Ukraine, Protest in Washington, and the Celebrity Court Chronicles

Eyes on Ukraine, thousands march on Washington, Palin has Covid delaying Palin vs NYT, and narrow victory for Assange

At the top of the show, Michelle and John connect with Dr. Kenneth Surin, Professor Emeritus of literature and professor of religion and critical theory at Duke University, to talk about the latest developments in Ukraine. The US press today is shouting from the rooftops about “100,000 Russian troops massing on the Ukraine border.” The 100,000 have always been there. They are about 160 miles away from the border, closer to Belarus than to Ukraine. It is highly unlikely the Western alliance would act preemptively, in a serious way, before anyone fires a shot. Until someone actually makes a move, it's a game of ‘smoke and mirrors,’ according to Dr. Surin.

Ford Fischer, a primary source documentarian who has worked on Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe-winning films, and editor-in-chief at n2sreports, covered the protests this weekend in Washington. Friday was the March for Life, then Sunday was the Defeat the Mandate rally. Ford talked about the group Patriot Front, a far-right group that tried to co-op the event. Many in March for Life crowd were offended by Patriot Front. The Defeat the Mandate rally on Sunday consisted of a more right of center non-violent crowd. Ford described the scene as more positive than the recent protest at the Capitol. Michelle and John also talked with Ford about Twitter not making a distinction between reporters and hate groups when censoring and canceling accounts.

At the top of the second hour, Mohamed Elmaazi, journalist and contributor to numerous outlets including Jacobin, The Canary, The Grayzone, and The Dissenter, joins the show to talk about the latest possible outcomes for Julian Assange. Today was a narrow victory for Assange at the British High Court. The High Court refused to grant Assange leave to appeal to the British Supreme Court.

Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and author of the book "Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents,” joins Michelle and John to talk about celebrity lawsuits, including Alec Baldwin and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the latter of whom is suing the New York Times, saying that the paper defamed her in a 2017 editorial that incorrectly asserted a link between her political rhetoric and a 2011 mass shooting that left six people dead. Oh, and let’s not forget about the Stormy Daniels case. So much to talk about…

The Misfits close with sharing a story about a 75-year-old Frenchman who set out to cross the Atlantic Ocean alone in a specialized rowboat and has gone missing after activating two distress signals, according to his team. His boat was found on Friday - his body has not been. Jean-Jacques Savin in 2019 successfully crossed the Atlantic in an orange barrel-shaped capsule. Let’s wish the best for him…

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