Background Briefing: December 8, 2020

On By gram

 

On Safe Harbor Day More Deranged Lawsuits From Trumpsters

We begin on this Safe Harbor Day when Biden’s victories are certified ahead of Monday’s Electoral College vote which will award the presidency to the winner of both the popular vote and the Electoral College by wide margins. But this has not stopped the deranged behavior of House Republicans who are vowing to wage a floor fight and the crooked “Christian” AG in Texas, Ken Paxton, from suing the swing states Biden won to have the Supreme Court overturn Biden’s victory. Lawrence Douglas, Chair in Law, Jurisprudence and Social Thought at Amherst College, whose latest book is Will He Go? Trump and the Looming Electoral Meltdown, joins us to discuss the parallel event Trump is planning to throw shade on Biden’s inauguration and the possibility Trump will go to Mar a Lago for the holidays and not return to the White House.  As lawsuit after lawsuit of Trump’s are tossed out, nevertheless the money from his gullible base meant to pay for contesting the election is piling up, and it will all likely end up in Trump’s pocket

 

The Removal of 14 Army Leaders at Fort Hood as 20,000 Sexual Assaults in 2019 Resulted in 138 Military Convictions

Then we examine the removal and suspension of 14 Army leaders at Fort Hood following an independent investigation that found a permissive culture of sexual assault and harassment at the base following the disappearance and murder of 20 year-old Vanessa Guillen. Colonel Don Christensen, the former Chief Prosecutor of the United States Air Force and President of Protect Our Defenders, joins us to discuss how there were over 20,000 sexual assaults in the armed services in 2019 with only 138 convictions, meaning the U.S. military has yet to have its #MeToo moment. 

 

Evangelical Masculinity and the Need For Strongmen Like Trump to Defend “Christian America”

Then finally we speak with Kristin Du Mez, a professor of history at Calvin College and author of the new book, Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation. She joins us to discuss her research into evangelical masculinity and how the need for strongmen like Trump to defend “Christian America” has led to the condoning of violence in the pursuit of righteousness.