330-338 – Sean McDowell, (seanmcdowell.org), head of the Bible department at Capistrano Valley Schools (cvcs.org), and author of many books including Apologetics For A New Generation: A Biblical And Culturally Relevant Approach To Talking About God. And, in the new revised version of his dad's 1977 megaseller More Than A Carpenter, Sean joins his father, Josh McDowell, to tackle the questions that today's generation continues to ask about the person of Jesus Christ. Sean critiques Richard Dawkins latest book The Greatest Show On Earth.
343-354 – Sean McDowell
358-408 – Ben Shapiro, three-time bestselling author, Harvard Law graduate, and nationally-syndicated columnist (benjaminshapiro.com) whose work can be found many places, including Townhall.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigGovernment.com.
• Thomas Sowell (11/17/09) Bowing to "World Opinion".
• Jonathan Karl, ABC News (11/16/09) Exclusive: Jobs 'Saved or Created' in Congressional Districts That Don't Exist: Human Error Blamed for Crediting New Stimulus Jobs to Nonexistent Places.
413-423 – Ben Shapiro
428-437 – Michael Barone, senior Political Analyst for the Washington Examiner (washingtonexaminer.com), resident fellow with the American Enterprise Institute, a Fox News contributor, and co-author of The Almanac of American Politics, the latest edition just out back in September.
• Michael Barone (11/16/09) Pushing Health Reform When Job Losses Are Rising.
443-452 – Obama's KSM decision may doom his reelection.
•• Andrew C. McCarthy (11/16/09) Trial and Terror: The Left gets its reckoning.
458-508 – • Fox News (11/17/09) Holder Downplays Concerns Over War-Time Prisoners Entering Civilian Court. Despite growing concerns that trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others in civilian court triggers a host of complications for the prosecution, Attorney General Eric Holder says he's confident the cases will be "successful.
// Unlike military courts, civilian courts require warrants for evidence -- warrants which are not typically obtained on the battlefield. Civilian courts also have much stricter rules for hearsay than military courts. Plus any defendants who were not read their Miranda rights could raise that as an issue.
Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., said a conviction is "not automatic."
"Odds are that he will be convicted of something but in the federal courts, it's the luck of draw as to what judge you get," King told Fox News. "And you could get a judge who would say because he was arrested without a warrant, because he was not read his Miranda rights, because he was held seven years without a trial, all of this is a terrible injustice and therefore I'm going to dismiss the charges. I doubt any judge would do that, but it's going to make it more difficult to get the conviction."
Another obvious pitfall for the Justice Department would be allegations of torture from the defendants' counsel. Mohammed's history of being waterboarded is well-documented. Though Bush administration officials have defended the practice as being useful in extracting critical information, waterboarding has since been banned and is considered torture by some lawmakers.
Charles Stimson, a former deputy assistant defense secretary for detainees, said these allegations could make the prosecution's case quite fragile.
"If any of these statements ... get thrown out because of this argument that they were tortured and that nothing that came out of their mouths can be believed, that the whole case is tainted, it's a house of cards," he said. //
512-523 – • Charles Krauthammer (11/16/09) Krauthammer's Take.
On the decision to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a New York civilian court:
What is so hard to understand is Holder's argument, the logic of his argument.
Now, I want to look only at a single aspect of it. … If [Holder] opposed the military commissions on principle, you could say his decision on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was wrong, but at least it was logical.
But he doesn't. On the day he sent KSM to a civilian trial in New York, he announced he would send five of the miscreants who attacked the Cole, a warship, to a military trial in Guantanamo or perhaps elsewhere.
Now, what is the logic here? Holder was asked about this, and to the extent that he was coherent, which is only to a small extent, he said: Well, if you attack a civilian target, as in 9/11, then you go to a civilian court; a military target like the Cole, to a military [court].
First of all, the Pentagon was hit on 9/11, so it wasn't exclusively a civilian attack. But perhaps Holder forgot about that.
But secondly, even if [9/11] were exclusively an attack on civilians — which is a worse act of war criminality, attacking defenseless civilians or attacking a military target, like a warship? We have attacked warships in our history, Japan and Germany in the Second World War and elsewhere. That is an accepted act of war.
Why does a person [like] Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who attacked civilians — the more obvious and egregious war crime — get the extra protections, the extra constitutional niceties that you get in a civilian courtroom, as opposed to someone who attacks a military target? The logic here is perverse.
And the incentive is [perverse]: If you are a terrorist overseas thinking — am I going to attack a well-protected military installation? [No,] I will hit a civilian [target]. I will be in a cozy cell with a lawyer, Miranda rights and perhaps even a blog. Why wouldn't I attack innocent civilians?
On whether, if by technicality or hung jury, one of these cases went the other way, they would be let free:
They will be rearrested in the courtroom. A second charge will be filed, and it will be endless. And in the end, if they are acquitted on all charges endlessly, they will end up in indefinite detention.
We will not let them out. Everyone knows that. That's what makes it such a farce.
• Jonah Goldberg (11/17/09) Holder's 'Decision'.
// It is ludicrous for the president to claim this was solely Holder's decision. First, I don't think it's true that Obama handed it off to Holder without any input on the matter.
But even if it were true, it's still Obama's decision. When the commander-in-chief gives law enforcement the final authority over what to do with enemy combatants, he can't then claim that he's not responsible for the decision. This isn't just a "buck stops here" point, though that's part of it. The moment he made this the Justice Department's call rather than the Defense Department's he made it clear where he comes down on the question. It's good politics to claim that he's just letting the rule of law and the justice system work through the issues, but that's all it is, politics. And, as president, it's if he thought Holder was wrong, he would have both the power and the responsibility to overrule him. He doesn't want to overrule Holder because the two of them see eye-to-eye on these questions.
•• Andrew C. McCarthy (11/17/09) Justice Delayed: Holder's friends in the al-Qaeda bar caused the trial delays he now criticizes.
528-538 – Calls
544-554 – Sean McDowell (Reprise)
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558-608 – Sean McDowell (Reprise)
612-623 – Ben Shapiro (Reprise)
628-638 – Ben Shapiro (Reprise)
644-700 – Michael Barone (Reprise)
• Rachel Weiner, Huffington Post (11/17/09) "Going Rogue": The 18 Biggest Falsehoods In Palin's Book.
1) Palin Didn't Have A Family Vote. Talking about the book on Oprah, Palin said there was no family vote on the vice presidency. She told Sean Hannity in 2008 that she had held a vote.
2) Bristol's Pregnancy Was Secret. Palin misrepresents the timeline of her daughter's pregnancy, saying she was surprised the McCain campaign knew about it when she'd already told vetters.
3) McCain Campaign To Blame For Pricey Clothes. Palin points the finger at McCain aides for her $150,000 shopping spree. No one who was in the campaign backs her version of events.
4) McCain Staff Brought Palin Down. In the book, Palin blames the McCain campaign staff for botching her public appearances and not letting her speak freely. In an email, she blamed herself and thanked them for their hard work.
5) McCain Made Palin Pay For Her Vetting. Palin writes that the McCain campaign made her pay for her own vetting. A campaign official said that it is "one hundred percent untrue."
6) Palin Opposed Aerial Wolf Hunting. Palin falsely suggests she doesn't support aerial hunting. In fact, Palin supports the practice and introduced a bill in 2007 to "simplify and clarify Alaska's intensive management law... for the state's 'same day airborne hunting' law."
7) Palin Wanted To Go On SNL. Palin writes that she "liked the idea" of going on Saturday Night Live "from the beginning." Emails show she was actually reluctant to do so.
8) Palin A Frugal Traveler. Palin says she made frugality a point when traveling on state business as Alaska governor. But she and daughter Bristol stayed four nights at a $707.29-per-night New York hotel in 2007, and Palin billed the state more than $20,000 for her children's travel.
9) McCain Campaign Ignored ACORN. Palin falsely claimed that the McCain campaign ignored Obama's "close relationship" with ACORN. In fact, John McCain brought up ACORN repeatedly in a debate, and his campaign mentioned it frequently in conference calls.
10) Palin Told She Couldn't Speak At Last Minute. Palin says she found out only "minutes" before McCain's concession speech that she would not be allowed to speak. In fact, she had been told so several times.
11) Steve Schmidt Yelled At Palin. Palin claims that campaign manager Steve Schmidt called her screaming over a prank call from someone pretending to the French President. A McCain aide says there was no phone call.
12) Palin Made Pipeline Bidding Fair. Palin says her team overseeing a natural gas pipeline set up an open, competitive bidding process. An AP investigation found they crafted terms that favored only a few companies and ultimately benefited one with ties to her administration.
13) Palin Was Following Report On Bill Ayers. Palin claimed her "palling around" comment followed a report on "friendship" between Obama and Ayers. In fact, the article in question reported that the two "do not appear to have been close."
14) A Democrat Said Palin Wasn't "Sparkly". Palin says a "Democrat lawmaker" complained that she was less "sparkly" after the 2008 election; it was actually a Republican.
15) Reagan Got Us Out Of Worse Recession. Palin says Ronald Reagan faced an even worse recession and "showed us how to get out of one. If you want real job growth, cut capital gains taxes and slay the death tax once and for all." The AP points out that Reagan didn't get rid of the estate tax, and capital gains taxes were higher then. Economists overwhelmingly say the current recession is far worse.
16) Poor Will Be Hardest Hit By Cap-And-Trade. Palin claims poor will be hit hardest by cap-and-trade legislation and takes a quote from President Obama out of context. A CBO report found that the poor would actually benefit.
17) Palin Rejected Stimulus Over Building Codes. Palin claims she rejected stimulus funds because it would force Alaska to adopt tougher building codes. That isn't true.
18) Palin Prefers Small Donors. Palin boasts that she ran her campaign for governor on small donations and turned back large checks over conflicts of interest. In fact, she relied heavily on large donations and political action committees and took $1,000 each from a couple whose offices were raided by the FBI.
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