Brendan and I discuss democracy from a lot of different perspectives, and we cover a lot of ground - from the Supreme Court's recent decisions on a state's right to control its own elections to people dying in apartment buildings.

Nick and I talk about the police and the idea of policing in general. We cover a lot of ground - it's a big topic. You can't discuss this intelligently without talking about the context in which all policing occurs and the people/politicians who define that context.

*** Error ***
9:00  Brendan was interviewing Polly. I believe I said her name incorrectly,

Nick and Brendan discuss how Ivanka and Don, Jr.'s were subpoenaed by NYAG Letitia James to testify in an investigation her office is doing into the Trump organization. Their attorney is trying to prevent them from testifying because they were not offered "immunity".
We discuss subpoenas in general. We also touch on NYC Mayor Eric Adams' statement that he is going after gangs in a manner reminiscent of Rudy Giuliani, and the House investigation into the January 6th Insurrection, and AG Merrick Garland's handling of the Insurrection at the DOJ.

Brendan and I discuss whether or not "Justice" exists in both the context of our justice system and the world in general. This has been an ongoing conversation between us. I think everybody should be having this same conversation. There's a lot happening, and things seem to be getting more and more out of control.

*** At 33:17, I wish I had reminded Nick that Lady Justice carries scales in one hand and a sword in the other hand.

*** Errors***

*** At 39:53, Brendan should have included "the right to the least restrictive alternative in terms of treatment" in his answer.

*** At 1:08:53 Brendan should have said 1 "day" instead of 1 "week". He said 1 day a few seconds before.

*** Sorry.

Brendan and Nick take a critical look at the United States Constitution. Brendan maintains we have been misled as to what the U.S. Constitution really is, why it came about and who it protects.
The discussion traces the evolution of the Constitution from ratification, through the Civil War, and into modern times. Nick articulates generally accepted theory on what the Constitution was and how it has evolved.

*** Brendan gets confused and misspeaks 1 hour and 4 minutes into the video. He has a problem with the date of the 2018 midterms and then he incorrectly says that after the elections, the Democrats took over both the House and Senate. The Democrats took back the House after the 2018 midterms. The Senate remained under Republican control through both of Trump's Impeachments. In 2020, Biden won the election. The Democrats maintained control of the House and took control of the Senate. ***

Eric Adams is the NYC Mayor. He outraged people by saying “We made a big mistake when closing Willowbrook".

https://www.silive.com/news/2021/09/e...

I've never met anybody waxing nostalgic about Willowbrook.

Eric was born in 1960. Rivera's specials were done in the early 1970s. I'm not sure what preteen Eric knew at the time.

Here are links to both of the specials that Rivera did:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpVEj...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8N1lB...

I was involved in the second special.

People should watch the actual videos Rivera did and draw their own conclusions about Willowbrook.

The story of Willowbrook is a story about basic human rights and humanity in general.

Nick explains the recently passed Texas Senate Bill 1. We discuss this in the context of how voting rights evolved in the United States. We discuss the Constitution. We discuss the actions the Supreme Court has taken to damage the Voting Rights Act of 1965. We question the "impartiality" of the Supreme Court. We talk about what each of us can do to insure our right to vote.
At about 46:45 I misspeak. I erroneously mention Georgia when the proper reference should have been to Arizona.

Nick and I engage in a very focused conversation about the implications of Texas' new abortion law and the consequences of the Supreme Court's reaction to it.
There is some barking at various parts. At about 1:08 Nick's screen freezes for less than a minute - it resumes a few seconds later.
Nick explains the Supreme Court's prior rulings on abortion, the judicial process, and the legal quandary women in Texas are now in regarding their access to abortion.
We discuss the role of the Supreme Court, the makeup of the Court, and the conduct of the Justices.
We discuss the Citizens United decision, the intrusion of dark money into our politics, and the current state of unrest in our country.
We discuss how our political parties evolved and the extent to which we're currently engaged in a coup.

Nick Maggio is interviewing Brendan Buschi about Independent Study Group (ISG). ISG was the end organizational product for a group of social workers in Suffolk County, New York during the late 60s and through the 70s. The discussion covers how it evolved, what it attempted, and what it accomplished. Its evolution is worth discussing for anybody interested in social advocacy and public policy.

This is the first in a series of video interviews with Nick Maggio. Nick is a lawyer, living in New York and working as an ADA. He doesn't usually wear a hat, but he had just finished a 2-hour stint with a chainsaw. He thought he looked too wild/unkempt. I have no idea where the color-coordinated cap and breaker came from.

This is also the first video either of us has made for YouTube. We made it in a small home studio in Delaware. It was adlibbed, unedited, and lacked credits.

Future videos will be focused on particular topics relating to our political and judicial systems.

Error: At about 25 minutes, 28 seconds into the video I mistakenly used the word "impeach" when I meant to say "indict".

In this intro we: introduce ourselves; talk about the Western State Law Suit; talk about "The Trial Of The Chicago Seven"; discuss an article Nick did for the law review at Touro Law School*; comment on "Wanda Vision" and "Stranger In A Strange Land"; discuss "The Mueller Report", Robert Mueller, Bill Barr, and Nancy Pelosi; talk about "Perry Mason" on HBO; and talk about lawyers, justice and Bruce Ennis at the NYCLU.

This audio file was converted from a video recording done in March 2021.