My Librul Dad

Dad wants everyone to know how hard he works on Sundays when he could be resting. Nick sympathizes with his 2 year old waking him too early.

The guys define government. Specifically they're looking at how much is enough and how much is too much. How do we decide what's the government's job? Dad takes us back to the Preamble to the Constitution to find the five things they decided the government is meant to do.

The ongoing shutdown is ongoing and Dad wants everyone to stay fresh on how it began. Dad asks the age old question of "who run Bartertown?" The way to solve the problem seems simple enough. Dad offers his 3 step plan for getting the government back open.

The 2020 Democratic field expands with the announcement of Kirsten Gillibrand and Nick reports on Richard Ojeda, the first Democrat to announce and a former Trump voter.

Dad suffered through the flu earlier in the week and the guys discuss the value of flu shots and herd immunity. Dad points out that crazy conspracy theories don't seem so crazy in light of recent news. He also provides a link to VICE's report about how much the Russians are enjoying global warming. Also, Lawyer Charlie drops by to let us know that the center of the earth is yours if you want it.

Then they try to define the common political terms Liberal and Conservative. They find that the various political parties have swapped sides of this dichotomy at least once and that long-haired hippies might not necessarily be categorized as quickly as you might think.

Dad discusses the nature of 7-Eleven civility and the utility of Corn Nuts.

During follow-up, Dad points out the inherent sexism in a few lazy journalistic tropes and the inherent anxiety of being aware. Nick starts keeping track of Dad's Trump slips and they agree to a dollar per slip donated to the Dem 2020 general election campaign.

The guys attempt to define Wealth as it relates to our society. They cover the impact of 50s era marginal income tax rates on our country's ability to get shit done and how Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's proposal for a 70% mariginal rate to pay for a Green New Deal seem reasonable in those terms. The validity of private property is considered along with a quick reference to "There Will be Blood". The myth of the wealthy as job creators is challenged as well as the wisdom of bailing out the banks instead of the people during the 2008 crisis.

Then Dad lays out his Worst Case Scenario for the current leader of the free world. The President's recent parroting of Russian propaganda over the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan has sparked some much needed scrutiny from the Washington Post, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, And the Atlantic's David Frum but requires more attention still. The implications of an executive branch and a political party in the thrall of a hostile foriegn power has the guys wondering how we'll proceed if it's proven to be true… or false.

In Current Events, Dad gets pissed at the BS horse race coverage of CNN and submits that Elizabeth Warren isn't just likeable but damned #lovable. Nick admits his addiction to the Federal Registry is being affected by Trump's Government Shutdown. Nick also submits his research on 2020 hopeful John Delaney, and they agree hope is probably all he has going for him.

In follow up Dad points out the inherent selfishness of Pascale's Wager and the inherent structural issues in a country with an insane person for a President.

In a new feature, the gents define their terms when discussing gender in the modern world including trans and cis, masculine and feminine, gender queer and even toxic masculinity. Shout out to The LGBTQIA Resource Center and their very informative glossary

They take a quick look at a few of the many potential Democratic 2020 Presidential candidates and try to stake out a reasonable way for citizens to scope out and choose their favorite in the coming year. They also try to figure out how to avoid a fractured party heading into a huge election year.

Finally, Dad loses his discipline for refering to the current President appropriately and Nick starts a Trump Jar to keep him honest.

During follow-up, Dad admits he was wrong about a legal question (52 USC 10304), Nick has some 'splaining to do with his Christian friends, and they both nascently, nascent about nascentia.

Dad wonders if Karma is a metaphysical force that keeps the universe in balance or a practical result of concieving a nation that adheres to the rule of law. Nick's old professor has a You Tube video worth considering. And we're all still waiting to find out if bad guys get their comeuppance.

Moving on , the guys take a look at Harry Frankfurt's book On Bullshit to help explain the current administration. They cop to their family tradition of Bullshit, and try to figure out how to avoid it.

Shout out to The Token Talk Podcast. You should listen to their show!

The guys tackle follow up to point out that Ford (not Rockefeller) succeeded Ted Agnew as Nixon's Veep. The Texas Observer has the right take on the Dems penchant for the new hotness over laying the ground work for the future of their party (Because they echo what Dad said last week),

Then, as they pay tribute to George Bush (41), they discuss the nature of faith vis-a-vis Pascals wager and a 42 year old ghost story. The wisdom of sparing us your hot takes on twitter until after the former President has been laid to rest is unanimously approved.

The topic of the resolution of the current President's intelligence is brought up as we try to parse his recent statements on climate change. Dad offers a proposal to fill a swimming pool with, basketballs or ping pong balls. The multidimensional nature of reality has Dad feeling like he's back in his Webster College dorm room.

Finally the guys discuss the day's current events including the current Blue Wave count, Speaker Pelosi's nomination, The Farr nomination defeat, and The week the American fever broke.

In this week's call, Your Librul Dad reveals his long history of frying turkeys (even before it was safe and civilized). The guys work through the follow up accounting for the technical difficulties that led to a lost episode last week. The actual number of state legislatures needed to ratify a constitutional amendment is confirmed (and Dad was right all along) and the high bar the framers must have felt necessary to accomplish it is discussed.

Your Librul Dad is thankful for the Obama economy, the American free press (and not the tabloid political rags), and the independent judiciary. Nick points out that the death of Jamal Khashoggi was th etype of thing that might have happened in the past but we never heard about it. Dad points out that Putin fears nothing so much as a free press.

Then there's a ton of current events to go over from two weeks of news.

In this week's call, Your Librul Dad proudly earns his Redneck Badge and wonders why conservatives get to lay claim to rednecks. The joys of being a redneck are beyond partisan politics.

Then they embark on a discussion of the consequences of the mid-term election of 2018. The 2nd coming of Speaker Pelosi is debated along with the implications of Democratic leadership of all the House Committees. Nick offers the ACLU's information of voter supression into evidence.

The benefits of staying Hangry are discussed along with a reasonable imitation of a depressed James Carville.

Finally, Dad takes a minute to discuss the true meaning of Veterans Day.

In this week's call, Your Librul dad is wondering who is treading on all these people with Don't Tread on Me license plates. Then the guys quicky walk through some follow-up from the pilot episode.

Then they discuss the stakes of Tuesday's election including the Mueller Investigation and the meddling of foreign powers in our elections.

The subject of how to get the reluctant voters in our lives to the polls for important elections comes up and Dad tells his tried and true strategy. Hint: The solution involves bribes. Specifically Dad's recipe for Democracy Bread!

Finally, Dad reviews Chris Hayes' Why Is This Happening Podcast's latest episode on White Identity politics and the frightening implications of some of its revalations.

In this week's call, Nick and his Dad wax philosophic about civility, what it means in this current climate, and how it's roots are in good old American family values. But they also try to reckon with the fact that many people have an inflated idea of their own civility in light of strong evidence to the contrary. They try to draw the line between incivility and incitement to violence.

After a break, they take a look at the contrast between right wing media and the mainstream and try to elucidate what they are all trying to inspire in their audiences.

Finally, they take a trip to Grandma's to discover her life as a character in The Handmaid's Tale and try to figure out just what constitutes a violation of Twitter's terms of service.