Plausibly Live! - The Official Podcast Of The Dave Bowman Show

In 1968, Richard Nixon selected as his running mate the Governor of Maryland, Spiro T. Agnew. He was known for being a very tough “Law & order” Governor, who had little love for the civil rights chaos sweeping the nation. He fully expected – because Nixon had said so – to be the most active and involved Vice President in the history of the United States. In some ways, he was. But for the most part, he did what most Vice Presidents do, got up every morning and asked how was the President? Day, after day. As the President’s relationship with the press deteriorated, he was sent out as the attack dog for the Administration. In speeches and in press conferences, he became the face of the Nixon Administration’s adversarial relationship with the media, the public and anybody who didn’t think that the President was doing a good job at literally anything. And then came the day when he was accused of corruption and of accepting a bribe. All his expectations and hopes for continued service to the nation evaporated in

The truth is, rabbi Dave doesn’t feel much like having fun today. This should be a joyous day filled with dancing and laughter. Instead, it’s full of death and destruction. A trip to a local fast food place leads to questions about tips and tipping, while a discussion of getting longer legs leads places you do not want to go. And like most real men in America these days (and forever), we discuss the glory that is Rome!

It’s been a very tough week. Between some health issues and the loss of a fellow SubVet, it’s been long and stressful. The Congress this week voted to remove the Speaker. It was an unusual event, one that hasn’t happened – at least in this manner – before. It has caused a great deal of brouhaha, and a great deal of “discussion” between conservatives as to whether or not it was a “smart” moves. I tend to look at things from a historical perspective and so I wander back through those halls and ask myself what the people who actually invented democracy would have had thought about it all? Something tells me that they wouldn’t have been impressed…

In the early days of the Pacific War, the Japanese empire seized Wake Island from the United States. It was an epic battle, despite the inevitable outcome. An outnumbered and unsupported Marine garrison held out far longer than anyone imagined that they would. Upon seizing the island, the Japanese removed the Marines, but kept ninety-eight civilian workers, who were forced into slave labor to build defensive infrastructure on the island. In October of 1953, a air attack from the USS Lexington, in which future US President George HW Bush got his first combat experience, convinced the local Japanese commander than an invasion was immanent. It wasn’t. But he still made a decision that reverberates today…

Before I could get to the show I had planned for today, we received the word that Senator Diane Feinstein has passed away at the age of ninety. Certainly the loss of a family member is painful, so my condolences are with the Feinstein family. I ended up getting distracted by a couple of errands that had to be done this morning, so I had time to read more than a few articles about the passing of the Senator, when one in particular caught my eye. I know that the Daily Signal is produced by the Heritage foundation, but I find that it tends to drift from my libertarian principles. So I read it because I already know what I think, I want to know what others think. That said, on the occasion of the passing of a noted Senator, it’s really a shame that what we are getting are AI generated articles that, at best, are kludgy…

Over the past few days, the whole world watched as the Canadian Parliament gave a standing ovation to a known Nazi soldier. Or… at least they should have known that he was a Nazi. You know… and actual real-life Nazi. Not one of their political opponents that was labeled as a Nazi because they want to be insulting and yet seem suave and politically bourgeoisie. Nope…. an actual Nazi. And an actual standing ovation. Now, look, we could spend a lot of time detailing how insulting this was to those of us of the Jewish faith, or… we could spend a lot of time discussing the ridiculous way that the Parliament and the Prime Minister have reacted, or technically attempted to react by blaming literally everybody – including Hitler – except themselves for the fiasco. In the end though, the reason that we study history is to inculcate societal values and traditions that are useful to a culture. Ideas and lessons that help to prevent that society from making a giant ass of itself on worldwide television. The kind of l

This week in 1789, the 1st US Congress approved the first twelve amendments to the Constitution. These twelve amendments were the response to Anti-Federalist position that the Constitution MUST have a Bill of rights, and to that end, these twelve amendments listed the specific rights which were to be placed outside of government interference. further, they would serve to limit the ability of the Government to reduce the representation of the people in their house, and insure that none of the people elected to congress would be able to manipulate the compensation to benefit themselves unduly. Well… that was what was supposed to happen…

It’s almost here, the holiest day of the year. And the Rabbi isn’t as excited about it as you might think. The good news is that the NFL announced its Super Bowl Halftime show this morning. The bad news is that it will not include Edgar Allen Poe. The Ukraine War is still going on. And on. And on. And on. And. on. And more money. And more money. And more money. Marching Bands versus police tasers and New York City is having a problem with infectious disease, including… Ebola???? Governor Newsome vetoed a bill that everybody expected him to sign. The only real question is whether or not he is telling the truth about why he did so? All that and more this week, on an erev Yom Kippur episode of What the Frock!

In the debates over the ratification of the US Constitution, the Anti-Federalists often resorted to predictions of the worst case of the future. The understood human nature better than the Federalists did, but they lacked the ability to hope that the American people would rise above that nature. George Washington had strongly supported ratification, but by this day in 1796, he was exhausted. Not just by war, but by the Presidency not being quite what he had hoped or expected it to be. As he said farewell to the nation, he was seeing the Anti-Federalist warnings beginning to come to fruition. He himself would not become one of them, but his warning to the nation would be along so many of the same lines of thinking. As we take a few moments today to consider the Farewell Address of Washington, we must ask those same questions of ourselves.

For some reason, the 2024 campaign for President is NOT going well for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who may have – in a desperate attempt to out Trump Donald Trump, threatened to invade Mexico. President Biden has enough troubles of his own, and now the newspapers and the CIA are starting to weigh in on his problems in 2024. It seemingly turns out that “brewed” chicken… isn’t. On the other hand, it’s not killing people. Ideally. For the last 78,000 years people have hated the karaoke version of one particular song, which even the Neanderthals hated as they watched the harbinger of our doom slowly sweep across the night skies… All that and more, ideally, this week on What The Frock…

Yesterday, the Mexican Government showed video that it says proves that aliens from UFO crashes are real. In Pennsylvania, elements of the US Government captured an escaped murdered and illegal immigrant. Mitt Romney announced that he was not ruining for re-election, and in an effort to ingratiate himself further, said that we need “younger leadership.” In the Ukraine, President Zelinsky informed us that we have to keep funding the war, because otherwise Ukrainian refugees would be upset. On TV, Nancy Pelosi admitted that the Vice President of the Unites states doesn’t really do anything. And a Biden appointed Judge blocked the New Mexico Governors Executive order to ban guns. It was a busy day. Oh yeah… and there was a letter…

There are two burrs under my saddle this morning. First.. I’ve had it with YouTube. I’m sorry if you get your version of this show there, but something is going to have to change – as soon as I have the time to figure out how best to do it. Second, the State of Washington has spent more than $143,000,000 in one year to clear out homeless encampments along right of way locations. Sounds like quite the accomplishment, eh?

It’s one of those “myths” of history, that on September 12, 1962, then President John F. Kennedy stood in Rice Stadium in Houston and announced to a stunned and surprised nation and world that the United States was committing itself to putting a man on the moon – and returning him safely – before the end of the decade. The speech is stirring and it was certainly one of Kennedy’s most noted. What it was not, was any kind of surprise at all. More than a year before, Kennedy had told a wildly cheering Congress that the moon was the goal, and they in turn were more than happy to fund it. What hadn’t happened after that announcement was the wild across the board support for the goal for which he had hoped. In fact, many newspapers ran articles explaining why the moon simply wasn’t a realistic goal, some going so far as to “prove” that it was, in fact, impossible. The genius of Kennedy’s 1962 speech was that he knew all the naysayers would be listening, along with the folks who simply wanted to hear something in

The Good Friar has a throat problem, which is solved by being a “double ender” podcast. You don’t care, but it’s all a part of the magic. Rabbi Dave is in a great deal of pain after a weekend of making field trips for Ben’s benefit. Gravity 5, Dave 0. Does anybody believe Gavin Newsome when he says that he is definitely no running for President in 2024? Oddly enough, Dave does. because really, who would even want to be President in 2025? The real Burning Man festival does not feature any Coachella people. It also does not take place in Nevada. And it’s opening weekend of the NFL season. Huzzah! All that and more on this weeks episode of What The Frock!

I had a bunch of dental work yesterday, so sorry I wasn't here to comment on the whole Bremerton JV football Coach situation. On the other hand, for the first time in my adult life, I made it through the entire procedure (three fillings) with (1) ZERO pain and (2) no panic attack. I was able to eat within a couple of hours, and now I am wondering what I was so worried about? One of the greatest pleasures of what I do is the random people that it brings into my life. It seems as if I have met dozens upon dozens of folks simply by being out there who have made my life interesting and better. In some cases, they have become close friends and in other cases, people with whom I have worked on projects that were enjoyable and fun. Despite the success at the dentist, yesterday was not a good day. Some years ago, one of the random people I met was a fellow blogger and also, a former sailor. He was a retired Asia Sailor, and his blog was dedicated to keeping the memory and fellowship of that special group alive. Aft

I am a Cold Warrior. I grew up in the heat of it, and for the final decade of it, I was directly involved. It was intense. It was personal, and it left me with a profound sense of accomplishment. But unlike the shelling of Ft. Sumter (1861), or the invasion of Serbia (1914) or the Poland (1939), the actual beginning of the Cold War is a bit more… nebulous. One could argue that the roots of the Cold War was in the politics and stresses of the pre-war years and the inevitable ideological struggle between communism and the liberal western democracies. But when did it actual… you know… start? What if the whole thing started with a crying baby? In September of 1945, a young Soviet embassy staffer walked in to the office of the Ottawa Journal, carrying a briefcase. He asked to see the editor of the paper, he hesitated and chose not to reveal his reason for the visit. Later that day, his resolved steeled, he returned, but was told that Editor was not in the office. The disappointed and nervous young man left and

It’s been a strange week. Then again, maybe it was last week that was strange? It’s a Holiday Weekend, so if you’re expected any in depth analysis of anything, you’re in for a disappointment. The boys are highly distracted and the conversation is as confused as the calendar in 1752. Dave has an announcement about his future, while Rod spent yesterday enjoying the pageantry of not watching NCAA Football opening weekend. AI is taking over the sex work industry, but is it good news it that maybe it can help with the current crop of Zombies that are running the nation? You can let the Government know that you saw a UFO. which is not what they call them anymore. In the end, you should never steal from a church. Jesus doesn’t like that… All that and a whole lot more this week on What The Frock!

In the summer of 1787, the idea of term limits for Congress wasn’t seen as a necessity. So what changed between 1787 and 2023? were politicians in the early part of the American Republic somehow more virtuous or “better” than than those of today? Would introducing Term Limits on Congress today make any difference in the way we are governed by people who increasingly are “more experienced?” In point of fact, why do we associate age with the necessary experience for being a member of the political leader caste? As the call becomes louder for Term Limits on Congress, have we considered why the Framers did NOT establish them to begin with? And what has changed so that today they might be a better option? It’s the question, is it time for Congressional term limits?

It’s a well known “Dave Diamond Fact” that I love Humphrey Bogart movies. I own about 30 of them on DVD and/or streaming, and on days when things seem… meh… a Bogey flick is a good way to get my attitude back into the green. So it’s not often that I catch a Bogart flick that I haven’t seen before. But… now and again it happens. Over the weekend I caught “The Return of Doctor X” on TMC, staring Bogey as a dead murderer brought back to life by a mad scientist and is busy being some kind of cross between Frankenstein and Dracula. Bogart hated the film. He complained about the studio abusing his good name and demanded a raise for being forced (by the studio system) to make what he considered to be an absolute crap film. But as I watched this legendary stinker of a film, I noted two things of interest…

The 14th amendments Section 3 prohibition against permanently holding office has NEVER been invoked successfully. Even when it was tried the first time, it ended when Congress took action to change it. Then, in 1918, with World War I raging, a man from Wisconsin found himself charged under the 1917 Espionage Act of saying things that the government said were sedition. He was arrested, tried and convicted. And then he won a seat in Congress. Twice. Congress, invoking the 14th Section 3, told him that he couldn’t be seated. Two year later, he won again. And served another three terms in Congress. Now, in 2023, a Florida barrister has filed a Federal complaint against Donald Trump claiming that under the 14th Amendment he (Trump) is “not eligible to run” for President. Hold on there, hombre… that is NOT what the Amendment says…