The Jim Bohannon Show 20-Oct-11 CF mp3 32K
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Thursday, October 20, 2011
On The Jim Bohannon Show...

Good news for humanity: another despot has been wiped off the face of the Earth. Former Libya dictator Moammar Gaddafi was trying to flee his home town of Sirte among a convoy leaving that town. Hiding in a drainage ditch, he was found by troops loyal to the new transitional government and beaten and shot, ending over 40 years of international mischief and possibly bringing a sense of closure to the families of the victims of Pan Am Flight 103, blown up in a Libyan-sponsored attack in 1989. Of course, the big question for Libya now is: What will the future look like? The rebel forces were only united by one thing: hatred for Gaddafi. With him gone, will the country devolve into its former tribal divisions? That could easily lead too civil war, especially with the number of weapons still floating around - weapons the U.S. government is willing to spend millions to round up. The U.S. relationship with the new Libya is also in question, considering it was Britain, France, and Canada who really took the lead in helping depose Gaddafi. We'll discuss the future of the new Libya and its place in the world with a pair of distinguished guests from the American Enterprise Institute: vice president for foreign and defense policies Danielle Pletka and resident scholar Michael Rubin.

When the Great Recession began back in December 2007 we had no idea what was awaiting us. What we did know was that it would dominate the 2008 Presidential election, sweeping Democrat Barack Obama into the White House. Preaching hope and change, his administration was sidetracked virtually immediately into a rescue mission, attempting to keep Wall Street and the economy as a whole from a complete collapse. He imported a bunch of Wall Street insiders to help with the task, and the collapse many feared was averted. But that is hardly the whole story. The inside story is told in the book "Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President" (published by Harper), written by return guest Ron Suskind. That there remains a crisis of confidence is evident by the economic state of nation is in today. Mr. Suskind examines how we have reached this point, with Wall Street struggling to stay afloat even as a new and inexperienced President was taking the reins of power into his unsteady hands. It's a portrait of ideologies at conflict with one another, forced to do something together to prevent an economic catastrophe.

It's that time of year again - nearly time for the annual "Funniest Celebrity in Washington" contest. The competition, started by founder Richard Siegel in 1987, has another impressive lineup for the November 30th event at the Improv in Washington, DC. Hosting this year is former CNN correspondent Jamie McIntyre (now with Military.com). There will be a guest appearance by Olympian Bernard Williams and the first joke will be tossed out by Republican Senator Scott Brown of Massachusetts. The contestants include Democratic Congressmen Earl Blumenauer of Oregon and Rick Larsen of Washington State, columnists Clarence Page of the Chicago Tribune and Jamie Weinstein of The Daily Caller, plus past competitor Grover Norquist of Americans For Tax Reform and ABC News correspondent John Hendren. As always, charity is the beneficiary of the event; this year's recipient is Susan G. Komen For the Cure. Joining us to talk about the big night is founder and CEO Richard Siegel, chairperson Tracy Hoover, public relations person Katelyn Gimbel, and contestant John Hendren of ABC News.