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New podcast - Forward Nation Radio is a progressive political talk show with host, David Leventhal
Episodes
Thursday Jun 25, 2020
Thursday Jun 25, 2020
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
This Week’s Discussion:
Dave talks about how recent events have given him something he has had little cause to feel over the waking nightmare of the Trump years: reason for hope. Like for someone seeing light at the end of a very dark tunnel, these are particularly perilous times.
We discuss the reasons for hope and those for caution in the latest Supreme Court ruling against Trump and his racism, and for the Dreamers. What to make of the second Supreme Court ruling in just over a week that is cause for celebration?
We find more reason for hope and caution in the latest polls that do not look good for Trump and in Trump's latest moves towards totalitarianism in firing the US Attorney for the Southern District of NY for not quite tailoring the law to the satisfaction of Trump and his cronies.
We also examine the hopeful and perilous signs in the latest on COVID and the protests for racial and social justice.
Finally, we ask what you do with all the leftover red meat if you throw a white supremacist rally and nobody shows up.
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THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
Forward Nation Radio with Professor David Leventhal
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Wednesday Jun 17, 2020
Wednesday Jun 17, 2020
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
This Week’s Discussion:
We discuss a great way to celebrate Pride Month, as the US Supreme Court issues a shocking and dramatic decision that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act bars discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender. Don't get your hopes up about the Supreme Court, however. There is no reason to expect it will now protect civil rights or develop integrity; it's more like road kill for an unstoppable and too-long-denied force for social progress.
Dave takes that same sentiment to his discussions of the week in social justice protests. We start with a reminder that Governor Cuomo of NY has only looked so great these past weeks because he is being compared to trump, a "leader" without brains or empathy still relying on calls to racists such as scheduling his white supremacist rally on Juneteenth in Tulsa. Cuomo telling protesters to go home because they had already won was like a hockey team declaring victory and going home after a first period goal. With added offensiveness.
The battle for racial justice, 400 years in the making, will not be won in a day, nor will it be won by securing cosmetic changes. (Nor will it be won at all if we get distracted by red herrings such as that seeking to make looting the real story here.) Keep marching to November...and beyond.
And then there's COVID. Trump moves the Republican convention to Florida, a state willing to sacrifice its citizens (and those of all the other states) for a few bucks. And schedules his rally in Tulsa, without taking precautions other than to force the morons to sign liability waivers! (But don't worry, the whole COVID thing is a George Soros plot!) Anybody want to guess a couple of states setting new records for new COVID cases?
The lockdown backlash will cost many thousands of US lives, all so Americans don't lose the freedom to dine in a packed restaurant. We consider the irony that people are siding with republicans on re-opening, due to concerns about small businesses, when it is republicans that are stealing the damage relief funds Democrats have allocated to small businesses!
*Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher-Please SUBSCRIBE
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
Forward Nation Radio with Professor David Leventhal
If you love what you heard, Like Us and share on Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
Tuesday Jun 09, 2020
Tuesday Jun 09, 2020
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
This Week’s Discussion:
Peaceful worldwide pro-justice protests continue. Could this be different from protests past and lead to real systemic change? There are reasons to hope. Protests begin to force change, but need to break down the blue wall that puts police across the nation above the law. Trump and the police respond by reasserting that that is where they intend to stay. We need to force accountability, and then we need to keep marching right into the voting booths in November.
Meanwhile the President continues to demonstrate the strong, decisive, principled, and honest leadership that this country needs in times...oh, never mind. At least he reminds us that in republican circles, only corporations and rich people get constitutional rights as he fires on peaceful protesters so he can get a photo op with a--wait for it--bible! On second thought, can't we just lock him in his bunker and forget about him?
The media gets all excited over some cracks in Trump's cult as well, as he faces criticism from within his own administration and criminal political party. Seems we have been here before, but we can always find reason to hope. Anyone expecting integrity from the GOP needs to get real, but maybe they are a bellwether of ominous tidings for the criminal-in-chief.
*Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher-Please SUBSCRIBE
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
Forward Nation Radio with Professor David Leventhal
If you love what you heard, Like Us and share on Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
Sunday May 31, 2020
Sunday May 31, 2020
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
This Week’s Discussion:
Protests erupt around the world following the police killing of George Floyd, just the latest (or is it?) unjustified police killing of a black person. Even as ultraconservatives infiltrate the ranks of the protesters to try to discredit them, the battle lines for 2020 are made clear. Those who protest for justice, equality, fairness vs. those who protest in favor of white privilege and the right to harm others. Guess which side our President is on? In case it wasn't clear before, he again makes clear his penchant for violence and desire to see his political rivals murdered.
Speaking of murder, Trump calls former Republican congressman and current MSNBC commentator Joe Scarborough a murderer. Do we even need to note it's not true? This is the President of the United States. But of course, there is so much he needs to deflect our intention from, including his allowing the first successful foreign-engineered terrorist attack in the US since 9/11.
How recent events continue to inform our discussions of free speech and how the media should treat Trump. Then we talk about Trump's recent botching of the issue of federalism. He may not know what it is all about, but he still manages to promote discredited and dangerous GOP ideas for allowing the rich to further enrich themselves while destroying the lives of millions. Or more.
*Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher-Please SUBSCRIBE
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
Forward Nation Radio with Professor David Leventhal
If you love what you heard, Like Us and share on Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
Sunday May 24, 2020
Sunday May 24, 2020
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
This Week’s Discussion:
Trump uses hydrochloroquine, which might lead us to conclude it rots the brain. Further contravening his own administration, he won't wear masks; no need to listen to experts when you don't care how you hurt others. And more on Trump's efforts to solidify his claim to greatest American-killer of them all!
We discuss the latest on Trump's efforts to not just kill Americans, but to kill America itself. He continues to ramp up his war on American civil society, law and order, and democracy. Even after his most recent Inspector General firing, another blatant cover-up of his criminal administration, we continue to indicate that we just don't appreciate the severity of the threat. We get closer to having an answer to the question of what civil minds will do when he and his criminal organization squash any semblance of democracy to steal the 2020 elections.
Finally, we examine the role of the media in the age of the two existential threats: COVID-19 and today's GOP. What do we need to learn if we have any hope of surviving? Is Constitutional Free Speech a suicide pact?
*Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher-Please SUBSCRIBE
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
Forward Nation Radio with Professor David Leventhal
If you love what you heard, Like Us and share on Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
Sunday May 17, 2020
Sunday May 17, 2020
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
This Week’s Discussion:
Moving further down the totalitarian road, Trump indicates the law is not something he needs to be burdened by. The Justice Department throws in the towel in a game it has already won, by seeking to drop its criminal case against Michael Flynn after he has twice pled guilty. This assault on the law and the US is far worse than is being portrayed (and it's not being portrayed as so great, either). This while Trump argues in the US Supreme Court that he is above the law. The fateful question is whether the Court will even bother to try to hide its naked partisanship as it engages in its naked partisanship.
Also in Supreme Court news, the Supreme Court hears arguments in a case in which it will likely rule that support for slave owners is the only existing rationale for our electoral college system. (Other than the high principle of continuing to let unqualified republicans win presidential elections they have lost.)
Trump declares war on Obama by accusing him of the worst presidential crime ever; just give him a few minutes to make up something good about what that crime actually was. Add this to armed insurrectionists battling public health with the blessing of this President, and all in the name of their freedom to destroy the lives of others, and this country slips ever closer to civil war.
Oh, and let's not forget the latest administrative disasters regarding the Covid crisis, as Republicans continue to sacrifice their citizens to improve their reelection prospects. Trump solidifies his lead in the race to kill the most Americans.
*Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher-Please SUBSCRIBE
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
Forward Nation Radio with Professor David Leventhal
If you love what you heard, Like Us and share on Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
Tuesday May 05, 2020
Tuesday May 05, 2020
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
This Week’s Discussion:
We discuss that the "leader of the free world" suggested injecting disinfectants as a possible solution to a deadly global pandemic. (Then we discuss the fact that we really had to write that sentence.)
We note some of the latest Trump moves to eliminate facts, reason, science, and oversight from the US government, with the help of his criminal organization (the GOP). Speaking of tools, GOP governors prepare to open their states, while GOP cult followers and religious zealots (ie, tools) are told to protest against public health measures, and do so, at tremendous cost to public health. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Moscow Mitch continues to fight the Civil War, attacking as fiscally irresponsible the blue states that feed his own, even while his criminal organization diverts Cares Act money to themselves and to wealthy contributors. In sum, the GOP continues to show that thousands of dead Americans and billions of stolen relief are a price it is happy to pay for electoral victory.
Dave continues to offer his thoughts on how recent events should inform us on weighty public issues. Today, it's about freedom, loyalty, and patriotism. (And maybe a few other words that mean the opposite of what they are supposed to.)
*Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher-Please SUBSCRIBE
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
Forward Nation Radio with Professor David Leventhal
If you love what you heard, Like Us and share on Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
Saturday Apr 25, 2020
Saturday Apr 25, 2020
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
This Week’s Discussion:
Adding insult to injury, corporations start running coronavirus-themed ads. Hearing bullshit from selfish, greedy entities with no concern for the welfare of anyone but themselves and who, in many cases, are responsible for exacerbating the crisis, is...well, kind of like listening to a Republican politician. But seriously, having to listen to VW commiserate with us on our breathing problems is not just Orwellian, it is so perfectly in the moment!
We commemorate the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. We really can't say "celebrate" as November may just about end any lingering possibility we might be able to celebrate a 100th.
But we are so excited to be able to report on some good news: despite their latest voter suppression efforts, including essentially threatening would-be voters with death, Trump gets his ass handed to him in Wisconsin. What does that mean for November? It means the GOP will redouble its efforts to cheat to steal the election. In more bad news for the criminal-in-chief, a Republican-led Senate committee unanimously finds no factual basis for his war on the intelligence community's investigations of his misconduct. What does that mean for November? It means the GOP will redouble its war on reality. You didn't expect a sane response, did you? The non-brain-dead need to be prepared for what's coming.
Finally, Trump's latest efforts to profit off of the coronavirus, no matter who gets caught in the crossfire. But that will require a scapegoat, which is where the W.H.O. and immigrants come in. Why not pick a fight with the people trying to save us during a pandemic and the people feeding us during it? Trump supporters, including Republican Governors, are so brain-dead stupid and such human disgraces that they will happily let themselves be used as mindless tools by the usual puppet-masters in order to fight for their right to infect themselves and others. And these are the people we are going to come together with as a nation as we fight this mutual battle? Keep dreaming.
*Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher-Please SUBSCRIBE
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
Forward Nation Radio with Professor David Leventhal
If you love what you heard, Like Us and share on Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
Monday Apr 13, 2020
Monday Apr 13, 2020
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
This Week’s Discussion:
We continue our discussions of what the coronavirus and our pathetic response to it should teach us about the issues that will be at stake in the 2020 election.
The first is all about the wisdom of reelecting a narcissistic, ignorant, incompetent criminal...or criminal organization full of them. More information emerges about just how pathetic Trump's "response" to the crisis has been. Any thinking person will not be surprised; any trump supporter will not be interested. Will it matter to whatever is left in between the two?
We also talk about the GOP's escalating war on democracy. Wisconsin was just the tip of the iceberg, as Republicans have demonstrated that they will use the coronavirus to assist their efforts to suppress voting. Make no mistake that the 2020 elections will be all about this war on democracy; Anyone who thinks shame or hypocrisy will limit the blatant criminality has really not been paying attention. The Supreme Court shows us that there may be no stopping Republicans' election theft.
Let's use these events to further the conversation on inequality. What we are learning about who is "essential" and who are the true heroes of our society should inform our thinking on inequality. Let's start rewarding American workers more fairly, and let's end our idolization of the rich, and all those who profit off the toil and the misery of others.
*Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher-Please SUBSCRIBE
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
Forward Nation Radio with Professor David Leventhal
If you love what you heard, Like Us and share on Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
Thursday Apr 09, 2020
Thursday Apr 09, 2020
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
This Week’s Discussion:
We talk about the impact Bernie Sanders has had on the Democratic party and the need to fight to keep the movement going. Sanders showed it is possible to inspire people and a political movement by taking on the establishment and actually trying to make a positive difference in people's lives. Now we will see if it can inspire enough people to make real change. Democrats need to all rally behind presumptive nominee Joe Biden to defeat Trump and save this country. Then progressives need to stay behind Biden to push him to further an agenda that fulfills this country's ideals.
Meanwhile, Republicans continue to show that we are fighting for this country's life. Their voter suppression hits a new level as they demonstrate a willingness to kill people during a pandemic for having the nerve to vote. We can never forget that this criminal organization will do whatever is necessary, and destroy whatever it must, in order to preserve its power. That includes stealing the 2020 elections, an effort that is well underway.
The US is now #1 in several other dubious categories; number of COVID-19 cases and deaths, inadequacy of our response, and failure of our leadership. Trump continues to be more pathetic than we could have believed in our worst nightmares.
We introduce a continuing series on what the coronavirus pandemic and our pathetic response to it teach us about the major issues confronting us in 2020 and beyond.
*Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher-Please SUBSCRIBE
THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS
Forward Nation Radio with Professor David Leventhal
If you love what you heard, Like Us and share on Facebook - Instagram - Twitter