Friday is Loud & Clear's weekly hour-long segment The Week in Review, about the week in politics, policy, and international affairs. Today they focus on the implosion of the Democratic Party leadership in Virginia, why Donald Trump has declared the war against socialism inside the United States to be central to his ongoing political campaign effort, new exposees about the Trump-led coup in Venezuela, the war against women's rights and the block from the Supreme Court on a stringent anti-abortion law in Louisiana, and much more.
In an explosive tell-all blog posted yesterday, Amazon founder and world's richest man Jeff Bezos accused the publisher of the National Enquirer of trying to blackmail him. The post on the blogging platform Medium revealed what Bezos said were the full texts of emails his representatives received from executives at the National Enquirer's parent company threatening to publish nude photos that Bezos apparently had sent to his girlfriend. In exchange, the Enquirer wanted Bezos to announce that he had no reason to believe that the Enquirer's reporting was politically motivated or influenced by political forces. Ted Rall, an award-winning editorial cartoonist and columnist whose work is at www.rall.com, joins the show.
A diplomatic row between France and Italy deepened yesterday as France recalled its ambassador to Italy after populist Italian deputy Prime Minister Luigi de Maio met with Yellow Vest leaders in central Paris. The media is calling the development the worst crisis between the two countries since the end of the Second World War. Italy has not been shy in criticizing French President Emmanuel Macron on issues from immigration and trade to the Yellow Vests. Brian and John speak with Gilbert Mercier, Editor in Chief of News Junkie Post and the author of "The Orwellian Empire."
Freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York and Senator Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, yesterday sponsored a massive bill that they are calling the Green New Deal. It is a massive policy package that would reshape the entire US economy and, in the end, eliminate all carbon emissions. In doing so, it aims to boost the economy and create millions of jobs. Dr. Margaret Flowers, a medical doctor and the co-coordinator of Popular Resistance at www.popularresistance.org, joins the show.
In the midst of the political turmoil in Washington and the changes in trade policy worldwide, more and more american farmers are facing bankruptcies. Kathy Schmitt, Bureau Director, Farm and Agribusiness Services, and Frank Friar, Economic Specialist: Financial Consulting & Farm Succession Planning, both at the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, join Brian and John.
It's Friday! So it's time for the week's worst and most misleading headlines. Brian and John speak with Steve Patt, an independent journalist whose critiques of the mainstream media have been a feature of his site Left I on the News and on twitter @leftiblog, and Sputnik producer Nicole Roussell.
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