Background Briefing: September 15, 2019
Some 2020 Presidential Predictions
We will begin with some political predictions, particularly since some sober analysts like Peter Wehner, in an article at The Atlantic titled “Trump is Not Well”, argue that Trump’s psychological flaws were alarming when he took office but they are worse now. Could Trump have a meltdown or could he bow out to avoid the humiliation of certain defeat which his narcissistic personality could not handle? And in that case, since Nikki Haley has said she would not challenge Mike Pence for VP, could the Republicans try for a Hail Mary and run her in the primary to head up a Haley/Pence ticket as their best shot since they could to be facing Elizabeth Warren. Allan Lichtman, an American political historian who teaches at American University and has studied both the American right and the presidency joins us. He is the author of The Keys to the White House: A Surefire Way to Predicting the Next President and his prediction system has correctly predicted the outcomes of all US presidential elections since 1984 including the last election when against all odds, he predicted a Trump victory. The author of the national best-seller, The Case For Impeachment, his latest book is The Embattled Vote in America: From the Founding to the Present, and he argues that Trump is such a danger to the country and the world that this is not the time for appeasement because every day that Trump is president is both a disgrace and a danger.
Will There Be a Hispanic Backlash at the Polls in 2020?
Then we speak with Marie Arana, who was born in Lima, Peru and is the author of the new book just out Silver, Sword, and Stone: Three Crucibles in the Latin American Story. She joins us to explain the three enduring themes that have defined Latin America since pre-Columbian times: the foreign greed for its mineral riches Silver, an ingrained propensity for violence Sword, and the abiding power of religion Stone. With Hispanics recently mowed down in El Paso because of who they are, we speculate on whether there will be a backlash at the polls with a big Hispanic turnout in 2020.
Avoiding a New Cold War with Russia
Then finally we speak with George Beebe, the Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for the National Interest who served in government for nearly twenty-five years, including as director of Russia analysis at CIA. We will discuss his latest book just out, The Russia Trap: How Our Shadow War with Russia Could Spiral into Nuclear Catastrophe and how a new Cold War with Russia can be avoided in spite of the current trajectory of demonization and distrust as nuclear arms control treaties are torn up and new dangerous weapons systems are tested.