Podcast 202

The Islamic State. What to do about it? Is it an existential threat to the United States? Is it the role of the US Government to avenge the horrible death of US Journalist James Foley? The bottom line? Emotional reactions to lurid coverage of a murder does not a foreign policy make. If you want to influence International Relations as practiced by the Executive and Legislative branches of the US Government, you also have to understand the disciplines behind the policy. The State Department, Pentagon, White House, Congress, the Clandestine Services and Non State Actors all speak a language different from ‘civilians’ being manipulated by the media. Where DOES foreign policy come from? What are the disciplines and philosophy behind the concepts driving executive, intelligence, military and legislative positions and, more importantly, actions. How will the death of James Foley be handled. Will airstrikes alone eliminate the ISIS threat? What about intervening in Syria? Is it The President’s fault? Which president? Media coverage of this story is terrible. Viewers and listeners aren’t getting any background in foreign policy development, and we’re hearing the same tired arguments from deliberations over the Iraq war in 2002 and 2003 all over again. Here’s some background and some facts about the situation. Sponsored by Autonomouscad.com.

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Podcast 157

Weekend Update! The White House’s rosy scenario on the Bowe Bergdahl release continues to unravel. There are three key points to pay close attention to in the next few weeks. Will this new PR debacle for the President have a negative impact on close races for Democrat Senate candidates in the 2014 cycle? These days, if you mention Ronald Reagan, you get flack from both sides of the political spectrum. The left always hated Reagan, and now he’s not ‘conservative’ enough for some. This week was the commemoration of the D-Day invasion at Normandy as well as the 25th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre of the Chinese people by their government. Will we look back in twenty more years and say that was the beginning of the end of the Communist Regime? Can you have continued economic growth without freedom? Is it true Michelle Obama is thinking about running for the Senate? Plus bike sharing has an ‘unexpected’ effect in New York City, and the ‘Green Line’ opens in Minneapolis and Saint Paul this weekend. Sigh. Sponsored by X Government Cars! 

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Morning In America

“We thought it wouldn’t be, couldn’t be, fixed. Then came Reagan, with a sunny disposition and a belief he knew what was wrong and how to fix it. He knew it because he had lived and breathed it night after night on factory floors, read it on long train and plane trips, and spoke it famously in his Goldwater nomination speech in 1964. Later he would fight for these ideas in two presidential campaigns before he won in 1980.” Read more in my post about emceeing the Reagan Day Dinner, on June 13th 2014, in Minnesota’s 2nd District.