Top 10 Lists

[docbyers]

Top 10 Most Ridiculous Quotes by Hillary Clinton

by Thomas D. Kuiper
The following quotes are my 10 favorive from my new book, "I've Always Been a Yankees Fan: Hillary Clinton In Her Own Words."

10. "It's been said, and I think it's accurate, that my husband was obsessed by terrorism in general and al-Qaida in particular."

(Hillary telling a post-9/11 world what a great commander in chief her husband was; Dateline, NBC 4/16/2004.)

9. "I have to admit that a good deal of what my husband and I have learned [about Islam] has come from our daughter."

(Circa 1996, at a White House function, Hillary proudly tells some Muslim groups she is gaining a greater appreciation of Islam because Chelsea was then taking a class on the "religion of peace"; TruthInMedia.org 8/8/1999.)

Note: See No. 4. Muslim groups, with ties to Hamas, were welcomed at the Clinton White House. But not Republicans.

8. "Many of you are well enough off that [President Bush's] tax cuts may have helped you. We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to have to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

(Hillary to her fellow liberals in a speech in San Francisco; SFGate.com 6/28/2004.)

7. "Why do I have to keep proving to people that I am not a liar?"

(First Lady Hillary in her 2000 Senate campaign; "The Survivor," p. 382, by John Harris.)

6. "A right-wing network was after his presidency...including perverting the Constitution."

(To Barbara Walters about the Republicans who impeached her husband; 20/20, ABC 6/8/2003.)

Note: Even though it is common knowledge what Clinton did with Monica Lewinsky and a cigar, Hillary claims the Republicans are the perverts.

5. "Son of a bitch."

(Hillary's opinion of President George W. Bush when she found out he secretly visited Iraq just days before her highly publicized trip to Iraq; "American Evita," p. 259, by Christopher Anderson.)

4. "What are you doing inviting these people into my home? These people are our enemies! They are trying to destroy us!"
(Hillary's reaction to an aide, when she found out that some Republicans had been invited to the Clinton White House, circa 1993; "The Survivor," p. 99, by John Harris.)

Note: She said this just months after Islamic terrorists bombed the World Trade Center, attempting to kill everyone at the WTC complex.

3. "I mean, you've got a conservative and right-wing press presence with really nothing on the other end of the political spectrum."

(Hillary complains about the mainstream media, which are all conservatives in her opinion; aired on C-Span, 1/19/1997.)

2. "Come on Bill, put your dick up. You can't **** her here."

(Hillary to Gov. Clinton when she spots him talking with an attractive female at an Arkansas political rally; "Inside The White House," p. 243, by Ronald Kessler.)

1. "You sold out, you mother******! You sold out."

(While an intern on Capitol Hill, Hillary Rodham yells at a prominent Democrat lawyer because he was representing someone from a large, profit-driven corporation; "Inside," p. 213, by Joseph Califano.)

[docbyers]

Top 10 Conservative Cities
Ranked by the editors of HUMAN EVENTS.

10. Cincinnati, Ohio
Home of GOP Rep. Steve Chabot (ACU lifetime: 98%; 2005: 96%) who won his seat by campaigning for the balanced budget amendment and against abortion. Only Ohio Republican to oppose prescription-drug bill. Called "too conservative" by Democrat opponents, but city's district has re-elected him five times. Boasts conservative Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell as a former mayor.

9. Boise, Idaho
Boise's 2nd District is described as "one of America's most Republican districts" by The Almanac of American Politics. Represented by Mike Simpson (ACU lifetime: 90%; 2005: 92%), who replaced conservative former Rep. Mike Crapo when he ran for the Senate. Conservative former Senator-turned Governor-turned Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne was once mayor.

8. Mesa, Ariz.
Founded by Mormons. Republican Jeff Flake (ACU lifetime: 94%; 2005: 96%), who led the fight for Arizona's charter school law and favors eliminating the income tax and creating a national sales tax, represents Mesa's district. The Almanac of American Politics says, "The district's cultural tone is resolutely middle class, hard-working and churchgoing. By most measures it is the most Republican district in Republican Arizona."

7. Clarksville, Tenn.
Home of Fort Campbell (though the Post Office is in Kentucky, a majority of the base is actually in Tennessee). Represented by reliably anti-tax GOPer Marsha Blackburn (ACU lifetime: 97%; 2005: 100%), who organized rallies to oppose a state income tax and won her seat by running as a pro-life, pro-military and pro-2nd Amendment conservative.

6. Wichita, Kan.
Has sent Republican Rep. Todd Tiahrt (ACU lifetime: 97%; 2005: 96%) to the U.S. House since the 1994 GOP revolution when he defeated longtime Democratic Rep. Dan Glickman. Tiahrt was raised a Democrat but found that his strong religious views were more in line with the Republican Party. Protection of gun rights has been a major local issue and is one of Tiahrt's signature agenda items.

5. Colorado Springs, Colo.
Location of the Air Force Academy, Fort Carson, Peterson Air Force Base and Schriver Air Force Base. Represented by GOP Rep. Joel Hefley (ACU lifetime: 95%; 2005: 84%). Home of James Dobson's Focus on the Family. The Almanac of American Politics calls this "birthplace of Colorado's anti-tax initiatives" "a center of conservative Christianity, the home of Colorado's young conservatism, the counterpoint to Denver's aging liberalism."

4. Abilene, Tex.
City's 19th District is represented by Republican Rep. Randy Neugebauer (ACU lifetime: 93%; 2005: 100%) who defeated longtime Democrat Rep. Charlie Stenholm. Cultural leaning heavily influenced by the three religiously affiliated private universities there: Abilene Christian University, Hardin-Simmons University, and McMurry University.

3. Oklahoma City, Okla.
Very much a pro-oil city. According to The Almanac of American Politics, "Oil rigs were pumping crude on the grounds of the then-domeless Capitol until 1989; a derrick still stands sentinel outside the governor's window." Represented by GOP Rep. Ernest Istook (ACU lifetime: 94%; 2005: 96%) who says, "Oklahoma has the kind of values that the rest of the nation needs to have."

2. Plano, Tex.
Has one of the most conservative congressmen, Republican Sam Johnson (ACU lifetime: 99%; 2005: 96%), who opposes all pork, was a founder of the conservative Republican Study Committee, sponsors a constitutional amendment to repeal the 16th Amendment every Congress and has been easily re-elected since taking office in 1991. City has not raised tax rates for more than 15 years.

1. Provo, Utah
Represented by Republican Chris Cannon (ACU lifetime rating: 97%; 2005: 100%). Home of conservative Brigham Young University. Named "Most Conservative City" by non-partisan Bay Area Center for Voting Research in 2005. According to New York Sun, Provo Mayor Lewis Billings responded to city's conservative title by noting that "around 75% of [Provo] residents ... are members" of the Mormon Church and that "I don't think people in our community will be all that surprised. We are what we are."

[docbyers]

Top 10 Liberal Cities
Ranked by the editors of HUMAN EVENTS.

10. Seattle, Wash.
Well known for its environmentalist population. Home of Democrat Rep. Jim McDermott (ACU lifetime: 2%; 2005: 0%) who once claimed Saddam Hussein is more credible than President Bush and omitted the words "under God" when leading the Pledge of Allegiance on the House floor. Location of Clinton's 1999 WTO meetings marked by rioters protesting globalism, where more than 500 people were arrested.

9. Newark, N.J.
One of the most densely populated and crime-ridden cities in the country. Liberal Democratic Rep. Donald Payne (ACU lifetime: 3%; 2005: 0%), who has been easily reelected since taking office in 1998, said the war in Iraq could "have been avoided through diplomacy" and defended Kofi Annan in oil-for-food scandals. Easily the most liberal city in the Democratic enclave of New Jersey.

8. Berkeley, Calif.
Known as home to liberal University of California. Represented by Democratic Rep. Barbara Lee (ACU lifetime: 4%; 2005 4%). Denied rent subsidy to the Sea Scouts because its parent organization, the Boy Scouts, excludes gays and atheists. According to The Almanac of American Politics, city council in 2004 passed resolution demanding "censure of President Bush for a litany of grievances."

7. Madison, Wis.
Represented by Democrat Tammy Baldwin (ACU lifetime: 3%; 2005: 0%), a public lesbian who has pushed for extension of hate crime protection to people victimized because of gender, sexual orientation and disabilities. City Council supported a "cities for peace" resolution before the Iraq War began. Was one of 24 Wisconsin cities that supported a "Bring the Troops Home Now" referendum advocating immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

6. Portland, Ore.
A "livable community" that enacted an "urban growth boundary" that has caused high housing costs in the city that champions a regional light rail transit system, curbside recycling and land use planning, attracting political and cultural liberals. Democratic Rep. Earl Blumenauer (ACU lifetime: 5%; 2005: 4%), who represents the city, pushes a far-left environmental agenda.

5. Washington, D.C.
A reliably Democratic city that has three electoral votes in every presidential election. Known for irresponsible, bloated government run by liberal Democrats. Handguns banned, residents effectively prohibited from using guns to defend themselves in their homes.

4. Detroit, Mich.
Home of liberal Democratic Representatives Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (ACU lifetime: 5%) and John Conyers (ACU lifetime: 5%). The first "automobile city" in America, now known for its high crime rate and unemployment. The Almanac of American Politics notes that it was "a city where liberal reformers hoped to create model anti-poverty and anti-discrimination programs." Named "Most Liberal City" by non-partisan Bay Area Center for Voting Research in 2005.

3. New York, N.Y.
Represented by several leftists, including Jerry Nadler, Gregory Meeks, Anthony Weiner and Charlie Rangel, 20 of New York's 29 representatives earned an "F" grade from the NTU. According to Guttmacher Institute, has double the national average of abortions. Still attempting to sue the gun industry and requires firearm registration on top of the state's already restrictive handgun licensing law.

2. Boston, Mass.
Once represented by liberal Democrat Tip O'Neill, Boston (8th District) is now represented by Democrat Michael Capuano (ACU lifetime: 5%; 2005: 4%). The Almanac of American Politics labels the 8th District "by far the most Democratic district" in liberal Massachusetts. Mayor Thomas Menino blames city's crime problem on guns from New Hampshire.

1. San Francisco, Calif.
The home of liberal Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (ACU lifetime rating: 3%; 2005: 0%) once claimed leftist Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein as its mayor. Current Mayor Gavin Newsom gave out same-sex marriage licenses in 2004 in violation of a state law. Board of Supervisors banned smoking in public parks, passed a resolution urging impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney and refused to accept the World War II battleship U.S.S. Iowa. Voters approved a handgun ban last November.

[docbyers]

Top 10 Da Vinci Code Distortions
by Robert H. Knight

Concerned Women for America released a paper titled "The Top 10 Da Vinci Code Distortions," which sets the record straight on the many lies found in Dan Brown's best-selling book The Da Vinci Code, which comes to theaters on May 19 in a film starring Tom Hanks and directed by Ron Howard.

Below are 10 false claims Brown makes in The Da Vinci Code.

10. Walt Disney was a devotee of the Mary Magdalene cult.

9. The Bible is an ever-changing, living document, not the established Word of God.

8. The "sacred feminine" was at the heart of the early church but was suppressed.

7. The Catholic group Opus Dei is a dangerous, secretive group.

6. Mary Magdalene, not the Apostle John, is to the left of Jesus in The Last Supper.

5. Jesus did not die on the cross but married Mary Magdalene and had children with her.

4. The Da Vinci Code is based on fact, including secret documents found in Paris.

3. The New Testament Gospels are false, unlike the so-called "Gnostic Gospels."

2. The church did not regard Jesus as divine until the 325 A.D. Council of Nicea.

1. Jesus Christ was just a man and not God.

[flew-da-coup]

Just another movie trying to distort the Truth.

[step30044]

I have to console myself with the fact that most of these programs were intiated by Democratic presidents and/or congress, and I didn't vote for any of those people.
My problem is that now my children and I get to inheret the fallout from the "brain trusts" that thought they were a good idea at the time.  Social Security, for example.  Let me take my own money and invest it in some good mutual funds that will take care of me when I retire.  Give me my 14% or whatever it is and see if I can turn it into some real estate holdings, rental properties, stocks, annuities, anything I wish.  If people had to rely on their own fiscal responsibility for retirement instead of the government, it might make them think twice about buying the big-screen TV when they don't have enough left over for the rent...
...and how did the federal government finance things BEFORE there was an income tax?  Now don't get me wrong- I don't mind paying my government to take care of things that I can't do on my own.  There aren't any Iraqi war planes flying over my house, so I don't mind giving some money to the feds to fund the Defense Department.  ...and I have good highways to drive on, with a nice fire department and police force to keep me safe, so I don't mind paying for that either.  My kids will go to a good public school; I don't mind paying tax dollars for that.  I don't like paying taxes for programs that fund a study to investigate the mating habits of the Arctic snow fox...  Freezer might get some benefit out of that, living in Minot, but I won't...

OK NOW LETS TALK ABOUT ALL THE PROBLEMS CREATED BY THE FOLKS YOU DID VOTE FOR!!!

[docbyers]

I will admit that the government under President Bush hasn't always done such a great job, BUT, we have had no more terrorist attacks since 9/11, and my taxes have gone down, so I don't feel too bad about their performance.  The economy is booming even with gas at $3/gallon- takes some good fiscal policy to make that work!

Before 2003, capital gains were taxed at 20% for people who paid income taxes in the 25% bracket or higher (i.e., any single person who made more than $30,650 in taxable income and any couple who made more than $61,300), and at 10% for people in the lower income brackets. Dividends were taxed at the regular income tax rates, which run as high as 35%. The 2003 tax cut dropped the rates on both capital gains and dividends to 15% and 5%, with the 5% rate (for people in the lower income brackets) dropping to 0% in 2008. These lower capital gains and dividend tax rates, however, were all scheduled to expire at the end of 2008.

After the capital gains and dividend tax rates were cut, two things happened: 1) Federal revenues derived from capital gains and dividend taxes increased, according to the Wall Street Journal, by 79% and 35% respectively. 2) The economy boomed, spurring a growth in jobs and income for American workers.

Unemployment is now at a remarkably low 4.7%, lower than the average unemployment rates for the last three decades. In the first quarter of this year, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the economy grew at a 4.8% annual rate. Consumer spending increased 5.5%. Business investment in new equipment and software increased 16.4%.

Real disposable personal income increased 6.7% in the last quarter of last year and 3.2% in the first quarter of this year.

I don't think Sen. Kerry would have performed as well...  I'd like someone, anyone, to tell me what the Democrats have fixed in the last 50 years, a problem solved that didn't have all kinds of ripple-effect that screwed it up even worse than it was before...

[docbyers]

Top Ten Old West Phrases That Will Never Sound The Same After That Damned Gay Cowboy Movie

1. "I'm gonna pump you fulla lead!"
2. "Give me a stiff one, barkeep!"
3. "Don't fret---I've been in tight spots before."
4. "Howdy, pardner."
5. You stay here while I sneak around from behind."
6. Two words: "Saddle Sore."
7. "Hold it right there!  Now, move your hand, reeeal slow-like."
8. "Let's mount up!"
9. "Nice spread ya got there!"
10. "Ride'em cowboy!"

[flew-da-coup]

Awe man.

[Thraxas]

Awe man.

Is that another old west phrase?

[flew-da-coup]

Yep.

[docbyers]

Top 10 Reasons to Oppose Amnesty Bill
by Sen. Jim DeMint

10. Weak Assimilation/English Requirements

The Senate approved Sen. James Inhofe's (R.-Okla.) amendment to make English the national language and require those seeking citizenship to demonstrate English proficiency and understanding of U.S. history. However, a far weaker amendment by Sen. Ken Salazar (D.-Colo.) gutted the Inhofe amendment, leaving it in doubt, and also giving immigrants the right to demand the federal government communicate with them in any language they choose.

9. Gives Some Immigrant Workers Greater Job Protection Than American Workers

As reported by Robert Novak of Chicago Sun Times on May 24, 2006: "The bill supposedly would protect American workers by ensuring that new immigrants would not take away jobs. However, the bill's definition of 'United States worker' includes temporary foreign guest workers, so the protection is meaningless... Foreign guest farm workers, admitted under the bill, cannot be 'terminated from employment by any employer ... except for just cause.' In contrast, American ag workers can be fired for any reason."

8. Hurts Small Business

The Senate approved an amendment by Sen. Barack Obama (D.-Ill.) extending Davis-Bacon "prevailing wage" provisions for guest workers, but not American citizens, in all occupations covered by Davis-Bacon (currently limited to federally paid work). Small businesses would be forced to pay inflated wages to guest workers above the pay American citizens receive for performing the same work.

7. Costs Over $50 Billion a Year to Federal Government; States Foot the Bill for Immigrant Health Care

Robert Rector of the Heritage Foundation described the bill as a "fiscal catastrophe," and has said the measure would prove to be the largest expansion of government welfare in 35 years. According to Rector, the bill would increase long-term federal spending by at least $50 billion a year.

The Senate bill does not reimburse state and local governments for health care and education costs related to the millions of undocumented immigrants. While the underlying bill creates a state impact assistance account for future temporary workers, it is an unfunded account.

6. Social Security Benefits, Tax Credits for Illegal Work

The Senate rejected Sen. John Ensign's (R.-Nev.) amendment that would have prevented Social Security benefits from being awarded to immigrants for time that they worked illegally in the United States. If the immigration compromise bill before the Senate were enacted into law, an estimated 12 million illegal workers would be able to use their past illegal work to qualify for Social Security benefits.

Provisions in S. 2611 would require newly legalized immigrants to file tax returns for work they performed while in the U.S. illegally. And while some would be required to pay back taxes, many others could qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which has a maximum payout of $4,400 per year.

5. Terrorist Loophole Disarms Law Enforcement

Heritage Foundation reported May 24, 2006: "The Senate's immigration reform proposal ... would restrict local police to arresting aliens for criminal violations of immigration law only, not civil violations. The results would be disastrous. All of the hijackers on (9/11) who committed immigration violations committed civil violations. Under the bill, police officers would have no power to arrest such terrorists."

4. Insufficient Border Security

The Senate rejected an amendment by Sen. Johnny Isakson (R.-Ga.) that would have prohibited the implementation of any guest-worker program that grants legal status to those who have entered the country illegally until the Secretary of Homeland Security has certified to the President and to the Congress that the border security provisions in the immigration legislation are fully funded and operational.

While the Senate adopted Sen. Jeff Sessions' (R.-Ala.) amendment to increase "real fencing" by 370 miles and add 500 miles of vehicle barriers, the House passed a bill requiring at least 700 miles of "real fencing", a more likely needed amount to secure the 2,000 mile long border.

3. Unprecedented Wave of Immigrants: 66 Million Over 20 Years

This bill is estimated to skyrocket the number of immigrants, from its current level of 19 million over the next 20 years, to an unprecedented number. Heritage Foundation: "...

• ur estimate of the number of legal immigrants who would enter the country or would gain legal status under S. 2611 ... [would be] 66 million over the next 20 years."
  
  2. Creates Temporary Worker Program That Is Neither Temporary Nor Work-Based
  
  The bill's guest worker program would allow millions of illegal immigrants to qualify for permanent green cards within four years. Additionally, the Senate approved Sen. Teddy Kennedy's (D.-Mass.) amendment that each year would allow up to 200,000 immigrants who cross the border illegally and work just 6 days a year (including self employment) to qualify for a permanent green card.
  
  1. Rewards Illegal Behavior with Clear Path to Citizenship and Voting Rights: Amnesty
  
  As noted by former Attorney General Ed Meese in the New York Times on May 24, 2006: "Like the amnesty bill of 1986, the current Senate proposal would place those who have resided illegally in the United States on a path to citizenship, provided they meet a similar set of conditions and pay a fine and back taxes. The illegal immigrant does not go to the back of the line but gets immediate legalized status, while law-abiding applicants wait in their home countries for years to even get here. And that's the line that counts. In the end, slight differences in process do not change the overriding fact that the 1986 law and today's bill are both amnesties."

[docbyers]

Ten Worst Border-Security Congressmen
Ranked by the editors of HUMAN EVENTS.

10. Sen. Mike DeWine (R.-Ohio)(This one's mine- my apologies!)
Judiciary Committee member, voted for amnesty for agricultural workers and for spouses and children of illegals. Co-sponsored in-state tuition bill for illegals. Opposed increasing funding for Border Patrol and adding more ICE agents.

9. Sen. Patrick Leahy (D.-Vt.)
Ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Worked with Sen. Specter on his amnesty-granting immigration bill and called building a fence along the United States border a "cockamamie" idea.

8. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D.-Ill.)
Co-sponsor of the House version of McCain-Kennedy. Roll Call reported that after a live debate on CNBC with immigration hawk Rep. Tom Tancredo (R.-Colo.) Guirerrez asked, "Have you ever eaten in a restaurant?" mocked Tancredo by saying, "How could you eat from the plates touched by those nasty illegal immigrants?" and called Tancredo a "racist" and "bigot."

7. Rep. Howard Berman (D.-Calif.)
Accused Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R.-Wis.) of "playing to the cheap seats" with his bill to construct a border fence. Co-ponsored legislation to increase amnesties for spouses and children of illegals.

6. Rep. John Conyers (D.-Mich.)
Co-sponsored legislation to grant amnesty to illegal aliens with a family member or employer willing to sponsor them. Will assume Judiciary chairmanship if Democrats win control of the House in November.

5. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.)
Consistently opposes any restrictions on immigration. Calls measures to criminalize illegal immigrants and those who assist them "draconian and inhumane." Co-sponsored the SOLVE Act with Rep. Gutierrez to create a temporary guest-worker program.

4. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D.-N.Y.)
Once said she was "adamantly against illegal immigrants," now supports legalizing the 11 million illegals living in the U.S. Has vowed to block any bill criminalizing illegal immigration, suggested the House immigration bill would have made Jesus a criminal.

3. Sen. Arlen Specter (R.-Pa.)
Judiciary Chairman, introduced a bill to convert illegal aliens into legal guest-workers for six years without first making them return to their home country and to allow more temporary workers and their families into the United States.

2. Sen. Teddy Kennedy (D.-Mass.)
Cosponsoring legislation with McCain to grant amnesty to illegal aliens and has repeatedly supported amnesty efforts. Favors giving illegal students amnesty and a free college education.

1. Sen. John McCain (R.-Ariz.)
Lead sponsor with Teddy Kennedy of a bill to grant amnesty to illegal aliens. Joined Hillary Clinton, Kennedy and Charles Schumer expressing gratitude to a group of illegal Irish aliens for their actions to lobby Congress for amnesty.

[docbyers]

Top 10 Liberal Commencement Speakers of 2006

10. Gen. Wesley Clark—Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Clark told students: "I'm trying to help Dems take back the House ... We have a Congress now that's not fulfilling its constitutional duties ... asking the tough questions of the Executive Branch." The speech was a direct contradiction of comments he has made in years past, including his support of President Bush.

9. Gustavo Esteva—University of Vermont

Esteva, a self-described Marxist, told students that being "tolerant" after September 11 isn't enough. Instead, Esteva said to embrace "those who are radically different." Esteva, however, did not distinguish between embracing those with differences and embracing the radical Muslims who murdered nearly 3,000 innocent Americans.

8. Former Los Angeles Times Editor John S. Carroll—Penn State University

Carroll spends his time writing books including House of War, which reads like a Noam Chomsky primer. Carroll outrageously writes, "America's mid-twentieth century initiation into world power was as much in the state of mortal sin as its birth in slavery had been."

7.  Activist Marian Wright Edelman—Emory University

President and founder of the sanctimoniously named Children's Defense Fund, Edelman believes terrorism and the lack of health care are first cousins, writing: "The inability to get health care because people lack insurance kills less traumatically and less visibly than terrorism, but the result is the same" and "[P]oor housing and poor education and low wages kill the spirit and the capacity and the quality of life that all of us deserve."

6.  Activist Harriet Mayor Fulbright—Stevens Institute of Technology

The wife of the late Sen. J. William Fulbright (D.-Ark.), Mrs. Fulbright shares her husband's love for intrusive government. On her website, Fulbright writes that America needs "to wage war on starvation and discrimination," not mentioning the failure of Lyndon Johnson's "war on poverty."   

5. New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman—Clark University

Krugman's commencement impartation compared Nixon's Watergate to President Bush's NSA phone-tapping program. Krugman endorsed impeachment hearings for the President in 2007.

4. MSNBC Host Chris Matthews—Fordham University

Fordham's idea of a respectable journalist is Chris Matthews. Recall that Matthews' idea of respectable journalism was asking anti-American actress Jane Fonda how she stepped "out of being an American" to observe that "the 'Vietnamese were objectively the good guys.'"

3. Illinois Sen. Barack Obama—Northwestern University

Obama is an up-and-coming Socialist in the left's ranks who pushes the usual victim mentality argument and proposes large government solutions.   

2. Archbishop Desmond Tutu—The College of William and Mary

Tutu, an aging Socialist, informed students that Western nations are stingy with their wealth and aid to Africa. Tutu, who received his Nobel Peace Prize a decade before Yasser Arafat received his, said that he was critical of "governments that spend more money on war than on ending hunger."

1. Former President Bill Clinton—Princeton University

Clinton is a shoo-in to be the No. 1 liberal commencement speaker. His address will most likely be a slick way for the former President to entertain college-aged females.

[docbyers]

Top 10 Junk Science Scams

The website JunkScience.com celebrated its 10th anniversary on April 1, 2006. To mark the event, this column spotlights 10 big junk science stories of the last 10 years. In no particular order, they are:

10. The Mother of All Junk Science Controversies

The most important junk science story of the last 10 years is global warming. Though climate varies naturally and ongoing climate change is within that natural variation, the global warming lobby seems bent on railroading us into economy-killing regulation. The Kyoto Protocol is being ignored by its EU signatories. Global warmers admit that the drastic and impossible step of halting all greenhouse gas emissions would have no impact on climate. Sky-high energy prices threaten our economy. Yet many yearn for global warming regulation.

9. Choking on Chips

Swedish scientists alarmed us in April 2002 that cooking high-carbohydrate foods -- like potatoes and bread -- formed acrylamide, a substance linked with cancer in lab animals. But even if lab animals were reasonable predictors of cancer risk in humans -- a notion yet to be validated -- someone of average bodyweight would have to eat 35,000 potato chips (about 62.5 pounds) per day for life to get an equivalent dose of acrylamide as the lab animals.

8. PETA: Milk Drinking Makes for Future Felons

With its web site repeatedly alluding to acts of animal cruelty committed in childhood as being predictors of adult criminality, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sponsored in-school curricula teaching children that eating meat and drinking milk constitutes "animal cruelty." PETA's "Milk-Stealing Ming," for example, was depicted with his mouth attached to an unhappy cow's udder, alongside a "wanted poster" describing his crimes and exclaiming, "cows make milk for their babies, not for maniacs like Ming."

7. 'Ear-ie' Biotech Scare

"Who plays God in the 21st century?" captioned an October 11, 1999 full-page ad in the New York Times attacking genetic engineering. Placed by a coalition including Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, the ad featured a photo of a shaved laboratory mouse with what looks like a human ear attached to its back. The caption stated, "This is an actual photo of a genetically engineered mouse with a human ear on its back." As it turned out, it wasn't a real ear and it had nothing to do with genetic engineering. A template in the shape of a human ear was seeded with human cartilage cells and surgically implanted on the back of a mouse. The cartilage cells grew into the ear-like structure. The technology's purpose is to help children who are either born without ears or who lose their ears through injury.

6. Obesity Statistics Lose Weight

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention added to our bodyweight panic in 2004 by announcing that obesity kills 400,000 people annually, a number approaching the death toll attributed to smoking (440,000). Criticism of the estimate from CDC's own statisticians caused the agency in 2005 to back-off the estimate -- adjusting it downward by 93 percent to 25,814 annual deaths.

5. Secret Science?

EPA air pollution rules issued in 1997 governing airborne particulate matter (soot) are estimated to cost $10 billion annually. The EPA claimed soot in ambient air causes tens of thousands of premature deaths every year. Congress asked EPA to disclose the scientific data underlying the claims. EPA refused. A subsequently enacted law requiring that taxpayer-funded scientific data used to support regulation be made available to the public through the Freedom of Information Act has yet to be enforced. The EPA is preparing to make those very same rules even more stringent.

4. Hormone Hysterics

Tulane University researchers published a 1996 study claiming that combinations of manmade chemicals (pesticides and PCBs) disrupted normal hormonal processes, causing everything from cancer to infertility to attention deficit disorder. Media, regulators and environmentalists hailed the study as "astonishing." Indeed it was as it turned out to be fraud, according to an October 2001 report by federal investigators. Though the study was retracted from publication, the law it spawned wasn't and continues to be enforced by the EPA.

3. Powerline Scare Unplugged

Fears that electric and magnetic fields (EMFs) created by power lines and appliances caused cancer started in 1978. Parents worried about power lines over schools. Consumers worried about electric blankets. Power companies worried about burying power lines. The National Academy of Sciences finally unplugged the scare in October 1996, concluding that no evidence showed EMFs presented a health hazard.

2. Dial "F" for Fear

Since the 1993 Larry King Live broadcast featuring a man suing a cell phone maker claiming his wife died from a cell phone-induced brain cancer, many cell phones users have worried about phone safety. But studies failed to identify any risk. The final blow to the scare came in 2002 when notorious trial lawyer Peter Angelos' $800 million lawsuit -- alleging a Maryland physician's brain cancer was caused by cell phone use -- was dismissed (like the 1993 suit) for lack of evidence.

1. The Most Toxic Manmade Chemical?

That's what some called dioxin, a by-product of natural and industrial combustion processes and the "contaminant of concern" in the Vietnam-era defoliant known as Agent Orange. Billions of dollars have been spent studying and regulating dioxin, but debunking the scare only cost a few thousand dollars. Keying off Ben & Jerry's claim on its ice cream packages that "there is no safe exposure to dioxin," we tested Ben & Jerry's ice cream and found that a single serving contained about 200 times the dioxin that the Environmental Protection Agency says is "safe" -- and who's afraid of Ben & Jerry's?