A Republic, If You Can Keep It

On our radar this week… A World Without Exploitation – Release the Epstein Files The 2017 Donald Trump lavished praise on the multi-billion-dollar plan crafted by Michigan and Canada to build the much-needed connector for our two economies. The 2026 Donald Trump sees the bridge as nothing more than a bargaining chip. We’ll get into the details of the potential economic disaster with former U.S. Ambassador to Canada … and former Michigan Governor … Jim Blanchard. For Michigan Republicans, Bridgegate poses a new choice: Michigan workers, or Donald Trump. Most apparently are choosing Trump. In Washington D.C. (District of Chaos)Trump’s Justice Department-led war on his critics loses again. It’s said a prosecutor can get a ham sandwich indicted, but Pam Bondi couldn’t get a federal grand jury to indict Elissa Slotkin, Mark Kelly and 4 House Democrats for sedition. Slotkin and Kelly told reporters they refuse to be intimidated by the White House bully. Another federal court, this time in Michigan, has rejected efforts by Bondi to get confidential details of Michigan’s qualified voter list. The decision came from a Trump-appointed judge. 8 years after running on a pledge to “Fix the Damn Roads,” Gretchen Whitmer is celebrating bipartisan legislation that’s doing just that. Her new budget calls for an extra $2 billion in road and bridge funding, a continuation of the budget deal enacted last October. The executive budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 will fund both state and local roads as it executes the first full-year of funding for Michigan’s roads. Whitmer’s 88-billion dollar budget based on roughly $800 million in tax increases, $630 million in cuts and $400 million from the rainy day fund. It calls for increasing the state’s “sin” taxes to fill the gap left by Trump’s federal budget cuts to Medicaid and nutrition programs. House Speaker Matt Hall says any tax increase, even if it’s taxes on tobacco and gambling, is a non-starter. Senate appropriations chair Sarah Anthony counters: if that’s your position, show us what you’ll cut. WIll Michigan House Republicans dare to cut Medicaid benefits to ¼ of the state’s population in an election year? Trump’s economy is hitting Michigan auto workers. Ford reports that 2026 profit-sharing checks will be one-third less than 2025 checks. That drop impacts not just the UAW members, but also the businesses where those workers spend money. Two of three people accused in a case regarding fake nomination petition signatures for candidates in 2022, including gubernatorial candidates, were found guilty of numerous charges by a Macomb County Circuit Court jury after two days of deliberations. A third person, the wife of one of the other defendants, was acquitted of all the charges filed against her. The signature fraud likely contributed to the GOP nominating Tudor Dixon for Governor … who was swamped by Gretchen Whitmer in the election. Unfortunately, the scores of persons who actually forged the signatures remain at large and available to do it again. We are joined this week by former U.S. Ambassador to Canada (and former Michigan Governor) Jim Blanchard who played a pivotal role in negotiating details of the Michigan-Canada agreement to build the Gordie Howe Bridge. After 8 years as Michigan’s Governor, Blanchard was named as the nation’s representative in Ottawa by President Clinton. He served in that role for two-and-a-half years. Governor Blanchard holds two degrees from Michigan State University, and a law degree from the University of Minnesota. We’re now on YouTube every week! Click here to subscribe. A Republic, If You Can Keep It is sponsored by KevinNecessary.Substack.com  

This week’s episode is inspired by Homeland Security immigration attorney Julie Li who let it all hang out at a Minneapolis immigration hearing, telling the judge “The system sucks. This job sucks. I wish you could hold me in contempt so that I could get 24 hours of sleep.” On our radar this week… This week in Trump includes: Claims that the latest partial release of the Epstein files exonerates him … it doesn’t. His name appears 38,000 times, including allegations involving 13- and 14-year-old girls. A demand for a federal takeover of elections in democratic areas of swing states, including Detroit … accompanied by a declaration from Steve Bannon that ICE will be used to enforce Trump’s will Ordering the seizure of Georgia 2020 voting files from a county he lost, and assigning his Director of National Security to lead the new attack on the 2020 election. Filing a $10-billion lawsuit against the IRS (and effectively himself) for leaks of his tax returns during his first term, tax returns he often promised to release voluntarily. The ultimate decision on whether the IRS settles and pays up will be made by … Trump. Deciding to close the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for 2 years as artists continued to cancel performances. Announcing plans for a White House statue honoring Christopher Columbus, an explorer who ended up landing in the wrong continent. Making it known he wants Dulles Airport and New York City’s Penn Station renamed in his honor. Reposting an AI video that includes a shot depicting the Obamas as apes, something that even Trump-loving GOP Senator Tim Scott (the Senate’s only black Republican) called “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House” Bailing from attending the Super Bowl, after aides reportedly warned him he’s get booed even more than he was at the Lions-Packers game. Elsewhere in the District of Crazy: The Washington Post, long considered one of the nation’s most important newspapers, is being gutted by Jeff Bezos to save money. (Jeff’s net worth is around a quarter-of-a-trillion dollars, and he recently launched his $500-million yacht, and spent $75-million on the Melania disaster.) 30% of reporters are being fired. The paper’s masthead reads “Democracy Dies in Darkness.” Jeff Bezos just dimmed the light. Senator Elissa Slotkin has told the FBI and Department of Justice to take their requests for an interview and shove it. They want to talk about the video in which she reminds military personnel they should not and cannot obey illegal orders. She’s thinking about suing them. With Trump’s economy sagging, Ford car sales are down and GM is warning of slowing sales. So much for the promise of a manufacturing rebirth in the “hottest economy on the planet.” In Michigan politics, the stage is set for a special election on May 5th that will decide control of the state Senate. It’s a Marine Corps veteran slash firefighter for the Dems against a Republican lawyer. The field continues to clear for Lt. Governor Garland Gilchrist in the Democratic race for Secretary of State, with former state Senator Adam Hollier the latest to drop out of the race. Attorney General Nessel has rolled out a new “Immigration Action Reporting Form” urging residents to document ICE and Border Patrol activity while warning that some federal immigration operations are endangering people in Michigan. A Republican-aligned group says it has enough signatures to get a voter-suppression constitutional amendment on the state ballot. The proposal would require providing proof of citizenship to register to vote – something hundreds-of-thousands don’t have.   We’re now on YouTube every week! Click here to subscribe. A Republic, If You Can Keep It is sponsored by ©Clay Jones – claytoonz.com  

On our radar this week… The first-ever recipient of a previously owned Nobel Peace Prize apparently wants to be the Genghis Khan of the 21st Century. In the last week, Trump has  Threatened to invade Venezuela if his hand-picked government doesn’t do his bidding;  Stationed an armada near Iran in preparations for an aerial war;  Hinted at an imminent effort at regime change in Cuba;  Doubled-downed on his armed assault on the Constitution in Minneapolis with a change in messaging but little else, He replaced one Nazi-adjacent ICE commander with a fascist-adjacent ICE commander in Minneapolis with vague promises of a future future drawdown on masked thugs roaming the streets, but not now. Sent his FBI and Tulsi Gabbard to investigate the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, a continuation of his b.s. claims of fraud costing him a win over Joe Biden, and  Had his FBI raid the home of a reporter in violation of federal law; and, Arrested reporter Don Lemon for covering a peaceful Minneapolis protest because it “disrupted” a religious service Trump’s war on Minneapolis inspired a powerful anthem from “The Boss.” Bruce Springsteen’s “The Streets of Minneapolis” pulls no punches in denouncing Trump, ICE Barbie and Stephen Miller. Due to copyright restrictions we can’t play it here … but it’s well worth a visit to YouTube. Trump World is also having a direct impact on Michigan politics. Trump has reportedly inserted himself in the battle for the party’s gubernatorial nomination, torpedoing frontrunner John James and encouraging 78-year-old rich guy Perry Johnson’s newly announced campaign.  Michigan Democrats have launched their first attack ad on independent gubernatorial candidate Mike Duggan even as the party’s contests for Attorney General and Secretary of State are all but over.  A Republican dark money group is promoting one of the Democrats in next week’s primary to fill a state Senate primary … with the belief that State Board of Education President Pamela Pugh would be easier to beat in the April general election. Democrats, including Saginaw Dem chair Jennifer Austin and Saginaw state Representative Amos O’Neal, are crying “foul.” Senator Elissa Slotkin says Kristi Noem has to go. In a Senate speech, Michigan’s junior senator noted she had voted to confirm Noem … but the cabinet member derided as “ICE Barbie” has betrayed fundamental American values. We’re joined this week by political science guru Norm Ornstein, emeritus scholar at the conservative think-tank American Enterprise Institute with his assessment of congressional dysfunction and Trump’s drive for one-person government. He is the co-author, with Thomas E. Mann, of It’s Even Worse Than It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided With the New Politics of Extremism. Norm is a Minnesota native. He was a child prodigy, graduating from high school when he was fourteen and from college when he was eighteen. He received his BA from the University of Minnesota and PhD in political science from the University of Michigan.  By the mid-1970s, he had become a professor of political science at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., establishing a reputation as an expert on the United States Congress. Ornstein is a frequent contributor to The Washington Post, The Atlantic and the National Journal. He wrote a weekly column for Roll Call for 11 years, and was co-director of the AEI-Brookings Election Reform Project. He helped draft key parts of the 2002 Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, also known as the McCain–Feingold Act. Ornstein is a registered Democrat but considers himself a centrist and has voted for individuals from both parties. We’re now on YouTube every week! Click here to subscribe. A Republic, If You Can Keep It is sponsored by © Clay Jones/claytoonz.com  

Adobe Images On our radar this week… Taco Trump went to Davos intent on taking over Greenland or Iceland (depending on the moment) … calls our allies stupid and worthless … and comes home with the “concept of a framework for a future agreement” that amounts to little more than total surrender to a united Europe. That, after a one-hour rambling, disjointed speech to the assembled world leaders who watched in stunned silence. Trump’s really bad week continued at home with a series of defeats: His beauty pageant runner up is forced to resign after a federal court reminds her that she was not, in fact, the U.S. Attorney for northern Virginia The Supreme Court seems poised to veto his efforts to stack the federal reserve with stooges Former special counsel Jack Smith verbally filleted Trump, testifying to the House Judiciary Committee in detail about the case proving “beyond a reasonable doubt” it was Trump who instigated the January 6 insurrection in an effort to overturn the 2020 election Another federal court struck down the blatantly unconstitutional tactics used by ICE in Minneapolis A newly uncovered ICE memo directing Trump’s goon squad to break down doors without a warrant has put “Homeland Barbie” Kristi Noem on the defensive … again In Michigan, legislation has been introduced pushing back on ICE tactics by designating no-arrest zones, prohibiting masking of law enforcement with common-sense exceptions, and prohibiting the release of government information to ICE without a judicial warrant Michigan’s research universities are pushing back on Trump efforts to effectively stifle free speech on college campuses. We talk with University of Michigan Regent Jordan Acker about the challenges facing one of the world’s leading research institutions. Acker is Mark’s longtime friend and law partner at the Goodman Acker law firm. Prior to law school, Jordan worked as a communications aide to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee. After law school, he served as an associate in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel before being appointed by President Obama to be an attorney-advisor to Secretary Janet Napolitano at the Department of Homeland Security. While at DHS, Jordan worked on cyber, immigration and other homeland security issues. He was elected to the UM Board of Regents in 2018. Acker was named one of Crains Detroit 40 under 40 in 2020, Michigan Lawyers Weekly Up and Coming Lawyers, and is an alum of the non-partisan Michigan Political Leadership Program Fellowship at Michigan State University. Since joining the University of Michigan Board of Regents, he has focused on reforming sexual misconduct reporting and adjudication at the University, NCAA reform, including the future of NIL, expanding the Go Blue Guarantee, and making the University affordable for Michiganders. We’re now on YouTube every week! Click here to subscribe. A Republic, If You Can Keep It is sponsored by © Clay Jones/claytoonz.com  

On our radar this week… Donald Trump’s reaction to a heckler at his Detroit Economic Club speech was symbolic of his administration: flipping the bird to all of us as he simultaneously destroys the economy, government services and NATO. The irony: his target, who was suspended by Ford, has received more than 800-thousand dollars through two Go Fund Me appeals launched by friends. Listing Trump’s weekly rundown of outrages could easily fill out the podcast, so we’ll go with the most outrageous. His week of destruction and dementia include: Openly threatening to use the U.S. military to steal Greenland over the objections of Greenlanders, Denmark and our angry allies in NATO.  Taking on another political critic with former Fox News screamer Jeanine Piro, now U.S. Attorney for D.C., investigating Michigan Senator Elissa Slotkin for the crime of quoting federal law, a followup to the Pete Hegseth assault on Senator Mark Kelly.  Also under investigation by Trump’s retribution machine: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, who made it clear it’s nothing more than another Trump retribution charade. Trump gave a 60-minute speech to Detroit area business leaders, a speech long on fantasy and lies. We learned that those increases in grocery and housing prices are apparently going down, much to the surprise of anyone buying groceries or trying to find a home. The fact checkers may be facing PTSD. And his administration is using a right-wing video as the excuse to cut off food benefits to millions … but only in blue states. In Michigan: New polling shows the races for Governor and U.S. Senator are both statistically tied. State Democrats are working to make sure voters know it’s Michigan Republicans who are responsible for skyrocketing health insurance premiums. The new state legislative session faces multiple challenges: housing shortages, never-ending potholes, continuing calls for more openness … and an ongoing battle between Republican House Speaker Matt Hall and a state Senate controlled, at least for now, by Democrats…pending the outcome of an upcoming special election. Caught in the middle of all of this is Senate Majority Floor Leader Sam Singh. Singh is the son of Indian immigrants. His political career dates back 30 years when, at age 24, he was elected to East Lansing City Council and later served as the city’s mayor. He is a past president of the Michigan Nonprofit Association and Public Policy Associates. In 2012 he was elected to the first of 3 terms in the state, serving as Democratic floor leader in his final term. Singh moved to the state Senate two years ago and was elected to the #2 leadership slot as Majority Floor Leader. He’s a graduate of Michigan State University. We’re now on YouTube every week! Click here to subscribe. A Republic, If You Can Keep It is sponsored by Nick Anderson – Pen Strokes  

We’re now on YouTube every week! Click here to subscribe. On our radar this week… There is a lot on our radar along with Santa’s sleigh… It was inevitable from the day Donald Trump sent his masked, unqualified, undertrained stormtroopers into American cities. An American citizen was summarily executed; Trump, Vance, and Kristi Noem immediately called the shooting justified self-defense and branded the dead American mother a domestic terrorist. But, we have clear unrefutable evidence we have all seen with our own eyes … which proves everything they have said in the aftermath are lies. It. Was. Murder. And now – Kash Patel has decided he, and he alone, will investigate. Trump is in full land acquisition mode, launching an invasion of Venezuela and making it clear he’s looking hard at Cuba, Columbia and Greenland … although his minions say he wants to buy Greenland. And he admits we could be in Venezuela for years. He apparently learned nothing from the George W. Bush’s Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…or the Vietnam War he avoided with those dreaded bone spurs. Trump adds the title of pirate to his resume with the seizure of a 50-million barrels of oil … saying he, and he alone, will illegally and unconstitutionally control the billions raised by selling his booty. Trump says it out loud: if Democrats flip the U.S. House, he expects to be impeached for a third time. Could this be an effort to motivate the MAGA vote? In Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel has ruled House Speaker Matt Hall’s unilateral cancellation of more than a half-billion dollars from the state budget is unconstitutional … probably setting up a major court battle. State Democrats have rolled out the first blasts aimed at independent gubernatorial candidate Mike Duggan with polls showing Duggan’s Independent candidacy could help elect a Republican as Governor. West Michigan has been trending more Democratic over the last decade. The transition culminated with the 2022 election of Hillary Scholten to a congressional seat once held by Gerald Ford in a district that had only just two years of Democratic representation in Michigan’s history. In 2026, Democrats see the opportunity to flip another longtime Republican district by defeating 8-term Republican congressman Bill Huizenga. They’re counting on state Senator Sean McCann of Kalamazoo to do that. McCann’s political career began 26 years ago as a member of the Kalamazoo City Committee, followed by election to the Michigan House of Representatives in 2011, and moving to the state Senate 8 years later. He’s now completing his 2nd term in the Senate. McCann is a graduate of Western Michigan University with a degree in political science. A Republic, If You Can Keep It is sponsored by Courtesy Clay Jones – claytoonz.com  

We’re now on YouTube every week! Click here to subscribe. On our radar this week… There is a lot on our radar along with Santa’s sleigh… The Justice Department is dipping into the National Black Toner Cartridge Strategic Reserve as it redacts tens-of-thousands of pages of the Epstein files. Even so, the scandal continues to grow in a way not seen since the days of Monica Lewinsky. Larry Nassar, the disgraced onetime MSU sports doctor, is now a part of the scandal. A note allegedly from Epstein celebrates their shared perverted interest in vulnerable teenage girls. The FBI says the letter is a fake – and we know that Kash Patel would never tell a lie. The newly released files also show Trump was an Epstein Frequent Flyer … after saying for months he never flew on Lolita Airlines. Attorneys General are increasingly in the political bullseye. Democrats in the U.S. House may be joined by some Republicans to impeach Pam Bondi over the Epstein files debacle, even as Bondi continues to fail in efforts to indict New York AG Leticia James. In Michigan, state House Republicans are mulling over an attempt to impeach Attorney General Dana Nessel, something that would be totally symbolic but make MAGA Republicans feel good. The MAGA movement may need to get some couples therapy after an unhinged verbal brawl at the Turning Point USA weekend conference. We’ll be joined later in the podcast by Politico senior Adam Wren who’s been covering Turning Point’s efforts to be a major political force. The next key political battle in Michigan: a special election for the state Senate. The primary for replacing now-Congresswoman Kristen McDonald Rivet is set for February 3 … a swing district that will determine control of the state Senate for 2026. We’ll take a look at the candidates on both sides. CBS News has gone from The Gold Standard for broadcast news to the toilet with Trump-favorable censorship of 60 Minutes. Murrow, Cronkite, Severeid, et. al. are spinning in their graves, and the very much alive Katie Couric calls it a “disgrace.” First it was the Donald Trump Institute for Peace, then the Kennedy Center, Trump Saving Accounts, Trump $1 coins. Now Donald Trump has decided an entire class of battleships will bear his name…and he’ll play a role in designing them because, he says, “I’m a very aesthetic person.” Is the world’s first gold-plated Navy fleet in our future? And will he continue his years-long business of licensing use of his name on other people’s projects? Trump has raised the possibility of awarding himself a $1-billion settlement of the lawsuit he’s filed against the government he runs…in effect, judge, jury and beneficiary. Why stop at a billion? Why not a trillion or gazillion? Of course he’ll say tariffs will cover the check. We’re joined this week by Adam Wren, a national political correspondent for POLITICO, based in the Midwest. He is a contributor to POLITICO Magazine, Playbook and West Wing Playbook, focusing on Donald Trump’s remaking of the federal government and the Democratic response to his return to power ahead of what could be a wide-open 2028 presidential contest. Wren previously served as a national politics features correspondent at Business Insider. He has also written for The New York Times and Washington Post. Originally from Ohio, Adam graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University and has a master’s from Northwestern University’s prestigious Medill School of Journalism. You can find Adam online X/Twitter and Instagram. A Republic, If You Can Keep It is sponsored by Nick Anderson substack  

On our radar this week… Dozing Donald woke up from his nap long enough to shout out an 18-minute campaign speech, laden with lies and blaming everything on Joe Biden. It was the centerpiece of a truly horrific week politically for Trump and Republicans. The ACA tax credits are going, going and nearly gone … and with them, Republican prospects for the 2026 midterm elections. Adding to the political challenges to the GOP: Donald Trump’s massively offensive responses to two mass shootings, and the horrific murders of Rob and Michele Reiner. The chorus of one-time MAGA acolytes breaking with Trump is growing louder … and his shouted 19-minute televised falsehood-laden campaign speech didn’t help, a speech Jimmy Kimmel labeled “a liar-side chat”. Also this week: The Michigan Legislature has concluded the 2025 session and setting an unenviable record in the process: not counting the years when the Legislature only met in even-number years, it was the least productive legislative session in history. The record up until this year was 1842 when the Gov. John S. Barry signed 90 public acts. The 2025 session of the 103rd Legislature is estimated to pass around 70. The unprecedented slashing of the state’s budget by House Speaker Matt Hall is drawing bipartisan backlash … and creating pain for Republicans across the state. Two top aides to former state House Speaker Lee Chatfield are sentenced for corruption, agreeing to testify against Chatfield … and also accusing Chatfield of raping one of them. Another special election, and another Democratic over-performance. Democrat Gary Clemons scored a landslide victory in a special election for the Kentucky Senate on Tuesday night, demolishing Republican Calvin Leach by a 72-25 margin. That’s a full 20 points better than Kamala Harris’ margin in 2024 and 18-points better than Joe BIden in 2020. We now know both more and less about pythons in Peru – thanks to a 10-minute rambling, fictitious fantasy by America’s Poster Child for “weaving.” His hate-filled response to the murders of Rob and Michele Reiner drew condemnation from all sides … including some of the most influential voices in MAGA world. In Trump-the-Man-Child News: His gilded “Presidential Wall of Fame” has been transformed into a tacky Wall of Insults … guaranteeing it will be gone when he leaves office. Trump’s hand-picked Kennedy Center board has decided to rename the cultural center the Donald J. Trump-John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts (even though Trump is allegedly still alive), giving him top billing over JFK. The Kennedy Center is named by federal law, which prohibits renaming the building without congressional approval. The price for Trump’s ballroom has doubled from the original estimate, with the master contractor saying it’s now going to require $400-million in billionaire largesse to finish. Looks like Trump is transforming the White House into a theme park. We’re joined by Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, the senior member of the state’s Democratic delegation in Congress. The Dingell legacy, dating back to her father-in-law John Dingell Senior’s first term in 1933, is the nation’s healthcare program. Debbie Dingell was first elected to the House in 2015. She succeeded her late husband, John Dingell Jr, who was the longest-serving member of Congress in U.S. history. Her husband had succeeded his father who was first elected in 1932. There’s been a Dingell in the U.S. House non-stop for 92 years. A hallmark of their service has been a proposal for a national health insurance system, first introduced by John Sr. in 1933 and re-introduced since at every Congress by the father and then the son. A Republic, If You Can Keep It is sponsored by Nick Anderson:Pen Strokes  

Clay Jones/claytoonz.com On our radar this week… Tomorrow … You’re only a day away! President Donald Trump took his show back on the road this week in a desperate attempt to rekindle his “rally magic” and tell voters not to believe their eyes, ears, brains, wallets, or increasingly harder to fill refrigerators. Starting in Pennsylvania, he vows to campaign early and often across the country in competitive seats for the U.S. House and Senate. Democrats should offer to pay for the rallies. As our (least) Favorite President emerges from his Mar-A-Lago cocoon to deny economic reality, with his economic team claiming everything gets better … eventually: Prices will come down, he’ll have a healthcare plan you’ll love, urban crime will end, the Kennedy Center will have a rebirth as the Trump Center for the Arts and medical science will come up with a cure for cankles. Trump and his economic team sound like “Annie”! Also this week… Democrats have scored two more major election wins, most significantly electing the first Democratic Mayor of Miami in 20 years … and it was a landslide. And the Dems flipped a Trump +12 legislative seat in Georgia. In Lansing, it’s been a year since the Legislature passed 9 laws that are still unconstitutionally sitting in the House of Representatives and signed into effect by Governor Whitmer. I’ve been the lawyer leading the so-far successful lawsuit to free the hostages as Speaker Matt Hall is and the GOP now look to the Michigan Supreme Court as they continue to ignore the constitution and keep stalling. There’s a new name in the Democratic party campaign for Secretary of State, with Lottery Director and former congressional candidate Suzanna Shkreli joining the field which already includes Ingham County Clerk Barb Byrum, former Senator Adam Hollier, and Deputy Secretary of State Aghogho Edevbie. ACA premium tax credits are officially dead. Premiums will skyrocket for millions at the same time as major retailers raise prices to cover the costs of Trump’s tariffs … while the President is proposing $12-billion in tariff subsidies for farmers. A Republic, If You Can Keep It is sponsored by Jeff Margulies/Washington Post

Clay Jones-claytoonz.com It’s Show #250! On our radar this week… Trump and onetime Fox couch potato Pete Hegseth are putting that shoot-em-on-5th-Avenue theory to the test … but instead, his real-life murders have generated bipartisan talk of War Crimes, even without an actual war. A special election in Tennessee, and a new Michigan poll both point to a potential Blue Tsunami in 2026. Trump is going on another pardon-and-commutation binge. His beneficiaries include a top-level drug trafficker, Ponzi Schemer who stole $1.6-billion  and corrupt politicians. Could Ghislaine Maxwell could be next? Trump’s economic news is tumbling as job numbers tumbling … but we’re relying on ADP data: federal numbers are being stalled by Trump’s minions at the Department of Labor. And in our future giggles file: Pillow Plutocrat Mike Lindell has taken the first step to run for Governor of Minnesota, the same state that entertained us 25 years ago by electing Governor Jesse Ventura. Joining the podcast this week is Michigan’s Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. We talk election security, potential voter intimidation, gubernatorial politics…and the Lions and Pistons! Secretary Benson was first elected in 2018 and reelected in a 2022 landslide. She’s former Dean of the Wayne State University Law School, and considered one of the nation’s top experts on election law. In the most recent polling, she has an overwhelming lead in the race for the Democratic nomination for Governor, leading Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist by 43 points. The most recent EPIC-MRA poll shows her in a statistical tie with Republican John James in the general election, with Independent Mike Duggan 13 points behind. Mike Luckovich – Atlanta Journal Constitution

VIDEO: Senator Elissa Slotkin responds to Donald Trump’s outrageous threats against her, Senator Kelly and four House members. On our radar this week… Donald Trump says it’s criminal to post a video quoting federal law – with the Pentagon looking to court-martial Senator Mark Kelly, and the FBI investigating Elissa Slotkin and four House members. Trump’s healthcare plan … something promised for 9 years as coming “in 2 weeks” … turns out to be “dead even before arrival” in Congress. In addition to either executing or jailing Democratic members of Congress, Trump is focused on upgrading military golf courses in the DC area. It’s official: in the battle for Michigan’s U.S. Senate Republican nomination, Mike Rogers has a primary fight on his hand with just-resigned state GOP co-chair Bernadette Smith.  There’s increasing speculation about whether Gretchen Whitmer will run for President. An Axios profile says she’s retreating from the national stage, even as fellow Michiganders Pete Buttigieg and Elissa Slotkin ramp up their national visibility. The Trump Retribution Campaign is hitting massive roadblocks:  Indictments of top-level Trump foes James Comey and Leticia James were thrown out of court  His Attorney General is having trouble even getting indictments against other targets … and even finding prosecutors willing to take on those cases Marjorie Taylor Greene has started what she predicts will be a wave of Republican congressional resignations  And his utterly incompetent FBI director is making headlines for all the wrong reasons. Clay Jones – claytoonz.com 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 This episode is sponsored in part by

On this week’s show… Democrats: Our military’s oath – defend the Constitution. Republicans: That’s sedition! Donald Trump thinks Elissa Slotkin should be executed. Trump sees the Epstein documents parade going in the other direction and runs to lead it…but launches Phase Two for keeping the Epstein files secret. Trump accidentally admits he’s known about Epstein’s abuse of teenagers for more than a decade … now saying that Epstein was a sick pervert and he knew it 20-plus years ago. The Texas gerrymander demanded by Trump gets thrown out by a three-judge appeals panel – with the lead opinion written by a Trump-appointed judge. Want a change in U.S. foreign policy? How about getting some state-of-the-art fighter jets. Or absolution for ordering the vicious murder of an American journalist? And, to top it all off, a black tie VIP dinner at the White House? All it takes is writing big checks, payable to the Trump family. A fringe Republican candidate for Governor has stirred up some hateful anti-Muslim demonstrations in Dearborn.  And the rhetorical temperature is also going up in Hamtramck with another increasingly contentious debate over that city’s mayoral election. Nick Anderson/Raw Story The most recent EPIC-MRA poll shows Michigan voters are angry over the Trump tariffs and what they are doing to the economy. It’s especially important in Michigan, where our top trading partners are Canada, Mexico and China. We’re joined by a Michigan business owner who is suing the Trump administration over the tariffs. Mike Musheinesh has been CEO of Detroit Axle since 2012, taking over from his father Ed Musheinesh, who started the company as a small aftermarket parts shop in 1990. Mike has grown the company into a leading global retailer and distributor of remanufactured and new aftermarket auto parts. Today, Detroit Axle employs hundreds of people in Metro Detroit, and it operates a large online operation to serve customers nationwide. kevinnecessary.substack.com 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

John Darkow – PoliticalCartoons.com On this week’s show… The federal government shutdown is over for now, but the debate on healthcare rages on. Michigan Democrats, led by Senators Peters and Slotkin, have harsh words for the 7 Democrats who voted with Republicans to end the 41-day shutdown without any guaranteed continuation of healthcare insurance subsidies. The Republican bill includes a potential onetime $500,000 or more bonus for 8 Senators investigated as part of the January 6 insurrection (Lindsey Graham says he’ll sue for millions!) The White House calls the newly released Epstein emails part of a Democratic Party hoax – that there’s nothing there – but Trump is doing all he can to keep the files secret, and redirect the story to investigations of retirees like Bill Clinton and Larry Summers. The U.S. House will vote on a full release of all the files in early December. Donald Trump basically admits widespread law-breaking by his reelection team, issuing federal pardons to 71 of his minions – even though they haven’t been federally charged. And the pardons don’t save folks like Giuliani and Meadows from possible state criminal charges. The looming increases in health insurance premiums has convinced four companies to pull out of the Michigan market.  Former Congressman Mike Rogers thought he had a free ride to the GOP nomination for U.S. Senator, but there’s a new candidate who could make the next 9 months a lot more difficult for him. Former Michigan Republican Party co-chair Bernadette Smith starts with more than a little support from the party’s MAGA base.  Rogers is now saying the 2024 election was stolen from him but providing no proof.  And there’s the story of two presidential grandkids extending family traditions: JFK’s grandson, Jack Schlossberg, extends the family tradition by running for Congress in New York … in a district that includes Trump Tower. Donald Trump’s granddaughter, Kai, is extending a different family tradition: she’s playing golf, making her LPGA debut as an invited golfer in the LPGA Annika Tournament. Sadly, after the 2nd round she was dead last (18 over par) and missed the cut 🥺, Joining the conversation this week is Michigan Advance senior political reporter Ben Solis. Solis has covered state and local government for nearly a decade as a former staff writer with Gongwer News Service and multiple MLive newsrooms. He is an award-winning writer and editor and was a finalist for the Michigan Press Association Richard Milliman Journalist of the Year award in 2022 for his work covering Michigan’s independent redistricting process. Michigan Advance is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization. Nick Anderson-Raw Story 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

Nick Anderson/Raw Story  On this week’s show… The Donald Trump Hunger Games begin with the administration doing as little as possible to comply with a court-ordered continuation of SNAP Benefits. For millions of Americans, it means going hungry … just not quite as hungry as Trump had wanted. The Trump shutdown is officially the longest in U.S. history, surpassing the record of 35 days set during the first Trump term. With Trump’s administration failing on the economy, foreign policy, healthcare and basic competence in the background, Democrats sweep the handful of off-year elections including flipping Virginia’s governor’s office and holding on in New Jersey. We’ll do a post-mortem on the election, and the impact on Michigan politics, with former Obama Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri. Two updates on Michigan’s congressional races: a familiar name enters the GOP primary to replace John James, and new polling shows Lansing-area Congressman Tom Barrett trailing two relatively unknown Democrats. A former top aide to former state House Speaker Lee Chatfield pleads guilty to assorted corruption charges … and agrees to testify against his former boss. The latest political shocker nationally: Marjorie Taylor Greene is talking about running for President. Of the United States. Yes, that MTG! And the Subway Sandwich Terrorism trial has ended with an acquittal. Sean Dunn was charged with misdemeanor assault after hitting a federal agent with a “sub-style sandwich.” Apparently ICE agents consider mustard a weapon of mass destruction…but the prosecution’s case, it turns out, was toast. Dunn reportedly relished the decision. There were, of course, a lot of significant elections on Tuesday. Joining the post-election analysis is guest commentator Jennifer Palmieri. Her credentials include three years as Barack Obama’s Communications Director and then Director of Communications for the Hillary Clinton 2016 presidential campaign. Before her service at the White House, she was the National Press Secretary for the 2004 John Edwards presidential campaign and for the Democratic National Committee in 2002, after a brief time at the advocacy group Americans for Gun Safety. She served in the Clinton Administration as Special Assistant to White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, deputy director of Scheduling and Advance, and finally as a Deputy White House Press Secretary. More recently she co-hosted the political documentary series “The Circus” on Showtime with John Heilman, Alex Wagner and Mark McKinnon. drewsheneman.substack.com 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 drewsheneman.substack.com On this week’s show… Donald Trump’s medical path seems to be tracking alongside his poll ratings: going down. Six months after his “annual” physical exam, doctors gave him a screening test for dementia, and ordered an MRI for undisclosed reasons. But when your doctor says you need an MRI (or a monthly dementia check-up), it’s not a clean bill of health. The latest campaign finance reports are in, and they offer some strong clues for what to expect over the next year of campaigning. We’ll take a deep dive into “following the money”, and be joined later by campaign finance tea-leaves reader Simon Shuster from Michigan Bridge. The state court of appeals has ordered state House Speaker Matt Hall to release his hostages: nine bills passed by the Legislature in the final days of the 2024 session that he unconstitutionally refused to deliver to the Governor for signature. We get the lowdown from the attorney for the winning side (his last name is Brewer). As Trump continues his unconstitutional killing of alleged drug runners in international waters, a lot of his underlings may be needing criminal defense lawyers. Trump has Supreme Court gifted immunity, but everyone from Pentagon Pete Hegseth on down could be looking at multiple charges of murder as the killing spree escalates. Simon D. Schuster/Bridge Michigan State Republicans staged their first gubernatorial candidate debate and the alleged frontrunner didn’t even show up. John James continues to hide in the witness protection program both as a candidate and as a congressman. An estimated 1.4-million Michiganders are on the verge of losing SNAP benefits. State legislators are trying to fill the federal funding void – a $71-million emergency appropriation passed the state Senate earlier today on a bipartisan vote; the state House can act on the measure as early as Tuesday. We start with the latest batch of campaign finance reports – the ones filed by would-be Governors. On the Democratic side, Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson smoked the competition for the cycle. On the Republican side, candidate-in-hiding John James continued his strong fundraising, and former attorney general Mike Cox opened his own checkbook to fatten his campaign treasury. This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA, A full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research • Community – Media Relations • Issue – Image Management • Database Development & List Management ====================================================== We’re joined this week by veteran journalist and media monitor Jennifer Schulze for a deep dive into the right-wing takeover of where we get our news. Jennifer Schulze is a longtime journalist, mostly broadcast news and mostly in Chicago.  She headed the WGN TV newsroom and lead the team that created the WGN Morning News.  She writes media cricitism and other articles for The Contrarian, Lincoln Square, Heartland Signal, etc.  She does regular media roundups for Civic Media and Courier Newsroom with host Pat Krietlow and for WCPT Radio with host Joan Esposito.  Her fellow Chicago journalist Mark Jacob joins her on both of those regular segments.  Jennifer’s Substack is called Indistinct Chatter and you can find her on Blue Sky and threads @NewsJennifer. This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA, A full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research • Community – Media Relations • Issue – Image Management • Database Development & List Management ======================================================

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 On this week’s show… GOP efforts to discredit the No Kings protests across the nation flopped, with seven-million+ Americans registering their disgust with Trump in peaceful, often mocking demonstrations across America. Trump’s disdainful, self-revealing response: an AI-created video fantasy of Mad King Biff carpet-bombing crowds of American people with feces while flying an airborn firefighting super tanker. Adding to his show of disdain: while hundreds of thousands of federal workers go without paychecks, and with inflation and the price of groceries skyrocketing, Trump had the entire East Wing of the White House demolished – in violation of federal law – to erect a palatial, gilded, $300 million (and growing) ballroom … the worst damage to the White House since the British torched it in the War of 1812. Let them eat cake, Donald? And now he’s telling his Justice Department to pay him $230-million for the trauma of being investigated for his long string of crimes. The decision is up to two of his former personal attorneys: AG Pam Bondi and Deputy AG Todd Blanche, now his personal henchmen inside the DoJ. Also in our gunsights this week: Trump’s puppets in the U.S. House continue to stonewall the release of the Epstein files, but Speaker Mike Johnson faces a lawsuit from the state of Arizona for his month-long failure to swear in newly elected Congresswoman Adelita Grivalva as the House completes a 4th week of no sessions. Thousands of federal workers are facing layoffs or payless paydays, SNAP benefits are running out of money and Republicans won’t budge on reversing healthcare cuts to millions … but Kristi Noem’s got $172-million for a pair of private jets. In Michigan, MIRS News reports a petition drive to eliminate property taxes statewide is falling short of collecting the signatures needed to get on the ballot. New polling shows Jocelyn Benson with an overwhelming lead for the Democratic Party nomination for Governor, leading Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist 56% to 17%. Another poll shows Mary Sheffield with a 50-point lead over Solomon Kinloch for Detroit mayor. And the Michigan Court of Appeals says chimpanzees are not persons protected under the Constitution, the worst news for chimps since they co-starred with Ronald Reagan in Bedtime for Bonzo. The weaponizing of the Justice Department continues to expand the Trump-revenge web. We are joined by one of the potential targets: former DHS Chief of Staff Miles Taylor – also known as “Anonymous”, the first high-level Trump administration whistleblower. Miles Taylor is a national security expert who served in the administrations of George W. Bush and Donald Trump, where he was chief of staff of the Department of Homeland Security. In 2018, Taylor wrote an op-ed in The New York Times under the pen name “Anonymous” – “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration” – which drew widespread attention for its criticism of Trump.  Several months after quitting the administration, he published a book titled, A Warning (again under the pen name “Anonymous.) He later revealed that he was “Anonymous” and was the first former Trump administration official to endorse Joe Biden. Miles is an Indiana native and earned his B.A. in international security studies from Indiana University, with a masters degree from Oxford University in England which he attended as a 2012 Marshall Scholar. He began his government service in 2007 as a college intern under Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and Vice President Dick Cheney.  He’s no longer “anonymous” and speaks out forcefully about the Trump abuses in his online blog “Treason with Miles Taylor”.  Rick McKee – caglecartoons.com:cartoonist:rick-mckee This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA, A full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research • Community – Media Relations • Issue – Image Management • Database Development & List Management ====================================================== We’re joined this week by veteran journalist and media monitor Jennifer Schulze for a deep dive into the right-wing takeover of where we get our news. Jennifer Schulze is a longtime journalist, mostly broadcast news and mostly in Chicago.  She headed the WGN TV newsroom and lead the team that created the WGN Morning News.  She writes media cricitism and other articles for The Contrarian, Lincoln Square, Heartland Signal, etc.  She does regular media roundups for Civic Media and Courier Newsroom with host Pat Krietlow and for WCPT Radio with host Joan Esposito.  Her fellow Chicago journalist Mark Jacob joins her on both of those regular segments.  Jennifer’s Substack is called Indistinct Chatter and you can find her on Blue Sky and threads @NewsJennifer. This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA, A full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research • Community – Media Relations • Issue – Image Management • Database Development & List Management ======================================================

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 On this week’s show… Donald Trump’s drive to autocracy is hitting some speed bumps and accelerating at the same time. Just this week: Kristi Noem’s partisan video diatribe over the government shutdown is being banned by airports across Michigan and the nation One more Trump opponent is indicted while a future target, former special counsel Jack Smith, ended his silence … and unloaded on the President indicted for a crime virtually identical to the charges of mishandling classified documents used to indict John Bolton The often timid news media told former Fox News couch-sitter Pete Hegseth to take his Pentagon news coverage rules and shove them. They walked out of the Pentagon press room en masse … even Fox News took a hike! Portland is keeping it weird by ridiculing the Goons of ICE with an early Halloween parade of animal costumes Marjorie Taylor Greene ramped up her criticism of Trump on the shutdown, healthcare budget cuts and most pointedly on the continuing Epstein Files coverup Rand Paul says publicly what a lot of Republicans are saying privately: the Trump ordered executions of boaters in the Caribbean are illegal On the MAGA+ side, the President managed to find time between multiple rounds of golf for a Middle East victory lap … a victory that is already showing signs of falling apart In non-Trump news, new campaign finance reports show all three Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate raised more money than unopposed Republican Mike Rogers And young Republicans are learning the hard way that it’s politically harmful to put the phrase “I Love Hitler” and jokes about gas chambers into Telegram chats In the age of crypto and endless Trump crime family grifting, there’s never been a more important time to understand white collar crime. They don’t use guns and goons: the weapons for these criminals are banking laws, off-shore accounts and trading on the ignorance of their victims. Joining this week’s conversation is Jennifer Taub, a legal scholar and advocate whose writing focuses on “follow the money” matters— promoting transparency and opposing corruption.  Taub was the Bruce W. Nichols Visiting Professor of Law in fall 2019 at Harvard Law School and is now a professor of law at the Western New England University School of Law. A former associate general counsel at Fidelity Investments, she is a graduate of Yale College and Harvard Law School. Taub’s most recent book was “Big Dirty Money” published in 2020 by Viking Press. Her first book was Other People’s Houses, published in 2014 by the Yale Press. She posts daily on YouTube. This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA, A full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research • Community – Media Relations • Issue – Image Management • Database Development & List Management ====================================================== We’re joined this week by veteran journalist and media monitor Jennifer Schulze for a deep dive into the right-wing takeover of where we get our news. Jennifer Schulze is a longtime journalist, mostly broadcast news and mostly in Chicago.  She headed the WGN TV newsroom and lead the team that created the WGN Morning News.  She writes media cricitism and other articles for The Contrarian, Lincoln Square, Heartland Signal, etc.  She does regular media roundups for Civic Media and Courier Newsroom with host Pat Krietlow and for WCPT Radio with host Joan Esposito.  Her fellow Chicago journalist Mark Jacob joins her on both of those regular segments.  Jennifer’s Substack is called Indistinct Chatter and you can find her on Blue Sky and threads @NewsJennifer. Clay Jones – claytoonz.com This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA, A full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research • Community – Media Relations • Issue – Image Management • Database Development & List Management ======================================================

This week’s show is sponsored in part by EPIC-MRA Public Opinion Research MIRS News 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Clay Jones – claytoonz.com On this week’s show… The Attorney General goes to the U.S. Senate to workshop her new stand-up/outraged authoritarian dystopian comedy routine … without any jokes. A Trump-appointed federal judge is getting increasingly pissed over Bondi’s defense of National Guard Whack-a-Mole. The judge said sending troops to Portland was illegal, so Bondi’s lawyer thugs came up with a different state’s guard to deploy – and the Trump-appointed judge sounded like a parent scolding a child in referring to the whole strategy as untethered from reality. And now Trump is facing another court challenge over the Texas National Guard incursion into Chicago, which, like Portland, is the quietest Burning Hell Hole in the history of Burning Hell Holes. And as the very MAGA governor of extremely red Oklahoma said this week, “Oklahomans would lose their mind if Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration.l?” This simply cannot be allowed to happen. Trump’s puppet U.S. Attorney in Northern VIrginia doubles down on retribution indictments by calling out New York Attorney General Leticia James. Next up, based on Trump’s Oopsie It Was Supposed to be Private demand to Bondi, will be California Senator Adam Schiff. The Supreme Leader, never one to worry about what is and what is not legal, is now apparently directing the Treasury to issue a Donald Trump one-dollar coin. Federal law prohibits putting living persons on our currency … but then again, Fearless Leader is 79-years-old, obese, eats a high-fat diet, limits exercise to getting in and out of his golf cart … and is plagued by cankles. You never know…we’re 9 months away from the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. And in Michigan, a threat from the Trump administration to renege on upgrading GM’s Lansing-Grand River assembly plant threatens 700 factory jobs with a ripple impact on thousands of Michigan workers. We’re joined this week by veteran journalist and media monitor Jennifer Schulze for a deep dive into the right-wing takeover of where we get our news. Jennifer Schulze is a longtime journalist, mostly broadcast news and mostly in Chicago.  She headed the WGN TV newsroom and lead the team that created the WGN Morning News.  She writes media cricitism and other articles for The Contrarian, Lincoln Square, Heartland Signal, etc.  She does regular media roundups for Civic Media and Courier Newsroom with host Pat Krietlow and for WCPT Radio with host Joan Esposito.  Her fellow Chicago journalist Mark Jacob joins her on both of those regular segments.  Jennifer’s Substack is called Indistinct Chatter and you can find her on Blue Sky and threads @NewsJennifer. Clay Jones – claytoonz.com This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA, A full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research • Community – Media Relations • Issue – Image Management • Database Development & List Management ======================================================

This week’s show is sponsored in part by EPIC-MRA Public Opinion Research MIRS News 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 It’s tale of two cities, told to us by two experts. In the nation’s capitol, a would-be dictator takes time away from his golf game to launch a federal government shutdown, and lecture the nation’s military leaders about transforming the military into a political tool. In the state’s capitol, a more promising story as the Governor barters a one-week budget-battle truce with a promise of keeping the government open. This week’s theme – “The Enemy Within” – focuses on the moves by Trump in the last week to establish his authoritarian dominance of our lives. An alternative title could be “The Rubicon has been crossed” episode, as Trump uses a highly unusual audience and venue to declare war on American citizens, the Constitution, a lawful civilian-controlled military, and the very notion of a limited government that derives its existence from “we the people.” But because our culture and our media are so entirely broken and damaged, the biggest story is the breathless coverage of the federal government shutdown and not the 12-alarm departure from the rule of law and prelude to martial law and authoritarianism. Lauren Gibbons – BridgeMi.com In Lansing, there’s a one-week truce in the battle of the state budget, averting a shutdown with both sides promising to get the budget adopted by next Tuesday at midnight. We begin the show by doing a deep dive into the partisan battles in Lansing, and strong signs that the state can avoid a government shutdown. Our tour guide is veteran Bridge Michigan state capitol reporter Lauren Gibbons. It’s a $80-billion budget dispute. Will it last? Is there really agreement on a framework for the budget? What is standing in the way of final agreement? Major General William Enyart (US Army-Retired) In the Trump/Vance/Hegseth world of Fatsos and Beardos, two more American cities — Portland, Oregon, and Memphis, Tennessee — will likely see National Guard troops deployed in the coming days, though exact timings remain unclear. An Oregon Military Department spokesperson had said troops could arrive in Portland as soon as Thursday (our recording day), but legal and logistical delays may push the deployment into next week. Angry state leaders’ efforts to have the deployment halted will be heard by a federal judge tomorrow. Trump is using the military to try to eliminate dissent. Caught in the middle of his lust for absolute power are the citizen-soldiers of the National Guard in his target states. Joining us is an expert on what that means: the retired adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, General William Enyart. Major General Enyart served in the Air Force for 40 years. He was appointed to lead the National Guard and the Illinois Department of Military Affairs as Adjutant General in 2007, and was reappointed in 2009 and in 2011. He retired from the military in 2012, and was elected to Congress where he served for one term.   This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA, A full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research • Community – Media Relations • Issue – Image Management • Database Development & List Management ======================================================

This week’s show is sponsored in part by EPIC-MRA Public Opinion Research MIRS News 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 The man who recommended Ivermectin and bleach injections for treating covid joins with a recovering heroin addict and a former TV snake-oil salesman to warn us about the dangers of Tylenol. Trump? He probably needed to take a Tylenol after watching Tuesday night TV. But he’s moving forward with taking over the media, carving out a deal so his closest billionaire buddies get control of TikTok. The MAGA moneymen now control CBS, Fox News, X-Twitter, the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, the owners of nearly 400 television stations … and have effectively neutered ABC and ESPN. This week Trump focused on  using the federal government to put his political opponents in prison  bombing speedboats in the Gulf of Mexico  declaring a non-existent organization as a domestic terrorist group avoiding the Tom Homan and Jeffrey Epstein scandals, and  taking time to embarrass the nation with a bonkers U.N. speech which included a rant on the U.N. escalator and a teleprompter operator,  America’s favorite unlicensed pharmacist didn’t seem to be worried that his government is about to shut down because his underlings in Congress can’t enact a budget…and he’s too busy to negotiate with Democrats. Not to outdone, Michigan statehouse Republicans are doing the same to the state. Instead of working to actually fund education and the rest of state government, a lot of them spent a few days on Mackinac Island figuring out how to return to full power in Lansing. And topping off the week, Governor Whitmer said “no thanks” to Trump’s offer of a military invasion of Detroit. Joining the podcast this week: an unlikely victim of the post-Charlie Kirk murder cancel culture – former GOP campaign guru and now former MSNBC political analyst Matthew Dowd. The longtime Republican campaign consultant was dumped by MSNBC, a supposedly liberal media outlet, for his comments on the Kirk shooting. Matthew was the chief strategist for President George W. Bush’s 2004 reelection campaign. A native of Detroit, he began his lifelong work in politics as a volunteer for Michigan Congressman William Broomfield. He was later a longtime political contributor for ABC News. In 2021, he launched a short-lived, unsuccessful bid for lieutenant governor of Texas. Dowd joined MSNBC as a political contributor and analyst in 2022.   Bill Bramhall/New York Daily News This episode is sponsored in part by =========================== EPIC ▪ MRA, A full service survey research firm with expertise in • Public Opinion Surveys • Market Research Studies • Live Telephone Surveys • On-Line and Automated Surveys • Focus Group Research • Bond Proposals – Millage Campaigns • Political Campaigns & Consulting • Ballot Proposals – Issue Advocacy Research • Community – Media Relations • Issue – Image Management • Database Development & List Management ======================================================