Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
Last week we were short, this week, we make it up to you. We've got a full house with all three of our hosts and guests WaPo blogger Jennifer Rubin and The Weekly Standard's Matt Continetti. We run the table with chats about the budget battles, a very heated discussion about the Middle East, a presidential roundtable, and Peter Robinson parties hearty in D.C. and spills the beans.
These links are winning!:
- Who knew there was a Ford in Rob Long's future?
- And for the record, Rob is not leaching off the Wi-Fi at Starbucks. It's free for everyone now. Socialists.
- Jennifer Rubin's must read blog at WashingtonPost.com
- Paul Ryan has a really slick website for his Road Map for America's Future initiative.
- Meanwhile, Marco Rubio's site is decidedly old school.
- Jennifer Rubin's piece on California will depress you if you live in California.
- There may now be many fewer people who weigh less than Michael Moore as he was spotted at a Pritikin Longevity Center and Spa last November.
- The WSJ piece Rob refers to about Saif el-Islam Gadhafi is here (subscription required).
- Natan Sharansky is a former Soviet refusenik and prisoner, Israeli politician, human rights activist and author.
- James brought it up, so we feel obligated to post the theme song to The Beverly Hillbillies on the august pages of Ricochet.
- The Daily Show did a piece on the prospective Republican candidates a few nights ago. We have to admit, it's pretty funny.
- Didn't see the Oscars? No problem, we've got the auto-tune segment right here.
- It's true: the price of a Grande Latte at the flagship Starbucks in Seattle is now $3.56. Lock in your price today!
Music from this week's episode:
- This Is Why We Fight by The Decemberists
- The Coffee Song by Frank Sinatra
The direct link to this week's episode. But be a winner! and subscribe. Don't use iTunes? Visit our Feedburner page for a number of other subscription options.
The Ricochet Podcast is sponsored by Encounter Books and their Broadside series. Our featured title this week is Schools for Misrule: Legal Academia and an Overlawyered America by Walter Olson. Available at EncounterBooks.com and for Kindle at Amazon.com.
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Comments:
Feb '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
Rob says - and I paraphase - speech is easy, doing things is hard,
When Hillary Clinton said that regarding Martin Luther King and Lyndon Johnson, she got clobbered.,
Aug '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
Looking forward to the Ricochet swag store. Good podcast this week.
Jul '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
May '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
Jennifer Rubin at about 7 minutes into the podcast said "I think this is a perfect example of how Republicans can never say they have won something, or they can never take yes for an answer. You have a lot of those Tea Party folk out there who I am really quite fond with, but ah--quite fond of--but they're hollering 'this wasn't enough'...."
And yet consider how often politicians have run on a platform of economic conservatism, promising serious reforms, and then have eagerly joined the party around the pork barrel. If the public does not keep the pressure on politicians, can we trust enough of them to stick to these principles and not go along to get along?
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
When I compared Rob with an advisor to Kaiser Wilhelm I, it just now occurred to me, I erred. I meant to say Kaiser Wilhelm II.
Jan '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
I enjoy Mr Robinson's enthusiasm - but I must point out that he seems to tap the table near the microphone for emphasis from time to time. (Ahem). :-D
Dec '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
To paraphrase Matt Continetti; You go to war with the world you have---not the world you might want or wish to have at a later time.
Sounds kind of familiar. And even truer than Rumsfeld's out of context statement.
May '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
Rob made a forceful point that a $30 mil appropriation for left-handed lesbian golf lessons*, etc., is meaningless, and budget reform begins and ends with entitlement reform. I appreciate the truth of that statement in a cold, hard, bottom-line sense. I even appreciate the spirit behind it, that we should not be propitiated by a few sacrificial hogs that the big spenders might offer us.
And yet.
Could there be a Broken Windows Theory that applies to the budget?
*That particular example should be credited to Mr. Lileks, I believe.
May '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
Rob's right. Entitlements must be the GOP's cutting focus. Even though such reform won't happen without a Republican President, the GOP should make it clear before the 2012 elections that they plan to tackle entitlements.
Advertising that intention might cost us many votes, but we are a representative government. Saying one thing to get elected and doing another in office is unacceptable regardless of the consequences. If American voters are not willing to cut entitlements, then they deserve their fate. Republicans must not join Democrats in believing the end justifies the means. The GOP must state plainly to voters what it intends to do if it achieves power in 2012.
If we set up a no-fly zone over Libya, we will effectively be declaring war. We cannot invade another sovereign state's airspace and act surprised when we are held accountable for the actions on the ground. If we declare that Libyan jets will not be allowed in the air, peoples of the region will expect us to intervene on the ground as well.
And tales will spread throughout the Middle East of continued American "conquest" of Muslim peoples.
Edited on March 4, 2011 at 9:43pmMay '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
The T-Paw/Bachmann ticket James wishes for would be unconstitutional, since they are both from the same state.
Jan '11
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
Is the dominate "Center Right" feeling pretty good? Did Rob really earn his Squish stripes by giving a solid "B" to a $4 bn cut. I get the impression that Mark Steyn (Mr. Happy Warrior) is not so impressed.
Hugh: ...Do you think the House Republicans are blowing it?
Mark: Yeah. I think November seems a long way away.
It seems when Mark Steyn is not on the podcast we veer into oncoming traffic.
Nov '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
James, your talent as host was never more evident than your genius segway into the mid show commercial. I was anxious to hear more of what you were going to share about Hugh Hewitt's commentary on lawyers and was hanging on to every word before I realized you were moving into your sponsorship responsibilities. The result, an even more vested interest in the book being promoted and an even greater chance that I will be parting with some of my currently very precious and carefully allocated discretionary income.
Leave it to me to use 89 words when only 2 are needed.
Well Done.
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
Hey, thanks, Lance!
Jul '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
So..... This past week no Member did anything worth mentioning? Huh.....
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
We ran out of time. That's the tricky part of having two guests.
We're planning to do a very member intensive show next week though. Details coming in the next day or so.
Jul '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
Blue Yeti
We're planning to do a very member intensive show next week though. Details coming in the next day or so. · Mar 4 at 7:07pm
Can't wait.
May '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
Every time I hear James talk, I'm amazed how quickly his mind works. It must be all those rushed conversations while trying to get out of the snow and back to a fireplace.
An excellent host.
Dec '10
Re: Ricochet Podcast #59: The Price of Coffee
Well, I'm going to comment on an old thread, so I'm probably writing to myself, but here goes anyway....
Rob keeps going on about cutting in areas besides entitlements being a sideshow. However, I remember back in December hearing some interview with Paul Ryan in which he said that he was planning to attack everything else before going to Social Security and Medicare. Why? Because old people who (a) had been paying into the system for years and (b) vote in really high numbers had to be shown that they weren't being singled out. We have to show the seniors that we are serious about everybody sacrificing before we go after their bread and butter.
So it was planned that there would be a period of going after cuts in discretionary spending before gearing up for the entitlements. It remains to be seen if the congressional Republicans will be able to take the next step.