Hour 1 – Barb Adams and John J. Higgins, Despicable
We’re learning this week just how despicable Trump’s Justice Department and his Attorney General, William Barr, were, and it’s worse than imagined. We already knew Barr politicized the Justice Department and abused his power as AG under Trump, but on top of the revelation that Trump’s DOJ had tried to obtain email and phone records of journalists and news outlets, we now know how vengeful Barr and Trump were in targeting Trump’s so-called political rivals.
Prosecutors in Trump’s DOJ subpoenaed Apple for data from accounts of specific Democratic members of Congress and multiple members of the House Intelligence Committee, including their staff and families, including one minor, reminiscent of former President Richard Nixon’s “enemies list.” Worse yet, Barr apparently authorized a gag order on Apple and other service providers from notifying the subjects of the subpoenas, including Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell.
Trump’s DOJ was far more malicious than previously thought, but that malicious behavior is prevalent throughout the GOP.
For example, look at the GOP fraudits currently underway in Arizona. While under the guise of being about transparency in election results and reinstating Trump as the real president of the United States, there’s a darker side to these phony audits. They reinforce Republican thinking regarding distrust around elections and democracy and show that if you have the money and resources, you can seize the ballot and potentially change election results. Just keep counting and recounting until you find some insane reason to overthrow the legitimate election. In addition, they lay the groundwork for yet more attacks on our democracy. What’s happening in Arizona creates a template for Republicans elsewhere on how to undermine any election results they don’t like, and it sets the stage for future insurrection events like the one that happened on January 6 at the Capitol.
Unfortunately, fraudits aren’t the only means to destroy elections and with them, democracy itself, in America. Like almost everything the GOP does these days, it is about undermining facts and corroding the idea that we can have some kind of truth in election outcomes. And once that happens, the U.S. no longer has a way to transfer power peacefully.
The GOP’s targeted tactics are meant to turn our elections into shams and undermine the concept of democracy. In combination with new laws curtailing and limiting voting rights plus ongoing redistricting by Republicans, these tactics are all meant to help Republicans regain control of the House in 2022. If that occurs, the possibility of preserving or enacting any progressive legislation becomes essentially non-existent. Beyond that in 2024, a GOP-dominated House would most likely refuse to certify a Biden re-election win or the victory of any other Democrat who might run.
We have little time left to stop the real steal by the GOP. We must strengthen the guardrails on our democracy and secure voting rights in this country. The Justice Department, which announced on Friday an investigation into the Trump-era leak hunt that targeted both lawmakers and journalists, must also step in to stop Republican-run states from turning their voting machines over to right-wing conspiracy theorists. Democrats must deal with the filibuster issue and Joe Manchin, and there must be a massive turnout in 2022 to defeat the GOP at the polls, as these are likely our last best chances to rid ourselves of this darkness once and for all!
JOIN Barb and John as they discuss Despicable.
Hour 2 – (Rebroadcast) Dr. Leslie Norins, MD, Ph.D., Deadly Pages
Joining the show during the second hour is medical expert, Dr. Leslie Norins, MD, Ph.D. Dr. Norins will be discussing his book, Deadly Pages.
Bioterrorism is a terrifying threat, especially if we’re attacked with smallpox. No one has been vaccinated for smallpox since the 1950s and no stockpile of smallpox vaccine exists anywhere in the world. Could a terrorist plot to infect up to five (5) million people in the U.S. actually be successful?
Leslie Norins, MD, Ph.D., with the help of Thomas Hauck, turns decades of medical research and infectious disease experience into a riveting fictional thriller about smallpox bioterrorism in his book, Deadly Pages.
Dr. Norins will discuss why smallpox is such a deadly threat if used for bioterrorism; how it was eradicated from the world by the WHO–and why it’s still dangerous; what you need to know about how smallpox vaccinations work; plans the U.S. has for coping with a smallpox attack; and what he has discovered from his own experience researching smallpox.
Dr. Leslie Norins brings 50 years of medical research and medical publishing experience to Deadly Pages, his fictional thriller about smallpox bioterrorism. After training with the Nobel Prize winner in immunology, he directed a major laboratory at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Then, in the major phase of his career, he created and grew over 80 medical newsletters, providing news and advice for hundreds of thousands of healthcare professionals in specialized niches throughout the U.S. and the world. Trade publications called him “legendary” and “the Dean of medical newsletters.” Dr. Norins received his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and his M.D. from Duke University School of Medicine. His Ph.D. is from the University of Melbourne, where he worked with Sir Macfarlane Burnet at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. He was elected a Fellow of the Infectious Disease Society of America, and has served on committees of the National Institutes of Health and the World Health Organization.
For more information, visit http://DeadlyPages.com.
Share this post...
