Left, Right and Center on KCRW.com

KCRWs Left Right & Center 12/12/08 Show

nobody@vox.com(Left, Right and Center) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 13:02:30 -0800

GOP to Detroit-NO! Oy Blagojevich! Obama Nominees

The Senate GOP rejection of the House/Admin deal is top of the news. All believe that W’s “kick the can down the road” policy -- taking the a portion of the banks’ TARP and applying it to the auto bailout -- is inevitable, but Arianna marvels at the double standard that allow the banks to get free money while Detroit and its workers could hang themselves with the attached strings. Illinois governor Blagojevich: what more need we say? Bob takes the opportunity to condemn the media for hoisting this story above the other important news, like Afghanistan and the report condemning Bush admin for use of torture. Arianna says the whole thing’s more fascinating psychologically than politically citing Julius Caesar (the fault is not in our stars but in ourselves), while Tony says Rahm Emanuel and other Obama transition team members seem act as if they have something to worry about. He reminded us that Nixon didn’t know about Watergate but got in trouble when he tried to cover it up. And in the energy arena, is Dr. Steven Chu, noted and respected physicist and Obama’s nominee, a mad scientist? We know he wants to make gas prohibitively expensive—but electricity, too? Is he nuts? Or right? Listen in and weigh in -- or put up a post before the show begins!

MATT MENTIONED THIS COLUMN in the show:

Blagojevich's Behavior Is Common

Douglas E. Schoen, 12.10.08, 04:00 PM EST

Trading favors is de rigueur in politics.

"...But while what Blagojevich did is undeniably beyond the pale, it is frankly much more common in the political world than anyone has been willing to acknowledge." (read the rest at the link above)

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KCRW's Left Right & Center 7/25/08: Obama Overseas, McCain Campaign, The Poll Truth, Mortgage Bill

nobody@vox.com(Left, Right and Center) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 13:47:31 -0700

Obama Overseas, McCain Campaign, The Poll Truth, Mortgage Bill

Photo on the left is from LA Times front page 7/25/08. Obama appears before a crowd of 250,000 fans in Berlin.

Photo on the right: Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. makes a campaign stop to talk with small business leaders, Thursday, July 24, 2008, at the Schmidt's Restaurant and Banquet Haus in Columbus, Ohio. At left is Dan Young, owner of Youngs Jersey Dairy. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Obama’s obvious overseas success may be a triumph of visuals over substance; will it come back to haunt him? The panelists agree that this campaign should be a walk for a Democratic candidate, so why are the polls on McCain and Obama so close? McCain’s week has been as bad Obama’s has been good – by anyone’s standards, he and his campaign have floundered. And the mortgage bill: is it socializing the downside, a banker bailout, a necessity that even free marketers must go along with for fear of a complete US economic meltdown? **This week, we invite our bloggers to weigh in on the promised discussion of media bias **– which we promised but didn't get to during the program.

Volunteer bloggers Andi and Marisa pulled these notable quotables from today's show -- feel free to use them in your blog but please remember to credit KCRW's Left, Right & Center:

Obama's Foreign Adventure

Tony Blankley concluded that Obama "looked like the President of the United States" and is "dubious of McCain's ability to do the same". He added that "McCain was lucky to get as little coverage as he did this week...[because he] looked smaller and less presidential."

Why is this Race so Close??—PLEASE ADD YOUR COMMENTS TO ANSWER THIS QUESTION!!!!!

Robert Scheer stated that “Republicans have brought us disaster, they betrayed conservatism, they’ve bankrupted our economy so there is a lot for a leftist, populist candidate to campaign on….we need to hear that voice from Obama.”

Our allies abroad have heard Obama’s voice and are once again excited about American politics, they know we “ have an incredibly attractive candidate, this guy’s being cheered on as a rock star in Berlin, now THAT is a projection of American values!”

Domestically speaking, Tony Blankley noted that “the more the public gets to know [Obama] the lower his numbers drop.” Blankley thinks “it’s a combination of skin color, his internationalism, his arrogance and the media coverage which says we’ve already selected a president for you” that is hindering Obama’s lead in the polls. Robert Scheer agreed with Tony Blankley’s statement that “there is a racial issue with Obama; the fact that he doesn’t have a white father.”

Mortgage Relief Bill

Robert asks “How is this going to help people with their mortgages?” This is just a “bailout for the bankers, there has been no accountability….we’re losing control of our economy.”

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KCRW's Left Right & Center: Reading List--7/25/08

nobody@vox.com(Left, Right and Center) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 12:54:40 -0700

Obama Al Maliki AP pic

Here are columns by Tony Blankley and Robert Scheer, both about Barack Obama, which we'll be discussing on tomorrow's show. (Other topics TBA, but probably the housing bill that's moving fast to help prevent total mortgage meltdown.)

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

BLANKLEY: The GQ statesman

By: Tony Blankley

OP-ED:

Watching Sen. Barack Obama glide through his foreign trip so far, nervous Republicans and other patriots have to hope that American voters will not view him through the eyes of a Hollywood casting director. Because one could not cast a man, who can better visually portray a worldly statesman?

Obama on the Brink

Posted on Jul 22, 2008

By Robert Scheer

Barack Obama is betraying his promise of change and is in danger of becoming just another political hack.

AND here's a special report from FOX News -- about John Bolton's comments:

Fox News

Bolton: Bush Paving Way for Obama Admin.

by Major Garrett

I wanted to share an interview former Bush United Nations Ambassador John Bolton did with Fox about the administration's decision to send the State Department's No. 3 diplomat, William Burns, to meetings this weekend in Geneva to discuss an incentive package aimed at deterring Iran for building and deploying nuclear weapons.

Bolton is on the outside looking in at an administration he barely recognizes. A hard-liner on Iran, Bolton sees only folly in attempts to negotiate Iran away from what he considers its single-minded obsession with obtaining nuclear weapons and using that leverage to make itself an even bigger player in the Middle East.

More importantly, Bolton appeared to concede Obama will win the White House. He went so far as to say Bush's Iran moves could take the Iran issue off the table for McCain and give Obama a boost in credibility on national security he believes is unfounded but will nevertheless occur.

The interview occurred Wednesday and I apologize for the late posting.

Tony Snow's funeral set me back professionally and emotionally yesterday and I'm playing catchup on several fronts as a result.

This is the Bolton verbatim:

"This is not going to be a one time meeting. I can tell you what the State Department will say the day after the meeting: 'It went really well, we made a lot of progress, now we've got a process going, surely we should go to the next meeting.'

In any event it's the Bush administration legitimizing the Obama presidency's policy. It's like Senator Obama already has a transition office in the West Wing.And, I think, it will make it very difficult for congressional Republicans and Sen. McCain to continue their critique of the weaknesses of the existing administration policy.

The problem is that the negotiations with Iran have already been underway for 5 years. This is not a new idea. It's not a new idea when Sen. Obama proposes it, it's not a new idea for the us to sit at the table. After 5 years of negotiation, the only consequence is that Iran is 5 years closer to nuclear weapons. Iran is not going to give up its pursuit of those weapons voluntarily, the diplomatic options have been tried and failed and our real options are now, unfortunately, quite limited.

I think the State Department is doing its best to ensure a smooth transition toward the Obama administration. So, I have little doubt that an interest section is highly likely before the end of the Bush Administration. Once again, Tehran will read that as a weakening of the administration's resolve and will use it to their advantage."

Again, this interview occurred Wedneday. The Bush administration confirmed work on creating an interest section in Iran on Thursday.

On the eve of Obama's overseas trip, this criticism from a former Bush insider suggests John McCain may have less latitude to criticize Obama on Iran. He may have lost ground in criticizing Obama on Afghanistan due to his endorsement of sending more troops there this week - after Obama called for the same thing on Aug. 1, 2007.

Mentioned in Today's Show: David Brooks editorial in New York Times:

Playing Innocent Abroad

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/25/opinion/25brooks.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=david%20brooks&st=cse&oref=slogin

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KCRW's Left Right & Center Show 7.18.08

nobody@vox.com(Left, Right and Center) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:17:05 -0700

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NELSON MANDELA -- 90 years old TODAY!

Our show summary: Lawrence O'Donnell sits in again as host. The White House announced it’s agreed on a “general time horizon” for possible troop reductions in Iraq. Tony Blankley says we’ve succeeded; Arianna Huffington says we’ve failed; and Bob Scheer says we never should’ve gone in the first place. An interesting conversation about Left-Right divisions ensues, wherein Tony tells the left what it thinks and Bob corrects him; Arianna defies these obsolete political labels, including the “archaic name of our show!” Then, Al Gore proposes that the next President call on the US to generate electricity without using oil in the next ten years. Can’t be done, say the panelists: their reasons may surprise you. A quick scan of the VeepStakes, wherein conspiracies and so-called down payments on said office are discussed. And a moment spent on a question from LRC blog-poster YoDave G (Dave, sorry it wasn't a longer discussion!).

See additional comments posted below by our volunteer LRC bloggers, Marisa and Michael.

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KCRW's Left, Right and Center blogger Michael Shaw

nobody@vox.com(Left, Right and Center) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:01:27 -0700

Guest host Lawrence O'Donnell nicely aligned the subtitle of Robert Scheer's book with pornography so we would remember it (or at least a keyword; hint: Scheer and pornography).

And here's how Tony Blankley got things going:

re: the surge's success: "That's why Obama scrubbed his website- because we're winning..."

and:

"It's certainly vindication for Bush and McCain - certainly those of us who support the surge."

He also said that we need 10,000 more troops in Afghanistan. And that Admiral Mullen said we couldn't find an extra 5-10,000 more troops in Afghanistan..."I don't think he speaks on all the info. he has."

Tony went on to speak about the "political view on the left:"

"The Iraq war is bad; the war in Afghanistan is good. Now the Iraq war is good, the Afghan war bad...the antiwar left is never prepared to accept a war...they were only saying [Afghanistan] was good so they could contrast it with Iraq."

Bob has a few choice words about Tony’s assertions…

While Arianna decries the false left-right political divide (“the pathetic, obsolete way of looking at American politics” and calling the name of our program “archaic”), she says Tony’s declaration that we’ve won in Iraq is “surrealistic and absurd.” Bob says he’s not embarrassed to be on the left and takes issue with Arianna, reminding her he supported Clinton’s decision to launch cruise missiles to get at Al Qaeda in Afghanistan. But getting involved in a civil war between the Taliban and their opponents isn’t what we should be doing there. “We should be vigorous but rational in pursuing terrorists.”

Lawrence served up what he called 'the softest of softballs' to Tony re: Al Gore's call to the Presidential candidates to set a goal of going carbon-free in terms of electricity generation in 10 years...and Tony swung: "he showed a sense of humor; the New Yorker cover inspired him to satire...to lunacy." He went on:

"His plan is virtually impossible...we couldn't build enough nuclear plants in 10 years..."

Lawrence mentioned that Obama had recently done three workouts in one day, and there was speculation that 2 of those 'workouts' were clandestine meetings with VP candidates.

Tony said Romney would not be able to buy his way into the VP slot, and that "McCain will make a quirky decision based on his personality. Romney's not attractive as a VP just as he wasn't as a presidential candidate."

Lawrence then threw a shout out to visitor to our blog- YoDaveG- who asked about the transition period as Bush ends and the incumbent begins, and that we'll be vulnerable in the Middle East during this time, and this troubles him...

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KCRW's Left, Right and Center: Blogger Marisa Bojiuc

nobody@vox.com(Left, Right and Center) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:38:37 -0700

Today's Quotables:

Bob Scheer:

White House and Iraq announcement about possible troop reductions: we’re not winning the war in any respect that was defined by our goals there…This is a face-saving gesture. He also says Afghanistan’s been a disaster for centuries and that the US went there 7 months before the Soviets did. The US has been “making a mess, messing around in Afghanistan – we should let people make their own history.”

William Pfaff wrote on TruthDig.com: I don’t know why people are thrilled with [Barack] Obama saying we need to get into Afghanistan- that’s a potential disaster.

Arianna:

"I object to this pathetic, obsolete way of looking at American politics" [re: left-right divisions in American politics] including the "archaic name of our show."

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