JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Colleague: Thaddeus McCotter, American Greatness
 
Hour One
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 1, Block A: Tom Joscelyn, @thomasjoscelyn, Long War Journal and FDD; and Bill Roggio, @billroggio, Long War Journal and FDD; in re: The Biden administration and the vast landscape of the jihad. Afghanistan: Taliban demand every single American be gone.  Taliban and ISIS re enemies, but al Qaeda and Taliban are hand in glove. 
Forget a power-sharing arrangement between Taliban and the Afghan government.  Biden may not be able to thread this needle.   US embassy security is to the keep perimeters from being breached; could not stop a real attack.  This is down to: can the US keep even a small deployment force in Afghanistan, Iraq, or elsewhere?  Afghanistan is a fractured state. 
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 1, Block B: Tom Joscelyn, @thomasjoscelyn, Long War Journal and FDD; and Bill Roggio, @billroggio, Long War Journal and FDD; in re: William Burns as head of CIA, who speaks Arabic and Russian, was US ambassador to Moscow.   “The enemy gets a vote.”  The 2019 Pensacola attack; DoJ announced Shabaab was planning an attack. Does putting a career dip in CIA change the flavor of things?  He was involved in negotiations with Iran; question his desire to take a hard line vs[jihadis] in Pakistan, Iran, et al.   Will follow the policy prescriptions of the Biden administration.   Trump NSA launched strikes in Idlib in Syria. Former head of MI6: Bill will bring fresh leadership to the CIA, which has been marginalized in the past years.” Marginalized how?  . . .  The shadow war of al Qaeda globally.
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 1, Block C: Michael Yon: @Michael_Yon, war correspondent;andGordon Chang, @GordonGChang, Daily Beast, in re:  Currently in Washington, D.C.; in July, Hong Kong resistance observed the occupation of Legco.  On Jan 6 saw people entering the Capitol.  The Chinese CCP is making much of that event; Beijing is trying to draw equivalence.  Tarring Pelosi, saying she called the breaking-in to Legco “a beautiful sight,” which she did not. Zimbabwe is mocking the US.  Michael has seen both break-ins:  The people who did both seemed to feel they were fighting against tyranny; in HK, can be hauled of like Uyghurs or Tibetans.   Beijing agitprop, saying, “This is a model of government that doesn't work” How do we refute that?  In general, in the short term, need to eliminate the points of contact—eliminate trade, et al., which seems like a desperate move but we're under serious [attack] from Beijing right now. 
       I agree with Gordon that the US needs to cut all ties with the CCP.   The young people in HK: many have already left, some are staying, which much be extremely stressful.  They need to be self-protective; make sure they’re well and safe.”   https://time.com/5928446/china-reaction-capitol-hong-kong-legco/
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 1, Block D:  Christian Whiton, author of Smart Power: Between Diplomacy and War, andGordon Chang: @GordonGChang, Daily Beast, in re: Pompeo in Taiwan: how does Taiwan see this?  He’s just been telling the truth. Formerly, I could meet with North Korea and all sorts of [regrettable] groups, but to meet Taiwanese I had to sneak around.  A major diplomat insult. It’s not even part of the one-China policy.  There’s no need to treat Taiwan, a reliable ally, this way. Flag officers weren’t even allowed to travel to Taiwan—a reckless policy.
Significance of Craft’s visit to Taipei: pretty important. Anyone who visits Taiwan immediately sees that this is a free society; we let China get away with threatening war because of Craft’s visit. If Biden reverses this important advance, we’ll [have a lot to pay].   Biden has a mixed reputation; favored [damaging] Radio Free Asia. These guys will want all the trappings of dipl engagement, which China will accord, but not for free.  Trump is now trying to elevate this to a degree such that Biden would have to do a visible climb-down to change it.  Some of Taiwan’s islands are just a few miles from Mainland; China may steal some of them and dare the rest of the world to do anything.   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/china-taiwan-us-beijing-warns-trump-pompeo-dangerous-path-kelly-craft-visit/
 
Hour Two
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 2, Block A:  David Drucker: @DavidMDrucker, Washington Examiner;  &John Fund, @johnfund, NRO, in re:  Washington enjoying 10,000 National Guard, with checkpoints. The entire 2021 inauguration has been cancelled except for virtual.   Handled as an armed camp.  How in the world have we got to a point where our law enforcement agencies were unable to respond the a bunch of ragamuffins not even having pitchforks?
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 2, Block B:  David Drucker: @DavidMDrucker, Washington Examiner;  &John Fund, @johnfund, NRO, in re: “Willful incitement of insurrection.” Mrs Pelosi thinks this makes her stronger to get GOP on record as pro- or anti-Trump. Pure theater.  Cannot impeach a private citizen.
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 2, Block C:  Lorenzo Fiori: Direttore Generale Ansaldo Fondazione ; in re: taluy in the time of the virus.
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 2, Block D:  Brett Arends: @BrettArends; @Marketwatch ROI column; in re:  Bitcoin closed around $39,000; was at $17,000 a few years ago. It’s the biggest nonsense bubble I’ve ever seen; tulipmania without tulips.  No underlying asset. People locked up at home; becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  A Ponzi scheme.  Connects to market euphoria . . .   No underlying connection to Biden or the economy, an HBO series that everyone enjoys watching. Green – green everything. Tesla is like bitcoin.  There are esteemed Wall Street voices that approve of these.  The Wall Street boys are interested in their own bonuses.   We’ve gone ’way beyond irrational exuberance.  No one knows how long this will go or we’d all be rich. When the last bear turns bullish: then’s the time to cash in your chips. We’re in crazy territory. 
 
Hour Three
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 3, Block A:  Malcolm Hoenlein, @conf_of_pres, Conference of Presidents, in re: General Gantz, co-prime minister, says he regrets ever having shaken Bibi’s hand. Lots of inside baseball.  Gen Ya’alom. Iran enriching uranium to 20%, which is 90% of the way to bomb-ready. Installed very fast centrifuges; working on ballistic missiles, threatening to throw out all IAEA inspectors. Underground missile facility developed by the IRGC.  Held a naval parade in the Persian Gulf with at least hundreds of vessels; anniversary of 2016 when Iran seized American sailors.  Still holding the North Korean tanker. Drone-only drill. Biden, Burn, Blinken are all back; so are the Europeans. Are we in 1994?  Euros had been left out, as all they’d contributed were obstacles; now trying to re-insert themselves in the game.  No sign of change, or that they’re ready for serious negotiations.   Iran, which is laid low by the virus, refuses vaccine from Israel; looking at India, China, Russia for source. US rich people offered to pay for Pfizer, but that was stopped.  US is still holding some money fro Iran; but they have to live up to their JCPOA commitments, which Iran declines to do at all.   Iran exploded bombs in Iraq, is mocking the suffering of US troops. On the Egyptian side of the Gaza border, Hamas destroyed family  homes in an effort to expand the border crossing.  
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 3, Block B: IndianaHoenlein, @conf_of_pres, Conference of Presidents, in re: Chapeau, bullwhip.  Negev tombstone:  Sixth or Seventh Century, a park worker stumbled on a cemetery. Sta Catarina (on Mount Sinai).   Maresha city: a thousand underground rooms; room 69 held a thousand seals.   Dead Sea Scrolls: found a lid that had been contaminated, but it was sedge (papyrus); the jar probably fell, scrolls decomposed, but there may be more Qumran caves in other locations and caves not yet discovered.
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 3,t oBlock C:  Andrew C McCarthy, @AndrewCMcCarthy, Ball of Collusion; and Thaddeus McCotter, @ThadMcCotter, American Greatness, in re: this isn't a real impeachment because “incitement to an insurrection” is highly problematic.   Also a causation issue: what the president said may be reprehensible, but not clearly an incitement.  A politicized rush to judgment, and it took them a week even to act on it. When Pelosi thinks the timing is propitious—in months?—she may act on this.  Censure? Nah, it's all about preventing him from running again.   It’s a naked political exercise.  Can impeach Trump [much later].   If it’s an impeachment, treat it that way. Goal to put the Republicans in a pickle? Yes. She wants no hearing or debate on the substance of the allegations; write a single article, and give the GOP a take-it-or-leave-it vote.  Bring the country together not by doing a gratuitous impeachment hours before a president will be gone, anyway. Cabinet Secretaries left and leaving.  
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 3, Block D:  Andrew C McCarthy, @AndrewCMcCarthy, Ball of Collusion; and Thaddeus McCotter, @ThadMcCotter, American Greatness, in re: VP refuses to use the 25thungainly); Biden’s strong team of veterans: Burns at CIA, Garland at Justice. Hard to predict: Parler is accused of not editing enough. Harley and Cruz and six others : Citibank refuses to accept political donations for these.  Citi drank in federal funds when it could.  “Venal. Sucking up to the Democratic committees.” On the road to crony socialism.  Zuckerberg, Bezos, Apple. Looks panicky. This is just the beginning of a purge.  This kind of suppression . .  . smacks of antitrust violations, will increase the ardor for Section 230 reform. Opening a can of worms.  Debate: regulation of private enterprises, esp Facebook? Yes; both left and right actually agree, albeit for different reasons.   Dangerous legal environment for big tech. Some ideologues.  No more monopolies.  
 
Hour Four
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 4, Block A:  Brenda Shaffer: @ProfBShaffer  @FDD; Georgetown; in re: Armenians being deliberately provocative about the Nagorno-Karabakh ceasefire.
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 4, Block B:  Harry Siegel@harrysiegel,  New York Daily News and Daily Beast, in re:  The mystery and motives of the mob at the Capitol.   
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 4, Block C:  Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution, by Mary Gabriel
Monday 11 January 2021 / Hour 4, Block D:  Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution, by Mary Gabriel
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