Photo, left: The Iranian Green Movement refers to a political movement that arose after the 2009 Iranian presidential election, in which protesters demanded the removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office. Green was initially used as the symbol of Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign, but after the election it became the symbol of unity and hope for those asking for annulment of what they regarded as a fraudulent election. Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi are recognized as political leaders of the Green Movement. Hossein-Ali Montazeri was also mentioned as spiritual leader of the movement. The Green Movement protests were a major event in Iran's modern political history and observers claimed that protests were the largest since the Iranian Revolution of 1978-1979.  Note that the United States did not lift a finger to offer any help, even support in principle for the intentions of the protestors.  
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Co-host: Larry Kudlow, CNBC senior advisor; & Cumulus Media radio
 
Hour One
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 1, Block A: James Pethokoukis, AEIdeas, in re:  Yes, Reaganomics sure does need a 21st century update
Center-right policymakers, pols, and pundits should think afresh about what sort of economic agenda would best promote growth, upward mobility, and economic security in the 21st century.
http://www.aei.org/publication/misery-index-56-year-low-needs-replaced/
http://www.aei.org/publication/left/
http://www.aei.org/publication/markets-starting-buy-secular-stagnation-theory/
Why is the GOP pushing the Fed f or a fast exit?    So what happened to inequality during the Great Recession and Not-So-Great Recovery?
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 1, Block B: James Pethokoukis, AEIdeas, in re:
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 1, Block C:   Bill Whalen, Hoover Institution/ A Day at the Races, in re:   CPAC 2015 and the candidates; also Club for Growth and the Candidates.  Last candidate comparable to Scott Walker in zeal was Howard Deane.  Walker compared Wisconsin politics with geopolitical matters – not appropriate.  Needs better policy advisors. Jeb Bush: dealt gracefully with a hostile crowd; has changed his Common Core policy.   Jeb as "the comfort factor" for the GOP.  Go with the standard-bearer.  However, he's a bit out of shape.  Got stuck defending Common Core, but now abandons his position, bows to GOP conservative pressures.  His problem is not the dynasty issue; it's that middle-class voters think: Papa Bush, W Bush – how'd I do under either? Not well: both had weak economies.  Jeb is eight years older than Obama.  Rick Perry: the most experienced of the governors, excellent economic record in Texas; represents an unmatched seniority, has serious natl security credentials.  Was in the Air Force for five years flying C-130s around the world as Captain Perry.  He's overlooked now by the media. "It's advantageous to be overlooked at this stage. Rubio doing well. Still awaiting John Kasich.  Walker Derangement Syndrome? A new Quinnipiac University Poll has Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker pulling ahead of the Republican field in the state that kicks off the GOP’s selection process next February.
Team Hillary: Will the political director of Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign be a Californian whose parents were farm workers? Amanda Renteria is believed to be the favored candidate for the job. She previously worked for Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and last year she unsuccessfully ran for a congressional seat in the Central Valley. Buzzfeed, Roll Call
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 1, Block D: Bill Whalen, Hoover Institution/ A Day at the Races, in re: Hillary Clinton is Richard Nixon's long-lost daughter:  secretive, paranoid.  The day she was confirmed she opened http://clintonemail.com, had all her email on that server.  There were a "couple hundred-thousand" emails she sent and received; she's released fifty thousand.  She was daily send encrypted email, and responded using her own server – which it'd cost maybe a few thousand dollars to pay someone to hack in to.  This is a major national security problem.  Might want to read Ron Fournier's column on Drudge.  This leaves Elizabeth Warren, the  Sandinista wing of the Democratic Party.  Imagine a presumptive GOP candidate with this problem – try Christie in Bridgegate: we'd have to bow our heads and turn elsewhere.  No frontrunner at his stage; tiers of GOP candidates, from one through five, but no one clearly in the lead.
Hour Two
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 2, Block A: Lee Smith, Hudson Institute and a Middle East correspondent for The Weekly Standard; author, The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations; in re: PM Netanyahu addressed AIPAC, cheering audience of 16,000.   Next day (today), he spoke to the US Congress.   "Opportunity to inspect and verify" – after Iran's decades-long past of predation and dissimulation. Mohamed Javed Zarif: "Obama's stance is expressed in unacceptable and threatening phrases."  Why is Pres Obama so intent on pushing through this deal?  A mystery. Ben Rhodes said that this is e foreign-policy equivalent of the Affordable Care Act.  To draw down US profile, need offshore balancing.  WH says in effect that as the US exits the Middle East, Iran is the best substitute in the vacuum.  Meanwhile, Iran controls Teheran, Damascus, Beirut, Sanaa, and soonest Khartoum. WH main interest is not Iran with nukes, but the prospect of a terrorist attack such as Charlie Hebdo.  Suleimani is running the show in Tikrit.  Under current circumstances, a nuclear arms race in the Middle East appears to be inevitable.  Syria.
Five things President Obama's team thinks Benjamin Netanyahu got wrong  By Michael Crowley | http://politi.co/1KeGxoO     In his address about Iran to Congress on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a number of assertions that are challenged by Obama administration officials and some experts on Iran and the nuclear talks. Here are five key points of contention, in the form of direct quotes from Netanyahu's speech and paraphrased arguments from interviews with Obama administration officials and outside experts who defend the nuclear talks.
Netanyahu: "Iran's nuclear program can be rolled back well beyond the current proposal by insisting on a better deal and keeping up the pressure on a very vulnerable regime, especially given the recent collapse in the price of oil."   Response: More sanctions are not a realistic option. Key countries like Russia and China are unlikely to support them, and the international coalition against Iran could fracture - and some may blame the U.S. for taking an overly hard line. Moreover, years of stiff sanctions have failed to halt - or even slow - the progress of Iran's nuclear program. By some estimates the program has cost Iran $100 billion. Iran's leaders have shown they are prepared to make huge sacrifices to maintain it.
 
Netanyahu: Many of Iran's Arab neighbors will respond to a nuclear deal allowing it a domestic nuclear program "by racing to get nuclear weapons of their own. So this deal won't change Iran for the better; it will only change the Middle East for the worse. A deal that's supposed to prevent nuclear proliferation would instead spark a nuclear arms race in the most dangerous part of the planet."   Response: Maybe not. As Iran has demonstrated, developing nuclear arms is very costly, both politically and economically. Although officials in Arab states like Saudi Arabia have warned that they will seek their own nuclear programs to match Iran's, some experts are skeptical. "[T]he prospects of Saudi 'reactive proliferation' are lower than the conventional wisdom suggests," a group of experts, including Vice President Joe Biden's current national security adviser, wrote for the Center for a New American Security in 2013.
Netanyahu: "I don't believe that Iran's radical regime will change for the better after this deal. This regime has been in power for 36 years, and its voracious appetite for aggression grows with each passing year. This deal would only whet Iran's appetite for more."  Response: Iran has strong reformist elements and saw huge political protests in 2009. The 2013 election of President Hassan Rouhani was a vote for change and reform against the hard-liners. Most Iranians were born before the 1979 Islamic revolution and many admire the U.S. A nuclear deal could lead to a deeper thaw and more cooperation on issues like the threat of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Also, Iran's anti-American Supreme Leader is 75 years old and has health problems; his death could present new opportunities for reformers.
Netanyahu: "[V]irtually all the restrictions on Iran's nuclear program will automatically expire in about a decade."   Response: The nuclear deal under discussion would reportedly include a sunset clause limiting its duration to 10 or 15 years. After that time Iran would no longer face unique restrictions on its peaceful nuclear activities. But even after such a nuclear deal expires, Iran will remain bound by the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which it ratified in 1970, which was designed to allow countries peaceful nuclear programs while preventing them from developing atomic weapons. Under the treaty, International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors and cameras will continue monitoring Iran's nuclear facilities, and Iran will be legally prohibited from developing a nuclear weapon.
Netanyahu: "[W]e're being told that the only alternative to this bad deal is war. That's just not true. The alternative to this bad deal is a much better deal."   Response: A significantly better deal isn't realistic. Iran will not accept it. The Supreme Leader is determined to have a large nuclear program and will make huge sacrifices to achieve it. Our negotiating partners do not want to apply more sanctions or extend the duration of the talks. And if the talks do fall apart, there will be nothing to stop Iran from dramatically expanding its nuclear program - increasing the possibility of a military confrontation. The deal is not perfect, but there is no realistic better alternative.
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 2, Block B: Paul Gregory, Hoover, in re:
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 2, Block C: Robert Zimmerman, behindtheblack.com, in re:  Yutu lives!  Despite an engineering failure that has prevented it from roving after only a few days on the Moon, the Chinese lunar rover Yutu continues to reawaken after each long lunar night, surviving now far longer than its planned, three-month lifespan.  Since the rover arrived in late 2013, it has now functioned in the hostile lunar environment for more than a year. This, along with other successful long missions, suggests that Chinese space engineering has matured to a point that it has the ability to achieve some significant long-term goals.
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 2, Block D: Francis Rose, Federal News Radio, in re:  Why We Did This Review   The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted this review in response to allegations received by our Hotline Division. We evaluated the merits of an allegation that Veterans Health Administration’s (VHA) Chief Business Office (CBO) violated appropriations law by improperly obligating over $96 million in medical support and compliance (MS&C) funds to pay for the development of the Health Care Claims Processing System (HCPS).
What We Found  We substantiated that the CBO violated appropriations law by improperly obligating a total of $92.5 million of MS&C appropriations to finance the development of HCPS. The difference between the alleged and substantiated amounts is due to an estimate cited by the complainant. Of the $92.5 million, the CBO spent approximately $73.8 million and $18.7 million remains obligated. MS&C appropriations are only authorized for administering medical, construction, supply, and research activities.
Hour Three
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 3, Block A:   Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review & Pirates fan, in re: CLICK HERE FOR LINK   The media's elitists just keep getting you wrong, America.  And this has nothing to do with whether something is or isn't a “gotcha” question, because that is always the easy excuse for any candidate who is unhappy with a news story.
The root of the problem is how Washington and New York media view Americans and their values beyond the powerful, wealthy and intellectually elite world; it is a much deeper, disturbing and, yes, dangerous problem than the silly questions. Last week the DC-New York media responded in epic fashion to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's comment that he didn't think President Obama “loves” America. They nearly tripped over . . .   
Click here for link  Rand Paul is not who you might think he is. The libertarian viewpoints of the junior U.S. senator from Kentucky put him at odds with Republican Party traditionalists. Young people like that Paul is “enough of an isolationist and cosmopolite to distinguish himself from George W. Bush, and his views on economics also distinguish him from Barack Obama,” said Curt Nichols, political scientist and Kinder Research Fellow at the University of Missouri.
In short, he said, Paul is “the anti-anti-anti-candidate.”
Other potential contenders for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination might be strong nationalists when it comes to foreign affairs, or staunch social conservatives, and some hold both ideals, Nichols said. They're “more populist in their orientation,” whereas Paul “is better described as being popular.”
Paul, 52, who was born in Pittsburgh, for months has honed his candor as if preparing to campaign beyond re-election to the Senate. He has spoken out on a variety of topics, including his opposition to the Patriot Act; whether vaccines can cause disorders in children; who is entitled to collect Social Security disability checks; a . . .
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 3, Block B:  Reza Kahlili, The Daily Caller, & author, A Time to Betray, in re: Iran calls Obama's 10-year nuclear demand 'unacceptable'    MONTREUX (Reuters) - Iran rejected on Tuesday as "unacceptable" U.S. ...
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 3, Block C:   Stephanie Saul, NYT, in re: Also, great this week is the Towers of Secrecy series on how foreign money is buying up luxury real estate in the US through shell companies. Stephanie Saul, one of the two main authors, is available if you'd like to discuss any of the stories. 
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 3, Block D: Sadanand Dhume, WSJ, in re:  India's Missed Opportunity, my most recent column in the Wall Street Journal.  Narendra Modi's first full budget didn't go nearly as far as many had hoped.
Hour Four
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 4, Block A:  Sven Beckert, author, Empire of Cotton, Part III (9 of 12)
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 4, Block B: Sven Beckert, author, Empire of Cotton, Part III (10 of 12)
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 4, Block C: Sven Beckert, author, Empire of Cotton, Part III (11 of 12)
Tuesday  3 March 2015  / Hour 4, Block D: Sven Beckert, author, Empire of Cotton, Part III (12 of 12)