Martin Eisenstadt’s Blog

John McCain is back! After a reshuffling of his campaign staff, McCain was on the ground in Colombia overseeing the 4 billion dollars a year we spend down there.

What a joy witnessing the Betancourts on hands and knees thanking God and country for that dramatic rescue. Ingrid Betancourt is clearly a friend of the West, a child of Europe. It wouldn’t surprise me if she quickly reentered politics as an ally of Uribe and an advocate of our geopolitical interests. Ingrid will surely make a staunch ally in our war against indigenous rumblings as represented by Chavez, Morales and the FARC. And McCain being down there on the day of her release was no coincidence.

The question voters need to start asking is whether Obama will continue the good fight we are waging not just in Iraq but in Latin America as well. My guess is that Obama would cut and run, abandoning our southern border to Marxists and terrorists.

Another reason to support a leader tried and tested not just in battle but in the ways of the world. I’m sorry, Wesley Clark: Community organizing (whatever that means) on the south side of Chicago does not prepare one to confront the FARC or to stage rescue raids deep in the Colombian jungle.

Loyal readers know that we’ve taken umbrage with NBC in the past, but when I heard the news today about the passing of Lil’ Russ, I was deeply saddened. Tim was a tower in the Washington journalism/political scene, and with his invigoration of “Meet the Press” in 1991, he set the stage for a new breed of talk show in Washington: Where insightful questions, diligent research and informed guests would dominate. He brought out the best - and sometimes - the worst in his guests. Be they politicians or pundits, Tim always kept us on our toes. Rest in peace, Tim.

I warned you in my last post that Denny joining that tranny friendly lobbying firm would remind people of his past involvement with Mark Foley. And lo and behold I was right. Let Dennis deny that we grappled on his office floor after a late night appropriations vote, that he routinely gave me pointers when we passed in the halls and restrooms. So one more thing Denny. Not only is Dickstein & Shapiro tranny friendly, it counts General Electric subsidiaries as clients. Which brings me to the subject of this post, the warning my prophetic and good friend Bill O’Reilly is trying to get across to the sometimes gullible American people. Boycott NBC!

Bill O’Reilly is right, 100% right. NBC is the most insidious, self-serving American corporation there is. The mouthpiece of the government behind the government. Between David Gregory dancing the jig with Karl Rove and Tim Russert offering up Meet the Press as a White House briefing room, NBC, in the run-up to the wars, was just as pro-Bush, pro-invasion as was FOX (not that I was complaining). But now that the tides seem to be turning, with possible criminal investigations down the road, NBC has coincidentally found again its liberal soul, its outrage, dare I say shock at the last 8 years of “excess”.

You liberals are such fools. Fox News is not the propaganda channel. It’s owned by an Australian for God’s sake. NBC, owned by GE, who makes more money off one bomb dropped in Iraq than it earns off the entire franchise of “Friends”, is the channel you got to watch out for. And who are all their gas bag blowhards, like Olbermann and Matthews, screaming for this year? Barack Obama.

So I guess what I’m saying Denny is: Think twice before you join a tranny friendly, GE subsidiary-representing lobbying firm. You always struck me as having ideals and principles that you believed in and stuck to. But in this fight, you’re either with us or against us. And remember just because GE thinks Obama is going to win doesn’t mean they’re right. Because now that Obama has become the choice of the real establishment, NBC and its parent company GE, John McCain is once again finding his voice as the true outsider, the maverick he’s always been. And in this election environment, the smart money is on who can better paint himself as the “outsider”. So dear Dennis choose your sides wisely.

ps. And for all you liberal haters who have defended Dickstein & Shapiro as some sort of utopia for liberal diversity hiring policy, you might want to get a load of their clients: Indian gaming, online gaming, the smoking lobby, mercenaries in Iraq, nuclear power, etc. Come to think of it, maybe they’re not so bad!

If there’s one thing I learned growing up in Washington is never look a tulip in the eye and call it cross.   I met Senator Kennedy for the first time when I was a boy.   Always the mentsch unless he was drunk and that was only for a period of years, his angry drunk years.  But for most of his life, he  showed class and caring.  So even though he sits on the opposite side of the aisle, I extend my respect to a friend, to a mentor. Speedy recovery, Mister Senator.

I was sad to learn today of the untimely loss of one of the great pillars of modern conservative thought, Mr. William F. Buckley. I grew up watching “Firing Line” and to date it’s the best thing PBS has ever aired.

I’m at Dulles now in the departure lounge waiting for the flight. Walking into the terminal, I’m struck by ebb and flow of new immigrants meeting their families. Carrying boxes and parcels, taped together - tied together with string, hope, gumption and luck. All looking for the American dream of freedom. Immigration’s a touchy issue, but for the few that are let in, you can see the tears of joy. Let’s hope we can continue to export that dream of freedom and democracy so all peoples can enjoy American-style liberties in their own lands. Sorry to get emotional there, but airports do that to me.

While I’m not at liberty to divulge details, suffice it to say I was at a very intriguing meeting of the minds the other night in Beverly Hills at the house of Ron Burkle. The discussion centered around the prospects of using casinos to transform the Middle East. Bush’s one mistake was his misguided focus on the spreading of democracy to the East, when he should have been taking a page from Ronald Reagan’s strategy of the Cold War - the spreading of free markets and capitalism. And what better manifestation of capitalism is there than casinos? (just ask your local Comanche or Sioux).

So there I was with Mohammed Ali Al Hashimi of Dubai-based Zabeel Investments on the one hand, and the dashing Vegas entrepeneur Andrew Sasson (the Light Group). And we got to talking about the potential for expansion in the service and hospitality sectors not just in the Emirates, but in Iraq proper. Show me a place where casinos have not prospered and bettered the prospects of the surrounding communities? Strangely enough, some old-school members of the internationalist wing of the Democrat party were present at Ron’s house that night (Dukakis, Bill Richardson, Wesley Clark et al) and Warren Christopher, of all people, chirped up “you can’t go wrong with casinos.”

I’ve been here a week. Hot as hell, and only half as stressful. I’ve noticed the hotel rooms and the rental cars are both getting smaller as the campaign moves forward. When Jimmy, the volunteer tells me not to bother saving diner receipts, I know Rudy’s in trouble. Speaking of which, this kid Jimmy Havermayer’s a real find.  (maybe it’s Havenmeyer — not too sure).  A real dyed in the wool midwestern College Republican.  Says he’s old buddies with Dan Mayers back in the Giuliani office.  Anyhoo, the kid’s organized a great agenda for me, given the limited resources for the both of us.  If he ever comes to DC, I’ll bet he could give Eli a run for his money…  Now, then, if we could only find the Denny’s in Tallahassee, we’d be set.

You’ve got to be kidding. But there goes Mitt!

I was invited last evening to participate in a candidate surrogate forum at a synagogue in Des Moines. I found the audience to be very receptive to the Mayor’s stance toward Israel and of course his record on 9/11. The nagging question people had, though, was why Giuliani wasn’t contesting Iowa more. I wish I had that answer. Iowans are personally offended when they can’t meet the candidates. I trust Rudy will hold his own here in third or fourth, and really pick up steam in NH. I head there tomorrow to see how I can help out.