Rating:  Summary: Sending a Boy to Do a Man's Job Review: This book was given to me as a gift by a friend, because "you're a conservative, Rob." Indeed, that I am, so it would seem that this was quite an apropos present.However, I remember a time when conservatives were farther and fewer between, and nascent Generation-X'ers such as I were drawn to the movement by the likes of Milton Friedman, F.A. Hayek, Ludwig von Mises and William F. Buckley. The sci-fi aficionados among us came to it by way of Robert A. Heinlein and Ayn Rand. Ronald Reagan was seen by us as a politician who had absorbed their ideas and distilled them into a populist message that could speak to the average American. We were proud to be labeled as conservatives, because we were at the forefront of a movement that was both scholarly and intellectual yet passionate and emotional. Now, a quarter century later, we are being asked to regard this baby faced Bush leaguer (pun intended) as some sort of leader of our movement? It's enough to drive a thinking man's conservative into the Democrat party, just for some sorely needed cerebral stimulation. Don't get me wrong: I agree with Hannity more often than not. In fact, I agree with him much more often than I agree with his liberal better half, Alan Colmes. However, Hannity brings to his Fox News cable show what he brings to his radio program: The Republican Party Line, presented in schematic form, with all the dots from A to Z connected by Hannity's deftly-wielded Crayola crayon. And that is what this book basically is, a Chilton's manual of the conservative positions, so un-intellectually argued and reasoned that a half-wit can put them together. Perhaps when this book finds its rightful place in the bargain bin, it may see new life in a reprinting as "Conservatism For Dummies." From whence did Hannity come? He makes no bones that he was drawn to talk radio by the likes of Rush Limbaugh. But, Limbaugh is a far different breed: The scion of a legal family, surrounded by high-minded dinner table conversation, Limbaugh's first love was Top 40 radio. Put the two together, and you've got an intellectually-based mix of highfalutin ideas as made palatable for the Casey Kasem crowd. Even Bill O'Reilly has a much more analytical background, having paid his dues as an investigative TV reporter for ABC and earning his master's degree from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. What does Sean Hannity bring to the table? Hannity got into the racket as a caller who so loved calling in to talk radio programs that he figured out the perfect formula to ensconce himself at the other end of the mike. Sort of like how Eve Harrington took over Margot Channing's role in "All About Eve." But, that is the extent of Hannity's talent and intellect. Whether on radio or TV or in this book, you can guess each and every single statement that will come from Hannity's mouth or pen. All you have to know are what the Republican party talking points are for the day. You can see Hannity coming a mile away. He so predictably telegraphs his positions that he makes the crude and bombastic James Carville come off like a thoughtful and nuanced Christopher Hitchens by comparison. Hannity's main asset is that he has the courage of convictions. Yet, that is all that's there, are convictions. Read Hannity's prose and you will have a new dictionary definition for "knee jerk reactionary." I challenge lexicographers to top that one. And, perhaps this is why Hannity is so popular with his doltish audience -- having shorn himself of the duty of having to think his positions through (he leaves that to Colmes, who blows Hannity away in the erudition department) -- because his opinions can be readily grasped, without the laborious and time-consuming process of mental digestion. Hannity's mantra is Soylent Green and Metamucil all rolled into one convenient Fruit Roll-Up. I must admit that I agree with Hannity's critics who find he's preaching to the choir. The problem, though, is that the homily is not being delivered by a cardinal or even a circus-tent preacher, but a goody two-shoes choir boy whose pre-pubescent voice hasn't even yet broken. With conservatives pundits like these, who needs liberal nemeses?
Rating:  Summary: Winning the war on CORPORATE GREED AND CORRUPTION... Review: Just read on (from the ASSOCIATED PRESS)... By the way, I have perfect credit, and 0 debt (with the exception of a few college loans), but I do care about the poor and less fortune, and do not feel it's right to gang up on them because they can't have something that they should all be entitled to (like health care - the biggest cause for bankruptcies in the US of A).
Bankruptcy Bill Nears Passage
WASHINGTON, March 9, 2005
(AP) Erasing medical bills, credit card charges and other debts in bankruptcy soon will become more difficult under landmark legislation that has vaulted its last major hurdle before Senate passage.
The legislation gliding toward congressional passage following Tuesday's procedural vote in the Senate would constitute the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. bankruptcy laws in a quarter-century.
Senate passage this week and likely House approval of that bill next month would deliver to President Bush the second of his pro-business legislative priorities after Republicans fattened their majorities in both chambers in November's elections.
Congress sent Mr. Bush a law last month placing most large multistate class action lawsuits under federal court jurisdiction, making it harder for plaintiffs to join together and win multimillion-dollar judgments in state courts.
Banks, credit card issuers and retailers have pushed for eight years for bankruptcy revisions that would force more people to repay at least part of their debt. It nearly passed in 2002 - failing when the Senate accepted, but House Republicans rejected, a Democratic amendment barring protesters from using bankruptcy to avoid paying court fines for blocking abortion clinics.
This year, with four more Republican senators, the abortion provision was rejected Tuesday on a 53-46 vote. Later the Senate voted 69-31 to limit further amendments, close the debate and hold a final vote this week.
The bill would set up a new test for measuring a debtor's ability to pay.
Those with insufficient assets or income could still file a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, which if approved by a judge erases debts entirely after certain assets are forfeited. But those with income above the state's median income who can pay at least $6,000 over five years - $100 a month - would be forced into Chapter 13, where a judge would then order a repayment plan.
Critics say that's unfair because many people who file for bankruptcy have lost their jobs, or are going to lose them.
According to current law, a bankruptcy judge determines under which chapter of the bankruptcy code a person falls - whether they have to repay some or all of their debt.
Sensing a long-elusive victory at hand, Republican backers exulted Tuesday and urged colleagues to move speedily through remaining Senate deliberations.
"The sooner we finish work in the Senate and get the bill to the House, the sooner our bankruptcy system will be focused as it should be on helping those with real need, and less vulnerable to abuse by consumers who have the ability to repay their debts," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, the bill's primary author.
The bill's supporters argued that bankruptcy frequently is the last refuge of gamblers, impulsive shoppers, divorced or separated fathers avoiding child support, and multimillionaires, often celebrities, who buy mansions in states with liberal homestead exemptions to shelter assets from creditors.
Opponents, too, have a litany of stories. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., speaks of Zoraya Marrero, a single mother with three children from Woodbridge, Va., the eldest of whom has spina bifida. Having had to return $60,000 in state disability benefits and medical coverage for the child, and paying medical expenses, Marrero recently filed for bankruptcy.
Most applicants "did not seek bankruptcy relief willingly," Kennedy says. "Millions of ... Americans in similar situations have filed for bankruptcy only after exhausting all other options." A recent Harvard University study found that costly illnesses led to about half of all personal bankruptcies and that most people who file for bankruptcy protection because of medical problems have health insurance.
Consumer and civil rights groups and unions say the legislation is unfair to low-income working people, single mothers, minorities and the elderly and would remove a safety net for those who have lost their jobs or face mounting medical bills. They say it would turn the bankruptcy courts into collection agencies for the credit card companies.
Rating:  Summary: a genius, undoubtedly Review: Sean Hannity, a founding member of the Log Cabin Republicans, presents us with a heart-rending story of his childhood, growing up -- as he puts it -- as a "buxom woman in a little boy's body."
Many of us have been through the same experiences, but Sean brings his customary wit, tenderness and sheer humanity to the task and the book can rank with the best of Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick and Eddie Said. The way he learned to "be a man" by fighting "terrorism, despotism and liberalism" will move anybody who has maintained a yearning heart.
I'd rank this book with "The Well of Loneliness."
Rating:  Summary: HANNITY'S INSANITY Review: A SIMPLISTIC BOOK. IT CATERS TO DITTO HEADS, WHO MARCH LOCK STEP, & NEVER QUESTION AUTHORITY. THEY DEFILE THE FLAG & CONSTITUTION BY WAVING THEM ALONG WITH THE BIBLE, WITH THEIR DOUBLE STANDARD. A MONEY GRABBING SUBJECT. JUDGE THE MESSENGER. THIS MULTI MILLIONAIRE HATES PAYING TAXES. BUT THAT'S THE PRICE YOU PAY FOR LIVING IN THE USA. LIKE OR LEAVE IT.
WITH HIS HEAVY BUSINESS SCHEDULE, I WONDER IF HE WROTE THIS BOOK.
Rating:  Summary: Best book on the internets Review: Hannity is brilliant-rivals Shakespeare and Joyce. To boot, the text is extra large, so you can get through the book in just a few trips to the potty.
Rating:  Summary: Must Read!! Review: I normally cannot read; my attention span is too short. I love listening to Sean on the radio, so my wife bought me this book. I could not put it down until I had read it cover to cover. Sean has the greatest personality and is a realist! His perspective is invaluable as a knowledgeable political insider. Sean reveals the left wing schemes that are meant to entrap us as well as those that are meant to work around the system. This book is full of documented facts and is NOT a book of ramblings by some underhanded, loud-mouthed conservative. Sean is at the top of his game! This book is an extremely enjoyable, Must-Read. I've been Hannitized!
Rating:  Summary: Have conservatives and liberals forgotten something? Review: First of all I have to say it is very difficult to watch Mr. Hannity on Fox. He does come across as that arrogant bully many of us knew from our grade school days. I was hoping that type of attitude would not be present in this book, but I was wrong.
Through his writings and his radio and television work, he actually promotes further polarization of political ideologies. Although my beliefs are moderate, I do sometimes laugh or sigh very heavily when both liberals and conservatives bash one another. With my background in history I find it shocking to realize that many people, like Sean Hannity, seem to have forgotten that the majority of political beliefs espoused in this country (both conservative and liberal) originated from political philosophies that were born during the period of European history known as the Enlightenment. Those political philosophies were known as Liberalism and they stood for individual rights and the restriction and limitation of autocratic monarchial governments. So when pundits look upon liberalism as this evil cancer that has spread into our society, they demonstrate their ignorance to the fact that many of the conservative Republican beliefs are actually doctrines of historical Liberalism. The truth is that both conservatism and liberalism, as portrayed in our political system, need one another in a Yin and Yang type of balanced relationship where the best ideas of both are promoted to serve the nation. That idea is not extreme so it might not sell many books, or garner ratings in our media obsessed culture, but I believe it does help to heal the political divergence.
I view this book as a sad caricature of the political schism that seems to be growing in this country. To be fair and balanced is to be somewhere near the center, and Mr. Hannity is not.
Rating:  Summary: 5th Grader Tactics Review: I challenge anyone who gave this item a 5 star rating to check out the websites below to see what they are missing. It's easy to attack one's character or change the subject when you can't address the ugly truth.
www.infowars.com
www.prisonplanet.tv
www.gregpalast.com
Rating:  Summary: Excellent Read Review: Sean Hannity does a wonderful job at rousing the emotions of mindless readers. It is a waste of time for anyone who wants to read quality literature, either conservative or liberal. If you have any respect for your time pick up something that isnt written on emotions and more-so written well. Pathetic example of the crap that circulates in today's society. P.S. I consider myself on the conserative side too.
Rating:  Summary: A job well done! Review: Yes... I strike AGAIN!!!
Hannity did a superb job in this book... his first book. Mostly he talked about his background, but he simply tells why liberals are just a roadblock on America's road to defeating terrorism. Don't get me wrong, liberals can be good people, BUT they are just adding fuel to the fire that is terrorism. From Daschle, Kucinich, Billary, Kerry, Rockefeller (pains me to say that about Sen. Rockefeller since he is supposed to be representing my state in the Senate...) Kennedy... I can go on.
I got really outraged when I read about the current education system in America today. No wonder my parents wanted to send me to a Christian school. I'm glad they did.
Then, as if I wasn't angry enough... just wait until you get to the chapter on abortion. Now, granted, I am staunchly pro-life, but, I have to make an exception when the mother's life is at risk.
But, another good read. You know you are doing your job as a conservative when a liberal co-worker asks what you are reading, sees the cover and just FLIPS OUT!
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