The John Batchelor Show

Monday 24 September 2012

Air Date: 
September 24, 2012

 

Photo, above: demonstration in Ulyanovsk opposing the establishment of a NATO transit base there for Afghanistan resupply.  Lenin's natal name was Ulyanov, as he was born there. "Under this scheme goods would be delivered by air from Afghanistan to Russia bypassing Uzbekistan. Russia will form trains for delivery of goods to NATO countries. Russian Defense Ministry said that goods transported through the territory of Russian will be checked by customs and that NATO transit hub is not NATO or U.S. military base. Volya party wrote a petition to Ulyanovsk Region Governor Sergei Morozov. It reads that 'the city could become the largest in Europe drug trafficking center.' The residents are worried about 'the smuggling of weapons and ammunition,' 'NATO occupation' and 'prostitution.' "

JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-hosts: Nan Hayworth (NY-21), and John Avlon, CNN and Newsweek International.

Monday 905P Eastern Time (605P Pacific Time):   .Devin Nunes (CA-18), in re: Economic Freedom Alliance Act has four pillars:  1. Trans-Atlantic Commerce & Trade Enhancement Act; 2. Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, and US–Brazil Joint [trade commission] – can anchor the Southern Hemisphere ; 3.        4. Generalized Preferences Improvement Act (via GSP) – some nations accept selling to the US but manage to prevent US products from entering their country

Monday 920P Eastern Time (620P Pacific Time):   .Mona Charen, NRO, in re:  There are 46 days left in this presidential race for Mitt Romney to change the dynamic of a campaign that by many indicators is tilting against him.  

Monday 935P Eastern Time (635P Pacific Time):   . Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Times-Review; Lara M Brown, Villanova, in re: polls – all variable in results, although  Obama stays around 47 or 48, while Romney's numbers are all over the place: support for him hasn’t hardened as many voters are undecided.  "What we have here are two losers, like John Kerry and John McCain."  What's needed for Romney is the white working class, "the holy grail," and Eastern Ohio is the locus. Swing states that went for Obama in 2008, esp Missouri, will not go that way this time. "Right now, you could argue that Obama is in a stronger position in North Carolina (his most challenging battleground state) than Romney is in Ohio (a state that every victorious Republican presidential nominee has won).

At first, Jeff Millard was undecided about whom to vote for in November.  “I'm not particularly happy with Obama,” the retired auto-parts storeowner said of the man he supported in 2008. His wife, walking beside him on the Military Ridge state trail, overheard him voicing doubt. She let him know it was not an option. “What about my reproductive rights?” she asked, clearly upset. “No, we're voting for Obama!”

Monday 950P Eastern Time (650P Pacific Time):   . David Drucker, Staff writer, Roll Call; John Fund, Senior editor, American Spectator, in re: Number-one goal of Harry Reid was to protect his majority. . . .   Senate has accomplished almost naught; hasn’t passed a budget in three years.  "Pay and punt" to avoid the fiscal cliff.  Defense sequester.  Novermber 6 will tell us a lot about what the lame-duck session will look like. Harry Reid has sat on dozens of bills; it's a do-nothing Senate but the House has been on fire.   JB: Congress can’t lead when the American people don't know where to go.  Yaz in Fenway.  DD: Whoever wins WH, I don’t think the parties will [work together] unless the American people demand cooperation and centrist governance.  JB: The Republican Party fell on its pen-knife.

 

Amy Walter: Wisconsin, Nevada, and Ohio "are the toughest states for Romney to win. If he loses all three he can't win. Even if he swept all the other toss up states he'd end up with just 267 to Obama's 271. . . . Florida, Colorado, and New Hampshire are the best opportunities for Romney and though recent polling has Obama up in Virginia, "operatives on both sides think the state is much more competitive than that."

Monday 1005P (705P Pacific Time):   Taegan Goddard, Political Wire; John Fund, Senior editor, American Spectator, in re: Mr Silver: of the 19residential elections since 1936 (when Alf Landon lost to FDR, emphasizes John Fund), 17 of the 19 were winning at this time in the polls.  Sean Trende's poll of pollsters last week:  The American people are grading on a curve for the president, so he's not being held normally accountable for the economy.  We have 'way to many polls; aren’t factoring in the fact that the 2008 demographics are currently being used inaccurately.   The 2008 model has an elevated percentage of youth.  Nonetheless, the vast weight of the polls are pulling toward Obama. The single most damaging line out of Romney's Florida-video gaffe was, "I'm not worried about those people" –referring to his political prospects, but it sounds horrible.

Monday 1020P (720P Pacific Time):   . (continued) Won’t Back Down film: John Fund much appreciates. How crushingly sad it is when parents try to deal with a failing school.  Real human tragedy: in Pittsburgh, single mom tries to get her child  into a good school, winds up with colleagues taking over the school. Unions hate hate hate the film.  Need pension reform and education reform – both necessary. No matter how powerful the union is within the party, the fault lines are starting to move. An exciting time.  The teachers' strike in Chicago was illegal; the president had that moment to show true leadership, let it slip though his fingers by staying silent.  best speech Romney has given in the campaign, in substance, was on education reform.  In real dollars, we’re spending five times more now on education than we were in the 1960s . Our scores slide, and we're falling behind all industrialized nations. See film: Waiting for Superman

Monday 1035P (735P Pacific Time):   . Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re:  Ahmadinejad, in his last performance as president of Iran, is both a bootless character and a threatening official. Khamenei makes the policy, so policies are embedded in the regime. Preemptive strike vs Israel.  A sees the US as weak: Mubarak and other US allies are gone. Although some of his concerns may be real, he lives in a delusional world. In his Rule of Law summit today, his Holocaust denial and revisionist  history continued.  Canadian and Israeli delegations walked out; the US did not.   Pres Obama said he'd "block out any noise" on intl and Mideast affairs. Oops. Pres Obama will speak tomorrow, probably will call for sanctions but not speak any more strongly.  In a 90-to1 vote, the Senate said that containment is not an option. Yom Kippur: holiest ay f he year; fasting and prayers for he world, for peace, for everyone's health and prosperity; introspection and retrospection. Culminates a ten-day period from New Year.  Palestinian Authority will again speak of UDI – unilateral declaration of independence. Gaza declared itself free of occupation. West Bank conditions, esp economic, are deteriorating a good deal. Mtg today of donors; Arabs pledge but don’t pay.  Ongoing: Hamas integrating fighters into Sinai, but above all in Egypt: have Syrian ofc re-opened in Cairo.  AN Israeli soldier was carrying water to African immigrants travelling across Sinai to enter Israel; Egyptians shot and killed an Israeli who was carrying water to the Africans.  Morsi's aide says that Egypt will move to "change" – abrogate – the Egyptian-Israeli peace agreement. Morsi is carving out a unique position for himself. Many ambassadors are concerned about North Africa.  MEK removed from State's terrorist list.

Monday 1050P (750P Pacific Time):   .Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re: Foxconn plant in China is closed after a ten-hour riot.  A spokesman said the police were called in to break up the fight among factory employees; one worker said the brawl led to a riot involving more than 1,000 people. There are more instances of violence in China these days, an indication of social disintegration.

Monday 1105P (805P Pacific Time):   .Stephen Cohen, NYU, in re: Russia's president is watching the U.S. election campaign, and the harsh rhetoric that mirrors some of his own. "Romney? At least he's direct," says Vladimir Putin.  Putin's future is not in danger. Russians, above all, want stability.  Putin's Pakistan visit and India expressed concerns about prospects of the rising Russia-China-Pakistan axis. Romney again calls Russia the major threat to the US. My interpretation is that he's trying to contradict Obama across the board; I don’t know if he gave it serious thought, He's doubled and tripled down on He can run on it, but he can’t govern on it. Romney's remarks were heard extremely negatively in Europe in light of its energy dependence. What the Euros desperately want in their economic troubles is international stability. Romney is a worldly man, did missionary work abroad; headed the Olympic games; it was a calculated judgment. It’s not a lack of knowledge; it’s just a mistake. JB: Russia is a stabilizing force in Central Asia and [Iran?].  There are few crises in the world today that the US can cope with without Russia's cooperation. To burn that bridge even before he's elected in no good.  So much need for mutual security that even during the Cold War there was a great deal of US-Soviet cooperation.

Monday 1120P (820P Pacific Time):   continued. Putin re-elected. "We'll work with whoever is elected as president by the American people."  Putin said he'd met with Obama, who was a sincere man who wanted to improve relations but Putin wasn’t sure Obama would be allowed to by his political establishment.  Putin favored Romney a bit on the grounds that Romney would say what he meant.  "No evidence that Putin can work with Obama." "I disagree."  In Ulyanovsk, a place for US planes to land in Afgh resupply route [with local demonstrations in opposition].  US wanted a harder Russian line toward Iran; Russia cancelled the sale, Iran is suing Russia in an international court.  Russia waned in return:  a formal end to NATO expansion at its borders (but US says that Georgia and Ukraine shd join NATO), and no US interference in domestic Russian politics, but that hasn't stopped. In addition, Russia got burned by the US in Libya.  US ambassador in Moscow, Michael McFaul, is almost persona non grata. Has been much rebuffed by Russian apparatus and has become nonfunctional. Only way to salvage is a major compromise on missile defense.

Monday 1135P (835P Pacific Time):   Benjamin Wittes, Hoover, Brookings, in re: Lawfare drone smackdown: what's a drone, and what are the FAA rules for drone/model airplane flying in the restricted zone of D.C.?   Lesson in Federal language and robots.

Monday 1150P (850P Pacific Time):  Reza Kahlili, in re: Ahmadinejad in NY, Iran threatens the end of days, Iran disdains Jesus.

Monday/Tues 1205A (905 Pacific Time):   . Devin Nunes (CA-18), in re: Economic Freedom Alliance Act has four pillars: 1. Trans-Atlantic Commerce & Trade Enhancement Act; 2. Free Trade Agreement with the European Union, and US–Brazil Joint [trade commission] – can anchor the Southern Hemisphere ; 3.        4. Generalized Preferences Improvement Act (via GSP) – some nations accept selling to the US but manage to prevent US products from entering their countr

Monday/Tues  1220A (920 Pacific Time):   .Mona Charen, NRO, in re:  There are 46 days left in this presidential race for Mitt Romney to change the dynamic of a campaign that by many indicators is tilting against him.

Monday/Tues  1235A (935P Pacific Time):   . The Kissing Sailor: The Mystery Behind the Photo That Ended World War II by Lawrence Verria, George Galdorisi and Foreword by David Hartman; 1 of 2

Alfred Eisenstaedt’s “Kissing Sailor” photograph is an iconic picture showing a sailor’s overjoyed reaction to the end of World War II. The snapshot in time shows the sailor and a nurse locked in a passionate kiss in the middle of Times Square. The identities of the photo’s subjects have never conformed, although dozens have claimed the title.

Monday/Tues  1250A  (950P Pacific Time):.  The Kissing Sailor: The Mystery Behind the Photo That Ended World War II by Lawrence Verria, George Galdorisi and Foreword by David Hartman; 2 of 2

Music: 9 Hour: Alias, Frost Nixon, Three Musketeers; 10 Hour: Three Musketeers, Expendables; 11 Hour: Expendables; Midnight: Alia, Frost Nixon.