US of Ed

"This is really good news for everybody but Trump."

Republicans have decried a two-tiered justice system in the United States that somehow favours presidential sons and persecutes poor, misunderstood, former presidents this week after news Hunter Biden has accepted a plea deal that will likely see him walk away with no jail time despite being number one on the GOP's most wanted list for years. Meanwhile, a date has been set for Trump's classified documents case and the House is looking into the Saudi connections of his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Outside of legal matters this week we're talking China, former US service members working for foreign governments, the West Bank, and Boris Johnson.

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"Trump seems to be exhausted by all this, and remember more's coming."

Trump has had his day in court, arraigned on 37 counts in regards to his removal of classified White House documents making him the first former president to face federal criminal charges. Some Republicans are lining up in support while others are clearly hoping this will be the one that sinks him now that he's no longer of use to them, and Democrats are staying largely quiet. We discuss the big news this week, plus NATO, wiretapping powers, and the death of Silvio Berlusconi.

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"It shows that money is more important than principle."

In spite the deal to raise the debt ceiling passing this week, the hard-right of the Republican party don't seem to be happy they didn't upend the apple cart and pin the blame on Biden instead. Meanwhile, fears the world economy could end up underwater anyway, as is the case more literally for parts of southern Ukraine and the server room at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort. Also talking about migrant chaos for Florida, aging infrastructure, and LIV Golf's merger with the PGA.

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"The Republicans won't be able to claim a victory from this but the Democrats can."

After weeks of negotiations, a bill to raise the US debt ceiling finally appears ready to pass but for all their holding out was the result worth it for Republicans? Meanwhile, the field of Republican candidates in 2024 takes shape as reports indicate former VP Mike Pence and former governor Chris Christie are set to end the race. Also talking about drone strikes on Moscow, the Turkey election, Dianne Feinstein, and Texas voter suppression.

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"The Democrats have some things to lose but not a lot, because a lot of this is smoke and mirrors."

Republicans feel confident that they have the upper hand over debt ceiling negotiations. Will Biden call their bluff, or dismantle his own agenda? Meanwhile, a court date for Trump and an underwhelming Twitter livestream from DeSantis shapes the 2024 Republican presidential field. Also looking at more attacks on abortion rights, unrest in Russia over Ukraine, and the Surgeon General calling for greater restrictions for kids on social media.

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"Republicans have nothing to lose. They're already losing anyway so why not screw things up on the way out?"

Australia and Papua New Guinea have been ghosted by Joe Biden as he dashes back home to take part in further debt ceiling negotiations, but will it make any difference to what will ultimately have to be done? And the long-awaited Durham probe into the Trump-Russia investigation has been released to reveal... a whole lot of not much. Again. Also talking, Rudy Giuliani, white supremacy's terror threat, Title 42, and the latest from Florida.

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"There's more to come, and some people want to jump off this ship before it's too late."

Are the dominoes finally dropping for Trump? This week, the former president found liable for sexual assault and defamation in the civil suit brought by writer E. Jean Carroll amidst a storm of other legal matters still awaiting verdicts. Republican rep George Santos finds himself in legal hot water as well, arrested in relation to 13 cases of wire fraud, money laundering, and other financial crimes. We're also looking at the debt ceiling, how Americans are coming to accept mass shootings, immigration, and Chinese citizens banned from buying land in Florida.

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"The debt is mostly Republican giveaways, so I think we need to find some way of taking that back."

Confidence looks shaky in the US economy this week, as debate over raising the debt ceiling continues and the US experiences its second largest ever bank collapse only two months after the first. Meanwhile, suggestions that the Supreme Court might need a code of conduct if they cannot deal with their ethical issues internally. We're also talking about the legal outlook for Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, and Hunter Biden, plus the White House Correspondents Dinner and coronation of King Charles.

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"Nobody wants either Biden or Trump to run."

Republicans and Democrats have clashed again this week over raising the debt ceiling before the government defaults, with the GOP wanting again to take a machete to spending and Biden promises. Meanwhile, the E. Jean Carroll case brought against former president Donald Trump is off to an incendiary start with Trump taken to task over his commentary outside of court. Also talking Tucker Carlson out at FOX, Disney sues Florida, Afghanistan, Joe Biden in 2024, and the passing of Harry Belafonte.

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"We're living in a false culture where what you have is more than what you are."

Multiple accounts this week of innocent young people being shot in alleged cases of paranoia and mistaken identity lead us to ask the question, is the United States losing its collective mind? But first, addressing the ongoing concerns surrounding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and the leaking of top secret military documents. Also discussing FOX News' settlement with Dominion, fears for a recession, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Florida.

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