MOMocrats

FThe MOMocrats' weekly podcast looking at the day's political news from the progressive point of view. Check back here an hour from airtime for a list of the topics. Chances are, there will be some discussion of what's happening in Congress and a reaction to the latest  from lawmakers and candidates. An Engender Media Group production.

Some day, maybe we'll understand why Melania Trump wore that jacket on her way to visit those poor migrant kids at the shelter in Texas, which was a weird postscript to a couple of days of Kabuki theater, as the administration reels from the backlash to their atrocious policy to hold hostage the children of people who are trying to find asylum in the United States. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills are as horrified by this debacle as all the other decent people watching this debacle unfold. They will talk about this, ways to help, and the protests in the works. They may also find some time to discuss the other political developments that have occurred this week while all eyes have been on the border in this week's podcast looking at the day's political news from the progressive point of view. An Engender Media Group production.

This week has been marred by high profile deaths of designer Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain - and the news that they are just the tip of the iceberg: The CDC says suicides in the US have reached epidemic proportions.

MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills can relate. If you are prone to depression, the direction of this country and the world does not offer a lot of hope. And if you are following the news as closely as they are, you're acutely aware of all that is wrong in the world right now: children being separated from parents at the border and being thrown into cages, an abandonment of democratic principles regarding due justice, and immense power plays by the administration that is marching into authoritarianism. 

Last night, it was revealed that the Department of Justice committed a vast overreach by obtaining a journalist's emails going back to her college days - in secret. Almost simultaneously, we got the news that DOJ will not contest a spurious lawsuit from TX and other conservative states alleging that consumer protections in the ACA (including coverage of pre-existing conditions) are unconstitutional. Karoli points out that this will literally kill Americans who will be unable to obtain health coverage. 

The ironic thing is: There is much to be hopeful for. This week's primaries in eight states indicate that the coming blue wave is gathering steam (even if the media stories on it seem to be an attempt to tamp it down and make the upcoming elections more of a horse race). It is really important to keep our enthusiasm up. The MOMocrats will do their best during this week's look at politics from a progressive point of view.

The big news yesterday was the cancellation of that North Korea summit. Now, the president appears to be walking that back. In other words, it's just another day in Trump's America. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills talk about the perhaps dashed hopes for a Nobel Peace Prize and what to do with all those Kim Jong Un commemorative coins... as well as "Spygate," this week's made-up distraction from the ongoing Mueller investigation - and James Clapper's assertion that yes, Russia DID turn the election.  An Engender Media Group production.

The mid-term primaries have begun and the MOMocrats are cautiously optimistic -- after all, all the crazy coming out of the White House and the Republican Congress seem to have motivated progressives to vote in non-presidential election years. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills will talk about all of this week's political news from the progressive point of view: Michael Cohen’s brief access sale for fun and profit, the end of the Iran deal and the re-emergence of Dick Cheney, North Korea, and the hazard of doing things while black are just a few of the topics. An Engender Media Group production.

Some pundit on one of the cable networks this week surmised that the average tenure for a Trump White House staffer is 6-12 months, so no one was all that surprised with this week's overhaul of the President's legal team, including Emmet Flood, one of the few living attorneys with actual experience defending a chief executive from impeachment.

But then there is Rudy Giuliani, who crashed the Trump defense strategy over the Stormy Daniels case by revealing that Trump did, indeed, re-pay Michael Cohen the $130,000 hush money to keep the star quiet. Giuliani insists that no campaign finance laws were violated. That remains to be seen. In the meantime, this whole mess is distracting the media from developments in the Russia case.

MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills will discuss these topics and more in this week's podcast looking at the day's political news from the progressive point of view. An Engender Media Group production.

Ronny Jackson is out before his confirmation hearings could begin at Veterans Affairs. Scott Pruitt is finally being questioned for impropriety at EPA. Mike Pompeo is the new Secretary of State, and Michael Cohen is pleading the Fifth. Yes, it's just another day in Trumpland - and MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills try to make sense of it all in this week's podcast discussing  the political news from the progressive point of view.  An Engender Media Group production.

Last week's many dramas continued in a New York court on Monday, with the explosive news that Michael Cohen was seeking attorney-client privilege to seized documents and tapes involving a total of THREE clients in the last year: the president, former RNC finance chair Elliott Broidy... and Sean Hannity. Which unleashed a plethora of new questions about the ethics of Hannity opining about the raid on Cohen's office without disclosing that he, too, was a client... and the role of Fox News as a channel of propaganda.

Trump was predictably unhinged over the release of James Comey's new book and the many media interviews he is doing to support it - but news media reported that it was the Cohen raid and the possible evidence unearthed that was really threatening to him.

Also this week:

UN Ambassador Nikki Haley announced additional Russia sanctions before the administration threw her under the bus (the Russian news agencies are reporting that Trump has assured them that there will be NO more new sanctions. Hm.)Mike Pompeo's secret Easter visit with Kim Jong Un.The Starbucks incident and the corporation's responseFormer first lady Barbara Bush passed away at the age of 92.

MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills discuss the political newsof the last few days from the progressive point of view. An Engender Media Group production.

As we write this, we're keeping an eye on developing news, because by the time we air, President Trump and his new National Security Adviser John Bolton may have ordered a missile strike (something the president has already threatened to Russia in a tweet). And even though Bolton has characterized Syria as just "a sideshow" in the Middle East, this situation is rife with danger. The upside for Trump is that an act of war could serve as a distraction from all the investigations swirling around him: The president is reported to be furious over Monday's raid of his personal attorney, Michael Cohen - a situation he brought on himself by telling reporters on Air Force One that he had no knowledge of Cohen's payment to Stormy Daniels. There's increased speculation that we're about to see a real Saturday Night Massacre situation that will spark a constitutional crisis. In other news:

Paul Ryan announced his retirement today, which could further fuel a massive blue wave at the polls this year.Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg is spending a second day on Capitol Hill, facing questions over the Cambridge Analytical scandal.Scott Pruitt is still under siege over his massive over-spending at EPA. 

MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills will try to get to ALL of these topics and whatever else breaks today in this Engender Media Group production covering politics from the progressive point of view.

The news this week has been dominated by the revelation that the Trump campaign's social media efforts may have been fueled by illegally obtained Facebook data on tens of millions of Americans - but so much more has been happening. Yesterday, a serial bomber that had been terrorizing Austin detonated himself to death, and the White House said what he did had nothing to do with terrorism. In the meantime, an unarmed black man named Stephon Clark was shot 20 times by Sacramento police. His only "crime" was that he was holding a cellphone in his grandmother's backyard. And the White House continues to roil from massive personnel changes, amid reports that the President now feels he knows what he's doing and doesn't need to listen to advisers. Heaven help us all. MOMocrats Karoli, Aliza Worthington, and Donna Schwartz Mills discuss the week's political news from a progressive point of view. An Engender Media Group production.