Deconstructed

Kenneth C. Davis joins host T. J. O’Hara on Deconstructed to talk about his book, More Deadly Than War: The Hidden History of the Spanish Flu and the First World War. Mr. Davis is a renowned author and historian whose books are well-researched and extremely informative. His book does a deep dive into the 1918 influenza pandemic that killed more people than World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War combined at a time when the world was already in turmoil.

Mr. Davis provides insights into how incredibly deadly the “Spanish Flu” was… and how it had nothing to do with Spain. He explains the limitations of science at the time and the global issues that exacerbated the spread of the virus. If you think COVID-19 is a challenge, consider trying to address it in the middle of a world war without even a basic understanding of what a virus actually is.

T. J. and Mr. Davis talk about the remarkable parallels between the last pandemic to sweep through the United States and the current one. Many of the same preventive measures still apply. Mr. Davis discusses the advantages we have today with respect to the available science, the number of doctors, nurses, and hospitals we now enjoy, and the superior communication capabilities we have to enlighten the public. Correspondingly, he exposes the fact that we have also made many of the same mistakes.

One of the more crippling similarities is the exposure of both viruses to political manipulation. Propaganda entered into the equation in 1918 to keep the money flowing to support the war effort. While we are thankfully not experiencing a global war at this time, we did experience the current pandemic during a presidential election cycle. Listen to the interview and form your own conclusions about how COVID-19 may have been exploited for political purposes.

Alexandra Shapiro, J.D., and Peter Ackerman, Ph.D. join T. J. O’Hara, the host of Deconstructed, to discuss the incredible imbalance in our Nation’s presidential election that makes it almost impossible for independent and Third-Party candidates to gain any traction with their campaigns.

Ms. Shapiro is a partner and co-founder of Shapiro Arato Bach and has the distinction of being one of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s first clerks.  She has served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York and has represented Dr. Ackerman’s interests in a variety of lawsuits against the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on behalf of organizations he has founded to combat the major Parties’ stranglehold on the presidency.

Dr. Ackerman’s pursuit of fairness within presidential and other elections is legendary. He served on the Board of Unity08 to fund independent candidates and then founded and chaired Americans Elect, whose mission was to stage a national online convention to select a nonpartisan ticket for the 2012 presidential election that would be on the ballot in all 50 states. The rules of the Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), run by Democrat and Republican operatives, effectively destroyed Americans Elect effort to provide a viable alternative by preventing that organization’s ultimate ticket from being included in the presidential debates.

Dr. Ackerman and Ms. Shapiro discuss a number of lawsuits they have pursued against the FEC on behalf of Unity08 and Level the Playing Field (an organization that Dr. Ackerman formed after the demise of Americans Elect) and the uphill battle they have encountered when taking on that agency. The FEC has authorized the CPD to establish the rules of the presidential debates, but the CPD has created rules that essentially bar competition. Listen to learn just how unfair those rules have become and how they are protected to maintain the dominance of the Democrat and Republican Parties.

Dr. Ackerman also discusses Ranked Choice Voting as a critical element to overcoming the duopoly that maintains the status quo in favor of itself.  He founded the Chamberlain Project with Cara McCormick, who helped lead the successful Ranked Choice Voting campaign in Maine. Dr. Ackerman discusses why he thinks Ranked Choice Voting may be the key to creating elections that may begin to change the hyper-partisan nature of our government.

The discussion is enlightening and presents a ray of hope for a better political future. Listen to learn how the system has been engineered to provide a limited choice to the people but a consistent source of power for the two major Parties. You will also learn how hard people like Ms. Shapiro and Dr. Ackerman are fighting on your behalf.

Suja A. Thomas joins host T. J. O’Hara on Deconstructed to discuss employment discrimination law in the United States. She is a Professor of Law at the University of Illinois with a research focus on civil procedure, employment law, and the proper utilization of juries. Professor Thomas has published a plethora of scholarly articles and is co-author of “Unequal: How America’s Courts Undermine Discrimination Law” and the author of another book.

While we can celebrate the election of the first Black, subcontinental Asian, female Vice President, our Nation still struggles with discrimination based on a variety of suspect categories. One would think that employment discrimination law would be well-settled and a foundation upon which to build a better society. One would be wrong.

Professor Thomas provides an overview of Title VII (which prohibits employers from discriminating against workers based on race, sex, color, national origin, and religion), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act and how those laws are supposed to protect us against employment discrimination. Then, she discusses the harsh reality of how difficult it is to even make it to trial let alone survive post-trial motions and appeals.

Professor Thomas begins by sharing a disturbing example of sexual harassment that almost no one could refuse to acknowledge. Unfortunately, the courts use a framework approach that dismisses a majority of cases before they can even make it to trial. T. J.’s guest shares some of the doctrines and inferences that are used to spare the courts the necessity of giving aggrieved individuals their “day in court.”

This interview isn’t meant to be “good news.” It’s meant to be “reality.” Learn what has happened to employment discrimination law over the years… and what needs to be done to repair it.