Podcast 307

Mitt Quits. Updates for the first week of February. While neighbors enjoy the Superbowl – enjoy their muffled screams through the wall – The Bob Davis Podcasts goes to work. Mitt Romney has decided not to run for President in 2016, provoking the Washington Post to name Jeb Bush as the front runner. Meanwhile a new poll of voters in Iowa, where the nation’s first presidential primary will be held, have picked Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker as the front runner, closely followed by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. If you are an observer of politics, and you have a decidedly anti-government bent, it sure seems like the mainstream moderate wing of the Republican Party is selling policy and tactics from the 1990’s, while voters seem to engage with politicians with newer ideas. While the actual political season for the 2016 cycle is a long way off in political terms, the media seems to want to pick a moderate as the front runner, and the people might have different ideas. Stay Tuned. The new Economic numbers are out, and they aren’t as good as expected. Surprise! After 5 percent GDP ‘growth’ in the third quarter just about everyone ‘figured’ and predicted that we would have at least 3.6 percent ‘growth’ in the fourth quarter, what with gas being cheap and acting ‘like a tax cut’. Even President Obama declared victory over stagnation for weeks, culminating in his over the top State Of The Union Speech which would make the initiated think he was presiding over the most dynamic economy in US History. In reality, President Obama’s recovery doesn’t just lag Bush and Clinton and Reagan, the Obama ‘recovery’ is the worst economic performance of all Presidents in US History. The new growth number? 2.6 percent. What does the media blame it on? Those evil frackers who created all those jobs, and now they’re laying people off ’cause oil is so cheap. In fact the media that couldn’t bring itself to write a positive story about energy growth in the US in the last six years now can’t find enough down-on-their-luck in Williston, North Dakota, stories. Fact is, most of the manufacturing jobs the President likes to tout are energy related. Yeah, cheap gas is great. It acts like a tax cut. Just keep that in mind as the European Zone disaster starts to take hold, and China’s economic slow down begins to bite, realities which the US economy won’t escape. And what are US policies? Not clear away the gordian knot of taxes and regulation that chokes business formation, and the supply side, but continued efforts to stimulate consumption and ballyhooing ‘consumer confidence’. In Silicon Valley they are mixing morning shake cocktails of supplements and additives that are supposedly able to increase your IQ. Body hacks are all the rage, so Podcast 307 ends with an effort to play catch up, with the Broadcast Bunker Juicer. Sponsored by Xgovernment Cars and Depotstar

Podcast 300

Republicans and Rhetoric. Wasn’t able to tape tonight’s appearance at the SD-61 Chili Dinner and Contest. Thanks to everyone who showed. Podcast 300, aside from being a milestone for The Bob Davis Podcasts, gives the listener an idea of what was discussed. One usually comes away from these kinds of events feeling a little uneasy, especially when hard political issues are discussed. I usually write these podcast notes in the third person, but not this time. I am either seeing things others don’t see in the political process — out in front of the vanguard so to speak — or the things I am seeing and feeling are internal issues and aren’t really there. At this weekend’s big confab in Iowa, the good news is that Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker was able to connect in a personal and substantive appeal to the conservatives gathered in the Hawkeye state for Congressman King’s event. The bad news is that Donald Trump and Sarah Palin made purely rhetorical appeals, which I think damage the so called conservative ‘brand’. Now, since it was a Republican get together I don’t expect good coverage from most of the media, but some of the things said were just not helpful. Aside from involvement in local politics, if so called conservatives are going to be able to argue their points, they are going to have more than just rhetorical arguments. If all Republicans are going to do is bray in an attempt to persuade, or shock, without eliciting any information, it is going to be a very long election cycle from next fall, to November of 2016. It is possible to persuade and inform. The problem is what do Republicans want to do? What do they stand for? What’s their plan for the long term? As people shift from outrage and frustration to addressing a kind of inner challenge, do any candidates in any political party understand that challenge? Mostly what I hear is a lot of empty talk about values and outrage and demands. Is that connecting with people? We talked about some of this at the SD61 event, and I review that conversation in this podcast. Sponsored by Depotstar

 

Podcast 259

Road Trip Pt 1. From southern Minnesota to Iowa, over to Indianapolis in one night, on the first leg of the East Coast Road Trip, Pt 1. A stop at the largest truck stop (anywhere?), along I-80 in Iowa. Or somewhere. How do you get from Minneapolis and Saint Paul to Virginia? Do you go 94 to 39 to 74 to 65 to 64? Do you go across the Indiana, Ohio and Penna Turnpikes? Do you go the southern route? A tortured path to Virginia, avoiding snow squalls and winter warnings all the way. Anything for Thanksgiving with the family, right? Especially when you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner. Hauling ass! Along the way, breaking news coverage of the two big stories; No indictment from the Grand Jury in Ferguson, Missouri … and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is resigning … some say due to pressure from the White House. (Editors note: Somehow I find myself out of synch with the two big stories of the week; Ferguson and Bill Cosby.) More and more it seems the media has a symbiotic relationship with victims, protesters or the otherwise aggrieved. They seem to feed on each other, whether there is a story there, or not. Meanwhile, the media continues to ill serve the American people. Forget ‘objective’, as in ‘both ‘ sides of a story. We’re talking about just getting the facts out. They just can’t seem to do it. Witness the actual live reporting as we drive across the Midwestern US, via scratchy AM radio. “Yes, I hear pops. I can’t say its gunfire, but…”. Really? All you need is a Guy Fawkes mask and a hoodie these days, and you’re a bonafide protester. Now. What to protest. Hey, my neighbor says he was raped by Bill Cosby! Is that good enough? Procedure? Evidence? Well reasoned arguments for and again? Forget it. The road beckons, and it is a good thing. Only thing to think about is avoiding black ice, and keeping your speed up. Sponsored by X Government Cars