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Is Bowe Bergdahl a deserter, a hero, or something in between? That’s the primary question on this week’s show, both for the hosts, and for our guest, Senator Ted Cruz. The Senator also weighs in on whether or not the Democrats have abandoned the Bill of Rights (read his WSJ Op-Ed piece here), why Harry Reid is the President’s best friend, and how to stop the EPA’s war on coal. Also, Robinson remember’s Reagan’s Normandy visit; a tale of old-time Mississippi politics; shout-outs to Ricochet members Captain Spaulding, Jason Rudert, and Doc Jay; and rolling craps with Rob and Blue Yeti.
Music from this week’s’ episode:
Sea Cruise by Robert Gordon with Link Wray
EJHill is behind thee wheel.
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I was thinking something earlier today, thinking about writing a post on it, and then Sen. Cruz beat me to it, and I’m glad he did:
The uniquely dangerous thing about this administration is not its own lawlessness, but congressional Democrats’ almost complete willingness to cover up rather than overseeing the executive. Sometimes we blame the lack of congressional oversight on Republican weakness, but that’s a result, not a root cause.
Politicians like Obama have been around for all of history and the Founders knew we would elect them at some point. They gave Congress the power and tried to give it the incentive to keep the executive in check. At least on the Democratic side, those incentives have broken down and loyalty to the Party and President now trumps loyalty to one’s own branch of government and even the power of one’s own office. That in turn changes the incentive for the Republicans (except those from very red states) as the Democratic lockstep makes it easy to paint all opposition as politically motivated. If a few Democratic Senators did their job, the Republicans would both be emboldened and enabled to be more effective.
“Shrewd may be too much to ask for these people.”- Understatement of the day, Mr. Robinson. And thanks for reminding me why I could hardly get to the polls fast enough to vote for Sen. Cruz.
Cannot recall there ever being greater unanimity of opinion between James, Rob, and Peter; or a higher degree of dudgeon (outrage, exasperation) than in the first 20 minutes in the discussion of Bergdahl.
The segue James was looking for is “Subscribe to Audible and get some great audio books that will take your mind off what’s happening with our government. Take a break for a couple hours.”
Peter,
If you send me an IM I have a friend who may be a great person to talk about for your book on the cold war.
Guru
“The Ricochet Hour” longer than the normal hour because Ricochet believes in giving you good value for your money.
Its a metric hour.
I hate to burst your guys’ bubble about Carr and the 33rd district, but that’s not where the primary benefit for Republicans of the new electoral system is going to come from.
If you aggregate the votes to the Republican candidates, and to the Democratic candidates (counting Williamson as a Democrat), the result isn’t too different from previous elections in the district when Republicans have actually bothered to put up a candidate – about 70% D and 30% R.
In fact, in districts like this, the new system is worse for Republicans. At least under the old system they were guaranteed a spot on the general election ballot. This time, the only reason there’s a Republican in the general is because the Democratic vote was split so evenly. If you just had, say, Carr, Greuel, and Lieu running, the result probably would have been similar to the one in the 17th district – Greuel and Lieu taking the top two and Carr, and thus the Republicans, shut out of the general entirely.
I actually think the new system is a net positive for Republicans (continued), but it’s not a net positive in heavily Democratic districts like the 33rd.
(continued)
So far Republicans have been able to benefit more from shutting Democrats out in the new primaries thanks to split Democratic fields and the more Republican nature of the primary voters, but in Democratic-but-less-Democratic-than-the-33rd districts.
Last cycle, Republicans Bob Dutton and Gary Miller split the Republican vote so perfectly in the 31st district primary against a field of four Democrats that they both advanced to the general, making it a sure Republican seat. The 31st district is pretty Hispanic, and Obama won there by double digits. It’s by a good amount the most Democratic seat held by Republicans, which they largely owe to the primary. Either Dutton or Miller probably would have lost against a Democrat.
This cycle, Republicans managed to pull it off twice, and nearly pull it off once more. In the 25th district (one that’s fairly Republican, but could still have been contested by Democrats) Tony Strickland and Steve Knight shut the Democrats out of the general. In the 31st district, Republicans came within 200 votes of shutting out the Democrats, and in the comptroller race appear to have shut out the Democrats.
Don’t see why this had to turn into a discussion of my sex life, but hey, at least one of you pronounced my name right.
Great podcast as always. Could Peter Robinson, or someone with a better memory than mine, remind me of the name of the book at Audible.com that he mentioned?
“Those Who Wish Me Dead.” Fast-moving, beautifully written–and chilling. What more could anyone want for a summer novel?
Sea Cruise performed by someone other than Frankie Ford? Shame!
The Dems are ready to chuck the first amendment because having used it to get the upper hand they have no further use for it, like pulling the ladder up after them or more accurately, they are finished using it like toilet paper so it can be flushed.
I have some comments on Sen. Cruz. I don’t watch the news or listen to speeches, so my exposure to Sen. Cruz is very limited. So take these comments with that grain of salt.
1. How is this guy senator from Texas? He doesn’t talk like a Texan. Maybe somewhere else in the south, but not Texas. Either that or he’s been trained to speak without an accent.
2. He speaks very softly but jams a lot in there. It’s like he trained himself to calm down, or else he’d be shouting everything while standing on a chair. (Not a bad thing, just an observation. And it’s not as if he doesn’t have a lot to shout about.)
3. Why would anybody want this guy as president? Shouldn’t he stay right where he is? He’d do more good in the Senate. We need people with an acute sense of separation of powers. We also need people willing to call out presidents on their abuses of power. (Hopefully that willingness extends to Republican presidents, we’ll see.)
4. Re: The podcast title. I saw that and (and this reveals my intellectual level) my thought was
See Cruz
See Cruz run
Run Cruz run
True, but as someone who lives in the 33rd, this is the first time ever that I can recall a Republican candidate getting any ink at all, any coverage, any attention. We won’t win — probably won’t, anyway — but we’re alive. In California, in Los Angeles, in the 33rd, that’s a huge step forward.
Not to mention that the Frankie Ford track has Huey “Piano” Smith rockin’ the 88’s.
I’ve played the Frankie Ford version before (look for the show we did on board the NR Cruise in 2012), which is why I didn’t use it this time. I’ve long been a fan of Robert Gordon, and Link Wray has impeccable rock credentials.
True, but as someone who lives in the 33rd, this is the first time ever that I can recall a Republican candidate getting any ink at all, any coverage, any attention. We won’t win — probably won’t, anyway — but we’re alive. In California, in Los Angeles, in the 33rd, that’s a huge step forward.
I don’t live in CA, so I don’t have firsthand experience of the coverage of the race, but I suspect it has more to do with it being the first open seat there in forty years, and candidates like Williamson and Brent Roske, than the new primary system.