Brit Hume]: "Well, OK. We're going to leave you out there with the downscale people calling them lower class, and we just want you know that we here on this panel do not unanimously endorse that sentiment, that we're all for working families, particularly, and those of you who are working families out there we appeal to you to bear with us, thank you very much. "
  FOX News Struggles Feebly to Understand Class in America. Three millionaires.

• Article: Limbaugh on Hispanic mayor of LA: I thought he was either a ’shoe shine guy or a Secret Service agent.’.
  "I understand now why Bill Clinton hit on my date about a year ago at the Kobe Club in New York. I was minding my own business and Clinton came in. And the short version is he used the mayor of Los Angeles to distract me, while hitting on my date. […]

He came over three or four times, had Ron Burkle with him and the mayor of Los Angeles, who I thought was either the shoe shine guy or a Secret Service agent."

• They only have fear of the other, divide and conquer, anti-American strategies.
• Clip:
  "The people that I've met in small towns and big cities across this country understand that government can't solve all our problems, and we don't expect it to. We believe in hard work; we believe in personal responsibility and self-reliance.

  But we also believe that we have a larger responsibility to one another as Americans, that America is a place, that America is the place where you can make it if you try, that no matter how much money you start with or where you come from or who your parents are, opportunity is yours if you're willing to reach for it and work for it.

  It's the idea that, while there are few guarantees in life, you should be able to count on a job that pays the bills, health care for when you need it, a pension when you retire, an education for your children that will allow them to fulfill their God-given potential, that's the America we believe in. That's the America that we know...

  The man I met in Pennsylvania who lost his job but can't even afford the gas to drive around and look for a new one, he can't afford four more years of an energy policy written by the oil companies and for the oil companies, a policy that's not only keeping gas at record prices, but funding both sides of the war on terror and destroying our planet.

  He doesn't need four more years of Washington policies that sound good, but don't solve the problem. He needs us to take a permanent holiday from our addiction from oil by making the automakers raise their fuel standards, corporations pay for their pollution, and oil companies invest their record profits in a clean energy future.

  That's the change we need. That's why I'm running for president of the United States of America.

  "
  Senator Obama’s Remarks in N.C..
• Bumper Music: Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd.
• One third of those on social security are not retired. Socialism. "Big government". If you are opposed to them, what are you going to campaign on, that big corporations should get bigger and more powerful?
  
• Clip:
  Glenn Beck Brings On Caller ‘Honky Whitesville’ For Attack On Michelle Obama.
• History of tax rises and cuts.
• "Corporate income taxes in fiscal 2003 accounted for 7.4% of all federal tax receipts, down from a post-war peak of 32% in 1952. With one exception (1983), last year’s percentage is the lowest recorded since data was first published in 1934."
  Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 2003 Annual Report.
• Arnold used the church bus to give people rides to polls. Some white guys were trying to put people off Obama using his former pastor. Someone replied - what about the Bush family links with the Osama bin Laden family?
• Bush changed tax tables so that people would have a little less deducted over year, but get hit with more at the end of year and get angrier.
• Upcoming Event: May 16, Darien, Chicago, Il. 7pm. Talk and booksigning at Frugal Muse bookstore.
• Upcoming Event: May 17, Chicago, Il. Chicago Green Festival. He'll be at the WCPT Booth from 11am - 1pm and speaks to the crowd at 1pm. He'll sign his new book directly after.
• Article: My Plea to Republicans: It's Time for Real Change to Avoid Real Disaster, Newt Gingrich.
• Guest: CNS Editor-in-Chief Terence Jeffrey. McCain had a tough night, 26%/22% against. Newt Gingrich "real disaster" article. Bush said approach is wrong, he wants an extension of wiretaps and tax cuts. He'd go for tariffs. Condemn Glen Beck for Honkey? No idea. Fox last night about the working class. He says people who are willing to work are better off in the USA. Thom said Europe was better, he disagreed.
• Bumper Music: Somebody, Eagles.
• Article: Washington Post Identifies Rove As ‘Informal McCain Adviser’ — Why Won’t Fox News?.
• Article: Zirkle ’soundly defeated’ in Indiana GOP primary..
• Article: Joint Chiefs Chairman Mullen: Military Ready To Accept Repeal Of ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’.
• Clip: "Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires -- a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it comes to doing what is necessary to protect our homeland, because we value the Constitution."
  President Bush: Information Sharing, Patriot Act Vital to Homeland Security, April 20, 2004.
• Quote, on the the disclosure of the NSA surveillance program:
  "There is a process that goes on inside the Justice Department about leaks, and I presume that process is moving forward. My personal opinion is it was a shameful act for someone to disclose this very important program in a time of war. The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy.

  You've got to understand -- and I hope the American people understand -- there is still an enemy that would like to strike the United States of America, and they're very dangerous...

  But it is a shameful act by somebody who has got secrets of the United States government and feels like they need to disclose them publicly....

  We've got to be fast on our feet, quick to detect and prevent.

  We use FISA still -- you're referring to the FISA court in your question -- of course, we use FISAs. But FISA is for long-term monitoring. What is needed in order to protect the American people is the ability to move quickly to detect.

  Now, having suggested this idea, I then, obviously, went to the question, is it legal to do so? I am -- I swore to uphold the laws. Do I have the legal authority to do this? And the answer is, absolutely. As I mentioned in my remarks, the legal authority is derived from the Constitution, as well as the authorization of force by the United States Congress.

  "
  "Press Conference of the President", December 19, 2005.
• Clip: Montage of Bush's "Be afraid" phrases in an RNC speech.
• Quote: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized." 4th Amendment.
• Clip:
  "Soon afterward, Washington lead his soldiers across the Delaware River and onto victory in the Battle of Trenton. There he captured nearly 1000 foreign mercenaries and he faced a crucial choice.

  How would General Washington treat these prisoners? The British had already committed atrocities against Americans, including torture. As David Hackett Fischer describes in his Pulitzer Prize winning book, Washington's Crossing, thousands of American prisoners of war were “treated with extreme cruelty by British captors.” There are accounts of injured soldiers who surrendered being murdered instead of quartered, countless Americans dying in prison hulks in New York harbor, starvation and other acts of inhumanity perpetrated against Americans confined to churches in New York City.

  You can imagine, the light of our ideals shone dimly in those early dark days, years from an end to the conflict, years before our improbable triumph and the birth of our democracy. General Washington was not that far from where the Continental Congress had met and signed the Declaration of Independence. But it is easy to imagine how far that must have seemed. General Washington announced a decision unique in human history, sending the following order for handling prisoners:

  "
  

  Treat them with humanity, and Let them have no reason to Complain of our Copying the brutal example of the British army in their Treatment of our unfortunate brethren.

Senator Hillary Clinton, September 28, 2006.

• Clip:
  "Ultimately the guarantor of our freedoms are the people. And these kinds of outrages, a president saying that he has the right turn George Washington’s 200-plus year prohibition against torture and torture anyone he wants with his assistants gathering in the basement of the White House — according to recent revelations — personally reviewing the kinds of torture techniques being used prisoner by prisoner, its obscene"
  Gore: It Is ‘Obscene’ That Bush Has Dismissed ‘George Washington’s 200-Plus Year Prohibition On Torture’.
• Article: Fed Chief Sets Monetary Policy By Seat-of-the-Pants Approach, January 27, 1997.
  "Workers’ fear of losing their jobs restrains them from seeking the pay raises that usually crop up when employers have trouble finding people to hire.

  Even if the economy didn’t slow down as he expected, he [Alan Greenspan] told Fed colleagues last summer, he saw little danger of a sudden upturn in wages and prices.

  “Because workers are more worried about their own job security and their marketability if forced to change jobs, they are apparently accepting smaller increases in their compensation at any given level of labor-market tightness,” Mr. Greenspan told Congress at the time.

  "
• Clip: "As a matter of fact, in interviews in 1999 with respected journalist, and long time Bush family friend, Micky [David] Herskowitz, then Governor George Bush stated: ‘One of the keys to being seen as a great leader is to be seen as a commander-in-chief. My father had all this political capital built up when he drove the Iraqis out of Kuwait and he wasted it. If I have a chance to invade, if I had that much capital, I’m not going to waste it. I’m going to get everything passed that I want to get passed and I’m going to have a successful presidency'." Cindy Sheehan, My Testimony for the Downing Street Memo Hearings, June 16 2005.
• Bumper Music: Time Has Come, David James.
• Article: Bolton: Striking Iran ‘Is Really The Most Prudent Thing To Do’.
• Ellen Ratner of Talk Radio News. Bolton on Fox about bombing Iran. Michael Ledeen said Syria too. The word on the street in Dubai. Sources say there are more than 2 big ships in the area. Microsoft moved from UAE to Bahrain because it's stable. In DC there were 2 conference calls, one each from Obama and Hillary. Hillary has loaned herself a total of around $11m, said she would be strong in West Virginia, not going away. Obama's was with Senators John Kerry and Amy Klobuchar and Governors Janet Napolitano and Deval Patrick. John Kerry said, "In my judgment, last night, Barack Obama took a giant and decisive step towards the nomination." It's time for superdelegates to announce and bring the process to a close. McGovern changed to Obama today. Will Hillary get more money or spend more as she carries on? Tomorrow Senators Lieberman and Susan Collins will release "Violent Islamist Extremism, The Internet, and the Homegrown Terrorist Threat" report - be afraid. The Secretary General at the UN is concerned about bombing in Darfur, trying to get the UN in, convoys attacked. Myanmar. Dana Perino said they have not let any people in, only aid.
• Everything You Know Is Wrong: Guest: Barry Reid, Eden Press. "How to Disappear in America". Some examples of people who disappeared. You have to think about what you want to accomplish. If long term, get a new social security number. A law said that the social security number was not to be used for filing.
• Should Hillary continue? Attack Obama or reconcile? Going for vice president or president? Going to wait for Obama to stumble? Previous front runners who lost or were assassinated. He thinks she does not want to be vice president but leader of the senate - the role needs a fighter.
• Reframe Obama as half white? Wright was to make him blacker. He has no slavery in his genes, Michelle does. He has worked in the black community.
• Bumper Music: Back To Life (however Do You Want Me), Soul II Soul (video).
• An "operation chaos commando" called, will vote for Hillary. Isn't it unamerican? Why? Thom said only Ron Paul got enthusiasm; Romney helpers were paid. He said there was no true conservative candidate, else they would win. McCain flipflopping. He said Obama won't get the white vote, but a lot did vote for him. Capital gains tax.
• Bumper Music: Lives in the Balance, Jackson Browne (video).
• Guest: Congressman Peter DeFazio. He's a member of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure. Economy, gas tax. 1993 18.4c gallon when gas was $1, now it's over $3. 30-50c is speculation. Similar with food. Yesterday hearings, and at same time Goldman Sachs announced predicting $200 barrel oil which pushed the price up. OPEC. Since Bill Clinton. He's against free trade, several are violating article 11 of OPEC.