"Raise their taxes to save my job!"

I would be amused by government employees clamoring for yet another Illinois tax increase if their influence weren’t so strong. It wasn’t so long ago that I engaged in heated debates on Facebook with government employees and employees of organizations dependent on government funding. They desperately implored their friends to contact their representatives in Springfield to support the income tax increase. (As far as I can tell, our representatives in Springfield love tax increases.) Michael Medved put it best this week in commenting on pro-tax demonstrators:

Their presence highlighted the danger of constantly swelling government payrolls: the more people get hired by government, the more people will demand raising taxes on others to protect their own jobs, salaries and benefits. The idea that pro-tax demonstrators are more idealistic or selfless than the anti-tax crowd is, simply, laughable.

After Carter passes, we won't be able to criticize

Another phone call about President Jimmy Carter on the Michael Medved show:

Ron in Brooklyn, New York, you’re on the Medved Show.

Thank you for taking my call. I’m disagreeing with you on what you said back on the 9th of January. The Useless One…

No, no no, I said worthless. The Worthless One. Worse than useless.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry.

Let’s get the full scope of the insult. There are people who are useless who are not necessarily worthless. But worthless means totally with no redeeming characteristics. That’s Jimmy Carter.

Could you elaborate?

Yeah, I think he’s one of the worst presidents we’ve ever had—certainly one of the worst three. He destroyed the United States, he created two new federal departments we’re still paying the price for, he created the Islamic radical movement as we know it by pulling the rug out from under the Shah of Iran and installing the mullahs in Iran, he decimated the military, he gave all kinds of advantages to the Soviets, and he wrecked the U.S. economy, and he was a sanctimonious, officious, know-it-all, miserable prig. And that’s p-r-i-g; I’m using approved language. So what was good about Jimmy Carter?

Well, I was going to just say one thing.

Yes?

And that is he stood for Christ.

What?

He stood for Christ. After the secular ’60’s.

He stood for Christ? As a supporter of abortion? I think he gave Christians a bad name! Jimmy Carter’s a huge supporter of abortion. Are you?

No!

So how does he stand for Christ? He stands for his own messianic pretensions. He’s a miserable, miserable human being. And a disgusting excuse and a blight on humanity. And I’m saying all this now while he’s alive because if something, G-d forbid, happens to ex-President Carter, I know I’m going to have to watch my mouth. Okay? Ron, part of what I’m doing is pre-emptive. Okay? I’m trying to allow the full scope of this man’s wretchedness to become clearly known because when he is remembered, after he is gone, I will not be allowed to do so. You can’t do it. We’ll take that day off. I’m not suggesting it should be a national holiday, but I am suggesting I’m going to have to be very, very careful. This is going to be very hard. How am I going to be able to keep quiet on Carter? It’s Disagreement Day. If you have a thought on that, you can give me a call.

Don’t hang up in a huff on the Michael Medved Show

Conflict drives entertainment, and the Michael Medved Show frequently features guests who disagree with the host. Yesterday, Dec. 9, Medved began the middle hour of his program by speaking via telephone to Shawn Heatherington, who helped start “Day Without A Gay.” Heatherington was stunned to realize in the course of the interview that Medved is a conservative who opposes gay marriage. He hung up on Medved after the first commercial break (at about 17 minutes after the hour, or 10 minutes into the interview). He hung up on the opportunity for more free national exposure—exposure to millions of listeners, many of whom are independent voters who disagree with Medved on a wide range of issues.

This is a strategic mistake. Heatherington could sit for a softball interview and reach a handful of people who may already agree with him; or he could speak to a national news celebrity (new book #1 on NYT) and reach millions. He hung up on the second option. Very disappointing, and it doesn’t make Heatherington or his cause look good.