Very happy to hear about the sales, Bill. Couldn't happen to a better man.

Definitely can't wait to see the book... but all of a sudden, I find myself eagerly anticipating future volumes. For now, though, I'll settle for SANCTUARY. Not that I'm greedy or anything.

[I don't suppose there's any way you could explain wearing asbestos gloves at work, eh?]

Congratulations on the success, Bill, you definitely deserve it. Wings of Glass sounds especially good.

As always, can't wait to see the next essay (and can't wait for the hardcover of Silent America).

a foreword from someone important? i nominate Bill Whittle for that honor...and congratulations on your success.

Woo hoo! A new post!

Yee haw! More books in the works!

Bill, just remember to WASH YOUR HANDS after shaking hands / punching Michael Moore in the nose.
You never know what you might catch!

Thanks for the update Bill and congratulations. Can't wait for the next post. Don't soil yourself getting too close to Michael Moore. Cesspools are best avoided altogether.

Great News, Bill! I am thrilled for you and even thrilled for myself because your voice is definitely a good thing in this culture.

I am jazzed that you are expecting to expand and branch out in your activities. As for radio shows, I doubt that I will be the only one who mentions Larry Elder and Hugh Hewitt, who broadcast from the Los Angeles (logcal?) area, although they have a nationwide audience.

Best of luck and thanks for hanging in there to get it done!

Johnnie Garner

Excellet news, Bill! I'm glad the book sales are turning into real income for you - you certainly deserve every penny. Here's hoping Silent America becomes the surprise best-seller of 2005.

And if you can find a way to annhilate Michael Moore without sacrificing yourself or the good citizens of LA ... well, feel free. It is an awful lot of mass to convert into energy, in any case; an entire Whittle of particles would probably only destroy about 1/10 of a Moore of antiparticles. I don't think it's worth risking our best essayist just to be rid of Michael Moore's right hand and forearm.

S

Bill Whittle meets Michael Moore: A day that will live in infamy.

Bill, you ARE going to give MM an autographed copy of your book, right?

A priceless opportunity to re-educate the man...it could be epic....

Oh, and give me a little heads up if you feel a matter-antimatter reaction heating up, I live right down the street and need a minute or two to get on the silver-suit and respirator....

Bill, tell me that when you were introduced to Mr. Moore, you whined "CHEESY FRIES!" at the top of your lungs.

See http://www.imao.us/sound/MMOnStar.mp3 for clarification.

Bill,

Echoing the excellent idea above of giving Michael Moore a copy of your book (maybe the proof if that's the only one you have?). Slip it into his goodie basket or something.

Bill:

You may need to disguise the book as a Nacho Grande or perhaps a Scooter Pie....or even a Hot Fudge Sundae or some such foodstuff in order to slip it past his eyes. Of course, you run the risk of him fully "digesting" your thoughts!

Worth the risk, I'd say.

Keep up the good work and we'll keep supporting it!

Chris

I'd love to hear you on Ronn Owens' or Gene Burns' shows here in the SFO Bay Area (KGO radio). Although Gene is deeply critical of the War, he can hold up a good discussion with someone with whom he disagrees. Ronn might embarrass you with agreement, conversely.

Teething problems are inevitable, you're doing very well considering this is the first time you've published a book!
Can not wait for the new material. You are a font of rational, patriotic prose that I have not been able to find anywhere else!
I add to the growing chorus of 'ayes' for the idea of GIVING MICHAEL MOORE A COPY OF YOUR NEW BOOK! Simply awesome. Meeting your nemesis is a fantastic opportunity...

Good luck Bill!

Regarding MM, never wrestle in the mud with a pig. You just get muddy and remember, the pig likes it.

i wanna here all about the michael moore encouter!

An encounter with Mikey really justifies all your pilot training, since it is only possible to view the entirety of the man from an aerial perspective. The updraft from Moore, which occurs as the offshore breezes are deflected upwards by his bulk, are significant enough that the FAA now requires him to give advance warnings when he approaches major aerodromes.

On the bright side...

The pile of books you will sell will likely have to be measured in MMEMU---- "Michael Moore Equvalent Mass Units."

Are you sure you have enough bulk to annihilate the entirety of Micheal Moore's anti-matter?

Consider cloning ten of you for good measure.

:D

Can't wait,

Phil

MM's mere presence coinciding with yours just proves that God exists and that he has a sense of humor. Forgive that tormented "hairless biped" (-CS Lewis) and stay the course Bill. The battle between good and evil will rage on (thankfully) with no end in sight. I'm just thankful that I stumbled into your stunningly clear writings and am looking forward to Sunday readings with my kids. Congrats on your 1st edition and consider this: I used to think like 'they' do and after enough life experiences and information... I changed. So I wait and when the moments arise I sprinkle some seeds of truth/sense around Lib mud and watch it grow. It's entertaining and sure beats whining and complaining like all my lefty associates. Thanks for devoting the time and energy to provide the ammo to make 'em shut up and grow up.

I was wondering about that. I was starting to feel like a chump for plunking down 35$ on a book that didn't exist.

All I knew about it was how the cover looked, that it's 6x9, and it's 272 pages.

Oh yeah, it's written by Bill Whittle. :)

At least let me know if I'm getting a hardback here.

I work for an industrial glove company. You can email me if you feel you need appropriate hand protection versus MM. I hope that our 24-ounce 100%-Kevlar heat-resistant, cut-protective terrycloth will be sufficient, because my company won't have the time to make the 42-ounce wool-lined version of that style for you. The 42-ounce version is a special-order item.

Well, Bill, I would recommend against punching him in the face. There is too much risk of cutting open your hand on his teeth or bony projectors (like cheekbones - not that bony is at all apropos when talking about MM). However, the chance that microbes extant and rampant throughout his saliva or blood could mix with yours is too great to take. I would recommend a great many body shots and if you can get behind him, a punch to the kidneys will leave him regretting the meeting for a week, or at least until he stops pissing blood.

VDH is the obvious choice for the forward. If you like obvious choices, go with him! Orson Scott Card would be another. And if you want me to write it, just send me an email!

I'm probably too late suggesting this, but if you want to see a real matter/antimatter explosion, give Moore a copy of your book. Best to do it as he's leaving, rather than as he's arriving; and if you can temporarily fool him into thinking you're on his side, all the better. Just watch out for skull shrapnel as his brain detonates...

There are (surprisingly enough) quite a few radio shows in the SF Bay Area in addition to Ron Owens on KGO mentioned above.

You would reach a far wider (national) audience with Michael Savage on KNEW, and there's (in my opinion) an even better local show earlier in the day: Jeff Katz, noon to 3, also on KNEW. Also, you can't miss KSFO's great morning show with Lee Rodgers & Melanie Morgan, same goes for their evening show with Brian Sussman.

And of course, the Glenn Beck program would welcome you with open arms.

How about Dennis Prager's show on KRLA 870 AM at 9 a.m.?

Or John & Ken (KFI AM640, afternoon drive-time in SoCal)?

Or Hugh Hewitt (KRLA, i think)?

It's Guerilla Marketing time.

Oh. Dear. God. I'm glad I didn't have a beverage in my hand while I was reading your last paragraphs, or else I just might have spewed it all over my laptop. PUH-LEASE tell me you'll be back soon with a full report. The FAA hasn't thrown up any TFRs over SoCal (to my knowledge), so I'm assuming the aforementioned particle annihilation didn't happen, but of course we're still interested in the aftermath.

Besides, if you DID give him a copy of your book and it DID piss him off enough, I'm sure he'd start whining publicly about it, in which case you've just guaranteed your sales figures anyway. Nothing like free publicity, right?

Bill,

There is an alternative to violence. Humor. Me? I'd be biting my tongue to keep from laughing at him (MM).

http://www.klif.com KLIF570 is one of the Dallas/Fort Worth talk radio stations. Check out their site and email Ankarlo and Greg Knapp!

Excellent news on the airplane fundage, Bill. Excellent news on the book(s, for me at least) as well; I was wondering about what had happened, and glad to see an update. *Extremely* excellent news on further books and writing... is it too early to put in my pre-orders?

Even though this is after the fact, listen to that rational brain of yours... as dispicable as the globular MMass is, he's one of the best things that ever happened to the Republican party.

Oh and insofar as the radio goes? SMASH has had a lot of luck with Roger Hedgecock down south... when I took my kids down there for a counter-protest a few months ago, he even wanted *me* to go on the radio... I passed.

I agree with the Larry Elder sentiments, but you might have more luck initially with his non-syndicated follow-up Al Rantel. I'd also go with Prager, had I not already sent him a copy of your stuff a year ago.

Go local in Pasadena on KPPC 89.7 NPR. I know it's a liberal station, but it could give you a different audience and even win a few converts. Larry Mantle is the only one I'd suggest -- he asks intelligent questions that seem to be fairly balanced.

Will this take the place of a speaking tour?

Bill,

Like Peter aw says, give MM a copy of your book. Recommend to him that if he reads any of the essays, he should read Magic!

Thanks for posting an update, Bill! I've been eagerly awaiting my copy, and plan to order two more to give away as soon as I can recharge my PayPal account.

Try not to expend too much of your energy worrying about what Michael Moore believes. He's built his fortune preying on our fears, undermining our confidence, and sowing seeds of doubt about our culture and way of life, and is exceedingly unlikely to change the rhetoric and public persona that have brought him such notoriety and success. There's still hope for at least some of his followers to be persuaded by the reasoned eloquence of your magnificent essays. Those are the minds to focus your efforts on, the ones that can still be convinced by good sense. I hope your efforts to get your message out will enable more among them to give consideration to what you have to say. (I believe I heard someone say "book tour"? Don't forget to stop in the SF Bay Area! Lots of convincing left to be done here.)

As for me, I'm at a loss for words adequate to convey my gratitude for what you've done for America. Truly. You've moved me. You've helped renew my hope that the spirit of who we are, of who we choose to be, is still alive. Thank you for trusting your inner voice, putting your heart and soul into this project through untold hours of writing, editing, and threading the ideas together, and for casting light where others spread fear. I still believe in us, too. Best wishes to you.

More info on the plane for the EAA and AOPA gang, please. Great essays. Keep it up.

Congratulations on your book! This is slightly off topic but since I noticed that you are quite interested in aviation, I thought you might like to take a look (if you haven't already) at "Slipping the Surly Bonds" by Dave English. It is full of anecdotes, humor and some of the greatest one liners on flying.

"Meanwhile, back at the Nasdac, surly bonds were slipping as sales soared for Bill Whittle's book..."

Hey Bill:

I received my copy of SILENT AMERICA today; it looks GREAT!

Your very first blog buyer,

Joe Dees

Don't punch Michael Moore, and don't waste one of your books on him. If anything, offer him a triple bacon cheeseburger with extra mayonaise. Hell, offer him two...

:jackson

I will gladly purchase a book for you to personally shove down MM's throat.

Please?

Oh what...you can always get another job.

Dear Bill,

Might I suggest, in addition to Michael Savage and Rush Limbaugh, Hallerin Hilton Hill, on NewsTalk 990 AM WNOX in Knoxville, TN. He is a tough questioner and straight shooter after the image of the artist formerly known as Bill O'Reilly, meaning, he is what O'Reilly was before he became a complete wuss. If you send him a copy of your book, I think he would read it and be glad to have you on. He is as close to the real center in politics as it gets on the radio, but you can tell that he is of a more conservative bent if you listen carefully. I would love to hear you on the show sometime, he is on from 6-10 AM EST and in Nashville from 10 AM- Noon- CST Monday through Friday.

Congratulations on the success of the book. Echoing the comments of other readers, you have done great things for so many with your writing. It is so eloquent and describes the best of what is truly the essence of America, and I think we speak for us all in saying keep up the good work, and it couldn't happen to a better, more quality guy. When there are more funds in the old bank account, I will order my Silent America posthaste, and yes, I want mine signed too :).

Take care, and looking forward to SANCTUARY.

Sincerely,
Christopher R. Whittaker, Esq.
Knoxville, TN

P.S.- As you can tell, I passed the TN bar on the first try, and am officially an attorney now. Someone has to combat the idiocy of the moonbats and the ACLU in the courthouse...and my goal is to take the CA bar in July '05 so I can be licensed in both places..and then the mortal combat with the loony lefties can begin in earnest ;).

Could anyone comment on the differences between the USA and other cultures regarding the acceptance of Big Brother type enforcement, ID cards, I believe that there is a unique and deeply ingrained resistance to such advances here, why? . . . . Alan

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/05/05/complete_idcard_guide/

The National Association of Securities Dealers," The Wall Street Journal reports, "is investigating whether some brokerage houses are inappropriately pushing individuals to borrow large sums on their houses to invest in the stock market." Can we persuade the association to investigate would-be privatizers of Social Security?

For it is now apparent that the Bush administration's privatization proposal will amount to the same thing: borrow trillions, put the money in the stock market and hope.

Privatization would begin by diverting payroll taxes, which pay for current Social Security benefits, into personal investment accounts. The government, already deep in deficit, would have to borrow to make up the shortfall.

This would sharply increase the government's debt. Never mind, privatization advocates say: in the long run, they claim, people would make so much on personal accounts that the government could save money by cutting retirees' benefits. Financial markets won't believe this claim, as I'll explain in a minute, but let's temporarily grant the point.

Even so, if personal investment accounts were invested in Treasury bonds, this whole process would accomplish precisely nothing. The interest workers would receive on their accounts would exactly match the interest the government would have to pay on its additional debt. To compensate for the initial borrowing, the government would have to cut future benefits so much that workers would gain nothing at all.

How, then, can privatizers claim that they could secure the future of Social Security without raising taxes or reducing the incomes of future retirees? By assuming that workers would invest most of their accounts in stocks, that these investments would make a lot of money and that, in effect, the government, not the workers, would reap most of those gains, because as personal accounts grew, the government could cut benefits.

We can argue at length about whether the high stock returns such schemes assume are realistic (they aren't), but let's cut to the chase: in essence, such schemes involve having the government borrow heavily and put the money in the stock market. That's because the government would, in effect, confiscate workers' gains in their personal accounts by cutting those workers' benefits.

Once you realize that privatization really means government borrowing to speculate on stocks, it doesn't sound too responsible, does it? But the details make it considerably worse.

First, financial markets would, correctly, treat the reality of huge deficits today as a much more important indicator of the government's fiscal health than the mere promise that government could save money by cutting benefits in the distant future.

After all, a government bond is a legally binding promise to pay, while a benefits formula that supposedly cuts costs 40 years from now is nothing more than a suggestion to future Congresses. Social Security rules aren't immutable: in the past, Congress has changed things like the retirement age and the tax treatment of benefits. If a privatization plan passed in 2005 called for steep benefit cuts in 2045, what are the odds that those cuts would really happen?

Second, a system of personal accounts, even though it would mainly be an indirect way for the government to speculate in the stock market, would pay huge brokerage fees. Of course, from Wall Street's point of view that's a benefit, not a cost.

There is, by the way, a precedent for Bush-style privatization. One major reason for Argentina's rapid debt buildup in the 1990's was a pension reform involving a switch to individual accounts - a switch that President Carlos Menem, like President Bush, decided to finance with borrowing rather than taxes. So Mr. Bush intends to emulate a plan that helped set the stage for Argentina's economic crisis.

If Mr. Bush were to say in plain English that his plan to solve our fiscal problems is to borrow trillions, put the money into stocks and hope for the best, everyone would denounce that plan as the height of irresponsibility. The fact that this plan has an elaborate disguise, one that would add considerably to its costs, makes it worse.

And maybe the fact that serious financial experts, the sort qualified to be Treasury secretary, understand all this is the reason why John Snow has just been reappointed.

Bill, *congratulations*. Eagerly waiting to see your new material... ever considered writing fiction, too? I suspect you'd be damn good at it.

As for radio shows... it's a *damn* pity that David Brudnoy over here (Boston MA) just died... you'd have done *great* on his show.

Now tell us about your encounter with Mr. Moore...

(Oh, and to the leftie spammer above: you're a fifth-rate writer to begin with, and it might help if you knew a little about your subject before you started writing thousand-word essays on it. You might also want to learn something about opinion writing in particular; there *are* more intelligent ways to begin an argument for the continuance of a system, than by admitting in your third paragraph that that system is basically just a Ponzi scheme.)

Leo

Congratulations, Bill!

Ehm, there's any way I can buy some copies of your book from here Spain? I would like to give them to my commie friends/family so they realize what the Great Satan thinks about them ;)

Keep up the good work!

To Sno:

There is a stock broker who lives diagonally across the street from me. He is still active, still a ways from retirement. His auto licence plate is based on the way things were on the day he started: "DJIA 940".

Go check the current Down Jones Industrial average. If I had a hundredfold profit on my Social Security contributions from 30 years ago, I would not be worried about my retirement in the least.

It's too late for me and my generation. But I can unterstand why people in their 20's don't want to put their money in a Ponzi scheme that won't even be illegal when it doesn't pay off. If Congress changes the law to reduce payouts and increase the retirement age, that is automatically legal, now isn't it?

I've been a guest on a few radio shows here and there to promote my books. Bill, I suggest you get a radio show publicist. Your publicist will book you shows, call you with the information, and all you have to do is arrange to be at home when the phone rings. He does the slow and annoying work of booking shows for you -- you focus on writing.

My publicist charges by the show he books for you -- no shows, no money. I just love this guy, and he's done very well for me. Check out my website and click on Appearances, then click under Radio and Television.

If you're interested, let me know and I'll tell Murray about you.

Just remember this: You have to sell your book. You also have to write the next one, and writing is what you love to do. So hire out the tasks you don't like (publicity) so you can concentrate on the ones you do (writing.)

Also, feel free to ignore anyone's advice. Mine, too!

When it comes to Venezuela's rocky diplomatic relations with the United States, Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is usually given the blame. His frequent denunciations of U.S. "intervention" in Venezuela are taken as indications that he is hostile to America.

But the evidence is mounting that Washington is the party responsible for friction with our third largest oil supplier. Last week the New York Times reported on recently released CIA documents showing that our government had advance knowledge of the military coup that briefly overthrew Venezuela's democratic government on April 11-13 of 2002. The Bush Administration not only failed to warn Venezuela of the coup, but actually pretended that it wasn't a coup at all.

"They lied about not knowing about coup threats before April 11th, and when they claimed that the coup was a popular uprising when they knew that it was actually being planned for weeks," said U.S. Congressman Jose Serrano of New York City today.

The documents (available at http://www.venezuelafoia.info/CIA/CIA-index.htm), show clearly that the White House knew that there were detailed plans for a coup in April, that these plans included arresting the President, and that "to provoke military action, the plotters might try to exploit unrest stemming from opposition demonstrations." That is exactly what happened on April 11.

Yet on April 12, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer gave the coup leaders' version of events -- that violence at the demonstrations had led to Chavez' "resignation," and that the government was responsible for the violence. "The results of these events are now that President Chavez has resigned the presidency. Before resigning, he dismissed the vice president and the cabinet, and a transitional civilian government has been installed."

This false version of events allowed the Bush Administration to support the coup government, which proceeded to abolish Venezuela's constitution, General Assembly, and Supreme Court. The Administration reversed its support for the coup government the next day, after being diplomatically isolated.

This deception indicates that the Bush Administration's support for the overthrow of Venezuelan democracy went well beyond what has been previously reported.

In other words, the Bush Administration was not just lying about what it knew, but actively joining the coup leaders in their short-lived attempt to convince the media and the world that a "transitional civilian government" had legitimately seized power in order to defend the public from alleged state violence. And all the while knowing that this was false, and that the military coup was part of a plan that they knew about in advance.

More evidence of this effort comes from Jorge Castaneda, Mexico's former foreign minister, who recently told the press that the United States and Spain tried to gather diplomatic support for the coup government.

But Washington's efforts to oust Venezuela's democratic government did not begin or end with the April 2002 coup. The U.S. State Department noted in its internal investigation of Washington's role in the coup that "the [State] Department, and DOD [US Department of Defense] provided training, institution building, and other support under programs totaling about $3.3 million to Venezuelan organizations and individuals, some of whom are understood to have been involved in the events of April 12-14 [the coup]."

The same is true for National Endowment for Democracy, which is funded by the U.S. Congress. After the coup failed, the NED continued to fund opposition groups -- including some led by supporters of the coup -- as they tried to recall President Chavez in a referendum on August 15 of this year. The recall effort failed by a margin of 59 to 41 percent -- the third overwhelming electoral victory for Chavez.

As a result of Congressman Serrano's efforts, the NED will have to explain to the Congress how U.S. taxpayers' dollars ended up funding coup leaders, as well as other efforts contrary to its mission of "promoting democracy." But a much wider, independent investigation of our government's activities in Venezuela is needed.

Congrats, Bill, on winning third place in the Best Essayist category: http://2004weblogawards.com/archives/000063.php

Only third place????

It was rigged!

Oh, and... at the risk of feeding the trolls, which I know is a *bad* thing... re that Chavez-praising idiot:

One of my best friends comes from Venezuela. He was middle-class, *not* rich... his family's standard of living would probably fall below the US poverty line... and he *hates* Chavez.

Came here for school, then his parents stopped being able to send him money, and he started working illegally. He'd rather make five bucks an hour selling fruit, here in Boston (where crappy two-bedroom apartments BEGIN at $1500/month), than go back to Venezuela.

What doesn't get into the news all that much, is that Chavez openly admires Fidel Castro and that he's turning Venezuela into a police state. My friend tells me that their phones are tapped (his uncle works in the oil industry), that people who openly criticize Chavez get beaten up by his Bolivarian Circle thugs, that there are now "political reliability" tests for government employees and government contractors. Not just high-level political-appointment jobs, or the sort of "you helped me get elected, I'll call in a favor and get you a hack job" stuff that goes on everywhere, but "if there's evidence that you disagree with Chavez, you're fired."

Incidentally, Chavez isn't a huge fan of democracy. He tried to take over the country in a coup in the early `90s. Failed. Imprisoned for it. Then managed to get himself elected... but his *first* attempt to become President was by armed force... he only resorted to democracy when his preferred method failed.

To the upper-income lefties who like to bleat about what a great guy Chavez is: why don't you go over there? How about talking to a middle-class guy *from* there and seeing how nice the man really is?

Back to the book...Just received my copy today! I'm so excited. However, when I looked at the cover, about half of the word Honor on top and the word Power on the bottom were cut off. How could the publisher miss something like this! I guess this means my copy will be worth millions soon, as I can prove a first edition after it is corrected.

just got the book.. its a beaut!

the "honor" and "power" (top and bottom respectively) are cut off maybe 10-15% each, but that just adds to the raw feel of the book

;)

Have you checked out Rachel's new blog? Hold onto yer hat! This could be FUN.

I got mine today. I can't wait to real it al for the fourth and fifth times.

Got mine today, THANK YOU!

You MUST get on Larry Elder and Prager.

Call Larry at KABC or email him at

sage@larryelder.com

Mine just arrived today, blast you. I have to go to work tomorrow and Thursday early in the morning. I can NOT stay up late reading it.

I hear it calling Me. "Just one chapter. How can that hurt?"

Must. Wait. Until. Friday.

On a completely unrelated note, Rachael Lucas is back!!!

Good gravy, this is what I get for living in the middle of nowhere. Saturday is the big family Christmas party and I'm giving out Whittle books to my brothers and dad.

Only, no books yet. The stagecoach must be mired in the mud somewhere by Topeka. Or it's been robbed by Kissing Kate Barlow. Damn!