Trump
President Donald J Trump

When Political Parties Lose the Consent of the Governed: The Civil War and Donald Trump
Why did so many Obama voters go for Trump in 2016? What happens when party elites don’t know how to react to changes of popular opinion at the ground level? While they may try to do both: keep the elite

The Rise of History Education:Vital for America’s Future
Many, including Trump, reject science and embrace myth instead. But just as technological advance depends on knowledge gained through science, so the future of America relies on knowledge of our history. Until recently it has been tough times for History

Trump-Netanyahu Deal: Disappearing a People
Trump calls it the “Deal of the Century.” Just announced with much fanfare, a new peace plan for Israel and Palestine. Only with no Palestinian participation. The ceremony was with Trump, Netanyahu, Jared Kushner, and Sheldon Adelson, and some may

Inequality in The Trump Era: More of The Same But With Cruelty
“The Trump administration didn’t invent the policies that redistribute wealth and income to the top, but it has doubled down on them in characteristically cruel and petty ways,” according to today’s guest Colin Gordon, history professor at the University of

Q: What is The “Deep State?” A: The Opposite of What Trump Says It Is.
As our guest author Rebecca Gordon explains the term “deep state” is from Turkey, where they have government by a criminal gang. And though Trump clearly enjoys accusing others of what he displays, the legitimate government, the one filled with

From 1792 to Nixon to Reagan to Trump’s New Levels of Malfeasance
According to our guest historian James Banner, “The first instance of executive branch malfeasance occurred in 1792, during Washington’s first term in office.” So since instituting a new government designed to be of, by, and for all the citizens, it

Iraq/Iran: Reverberations From The Assassination
Hundreds of thousands of lives are suddenly at great risk. As former national security advisor Susan Rice writes “Full-scale conflict is not a certainty, but the probability is higher than at any point in decades.” With us to discuss the

Hardly A Science, Can We Actually Learn From History?
Often called the father of scientific or objective history, the ancient Greek philosopher Thucydides did not see himself that way. According to our guest, history can never be a blueprint. We just can’t make sense of it. There are no

Trump Order Threatens Jews and Free Speech
A new executive order by President Trump stamps a radical new definition on the meaning of anti-semitism. Its purpose is to clamp down on freedom of speech. A Chicago area rabbi says her congregants have said “this feels like the

When Political Parties Lose the Consent of the Governed: The Civil War and Donald Trump
Why did so many Obama voters go for Trump in 2016? What happens when party elites don’t know how to react to changes of popular opinion at the ground level? While they may try to do both: keep the elite

Impeachment: Restore Entitled “Centrist” Ds and Rs to Power?
No question: today’s biggest unsolved problems came at the hands of the so-called centrists of both parties. Historian and author Professor Andrew Bacevich argues that while of course Trump must be removed, the constant focus of impeachment is a way

Trump and “Disloyal Jews”//The Corpse of Franco and Democracy in Spain
Did Trump mean to be anti-Semitic with his insistence that Jewish Americans who vote Democratic are disloyal? According to our first guest, civil justice advocate and attorney Mark Bello, without question yes, Trump is anti-Semitic. And he says Trump is

Trump and the ‘Gated Communities’ of Afghanistan
Could Trump get something right? Retired US Army officer and prolific writer of military policy analysis Danny Sjursen compares how the brass In Washington sees Afghanistan versus the empirical knowledge from people on the ground. The commanders see Afghanistan as

Climate Change Serves Oil and the Pentagon
Melting polar ice caps is great for the rapacious oil and gas industry. Trump denying climate change and wanting to buy Greenland is actually part of the logic of what drives our military policy. Our guest on this show journalist

Woodrow Wilson And Trump: Fanning the Flames of Hate
Trump is not the first. Author of many history books Adam Hochschild writes: “The last time we had anything similar from Washington was almost exactly 100 years ago and it, too, involved a flood of angry rhetoric and a fear

“Go Home” Rhetoric is as American as Immigration Itself
It’s a long and oscillating history: America welcoming immigrants and telling them to go home. As Washington Post senior editor Marc Fisher explains, it didn’t start with Trump: “there’s a long history of rejecting “different” Americans:” Eastern European, Irish, German,

Are Most Americans Unpatriotic?
If we criticize Trump, we don’t love America. If we learn history, we are disloyal. You know that’s what a lot of people on the right (in larger numbers than we’d imagined) are claiming. But what is Patriotism? Does the

Crackdown on Press Freedom Has Begun
“For the first time in the history of our country, the government has brought criminal charges against a publisher for the publication of truthful information.” The ACLU clearly recognizes the serious new threat to our First Amendment in the form

The Criminalization of Humanitarianism
Leaving jugs of water in the desert for desperate migrants can be a crime. The Border Patrol regularly hunts for them to stab and drain. Thousands of people have already died in the vast desert trying to escape violence in

1919/2019: Echoes on Immigration and Race
Racism was certainly more honest and open a hundred years ago. Today’s voter suppression is far more subtle than blatant Jim Crow laws. But in terms of attitudes on immigration, surprisingly little has changed. On this show Author Arnold Skip

Trump’s Redefining Citizenship Puts America In Danger
Under Trump, only white Christian people should be considered citizens. Karen J. Greenberg, Director of National Security at Fordham Law School, argues in this discussion that expanding the definition of enemies moves us toward unraveling society. By taking away citizenship

Venezuela: Behind the Crafted Image
If you thought something was fishy about what we’re being told about Venezuela you were right. The scene of blocked humanitarian aid at the bridge? Well the bridge has never opened. Our guest Alliance for Global Justice’s Chuck Kaufman goes

Unions on the Rise (Thanks Trump)/Stopping The Emergency Declaration
Unions are making a comeback. The Flight Attendants scared the heck out of the Trumpists, teachers’ strikes enjoy broad public support. Historian Colin Gordon examines the trends and find that, after years of attacks, the direction of labor unions is

Cruelty As Policy
What’s the point? Trump’s policies on immigration and refugees rely on blatant cruelty and they accomplish nothing. According to researcher and author Arnold Isaacs, who has written widely on refugee and immigration issues, Trump’s policies hurt people instead of fixing

Democrats More Hawkish Than Trump?
Had Obama announced pull back of troops from Syria and Afghanistan, our guest Major Danny Sjursen says there’d probably be a ticker tape parade. But because of our reactive hatred for all things Trump, a bizarre thing happened: Democrats opposed

A Wall Won’t Work. A New Marshall Plan Just Might.
Of course Trump’s wall is useless. If we want to stem the flow of refugees from Central America, and stop wasting billions of tax dollars, a new Marshall Plan is needed. What motivates Central Americans to make the thousand mile

From History Vantage Point: When Did the GOP Move to the Dark Side?
This is not your father’s Republican Party. Conservatism has been left behind, replaced by the politics of cruelty. The common good is no longer a concern; Trumpism has openly enshrined greed, and the old checks and balances of democracy as

How Trumpism Liberates Americans from Complex Realities
It’s a uniquely powerful new tool: undermining peoples psychological ability to know and accept reality. In his new book: State of Confusion; Political Manipulation and the Assault on the American Mind, nationally renowned clinical psychologist and author Bryant Welch answers

Democrats Took The Wrong Lessons From McGovern ’72
Conventional Democratic Party wisdom is that McGovern lost to Nixon because he was too liberal, and as a result of that belief, ever since that loss party insiders have trended steadily to the right. But if today’s measuring tools had

Populism Ain’t What It Used To Be
At its birth, American populism was about economic fairness: The average citizen demanding power over his or her own life against the un-American economic royalist political influence of the rich and powerful. But that was then. Populism today is cultural: