Trump and Miller Broaden Their War on Democrats They Label as Communists and Terrorists
We begin with an increasingly unhinged president and his dark-whisperer the shadow president Stephen Miller broadening their war on Democrats they label as communists and terrorists as Trump moves to use the government shutdown to make cuts in what he calls “Democrat Agencies” while targeting the Democratic-led cities of Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Oakland, Baltimore, Memphis and Portland for military occupation. Joining us is Elizabeth Goitein, the co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, which seeks to advance effective national security policies that respect constitutional values and the rule of law. Previously, she was counsel to Senator Feingold, Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee. She is the author of The New Era of Secret Law and we discuss her article at Time Magazine, “The Danger of Trump’s Crackdown on Blue Cities.”
How the Genial Phony John Roberts, Backed by a Billionaire-funded Reactionary Political and Moral Authoritarian Movement, Has Rewritten Our Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights
Then we look into the last twenty years of the John Roberts-led US Supreme Court and how this genial phony who claims to only call balls and strikes has radically curtailed voting rights, undermined anti-corruption measures, encouraged extreme political gerrymandering, restricted the regulation of guns, and obliterated the constitutional right to control one’s reproductive choices, orchestrated by a billionaire-backed reactionary political and moral authoritarian movement, whose interests Chief Justice John Roberts has been all too willing to serve. Joining us is Lisa Graves, one of the nation’s foremost experts on the right-wing influence on the US Supreme Court and other levers of power. She leads True North Research and co-hosts Legal AF and has served as a senior advisor in all three branches of the federal government, as Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Justice Department, as Chief Counsel for Nominations on the Senate Judiciary Committee, and as a Deputy Chief of the article 3 judges division for the U.S. Courts. She is the author of the new book, just out, Without Precedent: How Chief Justice Roberts and His Accomplices Rewrote the Constitution and Dismantled Our Rights.
Background Briefing offers an educational approach to providing information in an era of “fake news.”