DeProgram with Ted Rall and Jamarl Thomas

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Poor staffing and conditions at American nursing homes is highlighted by an explosion that killed two people at a Bristol County PA facility that has repeatedly been cited for failure to comply with regulations.

• Ukraine suggests a DMZ in the east. A 20-point US/Ukrainian plan includes NATO-style security guarantees and a road toward EU membership. Meanwhile, two Moscow cops are killed by a bomber near the site of the car bombing of a Russian general.

• German lawmakers accuse far-right AfD lawmakers of spying for Russia.

• Libyan general and 7 others die in a plane crash in Turkey.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Will the GOP Presidential Nomination Race for 2028 come down to a face-off between Ted Cruz and JD Vance?

• 30 US ambassadors are being recalled abruptly, no reason given, with little notice.

• Trump wants Greenland for Christmas. He’s appointed a special envoy, Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry, to the Danish territory.

• ICE is targeting “at risk” unaccompanied minors as they check in for their 18th birthdays.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• In a classic late Friday “media dump,” DOJ has released the Epstein Files. Well, some of them. And those have been heavily redacted. Members of Congress are threatening Attorney General Pam Bondi with contempt of Congress.

• The civil war in the MAGA movement broke wide open at the Turning Point confab. Is this a party pulling itself apart? Or healthy airing of disagreements?

• Peace in Ukraine by Christmas? US-Ukraine meet in Miami. Lt. Gen. Fanil Sarvarov blown up by car bomb. Ukrainian intelligence services suspected. At the same time as war with Venezuela?

• Did Bari Weiss censor a “60 Minutes” segment on CECOT?

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Trump reacted to the news that the alleged shooter at Brown and MIT by suspending the Green Card Lottery the suspect used to enter the U.S. Meanwhile, Milwaukee Judge Hannah Dugan found guilty of felony obstruction.

• Lessons Unlearned: DNC Chairman Ken Martin quashes its 2024 election autopsy.

• Trump reclassifies cannabis as a less dangerous Schedule III drug.

• More than half of $18 billion in taxpayer funds spent on 14 Medicaid programs in Minnesota were probably stolen since 2018.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Orwellian, much? The U.S. Border Patrol is monitoring millions of American citizen drivers nationwide in a secretive program to identify and detain people whose travel patterns it deems “suspicious.” A secret network of cameras scans and records your vehicle license plate information, and an algorithm flags cars based on their route. Federal agents then flag local police. Cops cite speeding, failure to signal, the wrong window tint or even a dangling air freshener blocking the view.

• Trump delivered a prime-time address to the nation and promised $1,776 checks to troops. The same day, the White House attached a predecessor-trolling Walk of Fame to the outside of the building.

• Centrist Republicans revolt, join Democratic discharge petition on ACA subsidies.

• Farmers block roads in Brussels to protest EU-Mercosur free-trade deal. The accord, which would eliminate tariffs on nearly all goods traded between the EU and five Mercosur nations — Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia — over 15 years, faces mounting resistance.

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Declaring the Venezuelan government a terrorist organization, Trump imposes a naval blockade of sanctioned oil tankers.

• D.C. is talking about Chief of Staff Susie Wiles’ candid assessments of her White House colleagues, including the president, in Vanity Fair.

• WarSec Pete Hegseth is refusing to release that controversial double-tap killing by the US military of boat-bombing survivors. What’s he hiding?

• Citizens of 35 countries are now restricted from travel to the U.S. 5 are banned entirely. Will they retaliate?

• Who shot a prominent nuclear physics professor at MIT and why?

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• A JetBlue pilot accuses the US military of recklessly flying over Venezuelan airspace without active transponders, endangering thousands of civilian air passengers and causing a near miss.

• Running against crime and illegal immigration, rightist José Antonio Kast defeats a communist candidate for the Chilean presidency. Argentina, Paraguay, Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador are all governed by right-wingers.

• Trump designates street fentanyl as a WMD. Meanwhile, the US military blows up three alleged drug boats in the Pacific, killing eight unknown civilians.

• Blaise Metreweli, first female head of MI6, emphasizes threat from Russia and the war in Ukraine alongside high-tech/AI intelligence.

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Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• Bloody weekend: Australia Bondi Beach massacre claims 15 at Hannukah event, gunman kills 2 Brown students and injures 9, director Rob and wife Michele Reiner killed at their L.A. home.

• “Dewoked” coins commemorating the 250th anniversary of the US canceled Frederick Douglass and shackled and unshackled hands, women’s suffrage and a “Votes for Women” flag and the civil rights movement and desegregation. Instead, we’ll get the Mayflower Compact, Pilgrims, Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and the Gettysburg Address with Lincoln.

• A tale of two presidential libraries: Awash in donations, Trump will probably use a foundation to avoid National Archives scrutiny. Biden has raised enough money to purchase a modest home on the beach.

• Dude, Where’s My Nuke? A CIA nuclear device loaded with plutonium has been missing in the Himalayas since 1965. Now the glacier where it was lost is melting. What could go wrong?

Got a question for CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou and/or political cartoonist Ted Rall? Today's your chance to bend their ear about the news of the day or anything else you feel like! It's a Rumble-only exclusive where you can call in live. Be pithy, be quick, be brilliant on DeProgram!

Political cartoonist Ted Rall and CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou deprogram you from mainstream media every weekday at 9 AM EST.

Today we discuss:

• The U.S. seized an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela, a dramatic escalation in President Trump’s pressure campaign against Nicolás Maduro, the leader of Venezuela. Is this why we’re spending $900 million a year on defense?

• The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point on Wednesday in a highly contentious decision. The split among policymakers suggested that the central bank may be done lowering borrowing costs for the time being unless there are clear signs that the labor market is weakening further. Meanwhile, President Trump is trying to persuade the public that the economy is strong.

• The University of Alabama has suspended the publication of two student-run magazines — one primarily focused on Black students and another on women’s issues — citing recent federal guidance against diversity, equity and inclusion programs on college campuses.

• Australia’s landmark new social media age law is set to go into effect, barring anyone under 16 from holding an account as the government moves to enforce one of the world’s strictest online safety measures.

Scott Stantis, cartoonist for The Chicago Tribune, is filling in for John.