DeSantis is even more charmless than Nixon. And while Fox avoided one embarrassing trial—the truth and lies are plain for all to see. Plus, the panelists share their current TV viewing recommendations. Guest host Sonny Bunch takes over the director's chair on this week's episode. 
highlights/lowlights
Damon's:
https://libertiesjournal.com/articles/the-once-and-the-now/
Linda's:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/17/us/politics/migrant-child-labor-biden.html
Bill's:
https://www.space.com/spacex-starship-first-space-launch
https://apnews.com/article/white-house-toddler-fence-secret-service-6ece5fc94204dbc3001457403269c28e
 
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DeSantis Fights Off a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly

Beg to Differ is a weekly roundtable podcast brought to you by http://TheBulwark.com. Host Mona Charen is joined by Linda Chavez of the Niskanen Center, Bill Galston of the Brookings Institution, and Damon Linker, who writes "Notes from the Middleground," to discuss the news of the week in a respectful, rational forum.

News

Politics

News Commentary

Sasha Havlicek and Philip Bump join the panel to discuss online disinformation, the GOP reaction to Trump guilty verdict, and the Fauci follies in Congress.



highlights / lowlights



Sasha- The 80th Anniversary of D-Day at Normandy American Cemetery.



Damon- The Tower and the Sewer by Mark Lilla (NYR)  



Linda- This Catholic leader shelters migrants. Texas says he runs ‘stash houses.’ (WaPo)



Philip- Two years later, Dinesh D'Souza's obvious misinformation is finally taken down



Mona- World War II Veterans meeting with Ukrainian President Zelensky at Normandy and "The Biggest War on the Small Screen" by Benjamin Parker (Bulwark)



The 'Rally Round the Criminal' Effect

Famed presidential photographer David Hume Kennerly joins Bill Kristol and regulars to discuss the Ford Library's cowardly refusal to honor Liz Cheney, how Democrats should handle the Trump verdict, and Biden's standing with the young and old.



highlights / lowlights

David: In closing, Trump’s team takes the jurors for idiots (Dana Milbank, WaPo)



Mona: Why Trump is hobnobbing with rappers facing gang-related charges (MSNBC)



Bill Kristol: The impressiveness of the Manhattan Trump Trial (NYT).



Linda Chavez: Mexican Democracy Hangs In The Balance (Enrique Krauze, Persuasion)



Bill Galston: Highlight: NATO’s boss wants to free Ukraine to strike hard inside Russia (The Economist)



Lowlight: Almost 6,000 Dead in 6 Years: How Baltimore Became the U.S. Overdose Capital (NYT) 



show notes: 

The Danger of a Small Act of Cowardice by David Hume Kennerly. (Includes the Cheney / Ford photo referenced in the show.) 



David's Resignation Letter from the Ford Presidential Foundation


Wanted: A Biden Campaign

Joe Klein joins the panel to discuss Haley's Trump support, Alito's freak flags, and polls showing Americans are deeply misinformed about the state of the economy.



highlights / lowlights



Damon: Is the Biden Campaign Running on False Hope? (Isaac Chotiner, NYer)



Linda: Three Books to Help You Understand Nations in Transit 2024 (Freedom House)



Joseph: The U.S. assembles the pieces of a possible Gaza war endgame (David Ignatius, WaPo)



Mona: The Birth of a MAGA Conspiracy Theory (Andrew Egger, The Bulwark)



Bill: If Trump wins, what would hold him back? (Andrew Prokop, Vox)






What if What the Electorate Knows is Flat Wrong?

Sarah Longwell, Chris Cillizza, Will Saletan join Mona and Bill to discuss the upcoming debates, the polls (and Biden's response to them) and how to spend a record $61 million on a Senate primary and still get trounced.



highlights / lowlights



Mona: Thousands sign petition urging canceled concerts by Israeli ensemble to go ahead in Amsterdam (Times of Israel)



Sarah: GOP Sen. Mitt Romney says Biden should have pardoned Trump (NBC)

Biden killing the presidential debate commission. 



Chris: The beauty of no audience at the Presidential debate.



Bill: Can the Declaration of Independence’s Ideals Hold America Together? (Colin Woodard, Washington Monthly)  



Lowlight: The reports from the battlefield in Ukraine, after the GOP delayed aid for so long.



Will: RFK Jr.’s Rich Running Mate Just Added $8 Million to His Effort. 

The hypocrisy of Congressional Republicans who voted against aid to Ukraine and Israel but lectured Biden over withholding 2,000 pound bombs for Rafah.

Will Debates Reset the Race?

The Society for the Rule of Law's Gregg Nunziata joins to discuss the NY and other cases against Trump; Biden's pivot on weapons to Israel, and RFK, Jr's brain worm.



highlights / lowlights: 



Mona: In Letter, 540 Jewish Columbia Students Defend Zionism, Condemn Protests



Gregg: Highlight: This Is Peak College Admissions Insanity by Daniel Currell, Lowlight: Speaker Mike Johnson and Trump allies who tried to overturn the 2020 election roll out voting 'integrity' bill



Linda: The New Propaganda War by Anne Applebaum 



Bill: Liberland: Populism, Peronism, and Madness in Argentina by David Rieff



Damon:  The curse of presentism by Brink Lindsey


DeSantis Fights Off a Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly

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