Podcast 439

World War III. Thanksgiving 2016 is here, and with it a raft of insane stories pulled from the week’s news, all designed to get your crazy uncle Joe absolutely apoplectic at the Thanksgiving Day table. Turkish F-16’s shoot down a Russian Su-24 Bomber and Syrian ‘rebels’ shoot down a rescue chopper with US provided TOW Missiles. Pass the dressing please. As ‘World War III’ trends on twitter, relax and set the table. According to the President, ISIS is ‘contained’ but we’re being warned to watch out for attacks this Thanksgiving on US and Europe and US citizens all over the world. Donald Trump has so frightened the so called ‘establishment wing’ of the Republican Party, they’ve started a ‘guerilla’ advertising campaign against him funded by … wait for it and drum roll please … supporters of Jeb Bush. Will anyone pay any attention to the republicans when they don’t have ‘The Donald’ to kick around anymore? Rimshot! Meanwhile there’s no shortage of nonsense on the democrat side of the fence either, with Hillary Clinton promising tax credits for people taking care of their parents, and Bernie Sanders suggesting, you know, more free stuff, by rounding up all the rich people and taking their money on Monday … when all that is spent by Wednesday, we’ll have to come up with another scapegoat. Are you going to eat those yams? Woodrow Wilson was a racist but since we can’t actually call a progressive a racist, leave Woodrow alone. And Andrew Jackson too. But Trump? It’s alright to call him repugnant and a racist, because he’s a republican, right? More mashed potatoes please. Numbers on the economy have been revised, and its going great, except for the oil glut, the 25 percent increase in your health insurance premiums and a big build up of inventories. Retail numbers are down because no one goes to the mall anymore. Really? To fix it, we need more focused and efficient government spending, cause we haven’t done that, right? How do I get out of here? Sponsored by X Government Trucks and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. 

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Podcast 433

Voting Surprises. Elections held on November 3rd, 2015 show the potential for voters to surprise and even shock media, pundits and commentators. Is a Tea-Party Republican victory in the Kentucky Governor’s race a harbinger of surprises to come once people start actually voting in the primaries and caucuses starting February 1st, 2016? Voters in Ohio rejected legalizing Marijuana, Democrats in Virginia lost their bid to gain control of the State Senate, and LGBT rights legislation failed in Houston, Texas. Is this a conservative voting trend? The next actual election is November 21st in Louisiana, where polls say a Democrat is favored to win the bid to replace Republican Governor Bobby Jindal. Is the chattering class underestimating the possibility that conservative voters could show up in large numbers, shifting the country to the right. Same question applies to the grip of establishment republicans on power in the GOP. It is dangerous to believe polls, especially this early in the process. When it comes to real political science, the proof is in the pudding. If there is a trend of angry voters on the right turning out, the punditry is going to be caught flat footed, but the establishment republicans will be shocked. One gets the impression, reporters and commentators covering these elections hear so many stump speeches and have so much red meat thrown at them they get jaded when it comes to the degree of frustration of ordinary voters. The turmoil on the right is a storm brewed up by svengali strategists at the RNC who expected to crown Jeb Bush the nominee. Now Trump, Carson and Cruz threaten the whole house of cards, demanding their own rules for debates or upsetting the carefully constructed plan. Outliers Trump and Sanders on the left are shaking up the status quo and challenging the idea that suzerains in Washington get to decide who the nominee will be on either side. In the real news, things don’t seem to be going so well and the commentariat continues to write tripe. The GDP only ‘grew’ 1.5 percent, but don’t worry growth is expected when consumers, ‘spending the savings from lower gas prices like a tax cut’ finally kicks in. A new study done by Democrat Operatives that says Mergers and Acquisitions are causing ‘inequality’. Is this true? Meanwhile Congressional Republicans lift the debt ceiling and federal spending jumped by 338 billion dollars. Maybe they should be talking about cutting spending rather than cutting taxes? Sponsored by Pride of Homes and Luke Team Real Estate and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. 

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Podcast 429

Politics as Sport. Millions of people watched the most recent Republican debate on CNBC this week, and everyone is talking about how the candidates ‘really gave it to the moderators’. The moderators had it coming, but was this a surprise? Do you mean say the media is biased? Really? How shocking if true, right? Meanwhile this week a US Destroyer sailed past man-made islands claimed by China provoking quite a response. While the US should challenge Chinese ‘ownership’ of these islands this is just the kind of incident that creates foreign policy crises seemingly ‘out of nowhere’. To add insult to injury House Republicans this week voted to increase federal spending by 50 billion dollars in 2016 and something like 30 billion in 2017. (Editor’s Note: Republicans were shocked and dismayed in the 1970’s when President Carter’s budget deficit hit 45 billion.) Talk about the GOP betrayal of their voters? No, let’s talk about media bias, again. Republican and Democrat candidates running for their party’s nomination to run for president – technically not running for president yet – continue to play to the biases and fears of their most vociferous supporters, as part of a sick and dangerous symbiosis between media, pollsters, and politicians. People watch to see who will be ‘thrown off the island last’. Indeed, politics is being covered not as sports as covered, but is in fact a sport in itself. Why not talk about video games and fantasy football at the debates? The election is already a fantasy football league or video game, or reality TV show, anyway. With most people getting their news in shards from social media, google searches, You Tube and other sources like this, the story about three deep space objects hiding behind the moon is perceived with the same credibility as the story of US Special Forces and Navy Helicopters being deployed to Syria, where they may be as likely to get into combat with Russians and Chinese troops as they are to fight ISIS. We’re ‘Cruisin For A Bruisin’ in the United States if this is how we expect to elect the next President, and subsequently run the country. Don’t forget to join The Bob Davis Podcasts and Jason Lewis for a live podcast Saturday, Halloween at 11:00 AM in Lakeville, Minnesota at the Main Street Cafe. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. (Editor’s Note: I refer to Russia Today, which is a propaganda outlet for the Russian Government as Russia Times. It’s RT or Russia Today.) 

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