Podcast 404 – Jason Lewis Part 2

Jason Lewis Part 2. (Editor’s Note: Jason and I did this podcast in August, 2015 long before he announced his candidacy for Congress in Minnesota’s 2nd District. Lately my entries describing what is in this podcast have generated controversy for Jason Lewis, because people apparently think these notes are a ‘transcript’ of the podcast. They are not. These notes constitute a blog entry, which explain what is in the podcast. If you want to hear what was said, you’ll have to listen to the podcast. In any case, it is fair to clarify that Jason Lewis said he accepted President Obama’s Iran deal with caveats. Before you criticize, and condemn, it’s only fair that you hear the man out. February 11th, 2016 from Sumter, South Carolina, on the campaign trail.) The second half of Jason Lewis and Bob Davis on the Bob Davis Podcast. This podcast starts with an extensive discussion of President Obama’s Iran Deal, which Jason supports. This leads into a wider conversation about the US Defense and Diplomatic structure with the rest of the countries in the world, and further discussion of Jason’s larger point that the US can’t have big government abroad and small (or limited) government at home. Once we dispatch the Iran and foreign policy questions, the talk turns to politics in the United States, and the media’s role in it. Is the influence of talk show hosts like Sean Hannity and Glenn Beck on American politics and its conduct of foreign policy. Other points to ponder include Woodrow Wilson and World War I, conspiracy theories about how the British provoked Wilson and his advisors into World War I, and the knock on problems which later contributed to the causes of World War II, in Jason’s opinion. Considering these foreign policy problems, what’s the political diagnoses by Jason, (who also claims to be a pariah in Republican circles here in Minnesota because of his ‘pacifist’ stance on foreign policy issues). Does the country need a personality who can pull people together, or can people generate a political movement on their own? In Jason’s opinion, Republicans continue to try to appeal to the small base that listens to talk radio, expecting bigger results. He also talks about his ‘semi retirement’, ‘going Galt’, and Minnesota’s economic situation, Governor Dayton, former Governor Jessie Ventura and the Minnesota legislature. We close with a short talk about our talk radio days and the future of media, in particular digital media versus broadcast media, and on demand audio like The Bob Davis Podcasts, and The Jason Lewis Show podcasts available here. Don’t forget Jason’s New Audio Book Power Divided is Power Checked available here. This is the kind of content sorely missing from talk radio these days. (Editor’s Note: It’s a great pleasure to work again — even on a podcast — with someone who knows how to deliver great talk content, and is smart, prepared, and witty!). Sponsored by X Government Cars

Podcast 403 – Jason Lewis Part 1

Jason Lewis Part 1. Another visit with national radio host and Galt IO creator Jason Lewis, this time aboard the Mobile Podcast Command Unit 8. On a day when the US Markets were down over three hundred points, getting reconnected on The Bob Davis Podcasts after more than a year produces a wide ranging discussion between two ‘former’ talk radio pros that ended up going much longer than either planned. So, instead of one podcast, it will be two podcasts. Each installment is thirty minutes of solid discussion about The Economy, Immigration, the Federal Reserve, the 2016 presidential primary ‘campaigns’, the media, and much, much more. This is the kind of content you don’t hear much these days in the talk radio world, and certainly not on the mainstream media; The kind of content only digital media delivers. On a personal note, its interesting to me how much we have evolved over the years since working together at KSTP-AM in the two thousands, and at Clear Channel in Minneapolis in this decade, and yet how little some talk hosts have changed over the years. Jason in particular, has evolved what he likes to call a ‘Pacifist’ approach to foreign policy, passionately making the case that you can’t have big government abroad, without big government at home. It’s certainly an argument you won’t hear in the political arena these days from either side. We also talk about Trump’s appeal, political involvement and more. Jason’s audio book ‘Power Divided Is Power Checked’ is available here, and his podcast is available here. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. (Editor’s Note: I’m posting this podcast for the weekend on Friday morning, August 21st, and I’ll post Part 2 for your Monday morning. Thanks again to Jason Lewis for joining me on the podcast and for keeping it real.

Podcast 398 – Sturgis Part 1

Political Escape To Surgis. The first installment of the Sturgis 2015 Road Trip begins. After a 500 mile road trip from Minneapolis-Saint Paul to Rapid City, South Dakota we arrive at the Harley Davidson Dealer in Rapid City. First order of business? Let’s get the political stuff out of the way because in Part 2, we head into Sturgis itself in Mobile Podcast Command Unit 8. Podcast 398 is posted on the day of the first ‘debate’ of the 2016 political cycle. Well, maybe we should call it a cage match, rather than a debate. Not a single vote has been cast, yet the rocket scientists at Fox News have decided to pick the ‘top ten’ candidates based on the political polls. (Editor’s Note: I gave listeners a good primer on the negatives and positives of political polls in Podcast 397.) This is fine and well if your guy is in the top ten, but what if the first guy in the bottom seven or eight got Trumped by Trump, based on a poll? And how do you become number one in a poll? Say a bunch of stuff that gets a lot of news coverage. The decision to cover the Sturgis 2015 event versus the Republican ‘debate’ is detailed in this podcast. Without saying the debate is a disaster for the Republicans (it could be), it feels way to early for such a spectacle. It is dangerous for the Republican party and the American people when a television network decides who the top candidates are, before a vote has been cast. A minimum of a million people are due in Sturgis at some point during this week, in actual physical form. Not on line. Not watching it on Fox News, CNN or MSNBC. People in this country are doing what they do, while a tiny portion of the public is sitting in front of their TV’s hanging on every word. Somehow that feels very close to pathetic when the weather is amazing, and the open road beckons. So Sturgis it is. In this first road trip podcast in the Mobile Podcast Command Unit, recorded about 1 AM, a little slash and burn, some stories, and some comments about the ‘big debate’. Sponsored by X Government Cars. (Editor’s Note: In this podcast I refer to the Sturgis event as the 75th anniversary of Harley Davidson, which is obviously and painfully incorrect. I meant the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally event is 75 years old.)