On Monday we learned the sad news that Barbaro, the sleek, heroic champion who captivated the nation after his impressive Kentucky Derby victory lost the 8-month fight for his life. Some, probably not animal lovers, were struck by the outpouring of emotion over the loss of this beautiful animal. “It’s just a horse,” they snorted. These people are missing the point. To understand the affection the public had for Barbaro. This horse has a lot in common with our own junior senator, the preternatural democrat messiah, Barack Hussein Obama (and not just the similar sounding name).

No, not because he was a lithe, long-legged creature who liked to run, although reportedly Senator Obama does like to work out. Nor do I draw the comparison because some, notably the Chicago Sun-Times’ Lynn Sweet, view the senator as quite a stud, which would have been Barbaro’s next career move but for his unfortunate demise.

Those who adored him knew what Barbaro was thinking and feeling without ever hearing him speak it. He wasn’t Mr. Ed, after all, so that’s a given. Since he couldn’t speak for himself, we could supply his thoughts and feelings, which were really our own, which he reflected back. As we basked in the glow of these reflections, we felt all warm and fuzzy. He had spirit! He was a fighter! He had an irrepressible will to live! Did he? Perhaps. He never said, but because we loved him we just knew that everything noble, wise and shining was in him. Or as the Liberal Death Star (the New York Times put it “a vivid presence that was so much more visible to us because it happened to belong to a winner.” Where have I heard words like that before?

Similarly, those who swoon at the sight of Senator Beefcake can find in his ponderous, ambiguous statements about serious issues whatever they want to hear. The shame that was Katrina isn’t about race, except that it is. He is a devout Christian who is proud of his brother’s conversion to Islam. He is black, except when he’s thinking of himself as a “half breed.”

Liberals have a well-known propensity for adopting mascots and purporting to speak for them. If they literally can’t speak for themselves (inanimate objects like trees, animals), all the better. Now they have applied this standard to the man that I call He Who Walks on Water and what one commentator called the emptiest of empty suits who is no doubt delighted to see his political fortunes fueled by blind adulation and the gusher of white guilt that makes it unnecessary to him to clarify what he really thinks, and his real agenda for this country. Come to think of it, we would be better off with Mr. Ed.

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Dear Troops,

First, let us say once again how much we appreciate your brave and selfless service to the cause of freedom, even though what you’re doing is a complete failure and a total lost cause. Nothing you can do can change that sad fact, we still want to say thanks for what you’re trying to do, however futile and disconnected from protecting America from terrorists who want to destroy it. Everyone knows Iraq never attacked the United States. Of course, neither did Afghanistan, but that’s different for reasons that should be obvious. (If the difference isn’t obvious to you, never mind. As John Kerry noted last fall, you probably aren’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.)

You also can’t help the fact that your Commander-in-Chief is a mendacious incompetent, and that General David Petraeus, your new direct commander, doesn’t know what he’s talking about when he says that you can win the war if given half a chance. You can’t, and that’s just the fact. We wish we had known that when we voted for the authorization to send you to Iraq back in October 2002. You know how it is. Hindsight is 20-20. We were for it before we were against it. Those 3000 or so service people who gave their lives in this mistaken enterprise would understand, we’re quite sure of that, just as they would understand, as we’re sure you do, how much courage it takes to come out against this misgotten war, now that the polls show most Americans oppose it.

The important thing now—because 2008 will be here before we know it—is for us to go on the record to make it clear that we wish we had never deposed Saddam Hussein, and never made it appear that we supported this war, which is based on lies, is a violation of international law and is destroying America’s image in the rest of the world. Please don’t let these facts about the mission for which you are risking your life discourage you, and please never forget that, above all else, we support you, and we will continue to always do so in our hearts, if not with appropriations, since it’s only a matter of time until we will defund the war that you’re fighting.

Yours with unyielding support for the troops,

Senator Chuck Hagel and Senator Joe Biden

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News reports today are filled with stories about new research on what makes people smoke. Apparently, after suffering a stroke, a former smoker “forgot” his habit. Researchers discovered he kicked the habit because a deep area of his brain, the size of a silver dollar called the insula, had been damaged.

Very interesting, especially when you consider Barack Hussein Obama’s smoking habit. (An aside: is it just me, or does anyone else find it odd to be lectured about fixing the health care system by a smoker? Please don’t misunderstand. He’s entitled to use a legal product and just because it’s dangerous to his health, of course, he’s still entitled to an opinion about any public policy issue. I’m just asking …). Some have asked whether the fact that He Who Walks on Water’s smoking habit could be a political liability, forgetting what I like to call the Obama Rule: if he does it, it’s not only OK, it’s COOOOL. If his political operatives persuade him otherwise, perhaps he’ll disappear for a few days into a private clinic to treat an undisclosed ailment, during which time he will have doctors inflict damage on his insula so that he can forget to smoke.

Speaking of secret medical procedures, as you know, we never got a peeky-boo at Bill Clinton’s medical records, which reminds me that he reportedly received treatment for sex addiction. With the results of this research in hand, and determined that NOTHING—I mean NOTHING—will be permitted to derail her presidential prospects, do you suppose Hillary will check Bubba into the same secret clinic mentioned above for treatment of his addiction? Should the surgery go awry, the junior senator from New York automatically regains the sympathy that she received in some quarters during the Monica flap, the brave, long-suffering wife, this time committed to not only saving America but caring for her beloved husband, now in that vegetative state that the liberals liked to cite so often when Terri Schiavo was being starved and dehydrated by her cheating husband.

It’s funny how things could work out, no? Adultery symmetry: catch it!

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This story sent a chill down my spine:

Ellen Lutz of Aqueboque learned that firsthand last month, when her 7-month-old golden retriever, Striker, ambled into her home office and licked her paper shredder.

To her horror, the machine latched onto his tongue, and began to grind.

“He was screaming, and he was fighting for his life,” says Lutz, adding that in his panic, the 67-pound puppy did even more damage to his mutilated tongue. She immediately disconnected the shredder, and took Striker to a nearby emergency hospital.

“I was covered in blood from head to toe,” Lutz remembers.

A story this horrific is hard-pressed to end well: Striker’s injury was so severe - basically, most of his tongue was gone - that he was euthanized.

As many of you know, I have two precious mutts, and so I immediately unplugged my shredder, and I recommend that you do the same thing. I have to admit, though, that after I read this story, I had an ugly thought. I’m not proud of it, but I think I know where it came from. I attribute it to the stress associated with chronic overexposure to toxic television like “Hardball with Chris Matthews,” “Countdown with Keith Olbermann,” “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer,” and “The View.” Call it PTTS (Post-traumatic Television Syndrome.) So, as you read what follows, please forgive me and realize that I know it’s wrong, but I don’t believe in keeping things from my friends, even the occasional dark thought that intrudes on my usually sunny personality.

With that disclaimer, here’s my list of Eight People You’d Rather Have Put Their Tongues in the Shredder Instead of Your Dog (not really, but I wish they would stop talking)

Keith Olbermann
This former sportscaster turned left-wing darling/conspiracy theorist hosts the little viewed “Countdown with Keith Olbermann.” In addition to being known for the unfortunate incident in which he caught his head in a subway door, which explains A LOT, viewers appreciate his frequent angry rants against both President Bush and his nemesis, Bill O’Reilly.

Lou Dobbs
Like Keith Olbermann, this proponent of the demagogic, albeit non-existent, war on the middle class, vaulted to cable tv stardom by finding his niche: tapping into the longstanding populist resentments and appealing to a small, misinformed group of discontented zealots, energized by dwelling on their anger over the perceived injustices brought on by globalization and illegal immigration. As you know, I take a back seat to no one on the issue of taking back the border, but unlike Mr. Dobbs, I don’t oppose tax cuts for small business and support socialist universal health care run by the government.

Chris Matthews
What can I say about the Screamer that I haven’t already said? Whether its his irrepresible glee over the ridiculous and pointless Scooter Libby prosecution, his obvious inability to understand the most basic concepts of economics, or his frenetic style that suggests he’s ready to crash through your tv screen, he’s one of a kind. He’s overexposed and he needs to stop now.

Rosie O’Donnell
Does Rosie ever have an unexpressed thought? If she does, I’d hate to hear the things that her better judgment keeps from our tender ears. She’s shared her theories on keeping kids safe (teach them to say the “F” word to adults), as well as her desire to see “one senator” introduce a bill to impeach President Bush (she missed civics class the day they explained that articles of impeachment originate in the House) and her deep understanding of the Constitution. I think we’ve all heard enough.

Ward Churchill
This aging hippie buffoon/fraud has made plenty of statements that justify his appearance on this list: the 9/11 victims were Little Eichmanns, If U.S. foreign policy results in massive death and destruction abroad, we cannot feign innocence when some of that destruction is returned, blah blah blah. How long are the taxpayers going to keep supporting this pantload?

Michael Moore
The Round Mound Whose Lies Astound has been pretty quiet lately, but I’m sure we all remember the reasons that he needs to stop talking. A few examples:

“The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not ‘insurgents’ or ‘terrorists’ or ‘The Enemy.’ They are the revolution, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow - and they will win.

“We live in the time where we have fictitious election results that elects a fictitious president. We live in a time where we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons.”

“If someone did this [9/11] to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE for him! Boston, New York, D.C., and the planes’ destination of California–these were places that voted AGAINST Bush!”

As Barack Hussein Obama would say, enough is enough.

Dick Durbin
His comments about our Gitmo interrogators made clear to the rest of the country what people in Illinois have known for years. He is a national disgrace and he needs to go back to Downstate Illinois and get back to chasing ambulances.

Cindy Sheehan
If only so we don’t have to hear that voice again …

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Recently those of us who for the most part tuned out long ago were reminded of the reason we left; that is, the pathetic state of traditional, terrestrial radio. The sad event that provided the reminder was the January 12 water-intoxication death of Jennifer Strange, who made the mistake of getting mixed up with the collection of idiots who ran and broadcasted from KDND, FM 107.9 Sacramento.

Should Ms. Strange bear some responsibility for her own tragic death? Of course she did. No one forced her to enter the contest, although legalities aside, moral considerations would prevent most decent people from taking advantage of a simple-minded person, and I would call someone who risks her life to win a toy worth a couple of hundred bucks very simple-minded. Now that her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, the courts will sort out the respective liability of the parties involved. That’s how it should be as a legal matter. I’m more interested in what this case says about a medium that I know and love, radio.

Despite the shock and horror expressed by John Geary, vice president and marketing manager of Entercom Sacramento, ownerof KDND, I suspect that he must realize that the lack of common sense, the recklessness, and the ability to effortlessly impersonate a horse’s hind end on the air were the very things that KDND’s program director, direct supervisor of these “J’s,” loved about them, that is, until the whole thing broke bad on them. This crew was wacky, out of their minds, out of control, a true morning zoo—fantastic! Just what we’re looking for! They weren’t hired for their intelligence, their talent, their cleverness or their good judgment. They had none. They were hired for their ability to get attention without any of those things.

I have had the privilege to work with some terrific radio program directors and general managers, people who were not only interested in helping air talent develop, but in enhancing the listening experience for the listener. It was all about the listener. Managers of that ilk seem to be an endangered species. Today most of the suits running traditional, terrestrial radio aren’t creative, don’t care about the audience, and may as well be running a string of Burger King franchises. The fast-food guys measure success by how many artery-clogging burgers they sling out the drive-thru window. The radio suits measure success by how much pre-fab, dumbed-down, brain rotting programming hosted by semi-informed, semi (at best)-talented ex-DJs, many of whom were challenged to think of something half-way intelligent when they were talking up records, they can try to shove down the throats of a helpless public. As I mentioned, there are notable exceptions, great general managers and program directors who care about quality programming (like the ones who run the network affiliates for Right Talk with Teri O’Brien), but what I described is generally the unfortunate state of affairs in traditional radio today.

The good news is that whether the discussion is about foreign policy or health insurance “cherry-picking” is a very popular word these days. It even applies to radio. The public is no longer helpless. Just as the networks have discovered when it comes to their nightly news casts, smart people who don’t want to waste their time having their intelligence insulted now have a choice. Because of the ability we now have to choose very specifically what we want to hear (by listening to a podcast, satellite or internet radio) over the air radio has effectively become a ghetto of lowest common denominator crap, something that only people who have no choice will endure. Most discriminating listeners have abandoned it, limiting their usage to only the good shows that they really like (think Rush Limbaugh), or to those times when they are relegated to listening to it because they end up in the car without their iPods or don’t want to listen to a decent music station like WXRT, 93.1 FM, Chicago’s finest rock.

Because of all this competition, traditional radio is a transitional state. In the past, imbeciles like this KDND crew would find that this stunt was a resume enhancer, and their firing would be the first step in moving up to a larger market and bigger paycheck. So far that hasn’t happened, and we can only hope that that’s a sign that the room-temperature IQ school of radio programming is on its way to the same fate as the compact disc.

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Not to be outdone by the Chicago Obama aka the Chicago Sun-Times, Friday’s (1/12/06) Chicago Tribune (or do you say Libune?) editorializes in favor of moving the date of the Illinois primary up from March 18 to February 5, largely to benefit its favorite son, Barack Hussein Obama. That’s no surprise, of course. Nor is yet another hagiographic full-color photo and story on the front page of Sunday’s edition, “Inside Obama’s Inner Circle,” basically a glorified press release describing all of his savvy, deliberate advisers and their delight at what a regular guy he is, how eager he is to hear all points of view, and his preternatural ability to bring people together.

Here’s something I’ve got a problem with, though. After noting that the Nevada primary will be held on January 19, the editorial snorts:

“With all due respect to the sands, the snakes, the scorpions, the cowboys, the dancing girls, the cheap prime rib, the prostitution, and the gambling of Nevada, Illinois is about as American a place as you are going to find. Admittedly, New Hampshire is flintier. But Illinois is Heartlandier!”

Trib editors, please tell me that this statement is tongue-in-cheek. Gambling? Have you guys noticed all those riverboat casinos around here, not to mention the state-run lottery. It’s one thing to throw your money down a rat hole run by private businesses, as you do when you go to Las Vegas. It’s another for the state to scam its own citizens by encouraging a counterproductive something-for-nothing mentality in the very people who can least afford it just so the political hacks who run this state can have more money to buy votes, line their own pockets and waste.

That’s not the most annoying thing about the Trib’s statement, though. I don’t blame the democrats who run this state for wanting to grease the skids for their rock star, but when the Libune tries to claim that Illinois is more representative of the heartland of America, I’ve got to say “hold your horses, Bucco.” Illinois “as American a place as you are going to find.” Are we talking about the same place? What am I missing? Consider the following:

Illinois is one of only two—TWO—states that doesn’t allow law-abiding citizens to exercise their God-given right to keep and bear arms, a right explicitly enshrined in the 2nd amendment. Can you say “out of the mainstream?”

Illinois is one of only five states to have two U.S. senators to have earned a perfect score, 100, from the ultra liberal Americans for Democratic Action. One of these senators, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, is an avowed socialist, which means that unlike Illinois’ two senators, at least he’s honest about it.

Thirty four states require parental involvement before a physician can perform an abortion on a minor. Not Illinois. The abortion magnet for underage girls? What could be more American than that?

It pains me to have to say that, far from being representative of the heart of America, Illinois is a lefty island of insanity in the middle of the country, a big blue eyesore resembling a giant zit on the forehead of America.

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Yesterday, Sec. of State Condolezza Rice testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where she faced the following stunning personal attack from Senator Barbara Boxer:

“Who pays the price? I’m not going to pay a personal price,” Boxer said. “My kids are too old, and my grandchild is too young.”

Then, to Rice: “You’re not going to pay a particular price, as I understand it, with an immediate family.”

So no matter what her accomplishments, Sec. Rice is unqualified to make policy on the war because she has no children? If that’s the case, than neither was George Washington, Sen. Boxer, you bird brain. But then, he was a man, right?

Unbelievable! Can you imagine what would happen if a Republican male senator had said commented on the personal life of a female democrat senator? Remember the firestorm when Newt Gingrich dared to suggest that women didn’t belong in combat because of their unique anatomies? Right or wrong, it was one man’s opinion, but the only thing that mattered was that it WAS a man’s opinion about women, and more important, a conservative Republican man’s opinion. It was also not directed personally at one specific female official.

Shame on you, Sen. Boxer. Is this the sort of below the belt baloney we can expect from democrats in leadership? Is there no limit to how low they will go to advance their political agendas and appeal to the barking moonbats who now own the democrat party?

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Sure, those who say he looked a little stiff may have a point, but whenever I hear that President Bush isn’t a good speaker, I wonder if those who mock his oratory style would have voted for Abe Lincoln. Yes, Lincoln’s speeches were eloquently written, but supposedly his delivery left something to be desired. His voice was described as “shrill” and “unmusical.” In addition, come to think of it, the parallels between the criticisms of President Bush and President Lincoln are amazing, as noted by Doris Kearns Goodwin, in her book, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln. Not bad company.
I’ll share more of my reaction to the speech on tonight’s show (see the Listen Live link on this page), but here’s a preview:

As I predicted, the 20th century media LOVED the fact that the president admitted he had made mistakes. “See, see, he is an idiot after all!”
Unlike my media friends, I loved that the only other American politician the President mentioned was Sen. Joe Lieberman, who I cited as an example of bipartisanship. What a terrific, and backhanded way to smack down the phony liberal dems in Congress, who claim (witness Fancy Nancy Pelosi’s acceptance speech when she became Speaker) to want bipartisanship, but who supported Ned “Pedro” Lamont for that Senate seat.

I found it hilarious that the President praised the Iraq Study Group as “distinguished” and “thoughtful,” and that basically said “thanks for sharing, but I’m not going to make nice with the government’s that are trying to kill our troops.” Yes! Did this ever accept the liberals in the media! So you know it had to be the right thing.

I was very happy that he reminded those whose memories seem to have faded to the point where they’ve forgotten the images of people plunging to their deaths from a flaming 100+ story building of the reason for this war in Iraq.

As I said, I’ll share more tonight, but I want to hear your take, so please call. Tonight I’ll also share my reaction to some of the reaction, which was priceless. Yes, we’ve got the soundbites, so don’t miss it.

I thank God every day that we have a leader like George W. Bush in the White House, one who gets in when it comes to the struggle that we’re in. May God bless him, and may God continue to bless America.

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As promised, the links from Monday and Tuesday’s radio shows are up at teriobrien.com. If you missed the shows, you missed our discussion of Lynn Sweet’s embarrassing statement, lamenting her inability to follow Barack Obama into the East Bank Club locker (what was she planning to do once she got there? Don’t ask), Cat Steven’s missing Peace Train, Barney Frank’s accusing the President of genocide against American citizens, and criticism of The Oprah. See, you don’t want to miss it. Click on the listen live link to join the fun!

Tonight we’ll be discussing the president’s speech, Cindy Sheehan at Gitmo (no, not incarcerated there, darn it), a truly disgusting case in which our government is on the wrong side in the immigration issue (what else is new?), and the latest in the Rosie, the Donald, Barbara Wa-wa kerfuffle.

We discuss tomorrow’s news today, and give you the first opportunity to sound off about it. Since I have the smartest listeners on the planet, I want you all to get your wisdom out there, so please listen and please call!

Best,
T

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Or the closest thing we’ve seen since Jesus visited Earth. OF COURSE, I mean Barack Hussein Obama. Who else? Please check out this excellent reply to BHO’s op-ed on ethics from yesterday’s WaPo from Webloggin. Who is this guy kidding? This from the guy who endorsed Todd Stroger in the Cook County Board President election last year? And it’s not just mean-spirited conservatives like me pointing this out. No less a liberal than Carol Marin expressed her disappointment in our junior senator. Check out a few choice nuggets from her November 5, 2006 column:

“It would have been one thing if Barack Obama had given Todd Stroger a one-armed hug. But a wet sloppy kiss? This past week Senators Obama and Dick Durbin signed a letter endorsing the candidacy of young Todd so that he might follow in his father’s footsteps and become the next president of the Cook County Board.

This has been one of the sadder sagas in Chicago political history. And Obama, America’s audacious knight in shining armor, deprives us of the very hope he likes to talk about in his speeches and his books.

I don’t mean to let Durbin off the hook but, frankly, I expected him to endorse the “regular” in this race. But Obama has allowed us to believe that he is different somehow. A new voice, a new frontier.

Instead, he’s traveled down the same dingy path that promotes the outright mediocrity and questionable competence that has given Chicago politics the reputation it richly deserves.”

Ms. Marin concludes:

“If Obama wants to endorse Todd Stroger in the race against Republican Tony Peraica, he should be a lot more candid about why. It’s not because of Stroger’s “progressive” politics. It’s not because the Stroger family supported his past primary races for Congress or U.S. Senate. They didn’t. It’s because Obama isn’t going to cross Daley Democrats or the African-American community that handed him his lunch in his loss against Rush six years ago.

But Obama is not audacious enough to tell us that.”

Precisely. And isn’t it interesting the Obama’s choice for Cook County Board President just gave his best friend’s wife a $126,000/year job? What would Mr. No More Business As Usual Obama say about that?

More About He Who Walks on Water:
A New Low for the Chicago Obama–I mean–Sun-Times
On Monday Night Football
Anointing Obama (from The American Thinker)

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