Background Briefing: October 17, 2023
With the Facts of Who and What Was Behind the Bombing of a Hospital in Gaza Not Yet Verified, We Look Into How it Has Backfired on Israel
We begin with mass casualties from an explosion that struck a hospital in Gaza which Palestinians are blaming on Israel while Israelis are blaming a rocket fired by Islamic Jihad. While information wars play out and the facts of what happened are yet to be verified, we go to London to speak with David Hearst, the Editor of Middle East Eye, who formerly was the chief Foreign Leader writer of The Guardian, former Associate Foreign Editor, European Editor, Moscow Bureau Chief, European Correspondent, and Ireland Correspondent. He has an article at Middle East Eye, “The Nakba that Israel has started will backfire.”
Jim Jordan Falls 20 GOP Votes Short, So Trump Does Not Yet Control the House
Then we get an assessment of today’s vote in the House for a new speaker brought by Jim Jordan who fell short by 20 votes from Republicans leading to further wrangling and another vote tomorrow that may be even worse for Jordan. Joining us to discuss Trump’s attempt to take over the House via his loyal toady Gym Jordan is Ryan Cooper, the Managing Editor at The American Prospect. He is the Cohost of the Left Anchor podcast as well as the author of the new book, How are You Going to Pay for That? Smart Answers to the Dumbest Question in Politics, and his latest article at The American Prospect is “Spineless House GOP ‘Moderates’ Line Up Behind Jim Jordan.”
Is the Supreme Court’s Right Wing Majority Using a Specious Case For a Massive Gift to Their Billionaire Backers?
Then finally we speak with Michael Hiltzik, a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and columnist at Los Angeles Times who currently writes a twice-weekly column covering business and economic issues relevant to life in California. His books include The New Deal: A Modern History and Iron Empires: Robber Barons, Railroads, and the Making of Modern America. We discuss his latest article at the LA Times, “How the Supreme Court could kill a wealth tax before it’s been tried” and how the plutocrat-captured Supreme Court chose a specious case as a cover to make a massive gift to their billionaire backers.