The Coolest Things of 2007... 40 to 31

And here's more of The Coolest Thing of 2007... to read the rest, scroll down, or go to the Archive link on the right bottom, and click on January 2008.

40. Rush Smacks Down Harry Reid
Rush Limbaugh was going through a story about a soldier named Jesse MacBeth. When MacBeth came back from Iraq, and began to declare how terrible it was for the military in Iraq, how horrible the military atrocities were toward Iraqi civilians, and how the war in Iraq was a mistake, and since he was a valiant soldier and a Purple Heart winner, the Democrats snapped him up.

Holding MacBeth high, they began to proclaim, "See, this is what we're talking about! The military hates Bush too! Just like we do! See! See, we told you so!!". They made MacBeth a poster child for all that they felt has gone wrong with a war they cannot control, under a president they cannot stand.

Here's the thing... MacBeth never went to Iraq. He never won the Purple Heart. In fact, after making all these false declarations, he was kicked out of the military in 44 days. Never even graduating from boot camp, he eventually served 5 months in jail. Rush Limbaugh called this guy a "phony soldier", because... well, that's what he was. He was a soldier for 44 days who lied about everything, taking veteran's benefits money the entire time. The fact that he was a phony doesn't really matter, really, not to the Liberal Left.

However... the media went nuts. Media Matters, a Clinton founded and supported group who's "unbiased" look at the media is heralded by Dems as gospel, proclaimed loudly "Rush Limbaugh says that any soldier who is against the war is 'phony'!!" And, of course, the compassionate Left never actually listened to Rush's show, even though he put up the entire transcript of the show online, for all to see--they just began to proclaim Rush calling the military that disagreed with our country's foreign policy as "phony".


That's right... your Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid... oh, and Rush Limbaugh's approval rating in Nevada is higher than Reids. Who knew.

Senator Harry Reid (D-NV) actually went onto the floor of the Senate--on your tax dollars, mind you--and blasted Rush Limbaugh, condemning his statements. John Kerry, who served in Vietnam, even got in the mix, saying it was "I thought it was disgusting before I thought it wasn't disgusting" (jokes, people...)

On October 2nd, Reid authors a letter addressed to Mark Mays, the CEO of Clear Channel Radio, which syndicates Rush's program nationwide, and in this letter, he blasts Rush and attempts to intimidate Mays into taking Rush off the air. He then has 41 Senators, including Clinton and Obama, to sign a letter intending to silence a critic who, right or wrong, has discussed in a non-personal way the actions of a now-convicted criminal (MacBeth), and in doing so, attempting to remove the 1st Amendment rights that the Liberal Left so boldly toss around when using anti-Christian, pro-gay rhetoric. (if you would like to see the letter, I'd be happy to send you a copy... just let me know)

So what does Rush do? Well, Mark Mays responds that "like it or not, it is Mr. Limbaugh's right to say what he'd like to say on his own show", and then hands the letter to Rush. Rush then turns around and puts the letter up for auction to the public, with ALL proceeds to benefit the Marine Corp Law Enforcement Foundation, which gives financial assistance to families of Marine and Law Enforcement personnel who are injured or killed. THEN Rush turns around and pledges to match whatever is brought in.

The result? It brings in $2.1 million dollars, to which Rush matches, bringing in a donation of $4.2 million to MCLEF. Rush called out to Sen. Harry Reid and others who signed the letter to also donate a little, but none did.

The best part is that when the auction was wrapping up... Senator Harry Reid gets on the floor of the Senate, the same floor that he used up the taxpayers time to censure a private citizen, and tries to credit for helping out, saying, among other things:

I strongly believe when WE can put our differences aside, even Harry Reid and Rush Limbaugh, WE should do that and try to accomplish good things for the American people. This does that... more than $2 million for a letter signed by ME and MY friends.

Why did I spend so much time on this? Because this is the party of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, this is the party of compassion, this is the party that wants to see us lose in Iraq and charge us "really wealthy people" (you know, like The Lovely Steph Leann and I, because we make more than $60K household) to pay for "the poor and strugglings" health care. That's why. You should know.

FYI... for those who think I'm totally biased, which I probably am because I actually heard the show in question, the shows before it, and the shows after it, here's the transcript of the exchange in question. Make sure you understand there are TWO phone calls that lead up to this, not just one as you'll see in some copies of the transcript on other sites...

39. Tiffany Abbot-McCauley
Everyone has their middle school and high school crushes and their college crush... and mine was Tiffany Abbot. She was just so... well, cute, and not just cute, but approachable, unlike the Troy State Athena that was Heather Hanson. Tiffany was the kind of chick you just wanted to have a picnic with.

I say all that to say she was just awesome. And I reckon she still is. Married to her college sweetheart, Kirk, she's got three cutie-patootie kids and its just another example that God knew what he was doing when he made Tiffany realize that I was totally out of her league, and she should wait for Kirk.

38. Taylor Swift
What a great country CD. I mean, its a little unnerving that she was born in 1989, about the time I was turning 14 and in the middle of 9th grade, but she still sounds great. She debuted in 2006 with "Tim McGraw", a sweet little song about a broken relationship--one that is remembered when hearing Tim McGraw's music. The song actually appeared as #84 on The 100 Coolest Things of 2006...



And really, the whole CD is fun, with a voice like a more polished, pre-Liberal-whack Natalie Maines, with cute tunes like "Our Song" and "Teardrops on My Guitar", its country that The Lovely Steph Leann even likes--and she really only likes Rascal Flatts. Its also refreshing that she (Taylor, not The Lovely Steph Leann) practically writes, or at least co-writes, all of her stuff. One of my favorite cds of 2007. Here's Taylor on MySpace.

37. Destin Weekend in May
I already discussed one weekend at the beach with The Lovely Steph Leann's friends, BFF Lesley, BFF DeLisa and BFF Suzie, but we were able to steal away once again in May... I found myself with the weekend off, I called up my lovely wife and simply said, "Hey, lets get out of town this weekend. Let's just leave. Okay?" She said, "Sure."

So we decided to head to Destin, to visit BFF Susie and BFF Susie's boo, Mike. What followed is a great weekend of Captain Dave's seafood, a big honkin' Starbucks, Choco-Fizz soda, a weird dream featuring Paula Maddox, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, and a MySpace message from Kaci & Jojo. You can read the weekend's blog right here, if you so choose.

36. "No Country for Old Men"
A deep dark movie indeed, this is the flick that is being buzzed about Hollywood as the leading contender for the Academy Awards. Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and Javier Bardem (you know Javier, the guy who played Victor in "Boca a boca"), and set in the early 80s, its a south Texas country tale of Llewelyn Moss (none more perfect for this role than Josh Brolin), who gets involved in the aftermath of a drug deal gone really, really, really bad. After he swipes the satchel full of money, but leaves one of the Mexicans alive, going back later to give aid. Its this good deed that starts a cat-and-mouse chase, with psychopathic killer Anton Chigurh hunting him down.

Javier Bardem, as Chigurh, is chilling as a killer hit man who has no emotion and feeling, yet kills on principal as much as he does enjoyment. In one case, he uses a coin to determine the fate of a random gas station clerk.

The heart of the movie, though, is Ed Tom Bell, brilliantly portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones. Bell pursues not only Moss but Chigurh, and spends the movie simply in quiet sighing about what this world is coming to. Perhaps it takes the entire length of the movie for Bell to discover that what is happening around him truly is "no country for old men."

Brutal and bloody, violent and disturbing, if you can stomach it, its worth the 2 hours spent.

35. Heroes
We love us some Heroes... premiering in 2006, it was a show that was right up my alley, but not only was it on at the same time as WWE Raw, many times it was my only night to blog, so I never paid the show the full attention it deserved... so I got lost and confused, and quit watching. When it came out on dvd last summer, I just bought the set, intending to watching it on my off day... and The Lovely Steph Leann jumped in, wanting to watch it too...

So we set off to tackle the season, watching the adventures of Parkman, Hiro, Niki, Claire, Peter, Nathan, and of course, Sylar, among others (my favorite was Ando, Hiro's mortal buddy), all people who have special abilities that they cannot fully understand. The first season is amazing, building up to the season finale where they finally all come together.

I've heard the second season isn't so hot, but that the show's creators have realized this, and are taking great strides to make it better... this was, of course, before the writer's strike, so we'll see when it comes out on dvd.

34. Rollercoaster Tycoon
I had this game when I swiped it from Tyler Campbell, but on my slow computer, it worked about as well as Hillary's health care plan (are you getting the picture of how vehemently I am against this??), but when I got the laptop, I grabbed the disk and loaded it... and it rocks.

Simply put, you have to create a roller coaster theme park. Some levels are from the ground up, others give you a park that is already established, but you have a goal to meet--a certain number of guests in your park, or a certain park value, etc--before you can advance. You build your sidewalks, your concessions, your ride queues, your kiosks and of course, your rides, including coasters.

I've managed to build park after park after park, and when I got Rollercoaster Tycoon 2, plus the expansion pack, it got even better, with more money, more options an easier buildings. I've actually got rides that I carry from park to park, including "Ashley's Spell" (always a big wooden coaster), "Mikey's ScrambleNuts" (usually the scrambler ride), "Princess Stephanie's Carousel" (duh), "The Hawbaker Hellfire" (always a big metal coaster with lots of drops), "Ty's Coffey Grinder" (a spinny ride of some sort) and "Tom's Big Stick" (the free-fall type drop ride). I cannot tell you how many hours I've wasted on this game, and how many more I project to waste in 2008... but I'm looking forward to Rollercoaster Tycooning in The Cabana.

33. "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon" by Stephen King
One of the best books I read all year, and carries a unique gift of actually getting better in my mind the more I think about it. Not your typical King horror tale, like "The Shining" or "Salem's Lot", its still a supernatural story with an unlikely hero.

Patricia "Trisha" McFarland is hiking with her mother and brother, both of who are fighting and arguing quite loudly as they walk along. The argument stems from the divorce that's ripping the McFarland family apart, so to keep from hearing the bitter squabble, Trisha falls back a little on the trail. She stops quickly for a bathroom break, and soon after, not only loses her family but the trail as well.



With her, she carries a bottle of Surge, water, Twinkies, a sandwich, a boiled egg, a gameboy and a walkman radio which she uses to pass the time in listening to her "crush", Boston Red Sox pitcher Tom Gordon.

Hours, then days, pass, and as King writes about the strange things happening around Trisha, including a potential showdown with the God of the Lost in the woods... and you don't know if the book is leading to the supernatural, or Trisha, tired, dehydrated, scared, is hallucinating.

At only 219 pages, the book is a day or two at most, and well worth the journey.

32. "The Story" by Brandi Carlisle
Brandi Carlisle, 26, is a up and coming singer songwriter who has the benefit of getting a song on "Grey's Anatomy", which is pretty close to instant success. Actually, she's managed to get three or four songs on the show, but this one is the one I really like, as it was released in video form, containing clips of the show set to the music.

And for fans of the show, the song matches the show perfectly in this video.
She has this gruff, husky kind of voice that is still very feminine, but still rocks out, and the song is just... well, great. Her album is pretty good, but click on the link above, and even if you don't like "Grey's Anatomy", then just close your eyes and listen.

31. Andrea Gets Married
What? Wha... she's perpetually 14 years old, as are Meredith Osborne, Alyce Noland, Steph Lightfoot and the other girls that have come through WalkAbout... the guys grow up, become men, cool guys to hang out with (re: Cheney, Garrett), but the girls are always supposed to be 12 (re: Cheney, Paige), right?

Not Andrea. She not only growed up, she gotted pretty, gots a boyfriend, gots engaged and then... gots hitched. The only regret about Disney World was that Andrea got married on the weekend we left for Orlando (which is what she gets for not consulting me when choosing a date)... not only did she get married, she graduated from middle sch... er, high sc... okay, fine, college.


Wow... I knew they let you get married at 12 in Mississippi... but I didn't know they did that at Alabama. (just kidding Andrea... you look gorgeous. Wish I could have been there)

I guess I feel a special attachment to Andrea and a couple of the others, including Meredith, because they were on the first WalkAbout team in 1999 to 2000... so I truly have watched them grow up. I'm going to go put my false teeth in some water now.

Coming up... KT... Mama P... Fergie... Ramsey... and the immortal, terrifying phrase, "Why don't you have a seat right there... so, what are you doing here?"