The Think Tank with Mike O'Neil

This week’s Think Tank explores the intersection of religious values and political activity.  Our guests are three very thoughtful people who have in various ways dealt with the intersection of values, religion and politics.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Political operative Rick DeGraw and recently retired Fox10 reporter Steve Krafft (@stevekrafft7) join Mike O’Neil in a fast-paced and irreverent discussion of:

· 2020 Arizona Political Awards: Top Story of the Year, Person of the Year, Loser of the Year, Biggest Victory, Biggest Thing that Did Not Happen, Most Underreported Story, Bigest Surprise, Biggest Scam, “Tweet of the Year” and more.

· 2020National Political Awards: Top Story, Biggest Winners and Losers, Most Underreported Story, Biggest Surprise, Biggest Missed Opportunity, and more.

The Think Tank airs on KTAR 92.3 FM on Saturday 3-4pm and Sundays from 9-10pm. Podcasts are available after broadcast at ktar.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week’s Think Topic is Ruth Bader Ginsburg. We will discuss her life, her legacy, and the likely political impact of the fight for her seat on the Supreme Court.

Betsy West (@Betsywest) conceived and directed the 2018 CNN documentary film, RBG (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7689964/?ref_=ttawd_awd_tt). The film won a primetime Emmy award and was nominated for two Academy Awards. Betsy was a producer and news executive at both CBS and ABC where, among other accolades, she won 21 Emmy awards. She is also emeritus Professor at the Columbia School of Journalism. We will discuss with her both her insights about Justice Ginsburg and the making of her documentary film.

Chuck Coughlin and I will discuss the political fallout from the court vacancy:

· Will it help either party’s electoral prospects? You could make a case either way.

· Can Sen. McConnell push a replacement through before January 20th? Likely.

· Will Republican Senatorial candidates pay a price if he does?

· Will the Democrats expand the Supreme Court if they win both the Presidency and the Senate? Will they pay a price if they do?

The Think Tank airs on KTAR 92.3 FM on Saturday 3-4pm and Sundays from 9-10pm. Podcasts are available after broadcast at ktar.co

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Grant Woods is a former Arizona Attorney General and a former McCain staffer.  But, more importantly he is a former Republican and a very thoughtful observer of the current political scene.

It has been four weeks since the election. The election was NOT close (306-232 electoral votes) and a popular vote margin of almost 7 million. This is larger than most of our recent Presidential elections.  Despite all evidence, three-fourths of Republicans think the election was stolen.  And only a handful of elected Republicans have been willing to say publicly that Joe Biden is President-elect.

Republicans used to stand for a muscular foreign policy. They were internationalists who favored foreign trade, because we benefit from it.  Before Reagan, they were against deficits (now they only seem to care about deficits when a Democrat is President).  But Trump loyalists are against all of these things.

Given all of this, what is the future of the Republican party?

And can the country find common ground?

Grant Woods is one of the most thoughtful political observers in Arizona.  Join this week’s Think Tank for a very insightful discussion of the state of our politics.

The Think Tank airs on KTAR 92.3 FM on Saturday 3-4pm and Sundays from 9-10pm. Podcasts are available after broadcast at ktar.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We all need a break from the endless (though important) discussion of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, this week, we take a look back at the incredible, true story of how, once upon a time, a radio station, politics, and rock and roll changed everything.

"WBCN and The American Revolution" is an award-winning, feature documentary that tells the previously untold story of the early days of the underground, radical Boston radio station, WBCN-FM, set against the dazzling and profound social, political, and cultural changes starting in the late-1960s.

The production is directed by Peabody Award-winning journalist Bill Lichtenstein who began working at the radio station at the age of 14 in 1970. Bill is our guest on this week’s Think Tank. He tells the story, not only about that era, but how he went about creating the documentary.

The story is told through the extraordinary history of WBCN, which in its early days called itself “The American Revolution,” and the personal and political journeys of a compelling cast of characters who connect and intersect through the radio station and exploding music and counterculture scenes, militant anti-war activism, civil rights struggles, and the emerging women’s and gay liberation movements. Women DJ’s? Openly gay people? These were entirely new concepts. One reviewer called the film “possibly the first film to tell the true story of the 1960s.” The film includes first-person accounts from the station’s staff and newly filmed and archival material featuring the leading political, social, and musical figures of the day, who crossed paths with the radio station, including Noam Chomsky, David Bowie, Abbie Hoffman, Jane Fonda, Jerry Garcia and Duane Allman, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, (in his first radio interview), and Patti Smith, performing with her band in her first live radio broadcast. For a taste, take a look at the film’s theatrical trailer: tinyurl.com/WBCNtrailer

To look at the film’s publicity flyer or register to view the film and a live discussion with the film’s mastermind, Bill Lichtenstein and Phoenix journalist Steve Krafft, click here.

This will get you a week from the time you start to view the film and access to the live virtual discussion on Sunday December 6th at 6pm.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Conservatives are prone to think that the answer to crime is severe punishment. Liberals are traditionally more concerned with rehabilitation. It is pretty hard to design a program that appeals to both groups.

There is a program in Maricopa County that would seem to have something for everyone.  The Restorative Justice Construction project assigns probationers with construction skills to work details that involve undertaking construction projects for legitimate and needy nonprofits. The nonprofits generally contribute needed materials, while this program provides the labor.

Worthy charitable entities get much needed work done. Since participating probationers include both master craftsmen and apprentices, the latter often get to develop marketable job-related skills. And court-mandated work requirements are met by doing things that are more useful to the community than picking up trash.

Attorney Dave Tierney has been involved with this program for many years. We discuss how the program evolved, what it takes to make the program work, how it differs from less successful programs using prison labor and what are the obstacles to replication of this program elsewhere.

The Think Tank airs on KTAR 92.3 FM on Saturday 3-4pm and Sundays from 9-10pm. Podcasts are available after broadcast at ktar.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We have been flooded with conspiracy theories.  QAnon. PizzaGate. Electoral Manipulations.  All without a shred of hard evidence. Yet some of these are apparently believed by millions, including some elected officials. 

And some of these apparently are Arizona electeds. Many of these beliefs persist, even when clearly debunked (examples: Sharpie-gate, “cancelled” ballots) or have simple explanations.

Is this new, or is it a permanent feature of American character? Many of these beliefs are reminiscent of those described by Richard Hofstadter in his 1964 essay, “The Paranoid Style of American Politics”.  Read that essay and you could conclude that these are nothing new.

What is going on here?

What makes it so easy for so many to accept explanations for events without any factual basis?

This week’s Think Tank guest is Jerod MacDonald-Evoy, a reporter for the Arizona Mirror who has written several articles on the topic.

The Think Tank airs on KTAR 92.3 FM on Saturday 3-4pm and Sundays from 9-10pm. Podcasts are available after broadcast at ktar.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The election is over and it’s likely that President Joe Biden will have to deal with a Republican Senate. All our national problems (COVID, a sluggish economy) will still be here when he takes office.

So how does he go about governing?

Our guests have been involved in the process of making government work.

· Chuck Coughlin is an advisor to Republican candidates and officeholders.

· Jack Lunsford was himself an elected official and now works with them.

And they’ve both been doing it for many years. They have insights worth hearing.

The Think Tank airs on KTAR 92.3 FM on Saturday 3-4pm and Sundays from 9-10pm. Podcasts are available after broadcast at ktar.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Final 2020 Pre-Election Preview

Political pros Rick DeGraw and Chuck Coughlin have faced one another running opposing Arizona gubernatorial campaigns. Two of the sharpest political minds in the state, this week they return to the Think Tank to give their views on the 2020 elections that are just days away.

· President. Does Donald Trump still have a chance to be elected? Or is he more likely to go down in flames? To what extent can polls showing a Biden lead be trusted?

· US Senate. Will Mark Kelly’s polling lead hold up? Will the President’s dissing of Martha McSally this week hurt her with the voters? Or does it signal that Trump has given up on her?

· Arizona Legislature. Democrats have not controlled a single legislative house in decades. What are their chances of reversing that record this year in one or both houses?

· Vote Viewer Guide. Finally, we present some principles for how to intelligently view this year’s elections. There are reasons to believe the vote reporting this year will be different from years past. How should you take in the results; what can you take to the bank and what should you ignore?

The election is days away. This week’s Think Tank has some really astute political observers’ perspectives to help you sort it all out.

The Think Tank airs on KTAR 92.3 FM on Saturday 3-4pm and Sundays from 9-10pm. Podcasts are available after broadcast at ktar.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We ran out of time in our regular Think Tank with political gurus Rick DeGraw and Chuck Coughlin on next Tuesday’s election; there was simply too much ground to cover. In this special web-only segment, we consider the question of what President Trump might do if he loses the election, especially if it is close. He has already indicated that the only way he could lose is if there is fraud. What extra-legal and quasi-legal options might he have if there is some question about the outcome? And who might resist him if he attempted to retain power on the basis of some legal veneer?

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.