Background Briefing: June 15, 2025
MAGA Political Hatred Has Moved From Talk to Action With the Assassination of Democratic Lawmakers in Minnesota
We begin with the political assassinations of top members of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party in the Minnesota State House by a right wing culture warrior and anti-abortion fanatic who impersonated a police officer to kill the former speaker in Minnesota’s State Assembly and her husband along with severely wounding a Democratic Farmer Labor state senator and his wife. We discuss how MAGA political hatred has moved from talk to action with Trump the main instigator and inciter along with his blindly partisan enforcers at ICE, the DoJ, the FBI, the Pentagon and DHS whose proud puppy-killer leader just had a Democratic US Senator assaulted by her thugs which she and the GOP are blaming on the victim. Joining us is David Schultz a Professor of Political Science at Hamline University and the University of Minnesota School of Law. He is the author of 30 books and various articles on American politics, ethics, election law, and the media, most recently Presidential Swing States: Why Only Ten Matter, Election Law and Democratic Theory , and American Politics in the Age of Ignorance: Why Lawmakers Choose Belief Over Research. His latest book is Generational Politics in the United States From the Silents to Gen Z and Beyond.
Raining on Trump’s Parade as Our Fuhrer Takes the Stand to Review the Troops Like the Dictators He Admires
Then we get an appraisal of yesterday’s military parade in Washington DC along with 2,000 “No Kings” demonstrations across the country coinciding with Trump’s 79th birthday and his vanity project having co opted the US Army’s 250th birthday to imitate his heroes Putin and Kim Jong Un by presiding over a parade of military might and hardware to remind all who the dear leader is and what he is in charge of. Joining us is Sidney Blumenthal, the former assistant and senior adviser to President Bill Clinton, and senior adviser to Hillary Clinton. He has been a national staff reporter for The Washington Post, Washington editor and staff writer for The New Yorker and his books include the bestsellers The Clinton Wars, The Rise of the Counter-Establishment and The Permanent Campaign. His latest book is All the Powers on Earth, The Political Life of Abraham Lincoln 1856-1860, and his latest article at The Guardian is, “Trump’s insurrection routine: fuel violence, spawn chaos, shrug off the law.”
Trump on the Sidelines as Israel Wages War on Iran With Netanyahu Promising Regime Change
Then finally we look into Israel’s on-going attacks on Iran’s nuclear and missile infrastructure having eliminated 20 of its top military leaders and a dozen nuclear scientists while Iran retaliates against Israeli cities and the US is sidelined now that peace talks have collapsed. Joining us to discuss how Netanyahu has made it clear he is determined to continue attacks that could spread to oil and gas targets and shut down the Persian Gulf along with his determination to bring about regime change is Paul Pillar, who served for 30 years as an analyst at the CIA, in which his last position was National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia. Previously, he served as chief of analytic units at the CIA covering portions of the Near East, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. He has also headed the Assessments and Information Group of the DCI Counterterrorist Center, and is currently a nonresident senior fellow of the Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University and an Associate Fellow at the GenevaCenter for Security Policy and a nonresident fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. His latest book is Beyond the Water’s Edge How Partisanship Corrupts U.S. Foreign Policy and he has an article at Responsible Statecraft, “Trump must condemn Israeli acts of illegal, naked aggression.”