The Nicole Sandler Show

Have you ever thought about running for office? Now would probably be a good time to do so. Republicans have effectively taken over state legislatures, city councils and school boards, doing great damage to our institutions along the way. And their embrace of a dictatorial conman as their presumptive presidential nominee is a mortal threat to our democracy. The stakes have never been higher, and no elected office is unimportant. School boards have become intense battlegrounds. With groups like Moms for Liberty and Turning Point USA trying to indoctrinate our kids while dismantling our public educational system, it's time for those of us on the side of education, democracy and facts take back control. Today, I've invited two women who I met this weekend while they were canvassing in my neighborhood. One of them, Zeyna Pruzhanovsky, I met a month or two ago when she first stopped by. She's running for a seat on the Chandler Unified School District Board. Joining her yesterday was Laura Metcalfe, who's running for Maricopa County School Superintendent. They'll join me live in the studio to talk about what's at stake and what made them decide to jump into the race. I'll also bring you up to speed on Day 2 of Trump on Trial, and the Supreme Extreme Court who heard the case of one of the 1-6 insurrectionists that could impact the prosecution of both Trump himself and others who stormed the Capitol that day.

It's April 15. Have you done your taxes yet? Remember when TFG was in office and he told us we'd be filling out our taxes on a postcard? Yeah, not so much. But he's in a Manhattan courtroom today as his first criminal trial begins... And of course, Jonathan Larsen is here with the fucking news. And I'm in the perfect fucking mood for it. I just spent the morning at the doctor's office and she thinks it IS gout. FML.

I am honored that the independent national security journalist Marcy Wheeler, whose original reporting you can find at emptywheel.net, joins me on my show every Friday for an hour-long discussion of the news that matters and, for the most part, hasn't been reported accurately or with enough urgency elsewhere. Today, in addition to preparing for Monday's beginning of jury selection in the NY fraud case involving the payoff to Stormy Daniels, I was thrilled to be able to congratulate Marcy for her journalistic prowess! She went the extra mile to intervene in a CIPA case in 2022 that now will impact the Mar A Lago classified documents case that Judge Aileen Cannon seems bound and determined to not treat fairly (my convoluted language to try to express her general support of TFG).

Howie Klein has been doing a weekly segment on my show for more than a dozen years now. He and I first met some 30+ years ago on Los Angeles where I was doing (really great) music radio and he was President of Reprise Records. When Howie exited the music biz, he turned his energies toward getting real progressives elected to office. He began blogging at DownWithTyranny.com. In 2006, Howie joined forces with Heather "Digby" Parton of Digby's Hullabaloo (digbysblog.net) and John Amato of CrooksandLiars.com. They created the Blue America PAC, enlisting the help of Jacquie Propps (@Jacqrat) to help with the organizational aspects of running a PAC. Jaquie wrote "Fighting The Right Wing Since 2006" for the Blue America blog to reacquaint the blogosphere with Blue America, now in its 18th year. (Read it at https://blueamerica.crooksandliars.co...) We agreed that with the most consequential election season of our lives underway, this would be a good time to get some of the players together to recognize the work they do and shine a spotlight on this year's group of Blue America endorsed candidates. So, joining Howie and me today -- Digby, of course. And Tom Maxwell. Huh? Tom Maxwell is a musician. You probably know him from his time with the Squirrel Nut Zippers. In 2006, Tom contributed a song, "Have You Had Enough?" --sung by Rickie Lee Jones - to one of the first Blue America campaigns, that one to oust the predatory Republican Speaker of the House Denny Hastert. It was a success and the campaign was a hit. And the rest, as they say, is history! They'll all join in at around the 30 minute mark. But we'll start with some news and memories spurred by the news that OJ Simpson has died. Open the floodgates....

I'm new to Arizona. We moved here from Florida for a number of reasons, chief among them was the fact that AZ was trending bluer while FL has become Fascist Central. Well, yesterday Arizona's Supreme Court reinstated a law that was in effect until 1973 when Roe v Wade came into effect and legalized a woman's right to choose what happens with her own body. Since that 1864 law was never officially removed from the books it was still in effect once Roe was overturned. ARGHH. I attempted to get some AZ officials and others to discuss the ramifications of yesterday's news to no avail. That makes sense as I'm guessing this is an all hands on deck moment. So, I thought back to how we dealt with the Supreme Court overturning Roe two years ago. It was June 24, 2022 when they did the unthinkable. The following Monday, June 27, I spoke with the man regarded as the father of the birth control and abortion rights movement, Bill Baird. I was introduced to him by the always brilliant Barry W. Lynne. When we spoke almost two years ago, Bill had just turned 90! As is too often the case, we had some technical difficulties, but it's worth hanging through them to meet and learn about Bill Baird. I hope he will give you the inspiration he's given me during incredibly awful times like these.... We'll begin with a song from Jill Sobule that she wrote after Texas enacted its disgusting Fetal Heartbeat bill that outlawed abortion after six weeks. (From Wikipedia: The Texas Heartbeat Act, Senate Bill 8 (SB 8), is an act of the Texas Legislature that bans abortion after the detection of embryonic or fetal cardiac activity, which normally occurs after about six weeks of pregnancy. The law took effect on September 1, 2021, after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request for emergency relief from Texas abortion providers.[1] It was the first time a state has successfully imposed a six-week abortion ban since Roe v. Wade, and the first abortion restriction to rely solely on enforcement by private individuals through civil lawsuits, rather than having state officials enforce the law with criminal or civil penalties. The act authorizes members of the public to sue anyone who performs or facilitates an illegal abortion for a minimum of $10,000 in statutory damages per abortion, plus court costs and attorneys' fees.)

Another busy day in today's strange new world. We begin today with breaking news from my adopted state of Arizona where we moved from Floriduh because AZ was a bit less fascist... Well, today the AZ Supreme Extreme Court upheld an 1864 near total ban on abortions. The only exception is to save the life of the mother. Yeah, I'll have a few words on that one to start today's show. While we're on the subject of abortion, the orange weather vane backtracked on his promise of a national abortion ban yesterday only to be criticized by some of magaT world, including the sycophantic Lindsey Graham. TFG lashed out so Lindsey did what Lindsey does and dropped to his knees to do magaman's bidding. You can't make this shit up. Then, I'll speak with the author of a new book hits the shelves today. TRIPPED: NAZI GERMANY, THE CIA, AND THE DAWN OF THE PSYCHEDELIC ERA by author Norman Ohler recounts the reason psychedelic drugs are classified as dangerous narcotics. Of course, one need look no further than the Nazis. Figures.

Well, so far no rapture but we did see the eclipse here in Arizona! It's another Monday so we start the f$^king week with more f$^king news from Jonathan Larsen at thefuckingnews.substack.com because someone's got to do it!

We couldn't end the week and usher in the weekend properly without a visit from Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net. As she does each Friday, Marcy will walk us through the latest developments in Trump Trial World, including the batshit whack-a-doodle-ness of Judge Aileen Cannon who is doing TFG's bidding so much to his liking that he publicly promised her a Supreme Court nod if he's somehow re-elected. As someone suggested last week, the subtitle of this show is "You can't make this shit up!"

It's a Thursday, so Howie Klein takes a weekly break from writing at DownWithTyranny.com and vetting the best candidates for the Blue America PAC to support. There's no shortage of topics to discuss today, but I'm running late as I spent the morning at the doctors office and urgent care trying to figure out what's going on with my foot. (Stay tuned for another episode of the Mal-ladies, where we discuss what ails us. Ugh) I also have to share a few words from one of the people I most respect in this world, Chef Jose Andres. I'm just sick about everything today.

If you're thinking that in the US, all may theoretically be created equal, but we're sure not treated equally under the law. It's a fact that those with money, fame and power get away with (almost) murder. And if Donald Trump did, indeed, shoot someone on Fifth Avenue? Well, let's just say the jury's still out on that one. And if TFG has any say, the trial would be perpetually delayed. Of course I have a million questions for Lisa Graves, the unofficial legal expert of the Nicole Sandler Show, having to do with Teflon Don. But wait, there's more... There's our Supreme Extreme Court, where ethics apparently aren't a requirement to be a Justice. And there's an organization made up of Republican Attorneys General (RAGA) who've fully transitioned from public servants who serve the law to more magats perverting the law to support TFG.