Neal Boortz
Monday, Feb. 11, 2002

Every night we hear everything we could possibly want to know about all of the investigations going on in Washington about Enron. Do any of you wonder why we don't hear about similar investigations about the Global Crossing and the Kmart bankruptcies?

The answer is simple. While people lost their jobs and their life savings in both the Global Crossing and Kmart bankruptcies, Democrats and the media know that there is no way they can make a case that the Bush administration played a role.

If there is no opportunity to hang the problems on Bush … there's no sense in having an investigation.

Just a Reminder as to Why There Is No Stimulus Package ...

… not that we really needed one.

Hopefully, the economy is recovering on its own. Economies have a way of doing that, you know.

Just a reminder today that the ONE PERSON who killed the economic stimulus bill in Washington was Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. He killed it primarily because there were provisions in the bill that had passed the House, and the bill that had a majority of votes in the Senate, that would have promoted the concept of individual responsibility over the concept of a government welfare state.

Just remember this. When the Social Democratic Party is given a choice over strengthening the power of government on the one hand and promoting individual responsibility on the other, Democrats will ALWAYS choose stronger government. That is why we have no stimulus bill right now.

The Atlanta Journal Constitution Editorial Pages ... Lessons in Irrational Thinking

Now, you're going to have to do a little reading. First we have an editorial from last Thursday's Atlanta Constitution entitled "OUR OPINIONS: Extremist judge is unfit to sit on appeals court." Here's your link: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/epaper/editions/
thursday/opinion_c326f289756f80c30054.html

Your next stop is a Wall Street Journal opinion piece written by James Charles Evers, the brother of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers: http://www.opinionjournal.com/extra/?id=95001845

Then we go to a column in today's Washington Times by Mona Charen entitled "The New McCarthyism." Again, here's your link: http://www.washtimes.com/commentary/20020211-84681542.htm

Now – If you can't or won't read the articles, here's a brief synopsis:

The leftist editorial writers at The Atlanta Journal Constitution – and that would be Cynthia Tucker – warn against Senate approval of Charles Pickering to the federal bench in New Orleans. The Constitution says that Pickering

• is a "right-wing extremist."

• has a "shameful record on civil rights."

• has "powerful GOP ties" (Note: The AJC has never in its history opposed the nomination of a Democrat to the bench citing, as a reason, "powerful Democratic ties." )

• Shouldn't be confirmed, because Trent Lott is "one of his strong supporters."

But what about his "shameful record on civil rights?" That takes us to the other two articles.

First, in the Wall Street Journal piece written by James Charles Evers we find that

• In 1967 Pickering, a locally elected prosecutor in Mississippi, "took the stand that year and testified in a criminal trial against the imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, who was accused of firebombing a civil rights activist."

• This resulted in Pickering losing his bid for re-election. He dared to defy the Klan.

• When Pickering was the chairman of the Mississippi state Republican Party he hired the party's first black political staffer. What a racist!

• In the 1980s, Pickering represented and defended a young black man accused of robbing a 16-year-old white girl at knifepoint. Not a popular representation for a white Mississippi lawyer.

• Pickering was the prime moving force behind establishing the Institute of Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi. The goal of the Institute was to promote racial good will and understanding. Another racist act!

• The false accusations against Pickering come mostly from leftist groups like People for the American Way. Funny the AJC didn't mention its reliance on that information.

• As a federal judge, Pickering overturned a damage award in a civil case because he thought that the jury might have been prejudiced against the plaintiffs. You see, the plaintiffs were an interracial couple. Pickering ordered that the damages issue be retried. The reward to the couple was increased.

The AJC doesn't tell us, but Mona Charen does, that the single phone call concerned a labor dispute in a Mississippi county. Pickering had heard that the KKK might be involved, and he wanted the folks to know that he was watching the situation.

Character assassination? You bet. Par for the course for The Atlanta Constitution and People for The American Way? Again ... you bet.

Careful – Aviation Reporting

You're going to hear some more stories from the Olympics about small "private airplanes" being forced down "for flying over Olympic sites."

OK – first of all, these pilots should be aware of the temporary flight restrictions in effect at the Olympics and they should be punished if they violate those restrictions.

But you folks at home need to know that these planes that are "forced to land" are not necessarily "flying over" Olympic sites. The flight restrictions go out as far as 45 miles from these Olympic sites. This means an aircraft that is completely out of sight of all spectators – and whose pilot couldn't see an Olympic site if he had a telescope – could still be forced down.

When and if that does happen, you can be sure that the cute little anchor babes will tell you that the airplane was "over an Olympic site."

To Those of You Who Respond to E-mail Solicitations ... Thanks a Pantload

I have a private e-mail address that is supposed to be used only by some close friends and family. This morning, after being gone for three days, there were an even 100 messages in this mailbox.

Only four of them were from friends, associates and family members. The other 96 were just plain junk. I had offers to refinance my home, grow hair, get rid of credit card debt, obtain various sex toys, and the inevitable offers to see great new pictures of "hot, horny, slutty teens."

Obviously, my e-mail address has made it to some list and now I am faced with the possibility of having to kill one address and move to another.

So – why so much e-mail spam? Because YOU respond to it, that's why! A study last week showed that responses to spam outstripped responses to regular junk mail! Several companies are junking their junk mail campaigns in favor of blanketing the Internet with tens of millions of unsolicited e-mail advertisements.

So – to those of you who are keeping this practice alive by responding … thanks a pantload.

Oh Yeah??? Well, You're the ... uh ... the ... uh ... the Empire of the Devil!

Oh, did George W. Bush ever step on some international toes with his "axis of evil" phrase in the State of the Union Address! Saddam has had his boxers in a bunch ever since, Iran has been pouting, and now North Korea has called the U.S. "the empire of the devil." Now THAT hurts! Ow!

Even France got in some harsh words about Bush's possible "unilateral" war on terror ... and then, of course, they surrendered to the nearest al-Qaeda representative.

Look for China next week to call us "stupid" or something worse. China, though, may not be paying attention. They're too busy getting worked up over some couple in Salt Lake City flying a Taiwanese flag from their balcony.

Meanwhile, our U.N. ambassador is said to be preparing a statement ... somthing about "sticks and stones." Stay tuned for further details.

Let's Hope They Don't Check Barney Fife's Shirt Pocket

Dane Allen Yirkovsky of Lisbon, Iowa, is what some would call a career criminal. He is a convicted felon. He has served time for several burglaries, and police suspect that he was probably involved in some crimes he got away with.

Even with all that, you have to wonder about his most recent sentencing. The offense? He had a single.22 caliber bullet in a shoe box in his closet. He says he found it while helping a friend pull up carpet and without thinking, just threw it in the box.

Police found no weapon in his possession. They found no other bullets. None of his crimes involved firearms. Nevertheless, he was a "felon in possession of ammunition" and the federal statutes leave no wiggle room. He was sentenced to 15 years. There is no early parole in the federal system, so he must serve at least 13 years.

Only in America.

Move Over, G.I. Joe – Here Comes 'Tora Bora Ted'

Nope, that's not a joke. At the U.S. Toy Fair exhibition in New York over the weekend, military action figures were the big talk. Besides the iconic G.I. Joe, there were police and firefighter action figures.

But perhaps the most interesting was from a Japanese company, Dragon Models Ltd. They offered a series of figures based on the "Black Hawk Down" incident. They also had a group called "American Freedom Fighters: Live from Afghanistan frontline."

That line includes several individually named figures, including "Tora Bora Ted," whose job it is to search for bad guys in the caves of his namesake.

"The little soldier figures come replete with life-like weapons, uniform and blocks of terrain that resembles the real battle front."

Lifelike weapons, huh? I'm sure that's like fingernails across a blackboard for the anti-gun crowd ... especially considering that the sale of action figures is up

Did You Know the 'USA PATRIOT Act' Passed Last November Is an Acronym?

USA PATRIOT: "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism." I wonder how much someone got paid to come up with that one.

Anyway, many civil liberties groups have been complaining ever since that it was passed by Congress in a period of anti-terrorism hysteria. And while I admit that some of the new powers instigated by the bill certainly toe the line of eroding the rights of average citizens, thankfully some of the scarier parts of it never saw the light of day. http://reason.com/0202/ci.bd.patriot.shtml

(Also, check this one on the anti-gun crowd's "anti-terror" campaign:) http://reason.com/0203/co.sm.gun.shtml

Worth Noting

I ran across this great quote by the Godfather from a few weeks back about Tom Daschle's comment that "I don't want to ‘Enron' the people of the United States" and "I think that we are slowly 'Enronizing' the economy, 'Enronizing' the budget."

Quoth the Earl of Limbaugh:

"Daschle said he doesn't want 'to Enron' the American people, but he sure as hell is happy to 'O.J.' the stimulus package and economy while giving a 'Lewinsky' to liberals and people who don't pay income taxes."

Might I respectfully add that, in fairness to Daschle, he has stated on the record that he intends to spend his time finding the "real" killer of the economic stimulus package?

Which Brings to Mind Another Great Quote That Bears Repeating

From Jay Leno back on Dec. 6:

"The president's economic stimulus package is in the news. Isn't it refreshing to have a president in the news because of his stimulus package, as opposed to his package in the news because it's being stimulated?"

Neal Boortz is the hugely popular nationally syndicated radio host.