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Burt Prelutsky (Dec 29, 2008)
Today, while making my way through a supermarket parking lot, I nearly got clipped when I didn’t hear a car backing out from its space. I assume it was one of those silent... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Dec 26, 2008)
Once upon a time, Santa Claus was a very popular figure around this time of year. Edmund Gwenn even won an Oscar for portraying him in a movie. But along the way, it was... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Dec 22, 2008)
Just when you think the folks on the left can't get any goofier, they go
and surpass themselves. If silliness were an Olympic event, these lunkheads
could be... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Dec 19, 2008)
If I had a bigger ego, I could easily imagine that liberals say and do the things they say and do simply to perplex or annoy me. But I know I shouldn’t take it... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Dec 15, 2008)
I think I understand the reason why so many politicians are reluctant to take a
tough stand against the illegal aliens pouring in from Mexico. It’s partly pandering for... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Dec 12, 2008)
The other day, I read a letter to the editor in the L.A. Times written by an irate homosexual. Come to think of it, is there any other kind? In any case, he was quite... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Dec 08, 2008)
Isn't it odd how commonplace it is to have laws dictating a minimum age for drinking, driving and getting married, but not for selecting a career? How is it that teenagers... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Dec 05, 2008)
Whenever I refer to liberals in print as pinheads, chowderheads, morons and flakes, I can always count on angry responses. Invariably, they will accuse me of stooping to... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Dec 01, 2008)
I admit I am not an economist. The truth is, I have trouble balancing my checkbook. Having said that, I can’t figure out how we can compete in a global economy. When China... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Nov 28, 2008)
The problem with being a logical human being is that every day, sometimes every hour, you get blind-sided like a quarterback cursed with an underachieving offensive... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Nov 24, 2008)
I was about 11 years old when I first fell love with a public library. Up until then, I had certainly been aware that they existed, even apart from the small one at my... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Nov 21, 2008)
I have no way of knowing whether the Republican party will go the way of the Whigs, the Bull Moose and the dodo bird. But perhaps it should. After all, when they held... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Nov 17, 2008)
Some people are convinced that a compassionate conservative is an
oxymoron. But, I know better. I'm not suggesting I am one, but I do know a
few. They're the... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Nov 14, 2008)
It’s been a while now since the election took place, but it’s still not easy for me to come to grips with it. Strangely enough, I slept okay the night I learned that Barack... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Nov 10, 2008)
Quite recently, it struck me that it’s not that the MSM has done everything in its considerable power to spin, deny or conceal, all the unpleasant truths about ACORN, Rev.... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Nov 07, 2008)
By this time, I don’t think it will shock anyone if I come right out and admit that I’m not a bleeding heart. When I read about a lava flow or an earthquake taking 500... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Nov 03, 2008)
On the eve of the presidential election, I have a few last thoughts I’d like to share. First off, I keep hearing people say they don’t know Barack Obama. Oddly enough, I... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Oct 31, 2008)
The criminal louts at ACORN must be as confused as I am. At the same time that the FBI is busy trying to put the organization out of business, the Supreme Court decides it’s... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Oct 27, 2008)
When it comes to books and movies, I am a big fan of mysteries. For one thing, I like the use of logic, perseverance and moral clarity, to come up with solutions. There is... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Oct 24, 2008)
I have a confession to make. I hate scary movies. It’s not an aesthetic judgment. It has nothing to do with the fact that the writing and acting tend to be awful. It’s... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Oct 20, 2008)
With the possible exception of who should be the next American Idol, there is probably no question that divides Americans more than abortion. It not only divides liberals... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Oct 17, 2008)
I don’t know how many of you are old enough to remember “To Tell the Truth,” a TV game show on which three contestants tried to convince a panel that each of them was the... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Oct 10, 2008)
As you may have noticed, left-wingers really hate to lose. That’s why, even eight years after the fact, they are still wringing their hands over the 2000 presidential... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Oct 06, 2008)
As you may have guessed, I don’t personally know the Republican candidate for president. I’ve never met him and I expect I never will. I’m sure that if I’d been in a... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Oct 03, 2008)
I didn’t think McCain did badly in the first debate, but I thought he could have done better. For instance, the idea that Obama or any Democrat could be trusted to handle... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Sep 29, 2008)
Dear Danny: I am writing to say I think you should re-consider your decision not to join your junior high school’s chess club. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Sep 26, 2008)
It occurred to me the other day that in spite of a bad back and his marriage vows, JFK chased everything in skirts; that Gary Hart allowed his libido to sink his political... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Sep 22, 2008)
When Senator Jesse Helms passed away, I wrote a piece in which I praised the man. Because he was a controversial figure, I assumed I would be hearing from some of the folks... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Sep 19, 2008)
Sometimes I think I may be developing ulcers, and it has nothing to do with the way that the New York Yankees are performing this year or with eating spicy food. It has... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Sep 15, 2008)
Oscar Wilde once described a cynic as a man who knew the price of everything and the value of nothing. It makes me wonder, were he alive today, if he would characterize us... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Sep 12, 2008)
Frankly, I’m amazed that the Democratic party is anything more than a cult. How in the world do they garner more votes than the Libertarians or the Greens? They are... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Sep 08, 2008)
If at times, it is not easy to determine what a liberal is, it’s because during presidential election campaigns, politicians who have been voting like liberals, talking like... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Sep 05, 2008)
I’ll be the first to admit that I think Barack Obama made the perfect choice when he selected Sen. Biden to be his running mate. But, then, why wouldn’t I? After all, I’m... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Sep 01, 2008)
I didn’t want to spoil the Olympic Games for the rest of you, but now that they’re over and done with, I’d just like to say that I’ve always disliked them and wish that... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Aug 29, 2008)
I have no idea who decided that liberal states would be called blue and conservative states would be red, but I suspect it was a left-winger because it makes absolutely no... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Aug 25, 2008)
I must confess that I am spending an awful lot of time thinking about Barack Obama. I hasten to add that it’s not, as is the case with Chris Matthews, because the senator... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Aug 22, 2008)
As a rule, I’m an easy-going guy. Hardly anything gets my goat, ruffles my
feathers or raises even a single hackle. I always try to put myself in the other fellow’s... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Aug 18, 2008)
I must confess that I am spending an awful lot of time thinking about Barack Obama. I hasten to add that it’s not, as is the case with Chris Matthews, because the Senator... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Aug 15, 2008)
A few weeks ago, I was listening to a radio talk show when a black man called in to take Barack Obama to task for suggesting that black men were sloughing off their... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Aug 11, 2008)
For my latest book, “The Secret of Their Success,” I interviewed 78 notable people, including the likes of Gerald Ford, Billy Wilder, Ginger Rogers, Steve Allen, Art... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Aug 08, 2008)
There was a time not all that long ago when most of us agreed about what constituted good and evil. But that time, I’m afraid, has come and gone and is now as passé as five... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Aug 04, 2008)
Although I very much regret that I never had the chance to meet Jesse Helms, we did have what you might call a peripheral connection. The first took place nearly 20 years... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Aug 01, 2008)
It amazes me that Barack Obama continues to score points for having opposed the war in Iraq. But, considering how much the left-wing media adores this guy -- and let us... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Jul 28, 2008)
Because December 7, 1941, was when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, FDR quite aptly called it a day that would live in infamy. For Israel, July 15, 2008, is just such a... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jul 25, 2008)
Having been born in Chicago and raised in L.A., taking a short cut through an alley or across a vacant lot has always been my idea of hiking. And although I saw in “The... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jul 23, 2008)
Because there is so much about Barack Obama that I find personally offensive -- things ranging from his friends and religious mentors to his obvious arrogance and his wife --... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Jul 07, 2008)
There are new studies and new polls that strongly suggest that we are breeding increasingly stupid kids here in America. Like our tasteless tomatoes, they merely look good... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jul 04, 2008)
There are good lies and there are bad lies, and not just on a golf course. Good lies are those that make me laugh. For instance, the NBA recently held its pre-draft camp... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Jun 30, 2008)
As you may have noticed, the California Supreme Court recently decided by a 4-3 margin to green light same-sex marriages. In doing so, they over-turned a ballot measure... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Jun 27, 2008)
Timing, as they say, is everything, and not just for baseball players trying to hit a 95-mph fastball. For example, if Hitler had come along 70 years later than he did, I... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jun 23, 2008)
Seeing how thrilled so many of my fellow Americans are that a black man -- even a half-black man -- is going to be on the presidential ballot in November I can’t help... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jun 20, 2008)
With the November election more or less around the corner, we are coming up on one of those traditions that should be stuck away in a kitchen drawer where we all keep pieces... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jun 16, 2008)
There are, as I see it, two kinds of people. There are those who love to travel, people who would sooner let their drivers licenses lapse than their passports, and then... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Jun 13, 2008)
It seems to me that when it comes to foreign policy, the U.S. has two separate problems. To begin with, there are those two billion foreigners in places like China, Russia,... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jun 09, 2008)
Sometimes, I swear, when I see what our tax dollars get us in Congress, I feel like asking for my money back. But, other times, I find myself thinking that the laughs those... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Jun 06, 2008)
I must confess I got a chuckle out of Barack Obama’s warning us all to lay off his wife. Sorry, pal, but it’s too late in the game for that. If you didn’t want her to be a... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Jun 02, 2008)
I often find myself wondering how seemingly normal people ever wind up being criminal defense attorneys. When even Harvard law professor and one-time member of O.J.... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (May 30, 2008)
Recently, President Bush made a few derogatory remarks about appeasers while addressing Israel’s governing body, the Knesset. Over there, his comments earned him a nice... more
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Burt Prelutsky (May 26, 2008)
It’s an odd thing about the way in which the two genders deal with their sexual experiences. Early on, it’s most often males who do all the bragging, even if they have to... more
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Burt Prelutsky (May 23, 2008)
One of the worst things about finding ourselves in the midst of a presidential race is that it distracts us from baseball. Perhaps if I lived in Boston or New York, I could... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (May 19, 2008)
Barack Obama insisted that he was going to be the post-racial presidential candidate, the man who was going to bring us all together and make us forget our racial... more
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Burt Prelutsky (May 16, 2008)
Ivy certainly looks nice, but you wouldn’t want to stroll through it. Here in Southern California, it’s common knowledge that most of our rodents hang out in the stuff. If... more
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Burt Prelutsky (May 12, 2008)
If I am asked one question by my readers far more frequently than any other, it’s why do so many American Jews insist on aligning themselves with the far left. Believe... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (May 09, 2008)
In case you missed it, John Murtha said John McCain is too old to be president. Of all the lines I’ve heard during this political season, that’s the one I enjoyed the most. ... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (May 05, 2008)
For several years, I have marveled at the arrogance that Hollywood has displayed towards its customers. Or, perhaps, I should say potential customers or even ex-customers. ... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (May 02, 2008)
Because California, and Hollywood in particular, have been the punch line for so many jokes over the years, I suspect that people who don’t live out here assume we can’t... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Apr 28, 2008)
What makes liberals so endlessly fascinating isn’t just that they manage with a consistency that verges on the miraculous to be wrong on every important issue, but the... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Apr 25, 2008)
When I was very young, I felt that anyone who wasn’t a cynic was a naïve bumpkin. The young, after all, tend to be impatient with their elders, and I was certainly no... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Apr 21, 2008)
Even though I’m embarrassed to have been a Democrat for so many years, I’m proud that even in my 20’s, I thought the 60’s was the worst decade in America’s history.
Because... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Apr 18, 2008)
Often, people are surprised to learn that I much prefer reading fiction to non-fiction. The main reason is that those who write fiction tend to be people who write for a... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Apr 14, 2008)
When I tell liberals that I can’t figure them out, they tend to assume I’m owning up to my own intellectual shortcomings. They figure their thinking is so profound that... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Apr 11, 2008)
Living in L.A., I sometimes think I spend less time sleeping than tied up in traffic. In order that the time spent idling on the freeway shouldn’t be a total loss, I... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Apr 07, 2008)
A while back, I wrote an article in which I pointed out that for over 20 years Barack Obama has attended Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ, whose minister, as we all... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Apr 04, 2008)
Barack Obama gave a speech that his disciples compared favorably to the Gettysburg Address and the Sermon on the Mount, but which I thought came a lot closer to Richard... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Mar 31, 2008)
There are major differences between liberals and conservatives, and that’s why I never know what people such as Barack Obama are talking about when they speak of bringing us... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Mar 28, 2008)
Some mornings I wake up and, for a minute or two, I think that I must have been dreaming that there are conservatives who hate John McCain so much that, come November, they... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Mar 24, 2008)
One man’s tragedy is another man’s farce. But, then, I always thought that W. Somerset’s Maugham’s “Rain” would have played far better as a comedy than as an overwrought... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Mar 21, 2008)
A while back, I admitted that John McCain was not among my three favorite candidates for the Republican nomination. But I went on to say that if he emerged as the standard... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Mar 17, 2008)
Now that a certain amount of time has elapsed, I am prepared to look back on the Academy Awards calmly and rationally. At the time they took place, I was simply too giddy. ... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Mar 14, 2008)
Growing up, as I did, in the home of Russian Jewish immigrants, it figures that I’d start out thinking that, by all rights, FDR belonged on Mount Rushmore. But, all these... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Mar 11, 2008)
It was many years ago that I discovered that I liked the smell of skunks. I hasten to explain that I’ve never been doused by the animal, never had to burn my clothes or... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Mar 07, 2008)
Most 12-step programs start out by requiring that people have to understand that they’re powerless over their addiction and that only by turning their lives over to a Power... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Mar 04, 2008)
If it weren’t for the fact that some upstanding conservatives such as Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter had been so outspoken about their antipathy to John McCain, I would have... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Feb 29, 2008)
At times, you find yourself thinking that nothing ever changes, and then, one day,
you look around and you feel like Rip Van Winkle. Over night, it seems, the whole... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Feb 25, 2008)
After pondering the chasm that exists between liberals and conservatives, I’ve concluded that the differences must be determined by something as basic as their DNA. Just as... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Feb 22, 2008)
For a long time, there has been a controversy brewing in America over whether or not to make English our official language. The arguments in favor seem overwhelmingly... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Feb 18, 2008)
A few years ago, I re-connected with a guy I hadn’t seen in about 50 years. We’d been friends in junior high, but once my family moved, Gary and I wound up attending... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Feb 15, 2008)
Recently, I hosted a book-signing here in Los Angeles. If you’ve never had the experience, my advice is that you not press your luck. For openers, there’s the matter of... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Feb 11, 2008)
Some people simply have an affinity for groups. They are those who like attending meetings and serving on committees. They enjoy being addressed as “Ladies and... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Feb 08, 2008)
Admittedly, it’s a little late to make resolutions for 2008, but seeing as I only make them for other people, I don’t think the same time constraints are in order. So,... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Feb 04, 2008)
If he had thrown his hat in the ring, my first choice for president would have been Newt Gingrich, probably the smartest guy in politics. I still hope that whoever gets... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Feb 01, 2008)
I have a confession to make. On many occasions, I have been one of those people who have ridiculed people for no other reason than that they’ve been lawyers. I have... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jan 28, 2008)
Some years ago, I was a movie reviewer. I started out at UCLA, reviewing for the Daily Bruin, and then moved on to be the first critic for Los Angeles magazine. All told,... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jan 25, 2008)
With so many Hollywood celebrities jumping on the various presidential bandwagons, it becomes increasingly difficult to tell where politics leaves off and show business... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jan 21, 2008)
Recently, I heard from a guy who claimed that squirrel tasted just like chicken. Some days, I swear, I get the idea that everything’s supposed to taste like chicken. But... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jan 18, 2008)
Some years ago, I was a movie reviewer. I started out at UCLA, reviewing for the Daily Bruin, and then moved on to be the first critic for Los Angeles magazine. All... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jan 14, 2008)
One of the obvious differences between Democrats and Republicans is the role that religion plays in their presidential campaigns. For instance, every Democrat, while... more
By
Burt Prelutsky (Jan 11, 2008)
Sometimes I get the idea that America’s MSM is nothing more than an off-shoot of Al Jazeera, a well-oiled propaganda machine for all things Islamic.
For instance, we’ve... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Jan 07, 2008)
Sometimes we become so accustomed to the way things are, we fail to notice how peculiar they happen to be. And for once, I’m not just referring to Clinton, Obama and... more
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Burt Prelutsky (Jan 04, 2008)
There are any number of things that don’t seem to bother the rest of you that manage to keep me awake nights. One of these is the Olympics. Why, I find myself wondering,... more