Episodes
Friday Oct 06, 2023
Speaker-less / Rudder-less: The Friday Show
Friday Oct 06, 2023
Friday Oct 06, 2023
CLR show 1858. Air Date October 6, 2023. The House republicans have once again done the unprecedented and unimaginable. With McCarthy booted out of the Speaker slot, the ever-certifiable Jim Jordan has tossed his jacket into the ring and gotten the predictable support of panic-stricken, racing-to-the-bottom Donald. The only problem is, on Earth 1, the republicans will need democratic support to elect a new Speaker, just like they needed it to get rid of the old. And they won't get that support until a rational contender emerges. Which would suggest, unless enough republicans come to their senses, we are in for a long government shutdown once the current CR expires, and may still be Speaker-less when it does. With Friday Co-Host, David Bach.
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
Losing Faith
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
Tuesday Oct 03, 2023
CLR Show 1857. Air Date October 3, 2023. Evangelical Leader, Pastor Russell Moore, eloquently and thoughtfully describes the problems of a politicized religious movement that is currently 'using Jesus as a means to an end' in an interview with Carol Martin. His description of the church's problems track perfectly with the larger political problems of the country and particularly with the grievance-based cult of Donald that both motivates and spiritually diminishes the far right. While we can't solve it all overnight, we can understand it now and prioritize our actions. Priority 1: Keep Donald out of the White House.
Friday Sep 29, 2023
The Clown Car Reaches the Cliff: The Friday Show
Friday Sep 29, 2023
Friday Sep 29, 2023
CLR Show 1856. Air Date September 29, 2023. While the democrats refine their messaging for 2024, Donald and the MAGA republicans appear committed to writing the best of their material for them. Between a transparent 'impeachment inquiry' sham that totally backfired, an inter-mural republican squabble that is about to result in a government shutdown and Donald being stripped of his ability to do business in New York, the republicans are rapidly transcending the capabilities of their own spin machine and proving to even their most ardent supporters that they neither desire, nor are capable of governing in a Constitutionally-based America. They can only tear it down. With Friday Co-Host, David Bach.
Tuesday Sep 26, 2023
Let’s Get Real
Tuesday Sep 26, 2023
Tuesday Sep 26, 2023
CLR Show 1855. Air Date September 26, 2023. We can no longer content ourselves with preaching to the democratic choir, or reminding ourselves that we are on the right side of the Constitution. Trumpians have convinced half the electorate that a vote for Donald is a consequence-free pathway to their fondest imaginings. It's a damnable lie. To enter the White House under any circumstances, Donald would have to first destroy the Constitutional order and all belief in it. The Biden Administration and the democrats must immediately begin messaging that fact, and do it with an unprecedented sense of urgency, by creating the most all-encompassing and effective political messaging campaign in all of American political history.
Friday Sep 22, 2023
’Houston, we have a problem.’: The Friday Show
Friday Sep 22, 2023
Friday Sep 22, 2023
CLR Show 1854. Air Date September 22, 2023. The disproportionately powerful House Trumpians have given every indication that no amount of appeasement will divert them from their apparent goal, viz., to incapacitate from the inside a government they see as inherently evil and openly hostile to them and hardcore MAGA types. And having shut the place down, it's uncertain what it would take for them to allow it to open again. The easy solution would be to have Kevin McCarthy lead his way out of this crisis. But McCarthy has proven himself incapable of leadership. Yes, this is happening in America. The question is: How much longer will Americans of good faith put up with it? With Friday Co-Host, David Bach.
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
The Uncomfortable or The Unthinkable: Choose One
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
Tuesday Sep 19, 2023
CLR Show 1853. Air Date September 19, 2023. If Donald remains the official candidate of his party through the 2024 election, the result will be either a Constitutional crisis––triggered by his self-pardon to avoid prison––if he wins, or a protracted series of mini-insurrections among his most ardent sycophants, if he loses. The only possible way to avoid national paralysis will be to encourage the Judges who have current control over him in his criminal cases to fully enforce the sanctions he has already earned by violating the terms of his parole and taking him off the political playing field, post haste. It will be difficult and contentious, but will result in a mere fraction of problems that will ensue if his is allowed to 'run wild' to and through the 2024 election.
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Red Meat By Any Other Color: The Friday Show
Friday Sep 15, 2023
Friday Sep 15, 2023
CLR Show 1852. Air Date September 15, 2023. With the Hunter Biden indictment rapidly evolving into a non-event and, still, no impeachable material discovered after five-plus years of investigating Joe Biden, the republicans are left with inference as their sole tool for attacking democrats as the Trump criminal trials move forward. Lacking the fresh red meat their base has been conditioned to demand and consume, they will invariably turn to the last ready source of that meat––themselves. Matt Gaetz's painful excoriation of Kevin McCarthy on the House floor can be viewed as the first of a new round of intra-mural excisions of trumpian flesh. With CLR Friday Co-Host, David Bach.
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
The Desperados Return To Town
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
Tuesday Sep 12, 2023
CLR Show 1851. Air Date September 12, 2023. With the return of the House, its Trumpian leadership now sets its eyes on an unfounded impeachment of Joe Biden and shutting down the US Government. Their audience remains the sycophantic base and their true and only goal remains the maintenance of power. The good of the United States of America and all its people is an unthinkable irrelevancy. It's time for the democrats to begin pushing back in earnest. A document eviscerating any basis for an impeachment, to be released today, would appear to be a reasonable first step in that effort.
Friday Sep 08, 2023
The View From Rock Bottom: The Friday Show
Friday Sep 08, 2023
Friday Sep 08, 2023
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.
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
A Single Simple Question
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
Tuesday Sep 05, 2023
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.