Brutally Honest Rant - 04/26/06

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: Gas Hostility and Demagoguery
Audio Transcripts
04/27/06

[Start Program]

(Computer – Introduction)
(Music intro – "American Idiot Remix" – by Green Day and David Matthews 2)

Good evening, and welcome to this week’s Brutally Honest Rant. I’m David Matthews 2, writer of the weekly online column Brutally Honest.

Well I suppose we need to talk about it some more…gas prices, that is.

If I’m starting to sound like a broken record on this subject, it’s not because I’m fixated on this subject, but because the message just is not getting out in the way that it needs to! Gas prices keep on going up, people keep getting pissed off about it, and something DOES need to be done about it, because THIS IS affecting our economy! You know, that hypothetical "robust economy" that the Bush Imperium and their ass-kissers on talk radio and on Fox News LOVE to talk about? I’ve got news for you folks… it’s not as robust as they claim it to be.

But back to hostile gas prices... And yes, that IS the right term for it. IT IS HOSTILE! When you have the president of a rogue nation like Iran rejoicing – REJOICING – at high gas prices and the volatile price of oil and actually say that these things need to be even HIGHER, then there is no other word to describe this situation except HOSTILE!

But what really bothers me is how badly this issue is being DEMAGOGUED.

"Demagogue"… rather interesting word, huh? It’s actually Ancient Greek for "popular leader". It was originally a term used to describe leadership by eliciting the support of the masses. But used in the context of modern-day politics, it becomes an obscenity. In modern times, if you demagogue an issue, then you are employing a strategy of obtaining power by appealing to the popular prejudices, fears, and expectations of the public.

About a century ago, Baltimore’s own H. L. Mencken, gave this rather interesting definition of a demagogue: "one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots." And that is EXACTLY what is happening to the issue of hostile gas prices. It is being intentionally, deliberately, and systematically DEMAGOGUED by politicians and by the air-fluffed egotistical members of the media.

Yes, we know about the various reasons behind the high gas prices. We’ve KNOWN about them! We KNOW that we have been more and more dependent on foreign oil, despite the false promises and empty programs of every single US President since Richard Nixon to change it. We KNOW that China and India are now serious competitors for the oil that we used to take for granted. We KNOW that we haven’t built a single refinery in DECADES. And we KNOW that our federal government has continuously and systematically required the remaining refineries to come up with so-called "boutique" gasoline on the pretext of saving the environment.

And YET… we still hear the horsecrap from the air-fluffed media about how we should be "grateful" that we’re ONLY paying $3 per gallon. Oh, look at how Europe is paying for gas prices! They’re paying DOUBLE that amount! Yes they do, and the difference between their prices and our prices is in TAXES! They tax the CRAP out of European motorists to pay for their socialist programs. But we don’t hear that part too loudly from the ego-driven media, do we? NOOOOOOOO! Take away the taxes and their gas prices are pretty much on par with our own!

We also still hear the conservatives spin their HORSECRAP about how "adjusted for inflation" we’re still getting a bargain. Well I don’t know about you, but the money that disappears from my wallet to pay for gas is in TODAY’S amount. The bills I pay for are in TODAY’S amount. The price of the groceries that I get at the store – which ARE going up, by the way, because of this – are in TODAY’S amount! They’re NOT "adjusted for inflation from 1981" or from any other year.

Tell you what, when all of these Bush Imperium apologists and brown-nosers start getting paid exactly the way they would have been paid in 1981, THEN they can talk about "adjusting for inflation" all they want to. In the meantime, stick with current events, because you’re doing miserably with the here-and-now!

And we’re still hearing about how RICH the oil industry is getting off of us. Yes they are, because THAT is what a private business DOES! That’s the nature of the beast, and it doesn’t matter what kind of business it is.

Look, unless you’re some clueless college student who thinks they know everything, a desperate housewife-slash-Stepford Pod Person, or a self-employed businessperson, odds are you work for a private business. The people that keep YOU employed have one mission… to make as much money as they can! If they can’t do that, then they certainly have no reason to keep YOU employed! They’re not doing this out of the goodness of their hearts.

Now, does it BOTHER me to know that gas company execs are making boatloads of moolah over our misfortune? Absolutely! Do I think they should be PUNISHED for it? I’d be lying to myself if I said no. But taxing that money is not the way!

Come on folks… if you actually USE that gray matter between your ears, then you’d realize that this horsecrap idea of a so-called "windfall profits tax" that these politicians want to talk about will only make things WORSE for us as consumers! Do you know why? Because taxes to a business are simply OVERHEAD, which gets passed down to US in the form of HIGHER PRICES! It’s not going to affect their profits… PERIOD! All it will do is it will push gas prices up EVEN HIGHER! WE end up paying that tax FOR them!

So why do politicians and the air-fluffed media continue to bring the subject up? Because THEY KNOW that it’s not going to work! It’s a placebo. It’s a FAKE solution! It sounds nice but it doesn’t do anything.

Do you know what DOES work? Cutting down on consumption. STOP DRIVING! THAT hurts the oil executives! THAT hurts their bottom line! It’s no coincidence that every time prices go up in the summer months, we continue to hear about how we, as Americans, are driving even more. STOP DOING THAT! If you’re really pissed off about prices, if you’re driving yourself into bankruptcy over these climbing gas prices, then YOU have to make the concerted effort to stop driving!

So why am I the only person telling you this? Why am I the only person who is telling the public to STOP DRIVING? Why aren’t you hearing this message from the air-fluffed members of the media? Why aren’t you hearing this from our elected grifters and shysters?

Well let’s get brutally honest here… you’re not hearing this from our elected grifters and shysters because they’re too busy demagogueing the issue! They’re busy using your class envy and your outrage to their political advantage. They want you to think that they’re really doing something to HELP you, while at the same time never really coming up with an actual solution.

Oh, yeah, the US Government will "investigate" whether or not the oil industry is engaging in wholesale price fixing and price gouging… YEAH RIGHT! They’ve made that same promise to us EACH AND EVER YEAR! And guess what? Every year they come up with the same answer. "After a thorough examination, we cannot find any evidence of price fixing or collusion on behalf of the oil companies."

THAT’S why they bring in the executives from the oil industry and have them answer the questions that we already know about, and why they WILL NOT bring in the EPA, the Secretary of the Interior, or the Secretary of Energy to explain why THEIR regulations and THEIR programs are causing this continual problem. It’s ALL SCRIPTED, people! It’s more scripted than professional wresting!

And if you’re wondering why the air-fluffed members of the media won’t tell you the REAL solutions to these problems, then all you have to do is see what kind of COMMERICALS are being aired in between the news segments. Yes, gas prices are still going up, and they’ll be happy to show you just how pissed off people are about it, and about how high the prices are probably going to go, and how much money Big Oil will be making off of this problem… BUT FIRST… a few words from your local airline, two foreign boards of tourism, a hotel or two, a local amusement park, and three or four local auto dealers… ALL of whom rely on YOU continuing to drive and to spend more and more money on gasoline!

Bottom line: it’s not in THEIR best interests to tell you the truth about what it takes to cut down on gas prices. So they’re going to do everything BUT tell you to stop driving. They’re going to demagogue the issue because they know that if they told the truth, then THEY would lose money!

Besides, having the problem come up every year helps out their ratings! It gives them a news story they can count on. Look at how much time is dedicated to gas problems… and how much of an effect it has on the economy. Look at all of the "special reports" being done about it, and about what can be done. And where CAN people go to get the cheapest gas? They’ll certainly tell you! By the way, how many of you have radio stations or TV stations doing little "cheap gasp" promotions? That’s not exactly helping matters much either.

Listen, folks, we need REAL solutions to the problem of hostile gas prices. And the definition of a "solution" is something that RESOLVES the problem; not something that "feels good" or something that just appeals to our perverted sense of class and wealth envy. If it doesn’t resolve the problem, then it’s not a solution. It’s a FAILURE. And right now the politicians and the members of the media have nothing to offer us on this matter but FAILURE!

(Computer – some good mixes linked to the subject, but you have to hear the rant to appreciate them)
(Fade Music In – "The Instinct" by Rare)

You know, I normally dismiss John Gibson’s commentary on Fox News as simply more conservative apologist propaganda, but for once he actually got something right.

On Monday, May 24th’s rant, Gibson pointed out that the Bush Imperium’s perception of how the economy is faring is not matching with what Americans by-in-large measure the economy.

The Bush Imperium sees corporate profits, low unemployment numbers, and consumer indexes, while Americans see jobs, gas prices, and mortgage rates. Gibson correctly points out that we see the change in gas prices every day, and the non-stop climb in interest rates by the Federal Reserve is basically a big "SCREW YOU" flag for consumers.

THESE are our indicators, and I happen to think that they are better indicators of how the economy is faring, because the so-called "official" numbers can be just a little bit deceptive.

And for every week that goes by that the Imperium FAILS to recognize this, it will hurt them, because it continues to show that they are absolutely clueless about the needs and concerns of the American people.

(Pause)

Brutally Honest is a Get Brutal production, all opinions expressed are those of the commentator, and may or may not be shared by the online provider. This is David Matthews 2 saying good night, and I’ll speak with you soon!

(Fade out)
(Computer – Ending/"End of Recording")

[End of program]
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Resignation? Not an option!

Some friends of mine think that this is realistic...


But I seriously doubt it. The cons, neo-cons, and especially the theo-cons think that this guy is their political messiah, and they're certainly not going to let their messiah take the fall for some poll numbers!

Ditto, by the way, for Rumsfeld and Cheney taking a fall. Darth Rove? Possibly... and in fact it may be the ONLY thing that saves the Imperium right now.

More White House Shuffling

Well I guess the White House shuffle continues as the Bush Imperium looks to regain its losing poll numbers. You know… poll numbers that they supposedly don’t pay attention to.

The retired generals want Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to go, but Bush doesn’t want Rummy to leave. Of course, the retired generals that want him to go are the ones who were THERE in Iraq. Rummy may be a good scapegoat for the things that went wrong in Iraq, but he’s also the closest thing the Imperium has to an expert in the inner circle now that he’s gotten rid of Secretary of State Colin Powell. I don’t see him leaving anytime soon, unless he does something phenomenally dense or something happens that just REALLY shows his incompetence. You know, a Hurricane Katrina-type FUBAR.

By the way, I don’t buy this idea of people who "offer to resign" in the White House but still continue to work there. That’s just not realistic. If you or I did that, that "offer" would follow with an immediate approval.

I previously mentioned that the wrong person was being let go in the White House when Chief of Staff Andrew Card announced his departure. It SHOULD have been Darth Rove, because it would have defused the whole Valerie Plame controversy. Well apparently someone in the Imperium took notice about that because they "reassigned" Rove’s duties so he wouldn’t deal with "policy oversight". Yeah that’s going to fix things! Rove still gets to skulk about the White House in his true role as the modern-day version of Prince Machiavelli.

Okay, so they needed someone else to go… so Imperium apologist Scott McClellan took one for the team.

I’m sure McClellan will be glad to get out of the spotlight for a while. You have to feel sorry for someone who basically had to put a positive spin over the crap going on in the White House. I’m sure the two words that he’ll be glad to never utter again are "ongoing investigation". As in…

"I can’t answer that because there’s an ongoing investigation."

"But I just asked you what time it was! Don’t you have a watch?"

"I can’t answer that… there’s an ongoing investigation."

"You mean you can’t even tell me what time it is?"

"I didn’t say that. I said that there’s an ongoing investigation."

NOW… if you think THAT was a little surreal, then look at who’s on the short list for McClellan’s job: Tony Snow of Fox News!

No big stretch is it? I mean Fox News has spent the past eight years serving as the ass-kissers for the Imperium, just like CNN was for the Clinton Regime. Rove would spin it, and the air-fluffed members of Fox News would sing arias about it. Well at least in THAT context they’re "fair and balanced"!

Somehow I don’t see Snow doing the job. He’s a Ken-doll with a baritone voice. Those two things usually don’t find themselves in the role of White House Press Secretary. He might actually get more popular than Bush Junior, and then that’ll REALLY hurt the poll numbers! You know... the ones that they supposedly don't care about.

Brutally Honest Rant - 04/19/06

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: Hostile Gas Prices and Angry Liberals
Audio Transcripts
04/19/06

[Start Program]

(Computer – Introduction)
(Music intro – "American Idiot Remix" – by Green Day and David Matthews 2)

Good evening, and welcome to this week’s Brutally Honest Rant. I’m David Matthews 2, writer of the weekly online column Brutally Honest.

Well I’ve got two subjects to rant about this week, and they’re both about pissed-off people… and they’re both about subjects that I’ve been ranting about for quite some time now.

First up: gas prices.

Yes, they’re on the rise again. This should have been expected, because it’s getting closer and closer to Memorial Day, when prices go UP every year. EVERY YEAR! And there is a big reason behind it, but I’ll get into that in a bit.

Every time the gas prices go up, we hear nothing but EXCUSES. It’s getting close to Summer… it’s because of Iran… it’s because of Nigeria… it’s because of some stupid additive that needs to be replaced… and then we get the infamous excuse of "because they’re greedy bastards who are fleecing America."

And the sad part is that the latter IS true! The oil companies ARE raping Americans in the pocketbook! They’ve been doing that time and time again, and they’re doing it right now, and they’ll keep on doing it! Do you know why? Because they can! Because WE LET THEM!

And with those higher prices, there comes the usual email scams… and they really are nothing more than hoaxes that are designed to play off our frustrations without really resolving the problem. I mean, come on… boycotting gas for one day or boycotting just one kind of gas station will mean absolutely NOTHING to the oil industry! All you’re really hurting is just the local mom-and-pop gas station owners, who are just the middlemen in this situation.

Okay, so we’re angry! We’re pissed off, and we want something done! But we’re not looking at the right people for that.

If we’re looking at people to blame, I have three groups for you to blame: the US Department of Energy, the US Department of the Interior, and the Environmental Protection Agency. These are the people who came up with the convoluted refining rules for petroleum products and have ensured that we are addicted to foreign oil! THESE are the people you should be pissed off at!

We’re hearing this crap about "summer blends" and "winter blends"… and every time there’s a changeover it costs US money at the pump! Every year there’s a new "refining formula" that costs US money at the pump! Those are ALL the fault of the United States Government! These are things that can be resolved TODAY if Bush Imperium really cared about the high cost of energy. These are things that can be resolved TODAY if the Republican-controlled Congress REALLY cared about the common people! Congress wants to pull some former CEO out to explain why he’s getting $400-million in a retirement package, but they don’t want to pull the head of the EPA out to explain why every year they want to come up with a Rube Goldberg system of refining oil that continues to cost Americans MILLIONS of hard-earned money every six months! They don’t want to pull the Secretary of Energy out to explain why he’s out there pimping the citizens of the United States out like a bunch of crack whores to Venezuela and the Middle East. You know why? Because it’s easier to play the wealth envy card than to do anything that even remotely resolves the problem! It’s easier to demagogue the situation than to come up with a REAL solution!

Now… if you want to REALLY show your frustration with the oil industry… if you REALLY want to take a stand and do something that will REALLY come back to HURT Big Oil and to Big Government… then it rests with two little words that I’ve been mentioning over and over and over again.

STOP…. DRIVING!

I mean it! STOP DRIVING!

Don’t go on vacation. Don’t make plans to go to Aruba or Jamaica or wherever you normally go during the spring and summer months! Don’t make that annual trip to Aunt Betty’s house. Don’t fly, don’t drive, don’t take the bus, and don’t take the train. Put up the boat. Mothball the ATV. Stay at home!

Listen, folks, if you want to make a statement that REALLY expresses your frustration with the high price of oil, then YOU are the one that has to make the sacrifice needed for that statement! YOU DO! You have to take the definitive steps to demonstrate that YOU ARE SERIOUS when you say that the price of gasoline is unreasonable and unacceptable.

And I’ll tell you what, folks… I’VE ALREADY done my part! Last year I moved closer to work. This year my parents are moving closer to their respective workplaces. Everything they will need will be just a couple of blocks away, so no more long drives for them. That’s less money in the gas tank and more money in THEIR pockets! Now, if you think you can one-up that… then I’m all ears! And guarantee that this kind of personal sacrifice will hurt Big Oil a whole lot more than these email scams about one-day "gas-out" protests. The only thing that those phony plans will do is waste your time while Big Oil robs you of more and more money.

(Clip: "I’m as mad as hell…")

But speaking of anger…

The next group of angry people that I want to talk about tonight are the "angry blogging left".

Or at least that’s the gist of a recent newspaper article in the Washington Post. It seems that the air-fluffed members of the media have discovered that people on the left side of the outdated two-dimensional political spectrum are pissed off, and they have taken their anger online.

Gee… and here the media thought that all the Internet was good for was child porn!

Okay, quick quips aside, this is really a non-story. I mean, the liberals have been pissed off for quite some time now. They were pissed off back in 2000 when they lost in the Presidential Fiasco and they carried that anger with them through the 2004 Election and on to today. I mean, if they WEREN’T angry after all of the crap that’s been going on especially in the last two years, then I’d be truly concerned about them!

And being angry and online isn’t anything new either. I mean, come on, the thorn in Bill Clinton’s side in his second term of his regime DID NOT come from just talk radio! It came from angry CONSERVATIVES who were online and spreading the word of their anger and rage. Well now that the neo-cons and theo-cons have their wildest wet dreams fulfilled with the Bush Imperium, it’s the liberals who are now online and angry.

But let’s get brutally honest here… the ongoing problem the "angry blogging left" is that it’s not enough to just be angry! The liberals were angry in 2004 and that didn’t help them win the election! It just made them look even more bitter and pathetic.

Look, if you want to be angry, then you have to be angry not just at the Bush Imperium and at the cons and neo-cons and theo-cons, but you also have to be angry with a purpose! You need a direction to move people towards. You need something that has been sadly lacking in the ranks of the liberals… an actual alternative!

And even that is not enough! Once you have that alternative, that goal, that direction to move people towards, then you have to make sure that everyone’s on that same page. And here is where the liberals have ALSO failed to do their jobs, because the Democrats have not been able to mount a successful resistance against the Bush Imperium. The cons and neo-cons and theo-cons have all got their act together, and they damn well know it! When one of theirs go out of bounds, they get called on it! If they drift too far to the left, the GOP attack squads start painting them as "Republicans In Name Only" or "Closet Democrats". The liberals, meanwhile, are afraid to go after their own. They’re afraid to hold anyone’s feet to the fire. And when their efforts are sabotaged from the inside, they don’t call anyone on it. They just get mad and they just start brooding away.

Listen, guys, you need to take a page from the moralists and the theocrats. They don’t just rage against they dying of the light. They get people mad and then get them to DO something about it! They give them something to FOCUS their attention on and to give that rage of theirs a sense of PURPOSE. That’s how they got to where they are. And if you’re going to BEAT them, then you have to play the game like them.

(Computer – a nice collection of anger-related clips that you have to listen to)
(Fade Music In – "Skylight" by Overseer)

Both of these subjects deal with anger. Now, some people think that anger is a bad thing. But the truth of the matter is that we NEED anger to focus our attentions. It motivates us! It DRIVES us to action.

But there are two things that are truly more dangerous than just anger… the first is anger without a direction. It’s rage that just builds up and up and it’s packed in without any kind of release or any way to focus it. That’s when people really self-destruct.

The second thing that is more dangerous than just being angry… is being apathetic. The person who is angry at least knows that something is wrong in this world, even if they don’t immediately act on it. The apathetic person, however, knows that something is wrong and they just don’t care, even if it’s done against them. In that regard, they are truly the most amoral people in the world!

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have a whole nation of pissed-off people than those who can’t be inspired to do anything. Anger at least can be motivated into action. Apathy, on the other hand, is nothing less than an indicator of stagnation. It’s the ROTTING of a community… and sadly, there’s way too much of it going on here.

(Pause)

Brutally Honest is a Get Brutal production, all opinions expressed are those of the commentator, and may or may not be shared by the online provider. This is David Matthews 2 saying good night, and I’ll speak with you soon!

(Fade out)
(Computer – Ending/"End of Recording")

[End of program]
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Brutally Honest Rant - 04/12/06

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: Is Iran Next?
Audio Transcripts
04/12/06

[Start Program]

(Computer – Introduction)
(Music intro – "American Idiot Remix" – by Green Day and David Matthews 2)

Good evening, and welcome to this week’s Brutally Honest Rant. I’m David Matthews 2, writer of the weekly online column Brutally Honest.

Okay, so in 2001 we were attacked by self-righteous bloodthirsty mass-murdering terrorists, and we responded by going to Afghanistan and sending the Taliban screaming into the mountains like the gutless cowards that they are. We kicked the Taliban out of power, we helped the people there get their new government set up… and then we went a-calling for the next ass to kick.

Next stop, Iraq! Hey, we were just ITCHING to kick Saddam Hussein’s ass for quite some time now! We were ready to go! We were still pissed-off! We were living in FEAR, we were afraid of the next big terrorist attack, and if WE were living in fear, then THE REST OF THE WORLD was going to live in fear too! We really didn’t need a reason… we just needed an excuse and an ass to kick!

Okay, so we invaded Iraq, we kicked Saddam Hussein’s narcissistic ass and killed his evil hellspawn bastards. Saddam is awaiting trial, the government has been reorganized, and we’re TRYING to fix what we broke.

So now the cons and neo-cons are wondering just where the hell to go next! And I think that answer is staring at us square in the face… IRAN!

Now folks, let’s get brutally honest here… much like having to deal with Saddam Hussein was inevitable, so too is a conflict with Iran.

But unlike Iraq, this is not a confrontation that is ours to choose. People who have been listening to my rants for quite some time know that I have never said that it was either right or wrong for us to go to Iraq, only that it was inevitable. Saddam Hussein was just too much of an egotistical dickhead to simply let him go away.

Iran, on the other hand, is a problem that we’ve been ducking for almost thirty years now! This was a problem that actually started back in 1979 when the US Embassy was stormed and American citizens were taken hostage. We should have gone all-out against Iran back then, and we didn’t. And every year that Iran was allowed to continue as a mad-dog rogue country was simply holding back the inevitable.

YES, we sat back and watched as Iran and Iraq blew each other to pieces, and yes, we did help Saddam do that… much to our own regret later on. Guess what? Neither side finished the job.

YES, we watched with hope as more moderate forces TRIED to tame the extremist views of the country and TRIED to bring it back into the modern world. Guess what? Didn’t work. The mullahs in Iran were smart enough to write up their constitution so they would get an automatic veto power on anything about the government that they didn’t like, and they used it to remove the moderates from power, one by one. And now Iran has a scroll-pounder running things over there, who may or may not have been one of the terrorists who held our citizens hostage!

There it is, folks, thirty years of doing nothing in a nutshell.

And now Iran is on the verge of having what it has LONG wanted to have ever since they even heard of it… nuclear power!

You know, we thankfully don’t have too many countries in the so-called "Nuclear Club", but having Iran join that club is about as DANGEROUS as you can get! The whole reason why we had to give Pakistan nuclear weapons was to offset India. But there is no counter-balance to Iran! What sort of "voice of reason" could we provide to contain a country whose two chief exports are oil and global theocratic terrorism?

And mind you, we’re not the only ones concerned about this! Russia has been concerned about this as well, and they have more at stake at this because they’re right next door to them! And it’s not like they haven’t TRIED to help resolve this. Unfortunately they seem to lack the resolve to deal with this growing problem.

And this part’s really going to cook your noodle, but we’re not really equipped to deal with Iran right now. Yes, we have forces to the right and to the left of the country, but we NEED them there! We still haven’t caught Osama bin PigBastard, and we’re still trying to rebuild Iraq and Afghanistan! We can’t just pack up and march on in like it was some chess game! I’m sorry, Junior, but the real world IS NOT like the board game version!

Now if we DIDN’T move on over to Iraq to deal with Saddam - and if we didn’t burn a few bridges in foreign intelligence trying to justify that move - then we would have had the manpower, the intelligence, and the international support to deal with Iran. Right now, we don’t have any of it. We just have a whole bunch of people pissed off over Iran and are expecting that WE would deal with the matter, since we’ve pretty assumed the de facto role of the global policeman again.

That’s why some folks are talking about a NUCLEAR option against Iran! And I don’t know about you, but that scares the crap out of me!

America has the singular distinction of being the ONLY country that has EVER used atomic weapons against another country. Don’t think for a moment that the rest of the world has ever forgotten about that. And we didn’t make any friends in invading and occupying Iraq either! Using nukes as a retaliation strike against chemical, biological, or radioactive attacks is one thing. That’s a logical extension of our original Mutual Assured Destruction policy. But NOT as a first-strike option! And certainly NOT against military installations near any civilian areas! That kind of carnage just opens the door to all-out global war, and the only people who really want that in this country are the extremist end-timers!

YES, we need to deal with Iran, but right now we NEED this to be a global involvement! Having Iran with nuclear materials is a threat to EVERY modern country around the world. NOW is the time to get the world in on this, and not just a handful of so-called "willing nations". Iran needs to be contained, it needs to be corralled, and it needs to be neutered of its nuclear ambition once and for all. And if we don’t do that, and if we don’t get the whole world in on it, then WE WILL have a nuclear threat to deal with. If not now, then in the very near future.

Yes, conflict with Iraq was inevitable, but it was an inevitable conflict of OUR choosing. WE made the decision in 2003 to deal with the problem, no matter if it was the right decision or the wrong one. Iran is something that we should have dealt with years ago and didn’t, and now THEY get to decide when and how THIS inevitable conflict takes place.

(Computer – a mix of sounds, including a clip from the US Government courtesy of "Atomic Café")
(Fade Music In – "Future Remembered" by Brad Fidel)

You know who is the scariest group of people to have nuclear weapons? It’s the people who are deeply religious. It’s not their religious beliefs, per se, that make them so dangerous. It’s the fact that their beliefs would be so strong and so self-righteous that they would avoid listening to reason and would instead believe that the whole purpose of them having these weapons would be to use them against the so-called "non-believers", or to bring about the so-called "end of days".

That was one of the underlying fears of having a conservative Republican in charge of the country. People didn’t want to wake up one morning and have their president go on the air and announce: "Well, God says it’s time, so I just pushed the button! See y’all in the afterlife!" The same thing applies to other religious beliefs around the world. ANY religion that has in its doctrines the justification to use FORCE against another person is potentially dangerous. And that’s what we need to understand and be aware of, even when and especially if that religion happens to be our own!

Part of having this incredible power is the responsibility of making sure that it is used properly. That certainly cannot happen when that power is in the hands of people who think that their ultimate mission in life is to make sure that this world comes to a fiery end just to satisfy their religious dogma.

(Pause)

Brutally Honest is a Get Brutal production, all opinions expressed are those of the commentator, and may or may not be shared by the online provider. This is David Matthews 2 saying good night, and I’ll speak with you soon!

(Fade out)
(Computer – Ending/"End of Recording")

[End of program]
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“Perky” Jumps to the “Grumpy” Network

Okay, so the big news is that Katie Couric, the "perky" queen of NBC’s Today show, is making the jump to CBS to host the evening news show. I’m sure that Bob Schieffer is fuming over that news since he was more or less handed the baton from Dan Rather following his ouster over the Texas Air National Guard hoax. NBC picks up Meredith Vieira from ABC’s "The View" and "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire". And ABC… well, ABC is wondering why NBC didn’t pick up Star Jones instead.

So we’ve got a little estrogen shuffle going on here. I’m sure both Couric and Vieira will do well in their new jobs. Two of the big three networks are crowing… I guess that explains the big push for Disney (which owns ABC) to hype their new ride. Seriously. Why should we care about Disney's new ride? It's not going to change my life or improve social conditions.

It’s just going to be weird seeing Couric give nothing but depressing news and still try to look "perky".

"The news sucks! The government is screwing us over, the White House has poll numbers in the toilet, we can't step out the door without dealing with some sort of direct threat to our lives, the economy stinks to high heaven... but I can't get upset about it all because it's being reported by someone who's just so CUTE and PERKY!"

Brutally Honest Rant - 04/05/06

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: Immigration and Taxation
Audio Transcripts
04/05/06

[Start Program]

(Computer – Introduction)
(Music intro – "American Idiot Remix" – by Green Day and David Matthews 2)

Good evening, and welcome to this week’s Brutally Honest Rant. I’m David Matthews 2, writer of the weekly online column Brutally Honest.

We’ve had some interesting little publicity displays these past few weeks about immigration laws. Spanish-speaking members of the media have done a really great job rallying the Hispanics out to these displays. Seriously. You gotta give them credit for pulling it off! It’s sort of embarrassing, though, that other groups aren’t able to rally people for a cause without bringing in the freak show refugees from "Let’s Make A Deal" like we saw with the pathetic displays over Terri Schiavo last year. Come on guys, it was a hospice, not the French Quarter at Mardi Gras!

Unfortunately, all of the displays and all of the marches and all of the self-imposed walkouts and sick-ins and so-called "strikes" in the past week or so have not addressed the overall problem, which is what to do with the people who are here illegally!

We have vigilante groups patrolling the US-Mexican border because INS can’t do the task all by themselves. Every other week we’re hearing about yet another smuggling plot to bring illegal people in, whether it’s just in a truck or through some complex tunnel scheme that looks like it comes right out of "Hogan’s Heroes".

And I’ve gotta tell you folks something… translate this into Spanish to your friends if you have to but you need to pay CLOSE ATTENTION to this… we as Americans have been continuously conditioned for the past FIVE YEARS on two things: FEAR and SECURITY.

That’s all that we’ve been force-fed from the Bush Imperium for the past five years. FEAR and SECURITY.

We were sold on going to WAR with Iraq over those two words. FEAR and SECURITY.

The Bush Imperium actually campaigned for and won their re-election in 2004 specifically because of those two words. FEAR and SECURITY.

That’s all that we’ve been force-fed from the air-fluffed egotistical media since 2001. FEAR and SECURITY.

Every other day we turn on the news and we hear about something concerning those two words. FEAR and SECURITY.

We pissed off the United Arab Emirates and scrapped a multimillion-dollar deal over those two words. FEAR and SECURITY.

We have sold our collective souls to the devil over those two words. FEAR and SECURITY.

And now, after FIVE LONG YEARS of hearing nothing but those two words, do you REALLY think that we’re going to let a VERY significant hole in this country’s borders go unnoticed? Hell no!

HELL…. NO!

And let’s get brutally honest here… I don’t care how many marches you make! I don’t care how many demonstrations you throw. I don’t care how many strikes and temper tantrums you throw over this subject… the American people, who have been CONDITIONED like Pavlovian dogs for the past five years, will look at this as a matter of security, and they’re going to DEMAND that something done about it. And that’s what happening here. They WANT changes and they don’t care how pissed off the Hispanic population is over this subject!

You don’t like the ideas being cobbled about for immigration reform? Fine! Then come up with something better!

Should companies be punished for hiring illegal immigrants? Absolutely! But it’s still not going to stop the overall problem. You’re just going to have whole groups of people here in this country who will be pissed off and looking for any kind of work, no matter if it’s legal or illegal.

And I’m going to give a liberal by the name of Randi Rhodes credit for being one of the FEW people saying this: we’re not the only one that has to address this problem. The Mexican government has to deal with it as well, because they’re not just watching their people run across the border, they’re actually HELPING them make the run! So we need to get the Mexican president in line on these efforts too instead of kissing his ass at every opportunity.

We NEED to come up with a solution to this problem instead of allowing the system to continue to deteriorate. We can’t just throw open the borders and tell people to just come and go whenever they feel like. I wish we could do that, but not after the past five years of indoctrinating the public to be fixated on FEAR and SECURITY!

And that’s where tax reform comes in as well. Listen, part of the reason why companies are willing to break the law and hire illegal immigrants is because it gets them out from paying taxes on them! But if we change the tax system to one where income isn’t penalized, then that incentive to break the law goes away.

You see, this is another reason why I’m a supporter of the Fair Tax program. Right now, as the system is set up, you are taxed on the money you make. And that’s only conditional of you being a legal employee and working in a legal business. As a legal business, your employer has to take money out of your paycheck to pay your taxes to the government, but they also have to pay an equal amount of that money from their overhead costs to the government. It’s called the imbedded tax. You don’t see it, but it’s still getting paid on your behalf.

Take a look at your pay stub at how much money you lose from your paycheck to the government for taxes. Your employer has to give the SAME amount of money to the government on your behalf. So double that number and you’ll REALLY see how much the government is getting from your employer just to keep you legally employed! You can also see why companies are quick to lay people off to cut costs.

BUT under a tax system like the Fair Tax program, that money doesn’t go to the government. It stays in your paycheck where it belongs. And your employer doesn’t have to pay an equal amount of that money either, so they can either turn that over to you as a raise, since they’re already spending it on you, or invest it in the company. That eliminates a HUGE incentive from the employer’s perspective to hire off-the-book illegal immigrants. And it cuts down on their incentive to lay people off.

Now, on the other side of the equation… as it is right now, if you’re here illegally, and you’re working here illegally, then you’re not paying all of the taxes that the rest of us pay. Under a tax system like the Fair Tax, though, that changes. You pay just like everyone else, no matter if you’re here legally or illegally.

And then there’s the added bonus that is UNIQUE to the Fair Tax program: every household gets a monthly check to offset the costs of taxes paid for basic necessities such as food. YOU ACTUALLY GET MONEY! Is that sinking in? The government will actually GIVE YOU MONEY!

BUT in order for you to get that money, you have to be here legally. If you’re not on the books, then the government can’t give you money to help pay for basic necessities. So that is yet another incentive for people who are looking for work, who are struggling to make ends meet, to make sure that they come here legally.

Listen, folks, I understand the need to do whatever it takes to make ends meet. I’m not exactly raking in the dough myself. But I also understand that you don’t indoctrinate people into a mindset of "security at all costs" and then try to convince them that SOME holes and lapses in that security have to be endured for no other reason than just so you don’t piss off certain segments of the population… especially the ones who aren’t here legally in the first place!

(Computer – some good mixes, but you have to listen to the show to know what they are)
(Fade Music In – "Flawed Legacy" by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori)

You know, our problems with immigration and border security is not just something that we can fix either by putting up a huge wall or throwing the entire US military on the borders. We’ve seen that trick before, folks… it was called Berlin. There are several factors that help contribute to this problem, and those need to be addressed as well. If we can’t do that, then all of the intense border security we put up won’t mean squat, because we’ll STILL have people coming up with ways to get into this country.

The Cuban people are willing to risk their lives in makeshift boats to make the ninety-mile trip across perilous ocean waters to get here, without having to deal with walls or deserts or immigration border patrols or the Minutemen vigilantes. If there is a will, there is a way, and as long as there is a reason for people to make the trip over, they will do whatever it takes to get here. That’s one of the prices that we pay with being the most enviable nation in the world.

(Pause)

Brutally Honest is a Get Brutal production, all opinions expressed are those of the commentator, and may or may not be shared by the online provider. This is David Matthews 2 saying good night, and I’ll speak with you soon!

(Fade out)
(Computer – Ending/"End of Recording")

[End of program]
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Bye-Bye DeLay!

GOOD news, boys and girls… the walking, talking, abuse of power called Tom “The Hammer” DeLay has called it quits! He’s leaving the House of Representatives rather than trying to score yet another re-election while at the same time fighting off criminal indictments.

DeLay’s departure can’t come soon enough for this Brutally Honest commentator, but much like the rest of this breed of slime, DeLay gets to leave on his own terms… which means he still gets to keep his cushy Congressional pension. He’s not even staying in Texas after he leaves the Congress! He’s moving to Virginia! You know that doesn’t bode well for the people in Texas to know that DeLay won’t even stick around in his “home state” afterwards.

Tom DeLay’s career will probably be best known for threatening the judiciary over the Terri Schiavo fiasco. This is the guy who threatened the careers of the judges who fail to rubber-stamp the laws he helped to impose on us. But it wasn’t the only thing he did. He also helped in the gerrymandering of the Texas legislature to solidify THEIR Republican majority so it would give HIM more Republicans in Congress, and thus solidify HIS Republican majority. And when the Democrats in Texas left to prevent a quorum, it was DeLay that THREATED to bring in the federal government to hunt these people down and drag them into the statehouse BY FORCE so his grand scheme would work.

By the way, it's probably no big surprise that he's moving to Virginia... after all, it's closer to the God Squad lobbying groups, and he's probably already signed on to be a lobbyist for the God Squad after the little "waiting period" is over. In the meantime, of course he'll probably be raking in the dough doing speaking engagements, falsely complaining over and over about how Christians are being "persecuted" because they're not being allowed to exercise their power as the 800-pound gorilla in America. And he could even throw in a line that his "ouster" from the Congress was BECAUSE of his faith instead of the mounting ethics charges and indictments for corruption. Hey, if it worked for the Alabama Ayatollah Roy Moore, then it'll work for ANYONE!

Of course the good news for the GOP is that DeLay’s departure cleans up a stink that could have cost them their majority hold in Congress this November. In addition to his current indictment, DeLay was also attached to the Jack Abramoff scandal, and no doubt more indictments are in the wings over that situation. DeLay’s departure defuses that political embarrassment as well. That’s another piece of ammo removed from the Democrats. You know at this rate they won't have any good reasons for voters to pick them in November other than saying they haven't been indicted yet.

Brutally Honest is 10 today!

Today officially marks the TENTH YEAR that I've been doing online commentary.

Ten years! Can you imagine it?

Well I'm going to talk more about it in my weekly column, but I hope everyone gets a chance to head on over to the ORIGINAL website and see some of the original material... and then compare that to today's Brutally Honest website.

Here's a little trivia: the main page for my original website was actually programmed the hard way! I didn't have any web designing or HTML-editing software at my disposal at the time. I had to actually write the webpage with Notepad and then view the finished product in Netscape. There was no WYSIWYG editing at the time! It was write the code, save the page, and then preview it in the browser and hope that you didn't crash it. That's why a lot of the pages on the original website seem very simplistic.

And remember that ten years ago EVERYTHING crawled online. There were three speeds... Very expensive T1 for serious networks, expensive ISDN for people who could afford to have it wired in, and dial-up at 14.4kbaud for the rest of us. You had to be in college to get the kind of high-speed access that we take for granted today, and now you can have that kind of access without even being WIRED to your computer!

So what were you doing ten years ago? Were you wired to the Internet back then? What were your views on computers? Did you even HAVE a computer back then? Have your views on politics changed since then?

Please take this opportunity to voice your views in the comments section. This is a great time for us to think back about the stuff that went on ten years ago and compare them to the things going on right now. (And if you want to say congrats or happy anniversary for the website, I won't mind. Hey, how many people can say their website has been up this long?)