Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy

Air Date 6/11/2024

Democracies don't break all of a sudden in a moment of crisis, they fail slowly over time and only by knowing the warning signs and responding effectively to the threat before it's too late can the worst be averted.

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Transcript

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KEY POINTS

1: Why and Where is Democracy in Decline? - TLDR News

2: Is Democracy Under Threat? - Tufts University

3: The decline of American democracy won't be televised - Vox

4: How Republicans are fueling Russia and China_s global effort to undermine democracy - Velshi

5: How Republican Attorneys General are Undermining Voting Rights - Democracy Docket

6: Democracy vs. Autocracy: An Unproductive Dichotomy - Marxist Project

7: When Democracy Breaks: Final Thoughts with Archon Fung, David Moss and Arne Westad - Democracy Paradox

8: Protecting Voting Rights with Eric Holder - Why Is This Happening?

9: Rich Logis Escaped the Trump - MAGA Cult -- Heed His Warnings About Its Power and Extreme Danger to America - Chauncey DeVega Show

10: "The President of Forgetting" - Dastardly Cleverness in the Service of Good

(1:03:29) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Those who defend authoritarians against criticism during D-Day commemoration

Conservatives Angry at Biden’s Anti-Nazi D-Day Speech

Fighting Trump on the Beaches

DEEPER DIVES

(1:09:52) SECTION A: DISSECTION OF DEMOCRACY

(1:31:56) SECTION B: INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRACY

(2:09:54) SECTION C: THE CULT OF TRUMP

(2:36:47) SECTION D: DEMOCRACY IN ACTION

IMAGE:

Description: Black and white photo of a person holding a homemade sign that says “Fighting for Democracy”

Credit: “For Democracy” by Alisdare Hickson, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Change: Cropped

Air Date 7/30/2024

The Republican Party is making it sound like they're trying to transform themselves into the party of working people. There's a mountain of evidence suggesting that you shouldn't believe them but there's also plenty of reason to sit up and take notice of the situation.

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Full Show Notes | Transcript

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KEY POINTS

KP 1: “He’s a Fake” Robert Kuttner on How J.D. Vance Disguises His Anti-Worker Views as Economic Populism - Democracy Now! - Air Date 7-16-24

KP 2: Trump, Vance, and the New Right at the RNC - Deconstructed - Air Date 7-19-24

KP 3: JD Vance, Phony Populism on the Right, the Republican National Convention, and Democratic Party Messaging w Ben Burgis - Parallax Views - Air Date 7-22-24

KP 4: Teamster President’s RNC Both-Sides Pandering Fails Miserably - The Majority Report - Air Date 7-17-24

KP 5: Why Hiking Tariffs Actually Protects Americans - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 5-14-24

KP 6: Sean O'Brien faces criticism from Teamsters Vice President for RNC appearance - The Real News Network - Air Date 7-19-24

(43:44) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

On the shifting political epoch toward pro-worker policies we're witnessing

Clip: Let's adopt the GOP's national platform - Jim Hightower - Air Date- 3-6-13

Article: Biden’s labor report card: Historian gives ‘Union Joe’ a higher grade than any president since FDR

DEEPER DIVES

(54:05) SECTION A: TEAMSTER SPEECH AND FALSE POPULISM

(1:17:09) SECTION B: PRO-WORKER LEGISLATION

(1:28:24) SECTION C: JD VANCE AND THE "CENTER" RIGHT

MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)

SHOW IMAGE:

Description: J.D. Vance scowls with his face in partial shadow while standing at a podium.

Credit: "J.D. Vance" by Gage Skidmore, Flickr | License: CC BY-SA 2.0 | Changes: Cropped

Produced by Jay! Tomlinson

Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com

Original Air Date: 9/19/2017

Today we look not so much at hurricanes and the climate science behind them (though we touch on that as well) but focus more on what we can see more clearly when it’s illuminated by so-called “natural” disasters, the structural inequality and legacies of decision-making that make these disasters worse than they need to be

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Act 1: Mark Hertsgaard: It's not politics, it's science - Start Making Sense from @TheNation - Air Date 9-13-17

Act 2: What is environmental racism and environmental justice? - #PoliticallyReactive with @wkamaubell and @harikondabolu - Air Date 9-7-17

Act 3: Breaking News Consumer's Handbook: U.S. Storm Edition - On The Media - Air Date 9-1-17

Act 4: Disasters call attention to inequalities if we care to notice - CounterSpin (@FAIRmediawatch) - Air Date 9-1-17

Act 5: Preventing future floods with data and regulation - @DecodeDC - Air Date: 09-14-2017

Act 6: The Human Causes of Natural Disasters - Popaganda from @BitchMedia - Air Date 12-8-16

Act 8: Dr. Michael E. Mann on attribution science and the tactics of inaction and delay - Bradcast from @TheBradBlog - Air Date 9-13-17

(Music from Blue Dot Sessions)

EDUCATE YOURSELF:

We will not be silenced. Stand up for a strong NEPA! (Earth Justice)

Trump CEQ rolls out plans for swift NEPA reviews (Governors' Wind & Solar Energy Coalition)

US people of color still more likely to be exposed to pollution than white people (The Guardian)

Christine Todd Whitman: How Not to Run the E.P.A. (New York Times)

Boston Communities Unite to Democratize Their Economy (Next City)

Written by BOTL Communications Director, Amanda Hoffman

Air Date 11/14/2023

The Supreme Court turned the table on average, working people back in the 70s when they empowered wealthy individuals and corporations to have an outsized role in our politics. Now we're trapped in the reality that shift in power created and are dreaming of a better way to manage our economic and political systems for the benefit of all people.

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Transcript

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Related Episodes:

#1247 The Fight for the Four Freedoms (FDR vs. Libertarianism)

SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: Citizens United Has Destroyed America Why Is Nobody Talking About It - Thom Harmann Program - Air Date 10-27-23

If America is to recover any semblance of meaningful democracy in our country, we have to cut out the cancer of big money in our political system. We MUST overturn Citizens United.

Ch. 2: How Things Work Congress's Revolving Door - Jim Hightower's Lowdown - Air Date 11-9-23

Hear it? What’s that sound? “Whoop-whoop-whoop.” Oooo, it’s Washington’s revolving door, allowing corporate interests to come directly inside Congress to pervert public policy.

Ch. 3: Corporate Bullsh*t Legal Bullsh*t - Ralph Nader Radio Hour - Air Date 11-11-23

Donald Cohen discusses the long history of corporate propaganda covering for corporate greed, and his new book Corporate Bullsh*t: Exposing the Lies and Half-Truths That Protect Profit, Power, and Wealth in America.

Ch. 4: What Socialism Needs to Succeed - Economic Update - Air Date 10-32-23

This week's episode covers the crisis of today's left, the need to build upon and go beyond successful socialism of the 19th and 20th century, the state and micro focus on the workplace, and democratizing workplaces.

Ch. 5: Redefining Wealth–with Aisha Nyandoro - OFF-KILTER - Air Date 11-2-23

As Aisha Nyandoro—CEO of Springboard to Opportunity and architect of the Magnolia Mother’s Trust—argues in her recent Tedx Talk, it’s time to redefine wealth in the United States.

Ch. 6: Prof. Richard Wolff Why Not Democratize Big Auto Companies - The Zero Hour - Air Date 10-28-23

Prof Wolff joins Zero Hour with RJ Eskow to discuss the recent agreement between the Ford Motor Company and the United Auto Workers and how it relates to the larger issues of labor, capitalism, and democratizing workplaces.

Ch. 7: Inside West Virginia's New Economic Bill of Rights–with Troy N. Miller - OFF-KILTER - Air Date 11-9-23

For this week’s episode, Rebecca sat down with Troy N. Miller, who’s long served as the Off-Kilter podcast’s beloved “man behind the curtain,” aka executive producer.

MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)

Ch. 8: How Media's Use of 'The Economy' Flattens Class Conflict - Citations Needed - Air Date 11-1-23

Kim Kelly joins to discuss the term "the economy," how and why metrics reflect interest of capital- GDP, the DOW - which are positioned as more important indicators of economic strength versus the needs of the average person.

Ch. 9: Redefining Wealth–with Aisha Nyandoro Part 2 - OFF-KILTER - Air Date 11-2-23

FINAL COMMENTS

Ch. 10: Final comments on how a shifting baseline obscures the inequity of our economic system

MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)

SHOW IMAGE:

Description: A photo of a protest banner depicting a drawn human figure with its arms out standing on top of the symbol for dollars ($). The words “People Over Profits” are written across t...

Air Date 1/17/2024

It is evident that the immigration debate is more about acquiring raw power than about immigration as demands from the Republican Party change along with whatever strategies they feel are most likely to get Republicans elected and in the age of Trump, that means the most draconian, harmful and, ultimately, pointless demands to date.

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Transcript

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SHOW NOTES

Ch. 1: The Beginning Monroe and Migration Part 1 - Under the Shadow - Air Date 1-9-24

In the second half of the episode, we meet migrants walking North toward the United States on the edge of Central America. A very real manifestation, right now, of the never-ending impact of US intervention in Latin America.

Ch. 2: Rep. Greg Casar on GOP’s Hard-Line Immigration Demands in Ukraine Funding Request - Democracy Now! - Air Date 12-13-23

As negotiations on the emergency funding request continue, we speak with Democratic Congressmember Greg Casar of Texas about how he and other lawmakers oppose “some of the worst changes to our immigration system in decades.”

Ch. 3: The Migrant Crisis On The Border And The Hill - The NPR Politics Podcast - Air Date 1-11-24

The stream of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border hit record numbers at the end of 2023. Guests: political correspondent Ashley Lopez, congressional correspondent Deirdre Walsh, and immigration correspondent Jasmine Garsd.

Ch. 4: GOP Bets It All on the Border - What Next - Air Date 11-8-23

A partial government shutdown is just 10 days away.

Ch. 5: The Beginning Monroe and Migration Part 2 - Under the Shadow - Air Date 1-9-24

Ch. 6: Trump Plans to Declare War on Who? - Thom Hartmann Program - Air Date 1-9-24

If re-elected, will Trump dredge up an archaic 18th-century law as a de-facto anti-immigration policy? Just how far will he go...?

Ch. 7: Under Attack TX Law Targets Immigrants as Trump Cites Hitler, GOP Pushes for Border Crackdown - Democracy Now! - Air Date 12-20-23

It's very clear that we are under attack. ... We have targets on our backs," says Marisa Limón Garza, executive director of Las Americas Immigrant Advocacy Center in El Paso, which is challenging the new Texas law along with other rights groups.

MEMBERS-ONLY BONUS CLIP(S)

Ch. 8: Fox Host Admits GOP Doesn’t Give A Sh— About Immigration - The Majority Report - Air Date 1-12-24

Laura Ingham gives the conservative game away

Ch. 9: AOC Dismantles GOP Immigration Lies - The Majority Report - Air Date 9-25-23

When interviewed, AOC "...sanctions that were originally authored by Marco Rubio took a large part in the driving of populations to our southern border, shortly after those sanctions were enacted, we started seeing dramatic increases."

FINAL COMMENTS

Ch. 12: Final comments on the naked power grab behind the immigration debate and Trump's long-held fascination with Hitler

Bonus:

Trump Claims He’s Never Read Mein Kampf After Quoting Hitler, Praising Putin: A Closer Look - Late Night with Seth Meyers - Air Date 12-22-23

Articles:

House Republican Admits He’ll Kill Border Deal If It Helps Biden

Donald Trump's ex-wife once said Trump kept a book of Hitler's speeches by his bed

MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions)

SHOW IMAGE:

Description: A photograph taken during a "Reform Immigration March" in D.C. A man holds a homemade sign that says "Militarized Bord...