The Nicole Sandler Show

Today is the day that we were told Donald Trump would be reinstated as president. We heard it from the pillow guy, MAGA world and Trump's sycophantic followers. It also happens to be Friday the 13th, so if Trump ever were to enter the Oval Office again, Friday the 13th would be the appropriate day for it to happen. But it won't. That doesn't stop them from proclaiming it as fact. We live in strange times when otherwise intelligent people spew lies and proclaim them as facts. Even some who call themselves "news" organizations. So it's a good thing when a new, independent news organization takes off. Today, we'll celebrate one of those. David Sirota has been around a long time. We know him as a journalist, a radio host, and even as Bernie Sanders' speech writer. Now he's also the founder and Editor in Chief of The Daily Poster, which everyone who listens to this show should be reading. We'll talk about the stories they're covering, which is exactly what we discuss here on the show every day.

A bit of what's news for now

There's finally been some action on Joe Biden's infrastructure plan(s). What's still unknown is how it will all play out in the end. Although it was relatively smooth-sailing in the senate this week, the House is looking like it might present a few problems. Could Nancy Pelosi be doing the right thing here (meaning correct)? She's pushed back on the "moderates" (ConservaDems) who are demanding the "BiPartisan" Infrastructure bill be brought to the House at the same time they consider the Budget resolution. They're coming back from recess early on 8/23 to deal with that issue, as the reconciliation bill can't even really be written until the budget resolution has cleared both chambers. And how will the new census numbers released today impact the redrawing of Congressional districts? Will the Rs have won back the House before any votes are even counted, thanks to redistricting? We'll talk with Howie Klein today about all that and more.

A bit of what's news, for now..

Yesterday was probably the busiest news day on a Tuesday in August that I can remember. So we have a lot of ground to cover today. It's been a while since we've checked in with Will Bunch. He's a national columnist at the Philadelphia Inquirer. His latest touches on the devastating IPCC Climate Report, the new revelations about how close Trump came to a successful coup, the first testimony heard by the special select committee on January 6. I'll also delve into Will's belief that if Trump and his associates aren't charged with conspiracy to tamper with the election and inciting violence on Jan 6, then the Constitution has been automatically ratified to confirm Nixon's contention that if a president does it, it's not illegal. Opposite world indeed!

A bit of what's news for now

The month of August used to be slow. Everything shut down. But there's no such thing as a slow news day anymore. Today, we have a lot of ground to cover. We'll begin with Infrastructure legislation. As Joe Biden said, "After years and years of infrastructure week, we are on the cusp of infrastructure decade." And it has begun... Then we move to Resignation... Andrew Cuomo's resignation, to be precise. And we'll finish with Mitigation. That's the buzzword as we must finally act to slow climate change and save the planet. I'll speak with Dr. William J. Ripple, longtime climate emergency expert, who'll weigh in on the IPCC 2021 climate report released yesterday.

A bit of what's news, for now

The US Department of Justice has been walking a tightrope for years now. While promising Equal Justice Under the Law, it more realistically offers a system of Injustice and Inequality. Throughout the Trump term, the DOJ struggled to maintain any semblance of integrity. And in the final days of his presidency, the former guy attempted a coup, using the Attorney General to do his dirty work. Details of just how close we came to losing our democracy are now coming to light, especially with last week's testimony from Acting AG Jeff Rosen. And now we have over 550 insurrectionists whose court dates are coming up. Can justice be served here? The one person I read daily who covers all of this is Marcy Wheeler. Find her online at emptywheel.net, on Twitter at @emptywheel. And with me, here, most of the hour today.

A bit of what's News, for now