Pundit Review Radio

We started the show by talking about a rather extraordinary interview on Fox News Sunday with former CIA director Michael Hayden. Hayden and his three immediate predecessors, along with Obama's pick for CIA Director Leon Panetta, ALL OPPOSED releasing the Bush files on nterrogation techniques. As Hayden said, the President made a different decision. The release of these documents is nothing more than a bone to the angry left. It is a political gesture at the expense of national security. That's not my opinion, but that of the past 5 CIA Directors, starting with Obama's own. Yes, change has come to America. What is Pundit Review Radio? 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 your radio every Sunday evening from 8-10 pm EST 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. Tonight, Bruce told us about an incident from earlier this month in Afghanistan that was reported by the New York Times in a story titled "Turning Tables, U.S. Troops Ambush Taliban With Swift and Lethal Results", Fight by fight, the infantryman’s war in Afghanistan is often waged on the Taliban’s terms. Insurgents ambush convoys and patrols from high ridges or long ranges and slip away as the Americans, weighed down by equipment, return fire and call for air and artillery support. Last week a patrol from the First Infantry Division reversed the routine. An American platoon surprised an armed Taliban column on a forested ridgeline at night, and killed at least 13 insurgents, and perhaps many more, with rifles, machine guns, Claymor

It is always a pleasure to get the opportunity to talk with Patti Patton Bader about her amazing group of Soldiers Angels. Soldiers Angels has become a global organization of volunteers who give backs in all kinds of ways, large and small, to the men and women in uniform. A great example of their impact came through the story of Kevin Dupont from Chicopee, MA. Kevin is a 52-year old Army National Guard soldier who volunteered to go to Afghanistan. Kevin was severely injured in an IED explosion while riding in a humvee. He has suffered expensive burns and he is fighting for life at US Army Burn Center at Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Kevin's friend, a Mass. State Police Sgt., emailed us about his situation. We invited him into the studio to tell us about Kevin. During one of the commericals, he Trooper tells me about all the Soldiers Angels at Brooke Army Hospital in TX and how they have reached out to the Dupont family. I was not surprised at all. There is a charitable foundation set u

It is always a true pleasure to welcome back to Pundit Review Radio Mr. Michael Yon. Michael is a former Green Beret who is currently one of the world's leading independent citizen journalists covering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from thefront lines. Over the years, we have interviewed Michael dozens of times from Iraq and Adghanistan. This weekend, we cauught up with him in Laos as he is preparing for another long embed with the troops in Afghanistan. We discussed his recent post about Obama's Afghanistan strategy, "Where's the bold?" We also talked a lot about the challenges specific to fighting in Afghanistan, from the culture to terrain. We also spent some time talking about the training required of the Afghan police and military. What is Pundit Review Radio? 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 sh

The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Bruce McQuain, a 28-year veteran of the Army who served in Vietnam, joins us each week to tell us a new, incredible story of bravery and heroics on the battlefield. This week were touched by an email we received from Massachusetts State Police Sgt. Jim Deyermond. Jim’s longtime friend Kevin Dupont from Chicopee is a 52-year old Army National Guard soldier who volunteered to go to Afghanistan. Kevin was severely injured in an IED explosion while riding in a humvee. He has suffered expensive burns and he is fighting for life at US Army Burn Center at Brooke Army Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. Here is an excerpt from Sgt. Deyermond’s email, “I write this letter to ask for your help in getting Kevin’s story and sacrifice out to the people of Massachusetts and to his hundreds of friends throughout New England. Kevin is no spring-chicken. He is 52 years old and after graduating from Chicopee, Massa

Last night I was joined in-studio by Jay Fitzgerald of the Boston Herald and the outstanding Hub Blog as well as Todd Hyten, aka Armchair General Savin Hill, for a discussion about the sudden, near-death experience of the Boston Globe specifically, and newspapers in general. There was a great deal of schadenfreude among the callers who won't be shedding any tears over the Globe's demise. I can sympathize and appreciate those feelings, for sure. The point I tried to make was, for all their liberal leanings and biases, we still need to the Globe to do the kind of reporting necessary to keep an eye on the hacks on Beacon Hill. These people already run unopposed about 90% of the time. The thought of them operating without media coverage is scary. We need the Globe as a community, not for their liberal world view, but for the reporting on state government. If you think reform is nearly impossible now, what do you think will happen without the Globe around? For one, Marion Walsh would be making $175K

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. Tonight, Bruce told us about two amazing Vietnam war heroes, Ed Freeman and Bruce Candall, His story of heroism has already been chronicled in the book and movie — 2002’s “We Were Soldiers” — but he said that receiving the nation’s highest military medal was something he never expected and never could have scripted. He is the second helicopter pilot to receive the award for actions at that battle in November 1965. Then-Capt. Ed Freeman and Crandall volunteered to fly their UH-1 Hueys into the heart of combat in the valley after military commanders deemed the area too dangerous for aircraft. “That was the first real test of our helicopters to resupply and rescue guys in that way,” he said. “Normally we’d never fly that close to the

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. Tonight, Bruce told us about Chief Warrant Officer 3 James B. Herring, "CW3 Herring’s heroic efforts turned the tide against a well-prepared enemy, killing many and preventing any member of the combined force from being killed or wounded. The decorated law enforcement officer in the Chesterfield County (Va.) Police Department remains on leave from his civilian job and continues to serve on active duty with the North Carolina National Guard. He told the Army Times, “I think that we spent about 400,000 minutes in Iraq and you get recognized for something that took three minutes. I want to reiterate I wasn’t the only hero out there. All those guys out there are heroes to me. They did things that warrant the same award, in my opinion.”"

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. Tonight, Bruce told us about Petty Officer 2nd Class Juan M. Rubio, "Every infantry platoon, whether in the Marine Corps or Army, has a special member. Called a corpsman in the Marines or a medic in the Army, they're almost universally known as "Doc". And almost to a man, they're focused on just one thing, seeing to it that the Soldiers and Marines in his unit get the best treatment available should it be necessary. This focus, or calling, is what drives them to sometimes incredible acts of valor in order to care for those who need them. PO2 Juan Rubio is just such a Corpsman." 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 ever

David Frum spent his morning on Meet the Press and his evening with us on Pundit Review Radio. We talked about his recent Newsweek cover story “Why Rush is Wrong: The party of Buckley and Reagan is now bereft and dominated by the politics of Limbaugh. A conservative’s lament.” I really support what he is doing. He is not saying that Republicans should abandon their conservative beliefs. He is saying they need to evolve and adapt to the changing public policy and demographic landscape. This is a new era and Republicans need to find new ways to communicate core ideas in a meaningful way that connects with the public. In response to a caller who said voters were stupid, David said “The customer is right. If I’m selling tube socks and the customers aren’t buying tube socks, its not because the customers are idiots, its because they don’t want tube socks. I need to understand that and think about how I can connect with them.” This is certrainly a hot topic. We had full lines and took some really good calls, st

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. Tonight, Bruce told us about Staff Sgt. Luis Rosa-Valentin. The following comes from the Killeen Daily Herald, "Luis Rosa-Valentin got something Tuesday morning he’s wanted since arising from a coma nearly a year ago. “Sgt. Rosa! Rejoin your formation!” Steadied by a friend, he rose from his wheelchair and stepped onto the brown grass toward 200 uniformed soldiers from the 4th Infantry Division's 1st Brigade Combat Team. Excited chattering came to a halt as heads turned and a knowing silence fell over the crowd. This audience knew what was happening. People were more than willing to forgo their reunions for a few minutes so one soldier could have his. Staff Sgt. Luis Rosa-Valentin was there to check on his guys." The Someone You

It is pretty easy to get caught up in the relentless negativity of the current environment. Sometimes we get the Shazam moment when ugly realities interrupt our trivial pursuits. Everyone has a moment or three like this in their lives. A shocking death in the family or a terrible medical diagnosis. We can all relate. I had one of those experiences this week. I'll be attending two services for 40-year old men in four days. It got me thinking about something my producer Rob had sent me, but I had brushed past it. It turns out that other times that Shazam moment comes at 12:30am on Conan O'Brien. What is Pundit Review Radio? 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 your radio every Sunday evening from 8-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

What a pleasure to welcome Tony Blankley. His bio is amazing, Reagan WH, advisor and spokesperson for Newt during GOP Revolution, decade on McLaughlin Group and as syndicated columnist. His new book is American Grit. It tries to correct one of the real failures of the Bush administration, they never asked the public for any sacrifice towards the war effort. We talked about some of the most controversial proposals in the book, including media censorship at a time of war and bringing back the draft. What is Pundit Review Radio? 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 your radio every Sunday evening from 8-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston's Talk Station.

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive and QandO 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. Tonight, Bruce told us about Staff Sgt. Matthew S. Kinney, “In the air, Kinney single-handedly treated five critical patients, controlling bleeding, administering pain control, dressing wounds and starting intravenous drips, according to the narrative. The wounds he worked on included partial amputations, femoral bleeding and gunshot and shrapnel wounds. “On countless occasions, he demonstrated a willingness to lay down his own life for those he is sworn to protect,” according to the narrative. “By calling Apache fire onto the location of an enemy heavy machine gun during an ambush, he saved the lives of countless soldiers on the ground, as well as the lives of the entire medevac crew who had assumed a stationary hover over

What an honor for me to be joined by Bruce McQuain and to get the opportunity to say thank you to Retired Lt. Col. Michael Strobl and Gretchen Mack, the mother of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps. Chance was a decorated, respected 19-year Marine when he was killed in Iraq. In April 2004, Lt. Col. Strobl’s account of escorting Chance’s remains from Dover Air Force base to his final resting place in Dubois, Wyoming was published in its entirety on Blackfive. As I told him tonight, I’ve never read anything that made me more proud of my country. Today, Taking Chance the most popular HBO original movie in five years, with more than 2 million tuning in for its debut last Saturday evening. Tom Shales of the Washington Post wrote, "Rendering honor is one of the film’s themes, and also one of its singular accomplishments." Joe and Marilyn from CA sent an email that summed up how many feel, "We’d like to thank Gretchen and Chance’s family for sharing their loss with us - a self-sacrifice for the greater good on top of th

Tonight we welcomed back one of our favorites, James Pethokoukis, the Capital Commerce columnist for US News & World Report magazine. We discussed Obamanomics and the simple fact that America is getting what we they voted for. We discussed everything from the implications of Obama’s cap and trade scheme to the tax changes and the lack of ideas coming from the Republicans. For some reason, the 1930’s came up a few times as well. What is Pundit Review Radio? 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 your radio every Sunday evening from 8-10 pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Bruce McQuain from QandO and 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. Tonight, Bruce told us about Army Sgt. 1st Class James Brasher, “Army Sgt. 1st Class James Brasher’s daring acts of intrepidity and gallantry in the face of a numerically superior and determined force, have earned him a Silver Star according to the citation that accompanied the medal. Those courageous acts occurred on Dec. 8, 2007, when Brasher was serving as platoon sergeant for 2nd Platoon, Company A, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The company had been tasked to participate in Operation Mar Kararadad, during which Brasher repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to keep his soldiers out of danger.” The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Black

The theme of the night was the Obama national security strategy, which looks awfully similar to that of the war criminal who preceeded him. Meet the New Boss. The examples are piling up, the GITMO review, Afghan detainees right’s and rendition. The GITMO report really annoyed me. He closes GITMO to great fanfare, in order to restore our standing in the world. Then, he looks into what is actually happening there. The conclusion, nothing. Politics, that’s all. Been bothering me all weekend so I invited retired Special Forces Master Sergent James Hanson for some on-air therapy. He’s known as Uncle Jimbo at Blackfive, where he writes about the military, politics, intelligence operations and foreign policy. What is Pundit Review Radio? 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 your radi

Bruce McQuain from QandO joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce is a veteran of the Vietnam war and spent 28 years in the U.S. Army. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. A few weeks ago Bruce told us how 10 Special Foces soldiers earned Silver Stars in a single battle. Tonight he was back with a correction. It was nine Special Forces and one combat cameraman, Specialist Michael Carter! This is the story of how Specialist Carter became the first combat photographer to be awarded a Silver Star. The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Bruce McQuain from QandO does an incredible job with the series every week. What is Pundit Review Radio? 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 Talk

When Army Staff Sergeant Eric Maddox arrived in Iraq he had never interrogated a prisoner. Five months later he left with the DIA Director’s Award, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement for his key role in the capture of Saddam Hussein. Not only did he do that, his work identified the insurgency funding and leadership network, which had been previously unknown to the US military. He did this by focusing on the social and family networks of captured prisoners. Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein—As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture "After months of chasing down leads, following hunches, and interrogating literally hundreds of detainees, Sergeant Maddox uncovered crucial details about the insurgency. In his final days in Iraq, he closed in on the dictator’s inner circle and, within hours of his departure from the country, pinpointed the precise location of Saddam’s Tikrit spider hole. Maddox’s candid and c