Background Briefing: August 3, 2021
The Devastating Report from the Sexual Harassment Investigation Into Governor Cuomo
We begin with the New York Attorney General’s devastating 165 page report from a sexual harassment investigation into Governor Andrew Cuomo that found he harassed at least 11 women and retaliated against one violating federal and state laws. Joining us is Ryan Cooper, a national correspondent at The Week who is the cohost of Left Anchor podcast and has a recent article at The Week, “Resign, Andrew Cuomo.” We look into whether Cuomo will be impeached by the New York legislature at which time the disgraced but dogged governor might be forced to resign and what the DA in Albany, the state capitol, has in mind in taking up a case looking into the charges against Cuomo.
Tucker Carlson Broadcasts From Hungary as the GOP Copies Orban’s Electoral Autocracy
Then we assess the significance of the Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson broadcasting this week from Hungary where he is fawning over the dictator Victor Orban and attending a gathering of right-wing politicians who are advancing the process of electoral autocracy which the Republican Party is following in the U.S. as they rig the vote and take over our electoral machinery to ensure permanent one-party rule. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a Professor of History and Italian Studies at New York University and author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, joins us to discuss her latest article at Lucid, “Tucker Carlson and Victor Orban Plan Our Fascist Future.”
The U.S. is Alone in No Paid Sick Leave So Workers Infect Their Coworkers.
Then finally we speak with Helaine Olen, a contributor to The Washington Post who serves on the board of the Economic Hardship Reporting Project. She joins us to discuss her latest article at The Washington Post, “The United States still does not mandate paid sick days. That’s sick” and how the U.S. is alone among developed countries in not guaranteeing workers a single paid day off for illness which forces workers to show up for work and infect their coworkers.