Daily Kos' The Brief

In this episode of The Brief, first aired on June 16, 2022, Daily Kos’ Brandi Buchman breaks down everything going on with the Jan. 6 committee. She has been doggedly following the Jan. 6 committee as well as the ongoing prosecutions of both the rioters and conspirators who tried to overthrow our government after Donald Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden.

It took 14 years, but public opinion turned so viciously against Prohibition that a Constitutional Amendment was passed to make sure rural Christianists could no longer attempt such an outrage. And this was booze, not a core freedom to keep medical decisions private between patients and their doctors. 

Kerry Eleveld and I will discuss this thermonuclear political bomb, dropped months before a critical election that will determine whether we survive as a functioning democracy. We’re already seeing generic congressional ballot polling shifting in the Democrats’ direction, and hints of renewed activation amongst our core base. 

Joe Sudbay returns to geek out with Kerry Eleveld and Cara Zelaya on the Democratic Party must do, what they are doing, and what they aren’t doing. We covered student debt, the Jan. 6 committee hearings, and the history of presidents making big moves to match the big times they were living in.

Daily Kos’ Brandi Buchman has been doggedly following the Jan. 6 committee as well as the ongoing prosecutions of both the rioters and conspirators who tried to overthrow our government after Donald Trump lost the presidential election to Joe Biden. She has been interviewing congressional leaders, law enforcement, and others since January 6, 2021. Today, Brandi breaks it all down for us on Daily Kos’ The Brief.

Elie Mystal, justice correspondent for The Nation, joins Markos to talk about his New York Times best selling book, Allow Me To Retort: A Black Guy’s Guide to the Constitution. After decades, the Republican Party finally achieved the Supreme Court they wanted—a radical conservative court, vastly out of step with the American public, that is destroying all the freedoms we cherish, from our right to privacy (abortion, contraception, same-sex marriage, and even interracial marriage), to our right to vote, to our right to stay alive. Mystal comes in to talk about the history of the court and the intellectual bankruptcy and inherent racism of Justices like Alito or Thomas and their “originalism” take on our Constitution.

It’s well-known mantra that the party in the White House always struggles in midterm elections, as lofty expectations give way to the grinding ineffectiveness of the American legislative process, suppressing majority support, while the out-party is energized with desires of revenge. Indeed, the out-party typically gains over 30 House seats in the first midterm of a new presidency.  But anomalies exist. In 2002, George W. Bush and his Republicans rode the post-9/11 zeitgeist to congressional victories. Is 2022 more like 2002, or like any other normal midterm? Today, Kerry Eleveld and I will dig deep into the issue. 

Today’s guests are Washington state Sen. Emily Randall, who has been knocking on doors in her tough swing district in the Kitsap Peninsula and Matt Hildreth, executive director of RuralOrganizing.org. Both have been on the ground talking with voters in rural areas and urban areas before, during, and after the leaked Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade. They have some interesting insights into how much of an effect it is having on voters and organizing for the midterms as well as some good ideas for what Democrats need to do to be successful in saving our democracy.    

We speak with Christina Reynolds, VP of Communications at EMILY's List. EMILY’s List, along with NARAL and Planned Parenthood have announced intentions to spend at least $150 million to center abortion rights in this November’s elections. 

Christine Pelosi has been a Democratic Party strategist for decades. She joins Markos and Kerry the day after Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito’s first draft decision obliterating decades of settled law protecting Americans’ reproductive rights to discuss what Democrats can do now and in the weeks and months ahead.