Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the attempted bombing of George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John Brennan and Congresswoman Maxine Walters, all of whom Donald Trump has demonized and singled out for abuse. Chip Berlet, an investigative journalist who studies the spread of conspiracy theories in the media and on the Internet, and political cults who is the author of “Right Wing Populism in America: Too Close to Home” and editor of “Eyes Right! Challenging the Right Wing Backlash”, joins us. We discuss Donald Trump’s responsibility for the emergence of right wing radicals, Neo-Nazis and white supremacists who have made their way into the political mainstream clearly emboldened by Trump’s election and presidency to now strut their stuff on the streets of America like the “Proud Boys” did recently in front of the Republican Club in Manhattan. We assess whether efforts underway by Fox News, Limbaugh and the right wing echo chamber to blame the attempted assassinations on a Democratic false flag operation will work, and explore the connection between right wing violence and the hateful rhetoric of a president who makes no attempt to be the president for all Americans. Instead Trump consistently riles up his base with fiery, divisive rhetoric rife full of personal attacks on critics and leading Democratic figures to the extent that it is little wonder one of Trump’s acolytes might be motivated to assassinate someone they see as part of a plot to destroy America.

Part 2

Then we speak with Ryan Cooper, a national correspondent at The Week who joins us to discuss his article at The Week “America has a right wing terrorism problem” and make the obvious connection between Trump’s incendiary rhetoric and the actions of a likely follower of the president who was motivated to blow up the president’s enemies because Trump has cast Democrats and those he has singled out for denigration and demagoguery as enemies of America. We look into the motives and methods of the bomber who may be among the group Trump says he loves “the poorly educated”, because of misspelling on the packages and the fact that John Brennan works for MSNBC, not CNN where a package addressed to him with a pipe bomb inside was intercepted in the mailroom, causing the evacuation of a high-rise building in Manhattan.  

Part 3

Then finally we look into the neck-and-neck gubenatorial race in Georgia that is tied in the polls and examine the recent debate between the Democratic challenger Stacy Abrams and the Republican Secretary of State Brian Kemp who is overseeing his own election while brazenly suppressing the votes of likely Democratic voters. Andra Gillespie, a Professor of Political Science at Emory University who worked as an analyst for Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, joins us to discuss why the tape that Rolling Stone obtained incriminating Kemp in discussing voter suppression tactics was not brought up in the debate.

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the caravan of Central American migrants now 5,000 strong heading north for the United States from Mexico’s southern border and speak with Adrienne Pine, a Professor of Anthropology at American University and author of “Working Hard, Drinking Hard: On Violence and Survival in Honduras”. She joins us to discuss Trump’s wildly inaccurate tweets and cynical demagoguery blaming the exodus of migrant families from violence-torn Honduras and El Salvador on the Democrats and on George Soros for mysteriously funding the caravan. Trump is also raising the specter of terrorism claiming that people from the Middle East have been sprinkled along with criminals inside the large group of migrants who are seeking protection in numbers from the Mexican criminal gangs and drug cartels who prey on these desperate refugees as the head north. We also look into the origins of this caravan which is proving to be a pre-election gift to Donald Trump who is rallying the Republicans ahead of the mid-term elections with the catch-cry of “Kavanaugh and the caravan”.

Part 2

Then we get an analysis of the consequence of Trump pulling out of the INF treaty signed 30 years by President Reagan and former Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev who has been sharply critical of the White House move warning that a U.S. withdrawal would reverse efforts made to achieve nuclear disarmament. Kingston Reif, Director of Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy at the Arms Control Association joins us to discuss the consequences of Trump’s move and John Bolton’s current trip to Moscow.

Part 3

Then finally we speak with Nadya Tolokonnikova, an artist, political activist and founding member of Pussy Riot. The recipient of the Lennon Ono Grant for Peace and the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought she is the author of the new book, just out “Read & Riot: A Pussy Riot Guide to Activism”. We discuss her call for more activism in the U.S. to stop the drift in this country under Trump towards the kind of authoritarianism she and her fellow activists suffer under Putin after having been beaten and tortured in a Russian gulag for trying to perform a punk prayer in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow: “Mother of God, Drive Putin Away”.