Center Left Radio

The View From Rock Bottom: The Friday Show

CLR Show 1850. Air Date September 8, 2023. It may seem counterintuitive, but there is some comfort to be taken in the knowledge that we have hit the rock bottom of civic knowledge and awareness in this country.  There is nowhere to go but up––or, unthinkably, out of existence as a functional democracy.  But the strength of the criminal justice system as it deals with everyone from 1/6 Capital rioters/insurrectionists to Donald and his entire inner circle, is becoming increasingly apparent and an unavoidable reality for even the most virulent of Trumpian reality deniers. With Friday Co-Host, David Bach.  

A Single Simple Question

CLR Show 1849. Air Date September 5, 2023.  Next time you find yourself in a conversation with a Trumpian, ask a single question in the following form: "Based on what you know, did Donald Trump win the 2020 election? A simple yes or no, please." A 'yes' is a signal to get out of the conversation as quickly as possible, or at least change the subject. Any other reaction––from waffling, to annoyance to an outright admission that he lost, is an invitation to continue the conversation and the possibility of finding some new common ground for discussion.   

Action and Reaction: The Friday Show

CLR Show 1848. Air Date September 1, 2023. Donald's perpetual modus operandi has been to lurch from one scandal or infraction to the next before any consequences can be brought to bear. The result is his hazy air of omnipotence, and the adulation of those incapable of recognizing its false roots. But in the world of criminal justice where Donald is now a star attraction, no statement or action on his part escapes scrutiny or fails to elicit a reaction from the courts. This is the new and future reality for the one time reality show host. With Friday Co-Host, David Bach.   

Donald... the Divine?

CLR Show 1847. Air Date August 29, 2023. Disturbing as the thought may be, Donald is embraced by the base as nothing less than a religious figure, not subject to human law, facts or restrictions of any kind, and the object of persecution by those who cannot recognize the 'truth' of his message. He cannot be argued away by reason, and his actions and demands on followers and foes alike must be respected as the self-justifying wishes of an 'angry god.'  His capacity to capture and leverage 25% of the population against the rest of us is a tribute to his native guile, the failure of our religious institutions and the failure of republican leaders to confront his challenge to the Constitutional structure of our nation. He must be vigorously resisted in every lawful way possible and will, eventually, be revealed as a false god to even the truest of believers. But the punitive consequences of his actions must become apparent in the relatively near future.     

Even His Mug Shot Lies: The Friday Show

CLR Show 1846. Air Date August 25, 2023. Donald (Fulton County Prisoner #P01135809) has already released a fundraising picture of his hyper-bellicose mugshot on a ($36) tee-shirt over the words––NEVER SURRENDER. The problem is, that the picture was taken as, and only because, he surrendered himself to authorities at the notorious Fulton County Jail, posted bail designed to hold him to his conditions of release and was electronically fingerprinted. And yet, 6 of the 8 (alleged) presidential candidates at the first republican debate swore they would support him as the party's candidate for president even if he were convicted and incarcerated. The republican party has lost its mind and has already lost the 2024 election. With Friday Co-Host David Bach. 

Getting Real

CLR Show 1845. Air date August 22, 2023.  A recent poll of likely republican Iowa Caucus voters produced a media-defying statistic: 6 out of 10 Iowan republicans don't want Donald Trump as their presidential candidate. With Donald burdened by 2 impeachments, 4 indictments and the intense likelihood of convictions and incarceration ahead, it would appear to be a long-overdue rational reaction on the part of 'rational' republican voters who represent nearly 75% of the party. The fear of the 'base' and the results of Donald's control over it will soon dissipate. What's left will be dealing with the fear and anger of the most irrational remnants of Donald's support as they realize they never had the power they imagined.    

The (Un?)Making of the American Author: A Noble Hearts Forum

CLR Show 1844. Air Date August 17, 2023. A distinguished panel of academic authors with shared roots in NYC's Regis High School––Drs. John D'Emilio, Bill Mulligan and Charles Webel––discuss the often unanticipated pathways leading to a life of successful academic writing. Topics include the challenges posed by Artificial Intelligence engines like chatgpt and the far greater challenges associated with evolving into a society where critical reasoning skills, once deemed essential to effective writing of all kinds, are no longer stressed or even welcomed. Must listening for all aspiring authors, and all readers. 

An Indictment Like No Other

CLR Show 1843. Air Date August 15, 2023.  if convicted on racketeering charges in Atlanta, Donald will receive a mandatory 20-year sentence (i.e. a life sentence.) To receive bail prior to trial he will have to prove to the Judge that he would never attempt to influence a witness––a virtual impossibility––and he could never be pardoned by either a US President or a Georgia Governor. Given his chronic incapacity to accept responsibility for anything, fleeing the country prior to conviction becomes a wholly imaginable and perhaps his sole 'viable' option. (Will the Justice Department turn a blind eye?)

Reality Check: The Friday Show

CLR Show 1842. Air Date August 11, 2023.  Donald would have us and his followers believe that he is in the strongest possible position. In reality, with three-going-on-four indictments, and trials coming in the middle of primary and election season, he is in the weakest. His formalized criminality will do exactly what one would expect it to do––make him toxic to most voters. And his November, 2024 performance, if he is available to run at all, will be more akin to that of Mike Dukakis than anything else.  With Friday Co-Host, David Bach.  

If Not Then, Why Now?

CLR Show 1841. Air Date August 8, 2023. If Donald, with all of his legal and moral baggage, were to re-appear on that first 2016 republican debate stage, he would have been booed off of it by his fellow candidates and republican voters. And so republicans of today must ask themselves: Why is this thrice-indicted, chronically lying, anti-American, patently amoral man being openly embraced today by republicans and their evangelical cronies?