Open Season on Left Wing Demonstrators by Right Wing Vigilantes Sanctioned by Self Defense Laws and Now Considered Heroes
We will begin with the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on all counts and assess what it signals to a divided and heavily-armed populace in which 30% of Republicans believe that violence may be required with 18% feeling that violence will be necessary for patriots to take back their country. Joining us to discuss whether it will be open season on left wing demonstrators by right wing vigilantes sanctioned by self-defense laws and now considered heroes, is Ruth Conniff, the Editor-in-chief of the Wisconsin Examiner who formerly served as Editor-in-chief of The Progressive Magazine. Her latest articles at The Wisconsin Examiner are “Waiting for the Rittenhouse verdict as the world falls apart” and “Jury finds Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts” and we examine whether ridicule could expose the absurdity of Kevlar and camo-clad “sunshine patriots” in search of imaginary enemies on the streets of America. On the stand Rittenhouse described his assault rifle as “cool”, but shouldn’t these military weapons in the hands of amateurs be seen not as instruments of power, but as symbols of cowardice?
Build Back Better Now in the Hands of Senator Joe Manchin
Then with the House passage of the $2 trillion Build Back Better bill now in the hands of the U.S. Senate where Democratic Senator Joe Manchin will decide its fate, we speak with James Van Nostrand, Director of the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development and a Professor of Law at West Virginia University College of Law. He joins us to discuss how Manchin and the coal lobby in West Virginia talk a good game about transitioning away from coal but do everything to prevent alternatives from getting a foothold in the state.
The Editor-in-chief of Haaretz on the UCLA Conference on Israel’s National Security
Then finally we speak with Aluf Benn, the Editor-in-Chief of Haaretz in Israel about an online conference at UCLA today. The conference features Israel’s Defense Minister, the former head of Mossad and a former Foreign and Justice Minister along with a former U.S. Ambassador to Israel among others who will discuss Israel’s national security as Iran passes the threshold of having enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon. Aluf Benn joins us to assess whether the war in the shadows between Israel and Iran using cyberweapons and sophisticated assassination tools advances Israel’s national security in the absence of diplomacy, and whether attempts by the Israeli right to buy off the Palestinians without granting then statehood will ever work.
