Mother and child are both doing well! 
Won't tell baby's name tell Monday's "The View!"
Now THAT's a commitment to Sweeps Success!

U. of Illinois - 28
Ohio State - 21

Couldn't happen to nicer fans!

"Diablo, Diablo, Fascist, Diablo"

Evidently having heard enough from a dictator who actually DID suspend his nation's constitution, and is actually aquiring an increase level of executive powers, taking on a rather fascist form himself - The sitting King of Spain told Venezuela's Hugo Chavez to, "Shut Up!"

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - The king of Spain told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to "shut up" Saturday during a heated exchange at a summit of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal.

Chavez, who called President Bush the "devil" on the floor of the United Nations last year, triggered the exchange by repeatedly referring to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a "fascist."

Aznar, a conservative who was an ally of Bush as prime minister, "is a fascist," Chavez said in a speech at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile. "Fascists are not human. A snake is more human."

Spain's current socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, responded during his own allotted time by urging Chavez to be more diplomatic in his words and respect other leaders despite political differences.

"Former President Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a legitimate representative of the Spanish people," he said, eliciting applause from the gathered heads of state.

Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, but his microphone was off.

Spanish King Juan Carlos, seated next to Zapatero, angrily turned to Chavez and said, "Why don't you shut up?"

First off, Hillary lunches in Iowa, gets the meal comp'd, takes the waitress' story uses it as part of her speech - and didn't even leave a tip...

Then she said, she did... Meanwhile the waitress still says she didn't.

But not wanting to let the possibility to exploit people go to waste, Hillary's official MySpace page released this new effort this morning:

Beware though, having read the fine print there's nothinig indicating that Hillary's picking up the check.

And in all honesty who would want to "lunch with Hillary"? Do you remember when she went to Iraq? None of the troops wanted to sit with her?

That's opposed to this guy:

Who, if you remember, didn't sit down to eat with them until he had served them for Thanksgiving

I saw this clip when it aired live this week. The sound is simplistic and corny. Her look is soooo NOT Metropolitan New York City.

But then there's the part of this that grabs you by the throat and chokes you with a grip that won't let go.

Kellie was part of the by far MOST talented class of American Idol ever: Taylor Hicks, Katharine McPhee, Chris Daughtry, Elliot Yamin, Kellie Pickler, and Brooke Barrettsmith all landed major recording gigs - and of course only Hicks took home the trophy.

But Pickler's story is a moving one because you could tell she had endured a hard life growing up in the reality that her mother had walked out on she and her baby brother when they were just little kids. They were raised in their Grandmother's home and Pickler's breakthrough on Idol was what set her on a course to the top.

She's not Carrie Underwood, but she's still done exceeding well for she and her brother.

And like cathartic therapy the words to the song she sang on the CMA's were both an anthem of accomplishment in her own emotional and professional development - but also an indictment on her mom - who will no doubt appear from the shadows of life to try to reconnect now that Pickler has something of material gain in her life.

This strikes a chord in me, having been abandoned by my paternal father when I was 18 months old. The man who later married my mother, adopted me, and gave me a daddy at a time when a frightened little boy needed one. He too later abandoned his own daughter, my youngest sister.

I'm not sure what it was about the boomer generation, rebellion against God, uncontrollable selfishness of spirit and heart, or maybe fear that they could not force their kids to live up to the ideal because much of what was in the heart of their generation was so much less than ideal. Whatever the case a lot of 30 year olds will identify with the spirit of Pickler's emotive, expressive, and in many ways - unforgettable moment on a very forgettable night.

If you've got someone you need to make something in life right with - consider this your gentle wake up call. Make the contact, initiate the discussion, and look forward with hope. If you're the one who did the damaging behavior - don't expect forgiveness - just take responsibility. God will work out the forgiveness in His time, not ours.

Most of all - be the change you wish to see. Making it right, walking back - when you previously walked away, will be difficult but at the end of the day will be the right thing to do.

I have a dilemma. I believe that Government should not harrass or invade the privacy of my children. But what about when other accountable adults don't do their job?

Breathalyzers and pad downs, micro-chips for GPS tracking, metal detectors with bars on windows. Is it school? Or Prison? I don't want Government invading my child's privacy.

I'm a responsible parent - and my child should have the right to live in freedom - as long as their own personal actions are moral. You probably disagree with me, or maybe you don't.

VOTE NOW and we'll talk about it on Monday: CLICK THRU and scroll to the bottom right hand corner of the page to cast your vote!

"Is that a gun in my back?"

The "Anyone But Rudy Association"... now - how shall we organize?

Listen "LIVE" - 2-4p EST
Listen ON DEMAND anytime!

2pm:
Bad judgement can be evidenced in many forms, but none more pronounced than who your friends are. John McCain says today that Bernard Kerik's association with Rudy Giuliani reflects upon the former Mayor.  Giuliani's longtime associate, business partner and friend surrendered Friday to face federal corruption charges in New York, where he had been police commissioner when Giuliani was mayor. Kerik was also a failed nominee to head the Homeland Security Department, a post Giuliani recommended him for. McCain cited Kerik's relationship with his Republican presidential foe as a reason to doubt Giuliani's judgment. We've seen it in other's lives, maybe in our own. Is it fair to judge whether your children should get to play with other kids based on who they are, what they do, and how often they get into trouble? Absolutely! 800.345.WMCA.

3pm:
Suspicion, judgement, and harrassment are sometimes necessary - even in the lives of Christians. The witches bought a building that had housed a gift-basket shop and moved here from their former headquarters in Hoopeston, 7 miles north. There are no classrooms; the school operates mostly online. Lewis says it has more than 190,000 registered members. Five people run online classes, ship books and merchandise and sell wands, incense, candles and other items. If I was this "school's" next door neighbor I would do everything within legal, ethical, and moral standards to shut them down. I would ask the Sheriff to open investigations, ask the city to enforce zoning, and my children would be taught never to speak with or in any way trust these persons. 800.345.WMCA.

3:30pm
I have a dilemma. I believe that Government should not harrass or invade the privacy of my children. But what about when other accountable adults don't do their job? Breathalyzers and pad downs, micro-chips for GPS tracking, metal detectors with bars on windows. Is it school? Or Prison? I don't want Government invading my child's privacy. I'm a responsible parent - and my child should have the right to live in freedom - as long as their own personal actions are moral. You probably disagree with me, so tell me why. 800.345.WMCA.

3:55pm: The McCULLOUGH PUNCH
Get off the Rudy bus, at the next stop!

Weekdays 2-4pm EST
Listen "LIVE" click here.
 Listen "ON DEMAND" click here.

Television's favorite sweetheart receptionist is not finished speaking out on the Hollywood Writers' Strike. And I have to say - the more I understand the differences the more I am siding with the writers.

Hey everyone!  Thank you for all of your support with the strike.  Trust me, all of us want to get back to work.  We are hoping for a speedy resolution.  We love making the show.  We love being together and working together.  But more importantly, we need to get back to work so we can get this town up and running again.  It is already starting to get ugly. 

Who does this strike effect? 

This strike effects so many people.  I read a comment from a girl in Chicago who said that her internship in California was cancelled because of the strike.  I guess the production she was going to work on was shut down.  Now, she doesn't have time to set up a new internship in time to graduate and that means her student loans will be due.  She'll have to get a job to cover the bills and that means, no time for an internship and no graduation.  Like a vicous circle. 

Every week that we don't produce our show is a week we don't get paid.  We are weekly workers not salaried employees.  No show, no paycheck.  The actors and writers on the show can hold out.  We have savings.  We can afford to be out of work while we fight the good fight.  But there are a lot of crew members who are going to be struggling through the holidays this year because of the shut down of production.  This is true every time a production shuts down around town.  And this breaks my heart.  A lot of these folks live paycheck to paycheck.  

Our crew is amazing.  They have been dedicated to our show from the beginning often working long difficult hours without all the spoils of having your face on TV.  AND, they continued to show their support even as the show was being shut down.  Check out our PA Dan's blog about his last day at work...

Who benefits from the strike?  Who are we fighting for?

Some people have asked if everyone will benefit from the strike or if only the writers benefit. The Writers Guild only negotiates for writers. However, they are the first union contract to be up with the studios. The Actor's Guild contract is up in June 2008 and you can bet we will be fighting for the same residuals.  It is important to support the writer's strike because the results of this strike will trickle down to the other union contracts...just like how a court ruling effects future rulings.  We are a union show and hire union crew members.

And, as James put it in his blog:  "This is for middle-class writers – your regular TV staff writers and people who may have done one or two small feature films.  Residuals are a way they can make perhaps a few thousand dollars a year between gigs.  This is a way they can put food on the table and pay the rent during downtime – and downtime is something almost all writers (and actors and directors) have." 

Let's say you write a movie script and you sell it for $100,000...that's GREAT money!  Your movie gets made and yada yada.  You start churning away writing more scripts.  But it takes you 4 years before you sell your next script.  That $100,000 windfall is now stretched to $25,000 a year for 4 years.  (And, I'm not even counting the 30% that goes to taxes and 25% to your agent/manager.)   If during that 4 years they sell your movie on DVD or run it on Pay-per-view you get little residual checks for $1,000 here or $2,500 there.  That money is essential for getting by.  This scenerio is what the majority of writers, actors and directors in Hollywood face.  You have a few flush years and then a big drought. 

The future of media is the internet.  In a few years it is more likely that you will download a movie or television show than buy it on DVD.  But as it currently stands, those downloads produce no residuals for the creative types that made them.  All the profit goes to the studio.

This is a great video with snazzy graphics that helps explain the strike.  The studios stand to earn a projected $2 billion over the next few years from internet downloads.  But they dont' want to share.

Listen "LIVE" - 2-4p EST
Listen ON DEMAND anytime!

2pm:
The whole Pat Robertson "endorsement" of Rudy Giuliani thing made me sick yesterday. Since when does the Christian community need kingmakers any more than the black community needs "civil rights" leaders to tell us what to think or how to vote? The truth is for me personally I have far more in common with the candidate who happens to be a Mormon than I do with the one who claims devout catholicism. I got crushed for requests to give my opinon on the endorsement, but I'd rather be the voice that presents biblical truth and empower you to come to your own conclusions about such things. 800.345.WMCA.

2:40pm: 
In an ideal world - abstinence programs don't belong in schools - nor do sex-ed programs of any kind. A new study concluded this week: "At present there does not exist any strong evidence that any abstinence program delays the initiation of sex, hastens the return to abstinence or reduces the number of sexual partners" among teenagers, the study concluded. The report, which was based on a review of research into teenager sexual behavior, was being released Wednesday by the nonpartisan National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy." But the failure is coming from only one place. The home! You feel guilty when your 13 year old daughter asks you where you were when you had sex the first time. Teens need to be able to talk to us about this more than anyone else - and yet - we put them in Christian schools, and send them to church, and all the rest and expect them to just "get it." It's the parent's fault that children are having sex! 800.345.WMCA.

3pm:
You learn a lot about a person's character by the way they treat those who can do nothing for them. A presidential candidate for office, well to do, well known, is campaigning through Iowa, stops in a greasy spoon to have lunch. Engages the waitress to get her to tell them her life story. She works two jobs, single mother, very hard life. The waitress comps the lunch, the candidate leaves and goes and makes a speech using the waitress' story. The press come back to interview the waitress. She's dismayed - 'the candidate doesn't understand' - they didn't even leave a tip. I know that I personally in the past have been far too uncaring about those who serve me. My own tipping practices have changed greatly in recent years. But how we treat those who can do nothing for us - reveals how we can impact our world for Jesus Christ in a very powerful way. 800.345.WMCA.


3:55pm: The McCULLOUGH PUNCH
Tagging our kids for safety's sake!

Weekdays 2-4pm EST
Listen "LIVE" click here.
 Listen "ON DEMAND" click here.

"Do you hear what I hear?"

Yes you know that I am a huge "The Office" freakazoid. The Lovely Bride and I were kicking the subject around last night.

"How would the writer's strike in Hollywood affect the funniest show to hit American airwaves in a very long time?"

Pam Beasley (played by Jenna Fischer) speaks on the issue today. Long story short - only two episodes left, she's cleaned out her office, and she supports the writers. (Which given the little bit of public info we have about the issue seems more than reasonable to me too...)

And don't call her Pammy:

By now you may have heard that The Office has shut down production.  This is true.  They cleaned out my trailer and just delivered me 3 boxes of my stuff.  It is pretty surreal.  We cannot produce new episodes of The Office until the Writer's Guild strike is over.   

You might be confused about the issues of the strike and I'm hoping that this blog can make it a bit clearer.  (I should probably tell you that I support my head writer/producer Greg Daniels and the writing staff of The Office in their decision to strike.)

The big issue in this negotiation involves the internet.   If you go to NBC.com right now, you can watch an episode The Office for free.  The network runs advertisements while you're watching it, which gives them an extra source of revenue.  The actors, writers, producers and director, the people who created the content you are watching, are not compensated in any way for this.  

The Writer's Guild has taken the position that the writers should receive residuals if the show re-airs on the internet just like they receive residuals if it re-airs on television since in both cases the studios are making money.  The issue is a huge deal, because the internet is clearly where the future of entertainment lies. 

Right now, a number of successful shows (like Lost for one) have stopped showing repeat episodes on TV at all, and have replaced them with ad-supported streaming video on their websites.  If you're a Lost writer, or actor, or director, or a teamster that's no residuals at all for that show, and that's a big pay cut.  We all count on the extra income that residuals provide as it can help us through a slump in our career when we aren't working as regularly.  It is our safety net.  In 10 years I may need those residual checks to cover my electric bill.  You never know.  Hollywood is a fickle town.  If in 10 years, everything is rerun on the internet, the current union contracts say the studios don't have to pay us a dime.  And, I'll be sitting in the dark.

And now this little breaking news update:

Bubba wants to settle the issue, his terms for his involvement have not been publicly revealed, but if I were Teri Hatcher, I'd just let my calls go to voicemail for the coming few weeks.

"I will USE you my pretties!"

You learn a lot about a person's character by the way they treat those who can do nothing for them. Consider the campaign road habits of Hillary Clinton:

A Chance Encounter with Clinton

I followed Clinton during a recent bus tour across Iowa, when she and her entourage pulled into a Maid-Rite, a greasy spoon famous for its loose-meat sandwich. Clinton settled into a red stool at the counter, ate a sandwich, chatted with her waitress and then was on her way.

The scene gave Clinton perfect fodder for her next few stump speeches. Turns out her waitress was a single, working mom — just the kind of voter Democrats are courting aggressively this year.

Clinton recalled the meeting for an audience up the road in Boone. "The woman waiting on us — it was her first day," she said, adding, "She was a little nervous. Single mom, raised two boys, works at a nursing home and always has a second job."

If she's elected president, Clinton promised, people like her waitress will have it better.

The way Clinton eased the waitress into her rhetoric is something repeated day after day, by all the campaigns. But in the process, people like the waitress don't always have their stories told.

'Nobody Got Left a Tip'

"I wished I would have been asked first," the waitress, Anita Esterday, said of Clinton's decision to insert her in a speech, adding, "I wish she would have asked if she could talk about me later. I didn't like it when someone called me up and said Hillary Clinton is talking about you. It's like, what'd I do now? What's she saying?"

When I returned to the Maid-Rite a few weeks later, Esterday said the senator had caught her off guard. But once they got talking, she was honest with Clinton about her need to work two to three jobs.

"I've been doing it all my life. Why should it change now that I'm old?" Esterday said.

Esterday does not think Clinton got it. "I don't think she understood at all what I was saying," Esterday said, adding, "I mean, nobody got left a tip that day."

Clinton may have decided not to tip. She was also never given a bill — her meal was on the house. Still, Esterday said Clinton might have left her something: "Maybe they don't carry money, I don't know."

Turns out the visit hurt Esterday in another way. The local paper ran photos of her with Clinton. She said her supervisor at the nursing home isn't a big Hillary Clinton fan, and she thinks that may be related to why her hours were almost totally cut.

Now, Esterday is looking for a different second job. Still, she said she's not upset that Clinton visited the restaurant...

But as far as the attention she's received? "It hasn't helped me. It's made things worse."

To hear the press tell it today, Evangelical Christians are now all in the campaign camp of Rudy Giuliani, the pro-abort, pro-gay, anti-gun, pro-illegal alien, pro-sanctuary city standard bearer for liberal Republicans everywhere.

Of course the MSM plays it off this way because of one mildly past his prime faith-healer who has a hunch about Rudy's candidacy based on a flight from Israel to New York in which the two were able to talk about the importance of security, terrorism, and the future of the free world. One might remember that he's also the only member of the religious right to actually run for President in a very ill-advised campaign twenty years ago.

The New York radio world was little on its ear on Wednesday, and I was consumed with our attempt to help feed hungry New Yorkers through the holiday season so forgive me for not addressing the issue until now (early Thursday morning.)

But come on Pat? Have you lost what grey matter you had left? Rudy?

So now Mr. "Put your hand to the television and let me pray with you" has decided that Rudy is more qualified to dictate the course of policy via the social issues the next administration will face - particularly as it pertains to the attempt to redefine marriage, return the issue of abortion to the states, set the judiciary in the continuing path of Alito, Roberts, and Thomas, keep taxes from escalating to Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton era stratospheres, monitor the borders and make sure that only legal immigrants come and are given safe haven in our nation's urban centers, AND agressively fight the war against Islamic-fascists who have announced their intentions to kill us. Hey... 1 for 6 ain't bad is it?

Does Pat Robertson feel comfy with Giuliani's inability to keep his word and integrity to those who trust him most? Thrice over. How does Pat Robertson attempt to cross the threshold of believability on the issue of federal funding, federal funding, and more federal funding for abortion - causing every tax-payer to become complicit in the act of taking innocent human being's lives?

Nope it seems to me that Pat's gone 'round the crazy bend, and Mayor Rudy is willing to give him a lift to get there...

The truth is - significant evangelical voices have spoken with great conviction about the qualifications of one of the leading top tier candidates of recent - and more voices continue to come forward almost weekly.

While Mayor Giuliani's faith would on the surface expect to share similar values with evangelical voters, apparently the Mayor himself does not.

But Mitt Romney - who has not been ruled out of support from prominent leaders like Dr. James Dobson and Dr. Tony Perkins. Is also enjoying expressed outspoken support from additional prominent conservative evangelical voices like Paul Weyrich, Dr. Wayne Grudem, and perhaps most surprisingly of all - Bob Jones III.

It might also be noted that Mitt's past has troubled some of us who only knew parts of the story on his former positions on abortion and the defense of marriage.

He did indeed candidate and campaign previous to his governorship as an ardent supporter of the pro-choice viewpoint. But to really understand with the Governor on the issue of life one needs to read the behind the scenes narrative as penned by Hugh Hewitt in his best-seller A Mormon in the White House. Because of key people demonstrating to him the real evidence of what and where life begins on the issue of stem cells, the Governor awakened to the moral calling that his conscience knew was right all along. The Governor - just like former President Ronald Reagan - when confronted with the evidence, became thoroughly and completely 100% pro-life from that time forward.

The issue of the defense of marriage is also tricky. Simpletons - like the MassResistance.org group have thrown the former Governor overboard saying that the Governor had executive power that he did not excercise in ignoring the Supreme Judicial Court of the State of Massachusetts, further they claim that the Governor took extraordinary initiative in "bringing" gay marriage to the state.

Of course to argue this you also must argue the differences in viewpoints between the role of the different branches of government and the balance of powers as the Governor understood them to be in the Constitution of the Commonwealth.

It was obvious that in the Governor's mind the ruling of the court - and in essence the rule of law - is a settled thing. To argue that he gets to ignore the court argues for a super concentration of power in the executive branch. That was a position that Governor felt was unconstitutional. MassResistance and talk radio hosts that have described this series of decisions from a very narrow point of view have refused to accept the view that believes in the rule of law.

It might be added that it is these same people who also argue for the overturning of Roe v. Wade. In other words - they wish for a Supreme Judicial body to assert a final judicial finding and thusly settle the "rule of law" on the federal government's role in the matter of abortion. But one can't have it both ways in a Constitutional government - to demand the rule of law on one the one hand does not give one the right to ignore it when it is inconvenient or does not suit one's purposes.

For people to argue that Mitt Romney should have ignored the finding of the highest court in his state - while serving as that state's Chief Executive is akin to telling crazies to go shoot abortion practitioners because they are saving lives in doing so.

It is in understanding Mitt's commitment to the rule of law that one begins to appreciate his deep convictions on the weighty matters that he has examined and yes - come to new positions on. But not just because he is running for President, but because he is attempting to be consistent in the principles he holds and the methods by which he governs.

Paul Weyrich had been one of the voices that had previously been unfairly difficult upon Mitt Romney, and Weyrich himself has now endorsed him.

Dr. Dobson has ruled out all of the top tier candidates except Mitt, and as Romney said on my show not long ago he is, "grateful that Dr. Dobson has not marked him off the list."

To call Mitt Romney a flip-flopper is a charge that is not only intellectually lazy, but it is one that is not based in reality. And Christians, people of faith and conviction, and everyday voters who are looking for someone whose word is their bond should understand this.

There has been no more sacrificial defender of marriage in elected office than Mitt Romney, and a fair analysis of his performance demonstrates that for this reason, he shares more values with the evangelical voter than Rudy Giuliani does - crazy faith-healers tagging along or not...