Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the differing reactions to the Nunes memo which has underwhelmed many while confirming the darkest conspiracy theories of those already riled up by Fox News and right wing media.  David Schultz, a Professor of Political Science at the University of Minnesota School of Law and author of “American Politics in the Age of Ignorance: Why Lawmakers Choose Belief over Research”, joins us to discuss the weaponization of conspiracy theories by Donald Trump who has moved on from his inauguration message of “American carnage” to his current invention of “American disgrace”. With Trump seizing on the Nunes memo which he helped orchestrate as the Fox News echo chamber pumps out pro-Trump propaganda, the president appears to be doubling down on his attacks on the FBI and DOJ with Rod Rosenstein in the cross-hairs as a next target to be forced out by a president who at the very least if he does not succeed in shutting down or neutering the special counsel’s inquiry, will now be able to avoid testifying to Mueller on the grounds which the bogus Nunes memo has provided.

Part 2

Then we speak with an award-winning journalist Walter Shapiro who has covered the last ten presidential campaigns and is a columnist for Roll Call, a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University and teaches political science at Yale. He joins us to discuss his article at The Guardian “The Nunes memo shows Republicans buy their own conspiracy theories” and whether Trump has succeeded in not just getting away with not releasing his tax returns and making a mockery of the emoluments clause, but creating the pretext for either ending, delaying  or neutering the Mueller investigation.

Part 3

Then finally we assess the aspects of today’s Superbowl that the NFL is not emphasizing and that includes declining attendance, the corporatization of football, what a career playing pro football does to the human brain, and what happened to the #takeaknee protest movement started by the 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Ben Carrington, a Professor at the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at USC and author of “Race, Sport and Politics” joins us to look into why Trump’s swipe at NFL protesters got the most applause at his recent State of the Union address.

Full Program 

Part 1

We begin with the response to President Trump’s State of the Union from the designated Democrat, not to mention other opposition voices who weighed in and speak with Paul Waldman, a senior writer at The American Prospect and author of “Being Right is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success” about his article at The Washington Post “What Joe Kennedy’s speech says about Democratic anger at Trump”.  He joins us to discuss how Democrats should resist the call by centrist pundits to reach out to conservative voters but instead energize and mobilize voters to vote in November using the growing and palpable anger across the land at Trump which is shared by 57% of the country who feel he is reckless, profane and sexist together with the alarm 46% of Americans feel who believe Trump is a greater danger to America and the world than North Korea’s Kim Jong-un.

Part 2

Then we look into one of the more glaring lies in Trump’s hour and a half long string of jingoistic patriotic platitudes mixed in with hyper-salesmanship and focus on his claim that “Apple has just announced it plans to invest a total of $350 billion in America, and hire another 20,000 workers…This, in fact, is our new American moment. There has never been a better time to start living the American Dream”. Economist, lawyer and investigative journalist James Henry, the co-founder of the new investigative reporting service DCReport.org joins us to discuss Trump’s massive giveaway to the 1% dressed up as middle class tax relief and his bogus infrastructure plan which is based on a disastrous experiment that rewarded contractors but failed miserably for the public in the UK.

Part 3

Then finally we look into the health care project put forward by Amazon, JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway that is long on promises and short on details and speak with Michael Hiltzik, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and columnist with the Los Angeles Times about his latest article at the LA Times “Reducing healthcare costs doesn’t require Bezos/Buffett/Dimon magic: Every other country already knows how”. We try to analyze why so many Republicans cheered Donald Trump at last night’s State of the Union when he proudly announced he was taking healthcare away from millions of his fellow Americans.