HD213 - Myron as Pundit [10:52m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Since Attacus Dove is out of the studio this week, Brick Hawke, in an enormous display of generosity, indulges our hirsute moderator, Myron Bunkerling, by letting him try his hand as a pundit. Although there are many amateur pundits out there, Myron Bunkerling takes the phrase pundit to new heights.

While Hawke tries to keep the conversation on point, Myron discusses such hot-button issues as:

• The Bunkerling Matriarch
• Proper Grammar in Notes
• hummels
• The Social Aspect of Social Security
• Action Figures
• Star Wars
• Kenner Toys
• The Art of the Zing
• The Ownership Society
• Tennis as an Anti-Narcoleptic Device
• The Layout of a Clue Boardgame
• The Soul
• Popping and Locking
• Hawke Misses Dove
• Hypnotizing with the Force

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 HD212 - Hawke, Dove and Myron Make a YouTube Movie [9:22m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Nothing has democratized the political process so much this season as the YouTube Phenomenon. Everyday citizens can now create and distribute their own political ads, and many of them are doing a better job of it than the candidates themselves. Brick Hawke, Attacus Dove and Myron Bunkerling, committed to staying as current as possible, have undertaken the YouTube challenge. In this podcast, listen to the behind the scenes commentary as they produce their own YouTube style film. Will creative differences tear the project apart? Not since Hearts of Darkness has a film set had has much creative friction.

In this episode…
YouTube videos
Documentary Filmmaking
Jesus
Cowboys
The Bombing of Hiroshima
Michael Moore
Kitty Cats
C-clamps

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 HD211 - The Mortgage Meltdown and Ensuing Financial Crisis [7:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Experts agree that the housing crisis is on the verge of becoming a full-blown pandemic. Greedy lenders extended bad loans to under-qualified borrowers, and now those unfortunate souls with adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) are seeing their mortgage payments rise through the roof. Into this mess wander Hawke and Dove, each with unique experiences to help shed light on the matter. Attacus Dove has recently made a bad real estate purchase of his own, and he seeks listener help to get him out of it. Brick Hawke, with his vast network of conservative financial advisors, has managed to profit throughout, with investments that some might find less than scrupulous. Myron Bunkerling, whose living situation involves unknown numbers of cats, does his best to keep the conversation on a relevant level.

Topics covered include:
The mortgage crisis
Lenders
Borrowers
Adjustable Rate ARM Mortgages
Geodesic Dome Homes
Gold
Third World Water Rights
Land Mine Placement and Removal
Dennis Kucinich
Nancy Pelosi
Henry Waxman
Joanie
Chachi

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 HD210 - Clinton vs. Obama [9:23m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Conservatives have been trying to spin the apparent indecisiveness on the part of the Democratic party with respect to it’s two presidential candidates as evidence of a split Democratic party, papering over their own very real split between fiscal, social, and talk-radio conservatives. It’s a hard canard to swallow, since Democratic turnout has dwarfed Republican turnout even in Ohio and Texas this last mini-super-Tuesday.

Interestingly enough, the only states where Democratic turnout was less then overwhelming were Michigan and Florida. Indeed:

Across the rest of the country, when Republicans and Democrats have had primaries on the same day, Democratic turnout has usual dwarfed Republican turnout. Not so in Michigan and Florida - in Michigan, about 594,000 people voted in the Democratic primary. About 867,000 people voted in the Republican primary. The story in Florida is much the same - about 1.68 million Democratic voters to 1.92 Republicans. (in NH for example, 284,000 voted in the Dem race, only 231,000 in the Rep race).

All I want to demonstrate with these turnout numbers is this: fewer people voted in FL and MI in the Democratic primaries than would have if they’d counted.

Yet the fight over what to do with Michigan and Florida delegates goes on, and the only benefit appears to be Florida Governor Charlie Crist and his vice-presidential aspirations. Crist is known primarily for enjoying the same gay sweaters McCain disdains.

Against this backdrop, Hawke and Dove take two very different views of the Clinton/Obama contest. Enjoy.

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 HD209 - Brick Hawke Interviews McCain [12:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Brick Hawke is nothing if not a true conservative. His credentials bear no scrutiny. As such, he is the perfect person to extend a conservative olive branch towards the formerly fiercely independent, maverick politician who is now the standard-bearer presumptive-conservative-Republican-presidential-nominee John McCain.

McCain, who clearly believes himself to be everybody’s friend, deftly tackles each issue conservatives have long held against him in the typical dulcet tones that reflect his soft-spoken straight-talk.

• The McCain-Feingold Campaign Finance Reform Bill (for which, coincidentally, many Democrats have not forgiven Senator Russ Feingold)
• Amnesty for Illegal Immigrants
• Sanitary Concerns and Bathing Options
• The (A group of Moderate Republican and Democratic Senators)
• Clint Eastwood Movies
• The Questionable Relationship between McCain and Vicki Iseman
• Blind Dates
• McCain’s Willingness to Torture at Guantanamo

McCain appears to have had a love affair, if not with Vicki Iseman, than with the mainstream media, but that love has not extended to the ranks of right-wing talk show hosts like Brick Hawke and Rush Limbaugh. This interview may go a long way to repair that relationship, and demonstrate ways that the fledgling McCain campaign appears to be prepared to mend those bridges. Take a listen.

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