1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:02,880 Speaker 1: The Michael Barry Joe. 2 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 2: So, you know, I was reading some reviews of the 3 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 2: book and one of the things, one of the notes 4 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:09,960 Speaker 2: I see is that Klein conducted nearly tuner interviews with 5 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 2: Obama's friends and disillusioned colleagues, compiling almost one thousand pages 6 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,400 Speaker 2: of notes which contained some very startling revelations incompetent blunders 7 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,520 Speaker 2: and arrogant mismanagement. And I thought to myself, Oh, this 8 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 2: is one of the guys that's a talking head at 9 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 2: Fox News. And then I look at your pedigree and 10 00:00:26,800 --> 00:00:30,760 Speaker 2: I see former foreign editor for Newsweek magazine, former editor 11 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 2: in chief of the New York Times magazine, contributing editor 12 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 2: of Vanity Fair. This is not the pedigree of a 13 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,040 Speaker 2: guy who criticizes Barack Obama. 14 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:40,239 Speaker 3: Well, you got to keep in mind that when I 15 00:00:40,360 --> 00:00:42,840 Speaker 3: was at Newsweek in the New York Times, those were 16 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:47,120 Speaker 3: straight organizations. They were not left wing organizations. 17 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 2: When you say there were straight organizations, you mean they 18 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 2: didn't call Barack Obama the first gay president. 19 00:00:51,120 --> 00:00:51,800 Speaker 1: Helovers. 20 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 3: That's right. In my day, back in Newsweek days, the 21 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,640 Speaker 3: good old days, Newsweek was a down the middle of 22 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:03,480 Speaker 3: the road operation, and the New York Times was not 23 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:08,400 Speaker 3: what it's become. And as far as I'm concerned, I 24 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 3: see myself and I've been doing this for almost half 25 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,080 Speaker 3: a century as a reporter, and this is a reporter's book. 26 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 3: It's not a committed ideologues book. I went out and 27 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 3: I said to myself, Look, here's a guy who came out. 28 00:01:25,280 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 3: I'm talking about Barack Obama. Now came out of nowhere. 29 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 3: Nobody had ever heard of him. He had accomplished nothing 30 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:37,840 Speaker 3: in his seven years in the Illinois state legislature, in 31 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:41,240 Speaker 3: two years in the US Senate. And yet millions and 32 00:01:41,319 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 3: millions of people voted for him because they believed in 33 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 3: his hope and change thing. And then what happened. He 34 00:01:49,200 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 3: became something we've never seen before in American history, an 35 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,560 Speaker 3: amateur in the White House. And that's why I call 36 00:01:56,640 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 3: the book the Amateur. 37 00:01:57,600 --> 00:01:59,400 Speaker 2: You call the book the Amateur, and you also quote 38 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:02,040 Speaker 2: Bill Clinton saying that he's incompetent. 39 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:05,200 Speaker 3: Well, you know, Bill Clinton is, I guess one could say, 40 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,640 Speaker 3: whether you like his politics or not, one of the 41 00:02:08,760 --> 00:02:12,600 Speaker 3: great politicians of his age. He's a smart guy. He 42 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 3: understands how politics works. He believes that Barack Obama is 43 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:22,800 Speaker 3: incompetent and that the people around him are incompetent. They 44 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 3: are basically a bunch of either Chicago operatives or academics 45 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 3: from Harvard who have never held a real job in 46 00:02:34,720 --> 00:02:37,679 Speaker 3: their life and don't really know how the world works. 47 00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,440 Speaker 3: Bill feels that Hillary would have been a heck of 48 00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:45,320 Speaker 3: a better president, and he has never given up the 49 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:48,799 Speaker 3: hope that she will be president. And I have a 50 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:54,440 Speaker 3: scene in the book, based on firsthand reporting with two 51 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 3: people who were present, when Bill Clinton urged his wife 52 00:02:58,800 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 3: to challenge Barack Obama for the nineteen for the twenty 53 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 3: twelve presidential nomination. He said to her, you are much 54 00:03:10,720 --> 00:03:13,680 Speaker 3: better suited to be president. I've done a secret poll. 55 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:17,519 Speaker 3: The poll shows you can beat this guy. We need 56 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:19,120 Speaker 3: to be back in the White House. I mean, you 57 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:20,720 Speaker 3: need to be back in the White House. 58 00:03:21,160 --> 00:03:23,640 Speaker 1: You know, at what point was that? How long ago 59 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:24,120 Speaker 1: was that? 60 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:28,000 Speaker 3: That was in August twenty eleven, almost a year ago. 61 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,440 Speaker 2: And Ed Klein, as our guest the book, is the amateur. 62 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,240 Speaker 2: He wanted her to resign her position at Secretary of 63 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 2: State and as Secretary of State. 64 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:39,400 Speaker 3: And run against and run the sitting person. 65 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 2: Why didn't she. 66 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:43,280 Speaker 3: Because I think she was smarter than he was on 67 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:45,560 Speaker 3: this score. I think she would have been First of all, 68 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:48,320 Speaker 3: I think she would have been defeated. Number one, it's 69 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:53,520 Speaker 3: almost impossible to unseat a seating president a seated president. 70 00:03:53,840 --> 00:03:57,640 Speaker 3: And number two, she would have destroyed her credibility inside 71 00:03:57,680 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 3: the Democratic Party as a Democratic lawyer. This way, she's 72 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 3: has a record of having been loyal to Barack Obama 73 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:09,800 Speaker 3: for the first four years of his term. She's going 74 00:04:09,840 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 3: to resign after this election, however, it turns out, and 75 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:20,240 Speaker 3: she's in a great position to start campaigning for twenty sixteen. 76 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 1: Ed. 77 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:23,520 Speaker 2: Who you talk about his cabinet and what type of 78 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 2: people he brought he brings in and we don't know 79 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 2: much about them, unlike the cabinets of the past. Who 80 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:31,080 Speaker 2: are the people who are the two or three that 81 00:04:31,160 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 2: he is listening to the most? 82 00:04:32,839 --> 00:04:37,360 Speaker 3: Well, that's a very very good question, you know. The 83 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:41,560 Speaker 3: Speaker of the House, John Bayner, says that he's been 84 00:04:42,880 --> 00:04:46,560 Speaker 3: in the House for twenty years, has been through four 85 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:52,240 Speaker 3: different administrations, and that he finds this administration the most opaque. 86 00:04:52,320 --> 00:04:57,359 Speaker 3: That's his word, opaque administration. He can't understand who is 87 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:00,679 Speaker 3: calling the shots. I spent a great field of time 88 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:04,720 Speaker 3: looking into this, and in my view, the people who 89 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:08,040 Speaker 3: are the person who calls the shots more than any 90 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,760 Speaker 3: other inside the White House is a woman by the 91 00:05:10,800 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 3: name of Valerie Jarrett. She is Michelle Obama's oldest, dearest, 92 00:05:17,400 --> 00:05:22,680 Speaker 3: closest friend, her advisor, and simultaneously the advisor to the 93 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 3: President of the United States. This is a woman who 94 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:30,920 Speaker 3: rose through the daily machine in Chicago, who has never 95 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:36,360 Speaker 3: had any foreign experience, no economic financial experience, and in 96 00:05:36,400 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 3: fact didn't have much of a record in Chicago, but 97 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:47,600 Speaker 3: is a loyalist and who the Obama's trust to protect 98 00:05:47,680 --> 00:05:53,800 Speaker 3: them from what they perceive as a very scary and 99 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:58,800 Speaker 3: threatening outside world. So she's the gatekeeper. You cannot go 100 00:05:58,880 --> 00:06:02,359 Speaker 3: see Obama. No, I don't care if you're Oprah Winfrey, 101 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 3: Caroline Kennedy, a black leader like Jesse Jackson. You don't 102 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 3: get into the White House to see the President. Lets 103 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:11,320 Speaker 3: you go through Valerie Jarret. 104 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 2: I have about thirty seconds left in this segment. To 105 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:16,120 Speaker 2: what extent we're going to get to the Oprah and 106 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:20,280 Speaker 2: Michelle riff. To what extent is Michelle an actual advisor 107 00:06:20,440 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 2: making policy and telling. 108 00:06:21,760 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 3: Him what to do tremendously, So, I mean she liked 109 00:06:26,120 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 3: us to believe she's just a happy homemaker doing the 110 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,960 Speaker 3: anti obesity campaign. But in fact, in my view and 111 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:36,359 Speaker 3: the view of the people who work in the White House, 112 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 3: she's his most important advisor. 113 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:40,000 Speaker 2: All right, Ed Cline can hold with us? 114 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:40,760 Speaker 3: Sure? 115 00:06:41,040 --> 00:06:46,039 Speaker 2: The book is the Amateur hit bookstores? I guess yesterday 116 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 2: more shocking revelations from the amateur with the author Ed 117 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:54,840 Speaker 2: Klein coming up. What do you think of a person 118 00:06:54,920 --> 00:06:56,880 Speaker 2: who only does the bare minimum? 119 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:58,119 Speaker 1: The Michael Berry Show? 120 00:06:58,200 --> 00:06:59,920 Speaker 3: How about a good old fashioned. 121 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:04,360 Speaker 1: Texas radio with Flair and Donna. 122 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:05,800 Speaker 2: I'm officially your new pr man. 123 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:11,760 Speaker 3: Well, you have Barack Obama's closest friend, Eric Whittaker, who's 124 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:16,120 Speaker 3: the vice president of the University of Chicago Medical Center, 125 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,880 Speaker 3: sent an email offering the Reverend right one hundred and 126 00:07:20,960 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 3: fifty thousand dollars if he would shut up and not 127 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 3: talk anymore during the campaign because he had embarrassed in 128 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:31,040 Speaker 3: Barack Obama so much. He was the single biggest embarrassment 129 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 3: to Barack Obama. And when Jeremiah Wright refused this offer 130 00:07:39,400 --> 00:07:42,720 Speaker 3: of a bribe, he then got a phone call from 131 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:47,040 Speaker 3: the campaigner himself, Barack Obama, saying I'd like to meet 132 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:50,200 Speaker 3: with you secretly, And they did have the secret meeting 133 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 3: in the then parsonage of the Trinity United Church of Christ. 134 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 3: I double checked this with the Secret Service logs, and 135 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,000 Speaker 3: in fact, yes, that's exactly where a Barack Obama was 136 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:02,560 Speaker 3: that day. 137 00:08:02,920 --> 00:08:06,160 Speaker 2: Ed you ended a paragraph with an interesting statement by 138 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 2: Jeremiah Wright, the man who was his pastor for twenty years. 139 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 2: Audasty of Hope is named after his sermon. He called 140 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 2: him a father figure. You quote Jeremiah Wright as saying 141 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,240 Speaker 2: of the meeting, I don't know whether he wore a 142 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 2: wire or not. That was troubling to me. Did Jeremiah 143 00:08:22,600 --> 00:08:24,520 Speaker 2: Wright suspect he may have worn a wire? 144 00:08:24,760 --> 00:08:25,360 Speaker 3: Yes? He did. 145 00:08:26,320 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: Wow. 146 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 2: You know you mentioned the name Eric Whittaker, and how 147 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:33,640 Speaker 2: credible that bribe offer is. Daily Caller has a piece 148 00:08:33,679 --> 00:08:36,800 Speaker 2: today longtime Obama Powell Eric Whittaker keeps popping into the 149 00:08:36,800 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 2: political scene. Onto the political scene. For people who don't 150 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,480 Speaker 2: know who Eric Whittaker is, tell us Eric. 151 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:47,839 Speaker 3: Whittaker is one of the closest friends the Obamas have. 152 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:55,000 Speaker 3: He plays basketball with Obama, he goes on vacations with Obama. 153 00:08:55,440 --> 00:08:57,360 Speaker 3: He's the as I said, the vice president of the 154 00:08:57,440 --> 00:09:03,840 Speaker 3: University of Chicago Medical Center, and he got caught up 155 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,199 Speaker 3: in a scandal involving that political fixer, if you recall 156 00:09:07,320 --> 00:09:11,480 Speaker 3: Tony Resco, who was subsequently sent to jail. Whittaker was 157 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:18,960 Speaker 3: never formally charged with that, but his reputation was certainly tarnished. 158 00:09:19,360 --> 00:09:22,079 Speaker 3: He traveled with Obama on the campaign trail in two 159 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 3: thousand and eight. He goes, as I say, on vacation 160 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 3: with he and his wife. They're very, very close. They've 161 00:09:28,559 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 3: been close since college days because when Obama was at 162 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:37,160 Speaker 3: law school at Harvard, Whittaker was at Harvard as well, 163 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 3: not in law school, but at Harvard as well. So 164 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 3: they go back that far, and when Obama needs something 165 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 3: done personally, he turns to Eric Whittaker. And Eric Whittaker 166 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:52,160 Speaker 3: was the guy who sent this email to the Reverend. 167 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:54,600 Speaker 2: Right Resco now serving ten and a half years in 168 00:09:54,640 --> 00:09:58,560 Speaker 2: prison for political corruption. And interestingly, from an article today, 169 00:09:58,559 --> 00:10:00,719 Speaker 2: Obama said, from your book in two thousand and eight 170 00:10:00,720 --> 00:10:03,440 Speaker 2: interview with the Chicago Sun Times, he could only recall 171 00:10:03,480 --> 00:10:06,320 Speaker 2: speaking to Tony Resco about filling a state job one time, 172 00:10:06,559 --> 00:10:09,480 Speaker 2: when he recommended Eric Whittaker be hired as Illinois director 173 00:10:09,520 --> 00:10:12,319 Speaker 2: of Public Health. Fast forward, you note in the book 174 00:10:12,640 --> 00:10:15,800 Speaker 2: that Whittaker's group got five point nine million in a 175 00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:18,679 Speaker 2: taxpayer grant from a program that was actually created by 176 00:10:18,760 --> 00:10:20,520 Speaker 2: Michelle when she was at the university. 177 00:10:21,600 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 3: Wow, it's one hand washes the other with those in 178 00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 3: that Chicago crowd. 179 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 2: Well, the dearth of research that's been done on the 180 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,000 Speaker 2: level that you've done where you go back and actually 181 00:10:31,040 --> 00:10:32,920 Speaker 2: tie this. It's one thing to say there's a culture 182 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 2: of corruption, but you've actually gone back and tied it up. 183 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:35,920 Speaker 3: You know. 184 00:10:36,200 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 2: I don't think a lot of Republicans care what Caroline 185 00:10:38,760 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 2: Wright has to say. Caroline Kennedy has to say about 186 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 2: Barack Obama, but it is rather telling the souring toward folks. 187 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:48,839 Speaker 2: You quote her as saying, I can't stand to hear 188 00:10:48,880 --> 00:10:51,760 Speaker 2: Obama's voice anymore. He's a liar and worse. 189 00:10:51,960 --> 00:10:56,280 Speaker 3: Why Well, a lot because she's you know, Caroline Kennedy 190 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,080 Speaker 3: is a liberal with a capital L. I mean, she's 191 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:03,679 Speaker 3: very far left, and she expected to be a major figure. 192 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:06,080 Speaker 2: Com Ed, I put you up against a break, maman, 193 00:11:06,120 --> 00:11:08,280 Speaker 2: and I know you have somewhere else to be. The 194 00:11:08,320 --> 00:11:10,880 Speaker 2: book is wonderful. Everyone by it. We'll have you back 195 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:14,640 Speaker 2: on soon. Ed Kline is the author, the amateur go 196 00:11:14,720 --> 00:11:19,040 Speaker 2: by it. It's fantastic. If you like the Michael Berry 197 00:11:19,080 --> 00:11:23,600 Speaker 2: Show and Podcast, please tell one friend, and if you're 198 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:29,440 Speaker 2: so inclined, write a nice review of our podcast. 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