Here is a press release from a group that I find extremely helpful during these days when our government seems to be inspired by the upcoming movie “Confessions of a Shopaholic”.

However, instead of the cutesy over-spending of actress Rebecca Bloomwood, America is exposed to the socialistic “take from the rich, give to the unwilling to work” mentally held by the Democratic majority in all three levels of American government.

To encourage Republicans in the Senate to hold firm and vote against the stimulus bill (S. 1), #TCOT is pleading to all liberty and freedom-loving Americans to call your senators (specifically potential fence-riders:

(1) Collins - Maine
(2) Snow - Maine
(3) Newmann (yesterday appointed to replace Judd Gregg) - NH *
(4) Murkowski - ALASKA
(5) Grassley – Iowa

Please take this opportunity to call and email these senators as well as your own.

Now, to the release:

Reposted from the #TCOT Report at http://www.tcotreport.com/noporkulus.html

February 4, 2009

Michael Patrick Leahy, co-founder of Top Conservatives on Twitter, today announced that the conservative netroots movement is focusing it's OPERATION MOVE OVER MoveON.org on Republicans in the Senate.

"Led by #TCOT Project Servant-Leader Wendy Hermann, a work-at-home mom from Corpus Christi, Texas, #TCOT's MOVE OVER MoveOn.org project is focused on defeating the "Porkulus" Bill in the Senate (S.1), in any form." Leahy said today. "We intend to communicate that message to all 41 Republican Senators in the most direct way today and through the rest of the week. We know that Senate Majority Leader Democrat Harry Reid is trying to ram this bad bill through the Senate without a sufficient discussion of all the truly wasteful mini bail-outs to the Democrat Party's political allies it contains."

"Our message to every Republican Senator is clear and simple."

"Stand firm, and don't fall for false promises of 'bi-partisanship' that are being used to merely provide political cover to the Democrats. This is a clear example of the Democrats' wasteful economic policies, and we need to let the Democrats own their foolhardiness."

"The history of compromise in the US Congress is easy to understand. When Democrats coerce Republicans to abandon their principles, they call it 'bi-partisan' compromise. We conservatives call that fundamentally wrong." "Anyone who wants to help us in this higher calling in the defense of American free markets can take an advantage of an innnovative interactive tool that allows the average person to view the most recent spending elements of the "Porkulus" Bill, and register your approval or disapproval of each item. We will be periodically be sending out press releases highlighting your opinion of the most wasteful and extravagant elements of the bill."

"This great tool has been developed by Aaron Day, of Daylight Networks. To use the tool right now, simply go to:

www.daylightnetwork.com/senate-stimulus

"Once there, you can register and vote on whether or not a specific line item included in the bill will help improve the economy or will hurt it."

Continued at http://www.tcotreport.com/noporkulus.html

Media Star? Half of Pennsylvanians Don't Know Who Chris Matthews Is

(This story originally appeared on NewsBusters.org)

Apparently having a show on two different networks owned by NBC does not guarantee familiarity with voters. Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s “Hardball” and NBC’s “The Chris Matthews Show” has hinted at a run for Arlen Specter’s Senate seat in 2010 as reported by Mark Finkelstein here.

A Quinnipiac University poll of Pennsylvanians found that 55 percent of voters “say they don’t know enough to have an impression of him (Matthews)” as reported in the August 5 edition of Politico’s The Scorecard blog, which can be found here. The same poll found that 28 percent hold a favorable view of Matthews while 15 percent look unfavorably on the “thrilled” Hardball host.

In contrast, Specter has a 55 percent favorable rating along with a 26 percent unfavorable rating among those polled. To be fair, Pennsylvanians could be more familiar with Sen. Specter because he has represented the state of Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate since 1980. In comparison, Matthews has the 24th ranked news show on cable television with an average audience of 494,000 viewers in the entire U.S.


Brad Evenson is a marketing intern at the Media Research Center.

CNN Chief Kline Touts Unbiased Coverage

Apparently CNN/U.S. President Jon Klein has gotten a little too close to the problem at CNN to realize that there is one. In an internal memo that was picked up by the TVNewser blog, Klein touts CNN’s unbiased coverage of the news. “CNN is proving that with innovation, execution, and passion, the sky’s the limit,” Klein wrote. “Our deep-seated commitment to independent coverage that is unbiased – without an agenda – is more powerful and popular than the partisan rants that permeate the airwaves.”

As readers of the media watchdog sites will remember, many conservative bloggers including myself, exposed one such time that CNN did not appear so unbiased.

Recall the CNN/YouTube debate on Wednesday, November 28 of last year. During the Anderson Cooper-moderated debate, YouTube user-created video questions were asked for the Republican candidates to respond to. Nearing the end of the debate, one question came from a retired Colonel from the U.S. Army.

Keith Kerr, retired Colonel., U.S. Army; retired Brigadier General, California National Reserve, listed his credentials in his video clip then stated, “And I’m an openly gay man”.

He then asked his question to the candidates, “I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.”

Cooper then pointed out that Kerr was actually attending the debate in the audience. “I want to point out the Brigadier General Keith Kerr is here with us tonight,” Cooper said. “I’m glad you’re here.”

What CNN did not report was that Kerr is a member of the LGBT Americans For Hillary Steering Committee Members as reported in a June 27, 2007 press release on Clinton’s campaign page.

Following the conclusion of the debate, Bill Bennett of CNN and Cooper began to hear from viewers that Kerr was indeed affiliated with Clinton. Bennett said, “I’m getting a ton of e-mails saying that this guy who asked the question was part of Hillary Clinton’s gay steering committee. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but if he is, that certainly should have been disclosed…” (Balan, Newsbusters)

Cooper then responded, “Yeah, well no, it’s something we should follow up on, because certainly I had not heard that and had no knowledge of, nor do I think anyone here (did).”

It is intriguing that neither CNN host knew anything about Kerr because he has appeared on CNN criticizing the U.S. Army’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in 2003. On the December 11, 2003 edition of cnn.com, Kerr’s name appears in the very first sentence on a story titled, “Men denounce military’s ‘don’t tell’ policy. The story was based on a television appearance that Kerr made on CNN’s The Flipside show hosted by Kathleen Hays earlier in the day.

Thanks for the read!
Sources: NewsBusters.org, TVNewser, CNN.com

New BradCast Available for Download

There's a new BradCast just for you at:

http://b_rad423.podomatic.com

Here's the description:

Today I take a look at Kosovo's soveriegnty, possible plagiarism in the Obama camp, and potential problems with the beloved spiral fluorescent light bulb. Welcome back!

NYC: ‘Get Some’ on Valentines

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene revealed its “Get Some” safe sex awareness campaign today.

The new campaign to advertise the 2008 NYC Condom will feature “new posters, banners, and TV ads featuring a colorful and sexy message”.

There are reportedly more than 200 venues where “street teams” from the health department will hand out condoms pro bono to hype the new condom package design and its dispenser.

The condoms were designed by fuseproject, a San-Francisco-based industrial design and branding firm.
“Good design can help bring condoms out of the closet,” said Yves Behar, founder of fuseproject, in an interview with MyFox New York.

Since the project’s inception on Valentine’s Day 2007, New York City has distributed 36 million free condoms.

I for one am glad that I am not a New York City citizen because I do not want my tax dollars to fund a night of regrets for a free-loader, much less 36 million of them.

Thanks for the read.

Source: MyFox New York

Hillary Plant Given Significant Airtime by CNN in Republican Debate

Keith Kerr, retired Colonel., U.S. Army; retired Brigadier General, California National Reserve, was given airtime to promote open acceptance of homosexuality in the military during the CNN/Youtube Republican debate on Wednesday night. In his video, Kerr listed his army credentials then proclaimed, “And I'm an openly gay man”.

Here is his question to the candidates:
“I want to know why you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians.”

After candidates gave answers, CNN’s Anderson Cooper pointed out that Kerr was in the audience and asked the retired colonel if those answers were sufficient for him.

What CNN did not report was that Kerr is a member of the LGBT Americans For Hillary Steering Committee Members as reported in a June 27, 2007 press release on Clinton’s campaign page.

Stay tuned because more is to follow as details unfold.

Thanks for the read.

Graphic Galore on CNN/Youtube Debate

This is an actual screenshot of the CNN/Youtube Republican Debate on Wednesday night. CNN, lacking the wisdom of Solomon, decided to track a live audience's responses (all 24 of them) by rating what they heard on a 10-point scale with 10 being the most-positive. I kid you not, this on-screen graphic was displayed for the entire two-hour program.

Mickelson Wins DBC to Grab Top FedEx Cup Spot

Lefty finally got Tiger by the tail and held on tight enough to win the Duetche Bank Championship by two strokes on Monday afternoon in Boston, Mass.

The closest Tiger got on the back nine was 1 stroke away, for a few seconds. On the 161 yard par-3 16th, Tiger sank a 10-foot birdie putt only to be followed by Mickelson's own from 6 feet out.

With the win, Mickelson claims the top position in the race for the FedEx Cup with Tiger close behind in third position. This weekend is the BMW Championship and Mickelson has already made it clear that he will not be in the field citing business and personal reasons.

BradCast 2-15-07

Get your sneak preview of Fox News Channel's "1/2 Hour News Hour" featuring Rush Limbaugh. I also discuss Al Franken's senate bid, moveon.org's petition to President Bush, and CBS News' coverage of 2008 presidential hopefuls.

Gather round, the BradCast is on!

www.b_rad423.podomatic.com

Colts beat Bears in Super Bowl

The following story originally appeared in Feb. 9, 2007 edition of The Hutchinson Collegian.

As the rain continued to pour onto his face, Peyton Manning held up the Vince Lombardy trophy, then quickly deflected sole responsibility for bringing the trophy to Indianapolis.

“It’s hard to put into words,” Manning said. “I’m proud to be part of this team. We stuck together, won this game for our leader, Tony Dungy.”

Dungy became the first black head coach to lead his team to a Super Bowl win and was as selfless as Manning.

“Peyton is a tremendous player, a great leader,” Dungy said. “He prepares, he works, does everything you can do to win games and lead your team. If people think he needed to win a Super Bowl, that is just wrong. This guy is a Hall of Fame player and one of the greatest ever to play.”

Super Bowl XLI had a few other firsts. It was the first time the opening kickoff was returned for a touchdown when Bear’s rookie Devin Hester took the opener 92 yards for the score.
It was also the first rainy Super Bowl and the rain never let up for the duration of the contest.
The Bears held a 7-0 lead until Manning found a wide-open Reggie Wayne down the middle of the field for a 53-yard touchdown pass. The Bears still led 7-6 however, as the snap was bobbled on the Colts point-after attempt.

Chicago’s Thomas Jones’ 53-yard rush set up Rex Grossman’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Muhsin Muhammad, giving the Bears an eight-point advantage.
Then Manning led the Colts to 16 unanswered points as they took a 22-14 lead.
A Robbie Gould 44-yard field goal made the score 22-17.

Grossman proceeded to virtually end the game by throwing an interception caught by Colt’s Kelvin Hayden, who returned it 56 yards for a touchdown, putting Indianapolis ahead 29-17.

Thanks for the read!

BradCast 2-1-07

Join the hundreds that listen to the BradCast every month!

This episode we look at the March for Life rally, Boston bomb scare, Ford, Dick Morris and you get my Super Bowl XLI breakdown and prediction!

All yours at:

http://www.b_rad423.podomatic.com

Super Bowl XLI Preview

Every Super Bowl is big, but Super Bowl XLI figures to be the biggest yet.

The showdown in Miami is loaded with storylines – Lovie Smith became the first black head coach to take his team to the Super Bowl, and hours later Tony Dungy became the second.

Peyton Manning is trying to do what his two-time Pro Bowl Dad, Archie Manning, couldn’t — namely, win a Super Bowl ring.

On top of that, Rex Grossman is the starting quarterback on a team in the Super Bowl with a 73.9 quarterback rating compared to Manning’s 101.0 rating.
Here’s a breakdown of the teams:

Chicago Offense

The aforementioned Grossman leads a Bears offense that is merely average in both rushing and passing. He completed only 54.6 percent of his passes this season. The ground game will try to do some damage against the Colts’ middling rush defense, however.
Thomas Jones, Chicago’s running back who has increased his rush yardage every year since he broke into the league in 2001, needs to have a big game for a Bears victory.

Chicago Defense

‘Da Bears are in the Super Bowl despite their offense. This defensive unit allowed the fifth-fewest yards and third-fewest points in the NFL this season. Defensive end Mark Anderson had 12 sacks this season and he will lead a front line that needs to apply pressure to Peyton Manning and force him to throw the ball quickly.

Indianapolis Offense

Peyton Manning needs no introduction, but he’ll get one anyway. He completed 65 percent of his passes for 4397 yards with 31 touchdowns and only 9 interceptions. Manning has two sure-handed receivers to pass to: Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. Joseph Addai will lead the ground attack with Dominic Rhodes carrying the short-yardage rushes.

Indianapolis Defense

While the Colts’ rush defense deficiencies have been well documented, Indianapolis has not allowed a 100-yard rusher in the playoffs and has given up only 77 yards rushing yards per game. Throw in the NFL’s second-best pass defense and the Colts look like a defensively sound team. Also, big-hitting safety Bob Sanders will play again for the first time since Week 13.

Last Word-
Tony Dungy is no stranger to winning. With over 100 wins and Peyton at the helm, the Colts are poised for their first Super Bowl win since moving to Indianapolis.

1-10-07 BradCast - Interview

Don't miss my exclusive interview with Kansas City Royals radio broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre, prep basketball rankings, and a preview of President Bush's address to the nation!

To listen head over to:

http://www.b_rad423.podomatic.com/

Thanks for the read and thanks for listening!

Blustery Holiday Weather

That's quite the sight, isn't it? I would like to extend my most urgent request to everyone traveling in the midwest (myself included) to drive smart and stay safe!

Other news you may have missed, former President Ford passed away on Tuesday. Also, Saddam will be hanged at 10:00 p.m. EST on Friday, December 29. Head over to any of the networks to see them ponder if "her will have to suffer".

Thanks for the read.

Christmas Under Attack

The latest and most pertinent attack in the Culture War in America is the attack on Christmas. Never before have I seen such resentment in people for a day off from work.

We had Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky bent all out of sorts at the Seatlle-Tacoma International Airport, threatening to sue the airport. Why? Because he saw no menorahs among the display of Christmas trees along the concourse. Just days later Bogomilsky withdrew his threat of lawsuit, but this is just another example of political-correctness sliding into what makes our nation great.

I would argue to you that Christmas is not harmful to society and muttering a simple “Merry Christmas” to patrons as they enter a retail outlet will not offend anyone near as much as the offensives that one can find in the public school system. We are having “holiday concerts” where people wish you “season’s greetings”. Enough!

We have 10 federally-recognized holidays here in the great U.S. of A. They are: New Year’s Day, Birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr, Washington’s Birthday, Memeorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.

If we don’t want to recognize Christmas during the “holidays” why should we benefit from the federally-recognized-holiday-benefit of having the day off of work?

The Christmas shopping season begins on “Black Friday” –the day after Thanksgiving—and goes through Christmas Day. This season the economy will see $500 billion spent on gift-giving.

Let’s do retailers, workers, the economy and our nation a favor and give Christmas the recognition it deserves.

Thanks for the read.


Sources: Lou Dobbs-cnn, U.S. office of personell management, charlie brown

Santana Takes 2006 A.L. Cy Young Award

Congrats to Johan Santana on winning his second-career Cy Young Award. Santana went 19-6 with a 2.77 ERA and while striking out 245 in 2006.

Morneau Wins A.L. MVP

Congratulations to Justin Morneau for edging Derek Jeter to win the 2006 American League Most Valuable Player Award!

The twins were well represented in postseason awards as Johan Santana won the 2006 Cy Young Award also.

Blue Dragons Coach Happy to be Home

(Originally published in Nov. 10 Hutchinson Collegian)

Home, sweet home.

There is nothing like it for the Blue Dragons, or for their head coach, Ryan Swanson.

“Since I’ve started coaching, I’ve lived in towns of 5,000 people and towns of 1 million people,” Swanson said. “So I’ve tried a bunch of things, but this (Hutchinson) is home.”

Swanson, who grew up in the area and is a former Blue Dragon player himself, looks to create excitement with the fans by recalling his younger days.

“We appreciate fans of any age,” Swanson said. “But it’s those little ones that run out on the floor and slap the guys’ hands before the game and hang all over them, that’s what it’s about.”

How is he so sure?

“I would know; I was one of those little kids,” Swanson said.

Whether excitement is lacking or not, his team is 2-0 after the Quarterback Classic at the Sports Arena on Nov. 3-4.

The Blue Dragons (ranked No. 26 in preseason poll) opened its season with a 92-74 win over Hamilton College on Nov. 3.

After showing a bit of nerves – missing shots early – the Dragons found their rhythm as the first half neared its end.

Tied at 26-all, Hutchinson closed the first half on a 20-13 run that put them ahead 46-39 at halftime.

The Blue Dragons worked their lead to 55-45 when they went on a 17-0 run to take over the game and put it out of reach for the Hamilton Aliens.

While not showing impressive shooting numbers (34 of 91 overall), the Dragons out-rebounded the Aliens 71-43, including 31 offensive boards.

Coach Swanson took notice of those stats.

“Ricky Bowles was an absolute monster out there on the glass,” Swanson said. “Bobby (Davis) had 10 rebounds and Nate (Brumfield) had nine. Those are good numbers.”

Nate Brumfield, sophomore, led the scoring attack for the Dragons with 22 points and Nolan Richardson, sophmore, added 21.

HCC 76, Des Moines 69

Hutchinson faced the Des Moines Area Bears on Nov. 4, for their second game of the Quarterback Classic.

Despite trailing 37-36 at halftime, the Dragons charged back with Nolan Richardson leading the way.

Richardson shot the Dragons into the lead while scoring 19 of his game-high 29 points in the second half.

“Nolan was big for us in the second half when we got a little bit of a cushion,” Swanson said. “He can score in bunches, and that’s what he did in the second half.”

Overall, the Dragons shot 44 percent compared to the Bears’ 47 percent but the difference was, once again, rebounds and Hutch out-rebounded Des Moines 47-30.

Hutchinson will face stiff competition in Nov. 10-11’s Kwik Shop Classic. The Dragons play No. 1 Midland on Friday, Nov. 10, at 7:30 p.m. in the Sports Arena. Saturday, Nov. 11 will feature the Dragons against Shelton State at 7:30 p.m. at the Sports Arena.

Campus Reaction to Election

(Originally published in Nov. 17 Hutchinson Collegian)

When all the Nov. 7 election dust settled, the Democratic Party found itself with new majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Pundits maintain the takeover occurred primarily because of dissatisfaction with the Iraq war.

Local races were also watched closely by several individuals on the Hutchinson Community College campus.

Dr. Mary Coplen, a psychology instructor at HCC, gave her approval of the passing of the USD 308 bond proposal.

“I was so pleased to see the community and the city of Hutchinson support the public school,” Coplen said.

Coplen sees change coming for national politics as well with the Democratic takeover in Congress.

“I think the democrats will take care of the people,” she said.

HCC English instructor Dan Spees admits that there was one main issue that mattered to him – the war in Iraq.

“My main and most important hope – more than anything else – is that we’ll start some kind of withdrawal of our troops,” Spees said.

Spees also expressed concern over the amount of money candidates are spending on their campaigns.

“I think that we need meaningful campaign finance reform,” he said.

He may be right.

The 2006 election was the most expensive election ever. Campaigns spent a total of $2.6 billion to get their messages across.

So, with all the headaches and expenses of campaign season over, voters are content to take a break, right?

Not so, according to Coplen.

“Now I’m ready for the presidential election.”

NBC Cuts "Madonna on the Cross" Scene

As a direct result of you, me, and 750,000 other concerned Americans, NBC has decided to cut a scene showing Madonna on a cross. The scene was to be part of a two-hour special about Madonna's "Confessions" tour.

Scheduled to air Nov. 22, the video of the song "Live to Tell" will show other shots while Madonna is on the cross but will still show her walking away from it at the end of the song.

One of the most troubling parts of this news piece is the fact that Madonna is defending the scene saying it wasn't meant to be "anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous".

Thanks for the read.

http://today.reuters.com/news/home.aspx

CBS: Seriousness to GOP Oil Conspiracy?

Here's a news story from yesterday's CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. The Bush administration is somehow manipulating gas prices just in time for a mid-term election.
Karic ponders, "Is this an election year present from President Bush to fellow Republicans?"

Reporter Anthony Mason narrated the story and touted, "a recent poll found 42 percent of people actually believe the Bush Administration is has deliberately manipulated the price of gas to affect the election."

I found Mr. Mason's use of this undocumented poll a bit perplexing and decided to do a bit of research. Here is a CNN poll claiming, "the graduation rate at four-year public institutions fell to 41.9 percent in 2000." The same percentage as people (gasp) who believe Bush is manipulating the silly rules of supply and demand. And unlike the CBS News poll, I'll cite mine:
http://cnnstudentnews.cnn.com/2001/fyi/teachers.ednews/08/15/college.dropout.ap/

Once again, statistics can say whatever you want them to say.

Thanks for the read.

Dow Hits New High, Nears 12,000

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 95.57 points today to close at 11, 947.70. The rise was fueled by good news from Costco and McDonalds.

"Everyone's big concern has been that the economy has been riding on the back of the consumer and that high gas prices would get them to stop spending, but at least we know that they are still going to McDonald's and Costco" said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Co. in Chicago.

Also gaining today was the S&P 500 Index by 12.88 points to hit 1,362.76. That was a new 5-year high. The Nasdaq also turned in a positive by 37.91 points to 2,346.18.

Thanks for the read

www.today.reuters.com