THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

Last night was some partying in South Beach, which reminded me that I love Spring Break. Today I speak at lunch at a fashion show to the East Broward Republican Women. In the evening I have the Cooper City/Davie Republican Club. Both of these events are in Fort Lauderdale.

As exhausted as I am, I had to weigh in about several New York Democrats.

Yes, they are a disgrace. However, most people fail to understand the real disgrace.

I will quickly take them one by one before getting to the scandal nobody wants to discuss, and why this bothers me so much.

Eliot Spitzer was a scuzzbucket. None of the others compare to him. He is a horrid human being. None of the three current New York Democrats reach his level.

Start with Charles Rangel. I will begin with something positive. The man served America honorably in the Korean War. I give him all the credit in the world for that.

My problem with him is that he has played the race card more than once, and compared conservative tax cutters to the KKK. He gets away with it because he smiles. He is “Good ol’ Charlie,” the lovable rascal.

Is he crooked? Of course he is. Should he go to jail? If found guilty, sure. Will he? Of course not.

As for David Patterson, I am disappointed in him. I really had high hopes for him. I disagreed with his liberal ideology, but I really thought it was awesome that a blind man could lead New York. I felt it was another barrier that had been broken down. Also, when Governor Patterson immediately disclosed his past infidelities and drug use, I felt he was going to bring in an ethical administration that was the anti-Spitzer.

Initially he seemed to be like David Dinkins, a good guy that was not tough enough for the job. He was weak. Yet his intervening on behalf of one of his subordinates who beat up a woman was stupid, reckless, and possibly illegal. Richard Nixon taught us that blind loyalty is not the answer. Sometimes friends have to be cut loose, especially when they break the law.

As for Congressman Massa, he is slime. I watched his interview on Glenn Beck, and I felt like I needed a scrubbing. He also served his country honorably, but his short congressional career has been dishonorable. His allegations about Rahm Emanuel are believable, which is why I do not believe them. Rahm Emanuel is every bit as awful as he is made out to be, but because he is such an easy target, I think he might be innocent this one time. Massa has no credibility, and unless he has proof of what Rahm did, I am not jumping on the Rahm bashing train on this one.

Yet these corrupt New York Democrats have me angry. I am deeply offended by their screwups for a reason that nobody is talking about. The whispers are already beginning.

You know what whispers I am talking about.

People are saying that New York politicians are becoming like “those people.”

That’s right, I’ll say it. We are on the verge of being seen as…

New Jersey.

This cannot ever happen. New Jersey gave us Jim McGreevey, Jon Corzine, and a million other corruptocrats ranging from crooked politicians to clergy men on the take.

New Jersey makes Pinochet’s Chile seem ethical.

I don’t care if Rangel, Patterson, and Massa go to jail. Just get them out of New York. Deport them to Trenton.

When football coach Sam Wyche saw the home crowd at a Cincinnati Bengals game throwing trash on the field, he angrily picked up the microphone. He yelled at the crowd to be civilized, thundering, “You don’t live in Cleveland, you live in Cincinnati.”

Well my message to these New York politicians is to knock it off. You represent New York, not New Jersey.

I live in Los Angeles, but I am a New Yorker until the day I die. I was born and raised there. New Yorkers are my people. When somebody does something stupid in California, making it the national laughingstock, I can say that I am a New Yorker living in California.

I am proud of my Brooklyn heritage. I am proud to be from New York.

I never want being from New York to be a source of shame.

So take Spitzer, Massa, Patterson, and Rangel, and deport them to Atlantic City.

Some people obsess over Obama’s birth certificate. Well they need to obsess over the birth certificates of the above New Yorker politicos. Find me evidence that they are really Jerseyites. Perhaps they would then under the state constitution be ineligible to serve.

The day the New York Jets and Giants call themselves New Jersey, NYPD and FDNY will engage in cross-border violence. This must be prevented now.

New York Democrats can either act like New Yorkers, or move to New Jersey.

Tony Soprano is from Jersey. The Statue of Liberty is a New Yorker. That settles it for me.

New Yorkers will tolerate many things, but being compared to New Jersey is not one of them.

New York civilization is on the line.

Clean up your act guys. We are not them. The whisper campaign must stop.

The next New York politico to screw up should be waterboarded behind the Log Flume at Six Flags Great Adventure, located in…well, you know. The place where hidden crimes are a way of life.

eric

I had the honor and privilege this past weekend of attending and speaking at the California Republican Assembly 75th Anniversary Convention in Buena Park, California.

http://www.californiarepublicanassembly.com/content/cra-call-convention

Buena Park is in Orange County, and the event was held at the Knottsberry Farm Hotel.

While Knottsberry Farm is a well known amusement park that turns into Knotts Scary Farm on Halloween, the Knotts family is actually fairly religious. In addition to their spiritual beliefs, they were also great with food. The fried chicken and blackberry pie at the luncheon was from Mrs. Knotts’s very own recipes.

I would like to thank Ken Mettler, President of the CRA, and beloved CRA member Peggy Mew for the gracious invitation. Baron Night, head of the Buena Park CRA, had the responsibility as head of the host city CRA with making sure the trains ran on time.

The Saturday luncheon featured four speakers. Congressmen Ed Royce, Darrell Issa, Dana Rohrabacher, and me. Many people looked at me initially and probably thought about James B. Stockdale minus the heroism.

“Who am I? Why am I here?”

As I spoke, Gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner both sat at tables in the front. There is nothing like giving a speech and knowing that one wrong word could get me waterboarded by the next governor. Thankfully both of them had kind words for me.

I let the crowd know that the day after the primary, I will immediately fall into line behind the winner and support them in the general election. I hope all right of center voters do this without hesitation.

I did add a couple of new lines, including an opener, “Anybody who thinks that Barack Obama runs the world has never attended a meeting of the Republican Women’s Federated.”

Congressman Rohrabacher offered a stinging defense of American liberty. He is the original surfing congressman. He brought a surfboard with him to the stage, and publicly endorsed Steve Poizner for governor as they took a picture with the surfboard together. Congressman Issa offered his endorsement to Ms. Whitman.

On Saturday evening, a gala dinner had Hannah Giles and James O’Keefe as headliners. Hannah and James are the two young people that exposed criminal enterprise ACORN. Mr. O’Keefe has even been arrested in an attempt to silence any ACORN critics. Andrew Breitbart has taken them under his wing, as ACORN is suing him as well.

I had extensive amounts of time to talk to Hannah and James. They are good young citizens. The only people against them are those who still believe ACORN is a law abiding entity.

James O’Keefe has his legal defense fund up, and anybody that wants to support a young man exposing leftists corruption should help this young man.

I also managed to make friends with some of the Orange County Young Republicans, briefly performing for them at a late night party.

Sunday was the day for formal endorsements.

For the senate race to fire Barbara Boxer, Chuck DeVore easily defeated Carly Fiorina and Tom Campbell on the first ballot.

(DeVore and Fiorina both spoke to the Los Angeles County Young Republicans Friday night, and DeVore appeared to be the heavy favorite.)

The governor’s race required a second ballot, but Mr.Poizner got the endorsement.

In the hotly contested Superintendent of Special Instruction, Diane Lenning came out ahead of Lydia Guiterriez. George Runner got the nod for the Board of Equalization,

I had the pleasure of meeting Republican Assembly members from all over America, including the National Republican Assembly president and his wife. I even received an offer to speak at a San Juan Capistrano Independence Day Tea Party, in addition to speak in Rhode Island. I have never been to Rhode Island, so of course I want to go there because it is there.

Like good conservative citizens, we left the hotel as spotless as we found it as Baron Night made sure that every sign was picked up. We were not going to be like environmental protesters leaving our signs on the grass.

While there was plenty of serious politicking, and plenty of socializing, the best aspect of the CRA Convention was seeing old friends and making new ones that I will have for life.

Happy 75th Birthday CRA.

Well done Buena Park!

eric

I recently interviewed radio host Leslie Marshall.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leslie_Marshall

Leslie is a nationally syndicated radio host.

She is also different from most people I interview. She is a liberal.

For those wondering why I would cross party lines to interview a liberal radio host, it is not because she has the looks of an underwear model.

Although for the sake of ethics, she absolutely does.

http://www.lesliemarshall.us/

I saw her appearance on Bill O’Reilly, and was impressed.

She expressed that she gets in trouble with her liberal friends for saying positive things about him.

I disagreed with her political stances, but respected her graciousness. I began corresponding with her by email. While our politics could not be further apart on many issues, her emails reflected her to be funny, pleasant, and downright charming.

The world is a better place when we do not let politics get in the way of potential friendships.

Comity does not mean compromising one’s values. Comity merely means better holiday experiences with relatives at the dinner table. In the spirit of comity, I present my interview with Leslie Marshall.

1) What is the Leslie Marshall story? What led you to enter the radio arena?

LM: My “story” well…I got into radio as a step before television. i had wanted to be a news anchor. One night, working in Miami at WNWS, the talk host got sick. I filled in for him and got hooked. I’ve been doing it ever since.

2) What 3 political issues are you most passionate about?

LM: a) Healthcare Reform

b) Education

c) Terrorism/Dispelling the myths of Islam

3) Is the War on Terror real or a slogan?

LM: It is a slogan.

4) It is one thing to ask people to have faith in God. It is much tougher to ask people to have faith in government. What does our government do right? What does it need to do better so people can start believing in their government again?

LM: I think there is a lot our government does right. We’re not being attacked on the level of a 9/11, the highways still are there and lights are on, etc.  I feel the problem is that our government’s “good” is not presented accurately as the majority of the media is conservative and the message they send is that the government is bad, wrong, and cant be trusted. For years we have watched too many lies and secrets and we are less trusting. Transparency and results I believe will get the public to start trusting the government again. It is about getting things done and working for the people, not their party/platforms.

5) What Americans call 9/11, Israel refers to as every day life. Israel is then asked to show restraint. What is your view on Israel taking preemptive action, including a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities if necessary? What about with regards to the disputed territories such as Gaza? What about against Damascus, who funds Hezbollah?

If Israel preemptively strikes, then they have invited that nation (Iran, etc.) to attack them. Israel can’t launch a missile and then cry about the ramifications of their actions. Regarding the disputed territories: the Palestinian people were in Israel first, and although Israel did win the land, they better than anyone know what it is like to be thrown out of your country based on religion, culture, ethnicity, being different, and being hated.  The people in Gaza and the West Bank aren’t going to leave; Israelis know this. The two party state is the only solution. Israel needs to accept this, work toward this and move on. For the sake of PEACE for Israel and Palestine and the children of both; the future, there must be an establishment of a Palestinian state.

6) Who are your 3 political heroes, American or worldwide?

LM: a) Ghandi b) Yitzak Rabin c) Bill Clinton

7) Outside of another 9/11, what can be done to reduce the acrimony and polarization in America?

LM: Accepting our similarities rather than focusing on our differences. Stopping the hate, needing someone to blame. Education is key.

8.) You have succeeded in a tough industry where many have failed. Why do you think Air America failed?

LM: I think AA failed because of funds obviously and also because they started with a lot of celebs. I think that good, sound, experienced radio talk hosts are always the way to go when putting together a network or lineup.

9) What is your stance on the Fairness Doctrine?

LM: We need the Fairness Doctrine. Americans need to hear all sides of an issue and then figure it out for themselves. All right-wing all the time is not only dangerous and unbalanced; but it makes people lazy to let the hosts think for them.

10) Many conservatives dislike National Public Radio for its perceived liberal slant. Given that you and other liberal radio hosts have succeeded in the marketplace, and given the thousands of choices available, is there a justification for shutting NPR down? Why should taxpayers pay for it?

LM: NPR is privately funded last time I checked. NPR isn’t liberal. It’s probably truly the only fair and balanced station in my opinion. Every time I hear an issue, they have both sides. I think NPR is great and should remain.

11) Without delving too deeply into your personal life, what would you want Americans to know about Leslie Marshall the person? 100 years from now, what would you want people to remember about you, and what would you hope the history books say about you?

LM: Wow- I hope that my tombstone says: Here lies one of the best talk show hosts America had (I’m not there yet, it’s a goal obviously). I hope people remember me for making a difference, although I doubt I’ll be written about in history; unless I run for office someday and do something really really good or really really bad!

12) Do you get bored with the marriage proposals that you get inundated with on a daily basis, and does your share of 18-30 year old male listeners decrease when they find out you are unavailable?

LM: My numbers are always good 18 plus and I’ve never checked if they go away when they find out if I’m married. Funny question. I don’t get marriage proposals daily; from time to time and of course, I must decline. It’s flattering obviously if anyone likes your work, as well as what you look like. I’m female and am on television. A marriage proposal beats the heck out of “You’re fat, you’re ugly!” etc….both of which I have also been told!

While Leslie Marshall has amazing (redacted) and (redacted), I genuinely give her credit for substance to match the style.

I am going to make an assumption that the people who referred to her as fat and ugly were people who disagreed with her politics. Either that or they were homosexual. After all, Marc Antony rejected Cleopatra.

Ms. Marshall is not fat or ugly. Despite her having views that occasionally make me think obscene (angry, not sexual) thoughts, that does not make her ugly inside either.

I have views that most likely cause her to feel the same way. Yet rather than hurl bombs at each other, we just communicated in a calm rational manner.

Republicans and Democrats are opponents. We are not enemies.

When we communicate with people we disagree with, we learn things that we cannot learn by conversing with those already on our side.

Leslie Marshall understands this. Watch her appearances on the O’Reilly Factor and judge for yourself.

Bill O’Reilly gave her a platform to enhance her already successful entity. She then turned around and did the same with me.

I would like to thank Leslie Marshall for her time and her pleasant nature.

I wish her well always.

eric

Water is wet, the sun rises in the East, and the President is still talking.

Those on the left worship him. He has no faults. His words are true simply because he says them. Appealing to those people to actually judge him on substance is a waste of time. For those actually capable of cutting through the fog, welcome to the world of our Spinal Tap in Chief.

Although the issue is health care reform, I am not referring to the medical procedure known as a spinal tap.

I am referring to the fictional rock band Spinal Tap, with Michael McKean of Laverne and Shirley playing Nigel Teufel.

The more I listen to President Obama, the more he reminds me of Spinal Tap. He sounds like he is saying lofty and groundbreaking things, but he is really saying absolutely nothing.

The song “The Majesty of Rock” is as hilarious as it is analogous.

“When we die…do we haunt the sky…do we lurk in the murk of the seas…

What then…are we born again…just to sit asking questions like these…

I know…for I told me so…and I’m sure each of you quite agrees…

The more it stays the same…the less it changes!”

(Even those who love Mr. Obama should find this song riotous.)

“That’s the majesty of rock…the fantasy of roll…

The ticking of the clock (or the crowing of the cock)…the scoring of the goal (or the running of the foal)…

The shepherd with his flock…the miner with his coal…

We’re in this together!”

I will get to the President’s remarks momentarily, but think of how the lyrics apply to him.

“I know, for I told me so, and I’m sure each of you quite agrees.”

If that does not perfectly encapsulate the mentality of this man, I don’t know what does.

Instead of “the more things change, the more they stay the same,” we get, “the more it stays the same, the less it changes.” It sounds so deep, but upon further analysis, is nonsense.

Barack Obama does not understand the economic concept of diminishing marginal returns. If every speech is a groundbreaking speech, then none of them are.

(In college, the 4th beer may have been better than the 3rd beer, but the 27th one might not be better than the 26th one. I was not a drinker, but the analogy is the same with barbecued ribs. It is a different type of physical pain that is self-inflicted.)

Now for Mr. Obama’s Spinal Tap remarks.

“The status quo is unacceptable. Doing nothing is not an option.”

Nobody is saying we should do nothing. Those are fictional arguments he keeps repeating.

He then tries to triangulate himself as a reasonable moderate between two extremes. On one side are those who want the single payer system. Mr. Obama yearns for this, but is honest enough to know it is not politically feasible at this time. Fair enough. Yet he claims that the Republican approach is solely to “loosen regulations on insurance companies. I disagree with that approach.”

No, it is not. I have not met a single Republican who said that letting insurance companies run wild is the only solution, and that everything will be fine if we do that.

He then stated where there was agreement.

1) Removing the ban on preexisting conditions (He cited the 39% Anthem Blue Cross increase in premiums).

2) Giving the people the same plan as Congress.

3) Bringing down costs

# 2 will not happen. Congress always finds a way to get special treatment. This is a bipartisan form of entitlement.

# 3 is a meaningless platitude. Everybody wants stuff to cost less.

# 1 makes sense. However, the reason why Anthem Blue Cross got away with what it did is because they lack competition. Does anybody in their right mind think that Coca Cola could charge $20 for a soda with Pepsi breathing down their neck?

Allowing insurance across state lines would absolutely prevent Anthem Blue Cross from engaging in such maneuvers.

President Obama kept saying that he “incorporated ideas from both sides.”

No he did not. He will not look at legal reform. Some call it tort reform, but we need wide ranging legal reform that balances reducing frivolous lawsuits without letting legitimate ones get buried.

He said that the CBO claims his plan will reduce the deficit by 2 trillion dollars. He neglects to mention that in the late years, it explodes again.

Anybody criticizing his numbers has their motives attacked as racist or unpatriotic or uncaring. I have one questions for these people.

How the heck can one reduce any deficit by spending more? It does not work that way.

“I took the best ideas from the Democrats and the GOP.”

No he did not.

“There is a disagreement over regulation of insurance companies.”

That is not the debate. That is a small slice of the debate.

“If Republicans feel that way, they should vote against my plan.”

Good. We will continue to vote against bad plans. It’s called being principled.

I have said that the president should take a piecemeal approach. The president feels that unless we get universal coverage (although his plan does not cover everybody), insurance companies will still deny those with preexisting conditions.

This is not the case. He claims that there is broad agreement, but insists on an all or nothing approach, disagreements be d@mned.”

He then complained that his bill “deserves an up or down vote.”

Again, Democrats are the ones that have had a year to have an up or down vote. 100% of the fault with failure has been because Democrats fought amongst themselves.

Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell as usual made sense.

“The President left out the medicare cuts and tax increases.”

“The only thing bipartisan about this bill is the opposition to it.”

“This is not an argument between Democrats and Republicans. It is an argument between Democrats and the people.”

If Barack Obama wants a bill passed now, then get one passed! It is intraparty fights between the center-left and the hard left.

He can attack Tea Party attendees, Republicans, insurance companies, and everybody else, but the fault lies inward.

The bigger picture is that his passionate speeches on health care should be replaced with passionate work on jobs. 85% of Americans are happy with their health care. 100% of Americans are worried about the economy and job creation.

Over and over again Americans have said that they want the economy dealt with first. He pretends to get the message, then continues charging forward on health care.

We keep being told that “the time for talk and debate is over,” and that “the time to act is now.”

All this president does is talk. His party is the party of inertia. If they want to act, then shut up and act. Just stop boring me.

“I know, for I told me so, and I’m sure each of you quite agrees…the more it stays the same, the less it changes.”

eric

The main event today is Sarah Palin, but first, some quick housekeeping notes.

I am on a plane today to speak to the Silicon Valley Young Republicans in San Jose.

Last night California Gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner spoke at the San Fernando Valley Republican Club headed by Gary Aminoff.

http://www.sfvrc.org

While I am publicly neutral in the race, I will say that this is the second time I have listened to and met Mr. Poizner. He is impressive.

Yet yesterday was a day of agonizing sadness. Sarah Palin visited Los Angeles, and again I am one crushed Tygrrrr fella.

(I expect you all to pretend to care and feel my pain.)

I have met so many politicians, but I have never met Sarah Palin. At the 2008 GOP Convention in Minneapolis, I met tons of politicos. However, Governor Palin was on lockdown. This was understandable. The Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees are under Secret Service protection for their safety.

Yet Sarah Palin is now a private citizen, and every time I think I am about to meet her something goes wrong.

On March 12th she and I are both in Florida. Yet while I have speaking event in Florida on the 11th, her event is the evening of the 12th. By then I will already be on a plane to Oklahoma City.

Yet yesterday I was so close. She came to Los Angeles to appear on the Jay Leno Tonight Show.

I drove the 30 minutes to the studio, was able to obtain a ticket, and was sitting in one of the front rows. We were 30 feet apart.

She was on fire. She joked with Jay about his own negative press coverage. She referred to the writing on her hand as a “poor man’s teleprompter.” It was a great line. She also did a comedy monologue that went over very well.

I have said many times that her critics are so rabid and frothing at the mouth that they will take a harmless event such as writing on a hand and use it to attack her, when the truth is they have a predetermined hatred of her and simply make things up to fit the predetermined narrative.

A couple of people that looked like they were still in the 1960s tried to hand me a copy of “Going Rouge.” I changed seats. They looked filthy, and their behavior was typical leftist intolerance. They could not even be polite enough to shut up and let the guest speak. Thankfully the supporters drowned them out.

The guest list in addition to Sarah Palin featured Olympic Gold Medalist Shawn White and American Idol singer Adam Lambert.

While Mr. Lambert looks a little creepy to me with all of his piercings and black eyeliner, I had never heard him sing before. He does have a good voice, and the song he sang was pleasant. It was odd to hear women in their 40s and 50s screaming like teenagers over this young man, but I never grasped Beatlemania either.

I was not there to see Mr. Lambert or Mr. White, although the chants of “USA” for Mr. White were nice.

I was there to see Governor Palin. I really wanted to meet her. I was 30 feet away from her.

She almost became Vice President. Then the financial crisis hit, and the GOP was done. SHe was so close, and yet so far away.

I feel the same way. She was right there. Yet meeting her on this day did not happen.

I may or may not have gotten on camera due to the band. The saxophone player was unbelievable, and the woman belted out classics during commercial breaks. As they played “Old Time Rock n Roll” by Bob Seger, I had a microphone shoved in my face. Lord help those who now know that I, in a very fake gravelly manner, “Reminisce about the days of old…”

I understand that there are many people in this world with bigger worries than me.

Yet I still wish we had met.

No, for those wondering, I would not have hit on her. I would have been very polite, and just let her know I supported her and admired her.

This is worse than the time in junior high school when some girl whose name I can’t remember did something I forgot that bothered me for reasons I cannot recall.

On March 27th, Sarah Palin is doing a tea party near Las Vegas. I am trying to be the undercard for that event.

I have built up very positive reviews among the ladies of the Federation of Republican Women.

Ladies…you run the country. All I ask…can you please get me in front of Sarah Palin so I can say hello to her?

I cannot go to Alaska. I am deathly afraid of cold weather. Somebody let me know when she is in the lower 48 in a climate controlled room (Not climate change you nimrods, climate controlled).

Until then, from 10 yards away, I offer a daydreamy sighhhhhhh.

Now to go sob uncontrollably.

So close, and yet so far away.

Oh, and for those wondering, she looks as stunning as ever.

(Editor’s note. This is not about lust. I wanted to give her a copy of my book in the hopes she would admire it and launch me on the road to superstardom. I may pretend to chase women, but I really am all business all the time)

eric