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************************************ DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES... ..compouned by the fact that they occurred over a holiday weekend when all the tech gurus were off, Monday's & Tuesday's News & Views didn't make it out over the 'net. So here are all three days combined in a special Triple-Issue. Sorry for the inconvenience. ************************************ ____________________________________ CHUCK MUTH'S NEWS & VIEWS February 16, 2004 To view the HTML version of today's News & Views, just go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsandviews/nv.cfm To subscribe, just go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsletter/ _____________________________________ WE'RE ALL AT RISK "Hi, Chuck: You concluded (in "Mutiny On Bush's Bounty?"), President Bush pooh-poohs conservative unrest at his own peril.' If GWB is, indeed, pooh-poohing conservative unrest, I'd say it's at the Nation's peril." - Former NM GOP chief John Dendahl THE OL' DOUBLE STANDARD John Kerry was asked on Friday about that photograph of him and Jane Fonda at an anti-war rally in 1970. Kerry responded, "We're 30 years beyond that. And I think people are interested in the future." Interesting, huh? Kerry wants us to be "beyond" discussion of his relationship with Fonda from 30 years ago, but are supposed to support him because of his military service of...30 years ago. And, of course, we're NOT supposed to be beyond discussing President Bush's military service from "30 years ago." How do Democrats get away with this stuff? TRUE AMERICANS "I guess most of 'em just have a lot of common sense. I like to say we're true Americans. We don't fall for as much as those guys on the other side of the aisle." - NASCAR driver Terry Labonte on why he and his fellow drivers are Republican supporters FISH OUT OF WATER "Having Democrats trolling for votes among NASCAR dads is like Republicans trolling for votes at a NOW convention." - GOP pollster Whit Ayers ________________________________________ SURVEY SAYS! Who would be your leading candidate for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination? Florida Gov. Jeb Bush Colorado Gov. Bill Owens Former NY Mayor Rudy Giuliani Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour NY Gov. George Pataki Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist Somebody else Cast your ballot today by clicking on the "Survey Says!" button at www.citizenoutreach.com __________________________________________ THE TIMES, THEY ARE A'CHANGIN' "What do you call a born-again, pro-life, pro-gun Southern candidate who disparages lawyers and big government? Republican you say? What about Jimmy Carter? That's exactly how Carter campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1976. It gives you a sense of how far both major parties have moved since then." - Columnist Ron Faucheux, Campaigns & Elections, February 2004 BAD IMAGE "So, how does the NAACP choose to celebrate Black History Month? Among other things, they've nominated accused rapist, child pornographer and drug addict R. Kelly for their annual image award. . . . There is absolutely no valid reason R. Kelly deserves an Image Award. Not unless you want to try to argue that criminal charges and investigations into drug use present a model worthy of emulation and praise. . . . How disgusting. Who are they going to nominate next year, O.J. Simpson?" - Columnist Armstrong Williams __________________________________________ NEW! "HOW TO" REPORT FOR ACTIVISTS & PARTY LEADERS! Hot off the press! "Laying the Groundwork: 15 Things to Do Right NOW to Prepare for the Upcoming Election" was written more for independent grassroots activists, precinct captains and local party leaders than candidates. In it, you'll find 15 things YOU can do right now to prepare your cause, organization or even neighborhood for victory in November. Just $4.95. Order online with your major credit card. Just go to: http://chuckmuth.com/specialreports.htm __________________________________________ BAD DRUGS "A bipartisan coalition of senators is again trying to make it legal to reimport price-controlled drugs from Canada. To these legislators, providing seniors with a prescription-drug entitlement for the first time ever - which President Bush accomplished last year with the help of Republican congressional leaders - isn't enough. The costly new entitlement supposedly is inadequate because it leaves some medicine costs to the consumer. While cheap Canadian drugs might lower costs initially, the policy is dangerous to the consumer and unfair to pharmaceutical companies. It also takes a big step toward nationalized health care. Reimportation would be bad for America. "...The debate on this issue has been anything but straightforward. Many reimportation backers have misleadingly tried to sell the idea on a free-trade basis. But market principles have little or nothing to do with the health-care systems in Canada and the other nations from which drugs could be reimported. Aside from highly socialized health care, most of these nations force American pharmaceutical companies to sell cheap drugs at state-set prices by threatening to accept counterfeit medicines if businesses don't go along. The drug companies have decided that small profits are better than none at all. Reimportation rewards the shakedown and gives legitimacy to the foreign socialized systems. "Reimportation advocates constantly rail at the "unfair profits" made by drug producers. It is these profits that fund research and development of important new drugs, progress which is overwhelmingly made in America. Minimizing pharmaceutical profits by allowing reimportation dries up research and development funds. Such a trend does not improve American health." - Washington Times editorial, 2/15/04 LEGISLATIVE PUNT Many folks are rightfully upset with the Massachusetts supreme court imposing gay marriages on the state rather than letting the people decide. Here's the problem with that argument: The people, by way of their elected legislators, DID have a chance to resolve this issue way back in 2002. But rather than address this serious issue, the people's representatives resorted to an "underhanded maneuver" to kill a citizen-inspired ballot initiative which would have let the people decide the issue of gay marriage. The court was clearly out of line, but only after the people's representatives punted the ball on first down. Read all about the history of this legislative cowardice which has brought the nation to such social unrest in Jeff Jacoby's latest Boston Globe column, "A Hypocritical Marriage Debate." You can read it by clicking on the "In the News" button at www.lawfullywedded.com. ____________________________________ CHUCK MUTH'S NEWS & VIEWS February 17, 2004 ____________________________________ NASCAR KNOWS "I don't know of anyone who's a big fan of NASCAR who has ever voted for a Democrat - ever." - NASCAR fan Jim Whitley of Michigan, Washington Times, 2/16/04 CAN YOU TOP THIS? In the Democrat presidential debate on Sunday evening, John Kerry had something really cute to say. "The problem with the Patriot Act is two words," said Jane Fonda's former running buddy. "John Ashcroft." Heck, I can top that: Janet Reno. RUN HILLARY, RUN "(Former Clinton adviser Dick) Morris said this week that the VP slot is Hillary's if she wants it. Some pundits have dismissed the idea of having two Northeast liberals - Kerry and Hillary - on the same ticket. While the Kerry-Edwards ticket might give some geographic and ideological balance, Morris argues that a Kerry-Hillary ticket would bring more votes to the ticket. "He says Hillary would motivate the Democratic base - special interest groups such as feminists, unions, pro-choicers et al. - as no other candidate could. And that, Morris says, would be more important for the ticket. Other Washington pundits tell NewsMax they doubt Edwards could even rope in North Carolina for the Democrats with ultra-liberal Kerry leading the ticket. But Hillary's addition to the ticket may just make several key swing states - such as Florida, Iowa, Arkansas, New Mexico and Ohio - winnable for the Democrats. "The bottom line is Morris' advice to Hillary: Take the VP slot. Even if you lose, you win as the presumptive nominee for 2008. If Edwards is the VP candidate and loses, he will be a leading candidate for 2008." - NewsMax.com, 2/16/04 DUCK & SPIN "That's the longest answer I ever heard to a yes or no question." - Democrat presidential candidate John Edwards referring to front-runner John Kerry's long-winded non-answer to a debate question in Wisconsin asking if Kerry bore some responsibility for the war in Iraq since he voted for it POT CALLING KETTLE BLACK "I think that if he did know he was lying and was lying, that's even worse. Clearly, he lied. Now if he is an unconscious liar, and doesn't realize when he's lying, then we're really in trouble." - The liar behind the Tawana Brawley lie, Al Sharpton, calling president Bush a liar during the Democrat presidential debate in Wisconsin Sunday night __________________________________________ NEW SPECIAL REPORT "Vote Goals: How to Determine EXACTLY How Many Votes You Need to Win" tells you why "guessing" at your Vote Goal will cost you money in lost donations, how to use historical voting patterns to estimate voter turnout, how to make sure you're comparing apples to apples in your turnout estimations, the four key figures you'll need to get from your local election department or secretary of state, step-by-step formula for coming up with the EXACT number of votes you need to win, how to determine vote goals precinct-by-precinct, the smart way to use your Vote Goals to recruit more volunteers, how to use your Vote Goals to establish your electoral strategy, your voter ID program and your get-out-the-vote effort, and more. Just $4.95. Order online with your major credit card. Just go to: http://chuckmuth.com/specialreports.htm __________________________________________ KERRY-ING ON "The woman at the center of infidelity allegations involving presidential hopeful Sen. John Kerry reportedly has recorded a 'bombshell tell-all interview' with an unnamed American TV network. The London Sun reports Alex Polier, a former intern for Kerry and journalist who has written for the Associated Press, granted the interview near Christmas to discuss her alleged relationship with the Democratic senator from Massachusetts. The Sun says the network is holding onto the tape until it corroborates her story with more evidence. . . . 'This is not going to go away,' a friend of Polier told the London Telegraph. 'What actually happened is much nastier than is being reported.' " - WorldNetDaily.com, 2/16/04 FIGHTING THE LAST WARS "(W)hile I enjoy 'the politics of personal destruction' as much as the next chap, I've no desire to fight the 2004 (presidential) election on anything as quaintly anachronistic as an intern scandal. That's so last millennium. On the other hand, so is John Kerry droning on about Vietnam at every campaign stop and traveling the country with his own personal VFW detail." - Columnist Mark Steyn WHERE TO BEGIN? "For Bush operatives, the problem with Kerry is where to begin. National security? Gay marriage? Flip-flops? Special interests? Beginning with national security makes the most sense since it's Kerry's weakest issue. It's the one he least wants to discuss. All that bravado about 'bring it on' if Bush wants to raise national security actually means 'don't bring it on.' By talking tough, Kerry hopes to scare Bush off." - Columnist Fred Barnes in the Weekly Standard LET'S START WITH THESE Columnist George Will has inked a masterful column outlining 28 serious questions he'd like to see John Kerry answer. Read 'em at Town Hall: http://www.townhall.com/columnists/georgewill/gw20040215.shtml LIVING IN LIBERAL LA-LA-LAND "The Democrats, from day one of Terry McAuliffe's year-long nomination rondo, wanted a liberal who would be cast in their own likeness. They never wanted a moderate like Joe Lieberman, a Democrat trying to come to grips with the new political century - its security dangers, efficient global markets and a ragged domestic culture. Mr. Lieberman and those who share his views are secondary Democrats. They don't count. The Democrats who pick the winners in their party's primaries also choose its political course. They are the Primary Democrats. To oppose George W. Bush and his politics, the Primary Democrats want a candidate shaped as they were shaped in the late 1960s and the hard political battles they waged in the succeeding 30 years." - Wall Street Journal columnist Daniel Henninger KID CROCK'S BONEY BUTT "(A)s bad as (the Janet Jackson boob baring at the Super Bowl) was, the thing that yanked my chain the hardest was seeing this ignoramus with his pointed head stuck up through a hole he had cut in the flag of the United States of America, screaming about having 'a bottle of scotch and watching lots of crotch.' Think about that. This is the same flag to which we pledge allegiance. This is the same flag that is draped over coffins of dead young uniformed warriors, killed while protecting Kid Crock's [Kid Rock's] boney butt. He should be tarred and feathered and ridden out of this country on a rail. You talk about a good reality show? That would be one." - Sen. Zell Miller (D-Ga.) _____________________________________ NEW ON THE DISCUSSION BOARD Suppose, just suppose, Sen Joe Lieberman and Sen. Zell Miller decided to mount an independent campaign for the presidency this year. Do you think such a conservative Democrat ticket could win in 2004? Weigh in. Share your opinion. Comment. Inter-activate. Just go to: http://blog.chuckmuth.com/blog/ ________________________________________ MAJOR LEAGUE SPIN "While the president is committed to spending what is necessary to provide for our national security," writes White House Office of Management and Budget director Joshua Bolten in a Washington Times op/ed defending the administration's budget record on Monday, "he is also committed to restraining spending elsewhere." We're assuming Mr. Bolten wrote this with a straight face. It would be interesting to see him explain what "national security" interest the National Endowment for the Arts provides, for example, and how boosting its budget by some $18 million is considered "restraint." ________________________________________ MUTH'S TRUTHS Is there mutiny in the air on the SS Bush? Find out in this week's "Muth's Truths" column at CNS News: http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCommentary.asp?Page=%5CCommentary%5Carchive%5C200402%5CCOM20040217a.html __________________________________________ SAUCE FOR THE WHITE GOOSE "A student group at Roger Williams University is offering a scholarship for which only white students are eligible, a move they say is designed to protest affirmative action. The application for the $50 award requires an essay on 'why you are proud of your white heritage' and a recent picture to 'confirm whiteness.' Jason Mattera, 20, who is president of the College Republicans, said the group is parodying minority scholarships. The stunt has angered some at the university, but the administration is staying out of the fray. The school's provost said it is a student group's initiative and is not endorsed by Roger Williams. Mr. Mattera, who is of Puerto Rican descent, is a recipient of a $5,000 scholarship open only to a minority group." - "American Scene," Washington Times, 2/16/04 SEPARATION OF MARRIAGE & STATE "The Federal Marriage Amendment says, in part, 'Marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman.' Taken literally, the amendment forbids religious groups from sanctioning homosexual unions; a minister who officiated at such a ceremony would be violating the Constitution. The absurdity of that scenario suggests how confused our thinking about marriage has become." - Jacob Sullum, senior editor at Reason magazine ____________________________________ CHUCK MUTH'S NEWS & VIEWS February 18, 2004 To view the HTML version of today's News & Views, just go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsandviews/nv.cfm To subscribe, just go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsletter/ _____________________________________ SPICOLI'S GHOST "Try as he might, Sean Penn just can't seem to break free from Spicoli. The actor recently took a jaunt to South America to promote his Oscar-nominated performance in 'Mystic River.' But somehow the politics of dude took center stage. According to MSNBC's Web site, when Penn was asked whether he thought of himself as a patriot, he replied, 'I am more patriotic than this president we have, who I consider a traitor of human and American principles.' " - Left Coast Report, 2/17/04 GUNNING FOR THE TSA "The time has come for Congress to start 'slicing up' the Transportation Security Administration for the sake of national security -- and for the safety of pilots, crews, and passengers, said a pro-Second Amendment group. 'The TSA has been dragging its feet...in implementing a national mandate for the arming of airline pilots,' said John Michael Snyder of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. It's gotten to the point, Snyder said, 'that one cannot help thinking that the interests of the nation would be better served if this responsibility is taken out of the hands of the agency.' " - CNS News, 2/17/04 PUSHING THE ENVELOPE While the USPS and the postal unions do everything in their power to maintain their government monopoly over mail delivery, folks over in Japan are actively working to privatize the service. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has outlined a plan to take private the state-run Japan Post by 2007. The nation's legislature is doing what legislatures generally do in such matters - drag their feet - in order to maintain government control, but the proposal IS inching forward. Something for the President and U.S. Congress to keep an eye on. UP IN SMOKE In case you missed it, four former surgeons general uncorked yet another attack on cigarettes...and your wallet...earlier this month. Their plan to reduce smoking is to bump the current 39-cents-per-pack federal tax on cigarettes to a whopping $2.39 per pack. And that's BEFORE the states get their grubby little hands on 'em. In addition, according to the Associated Press, the four former SG's proposed the establishment of a national "counseling and support line for smokers trying to quit." Staying consistent with the president's big-government compassionate conservatism, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson immediately embraced the idea and coughed up $25 million of your tax dollars to set up a national, toll-free "quitline." He also announced that states would be getting some additional dough-re-mi to set up their own quitline services...although it's not quite clear to me why the states need to set up a separate quitline if the feds are already setting up a free national one. Oh, well. It's only tax dollars, right? Interestingly, Thompson's 10-point plan to reduce the number of premature deaths due to smoking includes counseling, treatment and drugs, but does NOT include the option of switching to far-less-dangerous smokeless tobacco products. Hmm. Wonder why? BUBBA'S BOY BOMBS BIG-TIME "Former President Bill Clinton, stung by how poor a presidential contender Wesley Clark turned out to be, worked aggressively behind the scenes late last week to pressure John Kerry to pick the retired general as his running mate. 'The former president has been calling people, including elected officials in New York, saying that Clark would make a great vice presidential candidate,' a well-known Democratic activist told the Post. 'He's pushing hard because this is a credibility issue for Clinton, since everybody knows Clark was the guy he created, but yet Clark did so poorly when he ran.' " - Frederic U. Dicker, New York Post INDUSTRIAL-STRENGTH HYPOCRITES "Sens. John Kerry and John Edwards have been engaged in an intense competition in recent months to become the Democratic Party's most aggressive "anti-special interest" candidate. . . . To borrow a phrase from George Wallace, there's 'not a dime's worth of difference' between the two presidential candidates in terms of their extraordinary financial dependence on the special interests they purport to despise. . . . Hypocrisy is common in politics, but Messrs. Kerry and Edwards produce it at an industrial strength." - Washington Times editorial, 2/17/04 SCARY KERRY-VISION "This election year it's clear where John Kerry, for one, stands. He promises to take his hat in hand and walk back to the United Nations. Under his leadership, national security will again be treated as a law enforcement matter and schools will likely be left to be run by the teacher unions. The question remains, will America choose his complacency over Mr. Bush's vision?" - Wall Street Journal columnist Brendan Miniter FROM HANOI JOHN TO SEN. FLIP-FLOP "In the period when Bush was in the National Guard, Kerry was an angry Vietnam veteran protesting with Jane Fonda and accusing his comrades of being drug-addled rapists, torturers, mutilators and murderers committing war crimes on a scale surpassing the Japanese and the Nazis. But that's a mere detail. To the media, the contrast is simple: Kerry = war hero; Bush = something smaller, shiftier. Bill Clinton, of course, is smallest and shiftiest of the lot, but, back in '92, John Kerry stood shoulder to shoulder with his fellow Democrat and said, 'We do not need to divide America over who served and how.' Now, apparently, we do. "So Kerry has his supporter Max Cleland, former Senator, fellow veteran and triple amputee, all over the talk-shows, explaining that the difference between giving Clinton a pass on draft-dodging and hammering relentlessly on Bush's National Guard record is that in 2004 'it's the national security, stupid. We want a President who can really be Commander-in-Chief'. And the fact that Bush, as Commander-in-Chief, has liberated two countries, overthrown the Taliban and slung Saddam in jail counts for less than whether he bunked off for the weekend in 1972. "...If Vietnam bitterly divided a nation, split communities, tore apart families, etc, etc, Sen Kerry somehow managed to wind up on both sides of the fence: in the 1960s, he was John Wayne taking out the gooks in 'Nam; in the 1970s, he was Hanoi Jane Fonda, leading the protest movement; now, after two decades in Congress opposing every new weapons system for America's military, he's campaigning like Bob Hope on a USO tour flanked by wall-to-wall veterans. What story accounts for Senator Flip-Flop these past 40 years? If character is the issue, Bush can relax. And, if doing your bit for national security is the issue, then John Kerry's been AWOL for two decades." - Columnist Mark Steyn _________________________________________ Chuck Muth's News & Views is published by Citizen Outreach, a non-partisan, 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. The opinions and views expressed in Chuck Muth's News & Views reflect those of the writers, editors and columnists therein and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Citizen Outreach, its officers, directors or employees. Published by: Citizen Outreach Chuck Muth Editor/Publisher 611 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, #439 Washington, DC 20003-4303 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To be REMOVED, go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/remove/default.cfm Or send your request to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To make a secure PayPal contribution to Citizen Outreach, click HERE: http://www.campaignsitebuilder.com/sitebuilder/templates/displayfiles/tmpl26.asp?SiteID=114&PageID=1737&Trial=false