Pundit Review Radio

What a pleasure this was, two of my favorite pundits on the topic of global warming alarmism, Chris Horner and Bruce McQuain. Chris Horner is author of Red, Hot, Lies and one of my favorite and most frequent guests. Chris has been in the news recently for his Freedom of Information Act request to NASA which has been ignored for nearly two years. In the wake of Climategate, it is easy to understand why people might wonder about the motives behind the stonewalling, Researcher: NASA hiding climate data "Chris Horner, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said NASA has refused for two years to provide information under the Freedom of Information Act that would show how the agency has shaped its climate data and would explain why the agency has repeatedly had to correct its data going as far back as the 1930s. "I assume that what is there is highly damaging," Mr. Horner said. "These guys are quite clearly bound and determined not to reveal their internal discussions about this."" At Qan

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about Sgt. Matthew Matlock, a noncommissioned officer from Company C, 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment for actions he took under fire to save Soldiers in Afghanistan. “You never know, really, what you’re made of until you’re put into that situation,” Matlock said. “You don’t really think about anything else except getting your guys out of there. That was all that was going through my head - these guys are going to make it home. And I made sure of that.” Eighteen months passed since that day in Afghanistan. Matlock listened from the theater’s front row as Garrett spoke of his actions. “Staff Sgt. Matlock fought with such incredible bravery, deliberately putting himself at risk time and time again to sav

Who wants to put aside for a few minutes The Age of Obama, and take a look back at The Age of Reagan instead? I thought so. Joining me last night was Steven F. Hayward, one of the country's leading experts on the Reagan presidency, who has written an exhaustive two volume biography titled The Age Of Reagan. With the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, the timing was just right to take a look back at this great president. I also wanted to talk to Steven about how Reagan is being mis-remembered, to use a George W. Bush phrase, by today's conservatives. They had a rocky relationship with President Reagan. Today's GOP could also benefit by reexamining not just Reagan's substance, but his style. What is Pundit Review Radio? On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique s

The hit TV show Mad Men takes a look at the hip and cool world of 1960s Madison Avenue advertsing. James P. Othmer has written a highly entertaining look back at his career in the advertising business, including a stint as Creative Director at mega firm Young & Rubicam. James is a terrific writer, incredibly witty and funny. He tells some great stories about the creative process, clients and office dynamics. He also takes a look forward, at the future of advertsing itself. Like the political would we love so much, advertising has been turned on its head by new digital technologies. This is an excellent read and reminds us of just how under assault we are each and every day by advertising images. This is a great look behind the curtain. What is Pundit Review Radio? On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbr

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about Vietnam veteran and Boston resident Sgt. John Eade, on the 40th anniversary of the legendary battle of Ia Drang. He used an account written by Jules Crittenden of the Boston Herald, "After Barker was killed, Eade was alone. I asked Eade what his thoughts and emotions were at this time, as the last surviving man in his position with every expectation that he would be killed as the NVA moved around finishing off the wounded. I was under the impression that Eade had played dead to survive, but he said that wasn't the case. "Playing dead was a way to die. It made no sense to me. Our job was to hold that position and kill the enemy," Eade said. "I had this thing in my mind, part of the U.S. Army's General Or

New York Times merger and acquisitions reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin has written the insiders account of what was going on in board rooms and the highest levels of government during the worst of the Wall Street meltdown. Too Big To Fail really gives the reader a sense of the players, their personalities and the rational behind their decsion making. Sorkin does a great job of describing the stress and tension that these firms, these people, were under. I really appreciate that he spent so much time with us and allowed us to cover so much ground. Like the book itself, it was a highly enjoyable experience. What is Pundit Review Radio? On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Tal

I've heard from multiple people about this likeable, smart, educated, opinionated, brash candidate in the 6th congressional district named Bill Hudak. We met him tonight. I can see why people are excited. People not named John Tierney that is. What is Pundit Review Radio? On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about Marine Cpl. Javier Alvarez, From Stars and Stripes "Alvarez struggles to tell his story. His speech is filled with pregnant pauses, disjointed phrases and unfinished thoughts. It’s the cost of saving the lives of six Marines. It is his price for his Silver Star. "I know my hand was burning," he recalled. "Or, it felt like that. So I lifted up my arm to see what happened, and my hand was completely missing. There was just like ragged bone sticking out, with my sleeves from my uniform black and red from blood," he said. Alvarez knew this was coming. This was his third deployment in three years. He joined weeks after 9/11. He was among the first Marines into Iraq in 2003. He survived Fallujah without a s

Last night I had a really interesting and enjoyable conversation with former Rumsfeld and Bush speechwriter Matt Latimer, who has a new book about his experiences working in the administration. This is essentially the story of a young, principled conservative who left Michigan to puruse the political junkie's dream in Washington DC. As he rose through the ranks, all the way to the White House, this idealist saw how the sausage was made and came away greatly disappointed. In his Human Events review, editor Jed Babbin noted, "If Matt Latimer’s new book had been released a few weeks ago, the Tea Party marchers would have hoisted him onto their shoulders and carried him -- laughing and cheering -- all the way up Capitol Hill. Laughing, because Latimer’s new book,Speech-less: Tales of a White House Survivor, renews conservatives’ license to chuckle at ourselves. Cheering, because it lifts the burden of George W. Bush from our shoulders." In additon to the stories in the book about Rumsfeld, Bush and Rove,

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about Second Lt. Nicholas Eslinger, " "As I was pulling security, I saw out of the corner of my eye in the back left corner of the open lot a hand come over the wall with some sort of a projectile," he said. Based on recent attacks, Eslinger knew it was a grenade. "The grenade landed, I’d say six to eight feet to my right front," Eslinger said. "I was on a knee at the time, and it landed and started to roll into the middle of our formation towards the far wall where our soldiers were positioned." Eslinger has thought about that moment several times and he remembers his only thought was that if he didn’t do anything, the grenade was going to hit his troops. By the time the grenade hit the ground, Eslinger wa

For all the grief Massachusetts Republicans get, we do have three excellent people and candidates running for statewide office right now. Scott Borwn, who we soke with last week, is seeking to take the Kennedy seat in the U.S. Senate. In the governor's race, we have Charlie Baker and Christy Mihos vying for the right to take on Deval Patrick. Christy is always a treat to talk to and one of the nicest and most generous people you will ever meet. He's been a champion of reforming state government for a long time. He has ticked off a lot of people on Beacon Hill over the years, and that is one of the most attractive things about his candidacy! During the interview, a caller went after Christy for specifics on how he would reduce the size of the budget. Christy responded by offering four or five specific proposals. When he finished, he asked the caller if that helped him, but the caller had hung up. Christy then gave the caller his phone number over the air and told him to call if ehe had any other que

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about Staff Sgt. Erich Phillips, who was involved in a battle very similar to the one that claimed ten US soldiers lives over the weekend. This story comes to you from the same remote corner of Afghanistan, Nuristan Province, "Before dawn on Aug. 22, 2007, 60 to 80 Taliban extremists moved into position to launch a three-pronged attack against Ranch House. Video footage posted on an extremist website showed Taliban rehearsing over a detailed map of Ranch House’s fighting positions. “Their plan was to overrun our forward operating base,” said Phillips, who is from Eastpoint, Fla. When the Taliban attacked Ranch House, 22 American Soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team were living at the base. The

Sunday evening on WRKO, RedMassGroup.com editor Garrett Quinn joined me in studio for a lively discussion of Massachusetts politics and the dreaded conservatove versus RINO debate. Like me, Garrett is a recovering Democrat with a strong libertarian streak. I enjoyed having him on and hope to do so again soon. What is Pundit Review Radio? On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 8-10pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

I was pleased to welcome Republican state senator Scott Brown to Pundit Review Radio this weekend. Scott is running to replace Ted Kennedy in the United States Senate. We took as many calls as we could in the time we had Scott with us. He comes across as a solid , decent human being, an independent thinker and considering the caliber of person we usually send to Washington, a huge breath of fresh air. I hope to have Scott back on the show many times between now and the Special Election in January. What a message we could send to Washington by filling Ted Kennedy's seat with an independent thinking Republican! Many pundits (ok, all of them) think Scott faces long odds in this campaign. History would say so. But these are different times and people are frustrated and willing to listen, in my opinion. For example, after the interview I heard from a close family member who has never, ever even considered voting for a Republican. This person stubs their toe and their idea of a curse is to mutter "You

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about Lt James Adamson, who serves with the Royal Regiment of Scotland in Afghanistan. The citation for Lt Adamson's award - as detailed on the MoD website - reads: "Adamson' supreme physical courage, combined with the calm leadership he continued to display after a very close encounter with the Taliban, were of the very highest order. "His actions also neutralised an enemy flanking attack which could have resulted in casualties for his platoon." The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Bruce does an incredible job with the series every week. The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here. What is Pundit Review Radio? On Boston

Lt. Shannon Meehan was a decorated tank commander who was displaying exception leadership abilities during his tour of duty in Iraq. On one mission, when they were clearing a dangerous area house by house, he called in an air strike on a suspected insurgents location. He followed all procedure and even went further, sending loudspeakers and translators directly in front of the house to warn everyone inside to get out. Despite visual identification, local Intel, loudspeaker warnings, the worst happened. The precision guided bomb destroyed a house with a family inside. This is the story of how Lt. Meehan has been struggled with the consequences of his decision. I told Lt. Meehan on air that I wished I could just hug him and tell him that it was ok, that he followed his training, went even further and had nothing to be ashamed of or feel guilty about. I said to him that as a citizen he was fighting for, I was perfectly comfortable with what he did, despite the outcome that nobody wanted. A literal casu

Retired Lt. Col. Ralph Peters is a Fox News strategic analyst and columnist for the New York Post. He is also one of our favorite and most frequent guests on Pundit Review Radio. Ralph has a new novel, a thriller, called The War After Armageddon, which is in bookstores starting tomorrow. The story starts following multiple dirty bomb attacks in the US and AFTER Israel has been nuked off the face of the earth by Iran. Not a pleasant topic, but one that grows more realistic with each passing day. We had to start by aksing Ralph about the vile Maureen Dowd column from Sunday, which elicited a typical Ralph Peters response…awesome. We also talked about the anniversary of 9/11, he says we have learned nothing and are wrong to pretend that Islamic jihadists will change their stripes. What is Pundit Review Radio? On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journali

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about Sgt. 1st Class William Tomlin, via IBD, " The clash, he says, boiled down to haves vs. have-nots. "We were throwing hand grenades at them and they were throwing hand grenades at us," he said. "We just had more hand grenades." Once back with the main group, Henne pushed forward with Tomlin against nearly every assault. Tomlin was calm, Henne says, while moving fast and delegating tasks assertively. Tomlin stood at the head of the group through a number of blitzes, wielding hand grenades, shoulder-fired rockets and his M4 rifle. He was acting on his belief that leaders lead, and you can't lead from the back of the pack. "He was the epitome of what a leader should be," Henne said." The Someone You Shou

Former Israeli ambassador to the U.N. Dore GGold joined me last evening to talk about his new book, The Rise of Nuclear Iran: How Tehran Defies the West. Along with his former boss and current Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, I've long admired Mr. Gold for the moral clarity he brings to these issues. This book is filled with such moral clarity. It is a terrific overview of the rise of the Islamic Republic of Iran and how they have deceived the West for more than 30 years. From Amazon, "Former U.N. Ambassador Dore Gold shows why engaging Iran through diplomacy is not only futile but also could be deadly. In the West, liberal politicians and pundits are calling for renewed diplomatic engagement with Iran, convinced that Tehran will respond to reason and halt its nuclear weapons program. Yet, countries have repeatedly tried diplomatic talks and utterly failed. In The Rise of Nuclear Iran, Gold examines these past failures, showing how Iran employed strategic deception and delay tactics to hide its intentions

On issues large and small, I believe the Obama administration has a competence problem. On the biggest issues, his major legislative initiatives, he has displayed little or indifferent leadership, at best. He essentially turned the stimulus and health care reform over to Nancy and the Gang in congress and they both became runaway disasters for the President. This week, he is giving a Hail Mary, joint session speech to the American people to try and rescue his healthcare reform efforts. This is not a move from a position of strength. By trying to Rham through a 1000-page bill that would shift 18% of the economy into the hands of the American government before the August recess, the president offended many and really eroded the trust people had placed in him. Change is one thing, three card monti with something as personal as healthcare is another. On the small issues, let’s take a look at another speech this week, to America’s school children. This should have been a layup for the administration. Instead,