FairAndUNbalanced's podcast

Why my conservative brothers and sisters in Christ, like Donald Trump, do not need forgiveness from God, forgiveness for which the rest of us must urgently pray. - More -

The outermost fringes of American right-wing militancy has something in common with early Christianity. They rely on codes. Neo-Nazis are in a position to understand the below-ground messaging of my president and his supporters. - More -

Sometimes the way war criminals are regarded depends on the era in which we live. In a span of 75 years, Americans had hoped to come closer to the founding ideals. Our standards should not have gone downward.

How about this? The election just six months away. The presumptive Democratic nominee 9 points ahead. Even conservatives attacking Republicans. And Democrats still lost in November. Here’s how it happened.

If he had paid more attention to a couple of memos, he would have been in politics a whole lot longer.

The Haldeman maneuver didn't really work for Nixon. Trump has a more fanatic following. Maybe they'll fall into line. - More -

The world sometimes seems to have too few heroes. America has one. He is a minor official in Ukraine. - More -

Each time President Trump tells us what he saw and did on the day of the attacks, his actions in the aftermath become even more courageous. - More -

As so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ endorse, with great enthusiasm, new attacks by our government on desperately ill children, we may as well be overt about it. What would Satan do? - More -

In the White House, it's been called the Swing Around the Circle, a planned rally tour to persuade middle-of-the-road voters of his moderation, and of the extremism of the opposition. But not all plans ...well... go off as planned. - More -

My dad thought teenagers were just putting a finger in the eye of grownups. I thought it was all about the music. Half a century later the debate about the same kids has a ring to it. - More -

One tragic aspect within a tragic era within the history of a great country is now being tragically repeated. And it is deliberate. - More -

There is a common thread that runs through Donald Trump's history, one that gives us the likely reason for his very specific hostility toward one segment of immigrants. - More -

We treat some with fear and loathing. Others are a source of amusement. The homeless in our midst and refugees from without, at least those who with brown skin, share one fatal attribute. - More -

Impeachment may be possible, but only if this President is convicted in the right court. It is not the House. It will not be the Senate. And it will not be with any written report. - More -

How I maneuvered a crooked corporate executive into getting fired, and how Nancy Pelosi seems to be doing the same to a crooked President. - More -  

With that wonderful sense of humor that is only his, my President leads his supporters in laughter. - More -

It isn't just national security, although that is a concern. It isn't only the interference in our election, the making of Donald Trump, although that is a stain on history. What makes me glad to see Julian Assange carried away is much more primal.   - More -

We now have the Mr. Barr's 4 page book report. We can give it a passing grade, as long as we agree on something else - either about the law, or about Mr. Barr. - More -

He is not a lunatic. And he is not a master of strategy. The explanation for his behavior is surprisingly simple. - More -  

The most devoted Trump support comes from those impatient with the traditional code words and dog whistles offered by Republicans for the last half century. A fictional advertising executive explains what they want instead. - More -

In the last quarter century, the Republican approach to America's adversaries has gone from "Trust But Verify" to "Trust With No Limit." - More -

If you're going to defend this terrible holdover, defend it for the single reason, the monstrous reason, some delegates demanded it and others acquiesced. It is available, documented in the the original words of the founders, as recorded by those who were there. - More -

A famous actor files a false report of a brutal attack right wing by rignt wing fanatics. Nobody can quite understand why. Why would Morton Downey Jr., vicious enemy of liberals, do such a thing? - More -

We hope for our best judgment when it is necessary to judge the ignorant, the flawed, and those who have done wrong. Not all ignorance is willful. Not all evil is done by evil people. - More -

When we compare the prosecutions in Wisconsin and Alabama under the last Republican administration with that of our current President, the contrast is cruel and unusual. - More -

Conservatives see voting rights as a power grab. They may be on to something. - More -

It seemed as if the shutdown would never end, until it did. Ordinary people were not being hurt. And then they were. It was not about officials suddenly opening their eyes. It was about who they saw, all along, as ordinary people. - More -

It is not defamation. In fact, it is the one thing he shares with my President. - More -

The words communicated what fair minded representatives wanted to say, what fair minded voters needed to hear. But Pelosi and Schumer looked like they had been pushed together into an invisible locker. It was awful. Then I saw the polls. - More -

Another day, another scandal. This time the anti-immigrant President turns out to be hiring undocumented immigrants and having their paperwork forged. He had no idea. Again. It was all done behind his back. Again. When he wasn't looking. Again. - More -

The message seems so clear. Why are so many fervent believers in the Christmas message unable to apply it to today's world and the leadership of our own nation? - More -

A courtroom scolding of a decorated United States General, and President Trump's promise about the extradition of a Muslim cleric to Turkey, echo a murder in Washington four decades ago. - More -

In 1948, a plane carrying migrant workers crashed in Los Gatos Canyon. Those deaths were nearly ignored by the press and public of the day. An echo comes to us as a small child traveling in hope from Guatemala to America is lost to dehydration and neglect. - More -

We went to gallows humor when my employer made that minor change. We knew it meant the company was going down. Now the NRA makes the same minor change and it gives us hope. - More -

Parallels in history are not hard to find with my President. The third emperor of ancient Rome used at least one remarkably similar military tactic. - More -

Well meaning people who object to, and often work against voter suppression, see the importance of dirty tricks, of cheating, of elections stolen. It is sometimes too easy to miss the most important theft of all. - More -

Republican candidates around the country now insist they support protection for those with pre-existing conditions. And Republican lawmakers from every part of the nation are working to get their healthcare promises declared illegal. Here's how. - More -

Cute little blue and pink baby bonnets can teach us something important about the reasons Republicans are giving for plans to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. - More -

The Trump administration tax cuts for the wealthy, and Republican plans to slash Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, can all be traced back to a line drawn on a napkin in 1974. - More -

Last year, Elizabeth Warren challenged the documented history of a nominee and was silenced under an arcane rule. This year, Mitch McConnell directly challenged the integrity of opposing Senators and the rules were ignored. It helps to control the rules. - More -

Judicial philosophy is a key. So is whether a drunken teenage sexual assault occurred, with later false denials. But one other key disqualification has been proven to a moral certainty on national television. Brett Kavanaugh does not belong in a courtroom. - More -

An old joke and an ancient legend might give a Senator or two guidance in doing the right thing for Judge Brett Kavanaugh, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and the Republic itself. - More -

It is a fictional lament from four decades ago. When our national leadership sees only winning and losing sides, we all lose. - More -

This is not the first time a President decided to use the Justice Department to prosecute political opponents. This is just the first time a President is proud enough to boast about it in public. - More -

My President and his lawyer thought they could buy all the dirt their friend had on Mr. Trump. But J. Edgar Hoover had taught later generations how to play the game for fun, profit, and power. They never had a chance. - More -

If Donald Trump decapitated every horse that ever won a race, he still could not intimidate intelligence officials. He is no Dick Cheney. - More -

Political experts have trouble understanding our President's actions, not because of the complexity of his behavior, but because of its simplicity. There is not an ounce of nuance within him. His path is always the shortest distance between one point. - More -

Photo IDs are said to prevent the type of individual voter fraud that is so close to non-existent that the requirement is sometimes referred to as a solution looking for a problem. But photo IDs actually solve a problem no sponsor wants to admit. - More -  

When I vote for President, Governor, or local dog catcher, It should matter that I am not a citizen of another country. So I was shocked when my conservative friend told me that San Francisco is letting non-citizens vote. Then I did some checking. - More -

My long time friend writes that lefties like me were always communist sympathizers, and so our antagonism to Mr. Putin's Russia is hypocritical. Well, sometimes when your patriotism is challenged, even by an old friend, you just have to respond. - More -