Jay and I have new Need to Know posted at Ricochet. We discuss the latest Islamic massacres (in Paris, but also a recent one in Peshawar, Pakistan) and note the discomfort of the Obama administration in positioning itself on the side of democracy, pluralism, and the West. The Islamists have a terrible habit — what with their brutal beheadings and relentless targeting of innocents including children — of undermining Obama’s preferred narrative that the war on terror is all finished. We wonder why it’s so hard for him to side with those in the Islamic world, like Egypt’s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi, who are bravely calling for reform. As the bodies were being prepared for burial in France, the president released more Guantanamo detainees (Yemenis, as it happens), and the Secretary of State brought James Taylor to Paris deliver a sappy song to the French people. What leadership!

We think about heroism, speculate a bit about 2016 (throwing cold water on one potential candidate), and of course, do a little music at the end. The podcast goes out with the opening measures of Tchaikovsky’s Fifth symphony. Next week, a surprise! Stay tuned.