Podcast 523-Jason Lewis

Podcast 523-Jason Lewis. Join Mobile Podcast Command Unit 8 in the Pan-O-Prog parade in Lakeville, Minnesota. If you’re running for office, or working for someone running for office, regardless of party affiliation, you’re walking in parades, driving in parades, or handing out literature at parades all over your district, and you’ll be doing so until right around State Fair time in the land of ten thousand lakes. The Panorama of Progress parade in Lakeville dates back to 1967. Lakeville is in the heart of Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District where a big political fight is brewing. It isn’t a fight between republicans and democrats, but a fight between republicans. Four candidates are vying for the seat being vacated by the retirement of Congressman John Kline. The trouble started before the CD2 Endorsing convention when Kline endorsed Darlene Miller instead of Jason Lewis. Some believe Kline’s problem stems from comments made by Jason Lewis on The Bob Davis Podcasts regarding Iran and US Foreign Policy. I would urge critics to actually listen to what Lewis said by searching ‘Jason Lewis’ in the search window on my website (thebobdavispodcasts.com) rather than using liner notes or taking the so called party line. As it pertains to foreign policy, I have said many times, it’s going to take independent and thoughtful congressmen, senators, presidents, career diplomats, defense and foreign policy experts to develop a new foreign policy for the United States. The old plug-and-play approach to foreign policy, or the best of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s strategies isn’t going to work in a multi-polar world. Military commitments have to be considered in the light of what the knock-on effects of those interventions might mean, something our government really didn’t do very well when the US invaded Iraq and Afghanistan. Some might argue, this is the root of what ruined the GOP’s chance to succeed George W Bush, or to limit Barack Obama to one term. In the aftermath of the Ron Paul revolution in republican politics, as well as wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the development of ISIS, the Arab Spring, Syria, emerging economies, China and Russia, we need a new approach to defense and foreign policy. The problem is, as I have said, foreign policy doesn’t come out of a can. In this podcast, we ride in the parade with Jason Lewis supporters, who commandeered Mobile Podcast Command’s PA System (I didn’t care, I wanted to ride in the parade anyway, and this doesn’t constitute an endorsement. Jason is a friend of mine, and I think he’s great, but you go ahead and vote for anyone you want!) so you can hear a campaign in progress, and then we’re joined by Jason to talk about the campaign, the Primary Challenge on August 9th, focusing on trade and the economic challenges for everyday Americans, on a brilliantly sunny afternoon in July, in Lakeville Minnesota. Enjoy riding in a parade in Podcast 523-Jason Lewis. Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul and Karow Contracting, Storm Damage Specialists.

Podcast 521

Stormy Weather. In a surprise only to ‘conservatives’ who listen only to ‘conservative’ talk show hosts, watch ‘conservative’ TV shows and go to conservative websites, the FBI decided not to recommend criminal prosecution of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over her use of a personal email server while she was in the Obama Administration. Why? The short answer is, intent is a key consideration in cases like these. The long answer is, Mrs. Clinton played her ‘Benghazi Card’ better known as ‘If I go down, you go down’ and she got action from the administration. At least that’s one possible explanation. In the past few days President Obama suddenly closed ranks with the Clintons (despite all the rumors of the rancor between the Obamas and the Clintons). Attorney General Loretta Lynch had a now famous ‘tarmac meeting’ with former president Bill Clinton and President Obama allowed Hillary Clinton to ride Air Force One with him to a campaign event, where they walked, hand in hand, down the steps. “If I go down, YOU go down”. Now it’s a matter of politics. He said, she said. He said she’s a crook. She said he’s an anti semite. Congress releases a damning report on the administration’s conduct regarding ‘Benghazi’…Democrats say it is a partisan document. Republicans say it’s the ‘truth’ about Mrs Clinton and her boss, President Obama. “If I go down, YOU go down.” More fodder for the campaign trail. They were asleep and the switch, says one side. They’re partisan dividers, says the other side. Meanwhile the world’s leading economies are drowning in a sea of paper money and deficit spending, and economies are faltering. Do you really think this election is going to fix anything? We live in interesting times, with the great potential of a new technical industrial revolution and all that portends, and a personal challenge to change the way we think and how we work, and what we demand of our political institutions. Too bad our sclerotic politics delivers a statist who wants to spend and tax more, and a statist who wants to wall the country off from the rest of the world. We could have this technology revolution now, or we can languish for another thirty years while these idiots we call presidential candidates stumble around in economic darkness. Yeah sure, go ahead and talk until you’re blue in the face about Hillary’s email server, or about the Star of David on Trump’s twitter account, while the printing presses debase the currency, governments spend themselves into the poor house, the media puts on cartoons and calls them news, and we hurtle toward our destiny, whatever that may be. The US is now a country that’s happy about revised economic growth from .5 percent to 1.1 percent, with 95 million people out of the work force, a media that writes gossip and calls it news, and a population that believes Russian Propaganda and You Tube conspiracy theories because…what’s the difference? The Earth is hollow, you know and there’s a whole civilization down there, right? And you wonder about moral hazard? Sponsored by Karow Contracting and Brush Studio in the West End, Saint Louis Park. (Editor’s Note: In this podcast I refer to former CIA Director David Petraeus’ offenses regarding passing classified information with intent, and engaging in a coverup after as occurring while Petraeus was on active military duty. I wondered whether he would be under the Military Code of Justice in this case. This is incorrect. Petraeus was director of the CIA when the offenses occurred and not on active duty. For comparison to the Clinton question, one should refer to the FBI director’s congressional testimony regarding the differences between the Clinton question and the Petraeus case.)

Podcast 518

Skyfall. Last week’s vote by Britain to exit the European Zone provoked some of the most hysterical media coverage of an international news story I’ve seen in a long time. To begin with, there was little detailed coverage before the vote. Things we would need to know after the vote, like whether it was binding, how long it would take to negotiate an exit, what trade agreements might be effected, the defense agreements Britain has with other nations, the economic condition of the EU, Britain’s economic contribution to the EU in general, the percentage of the UK’s GDP accounted for in European Trade and so on. Then there is the issue of the world media being ‘on board’ with the remain vote, or at the very least reporting the story line that ‘leave’ would not pass. Consequently, no one was more surprised by a leave vote victory than the perfumed princes sitting in their air conditioned studios. If Skyfall was the fictional last resort of the embattled James Bond in the movie of the same name, watching anchors and pundits tear their hair out, one would think England is heading to Skyfall as we speak! Perhaps the EU’s unelected ‘leaders’ should be the ones heading to Skyfall. ‘Markets Crash’, the media moaned. From a distance, one might be forgiven for believing ‘The End Of The World’ is indeed near. Better head to Skyfall as a last resort! All is lost. The Leave Victory has jostled the carefully constructed ‘citizen of the world’ senses of a younger generation that apparently does not know the world existed before the EU. Well, the truth is the markets will regain their composure. In fact the British Pound recovered to pre-vote levels the Friday after the vote. It’s a tough thing to hear, but the EU has had problems for some time now, specifically the EURO, as southern Europe’s spendthrift policies have led them to demand relief from Northern Europe. Add to that trouble with the ECB, unpopular regulation and a failure to do anything about the Syrian refugee problem, and one wonders whether the EU hadn’t better clean up its act. Maybe Merry Old England delivered a slap in the face to the velvet suited technocrats, so they would go about getting their proverbial act together. Yes, there are real concerns going forward; What trade deals have to be renegotiated? While defense pacts like NATO really aren’t subject to EU control, there are concerns about defense issues and what about the idea of a strong European Community to foster cooperation and peace, to serve as a counterweight to an expansionist Russia, as well as China. There’s a lot to be worked out, but it isn’t the end of the world. The fact is, we are entering a new time, a new day, with new ideas and concerns. People may not have the language to describe their discontent and even disgust with over controlling governments, the edicts of unelected technocrats who spite ‘the great unwashed’, at their peril. When the winds of change blow, electorates have a funny habit of unpredictably lowering the boom on the haughty and confident. A new day indeed. Sponsored by Karow Contracting and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul.