The Mona Charen Show

Patterico joins the panel to analyze Bragg's case against Trump. The panel also looks at the Arizona Supreme Court decision, and the GOP's clownish attempt to find something on which to impeach Biden.

highlights and lowlights

Damon: Anxious Parents Are the Ones Who Need Help (NYT)

Patrick: Famed photographer quits Ford board over Liz Cheney snub (Politico)

Linda: A Region Reordered by Autocracy and Democracy (Freedom House)

Mona: Cass review: Health secretary criticises gender care 'culture of secrecy' (BBC)

Bill: High interest rates, rising inflation: The economy still isn’t normal (WaPo)

Matt Bennett of Third Way joins to discuss the end of No Labels, RFK, Jr., and other third parties as well as Florida's new abortion law.

highlights / lowlights

Mona: Karl Rove admonishing Trump's embrace of January 6 criminals (audio)

Damon: Why We Can’t Stop Arguing About Whether Trump Is a Fascist (Andrew Marantz, New Yorker)

Matt: How the No Labels 2024 Presidential Campaign Failed to Launch (WSJ)

Bill: Build Back Faster (Sean Kennedy, City Journal)

show notes

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The Atlantic's Peter Wehner joins the panel to discuss Trump hawking a "patriotic" Bible, accusations of lawfare regarding Trump's trials, and Putin's war on truth.

Highlights / Lowlights:

Mona— What Would You Have Israel Do to Defend Itself? (David Brooks, NYT)

Damon— Tucker Carlson's hilariously wrong prediction that Sam Bankman-Fried would avoid justice because he was a megadonor.

Peter— Lowlight: Jesus's Crucifixion. Highlight: Easter, of course.

Linda— Bridge collapse brings stark reminder of immigrant workers’ vulnerabilities (WaPo)

Bill— Democrat who ran heavily on abortion rights, IVF wins Alabama special election (WaPo)

Nicholas Grossman joins the panel to discuss Trump's money troubles as a national security threat and political challenge, the "bloodbath" brouhaha, and Schumer's speech about Netanyahu.

highlights / lowlights 

Damon: Miranda's Last Gift by David Frum.

Mona: The U.S. is no longer one of the 20 happiest countries. If you're young, you probably know why.

Bill: Graham calls for interest-free loans to Ukraine: ‘New way of doing business’ (The Hill)

Nick: Once More With Feeling: Banning TikTok Is Unconstitutional & Won’t Do Shit To Deal With Any Actual Threats by Mike Masnick (TechDirt)

LINDA: 12,000 More Visas for Afghans Who Helped US Military Included in New Funding Deal (Military.com).

Appeals court raises doubts of legality of new Texas deportation law, SB4, pointing to past rulings (Houston Chronicle)

Michael Isikoff, co-author of Find Me the Votes: A Hard-Charging Georgia Prosecutor, a Rogue President, and the Plot to Steal an American Election, details some of the undercovered aspects of Trump's 2020 election subversion. The panel also discusses how the Biden reset is going.

highlights / lowlights

Mona: Warden is ousted as FBI raids California women’s prison known as the ‘rape club’ (LATimes).

Damon: American politics is undergoing a racial realignment (FT) and a thread from the author, John Burn-Murdoch.

Bill: 2024 Michigan: Trump Leads Biden In 5-Way Race (Quinnipiac Poll)
 
Michael: Trump’s Biden Mockery Upsets People Who Stutter: ‘We’ve Heard This Before’ (NYTimes).

Linda: Literary Magazine Retracts Israeli Writer’s Essay as Staffers Quit (NYTimes).

On this week’s episode, Philip Bump of The Washington Post joins guest host A.B. Stoddard and the usual crew to discuss the beginning of the general election.

highlights / lowlights

A.B.- The NC Exit Polls where voters thought Trump had better physical and mental fitness to be President than Haley.

Philip- The Crazy Collapse of the House G.O.P.’s Impeachment Case Against Biden

Bill- Ukraine outgunned 10 to 1 in massive artillery battle with Russia

Linda- Mitch McConnell endorses Donald Trump for president after years of frosty ties, and the 9-0 SCOTUS ruling.

Damon- The 9-0 SCOTUS ruling on Trump and the 14th Amendment.

David French of The New York Times joins the panel (plus Cathy Young) to discuss the Supreme Court's gift to Trump; Mitch McConnell's tainted legacy; and the threat from Christian supremacism.

highlights / lowlights

Mona: Stephen Richer's interaction with TPUSA activist about her voter registration.

David: Dune 2

Cathy: Yulia Navalnaya addresses European Parliament after Alexei Navalny's death

Why the Kremlin Tried to Obstruct Alexei Navalny’s Funeral

Bill: Why Americans are still angry about inflation, even as it cools by Heather Long

Damon: Why the Supreme Court Should Grant Certiorari in United States v. Trump

The Consequences of Jack Smith's Rush to Trial

AEI's Kori Schake joins to discuss Ukraine funding, GOP's moral and strategic collapse, Nikki Haley's role, calls for a Gaza ceasefire, and more.

highlights / lowlights 

Damon: John Avlon: I'm running for Congress.

Linda: Something’s Fishy About the ‘Migrant Crisis’

A Rage in Harlem by Chester Himes

Liberation Struggle

Kori: NATO Gives Ukraine the Go-Ahead to Cross Putin's Red Line

Mona: What Losing My Two Children Taught Me About Grief

Bill:  For Gen Z, an Age-Old Question: Who Pays for Dates?

Chris Cillizza joins the panel for a thought experiment on Biden, as well as the NY special election and its implications for November, NATO, and whether today's GOP as bad as 1930s GOP?

highlights / lowlights

Mona: Why Americans Suddenly Stopped Hanging Out by Derek Thompson

Bill: lowlight: Trump says he would encourage Russia to attack Nato allies who pay too little

highlight: Putin Says He Was Disappointed by Tucker Carlson’s Soft Questions

Linda: The Budget and Economic Outlook: 2024 to 2034 (look at pages 5-7)

Damon: What I Saw Inside the DeSantis Campaign by Nate Hochman

Chris: The Corruption of Lindsey Graham by Will Saletan

The Dispatch's Scott Lincicome returns to discuss cheap avocados, the "China shock," and other economic matters. The panel then discusses the GOP heel turn on the border, betraying Ukraine, and whether the Crumbley verdict was a step too far.

highlights / lowlights:

Mona: As Kids, They Thought They Were Trans. They No Longer Do. (Pamela Paul, NYT)

Linda: Isaiah Berlin and the Tragedy of Pluralism (Damon Linker, Persuasion)
1961 Debate Between Malcolm X and James Baldwin

Bill: Firing Ukraine’s top general would be a mistake (Adrian Bonenberger, The Hill)

Damon: Special Counsel Robert Hur's Biden classified documents report.