• Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About

Radio America Online News Bureau

facts

Cramer Runs for Senate, Cluelessness Rampant in Gun Debate, Farrow Exposes Trump

February 16, 2018 by GregC


Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America welcome the news that Republican Rep. Kevin Cramer will run for the U.S. Senate in North Dakota, and even though he’s not as conservative as we might want him to be, by all accounts Cramer gives the GOP its best chance to defeat Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.  Jim also details his frustration with the constant demand for a national conversation on gun laws when so many gun control activists have little grasp of the facts and little idea what the existing laws are.  And they react to Ronan Farrow’s column detailing Donald Trump’s efforts to carry on a months-long affair and keep it a secret, all while he was married to Melania and just months after their son was born.

Share

Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: Donald Trump, facts, gun control, gun rights, Heidi Heitkamp, Karen McDougal, Kevin Cramer, laws, National Review, North Dakota, Ronan Farrow, Three Martini Lunch, U.S. Senate

‘All About Nothing’

June 7, 2017 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/6-7-HOEKSTRA-BLOG.mp3

Politicians and media are salivating over Wednesday’s Senate testimony from the top figures in the intelligence community and the opening testimony expected Thursday from former FBI Director James Comey concerning the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign, but a former House intelligence committee chairman says so far nothing has really changed.

On Wednesday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein joined Acting FBI Director Andrew McCabe, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and National Security Agency Director Adm. Mike Rogers before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

While each of the men seemed reluctant to say there had been no prodding from the Trump administration on the Russia investigation, all of them rejected the idea that Trump or his team did anything inappropriate.

“In the three-plus years that I have been director of the National Security Agency, to the best of my recollection, I have never been directed to do anything I believe to be illegal, immoral, unethical or inappropriate,” said Adm. Rogers.  “And to the best of my collection, during that same period of service, I do not recall ever feeling pressured to do so.”

Former House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee Chairman Pete Hoekstra says that is the most important takeaway from Wednesday.

“What the senators did learn is exactly what they needed to learn, that the heads of these agencies and these departments did not feel any pressure at all from the president or from the White House to stop their investigations of what Russia did in the 2016 election, said Hoekstra, who served 18 years in the House.  He is now chairman of Hoekstra Global Strategies.

He says those hoping for a room full of smoking guns came up empty.

“It really ended up being all about nothing.  I think there were people expecting that they’d hear more about conversations between President Trump and some of these individuals who work with him and that there might have been a revelation that said they felt pressure from the president.  Really, nothing materialized today,” said Hoekstra.

However, Hoekstra says he is glad to see strong bipartisan cooperation from the Senate committee, a process he says ought to bring confidence to the American people that the investigation is being handled responsibly.

That’s also what Hoekstra expects to materialize on Thursday, when the immensely hyped Comey testimony takes place before the same Senate committee.  On Wednesday, the committee released Comey’s opening statement for Thursday.

Both parties are already seizing on different passages.  Trump critics cite Comey’s contention that Trump demanded loyalty from Comey and repeatedly asked Comey to find a way to ease up on former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn.

At the same time, Comey seems to confirm that Trump himself was never personally under investigation and that Trump’s comments to him, while awkward and possibly inappropriate, did not constitute obstruction of justice or any other crime.

In the end Hoekstra suspects few minds will be changed.

“What the American people will probably see as a result is that the talking heads, for the next 24-48 hours, will both claim victory and some justification for their points of view.  Then we’ll get to next week and something else will take over the headlines,” said Hoekstra, who says investigators should then focus on where the evidence is screaming for them to go.

“(Special Counsel Robert) Mueller’s got to focus on what the original intent of this investigation was: the Russians.  What did the Russians do, not what did Trump do or what did Hillary do, what did their teams do or anything.  What did the Russians do?  That’s where the focus will hopefully now move to,” said Hoekstra.

Hoekstra says the American people will be the ultimate judges on whether the Democrats take their accusations too far.  He admits Republicans would be fiercely critical if Comey had ever suggested President Obama had asked for his loyalty or to go easy on a political ally.

Still, he says Republicans could do themselves a world of political good by actually doing what they promised to do, rather than letting the Russia story suck all the oxygen out of Washington.

“They’d like to have better roads, better bridges, more income, more jobs and those sorts of things.  They’re sick and tired of Washington,” said Hoekstra, who says there’s not reason for the GOP not to plow ahead on its legislative agenda.

As for the ongoing intelligence probe, Hoekstra says we also need to dig deeper into reports of extensive Obama administration surveillance on American citizens.

“I think there should be a lot of focus on the surveillance issue.  This is an issue that I’m not totally comfortable with.  I’d really like to better understand where NSA has evolved in terms of monitoring and unmasking Americans, where that has evolved to over the last seven to eight years since I’ve left the Hill,” said Hoekstra.

Standard Podcast [ 10:28 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Share

Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: Comey, crimes, elections, facts, FBI, intelligence, news, obama, politics, russia

Three Martini Lunch 3/6/17

March 6, 2017 by GregC

http://dateline.radioamerica.org/podcast/3-Martini-Lunch-3-6-17.mp3

Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos break down the political surveillance debate in three different martinis.  They wonder why Pres. Trump decided a late night series of tweets was the best way to lodge serious allegations against his predecessor.  We also note Pres. Obama’s carefully worded statement denying any involvement in spying on Trump, the conflicting narratives on what actually happened – all leading to the dizzying Washington conjecture that Trump might not be correct but he’s probably right.  And we unload on Delaware Sen. Chris Coons for claiming transcripts of Russians interacting with the Trump team would tell us once and for all if there was any collusion during the 2016 campaign – only to later admit he has no idea what’s in the transcripts.

Standard Podcast [ 21:59 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download
Share

Filed Under: News & Politics, Podcasts Tagged With: Coons, facts, Martini, National, obama, Review, russia, Trump, Twitter, wiretapping

Primary Sidebar

Recent

  • Cheney’s Odd Strategy, Dems Drop the Inflation Pretense, D.C. Schools’ Dumb Mandate
  • Beto Still Behind, GOP’s Slim Senate Hopes, Alaska’s Odd Elections
  • Dems’ Inflation Dodge, Atlantic’s Abortion Insanity, Monkeypox Madness
  • Answering Your Questions, Part 2
  • Answering Your Questions, Part 1

Archives

  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008

Copyright © 2022 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in