Background Briefing: September 11, 2024
In Last Night’s Debate, the Reality TV Star Trump Appeared to Lose His War Against Reality
We begin with last night’s debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump in which the reality TV star appeared to lose his war against reality along with occasionally losing his mind as he riffed about Haitian immigrants eating the cats and dogs of pet-owners, Democratic abortionists killing babies after they are born and that Kamala Harris wanted to “do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.” Joining us to talk about whether “sane-washing” can overcome the spectacle of a mentally-challenged grandpa ranting is Amanda Marcotte, a feminist author, blogger, and a politics writer for Salon. She is the author of Troll Nation: How The Right Became Trump-Worshipping Monsters Set On Rat-F*cking Liberals, America, and Truth Itself, and we discuss her latest article at Salon, “The same old, tired playbook”: Harris baits an aging Trump into being his grumpiest, weirdest self.”
The Obstacles Women Face in Politics That Harris is Navigating
Then, with Kamala Harris running on competence and electability, not to break the glass ceiling with “yes she can,” we look into the obstacles women face in politics as they demonstrate authority while facing the risk of criticism for being too aggressive. Joining us is Debbie Walsh, director of the Center for American Women and Politics at the Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University, an organization nationally recognized as the leading source of scholarly research and current data about American women’s political participation.
On the 23rd Anniversary of 9/11, New Evidence of Saudi Involvement With the Hijackers Emerges
Then finally, on this 23rd anniversary of 9/11, we look into new evidence of Saudi involvement with the hijackers and speak with Tim Golden, a reporter at ProPublica, concentrating on national security, foreign policy and criminal justice. He was previously the founding managing editor for news and investigations at The Marshall Project and a senior writer at The New York Times. The recipient of two shared Pulitzer Prizes, he co-directed the feature documentary film “Elián,” has been a story consultant on feature films including Steven Soderbergh’s Oscar-winning “Traffic” and “Ché,” and also worked on Alex Gibney’s “Taxi to the Dark Side,” which won the Academy Award for feature documentary. We discuss his latest article at ProPublica, “At Least Two Saudi Officials May Have Deliberately Assisted 9/11 Hijackers, New Evidence Suggests.”