The Doctor is IN

Dead batteries, Long puts Lileks on the couch, Bill Kristol on Romney, Iran, Santorum, and a brokered convention, Mike Daisey punks NPR, and Rob's new iPad. Yup, it's another Ricochet Podcast.

And, attention, Ricochet member Oblomov -- come on down! Your post Did Reagan Usher in the Age of Obama? is this week's winner of the coveted Ricochet Podcast Member Post of The Week. Your coffee mug is on the way. 

Music from this week's episode: 

Here's the direct link to this week's episode (but use our new audio player below), however the best way to hear the podcast is to subscribe! Visit our Feedburner page for a number of other subscription options. Or better yet, use Stitcher.

Photo of this week's podcast recording session by EJHill.

The Ricochet Podcast is proudly sponsored by Encounter Books. This week's featured title is The Case for Polarized Politics: Why America Needs Social Conservatism by Jeffrey Bell. Coming soon to EncounterBooks.com and Amazon.com.

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Comments:


Dan
Joined
May '11
Dan

I have to admit, I like the picture of Rob sucking his thumb and holding a blanket.  But why is Peter Pigpen?

David Williamson
Joined
Mar '11
David Williamson

This can be the only possible explanation for Mr Kristol's uncharacteristic pessimism in his piece this morning.

Blue Yeti
David Williamson: This can be the only possible explanation for Mr Kristol's uncharacteristic pessimism in his piece this morning. · 0 minutes ago

David,

Peter opens the interview with that very question. 

EJHill
Joined
May '10
EJHill

There's always this...

Join
Peter Robinson
EJHill: There's always this... · 23 minutes ago

EJ goes nuclear.  I love it.

Peter Robinson
Dan: Why is Peter Pigpen? · 31 minutes ago

Just what I was wondering....

EJHill
Joined
May '10
EJHill
Dan: But why is Peter Pigpen?

OK... list all the male characters in Peanuts... Charlie Brown (Check), Linus (Check), Schroeder (Check)...

That leaves Pigpen, Franklin and the little seen baby brother of Lucy and Linus, Rerun.  Peter is not a little brother. Scratch that one. Franklin is black. OK...

Edited on March 21, 2012 at 10:06pm
Leporello
Joined
Feb '12
Leporello

Best line from the podcast:  

James Lileks (imitating the voice of the owner of Men's Wearhouse):  

"Peter, you're going to like a Romney presidency.  I guarantee it."

Edited on March 21, 2012 at 9:58pm
EJHill
Joined
May '10
EJHill

Lilek's patch

PEC
Aaron Miller
Joined
May '10
Aaron Miller

I look at Rob in that picture and think of Rodney Dangerfield. No respect.

Peter Robinson

Dan: Why is Peter Pigpen? 

Just what I was wondering....

Anyone who has been trapped indoors by snow that many years must have some musical talent... or have gone mad enough to think he has talent and bang away on the piano anyway.

Yeah...ok.
Joined
Jan '11
Yeah...ok.

Rob scored a 13

Dan: I have to admit, I like the picture of Rob sucking his thumb and holding a blanket.  · 2 hours ago

That's life inside the bubble.

Blue Yeti

Leporello: Best line from the podcast:  

James Lileks (imitating the voice of the owner of Men's Wearhouse):  

"Peter, you're going to like a Romney presidency.  I guarantee it." · 2 hours ago

Edited 2 hours ago

Just uploaded a new version of the podcast and added this to the very end of the show (no need to re-download, use the player above).  For those of you like would like it as a ringtone, click here

James Lileks

Aaron: I am hunched over a keyboard now and then when I have to write soundtracks for my newspaper  videos. Like this. (It's a link to the video, to give you something to look at. The music-only version is here.)

 It's always a two-hour drill, too. One night I had to come up with 7 minutes of background music for a creampuff-baking video. 

Antiphon
Joined
Feb '11
Antiphon
EJHill: Lilek's patch · 2 hours ago

Thanks for the nod James------------->

Aaron Miller
Joined
May '10
Aaron Miller

Peter Robinson

Dan: Why is Peter Pigpen?

Just what I was wondering....

I just realized I missed Peter's name and inserted James. Sorry, Peter.

Don't think of all those lines and swirls as filth. Think of them as a cloud of nervous energy while trying to herd cats and keep the podcast somewhat topical.

James Lileks: ....

 It's always a two-hour drill, too. One night I had to come up with 7 minutes of background music for a creampuff-baking video. 

Yes, I once spent two or three hours making and recording a minute-and-a-half mp3 for a webpage. It's not always fun, but there's something to be said for the inspirational power of deadlines. I'll email you the mp3, since I don't know an ImageShack equivalent for music sharing.

I keep telling myself I will prioritize my spending habits for a nice Korg, but it hasn't happened yet. Keyboards are so much easier to record with than microphones. And editing notation is so much smoother than editing soundwaves!

Mollie Hemingway, Ed.

Great episode of Car Talk.

Douglas
Joined
Mar '11
Douglas
EJHill: There's always this... · 6 hours ago

I usually mistrust salesmen, and I loathe getting sales pitches. I'm the type that usually knows what he wants and researches the options and gets it myself. "Don't call me, I'll call you" fits me perfectly. There are few things I hate worse than a salesman showing up on my doorstep or getting cold called. I hate being spammed. Woe to the salesman that calls me when I'm busy at something.

But... this place is special, and just to let you know how much I like it here,  I did something I normally hate to do: I "recruited".   I sent email to right-leaning friends asking them to take a peek at the place.  Some of them seem intrigued. I hope some of them join. So, I did my part as best I know how.

James Of England
Joined
Apr '11
James Of England

Regarding the advertizing spending in Illinois, Nate Silver makes the important point that neither of them spent much. While Santorum's spending was even more trivial than Romney's, neither of them had their ads being directly viewed by voters (Silver's point). Both of them had most of their advertizing impact coming from local and national news programs commenting on their ads and showing them that way (not Silver's point). The media coverage on the electoral air wars tends to be pretty even when it comes to air time, so long as neither side is scandalous.

There are races where Romney's marketing blitz has been decisive. Illinois, with expensive media markets and little money, was not one of them.

Kristol makes the point that Romney shouldn't feel great about beating Santorum because Santorum's not a national candidate; this is kind of true, but beating a regional candidate in his home region is still significant. The downstate wins in particular (Romney won 5/7 districts outside Chicago) were in pretty solid Santorum territory; there's a reason Santorum had a solid lead in the Illinois polls until recently.

James Of England
Joined
Apr '11
James Of England

Also, could I beg Peter to read the last month's worth of Nate Silver analysis? The question is not about whether Santorum can win Pennsylvania. To even make it close, Santorum needs to be winning in places like Oregon, Maryland, and other coastal states. He can't get to a brokered convention without winning California or New York by large margins.

Bill Kristol's suggestion that Rick winning Louisiana would suggest we're set on a path to a brokered convention is a pastiche of a cartoon of a parody of wishful thinking advocacy punditry. It's like saying that if Xavier manage to get 5 players on the floor for their game against Baylor, that's a sign that they'll be the champions. If they can't muster a full roster, they're probably not going forward, but achieving that very basic threshold is not a sign they're going to the Superdome, let alone prevailing there.

Aaron Miller
Joined
May '10
Aaron Miller

Only professional pundits could be surprised that Santorum would win in the Deep South.


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