THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

March 11, 2004…The 5 year anniversary of the Madrid bombing.

March 11, 2007…The 2 year anniversary of the Tygrrrr Express.

March 11, 2009…More support for terrorism from Arab groups at UCLA.

Once again, the University of Crooked Lying Arabists has decided to spread libel under the cloak of “diversity” and “multi-culturalism.”

http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/kaplan071406.htm

I wonder when UCLA will dedicate a sufficient amount of time to speakers not connected with worldwide terrorism.

I suppose I could throw out a politically correct disclaimer about how not all Arabs are terrorists, and blah blah blah.

Most terrorists are Arab Muslims. Radical Christianity has not murdered anybody in over half of a century. More importantly, in the rarest of instances when a Christian tries to commit evil in the name of Christianity, decent Christians everywhere reject the evildoer.

This does not happen with Arab terrorism. All that is offered are excuses, justifications, rationalizations, and blame of Jews and Westerners globally.

Now in the real world, the Palestinians are a failure because their leadership are genocidal lunatics. The Jews want to live. The Palestinian Arabs want to murder them. This is not complex. Yet in Arab land, which is similar to Candyland except the children are given bombs instead of lollipops, the Palestinians are the victims.

The most recent terrorist to visit UCLA was Noura Erakat.

Noura Erakat is the niece of terrorist Saeb Erakat. Saeb Erakat was the spokesperson for Yassir Arafat. He is now the spokesperson for the Palestinian people. His hobbies include making excuses for Palestinian homicide bombers.

Noura Erakat took part in a 2006 meeting in Detroit that was basically a front for waging an Intifada in America.

http://www.adl.org/main_Anti_Israel/nakba_anti_israel_activity_2008.htm

The conference dealt with “60 years of Nakba.”

Nakba is the word for “catastrophe.” The catastrophe is the existence of Israel. 60 years ago refers to 1948, the year Israel was created.

So any Arab terrorist apologist that piously wails about the poor suffering Palestinian people and the “occupation,” should be dismissed. The “academics” that pretend to talk about 1967 are really angry about 1948.

This is not about Gaza or the West Bank. This is about the fact that the Arab terrorists currently blowing themselves up are trying to eliminate all Jews from the Earth.

They frequently, and with great admiration, quote Nazi literature.

For those that want to ignore academics and actually become educated with real knowledge and facts, the Anti-Defamation League is a good place to start. They covered terrorist conferences such as the one attended by Noura Erakat.

The Palestinians want to ethnically cleanse all the Jews out of existence. They say so at these conferences. Their actions back their words.

While I personally do not know what to do with these miserable creatures that are basically Arab defects, a bigger problem right now is what to do about the cancer within walking idstance of my home.

Perhaps UCLA will get the message when the Intifada turns on them for not being tolerant enough. Palestinian violence has taken place in AMerica, most recently against Jewish and Christian children in North Carolina. Unlike Palestinians, those children actually were innocent victims.

It is bad enough these terrorist supporters live in my city. I hope I am out of town when UCLA becomes the victim of a homicide bomber.

It will happen one day. When you let murderers onto college campuses, do not feign surprise when they murder.

Water is wet, Palestinian terrorists murder, and UCLA professors enable them.

God help decent people everywhere.

eric

Maybe Barack Obama thinks he truly is God almighty.

Even worse, maybe I am wrong and he actually is God almighty. He is every bit as good as he thinks he is.

I cannot think of another explanation, short of him being naive and clueless, for him wanting to talk to the Taliban?

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/09/obama.taliban/index.html

What the hell is there to talk about?

I am going to explain this slowly so that even an 18 year old friend of Obama on Facebook who finds him dreamy can understand.

The Taliban gave aid and comfort to Osama Bin Laden. The Taliban know whether he is alive or dead, and where he is located. Osama Bin Laden and Khalid Sheik Mohammed planned the horrific terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. 3000 people were murdered in New York. President Obama wants to have dialogue with those that are every bit as complicit as the hijackers.

For the last 8 years, liberals have complained that Iraq was the bad war and Afghanistan was the good war. Conservatives knew that the leftist peaceniks were against all war. By pretending to want to get tough on Afghanistan, they could criticize George W. Bush endlessly on Iraq.

We now all know the truth that conservatives have known from the beginning. If we had never invaded Iraq, liberals would have criticized the war in Afghanistan.

Now that Iraq is secure thanks to Republican President George W. Bush, Democrats are less inclined to prattle on about how Iraq was “his war.” Well it was his war, and he won it without the sniveling little brats on the other side. He won it with plenty of help from Senator John McCain and General David Petraeus.

For those who forget General Petraeus, he was the honorable fellow that was called a liar by Senate leftists.

These same people that slandered President Bush and General Petraeus want to simply take the Taliban at their word.

Liberals point out the successful counterinsurgency strategy that they violently opposed. In fact, the only time liberals get violent is when condemning Republicans or conservatives. Liberals gush about how dialogue with Sunni Muslims saved Iraq.

What liberals cannot and will not grasp is that first we went in and leveled everything. We used hard power, and captured Saddam Hussein. Then we leveled every area in Iraq that contained large amounts of bad guys. Only after military successes did we speak with low level, low hanging fruit. They surrendered, and got down on their knees. Then we spoke to them.

After we took down Saddam, Khadafi in Libya surrendered. He turned over his weapons. We did just trust him. We verified. Then and only then did we talk to him, after he surrendered.

What is it going to take for President Obama to separate himself from every Democrat in the last four decades to become President, or get demolished trying? When is he going to develop a spine.

Barack Obama took an oath to protect America from our enemies. He also piously and pompously wanted to strengthen our friendships, which in his uninformed world were globally frayed.

So he refuses to meet with the Prime Minister of England. This act of discourteousness has them steaming. Yet he will meet with “moderate” members of the Taliban.

I love the way liberals decide that even the most bloodthirsty and murderous elements contain moderates.

Moderate members of the Taliban are like moderate Palestinian leaders. They are fictional.

Afghanistan is not Iraq. Iraq was a secular dictatorship based on Stalinism. Afghanistan, or at least the Taliban, are religious fundamentalists. They are the true believers. What does one discuss with them?

Will they apologize for hiding Bin Laden and disclose his whereabouts?

Will they stop beating women in the town square for walking without their husbands?

Will they allow Jews and Christians to live in peace? Or are they infidels?

Exactly what will we negotiate away?

If Barack Obama truly wants to motivate himself to toughen up and stop being so bloody effeminate, maybe somebody should tell him that the Taliban are Republicans. Better yet, they are employed by Fox News. Even better, let President Obama have classified information showing that they have Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity bumper stickers in their caves.

What is it going to take for this man leading America to drop the “too cool for school” attitude, and stop being so aloof, and detached? What makes him think he is so special that his words will get religious genocidal wack jobs to develop human empathy?

Does he plan on offering up 72 virgins?

The Taliban are murderers. You do not get to know them. You defeat them. You kill them.

On the one hand the left claims that Afghanistan was neglected all of these years. Then the left simultaneously decides to talk to them. Do they plan on sending John Kerry or Al Gore to Afghanistan to bore the enemy to death?

Will Hillary Clinton nag them into submission? Folks, men in those parts of the world do not fear women, not even Hillary.

“Asked if the United States is winning the war in Afghanistan, Obama said ‘no.'”

I wonder if the military appreciates their Commander in Chief taking this ridiculous approach.

“Given that remark, Gary Berntsen, a former CIA officer who led CIA forces in Afghanistan after 9/11, said Monday that it could be difficult to get members of the Taliban to work with the United States.

‘If you keep saying the Taliban are winning, what incentive is there now for individuals who are fighting against us to come over to us?’ he said on CNN’s ‘American Morning.'”

What a complete and utter shock. A military man knows more about a military conflict than a civilian gasbag that knows nothing about the military.

Maybe Barack Obama can get real tough and treat the Taliban like they were stockholders. He can confiscate all of their wealth with a few harmful utterances.

The Taliban do not have wealth. They live in caves. They have nothing to lose. They will never surrender until they are beaten, battered, and bloodied. Even then, they might prefer death.

Mr. Obama, you talk too much, and you say too little.

You accomplish nothing, and embolden our enemies.

For once, just be quiet. I have given up asking you to do anything positive.

Just stop making things worse.

Pretend the Taliban are Republicans. Then pretend to talk to them but really give nothing.

We are in the middle of World War III.

It would be nice if our leader actually wanted to win.

eric

Dear President Obama,

I did not vote for you sir, but I respect the office of the Presidency.

I wish you did the same.

I wrote you a very gracious note after you won the election. I took a hands off approach. I took a wait and see attitude.

Well I don’t like what I see. You have proven to be exactly as you campaigned sir. You are virtually all talk, and what little action you have taken has been disastrous.

I made a vow to stop campaigning against you the day of the election. You need to do the same with regards to everybody who disagrees with you. Like your Democratic predecessor, you are in all campaign mode all the time.

It seems that Republican presidents roll up their sleeves and get to work. Some people agree with the work and some people disagree, but at least the work exists and gets done.

Your presidency is fast becoming nonsense.

Ok, it was sweet when you told your daughters that they earned a new puppy. Yet the inaugural balls are over. Now you have to actually do things. Creating imaginable enemies is not governing.

Do you think George W. Bush spent time fighting with Michael Moore? Do you think he took on Janine Garofolo? Heck, Dick Cheney could have proved his pro-torture credentials by pinning her down and shaving her underarms on live tv, but he was busy with people who actually mattered.

George W. Bush did not even waste time on his excuse for a predecessor.

Yet you seem to be learning from the Clintonistas of Carville and Begala. They are teaching you that when you cannot accomplish anything positive, create straw bogeymen and blame them.

George W. Bush was too busy dealing with Al Qaeda, Saddam Hussein, and other real people. He did not have time for such drivel. Apparently you do.

Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity did not crash the stock marke to its lowest levels since 1997. That was you sir. Spare me what you inherited. You have crashed this market with your constant bashing of Wall Street. Promising to repeal deductions on mortgages and charitable giving was monstrously stupid. Threatening to raise capital gains raise in horrendous policy.

Attacking radio hosts is a sign of desperation. It is a sign that you are in way over your head.

I get it sir. You are good at politics. You don’t have to convince me. You won the election. Now it is about policy.

I have said many times that liberals are children and conservatives are adults. Children blame people and look backward. Adults focus on the future.

You said you wanted to unify America. Like any typical liberal, what you meant is you wanted conservatives to shut up and agree with you, or face being demonized.

You saw first hand what a spoiled little brat Bill Clinton can be when he does not get his way.

I believe you are better than that sir. I believe you are a better man than the way you and your supporters have been acting.

Now are you going to keep bashing every single institution that dares dissent from your vision? Or do you plan to actually accomplish something? Do you want to be like Bill Clinton, the peripheral president? Do you want to be like an aging rocker insisting that the glory days really were that good, while everybody else moves on? Do you want to be a presidential asterisk?

If not, then just get to work. Stop clowning around. When you were campaigning, you got away with criticizing Republicans while desperately disguising your own vision. I was not sure if it was because you completely lacked a vision at all, or if you were hiding because you were afraid Americans would reject you if they knew your actual beliefs.

That does not matter now. The election is over. You won. Now you have to quit the campaigning and show some interest in the nuts and bolts of government. Or you can outsource your entire presidency to the Pelosiraptor. In the same way Bill Clinton, spineless weakling that he was, let Dick Gephardt and David Bonior drag them all down, Nancy Pelosi will drive you over a cliff faster than you can say “Thelma and Louise.” I will let you decide which one of you is which.

George W. Bush and DIck Cheney are gone. Yet your administration has nothing better to do than encourage investigations into why a President fired his own employees. By not reining in the craziest members of Congress, you are encouraging them. George W. Bush did not spend one minute on investigations of Bill Clinton.

Now either grow a pair, stand up to the Pelosiraptor, John COnyers, Henry Waxman, and every other reason people think that liberals are a bunch of out of step crybaby losers, or continue to cast yopur lot with these human failures that have never contributed anything to society. Investigations is all they have.

Blame is not an agenda sir. You were absolutely not hired to harass your critics. In fact, you were hired because of your nice smile, good hair, and good teeth. You seemed likable and friendly. You were “post-partisan.”

Enough blaming Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh. You have ABC, NBC, PBS, NPR, and the Jayson Blair Times. 98% of the media worships you. Quit crying over the 2% that don’t.

Do you really wanbt to defeat Hannity and Limbaugh? Then prove them wrong. Pass your program, and let’s see if it works.

To quote Joe Perry of Aerosmith, “Let the music do the talking.”

The election is over. Problems need fixing. They were not all inherited problems. Some of them occurred on your watch, such as the 2009 stock market collapse. This collapse was a direct result of your words and inaction.

Quit complaining. Get to work already. Millions of people are out of work. They need jobs.

Start helping them. Start doing your job.

eric

I had the pleasure recently of meeting Bernie Goldberg.

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

http://www.bernardgoldberg.com/oldsite/home.php

He gave a lecture at the Nixon Library. His most recent book, “A slobbering love affair,” is a fun read.

Normally my formulaic version of a column would involve excerpts from his speech, followed by my encounter with him. I am afraid Bernie Goldberg will have to be cheated out of that honor. I missed his entire speech.

Everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Pouring rain, bad directions, and traffic from Los Angeles to Orange County rendered the tickets my friend and I purchased a worthless investment. Unlike the stock market, I cannot even blame Barack Obama for this purchase reaching a state of valuelessness.

In the Jewish community, which is mainly liberal, the trains run on JST, that being Jewish Standard Time. Yet Bernie Goldberg is a Republican Jew. His remarks started on time, and ended on time. My friend and I arrived as he was finishing.

Before the doors opened after his speech, I quickly bought his book. That way I would be one of the first people in line to get my book autographed. I hope my putting money in his coffers eases his pain of not having me in the audience to ask intelligent questions. I am sure he is mourning as we speak.

He did agree to contact me in about a week, at which point I would forward him some interview questions. We spoke for a couple of minutes, and he is a genuinely likable guy. I would love to say more, but a combination of incompetence on my part and weather on the part of God prevents that.

Therefore, below are some very important writings unrelated to Bernie Goldberg.

One man that truly gets it is radio host Armstrong Williams. I am proud to call him a friend. His column this past week on why we are sliding towards socialism is an important read.

http://pundits.thehill.com/2009/03/05/president-obamas-socialist-order/

Even more important is when a great radio host interviews a great Senator. Like me, Armstrong Williams is doing what he can to help Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman. Below is Armstrong’s radio interview with Senator Coleman.

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/660874411/32ec45a6989250197f07fe09863ab157

https://rcpt.yousendit.com/660884495/bcfb07018726c7bcc47bbce58a0442cd

Another dear friend that offers plenty of common sense is Larry Greenfield. He is now a Vice President and Fellow at the Claremont Institute. He is concerned that America is entering the age of appeasement.

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?pageId=90616

Larry used to work for the Republican Jewish Coalition. Speaking of the RJC, I will be speaking at several of their chapters around the country after my book comes out. These speeches will begin in May. To see a list of events, check their website. When my events with them are listed, I encourage people to participate.

http://www.rjchq.org

In the world of the blogosphere, one site that is as hard hitting as it is entertaining comes in the form of Great Satan’s Girlfriend. Forget for a second that she is a hot republican woman that I want to give the ketchup bottle treatment to in abundance. She is smart as a whip, and her newest column features an altered Dr. Seuss cover entitled “Green Eggs and Hamas.”

http://greatsatansgirlfriend.blogspot.com/2009/03/green-eggs-and-hamas.html

NY Mike points out the amateur hour that is running our nation into the ground.

http://nymike.blogtownhall.com/2009/03/06/thank_you_ever_so_much,_mr_president.thtml

In religious news, Monday night is the Jewish holiday of Purim.

USC Chabad will have a fabulous Purim party, as they always do. The theme this year is “Purim on the high seas.”

http://www.chabadusc.com/

Happy Purim to all celebrating the holiday.

To everybody else, a peaceful Sunday to you.

eric

Over the last couple of years, I have written about Israel many times. One of my readers asked a question regarding Israel that was worthy of an entire column. I want to preface this by saying that I know this person in real life. The questioner is a good human being with zero malice in his heart. He is not only not an anti-Semite, but I would say he is not anti-anybody. His legitimate question about the United States and its relationship with Israel deserves an attempt at an equally sincere response.

“Eric- there’s something I’d like you to clarify. Now, I realize that you’re of Jewish descent, and thus feel a tribal need to defend your people. I understand this.

What I don’t understand is why Israel is such a critical issue for our Nation. It’s a foreign nation- why are we intervening instead of letting them solve their own problems? Why is their problem necessarily ours?

I’m not saying I don’t think Israel is in the right here, but I just don’t understand why it’s an American issue at all. Why are we involved as a nation? Why not just stand back and let them solve their own problems?”

Again, I want to make it crystal clear that I am not offended by this question. Yet as with everything else, my background shapes my experiences. Therefore, at the risk of offending virtually everybody, including some supporters, I will briefly describe my personal journey regarding Israel.

I was not always a supporter of Israel. In fact, during my college years I was hostile towards Israel. I never supported Israel’s enemies, but I had utter contempt for Israel. There were two reasons for this.

One source of anger toward Israel occurred during the first Gulf War in 1990. Israel was being attacked with Scud Missiles, and America and England were telling Israel to “show restraint.” I wanted Israel to hit back. When they didn’t, I had to listen to liberal Jews (I attended the University of Judaism, where most of the people were leftist Jewish imbeciles.) state how proud they were that Israel showed restraint.

When the Los Angeles Palestinian Times came to the school, they did a piece on poor, weak, suffering Jews. It was pathetic. “As they left their kosher dinners untouched…” Then the interviewer turned to me. I boldly stated that, “I hope Saddam Hussein gets blown up now. I hope his whole country goes to blazes.”

The reaction of the other students was to express anger at me. They apologized for my “behavior.” Some of them even expressed that comments like mine were “going to get them all bombed.”

I went to the Vice President of the University, and expressed to him that “We are safe here. We are in Los Angeles. We are not going to get bombed. Saddam Hussein has better things to do than try and kill American citizens at a school he has never heard of. This fear gripping this place is insane.”

The Vice President agreed with me.

In my own “style,” I looked at my fellow students later that week and said, “If you guys want to be a bunch of gutless, sniveling crybabies, do it. I worry about real problems. My GPA isn’t high enough, and they want me to take music appreciation and art history on top of that. Like any future stockbroker needs these classes. Plus, Bo Jackson is injured, which is going to kill the Raiders next year. If that isn’t bad enough, my girlfriend keeps wanting to talk to me with her clothing on. Screw Scud Missiles. I have my own missile to worry about. If I don’t fire it into her soon I am going to go crazy. So either go cry about a war far away, or live your d@mn lives. I may not be warm and fuzzy, but I don’t sit cowering in the corner. I live my life.”

I wanted Israel to tell the world to “go f*ck itself.” My hostility towards Israel for being a gutless nation of wimps dissipated when I realized I was wrong. I eventually found out that Israel was retaliating. They were flying planes carrying out attacks. The planes were covered in American insignias. Arabs were screaming that Israel was pretending to be showing restraint while flying American planes. Israel got away with it. I was pleased and relieved.

The second reason I had hostility towards Israel was more personal. I have had negative experiences with Israelis. To me, Israelis were “Middle Easterners.” They were simply full of cr@p. When they would speak, I would know I was being lied to. Worse, they were rude.

Again, I can only judge people based on my life experiences. I remember the Israeli guy who screamed at me because I was watching a football game in the lounge. He came in and wanted to watch something else. He simply decided that what I was doing was less important. This same Israeli once got violent during a basketball game. I accidentally fouled him. He responded by putting his hands around my neck and trying to choke me. This guy was literally strangling me over a foul.

We were separated, and I called him a “Third World Savage Israeli Dog.” Ok, so that may not be polite, but his behavior certainly did fit that profile. He then went to the Dean’s office, and I got in trouble. So yes, because of a guy named Ran Patel, my view on Israelis was not positive. I did get along with Ran’s brother, but that did not matter. The damage was done. I told his brother, “I know you served in the Israeli Army, and I am no Palestinian lover, but people like your brother are why others support Palestinians. If a suicide bomber takes out your brother, I won’t lose an ounce of sleep.”

Yet even with animals like Ran Patel running around, my support of Israel itself existed. The reason was simple. I hated the Arabs more. With Israelis, I wanted them to shut up, stay in Israel, and stop criticizing America and acting like Israel is better. If they love Israel so much, stay there. With the Arabs, it was worse. Israelis may have been incredibly rude and obnoxious, but they were not trying to kill me. Outside of Ran Patel, most of them had never expressed violence towards me. Arabs were letting me know that they wanted to kill every Jew.

I finally went to Israel in August of 2008. I did not want to go. It was expensive. Yet my friend was getting married, so I had to go. I am glad I did. I was worried that it would be an entire nation of Ran Patels. It wasn’t. The people were very friendly. I had a lovely time. It allowed me to truly make peace with Israel.

Having said that, when I talk about “my dream vacation of a lifetime,” I am not referring to Israel. That trip was my 2006 trip to Canton, Ohio, to see the Pro Football Hall of Fame. My friends think I am crazy. I can’t help it. I love football, and the birthplace of the National Football League struck an emotional chord with me. Israel was beautiful, but I did not see it as visiting my homeland. I saw it as visiting a beautiful nation with friendly people. In that sense it was similar to my 2003 visit to Singapore and Thailand. Yes, Israel is the Jewish homeland, and I wanted to feel the emotional connection. I didn’t.

I bring all of this up because many people assume that I am Jewish, and therefore support Israel. Relationships, whether among humans, or in this case between a man and a nation, are complex.

I am Jewish, and while I have a deep respect for religious people, I am secular in the sense that I do not obey all of the religious laws. Unlike some secular people, I do not claim that the traditions are outdated. I praise religious people, and explain that I am secular due to my own shortcomings. I am lazy and undisciplined. For this reason, I have friends that are religious and secular. I take responsibility for my actions, and respect them all.

So why should anybody support Israel? More importantly, why would any non-Jewish person, especially a secular one, support Israel?

Without religious reasons, Israel absolutely should be supported.

The first issue is why America gets involved. I am very conflicted on this point. On the one hand, I still want Israel to tell the world to “go f*ck itself.” I still want the rest of the world, including America, to stop meddling. If we were to truly stay out of it, we would adopt the George W. Bush policy, which for all intents and purposes was to “let Ariel Sharon run wild.”

The problem with this is that AMerica gives Israel money, and I also believe that any nation receiving American money should shut up and do what we tell them to do. Otherwise, don’t ask for our money.

So yes, I am conflicted. However, my dream scenario is for Israel one day to no longer need American money. Then Israel could truly do whatever it wants. As long as they accept American dollars, those dollars will come with oversight.

Yet one issue involving Israel renders every other issue less important. It has nothing to do with religion.

Israel is a democracy.

More importantly, Israel is a democracy surrounded by dictatorships.

Most importantly, those dictatorships reer to Israel as “Little Satan.” America is “The Great Satan.” Hateful messages left by Arab lunatics often say, “Death to America. Death to Israel. Allah is Great.”

The Arab Muslims that want to wipe Israel off of the map then want to destroy America.

Israel is a democracy in an area that wants to create a caliphate. By supporting all democracies in the region, whether they be Israel or even pseudo-democracies such as Pakistan, America benefits. By supporting fledgling democracies where dictatorships used to exist, such as Iraq and Afghanistan, America benefits.

The Bush Doctrine of supporting democracy throughout the world is an absolutely correct vision. Democracy is better than dictatorship. If every nation were to become a democracy, the world would be better off. Yes, the American model of government is superior.

Why is this? Because democracies do not attack each other. Germany and Japan became democracies. When was the last time they bombed somebody? Even France, a disgusting nation in recent years before Nicolas Sarkozy, did not try to blow up America or Israel.

I cannot remember the last time in history that a pair of democracies had a hot war with each other.

America and Israel share values. Both of those nations share values with England and Australia. When those values are attacked anywhere in the world, “the Anglosphere” must respond forcefully.

America supports Israel because what we call 9/11, they call daily life. A democracy is being attacked by fanatical Islamofacist murderers. The barbarians have attacked London, Bali, Madrid, and New York. They are enemies of freedom, liberty, and democracy.

It is this global struggle that leads me to believe that America must stand squarely with Israel. I feel the same about Australia, and I have never been to Australia.

Yes, I am proud to be a Jew. Yes, my Jewish pride has led to me wanting to see Israel survive, despite the relationship between me and Israel not always being warm.

This is because enemies of Israel are enemies of America. My love of AMerica has never been in doubt. Israel is a nation that has meaning. Yet America is my home. It has given me everything I have.

Israel is our kid brother, as is Australia. Yet America is us.

Any threat against anybody that loves us is an attack against us. Our brothers would be there for us. We must be there for them.

It is the right thing to do morally. It is also sound policy strategically.

eric

I had the pleasure the other day of enjoying a presentation by former Wall Street Journal contributor Dean Rotbart.

I keep being told that nobody knows everything, but when I read the Wall Street Journal, I sometimes think, “maybe these guys do know everything.” If not, they come pretty close.

Dean Rotbart was offering his prescription for the Republican Party.

At the Beverly Hills Library, just blocks from my home, what Mr. Rotbart emphasized over and over again that what the GOP lacked was marketing. I could not agree more.

I have said over and over again that Republicans have the better ideas, but that Democrats are better salespeople. This is because Democrats have to spend all their time on sales and marketing because their product is dreadful. The GOP keeps thinking that being right on what matters is what matters at all. Until we start doing a much better job of explaining why our policies and ideas are better, we will remain in the politically wilderness.

With that, I present some wisdom from Dean Rotbart.

“Facts and logic don’t matter in the war for public opinion. If they did, Barack Obama would not be President.”

“Bernie Madoff ripped peolpe off to the tune of fifty billion dollars. It sounds like a lot, but fifty billion is a pittance compared to the government ripoff going on today.”

“With Madoff, the damage is done. With Obama and Pelosi, the damage is just getting started.”

“I wrote an article in the Jewish Journal apologizing for the Jewish vote. I did not apologize for their stupidity. I apologized that I did not do more. I am a still a reluctant warrior.”

“If we don’t do something, global jihadists will do what Hitler and the Nazis failed to do.”

“I do not think we are going to fix anything by 2010, or even by 2012. We need to work on fixing things by 2016.”

“We need ground up leadership. What has changed between November and now that makes any of the proposed candidates running in 2012 the answer to our problems?”

“As much as I hate to use them as an example, Al Qaeda succeeds because it is decentralized. It has cells.”

“Meritocracy is dead.”

“We need to market the GOP like it is Coca-Cola. The United States of America is the brand. The GOP is the advertising agency.”

“Forget press releases and position papers.”

Mr. Rotbart emphasized several times that the answer was not more press releases and position papers. The issue was that the GOP has a terrible brand. He offered a five point plan for rebranding the GOP. He also kept insisting that he did not want to lead the effort. He needed the people in the library to either be the people or find the people that could implement his plan.

1) “We need a theatrical commerical production consisting of people extolling America. With each person speaking, after describing the beauty of America, they would make clear that they were a Republican. The goal is to show that we are all Republicans.”

2) “We need a reality television series. We can show lawyers working in court, doctors working in clinics in poor areas, and people tutoring kids. Republicans do this every day, but many people do not see this.”

3) “We need an ‘All American Minute.’ During the Bicentennial, there was the ‘Bicentennial Minute.’ In sixty seconds powerful images can be spread out to people. Sixty second sound bites of everything that makes America great would be very helpful.”

4) “We need a Young Republican Jewish Coalition Chapter. I am not talking about young professionals. This should focus exclusively on high school students. When people are in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, their voting patters are already established. We have to focus on them when they are in high school.”

5) “We have to infiltrate music, television, the internet, and book worlds. One video featuring the Jonas Brothers will have a greater effect than 1000 op-eds. The left has their celebrities, and they use them. We have to start using our celebrities more often and more effectively.”

Mr. Roptbart offered some final thoughts.

“Gatekeepers change. All the facts in the world will not change the progressive media into the conservative media. You have to go around the gatekeepers.”

“Trying to convince people on the left of something means catering to their issue. If you want environmentalists and animal rights activists about the severity of Iran building a nuclear bomb, let them know that on 9/11, trees and field mice died. They still may not care about the loss of human life, but they will feel awful about dead trees and field mice, and perhaps become an ally.”

The audience had many elderly people in it, and they all had certain political issues that were near and dear to them. Mr. Rotbart kept on his disciplined message, which was that without style, people will never get to the substance. Trying to force people to be outraged about issues won’t work.

The right already has the substance. Yet we need better packaging. At this point, I offered my thoughts.

“As one of the relatively young people in the room, I can tell you that if you want to market to young people, you need two things…humor…and sexuality. Have you seen the way the PETA people get naked to sell vegetarianism? It works. I know that is going to make some of you in here cringe, but young people are motivated by imagery. Behind every teenage boy babbbling stupidity about choroflorocarbons or the wetlands, there is a teenage girl he is trying to impress.

There is a conservative comedy night every month in Hollywood at the Laugh Factory. The room is packed, often with young kids.

If you make them laugh, and appeal to their base instincts, they will listen. More humor, more sexuality.”

I was surprised at how many old people came up to me and told me that they agreed with me. Of course, many of them did not come up to me, so lord knows what they thought.

As for Mr. Rotbart, he was inclined to agree with me. We spoke about the television show “South Park,” as well as the “Batman: Dark Knight” movie. I pointed out how awful it was that it did not win multiple Oscars. He pointed out in return that Oscars did not matter. It made millions at the box office. People watched it.

Some people will argue that the problem with the GOP is the message itself. Most of those critics are leftists anyway, and would accept nothing less than a second leftist party identical to the Democrats or worse.

Those that genuinely care about the fate of the Republican Party would do well to heed the wisdom of Dean Rotbart.

eric

I have said many times that I prefer to watch hard news. I don’t like nonsense.

I watched Hannity and Colmes because hard-edged political debate brought current issues to the surface in a forceful way.

Yet with the departure of Alan Colmes, Sean Hannity has filled part of his program with what he calls his “Great American Panel.” The panel contains some of the most random combinations imaginable.

It reminded me of one episode of “Politically Incorrect” with Bill Maher many years ago. Arianna Huffington was the resident conservative at the time. Next to her was rock star Jesse Dupree, the lead singer of Jackyl. I do not even remember the conversation. I just wondered who thought of pairing Ms. Huffington and Mr. Dupree.

An episode of “Cheers” made fun of the Cable Ace Awards when the announcer called out, “and now, Margaret Thatcher and L L Cool J.”

The first Great American Panel contained rock star Meatloaf. Recent panels have contained Tony Danza among others. Yet Hannity finally allowed the truly bizarre to take over.

The panel consisted of former Virginia Governor George Allen, Democratic strategist Kirsten Powers…and comedian Gilbert Gottfried.

Like many people, I thought, “what the heck is Gilbert Gottfried doing on Hannity?”

As I said, I like hard news, and abhor nonsense. Yet by the time this show was over, I was thrilled I had watched it. In the same way David Letterman would just give up when Howard Stern got going, Sean Hannity realized that he had lost control of the show the moment Gilbert Gottfried spoke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlgVAQ8v20M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODrIhQbHtDI

When Hannity and Powers were debating health care and the budget, Hannity turns to Gottfried and asks, “Are you following this by the way?”

Gottfried replied, “No, I wasn’t listening, but she (Powers) is kinda hot. Yeah, I’d definitely do that.”

Later on Hannity asked Gottfried, “Do you have any opinions about this bailout bill at all?”

Gottfried replied, “No, but I was told if I sit here long enough I get a ‘Hanging with Hannity’ coffee mug.”

Gilbert Gottfried will be inflicting himself on tour at several locations.

http://www.gilbertgottfried.com/

Fox News will never be the same.

Like Mr. Hannity, I cannot begin to think about what to add. I just know that it was a riot watching that panel.

eric

This past weekend, Rush Limbaugh lit up CPAC.

http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_030209/content/01125106.guest.html

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/02/28/romney-wins-second-cpac-straw-poll/

Initially scheduled to speak for 20 minutes, he roused the crowd for an hour and one half.

This crowd wanted red meat, and Mr. Limbaugh served them up steaks, bloody and delicious.

His rally for all things conservative and against all things liberal will again inevitably lead his critics to treat him as leading a flock of sheep.

After all, without the “leadership” of somebody such as Rush Limbaugh, conservatives would never think the way they do.

It is for this and other reasons that people need to know the truth. Rush Limbaugh does not influence me. I influence him. He is a member of my audience. He agrees with me.

Yes, this may sound pompous, but too many on the left have no clue what makes Rush Limbaugh effective.

I do, with considerable help from many of his other listeners.

I respect Rush. I share his views on two-thirds of issues. I came to those conclusions without him.

You see, contrary what is taught in our dreadful liberal public schools, conservatives are also born with a cerebrum, a cerebellum, and a medula oblongata. Unlike those on the left, we were also given a funnybone.

Rush Limbaugh appeals to the brain and the sense of humor. Yet if he never existed, we still would. We created him, not the other way around. He is not my leader. He is a follower, just like me, in a powerful movement known as conservatism.

I have never met Mr. Limbaugh. I have never spoken with him, or interviewed him. Yet I am proud to have him stand shoulder to shoulder with me because he shares my conservatism. He understands that liberalism is a scourge. It must be defeated everywhere it rears its head.

I grew up in New York and left to go to college in Los Angeles. Like many children of decent and hardworking middle class Americans, I learned traditional values. It was less about left vs. right than right vs. wrong. I saw what the schools did. I despised them for it, and still do. I realized that if that is what “those types of people” do with controls of schools, I never wanted to find out what they would do if they controlled anything else.

When I got to California, I attended a Jewish university. This meant the professors were socialists, and so were many of the students. The more they tried to indoctrinate me, the more I fought back.I was subjected to left-wing bullying by other students, which the professors not only condoned, but encouraged. Intimidation and peer pressure was a way to try and silence my conservatism, all in the names of “enlightenment,” “tolerance,” and “diversity.” I was even called a murderer for voting Republican.

When I would express a conservative thought, I would often be confronted with the nasty reply that “I took my marching orders from Rush Limbaugh.”

There was one problem with this theory. I had no idea who this Limbaugh fellow was!

Most liberals were comparing me to a man I had never met, or even heard.

Remember, before Rush Limbaugh became all national and all world, he was a fellow from Sacramento, California. Until a couple of weeks ago, I had never even been to Sacramento. With the exception of Oakland Raiders games, anything outside of my Los Angeles area seemed pointless. In fact, the Raiders were in Los Angeles at the time, rendering even Oakland not vital except for historical reasons.

I grew up on Long Island. We had Scott Shannon at Z-100 and the morning zoo. We had WBLI 106 for top 40 hits. Yes, I remember Don Imus and Howard Stern, but Rush Limbaugh? Didn’t know him.

So how could I possibly understand conservatism without a radio talk show host to guide me?

By thinking for myself.

I saw what liberalism did to people. It destroyed them and ripped their insides out. It trapped them in failed schools, condemned to misery. It would tur out that no matter what the political issue, liberalism equaled misery. Only a liberal could possibly want that.

In my junior year of college (which I completed in four years, not four-and-a-half, five, or ten years like many liberals), a friend of mine gave me a book that he thought I might like. The year was 1993. It was Rush Limbaugh’s second book, “See, I told you so.”

Yes, it was fabulous. However, it did not offer me any “revelations” or “new insights.” In fact, quite the reverse. With each passing chapter, I would exclaim, “I’ve been saying this for years.”

So the only thing Rush Limbaugh did was reconfirm what I already strongly suspected.

On issues, I was right, and those that disagreed with me needed cranial-glutial extraction surgery.

During 1993 and 1994, I watched his television show every evening. He was funny and entertaining. At work, through much of the 1990s, I had his program on while working.

Yet Rush and I went our separate ways, even though we still share a proud conservative ideology. Their was no public split. I still liked his opinions. I just do not listen to any radio at work. Also, since my commute in the morning is only 10 minutes, there is simply no time or reason to listen to any radio program. I did radio myself for 15 years, so I listen to old cds of myself. I skip my own voice and just listen to the music.

Yet despite not having heard Mr. Limbaugh’s program in years, I still maintain my conservative credentials.

Apparently my brain still functions. Liberals might want to try this. After all, they are the ones that bow before their anointed ones, who teach them to be bipartisan and spread peace through anger, rage, hatred, and violence toward anybody they disagree with.

The only lesson Mr. Limbaugh truly gets across that I sometimes forget on my own is the importance of optimism. As he says, we “should be of good cheer.”

When all is said and done, I still think Rush Limbaugh is fabulous. Yet our brief associations are of want, not of need. We both succeeded without the other one.

When my book and speaking engagements carry conservatism andRepublican ideas to the next level, many people will give me the credit.

It will not be because of me. I will just be reconfirming ideas and beliefs that many people were…and are…right to have in the first place.

So thank you Mr. Limbaugh for your agreeing with me. I anybody asks, I will tell them the truth. I did not tell you what to say to CPAC. You said what was in your heart, mind, and soul, and it was right. Had I given the speech, your response would have been “ditto.”

We are both that good, and so is every conservative that pays attention and agrees with us.

We get it. Liberals never will, because if they did, they would be conservatives.

eric