Donald Trump wants NASCAR to be the “fuel of America’s Golden Age.” Speaking ahead of the Daytona 500, he hyped up the roar of the engines and the Star Spangled Banner. Meanwhile, fallout from the latest Trump/Musk blunder is serious. The DOGE cutters fired the newer federal workers managing America’s nuclear weapons and are now frantically trying to get them back. 
Bill Martin, a beloved weatherman in the Bay Area is retiring from his longtime KTVU post. He was once Mark Thompson’s intern. We’ll see if he has any juicy stories to tell as we celebrate his wonderful career. 
The Mark Thompson Show 
2/17/25
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Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s judgement is already in question after he extended an invitation to the Pizzagate conspiracy theorist. Hegseth included far-right influencer Jack Posobiec - offering him a media invitaton on his first official trip to Europe this week. Posobiec might not be able to roll with Hegseth as his online posts indicate that he is already in Ukraine with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. Clearly, Posobiec is in demand by Trump administration officials despite pushing the Pizzagate lie and whipping up such a furor that an armed man went looking for the non-existent pizza parlor basement where Democrats were alleged to have been doing horrible things and fired a shot in the restaurant. No injuries. We welcome our favorite hockey fan, journalist Michael Shure to the show to discuss that and so much more. We are off to explore Friday Fabulous Florida where Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd has a special Valentines messsge for us. The Culture Blaster, Michael Snyder, brings us all the best entertainment offerings this week, from the theaters to streaming options.

Looks like Elon Musk is quickly recouping money he paid for the predidency via fat new government contracts. Over the last couple months, he’s been awarded SpaceX contracts and now Marco Rubio over at the State Department says he expects to spend $400 million on 'armored' Cybertrucks made by special government employee Elon Musk's Tesla. Can someone alert the waste, fraud and abuse team? A judge says the government employee buyout offer can move forward, we will check in with former federal prosecutor, now defense attorney, David Katz. The Mark Thompson Show 2/13/25

He hasn’t been confirmed as the Director of the FBI yet, but it seems Kash Patel has taken it upon himself to kick certain FBI leaders out of their jobs. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, says he has "highly credible information" that Patel orchestrated the firings at the FBI and lied during confirmation hearing testimony by denying any knowledge of the purge. Will it keep him from being confirmed? We welcome Pulitzer Prize winning author and investigative journalist David Cay Johnston to discuss this and much more. Presidential historian and political analyst John Rothmann will swing by to talk politics. Eco-journalist Belinda Waymouth will bring us details on Trump’s love for plastic straws and a directive for NOAA scientists not to talk to scientists from other countries. Join us for “It’s the Planet, Stupid!”

With seeming disregard for the constitutional power of Congress and Trump administration leaders questioning of the validity of judges ruling on cases related to an unprecedented grab of presidential power, constitutional experts are warning of a crisis. On CNN, New York University law professor Ryan Goodman laid out a “doomsday scenario” when asked what would happen if Trump decides he doesn’t want to accept a court ruling. 
We welcome TYT’s Jayar Jackson to the show. His work creating videos that expose corruption and his curation of political content make him an important part of the fight against tyranny. 
It’s Tech Tuesday so former USA today tech colomnist Jefferson Graham will stop by the show. 
The Mark Thompson Show 
2/11/25
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First, Elon Musk commandeered America’s money without the consent of Congress. Now, Musk and JD Vance are questioning the authority of the judicial branch of government to serve as a check on executive power. They are pushing back against a federal judge's decision blocking Musk's Department of Government Efficiency from accessing Treasury Department records. In doing so, top Trump administration officials are questioning the legitimacy of judicial oversight. Musk called for the impeachment of the judge and has reposted a message saying the Trump administration should just defy the court order.
We’ll talk politics with iHeart television and radio political analyst Gary Dietrich. 
The Mark Thompson Show 
2/10/25
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Federal workers are getting bullied into resigning. According to Politico, Trump administration officials are sending multiple messages trying to convince staff to take a deferred resignation deal. Many federal workers aren’t sure that deal is legal or will even be honored. For now, threats of layoffs, cutting entire office locations and being replaced with AI are keeping the pressure on federal workers. We will check in with Josh Mankiewicz from Dateline NBC. When Mark & Josh get together, the conversation can go anywhere from politics to murder. Political journalist Michael Shure will join us to look at the wild week in Washington DC. Friday Fabulous Florida brings a lighthearted look at the weird that is uniquely Florida. We’ll cruise into the weekend with the Culture Blaster, Michael Snyder. He’ll bring us the latest on movies, streaming options and more.

Elon Musk now has his fingers in America’s finances. He’s brazenly forcing his way into secure and protected systems. He has offended just about every federal worker with illegal buyout letters and threats to job safety. Now, it seems he’s losing support. A new Economist/YouGov poll shows that more Republicans who liked the idea of the SpaceX/Tesla billionaire having a significant influence in the Trump administration are singing a different tune. Right after the election, 47% of Republicans surveyed said they wanted Musk to have a lot of influence. Now, that number is at 26%. We will check in with former federal prosecutor, David Katz to talk about the blatant illegalities of Musk’s and Trump’s policies and more. Investigative journalist Greg Palast returns to The Mark Thompson Show to discuss voting issues in the election.

Taking over land that has been fought over for decades might not sound like the smartest move, but here comes America inserting itself into the middle of a battleground. Donald Trump’s latest idea is to permanently relocate Palestinians in Gaza so that America can take ownership and redevelop the area. The question many are asking is whether Trump is serious or whether this is another one of his outrageous comments made to hasten longer term cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Also, Eon Musk's illiegal takeover of government computer systems continues. We welcome, political analyst, and presidential historian John Rothmann to the show to discuss. “It’s the Planet, Stupid! “with our eco-journalist, Belinda, Waymouth allows us to take the pulse of the natural world and focus on our environment.

There is grave concern that Elon Musk has snatched control of the US Treasury and USAID away from elected officials. His access to the private information of millions of Americans along with intelligence reports is troublesome to say the least. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez is one of many sounding the alarm saying, “Having an unelected billionaire, with his own foreign debts and motives, raiding US classified information is a grave threat to national security”.
We welcome Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist and author David Cay Johnston to the show to talk about the position in which America now finds itself.
Science and medicine have already taken a huge hit during Trump’s first month on the job. The CDC is now unable to release medical information that doctors around the country count on to help treat patients. Scientific Studies and data are being put on the back burner. Emergency medicine specialist, Dr. Michael Diagnault, will discuss. 
It’s Tech Tuesday on The Mark Thompson Show. Former USA Today tech columnist Jefferson Graham will look at some amazing new AI tools and discuss Apple’s foray into the darker side of the Internet. 
The Mark Thompson Show 
2/4/25
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