Forward Nation Radio

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   We look at how our leaders are celebrating Memorial Day. One political party commemorates our fallen soldiers by trying to build and preserve what they gave their lives for; the other political party continues its efforts to tear it all down. Any guesses as to who's on which side? Dave discusses the latest in voting rights, battling deadly pandemics, fighting bigotry, preserving the planet, helping families, building a stronger America, and how republicans are fighting all of the above. President Biden fights to have government again serve its citizens,  but republicans and two Democrats are preventing him from doing so. Also, republicans find nazis everywhere except where they actually exist; within their own party. And criminal charges appear to get closer for donald trump.    *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   The Republican party demonstrates anew that it has no leaders; the dog is completely led by the woeful tail it has created over the past four decades.  So who, exactly, is it that Democrats are supposed to be working with? The question of how low they can go is addressed again as the GOP prevents an investigation into its own actions in inciting an insurrection and assault on the US Capitol.  It is being addressed again as they limit abortions in clear violation of Roe v. Wade, hoping that the Supreme Court they have installed as a minority party overrules that long-standing precedent once and for all. Also, Dave discussed the latest on Covid, the noose possibly tightening around the neck of GOP congressman and likely pedophile Matt Gaetz, a disappointing jobs report, and, yes, more trouble in and out of Israel.      *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   The republican party and the events of the last weeks prompts Dave to begin preparing his eulogy for reality, which is already dead to tens of millions in this country.  The big remaining question is whether a eulogy will soon need to be delivered for the United States. Liz Cheney's breed of dishonesty is no longer sufficient in the GOP, as she gets drummed out of leadership for acknowledging the reality that donald trump lost the 2020 election.  Senator Tim Scott delivers the bizarro-world response to the President's not-quite State-of-the-Union address from some planet that can't be earth.  Also, the fake republican reality of guns, net neutrality, trump, and criminal justice in the Dept of Justice under trump AG William Barr. Meanwhile, Biden gives an inspiring speech for those of us who choose to live in the real world.     *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   We address the big story of some justice for George Floyd;  the conviction of the police murderer of George Floyd is a watershed event in America.  But it, the reaction to it, and other big events from the week continue to demonstrate how far from "one nation" with "liberty and justice for all" America really is.  So why would we make kids recite this bullshit? President Biden and the Democrats continue to show how far they have progressed in seeking a better country and better planet, proposing policies to dramatically respond to climate change, racial injustice, mass shootings, and deadly pandemics, while republicans continue to show how they will have none of any of that.    *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Democratic Senator Joe Manchin says Biden should work to compromise with Republicans. Maybe if he agrees to give up his job they will let him keep his head!  But Biden goes through the motions with his infrastructure plan.  We discuss this pathetic fiction that there is such a thing as compromising with a criminal organization that believes in nothing but its own power, and why moderates and the media keep falling for the fiction that the GOP will be willing to compromise on behalf of an American people they don't care about. Dave also talks about the Biden tax plan and ponders the possibility that this country might return to some form of progressive tax system, where the rich need to chip in a bit more to pay for what this country needs.  In less uplifting economic news, the quest for economic justice took a big hit with the failed unionization effort at an Alabama Amazon warehouse.  The GOP war on unions, and workers, gained another big victory.  Also, we finally spot both cancel culture and democracy, in the GOP's efforts to wage war on corporations that are doing what their customers are demanding and opposing Republican voter suppression efforts in Georgia. Finally, the latest news on trump-loving Republican congressman Matt Gaetz.  Is he really a sex-trafficking creepy pedophile or, like the rest of the GOP, does he just like to hang around with them?   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Perhaps the two most crucial things this country needs to do is fix our broken democracy and fix our broken country. We talked about Biden's and the Democrats' efforts to address voting rights last week and this week we discuss Biden's plan to fix the country. The US has failed to invest in itself for years, and Biden's plan is to make much, but not all, of the investment we need to keep America competitive. It is a laundry list of things this country needs that will greatly improve the lives of our citizens while paying for itself by raising taxes on the super-rich, including super-rich foreigners and Covid profiteers. It is immensely popular. So who can be against this? Why, Republicans, of course.  Dave also talks about the military repression and murder in Myanmar that has the GOP up in arms about the fact that they can't do that too. Dave also opines on the latest assaults on US democracy and, speaking of which, on the investigation into possible child sex trafficking and other sex crimes by vile Congressman Matt Gaetz. He really is the next Trump, keeping us shocked and not the least bit surprised at the same time.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   The US has a real President proposing great things for America. Lest we get too hopeful from that, we are being reminded that he is fighting on our behalf against almost half of our own country. This country is involved in several races for its life right now and much of this country is on the wrong side. The greatest race involves this country's very existence. Biden and the Dems seek to restore US democracy while Republicans race them in their efforts to destroy what little is left of it.  The Dems may have little hope of enacting their agenda because of how far from a democracy we already are, so they will try to highlight the stakes so brightly that even American voters see them. That is where we stand on Covid and guns as well. We are in a race against Covid to defeat it before it can change enough to come roaring back to kill us. So that must mean it's time for spring break and anti-vaccers. The latest mass slaughters remind us of the ravages of gun violence in the US. Biden and the Dems offer proposals to save lives; Repubs offer thoughts, prayers, and profits for gun manufacturers.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   The Senate passes President Biden's Covid Relief Bill, which figures to imminently become law.  In what is being hailed as the most ambitious anti-poverty legislation in decades, the Democrats signal that they can unite behind truly progressive legislation.  But they signal more than that.  They also signal that the party is back from the neoliberal wilderness and is ready to fight on behalf of government for the people.  They also signal that they are capable of learning political lessons and will not be so quick to roll over for Republicans.  And they signal that they have no illusions about being able to work with Republicans for the betterment of America. Dave also notes that while Democrats are the party of government "for the people", Republicans remain the party of making sure it is not "of the people" as well.  We have the latest on voter suppression at the US Supreme Court.  We also talk about CPAC, rallying for the right to kill your neighbors, and why we say "Fuck Texas!"   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Reality has never been kind to conservative doctrine, but these last few weeks would have put a stake into its heart...if it ever had one. We look at some of the big events of the week through the lens of failed conservative economic doctrine.  The twin pillars of conservativism have been supply-side economics and market fundamentalism.  The popularity of the Biden recovery plan, designed to help humans, not the super-rich, may indicate that the supply-side economics acid trip is finally wearing off.  Meanwhile, the big news story all remind us how inefficient, and often corrupt, markets are. Dave talks about the CPAC super-spreader fever dream currently showing conservatives have nothing real to offer.  He also discusses the latest on Covid, Biden's cabinet appointments, energy deregulation, and the attempted recall of the California Governor.  We also ask again if, in a country with a democracy so corrupted and a political party so corrupt, Democrats will be able to advance the agenda the people actually need.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Winter storms that are the product of climate change devastate Texas and much of the US.  Republicans finally agree that the US is under assault; not by angry mobs, not by climate change, but by renewable energy.  Seriously. donald trump survives impeachment.  In fact, he wins his impeachment trial the way republicans win presidential elections; by being outscored by his opponent.  57 Senators voting to convict, versus 43 for trump, represents the most votes for conviction by the President's own party ever.  Somebody probably told trump that it's like golf, and being 43-57 means you won big! Dave also celebrates the death of rush limbaugh.  The world is a little bit better place today because limbaugh is no longer in it.  We also talk about trump being the only former President not getting intelligence briefings and the latest on COVID includes the first death of a US congressional representative. And troubles at the Lincoln Project remind us that "good republicans" is a very relative term.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Corporate America will act only for its own benefit, without regard to its impact on society; the McKinsey settlement reminds us of that.  A functioning society, has the ability to rein-in its behavior and protect itself.  Right-wing media presents a unique threat, however.  By creating its own reality and preventing oversight it offers the same selfish disregard without the safeguards.  Dave talks about the unique threat to civilization it poses and suggests some responses.  Are recent defamation lawsuits against foxnews and some of its most prominent liars the answer?  Despite obvious concerns, it's a start. Dave also talks about the Biden stimulus and trump's upcoming impeachment trial.  Also, brave people risk their lives fighting for freedom around the world, while republicans continue to fight for the freedom to risk the lives of others.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   In our second show of the Biden era, we try to maintain our hopefulness, but it is already really hard to do.  Dave talks about how Biden is trying to do the right thing, and his executive orders so far have been inspiring.  But the Republicans are going to use the same tired playbook of obstructing everything he wants to do on behalf of the country to make sure they have something to run on in 2022 and beyond. Republicans took back power because of, not despite, eight years of undermining President Obama's efforts to help Americans.  There was never any reason to think they would do anything else this time around.  They are aided in this by the fact that it is much easier to break something than to fix it, and by the fact that they have no decency, they believe in nothing, the system is rigged in their favor, and their constituents are either assholes or morons (or more likely both).  Dave talks about the latest on impeachment and the continuing GOP actions to rally around the criminal president who incited efforts by extremists to overthrow elected governments here and around the world.  Dave also talks about the Game Stop stock scandal and its lessons on market inefficiency.  It's no wonder Republicans don't bother to believe in anything, since the core tenet of conservatism, market efficiency, continues to be shown to be the lie that it always was.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Our long national nightmare is over, for now, but the threat lives on. What it means when a presidential inaugural has to point out that "democracy has prevailed", and when those words present too rosy a picture. Democracy may have survived, also for now, but it remains on life support. Dave talks about the inauguration of President Joe Biden, and the fragile hope our new President engenders for a better future. We talk about the promise of Biden's first few days, the dramatic changes he is already implementing and those he is promising, and his efforts to stamp out Trump's tragic legacy.     *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Donald Trump becomes the first President in US history to be impeached. He still seems as likely to survive his term as the US does, but this time he may not avoid accountability.  Dave discusses the impeachment, which now gives trump half of all impeachments in US history, and what to make of "bipartisanship" in the wake of ten members of the criminal organization voting against their own don. Trump's sad legacy continues to be written in blood, as he and his supporters continue the insurrection against their (and our) own country. Dave has the latest on the insurgency and our continuing efforts to survive it.   Meanwhile, Biden continues to give us hope for what a country with a President might look like.  Plus, an update on the plague infecting America that is not man-made.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   On a day on which the Democrats take over the US Senate and Joe Biden's election is to be certified, the only story is the attack on America...instigated by the President of the United States and the Republican criminal organization. The unprecedented assault on the US Capitol is reminiscent of 9/11, but much worse because the attack came from within.  Dave discusses the event that makes America look like a tinpot dictatorship, and which would have been unimaginable before trump, but not at all surprising after four years of him and his criminal party.  Dave discusses the implications of this attack on America and where we can expect to go from here.   Oh, and did we mention that the Dems took over the Senate?   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Dave reviews the year 2020, a year we will be happy to have behind us.  But does 2021 promise to be so much better?  Where we stand regarding the two plagues of 2020: COVID and Trumpism. Tragically, we do not appear to be getting rid of either plague soon.  Both may get worse before they get better, in part because trump has criminally mismanaged the rollout of COVID vaccines.  While we can nevertheless foresee the end of one of these plagues way down the road, we still don't seem to have an antidote for the greater threat. Dave also talks about the latest in trump pardons and the stimulus bill that trump finally signs.    *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   We continue our conversation of moral hazard, or how the rich avoid the consequences of their own bad actions, in the context of the latest efforts by Trump to sabotage America.   Dave discusses moral hazard and market externalities involving Trump's sell-off of US land to mining and oil and gas interests.  The devastating consequences of the Russian hacking scandal become more real to everyone who isn't the President of the United States, who is too busy pardoning the swamp and trying to overturn elections to notice.   COVID continues to devastate the country as well, even as rich people and COVID enablers seek to buy their way to the front of the vaccine line.  Finally, a discussion of the on-again-off-again government funding and COVID relief bills.  Or, as Moscow Mitch calls them, the "keep the Senate republican" bills.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   The Electoral College vote gives Joe Biden the presidency, after the Supreme Court refused to give it to trump.  It's now official, even Moscow Mitch says so, but does anybody think this is over?  Never overestimate the republican party or trump supporters, who will never accept Biden's legitimacy.  And the violence may just have begun. Americans begin getting the first of the COVID vaccines.  Salvation is just around the corner...if the corner is 9 or 10 months away.  Meanwhile, the virus rages out of control, in the mismanaged US, worse than ever.  The US surpasses 300,000 dead. Dave also explores the issue of moral hazard, or the justification for making people suffer the consequences of their own bad decision-making.  Republicans have always demonstrated that this "tough love" only applies to the poor, never to the rich.  But maybe it is time to start applying it to COVID deniers, like rudy giuliani, who take valuable hospital beds away from people who have made the better decision not to infect themselves and others. Also, William Barr resigns and Russia hacks.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Dems seek to give us legal weed as the GOP continues to seek to give us more reasons to need it.  The Democratic House bill to legalize weed is a great political move to boost their odds of retaking the Senate, but it also happens to be good policy as well. Meanwhile, trump and the republican criminal organization continue their assault on the government, the law and reality.  With the help of the Supreme Court monster they created, they seek to destroy this country beyond the Dems' ability to repair it. Dave talks about the big events of the week in light of this effort.  Turns out trump didn't mean to drain the swamp so much as pardon it.  As Covid rages, the president and his criminal organization refuse to do anything to help the sick or the US economy.  Israel assassinates the top Iranian nuclear scientist, perhaps to start a war the US will have to fight, but perhaps just to sabotage the incoming Biden administration's efforts to negotiate with Iran.  And the Frankenstein's monster that is the US Supreme Court announces its illegitimacy will not constrain it as it elevates religion above law, and fantasy above reality.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   We devote a special episode this week to an interview with FNR founder Damian Hardeen.  This is our way of celebrating the holiday (the impending end of the trump nightmare), since Damian created FNR as a counterweight to trump's lies and as an antidote to the media misinformation that got us into this mess in the first place. We talk to Damian about the election, the state of our media and disinformation, and the future of this country.  We find out why Damian is optimistic for our future...and why he's more optimistic than your FNR host!   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   We celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with enthusiasm, as we finally breathe easier that the next President of the United States will be the guy Americans actually voted for a few weeks ago.  The transition to the incoming Biden administration gives us reason to be hopeful for the future.  At least hopeful for the fact that we will have decent, competent, qualified people running our government again; people who care about the fate of their own citizens.  We welcome the change this will bring, as we discuss Biden's early cabinet picks. Dave also talks about how Covid continues to rage, and how the current President continues to show us, in his failure to provide any leadership during this crisis, how much the new President is needed.  In the spirit of celebration, look out for our special holiday episode interview with Forward Nation Radio founder and creator Damian Hardeen, coming soon.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Lest we be inclined to celebrate our stay of execution, Biden's win, America finds itself under assault from two enemies.  The first is Covid, the second is the President of the United States and his criminal political party. Dave looks at the latest evidence that we have a whiny little baby in the White House, not a President. As Covid roars back, the absence of a leader looms larger than ever. As the President continues to deny election reality, we ponder how much this is aimed at overturning the election result, how much is a whining tantrum, and how much is just trump's latest grift.  We have almost as low an opinion of 70+ million trump supporters as the President and his party have, and wonder about the future of a country with these voters in it.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   The country has elected Joe Biden...barely.  We celebrate our survival, and try to forget for a few moments that we remain on life support.  Dave discusses the good, the bad, and the ugly of this presidential election result.  There is much to celebrate in the defeat of the greatest internal threat to our so-called democracy that we have ever known...assuming trump and the GOP fail to incite a revolution and Biden gets to take office.  There is a dissipation of fear in this country, and perhaps even a renewal of hope.  We celebrate that, but remind ourselves that the theme song of the moment is "I Will Survive", and not "Hope Once Again". And 70 million Americans voted for donald trump.  We have our work cut out for us; Let that rain on your parade.      *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   One day before the most fateful election in US history, and perhaps in world history, Dave opines on what is at stake.   Including Covid, of course.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Dave looks to add substance to another presidential debate that had precious little on its own.  A debate that has value only to those awakening from a years-long slumber who are blissfully unaware of the disgrace that is the US President.  He and his whole criminal party continue to demonstrate that they are incapable of caring about another human being.   Trump's constant lying throughout the debate, and his presidency, are indicative of the right-wing propaganda mill for which reality is an enemy.  Dave talks about how that has created a likely-insuperable divide in this country, with reality the boundary.  It is why civilized people are looking at the current election as hostages dreaming of freedom from the most evil and stupid human beings to walk the earth.    *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Dave discusses the VP debate, ramming through a Supreme Court apparatchik, the latest in COVID, and, through it all, the inability of decent people to grasp how profound is the evil of the republican criminal organization.   The main takeaway from the VP debate is that flies really are drawn to shit.  Pence tells us that in order to love America you must be a mindless trump cultist, and he certainly fits that bill.   Amy Coney Barrett, in turn, gives us insight into the mind of a religious zealot of the right.  Apparently, Jesus was all about the Benjamins.  The religious extremism will destroy the rights of millions, but it is really just a facade for morons engineered by the super-rich, that just wants more, and is happy to destroy lives to get it. Republican show their stripes in a busy week of theft.  They steal votes by setting up fake ballot drop-off boxes, showing there is no level of election theft they are unlikely to stoop to.  They tip off wealthy donors to the magnitude of the COVID threat so they can make a "killing" in the stock market, while putting their voters' lives at risk by downplaying the threat publicly.  Their supporters plan for the upcoming civil war they seem to relish, in some cases by planning to kidnap Governor Whitmer of Michigan.  They tell us outright that they plan to steal the election and more, and sane people still cannot comprehend the magnitude of the threat we are facing.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   The momentous week of Trump humiliations continues.  Dave updates the conversation regarding Trump's COVID diagnosis and its aftermath.  Having repeatedly downplayed the disease to the result of tens of thousands of unnecessary American deaths, Trump continues to go from negligent to murderous as he willfully inflicts others. Then we talk about the Trump tax returns, which manage to be shocking and unsurprising at the same time.  To no surprise, Trump is a spectacular loser and sleazebag.  But what they tell us about the super-rich are the most valuable lessons for the future: they tend to be worthless leeches feeding on the American public.       *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   It was a momentous week in news, as Trump repeatedly (again) humiliated himself and the US.  Too much to explore in one episode, today Dave talks about how Trump gets the COVID he thought he had only been inflicting on others, right after he turns a presidential debate into a clown show. Tomorrow we'll talk about his tax returns, finally obtained by The NY Times. Dave feels the same level of remorse for Trump getting COVID as the president himself has shown for the hundreds of thousands of others he inflicted.  We do wish him better health, so he can suffer the rest of his life in prison.  Dave wonders if the message to evangelicals is that God has decided to weigh in on the election and the US Supreme Court.   After more than four years embarrassing this country, Trump somehow manages to take it up a notch on an international stage.  Biden captures the civilized world's thinking in a nutshell: "Will you shut up, man?"  Trump refuses to condemn violent white supremacists, and even calls on this huge part of the GOP base to help him steal the election.  Dave even finds some actual issues in the debacle to discuss.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Death and life are in the news this week as iconic Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg passes away, official US COVID death passes 200,000, and evidence of extraterrestrial life may be discovered around Venus. We discuss how trump and his supporters continue to show that there had better be intelligent life somewhere out in space because there is none in the republican party.  Dave discusses the impact of RBG's death and the GOP rush to fill her seat. Democrats are being left with no choice but to put down their olive branches as republicans continue to push us towards civil war. Will their race to fill RBG's seat finally show people how despicable they really are?  Trump shows again how much he respects his supporters, calling them disgusting as he continues to sacrifice them, and better people, to COVID. By corrupting the CDC and its MMWR, Trump continues his war on US health care, even as he continues his war on US health care...and reality at large Trump shows that when it comes to COVID, health care, civil rights, and more, he is not only a disgrace, he is absolutely clueless. But he has a lot of help.     *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   President Trump takes his case for greatest all-time mass murderer of Americans to another level by admitting intent to Bob Woodward.  In another example of explosive yet completely unsurprising revelations about our President, Trump continues to show that he is his own--and our--worst enemy by admitting to the veteran journalist that he knew for months how bad COVID was while he was telling the American public otherwise.  Turns out this particular snake oil salesman knew he was selling toxic snake oil (injectable bleach, perhaps?) to the rubes who follow him.  He also reminds us why this President couldn't merit a security clearance.   The US west coast burns in record wildfires and unknown numbers of Americans perish.  So Dave admits that our accounting of the numbers of Americans murdered by Trump and the GOP will sell them short, since we don't have a formula for attributing to them the climate change-related deaths they have caused. Dave also looks at recent court decisions and talks about the vicious cycle now on display in Trump-GOP-world: the courts help the GOP steal elections, so the GOP can pack the courts with more apparatchiks who will help them steal more elections, and so on, until this country spirals to oblivion.  We also look at pro athletes who are proving themselves to be exemplary role models, and talk about choosing role models wisely, and briefly look at Facebook's decisions to ban new political ads the week before the election.        *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   President Trump burnishes his case for greatest mass murderer of Americans by killing baseball legend Tom Seaver...now among the tens of thousands of COVID victims attributable to Killer Trump.  We also mourn baseball legend Lou Brock, but we don't know if he goes in Trump's "win" column. Jerry Falwell, Jr. continues to show the humorous side of right-wing Evangelical cult leaders and their disdain for their own flocks...at least when we're not thinking of the threat they and their cult followers pose to civilization. Same goes for the President and the military, as President Bone Spurs shows how much he loves the military by calling fallen soldiers "losers". Meanwhile, the military continues to expose its "rape culture, racism, corruption and impunity," which explains its affinity for Trump, as some US soldiers find it safer to be fighting a war than living on US military bases.   Dave opines on Trump's latest efforts to steal the election.  As the US military war-games against Russia, the President and his Republican criminal organization show which side they're on.  Unnecessary Hint: it's not our side.   *Also available on Spotify, iTunes, and Stitcher...and now Audible!-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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   The Republican National Convention shows again how much contempt Donald Trump and the GOP have for their own base. While the narrative maintains that Democrats do not respect GOP voters, it is their own party that needs to keep them ignorant in order to keep feeding off of them. We discuss the hate-and-lie-fest that is the GOP convention and its contempt for its own voters. This contempt is also examined in light of the fraud charges against Stephen Bannon, the latest shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer, and the subsequent killing of two protesters, apparently by a 17-year-old gun nut with a military rifle. Oh, and we celebrate 100 years of women's suffrage; 100 years with the right to vote which may end, along with all voting rights, if Trump prevails in November.      *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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   An unconventional Democratic convention surpasses expectations, despite being all about unity.  So Dems are all about unity, while the Republicans continue to be all about dividing (and wrecking).  Dave continues his discussion on the great divide in this country between a political party that wants to govern for the benefit of the people and a criminal organization that just wants more for itself.  Dave expands the discussion by talking about how the media remains unequipped to acknowledge this distinction, and how that plays to the criminals' advantage.   These themes are explored in the context of the major news of the week.  A GOP-led Senate report details Trump campaign ties to Russia and reliance on Russia, as well as its all-around incompetence,  Trump and the GOP continue their war on the environment, the Post Office, democracy, and voting.  Tech lords appear before congress...and Republicans expose themselves.  Republicans mostly put away their dog whistles and go full racist and sexist in their attacks on Kamala Harris.  How nice guys finish last in the political world.     And a reminder of the impact of the Republican theft of federal courts, as a Trump appointee and a George W. Bush appointee prevent California from protecting its citizens from mass gun deaths.   *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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Joe Biden chooses Kamala Harris as his Vice-Presidential running mate. Dave comments on the choice and uses it to explore how recent events continue to reflect the stark divide in this country between a political party and our governing criminal organization. Disinterest in governing, and the governed, is also evident in the latest in the republican non-response to COVID and the economy it has helped ruin. Dave also looks at the war trump has chosen to fight: that against democracy, including his corruption of the census, the US Post Office, and voting. Also, The NY Attorney General goes up against the NRA.    *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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Dave discusses the end-of-term US Supreme Court decisions, along with some other momentous federal court decisions. Despite some near misses and a couple of decisions worthy of celebration, this term is a tragic reminder of how extremist the republican criminal organization has become and how radical it has made our courts.  Despite appearances, the Supreme Court continues to further the republican assault on abortion rights, democracy, workers and the regulatory state. But it shows a real soft spot for religious fanaticism. Another reminder that to preserve this country and its best ideals, Dems must win in November and remake the courts in the image of what US voters have voted for.    *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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Trump says he passed a very difficult cognitive test, possibly demonstrating he is not excessively brain damaged, and thus is his argument for remaining President. Then he goes about unleashing his Gestapo on American cities, and thus is his argument for remaining President.    When he is not fomenting civil war, Trump continues to protect the US from the deadly COVID pandemic by sacrificing US lives by the tens of thousands. As confirmed US death tolls surpass 150,000, the Republican criminal organization in the Senate introduces a relief bill apparently designed to cause maximum destruction of US workers. The GOP bill has three goals in mind: Stealing their way to further riches and perhaps reelection, class warfare, and hamstringing a future Democratic government.   Also, some of the latest in our corruption watch, baseball is back, and Biden shows us the alternative!   *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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   The death of civil rights icon and long-time US Congressman John Lewis gives us chance anew to discuss what it means to be extremist in America today. Republicans further embarrassed themselves when two GOP Senators tweeted pictures of deceased congressman Elijah Cummings in their disingenuous tributes to John Lewis. But the greater insult was in the faux tribute to a man they were attacking yesterday and will be attacking again tomorrow.   Congressman Lewis gives us another chance to look at false equivalences and extremism. Lewis represented what extremism is on the left: a willingness to fight for social justice and opportunity. Several prominent republicans represent what it is on the right: support for donald trump, the lunatic right-wing conspiracy group QAnon, and fantasy over reality.   Dave discusses the latest in President trump's efforts to battle the coronavirus by sweeping it under the rug, as he continues his assault on facts and reason. Is destroying America and killing Americans somehow a campaign strategy, such as by creating an excuse to close polling places? That's probably giving trump too much credit for being something other than a blunderbuss whose privileged life has rendered him incapable of doing anything other than self-promotion. Dave posits that that is why America is so divided; we have a President who knows only divisiveness.        *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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   To get even trump supporters on board with beating COVID, Dave suggests doing the unimaginable; making republicans accountable! Let's make people who don't follow guidelines personally liable for the injuries that result. (in fact, let's even have some guidelines!) Even better, Dave offers an additional modest proposal.  Since people not practicing good safety practices are posing a direct threat to others, let's invoke Stand Your Ground laws (instituted to allow whites to shoot black people with impunity) to justify shooting anyone not wearing a mask in public! And of course, let's vote the threat-in-chief out of office in November! Even the most selfish people respond to incentives.  We continue our discussions on free speech, American exceptionalism, the rich, and in light of trump's commutation of his henchman Roger Stone's sentence, our fascist-wannabee president. For fascists and rich people, both categories in which our president falls, the law is never an obstacle...or a concern.   *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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:     Happy July 4 everybody! For most of us, a celebration of US independence; for our president, a celebration of secession and the US Civil War. In a bitterly racist and divisive speech at Mount Rushmore on a day of national unity, Trump continues to make it clear that the 2020 election will be a battle for white supremacy...and totalitarianism.  We take stock in America for Independence Day. As Americans pat ourselves on the back for our imagined superiority, we put our exceptionalism in a somewhat harsher light judged by world events. Our "exceptional" failure to address a deadly global pandemic is a symptom of a country with a huge segment of its population that is exceptional only in its ignorance, its stupidity, and its selfishness. And with a political criminal organization that can achieve electoral success only by ensuring they remain that way.    That brings us back to the latest arguments in support of a re-examination of how we treat free speech in America. One of our most vaunted parts of our revered founding document, its application is being used to create the opposite of the "marketplace of ideas" it was intended to create. Instead, it is a facilitator of hate and lies and Dave questions whether a society as ignorant as ours can survive it. We look at the NY Times decision to publish a hate and lie-filled op-ed by a US Senator, and Dave argues that responsible media needs to stop printing lies and manipulative content. Meanwhile, China's crackdown on Hong Kong is a lesson for the US protests for justice: if you stop, you will lose.    *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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   Dave switches gears a bit from our prior show on hope to talk about how Republicans elevate the interests of those who kill humans above the interest of actual humans. We take a few minutes to reflect on corporate America's role as undisputed champion of killing Americans. Dave talks about "tort reform" and other ways bad actors avoid suffering the consequences of their own actions. These basic themes not only explain the actions of corporate America, but also those of the trump administration and of the police that have led to the current movement for social justice. With the Fourth of July holiday approaching, we would never forget some of President Donald Trump's latest betrayals of his country. This week we learn that US intelligence agencies told the President that US geopolitical enemy (but, more importantly, friend of the President) Russia offered a bounty to the Taliban in Afghanistan on the heads of US military personnel. In response to our adversary's (but friend of Trump's reelection prospects) conspiracy to murder Americans with our enemy, the President chose to do nothing. His excuse: I'm too stupid and too much of a security risk to have been told about it. (Editor's note: turns out he was told about it!)    *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

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.    *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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE HOME FOR PROGRESSIVE POLITICS This Week’s Discussion:   As people get sick and die in tragically escalating numbers, and as the economic devastation surpasses historic proportions, the Republican criminal organization sees and seizes the opportunity to enrich itself. Donald Trump and his criminal ilk show they are not willing to serve in wars, but they sure are willing to profit off of the deaths of others. Another reminder of the extent to which this is just a criminal organization masquerading as a political party, Will we ever come to grips with just how low they will go? This leads us to say that in one respect it is a good thing that Trump is the President at this time and in position not to lead. If a Democrat were President, the GOP would be doing everything it could to make the crisis even worse before the 2020 election. Yeah, they're that low; just look at recent history. We also talk about how the minority party (based on votes) continues to make efforts to steal the federal judiciary for a generation, as Moscow Mitch tries to get older Republican judges to retire so he can appoint younger apparatchiks. Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court gets ready to decide whether Donald Trump is above the law. Anyone optimistic out there?            *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