Month: July 2020

Briefings

Background Briefing: July 28, 2020

On By gram

 

Competing Narratives of Black Lives Matter Versus Antifa at Barr’s Grilling Before the House

We begin with today’s hearing questioning Attorney General Barr before the House Judiciary Committee and assess whether the Democrats laid a glove on Barr since the expectation was that the unaccountable AG would finally be brought to account by the branch of government he disdains and defies given his expansive view of presidential power. Rebecca Roiphe, a Professor of Law at New York Law School who studies ethics and the history of the Department of Justice and the president’s power to control the DOJ, joins us.  She was previously an assistant district attorney in Manhattan and we discuss the competing Democratic and Republican narratives which often came down to Black Lives Matter versus Antifa since the Republicans were able to show a video that made it look like all demonstrations in the country were not peaceful but were an orgy of looting, burning and beating up the police.  But in spite of Chairman Nadler’s feckless fumbling, some Democratic questioners did manage to rattle Barr, particularly over his hands-off approach to protecting our elections which he was forced to eventually concede that foreign powers should not be interfering in our elections. That however does not mean that Barr will do anything about it.

 

What Can be Done to Stop Giving the Trump Campaign Videos to Discredit Peaceful Protests

Then we examine further today’s hearing with Garrett Epps, a contributing writer for the Atlantic and a Professor of Law at the University of Baltimore School of Law who joins us to discuss what can be done to stop providing the Trump campaign with videos they use to discredit peaceful protests since often the provocateurs are right wing plants deliberately provoking violence to invite violence from the police.

 

How and Why Trump’s Dangerous Demagoguery Works So We Can Defend Ourselves From It

Then finally we speak with Jennifer Mercieca, a Professor in the Department of Communications at Texas A&M University who is an historian of American political discourse about democracy and the presidency. She joins us to discuss her new book, just out, Demagogue for President: The Rhetorical Genius of Donald Trump and we look into how and why Trump’s dangerous demagoguery works so that we can defend ourselves from it.