L-R credits: New York Times photo; ABC composite image; Los Angeles Times photo

Russia & Georgia; The Democratic Convention -- did Obama give in to the Clintons? The Democrats & Offshore Drilling; Swiftboating Obama (while he's bodysurfing!)

No Matt or Bob today; Marc Cooper sits in and takes on the issues (quite wonderfully!) with Tony and Arianna. Most notable quotable: To Arianna's teasing suggestion, with all his good advice to Obama during this show, that Tony Blankley should consider becoming Obama's campaign manager, he says: "I have no desire to be the David Gergen of the 21st Century!"

Russia continues to occupy Georgia and doesn’t appear to be backing down; is this Georgia’s fault? Tony Blankley says Russia’s the villain but that US policy has been pushing at their borders with no strength to back it up. Russia didn’t just mobilize in 48 hours – the US was unprepared for what they did have planned. Arianna Huffington says this is just a reminder that in the campaign, national security will still be the lead issue and that Obama wasn’t bold or strong enough. Was McCain strong or just bellicose? Tony says he was out front speaking persuasively, and it took Bush four days to catch up with him. Instead of windsurfing (or was it bodysurfing?) in Hawaii, say the panelists, Obama should have been making daily press statements, in a suit, with flags waving behind him. Then the big debate about the Clintons at the Convention – no hints, you have to listen, this is a really savvy AND sassy segment! Arianna says Obama should hire Tony as his campaign strategist…but retracts the offer when Tony takes a different position regarding the Dems and offshore oil drilling. But Tony is quick to say “I have no desire to be the David Gergen of the 21^st century.” Is Nancy Pelosi backtracking on offshore drilling? Arianna says elections are a teachable moment…and the Dems should not capitulate on this issue. Tony disagrees. And although Tony objects to the word "swiftboating" as a pejorative, the Republicans are definitely aiming their political guns at
Obama.

We're still in pledge drive, podcasters -- still want your support! Pledge at KCRW.com or call us 800-600-5279 (KCRW). We will, of couse, be speaking about Russia and Georgia. (See link to Tony Blankley's column below). Robert Scheer is calling the Georgia War a NeoCon election ploy...read his TruthDig column below. We'll probably get into some of the John Edwards scuffle and talk about the Democrats, new attacks on Obama, Clintons and their role at the Convention, and I am sure we'll invoke John McCain's name at least once!! It will be an unusual show in that Matt and Bob are both gone, and Lawrence O'Donnell will NOT be subbing. Join Marc Cooper, renowned as a writer for The Nation, the former host of Radio Nation, a lefty who's gotten less liberal over the years, and knows politics like the back of his hand. He, Arianna and Tony will take on the week's topics.

Tony Blankley's column:

http://townhall.com/Common/PrintPage.aspx?g=86e7c6b6-83b0-43d9-8ea4-78c3fcf33e1f&t=c

 

Georgia War a Neocon Election Ploy?

 

 

Take a low-rez peek behind the scenes as we produce today's Pledge Drive Version of LRC (thanks to KCRW's Connie Alvarez) -- PS: Feel free to pledge online at KCRW.com! We need the dollars for producing podcasts and programs!

It's a pledge drive Friday, so there won't be much posting...but here's today's summary and a few choice items to listen closely for -- links to follow in a separate post:

The fight over US energy policy has been the dominant message on the Presidential campaign trail this week: who’s got it right, who’s pandering and who’s been a demagogue? Tony Blankley’s for any plan that doesn’t involve tax subsidies, and prefers the multi-pronged approach. Bob Scheer and Arianna Huffington think Obama’s trying to play it too safe; and everyone thinks that no one’s facing the facts and telling the truth – they’re just playing politics. Matt Miller still believes the issues they should be focused on are health and pension security but that $4-a-gallon gas pushed the national agenda sideways. As Obama prepares to take a vacation, is he ceding the limelight to McCain? Why has McCain been successful in undermining Obama’s message? A reminiscence about Reagan, who stuck to his guns -- and won. Should Obama do the same? Plus, a brief mention of that other world event: The China Olympics.

Tony has an amazing line about "endive" -- (he doesn't pick a pronunciation -- he says both AHN-deev and EN-dive) --
he remembers that when Michael Dukakis ran for President, in the context of agriculture, he spoke about "endive." Tony says, it's wheat that's all-American, and that referring to endive made him sound "effete." The inflated tire comment, says Tony, is Obama's endive!

And I want you to pay attention: how many times in today's show do the panelists say "gouge" instead of gauge (gage) in referring to McCain's little tire gauge ploy? Get back to me with the answer!

And, lest we be left out of the TRUE national conversation, thank heaven Arianna rescues us with a rant about the John Edwards SEX SCANDAL! While we were busy talking about issues, the rest of the media was harping on Edwards' affair -- for hours and hours and hours. We gave that issue the 19.5 seconds it deserved. Jeez.

 *8.6.08 Updated posts below: Tony and Bob's weekly columns...

**Post updated--SEE BELOW  Today we talk about the terrorist enemy within...with the breaking news about Bruce Ivins--the bio-weapons researcher alleged to be the sender of anthrax letters that killed five after 9/11--who committed suicide on Tuesday as the FBI was closing in on him. Then the big political clamor of the week over whether McCain or Obama are the ones playing the race card. An interesting conversation about the Doha Round of global trade talks and the US economy follows (check out what Tony says about agriculture, it's quite interesting), and finally a wrap-up on whether or not Obama is an internationalist, what that means and whether or why it matters.  Photo on left above is from the Associated Press. Image on top right comes from MJMGroup.com/bullypulpitnews. Look for the "Links" post to view Obama's speech and McCain's ad...scroll down further for our volunteer bloggers' transcripts of what was said today, and even further for links to Bob's and Tony's weekly syndicated columns, both related to today's show in a big way.

Happy listening and SIGN UP for the RSS feed...we'll try to supply more content throughout the week! -- and don't forget, you can EMBED OUR MEDIA PLAYER ON YOUR BLOG! Just click the "embed" tab, copy the code, and insert!!

***UPDATE: Take a sneak peak at Matt Miller's new book, due out in January The Tyranny of Dead Ideas. By the way, during our pledge drive (Aug 8 and Aug 15 for LRC), we'll be offering signed copies of Bob Scheer's The Pornography of Power and Arianna Huffington's Right is Wrong....as premiums when you pledge. Even tho' the podcasts are free, it costs us to produce, post and stream this show...please join us as a subscriber!

He Is Who He Is

Tony Blankley Wednesday, August 06, 2008

It's getting tricky to know how to refer to he who presumes to be the next president. It was made clear several months ago that mentioning his middle name is a forbidden act. (Pass out more eggshells.) Then, having nothing honorable to say, Obama warned his followers last week that Sen. McCain would try to scare voters by pointing to Obama's "funny name" and the fact that "he doesn't look like all the presidents on the dollar bills."

Now, putting aside for the moment the racial component of His warning, what are we to make of the "funny name" reference? Many people have "funny" names. Some people think my last name -- being very close in spelling to the adverbial form for the absence of content -- is funny. Certainly, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's name is funny. Many on the left have had great fun with President Bush's last name. But we all have found our names perfectly serviceable and would expect people to call us by the names by which we identify ourselves.

But He has made it clear that the mere use of His name would be freighted with coded innuendoes of something too horrible to say straightforwardly. One has to go back to Exodus 3:13-14 to find such strict instructions concerning the use of a name. Moses explained: "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" And God said to Moses, "I Am Who I Am." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I Am has sent me to you.'"

So perhaps we can call Him, for short, Sen. I Am (full code name: I Am who you have been waiting for).

Another aspect of the now-infamous dollar-bill incident that has gone unmentioned is Sen. I Am's choice of the dollar-bill reference itself. He could have just said He doesn't look like other presidents. Even that is a little too cute for the nasty little point He slyly was trying to make, but at least He would be identifying Himself merely with the universe of American presidents. But His overweening pride found such company too base and demeaning for Him. So He needed to include Himself in the grander company of George Washington, Abe Lincoln, Jefferson and perhaps Andy Jackson. (I doubt He had in mind Woodrow Wilson on the $100,000 bill or Grover Cleveland on the $1,000.)

Perhaps I shouldn't dwell on these matters, but the more I watch this man the more stunned I am at His overconfidence and towering pride. I have known a number of great and powerful men (and read biographies of many more), and they surely don't lack confidence or ego. But who among the great would have answered the question posed to the junior senator from Illinois a few weeks ago as He did? Asked whether He had any doubts, He said "never." Is He so foolish as to think He has the world figured out to the last detail, or is He so proud of His intelligence that He cannot confess to ever having any doubt? Either explanation renders His judgment of dubious presidential caliber.

Here is a man who talked almost contemptuously of Gen. Petraeus. Explaining His differences with the general, He said that His "job is to think about the national security interest as a whole; (the generals') job is just to get their job done (in Iraq)." Of course, right at the moment, the junior senator from Illinois doesn't yet have "His" job, while Gen. Petraeus, as confirmed Centcom commander, has direct responsibility for both Afghanistan and Iraq and everything in between and around them. But in the mind of Sen. I Am, He already is, while He thinks the man who is perhaps our greatest general in two generations is just another flunky carrying out routine orders. It is repulsive to see such a mentality in a man who would be president.

All of us have our shortcomings, of course. But there is none so dangerous both to a man and to those for whom he has responsibility than the sin of pride. In the sixth century, Pope Gregory the Great recognized that pride breeds all the other sins and is therefore the most serious offense. St. Thomas Aquinas reaffirmed that pride is rebellion against the very authority of God.

Let me quote a private e-mail correspondent, who states the case better than I could: "Pride indeed is the cardinal vice -- it swings open the door to most of the other theological vices, and undermines the classical virtues of prudence, courage and justice. It thrives, not on what one has, but on what others do not have. And even when one has diligently practiced the most admirable virtues, there always lurks the danger that at some moment one will look in the mirror and say: 'Oh my! What a wonderful person I am!' Thus does the vice lunge from its hiding-place."

For a man, his personality is his destiny. If he becomes president, his flaws become the nation's dangers. The voters must judge carefully both the personalities and the ideas of those who would be president.

Copyright © 2008 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.

Obama's "controversial" speech in MO:

McCain's Obama Celebrity Ad

NYTimes Blog, Who's Playing the Race Card?

SOME OF WHAT THE PANELISTS SAID TODAY: (part 3)

Matt:  we're the only country that doesn't provide basic healthcare or pension security that is not tied to your job.  It cannot work today.

Arianna:  during the primary both Clinton and Obama talked about NAFTA; right after the campaign, Obama called some of what was said 'overblown campaign rhetoric;'  there are too many other pressures on them (him and his campaign).

Bob back on the woes of the economy:  We occupy the 2nd biggest reserve of oil- Exxon's interest is not that of the avg. American people….at Goldman Sachs, Rubin was doing all this finagling - then he was doing it at Citigroup - now he's brought in as some kind of guru.  Obama is an internationalist, as opposed to the Nationalism, as part of the way politics in this country works.

 Arianna:  there isn't a single indication that Obama wouldn't put American first.  All of this drowning out of the real issues and real problems-- it enabled the McCain campaign to win the week.

The RANT:

Arianna railed against "another spate of totally unreliable polls…to draw incredible conclusions-  and this incredible confusion between different statuses of voter.  It's time to turn a very skeptical eye to all this polling!"

 

 

SOME OF WHAT THE PANELISTS SAID TODAY Part 2

The Economy and Doha

Bob:  Unemployment is at a 4 year high…Americans are hurting- does Obama emerge as something of a populist?  He needs to stick to the peace position; and he needs to take on the fat cats- I don't think he needs Robert Rubin or any of these people around him…

 Tony:  "The economy is neither good nor bad, because of a lack of memory that makes people think the economy is worse than it is."

 Arianna, in response to Tony:  You can't say the economy is neither good nor bad, Tony- come on!!"

The govt. is sending out checks- [the economy]'s not as bad as it will be, when these govt. efforts fade away…

 

Doha round of trade talks:

Matt: agriculture difficult because it is not just an economic matter, it's a cultural matter.

Arianna:  Candidates know that people are hurting because of free trade agreements.

Bob, on the expectation of broader prospects, in regards to agricultural issues:

"Then there's the third prospect, the 'line my pocket and take it out of yours-'  heavy regulation benefitted big agriculture- I think we're in very big trouble in this economy- people are scared…when you loose your house you loose everything.

SOME OF WHAT THE PANELISTS SAID TODAY (part 1):

topics: Bruce Ivins and anthrax; McCain attacks Obama; the economy, stupid!

Bob Scheer on Ivins and anthrax: 
It turned out we were attacked by our own industrial complex - it's a cautionary tale: instead of looking around...maybe we should look to our true blue boyscouts at home.

Tony Blankley said that "we are not the lead creator of bio-weapons..."  and that "Steven Hatfill eventually won a 6 million lawsuit from the govt for saying he was guilty."  And Tony actually agreed with Bob, that "you have to watch for terrorists from within as much as from without."

Arianna noted this "rare moment when the panel agrees."  And went on:  "Look at all the homegrown terrorists; and it's also the anniversary of the collapse of the Minnesota bridge, a lapse of infrastructure...all these real threats."

Bob wondered:  "The investigation has to be open, not closed---" "Why did it take them so long to crack this case?!"  mentioning that 3 years ago there were some rumblings that weren't looked into...

McCain Camp on Obama

Obama’s speech in Rolla, Mo raised the question whether Obama was using the race card. In his speech, Obama said that “"Nobody thinks that Bush or McCain have a real answer for the challenges we face. So what they are going to try to do is make you scared of me". When Tony was asked whether he thought Obama was playing the race card, Tony replied that he knew the answer, but he “ will leave it to the common wisdom of the common people out there" to form their own opinion. The McCain camp readily expresses their opinon, saying that Obama is "playing the race card from the bottom of the deck."

On Obama being a celebrity: "how can he be a celebrity, but also be ready to lead? 

Arianna pointed out that all these attacks on Obama's image have been going on since June...that he's not an American president, and so on.  she wondered how the McCain campaign had "reached such a low so fast- how much lower can they go??"

Matt:  the fact that people are talking about this-  does this mean that they're setting an agenda in this discussion

Your early reading in advance of tomorrow's show!
Here is Tony's column this week, followed by Bob's:

Townhall.com
The Destroyer of Worlds
Copyright © 2008 Salem Web Network. All Rights Reserved.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/TonyBlankley/2008/07/30/the_destroyer_of_worlds

Tony Blankley
Wednesday, July 30, 2008

In the Birla Temple, a Hindu temple in Delhi, India, there is a plaque that reads: "He who is known as Vishnu the Preserver is verily Rudra the Destroyer, and He who is Rudra is Brahma the Creator." This fact (from Arthur Herman's book "Gandhi and Churchill") came to me over the weekend as I was rereading Sen. Obama's Berlin speech. Now, let me assure my easily offended friends in the Obama camp that I am not suggesting Obama is or ever was a Hindu. I take him at his word that he is whatever he says he is. (Pass out more eggshells.) But it is precisely his words regarding his philosophy of government that I find ambiguous -- and potentially disturbing.

Secular would-be leaders of men who promise transcendence and transformational change have something in common with the promises and warnings of many religions. They claim to want to preserve what is good in their people and change what needs to be changed to make their lives and souls even better. But unlike some religions, secular leaders with transforming visions of their missions often skip over the bits about what must be destroyed in order to bring those better things to man. And that is where religions are often more honest.

For instance, in Hindu, the god Rudra, who is also known as Lord Shiva, is the third god in the Hindu trinity. He destroys worlds. Specifically, he destroys the evil passions and animal instincts that usually characterize human consciousness in order to make room for divinity to enter man's world. He is believed by many Hindus to inspire people to perform acts of courage, spiritual wisdom and devotion.

Now, I am, God knows, no expert on comparative religion. But among the more popular human attributes that many religions condemn is the human desire to possess material things. (Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's oxen or wives, etc.) And most religions remind us that we are all brothers and sisters of one humanity.

But man persists in liking to have things and organizing around groups smaller than humanity. Specifically, modern Western civilization -- and the United States, in particular -- has done rather well organizing into nations and permitting its people to be free to produce and keep most of the fruits of our labor.

Reading Obama's Berlin speech, I see dangerous suggestions that he doesn't share that happy view of American prosperity. As he said, while he came to Berlin as "a proud citizen of the United States," he also came to Berlin as "a fellow citizen of the world." Putting aside the thought that a rally in Berlin in front of a quarter-million glistening-eyed, bosom-clenching, swooning Germans is a historically awkward spot for a leader to proclaim his worldwide goals for tomorrow, his actual words are disconcerting enough -- even if they had been delivered in peaceful Switzerland.

He said: "The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between natives and immigrants cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down. We know that these walls have fallen before. After centuries of strife, the people of Europe have formed a union of promise and prosperity."

That last sentence would suggest that Obama is not terribly keen about nation-states. It suggests that he believes that nation-states have outgrown their practical and moral utility. That is why, presumably, he says that we must tear down the walls between the countries "with the most" -- that would be the United States -- and those with the least. That is why he calls for tearing down walls between "natives and (illegal?) immigrants." That is why he is for strict reductions in carbon emissions for the United States, even if it reduces our prosperity more than it does poorer countries.

That is why he is a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 2433, the Global Poverty Act, a bill Obama's own Web site proudly claims would "cut extreme global poverty in half by 2015." Now, that bill would only authorize the end of gross wealth disparities between nations; it doesn't appropriate money for it or order taxes to pay for it. So technically, that promise doesn't cost a cent. But if Obama is sincere about those goals he proudly champions -- and if he has the political power next year to raise taxes and appropriate taxpayer dollars -- we could see the beginning of vast transfers of our wealth to his "fellow citizens of the world."

Sen. Obama owes it to the public to let us know how much of our hard-earned money he, in his wisdom, believes we have a moral obligation to give away to poor people around the world -- and how much of our money that he has a moral obligation to extract from our wages forcefully, through federal taxation. He has a moral obligation to do as the Hindu god Rudra did and tell his intended subjects what of ours he will destroy to make us better people.

I hope Obama is just saying stuff that he thinks sounds good to the kids. But if Obama means what he says, we should brace for the wrath of Rudra.