Center Left Radio

Unbecoming Donald: The Friday Show

CLR Show 1903. Air Date January 12, 2024. The first shoe is dropping. Before the end of January, Donald will learn the real world details of how his financial fantasies will be unravelled when a New York Judge declares the full amount of his tax penalties and interest, as well as the long term restrictions on his and his son's business dealings. And the second shoe will fall the day the first major newspaper headline reads 'Trump Guilty.' But that does not excuse Joe Biden and the democrats from creating a meaningful, effective, policy-based campaign. On the contrary, it makes it more essential than ever that America has a functional president and party to turn to. With Friday Co-Host, David Bach.  

Even in the Dead of Winter

CLR Show 1902. Air Date January 9, 2024. Even in the proverbial dead of winter, things can change and none so much as Donald's political and legal fate. As of this morning Nikki Haley has reduced his lead in New Hampshire to only 7 points (after trailing by nearly 30) and Donald is only days away from the probable loss of his real estate empire, a massive nine figure fine and penalty to the state of New York, and being prohibited from ever doing business in NY again. The effect on Donald's psyche and the inevitable deterioration of his already bizarre behavior and unbridled threats will finally begin to play on the psyches of all but his most fervent supporters.    

The Making of a Trumpian: The Friday Show

CLR Show 1901. Air Date January 5, 2024. If forced to describe Trumpians generally, 'mortally frightened children with a love of garish entertainment and a complete absence of civic responsibility,'might do the trick. But it takes a horrifically frightened cult leader to set it all in motion. Donald's life is devoted to proclaiming his innocence, his wrongful persecution and swearing vengeance on his enemies, all to the cheers of an adoring audience. But the adoration will evaporate––and Donald knows it will––the day the headlines read: 'Trump Guilty'. The show will be over, even if a few of the crazier crazies feel a need to act out their frustrations and earn jail time for their efforts. With Friday Co-Host, David Bach.  

Political Reality Check: The Friday Show

CLR Show 1877. Air Date December 29, 2023. As 2023 comes to an end, it helps to take stock of where the two major candidates stand: Donald and his cohorts are in the best position they will ever be, playing the weakest hand in political history and nowhere to go but down as he edges closer to his first conviction. Biden is at his weakest political point, but with nowhere to go but up in the next 11 months. But... the Biden folks have to begin playing their much stronger hand far better. With Friday Co-Host, David Bach.  

A Moment of Truth: The Friday Show

CLR Show 1876. Air Date December 22, 2023. Unexpectedly, the Supreme Court is being forced to make two major decisions in the next 3 weeks: Is Donald liable for criminal acts he committed while president; and does the clear language of third section of the 14th Amendment bar him from running for office again? The Colorado Supreme Court has presented a masterful, virtually unassailable argument for why he is disqualified. Will SCOTUS go the the political route to quell America's potential crazies and destroy any hope of it or our judicial system ever being taken seriously again, or will they do what the constitution, law, precedent and history demand they must? With CLR Friday Co-Host, David Bach.   

Sum of the Parts

CLR Show 1875. Air Date December 19, 2023.  A review of the numerous negative elements of Trumpism, and how they are infecting our society might lead some to the conclusion that American Democracy is in danger of being destroyed. But that would demand an embrace of the same fear and irrationality by the positive promoters and forces of democracy. Democracy will only fail if we imagine that it has no alternative but to do so. We can and must inject the notion of hope and promote the positive acts required to preserve and enhance that which we have spent 240 years building.   

A Tale of Two Liars: The Friday Show

CLR Show 1874. Air Date December 15, 2023. Hard as it may be to perceive, Rudy and Donald are in virtually the same position––legally and practically––at this moment. Both stand to lose a substantial part of their personal assets in the very near future based on perpetuated and acted upon lies. The difference is, Donald is the far better and far more entertaining liar. And yet, he is rapidly approaching the moment when he will no longer be 'all that is standing' between his most rabid followers and his fantasized 'deep state'. Stay tuned. With Friday Co-Host, David Bach.   

A Tale of Two Courts

CLR Show 1873. Air Date December 12, 2023.  Unfortunately, but not remarkably, the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court effectively ruled yesterday that a woman would have to carry a defective fetus to full term and see if she died in childbirth to determine whether she was entitled the enjoy the narrow exemption permitted by the Texas abortion law allowing for abortion when the mother's life was in danger.  On the same day, and in a break with most precedent, The US Supreme Court agreed to fast tack a once-and-for-all determination of whether Donald was legally liable for his criminal acts while president.  Stay tuned. 

’He’s Just As Bad As Donald...Right?’: The Friday Show

CLR Show 1872. Air Date December 8, 2023.  As the Republican Clown Car moves closer to an Impeachment Inquiry vote, the full sum of their 2024 strategy becomes crystal clear: 'Vote for Donald; Joe is just as bad.' It's a sick and utterly defeatist position, yet one that is upsetting to most democrats by virtue of its sheer audacity and disregard for all American values. We can and must be better, suppress our fears of Donald and his ilk and elevate our hopes and aspirations for a positively evolving America. With Friday Co-Host, David Bach. 

Dueling Apocalypses?

CLR Show 1871. Air Date December 5, 2023. The Trumpian message and world vision has been self-consciously apocalyptic, with minor variations to suit more secular audiences.  Essentially, it states that without me the end times begin. And it is a message that has worked, somehow compelling MAGA types and Evangelicals alike to act against their own historical beliefs in the interest of preventing their own fantasized destruction. Of late, democrats have begun to explore the use of apocalyptic imagery as a means of inspiring the more quiescent elements within their base. The difference, of course, is that our apocalypse would be real under Trump 2. Donald has already assured that. Maybe it's time we began to respond and react in our own self-interest.