Podcast 485

The Political Walking Dead. As many are watching the final installment of the current season of ‘The Walking Dead’ results of the Wisconsin primary roll in, making a convincing case for the next season of the Hit AMC Show which might be aptly entitled, “The Political Walking Dead”. Why? With a win for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in Wisconsin, the challenge for Donald J. Trump to get to the magic number of 1237 delegates will be quite difficult. That does not mean that it will be any easier for Cruz – who has a couple hundred less delegates right now than Trump – or Ohio Governor John Kasich, trailing behind front runner, and his close challenger. Meanwhile on the Democrat side, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ Wisconsin win might frighten Hillary Clinton (A.K.A Madame Mao) but unless Sanders can make inroads to the so called Super Delegates, he can count himself among The Political Walking Dead; Candidates who are campaigning but have little hope of winning their party’s nominations on a first ballot at their respective conventions. Establishment republicans have already stated their intent to split the delegate count, preventing Trump victories, by working for Kasich and Cruz in states that favor them. Is that what happened in Wisconsin? Don’t count on the pay-for-play media to report on that kind of substance. While there was little doubt about a Cruz victory in Wisconsin, one need only to look at the remaining primaries — which are outlined for you in this podcast — to determine whether they are winner-take-all or proportional states, and count it out. It will be very difficult for any of them to achieve the required plurality of delegates at the Republican Convention in Cleveland this summer. What happens? Very interesting question. Cruz and his supporters claim their campaign has already poached Trump delegates in North Dakota, some southern and midwestern states so their guy will arrive at the convention with the magic number of delegates. The Trump camp disagree.  Meanwhile, if you’re concerned your vote doesn’t count, you’re not alone. A recent poll shows GOP voters think the nominee should be the person who wins the most votes, regardless of the delegate count. By campaigning for delegates after primary elections, these campaigns and the establishment are showing voters they don’t care about their vote. In fact, this is a dirty game of pressuring delegates and getting to the magic number. Who do we blame? What the hell. Blame republicans. They’re the ones that wanted all these lackluster candidates. They’re the ones with no new ideas. They’re the ones that advertised a bad product and allowed a reality TV star to dominate this kind of a circus. And, republican voters who have no idea what they’re for ate it all up with a spoon. As we head for summer, the last few primaries and the mainline party conventions, one thing is for sure. Hijinks, Shenanigans and Surprises will be the order of the day in one of the strangest elections in US history. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and X Government Cars.

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Podcast 482

The Story Less Travelled. As the pay for play media continues to chatter about what Donald Trump did this week, or Bernie Sanders’ predictions about democrat super delegates switching allegiance to him, maybe it’s time to take a look at The Story Less Travelled. Some percolating stories and issues people really aren’t talking about because they’re arguing about how tabloids post stories, how Internet rumors get started, how Donald Trump is going to make US allies pay ‘us’ for security, or why Bernie Sanders’ thinks Detroit became a hell hole in the last fifty years. There are real things happening in the world, most of which are reported on but not occupying very much attention, because too many pundits, talk hosts, talking heads, editors and managers are doing the bidding of political parties, candidates and their minders. What happens if Saudi Arabia decides to switch their alliance to China and Asia, which will account for the lion’s share of growth in energy consumption over the next ten years? What happens when economic instability due to massive debt and low profits comes home to roost in the banking system? How do you feel about academics going around saying the days of 4 percent and greater economic growth are over, and the solution is a world wide socialism-lite system, with more government and higher taxes? How will future presidents – the people filling your television screen with nonsense right now, and getting accolades from talkers, pundits and so called experts for it – confront a collapsing China, a Europe embroiled in a guerrilla war with thousands of ISIS fighters, and an economic depression. Maybe we should be talking about The Story Less Travelled more than what they want us to talk about. Sponsored by X Government Cars, Brush Studio in the West End, Saint Louis Park and by Hydrus. (Editor’s Note: This is not a ‘transcript’. Each podcast, which is original content in itself, also is accompanied by a short blog about the podcast. This blog is also original content, not a repetition of what is in the podcast, but a discussion of some of the ideas in the podcast. If you want to know what’s in the podcast, listen to it.)

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Podcast 452

Jeb’s Baack! With less than a month to go before people actually start voting for candidates to lead their party’s presidential bids in 2016, get ready for the story lines to change. In this first of the year podcast, we get back on the political horse to both warn and speculate on the potential changes in media story lines, which have come to constitute ‘political’ coverage in our time. Our media may think of itself as an informal ‘fourth estate’; an additional fourth branch of government. Fortunately the founders vested sovereign power in the people as represented in three estates of our republic; The legislative, executive and judicial branches. Our media is more like The Borg, or a mob. A faceless, brainless maw that seizes on reactionary story lines, based only on the personality of various politicians, the things they say and outrage generated from it. These form story lines that run until they wear out, or some new outrage is manufactured, or some actual event called ‘news’ happens. The lack of actual journalism and reporting on issues is palpable. The dominant story line that started this political season was that flash in the pan known as Donald Trump. Now that Trump is the dominant candidate on the Republican side, a new story line is being manufactured that says, ‘Hang on, Jeb Bush is going to reemerge’. Given the power and money behind the Republican establishment, don’t be so quick to discount that one. When people start voting, look for candidates to get out. Those who stay in will reap the benefits. On the democrat side, the story line was Hillary Clinton was the inevitable candidate, then Bernie Sanders was going to upset the apple cart, now the story line is what kind of presidency Mrs Clinton will have. Fasten your seat belts; the one constant in politics is change. Sponsored by Pride of Homes and Luke Team Real Estate, and Hydrus Performance. 

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