Radio America Online News Bureau

ESPN’s PC Name Game, Trump-Media Side Show, Plame’s Money Grab

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America serve up all crazy martinis today.  They slam ESPN for hitting a new politically correct low by replacing the play-by-play announcer because his name is Robert Lee, a man of Asian heritage who has no connection whatsoever to the Confederate general.  They also slam both President Trump and the media for making outlandish accusations about the other in public when both sides have plenty of legitimate fodder to use.  And they dismiss Valerie Plame’s billion-dollar crowdfunding effort to buy Twitter and close Trump’s account as nothing more than a quick money grab.

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Can Tarkanian Trump Heller?

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Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nevada, is seen as the most vulnerable Senate Republican in 2018 and now he may have a fight just emerge from the GOP primary thanks to a vigorous, America First challenge from businessman Danny Tarkanian.

In 2018, Republicans are defending just eight seats, while Democrats are trying to protect 25 different seats, many of them in states President Trump carried in 2016.  Heller is one of those eight Republicans on the ballot next year, but his approval numbers in his home state are very low.  Just 22 percent of Nevadans approved of Heller’s job performance in a left-leaning poll released August 1.

The same survey found Nevadans ready to support a generic Democrat over Heller by a 50-31 percent margin.  Tarkanian sees those same numbers and says Heller’s performance in Washington, particularly on Obamacare, is a big reason for the disapproval.

“The people of Nevada are very frustrated with the representation they’ve had from Sen. Heller over the years and I think it culminated with his vote not to repeal Obamacare after he promised to,” said Tarkanian.

“They expect him to keep his word from what he promises when he campaigns when he’s trying to get elected,” said Tarkanian.  “Everywhere I go in this great state of Nevada, I hear people say they’re sick and tired of politicians who promise one thing when they run for office and they do the exact opposite when they get elected.”

Defenders of Heller point out he did not help to kill the Obamacare repeal in the debate because he supported the “skinny repeal” that was eventually sunk by GOP moderates Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, and John McCain.

Tarkanian is not impressed.

“The skinny repeal was a joke.  It was the worst bill that was proposed out there and it didn’t do anything to lower the premiums for the hard-working middle class Americans that have seen their premiums go up like my family’s: $12,000 a year, our deductibles 500 percent (higher), our co-pay for a specialist doctor 400 percent (higher),” said Tarkanian.

“Dean Heller’s skinny repeal that he brags about that he signed, actually raises the premium another 20 percent more than it’s already going to raise.  It was the worst possible bill out there,” said Tarkanian.

But Tarkanian says Heller was on the wrong side when the chance for real repeal was on the table.

“He promised he would vote to repeal Obamacare.  That is what he did in 2015, when he knew that President Obama would veto it.  Then in 2017, the exact same bill came before him, and he joined six other senators, who had signed for the repeal in 2015 that voted against the repeal this year, knowing President Trump would sign it.  That’s what’s infuriated the people of Nevada,” said Tarkanian.

Tarkanian admits he doesn’t have a lot of political experience but notes that Heller has been in politics for 30 years.  The challenger says his principles are very clear.

“I have worked in the Republican Party as a very strong advocate for conservative principles, America First principles that Donald Trump is talking about.  I never wavered on that support, even though it cost me quite a bit in previous elections because I had the conviction to stand up for what I believed in,” said Tarkanian.

He is running as an enthusiastic supporter of the Trump agenda.

“We have a president who really has the courage and conviction to really try to make substantive and meaningful changes to the way D.C. operates.  Some good things are happening through executive order.  But for him to get his America First agenda passed, he’s going to need senators to support that agenda.  And I fully support the president’s America First agenda,” said Tarkanian.

Aligning so closely with the Trump agenda could be risky in a state Trump lost in 2016 and stands at 40 percent approval.  Tarkanian sees it as a matter of principle.

“It’s the right thing to do.  It’s the only strategy you should look at.  What’s the right thing to do?  The right thing to do is to get President Trump’s America First policies passed,” said Tarkanian.

Tarkanian makes it clear he doesn’t necessarily subscribe to Trump’s political style but they do see eye to eye on policy.  He says the media spend far more time on Trump’s personality, and other than Obamacare, spend hardly any time on policy.

“The only (other) time I’ve seen them attack his policy was on the travel ban.  They haven’t said a single thing about the other things he’s trying to accomplish.  We’re seeing stock market highs virtually daily, unemployment at a 16-year low.  Border crossings are down 70 percent for illegal immigrants.  ISIS is being destroyed in Iraq and Syria,” said Tarkanian.

He is also confident that a conservative can win in an increasingly blue state like Nevada.  Tarkanian points out the GOP swept all the major races in 2014 and a coalition is there for him as well.

“It’s a tough state but it’s not a state that’s out of reach.  There’s six percent more Democrats in the state.  Twenty-three percent of the state is independent.  So if you win the independents and hold you base,a good strong Republican can win,” said Tarkanian.

Tarkanian is the son of the late University of Nevada-Las Vegas basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian, who won a national championship in four trips to the Final Four but also clashed with the NCAA for decades over alleged infractions.

Danny, who played for his father, says he was prepared for politics after watching his father get hammered in the media.

“I had the unfortunate opportunity to watch how the media crucified my father when he was coach,” said Tarkanian.  “So, I’m used to seeing the criticism, and how unfair it was, and how my father handled it.  I think that’s allowed me to handle it much better than almost any other person who has run for public office.”

Tarkanian has run twice for statewide office, twice for the House and once before for Senat.  He lost his most recent race, a 2016, House campaign, by less than 4,000 votes.

“I’ve had some very tough and agonizing losses.  I learned that you fight back from those losses.  You don’t give up.  You show perseverance and a never quit attitude.  That’s the only way you overcome those things.  I think a lot people would have thrown in the towel by now if they were in my shoes.  Because of the way I was raised, that isn’t me,” said Tarkanian.

 

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Trump’s Afghan Twist, Dem Donors Dry Up, Blowing Up the Confederacy

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Jim Geraghty of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America give President Trump credit for admitting his Afghanistan policy changes go against his instincts, and they also like some of the other changes he outlined in a policy with few good options.  They also enjoy seeing the woeful fundraising totals for the DNC in July and discuss the deep dysfunction still engulfing the Democrats.  And they shake their heads as a criminal in Texas is arrested for plotting to bring down a Confederate statue with explosives.

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Still Unanswered Questions in House Dem IT Scandal

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Indictments and allegations are piling up concerning the information technology specialist that was used in the offices of several different House Democrats, and an IT specialist running to unseat a congressional Democrat suspects there is a lot more that will emerge in this case.

Imran Awan was arrested at Dulles International Airport last month while allegedly trying to leave the country.  Other family members have already left and appear to have no intention of returning.  At the time of his arrest, Awan, native of Pakistan, was charged with one count of bank fraud.

But the list of indictments is growing.  He is now staring at a four-count indictment, including conspiracy and making false statements.  His wife is also now indicted.

Critics are not just concerned that Awan and other family members worked on Capitol Hill but the details are also unnerving.

“He was working for several members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.  Those members seem to have been paying him maybe two to three times what typical IT staffers should be making on the Hill.  That in itself is a very interesting situation,” said Jeff Dove, a U.S. Army veteran, an IT specialist and a candidate for Congress in Virginia’s 11th congressional district.

Records show that members of the Awan family raked in roughly four million dollars for providing IT services on Capitol Hill, and Dove says some of them had no qualifications to be there.

“Those people that were working with him didn’t necessarily have the skills to be accessing those computers that they had access to,” said Dove.  “So there are a lot of questions that need to be answered about what they were doing and what they had access to at the time.”

Dove is also very concerned about what the Awans got their hands on given the work of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

“If they had access to so many members’ information, that means they would have access to any memos or any communications between the entire committee,” said Dove.

While no indictments are in place alleging mishandling classified information, there are reports that FBI investigators are looking in that direction.

While other members of Congress cut ties with Awan and his family prior to his arrest, Wasserman Schultz still had him on staff until the day after he was taken into custody.  Dove says that raises even more questions.

“He had access to stuff on the Hill.  They took his access away, yet he was still getting paid for his services.  What were his services after he no longer had access to that information?” asked Dove, who also says the length of the FBI probe suggests there’s plenty of fire to go along with the smoke in this case.

“I believe the investigation started either in 2015 or 2016, so this has been going on for quite some time.  For this investigation to be going on for so long, they have to have found something to keep going on with this investigation,” said Dove, noting evidence of destroyed hard drives on Awan’s property in Virginia.

Dove is seeking the Republican nomination to challenge five-term Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Virginia.  While Connolly is on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he did not hire Awan to do IT work in his office.  Nonetheless, Dove says Connolly’s arrogance in condemning Awan speaks volumes.

“He’s not thinking about the people anymore.  He’s become complacent.  He even said in an interview recently, where he was talking about the IT scandal with ABC News, that the offices of Congress are ‘princely courts.’  He’s become so complacent that he feels he’s somewhat of a monarch now,” said Dove.

Dove says his path to a congressional run started on Election Day in 2016.

“When I went to the ballot box, on one side of the ballot I saw the presidential election, and on the other side of the ballot I saw one man’s name and that was Gerry Connolly.  How in the world did this happen in a democracy where we only had one person running in a congressional district,” said Dove.

After remembering his mother’s words that anyone who wants to see change needs to step up and do it, Dove says his candidacy took bloom.

“I’ve had this need to serve people my entire life.  That’s part of the reason why I joined the military.  That’s why I’m continuing this quest to try and unseat Connolly, who is someone who’s been entrenched in D.C. for a very long time,” said Dove.

What kind of congressman would Dove be?  He says getting the most out of taxpayer dollars and targeting abuse and waste would high on his priority list.

“I want to see more accountability, not in one of the agencies people talk about all the time, which is Veterans Affairs and that is very close to my heart, but every agency should have to prove out every year that they’re meeting what they set out to do as their mission on a yearly basis in order to get the money that should be allocated to them,” said Dove.

“He says eliminating waste is the best way to drain the proverbial swamp.

“Getting rid of the outside influencers is key to being able to move forward with legislation that will actually benefit the people.  I believe you have to get people who are really motivated to work for the people in office to help the people,” said Dove.  “And I’m one of those people.”

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SJW Coddling Costs Mizzou, ISIS Airliner Plot, The Trump-Bannon Break-Up

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Jim Geraghty of National Review is back!  Today, after some sage insights on today’s solar eclipse, he and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud alumni and parents of college-age students for ending donations and sending their children to other schools after administrators there caved into the demands of social justice warriors in 2015.  They also get chills in learning just how close ISIS came to blowing up an international jetliner and have a newfound appreciation for the weight limits for luggage.  And they discuss the end of Steve Bannon’s time at the White House and what he means by saying the Trump presidency he worked for is effectively over.

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IRS Rehires Personnel Fired in Targeting Scandal

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More than 200 IRS personnel who were fired for unethical and even criminal actions in connection with the targeting of conservatives are now back on the job, according to a report from an inspector general’s report.

According to the Office of Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, 213 people were rehired by the IRS despite a checkered history with the agency.

Those allowed back in between January 2015 and March 2016 include four people who were fired or resigned for failure to properly file their own income taxes.  Four had been axed for improperly accessing taxpayer information, 86 others left while being probed for questionable leave, disrupting the workplace or failing to follow instructions, and 27 failed to disclose a conviction or being fired on their applications.

The inspector general’s report shows the audit was requested by an unnamed U.S. senator who was concerned about lax hiring practices at the IRS.  The report concludes there was reason to be concerned.

“The IRS has not effectively updated or implemented hiring policies to fully consider past IRS conduct and performance issues prior to making a tentative decision to hire former employees, including those who were terminated or separated during an investigation of a substantiated conduct or performance issue,” said the report.

Out of 7,500 hires in the evaluation period, 213 raised red flags, and six of those were also flagged for improper conduct since returning.

“Although the IRS may have had a valid basis to rehire some of the more than 200 former employees with prior conduct or performance issues, TIGTA has serious concerns about the IRS’s decision to rehire certain employees, such as those who willfully failed to meet their Federal tax responsibilities,” the report stated.

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, is a fierce critic of the IRS.  He says it’s pretty easy to distill this story.

“You could simplify all that and say they rehired 200-some people who were cheating, lying, and snooping on the American taxpayer.  That’s what they were doing and, ‘Oh, we’re going to rehire them now and let them work in the Internal Revenue Service,'” said Jordan.

“You can’t make this stuff up, can you?  Just when you think you’ve heard it all about the IRS, they go and rehire people who have had this kind of background.  It is truly unbelievable,” said Jordan.

Jordan led the charge to impeach IRS Commissioner John Koskinen for obstructing congressional efforts to investigate the IRS targeting of conservative organizations applying for non-profit status.  GOP leaders tabled the impeachment push, but Jordan says the same corrupt culture obviously still exists at the IRS.

“Remember what they did when they got caught targeting, systematically, for a sustained period of time, they were going after people based on their political beliefs.  Political speech rights were under attack by an agency with the power, the clout, the potential influence on your life that the IRS has, that’s what they were doing,” said Jordan.

“It boggles the mind that the same people are still.  You almost want to laugh, but you can’t because it’s so serious,” said Jordan, with clear exasperation in his voice.

He says this type of government corruption and incompetence grinds the gears of honest Americans.

“There are a lot of things that make taxpayers mad but a couple in particular: one is when politicians don’t do what they said.  A second one is when you have this kind of egregious behavior from the people whose salaries we pay,” said Jordan.

“And frankly, the third is – and it goes along with the second – is this idea that there are two standards, one set of rules if you and I do something wrong but a different set if you’re part of the politically-connected class.  If your name is Clinton, Comey, Koskinen, Lerner, Lynch, you get a different set of rules than us regular folk.  That’s the part that really bugs the American taxpayer, as well it should,” said Jordan.

Jordan says the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and a subcommittee that he chairs will be having hearings on this but Congress has no power over IRS personnel decisions other than to shine the spotlight on problems.

He says the most important step in the coming months will be President Trump’s choice to replace Koskinen as IRS Commissioner.  Koskinen’s term ends in November.

While the IRS has tremendous power to meddle in Americans’ finances, Congress has its own financial deadlines coming up, namely a looming debt ceiling fight and spending decisions for Fiscal Year 2018.

Democrats are already demanding a clean debt ceiling hike.  Jordan says GOP leaders would be foolish to embrace that idea.

“I would find it hard to believe that the Speaker of the House (Paul Ryan) would go along with a clean debt ceiling,” said Jordan.  “He understands that we’ve got a $20 trillion debt.  You don;t just increase the limit on the credit card without also putting in place things that begin to help you address the real problem, which is that $20 trillion debt burden we now have.”

“At the Freedom Caucus, we are opposed to a clean debt ceiling.  We’ve been very clear about that.  Every time we’ve increased the debt ceiling, we’ve done something that begins to help us with the huge debt problem that we have,” said Jordan.  “Republicans control all of government.  We just can’t do that.”

Jordan is not sure what to expect in the appropriations process, which seems destined for another continuing resolution or omnibus package rather ran regular order on individual bills.  However, Jordan is resolute in keeping the taxpayer dollars out of the hands of insurance companies.

“One of the big issues that we’ll face is the idea that we’re going to provide these (cost-sharing reduction) payments, these bailouts to the health insurance companies.  I think that is a big problem, a big concern and something we should not do,” said Jordan.

Jordan is bullish on tax reform getting done in the coming months because “it has to.” He is also hoping to resurrect the Obamacare repeal effort.  Jordan and two other Freedom Caucus members are circulating a discharge petition, which would force a floor vote on the 2015 “clean” repeal that passed the House and Senate.

But Jordan says getting anything through the Senate will be a very tall order.

“As someone said the other day, ‘I don’t know if the Senate could pass a resolution right now that says motherhood is wonderful.’  It just seems like they can’t get anything passed over there.  That’s a problem,” said McConnell.

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CNN’s ‘Copycat’ Canard, Antifa’s Illogical Anarchy, Statue Wars Escalate

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David French of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America close the week with three crazy martinis.  They unload on CNN’s Wolf Blitzer and Jim Sciutto for speculating on air that the radical Muslim terrorist in Barcelona got the idea for a van attack from watching the events in Charlottesville.  They also hammer Antifa’s argument that it engages in violence to protect nonviolence and only against white supremacists, pointing out that Antifa viciously attacks anyone it doesn’t agree with and that it is the job of police to protect nonviolence.  And they sigh as liberals start calling for the removal of statues of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, just as their critics predicted earlier in the week.

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Return to Campus is ‘Gonna Be A Mess’

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As colleges and universities prepare for the return of students in the coming weeks, one of the few administrators willing to criticize the tidal wave of intellectual intolerance on campus is expecting “a mess” when the new semester dawns.

Oklahoma Wesleyan University President Dr. Everett Piper gained tremendous notoriety in 2015 when he wrote an opinion column decrying universities for coddling student demands for safe spaces and the eradication of ideas that don’t mesh with the orthodoxy of political correctness.  In that column he famously declared that a college is not a daycare.

He is now the author of “Not A Daycare: The Devastating Consequences of Abandoning Truth.”  Piper says America needs to brace for more campus unrest.

“Oh, it’s going to be a mess.  You will see protests.  You will see riots.  You will see the results of teaching victimization and vice for decades.  When you teach victimization, you don’t get anything but vengeance and violence,” said Piper.

“The only thing that rescues us from this vicious cycle is to start teaching virtue.  Virtue is selfless.  Victimization is selfish,” said Piper.

He fears many Americans still don’t see how dangerous this campus intolerance and group think really is.

“What we see on the college green from Berkeley to Brown is going to consume our whole culture.  What’s taught today in the classroom will be practiced tomorrow in your courtrooms, in your living rooms, and in your communities,” said Piper.

“The proof of that is turn on the news, listen to your show, go Google the news and you see these angry red faces of 21-year-olds  who are demanding that any contrary idea, anything they don’t like and makes them feel uncomfortable be silenced.

“It’s ideological fascism.  It isn’t academic freedom.  We must confront this with the truth .  Otherwise we will not be a free society and a free culture,” said Piper.

Piper rejects the idea of safe spaces at college, often referring to the quote from C.S. Lewis in “The Chronicles of Narnia” that the great lion, Aslan, is not safe but he is good.  Piper says the same approach ought to be applied to today’s culture.

“There’s a huge difference between goodness and safety.  I’d much rather have good education than safe education.  Safe education will coddle you and comfort you.  Good education will challenge your character and ask you to grow up.  That’s what the university is for,” said Piper.

Piper says that challenge ought to come from the pursuit of truth. but he says the left has made “truth” an ugly word.

“In days gone by, the academy recognized that there was an objective truth to judge the debate, not the power of the professor and not the pout of the pupil.  It was objective truth that judged the debate.  When we started disparaging objective truth and dumbed it down to nothing but a collection of opinions, we started losing the battle and it was inevitable that this intellectual freedom would succumb to fascism over time,” said Piper.

But he says the result of no longer valuing truth gets far uglier.

“We’ve dumbed down the definition of hate to nothing but a disagreement.  When you dumb down hate to nothing but disagreement, you make hate meaningless and disagreement dangerous,” said Piper, who says we see his on sexual issues in a disturbing way.

“Right now, just because people disagree on issues of sexual behavior and morality, that makes them haters in the mind of the general public.  This is very dangerous and it squelches debate because people are afraid to express their views.  They’re afraid to disagree because they’ll be labeled a phobic or a hater as the result of a simple disagreement on a behavioral choice,” said Piper.

The question over truth is nothing new.  The Gospel of John recounts a critical exchange between Jesus Chris and Pontius Pilate shortly before Pilate consented to the crucifixion of Christ.

“Therefore Pilate said to Him, “So You are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” Pilate *said to Him, “What is truth?” (John 18:37-38).

Piper says the standard for truth hasn’t changed.

“I define truth as an objective reality.  It is out there.  It can be known.  It can be embraced.  It can be pursued.  It’s something other than your opinion or mine.  It’s not a social construct.  It’s a revelation of God.  Even outside of scripture, it’s defined that way in our seminal documents, where we are told that we are endowed by our Creator with certain self-evident truths.

“These truths that give us a free society, constitutional republic, are given by God.  They aren’t made up of power,” said Piper.

And he says history proves that terrible things happen when opinions trump truth.

“Pol Pot and Mao (Zedong) and Robespierre and all the despots of history had opinions and it didn’t end well.  Christ told us, ‘You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free,'” said Piper.

Piper realizes his critics will reject his argument, but he says their logic only proves his point.

“If anybody disagrees with me and says, ‘That’s just your opinion of education.  I think you’re wrong,’ the very claim that they’re making – that I’m wrong and they’re right – presupposes an objective standard…that makes them right and me wrong.  Therefore, they’ve agreed with me without even knowing it,” said Piper.

Piper also has a strong warning for parents who honor the truth as they search for the right college for their children.

“Stop sending your kids off to institutions that teach this pablum.  Why would you do this?

“You’re spending tens of thousands of dollars to send your kids off to an institution, that after you spend 18 years of your life training up a child in the way he should go, in the first 18 minutes while you’re driving off campus, they take pride in tearing his heart, mind, and soul out.  Why are you paying for that?  Don’t do it,” said Piper.

“Seventy percent of your sons and daughters will walk away form their faith and their convictions before they’re juniors.  There’s a reason for it.  You’re paying money to make it happen, Stop it,”
added Piper.

To avoid this frustration, Piper offers key questions to ask at any college visits.

“Ask the president, ‘What’s your view of truth and what’s your view of scripture?’  Then be quiet and listen.  If truth is an objective reality, good answer.  If scripture is a revelation of God and not just an interesting literature book constructed by man, good answer.  If he doesn’t say that, why are you spending your money,” said Piper.

While Piper suspects “ideological fascism” is about to engulf our culture, he says he and others who love and pursue truth have no choice but to stand and fight back.

“I’m gonna wave the banner of the truth of Christ and of the truth of scripture.  I’m going to wave the banner that scripture is inerrant and revealed and that truth is an objective reality.  If I win waving that banner, that’s great.  That’s God’s grace.  If I lose waving that banner, frankly I don’t care.  It’s the right banner to wave.  I’ll go down fighting,” said Piper.

Piper has no illusions about how this struggle could damage our culture, but he knows who wins in the end.

“I know the end of the story.  I believe that truth will prevail.  Between now and then, there may be discomfort.  There may be dissonance.  Iron may have to sharpen iron.  God may have to redeem for good what others have intended for evil,” said Piper.

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McDaniel Makes It Clear, Bannon Goes Rogue, Kasich’s Quixotic Dream

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David French of National Review and Greg Corombos of Radio America applaud Republican National Committee Chairman Ronna Romney McDaniel for simply stating there is no room in the Republican Party for white supremacists and that the GOP does not want their votes.  They’re also surprised by Steve Bannon’s on-the-record interview with a liberal publication, in which he dismisses the military option on North Korea, outlines his push for a trade war with China and more.  And they take a deep sigh as Ohio Gov. John Kasich gets closer to convincing himself there is a “moral imperative” for him to run against President Trump in 2020.

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