Mr. Vidal, I consider you to be the greatest American writer and am currently finishing Empire and then on to Hollywood.....

In the same vein as Samuel J. Tilden, who are the 3 greatest Presidents that never were but should have been, as we know the American majority tend towards having a penchant for electing anything but the best man available.

Mr. Vidal, can you also recommend 5 books that everyone must read.

Your young fan,

Adam Abeles

Mr. Vidal,

How different today would the United States be had William Randolph Hearst ascended to the Presidency? How do you think he would have governed? Would he have just been an inept pawnish figurehead who would have rather furthered his own image in power thus leaving the duties of the President to those behind closed doors which would parallel today`s "Decider".

First of all, Happy Birthday David. You are always so refreshing to listen to. Thank you for you wonderful guest today. My comment, since you mentioned anything goes, is about drilling off the coast of Florida. I'll tell you all the reasons why we should not and absolutely can not. Having lived in the Florida Keys, Key West, for 18 years I can tell you that a large part of our revenue comes from tourist dollars. First and foremost for me is that the water surrounding Florida is not just any body of water, it is the home of the only living coral reef in the continental US. The reef gets enough damage from natural disasters, such as hurricanes, it does need any more damage from drilling. Now on to the economics. If tourism is effected small businesses such as snorkel, dive and fishing boats will go out of business. When that happens all the workers in those businesses lose their jobs, then there are the hotels, motels and historic (listed in the register) guest houses that will not fill their rooms, more business gone. The eateries ad museums will have no patrons. People will move, houses will lose their tenants and most likely the result will be more foreclosures. The state budget will feel a loss due to the lost revenue from lack of tourism. All this for 3% of our oil use in maybe 20 years. I feel alternate energy is the correct path, it will stop our dependency on foreign oil and create jobs not cause the opposite. Thank you listening. Marilyn from Florida

IMPORTANT:

don't forget to vote this tuesday in Ga.

Chamblis has already predicted a win.

We are the underdogs here.
it's important to get our base out to the polls for Martin

by the way, sara palin is showing up here in Savannah to stump for Chamblis on monday.
However, Martin has picked up endorsements from military vets.
Rick
from Savannah

Switzerland is now the first country on this planet which official has a policy to provide heroin descriptions to addicts.

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/front/Voters_back_drugs_policy_tough_on_chil...

America has a long way to go for this politics

Hello Mr Bender and a double extra hello for our most gifted writer and historian, Mr. Gore Vidal.
Mr. Vidal, I just simply say, that it was largely the fault of your fabulous mind and your exquisite style of writing that formed and kept my English in fine shape.
Thank you for it all. Youj are the most complete writer and history teacher of our time.
Creation, is on mind frequently
Of your later works, Palimpsest caused a few lachrymal moments for me, but then, when I needed help with an inner smile, five minutes with Live from Golgotha is all it takes.
Sadly I, we, cannot listen to your conversation with Mr. Bender live here on The Coast for an unexplained reason.

The most respectful Bon Chance in all your future adventures, combined with robust, healthful energy
Sincerely,
Dietrich Hartmann

P.S. Mr.Bender, would there perhaps be an e-mail address one could use to send a letter to Mr. Gore Vidal?

Re: The caller on JFK's E.O. 11,110

See:
Marrs, Jim (1989), Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy, New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers.
www.amazon.com/Crossfire-Plot-That-Killed-Kennedy/sim/0881846481/1/#navS...

From The Final Call, Vol. 15, No.6, On January 17, 1996

On June 4, 1963, a little known attempt was made to strip the Federal Reserve Bank of its power to loan money to the government at interest. On that day President John F. Kennedy signed Executive Order No. 11110 that returned to the U.S. government the power to issue currency, without going through the Federal Reserve. Mr. Kennedy's order gave the Treasury the power "to issue silver certificates against any silver bullion, silver, or standard silver dollars in the Treasury." This meant that for every ounce of silver in the U.S. Treasury's vault, the government could introduce new money into circulation. In all, Kennedy brought nearly $4.3 billion in U.S. notes into circulation. The ramifications of this bill are enormous.

With the stroke of a pen, Mr. Kennedy was on his way to putting the Federal Reserve Bank of New York out of business. If enough of these silver certificates were to come into circulation they would have eliminated the demand for Federal Reserve notes. This is because the silver certificates are backed by silver and the Federal Reserve notes are not backed by anything. Executive Order 11110 could have prevented the national debt from reaching its current level, because it would have given the government the ability to repay its debt without going to the Federal Reserve and being charged interest in order to create the new money. Executive Order 11110 gave the U.S. the ability to create its own money backed by silver.

After Mr. Kennedy was assassinated just five months later, no more silver certificates were issued. ...
www.john-f-kennedy.net/executiveorder11110.htm

The Hagel correction:

While Diebold has received the most attention, it actually isn't the biggest maker of computerized election machines. That honor goes to Omaha-based ES&S, and its Republican roots may be even stronger than Diebold's.

The firm, which is privately held, began as a company called Data Mark, which was founded in the early 1980s by Bob and Todd Urosevich. In 1984, brothers William and Robert Ahmanson bought a 68 percent stake in Data Mark, and changed the company's name to American Information Services (AIS). Then, in 1987, McCarthy & Co, an Omaha investment group, acquired a minority share in AIS.

In 1992, investment banker Chuck Hagel, president of McCarthy & Co, became chairman of AIS. Hagel, who had been touted as a possible Senate candidate in 1993, was again on the list of likely GOP contenders heading into the 1996 contest. In January of 1995, while still chairman of ES&S, Hagel told the Omaha World-Herald that he would likely make a decision by mid-March of 1995. On March 15, according to a letter provided by Hagel's Senate staff, he resigned from the AIS board, noting that he intended to announce his candidacy. A few days later, he did just that.
- By Bob Fitrakis and Harvey Wasserman, March 5, 2004

www.motherjones.com/cgi-bin/print_article.pl?url=http://www.motherjones....

Who does BHO OWE?

Mega-bundlers, a category documented by a study commissioned by The Wall Street Journal.

These are fund-raisers who have raised up to $70,000 apiece from individuals by channeling it through joint fund-raising committees, which spread the donations out lawfully. The trend helped fuel the most expensive presidential election in history.

"The purpose of the campaign-finance law is to limit not just donations but the influence of donors," said Alexander Cohen, a senior researcher at Public Citizen, a nonpartisan consumer advocacy group that conducted the study for the Journal. "So when you can drive up with a truckload of money to give to a candidate, it's hard to see how that's limiting influence."

The study documents for the first time the rise of mega-bundlers and the ease with which they get around normal donation limits. Many have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars single-handedly, often with just a flurry of emails and calls to business associates and relatives. Mikal Watts, a prominent product liability lawyer in Texas, raised $285,000 from 10 partners, including himself, for the joint fund-raising committee of Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee.

"It didn't take any time at all," Mr. Watts said. He personally donated $28,500 to Sen. Obama's joint victory account, the Obama Victory Fund, and sent out emails that quickly raised the same amount from each of the other nine partners.

"This guy made fund raising the easiest thing in the world," Mr. Watts said. "I could have raised several million more if I could have gotten him back to Texas."
www.citizensforethics.org/node/35447

Obama is the first presidential candidate to opt out of the government financing system since its establishment in 1976.

While there’s been a lot of talk about the number of small internet donations Obama has received, the Post reports a review of his FEC filings reveals only a quarter of the $600 million he has raised has come from donors who made contributions of $200 or less. That’s slightly less as a percentage than President Bush raised in small donations during his 2004 race.

Meanwhile, The New York Times reports Obama is days away from breaking the advertising spending record set by Bush four years ago. Obama spent nearly $188 million on advertising in the general election. John McCain spent $91 million.

www.democracynow.org/2008/10/22/does_obamas_record_setting_fundraising_m...