Background Briefing: August 7, 2024
With Millions From Republican Billionaires, AIPAC Unseats Another Member of The Squad
We begin with a second member of The Squad of progressive Democrats in the House who has been primaried by AIPAC with money from Republican billionaires. This time in Missouri yesterday where Cori Bush lost her seat to Wesley Bell in the Democratic primary where $10 million was spent to unseat her after $15 million was spent by AIPAC to unseat Jamal Bowman. Joining us is Clarissa Hayward, a political theorist at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri whose research and teaching focus on questions central to understanding and evaluating political life. She is the author of Justice and the American Metropolis and her latest book is How Americans Make Race: Stories, Institutions, Spaces.
Have The Democrats Learned Their Lesson of Playing it Safe With VP Picks?
Then we examine the extent to which the Democrats have learned their lesson playing it safe with VP picks like Hillary Clinton’s choice of Tim Kaine with Kamala Harris having shown boldness in her pick of Tim Walz. Joining us is Moira Donegan, writer in residence at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University. She is a columnist at The Guardian and we discuss her latest article, “Kamala Harris’s VP pick may signal a shift away from pivoting to the center.”
Netanyahu Has Provoked and Khamenei Has Promised a War That Nobody Wants
Then finally we look into the tinderbox in the Middle East with all of the countries involved not wanting war as Israel’s Netanyahu and Iran’s Ayatollah Khamenie head for a promised showdown in which Lebanon and Syria will be collateral damage. Joining us is Joshua Landis, who is the director of the Center for Middle East Studies at the University of Oklahoma and a Fellow at the Quincy Institute. He writes “Syria Comment,” a daily newsletter and blog on Syrian politics.