MOMocrats

We've entered a new phase of the impeachment inquiry... The GOP's ratf**ers get a scalp... and the MOMocrats welcome Texas congressional candidate Elisa Cardnell in this week's podcast looking at the day's political news from the progressive point of view.  Hosted by MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills - MOMocrats MOMochat is part of the DemCast family of podcasts.

The impeachment inquiry this week included bombshell testimony from William Taylor, the current acting ambassador to Ukraine, whose 15-page opening statement - released to the public - included outrageous details of Trump's extortion scheme to manufacture dirt on Vice President Biden. The mobster-in-chief tried to change the subject. He tried to gaslight us into believing his surrender to Turkey and Russia in Syria was actually good for the Kurds. He tried to paint Taylor - a West Point graduate, Vietnam veteran with 50 years of service to this country - as a partisan. When that didn't fly, he and his congressonal surrogates tried to argue that the quid pro quo described in the testimony wasn't illegal, because the Ukrainians didn't know their military aid was being held up. When news outlets reported that they did indeed know - even before President Zelenskyy took office - they resorted to stunts, with toady Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz leading a charge of GOP congressman storming the SCIF where the hearings are being held. Finally, AG William Barr dropped a bombshell of his own: the bogus attempt to rewrite the history of Russia's interference into the 2016 election is now a criminal inquiry, with the potential to truly harm the CIA and Justice Department veterans Trump characterizes as enemies. That got everyone's attention.

MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills discuss as many of the week's political events that can be squeezed into an hour in this week's political podcast from the progessive point of view. MOMocrats MOMochat is a member of the DemCast family of podcasts.

The nation lost a great advocate of democracy yesterday, with the passing of Rep. Elijah Cummings, who was chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, currently part of the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills believe that Cummings was the epitome of all that is good about our country, and they will talk about his legacy. 

But his passing came during a week when the country was rocked by presidential actions that - in the wake of what's being uncovered in the congressional inquiry - were even more erratic than usual. Bloomberg journalist Sahil Kapur tweets out a list of all the bonkers news events that have occurred each day. Yesterday's tweet looked like this:

Elijah Cummings deadSondland testifiesMulvaney briefingG7 at Trump DoralQuid pro quoImpeachment supportPence-ErdoganTurkey-Syria pauseZuckerberg speechBernie v. BidenPelosi presserSenate EPA rule voteRick Perry quitting

People, that's just ONE DAY. And the pace is just accelerating as Trump's malfeasance begins to come into the light and he tries desperately to change the subject.

The MOMocrats will do as they can to put all of this into context in this week's political podcast from the progressive point of view - part of the DemCast family of podcasts.

In his "great and unmatched wisdom," Donald Trump has thrown our most steadfast allies against ISIS under the bus by withdrawing our troops from nothern Syria, giving Turkey and Russia a green light to do what they want in the region. Airstrikes have begun, and national security experts warn of an ethnic cleansing of the Kurds, who were promised protection from the United States. It will take decades to win the trust of our allies again - if ever. But impeachment and the removal of one Donald J. Trump from the White House might be a good start back into the light... and public opinion for that option rises every day. And while Trump tries to change the subject and assert imperial powers he doesn't have, two Rudy Giuliani associates were arrested for campaign finance violations. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills discuss this week's political news from a progressive point of view. MOMocrats MOMochat is part of the #Demcast family of podcasts.

Donald Trump this week has given new meaning to the old philosophy exercise, "If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" Only in this instance, it's "If a president extorts or invites foreign interference in plain sight, is it still collusion?"

MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills talk about this week's political developments from a progressive point of view, from the piling on of impeachable offenses to the release of text messages that appear incriminating. Not to mention the president's ironic assertions that all he's interested in doing is routing out corruption. 

MOMocrats MOMochat is part of the #Demcast family of podcasts.

"What EVER will we talk about this week?" the MOMocrats joked among themselves. Because the political news of the last few days boils down to one thing: the whistleblower report that was released yesterday and the transcript of the Trump/Ukraine call that confirms the report's accuracy. After months of progressive frustration, support for impeachment snowballed among House Democrats (over 80 members of the caucus came off the bench), leading Speaker Nancy Pelosi to announce that the investigatinos into Donald Trump's crimes were now a full-fledged, official impeachment inquiry. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills discuss the historic developments from a progressive point of view. 

MOMocrats MOMochat is part of the Demcast family of podcasts.

The president has been making threats to fight Iran on behalf of the Saudis - but (as usual with this administration) that's not the most egregious thing being reported this week. A mysterious whistleblower report from the intelligence community has been the subject of hearings and speculation - because the acting DNI is ignoring the law and refusing to share it with the congressional intelligence committees tasked with oversight. And leaks to the news media indicate that's because the report concerns MULTIPLE promises made by the President of the United States to a former leader. Possibly Ukraine. Possibly a threat to withhold US aid unless Ukraine provides oppo research on Joe Biden. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills wonder what else the House needs to accelerate the impeachment process. MOMocrats MOMochat is part of the Demcast family of podcasts.

The third Democratic debate of the 2020 election took place last night at Texas Southern University, and for the first time, all the top tier candidates were together on the same stage. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills discuss the highlights and low points - and what to expect next. 

Also this week: Trump fired national security adviser John Bolton via Tweet (or maybe he quit). This is a win-win.

The Supreme Court made a disappointing decision to allow Trump rules on asylum to go forward while a lawsuit against them continues - even though this ruling is clearly against US law.

Late breaking news from last week continues, with fallout from Sharpiegate and the revelation that the military is putting servicepeople up at Trump properties.

MOMocrats MOMochat is a member of the DemCast family of progressive podcasts.

This week, all eyes have been on a very large and very slow-moving hurricane that decimated the Bahamas before landing on the coast of the Carolinas.

And our president has been devoting all his time to justifying a tweet that mistakenly put the path of the hurricane over Alabama - even going so far as doctoring an official Weather Service map with a Sharpie to "prove" that he had not made an error.

MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills admit that the ensuing Sharpie memes on Twitter were a hilarious distraction from all the horror of a week that included yet another mass shooting, corruption in plain view, and batshit crazy politics in the UK over Brexit. They discuss that and more in this week's podcast from a progressive point of view.

We keep running out of words to describe the evils of this administration. This week, immigrant children with medical visas that allow them to receive treatment in the US for serious illness received letters to let them know their participation in the program was being REVOKED. In other words, the government is now deporting seriously ill children and their families. That news was followed by an announcement that some children of US military personnel and employees born overseas will no longer be automatically considered US citizens. 

All of this comes on the heels of a week when the president tried to manipulate the markets by lying about conversations with Chinese officials, promoted his failing Doral golf resort as the site for the next G7 meeting, and opened Alaska's pristine Tongass National Forest to developers. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills discuss all of this, plus the race for 2020, and more in this week's political podcast from the progressive point of view.