The Squad

Due to some scheduling issues, we’re a couple of days early this week but that doesn’t mean we’re scrimping on the content. James is taking this week off, so Rob and Peter drive the bus themselves (as Peter mentions in the show, do check out James’ Twitter feed). We’re not scrimping on the guests either: we’ve got Washington Post chief political correspondent (and former Ricochet podcaster) Bob Costa on The Squad, Nancy, Bernie, 2020, and more. Then, Law Talk co-host John Yoo stops by to discuss the passing of Justice John Paul Stevens, some of the recent SCOTUS rulings, and to call out Rob Long for his many imperfections. Finally, Rob and Peter give some binge TV tips. What are you watching? Tell us in the comments.

Music from this week’s show: The Wayfarer by Bruce Springsteen

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There are 68 comments.

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  1. GFHandle Member
    GFHandle
    @GFHandle

    I’m watching “The Royal Albert” on Prime (non-edgy medical soap) and “Death in Paradise” on Netflix (non-edgy formula mystery) and “Corner Gas” on Prime (goofy Canadian comedy).  This is absolutely namby-pamby fare. No graphic sex or beheading likely. Slightly less namby and more “woke” is “Last Tango in Halifax” (Netflix), which is very well done, too.

     

     

    • #1
  2. Patrick McClure Coolidge
    Patrick McClure
    @Patrickb63

    Oh gentlemen, you are being dragged kicking and screaming into the Trump camp.

    • #2
  3. Joe D. Inactive
    Joe D.
    @JosephDornisch

    My God, the Ricochet podcasters seem to consider Obama a moderate Democrat now. He certainly was not. He was just better at seeming moderate, but was he really not as left wing as ‘the squad’? He went a long way to getting the wokestoppo all set up and ready to go by himself.

    • #3
  4. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Great podcast. Learned and laughed. Good point about ricochet being the alternative to the leftie social stuff.

    • #4
  5. Barry Jones Thatcher
    Barry Jones
    @BarryJones

    So it  turns out that oil fields use to use nitroglycerin to “crack” wells and to do that(back in the day) they would put nitro into the drill hole and touch it off. I know this, because back in the day, I worked with a guy that worked his way thru college in the fields doing what ever needed to be done. One day he got tapped to help the guy that would load a well to be cracked. He was waiting at the well for the nitro guy to show up and eventually saw a pick up truck bouncing down the service road. The nitro guy with a bunch of nitroglycerin in the back. It seems that then the nitro they used came packaged in cans that looked like 1 quart oil cans with 12 cans to the case. The nitro guy pulled up, stopped, hopped out of the truck and started unloading the truck by just tossing the cases of nitro to my friend…who was the most startled ( and probably terrified) guy in west Texas that day. It seems that commercial grade nitro is not that sensitive (still pretty sensitive but not “don’t sneeze or you’ll blow us all up” sensitive -apparently). Don’t know if that story is true or not, but the record of movie makers exaggerating and stretching things to enhance drama is significant, while my friend would sometimes stretch things but wasn’t prone to lying…much.  All that being said, I don’t think I’ll panic if I see a can of nitro, but I probably won’t practice juggling with it either.

    • #5
  6. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Ricochet Audio Network: Finally, Rob and Peter give some binge TV tips. What are you watching?

    Back in Early-to-Mid February my son and I started watching all 254 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (in chronological order, taking into account crossover appearances).  We finished two nights ago.  It holds up pretty well, although the “girl power” stuff got pretty strong in the last season or two of BTVS.

     

    Trying to decide what to start on next.  I’m thinking The Mary Tyler Moore Show, or maybe the Bob Newhart show.  I’ve also got full series sets of Barney Miller and Hogans Heroes.

     

     

     

    • #6
  7. PeterParisi Inactive
    PeterParisi
    @PeterParisi

    What are you watching?

    First, I have to say I loved “Chernobyl” and “Shetland” both. I’m slowly watching “The Wire,” currently in the middle of season 4: excellent. I missed it because, I think, I was out of the country when it aired. I’m watching, with my wife and daughter, “Stranger Things,” season 3 and liking it better than season two. Just finished the latest season of “Endeavour,” which ended satisfyingly. Having read the list above, it sounds to me like I have way too much time on my hands!

    The thing that surprised me about “Chernobyl” was the niggling reception it received: people annoyed at the female scientist (a fictitious character meant to stand in for the many scientists involved) and the misrepresentation of the death toll. I found two things overwhelming: first, the fear that permeated the Soviet system. There is no getting around that, whatever accomplishments they may put up on the board, totalitarian societies eventually end paralyzed by fear. Who wants to be right if it means the firing squad?

    Winston Smith to O’Brian: Sure, pal, two plus two equals five. I’m down with that. Just get that thing away from my face.

    It makes you wonder what may eventually happen to China once people weary of the social credit system. Second: it was impressive how well the show conveyed the science at issue.

    I always enjoy listening to the podcast and John Yoo is one of my favorite guests.

    • #7
  8. JuliaBlaschke Lincoln
    JuliaBlaschke
    @JuliaBlaschke

    GFHandle (View Comment):

    I’m watching “The Royal Albert” on Prime (non-edgy medical soap) and “Death in Paradise” on Netflix (non-edgy formula mystery) and “Corner Gas” on Prime (goofy Canadian comedy). This is absolutely namby-pamby fare. No graphic sex or beheading likely. Slightly less namby and more “woke” is “Last Tango in Halifax” (Netflix), which is very well done, too.

     

     

    I decided to check out The Royal Albert and enjoyed the first episode. If you like that you will probably enjoy The Heart Guy.

    • #8
  9. FredGoodhue Coolidge
    FredGoodhue
    @FredGoodhue

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Ricochet Audio Network: Finally, Rob and Peter give some binge TV tips. What are you watching?

    Back in Early-to-Mid February my son and I started watching all 254 episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel (in chronological order, taking into account crossover appearances). We finished two nights ago. It holds up pretty well, although the “girl power” stuff got pretty strong in the last season or two of BTVS.

     

    Trying to decide what to start on next. I’m thinking The Mary Tyler Moore Show, or maybe the Bob Newhart show. I’ve also got full series sets of Barney Miller and Hogans Heroes.

     

     

     

    Buffy and Angel are great!

    • #9
  10. Hank Rhody-Badenphipps Esq Contributor
    Hank Rhody-Badenphipps Esq
    @HankRhody

    I was waiting for the punchline!

    I had this app, it shows you what you look like when you’re young, what you look like when you’re old. I used it to see what I’d look like if i was old and it was so shocking! I went to delete the app and then I realized it wasn’t turned on.

    • #10
  11. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    First, Rob, I liked the transition to the Ancestry spot. It might not be as smooth as Lileks, but you’re improving. Also loved the ending outtake about the bowtie. That Yoo guy will probably be forever ostracized for that one.

    • #11
  12. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Ricochet Audio Network: What are you watching?

    Nothing in the way of TV shows. I do pay attention to some fascinating Youtube channels:

    Dr. Jackson Crawford — Specialist in Old Norse

    Townsends (Eighteenth Century cooking and survival)

    • #12
  13. J Ro Member
    J Ro
    @JRo

    “Whoa. They called [Trump] a racist for that?”

    Like Peter, I don’t see how Trump’s ‘love it or leave it’ tweets were racist. It’s curious that I haven’t seen or heard anyone compare and contrast immigrant Melania Trump’s experience and attitude about her adopted country with Ilhan Omar’s. Would the same Tweets directed at an immigrant who is not a ‘person of color’ not be racist?

    And what exactly makes AOC a ‘woman of color’? Although born and raised in NYC, much is made of her Puerto Rican heritage. By appearances alone, it would seem that her heritage is much much more “exploitative Western European colonists” than “exploited African slaves”. And since slavery was practiced in Puerto Rico, a rather small Spanish colony without any sort of Mason-Dixon Line, for several years longer than in the US, I expect AOC will have to be careful about making arguments for reparations.

    • #13
  14. SParker Member
    SParker
    @SParker

    Barry Jones (View Comment):
    Don’t know if that story is true or not, but the record of movie makers exaggerating and stretching things to enhance drama is significant

    Doesn’t matter, Clouzot sells it.  It could have been Grape KoolAid.  +1 The Wages of Fear.

    I’d add his Le Corbeau (1943.  The Nazi censors and overseers of the French film industry were apparently a pretty clueless group.)  And  Les Diaboliques (1955).  (And,  from trying to get the titles spelled right, I really need to finally see Quai des Orfèvres.)

    • #14
  15. Michael Minnott Member
    Michael Minnott
    @MichaelMinnott

    I really need to watch The Wages of Fear.  It was re-made in the 70’s by director William Friedkin under the title Sorcerer.  It starred Roy Scheider and had a soundtrack by Tangerine Dream.  I love that movie, so it’s high time that I watch the original.

     

    • #15
  16. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Regarding the “controversial” Trump tweet about “the squad” – I keep thinking of Selena Zito’s formulation that contrasted people who take Trump’s statements seriously but not literally versus people who take Trump’s statements literally but not seriously. 

    Many of those who take Trump’s statements seriously but not literally read the tweet the way Trump later rephrased it to point out that there are plenty of places on the planet that are governed the way “the squad” wants to drag the US, and we will do nothing to impede your desire to go live in one of them.

    But even taking Trump’s tweet literally, Rep. Omar is perhaps the most prominent person of “the squad.” She chose to become a citizen of the US (even if she did not choose the US as the place of destination after the refugee camp, she had a choice about becoming a citizen, and there’s a continuing controversy that she may have been so eager to become a US citizen she committed fraud to do so). People see her as an extremely ungrateful immigrant. She has made herself the face of “the squad,” so it is understandable that people conflate the other women with this ungrateful immigrant. 

    • #16
  17. Rightfromthestart Coolidge
    Rightfromthestart
    @Rightfromthestart

    The  ‘cocktail party’  is often dismissed as an influencing factor but the podcast goes on to explain that’s exactly what happens to Supreme Court justices and even Washington based Republicans like Ford and Bush 41.  On the other hand Reagan and Trump are like Reggie Jackson who upon arriving in NY  from Oakland said ‘ I didn’t come to NY to be a star , I brought my star with me’

    • #17
  18. Gracie Inactive
    Gracie
    @Gracie

    Disappointed that none of you called out Robert Costa on his blithe characterization of Trump’s “racist” comments. You had just been discussing whether they were, in fact, racist, yet, when he characterized them as such under the guise of reporting you let him get away with it.  Would have been an interesting conversation if you had pointed out that whether what Trump said was racist or not is kind of the issue.

    • #18
  19. Belt Inactive
    Belt
    @Belt

    So the thing that Peter most praises Trump for is the thing that Trump is least engaged with…

    • #19
  20. Blondie Thatcher
    Blondie
    @Blondie

    Thanks, @roblong, for letting me know Criterion is back. One of the things I missed most about cutting the cable was TCM. We found Criterion and then they went away for a while. I didn’t know they were back. 

    • #20
  21. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Gracie (View Comment):

    Disappointed that none of you called out Robert Costa on his blithe characterization of Trump’s “racist” comments. You had just been discussing whether they were, in fact, racist, yet, when he characterized them as such under the guise of reporting you let him get away with it. Would have been an interesting conversation if you had pointed out that whether what Trump said was racist or not is kind of the issue.

    I quit following Bob Costa on Twitter last year. Nice guy but DC has infected him.

    • #21
  22. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    J Ro (View Comment):

    “Whoa. They called [Trump] a racist for that?”

    Like Peter, I don’t see how Trump’s ‘love it or leave it’ tweets were racist. It’s curious that I haven’t seen or heard anyone compare and contrast immigrant Melania Trump’s experience and attitude about her adopted country with Ilhan Omar’s. Would the same Tweets directed at an immigrant who is not a ‘person of color’ not be racist?

    And what exactly makes AOC a ‘woman of color’? Although born and raised in NYC, much is made of her Puerto Rican heritage. By appearances alone, it would seem that her heritage is much much more “exploitative Western European colonists” than “exploited African slaves”. And since slavery was practiced in Puerto Rico, a rather small Spanish colony without any sort of Mason-Dixon Line, for several years longer than in the US, I expect AOC will have to be careful about making arguments for reparations.

    Of course, AOC would insist that neither she nor her relatives are responsible for Puerto Rico’s past racism and slavery, while in the same breath – or maybe the next one – insisting that all white people in the US are VERY MUCH responsible for “our” past racism and slavery.

    • #22
  23. Bishop Wash Member
    Bishop Wash
    @BishopWash

    I think it was John Yoo on Law Talk, so the same guy, but this is the second time on a Ricochet podcast where I’ve heard someone express concern that Trump is going to randomly nuke a country. I don’t know where that fear comes from. The system wouldn’t work that way. A new way to express concern of Trump’s stability needs to be found. 

    • #23
  24. Chris Member
    Chris
    @Chris

    John Yoo’s “sales pitch” for Ricochet was spot on. 

    • #24
  25. Chris Member
    Chris
    @Chris

    Michael Minnott (View Comment):

    I really need to watch The Wages of Fear. It was re-made in the 70’s by director William Friedkin under the title Sorcerer. It starred Roy Scheider and had a soundtrack by Tangerine Dream. I love that movie, so it’s high time that I watch the original.

     

    Was anyone else shocked to learn this film even existed?  Not that they had forgotten it, but that it was even made at all?  

    • #25
  26. Arahant Member
    Arahant
    @Arahant

    Chris (View Comment):
    Was anyone else shocked to learn this film even existed? Not that they had forgotten it, but that it was even made at all?

    No. I’ve seen both.

    • #26
  27. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    EHerring (View Comment):

    Gracie (View Comment):

    Disappointed that none of you called out Robert Costa on his blithe characterization of Trump’s “racist” comments. You had just been discussing whether they were, in fact, racist, yet, when he characterized them as such under the guise of reporting you let him get away with it. Would have been an interesting conversation if you had pointed out that whether what Trump said was racist or not is kind of the issue.

    I quit following Bob Costa on Twitter last year. Nice guy but DC has infected him.

    @gracie —  I caught Bob Costa’s “racist tweets“ comment as well, sans “allegedly”.  The guys should have nailed him on that, but I guess they were glad he was willing to come slum with them, and knew any tough questions would probably guarantee he never comes back. 

    Helping Costa maintain the fiction that he works for an unbiased and nonpartisan outlet, the guys also failed to ask him, which Democrat is the Washington Post putting its weight behind 

    It might also have been worth pointing out that the Post has endorsed a Democrat in the general election 100% of the time since they began endorsing Presidential candidates (in the 1970s, I think).

    • #27
  28. Charlotte Member
    Charlotte
    @Charlotte

    For the love of all that is holy, please stop calling the quartet of Congressharpies Congresswomen “The Squad”.

    Just. Stop.

    • #28
  29. Taras Coolidge
    Taras
    @Taras

    Charlotte (View Comment):

    For the love of all that is holy, please stop calling the quartet of Congressharpies Congresswomen “The Squad”.

    Just. Stop.

     Obviously the correct name is “Gang of Four” …

    • #29
  30. Michael Minnott Member
    Michael Minnott
    @MichaelMinnott

    Chris (View Comment):

    Michael Minnott (View Comment):

    I really need to watch The Wages of Fear. It was re-made in the 70’s by director William Friedkin under the title Sorcerer. It starred Roy Scheider and had a soundtrack by Tangerine Dream. I love that movie, so it’s high time that I watch the original.

     

    Was anyone else shocked to learn this film even existed? Not that they had forgotten it, but that it was even made at all?

    For what it’s worth, it was parodied by The Simpsons in the “Mr. Plow” episode:

     

    • #30
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