The Nicole Sandler Show

The year 2020 was pretty awful as years go, but there were a few bright spots and silver linings. Every year, The Nation publishes their Progressive Honor Roll and John Nichols joins me to discuss who made the list. He'll be with us today to go over 2020's MVPs, and perhaps to talk a bit about the unprecedented circumstances we find ourselves in today. As usual, we'll begin with the latest news and hopefully a few laughs too.

A bit of what's news for now

Donald Trump will go down in history as the only president to be impeached twice! That was the proper response for Trump's incitement of insurrection in the Capitol last Wednesday. For some reason (lack of a soul or a brain, perhaps), some Republicans went back into the chamber last week after their lives were threatened by the insurgents, and voted NOT to certify the electoral college results. Just incredible. As was the action of some of them who helped the terrorists who stormed the Capitol. When something serious happens, I often turn to Marcy Wheeler [http://twitter.com/emptywheel] who shares her knowledge with us at Emptywheel.net [http://Emptywheel.net]. She's in Ireland these days, but still one of the best sources of information about what's going on in our government. Today is Thursday, so Howie Klein of Down with Tyranny is here. One of the things we'll discuss is whether expulsion is enough punishment for them. Six days till Biden's inauguration...

A bit of what's news for now

It figures. Trump is impeached again- the first time in history a president is impeached a second time, and my internet went down. Thanks AT&T! At least it wasn't only me, they were down all over South Florida, as if that makes it any better? I did my best under less than ideal circumstances. I tried connecting to the internet through my cell phone's mobile hotspot (thankfully I don't have ATT as my cell provider), and that helped a bit.. the connection came up shortly before the end of the show, so at least I was able to share some audio from the House debate earlier in the day. I also shared the first-hand account of what it was like being in the House chamber [https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/inside-house-chamber-capitol-was-overrun-angry-mob-n1253640] during the insurrection from NBC News producer Haley Talbot. And I had a scratchy conversation with The Daily Beast's Asawin Suebsaeng, who's got pool duty today at the White House. We'll be back tomorrow, AT&T permitting....

a bit of what's news, for now

It's terrifying because Trump's cult followers are in the midst of a coup attempt to overthrow our government that began in earnest last Wednesday at the Capitol. The House has begun impeachment proceedings, but Trump still occupies the White House for 8 more days. So, terrifying Tuesday it is... and @GottaLaff is here to help me try to make sense of our fucked up world today.

A bit of what's news, for now

The Democrats introduced an article of impeachment against Trump, charging him with inciting a mob of his supporters to carry out a violent attack on the Capitol in a bid to overturn Joe Biden's election victory, also known as insurrection. The Incompetence portion of the program today is dedicated to Floriduh, as the Florida Democratic Party has proven itself to be just that. Today, I'm joined by two guests. First, Brendan O'Connor- author of the forthcoming book, "Blood Red Lines: How Nativism Fuels the Right" - has a new piece in The Nation magazine "A Preview of What's to Come" about the same faction who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday. In the last segment today, I'm joined by Ryler Calabrese, one of the coordinators of Not Me Us, FL and a newly-elected State Committeeman for Leon County FL, who can finally give us the details on the awesome progressive push to take over the Florida Democratic Party. Unfortunately the party establishment had different ideas (thus the Incompetence I in the title of today's episode)...

A bit of what's news, for now