October 15 – Obama Needs to Be a Salesman Too; Arms to Syrian Rebels Going to Jihadists; The Next Supreme Court?

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with Paul Glastris, the editor-in-chief of The Washington Monthly and a former speechwriter for President Clinton. On the eve of a crucial debate, we discuss the disparity between Mitt Romney the salesman who will say anything to close the deal, and Barack Obama the highbrow policy wonk who has been painfully reluctant to even sell his own successes, including his signature Affordable Care Act.

Part 2

Then we examine why the arms flowing to the Syrian rebels are mostly going to Jihadist groups as the U.S. pursues an unsuccessful policy aimed of avoiding the worst outcome instead of achieving the best outcome. David Lesch, the author of “Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad” joins us to explain why the U.S. continues to support bringing down secular governments in the Middle East like Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt, that open the way for Islamic fundamentalist regimes to take power.

Part 3

Then finally Jeffrey Toobin joins us. He is a staff writer at The New Yorker and senior legal analyst at CNN. We discuss his new book “The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court” and what is at stake for America’s future if Romney is able to create a lasting activist conservative majority on the Supreme Court or Obama is able to move it in a more moderate direction.