MOMocrats

The MOMocrats started the day planning to talk about this week's extraordinary Judiciary Committee hearing of Dr. Christine Blasy Ford and Brett Kavanaugh - and they were expecting that the latter's Supreme Court nomination would go forward. That did happen - but what Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills did not expect at the start of this week's political podcast from a progressive point of view was the last-minute negotiation between Senators Jeff Flake and Chris Coons to request an FBI background check to discover what facts can be found surrounding Dr. Ford's remembrance of what happened to her 36 years ago when she and Judge Kavanaugh were in high school. They talked about the dramatic moments in the committee this week, Anita Hill's legacy, and some of the other news that occurred under the radar. An Engender Media Group production.

All week long, the pundits were remarking at how "restrained" the president has been in the wake of allegations by Professor Ford against SCOTUS nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Until today, when the president stuck his middle finger in all those pundits' eyes. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills discuss the week's developments in the Kavanaugh hearings from the progressive point of view, plus new allegations in the NY Times about Rod Rosenstein  - and how they are being refuted by other sources. An Engender Media Group production.

"Every week, we say it's been crazy. And every week, it gets crazier," says MOMocrat Donna Schwartz Mills. And this week, Karoli and Aliza Worthington agree that it was especially crazy, and it begins at the White House, where the president is reported to be in a volcanic mood after the release of excerpts from Bob Woodward's upcoming new book, "Fear," chronicling a year in the life of this administration -- followed by a remarkable anonymously sourced New York Times op-ed that seemed to corroborate the worst allegations in the Woodward book. Strangely enough, this week's Trump talk among the MOMocrats was minimal, with most of the focus on the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearings.

With Labor Day upon us, MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills are focused on the upcoming midterm elections - and they have a lot to say about the candidates in some of the races around the country, including Andrew Gillum, Stacey Abrams, and Beto O'Rourke (who is totally cooler than Ted Cruz, as proven by Texas GOP tweets this past week). The MOMocrats also discuss the memorials of both Aretha Franklin and John McCain, and the president's non-involvement in those, the fight against Brett Kavanaugh's appointment to the Supreme Court, and the continuing threats to the Affordable Care Act. And Engender Media Group Production.

This week marked a turning point in the Mueller investigation: Almost simultaneously, the jury in the Manafort case turned in guilty verdicts on eight counts - and Michael Cohen turned himself in and pleaded guilty to another eight. This prompted the president to call Cohen a "rat" and a "flipper" -- but as the week wore on, more Trump associates signed immunity deals with the special prosecutor... and MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills have a little something to say about that. An Engender Media Group Production.

It was learned this week that the military parade the president wants so very badly was going to cost the government a whopping $80 million more than first estimated, bringing the cost up to $90 million - and the military said that the parade was going to be postponed until next year. This morning, the president tweeted that he was cancelling it entirely, and he blamed the District of Columbia for their security costs. 

If only it was so easy to cancel this entire presidency, laugh MOMocrats Aliza Worthington and Donna Schwartz Mills, who talk about the parade, the Mueller investigation, John Brennan's security clearance, the Manafort trial, Omarosa - and family squabbles in this week's podcast looking at politics from the progressive point of view. An Engender Media Group production.

The last 18 months of Trumpian dystopia have been brutal on the United States and the world, and with the White House panicking as the midterm elections approach and the Russia investigation closes in, MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills think it's going to get worse. So they're going to go all "Drunk History" on the situation this week, by imbibing a little wine to make the onslaught of news go down easier. We suggest listeners do so, too. Topics this week include the Manafort trial, anniversary of Charlottesville, continued attacks on immigration, and are we facing a blue wave in November, or a red one, as the president keeps insisting? And Engender Media Group production.

Every day since he announced his candidacy, the president has waged war on the free press. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills are aware that this is a classic ploy from the authoritarian playbook. This week, this war escalated as the president increased his pace of rallies. He is putting his weight behind 2018 Republican candidates who kiss his ring - but he's also trying to distract from the tightening noose of the Russia investigation, which headed into a new phase this week with the start of the first Paul Manafort trial. Yesterday, the heads of the nation's security agencies made an extraordinary show by warning the nation that Russia is still trying to wreak havoc with our 2018 election - an assertion that the president continues to discount. And press secretary Sanders also refused to say that the journalists she works with are NOT the "enemy of the people." Sad.

MOMocrats Karoli, and Donna Schwartz Mills are having a hard time remembering that the president's Helsinki meeting with Vladimir Putin was just five days ago. The country was already bracing itself for this summit, which the president decided to have without (a) an agenda or (b) any other staffers present, other than the two leaders' interpreters. We've heard nothing about what was agreed upon -- except from RUSSIAN media. And in their official press conference following their two-hour meeting, Trump once again supported Putin's denial of his country's criminal interference in the 2016 election. This was an incredulous assertion, given the breadth of the indictment against 12 named Russian agents filed by Bob Mueller just three days before the summit... and national security director Dan Coats' assertion that the warning signs against more interference in our midterms was flashing red, just as they did before 9/11. And to add insult to injury: Putin has been invited to meet again with the president in the fall - at the White House. As Coats said upon learning of this yesterday, that's bound to be "special." An Engender Media Group production.

Donald Trump told the UK press that the flying of an orange baby blimp in his image (complete with little cellphone) made him feel unwelcome. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills think we should get an army of blimps to fly over the White House, Mar a Lago, Trump Tower, and every other place the Orange One frequents so he gets the message. He is certainly not welcome in Europe, where he has done everything he can to blow up the western alliance that has given us relative peace since the end of the last World War. He is not welcome in Britain, where he has done everything he can to blow up Prime Minister Teresa May's government (with a little help from Steve Bannon - and do not forget that Brexit appears to have been accomplished with help from the Russians). But even as he enjoys tea today with Queen Elizabeth, he knows he will be welcomed by Vladimir Putin in a couple of days. The question is: how will he betray the American people in those talks?

The MOMocrats will also talk about yesterday's extraordinary congressional interrogation of former FBI spycatcher Peter Strzok... and today's indictments of Russian intelligence officials who hacked the DNC in 2016 in this week's political podcast from the progressive point of view. An Engender Media Group production.