The John Batchelor Show

Thursday 9 April 2015

Air Date: 
April 09, 2015

Graph, left: Grexit
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-host: Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal editorial board & host of OpinionJournal.com.
Hour One
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 1, Block A: Mary Kissel, in re:  On Grexit (having  spoken to Joseph Sternberg) and Rand Paul, whom Steve Moore is advising. Bloggist's topics.
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 1, Block B:  Edward W Hayes, criminal defense attorney par excellence, in re: the tragedy in South Carolina where one young man is dead another one, a police officer, is charged with murder.   Ferguson, Missouri.  In the air are abuse and violence in uniform and victimization of people of color.  Lesson: be very careful whom you hire as police.  There's a percentage of psychopaths in every population, but a smaller percentage n the New York police department.  Body cameras on cops?  They can come loose, and also miss important action but overall a good idea. Does a cop need a firearm? He sure does if the other guy has a weapon.  I point out that this was one sick, vicious guy. If I were on he jury I’d consent to the death penalty. Note that Blacks sometimes shoot non-Blacks, and that (correctly) isn’t reported in the same way. . . . When DelBlasio came in, he wanted a very different kind of law enforcement and opposed the broken-windows theory.  Now there are a lot more homeless people on the streets and it’s unsettling. "I've been in New York for decades and never seen a police officer pull out his weapon.")  New York has 5,000 Dominican police – twice their population percentage. 
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 1, Block C: Mona Charen, NRO, in re: Identity politics means you focus on a group to which you belong then claim to speak for the entire group (and thereby win their votes).  This is destructive Mrs Clinton apparently will say, "It's time for us to have a woman president." When Condoleezza Rice was appointed Secretary of State, the Republicans cheered [extremely]. Mrs Clinton's constant problem is hat she's so-oo inauthentic.  Odd that one with her specific husband and troubles claim to speak for all women – her chosen job was to prevent bimbo eruptions.  JB:  Ahh – one more hurrah; a last stroll on Golden Pond together; you know.  MC: Jeb Bush? you can almost ea people saying, wait a minute – no one asked us!  Martin O'Malley did have a good line: the residency is not a toy to be passed back and forth between two families.   . . .  Can Mrs Clinton wear Elizabeth Warren's mask and get away with it?  No! She'd be laughed out of the arena.  Note that the "women's vote" is already on the wane. 
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 1, Block D:  Lara M Brown, George Washington University, in re: Millennials and voting. Mrs Clinton hopes to be their candidate, also Gen-Xers and Boomers; her domestic policy for the former: first, choose hip Brooklyn as headquarters (done), and "I'll make real all the promises you heard from Barack Obama, & in the third Democratic term we'll bring to pass what you once voted for."  She stands to lose a lot of Midwestern voters by trying to be too cool.  The Economist asks: What does Mrs Clinton stand for? ("They dangled a preposition.")  She needs to articulate who she is as a person; so far, we've seen a kaleidoscope.  Why does it matter to her to run?  Translate into policies she believes will make the country better.
Hour Two
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 2, Block A:  Lee Smith, The Tablet & Hudson Institute, in re:  Rum or that Mrs Clinton will announce her candidacy for the residency – from Brooklyn?  from Westchester, where she has a server? from Manhattan?  Iran's nuclear program: Ali Khamenei and Pres Rouhani.  In US political foreign policy, the president now is speaking to the American people in favor of the framework agreement and his power to maintain it. Iran's depredations.  Poll: 68% said Iran not at all likely to hold to a deal; 50% disapprove of Mr Obama's handling of the situation.  How has the Obama Administration presented his Iran deal to Jews?  Not successfully, according to the CBS poll.   I think its treatment of the community as a necessary byproduct . . .   It’s true this Administration does not like Netanyahu, but the main point is that it's downgrading Israel and is trying to pull Iran closer in to the American orbit, although the Supreme Leader doesn’t appear to agree.  JB: When you marry intransigence with depredation, you get he Supreme Leader.   LS:  The US president's natl security head, wrote a containment and deterrence policy paper. Nastier is that Coll was one of the people responsible for removing Jerusalem as the Israeli capital in the Democratic convention. This Administration is both sloppy, and sometimes purposeful and nasty.   The American people see what Iranians are doing across the Middle East and see that it’s a state sponsor of terrorism and aims to obliterate our main ally there, Israel. This Adm keeps trying to push this down the throats of the American people. Note John Brennan, who said that anyone who disagrees doesn't know anything.  The Adm is trying to tell everyone to shut up, and to stop any Congressional oversight.  Middle East   Honey, I Shrunk the Jews!Why did Obama send a lowly vice-presidential adviser to inform American Jewish leadership about his Iran deal?
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 2, Block B:  Eric Trager, Washington Institute & National Journal, in re:  Obama Wrecked U.S.-Egypt Ties
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 2, Block C:  Francis Rose, Federal News Radio, in re: Chairman Miller released the following statement today regarding the first anniversary of the VA scandal, which was made public at an April 9, 2014, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs hearing.  
“I think Sec. McDonald is doing his best to correct VA’s course, but enormous challenges remain. VA’s chief problem – a widespread lack of accountability among failed employees – is as prevalent today as it was a year ago. In fact, in the wake of the biggest scandal in VA history, which centered on appointment wait time manipulation, not a single VA senior executive has been fired for wait time issues. Further, VA employees at the heart of the scandal in Phoenix remain on paid leave to this day. Everyone knows accountability is a major problem at VA, and right now the department needs to work with Congress to ensure VA has every tool possible to swiftly hold problem employees accountable. That’s why VA’s refusal to support any HVAC legislative efforts to improve accountability at the agency introduced this Congress is so disappointing. No one thought the department’s problems would magically disappear upon the appointment of a new secretary. But it’s been a year since the scandal broke, and the department is still facing challenges with transparency, protecting whistleblowers and conveying accurate information to the public. It’s simply naïve to think these issues will subside in the absence of the thorough housecleaning the department desperately needs. Eric Shinseki’s tenure as VA secretary was  marked by many widespread and systemic problems. But to his credit, Shinseki accepted responsibility for the issues that occurred on his watch. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for many employees who, despite their connection to the VA scandal, remain on the department’s payroll to this day.” – Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs
New commentary this week on how the VA should get out of the construction management business.
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 2, Block D:  Tim Bradshaw, Financial Times, in re: Two surprises from the first Apple Watch reviews  JB: I'm an Apple devotee.  Criticism of Apple Glass; then discussion of Apple Watch: the best smart watch we've seen so far. Jury is still out on how many of us still need another screen in our lives.  . . .  It doesn't much run without a Bluetooth tether to an iPhone. Dick Tracy: use a Samsung ___S, with its own cell connection.  . . .   You can send your heartbeat to someone. With Tap-tick engine,  you can send the actual sensation of your heartbeat to someone.  It's very intimate; dunno how many people would want it if from me I'm not married to then m  - or how my wife would like that if I sent it to someone else.  Two buttons; standard crown, then another you press to communicate, circle of ten closest friends, you choose whom. You can draw a picture on your heartbeat, or tap   . . .
Hour Three
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 3, Block A:  Mary Anastasia O'Grady, Wall Street Journal editorial, in re: THE AMERICAS:   Obama Rehabilitates the Castro Brothers  . . .  Arriving in Panama to speak at a civil society forum, some Cubans were identified by Cuban govt thugs in advance, and met the airport and beaten up. It was so ghastly that even the State Dept had to acknowledge it  - but State issued a news release expressing much concern for an unidentified attack – "That's how gutless this Administration is."  . . .  Cheers from Nicaragua, Bolivia, Venezuela, et al. Cuba is harboring ETA (Basque) terrorists, FARC, Joanne Chesimard [Assata Shakur]. Pres Obama is desperate to get close to Castro and end decades of isolation of a [heavy-handed, tyrannical goernment].
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 3, Block B: John Bolton, AEI, in re: Even France under a socialist government is outperforming the other continental states. America will regain its footing, but Britain must as well, and do it first since its election is closer. It has often happened that dramatic election outcomes presage what happens in US campaigns. We hope for the same again this May.

John Bolton is a former US ambassador to the United Nations.  Click here to read the article online.
Thursday  9 April 2015/  Hour 3, Block C: Bret Stephens, WSJ Editorial, GLOBAL VIEW, in re: What Assad Knows  
He is a prime beneficiary of the U.S. outreach to Iran.
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 3, Block D:   Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re: ULA launchpads, more.
Hour Four
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 4, Block A: Daniel Henninger, WSJ WONDER LAND,  in re:  The Incredible Obama Doctrine
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 4, Block B: Russell Berman, Hoover, in re:  “The Invisible Democratic Majority”: A new study finds broad support for the party among the general public in 2014, even as it was resoundingly defeated at the polls. Russell Berman explores why a decisive Democratic edge in the general population translated to a distinct Republican advantage at the polls.
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 4, Block C: Josh Kraushaar, National Journal political editor , in re: Democrats have become a party defined by identity, but questions come to mind of what happens when they run out of candidates who can excite their diverse base.
Thursday  9 April 2015/ Hour 4, Block D: Kirk Johnson, NYT, in re:  ‘Gertie’s Babies,’ Sold at Birth, Use DNA to Unlock Secret Past  Gertrude Pitkanen Van Orden delivered and sold babies, and mostly evaded legal consequence, in Montana from the 1920s through the 1950s.  [more]