Drew Carey explains Eminent Domain abuse

Came across this GREAT video from the folks at the Reason Foundation about Eminent Domain. This gives a GREAT history of the government power and how it was traditionally used and how it is being blatantly abused today!

The video is hosted by Drew Carey, formerly of "The Drew Carey Show" and of course the new host of "The Price Is Right". Please take a look at it and see for yourself how this abuse is going on and how it impacts hard-working Americans!

I can't embed it to the blog because it uses different scripting, but click on THIS LINK to view it. Then come back here and let me know what you think about it.

Brutally Honest Rant - 11/14/07

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: Illegalities
Audio Transcripts
11/14/07

[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 my friends I’ve been skirting around this issue for a while now, and I guess that it’s time once again for me to speak up about it.

I’m talking about immigration.

We have a SERIOUS problem with immigration, and it is one that we HAVE to deal with immediately and get it out of the way before we can deal with any other aspect of it.

Now as a libertarian, I am in principle…. IN PRINCIPLE… supportive of the idea that there really should be no borders and that people should come and go as they choose. That goes along with the whole bit about a “free society”. I agree to that idea IN PRINCIPLE.

Unfortunately that’s not something that we can apply IN PRACTICE at this time. We’ve got security on our minds right now and that’s not going to go away anytime soon.

Let’s put it this way… if the time should ever come again when I can simply go from my home to the airport and go to the boarding gate WITHOUT having to go through a metal detector, WITHOUT having to be subject to strip-searches, WITHOUT having my personal belongings searched by kleptomaniacs, WITHOUT having to give up my shoes for bomb detection, and WITHOUT possibly being detained while my name goes through some never-before-seen list of 750,000 people who may or may not be a threat to this country… AT THAT POINT, we can then talk about open borders and letting people come in-and-out of this country as they wish. You make THAT happen, THEN we can talk about open borders.

But AS LONG AS we have to deal with TSA airport screeners and all of the other hassles surrounding air travel, then we also have to put some restrictions on the other ways that people come into this country. It sucks, but we have to deal with it.

Now there are three groups of people in this country. There are those who are natural-born Americans. They were BORN either in this country or on US soil (i.e. an American embassy). By definition and by the 14^th Amendment to the US Constitution, they are automatically LEGAL citizens.

There are also those who came here LEGALLY. People who followed whatever rules and procedures our government set up to come here LEGALLY and they stay here LEGALLY.

And then there are those who DID NOT follow the rules. The ones that snuck across the border, or who were smuggled in, or came here legally at first and are now here beyond the time they were supposed to be here for.

These are the people that are breaking the law. They came here ILLEGALLY!

It doesn’t matter who they are, or what nationality they are, or from what country they came from… they could be Ukrainian Muslims, they could be Indian Hindus, they could be Chinese Buddhists, they could be El Salvadoran Catholics… if they were not native-born citizens and they didn’t follow the rules to come here legally, then they are here ILLEGALLY! There is no other way to say it!

And THAT is where we have a problem… because there are plenty of people who refuse to ACKNOWLEDGE that there are people who are here ILLEGALLY! They want to HIDE it. They want to blur the line between LEGAL and ILLEGAL.

They REFUSE to call people who are here illegally for what they are! They want to call them anything BUT ILLEGAL!

They want to call them “undocumented”. Hey, when I leave my home to get the mail and I forget to bring my driver’s license with me, then I’m “undocumented”, but that doesn’t mean that I’m ILLEGAL! Some Canucklehead from Montreal who walks across the border into New York without going through the proper channels and without getting a green card or carrying any kind of identification that says they can be here legally is ILLEGAL. That means they are breaking the law!

Note I said “Canucklehad from Montreal”. Race, ethnicity, and religion means absolutely SQUAT in this discussion. A French-Canadian can be just as much of an ILLEGAL immigrant as someone from Haiti, Mexico, or China!

But, of course, it’s still another way that people – especially liberals – are able to blur the lines, and that needs to END!

You see… what happens is that as soon as those lines between legal and illegal immigration are blurred, the argument then becomes one of civil rights. CERTAIN immigrants aren’t getting the full rights and benefits of being in this country! WHICH immigrants? Well that doesn’t matter now, does it? The fact is that they AREN’T… so what are YOU going to do about this?

Let’s get brutally honest here… THIS is the argument being presented to the American people in the media! This is the spin and the con game being served up to us through protest rallies and marches. It’s not about LEGALITY, it’s about CIVIL RIGHTS! It doesn’t matter HOW they got here, they just want everything that everyone else has! That’s the spin!

So now we have New York Governor Eliot Spitzer demanding that the state issue New York driver’s licenses to people who are here ILLEGALLY! Never mind that a state-issued driver’s license is a legal form of identification recognized in every state in the country! NEVER MIND that a state-issued driver’s license is considered proof that you are here LEGALLY and that you can use it to vote in elections. NEVER MIND that the US Government has been requiring a uniform standard for all drivers licenses as part of their effort to create a NATIONAL ID system. NEVER MIND any of that… because Governor Spitzer sees this as a civil rights issue! CERTAIN immigrants aren’t able to buy cars or take out loans or lease apartments. WHICH immigrants? It doesn’t matter according to Governor Spitzer.

And it’s downright hypocritical when you think about it. When he was that state’s Attorney General, it was hard to find a business that he didn’t want to prosecute! He was the red menace of Wall Street and he was PROUD OF IT! And each and every time that he would get in front of the cameras and announce a new wave of prosecutions at yet another business establishment, he would say “it’s not personal. I’m just doing my job! THE LAW says that these actions are wrong, so I’m going after them because they are BREAKING THE LAW!”

But now that he’s the GOVERNOR of the state, he’s saying “TO HELL WITH THE LAW! I’m going to make up my own law, and it’s going to override the federal law.” And he’s not even going through the proper channels to do it! He didn’t even think about taking this through the state legislature. He’s doing this all through executive order. Well gee… I wonder which government official inspired him to come up with THAT idea!

Let me break this down to you so that even a C-average Yale graduate from Texas can understand it… if you cannot differentiate between those who are here LEGALLY and those who are here ILLEGALLY, then you really have NO BUSINESS WHATSOEVER in this discussion!

YES, I understand the realities of this issue. YES, I understand the sheer numbers that we are talking about! YES, I know that we need more than just a legislative quick fix. AND YES, I can understand the business aspect of this issue and how this is essentially a form of legalized slavery. But all of that STILL DOES NOT ignore the fact that illegal immigrants are still here in violation of the LAW!

The law as it stands right now sucks, and it’s dysfunctional. And, in those situations, you have one of two courses of action. The first is to do what Spitzer and countless others are already doing… which is to IGNORE the law and reduce it to the point to where the argument can be made that ALL laws are ultimately meaningless and worthless… including the laws people really WANT in place!

OR… or… you can do something sort of radical… and you can use the momentum and the popular support to actually CHANGE THAT LAW! Yes, you can actually CHANGE a law to make it work! These things are not written in stone by some metaphysical being and then lovingly carried down from a mountaintop by some ancient fossil with really bad grooming habits. No, they’re actually written and enacted by very corrupt human beings whose lust for power and money are only seconded by their overwhelming survival instinct when either of those things are threatened.

In other words, if you go to those politicians and you make it quite clear to them that you have X-million of actual voters behind you who will either preserve or destroy their political careers based on fixing that flawed immigration system, then you will be honestly surprised how fast that law will get fixed!

And likewise, New York voters, if you REALLY object to Governor Spitzer’s asinine plan to give driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants, then you need to start including this word in your public vocabulary: RECALL! Don’t wait until 2010 to get rid of him. Use your ultimate power as voters and RECALL him from office! If it can happen in California, then it can happen in New York if the voters are that pissed off enough.

Now the GOOD news is that as of tonight’s rant, Governor Spitzer has GIVEN UP on his little plan. This commentator is glad to hear that the governor has FINALLY recognized the level of opposition to his grand scheme… but folks, don’t even THINK of calling that kind of an idea a “reform program” like the media is trying to do right now. REAL reform fixes things! Governor Spitzer wasn’t trying to FIX anything… although it could have quite possibly fixed a few elections if he was able to get away with it.

The whole concept of living under the rule of law only works if the law is actually RESPECTED and enforced, and simply saying that the law sucks and ignoring it does not fix the problem. All it does is that it makes the overall problem worse.

(Computer – some timely stuff, but you never listen to it anyway… seriously, I sometimes wonder why I even bother!)
(Fade Music In – “Mythodea” by Vangelis)

One of the things that politicians love to do is to PRETEND to fix problems. They love to come up with pretend reform programs that don’t really work but give the ILLUSION of doing something. They love fabricating new laws and stacking them ON TOP of the old laws instead of reforming old ones and trying to make them work, or simply trying to get rid of them altogether.

And of course it’s all really just a huge CON GAME! They really don’t want to EVER fix a problem, because that means that they can’t use it the next time around. They deal with the problem and it actually gets fixed, then the problem goes away. Then they have to come up with a new cause to pretend to champion.

Dealing with illegal immigration is just another con for these politicians. It’s just how much they can spin it and how murky can they make the whole matter, and the only way that’s EVER going to change is if WE force their hands.

And if you think that it can’t happen, I want you to remember what happened to Governor Spitzer’s so-called “unstoppable idea”. He thought he could get away with it because he was the governor of New York. He was proven to be DEAD WRONG!

(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 - 11/07/07

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: The Ron Paul Mystery
Audio Transcripts
11/07/07

[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 all this past month of October I pretty much laid-off the issues of the moment as I looked at “The Worst Fears”. And I’m glad to hear that at least with the last of such stories, I really scared the crap out of some of you. That last one was really something that I was rattling around for a while, and I hope that it shows.

But of course now I gotta get back into current events…

You know what really bugs me about elections? It’s when you have an elite group of people who think that THEY should be the ones to decide who will be elected into government! I don’t care if we’re talking about local elections, state elections, or federal elections, NO group should EVER have the sole power to determine who will be running the government. That is, in fact, the whole basis of the United States Constitution! It was originally set up so that you will have a REPRESENTATIVE system of government that would not be beholden to any one single group!

And yet, unfortunately, we still have those people who feel that they can manipulate and control the system and put in their own “Manchurian Candidate”.

Now there is one sure-fire way to see who is screwing with the system. All you have to do is look at the hype and look at who is the “safe” candidate that is getting the easy pass. That’s the candidate who believes or who acts as if his – OR HER – election is simply a matter of “paying your dues” and “waiting your turn”.

And right now there are TWO candidates who pompously carry themselves that way… Hillary Clinton and Rudy “The Thug” Giuliani.

And as far as the elitists in politics are concerned, THIS is your 2008 presidential battle RIGHT HERE and RIGHT NOW! Forget primaries; forget caucuses; this is it! It’s Clinton versus Giuliani. A transplanted banshee versus the 9/11 thug of New York City. There’s NOBODY else! That’s it! All of these other people can just go home now because THIS IS IT!

Forget Barak Obama. Forget John McCain. Forget John Edwards. Forget Mitt Romney. They can start drafting their Vice-Presidential speeches IF the elitists so deem them worthy, but they had might as well just end the whole thing now and start endorsing either Giuliani or Clinton.

That’s the attitude coming out of the talk radio circuit. That’s the attitude coming from the air-fluffed ego-driven news media. That’s the attitude being reflected in the newspapers. It’s Clinton versus Giuliani and there’s no more need for primaries or caucuses because THESE elitists groups have already made the decision FOR US!

I mean, all you have to do is look at the previous election tickets to see where this is seriously fouled-up beyond repair! 1984: Walter Mondale. 1988: Michael Dukakis. 1996: Bob Dole. 2004: John Kerry. These were all “safe” candidates. These were all the candidates that the elite believed would be “perfect” for the job. These were the “destiny” candidates. These were the people who believed that it was THEIR TURN to run.

They all failed to get elected, because they were also duller than milquetoast.

And where are the firebrands? Where are the people who promise to shake things up and make things right again?

Oh they exist. Some of them even try to run. But then “the elite” tells them not to bother, because they can’t “get elected”.

I hope you can understand why I’m a little bit BOTHERED by this, right?

Well I’m not the only one!

That’s why I’m GLAD that there’s someone like Ron Paul out there running for the Republicans.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: if there is ONE Republican candidate that I would EVER consciously vote FOR… it would have to be for Ron Paul.

Ron Paul is a libertarian. Even though he is running as a Republican, HE IS STILL a libertarian! And as a member of Congress, Ron Paul is one of the few people who has actually voted according to his principles! He’s not someone who says one thing and then votes the other way.

Unfortunately he’s not a PERFECT libertarian. He’s got some flaws. But I will say this much: he has a GREATER understanding and appreciation of the Constitution than every single one of the other candidates put together!

That’s why the political elite doesn’t want him in the running! People like him are a THREAT to their system of graft and corruption! He’s a threat to their very livelihood!

But they also can’t explain why he’s suddenly so popular!

This past Monday, the 5^th of November, Ron Paul’s campaign fired off a special Guy Fawkes Day celebration. Now if there is anyone who is the slightest curious to what I mean by that… either do an online search for Guy Fawkes Day, or pick up the movie “V for Vendetta” and you’ll see a GREAT explanation about what that day means.

But more importantly, Ron Paul’s campaign for that day generated THE MOST campaign dollars to date in this too-damned-early presidential race! $4.3 million dollars in ONE DAY!

Ron Paul is making money. John McCain is LOSING money. But “the elite” would rather we talk about John McCain than about Ron Paul. Actually they would rather we STOP talking about either of them and just accept that Rudy Giuliani will be the GOP nominee, but if they had to pick between Ron Paul and John McCain, they’d rather have us talk about someone who has sold his soul to the Imperium for a campaign slot than about someone who has stuck to his principles and is having to fight every step of the way to stay in that campaign slot.

Ron Paul is a threat to the status quo. John McCain and all of the other GOP wannabes are PART of the status quo.

And by the way, guys, the Democrats have the same problem… only their dark horse candidates can’t generate the campaign cash like Ron Paul did.

But let’s get brutally honest here… the secret behind Ron Paul’s sudden success is really very simple. HE IS the voice of the great political frustration out there right now!

You take a look at what’s going on and you see a HUGE frigging disconnect between the people in Washington and the rest of the country! Democrats are elected on the promise to “shake things up” and they have become the biggest bunch of sell-outs in recent history. The Republicans aren’t any better either. For a bunch of self-righteous anti-gay bigots they just can’t seem to keep their dicks out of trouble, either metaphorically or biblically! They both promise fiscal responsibility and then spend like crazy. They both talk about security at all costs… they want us to essentially strip naked at the airports and have our personal belonging searched and our personal lives tracked for any reason whatsoever, no questions asked… but they somehow forget about BORDER security.

I watch people like Lou Dobbs on CNN, and the one thing I constantly hear from his show is the number of people who change their political affiliations… not to Democrats… but to INDEPENDENTS! Does that sound like a “liberal Democratic agenda” at work? I don’t think so.

THESE are the people that Ron Paul is tapping into! THESE are the people who are pissed off with the political horsecrap games and pissed off with the milquetoast candidates that we’re being forced-fed.

Now I also know my history… and I know a few things about the current “contenders”.

First, we’ve already seen a Clinton versus Giuliani battle back in 2000 when both of them were running for the US Senate. Giuliani caved after his marital problems became an issue, leaving Hillary to trounce a no-name milquetoast stand-in.

Second, history has also shown that populist firebrands get targeted too early. In order for Ron Paul to actually become a REAL force for change in the system, he will have to stick in there through the whole fight right up to the last day of the GOP convention! He can’t drop out just because he lost a few early races! This is the mistake that Howard Dean made in 2004.

Third, I think that ANYONE who pompously declares that a certain candidate “can’t win” before a single primary or caucus vote is cast is nothing more than an arrogant dickhead whose credibility in the media should be immediately flushed down the toilet where it belongs. That kind of arrogance falls under the category of the Chicago Tribune’s 1948 banner headline of “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN”. If you want to play fortune teller, then you should at least be relegated to the 3am time-slot with the rest of the late-night peddlers.

In the meantime, if you’re in the running, then you deserve to let the voters decide whether or not they’re pissed off enough to want you to represent them in the next election. I think that if the voters are pissed off enough that you’re going to be surprised with who makes it to next November.

(Computer – some political stuff)
(Fade Music In – “Mythodea” by Vangelis)

Thinking about Thomas Dewey for a minute… Thomas Dewey was one of those people that “the elites” wanted to be the next president back in the 1940’s. And according to them, he was seen as “unstoppable” against President Harry Truman… a man who was lagging in the polls and having to battle against a third-party spoiler by the name of Strom Thurmond.

The “elites” believed that Thurmond would pull votes away from Truman. The “elites” were dead wrong.

They forgot that Thomas Dewey campaigned as a milquetoast on a level that would make Al Gore look downright animated. After all, he too believed that it was “his turn” to be president.

So much for the so-called “experts”.

(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 - 10/31/07 (Halloween Special)

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: The Worst Fears – Part 5
Audio Transcripts
10/31/07

[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.

All this month I’ve been giving you “The Worst Fears”… a series of narratives that describe what some people are truly afraid of. The things that keep them up at night.

And what a time for going over this subject! This is, after all, the time of Halloween! A time of ghost stories and tales of things that go bump in the night! And tonight is certainly one of those stories.

For the past few years we have been led around by nothing BUT FEAR. We, as a nation, are collectively AFRAID. We are honestly AFRAID of a lot of things. And we are told that we simply CANNOT move on and move past that fear! No, we are actually browbeaten back into that FEAR. We are told that we cannot stand up to that fear. We are told that we have to let OTHERS do that for us.

And we learn that there is another group of people that we have to fear… and those are the fear-mongers. Because if we’re not genuinely afraid of what they tell us to be afraid of, then they will use the power they have to GIVE US a reason to fear THEM.

But what to THEY fear? THERE is the real mystery! What fears do the fear-mongers have? What would disturb their sound sleep?

Maybe it would involve the last fear of this series. The one that nobody would see coming.

(Lead-in music – “Heavy Price Paid” by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori)

Thomas sat on the bench across the street from the White House. It was a cloudy day. No rain yet, but no chance of the sun coming out either. It was an appropriate setting for what was happening at that moment.

He watched as the Marines started taking down the American Flag from atop the White House roof. No doubt this was something that they did not want to do, but something that they were ordered to do nonetheless. That would be a common problem today as their actions would be duplicated in federal buildings, schools, and businesses all across America.

The president would make the announcement at noontime, in just a few minutes, but Thomas knew exactly what would be said. He knew it because he had helped to write it before he quietly resigned from his White House position several weeks ago.

The announcement and the actions done afterwards would only be a formality. He knew that many people would object to what was going on, but they would have no idea that this was already a done deal.

The new administration came into some really dire straits left over from its predecessors. The economy was collapsing. Unemployment was at thirty percent and rising. There were more Americans living in bankruptcy and foreclosures than ever before. Inflation was in double-digits as well.

The cost of energy was crippling. There were already two winters where hundreds of Americans froze to death, and one summer where thousands of Americans suffered from heat strokes and heat exhaustion. The resources were simply not there.

Taxes were astronomically high, supposedly made as a parting political gift, but in truth it was to help pay off a certain longtime bill that had come due. It was a bill that the federal government did not want to publicly admit owing, because it would incite a riot if that fact ever came out. Almost every dollar that was coming in through taxes, tariffs, and other revenue had to go to help pay off that bill. That was money that couldn’t be spent on other essential government operations. Many federal agencies had to furlough their workers because they simply couldn’t afford to pay their salaries.

Internationally, things were a complete mess. The American military was spread out more than it had ever been in previous administrations. Every rogue country, every mad despot, every terrorist organization or renegade political faction seemed to sense trouble and come out to exploit it. And that only caused even more of a financial strain on the federal budget, because the government couldn’t even afford to pay the soldiers, never mind adequately arm and equip them. They made promises, but promises didn’t pay for bullets or fuel the planes.

And the delegates at the United Nations were more interested in bashing America than they were in doing something to step in and help with some of these international problems. They were quite content in letting American soldiers and American diplomacy try and fail miserably to save a world that clearly does not want to be saved.

Worse yet, nothing could be done to fix any of these problems. Every attempt to work out a new deal for oil or trade agreements seemed to either collapse or get held up. Congress was waylaid by the overwhelming influences of unnamed lobbying groups. Nothing seemed to work, and public opinion for the whole federal government was in the single digits.

That was when the deal was offered. A deal that would wipe away that staggering hidden debt that depleted most of the federal revenue. A deal that would give political support in the United Nations. A deal that would help free up failed trade agreements and failed oil deals. A deal that would essentially save America from self-destruction.

There was, of course, a catch. The catch was that the new benefactors would become the new owners of the United States of America. They had no plans on changing the current political system. Everyone in the federal government would still keep their same jobs and titles. But certain matters would have to go through the new benefactors first. Certain future agreements and arrangements would have to be rubber-stamped by the current administration; no questions asked.

And, of course, it all had to remain a secret. Not a word of this agreement would be able to go out until such time as they were ready to make it all official. And that, they claimed, may take years. A small price to pay, they said, in exchange for taking the credit of “saving” America from total collapse.

The arrangement was sold as a new trade agreement. It was spun as being “renewed friendship” and “a better understanding with our international partners”. It was quickly and unanimously rubber-stamped into ratification by Congress. Most of the members of Congress never even bothered to read the document. They never read anything put before them; they just vote in the way that they are told to vote by the party leaders. And for those who did bother to read the document, they found that most of the fine print was censored in the name of “national security”. The only people who would truly know the full details of the arrangement were the White House inner circle and the party leaders in the Congress. And they knew at this point that they had no choice but to go along with it.

For the first year-and-a-half, it was almost magical. It was like a light switch was flipped. The budget office announced a series of “corrections” that would give the government a budget surplus in two year’s time. There was plenty of available money for social programs, and they even managed to cut the taxes and curtail some of the tariffs and the draconian regulatory fines that were previously assessed.

The price of oil was eased. Quickly at first, but then it slowed its price decent until it was just under $100 a barrel. The price at the pump soon followed.

More jobs were available. Businesses stopped outsourcing and started re-investing in American workers. Inflation started going down with the stabilization of prices. More people could afford to buy homes again, and the banks were stable enough to loan them the money.

The troublemakers all around the world started calming down. UN resolutions suddenly were passed and international help was available. American forces started coming home, some for the first time in years.

Things were looking good. It was a strong recovery, almost miraculous in nature, and nobody except for a select few knew what was really behind it.

Then people started asking questions. They wanted to know why a certain country was buying out more and more businesses in America. They wanted to know why that certain country is able to get controlling interest in many of the major media outlets, from TV stations to radio stations to newspapers and Internet providers. They wanted to know why with this “new understanding” that the trade deficit with this certain country was still getting higher and higher. They wanted to know why quality control for goods and services coming from this one country was virtually non-existent. People were actually suffering and dying from either poor craftsmanship or from the toxic materials used in these products! And more importantly, they wanted to know how businesses controlled by this one country would end up with lucrative government contracts, including defense contracts, in violation of many protectionist laws imposed in the past few decades.

People started to figure it out. And they didn’t like it.

So the benefactors decided to make it official. This wasn’t a “hostile takeover”, as the media was starting to hype it to be. The takeover was already done, and it was far from hostile. Much of the world already knew this to be true. After all, many of them were in on the plan. Now it was time for the American people to be given the news.

Thomas knew that there would be many people who would object to the President’s announcement. They will want to fight. They will scream and shout and start protests and try to rally resistance. But it is really too late for them to do anything. This country isn’t theirs anymore. It was already bought and paid for and ratified by the very people they put in office.

In hindsight, Thomas said to himself, we should have seen it coming. Who else had the influence around the world to cause the world’s troublemakers to act up? Who had the power to stymie the United Nations? Who had the influence to manipulate global markets? And, more importantly, who was the principal country that was buying up all of the bonds used to pay for decades upon decades of our government’s reckless spending?

As the president made the announcement that Thomas had helped to write all those weeks ago, a new flag rose on top of the White House roof. It was the flag that belonged to the new owners of the country.

It was the flag of the People’s Republic of China.

Welcome… to the worst fear of the American people! The fear of losing our country without so much as a single shot ever being fired.

(Computer – fear)
(Fade Music In – “Mythodea” by Vangelis)

Okay, how many of you saw that one coming? I don’t think many of you could… and that’s the real secret behind this fear.

We’d like to think that if there was some great invasion against this country that we would be able to defend against it and that we would rally our brothers and sisters together so that we would be able to make a stand and fight it. But unfortunately, much like a nuclear war, you can’t defend against this kind of attack!

And look at where we are right now! Not too long ago we were about to turn the security of our ports over to the United Arab Emirates. And that monstrous debt I was talking about? That’s not ficational. That’s real! And China IS one of the principal financiers of the federal debt, which is running in the TRILLIONS. And of course you have been hearing about all of the product recalls that are coming from China.

The really scary part of this story is that it could very well happen tomorrow, and we wouldn’t know anything about it until it would be too late. What then, guys? What then?

That is what makes it the worst fear… because it is one of those situations that you have absolutely no control over whatsoever.

(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, Happy Halloween, and I’ll speak with you soon!

(Fade out)
(Computer – Ending/“End of Recording”)

[End of program]
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Quick congrats!

I don't normally talk about sports, unless it's to trash it, but I want to say congrats to the Boston Red Sox for sweeping their second World Series win.

You earned it guys. Enjoy the moment.

Brutally Honest Rant - 10/24/07

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: The Worst Fears – Part 4
Audio Transcripts
10/24/07

[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’re almost finished with the month-long look at “The Worst Fears”… which will wrap up next week on Halloween Night. And it’s a good thing too, because I’ll be wrapping this one up with a story that will scare the CRAP out of you!

BUT of course we still have to get through tonight’s. So here we go…

(Lead-in music – “Heavy Price Paid” by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori)

His morning started early, as it always did.

Once upon a time that used to be an obligation so he could deal with all of the demands of his job, but of late that’s been more of a matter of habit than necessity.

He showed up at the studio early, but nobody bothered to say hello to him as he walked past the receptionist desk. They used to beam a super-friendly “Good Morning” to him when he would walk through the front door. Now they just glance up at him as if to say “Oh, yeah, it’s you, ho-hum”. He used to see a big poster of himself on the back wall… but that got replaced a few weeks back. No word why; they just did it. At least, he told himself, it wasn’t replaced by another superstar. That would have been a blow to his ego. Instead, it was replaced with some art deco mural.

He didn’t want to check his emails. He knew it wouldn’t be good. He got the usual talking points from his political friends. Nothing great. Nothing scandalous. He just had to sugarcoat it all, which was something that he was always good at doing.

His programming meeting wasn’t any better. There were really no more causes to triumph. Sure the liberals would make the usual whine about things, but they’ve always lacked the spine to do anything, and that was even WHEN they had both the power and the public support behind them. He knew that. That was why they would lose every single time, and he would be there, on the air, to gloat about it all.

But now all he CAN do is gloat. And it doesn’t feel very good anymore.

He started off his show with his usual good news about how great things were going, how the conservatives were still in charge and still calling the shots in government. He went on about how the liberals were pretty much nothing more than useless whiners about things and how much of a failure they were. All of it was pretty much the same diatribe that has made him so successful.

But then he looked at the phone lines to see who would react to his opening salvo… and he found there were no callers!

He was absolutely flabbergasted by that, but he didn’t let it show on the air. He just went to commercial and then had his producer check to make sure that the phone lines were working. Sure enough, they were working just fine.

He came back from break and calmly asked that people call in, then tackled some more news of the day. But with each article that he brought forward, and each way he spun those articles, he expected to get at least one or two people pissed off enough to call in, only to find his phone lines still dark.

At the end of the first hour, he had thoroughly exhausted the whole gambit of news articles for the day, and he still had two more hours of airtime to fill!

During the news break, he got a couple of disturbing phone calls. The first was from his publishing agent. The sales of his latest book were pretty much non-existent. Most of the major bookstores were remanding them to the bargain bins. The second call was from his attorney. The divorce of his latest wife has been finalized. Even though she was bound by a prenuptial agreement, it was written during much profitable days. Her two-million dollar settlement would take away two-thirds of his available money. And it was money that he obviously couldn’t make up through his book sales.

He started his second hour sounding a little desperate and annoyed. He was angry that this was happening to him at a time when everything is going so well for the conservatives. They dominate and control the government; they have effectively neutralized any kind of liberal resistance; they control the courts; they control the news media and the education systems; they essentially have EVERYTHING that they could ever want or need! This would be a time for him to be IDOLIZED for what he has helped to accomplish, and yet here he was struggling to just get people to call in.

He let his anger get the better of him on the air. Maybe that would generate a few callers. Get the politicians pissed at him. Get the political consultants worried.

Still… no callers.

He went into the half-hour break and then went after the politicians themselves, by name. He first he accused them of being not conservative ENOUGH, then he changed tactics and accused them of being TOO conservative. Hypocrisy is always worth a few callers! People just can’t wait to call a hypocrite out; especially when it’s someone like HIM!

Again, there were no takers on the phone.

He put his call screener on the air to verbally confirm that there have been NO callers whatsoever and to immediately send over ANY caller who calls in. Don’t screen them, just send them over!

Five minutes later he got his first caller… it was a telemarketer looking to sell him a new water heater. As soon as the telemarketer realized the mistake, he hung up before any pertinent questions could be asked.

Now he was pissed. Almost two hours had passed and the only person with the courage to call him was a lousy telemarketer with some screwed-up dialing program.

Finally he said what he believed was unthinkable… he actually speculated that the liberals may have been right all along!

Now THAT should generate quite a few phone calls, he believed.

Sure enough, one call came through. But as soon as he answered it, he realized that it was a plant. He recognized the caller as being one of the studio interns! They actually had to pull up an intern to call in!

This was something that he had PROMISED his people would NEVER, EVER have to do! He used to boast about that and accuse his competition of manufacturing callers, and now here his people now had to do the same thing.

And the intern wasn’t even any good in the conversation. The intern couldn’t handle any of the retorts and simply bounced from one distorted talking point to the next. The only thing the intern was able to do was kill time until the next news break.

And that’s when it happened.

As soon as the ON AIR sign went dark, the producer got a call from the station’s general manager. That call got immediately forwarded on to him. The conversation was short and to the point. The producer will be airing a repeat for the final hour, while he would meet with the people who sign his paychecks.

It was a meeting that he feared was coming. He had already lost so many sponsors. He didn’t even bother to look at the on-air ratings anymore. Things only had to go so far down before they invoked that little clause in his contract that would send him packing. They’d have a press release by the end of the week, but it was pretty much official at that point. He was done.

Welcome… to the worst fear… of a conservative talk show host! Of finally reaching a point when nobody would care what they would say.

(Computer – some timely things)
(Fade Music In – “Mythodea” by Vangelis)

I’ve said this a few weeks ago and it is worth repeating here… radio and television have primarily been set up not for education or information or even for entertainment… but for the sole purpose of airing ADVERTISING with really long periods of programming as intermission. Listeners or viewers are thereby translated into advertising dollars. And the same rules pretty much apply to newspapers as well.

The name of the game for conservative commentators is NOT to be right, but rather it is to get as many people to listen to your show or to read your newspaper or to read your book as possible. You do that by creating controversy. You piss people off and you get them to debate you or rebuke you or to even censor you, thus generating even MORE interest.

So YEAH, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh and all of the other conservative commentators will say pretty much anything to get the attention, because they know the secret of the business… that controversy creates cash.

And this is why liberal commentators have pretty much thrived only on public-sponsored media… because that communications model is not designed around advertising.

So if you REALLY want to hurt a conservative commentator, then you don’t try to debate him or even try to shut him up… instead you simply don’t give them the attention that they crave. You ignore them, and you let them self-destruct on their own.

(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 - 10/17/07

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: The Worst Fears – Part 3
Audio Transcripts
10/17/07

[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’re continuing our month-long look at The Worst Fears, since this is the month of October, the time of ghost stories and things that scare the crap out of people.

Well this next one will hit close to home. This is something that people haven’t really thought about until recently. Sure it was mentioned, but nobody REALLY took it to the next level… at least until tonight.

And let’s get brutally honest here… this particular “Worst Fear” isn’t some FAR-future story… but rather it is a closer-than-you-damn-well-THINK story!

So here we go…

(Lead-in music – “Heavy Price Paid” by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori)

The roads were clear.

For the first time in countless years, there was absolutely NO traffic jams at the peak hours of travel.

Miles upon miles of asphalt and concrete, designed to handle THOUSANDS of cars every day, going virtually unused. Countless billions of dollars wasted. Oh they’re still used, but not frequently enough to justify maintaining them.

They tried to close the roads once, but it didn’t matter. They were still paved, so the few who remained would still use them, even with the cracks and the potholes and the streetlights that no longer worked.

The roads took people to exits that resembled huge ghost-towns. Abandoned buildings, closed-down businesses, standing side-by-side with unfinished construction projects. Open homes essentially free for anyone living who would want them, as long as they could tolerate the animals, the insects, and the lack of utilities.

The ground was a sickening combination of yellow and brown with the occasional tall patches of weeds. It was, in fact, one of the first victims of the crisis. Where once the ground was carefully maintained and trimmed, it has since died. It was almost an act of rebellion against its former lords and masters. Everyplace that was once obsessively made to look beautiful became ugly and putrid.

There are still enclaves of civilization here. The few people that still remain struggle to keep what little they have, and with very meager resources available. These enclaves used to be small towns before they were assimilated into the larger metropolitan community. Now necessity is forcing them to be even smaller towns all over again, having to rely on themselves and very little else. All of the mega-stores and super-stores that promised to be their new “best friends” during greener days had already forsaken them and moved out. The only people left are the ones who are too old or too stubborn to leave.

Going into the main city itself, you see slightly larger communities, but those are further dwarfed by the towering structures of metal and glass that stand empty and abandoned. Law firms, accounting companies, banks, and corporate headquarters once inhabited these towers. Now only the insects, animals, and human parasites dwell in them. Their occupants had long since abandoned the area when the needed and promised resources were cut off.

There is still a nightlife of sorts in the main city. The few people who remain still try to make their struggling existence livable. But they certainly couldn’t match the days when the city would light up at night. Nor were there any nightclubs, bars, or restaurants to enjoy. Those things required something that the city was sadly unable to reliably provide. The big stadiums and assembly halls that used to bring the city big dollars in concerts and trade shows and sporting events now only bring in bitter memories of days long past.

City leaders still live here, and they still cling to hope along with a few optimistic souls that things WILL once again right themselves. They just have to be strong and keep things going. Of course that’s harder and harder to do as the time continues to pass and more and more people continue to slowly move away. Hope doesn’t pay the bills. Hope doesn’t keep the lights running or keep the jobs from going away. But they promise to still be there to smugly welcome back all of the businesses and all of the residents who had abandoned them in their great time of need.

Of course this city is also the political center of the state, and every year the state leaders still get together to talk of dreams of resolving the great crisis that killed this once-great city. The crisis that everyone believes can STILL be resolved… simply by talking about it. And while they talk, they also consider possibly moving their great political center to another part of the state. Someplace greener and more vibrant. Someplace where the resources are more plentiful and the economy is much better. After all, who wants to visit a dying city?

Welcome to the worst fear… of the City of Atlanta! A city that is literally KILLED by a lack of water.

Now folks, just a quick word here… our federal government – specifically the Army Corps of Engineers – is MAKING that worst fear a reality. They are intentionally, deliberately, and systematically draining the Chattahoochee River – Atlanta’s water supply – to accommodate some asinine federal law to protect some freshwater seafood that should be served up with butter and washed down with beer and side of cole slaw.

The best estimates give the whole Atlanta area ninety days before the Corps drain Lake Lanier to the point where it can no longer provide water. And the people responsible for making that ultimate decision have not only REFUSED to do something to help the matter, but they have actually announced that they will further AGGRAVATE the situation by pumping out STILL MORE water from the river… simply because they’ve already drained all of the other locations.

So this worst fear isn’t something hypothetical. This could very well BE Atlanta’s future in a few months!

And I’m finding it hard to believe myself, but I’m starting to lean towards those who are calling for an Iraq-style REGIME CHANGE when it comes to the management of the Buford Dam, because OUR FEDERAL GOVERNMENT is heading for another FEMA-size disaster if something is not done about this and done SOON.

It is time for George W. Bush to step up and address this problem. It is time for the Congress to step up and address this problem. It is time for the legal system to step up and address this problem. THIS IS a federal matter, and the federal government NEEDS to deal with this, and deal with it SOON. And if they refuse to, then the people of Georgia WILL, and I promise you, the politicians and the bureaucrats WILL NOT like what happens at that point!

(Computer – something about being “fired’)
(Fade Music In – “Skylight” by Overseer)

There is plenty of gross incompetence and mismanagement when it comes to the State of Georgia’s resources, and this is something that has been going on for several years. You have folks on the federal, state, AND local levels that are guilty of contributing to this problem, and they ALL need to answer to that and be held personally accountable for it.

But when the problem becomes as serious as it is right now, you DO NOT let the problem continue to get worse! And you sure as hell don’t AGGRAVATE the situation and then pull the Nuremburg Defense of only “following orders”. If you’re not going to be part of the solution, fine, but making such dire matters even worse is downright CRIMINAL, and you should be treated accordingly.

(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 - 10/10/07

Brutally Honest Audio Rant: The Worst Fears – Part 2
Audio Transcripts
10/10/07

[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’re continuing our month-long look at The Worst Fears, since this is the month of October, the time of ghost stories and things that scare the crap out of people.

There are some things like terrorism that really scare the crap out of people. There’s a movie called “Right At Your Door” which shows what happens when a so-called “dirty bomb” goes off in Los Angeles and how it affects this one couple.

But it really doesn’t scare everyone! There are some folks who will look at that situation and just won’t lose any sleep over it. Not that they can’t envision it or think that it can’t happen, but simply because it’s just not the thing that scares the scrap out of them.

Hey, I know that pisses off the neo-cons but let’s get brutally honest here… just like you can only fool some of the people some of the time, you can only use the same things to scare some of the people some of the time, and you certainly can’t use it to scare ALL of the people ALL of the time.

So with that in mind… it’s time to tell another story about another person’s worst fear…

(Lead-in music – “Heavy Price Paid” by Martin O’Donnell and Michael Salvatori)

The message is everywhere!

That’s what Ed tells people.

He used to say it with pride. He used to BOAST about how he could get the message out there by any means necessary. Laws didn’t matter. Rules didn’t matter. All that mattered was that the message got out.

It doesn’t matter what the message is either! It could sell baby products. It could sell overhyped vehicles. It could be about a new church or the re-release of an old movie. The message is ANYTHING that needs to be said, hyped, or sold.

It has been Ed’s job to get the message out, and he and his friends did just that. And they would not stop coming up with ways to make sure that the message was EVERYWHERE… and getting paid quite well in the process.

The message appears in every print publication. It isn’t just in a corner or in its own separate page… it’s over the published articles, under it, even in between the spaces. It’s in mice-type and watermarks.

The message is in every televised broadcast. Every long pause, every momentary breath of air, every blank pause between scenes is filled with the message. The message appears in every corner of the broadcast, over the broadcast, under the broadcast, and even the products shown or referenced in the broadcast are all specifically and strategically placed to further hype the message.

The message appears on every vehicle, both new and used. It’s on the outside, on the inside, in the mirrors and the windshields, in the blinds and in the lights. It’s on the dashboard and the steering wheel. Every spin of the tires is another presentation of the message. Every start up and shut down sings another message.

But even that isn’t enough for Ed and his friends. The message has to be EVERYWHERE!

The message is on the roads, on billboards, on the face of buildings, on large rocks and mountainsides. It’s shown in the air and in space, displayed on clouds both natural and artificial. The artificial clouds were Ed’s favorite idea. He called them the world’s largest billboards. At least until they could come up with the suborbital ones.

The message is on the ground. It’s floating on the surface of ponds and lakes. It’s carved into the landscape and displayed on passageways. Every blank spot on a wall is filled with the message. Every staircase step has the message, every conveyor belt, every elevator, every office and in every office cubicle.

The message is even on animals. Pets and livestock have been previously untapped places for the message to get out, but Ed and his friends made sure that this was thoroughly exploited too.

The message is even on every human being. It’s on every blank space of exposed skin, every article of clothing, interwoven in hair styles. Every snap or buckle or zipper is a jingle waiting to be expressed. Every step made with boots or shoes express the message in lights and in sounds.

Every time someone blinks, there is a new message that is shown on the back of their eyelids. Every splash of water is a jingle being sung. The message is transmitted on ultrasonic frequencies, even broadcast to us while we sleep so that our dreams would be filled with the message.

The message really is EVERYWHERE!

And THAT was the problem!

While Ed and his friends were basking in the glory of their final accomplishment, they had no idea what the human reaction would be to having the message in their face at all times, both consciously and subconsciously. Some people had seizures. They would suffer from nervous breakdowns from having too much information in their faces. Ed and his friends would, of course, offer the usual medical solution for those rare instances. But they had no solution for what the rest of the civilized world would do.

When faced with overlapping and overwhelming messages… the rest of humanity simply learned to filter it all out.

Not just some of the message or the ones transmitted in certain methods. ALL of the messages. ALL of them! Everywhere!

People would hum certain messages subconsciously but they would have no idea what they were humming. They would jot down the message as idle doodling, but have no idea that they were writing anything, and wouldn’t even see what it was they were writing down. To them it was junk.

Ed and his friends tried EVERYTHING they could. They tried to make the message louder, brighter, more obvious. It didn’t matter. Nobody could recognize it. Nobody would accept that it existed.

The message WAS getting out there. But nobody was getting it.

Ed finally suggested the unthinkable… that perhaps they should simply STOP sending the message out, or at least to cut back on the various and overlapping methods of it being delivered. But his friends balked at that. Nobody wanted to have THEIR message cut out. And nobody wanted to cut down on the methods being delivered. After all, there was even the slightest of statistical chances that SOMEONE was making a purchase BECAUSE of the message, and THAT would supposedly make it worth the effort.

Welcome to the worst fear… of an advertising executive! Being stuck in an advertising-run world of their own creation, only to find that nobody can comprehend what is being advertised.

(Computer – some stuff that you have to listen to understand)
(Fade Music In – “Mythodea” by Vangelis)

Perhaps one the greatest fallacies that has been built up when it comes to advertising is that IT actually rules the world. Advertisers have effectively taken over all forms of communication, from newspaper to radio, radio to television, and television now to the Internet, and even from there into telephones. They have all spread this fallacy that all methods of communication are about one thing and one thing only… ADVERTISING.

Take a look at some of our personal nuisances in society: Spam mail, telemarketers, junk faxes. What are they? They’re all abusive forms of ADVERTISING! Guess who bitches the most about video recording devices like TiVO? Advertisers. Why? Because we’re skipping their ads!

Advertisers seem to forget that in the larger scheme of things that they’re just the middlemen. This is not an AD-driven society. They are not the END result. They are simply the MEANS to an end. This is a PEOPLE-driven society. This is about CONSUMERS... otherwise known as PEOPLE. PEOPLE are the end result.

At some point the advertisers will figure it out. Hopefully they’ll do it before their actions thoroughly cut off the hand that feeds them.

(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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