Thursday 25 march 2020
JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
Hour One
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 1, Block A: Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover, and author, The Case for Trump; in re: Day after Pearl Harbor (a Sunday), FDR called in the press, who’d had a contentious relationship with the president for years; they wanted bad news: how many are dead, if the Japanese had invaded? Smiling, sunny, giving them no info, he told them nothing and stayed wonderfully cheery.
The economic threat to the US is greater now than it was during WWII. A wartime leader needs t be careful about orthodox opinion; e.g., Marshall said we had to go directly into the heart of the fighting, such as attack in France right away. Roosevelt went with his instinct and refused till the country was ready to win the attack. Also, a good leader needs to know where he wants the country to be in two years. The US has the best medical care, we’re self-sufficient in food and energy. Trump’s disadvantage is that he’s at war with the media.
Lord Halifax said, The Italians are offering to negotiate, Churchill decided to take it on himself to say. No, we will not surrender. Trump has the instincts to keep this on track. His opponents want an economic slowdown and more governmental control; we need to pray that the economy can come back. We’ll need antibody testing across the country. We may have developed herd immunity. Churchill destroyed the French fleet (in North Africa) and killed a thousand Frenchmen to prevent the Germans from inheriting the second-largest fleet in Europe.
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 1, Block B: Victor Davis Hanson, Hoover, and author, The Case for Trump; in re: After Pearl Harbor, the American fleet accidentally had not been destroyed. Nimitz and King had a debate: what to do with the carriers? King said, Deploy, raid, make headlines; he caused trouble and made headlines. We now need an Ernest King in the White House. Trump’s approval rating is up to 60%, which is phenomenal. The alternatives are Schumer and Biden and Pelosi.
Mrs Pelosi’s unusual demands – the $35 million curtain the airlines, the unions. She has two [problems]: her left wing (AOC, et al.) and her pathological hatred of Trump. Between the two, she’s destroyed her legacy and is not acting rationally. A slow Democratic meltdown, with botched videos, and Schumer’s physical threat against the Supreme Court.
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 1, Block C: Conrad Black, author, The Flight of the Eagle, in re: The Canadian border, current politics, and the virus.
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 1, Block D: Steve Moore, Committee to Unleash American Prosperity, in re: The aid package; and what’s right and wrong with it.
Hour Two
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 2, Block A: Jonathan Speyer, in re: Covid-19 Iran, Iraq update.
Jonathan Spyer is a Middle East analyst, author and journalist specializing in the Levant and Iraq. He is the director of the Middle East Center for Reporting and Analysis (MECRA), a Research Fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Strategy and Security and a Fellow at the Middle East Forum.
● https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Irans-failing-response-to-coronavirus-reflects-the-regimes-
priorities-621629
● https://www.wsj.com/articles/iraq-taps-u-s-backed-candidate-as-prime-minister-testing-relations-
with-iran-11584458186
● https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/view/giving-iraqs-next-prime-minister-
space-to-succeed
● https://jiss.org.il/en/spyer-the-situation-in-iraq-policy-implications-for-the-west/
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 2, Block B: Yossi Kupperwasser, in re: Israeli security update
Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser is Director of the Project on Regional Middle East Developments at the Jerusalem Center. He was formerly Director General of the Israel Ministry of Strategic Affairs and head of the Research Division of IDF Military Intelligence.
● https://jcpa.org/article/the-significance-of-the-coronavirus-epidemic-for-israels-national-security/
● https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Israel-Palestinians-set-up-joint-operations-room-to-combat-
coronavirus-621431
● https://www.timesofisrael.com/pa-says-movement-between-israel-and-west-bank-to-be-cut-off-
in-three-days/
● https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-as-coronavirus-strikes-iran-forced-to-rethink-its-
proxy-wars-1.8670221
● https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-says-hezbollah-syrian-army-behind-attempted-sniper-attack-
on-border/
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 2, Block C: Aykan Erdemir, in re: Turkey update.
Dr. Aykan Erdemir is a former member of the Turkish parliament and is Senior Director of the Turkey Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
• https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2020/03/turkey-tighten-restrictions-curb-
coronavirus-outbreak.html
• https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/world/europe/turkey-jamal-khashoggi-saudis.html
• https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2020/03/19/u-s-court-exposes-turkeys-role-in-irans-and-venezuelas-
sanctions-evasion-schemes-again/
• https://www.fdd.org/analysis/2020/03/17/turkish-government-responsible-for-torture-arbitrary-
killings-and-disappearances/
• https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/turkey/turkey-arrests-hundreds-for-provocative-
social-media-posts-about-coronavirus-1.8709336
• https://www.meforum.org/60609/turkey-and-coronavirus
• https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Is-Turkey-planning-a-new-invasion-of-eastern-Syria-
analysis-622158
• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-security-kurds/turkey-detains-five-kurdish-mayors-as-
crackdown-continues-idUSKBN21A1QX
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 2, Block D: Malcolm Hoenlein, Conference of Presidents, in re: Israeli government; the Palestinians’ seeking Israeli help about the virus.
Hour Three
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 3, Block A: Thomas Modly, Secretary of the Navy, in re: The virus and the fleet.
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 3, Block B: Thomas Modly, Secretary of the Navy, in re: The virus and the fleet.
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 3, Block C: Mary Anastasia O’Grady, Americas column, WSJ, in re: The rump Administration’s suit against Maduro and his henchmen alleging narcotrafficking, and using cocaine as a weapon of war against the United States.
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 3, Block D: Dr Henry Miller, Pacific Research Institute senior Fellow, in re: The most-promising serology tests. The UK. Hoe tests similar to pregnancy tests, which give you a yes or no answer. People can know if they had the virus and developed antibodies are mostly immune to a secondary infection.
The head of the UK national ___ agency said he’d bought testing materials from Southeast Asia (not specifying where); concern about this for several reasons. Even if you have antibodies in your blood, might not make you resistant to a large dose; health-care workers need to wear a mask. Also need a [large-scale] survey according to epidemiological [dictates] to see who can safely go back to work, ad if we may have developed herd immunity. Neil Ferguson, Royal College, London, now thinks the UK has a enough hospital beds. Note that modelling is only as good as the assumptions that have gone in to it. In the US: lack of adherence to mitigation actions, such as young people frolicking on beaches during spring break then flew home A very bad portent; we’re still in the incubation period for those people.
Hour Four
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 4, Block A: Sebastian Gorka broadcasts a Salem Radio show, America First, and is national security strategist at Fox News; in re: “Trump’s positive coronavirus polls”—from Gallup. Heart attack time at the Washington Post. The president in wartime. He’s at the podium every single day. He’s comfortable as the manager of a large establishment; he delegates, and speaks positively, with optimism, as FDR did . K T McFarland said, “This is the man you want in charge at a time like this.” He wants a “rebirth” by Eastertime. Eric Bolling a very close friend of the president: Division of labor in a democracy; but at the end of the day, only one person bears the responsibility.
Senate has passed an aid package, despite Charles Schumer’s reluctance. Has direct cash, unemployment benefits, loans, and lots of guaranteed at the Fed. Hen Nancy Pelosi 880 today, flew back on a private aircraft with 1,400 pages of additional material. What was she thinking? It's truly despicable. This bill should have been finalized on Sunday night, but as it stands with Democratic demands now suggest that it may, might, be done on Friday For her to make ballot-harvesting. Cynical and shortsighted; there must be a whiteboard in her office with a permanent wish list. Any opportunity, they shove their bag of wishes into the bill.
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 4, Block B: Sebastian Gorka broadcasts a Salem Radio show, America First, and is national security strategist at Fox News; in re: Joe Biden, the presumed nominee of the Democratic Party: after Teddy Roosevelt was shot, Woodrow Wilson and Pres Taft took the next weeks off from campaigning out of respect for Roosevelt; this is the only thing I can compare to what Biden now faces. He keeps issuing videos that make him more unattractive; why?? And why do they livestream him? Only now is he having internet installed in his house—he was vice-president for eight years. And he videos show him stammering, waving and weaving. Incomprehensible. His team must hate him.
Andrew Cuomo vigorous in his statements; is he a man to replace Joe Biden? Not sure I buy this. He clearly would like to run; he has a lot of skeletons in his closet. Maybe 2024. Meanwhile, Biden doesn't have 1991 delegates. He says, ”We don't need any more debates.” What the Brits call “shambolic.”
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 4, Block C: Simon Constable, reporter in Edinburgh, in re: The virus market crash. Gold.
Thursday 25 March 2020 / Hour 4, Block D: Larry Johnson, CEO of BERG Associates & former CIA; in re: China reports that most of its deaths were pre-morbidity. . . . the numbers are inadequate and unreliable.
.