February 22 - Will General McMaster Have Direct Access to Trump?; The Rise of Fascism in Europe; Was Jill Stein Putin's "Useful Idiot?"

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the forth general to join the top ranks of the Trump Administration, Lt. General H.R. McMaster, who is the new National Security Adviser and speak with Colonel Andrew Bacevich, a retired Professor of History at Boston University who previously taught a West Point. He is the author of “Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War” and “America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History” and joins us to discuss the top-heavy influence of generals in the Trump White House, many of whom appear sympathetic to neocon machinations to find a way to go to war with Iran, and whether or not General McMaster will have direct access to President Trump or have to go through Stephen Bannon who already controls and edits the flow of intelligence to the president.

Part 2

Then we examine the influence of fake news and Russian disinformation in the important upcoming elections in France, Germany and The Netherlands. Rob Riemen, the founder of the Nexus Institute in The Netherlands and author of the forthcoming book “To Fight Against This Age: Two Timely Meditations”, joins us to discuss the emergence of a far-right front-runner in the March 15 Dutch election as well as the rise of right wing populism both in Europe and the United States that because of the “organized stupidity” of marketing and social media, could quickly morph into a revival of fascism that took place in the 1930’s. 

Part 3

Then finally we look further into the role of the Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein in the last election since she received many more votes in the key swing states of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania than the 77,000 vote margin that cost Hillary Clinton the presidency. Casey Michel, a journalist who has worked in both in the former Soviet Union and the United States joins us to discuss his article at The Daily Beast “How Putin Played the Far Left” and assess the extent to which Jill Stein was a “useful idiot” and perhaps the most effective part of Putin’s overall strategy to manipulate the American election to hurt Clinton and help elect Trump.