constructive_criticism_wide_1024Yep, it’s a special Wednesday edition of the Ricochet Podcast featuring our good friend Pat Sajak (note to prospective guests: when you’re a beloved and iconic contributor to Ricochet and the culture at large, we’ll accommodate your schedule). This week,  Ted Cruz declares; can he win? Then, Pat joins to discuss his not happening Senate campaign, whether the weather is changing, and why we ought to move the capital of the country to the middle of the desert.  Also, lectern speeches vs. roaming around Oprah style, and Lileks gets outraged over…outrage. Trust us, you don’t want to miss this one.

Music from this week’s episode:

Watching The Wheels by John Lennon

The opening sequence for the Ricochet Podcast was composed and produced by James Lileks.

That’s hot, EJHill.

Yes, you should absolutely subscribe to this podcast. It helps!

Help Ricochet by Supporting Our Sponsors!

Screen Shot 2015-02-20 at 8.56.20 AMThis podcast is brought to you by Harry’s Shave. For the finest shave at the best price, got Harrys.com and use the coupon code RICOCHET at checkout.

Subscribe to The Ricochet Podcast in Apple Podcasts (and leave a 5-star review, please!), or by RSS feed. For all our podcasts in one place, subscribe to the Ricochet Audio Network Superfeed in Apple Podcasts or by RSS feed.

Now become a Ricochet member for only $5.00 a month! Join and see what you’ve been missing.

There are 37 comments.

Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.
  1. Fredösphere Inactive
    Fredösphere
    @Fredosphere

    As a partisan of the semicolon, let me just express my doubts that

    Ted Cruz declares, can he win?

    • #1
  2. The Unreasonable Man Coolidge
    The Unreasonable Man
    @TheUnreasonableMan

    Is Pat Sajak obsessed with alien sex?

    • #2
  3. Leigh Inactive
    Leigh
    @Leigh

    (Should have finished podcast before commenting… irrelevant)

    • #3
  4. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Guys, that photo background is not Phoenix.  It looks like Monument Valley, or maybe the Sedona area.

    • #4
  5. Ricochet Inactive
    Ricochet
    @PleatedPantsForever

    Guys, I get it, you’re north of 250 episodes and it is challenging coming up with topics. However, in the future, please just PM me rather than just taking subjects from my posts. Talking about moving the capitol is so December 2014 and discussing the impact of AC on politics is so early February. Just kidding……probably.

    Thanks for another great podcast!

    • #5
  6. raycon and lindacon Inactive
    raycon and lindacon
    @rayconandlindacon

    Pat;  How can you so clearly articulate the failure of direct democracy to bring to the voter both his desires and their cost as the conflict they are without pointing out that this very problem is why the founders rejected democracy as the form of government for the new nation.

    The United States was formed as a democratic republic in order to prevent the very problem that you so clearly defined.

    • #6
  7. EJHill Podcaster
    EJHill
    @EJHill

    AZ Pat – I know the Grand Canyon is three hours north, but seeing government can be a desolate wasteland…

    • #7
  8. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @EustaceCScrubb

    (note to prospective guests: when you’re a beloved and iconic contributor to Ricochet and the culture at large, we’ll accommodate your schedule)

    I assume that means that you’d be willing to meet Mike Murphy on Monday at 2 AM under the bridge in the bad part of town.

    • #8
  9. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @

    Rob, Peter, James, I love your podcast.  Just love it.  I have been listening for a couple of years now, if not longer, and I just wanted to let you guys know that I really, really enjoy it.  Aside from Rush Limbaugh’s podcasts, I look forward to this one with as much anticipation each week.  Keep up the good work.

    • #9
  10. Ricochet Coolidge
    Ricochet
    @ToryWarWriter

    I will say this Rob Long is incorrect about Obama in one aspect.

    He is not anti-nuclear power.  The first new nuclear plants are under construction in the United States in decades.  The first one started being built last year.

    In the one of the few actual things he has done that I agree with he actually got the NRC to do its job and approve new plants.

    • #10
  11. Johnny Dubya Inactive
    Johnny Dubya
    @JohnnyDubya

    James’s reaction to Cruz’s style (as opposed to his substance) is exactly the same as mine, which I have expressed elsewhere on the site. This is a problem, and people ought to say so. It’s interesting that criticisms of such criticism take primarily two tacks: (1) Don’t bash a fellow conservative, and (2) Style shouldn’t matter.

    Well, folks, it does. And perhaps if Cruz took the criticisms to heart he would be a better candidate. I’m not sure exactly how one might go about appearing more genuine and less phony and smug, but Cruz ought to try. The skills that made him a champion debater do not necessarily translate to connecting with the American people, and they might actually be a hindrance.

    • #11
  12. user_119072 Inactive
    user_119072
    @TroyStephens

    I enjoyed Pat’s suggestion, but moving D.C. sounds suspiciously like the kind of big-spending boondoggle that D.C. itself would come up with. ;-) How ’bout instead we ban air conditioning in the nation’s capital? What a great opportunity for our representatives to lead by example, heriocally sacrificing their own personal comfort to reduce our ghastly carbon footprint! Who among them would come out against such a proposal … unless they hate the planet Earth?

    • #12
  13. jzdro Member
    jzdro
    @jzdro

    Gentlemen,

    Thank you for a great podcast.

    For unsurpassed pole-vaulting, and indeed unsurpassed college athletics generally, please check out Buster Keaton in his film College. 

    • #13
  14. Rob Long Contributor
    Rob Long
    @RobLong

    ToryWarWriter:I will say this Rob Long is incorrect about Obama in one aspect.

    He is not anti-nuclear power. The first new nuclear plants are under construction in the United States in decades. The first one started being built last year.

    In the one of the few actual things he has done that I agree with he actually got the NRC to do its job and approve new plants.

    Really? Honest to goodness?  If so, damn.  I’ve been using that line to great effect for 2 weeks.  So I have to give him credit here?  I hate that.

    • #14
  15. Ryan M Inactive
    Ryan M
    @RyanM

    James:  Please do start a new feature “outrage of the week,” AND bring back the awesome radio soundbite that used to go with the “big story!”

    I’m still annoyed that you got rid of that.

    • #15
  16. Blue Yeti Admin
    Blue Yeti
    @BlueYeti

    Ryan M:James: Please do start a new feature “outrage of the week,” AND bring back the awesome radio soundbite that used to go with the “big story!”

    I’m still annoyed that you got rid of that.

    You mean this?

    • #16
  17. Blayne Lantrie Inactive
    Blayne Lantrie
    @BlayneLantrie

    Thank you Rob for mentioning the Bibi ad on my feed:

    • #17
  18. user_1152 Member
    user_1152
    @DonTillman

    Music from this week’s episode:

    Watching The Wheels by John Lennon

    Check out that beautiful bass playing.  That’s got to be Tony Levin.

    [checking…]  Yep, it  sure is.

    • #18
  19. J Flei Inactive
    J Flei
    @Solon

    I really want to start a punk rock band with James Lileks as lead singer.

    • #19
  20. Ryan M Inactive
    Ryan M
    @RyanM

    Blue Yeti:

    Ryan M:James: Please do start a new feature “outrage of the week,” AND bring back the awesome radio soundbite that used to go with the “big story!”

    I’m still annoyed that you got rid of that.

    You mean this?

    oh, man… yes!  He should just dub over it, “next week’s big outrage!”

    Now that I have that downloaded, I’ll have to start the feature on Flyover Country.  Tell james he can have a cut of every dollar the show makes…  ;)

    • #20
  21. Butters Inactive
    Butters
    @CommodoreBTC

    James is right about the way Cruz comes off.

    1) I think Cruz is perfectly sincere despite the way he comes off

    2) as much as I don’t care how he comes off, the fickle portion of voters that decide elections care very much

    • #21
  22. MitchellM Inactive
    MitchellM
    @MitchellMorgan

    One of my favorite Wheel of Fortune failure moments was when one contestant offered “A Group of Pill Pushers” as the solution, followed by a moment of Pat’s shocked silence and then “THIS IS WHEEL OF FORTUNE JOE!”

    • #22
  23. user_4462 Member
    user_4462
    @JeffPetraska

    This was an especially good podcast.  One of the best.  James, your Harry’s spot was so good I wanted to email Harry’s and tell them that whatever they are paying Ricochet to advertise their razors, it’s worth every penny.

    • #23
  24. user_5186 Inactive
    user_5186
    @LarryKoler

    OK, with regard to Ted Cruz — what I don’t get is this: “At the end of listening to his speech I feel as though I am covered in oil.”

    What the hell does that EVEN MEAN?

    (Just wondering.)

    And: “He does have that effect on people.”

    If I thought that you guys were filtering for the MSM tirade against Cruz and culling that from the distillation of the real situation then maybe I could believe you — but, geez, it does seem that you are trying to curry favor with the MSM here.

    “Oh yeah, the right-wingers like him but it’s like an oil bath for me. I’m not that wacko.”

    It’s the lack of specificity, people. I don’t believe you. It’s too lazy — it’s dog whistle stuff. Is it anti Jerry Falwell stuff? Is this embarrassment about his use of Liberty University?

    This is beneath you guys — I expect better eloquence and analysis.

    (But, thanks Peter — you were terrific and I love your approach to him. It matches mine. Right now I am really jazzed with Cruz. He has the exactly right enemies.

    • #24
  25. user_5186 Inactive
    user_5186
    @LarryKoler

    And Pat Sajak? Wow! He’s really fantastic in this type of discussion and seems to be a lovely person. He’s smart, warm, lucid, trenchant — I would love to meet him sometime. Thanks for having him on. He could do a regular podcast as far as I am concerned.

    • #25
  26. Ricochet Contributor
    Ricochet
    @TitusTechera

    Larry Koler:OK, with regard to Ted Cruz — what I don’t get is this: “At the end of listening to his speech I feel as though I am covered in oil.”

    What the hell does that EVEN MEAN?

    That he’s the Soapy Sam of the conservative movement. Listen to his brief interview with Mr. Nordlinger from CPAC–they’ve got it on Ricochet. If that does not show you what people mean, maybe the problem is, you do not want to get it…

    • #26
  27. user_5186 Inactive
    user_5186
    @LarryKoler

    Titus Techera:

    Larry Koler:OK, with regard to Ted Cruz — what I don’t get is this: “At the end of listening to his speech I feel as though I am covered in oil.”

    What the hell does that EVEN MEAN?

    That he’s the Soapy Sam of the conservative movement. Listen to his brief interview with Mr. Nordlinger from CPAC–they’ve got it on Ricochet. If that does not show you what people mean, maybe the problem is, you do not want to get it…

    Thanks for clearing that up. The Soapy Sam….

    Most of us conservatives liked every thing about that interview. Everything.

    • #27
  28. Ricochet Contributor
    Ricochet
    @TitusTechera

    Larry Koler:Most of us conservatives liked every thing about that interview. Everything.

    I’m not sure where all or most of you get together to agree together, but there were people commenting on that interview-podcast. Unflattering things were said & approved…

    • #28
  29. user_5186 Inactive
    user_5186
    @LarryKoler

    Titus Techera:

    Larry Koler:Most of us conservatives liked every thing about that interview. Everything.

    I’m not sure where all or most of you get together to agree together, but there were people commenting on that interview-podcast. Unflattering things were said & approved…

    Great analysis.

    • #29
  30. Ricochet Contributor
    Ricochet
    @TitusTechera

    Larry Koler:

    Titus Techera:

    Larry Koler:Most of us conservatives liked every thing about that interview. Everything.

    I’m not sure where all or most of you get together to agree together, but there were people commenting on that interview-podcast. Unflattering things were said & approved…

    Great analysis.

    I get a sense you’re trying for sarcasm. I’m not sure what’s wrong with you. It just looks like you do not care to find out how others here think. Maybe you do not care, & I do not know that you need to care. But I do not understand why you should be sarcastic about it. When you ask what someone else might think & refuse to make any effort to understand them–maybe you thinking thinking otherwise is worthless. Make the effort, you might find there’s at least some sense to what people are saying…

    • #30
Become a member to join the conversation. Or sign in if you're already a member.