This is just too cool.

Professors of media, journalism or communication are almost never treated to examples of media idiocy as juicy as Michael Savage’s most recent comments on autism. Unfortunately for us, most media personalities often show just enough coherence to avoid being placed in the “stupid beyond words” category. We can only be grateful that Savage’s courageous assault on disabled children has provided us with a perfect example.

I ask you: What kind of courage and strength of conviction must it have taken for him to speak truth to power with these brilliant observations about autistic children?

I know that some people might argue that by sharing the audio of his mind-bogglingly stupid rant, I am extending his reach. I simply think that, unless you hear his words with all the bile included, you might not fully appreciate how someone with such a tenuous hold on sanity continues on the air.

"What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, `Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, you idiot.'"

So here’s the latest:

The completely predictable free speech argument is now being raised by some of Savage’s supporters, or whatever you call someone who listens to him. This reveals a profound misunderstanding of the first amendment that is also seen all across the ideological spectrum.

So let's get it straight: Savage certainly has the right to say anything he wants and to salivate as much as he wants. That is why I never objected to any of the right-wing boycotts proposed by sundry loony-tunes. It really was Jerry Falwell’s right to express deep and grave concern that the purple Teletubby was actually gay. The man was afraid of being hit on by a stuffed animal and we needed to know that!

But no one in a commercial system of broadcasting is entitled to a permanent, sponsored platform.

Savage: You do get to say what you want. Sponsors, though, get to decide if and when an association with you becomes more of a liability than an asset. AFLAC, as they did yesterday when they jettisoned you, gets to decide that – however large your audience – they will pay more of a price by an affiliation with you. Other sponsors get the same choice. If not enough remain to make your show profitable, you still get to express your views. But not on their dime! Or on their radio network.

This is what kills me about you supposed free-market capitalists: You love a free-market until that free market bites you in the behind. Then you weep about your rights to free speech. Or you want to be able to rob sub-prime borrowers without annoying government interference like taxes, and when you screw up miserably, you are on your pathetic hands and knees begging for a bailout.

A free market and free expression means you can rant without restriction and others can do everything possible to get you off the air. Don’t worry, Mike: If enough sponsors choose to stick with a guy like you who is gutsy enough to ridicule disabled kids, you’ll stay on the air. If not, you are welcome to walk outside and start to babble.

One last thing: You have to see the carefully worded statement on Savage’s web site. One day he is calling autistic kids "idiots" and telling them not to “act like morons” and the next he is saying that “My comments about autism were meant to boldly awaken parents and children to the medical community's attempt to label too many children or adults as "autistic."

What canned, hack-written, C.Y.A. nonsense.

I beg you, Savage: Spare us the official “I better be sane and backtrack so my sponsors don’t head for the door” statement. These statements are hilarious in their desperation, illustrating how idiocy and cruelty only works on trash-radio until the sponsors get antsy. Then it’s time for a quick conversion to sanity. If you are going to be astoundingly ignorant, Mike, at least do it proudly and openly.

And Mike: Your attempted last minute conversion to sanity is truly a laugh riot. Just know that we can see through to the phoniness and transparent desperation designed to save the sponsors who finally know the truth: They have been paying to reach an audience who like hearing a nut make fun of disabled kids.

We can only hope that none of the sponsors buy it.

Oh, by the way, here is a list – courtesy of Greg Reich – of some of the sponsors who advertised on Savage’s July 18^th broadcast. Greg’s blog, Greg’s Take, has an excellent post on his experience raising a daughter with autism.

Digital Media Inc., U.S.A.

Nevada State Corporate Network, Inc.

Roger Schlesinger, the Mortgage Minute Guy

Effectur

Geico

Home Depot

Wachovia

Gold Bond

FreshStart America

Heritage Foundation

Debt Consultants of America

DirectBuy

WebEx

Friend of ISI,

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The Heritage Foundation’s (paid!!!) interns have real jobs, acquire policy expertise, build marketable skills, enhance their resumes, and attend events where they can meet and talk with the nation's leading policy-makers, and make friends with their conservative peers.

Specifically, their interns work with Heritage experts in such areas as homeland security, tax and budget, communications, religion and civil society, the rule of law, and foreign affairs. Additionally, for young entrepreneurs, interested in learning management skills, Heritage offers the opportunity to work in fundraising, donor and government relations, information systems, marketing, and online communications.

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For more information about the Heritage Foundation’s prestigious internship program, please visit: http://www.heritage.org/About/Internships/

Thanks,

Kenneth

1. Adolfo, conte-nos um pouco sobre você, sua vida acadêmica e sua vida "política".

R) Sobre mim mesmo: sou torcedor do Londrina e do Fluminense, minha família era de classe média até que meu pai teve um derrame. Daí em diante fomos pobres mesmo. Eu trabalhava durante o dia e cursava economia a noite. Na minha época de mestrado eu não tinha dinheiro sequer para pagar aluguel, assim eu morava na minha sala de estudos na UnB. Essa fase difícil passou, hoje trabalho regularmente pelo menos 14 horas por dia. Acordo antes das 7:00 e vou dormir depois da meia-noite.

Vida Acadêmica: terminei meu doutorado em economia na UnB em dezembro de 2000, aos 28 anos de idade. Aos 30 já era Diretor da Graduação e do Mestrado em Economia da Universidade Católica de Brasília. Aos 32 fiz meu pós-doutorado com o Professor Walter Enders, e aos 34 tive o prazer de dar aulas na Universidade do Texas – Edinburg. Eu criei e fui o primeiro editor da Revista Brasileira de Economia de Empresas, também fui o editor da Planejamento e Políticas Públicas (PPP). Atualmente tenho 25 artigos técnicos publicados em revistas científicas, ou aceitos para publicação (11 internacionais e 14 nacionais). O que na área de economia é uma bela marca. Além disso, também sou autor de um livro sobre os determinantes da riqueza de uma nação. Além do Brasil, também trabalhei com economia no Japão, Estados Unidos e Angola. Atualmente sou técnico do IPEA (antes de terminar o mestrado, aos 24 anos, fui aprovado no concurso do IPEA) e professor da UCB.

Vida Política: não sou filiado a partido político e não tenho ambições eleitorais. Mas luto diariamente para manter vivas as idéias em que acredito. Acredito que o indivíduo ou sua família, e não o Estado, é a unidade básica de uma sociedade. Acredito no direito a liberdade de escolha, na liberdade individual e na propriedade privada.

2. Há anos temos no Rio Grande do Sul um evento chamado "Fórum da Liberdade". Tenho a impressão de que este fórum não transcende sequer a cidade de Porto Alegre. Eventualmente o IL-RJ promove eventos com o Liberty Fund, o IL-RS promove um ou outro curso e uma pequena manifestação anual, o Dia de Liberdade dos Impostos. Recentemente, o Instituto Millenium tentou trajetória similar, mas não promoveu muitos eventos ainda. Se somarmos a estes três think tanks o Ordem Livre (que só existe virtualmente) e o IEE - que se restringe a empresários - não temos nem uma dezena de ONG's liberais. Direto ao ponto: você acha que liberalismo no Brasil só se restringe a empresários, como apontam os adversários do liberalismo?

R) De maneira alguma. Acredito que boa parte dos empresários brasileiros é CONTRA o liberalismo. A FIESP por exemplo não é liberal. Liberal é quem defende a competição, a liberdade de escolha e a propriedade privada. A FIESP não defende a abertura dos mercados brasileiros, tal como boa parte dos empresários prefere um Estado grande protegendo suas ineficiências. Liberal no Brasil são os consumidores que querem ter o direito de comprar produtos melhores e mais baratos. Quem mantém vivo o liberalismo no Brasil são indivíduos comuns, sem o apoio de grandes grupos ou de interesses ocultos. Por isso acredito que os Blogs e a internet foram a salvação do liberalismo brasileiro, sem essas ferramentas estaríamos ainda mais isolados.

3. Uma outra crítica: até hoje, não vejo nada comparável à quantidade e/ou qualidade das pesquisas acadêmicas (ou semi-acadêmicas) de instituições como o Cato Institute, uma Heritage Foundation ou mesmo o American Enterprise Institute, para citar apenas os mais famosos entre nossos liberais. Você acha que o liberalismo brasileiro tem aversão à pesquisa? Por que tão poucos "working papers" nos think tanks liberais brasileiros? Seria apenas falta de recursos?

R) Creio que o problema vai além da falta de recursos, ele reside na falta de conhecimento. Os institutos liberais que operam no Brasil parecem não acreditar muito no poder da pesquisa acadêmica, preferem se concentrar em artigos para jornais ou revistas. As pessoas que estão a frente de tais institutos simplesmente parecem não dar valor à pesquisa acadêmica, o que é uma pena. Assim, preferem contratar pessoas com um perfil que dificilmente as habilitariam a pesquisas científicas.

4. Já que falamos de entidades liberais, vamos discutir, agora, um ponto que tem pouco a ver com a pesquisa científica e mais com a mobilização de pessoas. Você promoveu, no último sábado, uma passeata liberal em Brasília. Houve algum apoio - divulgação, esforço em comparecimento, networking, etc - destes órgãos à sua passeata? Por outro lado, você prefere não ter o apoio dos mesmos? Por que será que - esta é uma impressão minha - o liberalismo brasileiro não consegue atingir tantos cidadãos comuns quanto empresários? Será que podemos jogar a culpa sempre na "doutrinação das esquerdas"? Ou há algo inerente à (in)ação dos nossos amigos liberais?

R) A única pessoa que me ajudou na organização do evento foi um aluno da graduação (Nilo). Na divulgação, o Instituto Federalista (IF) divulgou o evento em seu site. Talvez outros Institutos tenham feito o mesmo, não sei. Acredito que a maior parte das organizações liberais no Brasil não apóia iniciativas que não partam delas mesmo. De qualquer maneira, tais organizações são tão inoperantes que não creio que elas façam alguma falta. O seu blog e o do Tambosi têm muito mais poder de penetração junto ao público do que os sites dos Institutos Liberais. O Liberalismo não atinge o cidadão comum simplesmente porque o cidadão comum NÃO É exposto ao liberalismo. Por exemplo, eu só fui conhecer a obra de Hayek depois dos 30 anos de idade. Entre numa livraria e peça um livro de Hayek, ou Von Mises, ou Friedman. Você verá que tais livros ou não estão disponíveis ou custam 60 reais. Peça um livro de Marx e você encontrará pilhas deles a 10 reais. O que falta é divulgar as idéias liberais. Essa é uma tarefa extremamente difícil, pois os professores do ensino médio e fundamental são basicamente marxistas. O mesmo se repete nas universidades. Assim, as idéias liberais ficam completamente de fora da formação educacional de um aluno brasileiro.

5. Acho que você foi o único liberal que conseguiu, em muitos anos, fazer duas discussões liberais seguida de uma passeata em um curto espaço de tempo. Que balanço e perspectivas você pode nos apresentar sobre o liberalismo no Brasil?

R) O liberalismo irá triunfar no Brasil, só que isso não irá acontecer nesse natal. Hoje passamos por uma época nebulosa onde o Estado tenta comprar a todos com bolsas e subsídios, isso fortalece a posição do Estado junto aos formadores de opinião. E estes se encarregam de divulgar as belezas da intervenção estatal para o grande público. A única maneira de combatermos isso é divulgando nossas idéias para o grande público, e a internet nos dá essa chance. Acho que o Brasil irá enfrentar tempos difíceis nos próximos anos. Acredito que as coisas irão piorar, mas cedo ou tarde o que parece impossível hoje será a solução de amanhã. É disso que temos que nos conscientizar, minha geração não verá a vitória do liberalismo. A tarefa de minha geração é manter viva as idéias liberais para que a próxima geração, tendo contato com tais idéias mais cedo, possa combater de maneira efetiva os males associados a perda da liberdade individual.

6. Fique à vontade para concluir, Adolfo

R) Eu só tenho a agradecer você pela gentileza de sua entrevista. Saiba que são pessoas como você que fazem a diferença.

Comentários

Caro leitor, como os que me conhecem sabem, tenho uma boa relação com vários liberais das instituições citadas acima. Eu mesmo já fiz um ou outro trabalho para eles. Também é fato que nunca escondi deles minhas críticas (até porque liberalismo não é religião). Os pontos que o Adolfo destaca são importantes. Eles mostram que existe, primeiro, uma boa pergunta acadêmica: "quais os incentivos que regem as ações dos think tanks liberais no Brasil"? Em segundo lugar, é possível fazer mais sozinho do que em grupo (algo que qualquer aluno de economia que já estudou bens públicos e variantes sabe), inclusive quando se fala de liberais brasileiros. O problema de ação coletiva existe aqui.

Gostei também do insight do Adolfo: o consumidor é o grande liberal brasileiro, embora nem sempre tenha consciência disto. Mas se assim o é, Adolfo, por que o mesmo não se manifesta como tal? Por que esta insistência em se identificar com seu algoz, o Estado?

Note, leitor, a história de vida do Adolfo. Nada diferente do que a de muitos brasileiros. Liberalismo, na prática, é coisa que qualquer um tem em sua vida, em maior ou menor aspecto. Quem luta para se sair bem na escola não quer seu sucesso roubado por colegas picaretas. Já o discurso liberal, este cabe na boca de muito empresário nem sempre liberal de fato. Há que se distinguir entre o liberalismo de balcão (ou de quermesse, como diria o Alex Schwartsman) e o liberalismo legítimo.

Meus amigos liberais têm ouvido muitas críticas cretinas e injustas. Estas, desta entrevista, não fazem parte desta besteira destrutiva que temos por aí. Aliás, são muito mais um alerta do que uma crítica. Ou os liberais prestam atenção nisto, ou estarão entregando o poder aos inimigos dos indivíduos por muitos anos...é o que penso.

While the proposed program would help some homeowners, analysts say it would touch only a small fraction of those in trouble — the Congressional Budget Office estimates it would be used by 400,000 borrowers — and would do little to bolster the housing market.

“It’s not enough, even in the best of circumstances,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com...

“No matter how you fiddle with terms of their present situation, it’s not going to save the day” for many borrowers, said Bert Ely, a housing finance consultant based in Washington...

“In this rush to legislate and with the lack of discussion of a lot of issues, people will look at this bill in the winter and say we shouldn’t have done this, we shouldn’t have done that,” said Mr. Ely, who closely followed the savings and loan debacle...

An official for the Mortgage Bankers Association, a trade group in Washington, acknowledged that the proposal may not help the majority of troubled borrowers...

Nonetheless, the NYT article points to the rising number of people defaulting on their loans to argue for the bailout as a sign Congress is "doing something" about the problem. But, as the Heritage Foundation predicted months ago, the bailout bill itself may be the cause of the increase in past due loans. Heritage said in March that the Dodd bailout would "threaten to disrupt and slow the private sector's efforts to help troubled borrowers, because either borrowers or lenders may believe they could get taxpayer-subsidized terms under the new FHA-based arrangements when they do become available."

The truly worrisome part of the NYT article is that while everyone is realizing the bailout is dud, liberals are using it as an excuse for more federal intrusion, not less. Barney Frank is quoted as saying a second bailout is likely needed.

Instead of recklessly tossing hundreds of billions of tax dollars at mortgage companies, the Senate should abandon this terrible bill and focus on policies that give Americans more money in their pocket to pay their bills: 

• Cut taxes permanently;
• Drill for gas & oil to reduce energy costs; and
• Allow people to by cheaper health care plans from other states.

This is the way the world ends/Not with a bang but a whimper.

T.S.Eliot, The Hollow Men

Merrill Lynch published this chart last night of the U.S. Short term Treasury obligations of $742 Billion. Note that 2/3rds of this debt is held by the central banks of about 8 countries including China, Russia, Saudia Arabia, and Japan. Let's assume the dollar keeps falling because the Fed is afraid to raise interest rates in an election year. At what point do we encounter a "buyers strike" from these Central Banks at a Treasury Bill auction, which forces rates much higher in order to keep paying for the War In Iraq? What happens then? According to Merrill, this is what happens.

The US consumer is ultimately forced to violently adjust its impaired balance sheet. An insatiable appetite for debt comes against the constraint of reduced global credit availability.

There are only two ways to "violently adjust" a balance sheet: forced asset sales or bankruptcy. Either one leads to financial panic. Someday when the history of the decline of the American Empire is told, we will look at this chart on the left, and see that it was when Ronald Reagan came to office that we started going into debt to the rest of the world. And we will know that the idealogical stupidity of the conservative revolution lead us to this Day of Reckoning.

The task of rebuilding America as a producing/saving economy as opposed to a consumption/debt economy will be left to the Democrats. It will be painful and the supply side economist idealogues that brought this plague upon our nation will retreat to their think tanks like Heritage and AEI and pretend it wasn't their fault.

Our Puritan forefathers would have locked them in the Pillory stocks for public shaming.

Mr. Darling needs to be beaten with an oil field pipe wrench  - he is paid by the foundation to convey misinformation. The entire run up in crude prices is due to the number of speculators that hold contracts on dry barrels. These evil folks could never hope to take delivery of the commodities that they are bidding on. Worse, they are bidding with a near zero investment backing their long positions. Could it get worse that this?

Yes. In most cases, they are not even placing the 5% margin requirement that is called for (it should be 50% margin). They are allowed to trade for free, with no need to take delivery, and with what is essentially no margin requirement.

Brian Darling - you are an evil traitor to this country you bastard.

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Perhaps they found a good use for those worthless think-tank studies and worthless papers that they publish.

Note: For those of you with no sense of humor, this is a joke. Let's just hope no one is hurt.

Update from Drudge:

Fire Scare at Heritage Foundation Building in DC
Thur June 12, 2008 15:18:11 ET

Developing...

Of course, they point out how Amtrak relies on federal subsidies:

Despite this massive subsidy and endless promises of improvement by a series of recent managers and board members, Amtrak is no closer to service sustainability today than it was 38 years ago, in large part because its passengers value the service at only a fraction of what it costs to provide it.

That's basically a very economist way of saying that Americans like their travel to be affordable. And why not? I value my college education, but if the government didn't subsidize it, I wouldn't have been able to attend. Why shouldn't effective transport be similar? And why can't we spare money for our trains when we can hand out $20 billion to the oil industry each year? Those defending the oil subsidy would say those companies are providing a service to the country. Isn't that what Amtrak is doing to an even greater extent? This report by Amtrak's Office of Inspector General also points out how piddly Amtrak's public funding is compared to its European counterparts.

The Foundation also mobilizes its oh-so extensive environmental credentials, claiming that trains don't offer that much of an environmental advantage over planes. What they fail to state is that increased energy efficiency in planes doesn't come close to equating with decreased environmental consequences, not just from CO2, but also from other pollutants that are particularly potent when released high in the air. They also don't consider that trains compete with car trips, which, in addition to consuming a large amount of energy per person, are incentive for the construction of more huge roads and hence more traffic congestion.

For this reason, the report's conclusion rings pretty hollow:

The transportation challenges confronting the United States over the next several years will be unprecedented in their scope and difficulty. As congestion worsens and undermines the economic vitality of some metropolitan areas, voter skepticism about the competence of federal and state transportation officials has increased and in the process has discouraged efforts to increase the public resources available for transportation investment. Legislation such as H.R. 6003 deepens that skepticism by demonstrating that Congress is more interested in pandering to influential constituencies than in finding solutions to mobility and congestion relief.

So how do we meet this unprecedented challenge? What so-called "solutions" would they suggest? The answer isn't continuing the self-perpetuating cycle of widening our roads. Americans want real cures for their transport woes, not bandages applied by those interests too afraid to end automobole hegemony for the greater good.

Now the "Heritage Foundation," a right-wing think tank that thinks exactly what its corporate sponsors pays them to think, has latched onto this Steven Mosher - the president of the Population Research Institute - a far-right, pro-population growth think tank that thinks exactly what its religious sponsors  pays it to think.  In this case, the "thoughts" of these two organizations converge to support never-ending population growth (the primary objective being to fuel total sales volume, profit, and Sunday basket collection growth) at the expense of humanity. 

I hope these people genuinely believe that population growth can go on without end and without consequence.  God may forgive stupidity but I suspect He'd take a dim view of profiteering at the expense of future generations. 

Sens. Diane Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) authored a bill (with 11 co-sponsors, including Sen. Barack Obama) that was incorporated into a housing bill passed by the Senate Banking Committee 19-2 before the Memorial Day recess — a bill that creates a national fingerprint registry.

According to a Martinez press release, the language merely “create[s] national licensing and oversight standards for residential mortgage originators.”

So the Heritage Foundation, that proclaims it is all about  "Reagan Conservatism" (with the help of the worse moron of them all, Sean Hannity),  talks about Limited Government (but supports the warfare/welfare state) are now going after Sen. Obama for supporting something that El Presidente Bush supports? I am in LaLa Land folks.

Maybe this all has to do with this little news item from Croatia. (That's a country for you public school kids)

EU, U.S., Told to Agree Joint Data Privacy Rules

The EU and the United States should agree a binding deal on data privacy to boost their cooperation in fighting crime and terrorism, senior officials said ahead of a transatlantic summit next week.

The panel of senior European Union and U.S. officials, set up more than a year ago after European lawmakers and rights groups said data sharing deals lacked proper privacy protection, identified a first set of broad common principles.

To quote from the movie the Matrix, when Neo and Trinity are getting ready to go into battle in the grand finale of the film, Tank asks " So what do you need? Besides a miracle."

Neo's reply: Guns. Lots of guns .

That about says it all right there.

Senate to Skip Debate on Climate Tax and Vote on Final Passage!

Call your Senators and Urge them to Vote NO on S. 3036!

After promising to allow an open and lengthy debate on America's Climate Security Act (S. 3036), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) filed cloture to proceed to final passage, allowing NO AMENDMENTS and only ONE DAY for debate of a massive energy tax increase on American consumers. The Senate will vote on cloture tomorrow, Friday morning, June 6th!

The latest word is that Senator Reid is actively working to gain over 50 votes for cloture. We cannot allow this many Senators to vote YES. Environmental groups will spin this as a victory. We need your calls to get your Senators' phones ringing off the hook in opposition to this bill!

This chart, constructed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, illustrates the massive increase in bureaucracy as mandated by an amendment which was offered by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA). The amendment contains over 300 new regulations and mandates.

If this bill passes, not only will gas prices increase by at least $0.53 per gallon, jobs will be lost all over the country, with the South being hit the hardest. This chart, constructed by the Heritage Foundation, details the economic effects this bill will have on each geographic region of the U.S.

The Lieberman-Warner-Boxer cap-and-trade bill certainly proves that green is the new "red." It aims to deliberately cripple the American capitalist system and destroy our economy as we know it!

The Senate will vote on the cloture motion to proceed to final passage tomorrow morning, June 6th! Call your Senators' Capitol Hill offices now and tell them to vote NO on the Lieberman-Warner-Boxer bill today!

TAKE ACTION!

Further reading:

"We Don't Need a Climate Tax on the Poor," by Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK)

Used with the permission of Eagle Forum.

Stiff Right Alerts is a project of Stiff Right Jab and The Center for Moral Liberalism.

So, anyway, this study, which was scientifically conducted in my head after years of observation of different jobs, determined the top ten easiest jobs in the world. For those of you in these jobs, don't be resentful; be thankful you don't have to work for a living.

10. Bush's speech writer: You don't have to come up with anything profound; he's going to botch it anyway. "Where wings take dream." "Put food on your families." "Fool me once, can't fool me again." Oh, just shut up and run out the clock.

9. Lifeguard at the baby pool: If anyone needs an explanation for this one, go ahead and do us all a favor and step in front of a bus.

8. Height regulation enforcer at the fair: There's only one question on that application: "Can you say repeatedly with as redneck and disinterested a voice as possible 489 times a day, "Got to be 42" tall. Just look at the wooden cartoon dog's hand"?

7. Vanna White's job, or more correctly stated, Toucher of Lighted Rectangles: No commentary needed.

6. Any government job: I'm not talking about elected officials and agency heads, but the paper pushers with benefits coming out the wazoo, who do nothing, but still act pissed when you show up at their window. I had to renew my license some time back. The worker, whose only function in life from what I could tell was to take a rubber stamp, slightly dampen it in ink, and then place it on a sheet of paper, was beside herself that I had the gall to ask her to do just what I described.

5. Whoever fills up the holy water fountain in Catholic Churches

4. Volunteers in the Mimes For Blind People Program: Ok, neither this job nor this program exists, but I start laughing just thinking about mimes performing for blind people. "What's he doing now?" "How the hell should I know? I didn't even know you were there until you said something."

3. Robin of Batman and Robin Fame: Sure, the cartoonists, or whatever they're called, gave him a "Kapow!" every now and again, but everyone know Batman did all the work.

2. Tight ends coach: "Catch. Block. Whew, I'm calling it a day. Who wants a cold one?"

1. Drummer in a country band: It's hard to put sounds into words, but listen to any country song; I don't care if it's a ballad or that new stuff they call country, the drummer has the same beat, "Bomp. Shish. Bomp. Shish." It's basically bass drum, cymbal, bass drum, cymbal.

When the price of diesel fuel goes up, shipping companies that hire truckers like Long tack on a fuel surcharges to their bill to recoup the cost to transport goods.

Diesel fuel on Friday set an all time national high at $ 4. 79 per gallon, according to AAA fuel gauge report data. Diesel in Arkansas at $ 4. 70 per gallon, has jumped $ 1. 22 in the past year.

And because shipping rates have remained relatively unchanged, Long, a 65-year-old independent trucker from Russellville, said when he doesn’t get the full amount of those surcharges, he struggles to make up the difference. He said it costs more than $ 1, 000 a week to make the payments to keep his truck on the road. More from NWAnews.com

I have to agree with James Gattuso at the Heritage Foundation regarding the TRUCC Act -- it's more government regulation into an over-regulated industry. While we must make a living while filling our fuel tanks, do we really want the government mandating fuel surcharges and coming up with a "formula" on how it is to be paid?

ACTION ALERT: Fight Back Against High Gas Prices And the Politicians Who Will Make them Higher Still

By Newt Gingrich

There must be something about springtime in Washington that makes Senators forget where they came from.

Next week, the Senate is set to begin debate on a bill that will raise the price of gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil and aviation fuel.(view this Heritage Foundation state-by-state breakdown to find out how much Warner Lieberman will cost you). It's the Warner-Lieberman global warming bill, and its supporters are as misguided and out-of-touch with the American people as the supporters of last spring's immigration amnesty bill - and we all remember how that turned out.

Our Goal: 100,000 Voices the Senate Can't Ignore

There are two things you can do now to fight back.

First, call or email your Senator and tell him or her to vote "no" on Warner-Lieberman - "no" on raising the cost of driving to work, heating your home, and feeding your family.

Second, visit americansolutions.com/drillnow and sign our "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" petition.

The petition is simple but powerful. It says:

We, therefore, the undersigned citizens of the United States, petition the U.S. Congress to act immediately to lower gasoline prices by authorizing the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries.

In just a few short days, over 45,000 Americans have signed the pledge.

And with your help, as the Senate begins to debate Warner-Lieberman, American Solutions will present the names of 100,000 of their constituents who will hold them accountable if they fail to allow America the freedom to use its own energy resources instead of relying on foreign dictators.

Americans truly have a choice - a choice between the Pay More, Send More Money to Foreign Dictators and Cripple America Left and the Produce More, Enjoy More, Pay Less, Stengthen American Center-Right Majority.

Make your choice by visiting americansolutions.com/drillnow.

Kudos to Congressman Green

I also want to take the time to congratulate a principled Democratic Representative who had the courage to break with his party leadership last week on the issue of domestic energy production.

Congressman Gene Green (D-TX) told CNBC, "We also need more exploration. But we really need to get more oil to the market, particularly from our own country. The best signal we can send to OPEC and anywhere else in the world is maybe not filing a lawsuit against them but actually saying 'we are going to start producing in our own country.'"

All Americans who are concerned about out-of-control prices and our vulnerability to energy blackmail by foreign dictators should appreciate and acknowledge Congressman Green's stand. The only question left is the one posed to Green by the CNBC anchor: "Can you convince the other wings of your party to think like you do?"

Watching how opinion is shaped by the media in America is one of my favorite spectator sports. This is because at Family Leader, we see how the socially conservative values are distorted, misrepresented and often ignored by the press. That's why we dig out the information, the story behind the story, and send it on to you-and hope you are sending these emails on to your friends.

We've mentioned that not only the funding, but the very concept and definition of abstinence education is at risk now in Congress. So it was disturbing to note that when a press conference was held recently at the National Press Club featuring a recent study by the Heritage Foundation and another by Stan Weed that clearly demonstrated the power of abstinence education to help teens avoid risky behavior, the press didn't show up. Apparently, those who think that teens should indulge in sexual activity and that it is natural that they do so, didn't want to publish a different perspective.

You know the old adage about a tree falling in the forest with nobody there to hear it-did it make a sound?

Though there are some enclaves of fairness, conservatives are often frustrated at the liberal bias in the mainstream media. This matters to us as citizens concerned about families and the moral strength of our nation because so often our issues and views are unfairly presented in the media and social conservatives are portrayed as narrow, oppressive and on the margins of society.

The Media Research Center pores over and analyzes the work of the mainstream media, holds their feet to the fire for bias and makes annual Dishonor Awards for some of the most over-the-top reports. They skewer the media in the easiest way-they simply quote them, letting their own words do the job.

We share a few of these here with you, not only for the fun of it, (sometimes laughter makes the bias a bit more bearable), but also so that you'll know that you can't always take what you hear at face value.

Quote of the Year

The press is not big on reporting any success on the war in Iraq, which engendered a remarkably ridiculous headline.

The Dan Rather Memorial Award for the Stupidest Headline of the Year went to this doozy from October 16, 2007 by the McClatchy News Service. Apparently bad news pays and especially if it is bad news about the war in Iraq. As the surge began to succeed, the news service reporters just had to find something negative to say, and here's the headline they came up with:

"As violence falls in Iraq, cemetery workers feel the pinch."

Heroism in war is also a subject to be overlooked.

Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy, a SEAL, earned the Medal of Honor for his heroics in Afghanistan. When his unit was ambushed and vastly outnumbered in a ferocious firefight, Lt. Murphy stepped into the open-and line of fire and certain death-to make a satellite phone call that would bring the help that would save his buddies. During the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan only three Medals of Honor have been awarded and the only one in Afghanistan.

Despite these heroics, according to William Kristol, editor of The Weekly Standard, Lt. Murphy and his Medal of Honor did not receive 1/1000th the coverage of the Nobel Prize, though it is a more rare award, and was not even mentioned in the New York Times, Murphy's home town newspaper.

Stupidest Analysis

A nominee for stupidest analysis was Katie Couric who was interviewing the creators of The Nativity Story about Hollywood movies based on Biblical themes during Christmas of 2006. Her question to them, oozing with sympathy and meant to signal how inappropriate a religious movie would surely be, was this:

"Do you worry at all that non-believers may feel excluded and diminished at a time when we're so divided about so much?"
(Translation: telling the nativity story is a purposely divisive thing to do-even if the majority of the nation is Christian.)

Dewy-eyed Bias

Chris Matthews on his Hardball show, apparently doesn't have any hardball for his favorite politicians. On the air he described the Obamas with this effusiveness: "They are cool people, they are really cool people. They are Jack and Jackie Kennedy. They are great looking and they are young. If you are in with Obama you feel the spirit moving."

Regarding Bill Clinton's address at Coretta King's funeral, Matthews said, "There are times when he sounds like Jesus in the temple. An amazing ability to transcend ethnicity, race we call it, and speak to us all in this amazingly primordial way."

Host Bill Maher rocked Catholics to the core with his scathing remarks about the Pope during his recent visit, but less well known and just as egregious were his remarks on his HBO show Real Time, March 2, 2007 discussing how a few commenters at a left-wing blog were upset that an attempt to kill Vice President Dick Cheney in Afghanistan had failed. He said, "I'm just saying if he did die, other people would live. That's a fact."

How about those Polls?

Pollster Kellyanne Conway notes that we are swimming in polls. Some of them are geared to asking people questions that they know absolutely nothing about. Her all-time favorite happened in 1986 when President Reagan was diagnosed with a mild form of treatable cancer. She said, "The media couldn't help themselves. That night, it was asked of Americans nationwide, "As you may or may not know, today President Ronald Reagan was diagnosed with cancer. How serious do you think this cancer is?" She laughed that there was no option that said, "I don't know; I'm not an oncologist."

Often a bias is built right into the polling question itself. Here's a funny example. In Oct. 2004, ABC News asked people, "How much do you blame the Bush administration for the shortage of flu vaccines? The options ranged like this: 1) A great deal. 2) A good amount. 3) Only some or 4) Hardly any. There was no option that they should get no blame whatsoever.

Conway laughed about this poll as well. ABC News asked in April 2007. Which of the following do you think is the primary cause of gun violence in America. A. The availability fo guns. B. The way parents raise their children. C. The influence of popular culture, movies, television and the Internet. Conway said, "I scrolled down to page two looking for another option, "D the person pulling the trigger," and it wasn't there...Sometimes the best answer is conspicuous by its absence."

The lesson in all this? Be analytical in listening to or reading the news. Don't abandon your values if you hear stories that undercut them. Look for multiple sources on stories that really matter to you.

Center for Moral Liberalism contributing editor, Maurine Proctor, is the publisher of Meridian Magazine, and President of Family Leader.

"McCain would have done better to push back against the global warming cult and conduct a raid on the cultists similar to what Texas authorities did to the FLDS polygamists. Instead of buying into the claims of global warming alarmists who seek more control over our lives through big government intrusion, McCain should demand a debate on the issue."

According to Mr. Thomas, the "global warming cult" or "global warming alarmists" seek to convince the world that climate change is a significant problem for the purpose of gaining totalitarian-like control over the world's citizens. Pretty sneaky. But luckily we have loads of scientists and columnists like Mr. Thomas to sound the alarm before we all get suckered into this grand conspiracy.

Nevermind that most global warming "skeptics" are somehow linked to ExxonMobil. And just ignore the fact that Cal Thomas' most recent column before this one was the aptly titled "In Defense of Big Oil."

If it were up to us here at Rebel, we would wholeheartedly agree to the debate on global warming evidence which Mr. Thomas suggests. However, there would have to be a few conditions:

No one who is on the ExxonMobil payroll would be invited.

And

No one who has ties to "think tanks" which get their funding from oil companies (the Heritage Foundation) would be allowed to participate either.

We'll wait to hear how many will be able to attend, but we won't be holding our collective breath.

Sure, we're not battling double-digit inflation, the Soviet Union, or the obscene growth of government nowadays, but Reaganism reminds us that we should keep this nation capitalist, we should defeat the radical jihadists who threaten our way of life, and that we should worry about the growth of government at the expense of individual liberty.

Some have suggested that Republicans and Conservatives "let go" and get over Reagan.  However, the legacy of President Reagan is not that he was saying anything new, but he was reaffirming principles what we, as Americans, have running through our bloodstream: an optimistic, can-do spirit that played to our better angels in confronting our tasks with a clear mind and determination.  He spoke of principles, ideals and pathways, not gloom, doom, and defeat.

In 2008 I believe that America would embrace that message and a conservative candidate that is willing to tackle the challenges of today's world with a little dose of that can-do spirit with the government getting out of the way.  We're not looking for Ronald Reagan, just a politician ready to meet today's challenges with Reagan's time-tested measures and principles.  Is that really so hard for our politicians to embrace?

School Choice is an issue still on my radar as you can see when I added this book to my GoodReads to-read list this weekend. (Hello, nerd? I read this stuff for fun you know.) I did my Senior Comprehensive Project at Allegheny on The Constitutionality of School Choice Programs. (Loved it! Got Honors! 5 years later, the Supreme Court agreed with my brilliant conclusion in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris.) And my law school seminar paper focused on school voucher legislation and public policy development. Oh and just in case you were wondering, the college thesis (100+pages) was much more work than the law school seminar paper (20+ pages.)

Anyhow... here are some "great resources for parents, lawmakers, and others who follow charter school issues" from the Center for Education Reform. You know to browse at your leisure. ;) Like I will next week.

A conservative.

After seven years of big-spending government and eroding civil liberties under allegedly conservative Republicans, the joke needs an update: What do you call a conservative who's been mugged by government?

A libertarian.

Independent voters tend to decide national elections, and the largest bloc of independents are libertarian in outlook: fiscally conservative and socially liberal, in effect straddling the two major parties---which leaves them vulnerable to getting kicked in the crotch no matter whom they vote for.

This country was founded on libertarian principles---limited government, property rights, civil liberties, individual responsibility---that have been significantly eroded under both Democratic and Republican administrations. The designers of our democracy wouldn't recognize what's become of their experiment today; somehow a design intended to limit government has been twisted into a government with no intention of limiting its designs.

Up until the turn of the millenium, it was Democrats who considered the Constitution a "quaint document." Now the Republican Party has betrayed its most fundamental animating principle. It is no longer a conservative party.

PJ O'Rourke puts it like this: "It's going to be hard to do a worse job running America than the Republicans have, but if anybody can do it, it's the Democrats."

With a socialist Hillary Clinton or a very liberal Barack Obama set to face off against a big government Republican like John McCain, McCain would seem to be the lesser of two evils. Maybe the late great Molly Ivans had it right: for the third presidential election in a row, we're faced with "the evil of two lessers." The only genuine libertarian in the race is Ron Paul, and he's way too principled, too shrill, too rough around the edges, and too ugly to win the American Idol contest we call a presidential election.

At the end of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin was asked what kind of nation had been created. His answer: "A republic, if you can keep it."

Newsprism

Be that as it may, I'm very glad these people are no longer able to spy for the Chinese Communist Government. From CNN's Lou Dobbs:

DOBBS: All of mainstream media, this broadcast we're proud to say is the only one that refers to China as communist China. The other folks in the mainstream media don't apparently understand who runs China. We do.

And case in point, two new cases tonight of communist Chinese spies operating in this country, a Pentagon official now facing up to 10 years in prison -- I said Pentagon official facing up to a decade in prison after pleading guilty to selling U.S. military secrets to China and a former Boeing engineer now charged with selling trade secrets for the Chinese government.

Louise Schiavone has our report.

LOUISE SCHIAVONE, CNN CORRESPONDENT : A guilty plea now from the Pentagon weapon system analystPeople's Republic of China. Justice officials say Greg Burgerson (ph) played into the hands of communist China in the most classic way.

KENNETH WAINSTEIN, ASST. A.G. FOR NAT'L SECURITY: Complete with traditional elements of spy trade craft, including foreign handlers, payouts, cut out couriers that compromised a government employee. All of which resulted in the penetration of our government's information security system and the passage of national defense information.

SCHIAVONE: The indictment charges Burgerson conspired with Taiwan born Ti Chan Quo (ph), a naturalized U.S. citizenaccused Chinese spy passing on information about U.S. Taiwan communications and weapon sales, information about the global information grid linking major DOD sites and other classified and unclassified information, all for a few thousand dollars and other gifts. Early this week Burgerson signed a court document asserting, "I hereby stipulate that the above statement of facts is true and accurate", end quote. Analysts say China's espionage has been costly.

JOHN TKACIK, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: I do see that there are a lot of very new Chinese weapon systems coming on stream that seem to be based on U.S. designs. How they got those designs, they could have gotten them any number of ways. But human intelligence in the last year seems to be certainly one of the more publicized ways.

SCHIAVONE: In the case of Burgerson, co-conspirator Quo, and a Chinese immigrant were also charged and pleaded not guilty. In a separate indictment, a former Boeing engineer, Don Fen Greg Chung (ph), was accused of stealing trade secrets and collecting U.S. aviation data for China, including information about the space shuttle. Chung has entered a not guilty plea.

SCHIAVONE: Lou, as you said, Burgerson faces up to 10 years in jail. His Taiwan-borne co-conspirator could get life and then all accused of being willing instruments of what analysts believe is the largest and most aggressive espionage operation in the United States -- Lou.

DOBBS: And while a number of our elected officials and bureaucrats could be considered as useful fools in the exercise supporting the most amazing momentous transfer of knowledge from one nation to another in history both lawful and as you have documented, unlawful. Louise Schiavone, thank you very much reporting from Washington.

Those just some of the most recent examples of communist China's extensive spying operations here. Just last week Chinese-borne engineer Chi Mak (ph) was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Mak a naturalized U.S. citizen convicted of conspiring to smuggle sensitive U.S. Navy submarine technology to communist China.

House Speaker Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi calling for President Bush to boycott the opening ceremonies now of the Beijing Olympics. Last week Speaker Pelosi well she was speaking out against a boycott of the Olympics as a whole, but today she said the president should consider skipping at least the opening ceremonies in protest of China's record on human rights. The White House says the president plans to attend the Olympics.

Pelosi you are worthless! And bush miss a photo op? Are you kidding me? This man would NEVER do the right thing! Give me a break here.

What makes me mad is that with all the things our government is putting the average citizen through, RFID chips, Real ID, airport screenings, etc., this stuff is going on under their noses. It seems to me that if they would secure the borders FIRST, we'd have a lot less of this crap going on. And then Citizens, not naturalized ones, but those born of here in this country for generations, wouldn't have to be put through all the crap we are being put through. I feel like I've awakened in a third world country where all MY freedoms, guaranteed in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution, have been stolen away.

I hope sense comes to later generations and that bush and cheney are found guilty of war crimes and crimes against the American People. If our Congressional leaders weren't so gutless and spineless we should have impeached their asses by now. They don't deserve to tarnish that highest office in the United States of America. But this is JustMyTruth

If you live in a State that is Against Real ID, you will no longer be able to visit your favorite National Park, go into a Federal Building, or board an airplane. This isn't YOUR fault, and your State is fighting for YOUR privacy. The agency that is SUPPOSED to protect us, the federal government, has made it so we either comply, (papers... show us your papers), or you don't get the privileges of those who do comply. In other words, the Country that is YOURS isn't Yours any more. Or so it would seem. I think the Real ID Act needs to be repealed! I'm not alone, many legislators feel the same way.

It is time to let the Congress know what you think, if you think. The federal government is NOT all powerful even if they would love to have you think they are. And this governor who stole the White House? He never earned it, let's get rid of his smarmy, tw0-bit policies and the crew he rode in with!

It is imperative that we support those States that have decided to stop Real ID in its tracks. If that means we don't fly, so be it. You can bet the airlines aren't going to let this go without a fight either. If it means we can't get into our favorite parks for a while, so be it. When their revenues run out they'll be begging us to come back. We Have The Power, not the feds.

From CNN we have a great story on the ramifications of Real ID.

By Eliott C. McLaughlin
CNN

(CNN) -- Americans may need passports to board domestic flights or to picnic in a national park next year if they live in one of the states defying the federal Real ID Act.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says there are no plans for a federal database of drivers' information.

The act, signed in 2005 as part of an emergency military spending and tsunami relief bill, aims to weave driver's licenses and state ID cards into a sort of national identification system by May 2008. The law sets baseline criteria for how driver's licenses will be issued and what information they must contain.

The Department of Homeland Security insists Real ID is an essential weapon in the war on terror, but privacy and civil liberties watchdogs are calling the initiative an overly intrusive measure that smacks of Big Brother.

More than half the nation's state legislatures have passed or proposed legislation denouncing the plan, and some have penned bills expressly forbidding compliance.

Several states have begun making arrangements for the new requirements -- four have passed legislation applauding the measure -- but even they may have trouble meeting the act's deadline.

The cards would be mandatory for all "federal purposes," which include boarding an airplane or walking into a federal building, nuclear facility or national park, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff told the National Conference of State Legislatures last week. Citizens in states that don't comply with the new rules will have to use passports for federal purposes.

"For terrorists, travel documents are like weapons," Chertoff said. "We do have a right and an obligation to see that those licenses reflect the identity of the person who's presenting it."

Chertoff said the Real ID program is essential to national security because there are presently 8,000 types of identification accepted to enter the United States.

And just HOW is a national ID card supposed to help a border inspector deal with the 8,000 OTHER forms of ID coming INTO this country??? That's the real question. For while this SOUNDS good, it has NO applicable value when you consider that they are talking about entering the country by foreigners...

"It is simply unreasonable to expect our border inspectors to be able to detect forgeries on documents that range from baptismal certificates from small towns in Texas to cards that purport to reflect citizenship privileges in a province somewhere in Canada," he said.

Chertoff attended the conference in Boston, Massachusetts, in part to allay states' concerns, but he had few concrete answers on funding.The Department of Homeland Security, which estimates state and federal costs could reach $23.1 billion over 10 years, is looking for ways to lessen the burden on states, he said. On the recent congressional front, however, Chertoff could point only to an amendment killed in the Senate last month that would've provided $300 million for the program.

"There's going to be an irreducible expense that falls on you, and that's part of the shared responsibility," Chertoff told the state legislators.

Bill Walsh, senior legal fellow for the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based conservative think tank that supports the Real ID Act, said states shouldn't be pushing for more federal dollars because, ultimately, that will mean more federal oversight -- and many complaints about cost coincide with complaints about the federal government overstepping its bounds.

"They are only being asked to do what they should've already done to protect their citizens," Walsh said, blaming arcane software and policies at state motor vehicle departments for what he called "a tremendous trafficking in state driver's licenses."

The NCSL is calling Real ID an "unfunded mandate" that could cost states up to $14 billion over the next decade, but for which only $40 million has been federally approved. The group is demanding Congress pony up $1 billion for startup costs by year's end or scrap the proposal altogether.

Everyone must visit DMV by 2013

The Real ID Act repealed a provision in the 9/11 Commission Implementation Act calling for state and federal officials to examine security standards for driver's licenses.

It called instead for states to begin issuing new federal licenses, lasting no longer than eight years, by May 11, 2008, unless they are granted an extension.

It also requires all 245 million license and state ID holders to visit their local departments of motor vehicles and apply for a Real ID by 2013. Applicants must bring a photo ID, birth certificate, proof of Social Security number and proof of residence, and states must maintain and protect massive databases housing the information.

NCSL spokesman Bill Wyatt said the requirements are "almost physically impossible." States will have to build new facilities, secure those facilities and shell out for additional equipment and personnel.

Those costs are going to fall back on the American taxpayer, he said. It might be in the form of a new transportation, motor vehicle or gasoline tax. Or you might find it tacked on to your next state tax bill. In Texas, Wyatt said, one official told him that without federal funding, the Lone Star State might have to charge its citizens more than $100 for a license.

"We kind of feel like the way they went about this is backwards," Wyatt said, explaining that states would have appreciated more input into the process. "Each state has its own unique challenges and these are best addressed at state levels. A one-size-fits-all approach to driver's licenses doesn't necessarily work."

Many states have revolted. The governors of Idaho, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Washington have signed bills refusing to comply with the act. Six others have passed bills and/or resolutions expressing opposition, and 15 have similar legislation pending.

Though the NCSL says most states' opposition stems from the lack of funding, some states cited other reasons for resisting the initiative.

New Hampshire passed a House bill opposing the program and calling Real ID "contrary and repugnant" to the state and federal constitutions. A Colorado House resolution dismissed Real ID by expressing support for the war on terror but "not at the expense of essential civil rights and liberties of citizens of this country."

Privacy concerns raised

Colorado and New Hampshire lawmakers are not alone. Groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and Electronic Frontier Foundation say the IDs and supporting databases -- which Chertoff said would eventually be federally interconnected -- will infringe on privacy.

EFF says on its Web site that the information in the databases will lay the groundwork for "a wide range of surveillance activities" by government and businesses that "will be able to easily read your private information" because of the bar code required on each card.

The databases will provide a one-stop shop for identity thieves, adds the ACLU on its Web site, and the U.S. "surveillance society" and private sector will have access to the system "for the routine tracking, monitoring and regulation of individuals' movements and activities."

The civil liberties watchdog dubs the IDs "internal passports" and claims it wouldn't be long before office buildings, gas stations, toll booths, subways and buses begin accessing the system.

But Chertoff told legislators last week that DHS has no intention of creating a federal database, and Walsh, of the Heritage Foundation, said the ACLU's allegations are disingenuous.

States will be permitted to share data only when validating someone's identity, Walsh said.

"The federal government wouldn't have any greater access to driver's license information than it does today," Walsh said.

States have the right to refuse to comply with the program, he said, and they also have the right to continue issuing IDs and driver's licenses that don't meet Real ID requirements.

But, Walsh said, "any state that's refusing to implement this key recommendation by the 9/11 Commission, and whose state driver's licenses are as a result used in another terrorist attack, should be held responsible."

State reaction to Real ID has not been all negative. Four states have passed bills or resolutions expressing approval for the program, and 13 states have similar legislation pending (Several states have pending pieces of legislation both applauding and opposing Real ID).
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Chertoff said there would be repercussions for states choosing not to comply.

"This is not a mandate," Chertoff said. "A state doesn't have to do this, but if the state doesn't have -- at the end of the day, at the end of the deadline -- Real ID-compliant licenses then the state cannot expect that those licenses will be accepted for federal purposes."

Real ID is a lie. It is an attempt by the federal government to give away your information to whomever they want to. We've all seen too many cases of federal abuse of authority, as in FBI illegal spying and data-mining of citizens information via phone, email, library records, medical records, etc. to even begin to trust them now. Too late once trust is gone. dubya should have thought of that sooner!

Let's remember WHO the Federal Government works for here! They don't own us! If anything WE OWN THEM! These heavy handed tactics may have worked in Nazi Germany, but this is still the United States of America and when a bad bill is passed it can be repealed! We have the power. The power to call our legislators and DEMAND they take action. The power to go to websites designed to help us with this issue such as:

Legislators Against Real ID

Real Nightmare.org

UnRealID.com