This week’s show is sponsored in part by

This week’s theme – “The Enemy Within” – focuses on the moves by Trump in the last week to establish his authoritarian dominance of our lives. An alternative title could be “The Rubicon has been crossed” episode, as Trump uses a highly unusual audience and venue to declare war on American citizens, the Constitution, a lawful civilian-controlled military, and the very notion of a limited government that derives its existence from “we the people.” But because our culture and our media are so entirely broken and damaged, the biggest story is the breathless coverage of the federal government shutdown and not the 12-alarm departure from the rule of law and prelude to martial law and authoritarianism.

In Lansing, there’s a one-week truce in the battle of the state budget, averting a shutdown with both sides promising to get the budget adopted by next Tuesday at midnight. We begin the show by doing a deep dive into the partisan battles in Lansing, and strong signs that the state can avoid a government shutdown. Our tour guide is veteran Bridge Michigan state capitol reporter Lauren Gibbons. It’s a $80-billion budget dispute. Will it last? Is there really agreement on a framework for the budget? What is standing in the way of final agreement?

In the Trump/Vance/Hegseth world of Fatsos and Beardos, two more American cities — Portland, Oregon, and Memphis, Tennessee — will likely see National Guard troops deployed in the coming days, though exact timings remain unclear. An Oregon Military Department spokesperson had said troops could arrive in Portland as soon as Thursday (our recording day), but legal and logistical delays may push the deployment into next week. Angry state leaders’ efforts to have the deployment halted will be heard by a federal judge tomorrow.

Trump is using the military to try to eliminate dissent. Caught in the middle of his lust for absolute power are the citizen-soldiers of the National Guard in his target states. Joining us is an expert on what that means: the retired adjutant general of the Illinois National Guard, General William Enyart. Major General Enyart served in the Air Force for 40 years. He was appointed to lead the National Guard and the Illinois Department of Military Affairs as Adjutant General in 2007, and was reappointed in 2009 and in 2011. He retired from the military in 2012, and was elected to Congress where he served for one term.

This episode is sponsored in part by

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