January 18 - Chaos and Trump's Latest Attack on the Truth; The Oval Office Reality TV Star as the Center of Attention in His Own Tawdry Drama; The Most Unethical Presidency

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the chaos on Capitol Hill caused by our chaotic president whose tweets and rhetoric risk blowing up frantic last-minute deals his own party is trying to negotiate to avert a government shutdown. While senior House Democrats introduced a resolution to censure the president for his recent crude racist remarks insulting the people of Africa today, Trump tweeted out his much-anticipated “Fake News Awards” with a link to the Republican National Committee website which promptly crashed. Jason Stanley, a Professor of Philosophy at Yale University and the author of “How Propaganda Works”, joins us to discuss Trump’s latest attack on the truth just a day after a Republican senator had delivered an impassioned speech on the senate floor lamenting Trump’s use of Stalin’s death-threat in branding the press “the enemy of the people”. This a day after Senator McCain had published an op-ed stating “The phrase ‘fake news’ – granted legitimacy by an American president – is being used by autocrats to silence reporters, undermine political opponents, stave off media scrutiny and mislead citizens”.   

Part 2

Then we examine further the political rhetoric coming from the White House with John Murphy, a professor in the Department of Communication at the University of Illinois where he studies the rhetoric of the U.S. presidency. He joins us to discuss the antics of the reality television star in the Oval Office who continually creates his own tawdry drama with him in the starring role as the center of attention, and how much Trump has broken the mold of traditional presidential decorum and dignity and whether respect for the executive branch can be restored.

Part 3

Then finally Ambassador Norman Eisen joins us to discuss a new report he has co-authored at CREW, the Center for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington, “The Most Unethical Presidency: Year One”. He served in the Obama White House as special counsel and special assistant to the president for ethics and government reform and was U.S. Ambassador to the Czech Republic and we will discuss not just the most chaotic, but the most unethical presidency in modern times and possibly in the nation’s history.