On Democracy with FPWellman

John Sipher and Fred talk about the danger of authoritarians, Republicans riding the violence, and the undermining of the intelligence community. Sipher is a former CIA officer and now nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center and co-founder of Spycraft Entertainment, a production firm providing content and talent to the entertainment industry. He is a foreign policy, intelligence, and national security expert. In 2014, Sipher retired from a 28-year career at the Central Intelligence Agency’s National Clandestine Service. At the time of his retirement, he was a member of the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, the leadership team that guides CIA activities globally.

Dennis Aftergut is a former federal prosecutor who has argued and won cases in the Supreme Court of the United States and of California.  As Chief Assistant City Attorney in San Francisco in the era before Obergefell v. Hodges, Dennis successfully defended suits brought by Pat Robertson’s legal foundation and United Airlines challenging San Francisco’s ground-breaking Equal Benefits Ordinance, a nondiscrimination law assuring workers with domestic partners the same employment benefits as afforded to straight employees who were married. Today he is a constant source of legal perspective on the insanity of the right in a host of publications. He and Fred discuss the absolute flood of legal issues around the country today and the state of the Judiciary as a pillar of our democracy.

Fred is solo this week and finds there is hope to be found in Democratic victories in Wisconsin and local elections but the Trump Circus in New York is getting a lot of attention and hiding the real game that is afoot. That shell game is hiding the real ball in play across the country as Republican led states take what some want to call ‘culture wars’ to dangerous levels that will have real world casualties.

Kris Brown is President of Brady one of the oldest and most respected anti-gun violence organizations in the United States named after legendary White House Press Secretary and gun violence advocates Jim and Sarah Brady. Kris has led Brady since 2016 and is a long time veteran of gun violence prevention work starting her career on Capitol Hill working for Rep. Jim Moran, advocating for the bill that would eventually become the groundbreaking Brady Bill requiring background checks on federally licensed gun sales. She and Fred had a robust discussion about how the continued refusal by Congress and leaders to enact laws to end this scourge is a true failure of democracy.

Leo Shane is the Deputy Editor of Military Times in Washington D.C. Leo covers Congress, Veterans Affairs and the White House for the Military Times family of newspapers. He has covered Washington, D.C. since 2004, focusing on military personnel and veterans policies. His work has earned numerous honors, including a 2009 Polk award, a 2010 National Headliner Award, the IAVA Leadership in Journalism award and the VFW News Media award. He and Fred discuss the 20th Anniversary of the invasion of Iraq and how the veteran’s community has changed over the last two decades. Fred will also reflect on his experience as part of that fateful mission in 2003, 2005, and 2008.

Dr. Chris Jones grew up in Pine Bluff, Arkansas with a deep love for science. He attended Morehouse College on a full NASA Scholarship, for physics and math, then went on to study at MIT earning a masters degree in Nuclear Engineering, a masters degree in Technology & Policy, and a Ph.D. in Urban Planning. After becoming ordained as a minister, he returned home to Arkansas with his wife, an emergency room physician, and their three daughters to led the Arkansas Regional Innovation Hub. He was the Democratic nominee for Governor in 2022 and recently announced the launch of Vortex PAC an all-new grassroots movement that will transform Arkansas politics by building organizing power for Democrats in all 75 Arkansas counties with their first objective to replace all four of the Arkansas Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives. He and Fred discuss his race for Governor, new PAC, and the life of a Democrat in the increasingly red Midwest.

Dr. Eli Merritt is a political historian at Vanderbilt University who writes a newsletter on Substack called ‘American Commonwealth’. He has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Chicago Tribune, among other news outlets. He is an expert on demagogues and democracy and the editor of the new book How to Save Democracy: Advice and Inspiration of 95 World Leaders. He and Fred discuss his new book as well as how our democratic institutions are failing to meet this moment and what we all can do to push back against the demagogues and authoritarians amongst us.

Katie Phang is on a roll. She began her career as a lawyer and prosecutor before beginning her path on TV as a legal analyst locally in Miami and continuing to national success. Now she has her own show on MNBSC and Peacock, aptly called The Katie Phang Show, as well as hosting her podcast ‘Class Action.’ Her talent makes her a frequent guest host across MSNBC. She and Fred discuss the search for justice and American’s faith in the our systems as we face an onslaught of more extreme actions from the right.

Bill Kristol is a frequent commentator on several networks including CNN/He was the founder and editor-at-large of the conservative political magazine The Weekly Standard. Bill is now editor-at-large of The Bulwark. In addition, he is a founder and director of the advocacy organization Defending Democracy Together — responsible for such projects as Republicans for the Rule of Law, Republican Voters Against Trump and Republicans Against Putin. Bill and Fred discuss the State of the Union, the indecency in the Republican Party, culture wars, and much more.

Greg Sargent is a columnist with the Washington Post and the first returning guest. He joined The Post in 2010, after stints at Talking Points Memo, New York Magazine, and the New York Observer. He is the author of the 2018 book ‘An Uncivil War: Taking Back Our Democracy in an Age of Trumpian Disinformation and Thunderdome Politics.’ Fred and Greg touch on a range of issues in this conversation including the effort to oust Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs committee, the impact of DeSantis’ stupid ‘Stop WOKE’ and ‘Don’t say Gay’ laws on school libraries, and how Democrats can fight back in these culture wars. Fred also fires off on the idea that Democrats shouldn’t support candidates in long shot races.

Santiago Mayer is the founder and Executive Director of Voters ofTomorrow. He dove into politics in high school and hasn’t slowed down since,participating in several campaigns including volunteering for the Biden/Harris campaign to help mobilize young voters. During the 2020 election cycle, Santiago and Voters of Tomorrow launched their first major initiative, “Prom at The Polls” registering thousands of young voters. These days Voters of Tomorrow carries out research, develops initiatives, and encourages Gen Z to vote for pro-democracy candidates nationwide. Santiago is currently pursuing a dual degree in Mechanical Engineering and Political Science at California State University, Long Beach. Fred and Santiago touch on a range of issues surrounding Gen Z, their activism, what we can do to draw them into politics, and what is next for this growing generation of voters.

Denver Riggleman is an Air Force veteran and National Security Agency contractor who represented Virginia’s 5th Congressional District. He has since moved on to focusing on respectable work co-owning Silverback Distillery in Virginia’s beautiful Rockfish River valley near Charlottesville. Months after leaving office he was recruited to join the staff of the House Select Committee on the January 6th Attack. Denver co-authored a book with Hunter Walker titled, The Breach, published in October of 2022 detailing his work on the committee. He and Fred talk about distilling good booze, serving in Congress, the January 6th Committee’s successes, and how so many are missing the danger to the democracy.

Fred discusses the new House rules, George Santos, the mythical moderate Republican and more with Jennifer Rubin, columnist for the Washington Post. Jennifer is also an MSNBC contributor and author of the book “Resistance: How Women Saved Democracy from Donald Trump.” Prior to her career in journalism, she practiced labor law for two decades but has since recovered.

This is the home of the 'On Democracy' podcast with FPWellman. An ongoing discussion with advocates, activists, journalists, political players and more about the state of our democracy and the threats we face. Hosted by former Lincoln Project Executive Director, political strategist, and Army combat veteran, Fred Wellman. Available on Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts.

Jason Kander is the author of two New York Times bestselling books, Outside the Wire: Ten Lessons I’ve Learned in Everyday Courage, and Invisible Storm: A Soldier’s Memoir of Politics and PTSD, as well as a children’s book, Courage Is, which he co-authored with his son, True.  He is currently the President of National Expansion at Veterans Community Project, a non-profit dedicated to fighting veteran suicide and homelessness. He is also the host of ‘Majority 54,’ one of the nation’s most popular political podcasts and sits on the boards of Giffords and Let America Vote/End Citizens United. In 2021, during the fall of Kabul, Jason founded Afghan Rescue Project to save Afghans he had personally served alongside from brutal Taliban retribution.  After that first successful operation, Afghan Rescue Project continued its work. To date, the organization has played a crucial role in the successful evacuation of more than 2,000 at-risk Afghan men, women, and children.