There really is nothing I can add to what is happening in Israel right now. Anyone with an unbiased eye can plainly see what has transpired. After suffering through months of missile strikes against their citizens - even though there was an apparent "cease-fire" - Israel finally had enough.

A few days before counter-striking, the Israeli government warned Hamas to cease their barrage immediately, or face dire consequences. Hamas leadership openly mocked that announcement and even the major news organizations broadcasted Palestinian rallies openly supporting the missile strikes.

However, Hamas miscalculated. They assumed that as soon as Israel began fighting back that the US, Britain and the rest of the world would immediately call for Israel to hold back. They figured that as soon as some Palestinian children were killed, support for an Israeli invasion would dry up. After all, it has worked in the past.

But apparently, this is a different Israel. This is an Israel that was deeply embarrassed by their failure to defeat Hezbollah - even though logistically, Israel clearly damaged Hezbollah's ability to wage war. But in the propaganda battle, Israel fell woefully short.

Not this time.

And yet I am still amazed by many of my fellow Jews who have called for an immediate cease and desist. In Michael Lerner's Tikkun Magazine (I won't link to this rag), Lerner - a reform Rabbi of note - argues that since the missiles being fired by Hamas are harmless because they are "killing no one-because its rocket supplies are pathetic and incapable to reaching most Israeli cities."

First of all, bullshit!

These rockets are quite capable of destroying homes and lives, for one thing. Secondly, so what if it can't reach "most Israeli cities?" Should Mexico be off the hook if it just bombed El Paso? Would Britain hold back if another nation "just" bombed Brighton?

What kind of sick logic is that?

The children of S'derot and Ashkelon are having to live with the fact that they constantly have to go to fall-out shelters. Does "Rabbi" Lerner have any idea what that does to a child?

Once again, Lerner - and others like him - show the Arab world that the pain and suffering of a Jew is far less important than that of anyone else. These self-hating, liberal Jews are nothing more than insolent children who have no clue what it means to be a Jew. They claim they believe in "Tikkun Olam", but haven't the first idea of what that really means.

If they really believed that the Torah is the word of G-d, they would never be able to justify their own liberalism with their Judaism. As I have stated in the past, Lerner, and his faithless kind, are liberals first, Jews second. Being a Torah-Jew requires devotion to the word of G-d and adherence to the 613 commandments. It does not mean you can pick and choose which ones work for you.

The truth is out there. Hamas has stated over and over again it's desire not to have peace with Israel, but to annihilate the Jewish State. They do not care for the lives of their people, which is obvious when you consider that they place their rockets in residential areas. And while they hide behind their children, the leaders run to Damascus.

Such courage! Even the Egyptians are fighting to keep these animals out of their country. There is a reason why the Palestinians are still refugees. No one wants them. Not the Arabs or the Egyptians. Since they want death t befall the Jews, why should Israel want to help them?

And yet, they have. They have opened their borders time and again to give them food and fuel. They have given them electricity because for all the money the Palestinians have been given (by Israel as well as the US and the rest of the world), they have yet to build a power plant. They have yet to build a factory - or at least one that doesn't manufacture weapons.

All they have created is death and destruction.

CNN wonders about the "innocent victims" in Gaza. Who exactly are they? The ones who voted for these animals? When they voted for Hamas, they knew exactly who they were voting for. They voted for Hamas because they hate Israel and the hate the Jews. They voted for Hamas because they felt the best way to successfully destroy the Jewish state was by voting for Hamas.

Once again, they failed and while mental-midgets, like Michael Lerner protest and call for restraint, what they are really calling is for Israel to lose and be destroyed.

To Hell with all of them.

And so ends another disappointing season for us fans of the Dallas Cowboys. I must say I am simply amazed at how miserably this team failed down the stretch, once again. While it seems that the local Dallas blogs have targeted Tony Romo for failing to take his team to the promised land, I believe that Romo is far from the reason for their failures.

What I noticed in this game is what I have noticed in many games this year. The team, while equipped with tremendous talent, looks ill-prepared to face their opponents. Last week, against the Baltimore Ravens, Romo even admitted that it took them a full three quarters before the offense recognized what the Ravens were doing. Well then, what the hell were they doing during the week to prepare for Baltimore, if not studying game film? The Ravens did nothing in that game that they hadn't done all year and after 15 games, you would think Dallas would hve better idea of what they were doing.

At no time leading up to the game did the Cowboys even appear to match the intensity and desire of the Philadelphia Eagles. Dallas came in knowing they needed to win. Philadelphia came in knowing they would. Ever since they lost that first game back in October (to the Redskins), Dallas has acted as if they could just show up and they would win. At no time did they ever play an entire game with the intensity and desire that many of their opponents have shown playing the Cowboys.

I do not buy into the theory that Terrell Owens, or Tony Romo, or even Pacman Jones cost this team the season. For one thing, if not for Romo, this team would be 6-10 at best. The three games played with Brad Johnson under center were offensive disasters.

What I noticed about this season is that there were three things that make me believe this was not going to be their year. I held my tongue in hopes I would be proven wrong, but it seems I was right after all. Number one, every pass that could have been intercepted by Dallas was either dropped, or just out of reach of the defense. In most seasons, a few of those passes would have found their way into the Cowboys hands. But it wasn't until game four before they had their first pick and they finished with a paltry 8 for the season.

Secondly, there were not only far too many penalties, but way, way too many penalties at the worst possible time. At lest once or twice a game, a boneheaded false-start or off-sides penalty would be called that would either give the other team a fresh set of downs on a third and long, or would kill an otherwise promising drive for the offense.

The third sign was the injuries. Unlike in recent years, this team suffered an unusual amount of debilitating injuries. In my lifetime I have never seen so many serious injuries happen to one team before. Not in Dallas, anyway. Throw in Pacman's suspension and it's a wonder they were able to field a team at all certain weeks.

Regardless, the truth is this team under-performed badly. After going 13-3 a year ago - and sending 13 players to last year's Pro-Bowl, great things were expected. In Dallas, it was "Super Bowl or Bust."

Well, they busted all right.

To me, and while I'm no expert - but I have been a committed fanatic for about 40 years - it all comes down to coaching. Wade Phillips lost his team today. They were unprepared and it showed. Last week, they failed when it counted the most. Today, they came out of the tunnel already defeated. As soon as things began to go against them, they folded like a cheap suit.

As I said a week ago, this team will not succeed with Wade Phillips as coach, regardless of what Jerry Jones wants us to believe. For Jones, it all comes down to money. He has to fill a new 100,000 seat stadium and he will not be able to by keeping the status quo. I know Jerry gave his coach the dreaded vote of confidence this past week. But I would be shocked if he did not make a change at the top. Jerry wants to win and he wants to fill those seats.

I do not foresee wholesale changes to the roster because he has too much money invested there. But this team needs a fire to be lit underneath it and Phillips is not remotely capable of the task.

This season is finally over. It's now up to Jerry to make sure next season has a chance.

10 Great Songs from One Great Year

1974

This year will forever be remembered for one thing, the resignation of President Richard Nixon. Musically, the year was noted for the abundant number of “story” songs that came out. Singer-songwriters were all the rage as well and it seemed that the Grammy Awards could not get enough of Stevie Wonder.

In sports, UCLA's college basketball team was finally defeated by none other than Notre Dame. The Bruins had won a record 88 straight games – spanning over 3 years. The Pittsburgh Steelers finally win a championship in just their 41 st year in the NFL. In baseball, Hank Aaron of the Atlanta Braves breaks Babe Ruth's home run record, by hitting his 715th career home run off Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Al Downing and The Cleveland Indians stage an ill-advised Ten Cent Beer Night for a game against the Texas Rangers at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Cleveland forfeits after alcohol-fueled mayhem and violence spreads from the stands onto the field. Also, millions tune into ABC's Wide World of Sports as Stuntman Evel Knievel fails in his attempt to rocket across the Snake River Canyon in Idaho .

Aside from Watergate, other stories in the news included the kidnapping and subsequenbt brainwashing of socialite (and heir to the Hearst fortune) Patty Heart, by members of the so-called Symbionese Liberation Army. In April, the largest series of tornadoes in history, hits 13 U.S. states and one Canadian province. By the time the last of 149 tornadoes hit early the following morning, 315 die and over 5,000 are injured.

Angie Baby - Helen Reddy

This was Reddy's third major hit, and one of the more memorable ones. It seems to be about this oddball girl who can't face reality and may be going insane, yet no one is certain what it's about, and Reddy herself refuses to comment, saying that she enjoys hearing other listeners' interpretations. This particularly applies to the end of the song, where this local boy makes the moves on Angie and vanishes.

Cat's In The Cradle - Harry Chapin

The lyrics to the verses of the song were originally written as a poem by Chapin's wife, Sandy, who is credited as the song's co-writer. The poem itself was inspired by the awkward relationship between Sandy Chapin's first husband, James Cashmore, and his father, a New York City politician. She was also inspired by a country song she heard on the radio. More than a year later, after the birth of his own son, Harry added the music and the chorus. Label executive David Geffen selected the song as a single, over Chapin's objections.

Lonely People – America

Following two hugely successful albums, America hit a wall when their single, “Muskrat Love” failed to hit the top 10. The album it came from, Hat Trick , while loved by the band's followers, also failed to generate any commercial success. So, in order to return top their hit making ways, the band enlisted the assistance af legendary Beatles producer George Martin. The first collaboration between them was the top 5 album Holiday , which included two top 5 singles, “Lonely People” and “Tin Man. ” “Lonely People” was written by Dan Peek, who was one of the 3 original members of band. Many of Peek's compositions show a very spiritual and searching side and "Lonely People," a call for the lonely and despairing to seek God, is one of those songs and easily his best-known. Peek left the band in 1977 to focus on his faith, and since leaving America, he has performed this song live with little doubt left in the chorus as to what he means, singing "Don't give up until you drink from the silver cup and give your heart to Jesus Christ." Since leaving America , Peek has enjoyed moderate success as a Christian-music artist as well as author of the book, “ An American Band – The America Story .”

Nothin' From Nothin' - Billy Preston

Preston started writing this one night in the dressing room of an Atlanta nightclub where he was performing. He wanted to write a song based on the saying, "Nothing from nothing leaves nothing.” Preston started off at the age of 10 playing keyboards for Gospel legend Mahalia Jackson. Later he joined Ray Charles touring band before recording with The Beatles on several of their tracks including "Get Back" and "Let It Be" (The Beatles considered him to be the 5th Beatle). He also played on a number of Sly & The Family Stone recordings. Preston went on to have a successful solo career with 5 Top-10 US hits. In 1997, he was sent to prison on drug charges. He died in 2006 at age 59.

Then Came You - Warwick & Spinners

Released during a time that Warwick 's chart fortunes were at an ebb after moving to Warner Bros. Records in the early-1970s, the Philadelphia soul single was a rare mid-1970s success for the singer. Sung as a duet with Bobby Smith and the Spinners, who were one of the most popular groups of the decade, the song became Warwick's first ever single to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and also became her highest-charting R&B record reaching number two on that chart. It was also the first number-one pop hit for the Spinners. "Then Came You" is tied with the record that preceded it at the top of the Billboard Hot 100, "Nothing From Nothing" by Billy Preston, for the biggest fall from number one in the history of the Hot 100. Both "Nothing From Nothing" and "Then Came You" spent only one week at number one and then dropped all the way to number 15 the week afterward.

You Haven't Done Nothin' - Stevie Wonder

Fulfillingness' First Finale is a landmark album by Stevie Wonder, released in 1974. It was the fourth of five consecutive albums widely hailed as his "classic period", along with Music of My Mind , Talking Book , Innervisions , and Songs in the Key of Life . Subsequent to the epic sweep and social consciousness of Innervisions , this set projected a reflective, decidedly somber tone. The musical arrangements used in several songs while masterful could be considered sparse in comparison to others among his 70s masterworks, evident especially in the bleak "They Won't Go When I Go" and understated "Creepin'". While largely a stripped down, more personal sounding record, Wonder had not completely foregone commentary on the world around him. This song is an angry acidic attack on US President Richard Nixon, who 2 weeks after the release of Fufillingness' First Finale resigned over the Watergate scandal and left the White House in disgrace. The doo wop backing vocals are by Stevie Wonder's Tamla labelmates The Jackson 5.

The Night Chicago Died - Paper Lace

This tells a story about notorious gangster Al Capone and his men having a shootout out with the police. The story was made up and was factually incorrect. For instance, there is no “east side of Chicago ” (that would be Lake Michigan ). However, many people considered tjhis a re-enatment of the famous St. Valentime's Day Massacre. It wasn't. Paper Lace's previous release was "Billy Don't Be A Hero." It topped the UK charts, but they had to watch as Bo Donaldson And The Heywood's cover version reach #1 in the US . This gave them a hit both sides of the Atlantic .

Side Show - Blue Magic

Blue Magic was formed in Philadelphia in 1972 when former member of The Delfonics, Randy Cain brought singer-songwriter Ted Mills in to do some writing with the Philly-based WMOT production company and a short time later, the group Shades of Love, featuring Keith Beaton, Richard Pratt, Vernon Sawyer and his brother Wendell, came in for an audition. According to Marc Taylor, in his book A Touch of Classic Soul of the Early 1970's , "although the group performed admirably, they lacked a standout lead singer and WMOT execs decided to put Mills with the Shades of Love and renamed the group Blue Magic. They were signed with Atco/Atlantic Records in the same year." Blue Magic were one of the earliest acts produced by Norman Harris, a Philadelphia records veteran. The group's harmonies were supported by the MFSB house band. The band has shared the stage with some of the greatest R&B performers in history, as well as sung background vocals for Alyson Williams and the Rolling Stones (in “ If You Really Want To Be My Friend” on the album It's Only Rock'n Roll ).

Rock The Boat - Hues Corporation

The Hues Corporation was a Los Angeles band formed in 1969. They were a black vocal group comprised of Hubert Ann Kelly, St. Clair Lee and Fleming Williams. Their name was a pun on billionaire Howard Hughes' corporation. This was arguably the first Disco song to hit #1 in the US . The instrumental hit "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)" also had a Disco sound and was released 3 months earlier. In an interview with Classicbands.com, Hues Corporation member St. Clair Lee "It was a song that you could do anything on. You could cuddle or you could get crazy if you wanted to. It was a love song without being a love song. But, it was a Disco hit and it happened because of the discos." After the success of "Rock the Boat" the Hues Corporation's other charted singles on the Billboard Hot 100 included "Rockin' Soul" (1974, #18), "Love Corporation" (1975, #62), and "I Caught Your Act" (1977, #92). Despite their initial success, the group was unable to duplicate the success of their earlier hits and disbanded in 1978. But with renewed interest in disco music throughout the 1990s, the group reunited for tour dates and special events, including the PBS special “ Get Down Tonight: The Disco Explosion .”

Billy, Don't Be A Hero - Bo Donaldson & Heywoods

This song is about a guy who goes off to war, and despite his fiancé's pleas to stay safe, volunteers for a dangerous mission and is killed. The girl receives a letter telling her that Billy died a hero, which is specifically what she asked him not to do. “Billy” sold more than 3 million copies and earned a gold record. Four more Top 40 singles followed for Bo Donaldson & The Heywoods: "Who Do You Think You Are," "The Heartbreak Kid," "House on Telegraph Hill" and "Our Last Song Together." This song was mentioned in Stephen King's book The Stand , in the TV shows Get A Life , ALF , and Friends , and was used in the movies Reservoir Dogs , To Gillian On Her 37th Birthday and Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert . Peter Callender and Mitch Murray wrote both this and "The Night Chicago Died." Among the other songs the duo wrote together were Vanity Fare's hit "Hitchin' a Ride" and Georgie Fame's UK chart-topper "The Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde .”

One of the best lines I've read in the blogosphere comes from my good friend Robert Avrech, at Seraphic Secret:

The West, sooner or later, must understand that in order to defeat those who claim that Islam is the solution, are, in effect saying: Islam is the Final Solution.

Here is the rest of this excellent post:

Christmas Message

The Persian Christmas message for suspected homosexuals.

This is what you get when the chattering classes, deeply steeped in Jew hatred, embrace multi-culturalism and moral relativity: an alternative Christmas message from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad , in, what a shock, Britain, where Jew-haters sing anti-Israeli Christmas Carols in Church.

But Dorothy Byrne, Channel 4's head of news and current affairs, defended the choice. "As the leader of one of the most powerful states in the Middle East, President Ahmadinejad’s views are enormously influential," she said. “As we approach a critical time in international relations, we are offering our viewers an insight into an alternative world view."

Okay, so what are some of the, ahem, alternative views of this influential world leader? Let's rewind:

1. Deny the Holocaust.

2. Promise a new Holocaust.

3. Finance and equip Hizbullah, a proxy army, to achieve #2.

4. Hang suspected homosexuals, adulterers, and natch, Zionist spies, in the public square.

5. Sieze British sailors and hold them hostage and make sure to display them on TV as tools of Islamic propaganda.

6. Hang Christians.

7. Murder 240 American Marines.

8. Eliminate and persecute members of the Baha’is.

9. Declare war on America.

10. Gradually, but ruthlessly eliminate the Persian-Jewish community.

Seraphic Secret has long maintained that the Western attempt to “understand” the views of Islamic Jew-haters bent on genocide is to legitimize such totalitarian views.

It is not a virtue to be tolerant of the intolerant. It is, in fact, suicide.

The Islamists are fighting a total war against the West: multiple wars of terror across the globe—anchored by the war against Israel's existence—and in the West, a propaganda/media war—aided by useful idiots—to undermine democratic institutions and values. Most dangerous, the Islamists are enabled by a dinosaur media, careerist intellectuals and politicians.

Here's what you need to understand: evil exists and it must be eradicated.

America and her allies recognized the evil of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan and both countries were bombed into nothingness.

The West, sooner or later, must understand that in order to defeat those who claim that Islam is the solution, are, in effect saying: Islam is the Final Solution.

The West will then have no alternative but to reduce the radical Islamic world to ashes. Because sometimes war is the answer.

A couple of weeks ago, someone I work with made a comment about how the right wing controls the media because FOX News was so popular. I laughed when he said it because unless you have been living under a rock for the past 40 years, you would know that the statement was ridiculous.

But because he is self-admitted liberal, he thrives on conspiracy theories and Rovian machinations of the right. He then went into a rage about how paranoid I am - and by extension all conservatives are - about what we believe (and know) are clear biases in the press against all things conservative.

His anger - and that is a generous term here - was bordering on irate. He went on to tell me that as a liberal, he defends the constitution (unlike us neanderthals on the right) and as far as he is concerned (remember, he is a tolerant liberal) "I hope each of you drop dead!"

Nice.

Anyway, I read in today's Wall Street Journal this little piece, which I thought confirmed my "paranoia":

Accountability Journalism
The Associated Press has announced the results of its annual editors poll on the top news stories. Three of the top 10 concern American politics:

1. U.S. ELECTION: Obama emerged from Election Night as a decisive victor and a symbol for the world of America's democratic promise. But he reached that point only after a grueling battle with Clinton for the Democratic nomination and then an often-nasty showdown with the McCain/Palin ticket in the run-up to the election. . . .

7. SARAH PALIN: Few Americans outside Alaska knew much about its governor when Republican John McCain picked her as his running mate. That changed rapidly. To her conservative admirers, she was a feisty, refreshing change from most politicians; to her critics, she was in over her head, and worthy of all the lampooning she endured. . . .

9. HILLARY CLINTON: She didn't win, but Clinton came closer than any other woman in U.S. history to becoming a major party's presidential nominee. Her determined primary campaign, waged vigorously even when it seemed a lost cause, inspired millions of women across the country--and helped persuade Obama to choose her as secretary of state.

We can't dispute the order, or the omission of--uh, what was his name again? Oh yeah, McCain.

But you've got to love the AP's editorializing. Obama is "a symbol for the world of America's democratic promise," and Mrs. Clinton "inspired millions of women across the country." But Palin, according to the AP, drew only "conservative admirers."

Meanwhile, we learn that in the view of Palin's critics, she was "worthy of all the lampooning she endured." That is no doubt true, but is it not also true of Obama and Mrs. Clinton, neither of whose critics the AP so much as acknowledges?

Indeed, didn't Obama and Mrs. Clinton themselves have a lot of harsh things to say about each other during the course of the year? Sure, they buried the hatchet in the interest of party unity. But since when is it the job of the Associated Press to promote party unity?

The mainstream media may well recapture their lost prestige, but it won't happen any time soon. The Internet has rendered this dinosaur obsolete and the once mighty press still has no idea what a mess they made of themselves.

The reason FOX News leads the others is because they are the most fair and balanced. Liberals and those who lean left like to vilify FOX as being on the right, but the reality is much different. Simply because it doesn't tow the media-elite, leftist protocol, they are branded "far-right."

After their shameful performance in 2008, the last people I would trust to "tell it like it is" is the mainstream media (aka: CBS/NBC/ABC/CNN).

Gee, I wonder how Chris Matthews' "tingle" is?

I found this at Vocal Minority, website dedicated to exposing liberal intolerance, hate, bias and anti-Semitism.

I honestly don't know just how Jewish (i.e., practicing) Bernard Goldberg is, but the CBS-correspondent-turned-whistleblower-of-major-network-media-bias is one of the most essential weapons in the arsenal against the liberal hoardes.

If you're not familiar with Goldberg's work, I highly recommend you start with his two books on media bias. The first, Bias, tracks his personal experiences at CBS and how he went from Dan Rather's longtime close friend to his arch enemy with one critical Wall Street Journal editorial. Goldberg's second book, called Arrogance, picks up where the first leaves off—with the media arrogantly denying the bias they possess. What makes Goldberg's works about liberal media bias particularly persuasive is that he himself has worked for decades in the trenches of the liberal media establishment. He has witnessed how they think, how they work, and how they live in a constant state of denial as to what they push.

And if those two books don't satiate your appetite, try his most recent book, Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right.

Today, Front Page Mag released the transcript of a speech Goldberg delivered after the presidential election at an event called Restoration Weekend. The main part of the fantastic presentation is provided here:

I want to begin by reading you a newspaper clipping. I thought it might apply to the subject at hand, so let me read it to you. This was in this morning's paper, just by coincidence.

It said, "Dear Ann, I have a problem. I have two brothers. One brother is in television news, and the other was put to death in the electric chair for murder. My mother died from insanity when I was three years old. My sisters are prostitutes, and my father sells narcotics to high school students. Recently, I met a girl who was just released from a reformatory, where she served time for smothering her seventh-grade teacher, and I want to marry her. My problem is if I marry this girl, should I tell her about my brother who's in television news?" You get the point.

Now, that letter at least has something to do with the subject at hand. This next one doesn't, but I've always wanted to tell it to a group, so here goes. I don't know if you've ever noticed that all the advice columns are written by women. There's a reason they don't let men write advice columns because there is one guy who does. His name is Robert. And here's the reason. This was a letter -- I read this in yesterday's paper. It's incredible, all this stuff.

It said, "Dear Robert, I hope you can help me here. The other day I set out for work, leaving my husband in the house watching the TV as usual. I hadn't gone more than a mile down the road when my engine conked out and the car shuttered to a halt. I walked back home to get my husband's help, and when I got home, I couldn't believe my eyes. He was in the bedroom with a neighbor lady making mad, passionate love to her. I'm 32, and my husband is 34, and we've been married for 12 years. When I confronted him, he broke down and admitted that he'd been having an affair for the past six months. I told him to stop or I would leave him. He was let go from his job six months ago, and he says he's been feeling increasingly depressed and worthless. I love him very much, but ever since I gave him the ultimatum, he has become increasingly distant. I don't feel I can get through to him anymore. Can you please help? Sincerely, Sheila."

And Robert writes back, "Dear Sheila, a car stalling after being driven a short distance can be caused by a variety of faults with the engine. Start by checking that there's no debris in the fuel line. If it's clear, check the Jubilee Clips, holding the vacuum pipes onto the inlet manifold. If none of these approaches solves the problem, it could be that the fuel pump itself is faulty, causing low-delivery pressure to the carburetor flow chamber. I hope this helps."

That's why men don’t write advice columns.

Now, David Horowitz asked me to speak today about bias in the news and how this bias manifested itself during the past campaign. So here's the short version. The media are hopelessly biased. Thank you. I hope you enjoy the rest of Restoration Weekend.

Okay, all right. Here's the slightly longer version.

The mainstream media, or the so-called mainstream media, is always going to have its thumb on the scale because it's always rooting for the Democrat over the Republican. But this year, it was different. This year, the media jumped the shark because this year, without any embarrassment, they embraced one of the candidates running for president. They took a politician – a politician from Chicago, no less – and deified him. They turned him into St. Barack.

This time around, they weren't content merely, merely, being a witness to history; this time, they felt that they had to make history because this time they had a noble cause – not just to elect a Democrat, not just to elect a liberal, but to elect the first black man in our nation's history.

I don't know that they feel just the same way. I don't know that they would've had all of that emotion if the first black man elected president of the United States were Michael Steele, for instance. When Michael Steele in 2006 lost the Senate race in Maryland, I don't remember one reporter talking about how history was thwarted. It's because Michael Steele, unlike Barack Obama, is a conservative. And as far as liberals in and out of the media are concerned, a black man who is a conservative isn't a black man; he's merely a conservative.

So, how did the media embrace "the one," as Oprah called him?

Well, there was the NBC news correspondent who, without any hint of embarrassment, said that it was tough to be objective while covering Barack Obama because he spoke so well.

There was the New York Times that ran a page one story during the campaign, suggesting that John McCain was having an affair with a Washington lobbyist, and they based this story on two unnamed former staffers who thought that "maybe, possibly, I'm not sure but I think he may have been involved with the woman" – and this made page one.

The New York Times published Barack Obama's op-ed on Iraq and told John McCain, a man who was running for president of the United States, that he had to rework his.

And then during the acceptance speech in Denver, the commentary was incredible. I mean people sounded as if they were thrilled just to be in the same city as Barack Obama.

David Gergen, whom some of my conservative friends call David Rodham Gergen, said that Obama didn't even deliver a speech that night. What he did was perform a symphony. He said – those were his exact words – "It was a symphony." He said, "It was slow at times. It was fast at times. It was intimate. It was a masterpiece." If you were sitting at home watching this kind of syrupy sweet commentary on television, you could get diabetes in your living room.

But all of this is small potatoes compared to the classic of all classics during the campaign, and that came from Chris Matthews, who – forgive me for telling you what you already know – that when he heard Barack Obama speak, he felt a thrill going up his leg. This is not political analysis. This is a man-crush.

A month earlier, after Barack Obama won the Iowa caucus, Chris Matthews went on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and said --and these are his exact words – "If you're actually in the room when Obama gives one of his speeches and you don't cry, you're not an American." I hope all of you right-wing bastards heard that, fascist pigs.

And before he was done with the Leno Show, Chris Matthews morphed from Mr. Hardball into Miss Winfrey, and he told Jay, "If you're in a room with Obama, you feel the Spirit moving." I don’t know about you, but if I’m in a room with Chris Matthews, even if he's only on the TV set babbling in the room, I feel something else moving: my lunch, moving from my stomach up my esophagus and out of my mouth.

The worst thing that MSNBC did was during its hard news coverage. During the day when Sarah Palin was being announced as John McCain's choice for vice president, they put up a graphic on the screen in capital letters that said, "How many houses does Palin add to the Republican ticket?" This wasn't on the Jon Stewart comedy news show. This wasn't on one of their lunatic primetime shows. This was during the day during their hard news coverage on what is supposed to be a real news network.

Jay Leno had the last laugh, though. He said that after the election, the Obama people were throwing a victory party at their headquarters, MSNBC.

There was so much other stuff, we'd be here for three years. But let me just tell you about one other thing.

There's a young man at CBS News who I'm sure you haven't heard of. His name is Jeff Glor, He's one of their rising stars. To the extent that anybody cares about anything that CBS does, he's one of the people in the future. He did a piece called "Five Things You Should Know About Barack Obama." You're going to think I’m making this up. When I read this, I thought the person who sent it to me was making it up, so I tracked it down. This is exactly what he said.

"In addition to enjoying basketball and cycling during downtime, Obama loves to play Scrabble. Obama's job as a teenager was at Baskin-Robbins, and to this day, he does not like ice cream. This is a man who plays to win. No matter what it is, whether it's the woman he wants to date or elected office or board games, there is an ambition there. There is a determination."

Folks, you can't make this crap up. Now, it isn't just what they said about Obama; it's also how hard the mainstream media worked to either ignore or, at best, downplay stories that might've hurt Obama.

Let’s take a few examples….

Do you think the media would've paid more attention if it were the National Rifle Association instead of ACORN that signed Mickey Mouse up to vote? That's a good question, I think.

Do you think the mainstream media would've shown more interest if it was John McCain and not Barack Obama who had a relationship, no matter how flimsy, with an unrepentant terrorist?

What if this unrepentant terrorist had bombed not the Capitol or the Pentagon but a black church or an abortion clinic no matter how many years ago it was?

What would the media say if on September 11, 2001, of all days, the New York Times ran a story in which this bomber said that his only regret was that he didn't do more? What do you think the media would say about all of that?

How would the media play the story if it had been John McCain and not Barack Obama who spent 20 years in a church with a right-wing bigot?

What if it was Sarah Palin and not John McCain, who before a cheering crowd of supporters, said that the answer to our economic problems is a simple three-letter word, jobs, and then went on to actually spell J-O-B-S?

Well, what do you think, as a very funny guy who looked like Joe Pesci said, what do you think the media would do if it was Sarah Palin and not Joe Biden who said that in 1929, Franklin Roosevelt got on television to reassure the American people when the stock market crashed even though FDR wasn't in office until 1933 and television wasn't introduced to the general public till 1939? How would the mainstream media have played that story? Do you think the might've portrayed Sarah Palin as a moron or worse, as a ticking time bomb? I think we all know the answer to that.

Part way through the campaign, speaking of Sarah Palin, right after she was announced, something very, very strange happened. A mental disorder spread through liberal America, including many American newsrooms. This disorder became known simply as PDS, Palin Derangement Syndrome. PDS was a lot like BDS, which was Bush Derangement Syndrome, in which liberals foam at the mouth at the mere mention of the name George Bush. Palin Derangement Syndrome was a lot like that.

A few examples of Palin Derangement Syndrome:

Mary Mitchell wrote in the Chicago Sun Times that Sarah Palin "makes me sick."

Maureen Dowd wrote in The New York Times that Palin was our "new Napoleon in bunny boots."

Wendy Doniger, a professor at the University of Chicago, wrote on the Washington Post's website, "Sarah Palin's greatest hypocrisy is in her pretense that she's a woman."

Juan Cole, a professor at the University of Michigan, wrote a piece for Salon, the online magazine, "What's the difference between Palin and a Muslim fundamentalist? Lipstick."

Also on Salon, somebody named Cintra Wilson managed to type these words as Palin Derangement Syndrome was eating away at her brain: "Sarah Palin has me and my friends wretching in our handbags. She's such a power-mad backwater beauty pageant casualty, it's easy to write her off and make fun of her, but in reality, I feel as horrified as a ghetto Jew watching the rise of National Socialism."

Now, you can Google it, as they say. The rise of Sarah Palin to PDS sufferers is akin to the rise of Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany?

Somebody, somebody, please, call Jerry Lewis. We need a telethon. We need to raise money to fight this terrible disease.

I have a theory as to why liberals in and out of the media hated this woman so much. What drives them nuts, especially liberal feminists, is that this white trash pro-gun, pro-life church-going woman who didn't go to Harvard, Yale, or Princeton was and remains the most prominent talked-about woman in the United States of America. They hate that. They hate that. It wasn't supposed to be that way. The most prominent woman was supposed to be one of them, a liberal feminist.

There are more reasons that they hate her. Liberals, again, in and out of the media, they look at this woman and they say, what kind of woman has five kids? What kind of woman actually has a baby with Down Syndrome? What kind of woman lets her daughter go through with the pregnancy? What kind of woman is this?

And there's one more reason that they hate her, and Dennis Miller mentioned this the other day. Women hated her more than men hated her. Women hated her because she seems to be happily married and she's not neurotic, unlike so many liberal feminist women.

You know, what I've learned over the years, and this, again, has to do with liberal reporters but liberals, in general, they not only don't understand middle Americans; they don't want to understand middle Americans. They think that anybody who eats at a Red Lobster is committing a crime against humanity; anybody who flies the flag on the Fourth of July is a hopeless hayseed; anybody who bowls is a square. This wasn't about Sarah Palin at all. This was about them. This was their real pathology that they have no use for regular Americans.

Now, a few points as I wrap up because I know you guys have other things to do.

A few years ago, I spoke about bias in the news to a class at the American University, and after I talked, every question that I got was from deep left field from the students in the class. And then the professor said something at the time I didn't find especially interesting, but I did much later.

He said, "But isn't it the role of the media to effect change in society?" "Isn't it the role of the media to effect change in society"? I said to him, "Your change or mine?"

And he went silent because this supposedly intelligent guy, it never occurred to him that change comes in more than one package. The only change he thought was worthy of affecting by the media was liberal change.

Now, I put that out of my mind the way you try to put a lot of bad things out of your mind, but it came rushing back to me during this campaign because it occurred to me that's exactly what the media is doing. They are trying to effect change in society, their change, not your change, I guarantee you that.

As corrupt as the media was this time around the media did not defeat John McCain; Republicans defeated John McCain. George Bush, who strikes me as an eminently decent man, was an albatross around John McCain's neck. He got this country into an immensely unpopular war, and whether the surge works or not in the long run, and we all hope it does, the American people will not tolerate a war that goes on this long. John McCain was with Bush on that. John McCain paid the price.

The Republicans in Congress cost John McCain the election. In 2000, when they controlled not only both houses of Congress but when Republicans also controlled the White House, that's when Republicans sold out their conservative principles. They spent money like Imelda Marcos in a shoe store. They were out of control. And what did our compassionate conservative president do? He didn't veto a single spending bill. He paid for that, and John McCain paid for that.

I don't want to perpetuate the civil war that is now going on in our ranks. Some people think Sarah Palin was a good choice; 91 percent of Republicans do. I'm not at all sure that if she, 100 percent of Republicans, she can get 51 percent of the vote. That is going to be up to all of you to decide as time goes on. Reasonable people on that score may disagree.

One final point, and I don't know why this bothers me as much as it does, but three days after the election, I heard two political journalistic heavy hitters, a fellow named Charlie Cook and another one named Stuart Rothenberg, on C-SPAN. They were at a seminar in Washington, and they both acknowledged that there was bias in the media during the campaign. They said, "Of course, there was bias in the media." And then Stuart Rothenberg said, "But it is what it is." And Charlie Cook jumped in and said, "Stu is right. It is what it is."

And this really troubled me in a way I couldn't put my finger on it, and then it hit me. What other kind of bias do intelligent, decent, reasonable people write off with, "It is what it is." Have decent people ever said, "You know, black people, they can't drink from that same water fountain as white people, but, hey, it is what it is." That's not how decent people talk, and that's why this problem is a problem because there are no people in mainstream journalism with the guts to stand up and say, "Maybe it is what it is today, but this can't go on any longer."

Well, I'd like to end on a more upbeat note. It has to do with something I read in the newspaper. It was one of those advice columns. This one was Dear Abby. I'm not making this up. I read this in the paper the day before yesterday. And then if there's time, I'd love to take questions.

It says, "Dear Abby, my husband is a liar and a cheat. He's cheated on me from the beginning, and when I confront him, he denies everything. What's worse, everyone knows that he cheats on me. It's so humiliating. Also, since he lost his job, all he does is cruise around and chew the fat with his buddies. He doesn't even pretend to like me and hints that I may be a lesbian. What should I do?" signed Clueless. And Abby responds, "Dear Clueless, grow up and dump him. Good grief, woman, you don't need him anymore. You're a United States Senator from New York. Act like one."

Question and Answer Session

Unidentified Audience Participant: It seems that in the past, a lot of the bias that happened was unknowing, or at least blissful ignorance, on their part. You know, they care about certain issues, and it just so happens they care about the same issues as Democrats do. They have this feeling they like someone, so they try to be fair. Someone else, "Well, he's mean, and if he says stupid things, we know he's stupid, so it's okay for us to print it." But they try, in some sense, to be objective. They'd like to think of themselves as objective. What happened? Because it seems that they went in the tank, and they have no qualms about it. There's no shame.

Bernie Goldberg: I have long argued, and I continue to argue, despite what some of my conservative friends think, there is no conspiracy. Katie Couric, Brian Williams, Charlie Gibson, and in my day, Dan Rather, Peter Jennings, and Tom Brokaw never came in the morning, went into a room, summoned their top lieutenants, pulled the shades, dimmed the lights, gave the secret handshake and the secret salute, and said, "How are we going to screw those conservatives today?" It never, ever happened that way. And you know what? I wish it did because that is so outrageous. That is so unacceptable that nobody would tolerate it for two seconds.

What happens in reality is worse. What happens is there are so many likeminded people in the newsroom, they not only think alike; it becomes a group-think kind of thing so that they see conservative views as being to the right of center, which they are, and they see liberal views as middle of the road. They don't even know what liberal views are because of this bubble that they live in.

What made it different this time – despite the fact that they wanted Michael Dukakis or Walter Mondale to win, it wasn't the same thing as this year because Walter Mondale was just another white guy and so was Michael Dukakis. This was different. They were on a mission. This was very important. Their cause, as I say, was noble, and they were going to do whatever they had to do to make this happen. And unlike in past years where they all denied their bias, you're right. The questioner was right. They acknowledge it. And you know why they acknowledge it in the end? Because they don't give a damn what any of you think. That’s why.

Unidentified Audience Participant: What I would like to know is there's such a contradiction here in the fact that the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times are almost spinning out of existence. Why is it that they had such a powerful effect on the election?

Bernie Goldberg: I don't know that they do have a powerful effect on – I don't think the media defeated John McCain. I think the media was as corrupt as the day is long, but I don’t think they defeated John McCain.

One of my friends in the room suggested maybe two or three points, but it wasn't enough to throw the election. I think people listen to this stuff.

A poll came out. It was a reputable poll. I think it was by Pew, the Pew Research Center, that said 90 percent of Republicans – the question was simply this – "Who do you think most reporters want to win the election?" and 90 percent of Republicans said they want Obama to win. But this is a statistic that should send chills running up the spine of any journalist with half a brain; 62 percent of Democrats and independents said the same thing. Now, if they don't have Republicans – we've already decided we don't trust them, but if 62 percent of Democrats don't trust them, that's a real problem because all they have, at least in theory, is their credibility. So I think they didn't put a thumb on the scale, but they put their big fat asses on the scale this time, and they wanted him to win, and they made no bones about it. But they didn't beat John McCain.

Unidentified Audience Participant: Two quick points. First of all, would you agree that the most important thing that the news bias shows up in is not how things are covered but which stories are covered?

That's number one. Number two, we all have our beef with the media. The Left has a different beef. They call the media the "corporate media," and they seem to think that the media reflects corporate interests and, therefore, they're never going to do anything except to make sure that GE is okay and everyone else.

Bernie Goldberg: Let me address that one. I've heard this a million times, and having worked at CBS News, which is part of a big corporation, for 28 years, this argument makes no sense at all for a couple of reasons. One, there's an assumption that the executives who run the companies that run the news divisions are conservatives. I don’t think that's true. Leslie Moonves at CBS plays golf with Bill Clinton. He's not a Republican. I don't know what Robert Eiger is at ABC. I do know that Jeff Zucker at NBC is no conservative – so the argument falls down there. But it also falls down because the corporate part of the company, whether it's Disney or Viacom or General Electric, they don't get involved in the news decisions. They just don't. You know, now, granted, the people at Disney don't have to send a memo to 20/20 to say don't do any stories about pedophiles at Disneyland. They know not to do stories about that. But on a daily basis, they just don't tell news people what to do. Jack Welch didn't even tell news people what to do, and he agrees with all of us.

Unidentified Audience Participant: History wouldn't indicate that journalists are going to self-correct, but I wonder if there's anything journalists like yourself on the right side could do to accelerate what's probably the historical response and the way human beings respond to not the president but the one, the messiah. Most messiahs don't come to a happy ending.

Bernie Goldberg: That's right.

Unidentified Audience Participant: And their mesmerized followers also don't come to a happy ending.

Bernie Goldberg: That's right.

Unidentified Audience Participant: And so I'm wondering what – how people like yourself could prepare the groundwork for the natural development of history.

Bernie Goldberg: It's a very perceptive point that most messiahs – it doesn't turn out the way they think it's going to turn out.

Frankly, I go on and comment on things that have already happened when I go on Fox, for instance. But I think there are going to be two reactions, two distinct and different reactions, if the Obama presidency goes south.

One group, the group that faithfully reads the New York Times and believes every word and lives on the Upper West Side of Manhattan and in Beverly Hills won't blame Barack Obama; they're going to blame George W. Bush; they're going to blame Halliburton; they're going to blame Bill O'Reilly; they're going to blame David Horowitz; they're going to blame everybody but the Obama administration.

The other group, the Middle American group, is going to look around and say, "What the hell is going on? Why didn't you tell us about any of this?" And, you know, I think it's very important that we have a mainstream media in this country, but when that happens, they will lose even more support, and at some point, David won't even want me up here taking about the media because it will be a waste of everybody's time, like who gives a damn what they think anymore.

Unidentified Audience Participant: Bernie, you said we were going to have to change the media's bias. Now, the TV channels depend on New York Times for the news.

How are you going to change the New York Times?

Bernie Goldberg: Let me be realistic here. I don't think anything's going to change. This is the only business I could think of that doesn't care what its customers think. I mean if they were selling shoes instead of news, they'd be out of business by now.

In Cronkite's last year, 1980, 75 percent of all the people with TV sets on during the dinner hour were watching one of the three network newscasts, 75 percent, three out of four Americans.

When Bias came out in December of 2001, it was down to 40 percent. Today, it's in the 30s. The New York Times is going to do whatever it wants to do, and the networks will continue to take their cues from the New York Times. If the New York Times went on strike tomorrow morning, Katie Couric wouldn't know what to put on the news tomorrow night. I mean that's how much influence the New York Times has. So, it isn't going to change. We just have to say, “Okay, I'm not going to say it is what it is because I’m not accepting it. I don't watch the CBS Evening News anymore.” At some point, at some point, there will be so few people watching it that the business guys are going to have to make a decision as to whether they want to leave it on the air or not. And check the stock of the New York Times. That's not doing so well, either.

Unidentified Audience Participant: Also, the Associated Press has a monopoly on the news.

Bernie Goldberg: Oh, yes. That's an interesting question. My first job, four days out of college was with the Associated Press. In those days, it was, "Just the facts, ma'am," kind of news organization. Now, they actually have a policy. It's not by accident. It's a policy that they want their reporters to inject what they call accountability journalism into pieces. Accountability journalism, in plain English, is opinion journalism. And I've read stories on the AP wire that are as biased as can be. Nobody would argue, but that's what they want.

So when the AP, which is 162-year-old organization, decides that objectivity is old hat, it's yesterday, it's not exciting enough, I'm telling you, there's not going to be much left of the mainstream media to throw over the side of the ship. They're doing it themselves.

But that's another point, if I could make it briefly. When they finally are so irrelevant that none of us really give a damn about them, you know who they're going to blame. They're going to blame all of us, that we somehow poisoned the well, that conservatives turned the public on them, but the final wound will be self-inflicted. They're doing it to themselves.

Unidentified Audience Participant: Could you comment on the media fairness doctrine, which has, to my knowledge, only been discussed on Fox? How can we, as private citizens, either combat this?

Bernie Goldberg: Well, as private citizens, what you have to do is get in touch with your representatives in Washington. But an interesting thing about the fairness doctrine, on Election Day -- everybody knows what the fairness doctrine is, right? It requires, under penalty of stiff fines and even loss of license, broadcasters to pretty much give equal time to liberal and conservative points of view, pretty much, not exactly but pretty much.

On Election Day, Charles Schumer, a very bright guy – got a perfect 1,600 on his SATs, you know, went to Harvard – was asked on Fox News on Election Day, "Do you think the government should be involved in dictating what content goes on a private enterprise like radio?"

And he said, "You know," – and he's talking about all of you, by the way – he said, "You know, the very people who want the government to step in and control pornography on the airwaves, these are the very same people that don't want the government to step in and demand fairness on the broadcast waves." And then he said, "And that's inconsistent."

I am never surprised when stupid people say stupid things, never. But this is a smart guy who said the most outrageous thing of the whole campaign, comparing conservative political speech to pornography. I mean he would say, "No, I didn't compare the speech to pornography; I just said that if the government has the right to control one, why doesn't it have the right to control the other?" And the answer is simple. Because a movie showing 19 people having sex on a dining room table is fundamentally different than people speaking about the most important social issues of the day. Chuck Schumer, Mr. Harvard, ought to know that, and his passion for consistency, where would that lead if we said, "Okay, fine, you guys win. Let's have a fairness doctrine," because a fairness doctrine applies to broadcasters, not just radio people.

You know when the three network anchors, ABC, NBC, and CBS, went over to Europe with Obama but they didn't go over with McCain, and he took three foreign trips, I don't think that's fair, do you? What are we going to do about that?

You know those polls that show there was overwhelmingly more negative coverage about McCain than Obama? Senator Schumer, do you think that's fair? Because I don't. You want a fairness doctrine to control the CBS Evening News or just Fox News because that, ultimately, is what this is about. It's not about consistency. It isn't even about fairness and balance. What it is about is crushing voices that we want to hear. That's what it's about.

Unidentified Audience Participant: Bernie, I'm wondering, you made the point that they don't give a damn what we think, and I live in Atlanta, and the AJC, for example, the local paper there, their circulation numbers are just plummeting like a rock.

What are the executives, even if they're conservative, what are they thinking?

Bernie Goldberg: I thought about this for a while, and then it's like a Sherlock Holmes thing. If it's nothing else, it must be whatever's left. There's only one thing that trumps money for these people, and it's ideology. I know it sounds simple, but that's the answer. They will go down with the ship, and I hope they do, by the way, before they change.

Unidentified Audience Participant: Thank you so much. I'm spooked by the news write-up a few weeks ago that the most skewed program, which I think on television is Olbermann, was the most lucrative. So I'm worried that the financial incentives are going toward pornography in journalism rather than toward more truth telling.Could you comment on that?

Bernie Goldberg: I spent my adult life in television, but I didn't run into Madame Curie there or Albert Einstein, you know? So what I'm saying is that if they could make money with a guy who tells the president of the United States to "shut the hell up" -- his exact words -- or questions whether the president of the United States is either "a pathological liar" -- his exact words -- or the idiot in chief -- they're going to do it, and they're not going to tell him to back off. If they tell him anything, it's going to be, "We checked the overnight ratings after you said the president was a pathological liar, idiot in chief." They went up a little because it's a niche market. It's everybody who hates Bush turned into MSNBC. They're going to continue to do it. That's a fact. They don't care.

Unidentified Audience Participant: But I really think we're doing a disservice to ourselves anytime we use the term "fairness doctrine" and don't couple it with "censorship doctrine." I think that because it's a matter of positioning and communication, I think it should be always, always, always, always labeled censorship doctrine, never fairness doctrine.

Bernie Goldberg: Listen, I have one favor to ask of all of you, and it's not what you think it's going to be. I am finishing up a book on how the media handled this particular campaign. I'm not asking you to go out and buy it when it comes out in January, although that would be very nice. My concern is that lots and lots of people know the arguments that I make in the book, so I ask you only one thing. Tell all your friends that a book is coming out very soon in January. It's about how this time it was different, and ask them to tell their friends. That's all I ask of you.

Thank you very much.

Well, it's the end of an era for me and every other Dallas Cowboys fan. I had hoped that this post would be written on a night where the Cowboys won, but unfortunately they fell short tonight. Actually, falling short is being kind. They failed miserably in a game that was vitally important for their post-season hopes.

This season has been a long, strange one for Dallas and perhaps it's fitting that the team that seemed to have so magic once it moved into Texas Stadium should falter so dramatically in the final years of this one-time sports mecca.

I have many wonderful memories of attending games here as a child. My first game to Texas Stadium was in 1971 where the Cowboys, led by the great Roger Staubach, beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 20-7. Just over a month later, I went to my first layoff game where the 'Boys defeated the 49ers 14-3, in the NFC Championship.

Over the next few years, I saw some amazing games and amazing players. Of course, the one that stands out the most for me was watching Clint Longley, AKA the Mad Bomber, throw a winning touchdown ass to Drew Pearson with second remaining to defeat the hated Washington Redskins, 24-23 in 1974. It was the only time I ever remember crying after a game. I can still hear my father's voice screaming with all the other 65,101 fans in the stadium that Thanksgiving Day.

My last trip to Texas Stadium was in 1989. While the Cowboys were headed for a dreadful 1-15 season, the game I attended (on Thanksgiving, again) turned out to be one they still talk about today. On that day, Philadelphia Eagles coach Buddy Ryan (allegedly) placed a bounty on quarterback Troy Aikman and kicker Luis Zendejas. Aikman was certainly harassed all day (he was sacked 11 times) and it was obvious that they went after the kicker, as he landed on his butt after being put there by Andre Waters, after the play had ended.

So with all these wonderful memories, I am deeply saddened by the woeful performance by my team tonight. Since this game had so much at stake, it was was odd that the whole atmosphere felt more like a pre-season game, than a playoff preview. The team - once again - took on the lack of emotion and fire of it's head coach, Wade Phillips. Aside for the last few minutes, at no time did it appear that Dallas had any intensity. Baltimore, on the other hand - a team also fighting for its layoff lives - acted like a team on mission. They showed that win or lose, they were not going down easy.

But Dallas played much the way they have all season. They made stupid penalties, they looked wholly out of sync and the play-calling was atrocious. On a number of occasions, I predicted what play they were going to run before they actually ran it. If I knew what they were going to do, it seems logical that the Ravens knew as well.

Considering how much "star power" the offense has, I am simply stunned that they have played as ineptly as they have. Is Terrell Owens not a great receiver? What about Jason Witten? Roy Williams? Tony Romo? As good as these layers supposedly are, as a team they are simply average at best.

So what makes great players into a great team?

Coaching, that's what. Before Wade Phillips was hired, Bill Parcells built this team. However, whether because he was tired, or maybe he no longer wanted to deal with Jerry Jones, he left the team. Jones then hired Phillips, much the way he hired Barry Switzer to replace Jimmy Johnson - because he needed someone who would let Jerry run the organization his way.

Well, Wade Phillips was that man. Unfortunately, he is not the right man for the job as coach of such a highly talented group of players. When you have such an array of talent, it's easy to just sit back and let them do their thing. However, the NFL is not the kind of place where you can show up and expect to succeed. I find that under Wade Phillips, this team has a sense of entitlement that not only is unearned, but it really unwelcome.

Now that they have lost tonight, they can still make the playoffs. However, it will require losses by either Atlanta or Tampa Bay tomorrow. If either of those teams lose, Dallas will still need to defeat the Eagles (in Philadelphia, no less) next week to get in.

But in reality, they aren't good enough to do anything in the playoffs, should they get in. A team that can lay such an egg in front of a national TV audience, on a night where they are saying goodbye to the stadium with the hole in the roof, where they knew they had to win, not only lost, but looked miserable doing it.

I will miss Texas Stadium and I will miss my memories of the many wonderful times I had there. I am just so disappointed for the city and the fans who had to witness this team and this final season. Tom Landry, Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Randy White, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Tex Schramm and all the rest who made this place what it was deserve better.

And they deserve better than Wade Phillips.

10 Great Songs from One Great Year

1985

When I think back to 1985, I'm reminded of three things – Miami Vice, New Coke and Live Aid. Sure, a lot of other things happened. But it just seems so secondary in my memory.

For me, this was the year I finally went out my own, moving from my parent's home in Dallas to my first apartment in Miami Beach . Of course, that brought with it a terrible case of peptic ulcers and a prescription-drug addiction (fun, fun, fun). But being in South Florida in '85 seemed to be the right place at the right time.

It was a bad year for air travel. TWA Flight 847, carrying 153 passengers from Athens to Rome , is hijacked by a Hezbollah fringe group. One passenger, U.S. Navy Petty Officer Robert Stethem, is killed. Following this tragedy, five commercial airliners crashed – four within a two-month span. The first one was Air India Flight 182, a Boeing 747, blows up 31,000 feet above the Atlantic Ocean , south of Ireland , killing all 329 aboard. The second was Delta #191 in Dallas ; the second was Japan Air #123, killing 520 people in that country (the worst aviation crash in history) and the third was Midwest #105, in Milwaukee . One month later, the cruise ship Achille Lauro is hijacked in the Mediterranean Sea by 4 heavily armed Palestinian terrorists. One passenger, American Leon Klinghoffer, is killed. Klinghoffer was chosen, of course, because he had the audacity to be Jewish. It didn't matter to the terroroids that he was wheelchair-bound. In November, EgyptAir Flight 648 is hijacked by Abu Nidal and his merry men, flown to Malta , where Egyptian commandos storm plane; and 60 are killed by gunfire and explosions. In December, Arrow Air Flight 1285, crashes after takeoff in Gander , Newfoundland , killing 256, 248 of whom were U.S. servicemen returning to Fort Campbell , Kentucky from overseeing a peacekeeping force in Sinai.

Later that month, Nidal's group – the Nidal group carried out a horrific attack simultaneously in the Rome (El-Al ticket center) and Vienna (TWA) airports, and opened fire with assault rifles and grenades. They killed 16 people and wounded 99 others before three of them were killed.

In entertainment news, Nintendo released the NES gaming system, Microsoft releases Windows 1.0 and Calvin and Hobbes debuted in the newspapers.

Vanz-Kant-Danz - John Fogerty

The closing track on Centerfield , this was originally titled "Zanz Kant Danz" to refer to Saul Zaentz, Fogerty's former boss at Fantasy Records, who famously tried to sue Fogerty for plagiarizing himself (specifically his Creedence Clearwater Revival material, to which Zaentz held the rights) in the song "The Old Man Down The Road" from the same album. The song is about an unnamed street dancer and his sidekick, a pig trained to pick people's pockets as they watch the dancer do his stuff. The pig, originally named Zanz as a dig at Saul Zaentz, "Can't dance, but he'll steal your money - watch him or he'll rob you blind." When Zaentz threatened Fogerty with yet another lawsuit, Fogerty changed the pig's name to Vanz. Another song from the Centerfield album, "Mr. Greed," is also thought to be a musical salvo by Fogerty in his long-running feud with Zaentz, which lasted until 2004 when Fantasy Records was bought out by Concord Records, who restored Fogerty's rights to his CCR material. The video for this was the first ever filmed entirely in "Claymation."

Smuggler's Blues – Glenn Frey

Frey played a bad guy on the TV show Miami Vice in 1985 in an episode based on this song. It was good timing for Frey, who wrote a song about drug smuggling at a time when Miami Vice was looking for ideas. Miami Vice had lots of musical connections. Singer Sheena Easton also acted on the show, and the show's stars, Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, both released albums (Johnson had a Top 10 hit with "Heartbeat"). One episode featured Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight.” Unfortunately, the album that this song was from, The Allnighter , further cemented Frey as more of a singles artist and not critically acclaimed as much s his former Eagles partner, Don Henley. Although The Allnighter produced this, as well as the top 20 hit “Sexy Girl,” Frey only charted 3 more hits (“The Heat is On,” from the Beverly Hills Cop Soundtrack, ”You Belong to the City” from the Miami Vice Soundtrack and “True Love,” from his follow up LP, Soul Searching ).

One Night In Bangkok - Murray Head

Chess was a musical that premiered in London 's West End . This song was written for the 1984 concept album, which was recorded well ahead of the production. The album was very successful considering it was for a musical. The album charted in the Top 10 in the UK , #47 in the US , and #1 in Sweden . Another song from the album, "I Know Him So Well," held the #1 spot in the UK for four weeks in February 1985, being deposed by "You Spin Me Right Round" by Dead or Alive. The Broadway production of Chess was heavily altered and unsuccessful. The song tells of the meeting of 2 great chess players, one Soviet and one American, in Bangkok , which is the capital of Thailand . Chess is a musical production that uses a US-USSR chess rivalry as a metaphor for the Cold War, but this song just contains double-entendres about the game of Chess compared to the Bangkok nightlife. The example often used is "I would invite you, but the queens we use would not excite you.” Along with the rest of the songs from Chess , the music was written by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA, and Tim Rice wrote the lyrics. Rice has written for many film and theatrical productions, including the song "Can You Feel The Love Tonight?" from The Lion King . Murray Head is an actor who has been in several movies and stage productions. He is barely out of the one-hit-wonder category because of his 1971 version of "Superstar" from the Jesus Christ Superstar production where he played Judas. It hit #14 in the US in 1971.

Valotte - Julian Lennon

Julian is John Lennon's first son. His mother is Cynthia Lennon, who John was married to before Yoko (they had a son named Sean). Julian sounds a lot like his dad and a lot of people were surprised to learn it was not a John Lennon song when they first heard it. He wrote this in 1983 at a French chateau called the Manor de Valotte. That's where he got the title. This was Julian's first single in the US and his second in the UK . He had another hit with "Much Too Late for Goodbyes,” which hit the top 10 in March of 1985. In keeping with the family legend, the album was recorded and mixed at The Hit Factory recording studio in New York City on the same console his father used to record the album Double Fantasy . Following the success of Valotte , Lennon has not been able to recapture his earlier chart accomplishments. Currently, he is in the process of releasing his first studio album in 10 years, Conscious .

Shout to the Top – The Style Council

The Style Council were an English group formed in 1983 by ex-The Jam singer and guitarist Paul Weller with keyboardist Mick Talbot. The permanent lineup grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller's then-wife, vocalist Dee C. Lee. Other artists such as Tracie Young and Tracey Thorn (Everything but the Girl) also collaborated with the group. Although never very popular with American audiences, they developed a large European fan base due to their strong diversity of musical styles. The song was tabbed by Geffen Records for the Soundtrack to the motion picture Vision Quest , starring Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino. While the movie panned, the soundtrack became one of the best selling albums or the year – featuring the chart-topper “Crazy for You” by Madonna and John Waite's “Change.”

Let's Talk About Me – Alan Parsons Project

After finally hitting it big in the early 80's with hits like “Time,” “Games People Play,” “Eye in the Sky” and “Don't Answer Me” (to name a few), Alan Parsons was nearing the end of his charting career. Long considered a “poor man's Pink Floyd” for his liberal use of synthesizers as well as his shunning live performances, Parsons thrived on getting the perfect sound and used many different singers to accomplish his goals. Originally, the album, Vulture Culture , was intended to be the second LP of a double album, with Ammonia Avenue being the first. "Sooner or Later" was recently described by Parsons himself as, "the third attempt to try and get another hit with the "Eye in the Sky"-esque chugging guitar line - "Prime Time" from Ammonia Avenue was the second, which I thought was a little more successful in that respect." The vocalist for “Let's Talk About Me” was David Paton, who was well-known for his work with Elton John in many of his studio albums. The video (shown here) is the first to show Parsons' (and partner Eric Woofson's) faces, although they are seen in comic form in the “Don't Answer Me” video.

Vox Humana – Kenny Loggins

Vox Humana is the fifth solo album released by singer Kenny Loggins and his first first album released after his involvement with the hit soundtrack to the motion picture Footloose , the year prior. Title is from a Latin phrase meaning "human voice." While the title track was the first song released as a single, it paled in commercial comparison to his follow up single, the top 5 hit “Forever.” Another song from the LP, “No Lookin' Back” was recorded as well by Michael McDonald (who co-wrote the song), who took the song to the top 5. Loggins and McDonald also co-wrote “What a Fool Believes”, which McDonald took to number one as a member of the Doobie Brothers in 1979. Regardless, it kept alive a remarkable streak for 11 consecutive top 40 singles for the singer/songwriter, dating back to 1970's “This Is It.” Even though Loggins continued to chart late in the decade, his later chart success was predominately from album soundtracks ( Top Gun, One Fine Day ). In 2005, Loggins reconnected with Jim Messina, with whom he began his career (Loggins and Messina ). The two decided to hit the road again; the result was a successful nationwide tour that resulted in the CD and DVD Loggins and Messina Sittin' In Again and he is currently working on a children's album for Disney, which would be his third for that genre.

There's No Way – Alabama

Alabama were the most commercially successful country act in the 1980s and remain one of the bestselling American musical acts of all time. The band is often credited with bringing country music groups (as opposed to solo vocalists) into the mainstream, paving the way for the success of today's top country groups. Since its foundation in 1972, Alabama has been composed of Randy Owen (lead vocals), Jeff Cook (guitar, fiddle, and background vocals), Teddy Gentry (bass guitar, background vocals) and Mark Herndon (drums). The band's blend of traditional country music and southern rock combined with elements of gospel music, and pop music gave it a crossover appeal that helped lead to their unprecedented success. The song is a love ballad, and an example of the pop-styled aspect of Alabama 's core musical style. When "There's No Way" reached No. 1 on the Billboard magazine Hot Country Singles chart in May 1985, it became Alabama's 16th straight No. 1 single in as many single releases (excepting for the 1982 Christmas single "Christmas in Dixie"). The feat allowed Alabama to tie Sonny James' 14-year-old record for most No. 1 songs in as many consecutive single releases. In addition, the album which spawned the song, 40-Hour Week , was their biggest selling studio album. In their live shows, Alabama often made a point of recognizing the men and women in America 's Armed Forces. They have volunteered to visit injured soldiers at military hospitals, and have participated in the "Laying of the Wreath" ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery . For their efforts, they have been awarded the USO Rising Star Award and the Pentagon 9/11 Medallion. Owen, and his wife Kelly Owen, were the primary benefactors for the construction of the Kelly Owen Women's and Children's Pavilion at DeKalb Regional Medical Center in Fort Payne, which was at the time a charitably-operated hospital of Baptist Health System of Alabama

Why Can't I Have You – The Cars

"Why Can't I Have You" was the 5 th and final single on The Cars' hugely successful Heartbeat City album. Two of the songs (”You Might Think” and “Drive”) went top 10, while two others (“Magic” and “Hello Again”) went top 20. This song “only managed top 30 status, but probably because of the band's saturation on MTV's heavy rotation. It is exceedingly unlikely that anyone who watched MTV in the mid-to-late 1980s didn't see a Cars video from Heartbeat City . The song "Stranger Eyes" was used in the theatrical trailer of the 1986 film Top Gun , but it never made it into the soundtrack. Only one song from the album featured another singer, and not Ric Ocasek. “Drive” was sung by guitarist Benjamin Orr and the video featured a troubled young woman (portrayed by model Paulina Porizkova, whom Ocasek would soon marry). For more on The Cars, go here .

Shame – the Motels

The first incarnation of The Motels formed in Berkeley , California , in 1971. Lisa Brenneis (bass) coaxed Dean Chamberlain (lead guitar), Chuck Wada (rhythm guitar) and Martha Davis (vocals, guitar) into forming a band (then called The Warfield Foxes ). However, after recording a demo for Warner Brothers, which was turned down, they were offered a contract with Capitol Records. The band declined Capitol's offer and disbanded in 1977, citing musical differences amongst themselves. In March 1978, Davis and future lead guitarist Jeff Jourard (formerly of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) decided to reform The Motels and by 1982, the bnd finally hit it big with their single “Only the Lonely,” thanks to heavy airplay on MTV. The next year, the band returned to the charts thanks to the single “Suddenly Last Summer.” In addition, they recorder two songs for soundtracks, "Long Day" was recorded for Moscow on the Hudson and "In the Jungle" was recorded for the movie Teachers . In late 1984 Capitol Records brought in producer Richie Zito to help maintain the band's commercialism. It took well over a year but with the finishing touches done at Giorgio Moroder's hi-tech studio in the San Fernando Valley, the group released their sixth album, Shock , in September 1985. The first single, "Shame," reached #21 on the U.S. pop charts and #10 on the U.S. rock charts. From early 1986 to February 1987 The Motels worked on songs for a 7th album. It was not to be. Citing that the group was broke, on February 13, 1987 , Martha Davis took each member in turn to a local bar to say she had decided to dissolve the band and go solo. Now in the band's third incarnation, Davis and the new Motels released an independent CD titled So the Story Goes , in 2005.

Bonus Track

We Are the World – USA for Africa

Following the completion of the American Music Awards show, Michael Jackson, Lionel Ritchie and Quincy Jones brought in the top American (mostly) performers to join in super-group recording of a song to benefit hunger relieve in Africa. The original idea was a brainchild of Bob Geldof, whom a year prior had created the Band Aid project, which featured the song “Do They Know it's Christmas Time?” This project began as an idea Calypso singer Harry Belafonte had for a benefit concert featuring black musicians. Lionel Richie's manager, Ken Kragen, liked the idea of releasing a single and contacted Richie about the project, who agreed to help. The stars who sang solos were, in order, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Paul Simon, Kenny Rogers, James Ingram, Tina Turner, Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Dionne Warwick, Willie Nelson, Al Jurreau, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Logins, Steve Perry, Daryl Hall, Michael Jackson (again), Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, and Kim Carnes. Bob Dylan and Ray Charles ad-libbed some vocals that made it on. Singers in the chorus who did not get solos include Belafonte, Bette Midler, Smokey Robinson, The Pointer Sisters, LaToya Jackson, Billy Joel, Bob Geldof, Sheila E., and Waylon Jennings. Dan Aykroyd was in the chorus. He was a singer in the fictional band The Blues Brothers, but was invited to represent the movie industry. Billy Joel (from Rolling Stone magazine, December 15, 2005 ): "Most of us who were there didn't like the song, but nobody would say so. I think Cyndi Lauper leaned over to me and said, 'It sounds like a Pepsi commercial.' And I didn't disagree.” As the music world came together in the spirit of giving, Bob Geldof organized Live Aid later that year. Live Aid was a benefit concert held simultaneously in Philadelphia and London . At the Philadelphia concert, Lionel Richie came out and led a performance of this as the last song of the show.