Background Briefing: November 6, 2022

 

The Person Most Responsible For Hate, Delusion, Threats and Acts of Violence in Our Politics

We begin with the torrent of hate speech, delusional conspiracies and threats of violence infecting this election which are likely to intensify after Tuesday and examine who is responsible for poisoning our political discourse to the point candidates, poll workers and voters are being threatened and attacked. The answer is obvious, Donald Trump and to a lesser extent, Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch. Joining us is Peter Dreier, the E.P. Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics and chair of the Urban & Environmental Policy Department at Occidental College. His books include Place Matters: Metropolitics for the 21st Century and The 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century: A Social Justice Hall of Fame, and we discuss his article at Common Dreams, “Wanted for Attempted Murder: Donald Trump.

 

With Inflation the GOP’s Main Election Issue and the Fed’s Cure Worsening it, Who is Most to Blame?

Then we examine the main issue the Republicans are running on in this election, inflation, and look into what is causing it, who is responsible for it and how the cure pursued by the Fed is worse than the condition. Joining us is J.W. Mason, a Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and a Professor of Economics at John Jay College of the City University of New York where his research focuses on macroeconomics, finance, economic history, the history of economic thought, and international finance and trade. He was previously the Policy Director for the New York State Working Families Party and we discuss his article at Barrons, “Inflation Is a Threat. But It May Not Be the Biggest We Face.”

 

How Will Israel and Saudi Arabia React to Reports Putin Will Help Accelerate the Breakout Period For an Iranian Nuclear Bomb?

Then with Saturday’s brazen lie from Iran’s Foreign Minister that Iran only supplied some drones to Russia before it invaded Ukraine, we assess how Israel’s new right wing government and Saudi Arabia might react to an accelerated breakout period for Iran to have a nuclear bomb following reports that Putin’s quid pro quo in exchange for Iranian drones is to help Iran’s nuclear program. Joining us is Abbas Milani, Director of Iranian Studies and Professor at the Center on Democracy, Development and Rule of Law at the Freeman Spogli Institute at Stanford University. He taught at Tehran University’s Faculty of Law and Political Science, where he was also a member of the Board of Directors of the university’s Center for International Relations. His books include Lost Wisdom: Rethinking Modernity in Iran, The Persian Sphinx and The Shah.