Post Interview – Podcast June 29, 2025

Chaos, Confusion And Intimidation. Karen McClelland welcomes one of our favorite guests back to the show to discuss the Supreme Court ruling barring federal judges from issuing national injunctions. Dianne Post, as you may know, is an attorney whose career has focused on human rights, especially the women inequality of women.

Post explains the issue of national injunctions has been around for a while. Republicans were all for it when President Biden was in office. But they are suddenly against it now that they are in power. The ruling by the conservative majority means that you now have to challenge a federal policy in all 13 federal circuit courts individually.  So, she says, “It doesn’t make it impossible. It makes it more difficult and costly.” And she notes, Trump’s attack on law firms adds to the problem.

Acknowledging that the ruling could lead to a patchwork of laws from state to state resulting in chaos and confusion, Post says, “That’s the whole goal of this administration…chaos and confusion.”

Following a discussion about the highly biased Supreme Court decision, Post turns her attention to the Arizona State Legislature and its usual tomfoolery.

Posted in Arizona Politics, Autocracy, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Civil Society, Constitutional Issues, Corruption, Democratic Governance, Education, Ethics, Government, Human Rights, Immigration, Interviews, Judicial System, Justice System, National Politics, Political Lies, Supreme Court, U.S. Court System | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Check Interview – Podcast June 22, 2025

Finding Common Ground And Common Sense. Karen McClelland welcomes Yavapai County Supervisor Nikki Check to the show. They begin by discussing the hiring of an additional sheriff’s deputy to help control the growing problem of OHVs.

Addressing the possibility of public lands being sold as part of the fraudulent budget reconciliation bill,” Check explains, “We have a true recreation economy here. I mean every time a mountain biker comes to do their hobby from elsewhere they drop about, you know, somewhere over $400 each time they come. So, we really have an economic input here, and it will be disturbed if the lands eligible for sale around Sedona go to auction.”

She adds, “If it passes, there’s still work to be done on the ground at the local level and the county level. You know, we’re land use managers, and so we have the ability to zone uses. And so, I think that’s one of the facets that we can work with should this pass. But I really don’t like the way it was put together.”

During the show, Check discusses a wide range of other issues, including water rights, agriculture, vineyards, the upper Verde River, health care, even air traffic.

Posted in Agricultural Policy, Arizona Economy, Arizona Politics, Community, Democratic Governance, Development, Domestic Policy, Education Funding, Entrepreneurship, Environment, Federal Lands, Government, Growth, Interviews, Local Politics, Policing, Public Accountability, Public Lands, Public Policy, Regulation, Tourism, Viticulture, Water Policy, Wilderness Preservation | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lenze Interview – Podcast June 15, 2025

Global Monsters. Steve Williamson and Karen McClelland welcome Paul Lenze, the popular Professor of Political Science at Northern Arizona University to discuss international affairs and current issues in the Middle East.

They begin with reference to Lenze’s upcoming book, Searching for Monsters to Destroy: Foreign Policy in a Multipolar World. He says it looks at how the United States, Russia and China have interacted with each other in crises within Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. According to Lenze, the title of the book stems from a speech given by John Quincy Adams, our sixth president, who was making the case that the US needs to be careful in engagements when it goes abroad.

That leads to an informative and occasionally contentious discussion about the end of the Cold War, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Chinese threat to Taiwan, the Israeli war against Hamas and Iran.

Posted in China, Corporate Welfare, Corporations, Economic Policy, European Union, Eurozone, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Genocide, Government, Human Rights, Inflation, International Relations, International Terrorism, Interviews, Iran, Israel, Middle East, Middle East Policy, Military, National Politics, Palestinian/Israeli Conflict, Political Polarization, Russia, Taxation, Technology, Trade Policy, Ukraine | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Putsova Interview – Podcast June 8, 2025

Healing Fractures Within The Democratic Party. Steve Williamson and guest host Mik Jordahl welcome Eva Putsova to report on the recent Arizona Democratic Party State Committee meeting. Putsova is a member of the State Committee, former Democratic candidate, and co-founder of the Catch Fire Movement, which was formed to help progressive candidates.

Let’s start with the good news. Putsova reported, “The Arizona Democratic Party is the first party in the nation that passed a resolution to ban billionaires and corporations from [financing candidates in] its primaries.” The resolution is in response to reports that Republican billionaires tried to interfere in previous Democratic primaries by donating to their favored candidates.

Unfortunately, the topic then turned to ideological disagreements and intraparty infighting. Her report of the rift between the outgoing chair and elected officials and the incoming party leadership is beyond disappointing – in the words of one local Democratic leader, “cringeworthy.” This is especially troubling at a time when the party must be focused on the singular task of winning the midterm elections in order to restrain the unconstitutional power grab of the Felon-in-Chief.

Such intraparty rifts between progressives and moderates have led to the Democratic Party being perceived as weak despite its long record of fighting for working people and policies that are embraced by a vast majority of Americans when party labels are not attached to them. To be fair, Putsova was only reporting what happened and goes on to offer her ideas for solving long-standing, seemingly intractable problems, such as dwindling affordable housing. But such issues and solutions get lost amidst the reports of infighting.

If the Democratic Party is ever going to regain power in order to solve the many problems facing our nation, it must finally abandon its perverse pride in Will Roger’s quote: “I’m not a member of an organized political party. I’m a Democrat.” It must create a cohesive front against GOP criminality and autocracy. It must win the 2026 midterms!

Posted in Arizona Politics, Autocracy, Campaign Finance, Citizens United, Class Conflict, Climate Change, Community Activism, Corporations, Dark Money, Democratic Governance, Demographic Trends, Domestic Policy, Economic Policy, Education, Elections, Foreign Affairs, Front Organizations, Funding, Housing, Immigration, Income Inequality, Innovation, Interviews, Israel, Labor Movement, Minimum Wage, National Politics, Political Action Committees, Political Contributions, Political Gaffes, Political Parties, Political Polarization, Polling, Presidential Elections, Regulation, Taxes and the Deficit | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Putsova Interview – Podcast June 8, 2025

Rothchild Interview – Podcast May 25, 2025

Our Nation’s Ongoing Complicity In Genocide. Steve and Karen welcome Alice Rothchild back to the show. Rothchild is a doctor, author, filmmaker, blogger and activist with a focus on Gaza and the West Bank.

Asked how she can deal with the pain of the ongoing violence against people who can’t really defend themselves, Rothchild replies, “I don’t focus a lot on how depressed I am or how angry I am because that’s not what the story is about. The story is about our country providing massive amounts of weaponry and political cover to an Israeli government that is committing a genocide. And I think we must never lose sight of that. And because of the political and military industrial dynamic, we are complicit. And for me, the way to deal with the complicity is to speak up against it.”

She says that part of her work is to be involved with the Jewish Voice for Peace and as a member of its health advisory council. She is also involved with Wearenotnumbers.org.

Rothchild calls the Israeli/Hamas “war” the first livestreamed genocide saying, “If you want to know what’s going on, it’s really easy to find out.”

Posted in Bigotry, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Genocide, Government, Human Rights, Hunger, International Relations, International Terrorism, Interviews, Israel, Middle East, Middle East Policy, Military, Military Policy, Morality, Palestinian/Israeli Conflict, Propaganda, Racism, Refugees, Resistance, Zionism | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on Rothchild Interview – Podcast May 25, 2025

Trump’s Henchmen – Podcast May 18, 2025

Miller, Patel, Bondi, Noem And The ICEstapo. Following some astounding testimony before congressional committees, we take a hard look at some of the architects and executioners of the Trump regime’s illegal and unconstitutional acts. Not only has the regime kidnapped legal residents and citizens without due process. (A recent analysis has shown that 50 of the 90 immigrants sent to the El Salvador torture facility were in the U.S. legally.) The deportations are based on a specious application of the 1789 Alien Enemies Act.

We discuss the regime’s apparent intention to suspend Habeas Corpus and the rule of law. It appears almost certain that we will soon face a constitutional crisis as the regime ignores unfavorable rulings by federal courts, including the Supreme Court of the United States.

Posted in Autocracy, Bigotry, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Civil Society, Constitutional Issues, Corruption, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Domestic Policy, Ethics, Government, Human Rights, Immigration, Jurisprudence, Justice System, Morality, National Politics, Political Lies, Refugees, Supreme Court | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Trump’s Henchmen – Podcast May 18, 2025

Rise of Fascism – Podcast May 11, 2025

Scapegoats, Discrimination And Greed. We begin the episode by discussing the continuing ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the Trump regime’s scapegoating of minorities, including pro-Palestinian protesters who have been labeled as antisemites in an obvious attempt to control universities and international students.

We then turn to the blatant fascism and corruption of the Trump crime family which has become $3 billion wealthier in just the first 90 days in office. (And that doesn’t include the unconstitutional deals that Trump will likely complete on his upcoming trip to the Middle East, including the gift of a $300-400 million aircraft from the Qatar’s royal family.) We also dive into the corporate greed that created the grievances that led to MAGA.

Entrepreneur, investor, author and educator Scott Galloway describes the Trump regime best: “Astounding grift combined with governing incompetence. We’ve essentially become a kleptocracy that would make Putin blush.

Posted in Autocracy, Bigotry, Civil Liberties, Civil Rights, Constitutional Issues, Corporations, Corruption, Cultural Diversity, Disinformation, Domestic Extremism, Education, Ethics, Foreign Affairs, Genocide, Government, Human Rights, Immigration, International Relations, Israel, Judicial System, Mass Media, Middle East, Misinformation, National Politics, Palestinian/Israeli Conflict, Political Lies, Political Polarization, Propaganda, Racial Discrimination, Religion, Trade Policy, Zionism | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Rise of Fascism – Podcast May 11, 2025

Dictator’s Playbook – April 27, 2025

How To Destroy Democracy In Less Than A Hundred Days. Steve and Jessica Williamson along with Gary LaMaster recount the Trump regime’s first hundred days of chaos.

We’ve previously established that Trump is a malignant narcissist with sociopathic tendencies. And his actions during his second term certainly fit that diagnosis. We’ve seen him send the world economy into chaos with his aberrant behavior and misguided tariffs. And, as our team explains, Trump has closely followed the same playbook that turned other democracies into dictatorships.

Before the 2024 election, Trump stated he would be a dictator on day one. And, in a recent interview, he bragged, “I run the country and the world.”

Posted in Autocracy, Bigotry, China, Civil Liberties, Constitutional Issues, Corruption, Cultural Diversity, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, Domestic Extremism, Economic Policy, Education Policy, Farm Subsidies, Fiscal Policy, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, Founding Fathers, Funding, Government, Immigration, Inflation, International Relations, Journalism, Judicial System, Mass Incarceration, National Politics, Nuclear Weapons, Political Lies, Political Polarization, Propaganda, Public Education, Public Policy, Racism, Refugees, Russia, Social Psychology, Supreme Court, Tourism, Trade Policy, U.S. Court System, Ukraine, Voter Suppression, Women's Issues | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dictator’s Playbook – April 27, 2025

Lewis Interview – Podcast April 20, 2025

Save Our Schools! Steve Williamson and Karen McClelland welcome Beth Lewis to the show. Lewis is a mom, former public-school teacher, and founding member and Executive Director of Save Our Schools Arizona.

Lewis says, “Arizona is the tip of the spear when it comes to privatizing public education, which is a chief goal of, not only the Trump administration, but also Project 2025 and everyone who sort of ‘puppeteered’ getting Trump into office…”

Supposedly aimed at improving education, the taxpayer-funded voucher program has had the opposite effect. Roughly 75 percent of the vouchers go to families that homeschool or are already wealthy enough to afford private schools. And, because the vouchers have funneled money away from public schools with little accountability, the state now ranks dead last in per-student spending, 49th in teacher salaries, and the classrooms are the second most crowded in the nation.

To make matters worse, other Republican-led states have chosen to follow Arizona’s lead in a race to the bottom.

Posted in Arizona Budget, Arizona Politics, Constitutional Issues, Domestic Policy, Education, Education Funding, Education Policy, Funding, Government, Interviews, Legal Issues, LGBTQ Issues, National Politics, Political Lies, Political Polarization, Privatization, Propaganda, Public Education, Racism, Religion | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off on Lewis Interview – Podcast April 20, 2025