It’s Getting Ugly Out There The Frauds, Bunglers, Liars, and Losers Who Are Hurting America JACK CAFFERTY John Wiley & Sons, Inc It’s Getting Ugly Out There It’s Getting Ugly Out There The Frauds, Bunglers, Liars, and Losers Who Are Hurting America JACK CAFFERTY John Wiley & Sons, Inc Copyright © 2007 by Jack Cafferty All rights reserved Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey Published simultaneously in Canada Design and composition by Navta Associates, Inc No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and the author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation You should consult with a professional where appropriate Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages For general information about our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the United States at (800) 762-2974, outside the United States at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002 Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books For more information about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Cafferty, Jack It’s getting ugly out there : the frauds, bunglers, liars, and losers who are hurting America / Jack Cafferty p cm Includes index ISBN 978-0-470-14479-4 (cloth) United States—Politics and government—2001– Bush, George W (George Walker), 1946– I Title JK275.C34 2007 973.931—dc22 2007029083 Printed in the United States of America 10 For Carol, my wife, my life Contents Preface / ix Prologue: This Isn’t the America I Know / 1 The Boy in the Bubble / 13 Resisting Authority / 27 Shame and Shamelessness in New Orleans: Bush’s Category Tipping Point / 33 Bordering on Insanity: Illegal Immigration / 54 The Straw That Broke the Camel’s Back: What Port Security? / 78 Plan B: Stick to Broadcasting / 93 Till Debt Do Us Part: How Bush Is Eviscerating Our Middle Class / 103 You Need a Very Strong Constitution to Deal with These Guys: The Patriot Act and Other Disasters / 119 Culture Shock / 144 10 Dumbing Us Down and Numbing Us Down: This Administration Doesn’t Want Us to Get the Picture / 151 vii viii CONTENTS 11 Getting Sober / 177 12 Is This Really World War III? Then Let’s Start Fighting It Like It Is / 185 13 The Damage Done: Frauds and Disasters on Capitol Hill / 213 Epilogue: It’s Going to Get Even Uglier Out There in 2008 / 232 Acknowledgments / 256 Index / 257 Preface Looking back, I wish my parents, Tom and Jean Cafferty, had been emotionally equipped to a better job of looking out for my younger brother, Terry, and me It’s bad enough when the rich, powerful, and arrogant people we put in office tilt the playing field against citizens who are striving to make an honest go of it This makes me want to scream—or at least rant for a few minutes a day on CNN Sadly, the demons my parents had to fight when I was growing up weren’t the kind you get to vote out of office every couple of years They were there with us at home My folks were both alcoholics who, between them, were married eleven times It would have been an even dozen, but my dad accidentally killed one of his fiancées My dad had gotten a medical discharge from the army for a bleeding ulcer; a half-century later, he died from bone cancer, broke and alone in a V.A hospital My mom was so incapacitated by addictions after their divorce that she was eventually unable to hold down a job I’m the product of a very dysfunctional, sometimes violent, Irish background Indeed, very little of my backstory qualifies as Hallmark Card material, but it may help you to make sense of the way I see and interpret what’s going on around me People don’t wind up with this kind of jaundiced, offbeat take on things without going through some interesting stuff I grew up with no money and dealt with some demons of my own I was never on a fast track from Andover to Harvard to ix EPILOGUE 255 until after all of us now living are dead Unfortunately, that could be next Tuesday.” The way I see it, 9/11 put us at a crossroads And the decisions we make in the next few years will determine our fate for a long, long time We can either continue to react to events as they occur, or we can refocus our energies and set about restoring what our history suggests we’re all about We’re the good guys President Eisenhower warned of the military industrial complex This is what he was talking about Our great nation is being bled to death and our apathy has let it happen But it doesn’t have to be this way The midterm elections sent a powerful message The politicians understand that if they’re not reelected, they’re out of business And if they’re out of business, so are the special interests, the lobbyists, and the corporations who attach themselves like leeches to their backsides So what’s the problem? We have to keep throwing the bastards out until the message gets through Enough It doesn’t matter who they are or how long they’ve been there Time to go We want our government back We want our country back And we’re going to take it We can this We’ve always done anything we set our minds to And if it doesn’t work, hey, maybe you and I will run for office What you think? Acknowledgments I would like to thank the following people for the special roles they played throughout the writing of It’s Getting Ugly Out There: My four daughters—Julie, Leigh, Leslie, and Jill—who have always made their father proud Richard Leibner, my agent and friend for more than thirty years, who talked me into doing this book Sara Leeder, who has produced the “Cafferty File” for the last four years, for her friendship and her help with this project Jim Jerome, for his guidance and his dedication Paul Fedorko, my literary agent at Trident Media Group, for putting the project together Tom Miller, for his belief in the book from day one CNN, for its contribution to It’s Getting Ugly Out There and for giving me the freedom to speak my mind And, finally, the TV audience that for the last forty-five years has shown up in sufficient numbers to allow me to remain gainfully employed 256 Index ABC News, 227, 228 abortion, 220, 240–41 Abramoff, Jack, 215, 216, 217 Abu Ghraib, 12, 129 Afghanistan, 188, 189, 203–4 Ahmadinejad, Mahmoud, 200–202, 207 A.I.G Global Investment Group, 91 Air National Guard, 28–32, 95 Alaska, “Bridge to Nowhere” appropriation, 194, 217 Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), 178 Alito, Samuel A., 17, 128, 171, 220 Allbaugh, Joe, 41 al-Maliki, Nouri, 201, 203, 207 al-Qaeda, 66, 89, 188, 189, 207 al-Sadr, Muqtada, 203 Altschuler, Brooks, 42 American Dream, 112, 113, 118 American Idol, 10, 158 American Morning, 4, amnesty, 58, 60, 61, 67–71, 76–77 Armstrong, Katharine, 157 Arpaio, Joe, 56 Associated Press, 191, 239 AT&T, 124–25 automotive industry, 110–11 baby boomers, 114, 247 Baker, James A., 13 “Baker-Hamilton Report,” 14, 26, 207 Barletta, Lou, 56 Belafonte, Harry, 171 BellSouth, 124 Biden, Joseph, 238 bilingual education, 69–70 Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 170 Bill of Rights, 134 bin Laden, Osama, 188, 199, 205 Blanco, Kathleen, 39, 46 Blitzer, Wolf, 37, 42, 69, 82, 161, 163, 164, 203, 230 Blix, Hans, 167 blogs, 158 Boehner, John, 213, 216 boot camp, 28–30 border control, 56–58, 64, 65, 66, 71–76 257 258 INDEX Boston Globe, 16, 39 Bowen, Stuart W., 199 Boxer, Barbara, 24 Bredesen, Phil, 211 Bremer, L Paul, 198–99 broadcast news, 95–96, 159 See also media Brown, Michael, 40, 41–42, 45, 46 BTK Killer, 10, 162–65 Bush, George W approval ratings, 20, 44 “biggest mistake so far” question, 19 civil liberties abuses, Dubai Ports World deal, 79, 83–86, 87, 89–90 flyby photo op aboard USS Abraham Lincoln, 18 Fox News interview, 24–25 Ground Zero speech (9/14/01), 17–18 Hurricane Katrina, 8, 19, 20, 33–34, 38, 40–41, 42–44, 45–46, 49–50 ideological labeling of, immigration, 60–61, 62, 67, 77 impeachment case, 23–26 Jack Cafferty’s views of, 22, 187, 234 leadership failings, 7–8, 15–17 legacy of, 234, 253–55 levee project funding, 39–40 and media, 16, 155–57, 165–68, 172, 173–76 and North American Union, 63 other countries’ opinions of, 205 September 11, 2001, 6–7 signing statements use, 16–17, 140–42 Bush, Laura, 49 Cafferty, Carol Everett, 27, 98–101, 145, 146, 147, 181, 183 Cafferty, Jack on broadcasting, 95–96 career, childhood of, ix–xvii, 27–28 on CNN’s The Situation Room, 4–5, drinking habits, 97–98, 179–81 early work experiences, 93–95 first marriage, 96, 97–98 at KCRL-TV in Reno, 96 labels given to, 8–9 National Guard service, 28–32, 95 smoking, quitting, 182, 183 sobriety, 181–84 technology adoption, 160 viewers’ opinions of, 5, at WDAF-TV in Kansas City, 96–97, 100, 144 at WHO-TV in Des Moines, 100–102 at WNBC-TV in New York, 111, 145–50 at WYNY, 178–79 Cafferty, Jack (uncle), xi, 180 Cafferty, Jean, ix, xiii, xiv–xv, xvii, 27, 28, 177–78 Cafferty, Jill, 96, 98, 168–70 Cafferty, Judy Walker, 30, 96, 97–98, 168, 169 INDEX Cafferty, Julie, 96, 98 Cafferty, Leigh, 183 Cafferty, Leslie, 183 Cafferty, Terry, ix, 178 Cafferty, Tom, ix–xvii, 28, 100, 177–79 Cafferty and Company, 100, 144 “Cafferty File” Hurricane Katrina, 34, 50–51 Labor Day piece, 103–5 Cafferty Is, 100, 144–45 CAFTA (Central America Free Trade Agreement), 112 Calderón, Felipe, 71 Carpenter, George, 101–2, 146 Carter, James Earl “Jimmy,” 21 Catholic Church, 27–28 celebrities, 10, 150, 170–71 Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), 112 CEO compensation, 107 CFIUS (Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States), 84, 87–88 Chalabi, Ahmed, 166 Cheney, Dick buckshot incident, 156–57 domestic spy program, 125 Energy Task Force, 12, 221 Fox News interviews, 8–9 on Iran, 207 Iraq war, 3–4 Vietnam draft deferments, waterboarding terrorists, 9, 131 Chertoff, Michael, 38, 40, 44, 65, 80 259 Chicago Tribune, 227 China, 108, 142–43, 208–9 Citgo, 240 civil liberties, 9, 119, 252 Clinton, Bill, 22, 23, 112, 225, 227, 239 Clinton, Hillary, 221, 222, 225, 235, 237–38 CNN, 3, 4, 152–53, 162–65 Collins, Susan, 49, 87–88 Comey, James, 125 Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), 84, 87–88 compassionate conservatism, Compean, Jose Alonso, 74–76 Congress Alaska “Bridge to Nowhere” appropriation, 194, 217 Baghdad visit, 172–73 disapproval rating, domestic spy program investigation, 125–27 Dubai Ports World (DPW) deal, 82, 83, 86–87 elections of 2006, 233 ethics scandals, 215–17 failure of 109th, 214 Foley scandal, 226–30 food stamp program cuts, 109 Gonzales “no confidence” vote, 250 health-care crisis, 223–26 immigration, 60–61, 65, 73, 76–77 impeachment case against Bush, 23–26 260 INDEX Congress (continued) Iraq spending bill, 210 Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction planned shutdown, 197–98, 199 pay raise, 109–10 pork-barrel legislation, 217–18 Schiavo case, 218–20 term limits, 222–23 workweek complaints, 213–14 Constitution, 121, 122, 123, 134, 136 Conyers, John, 24 Cork and Fiddle, 97, 98 corporate political contributions, 221, 222 Corpus Christi Caller-Times, 157 Coulter, Ann, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), 63–64 cronyism, 13, 45 Crowley, Candy, 236 Cruise, Tom, 170 Cunningham, Randy “Duke,” 215 Cuomo, Mario, 241 Daimler Chrysler, 110 Dallas school board, 69 Dateline, 158 debt, 107–8 Defense Authorization Act, 199 DeLay, Tom, 86, 215 democracy, in Iraq, 202–3 Democrats election rhetoric, 23 elections (2006), 230–31 Foley scandal, 230 impeachment of Bush, 24 Iraq spending bill, 210 presidential candidates (2008), 235–39 viewers’ opinions of, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) database on travelers leaving/returning to U.S., 135–36 Hurricane Katrina, 38 illegal immigration, 9, 56–57 Department of Justice (DOJ) detainees’ habeas corpus challenge, 130–31 domestic spying program investigation, 124 firing of federal prosecutors, 137–39, 185, 215, 249, 250–51, 252 presidential signing statements support, 141 Department of State, 188 deportation, 62 Desert Storm, 189 detainees confessions of, 186 rights of, 129–34 Detainee Treatment Act (DTA), 129–30 DiMaggio, Joe, 150 Dixie Chicks, 171 Dole, Bob, 194 domestic spying program, 119–27, 159, 166 INDEX Dowd, Maureen, 14 draft, military, 190, 244–45 Dubai Ports World (DPW) deal, 78–92 bipartisan opposition to, 82–83 Bush’s announcements before, 89–90 Bush’s defense of, 79, 83–86, 87 financial details, 79 hypocrisy of, 78–79 viewers’ opinions of, 79, 82–83, 84, 85, 88, 89, 90–92 withdrawal of bid, 91 economy, 104 education current state of, 170 immigrants, 69–70 No Child Left Behind, 10, 165 Edwards, Elizabeth, 238 Edwards, John, 235, 238–39 Eisenhower, Dwight, 255 elections 2000, 13 2006, 230–31, 233 2008, 232, 233–44, 247 Electronic Frontier Foundation, 125 e-mail scandal, 249 Empe, Monsignor, 27–28 Energy Task Force, 12, 221 Everett, Katheryn, 99, 146–47 Everett, Leslie “Woody,” 99, 146–47, 223–24 Executive power, 16–17, 120, 121, 137 261 Exxon Mobil, 106, 108, 110 Falwell, Jerry, 243 FBI, 249–50, 251 federal prosecutors, firing of, 137–39, 185, 215, 249, 250–51, 252 Feingold, Russ, 24 Feinstein, Dianne, 90 FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency), 39–40, 41, 42, 43, 44–47, 48–49 Fielding, Fred, 129 First Amendment rights, 12, 123 FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) (1978), 86, 120, 121–22, 126–27 flags, display of Mexican, 69–71 Fleischer, Ari, 155 Florida, 2000 presidential election issues, 13 Foley, Mark, 22, 226–30 Fonda, Jane, 171, 177 food stamp program, 109 Forbes’s, four hundred richest Americans, 107 Ford Motor Company, 110 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) (1978), 86, 120, 121–22, 126–27 Fort Dix, alleged terror plot, 249–50 Fortress Investment Group, 239 Fourth Amendment, 123 Fox, Vincente, 63, 65, 71, 116 Fox News, 8, 24–25, 153 Franks, Tommy R., 192 262 INDEX Frey, James, 170 Frist, Bill, 24, 83, 125, 132, 220 gas prices, 108, 110 Gates, Robert, 13 General Accounting Office (GAO), 192–93 General Motors, 110–11 Geneva Conventions, 129, 130, 131 geography, 10 Gingrich, Newt, 12, 229, 243 Ginsburg, Ruth Bader, 220 Giuliani, Andrew, 240 Giuliani, Rudy, 236, 239–42 Goldman Sachs, 107 Gonzales, Alberto, 125–26, 137–39, 249, 250 Goodling, Monica, 250 Gore, Al, 13, 22, 239 Graham, Lindsey, 130 Great Britain, 85 Ground Zero, 17–18, 22 guest worker plans, 60–61, 67 habeas corpus, for detainees, 130, 133 Hagel, Chuck, 243 Haggard, Ted, 228–29 Hagin, Joe, 41 Hale’s Drugstore, xiv, 95 Hall, Wesley H., 93 Halliburton, 10, 12, 23, 198 Hamdan v Rumsfeld, 129, 130, 132 Harper, Stephen, 65 Hastert, Dennis, 132, 227, 229 Hatch, Orrin, 125 Hazleton, Pennsylvania, 56 health care hospital crisis, 225–26 Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 193–95 health insurance national program, 225 number of uninsured, 67, 224 heroin, 203–5 Hispanics, 62–63 See also illegal immigration Homeland Security Department See Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hospitals, 225–26 House Appropriations Committee, 87, 192 House Armed Services Committee, 197 House Ethics Committee, 215 House Judiciary Committee, 250 Houston Chronicle, 39, 69 Hudson, R Lofton, 100 Hu Jintao, 142 human rights, 142–43 human smuggling, 56 Hume, Brit, 8, 24–25 Hunter, Duncan, 86 hunting, Lovelock, Nevada, trip, xiii Hurricane Katrina Bush during and response to, 8, 19, 20, 33–34, 38, 40–41, 42–44, 45–46, 49–50 “Cafferty File” piece on, 34, 50–51 devastation of, 34–35, 40, 42, 44 INDEX federal aid, 48 federal government’s response to, 35–36 first anniversary of, 49–51 legacy of, 50–51, 52 price gouging during, 47 race issue, 37 Hussein, Saddam, 7, 167, 189, 196–97 Hyundai, 111 illegal immigration Americans’ view of, 58–60 amnesty/reform movement, 58, 60, 61, 67–71, 76–77 border control, 56–58, 64, 65, 66, 71–76 Bush’s views and plans, 60–61, 62, 67, 77 crisis of, 54–56, 66–67 DHS scoring system, guest worker plans, 60–61, 67 Hazleton, Pennsylvania’s laws, 56 health care, 67, 194 numbers in U.S., 61 Social Security benefits, 115–16 immigration reform, 60, 65, 76–77 See also illegal immigration impeachment, 23–26 International Herald Tribune, 108 Iran, 200–202, 206–8, 209 Iraqi parliament, 210–11 Iraq Study Group (ISG), 13–14, 207, 227 Iraq war Americans’ support of, 185 263 American troop requirements, 191–92 casualties, 187 Cheney on, 3–4 costs of, 7, 110 critics compared to Nazi-era appeasers by Rumsfeld, 140, 155–56 destabilizing effects of, 199–202 as election issue (2008), 233, 241, 242 fraud and abuses by contractors, 198 intelligence, 166 Iraqi troops, 191 media coverage, 156, 165, 172, 173 missing weapons/cash scandal, 198 National Intelligence Estimate’s finding, 23, 188, 196, 227 Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, 197–98, 199 oil, 195–96 Plan B for, 211 reconstruction financing, 192 and terrorist attacks, 188–89 troop escalation, 188, 207 troop withdrawal timetable, 206, 209–10, 233 victory, definition of, 206 viewers’ opinions of, 26, 188–89, 201 Islam, 88 Jack Cafferty’s Newsline New York, 178–79 264 Jefferson, William, 52, 216 Jenkins, Carol, 149 Johnson, Lyndon B., 30 Justice Department See Department of Justice (DOJ) Karr, John Mark, 166–67 Karzai, Hamid, 203 Katrina See Hurricane Katrina KBET, Reno, 94 KCCI, Des Moines, 145 KCRL-TV, Reno, 96–97 Keller, Bill, 173 Kennedy, Edward “Ted,” 76 Kennedy, John F., 246 Kerik, Bernard, 239–40 Kerry, John, 189, 235 Kershaw, Ron, 149 Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, 186 Kiley, Kevin, 193 King, John, 51, 116 King, Peter, 87, 175 Knocke, Russ, 48 Krugman, Paul, 193 K Street, 230–31 Kyl, Jon, 76 Labor Day program, 103–5 labor issues, 104, 109, 112 Lam, Carol, 138 Latinos, 62–63 See also illegal immigration Leahy, Patrick, 127, 139 legislative intent, 17 Lehrer, Jim, 190 levee projects, funding of, 39–40 INDEX Levin, Carl, 210 Lewinsky, Monica, 238 Libby, Scooter, 185, 248–49 Limbaugh, Rush, Lindstrom, Pia, 149 Lipton, Eric, 48 Live at Five, 149–50, 242 lobbying and lobbyists, 222, 230–31 Lockheed Martin, 117, 209 Long Beach, California, xi Loren, Sophia, 150 Los Angeles Jack Cafferty’s childhood in, xi U.S Bank Tower terror plot, 90, 134 Los Angeles Times, 173, 239 Lott, Trent, 44 Lovelock, Nevada, xiii Madonna, 170–71 mail, 141–42 Maliki, Nouri al-, 201, 203, 207 manufacturing, 112–13 Maricopa County, Arizona, 56 Marine Corps, 190 Martin, Paul, 63 Maxim, Mayfield, Max, 40 McCain, John, 42, 129, 130, 172–73, 222, 236, 242 McClellan, Scott, 43 McElwain, Jason, 19–20 McNulty, Paul J., 250 media Anna Nicole Smith coverage, 151–53, 161 INDEX BTK Killer coverage, 162–65 Bush administration’s influence over and relationship with, 16, 155–57, 165–68, 172, 173–76 cult of celebrity in, 10 dumbing down of America, 157–58 and government, 153–55 Hurricane Katrina coverage, 44–45 Iraq war coverage, 156, 165, 172, 173 John Mark Karr arrest coverage, 166–67 role of, 174 SWIFT story, 173–74 Medicare, 114, 223–24 Mexico, 63, 71–73 middle class, 105, 106–7, 112 midterm elections (2006), 230–31, 233 Miers, Harriet, 7, 127–28 military draft, 190, 244–45 enlistment age, 190 Military Commissions Act (MCA) of 2006, 130, 132, 214 minimum wage, 109 Mississippi, pork-barrel projects for, 217–18 Mohammed, Khalid Sheikh, 186 Mollohan, Alan, 215–16 Morris, Richard, 227 Morris, Scott, 42 Mottaki, Manouchehr, 206 Mueller, Robert, 251 Muslims, 88 265 MySpace, 158 NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), 112–13 Nagin, Ray, 39, 40, 46, 52 NASA, 117 national anthem, 68 national debt, 104, 108 National Geographic study, 10 National Guard, 28–32, 39, 95, 190, 208 national health insurance, 225 National Intelligence Estimate, 23, 188, 196, 227 National Review, 175 National Security Agency (NSA), 86, 120–21, 124–26, 159, 166 National War Crimes Act (1996), 129–30, 131, 132 NAU (North American Union), 63–64 NBC headquarters, 147–48 Newman, Paul, 150 New Orleans, 37, 39–40, 49–52 See also Hurricane Katrina New Republic, 42 newspapers, 160–61 See also media Newsweek, 158 New York City, blackout of 1977, 146–47 New York Daily News, 141–42 New York Post, 150 New York Times, 14, 35, 48, 56, 108–9, 119–20, 127, 138, 159, 161, 173, 175, 192–93, 197, 198, 208, 216, 217, 240, 250 266 INDEX Ney, Bob, 215 9/11/01, 6–7, 17–18, 120, 187, 255 Nixon, Richard, 21, 96 No Child Left Behind, 10, 165 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 112–13 North American Union (NAU), 63–64 North Korea, 208, 209 NSA (National Security Agency), 86, 120–21, 124–26, 159, 166 Obama, Barack, 222, 236–37, 243–44 Office of Management and Budget, 52 Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction, 197–98, 199 oil, in Iraq, 192–93, 195–96, 206 opium, in Afghanistan, 203–5 O’Reilly, Bill, outsourcing, 104, 112 Pace, Peter, 211 Pakistan, 121, 207 Palace Club, xi Pambello, Robert, 69 parenting, 168–70, 245–46 Partial Birth Abortion Act (2003), 220 Pastor, Robert A., 64 Patriot Act, 137, 138, 139, 141, 252 Pearl, Daniel, 186 Pelosi, Nancy, 24 Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., 85 Penn, Sean, 171 People, 159 pharmaceutical industry, 225 phone call records, 123–25 Plame, Valerie, 185, 248 political campaign contributions, 221, 222 political polarization, Politico.com, 213 pork-barrel legislation, 217–18 port security, 81, 91 See also Dubai Ports World (DPW) deal poverty, 51 Powell, Colin, 130, 236 prescription drugs, 223–24 president, office of, 21–22 presidential elections 2000, 13 2008, 232, 233–44, 247 presidential power, 16–17, 120, 121, 137 pro-life movement, 218–20 prosecutors, firing of, 137–39, 185, 215, 249, 250–51, 252 Quillici, Smokey, xiii racism, 37–38 Rader, Dennis (BTK Killer), 10, 162–65 Ramos, Ignacio, 74–76 Ramsey, JonBenét, 166 Rayburn, John, 97 Raymond, Lee, 108 INDEX Reagan, Ronald, 21, 240 real wages, 109 Regan, Judith, 239 Reid, Harry, 109 religion, Jack Cafferty’s childhood experiences, 27–28 Reno, Nevada, x, xi–xii, xiv, 30, 94, 96 Reno Evening Gazette, 31 Republican National Committee (RNC), 249 Republican National Convention (2004), 22 Republicans Foley scandal, 228–30 hypocrisy of family values platform, 228–29 presidential candidates (2008), 239–43 viewers’ opinions of, Rhode, Patrick, 42 Rice, Condoleeza, 7, 38, 80, 206, 211 Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base, 31, 96 right-to-life movement, 218–20 Riverside Hotel, 100 RNC (Republican National Committee), 249 Roberts, John, 220 Rockefeller, John, 200 Rolling Stone, 253 Roman Catholic Church, 27–28 Romney, Milt, 242 Rove, Karl, 38, 191, 217, 249 267 Rumsfeld, Donald, 4, 13, 16, 38, 140, 155 Sadr, Muqtada al-, 203 Sampson, D Kyle, 249, 250 Sarnoff, Robert, 148 Saturday Night Live, 148 Savage, Charlie, 16 savings rate, 106 Scarborough, Chuck, 148–49 Schiavo, Terri, 218–20 schools See education Schumer, Charles, 83, 87, 138, 193 Secure Fence Act, 65, 71, 73–74 Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP) of North America, 63 Senate Judiciary Committee, 60, 125 September 11, 2001, 6–7, 17–18, 120, 187, 255 Shafer, Jack, 37 Shalala, Donna, 194 Shi’ites, 191, 196, 200–201, 202 Shinseki, Eric K., 192 signing statements, 16–17, 140–42 Simmons, Sue, 149 Simonson, Stewart, 42 Simpson, O J., 170 Sinatra, Frank, 148 Situation Room, The Anna Nicole Smith coverage, 151–53 “Broken Government,” 2–3 Hurricane Katrina coverage, 36, 37–38 Jack Cafferty’s program on, 4–5, 268 INDEX Situation Room, The (continued) Michael Brown interview, 42 Skinner, Richard, 48–49 Slate.com, 37 Smith, Anna Nicole, 151–53, 161 Snow, Tony, 131, 211 Snyder, Tom, 145 Social Security, 114–16 Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT), 121, 173–74 space program, 117, 209 Specter, Arlen, 26, 124, 125, 126 spying program, domestic, 119–27, 159, 166 State Department, 188 State of Denial (Woodward), 22–23, 227 Stevens, Ted, 217 Sunnis, 191, 196 Supreme Court, 220, 221 Sutter, Jim, 47 SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications), 121, 173–74 Taliban, 203, 204 tax cuts, 108–9 Taylor, Anna Diggs, 121, 123, 166 term limits, 222–23 terror, war on, 7, 9, 12, 26, 66, 72, 124 terrorism, 23, 88–90, 188–89, 249–50 Thompson, Fred, 240, 242–43 Time, 41, 158, 217, 232 Toby (dog), 101, 102, 147 Toner, Michael, 222 torture, of detainees, 129, 131 Townsend, Frances, 45 trade, 112–13 trade deficit, 108 Truman, Harry S., 21, 96 union jobs, 103 Union Leader, 35 United Arab Emigrates (UAE), 78–79 University of Nevada, Reno, 94 USA Patriot Act, 137, 138, 139, 141, 252 USA Today, 123–24 U.S Bank Tower terror plot, 90, 134 U.S Border Control, 74–76 USS Abraham Lincoln, 18 USS Cole bombing, 186 USS Pueblo, 30, 31–32 USS Ronald Reagan, 43 Verizon, 124 veterans, 61, 193–95, 211–12 Villaraigosa, Antonio R., 90 Virginia City, Nevada, xvi V-J Day anniversary, 42–43 volunteerism, 246 voting, 247–48 Walid Bin Attash, 186 Wall Street Journal, 173 Walter Reed Army Medical Center, 193–95 war crimes, 25 INDEX War Crimes Act (1996), 129–30, 131, 132 war in Iraq See Iraq war Warner, John, 130 war on terror, 7, 9, 12, 26, 66, 72, 124 Washington Post, 51–52, 128, 211, 230 waterboarding, 9, 129, 131 Waxman, Harry, 121, 198, 214 WDAF-TV, Kansas City, 96–97, 100, 144 wealth, 107 weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), 23, 166, 167–68 269 Welch, Jack, 111 Weldon, Curt, 86–87 WHO-TV, Des Moines, 100–102, 144–45 Wilentz, Sean, 253 Williams, Brian, 49 wiretapping, 86, 119–27 WNBC-TV, New York, 111, 145–50 Wolcott, James, Wolfowitz, Paul, 192–93 Woodward, Bob, 22, 227 WYNY, 178–79 young people, 244–46, 247 YouTube, 158 Download more eBooks here: http://avaxhome.ws/blogs/ChrisRedfield ...It’s Getting Ugly Out There It’s Getting Ugly Out There The Frauds, Bunglers, Liars, and Losers Who Are Hurting America JACK CAFFERTY John Wiley & Sons, Inc Copyright © 2007 by Jack Cafferty. .. about Wiley products, visit our web site at www.wiley.com Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: Cafferty, Jack It’s getting ugly out there : the frauds, bunglers, liars, and losers. .. sleeve My parents had married in Salt Lake and spent their honeymoon in Reno and in Lake Tahoe and never got over it They loved the area so much, they vowed to return there to live They got the chance