Background Briefing: May 15, 2024
The Party of Law and Order Now Embraces Lawlessness as the GOP Speaker Trashes the Rule of Law to Please the Scofflaw-in-Chief
We begin with the former party of law and order’s embrace of lawlessness as a top Republican who is second in line to the president trashes the judicial system and the rule of law just to please the scofflaw-in-chief Donald Trump who the nation’s top court is bending over backwards to protect. We discuss this shocking development as the GOP not only abandons democracy but now denigrates and undermines the rule of law. Joining us is Corey Brettschneider, a professor of political science at Brown University, where he teaches constitutional law and politics, as well as a visiting professor of law at Fordham Law School. He is the author of The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents and Decisions and Dissents of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Selection. His forthcoming book, out July 2, is The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It.
The Setbacks the Ukrainian Military is Suffering as a Result of Trump’s Six Month Delay of U.S. Arms and Ammunition
Then we look into the setbacks the Ukrainian military is suffering as a result of the delay of weapons from the U.S., which Trump held up to please Putin. Joining us is Simon Shuster, a reporter for Time Magazine based in New York City, by way of Moscow, Kyiv and Berlin. He has previously covered Russia and the former Soviet Union for Reuters, The Associated Press, The Moscow Times and Foreign Policy, and he is the author of The Showman: Inside the Invasion that Shook the World and Made a Leader of Volodymyr Zelensky. We discuss his latest article at Time Magazine, “Putin’s Enemies are Struggling to Unite.”
What is Behind the Rise in Food Prices as a Few Monopolies Gouge the Public and Farmers While Protected by the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack
Then finally we speak with Austin Frerick, an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. He worked at the Open Markets Institute, the U.S. Department of Treasury, and the Congressional Research Service before becoming a Fellow at Yale University. A 7th generation Iowan, he’s the author of the new book, Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry and we investigate what is behind the rise in food prices as a few monopolies gouge the public and the farmers while protected by the Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack.