The John Batchelor Show

Monday 10 August 2015

Air Date: 
August 10, 2015

Photo, left: 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, The Great Voice of the Great Lakes; and author, Liberty Risen, in re:
Hour One
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 1, Block A: Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor; Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD, in re:
US drone strike targets Haqqani Network in North Waziristan Five suspected jihadists were killed in the strike, which took place in the al Qaeda and Taliban haven of Datta Khel.   
Suspected jihadists attack hotel in central Mali No group has yet claimed the assault, though attacking hotels frequented by foreigners is a common tactic of jihadists.
Jaysh al Fateh coalition continues to battle Syrian regime forces in important plain  The Jaysh al Fateh alliance claims to have captured several villages in the Al Ghab plain in recent days.
3 al Qaeda branches issue joint eulogy for Mullah Omar  The Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, and al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb commemorate Mullah Omar's jihadist career in a joint statement. The al Qaeda branches highlight Omar's decision to harbor Osama bin Laden, even as the international community demanded that the Taliban turn him over.
Islamic State in the Sinai threatens to kill Croatian hostage  The video is just the latest ultimatum given by the Islamic State in which the jihadists threaten to kill a foreign hostage if their demands are not met.
Taliban touts camp in Paktia province  The "Training Camp Shaheed Ustaz Aasim in the Lions Den" is said to be in the Zurmat district in the eastern Afghan province. The district is a known bastion of the Haqqani Network and has hosted al Qaeda fighters in the past.
There exists no further Syrian state, only warlords.   Major powers have been unable to intervene and stop the crisis.
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 1, Block B: Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor; Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD, in re: al Q defeat the North American interference n Syria as well as beat back ISIS.  Everything between Damascus and Idlib province is in play.  AlQ/alQ:  Khorasan group. It's rebranded itself as The Army of Conquest, Ja'ish al Fatah, a swiftly-growing entity. Frequent rebranding in order to keep bringing in more money from Gulf donors. Ja'ish al Fatah in the field: playing the number-one role; when it falls back, who falls in the gap are groups whom alQ trusts.   Even the late bin Laden said, "Hide your affiliation with al Q for income purposes." ISIS has got a lo of foreign fighter who've come to Syria to fight; but by no means all. Ja'ish al Fatah created al Muhajiroun – the Immigrants – in which to fold the arrives; competes with ISIS for blow-up-self jihadis.
Kabul Attack Network used to be headed by Haqqani Network – Taliban, Lashkar-i-Taiba, al Qaeda – pooled to conduct attacks.  Attacks in North Waziristan: US is going on to defend Kabul by decapitating Haqqani Network.  (2 of 2)
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 1, Block C:  Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re: BEIJING: Chinese authorities ordered a state broadcaster to punish a popular TV celebrity for insulting Communist Party founder Mao Zedong at a private dinner, state media reported.  Bi Fujian was a talent show host on China Central Television when a video circulated in April showing him mocking Mao in comments interspersed in a song. He publicly apologized and was suspended. 
China Discipline Inspection Daily, a newspaper under the party's anti-graft watchdog, said on Sunday that discipline inspectors at the broadcasting watchdog had found that Bi had violated "political discipline" in harming Mao's image.  The report said the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television had ordered CCTV to deal with the matter "severely" and to educate people within the broadcasting system. 
CCTV didn't immediately comment. Calls to the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television rang unanswered on Monday.  In the video subsequently removed by censors, Bi sang a revolutionary song and added his own commentary about Mao between lines, using a vulgar Chinese insult that includes a reference to female genitals, and saying, "He has ruined us all."  Even though some of Mao's policies have been officially critiqued, the ruling Communist Party can hardly renounce him because it has built much of its legitimacy upon the imagery . . .
Alibaba. The Chinese Communist Party wants all the fruits of a free market without allowing freedom.  Bullying. The state tries to throttle an important and thriving industry.
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 1, Block D: Pastor William Devlin, Infinity Bible Church, REDEEM!, Right to Worship NYC, in re: Two Christian pastors, Pastor Peter and Pastor Michael, from South Sudan were arrested in Khartoum (North Sudan) on clearly trumped-up charges; they've finally just been released but are still in town. Still difficult and stressful.  Meanwhile, twelve young women leaving church were arrested for "indecent clothing."  Same attorney representing them, the pastors, and Miriam Ibrahim last year. Because of warfare in South Sudan, Christians are heading o Khartoum for safety – Dinka and Noor tribes in South Sudan are engaging in genocide, esp in South Kordofan, Nuba Mountains.  No reason to think that in Pres Obama's recent visit to the region he even mentioned these events.  Rabbi David Saperstein, recently in Khartoum, met with Pastor Bill Devlin. Sudan sees warming of relations between hues and Cuba, inter al., and hope for the same; but the bad charges against Christians and other bad deeds militate against that.  Tyrants.
Hour Two
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 2, Block A: John Fund, National Review Online; David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent, in re: Trump, Fiorina, Kasich, Rubio, Walker, Cruz. Bernie worries HRC enough to do a major Iowa ad buy?
Last Thursday's political actors won't leave the stage. And Mrs Clinton has climbed to the top of it: NY Times and WaPo headlines on FBII and servers; she issued a signed doc "under threat of perjury. I . . ." – concerning Huma Abedin and others.  Trump said that Mrs Clinton went to his wedding in return for money; she said, "I went only because I was nearby."  Mrs C runs as competent and knowledgable; FBI intrusion is not esp helpful.  ("They may rent Donald Trump for the ratings." . . . As long as he sends out mean tweets and is treated with kid gloves by media – constant tel interviews, without demand for a camera, this will continue till it burns itself out.  Trump is a sideshow for Hilary, will use him as a GOP proxy for [bad policies]; her ridiculous student-loan proposal today.
Sam Lefrak and Harry Helmsley, decades ago: "Young Trump is flamboyant; hope he can put his deals together." After thirty years of service, Roger Stone is leaving Trump. Newsflash: Rick Perry has stopped paying his staff in South Carolina.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Dy2fo6E_pI  / Trump the Teenage Bully  Trump is like a rampaging high-school student with no adult chaperone around who can take away his Twitter keys.  So let’s recap. Someone who's so thin-skinned that he can’t move on from a slight. Someone who refuses to accept reality and then act accordingly. Someone who has a form of attention-deficit disorder, in which he constantly craves attention. Someone who is constantly boasting about past glories, like an ROTC officer describing his last weekend-warrior experience. Someone who can’t control his language and constantly belittles and bullies everyone he doesn’t like by flinging insults such as “loser,” “stupid,”  “worthless,” “fat,” and “slob.” 
The closest model for him I can think of is Douglas C. Neidermeyer, the bullying ROTC student leader in the 1978 classic college film Animal House. 
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 2, Block B: John Fund, National Review Online; David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent, in re:  . . .  Carly Fiorina did well in that debate; is articulate; she was the only actual winner in that group.  The one person on the stage of whom people said, "Why is she here? She needs to be on at nine o'clock." . .  . Ted Cruz has learned the craft, is a formidable candidate (and will be on the national stage for many years to come). 
(2 of 2)
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 2, Block C:  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:  Sen Schumer has made a carefully-considered decision, will hold to it.  He explained it in writing and spoke of it in a speech today; is genuinely concerned. Will vote against it in the first round and probably also against the veto. "This is a conscience vote," incl anent the historical record.  As a practical mater, the American people are 2-to-1 against this deal. From Teheran today, they're boasting that they got a great deal, that all their redlines have been observed, which clearly American redlines are not.   Attacks against Sen Schumer have been ad hominem. "Anyone against this deal is for war" – what? Unfortunate, simplistic and counterproductive to cast aspersions on segments of the population. The president acknowledges that the deal he wants Congress to approve will not change Iran's behavior, or won't do so for fifteen years. . . .  Iran's WMD, ballistic missiles program, so much that's not addressed.   Foreign Min Zarif said today that the UN resolution encourages Iran. Iran doesn't care about international welcoming; it cares about the cash: $150 Billion.  Would you argue that there's a lack of cogent thinking . . .  yes; but a legitimate debate on the shortcomings about the nuclear program.
 Obama: GOP opposition to Iran deal is over politics, not merits / US president says Tehran will have to drop its anti-Israel, anti-Semitic rhetoric to be accepted by international community
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 2, Block D: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:   US amb to Israel Dan Shapiro: [in effect: never mind the arguments; let's just all accept the Iran deal as a fait accompli and move on to the day after.] Recall the film, The Day After.    Btw, if this Iran deal makes everybody safer, why are we suddenly selling a vastly larger amount of weaponry to the region?  Rumors that Israel might not participate in mil exercises in 2016, but that's not true.  . . .  Broke into the Saudi and Qatari embassies; ;Arab League is furious. Frustration with Assad losing troops . . .  a story to be watched.
 PA bolsters ties with Iran as Tehran-Hamas relationship cools ; Back from Islamic Republic, PLO official Ahmad Majdalani hails nuclear deal; says Abbas, Rouhani agree on solution to Syria conflict.  Mohamed Javad Zarif.
"That, instead, what we've seen is an effective way to bind Iran to a commitment not to have nuclear weapons and, in that scenario, it'll probably be forgotten that Republicans uniformly opposed it.
"Keep in mind that this is not unique to me, either, by the way. You know, when Ronald Reagan began discussions with Gorbachev, his conservative supporters wrote some really rough stuff about him as appeasing the evil empire, and this is a disaster, and we're giving America's power away.
"And, to his credit, he had reversed himself from a — a previously much more rigid position that had helped to define his political career.
"So — so my main interest right now is solving a problem, which is making sure Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon, and I am confident that, as we see implementation, we will see, in fact, more and more folks pull out of the immediate politics of it and judge it on the basis of whether it was the right thing to do for the country."
Hour Three
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 3, Block A:  Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal & the daily OpinionJournal, in re: Opinion Journal: Hillary Email Scandal: What’s Next?  Cause of Action Executive Director Dan Epstein on what the former Secretary of State has and hasn’t disclosed about her use of a personal email server.  /  Opinion Journal: Donald Trump’s Collateral Damage
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 3, Block B: :  Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal & the daily OpinionJournal, in re: Carly’s Maternity Leave Logic. / Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Kay Hymowitz on why the Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina doesn’t want government involved in corporate decision-making.  Pacific Trade Special Pleading
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 3, Block C:  Jed Babbin, London Center for Policy Research, in re: Schumer, Soleimani and Everybody’s Email
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 3, Block D:   Bud Weinstein, Southern Methodist University, in re: http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/08/cheap_energy_is_reviving_manuf.html#incart_riverhttp://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/08/cheap_energy_is_reviving_manuf.html#incart_river

Hour Four
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 4, Block A:  Jillian Kay Melchior, National Review; Fellow for the Steamboat Institute, Independent Women's Forum and Franklin Center; in re: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/422243/epa-spill-animas-river-colorado
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 4, Block B:  Josh Rogin, Bloomberg View, in re: http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-08-10/iraq-vets-take-on-obama-over-iran-deal
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 4, Block C:  Terry Anderson, PERC Montana, in re: http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-trophy-hunting-can-save-lions-1438903734
Monday  10 August 2015 / Hour 4, Block D: Terry Anderson, PERC Montana, in re: http://www.msnbc.com//watch/zimbabwe-native-on-future-of-sport-big-game-hunting-501511235740