This Week on Midweek Politics with David Pakman

Produced by:
David Pakman, WXOJ, Northampton, MA
Louis Motamedi, WXOJ, Northampton, MA

Total Running Time: 56:19

This Week's Topics:

--Leave us voicemail for the show at our new number, 1-877-363-0947, open 24 hours a day!

--Jonathan Cohn, author of the book SICK:The Untold Story of America’s Health Care Crisis - And the People Who Pay the Price, and a senior editor at the New Republic and senior fellow at the think-tank Demos joins us live to discuss his book, and the 2008 presidential candidates' health care plans.

--Primary results from North Carolina and Indiana, as we as a look at whether there is still any questions as to who will be the Democratic nominee for President.

--Discussion on Fox News equating the working class with lower class.

--Barack Obama's comments about War on Terror vocabulary like "obliterate."

--Ann Coulter asks whether Barack Obama is a Manchurian candidate to American who love their country.

--Congressman Charlie Rangel brings up the strange beliefs of Falwell and Robertson when discussing the Reverend Wright situation.

--Hillary Clinton's much-publicized interview with Bill O'Reilly, and her comments on health care from that interview.

--Howard Dean's direct comments to Chris Wallace about race-baiting and Fox News' bias.

--The controversial statement by John McCain that is being called an admission by McCain that the war in Iraq was simply for oil.

--More talk of McCain being a "maverick."

--A strange discussion about whether illegal immigrants have "rights" of any kind, and another instance of mislabeling a Republican as a Democrat when they've done something wrong.

--John Murtha's recent comments on the war in Iraq, John McCain's 100 years statement, comparisons to Vietnam, and more.

--Much more.

http://www.midweekpolitics.com/midwe...008-05-07.html

This Week on Midweek Politics with David Pakman

April 30th, 2008

Produced by:

David Pakman, WXOJ, Northampton, MA
Louis Motamedi, WXOJ, Northampton, MA

Total Running Time: 57:21

This Week's Topics:

--Leave us voicemail for the show at our new number, 1-877-363-0947, open 24 hours a day!

--Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia comments about the 2000 Bush/Gore election controversy and says he thinks the Supreme Court made the right decision.

--Howard Dean wants superdelegates to decide who they will support at the Democratic National Convention by June.

--The Reverend Wright controversy reaches new levels, with Wright lashing out against Barack Obama, and Obama more directly denouncing Wright.

--Which pundit suggested Obama pick a Jewish running mate simply for "ethnic balance?"

--Could the Democrats stand to lose more than they would gain if they can't fix the Bush administration's problems by the end of the next Presidential term and then everything could be blamed on them?

--John McCain's recent speech about health care, where he seemed to pick out the problems just fine, but doesn't seem to have realistic solutions.

--Elizabeth Edwards' response to the McCain health care speech.

--Craig Ferguson commenting on the "liberal media" at the White House correspondents' dinner.

--Tom Tancredo suggests putting up a fence between Texas and Mexico, but he wants to leave an American town on the south side of that fence.

--A candidate for Congress in 2008 stumps at an Adolf Hitler birthday ceremony.

--George W. Bush's recent comments on the environment, drilling at ANWR, and more, including bringing up making the tax cuts permanent in almost any context, and not needing to use the word "recession."

--President Bush gets agitated with Martha Raddatz during a press conference.

--Helen Thomas' recent run-in with White House Press Secretary Dana Perino on the issue of torture.

--Much more...

http://www.midweekpolitics.com/midwe...008-04-30.html

This Week on Midweek Politics with David Pakman

April 23rd, 2008

Produced by:

David Pakman, WXOJ, Northampton, MA
Louis Motamedi, WXOJ, Northampton, MA

Total Running Time: 56:03

This Week's Topics:

--Leave us voicemail for the show at 1-877-363-0947, 24 hours a day!

--Hillary Clinton wins the Pennsylvania primary, but will it really get her much closer to the nomination?

--The Pope's visit to the US, and President Bush's speech immediately following it.

--Bill Maher's controversial comments about the Pope and the Catholic church.

--George W. Bush's strange appearance on Deal or No Deal.

--The comment made by a Colorado state representative referring to workers from Mexico as "illiterate peasants."

--The rapid decline in Army standards during recent years.

--What may have been one of the worst debates ever on ABC.

--Dick Morris disliked Hillary Clinton so much that he starts criticizing her with comments that are the direct opposite of what he's written in past books.

--Preacher James David Manning's comments, the latest preacher to make bizarre political comments.

--Chris Matthews links Jewish, African-American, and Catholic voters each to one issue he thinks makes the election for them.

--Talk about John McCain "seeming Catholic" as an asset even though he's simply not Catholic.

--Arnold Schwarzenegger actually makes reasonable comments about global warming and climate change, and Fox News tries to lead him along the opposite way.

--George W. Bush says "we're doing a lot" to protect the environment.

--Much more.

http://www.midweekpolitics.com/midwe...008-04-23.html

Is the horrible coverage we suffer through here, the lack of hard questions, little focus on issues that matter a prime example of the market failing the people? Or is it a success of the market because the people want bullshit news instead of real substance?

It used to be that the news divisions of the television stations weren't really out to make a profit because of the way the various broadcasting companies were allowed to use the airwaves.. so they weren't forced to over hype stories, or report on a bunch of bullshit (ie: Natalee Holloway for how many months?) instead of the critical issues.. they were providing a public service, and that was that.. Though I'm not suggesting they were perfect.

But the cable news networks in particular are worried primarily with the profit of the shareholders in the company instead of whether or not they're providing the best service and quality information on important subjects that they possibly can for the American people

I think that's why you see (IMO) better reporting on some of the public funded services, IE: NPR.. because they aren't primarily worried about making a buck, so they can spend more time covering important things and having in in depth coverage on those issues, which are often times quite 'boring' for most people compared to spending an hour watching Fox or CNN or MSNBC, so if they were interested in profit, they wouldn't be making much of it.

I justify my use of 'better' by studies showing people who listened to NPR were far better informed on the facts for example, leading up to the war in Iraq than were those who spent time watching Fox or any of the other television news networks.

The television media really hyped it up and didn't really look in depth at any of the stuff coming out of the Bush Administration, and part of me has to wonder if they knew in the back of their minds that a war would be good for ratings (the old tv news adage "If it bleeds, it leads" comes to mind) and so they weren't eager to do any in depth coverage of anything that might prevent it..

I'm really not sure if you can even call some of the stations like Fox (especially), but CNN and MSNBC as well "news" .. it's more like infotainment

I don't begrudge them the opportunity to make a profit by having a television station that reports on stories however they want, but the question I have is whether or not they have any responsibility to the American people at all to ensure good, accurate reporting on critical issues.. of if their only responsibility is to cover the stories in a way that leads their shareholders to the greatest profit

If the latter (as I would imagine libertarians would argue) .. then how can you imagine a libertarian world where people need to be informed on the issues to make decisions for themselves instead of relying on government if they have no desire to? It would seem the same decision that has allowed the current degradation in quality of the news (and the profit of places like Fox in particular) precludes the existence of a society desirable to libertarians.

If they do have a responsibility, is there any way for people to hold them accountable except with their ability to change the channel?

This Week on Midweek Politics with David Pakman

April 16th, 2008

Produced by:

David Pakman, WXOJ, Northampton, MA
Louis Motamedi, WXOJ, Northampton, MA

Total Running Time: 55:07

This Week's Topics:

--Leave us voicemail for the show at 1-877-363-0947, 24 hours a day!

--More follow up on General David Petraeus' testimony before Congress, including President Bush's speech following the event.

--Colin Powell says that regardless of who the next president is, there will be 140,000 troops in Iraq well beyond January of 2009.

--Wolf Blitzer casually says Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker are not political appointees, but it seems they are.

--Talk of air-striking Iran within the next six months.

--The Pentagon's latest anti-terror device, a portable lie detector.

--Senator Barack Obama's statements that led to a week of talk about whether he is elitist.

--A news segment about Pennsylvania voters disgruntled by Obama's comments shows just one man saying he thinks Obama was right on.

--The man who brought us the War on Christmas starts telling callers to his radio show that they are voting for Obama simply because they are black.

--During an Obama event, a man reading questions refers of Osama bin Laden as Obama bin Laden.

--Talk of Michelle Obama being a cross between Kim Jong-Il and Oprah, while others say Hillary Clinton is being called a bitch simply because she acts like one.

--Another accusation that various terrorists are campaigning for Democrats to win in 2008.

--One pundit lets John McCain off the hook for his Sunni-Shiite confusion, while another tells him he's a maverick and prefaces a softball question with "we've had enough softball."

--Pat Robertson's latest comments about Islam being a political system bent on world domination.

--More funny talk about a possible global cooling problem.

--Much more.

http://www.midweekpolitics.com/midwe...008-04-16.html

This Week on Midweek Politics with David Pakman

April 9th, 2008

Produced by:

David Pakman, WXOJ, Northampton, MA
Louis Motamedi, WXOJ, Northampton, MA

Total Running Time: 56:59

This Week's Topics:

--Leave us voicemail for the show at our new number, 1-877-363-0947, open 24 hours a day!

--Dr. John Andrulis, professor emeritus of economics at Western New England College in Springfield, Massachusetts, and a member of the Northampton Housing Authority joins us live in studio.

--The General David Petraeus testimony before Congress on the war in Iraq, as well as the protester at the hearings.

--Petraeus admits that Pakistan and Afghanistan are greater al-Qaeda threats than Iraq.

--Phil Donahue's recent media tour related to the war in Iraq.

--John McCain's speeches about how well things are going in Iraq seem to be repeatedly interrupted on television by news of violence in Iraq.

--Media outlets have been referring to a student who asked a tough question of John McCain during an appearance as a heckler, but why?

--Will John McCain's voting against Martin Luther King Day being a national holiday during the 1980's become an issue in the 2008 presidential race?

--John Kerry's recent comments about Senator McCain versus Nomination McCain.

--Strange questions from media figures about whether Barack Obama appeals to more than just African-Americans, and referring to him as Tiger Woods.

--More accusations that Barack Obama simply is a Muslim.

--Bizarre predictions from Dick Morris.

--Al Gore's recent comments about not believing global warming being like believing the earth is flat, and more.

--Much more.

http://www.midweekpolitics.com/midwe...008-04-09.html

This Week on Midweek Politics with David Pakman

April 2nd, 2008

Produced by:

David Pakman, WXOJ, Northampton, MA
Louis Motamedi, WXOJ, Northampton, MA

Total Running Time: 58:02

This Week's Topics:

--Leave us voicemail for the show at our new number, 1-877-363-0947, open 24 hours a day!

--Bill Scher of LiberalOasis.com and Campaign for America's Future and Isaac Mass, Republican State Committeeman for Franklin & Hampshire County, Massachusetts, join us live in-studio.

--Do Hillary or Obama have the advantage in a national election against Senator John McCain?

--Do Republicans really think liberal blogs really comparable to Hitler and fascists?

--Is Bill Clinton hurting Hillary Clinton's campaign for president much more than he's helping it at this point?

--Which party is better at using the internet to raise money and campaign?

--Lou Dobbs and Chris Matthews both make what might be racist comments, and we discuss the effect that having a woman and an African-American running for president has had on the demeanor of members of the media.

--Could John McCain's opposition to Martin Luther King Day being a national holiday during the 1980's resurface if Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination?

--Will the accusations that Barack Obama has no experience maintain throughout the campaign?

--Lots of strange comments from Rush Limbaugh.

--Joe Lieberman as John McCain's Vice-President?

--More discussion of whether John McCain has attached himself to religious extremists or not.

--Discussion of the McCain 100 years in Iraq comments, as well as his recent admission about there being hundreds of thousands of Iraqi casualties during the Iraq war.

--More on Senator Lindsey Graham's comments about the surge going well.

--Al Gore says not believing humans are causing global warming is like believing that the earth is flat.

--George W. Bush booed throwing out the first pitch at the Washington Nationals’ first game at their new stadium

--Is our children really learning?

--Much more...

http://www.midweekpolitics.com/midwe...008-04-02.html

Before I start this thread I want to make it perfectly clear that I personally don't think a candidate should drop out until they are ready to do so. I don't care who it is, Hillary, Paul or any other politician. I do, however, feel that the candidates should utilize the best judgment for themselves, their party and the nation when they are running for political office. That final judgment call should be made by the politician.

I started thinking about this about a week or so ago when I heard a Clinton staffer told Politico that Hillary's odds of winning the primary is no more than 10%. Since then Obama has rebounded pretty well from Wright. Therefore, I personally agree with David Brook's estimate of roughly 5%. Looking at the numbers I would say 5% is a fair estimation of Hillary's chances. Her own campaign put her at under 10 when Obama was at his worst. So I think 5% is probably fair now that he's rebounded. For argument's sake and to be fair to Hillary supporters, I'm willing to use her own campaign's estimate of 10%.

So now the question comes into play, is this 10% chance of a Hillary victory worth taking? I believe it's the common consensus that if Hillary wins the primary, the Democratic party would be in disarray. So even if she wins the primary, she'll be hurt for the national election. And if she loses the primary it would be all for nothing and she would severely hurt Obama's chances of winning the national election, thus greatly increasing the chances of McCain entering the White House. He has already started to pull upwards of double digit leads over Hillary and Obama.

I think it's important to discuss the math here behind the Democratic primary in order to put into perspective Hillary's chances of winning. The most important factor going into the convention is going to be the total number of delegates. So we'll start there. As of right now Obama has a sizable lead and pundits from both parties admit it would take a huge blow to Obama's campaign to be multiples worse than Wright in order for Hillary to overtake Obama in the pledged delegates. Hillary knows this, she understands she won't finish with the delegate lead. In fact, in my opinion if Hillary doesn't pull a 30+ point victory in PA, she has essentially zero chance of taking the lead in pledged delegates. PA is her best bet to gain delegates and she needs a blowout beyond anything we've seen in this campaign so far.

Obama is likely to take North Carolina which is the second largest state up for grabs. Let's assume for a minute that Obama and Hillary break even in North Carolina, which would be a feat for Hillary so I'm throwing her a huge bone here. But, let's assume for a second that Hillary won't have to make up any delegates from a loss in North Carolina and let's also assume she beats Obama in every other primary up for grabs by 40 points. The numbers look like this:



If she wins by 40 points in every other contest, save for North Carolina that Obama will likely win, she needs 26 points in PA to overtake Obama's lead. Those results are obviously not likely at all, which is why I'm saying she needs bare minimum 30 points in PA to have a prayer at winning even if Obama is caught with a dead underage hooker in his trunk.

The second major argument she can take with her to the convention is the popular vote argument. However, without Florida and Michigan revotes her odds of winning the popular vote over Obama are about as good as her overtaking him in pledged delegates.

Without these two major factors in her favor to sway the super delegates she is focusing on the same two lesser arguments to take with her at to the convention that she has been using for the past few weeks. Big states and ability to win. These arguments have netted her a roughly 60 super delegate loss since she started using them. And the common consensus among super delegate voters is to vote the way their states/constituents vote. The super delegate argument seems to have failed her and now she's moving on to another argument...

She is making the claim that the currently pledged delegates decided by the voters should disenfranchise the Democratic system and change their votes in her favor. She claims she is not advocating for it, but she keeps running to the media and throwing the idea out there as if to be a desperate plea from a dying campaign. Since then nobody has bit.
In this one quote of many she is saying that "pledged" delegates are not pledged. Seems like an oxymoron, but she is correct. Technically these pledged delegates through the Democratic system could defect, but the odds of this happening are about as good as Obama being caught with a dead underage hooker in his trunk.

So essentially, in my opinion, Hillary's chances of winning the primary are over. By all accounts that I can see, she has been defeated. By her own campaign's account, her chances of winning are less than 10%. And again, that's from her campaign who is likely a bit too optimistic as we have seen.

So we eventually come back to the initial question, at what point should a candidate drop out? I think it would be honorable of Hillary to drop out, but I am not going to specifically call for her withdrawal. Instead, I am going to bring light to the reality of her situation and request that she run a clean campaign. Her chances of winning are finished. Her time is over. She should not make her campaign's destruction the destruction of the party. I am not saying she shouldn't campaign on the trail and garnish support, but I am saying she should stop the divisiveness and stop the dirty politics. And who knows, perhaps if she had done this sooner she would be in an entirely different situation right now.

This Week on Midweek Politics with David Pakman

March 26th, 2008

Produced by:

David Pakman, WXOJ, Northampton, MA
Louis Motamedi, WXOJ, Northampton, MA

Total Running Time: 56:04

This Week's Topics:

--Leave us voicemail for the show at our new number, 1-877-363-0947, open 24 hours a day!

--After last week's 5 year anniversary of the Iraq war, another milestone is reached with the 4000th US military casualty.

--More commentary from President Bush about Iraq.

--Vice-President Dick Cheney's crazy response to questions about polling in Iraq.

--Republican Senator Lindsey Graham says the surge has worked on all fronts, while Chuck Hagel, another Republican senator says that the surge simply isn't working.

--The passport leak story, and the follow-up from Condoleezza Rice.

--One pundit thinks the passport story was just something Barack Obama created to distract from the Jeremiah Wright story.

--Rush Limbaugh continues to campaign for Hillary Clinton.

--Chelsea Clinton is asked about Monica Lewinsky at a stump speech.

--Chris Matthews says maybe we should elect a Republican to end the war, and then says decisions made by politicians like the Clintons have led to 4000 dead in Iraq.

--Lou Dobbs makes more strange comments, wondering if simply accepting Bill Richardson's endorsement is a sign that Barack Obama is pandering to ethnocentric special interests, while a whole Fox News panel discusses Bill Richardson's beard.

--One radio host says that Barack Obama has disowned his white half, while another predicts African-Americans will riot in the streets of Obama loses.

--America: #22 In Prosperity And Stability

--Joe Klein embarrasses himself with a tasteless remark.

--Much more...

http://www.midweekpolitics.com/midwe...008-03-26.html

This Week on Midweek Politics with David Pakman

March 19th, 2008

Produced by:

David Pakman, WXOJ, Northampton, MA
Louis Motamedi, WXOJ, Northampton, MA

Total Running Time: 56:22

This Week's Topics:

--Leave us voicemail for the show at our new number, 1-877-363-0947, open 24 hours a day!

--The Barack Obama controversy over his pastor Jeremiah Wright, including Wright's comments, how this might hurt Obama, and more.

--Obama's much-discussed "race speech."

--Chris Wallace's apparent obsession over Obama's pastor, as well as Michael Savage's comments about Wright.

--Strange comments about McCain's attachment to far right individuals.

--One TV pundit seems to be suggested that the issues he liked to talk about most are the ones most important to voters, but that doesn't seem to be true.

--The five year anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, and what has changed since the start of the war.

--Commentary from John McCain on the state of the surge, Dick Cheney's upbeat assessment of what's going on now that we're five years into the war, George W. Bush's comment on the topic.

--Paul Bremer, who headed up operations in Iraq previously, says he would do it all again the same way in Iraq if given the chance.

--The Bear Stearns/JP Morgan buyout controversy where Bear Sterns was trading for $30 per share and sold for about $2 per share.

--What is a recession, are we in one, and how does the Bear Stearns buyout play into it?

--Follow-up on the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal, including the revelations that both David Paterson, the new Governor of New York, and his wife, both had multiple affairs during their marriage.

--Much more.

http://www.midweekpolitics.com/midwe...008-03-19.html