Human Potential-Bob Davis Podcast 821

Every now and then you see something on social media that bugs you for days. These days, for me, it often has to do with Minnesota Politics. We’ll talk about it in Human Potential-Bob Davis Podcast 821.

Rag Tag Protest In Minnesota’s 6th District

On a misty and warm April morning in Minnesota a rag tag group of protesters showed up outside Elk River High School. This was the scene of the 6th Congressional District Republican Convention.

Blaming Somalis

Especially relevant was the target of the protesters; the Somali population of the 6th District.

Emmer and Abeler Sell Outs

Moreover Congressman Tom Emmer and State Senator Jim Abeler were featured in signage as ‘sell outs’ to Somali-American and Democrat interests in the district.

Muslims Running Amok

For republicans in the 6th, a top issue are Muslims running amok. There are two large Somali populations in Minnesota. One in Minneapolis and another slightly smaller group in Saint Cloud, in the heart of the 6th district.

Fear Sharia Law

Above all these voters think Sharia Law will become the law of the land. In Human Potential-Bob Davis Podcast 821 I’ll tell you why this is never likely to happen.

Civil Rights

They cite an outreach by Emmer to former congressman and now State’s Attorney General Keith Ellison as the chief reason Emmer is a sell out. Would their remedy violate the civil rights of American Citizens? Find out in Human Potential-Bob Davis Podcast 821.

Abeler and Emmer Keep Winning

State Senator Jim Abeler is a footnote in this controversy. Republicans here complain constantly about Abeler’s performance in the state legislature, but somehow he keeps getting elected. So does Emmer.

So Do Democrats

Unfortunately for republicans it is most noteworthy that democrats won all the statewide races in last year’s election and gained control of the state house of representatives. Furthermore democrats took two districts which have been in republican hands for years, solidifying their hold on the Minneapolis suburbs.

Big Spending Republicans

Furthermore it is republicans who continue to spend while they demand lower taxes, then blame it on democrats. Finally there are two conditions necessary to unlock Human Potential and guarantee prosperity. Sound Money and Low Taxes. Neither of those are happening even though republicans control the presidency and the US Senate because both sides keep spending, taxing and borrowing.

Individual Human Potential Wasted By Politicians

I think it’s time for new political parties and new politics in this country and in Minnesota. Unfortunately given the incompetence, poor leadership and raw stupidity on the republican side, it probably won’t do much to help anyone’s individual human potential. Or capitalism.

(Editor’s Note: In addition, the centerpiece of the protest at the CD6 convention this weekend are allegations surrounding the state’s Child Care Assistance Program and Somali day care programs. A recent report on KMSP TV alleged ‘suitcases full of money’ were being sent out of MSP among other things. These allegations were investigated by the Minnesota Legislature. A report issued in March of this year found no actual evidence of a connection between terrorists and the CCAP. Here’s a link to a balanced report from MinnPost. As usual with these kinds of issues, once you start unpacking them you learn it’s easy to make charges and not so easy to prove them. Oddly similar to the Mueller report conclusions being touted by Trumpers as we speak.)

Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and by Organo. Change Your Coffee. Change Your Life.

Human Potential-Bob Davis Podcast 821

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Podcast 588-Russians Coming!

CIA Report on Russian Hacking

On this week’s Bob Davis Podcast Radio Show, we’re back in a news rich environment. The release of the CIA Report on ‘Russian Hacking‘ adds to the latest tempest in a teapot. A skeptical President Elect Trump got a briefing from top intelligence officials in the Obama Administration last week. What does ‘Russia Hacks The US Election’ mean to you? Does it mean the Russians managed to get control of voting machines and change votes in key states. Decidedly no.

In Podcast 588-Russians Coming! The story goes, the Russians, under order from President Putin, hacked into the DNC through John Podesta’s email, gaining access to the server for months. The Obama administration also has been told by its US intelligence employees that the Russians were responsible for the release of sensitive material from the DNC severs to Wikileaks. Oh, and the Russia Today network put a new TV show on critical of Hillary Clinton. The Russians also apparently employed a number of Internet trolls in service to Donald Trump. Or something like that.

The subliminal message here is Americans have lost control of their political process and therefore should have no faith in its outcome, which oddly seems like the original goal of Russia’s alleged interference. Proving the Russians hacked into the DNC is hard enough to prove. Proving it had any effect on the election is quite another. One should never say never and skepticism should be the first approach for people who want to believe the Russian Hack story and those who do not. Still, there are reasons why this is one story that may never be proven. Find out why in Podcast 588-Russians Coming!

While Trump supporters remain skeptical, Clinton supporters have latched onto the Russian Hack story as the new grand conspiracy theory in all that ails America. However, if you’re looking for a smoking gun you may be waiting a long time. Like the famous WMD in Iraq story, when a president asks the intelligence community to ‘prove’ something, a ‘report’ will be issued. Reports issued because a president wants one, usually include a ‘preponderance‘ of evidence.

Remember how the CIA managed to convinced Congress and most of the people in the country going to war against Iraq was necessary? While the left attacked Bush and the CIA for its ‘preponderance of evidence of WMD’s in Iraq’ finding, suddenly they’re ready to believe the ‘Russia Hack’ story. Even though we all know how the WMD story turned out for George W. Bush, the left wonders how else Hillary Clinton’s loss could be explained. It had to be the Russians.

2016’s presidential race heralded a tectonic shift in politics in the United States and perhaps the world. How politics is conducted. How it is reported on. How races are measured and predicted. Considering this shift, is it impossible to suggest people in the great lakes region in 2016 reached the point where they were just fed up with politics as usual? Maybe the cozy relationship between big government types, Hollywood and Wall Street just got to be too much for the little guy? Bernie Sanders thinks so. Senator Sanders has called Clinton out for choosing to hang with Gentry-Liberals rather than campaigning in Wisconsin and Michigan in the final stretch when it might have made a difference.

Foreign involvement in the US political process is nothing new. During the effort to ratify the US Constitution, in an effort to support arguments for an indirect election of the President through the Electoral College, The Federalist talked about foreign involvement in US Presidential elections. Historian Barbara Tuchman wrote a book about British subterfuge to get the US into World War I. The Soviets attempted to influence US politics through the creation and promotion of the American Communist Party from the 1920’s on. During those early decades of the twentieth century, some American intellectuals thought the Soviets had solved the problems of industrialization. Some Americans were happy to move to the glorious Soviet Union.

Will the new president plan a reorganization of the United States’ far flung fleet of intelligence agencies? The OSS was originally tasked with the collection and interpretation of strategic information. After the National Security Act of 1947, the newly formed CIA took up the job with some additional responsibilities. Federal agencies tend to grow and morph from their original mandate as time goes on. The United States now has scores of intelligence agencies. Are we sure our Congress and President knows what these agencies actually do? Are we sure that our government can actually supervise intelligence services that have a long history of making serious mistakes?

What is this story obscuring right now? As we argue about the ‘preponderance of evidence’ linking a spear phishing scheme to the DNC servers, a scheme that succeeded because DNC officials who should have known better did not follow security procedures, politicians in Washington, our State Capitols and City Councils are stealing us blind.

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Podcast 497

Midnight Deck Radio. It’s that time of year again. Just before the bugs, when the trees are full and the nights are cool. But, the coffee’s on and the Tiki Torches are lit, time for some Midnight Deck Radio. As we wait for the planet Mercury to transit between the Earth and the Sun in the 6:00 hour Central Daylight Savings Time on Monday, May 9th, it’s time to update Bob Davis Podcast Listeners for the week ahead. You wouldn’t know it if you listened to talk radio or to the 24 hour cable television channels, but there isn’t much to talk about in politics until the next spate of primary elections. Even then, there won’t be any real fireworks until just before both mainline party conventions late this summer. That doesn’t stop the media machine though, rehashing and churning away with more opinion and commentary on the same issues again and again, and again. How many times can we talk about whether or not Hillary Clinton will be indicted (um, no she won’t) or how Donald Trump is the ‘presumptive’ nominee of the Republican party? One of the things I’ve learned doing the weekly ‘Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show’ is how prescient the Bob Davis Podcasts can be when it comes to forecasting political events and issues ahead of the curve. The podcasts have been talking for weeks about the potential for an establishment fight over the ‘presumptive’ Trump nomination. Just before the weekend all the stories broke about republican establishment types concerned about the down ticket, former presidents who say they won’t attend the convention, establishment donors and potential candidates refusing to endorse the ‘presumptive’ nominee. Which brings us to the media itself. A New York Times article last week about White House Media advisor and Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes has lots of people talking about how the White House ‘controls’ or thinks it controls the media. The main point of the story was Rhodes’ comments about how reporters sometimes copy and reprint whole press releases word for word, because no one actually does any real reporting work anymore when it comes to news. This is was an ongoing topic of conversation when The Bob Davis Podcasts was on the road in Mobile Podcast Command covering the primary election season in Iowa, South Carolina, Florida and Texas this spring. Yes there are a few actual reporters in Washington and New York who work sources and check out stories, but for the most part these days if you’re watching the 24 hour cable channels or listening to the radio you’re getting nothing more than a rehash of someone else’s writing and very often, it’s a press release written up as a new story without any fact checking or source confirmation. What missing is the kind of information people need to be able to discern what are facts and whether those facts are important or not. This is one of the reasons why American Politics isn’t a process for problems solving but a national representation of an increasingly tribal population. How do we build a future when all we’re really concerned about is what tribe each other belongs to and whether we can talk to each other? Digital media can help with that, or it can exacerbate the problem. How do podcasts make a difference? What’s the mission of this podcast these days? Sponsored by X Government Cars and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.

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