The Mona Charen Show

ABC's Jonathan Karl joins to discuss Trump's under-covered first two years as post-president. Also the immigration deal that isn't.

highlights / lowlights

Damon: Baumgartner by Paul Auster

Linda: After a Decade of Decline, the US Undocumented Population Increased by 650,000 in 2022, Journal on Migration and Human Security

Things Fall Apart: How the Middle Ground on Immigration Collapsed, New York Times

Mona: MAGA Has TDS—Taylor Derangement Syndrome, A.B. Stoddard, The Bulwark

Jonathan: Lowlight: The collapse of the Ravens and Lions in the NFL playoffs.

Bill: EU Leaders Agree to $54 Billion Ukraine Aid Package as Hungary’s Orban Backs Down, Wall Street Journal

Yascha Mounk joins to consider the NH results, Greg Abbott's defiance of the Supreme Court, and a dissenting view on a much-praised TV series.

highlights / lowlights

Mona: Jamie Dimon Joins the Trump Normalizers by Dennis Aftergun and Walter H. White, Jr.

The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions by Jonathan Rosen

Yascha: Emmys 2024: Succession, The Bear and Beef among winners

'I just love you': Tim Scott and Donald Trump's other challengers fall in line

Damon: The 25th Anniversary of The Sopranos

Linda: Remembering Bayard Rustin by Arch Puddington

Bill: Netanyahu rejects Hamas conditions for Israeli hostage deal

Zack Beauchamp of Vox joins the panel (plus Will Saletan) to discuss Iowa and New Hampshire and the role of death threats in the Republican Party.

Highlights / Lowlights:

Mona: Peter Schickele, Composer and Gleeful Sire of P.D.Q. Bach, Dies at 88

Zack: Cape Verde becomes fourth African country to eliminate malaria

Will:  Trump’s unsubtle crusade to cast foes as less American comes for Haley

Bill: The Anti-Liberal by David Bell in Liberties.

Linda: What the Asa Hutchinson incident reveals (and why it's important)

The Atlantic's Tim Alberta discusses his book on the rot within white evangelical Protestantism. The panel then considers Christie's exit, Haley's chances, and what the GOP base really wants.

Highlights / Lowlights

Mona Charen-  Don Scott, sworn in as first Black speaker of Virginia's House of Delegates, was once a federal prison inmate

Bill Galston-  Haley’s strong bid for second place in the Iowa debate

Linda Chavez- Lowlight: 'Flight 93 Election' Anti-Trumpers Imperil the Rule of Law by Peter Berkowitz

Highlight: Anti-Trump Means Anti-Democracy? You Can’t Be Serious by Ronald Radosh and Gabriel Schoenfeld

Damon Linker- The Case for Trump … by Someone Who Wants Him to Lose by Bret Stephens

Nick Grossman of Arc Digital joins to discuss plagiarism, double standards, DEI, Israel, Iran, and Hamas.

highlights / lowlights

Mona: Hydroxychloroquine could have caused 17,000 deaths during Covid, study finds and Florida surgeon general calls for halt on mRNA covid vaccines, citing debunked claim

Damon: The Law and High Politics of Disqualifying President Trump by Steve Vladeck

Nick: Slow Horses on Apple+ and Why the GOP Doesn’t Really Want a Deal on Ukraine and the Border by David Frum.

Linda: ‘Screams Without Words’: How Hamas Weaponized Sexual Violence on Oct. 7

Bill: Fed Minutes Suggest Rate Hikes Are Over, but Offer No Timetable on Cuts and Kyiv Issues Dire Warning After 'Record' US Patriot Sweep

Guest host A.B. Stoddard and special guest Jim Swift join the panel to discuss Nikki Haley's Civil War / slavery stumble in New Hampshire.

highlights / lowlights

A.B. Stoddard: What Mitt Romney Saw in the Senate by McKay Coppins (The Atlantic) and My Father, My Faith, and Donald Trump by Tim Alberta (The Atlantic)

Jim Swift: The Day After: The Night My Father Scared America, read by A.B. Stoddard (The Bulwark)

Damon Linker: The Rise of Narrative and The Fall of Persuasion by Leon Wieseltier (Liberties)

Linda Chavez: Here’s the Civil War history they didn’t want you to know by Howell Raines (WaPo)

Bill Galston: Ukraine Doesn’t Need All Its Territory to Defeat Putin By Serge Schmemann (NYT)

Eric Edelman joins the group to consider whether Trump should be barred by 14th amendment, prospects for Ukraine, and whether Americans' sour views on the economy are right or wrong.

highlights / lowlights 

Mona: Right-wing pundits tremble in fear of … tap-dancing, by Catherine Rampell (WaPo)

Eric: The mystery of the missing binder: How a collection of raw Russian intelligence disappeared under Trump (CNN) / Trump repeats 'poisoning the blood' anti-immigrant remark (Reuters)

Damon: Rudy Giuliani's descent into bankruptcy, a personal story.

Linda: Florida Republican Party censures chairman Christian Ziegler, by Lori Rozsa (WaPo)

Bill: Rudy Giuliani files for bankruptcy following $146 million defamation suit judgment

The GOP House moves toward impeaching Biden and stiff-arms Zelensky. Plus, the Supreme Court may act fast on Trump's "immunity" and poll of Palestinians gives little hope.

highlights / lowlights

Megan McArdle: Shutting a freeway in traffic-clogged L.A. gets attention. But is it effective activism? by Rachel Uranga and Nathan Solis, Los Angeles Times

Damon Linker: Congress approves bill barring any president from unilaterally withdrawing from NATO by Laura Kelly, The Hill

Bill Galston: A five-point plan to save Harvard from itself, by Steven Pinker Boston Globe and In GOP Contest, Trump Supporters Stand Out for Dislike of Compromise, Pew Research Center

Mona Charen: How to Fix the Insurrection Act and a PSA: Be careful about legal marijuana in public regarding your pets!
 
Linda Chavez: André Braugher Dies: Star Of ‘Homicide: Life On The Street’, ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ & Other Series And Films Was 61, by Mike Fleming, Jr. Deadline... [Buy the box set, Linda suggests!]

Democracy scholar Rachel Kleinfeld joins Beg to Differ to discuss polarization, violence, the GOP, the rule of law, Ivy League hypocrites, and more.

highlights / lowlights

Mona Charen: What Is Happening at the Columbia School of Social Work? by Pamela Paul

Damon Linker: A Trump dictatorship is increasingly inevitable. We should stop pretending. and The Trump dictatorship: How to stop it, both by Robert Kagan

Bill Galston: The troubling testimony of Ivy League professors before the House on anti-semitism on campus.

Linda Chavez: Why Dostoevsky Loved Humanity and Hated the Jews by Gary Saul Morson

Noah Smith joins to talk about the border crisis and its political implications as well as Haley's surge (if it is one).

highlights / lowlights

Mona Charen: An Insider’s Guide to the Most Important Story on Earth by Matti Friedman (Tablet) and What the Media Gets Wrong About Israel by Matti Friedman (The Atlantic)

Noah Smith: People are realizing that the Arsenal of Democracy is gone

Damon Linker: The global demographics Twitter / X account @nonebusinesshey

Bill Galston: Israel Knew Hamas’s Attack Plan More Than a Year Ago by Ronen Bergman and Adam Goldman (NYTimes)

Linda Chavez:  Once again: Speaking freely doesn’t mean speaking without consequence, by Philip Bump (WAPO)