Background Briefing: September 6, 2023
The Impeachment Trial of the “Christian” Crook Ken Paxton Divides Texas Republicans
We begin with the impeachment trial driving a wedge between MAGA Republicans and traditional conservative Republicans as Trump’s ally the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton faces 16 articles of impeachment in 4,000 pages of evidence. Joining us is Jeremi Suri, who holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is a professor of history and public affairs. He is the co-host of the podcast “This is Democracy” and the author and editor of a number of books including The Impossible Presidency: The Rise and Fall of America’s Highest Office and most recently, Civil War by Other Means: America’s Long and Unfinished Fight for Democracy.
Over 60 Environmental Activists Charged Under the Same RICO Statutes Trump and His Allies Face For Trying to Steal an Election
Then with over 60 environmental activists who have been protesting against the so-called “Cop City” training facility in Atlanta charged by Georgia’s Attorney General under the same RICO statute the Atlanta DA is prosecuting Trump and his allies with for trying to steal the 2020 election, we speak with Will Potter, Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Civil Rights Fellow at the University of Denver. An investigative journalist whose work has focused on social justice and environmental movements, and attacks on civil rights post-9/11, he was the first investigative journalist to be named a TED Senior Fellow, and his TED talks on anti-protest laws and secret prisons have been viewed millions of times. He is the author of Green Is the New Red: An Insider’s Account of a Social Movement Under Siege.
On the Brink of Another War Between Armenia and Azerbaijan as the Kremlin Switches Sides and the U.S. Holds Military Exercises in Armenia
Then finally we look into the possibility of another war breaking out between Armenia and Azerbaijan as the Kremlin moves its support away from democratic Armenia to the oil-rich corrupt dynastic Aliyev regime in Baku, leading to the possibility that the U.S. and NATO could become more involved in defending Armenia in the way they are defending Ukraine. Joining us is Ronald Suny, Distinguished University Professor of History and Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan and Emeritus Professor of Political Science and History at the University of Chicago. His books include The Soviet Experiment: Russia, the USSR, and the Successor States and They Can Live in the Desert but Nowhere Else: A History of the Armenian Genocide.