The Guild 10-7-2002 President's Address to the Nation Monday at 8:00 pm (est)

FOX NEWS ^ | Monday, October 07, 2002 | Assoc. Press

[BigWaveBetty]

WASHINGTON

[lodwick]

Three women are sitting naked in a sauna. Suddenly there is a beeping sound.
The first women presses her forearm and the beeping stops. The others look
at her curiously. That's my pager, she says, i have a microchip under the
skin of my arm.

A few minutes later a phone rings. The second woman lifts her palm to her
ear. When she finishes she explains, Thats my mobile phone. I have a
microchip in my hand.

The third woman, feeling decidedly low-tech, steps out of the sauna. In a
few minutes she returns with a piece of toilet paper hanging from the crack
of her butt. The others raise their eyebrows.

Oh, excuse me. I'm getting a Fax

[Teacup]

Viewers tap cable for Bush

With three of the major broadcast networks sticking to regularly scheduled fare Monday night, TV viewers who wanted President Bush's speech on Iraq turned to cable, giving cable news outlets a healthy ratings boost. Fox News Channel grabbed a 3.7 Nielsen Media Research rating for its coverage of Bush's address, which ran from 8:02 p.m. to 8:31 p.m. EST and collected 4.6 million viewers. Cable News Network attracted a 2.3 rating with 2.6 million viewers, and MSNBC notched a 1.1 rating and 1.2 million viewers.

GO BUSH GO!

[Teacup]

Former Vice President Al Gore, left, and Massachusetts Democratic gubernatorial candidate Shannon O'Brien, right, greet supporters after a rally.

Oh my!!! Someone forgot to recharge the ole Battery. Looks like Al Bore is running down, LOL!

[lodwick]

G*d - thanks for that one...I don't know what to say. I guess that the pic says it all. ;-)

[mountaineer]

AUGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!! The U.S. Attorney (formerly Bush 2000 campaign chair for our region) called to advise that I, as a 2000 campaign county chair and current county party chair, am invited to a White House briefing Thursday. The only problem - Mr. M and I are leaving tomorrow for London! I can't believe it. My first (and possibly only) White House invite and I can't go! Rats!

[BigWaveBetty]

JL, pardon my confusion, but what is a tagline?

[Iowa Granny]

95% of the White House briefings are not held in the White House, but in the Eisenhower Old Executive Office Building. There's only a slight chance that you've missed the opportunity of a lifetime.

Have a wonderful trip,,,, I will be so anxious to hear about your travels when you return.

[BigWaveBetty]

Leaving tomorrow?! HLL and I say, have fun, fun, fun!!! (HLLlis on here way back from a date and won't be home for another 45 minutes. So she didn't want to miss saying Bon Voyage!

We except detailed notes and pictures. ;-)

And DO NOT try to light your shoes in mid flight!

[BigWaveBetty]

NHL Season opens tonight! Go Redwings!

[BigWaveBetty]

BELAFONTE SLAMS COLIN POWELL AS RACE SELLOUT

Singer Harry Belafonte took to the AM radiowaves on Tuesday morning to slam Secretary of State Colin Powell as a sellout to the black race!

Belafonte, appearing on San Diego's 760 KFMB, told host Ted Leitner that Powell was like a plantation slave who moves into the slave owner's house and only says what his master wants him to say.

"There's an old saying," Belafonte began. "In the days of slavery, there were those slaves who lived on the plantation and were those slaves that lived in the house. You got the privilege of living in the house if you served the master... exactly the way the master intended to have you serve him.

"Colin Powell's committed to come into the house of the master. When Colin Powell dares to suggest something other than what the master wants to hear, he will be turned back out to pasture."

For close to twenty minutes, Belafonte ripped the entire Bush administration, including an attack on Attorney General John Ashcroft.

"There's something wrong with men who think the way Ashcroft does and who manipulate the justice system the way he does."

Belafonte likened Ashcroft's tactics to the McCarthy era:

"Families were destroyed, neighbors spied on neighbors. Now we find Ashcroft cutting in under the guise of catching terrorists, suspending liberties and rights. To deny those rights, to any citizen, to any people, is to cast a great shame on us and lead us back to another dark period."

Belafonte also sang the praises of the United Nations as a pillar of global democracy, and decried President Bush for failing to attend the UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa earlier this year.

From a CNN story:

[The United States and Israel walked out of the World Conference Against Racism on Monday to protest a draft of the conference's final declaration that denounced "practices of racial discrimination against the Palestinians as well as other inhabitants of the Arab occupied territories" by Israel and said Zionism "is based on racial superiority."

Negotiations to soften those statements failed, U.S. delegates said, and Secretary of State Colin Powell -- who did not attend the conference -- assailed its "hateful language" as he announced the U.S. withdrawal Monday. LINK ]

"There were tens of thousands of peoples and leaders from all over the world gathered to discuss the issue of race. It was an honorable arena... But by not showing up, by sticking it to the government of Nelson Mandela... It was a dark page on our foreign policy."

Belafonte is best known for the international hit "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)".

-- Filed By Matt Drudge

______________________________________________________________

My letter to Belafonte:

Dear Ted,

Since I found no way to email Mr. Bellefonte personally I would please ask that you forward this to him.

Mr. Bellefonte,

I'm sadden that you would disparage Secretary Powell in such a manner on the Ted Leitner show.

Sure we all have freedom of speech but to use it in such a manner to defame a good hard working man Like Gen. Powell confuses me.

But I guess that's what differentiates you intolerant liberals from conservatives who would like the people of this county/world to be judged on content of their character not the color of their skin.

I don't always agree with Gen. Powell's policies but I respect him for the man that he is. Not because he's black, but because he's a man who fought the odds and became the man is today.

If you've been paying attention to what's been going on the Bush Administration, you'd know he hasn't always towed the party line. This turn around in his idea that Iraq is indeed a threat that must be dealt with swiftly was not his first outlook on the subject. He was for inspections, until it became clear to him the Saddam has no intention of keeping any promises he makes.

Our Secretary of State in a wise man. He's been around a long time. Has vast education in all types of military and government work.

To reduce him to a plantation slave doing the masters bidding is an insult to a fine man. A man who if he didn't believe in what President Bush was doing was the right thing, he would step down.

You sir do a disservice to yourself and all Black men who are of Gen. Powell's caliber. I always figured you for a smart man, thanks for setting me straight.

Sincerely,

Me. (real name used in correspondence)

[BigWaveBetty]

Miss America silenced

Miss America 2003, Erika Harold, yesterday said pageant officials have ordered her not to talk publicly about sexual abstinence, a cause she has advocated to teenage girls in Illinois.

"Quite frankly, and I'm not going to be specific, there are pressures from some sides to not promote [abstinence]," the 22-year-old woman from Urbana, Ill., told The Washington Times.

In her first visit to Washington since winning the crown Sept. 21, Miss Harold resisted efforts by Miss America officials to silence her pro-chastity opinions.

"I will not be bullied," Miss Harold said yesterday at the National Press Club, as officials tried to prevent reporters from asking questions about her abstinence message.

Miss Harold, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Illinois, was "furious" as she arrived for yesterday's press conference, an acquaintance said.

George Bauer, interim chief executive officer of the Miss America organization, and other pageant officials had sternly directed her to talk only about the issue of youth-violence prevention and to say nothing about sexual abstinence, said Miss Harold's acquaintance, who asked not to be named.

"They laid it on her coming over here" not to promote teen chastity, the acquaintance said before the press conference began. "She's furious about it." [snip]

Whew, after her performance the night of the pagent I thought there wasn't much grey matter there. I was wrong.

You go Erika!!!

[Timeout]

This is beginning to get exciting....I can't believe y'all leave TODAY!! Have a bunch of fun. And I'll see you in Paris!

[Timeout]

Steve Ducie is interviewing George Will about the night the George & Laura came to dinner at his house.

Steve just asked him, "Was there a food taster?". LOL!

[Iowa Granny]

Good Morning, Gang. Another hectic day ahead.

[Timeout]

Before I get out of town, I'd like to run by you some thoughts that have been running through my mind. I really would like to know what y'all think.

First subject: Terrorists. Have you noticed a trend in world affairs in the last 10 years or so? A terrorist group "goes straight". Their leaders go before the cameras and swear off terrorism and say they're going to root it out of their organizations...."we just want peace". And the world goes ga-ga. Think the IRA and the PLO. Arafat and Jerry Adams are feted at the White House and 10 Downing Street.

But a funny thing always happens. At the same time our screens are filled with all that "peace"...up pops pictures of new bombings, new attacks, new terror. Aw shucks, they say, it seems we just can't control some of our more intransigent members. So the new "intransigents" become the bad guys AND THE OLD TERRORISTS BECOME THE GOOD GUYS! We invite the "good guys" to Camp David and hang on every promise as if it were a marriage proposal. We engage in "peace talks" with them. In Britain they are made cabinet ministers and given prominent posts where they have a say in police practices. They are given access to intelligence briefings. (Good grief!).

Even governments have tried this old bait-and-swith tactic. Russian leaders went before the cameras constantly denying their awful tactics in Chechnya. Never mind that there was footage of the event, just keep denying it and the woosies in the press don't have the cajones to call you a liar. They loved Yeltzin (he was Clinton's MAN!), so the press just let it go.

My point is: there should be a name for this tactic. It's obviously designed to take advantage of the media age where, if someone says he's sorry for all the bombings, you have no choice but to break bread with him. But I'm not sure many people have noticed it as a new tactic.

Maybe we could call it "The Pig in a Poke Syndrome". Any other suggestions?

The second thing that's been swirling around in my head is the corrolation between the Iraq debate and Gun control. When confronted with a violent man shooting up his neighborhood, libbers wring their hands and wish they could pass a law outlawing guns. Conservatives look at the exact same situation and want to take the violent MAN off the street.

Isn't this just like Iraq? Libbers wish we could deal with the WMD without having to have a war over it. Conservatives recognize there will be no peace as long as the "violent man" is still on the street. Those poor addled libbers....they should thank their lucky stars they have us around to protect them!

Ahhhh. That stuff has been rolling around in my head for a long time. Feels better.

[lodwick]

Tell'em you will take a RainCheck on the WH briefing - have a super vacation.

[lodwick]

We use to have another box in which to type our email addy, or anything else for that matter, below the "Your Reply" box - it was about the same size as the the current "To:" field when posting replies.

Many of us would like to see it return.

[lodwick]

Super letter to BannaBoat - thank you.

[lodwick]

Excellent observations.

Conservatives know that Pigs have to be made into bacon, chops, hams, and sausages to be of any good to us - otherwise they just mess up the place and are a general annoyance to the rest of the farm.