Briefings

Background Briefing: December 4, 2024

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The Champion of Working Class Voters’ Big Con As Trump Forms a Government Of, By and For Plutocrats 

We begin with the glaring evidence of the big con as it becomes clear that Donald Trump lied to his MAGA followers promising to be their champion and savior only to turn around and take care of his people, the billionaires, whom he has always admired and aspired to be. Joining us to discuss the plutocratic government taking shape which emerged from an election largely bought by a few plutocrats is Sarah Anderson, who directs the Global Economy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. Sarah is lead author of over 20 annual “Executive Excess” reports and is the co-editor of inequality.org. Her books include Field Guide to the Global Economy and Alternatives to Economic Globalization, and she has an article we discuss at Inequality.org, “The First Seven Billionaires Trump Has Tapped for Top Jobs.

 

The Syria Rebels Just Blew Up Secret US-Israel-UAE Efforts to Lure Assad Away From Iran 

Then we examine the secret negotiations the US, Israel and the UAE have been conducting with the Assad dictatorship in Syria hoping to lure the regime away from Iran, Hezbollah and Russia which have now been derailed by the Turkish-backed Sunni Syrian rebel advances threatening to take Damascus. Joining us is Joshua Landis, the Chair and Director of the Center for Middle East Studies and the Farzaneh Family Center for Iranian and Persian Gulf Studies at the University of Oklahoma. The former President of the Syria Studies Association, he is a fellow at the Quincy Institute and writes “Syria Comment,” a daily newsletter and blog on Syrian politics.

What Trump’s Pick of Feinberg as Number 2 at DOD Means For the Silicon Valley Defense Tech Takeover of the Pentagon Budget

Then finally, with Trump’s pick for Secretary of Defense mired in charges of rape and drunkenness with rumors he might be replaced by Florida Governor DeSantis, we assess the role of Trump’s prospective number 2 at DOD, the billionaire Stephen Feinberg who used to own DynCorp, a more traditional Pentagon contractor as opposed to the Silicon Valley defense tech sector that wants in on the $800 billion trough of Pentagon pork. Joining us is Stavroula Pabst, a writer, comedian, and PhD student in Communications and Mass Media Studies at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Athens, Greece. A reporter for Responsible Statecraft, we discuss her latest article, “Thiel pal and venture capitalist eyed for 2nd highest post in Pentagon.”