“On that note: the esteemed M. O’Brien has never been done justice by ANY of her photographs. Nephew to me ‘She’s HOT!” And I could not but agree. If I were not already married to a woman far better than myself I would SO be stalking this woman. Well, that and if she wasn’t such an excellent shot. Hell, I’d hate to just have her point that brain at me for a half hour. Scary bright, and takes no s**t from nobody.”

Thanks so much, Neanderpundit, and to all of you, like Neanderpundit and his nephew, who came out to see our WLS 890 AM live broadcast last Sunday at the 98th annual Chicago Auto Show. I had a terrific time, and as much as I love broadcasting PERIOD, it’s even more fun in front of a live audience.

And fear not, I, Teri O’Brien, America’s Conservative Warrior Princess, use my brain only for good, not for evil.

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“One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Nobel Prize-winning author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s compelling story of a labor camp inmate’s 24-hour struggle to maintain his dignity amid the indignity of Josef Stalin’s gulag, will be the featured book in Round 10 of the One Book, One Chicago program.”

So writes Fran Spielman in her report about the latest selection for a city-wide celebration of reading (“One Book choice shows darker side of life: Daley,” Chicago Sun-Times, 2/16/06).

On second thought, if the mayor sends this book to Dick Durbin, who’s going to read it to him?

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This just in: “Democrats plan bill to block Dubai-U.S. port deal.”
The two democrats are Bob Menendez of New Jersey, who took Jon Corzine’s seat when he became governor and—here’s the best part—Hillary Clinton! Yes, the same Hillary Clinton who supported, and then opposed clemency for 16 FALN terrorists who were responsible for more than 100 bombings. Also the same Hillary Clinton who was co-president during the 8 years when Osama bin Laden was offered up on silver platter to U.S. 3 times. The Sudan’s proposal was rejected because Bill Clinton couldn’t think of anything to charge Osama with. There’s that September 10 party theory of fighting terrorism as law enforcement in action.
Oh yeah, she’s running.

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We’ve speculated frequently on the show about the mainstream media (MSM) and their motives for the ridiculously biased, inaccurate information they try to convince us is “news.” Are they stupid, lazy or politically motivated? Usually, I think we’ve concluded it’s all three. I couldn’t help but think about that today when I watched today’s White House press briefing. The antique media were apoplectic over the fact that some thing happened and no one called them. How dare people think they are entitled to live their lives without notifying the most significant people on the face of the earth, the press, of every detail?

I refer, of course, to the biggest story since the Kennedy assassination, or at least that’s what anyone who tuned in to the Screamer’s show tonight, the “Cheney Shooting.” Chris Matthews spent virtually his entire show on this non-story. He even trotted out—of all people—Ron Reagan. Ron Reagan? Weren’t any of the American Idol rejects available? Any one of them couldn’t have known any less about this subject than the former ballet dancer.

A few things to note about this media circus.

THE MSM’S DISCONNECT FROM THE VALUES AND ATTITUDES OF MOST AMERICANS, ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO THE 2ND AMENDMENT
A few weeks ago we shared some soundbites from Todd Vandemyde’s appearance on Fox Chicago Perspective (Sunday, 8-9 am, Channel 32) with Walter Jacobsen and Jack Conaty. Todd is the NRA’s lobbyist in Springfield, and I consider him a hero for fighting for our 2nd amendment rights. I love Walter and Jack, and have thoroughly enjoyed appearing on their show, but I had to laugh when Walter expressed shock that Todd would take his son out to shoot deer. It was another reminder of the fact that most members of the media have absolutely ZERO familiarity with guns. They regard guns and anyone who would want to have one in the same way they’d regard a person making anthrax in the basement. So naturally they don’t understand hunting or hunting accidents. Remember John Kerry in that borrowed Elmer Fudd costume? That’s the mentality of this crowd. When you couple their horror at even the idea of individuals bearing arms with their hatred of Dick Cheney, I don’t think it’s hard to understand their hysteria over this story.

THE DOUBLE STANDARD LIBERALS HAVE WHEN IT COMES TO “PRIVACY”
When Michael Schiavo wanted to quietly eliminate his inconvenient disabled wife, the libs screeched about the right of privacy, especially when it comes to medical matters. Yet today we learn than concerns about privacy should have been thrown out the window when it comes to a hunting accident on a private ranch. To hear them talk, the 2nd call that should have been made after this accident (right after calling the paramedics), should have been to the White House press corps. What about Mr. Whittington’s privacy? Perhaps he didn’t want the details of his injury to be front page news.

THE BREATHTAKING NARCISSISM AND SELF-ABSORPTION OF THE MSM
The MSM has its underwear in a bundle because no one called them. Isn’t it their job to find out what’s happening and tell everyone else? C’mon, David Gregory. Would Bob Woodward be a liberal hero if he had sat around waiting for John Mitchell to call him up and tell him about Watergate? No! Put down the blow dryer for 5 minutes and actually do some work. It’s called—dare I say it?—reporting. Check into it.

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Since my show was pre-empted yesterday by special Auto Show programming, here’s some of what I noticed on yesterday’s Sunday shows. I’d love to hear your input about them as well at teri@teriobrien.com.

MEET THE PRESS
For some reason, there was no MTP transcript until Monday morning, which accounts for the delay in this update.

As noted in my earlier post on the Teri O’Blog at wlsam.com, Tim Russert did his best impression of a deaf guy, completely ignoring Sen. Pat Roberts and Cong. Pete Hoekstra’s very cogent answers about why FISA will not work in hot pursuit cases involving terrorists, and reiterated that the president has the authority to authorize the program, no matter what Jimmy Carter said. Not that any of this got through to Russert, who repeated the same questions over and over again. He also dredged up that April, 2004 soundbite of Pres. Bush stating that surveillance would require a court order. He failed to mention that the president was talking about amendments to the Patriot Act, and addressing strictly domestic-to-domestic surveillance.

Two of the best attempts to get Tim Russert to face reality:

Congressman Hoekstra: “And to believe that we gave the president the authority to kill bin Laden, but if he was on his cell phone we said, “Oh, but if you want to listen to him calling into the United States, perhaps planning the next attack,” because we didn’t know what that might occur, “I’m sorry, you’ve got to go to the court, and you’ve got to do this one-inch thick document, and you’ve got to have a legal review before you can actually listen to what bin Laden is saying.” Intercepting communications from your enemies is an essential element of war.”

Senator Roberts: “He already has the constitutional authority, regardless of the use of force issue, as did Roosevelt when the Supreme Court said, “No, you can’t do that,” and he did it anyway and said, “It’s too late after an attack.” But he needed this extra—what?–this extra authority or this extra program, this capability to say, if you have a terror cell here, they’re plotting against the United States, they called the United States, then we at least have the time frame that we can act.”

To state the democrats’ case, fresh from a Losers Anonymous meeting, there was Tom Daschle. He fell all over himself explaining how very, very much he and all the democrats want to capture terrorists and how much they support the NSA surveillance

“We support the wiretapping program. We support doing everything we can to ensure we’ve got the best information we can get. But we also support respecting the rule of law. That’s what this is about, respecting the rule of law, and it’s worked. This law has worked since 1978. We haven’t had a problem before.”

Really, Tom? How about our failure to take a peekyboo inside Zacharias Moussaoui’s computer?

Then there was Jane Harmon, who responded to Russert’s question about whether she wished she had raised more reservations about the NSA program thusly:

“Well, I wish I’d been a lot smarter in those briefings about the legal underpinnings of the program. That was not discussed in the briefings. The briefings were about the operational details of the program and only in the last briefing because I requested it ahead—this was after the president had disclosed the existence of the program—did we spend an hour on the process, which was a very valuable discussion. The vice president and others were there. But remember, we go into those briefings alone, we have no ability to consult staff, we have no ability to consult constitutional experts or legal experts on the history of FISA. Since the program has been disclosed, I—and I think all of us, at least I have become a lot smarter about all that, and now that I have read the legislative history of FISA, which was enacted in 1978 on a bipartisan basis to cure the abuses of the Nixon era that had preceded it, I understand that it is the exclusive way that we can eavesdrop on Americans in America.”

Congressman Harmon, if you want to spend your time chasing the ghost of Richard Nixon while Osama bin Laden is laughing his ass off at this ridiculous lawyer’s debate, knock yourself out, but please stop thrwarting the efforts the grownups are making to keep us safe.

She continued:
“Let’s—let’s understand that our Constitution really is the issue here. The Fourth Amendment requires probable cause to listen and seize property of Americans. Every one of us wants to catch al-Qaeda and its affiliates. All of us want the president to have the tools.”

Right. If there’s one thing you democrats know about, it’s tools. I can’t think of any bigger tools than Al Gore and John Kerry. The congresswoman informed us earlier in the program that she is a “trained lawyer,” but I think she may have forgotten some of her Constitutional Law 101. The 4th amendment prohibits “unreasonable searches and seizures,” which does not always mean that “probable cause” is required. Once again, a democrat reveals why they have earned the name the September 10 party: they want to give terrorists the same protections that the ACLU demands for criminal defendants.

FACE THE NATION

Bob Scheiffer interviewed Crazy Howard Dean, who as usual looked as if he’s ready to punch the first person to look at him crosswise. Honestly, he always looks poised and ready to leap up from the desk, let out a trademark scream and go on a trashing rampage in the studio. Here’s a sample:

“We’re going to win a majority in the House and maybe the Senate if we are the party of change, and that’s what we need to be. We do not need to behave like the Republicans. We need to be very clear that we want fundamental election reform and ethics reform. That we’re going to turn around our posture on defense and really be vigorous about the real problems which are North Korea and Iran and strategically redeploy our troops so they’re out of harm’s way in Iraq. We need to reverse the downslide that’s happened to this country under President Bush, and we will.”

There’s a real winning strategy. It’s refreshing, though, to hear a democrat, and not just any democrat, but the lead democrat admit that their posture on defense needs turning around. Do you mean going from being the September 10, Bill of Rights for Terrorists, Appeasement party to what? National Security Party? I think Tom Cruise has a better chance convincing America that he’s sane than you guys have pulling this off.

Then responding to Scheiffer’s telling him that the Republicans think national security should be an election issue, he said:

“Bob, as you know, there was testimony this week leaked from the
grand jury that it may be the vice president that leaked security information in a time of war in order to discredit political opponents. I don’t think the vice president has any credibility on national security whatsoever, and I think he’s in deep trouble.”

We all know how damaging that “outing” of the “covert” CIA operative Valerie Plame was to our national security. Now that she’s retired, I can’t imagine how any of us can sleep at night. PULEEZE—and the same people who are going to try to peddle this baloney about Valerie Plame are delighted that the NSA terrorist surveillance program ended up in the New York Times? The person who blew the whistle on that idiotic Joe Wilson investigation to Niger should get a medal! He or she is a genuine whistleblower, whereas the person who leaked the existence of the NSA terrorist surveillance program to the 5th column media is a traitor. The fact that Dr. Dean leads the party that thinks the Plame leaker is the traitor and the NSA leaker is the whistleblower is precisely the reason they can’t be trusted with national security.

Dean also said “[i]t’s been alleged by Scooter Libby that–who has been indicted for leaking information, that his superiors
ordered him to leak that information. If that’s true–his superior is Vice President Cheney. If that is true, Vice President Cheney cannot remain in office.”

Except that there’s the tiny detail that what you just said isn’t true, Doc. Mr. Libby has not been indicted for leaking information, and neither has Karl Rove, who you also said yesterday should be fired. Aren’t you ashamed to the leader of a group of losers who are so desperate that they have to criminalize their opponents’ political differences to have any chance of winning an election?

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Apparently, the antique media aka the MSM is even more annoyed than I thought over John McCain’s daring to state the obvious: that the Enlightened One, Sen. Barack Obama, is not a preternatural being, but just another double-talking, self-interested politician of the sort we’ve come to despise our entire lives. So, just in time for Valentine’s Day, they’ve decided to shine their canonization light on another “maverick” (read Republican who loves to criticize President Bush and then joyously basks in the approval of liberal elites like a dog experiencing a belly rub), Sen. Chuck Hagel, who they call the “Heartland Dissident,” which is also the title of their 2/12/06 magazine profile of their latest heartthrob. Are you hurling yet? No? Keep reading and you will.

Not only is Sen. Hagel on the cover the Liberal Death Star’s magazine. He rates a 9-page story that features highlights from the senator’s praiseworthy dissidence such as his statement that the reconstruction effort in Iraq was “beyond pitiful,” and that the U.S. is getting “bogged down” in Iraq just as it was in Vietnam. That’s an original line, huh?

The New York Times also notes the senator’s laudatory “internationalism” and further bolsters his liberal credentials by noting the disdain with which he is treated by “neocons” like those at the Weekly Standard who called him part of the “axis of appeasement” and the National Review, who identified him as Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-France).

Here are a few choice quotes from this puke-inducing article:

“Hagel is typically more interested in facts on the ground than doctrine.”

“As far as I could tell, the answer had come through unfiltered, without political calculation.”

“Hagel has that quality of going beyond plausibility to believability, possibly to a fault”

“When government continues to erode individual rights, that’s the most dangerous, dangerous threat to freedom there is,” he said, calling it “far more dangerous than terrorism.” His reaction was similarly sharp when he first heard of the report in this newspaper that the president had claimed authority to order domestic wiretapping without court approval. “If, in fact, this is true,” he said, “then it needs to stop.” When the White House acknowledged it was true, Hagel pressed for Congressional hearings and a national debate.

But not for terminating the program. C’mon, Sen. “I’m My Own Man.” If it needs to stop, introduce a bill to defund it. When the inevitable terrorist attack comes, the blood will be on your hands, but at least you’ll still be able to say you didn’t rubber stamp the policies of the Bush administration.

I don’t know about you, but I have had it with so-called Republicans bending over backwards to win the approval of liberals by disputing the policies of the Bush administration. It’s not only embarrassing to watch these weasels suck up to the Left. It’s infuriating to have to listen to democrats constantly chant that their criticisms of the president’s policies aren’t partisan, citing the likes of Republican beards like Sen. Hagel and Sen. Specter.

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*****SPECIAL PROGRAMMING NOTE******

My show is pre-empted today. Instead, John Landecker will broadcast from 12 noon-3 pm live from the 2006 Chicago Auto Show. Next Sunday, 2/19/06, I will broadcast live from the Auto Show.

For an on-line version of today’s show, please stay tuned here, and at my personal blog (http://teriobrien.webloggin.com). You know I’ve got a lot to say about today’s Sunday shows and what’s in the papers, and as always, I want to share them with you and get your comments too. Keep those e-mails coming.

Thanks again for all your encouragement and support, and of course, for listening!

**********************************************

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When we last saw has been actor/road kill Gary Busey he was spouting incomprehensible nonsense and fighting with Wendy the Snapple Lady on one of my favorite shows, Celebrity Fit Club. He should have stuck to that instead of participating in what is apparently a very disgraceful piece of anti-American propaganda, “Valley of the Wolves Iraq.”
Check it out here.

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This morning when President Bush spoke at the National Guard Building he described a foiled al Qaeda plot to use shoe bombs to breach the cockpit and crash an airliner into the Library Building (now the U.S. Bank Building) in Los Angeles. Khalid Sheik Mohammed–you remember him, the guy who looked like John Belushi in his mug shot—figured we might be on the lookout for young, Middle Eastern men. Instead of calling the ACLU to demand the immediate filing of a lawsuit against racial profiling, he put that on hold and got busy figuring out where to find some suitable stooges for this operation. He settled on working with the Indonesian Riduan Isamuddin aka Hambali and his terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah. Southeast Asians would not arouse suspicion, they figured. The attack was supposed to take place in October 2002.

When I heard the president mention Indonesia, it reminded me of a two Wall Street Journal articles I read in March, 2003. One entitled is “Iraq ‘Outsourcing’ Violence described the terrorist connections of an Iraqi “businessman,” living in the Phillipines. The other, “Al Qaeda Roots Remain Deep in Southeast Asia.” Read more here.
(Please scroll down to the post of 3/16/05).

Does anyone want to whine about the NSA terrorist surveillance program now? The next time some dimwitted, rage-filled, uninformed Bush hater starts bleating that “Iraq never attacked us,” suggest that they stop demonstrating their ignorance by shutting up and reading these articles. Like far too many illegal aliens, terrorists don’t respect our borders.

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Today one of the Powerline guys got to question our own Eddie Haskell aka Sen. Dick Durbin at the hearings on NSA Terrorist Surveillance program No, not actually in the hearing, but out in the hall, when the senators come out to field questions from the media. When Durbin was asked why, if Congress disagrees with the Bush administration that the Congressional authorization to use all necessary force against terrorists covers this program, they don’t pass a clarifying law (or I might add cut off the funding, which they’ve never suggested doing), he got a bit flustered and started focusing on what news organization the questioner was from. It’s SOP for Durbin: when you’re caught with your pants down, point fingers at those who have the audacity to notice.

You can read more about it here.

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