Bill talks with Joel Farkas about the media’s war with Pres. Trump and why Trump should not back off. Then he discusses the breaking news of North Korea’s successful intercontinental ballistic missile test with Gordon Chang. Finally, Seth Leibsohn and Chris Buskirk join Bill to discuss their new book American Greatness and why so many “experts” underestimated Donald Trump and got the 2016 election wrong.

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Published in: Foreign Policy
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  1. filmklassik Inactive
    filmklassik
    @filmklassik

    Come on guys — Bill Bennett?  Granted he’s an intelligent bloke and a pretty good writer.   On the other hand…

    He is also the one who broke out the kerosene, the kindling and the Zippo and proceeded to set his “Book of Virtues” ablaze when he became a de facto flak for Donald Trump.   What a sad day that was.

    For Bennett personally, “The Book of Virtues”  now belongs on the History shelf.

    • #1
  2. Lois Lane Coolidge
    Lois Lane
    @LoisLane

    Of all the people who are ardently pro-Trump, Bill Bennett is the most confusing.  I listened to him more than anyone else for years.  I’ve met him.  I’ve bought his books.  I’ve heard his speeches.

    Now he says personal attacks are the realm of the small minded as a defense of Donald Trump’s tweets.

    It’s like… Does he hear what he’s saying there?

    I’m not sure.

    Anyway, I am glad that Ricochet has added a podcast that will please people who feel that they want more of a defense of the president.

    This one is full throated, for sure.

    Finally, I thought the interview about North Korea was interesting.

    • #2
  3. Curt North Inactive
    Curt North
    @CurtNorth

    I like Bill, and he’s got some great insight, I welcome him aboard.  My only issue is that he has a tendency to talk low and fast at times, not quite mumbling, but nearly so.  At times he can leave the role of interviewer and morph into a conversational style, which makes it difficult to hear at times.

    UPDATE: I wanted to ad that I just actually listened to this podcast, Bill was much more clear and understandable than prior podcasts.  The interview on the crazy Norks was very good, and the section on the crazy Nevers was also nice, had me chuckling at the virtue-signaling Nevers with their precious “principles”.   Made me even more proud to be a deplorable here.

    • #3
  4. Eugene Kriegsmann Member
    Eugene Kriegsmann
    @EugeneKriegsmann

    I suspect that Bill Bennett is, ultimately, a pragmatist. The American people apparently wanted someone who was not part of the political establishment. Almost every person on the debate stage represented one or another form of that tried, failed, and unwanted quantity. Trump was definitely different. He wasn’t my taste, and I voted against him in the primary and would not vote for him in the general. That is over and done with. He is the president. I am not happy about that, but I am happier than I would have been if Hillary had been elected.

    There are a hell of a lot of us out here who feel that way. The opposition to him from the left is so rabid that, even though it goes against our essential values to support him, it is necessary to quell our negativity and defend him for the good things he is doing. That strikes me as the pragmatic approach. If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you are with. The left has, unfortunately, by their obtuse behavior, made this a binary situation. We are where we are. The only choice is to make the best of it. As I said, I think that this is where Bennett is coming from.

    • #4
  5. Lois Lane Coolidge
    Lois Lane
    @LoisLane

    Eugene Kriegsmann (View Comment):
    I suspect that Bill Bennett is, ultimately, a pragmatist. The American people apparently wanted someone who was not part of the political establishment. Almost every person on the debate stage represented one or another form of that tried, failed, and unwanted quantity. Trump was definitely different. He wasn’t my taste, and I voted against him in the primary and would not vote for him in the general. That is over and done with. He is the president. I am not happy about that, but I am happier than I would have been if Hillary had been elected.

    There are a hell of a lot of us out here who feel that way. The opposition to him from the left is so rabid that, even though it goes against our essential values to support him, it is necessary to quell our negativity and defend him for the good things he is doing. That strikes me as the pragmatic approach. If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you are with. The left has, unfortunately, by their obtuse behavior, made this a binary situation. We are where we are. The only choice is to make the best of it. As I said, I think that this is where Bennett is coming from.

    Fair enough, Eugene, and I can get on board with a *lot* of your thoughts here though I can’t ever join any party’s “posse” if that means attacking men I know full well and good spoke–and continue to speak–from a place of core principles such as Jonah Goldberg.

    I mean… gracious, no.  Pragmatism makes me only so flexible, and it doesn’t erase three decades of words from Mr. Bennett that I haven’t forgotten, whatever intellectual space he wishes to occupy now.

    • #5
  6. rod Inactive
    rod
    @rod

    welcome addition in my view. let’s knock off the internecine warfare.

    • #6
  7. filmklassik Inactive
    filmklassik
    @filmklassik

    rod (View Comment):
    welcome addition in my view. let’s knock off the internecine warfare.

    “Knock it off,” Rod?  Well, thats a very nice theory, but how are we to proceed when a fellow Conservative starts behaving in what we regard as an unseemly manner?

    Do we just look the other way?  Is being a Conservative now like being part of the Corleone clan in THE GODFATHER, where you “never take sides against the family”?

    Sorry but my allegiance to principle comes before my allegiance to any party (and heck I’m not even a registered Republican anyway) or movement.

     

     

    • #7
  8. dicentra Inactive
    dicentra
    @dicentra

    Such strange lines of argumentation coming from Leibsohn and Buskirk! Such strange underlying assumptions!

    • Failure to predict the results of the 2016 election means that you were WRONG WRONG WRONG about everything you ever said about Trump, and you need to ATONE, DAMMIT!
    • People who aren’t on the Trump Train are no longer “on our team.”
    • Nobody who was against Trump had a legitimate reason for being against him, as evidenced by the fact that they failed to predict the results of the 2016 election.
    • It’s odd that someone who was so adamantly against Trump, such as David French, is also a nice guy and a patriot.
    • Trump won because all the Regular Folks wanted him, not because the conservative vote was divided up among the admittedly Strong Bench during the primaries.
    • Now that Our Guy is in office, holding POTUS’s feet to the fire is a bafflingly horrible thing to do.
    • Being wrong about the 2016 election results is evidence that you’re Out Of Touch and can be safely dismissed.
    • Being wrong about the 2016 election results discredits you as a conservative.
    • Believing that Trump could win in 2016 is what makes you a True Conservative.
    • The fact that Trump won the election is proof that he’s good for the country.

    Cripes, did I miss anything?

    • #8
  9. dicentra Inactive
    dicentra
    @dicentra

    Eugene Kriegsmann (View Comment):
    even though it goes against our essential values to support him, it is necessary to quell our negativity and defend him for the good things he is doing.

    If he’s doing good, then it’s not against our values, is it?

    • #9
  10. Dr.Guido Member
    Dr.Guido
    @DrGuido

    How long has Bill B been here? He’s still a real Catholic—we know that we’re all flawed sinners, not to exclude Trump, and while he and we fail to measure up to what we know to be the Virtues we should embrace, so we forgive. Trump was not, is not Hillary and as a former #NeverTrumper, that’s enough— I wish I had voted for him .

    • #10
  11. filmklassik Inactive
    filmklassik
    @filmklassik

    dicentra (View Comment):
    Such strange lines of argumentation coming from Leibsohn and Buskirk! Such strange underlying assumptions!

    • Failure to predict the results of the 2016 election means that you were WRONG WRONG WRONG about everything you ever said about Trump, and you need to ATONE, DAMMIT!
    • People who aren’t on the Trump Train are no longer “on our team.”
    • Nobody who was against Trump had a legitimate reason for being against him, as evidenced by the fact that they failed to predict the results of the 2016 election.
    • It’s odd that someone who was so adamantly against Trump, such as David French, is also a nice guy and a patriot.
    • Etc.

    Cripes, did I miss anything?

    Someday I plan to start a compendium of the typical “reluctant” Trump supporter’s greatest hits, including such gems as:

    –“Listen, I know he’s not perfect — nobody ever SAID he was perfect — but…”

    –“I didn’t support him in the primary, but now he’s our guy, so…”

    –“What’d’ya mean, ‘He gives ammo to the other side?’  I’ve got news for you, pal:  They’re going to talk smack about us anyway!”

    –“Whatever his failings — and listen, I’m not happy with everything he’s done, either — we’re still better off with Trump than with Hillary…”

     

     

     

     

    • #11
  12. patpongmike Inactive
    patpongmike
    @patpongmike

    As one example (of many), I read both of Goldberg’s books, and found them useful and informative.   I no longer follow his comments or columns, and the same for many more.  As stated, one example of many, too many to list here.   I have no time to waste on people who are consistently wrong.  I follow the writers and speakers who are getting the pulse of the nation and articulating current events correctly.    Prior the the Nov. election,  I had a “clue” something was up,  due to some fine minds whose voices get thru the din of so-called conservative babble.   I will continue to follow them.

    Great podcast.

    • #12
  13. Eugene Kriegsmann Member
    Eugene Kriegsmann
    @EugeneKriegsmann

    Lois Lane (View Comment):

    Eugene Kriegsmann (View Comment):
    I suspect that Bill Bennett is, ultimately, a pragmatist. The American people apparently wanted someone who was not part of the political establishment. Almost every person on the debate stage represented one or another form of that tried, failed, and unwanted quantity. Trump was definitely different. He wasn’t my taste, and I voted against him in the primary and would not vote for him in the general. That is over and done with. He is the president. I am not happy about that, but I am happier than I would have been if Hillary had been elected.

    There are a hell of a lot of us out here who feel that way. The opposition to him from the left is so rabid that, even though it goes against our essential values to support him, it is necessary to quell our negativity and defend him for the good things he is doing. That strikes me as the pragmatic approach. If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you are with. The left has, unfortunately, by their obtuse behavior, made this a binary situation. We are where we are. The only choice is to make the best of it. As I said, I think that this is where Bennett is coming from.

    Fair enough, Eugene, and I can get on board with a *lot* of your thoughts here though I can’t ever join any party’s “posse” if that means attacking men I know full well and good spoke–and continue to speak–from a place of core principles such as Jonah Goldberg.

    I mean… gracious, no. Pragmatism makes me only so flexible, and it doesn’t erase three decades of words from Mr. Bennett that I haven’t forgotten, whatever intellectual space he wishes to occupy now.

    I agree on Jonah who is one of my favorite commentators. Similarly, Ben Shapiro has been very consistent in giving praise where it is due, and acrimony when it is called for. Personally, I will always dislike Trump, but the devil must be given his due.

    • #13
  14. Eugene Kriegsmann Member
    Eugene Kriegsmann
    @EugeneKriegsmann

    dicentra (View Comment):

    If he’s doing good, then it’s not against our values, is it?

    Agreed. Ben Shapiro had a fun little bit called Good Trump/Bad Trump. I think it pretty well covers the ground. Trump is, if nothing else, completely inconsistent. However, if he does good things, he deserves to be praised for them.

    • #14
  15. Lois Lane Coolidge
    Lois Lane
    @LoisLane

    Eugene Kriegsmann (View Comment):
    However, if he does good things, he deserves to be praised for them.

    Only people on the Left don’t praise him when he deserves to be praised.  Bill Bennett’s show wasn’t targeting people on the Left.  But sure.  I don’t argue with these statements at all, and I’m happy to praise things I like.

    • #15
  16. George Townsend Inactive
    George Townsend
    @GeorgeTownsend

    Lois Lane (View Comment):
    Of all the people who are ardently pro-Trump, Bill Bennett is the most confusing. I listened to him more than anyone else for years. I’ve met him. I’ve bought his books. I’ve heard his speeches.

    I agree with Miss Lane. Bennett’s constant defense of the President is quite confusing (although I am not sure if it is the most confusing; it may be tied with Prager’s not only defense but daily bashing of conservatives who disagree with him). Although I’ve never met him, I have brought several of Bill’s book. He has always tried to tell us how people grow by behaving with dignity. He not only wrote The Book of Virtues, but The Book of Man. I always considered him one of the finest men to come out of Washington. I am not sure what to think now. I believe his next book should be about Trump, and he should title it, “The book of a Boy”. Men do not act this way! He should remember a man he served with. Ronald Reagan, I sincerely believe, would be appalled that this boy has succeeded him!

    • #16
  17. George Townsend Inactive
    George Townsend
    @GeorgeTownsend

    dicentra (View Comment):
    If he’s doing good, then it’s not against our values, is it?

    Sorry, dicentra, it should go against our values to be indecent. As Hugh Hewitt has written, what the President said about Mica and Joe was cruel. I don’t care if they started it. Who says they are decent folk? That is not the point. The Washington Media were cruel to President Reagan. Even the week of his funeral, Craig Shirley reminds us, the Washington Post wrote about alleged affairs. Conservatives should be better than that. We believe in a Good God, who judges us. Trump has done good things. It does not, then, entitle him to be a cruel man.

    • #17
  18. Mark Darris Inactive
    Mark Darris
    @MarkDarris

    filmklassik (View Comment):

    dicentra (View Comment):
    Such strange lines of argumentation coming from Leibsohn and Buskirk! Such strange underlying assumptions!

    • Failure to predict the results of the 2016 election means that you were WRONG WRONG WRONG about everything you ever said about Trump, and you need to ATONE, DAMMIT!
    • People who aren’t on the Trump Train are no longer “on our team.”
    • Nobody who was against Trump had a legitimate reason for being against him, as evidenced by the fact that they failed to predict the results of the 2016 election.
    • It’s odd that someone who was so adamantly against Trump, such as David French, is also a nice guy and a patriot.
    • Etc.

    Cripes, did I miss anything?

    Someday I plan to start a compendium of the typical “reluctant” Trump supporter’s greatest hits, including such gems as:

    –“Listen, I know he’s not perfect — nobody ever SAID he was perfect — but…”

    –“I didn’t support him in the primary, but now he’s our guy, so…”

    –“What’d’ya mean, ‘He gives ammo to the other side?’ I’ve got news for you, pal: They’re going to talk smack about us anyway!”

    –“Whatever his failings — and listen, I’m not happy with everything he’s done, either — we’re still better off with Trump than with Hillary…”

    Umm, to begin with, you did just start your compendium on reluctant Trump supporters “greatest hits”. Of course, you could alternatively title it: “My compendium of completely rational reasons why some people have an alternate opinion on how President Trump should be viewed”

    • #18
  19. FredGoodhue Coolidge
    FredGoodhue
    @FredGoodhue

    We had been hoping China would help reign in North Korea.  It’s disappointing that China has instead been helping North Korea improve their missiles.

    • #19
  20. Lois Lane Coolidge
    Lois Lane
    @LoisLane

    FredGoodhue (View Comment):
    We had been hoping China would help reign in North Korea. It’s disappointing that China has instead been helping North Korea improve their missiles.

    I find this scary, too.  It’s also the best part of the podcast because I learned new information.

    • #20
  21. George Townsend Inactive
    George Townsend
    @GeorgeTownsend

    Lois Lane (View Comment):
    I find this scary, too. It’s also the best part of the podcast because I learned new information.

    It was the best part of the Podcast. Gordon Chang is always worth listening to.

    I don’t know how this is going to be resolved. I hate saying this, as a big fan of Condi Rice, and the GW Bush Administration in general, but I think Dr. Rice was wrong not to advise the President that something had to be done. It is very late now. Perhaps we ought to start thinking about something that no one will touch: Get rid of the heads of North Korea. Better a few evil people die than the untold numbers of good people in both the Koreas.

    • #21
  22. Lois Lane Coolidge
    Lois Lane
    @LoisLane

    George Townsend (View Comment):

    Lois Lane (View Comment):
    I find this scary, too. It’s also the best part of the podcast because I learned new information.

    It was the best part of the Podcast. Gordon Chang is always worth listening to.

    I don’t know how this is going to be resolved. I hate saying this, as a big fan of Condi Rice, and the GW Bush Administration in general, but I think Dr. Rice was wrong not to advise the President that something had to be done. It is very late now. Perhaps we ought to start thinking about something that no one will touch: Get rid of the heads of North Korea. Better a few evil people die than the untold numbers of good people in both the Koreas.

    I think some of the sanctions that dissolved later would have given us more leverage over China today, so I’d return to the status quo of the Bush years….  However, those days feel as if they were a thousand years ago, and I don’t know if different actions would have been better then.

    • #22
  23. PW Member
    PW
    @TempTime

    filmklassik (View Comment):
    “Knock it off,” Rod? Well, thats a very nice theory, but how are we to proceed when a fellow Conservative starts behaving in what we regard as an unseemly manner?

    “Knock it off,” Rod? Well, thats a very nice theory, but how are we AM I to proceed when a fellow Conservative starts behaving in what we I regard as an unseemly manner?

    There fixed it for you; you do not speak for me.

     

    • #23
  24. PW Member
    PW
    @TempTime

    Great podcast Mr. Bennett and guests.  Thanks Ricochet for bringing us the podcast; I’ll be sure to let my friends know they can find Mr. Bennett at Ricochet.

    • #24
  25. JcTPatriot Member
    JcTPatriot
    @

    I think the podcast was fine. It meandered a bit when it should not have meandered, but some great points were shared. I liked it.

    • #25
  26. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    filmklassik (View Comment):
    Come on guys — Bill Bennett? Granted he’s an intelligent bloke and a pretty good writer. On the other hand…

    He is also the one who broke out the kerosene, the kindling and the Zippo and proceeded to set his “Book of Virtues” ablaze when he became a de facto flak for Donald Trump. What a sad day that was.

    For Bennett personally, “The Book of Virtues” now belongs on the History shelf.

    Shame on you.

    • #26
  27. outlaws6688 Member
    outlaws6688
    @

    Ricochet has bout 15 Never Trump podcasts. We get one more pro Trump podcast and the NT’s need a safe space. Too funny.

    • #27
  28. Trinity Waters Member
    Trinity Waters
    @

    outlaws6688 (View Comment):
    Ricochet has bout 15 Never Trump podcasts. We get one more pro Trump podcast and the NT’s need a safe space. Too funny.

    The NT crowd apparently still needs room to express themselves.  Maybe Baltimore still has some space leftover?

    • #28
  29. George Townsend Inactive
    George Townsend
    @GeorgeTownsend

    outlaws6688 (View Comment):
    Ricochet has bout 15 Never Trump podcasts. We get one more pro Trump podcast and the NT’s need a safe space. Too funny.

    Trinity Waters (View Comment):
    The NT crowd apparently still needs room to express themselves. Maybe Baltimore still has some space leftover?

    These both are silly. What we Trump-skeptics (a term I prefer; the election is over; all real Americans want this man to succeed) are saying is that, despite the good that he has done, his childish invective is hurting himself, the party, and, in the end, the nation. If he doesn’t grow up, the things that we conservatives feel the country needs will be lost forever!

    • #29
  30. RightAngles Member
    RightAngles
    @RightAngles

    George Townsend (View Comment):If he doesn’t grow up, the things that we conservatives feel the country needs will be lost forever!

    And if our own side doesn’t stop aiding and abetting the Democrats, that day will come a whole lot sooner.

    • #30
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