The John Batchelor Show

Thursday 28 June 2018

Air Date: 
June 28, 2018

Photo: 
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Co-hosts: Mary Kissel, Wall Street Journal, and Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents
 
Hour One
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 1, Block A: David M Drucker, Senior Congressional correspondent,Washington Examiner, in re: Associate Justice Kennedy’‘s resignation at the end of this term.  Political sequiturs.
Thursday 28 June 2018  / Hour 1, Block B: John Fund, NRO, in re: Justice Kennedy’s retirement. Rep Jim Jordan (Ohio) questioning Mr Rosenstein, who claimed that he has so many people working for him that he can't check every document. And, “I have to follow the rules even if I don't remember them.”  Voted that he must surrender all docs by 6 July , no ifs, ands, or buts. 
President could oblige this, but it's wiser for the president not to get involved lest the final outcome be tainted, Once the docs are released, president can demand any remaining documents – which are: How many informants did the FBI have working the Trump campaign, and how much did it pay them?
Strzock: “prejudiced” ‘to a degree that . . .  and Rosenstein did naught about it. Circumstantial evidence is enormous and the process obviously was tainted.  
Rosenstein was a GOP appointee; who’s side is he on now? Does he have some special allegiance? DC is filled w people who have no allegiance to anyone or anything.   Defending the bureaucracy.
Ray represents someone trying to get out of town with no scandal; wants Rosenstein to take the heat. To call him a colorless bureaucrat would be to paint him in Technicolor.  
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 1, Block C: Josh Rogin, Washington Post,  in re: Europe and the USA. Euro mtg last week on the condition/fate of the Transatlantic Alliance: not good.  VP Biden . Leaders can’t understand why Trump disparages NATO, Transatlantic Alliance, others, since that’s exactly what Putin is trying to do.  Biden. Euros, Congress, are all a tad freaked out. 
Mary Kissel: Trump committed carefully and well to NATO. [What's up?] 
JR:  [Unconventionality.]  What changed was Pres Trump’s behavior in public and in private.  Euros no longer view Trump’s offhanded jokes/mild wisecracks as jokes. So far, no upside to his jokes.
MK: They might start thinking seriously of their own defense.
JB: John Bolton announces mtg, Trump-Putin in Helsinki. 
MK:  We’re speaking of NATO as though it was monolithic – but compare Estonia with, say, Portugal.
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 1, Block D: Dr Henry I Miller, Hoover, in re: Russia and disinformation, esp anent GMOs. Russkii trolls: bad actors esp on the Net, according to Investors Bz Daily:  spreading disinfo, now under the guise of GMO. On RT.  
Lysenko was trying to cram modern genetics  into an ideological slot convenient to Stalin; it caused massive crop failures famines, assassinations of dissenting scientists So me of this irrationality has persisted, Russia now is trying to purvey itself as a global purveyor of organic foods, hoping thus to trash contemporary genetic engineering, to wit, Western agriculture.  Sophisticated; when Western scientists publish something, incl on e of my op-eds in the Wall Street Journal,, elicited a troll comment: “Miller is collaborating with the Sinaloa drug cartel and trying to re-introduce heroin [sic] into Coca-Cola” [oops – not cocaine?]. 
 
Hour Two
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 2, Block A:  Dr. Aykan Erdemir, in re: Turkish elections.
 ·         http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/four-things-to-watch-in-turkeys-elections
·         http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/there-is-hope-for-democracy-in-turkey-even-if-erdogan-wins-again
·         http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/erdogan-enters-turkish-elections-with-more-power-but-less-support
·         http://www.defenddemocracy.org/media-hit/dr-aykan-erdemir-turkish-elections-a-win-that-cannot-be-stolen1/
·         http://www.aei.org/publication/turkey-will-spread-islamic-terrorism-like-saudi-arabia-once-did/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiTm1JMlptVTFZV05qTldOayIsInQiOiI5T1lcL1Axbll0bjM3QmE5Q3pxNThhcUh5c1RVYzltQWV3alNUcjRcL0FOVUFVSFwvRjI1UXZKZjk2bUQrU2JqcDAwYWxURDNpcGFpZ3NvdTZsZWs3TDRyWjJLZHFyZ2IwQWhpWFNsT2poVXR4OTBJTmJETGZlRXZ4Vm1sM1wvM01udG4ifQ%3D%3D
·         http://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/erdogans-victory-could-actually-improve-u.s.-turkish-relations
Dr. Aykan Erdemir is a former member of the Turkish Parliament (2011-2015) who served in the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee, EU Harmonization Committee, and the Ad Hoc Parliamentary Committee on the IT Sector and the Internet. As an outspoken defender of pluralism, minority rights, and religious freedoms in the Middle East, Dr. Erdemir has been at the forefront of the struggle against religious persecution, hate crimes, and hate speech in Turkey. He is a founding member of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief, and a drafter of and signatory to the Oslo Charter for Freedom of Religion or Belief (2014) as well as a signatory legislator to the London Declaration on Combating Antisemitism.
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 2, Block B:  Jonathan Schanzer, in re:  Palestinians. Clear that the Kushner-Greenblatt peace process requires regional cooperation: Saudis, Emiratis, Jordanians, others – and the West Bank is in effect a minor actor.  PA leadership is furious – not being consulted as equal partners; will ensure that Gaza gets more, WB fewer, resources.  WB leadership gets less, regional actors get more.  PA legitimately complains that Hamas is in fact a terrorist organization and does not deserve to get more.  However, from US and other perspectives, want to ensure that Gazans not suffer food crises, sewage catastrophes, and the like.
Taylor Force Act is helpful, but major cut in funding to UNRWA, et al., is good. The insult to the PA leadership as it’s treated as a government that’s an impediment to peace and illegitimate. Saeb Erekat specifically targetted.  [Note: In low comedy, Saeb Erekat long ago appointed himself spokesman for the Palestinian Authority; no elected leader approved that, but the press has gone to Erekat for so long now that he’s served himself well. In royalty, it's called a pretender.]
·         https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Kushner-and-Greenblatt-meet-Netanyahu-for-a-second-time-560708
·         https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5295041,00.html
·         https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5296207,00.html
·         https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/White-House-warns-Palestinians-of-aid-cut-without-end-to-martyr-payments-560872
·         https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/international/177909-180624-exclusive-us-freezes-palestinian-aid-budget
·         https://www.jpost.com/printarticle.aspx?id=560864
·         http://www.israelhayom.com/2018/06/25/amid-pa-rejectionism-arab-nations-threaten-to-go-%e2%80%8eover-abbas-head/
Since joining FDD in February 2010, Dr. Schanzer has been singularly focused on ensuring that FDD delivers not only accurate and timely research, but also research that is useful to decision makers inside the Beltway, across America, and around the world.
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 2, Block C:  Mohsen Sazegara, in re:  JCPOA; US withdrew, issued new sanctions against Iran, whose economy is showing signs of collapse. As of yesterday, 90,000 rial to a dollar. Protests in the Grand Bazaar in Teheran and bazaars around the country constitute a real threat to the regime – and the sanctions haven't even kicked in yet. (Will do in November?) Regime doing enrichment of uranium?  Pres Rouhani decided to join Khamenei; they confront and suppress the people. Citizens and esp shopkeepers are tired of the diminishing currency; and the rapidly-changing rates kill business in Iran.  Very high inflation, the worst disease.  Also the extreme drought. When the regime sees the demonstrations . . . some leaders see them as too dangerous and resign; Rouhani has not accepted those resignations. One of the slogans is against Iran’s foreign policy: “Leave Syria and think about us!”  “No to Syria and Gaza – don't sacrifice Iran!”  What can the US do? Anything against the economy or leadership will help the Iranian people.  National debt is $200 bil!  Any pressure on the sources on the flow of money that the regime gets will help. The people are fighting a totalitarian regime.
Among the goals of the demos are: nationalizing the wealth of the leadership, returning it to the people. Also want a national referendum on the continuation of the regime.
·         https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/iran-protests-broaden-u-s-sanctions-takes-toll-economy-n886461
·         http://www.aei.org/publication/in-iran-revolution-is-starting-in-the-bazaar/?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWVRRd01XUXpORGMzT0RKaiIsInQiOiJ3NXk4akxuN1JvTDZPYVY0c1ZHR1hNUDA2S0ZWdkdjQlpJb2NZcm80enFwTkR6OTRaeGdhQjZ0dlFKNXlFeDIrZFp6WkZTM2xCampZYmVsWGVLbFwvYkZuVDRtcHh3VE90c0lSOTZ0Q2hnbEJZcWUwV3NraGNmbE1VZ0Y3WXdWK1QifQ%3D%3D
·         https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/why-the-new-iran-protests-wont-change-much https://en.radiofarda.com/a/bazaar-protests-continue-a-second-day-in-iran-/29321459.html
·         http://freebeacon.com/national-security/iranian-protestors-swarm-streets-chanting-death-palestine/
Mohsen Sazegara is an Iranian journalist and pro-democracy political activist. Dr. Sazegara held several high-ranking positions in the Government of Mir-Hossein Mousavi, such as deputy prime minister, minister of industry, deputy chairman of the budget and planning department, and many more before becoming disillusioned with the government in 1989 and pushing for reforms. He applied to become a candidate for President of Iran in the 2001 election but was declined.
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 2, Block D:  Blaise Misztal,  Bipartisan Policy Center, in re: Erdogan has mastered the art of wielding power at home Anything goes wrong, it's the fault of the United States and Jews; anything at home, it's the Kurds and Gulen.  Arrested 100,00 people; is here a ray of light about how the US can improve anything? We all underestimated his drive for power and determination to hold on to it. I was in Turkey over the Weekend for the election .  No independent media in the run-up; maneuvering events and information; possible actual election fraud, caused Erdogan to win again.  US delivered he first F35s to Turkey just before the election. Erdogan thinks he can spit in the eye of the US and still get what he wants.  Will the rest of the F35s be delivered?  Congress – two Senators – are trying to block that, esp as Turkey orders the S400 from Russia, and also while it keeps Pastor Andrew Brunson imprisoned.   
.      https://bipartisanpolicy.org/blog/quick-takeaways-from-turkeys-election/
.      https://www.cfr.org/conference-calls/turkeys-presidential-and-parliamentary-elections
.      https://www.reuters.com/article/us-getz-turkey-commentary/commentary-five-questions-turkey-is-no-longer-a-democracy-idUSKBN1JL2SN
Blaise Misztal is the director of BPC’s  [Bipartisan Policy Center] national security program. He previously served as the project’s associate director and senior policy analyst. At BPC, Misztal has researched a variety national security issues, including Iran and its nuclear program, Turkey, cybersecurity, stabilizing fragile states, and public diplomacy in the 21st century. Misztal wrote and directed the 2009 “Cyber ShockWave” simulation that aired on CNN. Prior to joining BPC, Misztal spent a year as a Nuffield Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford University. He was selected as a future leader by the Foreign Policy Initiative in 2010 and named as a national security Fellow by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in 2011.
 
Hour Three
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 3, Block A: Malcolm Hoenlein, in re:  When Malcolm and I were children in Philadelphia, my family went to Ocean City; Malcolm went to Atlantic City.  In East Jerusalem, not salt-water taffy, but expect increased activities: various Arab countries investing money for incitement, but Jordan, Saudis? and Palestinians are complaining to Israel that Turkey is buying up too much real estate in East Jerusalem, is about to raise an Ottoman flag.
Currency: 42,000 rial to the dollar officially, but in fact it’s 90,000 to the dollar  in Iran. Vast drought.  Incipient anarchy.  Ofc of Foreign Assets of US Treasury: Iranian-related activities will be prohibited in [Nov?].   . . . Palestinians never met  good deal they couldn't mess up, esp reject fabulous concessions.  They’re not even willing to talk to US reps, while many Arab nations are.  Taylor Force Act: no US money to a grop that pays terrorists for their villainy;; that would be te Palestinian Authority. Russia agrees to police the Golan so Iran doesn’t?  But Syrian troops moved into an abandoned camp there – within striking distance of the Israeli border.  Considered unacceptable.  Syrian regime is hitting along the Jordanian border.  Tense situation.
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 3, Block B: Mickey Segall, in re:  Iran on Israel’s borders. Syria. Iran’s collapsing economy:  it's still very determined to continue in Syria and Yemen despite criticism at home – “Death to Palestine” “Death to Khamenei” notwithstanding.  Peope re fed up with the misadventurism of the regime Car companies are pulling out; cancellation of Airbus; Euro banks cancelling activity in Iran . Iranian regime trying to respond:  Rouhani said, “We’ll face these hardships with dignity.” Trying to prepare people for coming hardships – the “resistant economy.”  Pope on the street; a lot of strikes. 
http://jcpa.org/irans-regime-faces-widespread-economic-and-political-unrest/
.       https://english.alarabiya.net/en/features/2018/06/26/How-Iran-s-catastrophic-water-policy-can-lead-to-waves-of-climate-refugees.html
.      https://www.thecairoreview.com/tahrir-forum/battling-for-southwestern-syria/
.      https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/israel-struck-hezbollah-target-near-damascus-airport-syria-claims-1.6213513
IDF Lt.-Col. (ret.) Michael (Mickey) Segall, an expert on strategic issues with a focus on Iran, terrorism, and the Middle East, is a senior analyst at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and at Alcyon Risk Advisors.
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 3, Block C: Richard Epstein, Chicago Law, NYU Law, Hoover; in re: Supreme Court.   Police took CSLI data from a fellow’s cell phone; found that he had been in the general location of the robberies, and then was convicted. Supreme Court said police did not have the correct warrant for that access.  The Fourth Amendment has two clauses: A right to be safe in home and effects; also: No warrant shall issue except for probable cause. Ergo, all right to seize [?] the phone, bit reading its contents is a different matter, a much larger intrusion of privacy requiring much stronger justification.
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 3, Block D: Richard Epstein, Chicago Law, NYU Law, Hoover; in re: Supreme Court
 
Hour Four
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 4, Block A:  In the Hour of Victory: The Royal Navy at War in the Age of Nelson, by Sam Willis
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 4, Block B:  In the Hour of Victory: The Royal Navy at War in the Age of Nelson, by Sam Willis
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 4, Block C:  Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts
Thursday 28 June 2018 / Hour 4, Block D:  Napoleon: A Life, by Andrew Roberts