The Nicole Sandler Show

My first existential question is whether we, as a nation, are too broken. Our politics are broken. Our 'news' media is broken. Our ability to talk with one another is broken. Believe it or not, I'm not as depressed as I was yesterday (or the past few weeks), but that changes too... Journalist, columnist, author, podcaster, musician, dog lover, White House correspondent and Trump provocateur Brian Karem returns to talk about all of it on today's show...

I took a rare day off yesterday as I was in no shape to do a show. Emotions are running too high due to a combination of things beyond my control. I should probably take off another day or four, but there's too much at stake to sit on the sidelines.

But I also realized that by not doing a show, I'm internalizing all that I'm feeling. So I figured today would be a good day to give us all a place to vent. I will and you can too... And we'll watch and listen to Kamala Harris's first rally speech since Joe Biden decided not to run.

I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. Thank Dog it's Friday so we can stick a fork in this week. But another one is coming right behind this one with plenty more shit to be stirred. At least have this hour each week to get together with Marcy Wheeler, independent journalist at emptywheel.net, to dissect the events of the week. To day this was a busy one is a huge understatement. It was a smorgasbord on insanity that included an attempted Trump assassination, Judge Aileen Cannon tossing the entire Stolen Documents case including the indictment, the Republican convention in Milwaukee, Trump naming JD Vance as his running mate, Joe Biden hit with COVID while the Democrats keep shooting themselves (and our future) in the foot. And more...

Trying to remember despair is not an option. It seems that sanity is failing all around us, but I'm trying to stay positive and believe that good will win out over evil.

Evil has been on display all week, from a rally in PA to a convention hall in Milwaukee. The Democratic circular firing squad is doing what they know how to do best, though I refuse to give in to the defeatist self-fulfilling prophesy they're pushing.

The Nicole Sandler Show's unofficial legal expert Lisa Gravesreturns, this time as the head of the watchdog organization who's informed us about the bad guys... they're just launching a new site to help us inform everyone about what the Republicans are planning should they retake power. Check out Project2025admin.com/faq ... She'll tell us to be afraid, and to fight back.

Political Scientist, Election Strategist and author of the must-read book, Hit 'Em Where It Hurts: How to Save Democracy by Beating Republicans at their Own Game, Rachel Bitecoferreturns to the show today to tell Democrats how to win. All we need to do is listen to her and do what she suggests!

Take notes.. We got this!

Tomorrow, Lisa Graves returns to the show to tell us about the new project she's working on, Project 2025 Administration. 

The Republicans always go back to the teleprompter. They claim that Joe Biden can't speak without one, but won't admit that they use them too. And when they fail? They got nothing. Seriously. The first day of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee was replete with Teleprompter troubles. We'll share a few laughs at their expense,.

And because the media rarely shows a Joe Biden rally or speech, we will! President Biden is set to speak to an NAACP conference in Las Vegas while we're on the air, so we'll carry the feed (finally found one that had decent sound, though it took a few tries).

Also, I promised a link to the new expose that Lisa Graves' organization True North Research has been working on. It's called Project 2025 Administration. She'll be here Thursday to tell us all about it, but in the meantime, you can read some of it for yourself!

The shitshow that is the 2024 presidential election season is rolling right off a cliff. I had planned on playing President Biden's speech delivered Friday at a high-energy back on track rally in Detroit. And then Saturday happened. I'm trying very hard to stay positive, to veer away from conspiracy theories and to present only facts. But the right wing propaganda machine is in full swing, and as greasy and oily as possible. Jonathan Larsen is here today from thefuckingnews.substack.com to help me wade through the muck...

It's Friday, time for our weekly get-together with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net for a discussion of the week's news and ongoing media malpractice.

Today, we discuss President Biden's solo press conference last night at the end of the NATO 75th anniversary summit, and the mainstream media's apparent missive to hand the election over to the fascists unless we can stop the circular firing squad and doomsayers.

The Democratic circular firing squad continues and TFG keeps proving HE'S the one with mental issues we should be truly concerned about. I talk about Opposite World all the time. We're stuck there.
Today we're joined by Heather "Digby" Parton - one of the smartest and most sensible people I know who you should be reading regularly at digbysblog.net and salon.com

I had planned on carrying President Biden's press conference today. It was scheduled to start at 5:30 ET, right in the middle of our show. But then they pushed it back an hour. Ugh....

We'll still watch, and discuss that tomorrow with Marcy Wheeler of Emptywheel.net.

We saw huge election wins for liberals over the far right in France and the UK in the last week. We can and should do it here as well, but we have to pay attention to what they did in Europe and learn from their actions. Today, we'll reach across the pond to an old friend of the show. Dave Johnson moved to England last year, and joins us today to talk about being an ex-pat, life in England, our political conundrum and how they beat back fascism over there.

And I explain how we win... truly, I hope you'll listen.

We've been inundated with journalistic malpractice as much of the corporate media has led the charge to destroy President Biden's candidacy. I've certainly criticized the NY Times, Wall St Journal, Washington Post, CNN, MSNBC and more than a few *pundits* who are attempting to lead the masses down a disastrous road.

Today, I'm going to salute some who are being responsible, like the Philadephia Inquirer who published an editorial calling on D'ump to leave the race, and Inquirer National Columnist WILL BUNCH - today's guest - who writes in his latest column, "I will support whatever approach appears to be the best way forward for keeping Trump out of the White House again, full stop. In fact, as a newspaper columnist, I promise I mostly am not going to write about the Democrats’ drama going forward, because the Republican threats to our democracy are so much more important. To be sure, I’m headed to Chicago in August for the Dems’ convention, and I’ll opine if there’s a major change at the top. But I’ll regret it if I waste one word on any other subject that’s not stopping dictatorship."

We're now into the second week of the corporate media and self-important donors working to derail our democracy. Today it's you and me speaking truth, debunking the lies, pushing back against the idiocy that threatens to destroy us. And yes, the Project 2025 threat is real.

We have covered Project 2025 quite a bit on this program and will continue to do so. In the meantime, you can access these episodes:

and this one, specifically on fascism

How Project 2025 Will Ruin Your Life with Andra Watkins on the Nicole Sandler Show – 5-21-24Project 2025

Takedown with Tiffany Torres Williams on the Nicole Sandler Show 4-17-24

We Must Stop the MAGAt March Toward A Fascist USA on the Nicole Sandler Show – 5-22-24

Another week comes to a close so it's time for our weekly discussion with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net about what happened. It was this week that SCOTUS ended what's left of our democracy, basically giving Trump everything he asked for and more in terms of "absolute immunity," Oh, and in case you hadn't heard, Joe Biden is old....

Tomorrow is the day we set aside to celebrate America's independence from the monarchy. Thanks to the Extreme Court's ruling announced yesterday, it might be our last one.
I could think of no better guest for this wake than my old friend - comedian, actor, broadcaster John Fugelsang.
It's been too long since we've spoken. But I've always marveled at his inherent ability to make us laugh in the face of things the are simply not funny. He's got a high bar to clear today, but I have no doubt that he will.

Reminder, I'll be here tomorrow with a 4th of July music show.  It will not be on YouTube and will not go out as a podcast on my usual feed due to copyright issues. It will stream on my stream though, and I'll post a recording of it at nicolesandler.com.  Happy Independence Day... while we have it.

Lisa Graves has graciously agreed to join us again today to help us wade through this ultimate travesty of justice by the high court that is no longer "supreme". Extreme is more fitting.
Lisa Graves has unimpeachable legal bona-fides. Among other positions during her career, she served under two US Attorneys General -- Janet Reno during the Clinton administration and John Ashcroft during the W Bush regime. She was chief counsel for nominations under Chair Patrick Leahy on the Senate Judiciary Committee, so was charged with vetting Supreme Court nominees. 

I'm always grateful when Lisa brings her expertise here to help us try to figure out wtf is going on. And sadly, that's the only way I can describe what's going on now in the wake of the Extreme Court's gutting of the Chevron deference and conferring "absolute immunity" -- a concept that hadn't existed before yesterday's decision.

The six Extreme Court injustices completed their task from the Federalist Society to kill our democracy. And no, that's not hyperbole. The month of July begins with such a travesty to close out the court's session.
I spent most of the first half-hour reading from Justice Sonia Sotomayor's and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's dissents. 

PLEASE read the whole thing for yourself. Or just read the two dissenting opinions which run from page 68 to 118. 

Then we check in with Jonathan Larsen of The Fucking Newsto further examine this unprecedented assault on democracy and the crowning of King D'ump.

It's time for our weekly get-together info download with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net. And it's another week ending with out disbelief over what's happening in our corner of the world.... After last night's debate and this morning's group of SCOTUS rulings, I can't help but envy Marcy's living in Ireland. Today, we try to make sense of all that happened this week. Again, buckle in. It's a rough road ahead.

What a day! The Extreme Supremes this morning handed down four more decisions out of the dozen or so still tba... and then signaled that they will not get it all done by the official end of the term tomorrow. There will be at least one more decision day in July. We'll know more about that tomorrow.

Lisa Graves, the unofficial legal expert of the Nicole Sandler Show, returns for the first half of the show today to talk SCOTUS, which we somehow didn't get to yesterday. We'll discuss both the two and sneak peek at a third from yesterday, plus three more from this morning (and the one we got a look at yesterday), with some horrific consequences playing out.

Then Howie Kleinjoins in from Down With Tyranny as we count down to tonight's debate showdown. Buckle in...

With the Extreme Court allegedly poised to hand down the final decisions for this term over the next two days, we're joined again by the Nicole Sandler Show's unofficial legal expert Lisa Graves. I had hoped that this morning's announcements would include more than the two they trickled out... and in a sense it did. Apparently accidentally, someone posted a draft of one of the still outstanding decisions-- this one in Idaho vs US. They quickly took it down, but not before Bloomberg News got it, converted it to pdf form and posted it online...

Julian Assange is a free man in Australia again, primary upsets abound and Aileen Cannon is still somehow presiding over a clusterfuck of Trump's criminal trial for stealing and hiding classified documents.

We'll talk about all of that and more... PLUS we'll tell you about Lisa's new podcast "GRAVE INJUSTICE"!!

**Postscript: Best laid plans and all that. Lisa and I didn't get to SCOTUS or Assange at all, but still covered some important territory. She'll be back tomorrow for the first half hour leading up to Howie Klein. Hopefully tomorrow morning, the Extremes will have given us more of the decisions we're waiting for.

One more thing, there was quite a bit of disagreement in the YouTube chat during the show about my comments regarding Jamal Bowman and why he was defeated in yesterday's primary. I've been highly critical of the one-sided coverage of the Israel-Hamas war. But I happened to see this article today about why Bowman lost, and they sum it up perfectly. Read it here:

"Jamaal Bowman Didn’t Lose Because of AIPAC: Their astonishing spending mattered less than how the congressman’s Jewish constituents weighed his words and actions."

Yesterday, theHEALTH CARE un-coveredNewsletter arrived in my inbox, sporting the headline "Fifteen Years Ago Today I Became a Whistleblower". It was from Wendell Potter who remains a hero to all of us in the US, whether you know it or not.

I was fortunate to first interview Wendell on Air America Radio in August of 2009, just two months after he testified before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, pulling back the curtain from around the industry for which he carried water and covered up unethical practices.

A few months later, he would testify before the House and became the most important voice for the masses, just as then president Obama was helping to push through the first health care industry reforms in decades.

Fifteen years ago. And though things are better for us mere mortals who will, at some point, need medical care, we're still fighting nefarious forces in the health insurance and so-called health care industries as well as in government. And Wendell continues to fight for us.

Wendell Potter has been a frequent guest on this program since that first appearance 15 years ago and I'm proud to consider him a friend. I invited him back to today to talk about the problems we're still faced with and to thank him, again, for standing up for us.

After a rebound infection with COVID over the weekend (I'm not kidding), I'm almost feeling human today. The icing on the cake was a negative test this morning! Yippee!! So I'm back, trying to catch up on all that happened while I was delirious. One thing that did happen was TFG rambling like the demented old fool he is in Philadelphia Saturday night. I even have some audio...

And as it is Monday, Jonathan Larsen is here from The Fucking News to fill us in on the fucking news I missed while I was fucking sick...

Marcy Wheeler is on holiday and I'm still on the mend from a nasty case of Covid, but we managed a fascinating hour of conversation about everything from Hunter Biden's trials to Aileen Cannon's and the Supreme Court's assaults on democracy and lots in between. Read Marcy at emptywheel.net, and hear her at the end of each week here...

I'm back today, hopefully my voice will hold up for the hour.
I'm no longer testing positive for Covid, so I've got that going for me. Any my brain isn't as foggy as its been, so there's that too... But much news has transpired in the week and a half I've been gone, and I can't sit idly by.
And it is Thursday, so Howie Kleinis here from downwithtyranny.com and the Blue America PAC...

I'm slowly emerging from the Covid fog, but still have a way to go before I'm feeling fine. So today, I'll test the waters with a short live segment.

Then I'll fill the rest of the hour with the conversation I had with Heather Cox Richardson upon the release of her book, DEMOCRACY AWAKENING: NOTES ON THE STATE OF AMERICA, last September. She's one of the sharpest minds out there, so I'm happy to revisit this interview today.

I hope to return to the full show by tomorrow, and certainly by Friday. Fingers crossed, chicken soup ingested....

I'm still out sick with Covid, but we couldn't let today go by without hearing from Marcy Wheeler! So with an assist from Spocko and LOLGOP aka Jason Statler, the show goes on. Hunter Biden was found guilty on all three of the gun charges this week, an FBI agent and others involved have gotten death threats and much more happened this week. Marcy will fill us in on all of it.

Apologies for my absence yesterday. Husband somehow contracted Covid (first time in our home) and we spent the better part of the day at the Emergency Room. I'm doing my best to keep the virus at bay, but that hasn't stopped me from feeling lousy. Thankfully the tests keep reading negative! Good thing that today's show was pretty much in the can. I got to record a conversation with NY Times economic journalist and author Peter S Goodman last week in advance of today's release of his new book, HOW THE WORLD RAN OUT OF EVERYTHING. I'll share that today, along with a brief update on the news of the day -- Hunter Biden convicted after the jury deliberated for a whopping three hours on gun charges, new incriminating revelations from Extreme Court inJustice Sam Alito and more... One housekeeping note on the Peter S. Goodman interview... My producer needs a vacation. We had audio issues when we started recording, so I had to re-boot the software. Of course, I neglected to hit record on the video when it came back up, so the first 5 minutes or so of the interview is audio only. Then the video kicks back in.. (Won't make a difference to anyone listening to the audio podcast, but I needed to explain my screw-up.) Now back to our regularly scheduled programming....

The amazing Marcy Wheeler, who keeps us informed about the news we need to know at emptywheel.net joins us every Friday to talk about what happened that week. As she does today. I must apologize to Marcy and everyone watching this. I started a new medication last night to deal with my RLS, and it completely knocked me out. I awoke in a fog this morning, somehow walked and fed Jaxson and made it in to the studio to record with Marcy. When we finished taping, I went back to sleep for a bit, but am still as out of it as I was early this morning. So again, I apologize. Thankfully Marcy didn't really need my input...

Whoo boy, another crazy busy day in our world... Somehow it's fitting that today marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day. And since I took the day off yesterday, there's so much to cover before Howie Klein joins in at the bottom of the hour, today joined by Conor O'Callaghan, who's running for Congress in AZ 01. An appeals court in GA put a hold on the Fani Willis case against Trump as he can't decide whether or not she should be removed from the case for having an affair with a prosecutor in her office, Senate Republicans tanked a bill codifying women's rights to birth control(!), the MAGAt House sent criminal referrals for Hunter Biden and James Biden, while Hunter Biden's trial on gun charges continues in Delaware. Two MAGAts were added to the House Intelligence Committee by the MAGAt speaker. And Boeing successfully launched a manned rocket headed for the International Space Station. At least none of the doors fell out. And, oh yeah, Steve Bannon is headed back to jail for four months after he was found guilty of ignoring a subpoena from the Jan. 6 Committee. report to jail on July 1st, just in time to miss the Republican National convention. He'll be out 4 days before the election, hardly enough time for him to meddle in 2024's election.

Americans have very short memories. For some unfathomable reason, there are millions of people with their heads in the sand who just don't (or won't) remember how bad things were under TFG. The years the orange one was in office were some of the darkest of my long life. Even after we voted him out, his specter continues to torment us as women's right to choose was taken away and threats of an even more evil and twisted Trump occupying the oval office is again a possibility. Also unfathomable. So today, we'll offer a bit of a reminder. I'm still struggling with my sleep issues and I lost the battle last night, with creepy crawly legs keeping me from getting any rest at all. So I will not be doing a new show today. Instead, I went back into the show's archives to four years ago this week. It was June 2, 2020. Here's the show description I wrote up for the program I'll re-play today that I titled "Awaiting the Locusts": "With each new day comes a new crisis, thanks to Donald Trump. The US leads the world in covid-19 infections and deaths. We've lost our standing in the world. We've alienated our allies, while the president aligns with strong men and dictators. And yesterday, he had military police fire tear gas and flash bang grenades at peaceful protesters to clear his way for a photo op at a DC church, where he used a bible as a prop. And America burns. On Tuesdays, I gather with my gliberal girlfriends GottaLaff and Amy Simon. Today, we'll try to figure out how our nation survives."

You know the old adage, 'Sticks & stones my break my bones but words can never hurt me.' As I often say, the scientific term for that is "bullshit." Words can and do immense damage. And as today's guest Annalee Newitz explains in her new book (out today) STORIES ARE WEAPONS: PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE AND THE AMERICAN MIND, this really is war. They open the preface to the book writing, "It's hard to write about a war while it's raging. Especially when there are no craters in the ground, no missiles streaking overhead - just words and images that are inflicting a form of psychological damage that is impossible to measure, impossible to prove." Such is our challenge as these words and stories continue to misinform, pervert and harm both people and our democracy, fragile as it is. Her words and stories from our history show just how dangerous these PsyOps are and how we must defend against them.

Like death and taxes, there's no stopping Mondays. They come every week whether we want them or not. But there's a silver lining... we get The Fucking News every Monday from Jonathan Larsen who writes the fucking news every fucking day... Then again, there are some weeks when there's good fucking news, like Trump being convicted and like Mexico electing its first woman President -- a Jewish woman at that! But don't fear newsfuckers, there's some fucked-up news to talk about too...

The verdicts are in! Donald J Trump found guilty on all 34 counts, but you already knew that. However, today is Friday, so Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net is here. We discuss the verdicts, the hypocrisy and worse from the right, the fact that they're out for revenge, and that Hunter Biden's gun charges trial gets underway on Monday. Never a dull moment!

Literally ten minutes before hitting the air, the word came down that the jury had reached a verdict in the first criminal trial of the former guy.  Needless to say, everything I had planned for today's show was thrown out the window.... but Howie Klein still joined me to help celebrate the news that our justice system works. 

We were going as history was made today. Of course, the fight isn't over. Trump is playing the victim, trotting out his "it was rigged" tourettes. He doesn't know how to say anything else. 

Tomorrow, Marcy Wheeler will be here for a postscript, and a preview of the revenge they'll want to take out on Hunter Biden. Strap in...

ur favorite legal expert Lisa Graves returns to the show to bring some clarity to the surreal legal news we've been dealing with the the past few weeks. First, there's the Trump trial - the one of four criminal cases that he should be standing trial for. Closing arguments were delivered yesterday; the judge gave the jury instructions this morning and the first day of deliberations are done. Of course TFG went out to the microphones and continued his normal practice of lying about everything.

The second big story that's broken over the past few weeks involved Supreme Court *justice* Samuel Alito. We now know that he and his wife (he blames his wife, whatta guy!) have flown flags supporting the insurrection and Trump at their VA home and their beach home, yet he refuses to recuse himself from any case dealing with Jan 6. Yeah, we have a few things to talk with Lisa Graves about today...

The title of today's episode is taken from a line in a commencement address delivered this weekend by filmmaker/historian Ken Burns to the graduating class at Brandeis University. I heard enough plaudits about it to seek it out, and I must agree. In fact, so much that I'm going to share the final 8 1/2 minutes or so of it on today's show. I'll also post the entire thing on my website where I'll post today's show (nicolesandler.com/5-28-24) so you can easily find it to watch the rest of it. With the spectacle of the first criminal trial of a former president coming to and end, and the amount of disinformation and propaganda warping the minds of the gullible, i've been having flashbacks to 2016 when our world was falling apart. Some idiot on Facebook defending TFG posted a response to something I wrote with "we survived Trump once, we will again"... a sentiment with which I wholly disagree. This, if he succeeds in lying, cheating and stealing his way back into the oval office, will be the end of our democracy as we know it. Ken Burns chucked his longstanding policy of neutrality in this speech when he said, "The presumptive Republican nominee is the opioid of all opioids, an easy cure for what some believe is the solution to our myriad pains and problems. When in fact with him, you end up re-enslaved with an even bigger problem, a worse affliction and addiction, 'a bigger delusion', James Baldwin would say, the author and finisher of our national existence, our national suicide as Mr. Lincoln prophesies. Do not be seduced by easy equalization. There is nothing equal about this equation. We are at an existential crossroads in our political and civic lives. This is a choice that could not be clearer." It's with that in mind that we'll hear the rest of that address today, and I'll bring you the latest on the closing arguments, the newest roadblock to justice thrown up by one of TFG's appointees to the bench, the latest outrage over the fact that our Supreme Court is sickeningly compromised and that we are, to put it bluntly, fucked. And not in a good way.

We made it through another eventful week in the most insane decade of my life, and I'm old. We celebrate Fridays because the weekend is here, but not before we recap some of the news made during the week that's ending. It seems that each week these days is more outlandish than the one before, and this one is no different.

Among the news and stories that Emptywheel.net's Marcy Wheeler and I discussed today are the complete mess that is the Supreme Court. ProPublica this week confirmed and shared photographic proof that Justice Samuel Alito flew a second flag (this one at his NJ shore beach house) supporting Trump's insurrection and, this one specifically, Christian Nationalism. We discussed fascism and the staffer who reportedly posted the blatantly fascist "Reich" video to TFG's 'Truth Social' account. There was the lie told by Trump and his minions that the DOJ had an order to assassinate him during the execution of the search warrant at Mar A Lago, and we spent a few minutes talking about the "hush money" trial in NY where closing statements will be argued on Tuesday. The jury could get the case as soon as Wednesday. And, who knows? We might have a verdict by the time Marcy and I reconvene next Friday.

Oh, and of course we spoke about the circus surrounding Hunter Biden, whose second trial will get underway in Los Angeles in September.  The first one (on gun charges) will happen in Delaware in early June. Strap in...

Marcy is actually doing another podcast these days. She's working with the awesome Jason Statler (aka @LOLGOP) on a new podcast calledBall of Thread.  Follow the link for more info or to listen.

It's Thursday (or as I prefer, Friday Eve) has arrived. That means a visit with Howie Kleinof Down With Tyrannyto talk politics. One subject that shouldn't fall under the category of "politics" is "The Supreme Court." But norms are dead, and we're now living in opposite world. So all bets are off....

I've been doing my best to have guests on this program who can explain the threats we are facing from fascism by way of Trump and his MAGAt sycophants. We've exposed "Project 2025" and urge you to learn as much as possible about what they are planning should they retake power. It really is urgent -- all hands on deck kind of urgent.
Today we'll give you the knowledge you need to push back on the mis and disinformation, lies and propaganda they're pushing. There's a reason TFG said "I love the poorly educated!". They're easier to manipulate.

In that spirit, I was happy for the opportunity to speak withFederico Finchelstein today on the show. He's now written eight books on the subject of Fascism, including the brand-new one, just out one week, THE WANNABE FASCISTS: A GUIDE TO UNDERSTANDING THE GREATEST THREAT TO DEMOCRACY.

Federico also contributed an article to this week's special edition of The New Republiccalled "What American Fascism Would Look Like". Please check it out and share!

We've covered Project 2025 before, and we'll continue sounding the alarm until and after TFG is defeated and this MAGAt brand of Republicans are extinct. They are that dangerous, and that's not hyperbole, it's fact. They will, if given the opportunity, destroy democracy. Today, I'm joined by a NY Times best-selling author, Andra Watkins.. She was raised in a Christian Nationalist family, the people who espouse this type of fascism, and was lucky enough to escape it and share what she knows with the rest of us. She started a substack at Project2025isTheocracy.substack.com. And today, she'll scratch the surface of what they've already done and what they're planning to do if given the chance. We must make sure they don't get that chance.

Mondays are always difficult, especially after an epic weekend.. But here we are.

There's lots of news to discuss-- the latest on TFG's trial, possibly entering the homestretch, Alito must recuse (or be impeached.... and Clarence Thomas too!), the ICC is calling for the arrest of Hamas' leaders plus Netanyahu and Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. And lots more.

And since it's Monday, Jonathan Larsen joins in from The Fucking News with even more!

Every Friday I'm joined by the brilliant Marcy Wheeler from emptywheel.net to recap most of the important news of the week....

Today we talk the Trump trial and the show of Republican members of Congress skipping out on their jobs  to do Dear Leader's bidding at a NYC courthouse, some even making implicit terror threats (looking at you Matt Gaetz)... there's the fascist proclivities of SCOTUS (in) justice Alito, journalistic lack of integrity, disorder in the House and lots more...

Today's Thursday, so we have a standing date with Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny.com and the Blue America PAC. He usually joins us at around the :30 minute mark. He's out at an appointment today, but we should still be able to get him on the phone for a conversation.... But if something prevents that from happening, we've still got you covered as there's more insanity flying around the interwebs today than I could possibly get through in an hour. For example, some Neanderthal football player from Kansas delivered a commencement speech on Saturday that he is correctly being lambasted for... Of course, I have a response... and now he's trying to mitigate the damage but just digging a deeper hole... The crazy caucus in the already ridiculous GOP House caucus has shirked their Congressional responsibilities to show up in NYC to put their stamp of approval on the corrupt, disgraced, twice impeached, sexual predator, former occupant of the White House.... you get the idea.

President Joe Biden owned TFG this morning when he issued his challenge for not just one, but TWO debates to happen in June and September. Surprisingly, TFG agreed...BUT then, true to form, he lied about a THIRD debate, hosted by Fox (NOT) News, saying he accepted that one too. But, true to form, he made it up. A third debate and especially one hosted by FOX was NEVER on the table. The poor schmuck just can't abide by anyone else's rules. Yesterday, Digby told me that the sycophants who are still cult members aren't even denying that TFG wears diapers. They've embraced it. And today I saw lots of evidence of that, which I'll share. You know that, if there was ever even an accusation that President Biden was suffering from fecal incontinence, the ridicule would never end. But for the orange turd they embrace the anal leakage (and, I guess, the reported stench that accompanies it). Now that you have that mental picture... We have a show today, but no guest. So we'll talk about the news and whatever is on our collective minds. The phone lines are open at 954-889-6410. If we get through all my stuff and you aren't calling in, I have an interview cued up from last summer when I spoke with the artist I'm going to see on Friday night, Michael Franti. At a time like we're living through right now, we could all use a shot of positivity. So I'm happy to replay that one... unless you have something more important we should discuss?

She is the OG of the progressive blogosphere. Heather Parton, known to her readers as Digby, began blogging at her Hullabaloo blog (now at digbysblog.net) back around the turn of the century. Truly.... And here we are today -- not only in Opposite World, but also in the Surreal World. We'll talk about Trump on trial and the rest of the absurd news of the day that illustrates just how completely screwed we are!

It's hard to believe we're almost half way through May already. I guess time flies whether we're having fun or not! I'm in website hell and in desperate need of a vacation... but I'm not there yet. So instead, it'll be a show at showtime as usual (5ET/2PT). I'll try to bring you up to speed on the Trump trial. Michael Cohen is on the stand today.. and Sen Bob Menendez' trial is on track to begin today too. It is Monday, so we'll check in with Jonathan Larsen of The Fucking News (thefuckingnews.substack.com) because we're not yet fucked up enough, apparently.

Finding it difficult to keep up with all the news of the week? Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net joins me every Friday for a sort of debriefing of what we need to know happened that week. Today, we talking Stormy Daniels testifying, Trump getting just what he wants from Aileen Cannon and a Georgia appeals court, the latest on Hunter Biden, Steve Bannon, Henry Cuellar and a lot more. Listen, catch up, then go enjoy the weekend because next week promises more...

Stormy Daniels returned to the stand today for more grilling from the orange one's lawyer whose name is pronounced necklace (spelled Necheles) who basically seemed to rehabilitate Daniels today, however unintentionally. According to reports, Stormy was much more composed, in control and funnier today. I'll share some tidbits before we move on... It's Thursday, so Howie Klein is here. It's a shocker, but Howie believes much of Congress is corrupt, and he has a piece up at DownWithTyranny about just that, and features a bunch of retiring members answering the question, "is Congress corrupt?". It's almost as funny as Stormy Daniels was today.

Sorry, no sex (unless you count the encounter between Stormy Daniels & TFG "sex"... it isn't/wasn't... it's just yuck), but lots of rock and roll and yes, politics, on today's show. It's a Wednesday worthy of another edition of THE MAL-LADIES a couple of women talking about all that ails us (and we may venture there for a minute or two) but we have more important things to discuss. Dayna Steele returns to the show today to shoot the shit and yes, she has lots to talk about. She is the Democrat running for Congress from TX36 (her second try). But hers is a campaign like no others. She'll explain. If you're from Houston then you likely know Dayna from her many years rocking Texas middays on KLOL. Or perhaps you own one of her books or listen to her "Surviving Alzheimers" podcast or have seen her play THE WOMAN IN THE MIRROR.... I could go on and on, but we'll do it live. So just listen.

Stormy Daniels spent the day on the stand in NYC at TFG's trial. We'll discuss some of the highlights (or lows, depending on your point of view), But we'll begin today on a different subject -- the future of Social Security and Medicare. A breaking news alert crossed my desk yesterday proclaiming that Social Security & Medicare will run out of money in about 10 years if Congress doesn't act. I figured we were due for a discussion on this all-important issue, so we called in the expert. Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works is here at the start of the show to explain what's up...

Mondays are always difficult by definition, so we try to make them a bit more palatable by kicking off each fucking week with The Fucking News, as written and delivered by Jonathan Larsen who does his reporting for us daily at thefuckingnews.substack.com. Lots to discuss today from the possible ceasefire between Israel & Hamas, TFG on trial, TFG wannabe Veep-stakes, same sex marriage in the church and lots more...

Every Friday, Marcy Wheeler joins us from emptywheel.net to talk about some of the news she covered in the previous week. Today, a little Trump trial stuff mixed in with a whole lot about Bill Barr and his role in framing Joe Biden and, of course, Hunter Biden. And more...

It's Thursday, so TFG is back in the courtroom, snoring and farting while a jury listens, Democrats are one vote closer to a House majority, protests escalate, and Time magazine published a massive story about what TFG plans to do if he becomes the current guy again... and Howie Klein is here from Down with Tyranny and the Blue America Pac.

We've had non-stop guests and lots of news recently, so I thought we'd take the day to catch up and talk. Phone lines are open for you to weigh in on anything we've been talking about... from the Extreme Supreme Court, Trump Trials, College protests, Israel-Hamas, or anything else on your mind.

If you've listened to my show, you know that I often refer to myself as an "atheist Jew". My Judaism comes by way of heritage, family, generational stories and history. I have real disdain for organized religion of every stripe, and have often commented about how virtually every war ever fought had its basis somewhere in religion.

I've been struggling since the news broke of the Oct 7 attack by Hamas terrorists with the images that play on a loop in my mind. Making it worse is the reception I've gotten from some listeners, former friends and former political allies, and complete strangers who think that, because I believe that Israel has a right to exist and defend itself, that I am a "Zionist who loves genocide."

I do my best to explain my feelings, but these people who resort to calling me names and worse don't want to listen, they want to tell me how I feel. They have no clue.

I hope they're listening today.

I happened upon a thread on Threads.net from a man named Mo Husseinithat captured my attention through all 55 parts. I immediately identified with him when he described himself:

"I am a proud Palestinian-American. I care deeply about Palestinian rights to freedom, security, and self-determination.

But I am also profoundly aware that true long-term freedom, security, and self-determination for Palestinians cannot exist without creating a reciprocal reality for Israelis.

There is no path to freedom that begins with oppression of the other.

That is not freedom.

That is a Pyrrhic victory that will turn to ashes in your mouth.

We are, both peoples, stuck on the world’s worst fucking amusement park ride, an eternally shitty and utterly predictable carousel of suffering."

It goes on and I hope you'll read the whole thing. It's posted on Medium in article form here:

Mo joins me in conversation on today's show. I hope you'll join us.

***Post show note from Nicole: I truly appreciate Mo joining me today. We didn't agree on everything, but we did find common ground where it was most important. That is the need for both sides to stop the shit and start talking. That's an oversimplification, but so it goes.

In the meantime, there are two films you should watch:Oslo and Screams Before Silence. 

Ahh we joke, but that's how the news gets digested better. Every Monday, I'm joined by Jonathan Larsen who writes at TheFuckingNews.substack.com. Mondays are difficult enough, so I figure it's best to ease back into the new week with a bit of humor injected into the normal awfulness of it all. Today we'll have some actual funny observations about the news, something that was mostly missing from Saturday night's Nerd Prom (aka WH Correspondents Dinner). Then there's the lovely revelations about SD Gov Kristi Noem as a dog murderer, college campuses racked by protests, Bill Barr says the quiet hyprocritical parts out loud (nothing really new there) and not only will he vote for TFG if convicted, he admitted that TFG often spoke of having Americans killed. Nothing much to see here... move right along...

Each Friday, Marcy Wheeler takes a break from writing at emptywheel.net to join me for a conversation about what happened that week. This week was insane, and ended at the Supreme Extreme Court. That hearing consumed much of today's show, with a few minutes at the end dealing with Trump's current criminal trial, underway in Manhattan.

It's a Thursday, so we have a date with Howie Klein of Down with Tyranny & the Blue America PAC. It's not like there's a shortage of things to discuss... in fact, too much news for a one-hour show. There was the SCOTUS hearing this morning on Trump's ridiculous concept of absolute immunity (but there are some ridiculous people sitting on that extreme bench these days), the were 3 members of the AZ Republican House voting with all the Dems to kill the 1864 abortion ban (now goes to the senate and then the governor?). The FCC restored Net Neutrality rules killed by TFG's administration, and the FTC said no more airline junk fees. Of course TFG is still nodding off in a Manhattan courtroom where his first of four criminal cases against him is being heard. But Howie asked me an important question this week that I never answered, and the "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame" class of 2024 was announced, and I think they need to change its name to the Popular Music Hall of Fame.

I'm always honored when Lisa Graves joins me to lend her legal expertise to the discussion about the trials and tribulations of TFG and, of course, the machinations of the once Supreme, now Extreme, Court.

Lisa has the bona fides... she served as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Policy Development/Legal Policy at the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorneys General Janet Reno and John Ashcroft, Chief Counsel for Nominations for Senator Patrick Leahy on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Deputy Chief of the Article III Judges Division of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts with oversight of the Financial Disclosure Office and more, and as an adjunct law professor at George Washington University Law School. She also worked as the Senior Legislative Strategist for the ACLU on national security and civil liberties, and held other posts.

Although Lisa generously shares her knowledge with us on this show, she does so in her capacity as a private citizen. These days, her day job is as the founder and Executive Director of True North Research, a national investigative watchdog group that works with journalists and other researchers to shine a bright light on the dark money fueling regressive agendas targeting vital institutions in our republic, such as our courts and public schools.

Graves is one of the nation’s foremost experts in exposing how special interests distort public policy and try to thwart the public’s interest in a thriving and inclusive democracy and to impede measures to protect our environment and mitigate climate change.

I don't run through her CV and experience as often as I should when she's on the show, so I wanted to put it down in writing... Today, Lisa joins me to talk about the beginning of the first-ever criminal trial of a former president, about that former guy's inability to follow the most basic rules of decorum inside a court of law (or anywhere else for that matter), David Pecker's testimony that proves Trump talks about himself when he decries "FAKE NEWS" and more.

On the SCOTUS front, tomorrow - the final day they'll hear arguments this term - they'll hear Trump's farce of a claim that he enjoys "absolute immunity" as a former president... of course today, the antediluvian men on the court showed that they believe they should control every aspect of a woman's life, including her health care.

Today was only the second day of Trump's first criminal trial and I honestly don't think he'll survive this one, let alone three more! But I guess we'll eventually find out.

With no cameras allowed in the courtroom, the media is left to its own creativity to bring the action to the public. Some outlets are doing a better job of it than others, but I thought we'd call on an actual journalist to help us navigate the coverage.

Brian Karemwas the last man standing (literally) atPlayboy where his official job title was senior White House correspondent. He's covered every presidential administration since Reagan, sued Donald Trump three times successfully to keep his press pass, spent time in jail to protect a confidential source, covered wars in the Middle East, and is the author of seven books, the latest of which is Free the Press. He writes a column for Salon.com and thankfully joins me on this show fairly regularly....

Welcome to a new week. As expected the first criminal trial of Donald Trump is now underway in a NYC courtroom. Both sides delivered their opening statements and the first witness began giving his testimony. The prosecution started strong with David Pecker as the first on the stand. Notwithstanding his quite appropriate name, the former head honcho of the National Enquirer who ran interference for TFG with his "catch & kill" schemes to deal with stories that would be damaging for the orange one, will return to the stand when the court reconvenes tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, this trial will not be televised, but the court announced today that they'll release transcripts... before the end of the following business day. Not exactly the instant gratification we're used to. So today I'll share some insights from Laffy's Mastodon account. It is Monday, so there's some fucking news to get to with Jonathan Larsen, the man behind thefuckingnews.substack.com. What are you waiting for? Subscribe now. You can sign up for free (though if you're in a position to chip in a buck or two to support his work, we'd appreciate it!)

Each Friday, we get to spend an hour with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net for a conversation about much of what happened that week. This week was pretty remarkable in that Donald Trump is finally on trial for some of his crimes. By the time we finished recording this morning, the entire jury and six alternates had been seated. It appears that opening statements are possible on Monday. Stay tuned...

Another Thursday has arrived, which means we have two things going for us today: 1. Howie Klein is here and 2. Tomorrow's Friday so the weekend is near. This has been a crazy week at a moment in history that promises to be among the craziest, certainly in our lifetimes! The number of jurors seated in the first criminal trial of TFGDJT has dropped from 7 to 5. Why? Because the defendant is intimidating potential jurors, thumbing his nose at the judge's orders not to do that. And the media is also complicit. We'll discuss that and more. Like the madness of Marjorie Traitor Greene who today introduced a few batshit amendments, including one to fund those pesky Jewish space lasers at the southern border. You can't make this stuff up...

The first criminal trial of Donald Trump to convene is on recess today (no Wednesday sessions, per the judge), but it was a busy Tuesday as seven jurors were seated. Five more plus six alternates are expected by the end of the week, with opening arguments as soon as Monday. So today's circus was in Congress, where House Republicans walked their articles of impeachment for DHS Secretary Alejandro Majorkas, and the nonsense continued. I'll run down the latest on those and other stories, and then we'll get to today's main attraction: Project 2025, or the GOP's plan to bring down democracy in the USA. It's a topic I've been concerned about, but wasn't sure who to invite on the show until last week, when I get a message from Rachel Bitecofer imploring her readers to follow a new substack by Tiffany Torres Williams called Project 2025 Takedown. So I subscribed (project2025takedown.substack.com) and invited Tiffany on the show. To add an interesting element, Tiffany had considered herself a "conservative Republican". Oh I have so many questions for her...

Have you ever thought about running for office? Now would probably be a good time to do so. Republicans have effectively taken over state legislatures, city councils and school boards, doing great damage to our institutions along the way. And their embrace of a dictatorial conman as their presumptive presidential nominee is a mortal threat to our democracy. The stakes have never been higher, and no elected office is unimportant. School boards have become intense battlegrounds. With groups like Moms for Liberty and Turning Point USA trying to indoctrinate our kids while dismantling our public educational system, it's time for those of us on the side of education, democracy and facts take back control. Today, I've invited two women who I met this weekend while they were canvassing in my neighborhood. One of them, Zeyna Pruzhanovsky, I met a month or two ago when she first stopped by. She's running for a seat on the Chandler Unified School District Board. Joining her yesterday was Laura Metcalfe, who's running for Maricopa County School Superintendent. They'll join me live in the studio to talk about what's at stake and what made them decide to jump into the race. I'll also bring you up to speed on Day 2 of Trump on Trial, and the Supreme Extreme Court who heard the case of one of the 1-6 insurrectionists that could impact the prosecution of both Trump himself and others who stormed the Capitol that day.

It's April 15. Have you done your taxes yet? Remember when TFG was in office and he told us we'd be filling out our taxes on a postcard? Yeah, not so much. But he's in a Manhattan courtroom today as his first criminal trial begins... And of course, Jonathan Larsen is here with the fucking news. And I'm in the perfect fucking mood for it. I just spent the morning at the doctor's office and she thinks it IS gout. FML.

I am honored that the independent national security journalist Marcy Wheeler, whose original reporting you can find at emptywheel.net, joins me on my show every Friday for an hour-long discussion of the news that matters and, for the most part, hasn't been reported accurately or with enough urgency elsewhere.

Today, in addition to preparing for Monday's beginning of jury selection in the NY fraud case involving the payoff to Stormy Daniels, I was thrilled to be able to congratulate Marcy for her journalistic prowess! She went the extra mile to intervene in a CIPA case in 2022 that now will impact the Mar A Lago classified documents case that Judge Aileen Cannon seems bound and determined to not treat fairly (my convoluted language to try to express her general support of TFG).

Howie Klein has been doing a weekly segment on my show for more than a dozen years now. He and I first met some 30+ years ago on Los Angeles where I was doing (really great) music radio and he was President of Reprise Records. When Howie exited the music biz, he turned his energies toward getting real progressives elected to office. He began blogging at DownWithTyranny.com. In 2006, Howie joined forces with Heather "Digby" Parton of Digby's Hullabaloo (digbysblog.net) and John Amato of CrooksandLiars.com. They created the Blue America PAC, enlisting the help of Jacquie Propps (@Jacqrat) to help with the organizational aspects of running a PAC. Jaquie wrote "Fighting The Right Wing Since 2006" for the Blue America blog to reacquaint the blogosphere with Blue America, now in its 18th year. (Read it at https://blueamerica.crooksandliars.co...) We agreed that with the most consequential election season of our lives underway, this would be a good time to get some of the players together to recognize the work they do and shine a spotlight on this year's group of Blue America endorsed candidates. So, joining Howie and me today -- Digby, of course. And Tom Maxwell. Huh? Tom Maxwell is a musician. You probably know him from his time with the Squirrel Nut Zippers. In 2006, Tom contributed a song, "Have You Had Enough?" --sung by Rickie Lee Jones - to one of the first Blue America campaigns, that one to oust the predatory Republican Speaker of the House Denny Hastert. It was a success and the campaign was a hit. And the rest, as they say, is history! They'll all join in at around the 30 minute mark. But we'll start with some news and memories spurred by the news that OJ Simpson has died. Open the floodgates....

I'm new to Arizona. We moved here from Florida for a number of reasons, chief among them was the fact that AZ was trending bluer while FL has become Fascist Central. Well, yesterday Arizona's Supreme Court reinstated a law that was in effect until 1973 when Roe v Wade came into effect and legalized a woman's right to choose what happens with her own body. Since that 1864 law was never officially removed from the books it was still in effect once Roe was overturned. ARGHH. I attempted to get some AZ officials and others to discuss the ramifications of yesterday's news to no avail. That makes sense as I'm guessing this is an all hands on deck moment. So, I thought back to how we dealt with the Supreme Court overturning Roe two years ago. It was June 24, 2022 when they did the unthinkable. The following Monday, June 27, I spoke with the man regarded as the father of the birth control and abortion rights movement, Bill Baird. I was introduced to him by the always brilliant Barry W. Lynne. When we spoke almost two years ago, Bill had just turned 90! As is too often the case, we had some technical difficulties, but it's worth hanging through them to meet and learn about Bill Baird. I hope he will give you the inspiration he's given me during incredibly awful times like these.... We'll begin with a song from Jill Sobule that she wrote after Texas enacted its disgusting Fetal Heartbeat bill that outlawed abortion after six weeks. (From Wikipedia: The Texas Heartbeat Act, Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), is an act of the Texas Legislature that bans abortion after the detection of embryonic or fetal cardiac activity, which normally occurs after about six weeks of pregnancy. The law took effect on September 1, 2021, after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request for emergency relief from Texas abortion providers.[1] It was the first time a state has successfully imposed a six-week abortion ban since Roe v. Wade, and the first abortion restriction to rely solely on enforcement by private individuals through civil lawsuits, rather than having state officials enforce the law with criminal or civil penalties. The act authorizes members of the public to sue anyone who performs or facilitates an illegal abortion for a minimum of $10,000 in statutory damages per abortion, plus court costs and attorneys' fees.)

Another busy day in today's strange new world. We begin today with breaking news from my adopted state of Arizona where we moved from Floriduh because AZ was a bit less fascist... Well, today the AZ Supreme Extreme Court upheld an 1864 near total ban on abortions. The only exception is to save the life of the mother. Yeah, I'll have a few words on that one to start today's show. While we're on the subject of abortion, the orange weather vane backtracked on his promise of a national abortion ban yesterday only to be criticized by some of magaT world, including the sycophantic Lindsey Graham. TFG lashed out so Lindsey did what Lindsey does and dropped to his knees to do magaman's bidding. You can't make this shit up. Then, I'll speak with the author of a new book hits the shelves today. TRIPPED: NAZI GERMANY, THE CIA, AND THE DAWN OF THE PSYCHEDELIC ERA by author Norman Ohler recounts the reason psychedelic drugs are classified as dangerous narcotics. Of course, one need look no further than the Nazis. Figures.

Well, so far no rapture but we did see the eclipse here in Arizona! It's another Monday so we start the f$^king week with more f$^king news from Jonathan Larsen at thefuckingnews.substack.com because someone's got to do it!

We couldn't end the week and usher in the weekend properly without a visit from Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net. As she does each Friday, Marcy will walk us through the latest developments in Trump Trial World, including the batshit whack-a-doodle-ness of Judge Aileen Cannon who is doing TFG's bidding so much to his liking that he publicly promised her a Supreme Court nod if he's somehow re-elected. As someone suggested last week, the subtitle of this show is "You can't make this shit up!"

It's a Thursday, so Howie Klein takes a weekly break from writing at DownWithTyranny.com and vetting the best candidates for the Blue America PAC to support. There's no shortage of topics to discuss today, but I'm running late as I spent the morning at the doctors office and urgent care trying to figure out what's going on with my foot. (Stay tuned for another episode of the Mal-ladies, where we discuss what ails us. Ugh) I also have to share a few words from one of the people I most respect in this world, Chef Jose Andres. I'm just sick about everything today.

If you're thinking that in the US, all may theoretically be created equal, but we're sure not treated equally under the law. It's a fact that those with money, fame and power get away with (almost) murder. And if Donald Trump did, indeed, shoot someone on Fifth Avenue? Well, let's just say the jury's still out on that one. And if TFG has any say, the trial would be perpetually delayed. Of course I have a million questions for Lisa Graves, the unofficial legal expert of the Nicole Sandler Show, having to do with Teflon Don. But wait, there's more... There's our Supreme Extreme Court, where ethics apparently aren't a requirement to be a Justice. And there's an organization made up of Republican Attorneys General (RAGA) who've fully transitioned from public servants who serve the law to more magats perverting the law to support TFG.

Yes, we're in the Threats era of the Trump tour of America's court rooms. The National Lampoon magazine cover depicted on today's show graphic is a classic! It's an actual magazine cover from 1973. it was funny because it was so absurd and obviously a joke. But the current incarnation of Donald Trump isn't making humorous threats. His threats are serious. Deadly serious. Judge Merchan who's overseeing the first of the criminal prosecutions against TFG just had to revise his gag order to include language that prohibits the orange menace from threatening family members of court personnel. He violated that gag order just moments after the order was revised. Just what is law enforcement doing about it? Not a whole lot, from what I can tell. Our pal Spocko was wondering about the same thing, and he has a new post up at Digby's (https://digbysblog.net/2024/04/01/a-6... ). He'll check in with us too

The big guns come out on Mondays.... From Rachel Maddow and Jen Psaki to Jon Stewart and now Jonathan Larsen of The Fucking News! He's here every Monday to help kick off the week with a dose of news that you're not getting from the corporate mainstream media. Today Jonathan Larsen is breaking news that will be released to paid subscribers at thefuckingnews.substack.com concerning one of the more concerning underbellies of the US government... The Family, the National Prayer Breakfast and now... NASA? Jonathan will fill us in. But first, Easter blasphemy from TFG, his daughter-in-law, and plain truth from the editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer...

Every Friday is a good Friday here because Marcy Wheeler is our guest for the whole hour, recapping most of the important news of the week. Today we touch on the Ronna NotRomney McDaniel/NBC News mess, the latest Trump trial news, Trump financial issues and gag orders, the Supreme Extreme Court, Julian Assange and Hunter Biden too... And we wish Marcy Wheeler a very happy birthday too!

Today is Thursday, so we have our weekly get-together with Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny.com and the Blue America PAC. Last week, you may recall, Howie brought along a guest --Jersey City Mayor and already declared-candidate for NJ Governor in 2025 Steven Fulop. The conversation concerned the race to replace corrupt Sen Bob Menendez from NJ. Fulop had reversed his endorsement of Tammy Murphy (wife of NJ's current governor who's being term limited out of office) in favor of Congressman Andy Kim. Hmm, Murphy dropped out of the race just a couple of days later.... Today, among other stories, I'll ask Howie about his experience with the former senator/would-be spoiler (via No Labels), and why his VP candidacy with Al Gore at the top of the ticket was the first time Howie didn't vote for the Democrats in a presidential election.

This time she really will be here! I confirmed it. And I spent all day yesterday rebuilding my studio so I think I've exorcised the gremlins, at least for a little while. I hope... Barbara McQuade is a former US Attorney, professor at the University of Michigan Law School, co-hosts the #sistersinlaw podcast, and is an MSNBC legal expert. On top of all that, she just released a new book, ATTACK FROM WITHIN: HOW DISINFORMATION IS SABOTAGING AMERICA. We get to talk under the backdrop of NBC pulling back their offer to former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel to be a paid analyst after an uproar from staff and the public.

We cannot let the month of March - Women's History Month - end without a visit from Cultural HERstorian Amy Simon, creator of "She's History: The Most Dangerous Women in America Then and Now" and its various incarnations over the years. So Amy is here today to shine a light on some of our unsung heroines. It's fitting on the day that the Supreme Extreme Court heard the case the could roll back women's bodily autonomy rights to the stone age... But first, Rachel Maddow must have heard my pleas yesterday, and called out NBC News and MSNBC management for their sick and truly dangerous hiring of Ronna Not-Romney McDaniel and normalization of the fascists trying to overturn our democracy!

Despite our wishes for an endless weekend, Monday has again arrived. And with it, lots of F&#king News! So in the tradition of Rachel Maddow, Jen Psaki and Jon Stewart, Jonathan Larsen is here every Monday morning to tell us wtf is going on. A few things in the f&#king news today: Ronna McDaniel NBC kerfuffel, TFG in a NY courtroom, penalty payment day has arrived, no government shutdown this time, motion to vacate again, SCOTUS hears the mifepristone case this week.... I could go on, but you should just listen...

Marcy Wheeler reports the important news daily at emptywheel.net. She joins me on Friday's to recap what the highlights (and lowlights) from the week. Today, the latest Comer farce impeachment inquiry hearings and the various pending cases against him. Plus NBC News' latest hire and more...

Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny.com has done a weekly segment with me on this show for more than a dozen years now. We mostly talk politics, often music and occasionally other subjects too. And fairly regularly, Howie brings along a guest. It's usually one of the Blue America-endorsed candidates, but today's guest is slightly different. Steven Fulop is the Mayor of Jersey City. Tonight he'll deliver his 11th State of the City address. He's already announced his candidacy for NJ Governor; that election happens in November of 2025. So you might ask, "why today?". Well, that has to do with his endorsement in the race to replace corrupt Senator Bob Menendez (who hasn't yet announced whether he'll run for re-election. I think it's a safe bet to say if he did, he'd lose, badly.). Anyway, Mayor Fulop this week withdrew his endorsement of Tammy Murphy, the wife of NJ's current Democratic Governor Phil Murphy, and threw his support to Congressman Andy Kim. We'll discuss that and a lot more. But we open the show with a big breaking news story for which I must thank AG Merrick Garland! I'm vindicated in my dislike of Apple products as the DOJ filed an antitrust suit against them for their monopolistic practices, especially concerning iPhones! It's about damn time!

FIGHTING MAD: RESISTING THE END OF ROE V. WADE is the title of a new book of essays about the recent SCOTUS decision in Dobbs overturning a 50-year precedent that gave women "reproductive autonomy". One of the editors, Krystale E. Littlejohn guests today to showcase the wide range of experts fighting back for our rights. The title FIGHTING MAD also works when describing the Democrats who sat through another ridiculous episode of the GOP's impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden this morning which was more of a circus than a hearing, deeply embedded in opposite world.

Today ushers in the first day of Spring! It's only fitting that it's also the first day of the rebooted Bruce SPRINGsteen tour, and it's kicking off in Phoenix. It is Bruce so of course I'll be there. Yes, I'm giddy. There's nothing like a Springsteen concert!

I'm glad today's guest is a fellow music lover. Jason Leopold's seeing him in LA on April 4... but he's not here to talk Bruce today. These days the man who's been dubbed the "FOIA Terrorist" by our government just launched "The FOIA Files," a weekly newsletter through Bloomberg News, for whom Jason is now working.

I had invited Jason on the show to promote the newsletter. But when I reached out to him about it last week, he was in an undisclosed location working on a big story, using only burner phones. He'll give us the scoop today... but it has to do with the story I told you about on Friday with Marcy Wheeler about the FBI agents in Florida who served Trump the search warrant at Mar A Largo and were not very happy about it. (Houston I think we have a big problem).

The 2024 presidential election is in full swing. My husband David and I were fortunate enough to be at a Biden-Harris event in Tempe, AZ yesterday where the featured speaker was our favorite member of Congress, Jamie Raskin.
I hope to have him on the show sometime soon for a real interview, but we got to say hello, shake his hand, take a photo and hear him speak for about 30 minutes. It was one of the best political speeches I've ever attended, and he did it extemporaneously - no notes, no teleprompter. Just his quick wit and brilliant mind.

I started recording his speech and let it roll for the whole thing. It was so brilliant that I'm going to share the whole thing with you today.

After hearing from Congressman Raskin, we'll check in to see what's happening in my former state of Florida with my old friend Hillary Keyes, who's trying to keep some blue in that place...

Fridays are special aside from the obvious reasons. Marcy Wheeler, an independent journalist who covers legal and national security issues better than the corporate media at emptywheel.net, is our standing date to wrap up every week.

Today we'll talk about the breaking news out of Fulton County, GA where Fani Willis will remain on the case as long as Nathan Wade doesn't, from NY where DA Alvin Bragg agreed to a 30-day postponement in TFG's fraud trial that was supposed to begin in 10 days, to the Aileen Cannon court in Florida where she's doing Trump's bidding in the stolen classified documents case, to the Robert Hur House Judiciary Committee hearing and more. Yes, it was a busy week...

Today, I'll once again go into overtime. Last week we covered the State of the Union address.

Today, I'll pay tribute to a dear friend and amazing musician who died yesterday. Angela McCluskey's is not a household name, but I've been a fan and friend of hers for coming up on 30 years. She was in a band called Wild Colonials who we championed when I worked at KSCA fm 101.9 in Los Angeles in the 90s. I thought I'd share with you a live session from December 9, 1996 when the band joined me on the air for an interview and performance.

I hope you'll stick around and enjoy the music and get a feel for Angela's larger-than-life personality, and understand why I'm already missing her.

It's Thursday, so time for our weekly get-together with Howie Klein of downwithtyranny.com & the Blue America PAC. This week, both Biden and TFG clinched their party's nominations, so buckle in for a loooonger than our already ridiculously long election season and all that comes with it.

There's lots of political news to discuss with Howie today, but I'll certainly save a few minutes to talk about this week's losses (of some amazing musicians)...

Because sometimes you just need to sit with a brilliant friend and shoot the shit about all the craziness in our world. That's how I approach the shows when Heather "Digby" Partonis our guest.
Digby is, of course, one of the OG bloggers of progressive politics. Her Hullabaloo blog is still a daily must-read, as are her columns at Salon.com.
I love it when Digby is my guest because I truly adore her and love our conversations, which can go in any direction. We never know where it'll go until the interview progresses.
Too bad there's nothing big happening in the news to discuss today /sarcasm

Post-show note from Nicole:Never mind! Time to fire my producer again as she apparently forgot to re-confirm Barb McQuade and send the Zoom link, so Barb will be rescheduled in the next week or two. Time to go flog Nicole again. JFC, you'd think she'd learn by now how to do her job. Legal scholar and analyst Barbara McQuade became known to many of us due to her spot-on punditry on MSNBC and her role in the sistersinlaw podcast. Now she's sharing her expertise -compounded by her past work as US Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, her private practice, and as a law professor at the University of Michigan Law School in a new book, ATTACK FROM WITHIN: HOW DISINFORMATION IS SABOTAGING AMERICA.

Mondays. They happen like clockwork every week, coming right after the weekend to put an official end to our fun. So on Mondays, we check in with Jonathan Larsen of The Fucking News  to help ease us back into the work week with an irreverent discussion of the serious shit happening in our world.

Jonathan joins in at the bottom of the hour... And we check in with Spocko who fact checks the crazy rebuttal from Katie Britt who apparently learned one thing from the head of the Republican party: how to lie!

While the rest of the nation is struggling after losing an hour yesterday morning for Daylight Savings Time, here in Arizona our clocks stayed on standard time. You'd think that would make me happy, right? Well, I didn't lose an hour of sleep, but I did lose an hour of show prep time!

This show still airs from 5-6pm ET/2-3pm PT... That means here in AZ, I hit the air at 2pm instead of 3 each weekday afternoon... I'll try not to be late.

I always look forward to Fridays for the obvious reasons: the weekend and Marcy Wheeler! Emptywheel.net's Marcy Wheeler and I have a standing date every Friday to discuss the week's happenings in Trump Trial and other national security and other news of importance. Today we speak on the morning after President Joe Biden's State of the Union address, likely the last time before the convention that he'll have the opportunity to speak to the nation and the world. My quick review? He hit it out of the park, exactly what we needed at this juncture. Marcy Wheeler is a self described SOTU fan, so we begin with her thoughts on what happened last night. Of course, we'll also bring you the latest news in insurrectionists, the extreme court, and lots of other somewhat related news to complete the hour. But today is SOTU Bonus day. After Marcy leaves, we'll go into overtime!

It's been a politically busy week in the US, so we have lots to discuss with Howie Klein of downwithtyranny.com and the Blue America PAC today. Super Tuesday solidified Trump as the Republican nominee with Nikki Haley dropping out. California finalized its two senatorial candidates who'll be vying for Dianne Feinstein's former seat, and Katie Porter isn't one of them (but she did something really stupid after she lost)... What else did we learn from Super Tuesday? I'll ask Howie. And, oh yeah, tonight's the State of the Union. And in case you hadn't heard, Joe Biden is old. /snark.

A new book is out and making waves because it points out an ugly truth about a huge swatch of this nation. Following yesterday's Super Tuesday primaries, the top of the 2024 presidential ticket is now set. It'll be a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, as if we didn't know that would be the case.

What has changed is the political landscape of middle America - or Rural America.
Tom Schaller, Political Science Professor at University of Maryland, Baltimore and journalist/columnist Paul Waldmanhave co-authored a new book that helps to explain the divide: WHITE RURAL RAGE: THE THREAT TO AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.

After a quick recap of yesterday's (and today's) developments, I welcome Tom and Paul back to the show to talk about the ugliness plaguing our country.

Well, they sure took their sweet time to stick a dagger in the heart of democracy and now the Supreme Extreme Court is dragging it's feet before it strikes the death blow. Rather than immediately put us out of (or increase our) misery quickly (like they did in Bush v Gore 2000), they're draaagggging it out another six long weeks. Yes, the court will hear TFG's bullshit case where he's claiming "absolute immunity" for his actions related to the January 6 insurrection that he led! It took the court three weeks just to say they would hear the case (also a horrendous decision), and now they're obviously delaying hearing the case. One can only assume it's to help their dear leader, the twice impeached, orange tinted, failed former occupant of the White House. To add insult to injury, Clarence Thomas - who never should have been confirmed in the first place - refuses to recuse himself, despite overwhelming evidence that his wife, Ginni Thomas, not only participated in the planning of the Jan 6 coup attempt, but was a major instigator and funder of the whole mess. To help us understand this and how the laws have been so perverted, LISA GRAVES returns to the show. Lisa is executive director of True North Research, which investigates and exposes those distorting American democracy and public policy. She then went on to helm the Center for Media and Democracy, the group who gave us ALEC Exposed and who took on and publicly exposed the Koch Brothers. Previously, Graves was Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Office of Legal Policy/Policy Development and served as Chief Counsel for Nominations for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for Senator Patrick Leahy.

Making Mondays suck a little less... Mondays come every week, inconveniently at the end of a weekend.

It's difficult to make that transition from down time to work time, especially when the work involves the (usually depressing) news.
Today is no different! It began with the Supreme/Extreme Court deciding unanimously that TFG will be on the primary ballots, saying that regardless of whether or not Section 3 of the 14th Amendment applies, it's up to Congress to make that call, not the individual states. So, D'ump will be on the Colorado ballot tomorrow and in the other states who had ruled against him.

Even with that setback, we'll attempt to make the news fun today as Jonathan Larsen, proprietor of The Fucking News will inject humor and snark into his roundup which, today, has lots of new reporting about the GOP's ridiculous impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.

Friday was always my favorite day of the week, and now even more so since we started spending Friday's shows with Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net. Having a tough time keeping all of the Trump trials straight? Somehow, Marcy stays on top of it all. Each week she answers whatever questions I throw at her, and she does it without consulting notes or quick searches. She just covers it all and somehow is able to speak off the cuff about it. Today, we'll talk about the Supreme Court's decision to take up TFG's immunity defense, Hunter Biden's closed door deposition, the status of the documents case in Florida and lots more. Once again, buckle in... these Emptywheel Friday shows are a bumpy ride!

Big news broke yesterday while we were on the air - and I missed it! I didn't see that the Supreme Court finally announced their decision to hear TFG's appeal regarding his ridiculous claims of absolute immunity. So we'll deal with that at the start of the show - and really get into it on Friday's show when Marcy Wheeler is here.

The other big news from yesterday was Mitch McConnell's announcement that he'll step down as Senate Minority Leader in November (but will remain in his senate seat). That's something we'll discuss with Howie Klein today. It's a really important issue when considering what candidates you vote for this year!

**Programming note of frustration. The long-awaited news from the Supreme Court about TFG's appeal of the DC  Circuit Court decision agreeing with the lower court that he has no immunity came down about 20 minutes in to the show today. But because it was live, I didn't see the emailed alert until the show ended. Apparently a couple of people posted it in the YouTube chat room, but I only see a fraction of what's posted during the show. So I missed it. I really do need to hire a producer. We'll deal with it tomorrow...

Yesterday's show about that teenage gang of neo-Nazis indoctrinating even younger kids was so heavy, so I thought we'd lighten the mood a bit today -- after recapping today's news from Mitch McConnell finally stepping down to Hunter Biden sitting for that closed-door deposition and more...
And then, my favorite diversion.... music. More specifically Rocking Women!
Veteran music journalist Katherine Yeske Taylor interviewed 20 women who rock for her new book, SHE'S A BADASS: WOMEN IN ROCK SHAPING FEMINISM.
Rock on!

There's a meme making the rounds  featuring a photo of some Trumper idiot with a swastika and the text "I did Nazi this coming" ...to which I call Bullshit.

The Nazis made their presence known in an unmistakable manner in Charlottesville. They regularly display their flags in Florida at Disney World, no less. Just two weekends ago, they marched on Music City, Nashville.

Jordan Green, investigative reporter for Raw Story, spent months investigating a heinous group of teenagers who recruit even younger (white) kids to indoctrinate them nice and early. For his troubles, he's been stalked, threatened and worse by these same "kids" who terrorize blacks, Jews, LGBTQ+call and other perceived enemies. They call themselves 2119.
Jordan Green joins us today to tell us about his investigation, stories and now his fight to protect his family and himself.

Be sure to read the stories he wrote on this subject:

⁠Stalked by Nazis: How extremists tried to stop me from reporting on their violence

⁠⁠Inside the neo-Nazi hate network grooming children for a race war⁠⁠Parents of ‘2119’ Nazi teens haunted by fear and regret Yes, it can - and does happen here!

We ended the show today with the latest song from The Marsh Family, a tribute to Alexei Navalny, "Sit for the Road"