The Middle - UNPLUGGED with Anthony Weiner

Donald Trump sat for interviews with Time Magazine and this week, Anthony tried to bring us a line-by-line analysis.  Tried, as in didn’t really pull it off.  He explains a few things we did learn (besides the surprising fact that Time Magazine still exists) and wraps up some loose ends.  In Ask Anthony Anything, our least favorite dog shooting governor digs herself a deeper hole.

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How should we think about the campus debate/protests/politics around Israel's war with Hamas?  There are a lot of ideas and even more perspectives.  This week, Anthony checks in with a fellow who has worn a few relevant hats - former Representative and current university “professor” Steve Israel.  They talk about the often narrow scope of our education around these things and those who are operating in good faith and others who aren't.  In Ask Anthony Anything, maybe Christie Noem isn’t gonna be VP pick afterall.  Enter JD Vance.

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Let's call it the fifth Passover question, how did they finally do their jobs?   Anthony looks at the historically incompetent 118th Congress and gives kudos for the week of action.  Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan all finally had urgent needs funded.  How did it happen?   Was it a sea change?  Maybe.  Also this week, a look at the early tells from the Trump trial.

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Perhaps it's unexpected given his history with the criminal justice system, but Anthony has been a cheerleader for the idea that “the system" will hold and Donald Trump will be held accountable…if he's guilty.  But, there are reasonable questions that reasonable people can have about the ability of an infamous politician to get a fair trial.  Anthony asks them and tries to answer.  And, in Ask Anthony Anything, a look at the Trump tax cuts and the Biden response. 

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Democrats have some PTSD around third party candidates.  You can imagine why.  Is Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. the newest version of Ralph Nader or Jill Stein?  Anthony takes a look at what we know about the guy with the iconic Democratic name and decides that we may not have that much to fear.  RFK Jr. said more words this week and his Dance of the Seven Veils shows him to be nakedly MAGA.  In Ask Anthony Anything, a minor correction about a major 2024 issue. 

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Wait, wait!  Before the Rhona McDaniel tempest fades from memory, Anthony would like a word.  He explains what it takes to be considered an election denying conspiracy theorist worthy of the scarlet letter.  Spoiler alert, being pissed about the Electoral College or money in politics isn't enough.  But being a dangerous liar maybe is just what we need on TV right now, if they do it right.  What if Rhona had done this differently and pursued a path of rigorous honesty about her sins?  Nobody asked Anthony in advance, but he has a counterfactual for us to consider.  And, speaking of Asking Anthony Anything, the Jewish boy from Brooklyn dives into the controversy over the war on Easter (eggs).

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It has the longest name of any committee in Congress (maybe ever) : The House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.  But what they lack in punchy, they made up for in actually working.  Anthony looks at what seems like a true national consensus around our rivalry with China and what we (and he) got wrong at the turn of this century.  In Ask Anthony Anything, we go long form.

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Another week and another sign that Donald Trump is super desperate for cash.  He can’t raise the money or find a bond for one of his many expensive legal verdicts.  This all got Anthony wondering about whether a fellow with the former president’s record would even pass a routine background check to be eligible for the security clearance that so many in Washington and the military get.  A not-so deep dive into the federal regulations governing access to government secrets.   Spoiler alert, one of the 13 guidelines talks about “untreated mental illness.  In Ask Anthony Anything, a slow clap for Mike Pence.

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Joe Biden had a lot of words to say in his amped up State of the Union this week.  More than a few of them were about the “greatest story never told”, the amazing recovery our economy has seen under his watch.  Anthony looks at the comparison between the Trump economy and this one and unpacks the “yes, but Covid” explanation that comes from the MAGA world.  If not for the pandemic, then Trump would have done better, they say.  So do we not even count his final year?  It started out as a numbers question, but Anthony got sucked into a vortex of the Trump words.  Join us as we remember 2020.  And in Ask Anthony Anything, looking at the future of Trump and the vaccine he is so, uh, proud of.

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Buying, selling and consuming cannabis is legal all over the place.  So why is there so much chaos around it?  Anthony looks at the odd mish-mash of federal laws, state programs and local enforcement that has left citizens bewildered and policymakers returning to the drawing board.  Howie Miller of Two Buds Dispensary in the Bronx may be the poster boy for how New York intended its legalization program to work, but even he is struggling to navigate the rules.  Anthony visits with Howie this week and they have their first chat since their days in prison together.  In Ask Anthony Anything, is there more crime in Blue or Red states?

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