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JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW

Co-host: Thaddeus McCotter, WJR, The Great Voice of the Great Lakes.

Hour One

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 1, Block A: Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, & Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD, in re:   (1 of 2): ISIS and Ramadi; capital of Anbar province. IS wants to consolidate its control over almost all of Anbar except Ramadi, and a town due West and a [place at a] dam. It currently holds Tikrit and Mosul.  Resistance at Ramadi: some of the tribes; police and stragglers of military units (7th and 1st Divisions, plus some ad hoc units). Reports of 4,000 Shia fighters' being airlifted in.  Pix of very large weapons on the backs of Toyota trucks.  ISIS troops not with body armor.   . . .

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 1, Block B: Bill Roggio, Long War Journal and FDD, & Thomas Joscelyn, Long War Journal senior editor, in re:   (2 of 2) Al Qaeda portrays US-led bombing campaign as 'Crusade' against Islam  Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has released a statement once again calling on jihadists in Syria to unite against their common enemies, especially the US. AQAP and other jihadists are portraying the US-led bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria as part of a "Crusade" against Muslims.

Islamic State patrols town north of Baghdad  A town in the key northern Baghdad belt has fallen back under control of the Islamic State.   Al Nusrah Front releases video of training camp in Idlib  The Al Nusrah Front is known to be running training camps in Syria since at least December 2012.    Iranian Basij general killed in Aleppo  The Iranian Basij general is the latest of several Iranian troops to have been killed fighting in Syria.   Discord dissolves Pakistani Taliban coalition The spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban announced that he and five other leaders had defected to the Islamic State this week. The bulk of the organization had already broken off earlier this year.   Taliban claims captured Haqqani leaders visited ex-Gitmo detainees in Qatar  The Taliban claims that two recently captured Haqqani operatives had recently met with members of the "Taliban Five" in Qatar. The Taliban Five is a group of senior Taliban leaders who were exchanged for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl earlier this year.     Senior al Qaeda leader reported killed in US airstrike in eastern Afghanistan  Abu Bara al Kuwaiti is a member of al Qaeda's General Command and was mentored by Atiyah Allah. The US killed Abu Bara in Nangarhar province, yet another indicator that al Qaeda is not confined to Kunar and Nuristan.  Al Qaeda portrays US-led bombing campaign as 'Crusade' against Islam  Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) has released a statement once again calling on jihadists in Syria to unite against their common enemies, especially the US. AQAP and other jihadists are portraying the US-led bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria as part of a "Crusade" against Muslims.

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 1, Block C: Mona Charen, NRO, in re:  The DNCC is pressing mightily n what it terms the GOP's war on women – which is patently inaccurate and pretty odd.  Bobby  Jindal figured out the counter;   women are concerned about the economy, abut physical security.  Men choose riskier investment, where as women tend to be more cautious.  The govt can prevent you from falling into destitution but it cannot give you a ladder up – only a good job can do that.   . . . It’s not about the bedroom – it’s about the dining room.

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 1, Block D:  Gordon Chang, Forbes.com, in re: Wall Street Journal says China's growth will be 3.9%, which will be a problem for a lot of people, most of whom haven’t paid especially close attention to what's really happening in China.  If the US is unable to pay, the problem is China's – it'll just sell the Treasurys, so the debt will fall into different hands.

C Y Leung said: If everyone in Hong Kong votes, then power will fall into the hands of the poor people!

Yo – Leung tovarisch, have you read the Communist foundation documents?

Leung isn’t merely ignorant, he's haughty.  Beijing agrees with Leung, as do the rich people in Hong Kong. The Chinese Communist Party is afraid of poor people. Also of Tibetans, Uyghurs, democracy activists, almost everybody.  The US failure to have a plan for when the current dictatorship falls means that it's likely to be replaced by a new, perhaps stronger, fascist regime.

China's property problem is worsening and that's likely to hit third-quarter GDP, due tomorrow.    China's foreign exchange reserves fell by the most ever in the just-completed calendar quarter.  Here's why money is hemorrhaging out of the country. @TomWrightAsia

Hour Two

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 2, Block A:  John Fund, National Review Online, & David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent, in re: White House begins talks with Congress on new Ebola funding  Napolitano rips Ebola travel ban.   Leading Democratic candidates reverse their policy on travel bans – on closing US airports to some nations, on sending US mil to help. Gov Cuomo of New York running 30 points ahead of the GOP candidate in a deep blue state– on Thursday was dismissive of the notion of a flight ban; in the last hours, reporting from  Albany, he says he must seriously consider a ban; in NC, Kay Hagen also; and Michelle Nunn in Georgia.   The Washington Administration has failed to explain why no travel ban; also, Gov Cuomo has higher aspirations than merely governorship. Also, since most guests from West Africa are likely to arrive first at Kennedy Airport in New York, Cuomo probably thinks this is the smarter thing to do.  The president is hostage to event; has so misused the public trust that the people no longer give him the benefit of the doubt – a big problem.   In the ebola crisis, the president hires Rasputin.  ("You can tell he's lying: his lips are moving.") (1 of 2)

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 2, Block B: David M Drucker, Washington Examiner Senior Congressional correspondent, & John Fund, National Review Online, in re:  . . . Braley is a little prickly: "Grassley is a farmer who never went to law school."  Every election has one surprise no one has predicted.  If Franken wins narrowly, will mean that the GOP is doing well. He's changed his style from SNL, is sober, avoids reporters, become almost bland, hopes that Minnesota bland means Minnesota nice.  An unpopular president's second midterm election. . . . Hagen has lots and lots of money – perhaps the most expensive Senate race in the country; and she's run it very well, very smart.  Tilles insisted on remaining a State speaker and staying in the State senate rather than campaign all summer.  No one surrenders power voluntarily in Washington.   (2 of 2)

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 2, Block C:  Scott Gottlieb, MD, at AEI, in re: Ebola as a medical national security issue.  [A great deal of detail here.]  .. . . could become fully airborne; could also become less-frequently fatal, meaning hat more people infected could live longer, so the virus could then propagate more widely for a longer period of time.  . . .   Donning the sealed suits is difficult and requires much training and practice.

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 2, Block D:  Michael Ledeen, FDD & The Hill, in re: the myth of Rouhani as the-great-moderate-reformer has crashed and burned.  Everybody with working eyes and ears, from Iranian activists to the gray lady in Manhattan, has given up on any significant change for the benefit of the Iranian people.  This will make it more difficult to charm the West into appeasing Rouhani’s demands for further concessions in the nuclear talks.  To be sure, Obama desperately wants a deal, but not all the Europeans are ready to buy it at an outrageous price. See article

Pres Obama has consistently avoided upsetting Khamenei or Rouhani in any way. The most important goal of Iran is Assad's survival.  Do we think the alliance is already under way – is Pres Obama making common cause with Iran now?  Yes, vs. ISIS, which is a monster to Iran and Turkey after Iran supported, trained, paid ISIS – what a surprise that it’s now killing Iranians in the field.  Funerals held in the middle of the night, families are forbidden to speak of the deaths. Rouhani is happy to have Obama doing his dirty work in Syria.  A US executive order doesn’t require Congressional ratification. Congress suspects that Obama will make a dangerous appeasement with Iran on the nukes, so Obama doesn’t like Congress and circumvents it.  American people don’t like the mullahs because they maltreat women, and democrats, and most citizens. Would Pres Obama like to go to Iran to shake hands?  Yes, enormously – when Iranian people were on the streets for weeks demanding liberty, Pres Obama supported the regime.

You’d be sensitive too, with such problems.  Although I doubt you’d blame your crisis on a Washington historian and blogger. [more]

Those Crazy Mullahs (Attacking Me Yet Again)  Once again, the Iranian regime has attacked me on the front page of the hardliners’ favorite daily newspaper, Kayhan.  By my count, this is the fourth time, including the video of the Tehran show trial in which regime opponents were asked how they communicated with me (they hadn’t) and what instructions I had given them (none).  The mullahs’ complaint is the usual one:  my ongoing denunciation of the regime and my calls for democratic revolution in Iran.

The famous American theorist in his statements to the American Frontpage Magazine said; ‘”Israel has still the capacity to support the Iranian opposition and is capable of supporting them in order to overthrow the regime in Iran.” . . . in an article by Caroline Glick in the Jerusalem Post and reprinted at Frontpage. My Iranian critics continue:  In his statements, Ledeen claimed Israel should start a global propaganda assault against Iran revolving around the human rights and women rights issues and it should create create Internet based means of communication to bypass the firewalls. The famous American theorist added Israeli and United States support to the opposition would not weaken the opposition to the Islamic Republic, but would strengthen their position.

Let me say straight away that the regime leaders are entirely right about my position.  I hate them, and I wish I could do more to defeat them.  Alas, they are quite wrong about my presumed influence (I suppose I should be grateful for the repetition of “famous American theorist”) but in our free society, change is always possible, so I keep at it. They are particularly sensitive about human rights, and of course about women, who are the great revolutionary force in the Middle East.  Maybe the latest horror story about acid attacks against Iranian women in Isfahan will force the White House to rethink its current collaboration with the Iranian regime.  Valerie Jarrett, call your office please and get on this.  At least put out an official guffaw at the regime claim that your boss and the Israelis are behind the acid attacks, ok?

What does it all mean?  It tells me that the regime is worried, that there is fear at the highest levels of Khamenei’s kitchen cabinet.  They know their people loathe them, they try to portray the loathing as a foreign manipulation, and as all fervent propagandists do, they have put a face on the alien menace.  My face, several times now.  URL

Hour Three

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 3, Block A:  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: David Sanger of NYT wrote that the Obama Adm is weighing bypassing Congress to resolve the conflict with Iran.  "We wouldn’t seek Congressional legislation"   Sen Robt Menendez says, If an effective deal is not agreed that substantially and effectively dismantles [Iran's military nuclear cycle], then   . . .; Kirk makes similar statement.  US govt now speaks of gradual lifting of sanctions; Iran demands immediate lifting of sanctions. Administration says it’s not a treaty so doesn’t need Congress. IAEA: uncertain that Iran's nukes are for civilian use.  Everything underscores the concerns about a "bad deal."  The president moves effectively if he moves with both parties in agreement.   Negotiations are all subject to conflicting reports, denials, assurances, from both sides. Confusion is one of the tactics.  _______ had a deal not to have to speak to Congress . . .  this is all in preparation for 24 November deadline; Secy Kerry has spoken of an extension.  Russians also: trying to lay groundwork, give addtl space – stand to make a lot of money with sales t Iran, as it expands its role in the Middle East, esp selling weapons and standing back when possible.  Interested in Tartus, also have to be afraid to of a nuclear Iran that could supply nukes to Chechens. .  Five weeks to reach an accord; complicated issues – Parchin. new evidence of weaponization here; ability of IAEA to achieve transparency – many questions to be resolved.  Yes, backchannel.   With Syria and may other issues, Iran remains a threat to the US.

White House to bypass Congress on Iran nuclear deal The Obama administration will seek to avoid a vote in Congress on any nuclear deal with Iran, according to The New York Times.  “We wouldn’t seek congressional legislation in any comprehensive agreement for years,” one senior U.S. official told the Times.  The U.S. and five world powers are negotiating with Iran over its nuclear program ahead of a Nov. 24 deadline. Any deal would likely include Iran cutting back its nuclear program in exchange for a loosening of U.S. sanctions. 

The Times reports that the Treasury Department has conducted a study concluding that President Obama can suspend the vast majority of sanctions without congressional approval. Permanently ending the sanctions would still require a vote from Congress. Obama has already drawn fire from Republicans for bypassing Congress in other areas, and lawmakers on both sides have called for a vote to authorize U.S. strikes against ISIS. Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), the Senate's No. 2 Republican, linked to the article on Twitter Monday and wrote, "This will not stand." This move could anger Democrats as well. 

There is deep concern about a nuclear deal with Iran on both sides of the aisle in Congress, as lawmakers fear it would leave Iran too close to being able to make a nuclear weapon.  Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) signaled that Congress would in fact weigh in. “If a potential deal does not substantially and effectively dismantle Iran’s illicit nuclear weapons program, I expect Congress will respond," he told the Times. "An agreement cannot allow Iran to be a threshold nuclear state.” "Congress will not permit the president to unilaterally unravel Iran sanctions that passed the Senate in a 99-0 vote,” added Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.). The administration says there would be an initial lifting of sanctions and that they would be reimposed if Iran failed to hold up its end of the agreement.  National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan told the Times there “is a role for Congress in our Iran policy,” but she did not seem to dispute the report that the administration would not initially seek a vote. 

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 3, Block B:  Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: n 2014, even Hollywood has given up on films on the Hitlerites.  Carolyn  Maloney discovers that  Nazis  are getting Social Security.  people expelled, - camp guards, collaborators, many deported from the US, some made a deal to leave uncontested – 66 in the last 15 years who left, 39 continued to receive millions of dollars' worth of Social Security payments 

Security Council: Venezuela.  By 181 to 0, with ten abstentions, it'll sit on the Security Council.  Also a heated fight for the two Western Europe seats among Turkey, New Zealand and _; now it has Angola, Venezuela, and Chinese and Russian vetoes. 

US pols protest Klinghoffer. Peter Gelb, son of Arthur Gelb of the New York Times and a member of the elite, produces an opera that glorifies terrorism. "You have to hear both sides" – the assassination of a man in a wheelchair, thrown overboard live, his corpse floats up on a Syrian beach; opera portrays this as OK

The Arab bank ruling.   Guilty of $100 million in illegal transfers – held liable, as will be other banks; in a civil suit, huge penalties. To a terrorist group  in Lebanon, A landmark case.

Yemen update (it’s under the control of Iran) – and . . .  British parliamentary vote is spreading.   Syria and the Golan.   Russian weapons.  Oil: at $65, it breaks fracking.  Green stuff is expensive,  Very low oil price is bad for green.   Palestinians accuse a settler of killing schoolgirl. 

"If you don’t read a newspaper, you're ill-informed. If you read a newspaper, you're misinformed."

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 3, Block C:  Gov Jim Douglas, Vermont, in re: Vermont politics. What a good asset Calvin Coolidge is to the people of Vermont; gala Coolidge dinner on 6 November in New York. 

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 3, Block D:  Jed Babbin, American Spectator, in re: Hegel and the Marx Brothers, on global warming.  DOD makes care lest it increase global warming a requisite feature of all US military planning and activity. 

 

Hour Four

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 4, Block A: Richard Jurek:  Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program, by David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek (1 of 4)

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 4, Block B: Richard Jurek:  Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program, by David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek (2 of 4)

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 4, Block C:  Richard Jurek:  Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program, by David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek (3 of 4)

Monday  20 October  2014  / Hour 4, Block D: Richard Jurek:  Marketing the Moon: The Selling of the Apollo Lunar Program, by David Meerman Scott and Richard Jurek (4 of 4)

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