Podcast 510

Final Primary Vote in Deadwood. We began coverage of the 2016 presidential preference primary season way back in summer of 2015, picking up the campaign trail in late January in Iowa, onto South Carolina, south to Florida, Texas and the south. It seems fitting to end primary 2016 coverage in a place no mainstream media will be on June 7th, 2016. South Dakota. Specifically, Deadwood, South Dakota; from Gold Rush to Wild Bill, to today’s gambling and tourism, Deadwood is representative of South Dakota west of the Missouri river, dominated by hills, mining and ranching. East of the Missouri, it’s all about farming and some great small cities, like Sioux Falls. South Dakota is the 17th largest state in size, but only boasts roughly 860,000 residents. As one of the people interviewed in Deadwood said on this podcast, “We’re not going to decide anything, but that’s ok”. My friend Brad Butturff retired to Deadwood recently. Over the years he has become quite the authority on this small city in the hills and is a font of knowledge about it. Brad joins me on this podcast, from the sidewalk in front of his home in the presidential section of Deadwood. We spent the day talking about the area’s rich history, took a tour of the historic Adams House in Deadwood, and visited a polling place. All in all, a great way to spend the final day of an uproarious, unpredictable and thoroughly depressing election, so far. But, after all, tomorrow is another day. Sponsored by X Government Cars and Ryan Plumbing and Heating of Saint Paul. (Editor’s Note: I refer to the Homestake mine as Homestead mine. This is a throwback from my time in Pittsburgh where there is a Homestead neighborhood.)

Podcast 505 – The Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show-28

The Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show-28. All eyes shift to the Democrats and California for once, as Bernie Sanders challenges Hillary Clinton in the Golden State. If Sanders wins Cali, there’s going to be some soul searching among democrat super-delegates. It might mean the ambitious former Secretary of State will face a challenge from yet another progressive who is doing a better job exciting the Democrat base. The last progressive who excited the Democratic base? Barack Obama. Democrats, do you think Bernie Sanders the logical successor to President Obama? I think many would answer yes. Meanwhile on the Republican side there’s suddenly a lot of talk about ‘Unity’. Unity behind what? What does Donald Trump stand for? What does the Republican Party stand for? Sadly, it seems like Republicans want to ‘unify’ for no other reason than winning. While winning in itself certainly has its benefits, if that’s the only goal what happened to all that talk about ‘principled conservatives’? What pools of Republican votes are left? What’s left of the old so called Reagan Coalition? Is the conservative movement, and by default Republican party dead if Trump wins the nomination, or especially if he wins the nomination? And of course it’s Memorial Day weekend. Some people think of it is as a ‘holiday’, which it isn’t. It also isn’t a day to celebrate those serving or ‘veterans’. It’s a day specifically set aside since 1868 to honor those who gave their lives in service to the United States of America in war. We do not say, ‘Happy Memorial Day’, as there will be many silently thinking about those who will not be enjoying this summer weather in the upper midwest. In Podcast 505, The Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show-28, we condense all the podcasts from the week, and add some original content in each of the four segments. Live from the basement studio at The Bob Davis Podcasts Broadcast Bunker, while we do laundry. Sponsored by Hydrus Performance.

Podcast 499 – The Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show – 26

Podcast 499 – The Bob Davis Podcasts Radio Show – 26. Throughout this week the theme running through the podcasts has been the tribal nature of politics in the United States these days. There’s a great story in Gibbon’s ‘The History of the Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire’ about how Chariot Racing in Rome evolved from a convivial affair to a feral, bloody sport. It began with the idea that some Chariot teams would carry different colored flags to differentiate themselves. This progressed to ‘tribes’ supporting the various colors, and this eventually evolved to the point where there were pitched battles between the different groups supporting different chariot teams. Eventually the different groups began political pressure groups. These days, people seem to be supporting candidates, or joining cults of personalities. You’re for you’re guy no matter what. Depending on what tribe we belong to, we get our information from sources that confirm our worst fears. When we discuss politics with people in different tribes, discussions quickly devolve into arguments and fights. Not only are we not making progress, we’re making ‘regress’. Modern media and news sources online aren’t making the situation any better, since an individual’s newsfeed on FaceBook or YouTube or Twitter doesn’t expose that person to anything that isn’t part of their friends list, worldview or political orientation. Snark, insults, and shouts only add to alienation and separation of today’s political ‘chariot teams’. The radio show is posted here in digital quality sound. As I keep posting shows on here on the Bob Davis Podcasts I am learning each week’s radio is a good summary of the general trend of news and discussion for the week. Thanks for listening! Sponsored by Ryan Plumbing and Heating and X Government Cars.