Saturday, 14 March 2009


03/14/2009

The Middle East Chessboard

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As the United States focuses on its economic problems, the Middle East chessboard slides toward an increasingly inevitable nuclear showdown between Israel and Iran. Is anyone watching?

John's boralogue sizes up the geopolitics under way in that part of the world. Then Jonathan Schanzer (www.jewishpoliycenter.org) joins the show. Part of the conversation concentrates on what's at stake for the world energy markets.

Congress is doing its best to kill the economy totally. A horrible bill is under way, which would virtually shut down mining in the country. We'll hit that one next week. Meanwhile this week, a massive lands bill (S. 22) failed the old fashioned frontal assault; an effort to force passage under special rules with virtually no debate. It's a massive compendium of more than 170 smaller bills. John picks one section having serious unintended consequences for campers and national park users. You could be thrown in jail for five years just for picking up a rock in a national park.

Conservatives are saying President Obama is a socialist. He says not. Who better to decide than the revolutionary Marxist Saul Alinksy, author of "Rules for Radicals?" Barack Obama used to train people in the Alinsky method, so we read parts of the play book the