Jiu-Jitsu Red to Blue: Crushing MAGA Under The Weight of Their Own Arguments

Clearly, the GOP war on gender-neutral restrooms is meant to be a war on transgender people – and that would be bad enough. But all wars have collateral damage. Host /autism mom Tish Durkin knows first-hand who’s getting shot down in this one: the elderly, the handicapped, and those with special needs, who often find themselves out and about with a caregiver of the opposite gender. Trans people aren’t the only ones who stand to benefit from a humane, inclusive approach to the most essential of public spaces – and they aren’t the only ones who stand to suffer from an inhumane, exclusionary attack mode, either.

The current, Trumped-up GOP sells itself as the party of white grievance, leaving Democrats to cower as the party of white guilt. Meanwhile, it’s actually the Democrats who do white voters the most good, and Republicans who cause them a shockingly well-documented amount of harm. Searching past and present, host Tish Durkin asks: Why don’t Democrats get (or take) more credit for their job performance as it affects white Americans? And how do Republicans keep escaping blame?

Relentlessly loud, clear and consistent, GOP messaging is often hailed as brilliant – especially by Democrats, who are reliably stunned and scared to death by it. In our first Midterm Monday Mini, host Tish Durkin asks whether GOP messaging IS brilliant – or is it merely brazen? Are they offering Americans a powerful narrative – or just a bunch of stories that they themselves can’t even keep straight?

The U.S. southern border is making big headlines, but the U.S. government is making little progress in alleviating the humanitarian, legal, and political crisis unfolding there. Red-state governors Abbott, DeSantis and Ducey are putting migrants on planes, on buses, and above all on camera, hoping to blame blue states and shame asylum seekers at the same time. But what do such Republicans really want? Host Tish Durkin looks back at decades of congressional failure to achieve comprehensive immigration reform – due, more and more, to GOP success in demonizing immigration. This problem works wonders for the current, Trumped-up GOP. Why would they want to solve it?

Host Tish Durkin takes aim at the pro-gun extremism of the GOP. As rising gun violence leads to renewed calls for gun regulation, the question becomes: how much further can 2A absolutists go before they become a threat to the 2A?

Host Tish Durkin examines the GOP-drawn equivalence between the insurrection of January 6, 2021 and the riots that shook some American cities in connection with the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.

Host Tish Durkin explores a major mystery of history: how the GOP has managed to market itself as the great defender of America’s founders, even as it works hard to destroy everything that those founders fought hardest for. Even mention the possibility of removing a marble image of a Washington, a Jefferson, a Franklin, and the GOP will declare war on the “woke” mob. Actively attack the best of such men’s legacies – on religious freedom, the peaceful transfer of power, and reason-based governance, just for starters -- and the GOP will show up with a big brass band (and a bucket of money…and a legal team…and glowing coverage on cable). Time to fife-and-drum these hypocrites out of the conversation.

Making the most of COVID and the culture wars, the GOP is trying hard to make itself the party of keeping kids safe in school, and (some of) their parents dominant in school systems. Host Tish Durkin asks: what will really happen if the GOP succeeds?

Short answer: Tish Durkin, a recovering political journalist, relapsing political junkie and rookie political podcaster. Loooong answer: tune in and hear how Harriet Tubman, Australian aboriginals, the de-Baathification of Iraq and the long-haul exhaustion of special-needs parenthood led one woman to a life of pontification from her house in New Jersey.

Host Tish Durkin digs into the facts and figures to ask whether Republicans have earned their reputation for doing whatever it takes to keep our streets safe from the bad guys and the Democrats who coddle them. Spoiler alert: They haven’t.