Pundit Review Radio

A few thoughts from WRKO tonight, Treyvon Martin, George Zimmerman and the vultures The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio. What is Pundit Review Radio? On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 6-8pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about Captain Matthew A. Chaney. From his Silver Star citation, "Although wounded, Captain Chaney relentlessly continued to control actions on the objective ensuring that all structures were cleared of enemy personnel. His actions under fire were directly responsible for the killing of eleven enemy personnel, including a high-value foreign fighter that coalition forces had been chasing for over a year. His valorous leadership and successful elimination of these terrorists had a significant impact on Al Qaeda operations in the Samarra area and contributed immeasurably to the security of Salah ad-Din Province in Iraq. His actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of military heroism and reflect distinct cr

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about Gunnery Sgt. Brian M. Blonder, "Gunnery Sgt. Brian M. Blonder was awarded the Navy Cross, the second highest award given for valor in the face of danger, during a ceremony at the Marine Corps War Memorial in Arlington, Va., May 10, 2011. He was recognized for his bravery and outstanding leadership during an all-day firefight against Taliban insurgents Aug. 8, 2008, during the battle of Shewan, Afghanistan. Although he and the Marines and sailors he was fighting alongside with were outnumbered eight to one against insurgents, they managed to kill more than 50 insurgents and drove the rest out of their fortified fighting positions in the Taliban infested village in southern Farah province. Blonder, a reconna

Anytime I can welcome Professor William Jacobson to Pundit Review Radio I feel as though we are delivering on the premise that launched this radio show nearly eight years ago, and that is to bring the best of the blogs to the radio. In addition to his work at Cornell law school, Professor Jacobson runs Legal Insurrection , a daily must read blog for me. I invited Professor Jacobson to talk about a pretty amazing week for his blog. He wrote a post so compelling that it was the subject of Rush Limbaugh’s first ever tweet. We discussed the Limbaugh boycott at some length and then I took the opportunity to ask about an Executive Order Obama signed on Friday. Some people are going nuts online claiming some massive power grab, tyranny, etc and so on. Finally, we asked for his thoughts on SCOTUS taking up Obamacare, is there hope that they can put that monstrosity out of its misery for us? The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio. What is Pund

Last night I welcomed local author Dan Ferullo to the WRKO studios for a discussion about his novel Monster Hill, "It’s the early sixties, and the wife of Henry Sommers, the leader of the notorious Winter Hill Gang, is brutally murdered in her Boston hospital room, resulting in a gangland war lasting over thirty years and throwing a close-kit Irish family into a whirlpool of violence, deceit, and heartbreak." This is a purely fictional story, not a Bulger-book (not that there’s anything wrong with that.:) Dan has a background in law enforcement and that contributes greatly to the overall character development. We’ve done a lot of author interviews over the years and one thing I’ve always been fascinated by is how they structure their stories, how they piece things together and develop the narrative. It is especially interesting when talking about fiction or a novel where the writers imagination controls all. This book would be a great beach read, and since we seemingly have skipped spring, you can buy a co

It was an honor to welcome Rick Collins, retired British Royal Marine, and founder of The Unseen Wound, to Pundit Review Radio. Recently Rick made the decision to dedicate his life to supporting our youngest combat veterans and Healing The Unseen Wound is a result of that commitment. “The lessons learned from WWII, Korea and Vietnam are destined to be repeated unless we engage, educate and heal our young veterans as they return to civilian life”. “I understand what our young veterans are going through and we cannot sit around and wait for government to support them during these trying times. Our initiative is not a program of entitlement, it is a program of necessity if we are to reduce the levels of despondency among our next greatest generation”. The Unseen Wound’s mission is the following, "To provide recently separated combat veterans with a carefully managed program that will help them develop the professional, psychological and inter-personal skills needed to succeed in civilian life. During their p

Book Review: We Won’t Get Fooled Again: Where the Christian Right Went Wrong Gregg Jackson, old friend and co-founder of this show, returned to WRKO and Pundit Review Radio recently to discuss his new book, We Won’t Get Fooled Again. The book, co-authored with nationally syndicated radio host Steve Deace, does the following, “We Won’t Get Fooled Again is an in-depth expose of the so-called Religious Right, the most reviled and feared voting bloc in the past 30 years of American politics. However, despite all of the attacks and the acclaim, there is little evidence the movement actually has accomplished any of its objectives, which is why Gregg and Steve sought out leaders in the movement to get their take on where the fight for righteousness in America went wrong. Readers will be agonized, traumatized, but also galvanized by what these Christian leaders have to say.” Reading the book, I couldn’t help but remember back a few years ago, sitting in a hotel room in Florida with my family, watching Gregg emcee

Rep. Dan Winslow brings a ton of great experience to Beacon Hill, including 15 years involvement in local government, he served as a Judge at the Wrentham District Court and as chief legal council to Gov. Romney. He has hit the ground running on Beacon Hill, looking for people of good faith to reform our broken state government. How broke is it? Here’s the Globe on Lt. Gov. Tim Murray, and the broader @MassDems patronage problems, But the larger system of alliance-building through state and municipal government, greased along by dubious fundraising and the awarding of patronage jobs, is a deeper threat to Massachusetts. Murray has rejected McLaughlin, but he and other elected officials need to be far more forthright in declaring that the system of rewarding political supporters with jobs is morally wrong, unfair to other applicants, and damaging to the credibility of the state government. It simply shouldn’t happen. Among the most basic, commonsense reforms Rep. Winslow is pushing is Rule28.com. Called an e

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about Lance Corporal Cody R. Goebel. From his Silver Star citation, "For seven minutes, he ignored his life threatening wounds and delivered devastating machine gun fire on the enemy’s position, all while refusing medical attention until he was properly relieved. Finally, but only after a fellow squad member had manned his machine gun, Lance Corporal Goebel moved 25 meters under his own power and under heavy fire across the observation post’s roof and down a 20-foot ladder to the casualty collection point. Upon reaching the ground, he collapsed due to the loss of blood and had to be carried to a helicopter landing zone for subsequent medical evacuation. His courage, heroism, and dedication to duty after sustaini

I can’t think of the New Hampshire primary without thinking of my winter up there working as a volunteer. I was a senior at Colby College in 1992 and went with my friend and fellow political junkie David Leavy to volunteer. I worked for the Tsongas campaign and David went to work for the Clinton campaign. My campaign, Tsongas’, may have won the primary, but I think the real winner was David! Within a few weeks, David had worked hard and made a great impression and he was invited to go to Little Rock to work on the campaign straight away after graduation in the spring. From there, he met DeeDee Myers, becoming her aide and eventually a White House staffer. David spent an incredible seven and half years in the White House pressure cooker, rising to be spokesperson for the National Security Council. That amazing ride started as a volunteer working the phones and knocking on doors during the New Hampshire primary. Hard not to wonder about the young volunteers working up there right now who may end up working in

In addition to being a rising star among conservative journalists in Washington DC, the Daily Caller’s Matt Lewis is about as nice a guy as you’ll ever meet. This segment was a ton of fun, because another guy who could not be nicer, WRKO morning host Todd Feinburg, checked in after attending a Chris Christie-Mitt Romney event. He and Tom Finneran will be broadcasting live from NH through Wednesday on WRKO. It was great to welcome Matt back to the show, especially with the New Hampshire primary staring us in the face on Tuesday. Matt wrote one of the most interesting article’s of the weekend, Tragedy of the conservatives: Why Romney’s wimpy foes are acting rationally. "Don’t understand why Mitt Romney’s Republican opponents won’t lay a mitt on him? This started way back when Tim Pawlenty wouldn’t say “ObamneyCare,” but who could have imagined Romney would skate this long? It boggles the mind, but there are actually several good reasons why Romney continues to get a pass. One way of explaining the phenomen

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about a Vietnam era veteran who earned the Medal of Honor. Meet Patrick Henry Brady The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Bruce does an incredible job with the series every week. The SYSK archive can be found here and The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio. What is Pundit Review Radio? On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the

Bruce McQuain does double duty on the show every Sunday. Not only does he do an AMAZING job with our weekly tribute to the troops, Someone You Should Know, he is my favorite blogger on politics, writing up a storm at Questions & Observations. Every Sunday I take the opportunity to talk politics with Bruce, and this week was no different, touching on New Hampshire, the primary process and what it will take to defeat Obama. The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio. What is Pundit Review Radio? On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 6-9pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

Author Sally Pipes returned to WRKO’s Pundit Review Radio with the follow-up to her 2010 book The Truth About Obamacare. Her new book, The Pipes Plan: The Top Ten Ways to Dismantle and Replace ObamaCare is a practical guide to rid of this grotesque, unread, budget-busting disaster that was forced upon the public and remains deeply unpopular. The Pundit Review Radio Podcast RSS feed can be found here and you can find us on iTunes at Pundit Review Radio. What is Pundit Review Radio? On Boston’s Talk Station WRKO since 2005, Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we give voice to the work of the most influential leaders in the new media/citizen journalist revolution. Called “groundbreaking” by Talkers Magazine, this unique show brings the best of the blogs to the radio every Sunday evening from 6-9pm on AM680 WRKO, Boston’s Talk Station.

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Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about Sergeant First Class Javier Camacho. From his Silver Star citation, "Sergeant First Class Camacho maneuvered his tank between the brigade scout vehicle and the enemy fire from the north while B24 covered the south of the scouts so Sergeant First Class Newby and himself could go to ground and administer aid to two litter urgent victims of the attack, with reckless abandonment of personal safety of their own. Gaining security on the area and establishing an evacuation route, Sergeant First Class Camacho then loaded the two casualties onto B34 and sped them to medical attention. Once the wounded were out of harms way and B21 arrived, Sergeant First Class Camacho then guided this section in a tactically profic

It was great to welcome back U.S. Senator Scott Brown to WRKO’s Pundit Review Radio. The topic of the night was returning veterans and the challenges they face finding work. We had Iraq vet Sam Bowlby and Vietnam vet Bruce Mcquain with us when Sen. Brown joined the conversation. He has been a leader on this issue and shared in a bipartisan victory for veterans this week, "WASHINGTON (AP) – Heralding a rare moment of bipartisan agreement, President Barack Obama signed into law Monday legislation aimed at helping unemployed veterans find work while putting more cash in the hands of companies with government contracts. The legislation, which creates tax breaks for companies that hire jobless veterans, marks the first proposal from Obama’s $447 billion jobs bill to be signed into law. The rest of the package of new taxes and spending has largely failed to garner support from Republican lawmakers. “Because Democrats and Republicans came together, I’m proud to sign those proposals into law,” Obama said during a si

What can say you do but say thank you and show admiration for anyone who has joined the armed forces since 9/11. I am always especially astounded when students from our finest universities and colleges join. I will always remember meeting a Purdue graduate at Walter Reed. Tonight it was my honor to welcome to the WRKO studios Sam Bowlby, a 2004 graduate of one of America’s finest schools, Hamilton College. He didn’t choose Wall Street or law school after graduating but the United States Marines. Sam did two tours in Iraq, including one in Fallujah, and returned home and earned an MBA from Babson. He is currently working as a contractor for Google, one of the most desirable employers in the country. Sam is looking for permanent employment and like many people is finding it quite challenging, despite his well rounded background and experience. The unemployment rate for veterans is double the national average, which is itself extraordinarily high. We were also honored to welcome Major Liza Tomko, the New Englan

Bruce McQuain from Blackfive joined us once again for Someone You Should Know, our weekly tribute to the troops. Bruce spent 28 years in the U.S. Army and he is a veteran of the Vietnam war. He brings a perspective and understanding to these stories that we could never match. This week Bruce told us about Staff Sgt. Brent R. Baldwin. From his Silver Star citation, "Staff Sergeant Baldwin demonstrated an extraordinary degree of heroism under fire, by rallying his Special Forces detachment in the successful repelling of an over-whelming superior battalion-sized enemy force, which maintained the integrity and authority of the Diyala Police Station and the Iraqi Interim Government Counsel. His heroic actions are in keeping with the finest traditions of gallantry and intrepidity, which reflect great credit upon himself, the Special Operations Command Central, and the United States Army." The Someone You Should Know radio collaboration began as an extension of Matt Burden’s series at Blackfive. Bruce does an in

Chris DeRose has written a terrific book about a little understood period of American history, those years between the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the first session of Congress under the Constitution in 1789. Founding Rivals: Madison vs. Monroe, The Bill of Rights, and The Election that Saved a Nation Beyond the story of Madison and Monroe, one thing that struck me time and again was how similar the country’s problems were as a nascent nation and today as a world superpower. The very first tax bill that came before Congress went nowhere and was punted to a “Committee”. Really. On day one of the first session of Congress, the country had a “staggering” $54 million debt, 12% of which was owned by foreign governments. Sound familiar? Madison did a study of failed governments throughout history and the common thread he discovered was paralysis. They were no longer able to govern. Super committee anyone? Overseas rivals mocking our government’s ability to function, not to mention our balance sheet. C