Episodes

On our agenda this week — Matt Gaetz gives in to reality. The most disliked member of Congress’s nomination for Attorney General lasted less than a Scaramucci – just 8 days. Are accused sexual predators Pete Hegseth or RFK Junior the next victims of past allegations? Michael Ramirez/Las Vegas Review-Journal A growing list of Red states are working to turn public education into Christian education The GOP brings culture-war attacks on transgender Americans to congressional bathrooms The once dom...

Let the crazy begin in earnest! Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin called Lincoln’s cabinet the “Team of Rivals”. Aretha Franklin’s classic could well be the title of a new book about the Trump team as Trump loads up his administration with mostly unqualified toadies. As of recording time, Matt Gaetz stands at the top of the mountain of WTF nominees with Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, Kristi Noem, Mike Huckabee and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. hot on his heels. MAGAs in Florida are pushing Governor Ron Desa...

That was the week that was… In the main event, the Prosecuting Attorney loses to the convicted criminal. On the national undercard: Republicans are winning on points, with the possibility of a full takeover in Washington depending on a dozen or so congressional races. Closer to home: Michigan provides a mixed message: Trump carries the state by 80,000 vote Elissa Slotkin shows how to buck the headwinds and moves to the U.S. Senate Democrats hold one hotly contested U.S. House seat but lose ...

The Final Argument We are recording on Halloween, going into the final weekend. There’s lots to unpack as candidates up and down the ballot make their final pitches…and we look forward to saying goodbye to endless text messages and breathless emails begging for money. Trump recreates a 1939 Nazi Rally at Madison Square Garden, while Kamala Harris attracts 75-thousand to the staging area of Trump’s 2021 unsuccessful insurrection. The race for the Michigan Senate is a nail-biter … as are three cri...

Dave Whamond, Canada, PoliticalCartoons.com On our political radar this week: This week’s guest: General William Enyart. Before his election to Congress, Enyart was Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard. General Enyart served 43 years in the Air Force and National Guard. Donald Trump’s increasingly bizarre behavior peaked at a bizarre campaign town hall in which he only answered 4 questions and then spent 39 minutes playing D.J. and doing his Fred Astaire impression. Trump has demand...

We’re joined this week by Delaware Senator Chris Coons, chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee. This week in our battleground state… Michigan TV stations are raking in the cash with campaign spending well over $200-million, fueled by close races for President, U.S. Senate and congressional districts and control of the state legislature. The Harris campaign reports it has raised a staggering $1-billion in 7 weeks. Michigan is also getting massive personal attention from the national campaigns, ...

“Make Them Riot!” Some of the stories on our radar this week: Jack Smith’s blockbuster court filing on Defendant Trump’s criminality leading up to the January 6th insurrection includes revelations about the election night chaos at Detroit’s counting center The Trump campaign is all-in on lying in paid advertising as well as at his increasingly boring rallies Republicans for Harris officially launches with Mark Cuban one of the national leaders, and former GOP Congressman David Trott co-chairin...

Rick McKee, CagleCartoons.com This week in our crazy, insane Trump-infested world — Don Trump continues his magic touch in endorsements, hanging tough with North Carolina Black Nazi Mark Robinson even as the gubernatorial candidate’s campaign staff bails out. Robinson is the latest Trumper in a pantheon of bizarre losers that includes Dr. Oz, Herschel Walker and our very own Tudor Dixon and Matt DePerno. Trump has also found time to start up a couple more grifts to go with his digital ego cards...

When he’s not venting about his debate debacle or doubling down on cats-and-dogs recipes, Donald Trump is offering empty promises of tax cuts for the masses: no tax on tips, no tax on Social Security, no tax on overtime and even overturning a law he signed which gutted tax deductions for wealthier residents of high-tax states. He’s running scared as the polls consistently show him slowly slipping nationally, and especially in swing states. Also on our screen this week: RFK Junior is staying on ...

It was a good great week for the Harris/Walz campaign: Tuesday night was a Wipe Out for Donald Trump – a one-on-one confrontation just as one-sided as the earlier debate that ended Joe Biden’s reelection bid. Days earlier they picked up the endorsements of arch conservative GOP icons Liz and Dick Cheney, followed by support from George W. Bush’s Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez; inflation is down to a three-year low, with gas prices plunging and the Fed poised to lower interest rates; renowned ...

David Horsey – Seattle Times This week’s agenda: Michigan in late summer is looking like Iowa in the winter: presidential candidates everywhere except the very weird RFK Jr. who is on the ballot despite his best efforts. We’re days away from what may be the only Harris-Trump debate, with Trump previewing why he’ll lose the debate … it’s rigged. Can an endorsement make a real difference? We may find out as Liz Cheney says she’s voting for Kamala Harris. Trump’s apparent campaign strategy: ski...

This week’s agenda is Presidential Politics in Michigan: New polling shows Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in a statistical tie. We’ll be joined in a moment by EPIC-MRA’s Bernie Porn. The candidates are focusing on Michigan. Trump makes two visits, saying we’re on the verge of World War III. Kamala Harris will revive a longstanding tradition of a Democratic candidate Metro Detroit rally on Labor Day. Michigan Republicans continue to embarrass themselves, this time with a convention that features...

We invade Chicago for a little convention time. Instead of our usual Zoom chats, Jeff and Walt go face to face as they meet up on the left side of the lake. Between performances by Stevie Wonder, John Legend, Lil’ Jon, Pink, The Chicks and Patti LaBelle there’s some political speechmaking going with the Obamas, the Clintons, Oprah, Tim Walz and (of course) Kamala Harris bringing down the house. Michigan was well represented on the podium with the aforementioned Stevie Wonder along with Dana Ness...

This week’s agenda: The Second City becomes the news center of the nation for a week as Democrats gather on the left side of Lake Michigan for their national convention. While the Harris-Walz ticket continues to draw massive crowds at rallies, J.D. Vance comes to Michigan and again draws a crowd numbering in the dozens. The latest polling from the New York Times shows a turnaround in three critical states, with Kamala Harris now holding narrow leads in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Trum...

An estimated 15,000 packed a hangar and out the door at the Harris-Walz Detroit Metro rally The Harris-Walz ticket launches with crowds matching Obama 2008 and Trump 2016 Hours before the new Democratic ticket attracted 15,000 to a hangar at Metro Airport, JD Vance enthused a crowd of several dozen in Macomb County. Donald Trump spent the week mean-Truthing, holding a bizarre and distortion/lie-filled news conference, and resting up for his one-and-only campaign event in the critical swing stat...

This week’s agenda: Donald Trump has a 30-minute tantrum with black journalists … and he didn’t exactly stick the landing. In the least surprising news of the week, the UAW has added its endorsement to the Harris campaign New polling shows the battle for the White House has become a tossup A long court battle ends with Michigan’s minimum wage increasing … just as voters wanted, but a Republican Legislature tried to sabotage President Biden calls for major changes to the Supreme Court And the Re...

Still another amazing week in our nation’s 248th year, with Michigan right in the center of it all. This week’s agenda: The Harris campaign comes together in a matter of 2 days: we focus on a week that will go into the history books (except history books in Florida schools) Next up: choosing a running mate, with just 2 weeks to make a decision Republican panic begins as the GOP grapples with the change at the top President Biden shifts into legacy mode Governor Whitmer makes it clear … again … ...

There are only two political stories on our agenda this week, both from the top of the ballot: the “will he or won’t he” waiting about President Biden, and the GOP National Convention which they branded as a unifying event but, in reality, only united the dominant MAGA movement while horrifying just about everyone else. Key to the discussion over the Democratic ticket: polls, polls, polls. Links to some of the most credible: Public Policy Poll: Michigan & Pennsylvania Most say Biden should with...

Hard to believe, but there are stories other than the President’s health…but they mostly tie together. Among them: Gretchen Whitmer is on a national book tour promoting “True Gretch” including an appearance with Stephen Colbert, while saying that she absolutely is not running for President this year even if Joe Biden pulls out… Biden has his first defection from the Michigan congressional delegation: Hillary Scholten urges the President to end his candidacy – quote – “for the good of our democr...

On the week’s podcast: As we celebrate the revolution 248 years ago that ended the rule of the British monarchy over our nation, we face the prospect of reverting to our British origins. The U.S. Supreme Court’s radical-right majority has effectively turned this and future presidents into Kings and Queens who are above the law, able to do anything (s)he want under the mantra of “Official Acts”. So God Save the King, Joe the First. We focus on the implications for November and beyond. In more mun...

This week in politics: The U.S. Supreme Court gives Donald Trump the best possible gift: the longest possible delay in his federal trials In Michigan, a new state Senate map from the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission Louisiana’s Ten-Commandments-In-Every-Classroom law is challenged in the courts even as Oklahoma requires biblical training in public schools The Supreme Court also handed down a ruling which legalizes a form of political bribery Michigan’s Legislature finalizes an $82....

Jack Ohman – Tribune Content Agency In politics this week… We are days away from the first of two scheduled presidential debates. The big question: will Trump stay awake for the full 90 minutes? Trump’s latest tax proposal – all tariffs, no income tax – is a huge gift for the wealthy (of course) and a disaster for the rest of us (also of course!) The Republican National Committee and conservative TV have embraced the art of “cheap fake” videos: deceptively edited videos designed to make Joe Bi...

In national politics this week: Convicted felon Donald Trump returns to the scene of one of his crimes, with Congressional Republicans falling all over themselves to kiss his ass. Hunter Biden’s 3-count felony conviction means he needs just 31 more to become the Republican presidential nominee. Inflation continues to go down, more jobs are created, incomes are up – but Biden continues to get low polling numbers on the economy More free trips for Clarence Thomas are revealed even as Senate Repub...

We are recording Thursday afternoon on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion that saved the world from a narcissistic, paranoid, racist and psychotic would-be world dictator. Our mission 80 years later as beneficiaries of their courage and sacrifice: constantly protect their legacy. In this week’s political news: Convicted felon Donald Trump and his gang of MAGAs, several of whom are also convicted felons, are openly planning on turning the U.S. Justice Department into their revenge squad....