President Trump fretted this week that White House lawyer Pat Cippolone and personal lawyer Jay Sekulow lacked experience on television. So he added a few TV-ready lawyers to the mix, each with scripted roles to play.

This week, Lawfare's Benjamin Wittes and Susan Hennessey argue that President Trump has changed the presidency from one of public service to one that serves his personal interests. Will we ratify his vision or reject it? It may be up to voters to decide.

Also this hour: Slate's Stephen Metcalf thinks Trump is a hostage to 1979. Why else would he be obsessed with U.S. embassies and Jimmy Carter?

And singer/songwriter Lara Herscovitch proves music is the antidote to our troubled times.

GUESTS:

• Susan Hennessey - Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, executive editor at Lawfare, analyst for CNN, and the co-author of Unmaking The Presidency: Donald Trump's War on the World's Most Powerful Office


• Lara Herscovitch - A singer, songwriter, and poet; former Connecticut state troubadour


• Stephen Metcalf - Host of the Slate Culture Gabfest; he's working on a book about the 1980s


• Benjamin Wittes - Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, editor-in-chief of Lawfare, analyst for MSNBC, and the co-author of Unmaking The Presidency: Donald Trump’s War on the World’s Most Powerful Office

Thanks to Catie Talarski and Chion Wolf.

Email us your questions at pardonme@ctpublic.org.

Pardon Me is a production of The Colin McEnroe Show on Connecticut Public Radio.

Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donate

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.