Author: Michael Baranowski

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Mike and May open with a discussion of the latest developments concerning Israel and Hamas. They look at the case for and against a temporary pause in Israel’s military response in Gaza, the House of Representatives approving $14.3 billion in aid to Israel, and why the U.S. would consider giving billions in aid to a wealthy country like Israel in the first place.

After that, they turn to President Biden’s Executive Order on artificial intelligence. Mike likes it overall but thinks that the administration doesn’t have the authority to mandate that A.I. developers give the federal government information concerning their models. May agrees with that but thinks it’s a bad idea even if it were to come via legislation.

They close by addressing listener questions concerning May’s comments last week about election integrity. For listeners who want a fuller understanding of Republican concerns, May recommends Mollie Hemingway’s book Rigged: How the Media, Big Tech, and the Democrats Seized Our Elections.

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Mike and May open the episode with a discussion of recently elected Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. May sees the whole Speaker saga as embarrassing for her party while Mike argues against the portrayal of Johnson as a radical far-right election denier.

After that they turn to the Middle East, discussing whether or not Mike was right to suggest Israel is a colonialist oppressor, whether that’s inherently antisemitic, UN ceasefire resolutions, and a Senate proposal for standalone Israel aid, as opposed to the Israel/Ukraine/Immigration package proposed by the Biden administration.

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Mike and Jay open with the conflict between Israel and Hamas. Jay gives President Biden credit for his response but argues that Biden’s words of sympathy for Palestinian civilians were ill-timed. They consider the larger issues involved – whether Gazans are rightfully angry with Israel, what Hamas wants and whether Israel is giving it to them, and if we’ll ever see a two-state solution – as well as responses by pro-Palestinian groups in the US and their doxing by conservative groups.

Then they turn to the Republicans’ inability to elect a Speaker of the House. Mike makes the case that candidate Jim Jordan represents much of what’s wrong with American politics. Jay doesn’t make a case for Jordan as Speaker, but he argues at this point anyone is better than no one. Mike agrees but wonders why the far more numerous House Republican moderates should have to give in to the smaller Freedom Caucus Republicans. They both predict there will be a Republican Speaker within the next few weeks and that the whole fracas won’t matter much to voters in November.

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Trey & Ken continue their dive into the U.S. Constitution by overviewing the origins, history, and importance of the Bill of Rights. This episode sets up the next arch of the Constitution episodes as Trey & Ken go through each portion of the first 10 Amendments.

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In this deep dive episode Trey & Ken take a longview look at the conflict in the Gaza Strip. This includes a history into the formation of both Israel and the Gaza Strip, along with the key moments that led to the terrorist activity on Saturday. The pair discuss the current crisis, the likely next steps, and the response internationally and in the United States to the crisis.

As a second story the guys look at the collapse of Scalise as the next U.S. House Speaker, likely next steps, and the possibility of a coalition Speaker with votes from House Democrats.

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Mike and Jay open the show with a discussion of the ousting of Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, with every Democrat joining eight Republicans in voting to remove McCarthy as Speaker. Mike asks Jay to explain what’s going on with his party, and whether he thinks this will hurt Republicans in 2024. Jay thinks there will be electoral consequences, but Mike doesn’t agree, at least not if an extended government shutdown is avoided. They have a lot to say about Matt Gaetz, none of it complimentary. (Though Mike gives him credit for solid political positioning.)

Following that is a discussion of California Governor Gavin Newsom’s appointment of Laphonza Butler to fill the seat held by the recently departed Dianne Feinstein, a Supreme Court case hinging on whether the word “and” might actually mean “or”, and Donald Trump accusing a court clerk in his civil trial of being Senator Chuck Schumer’s girlfriend and helping to “rig” the case against him.

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Trey and Ken continue their deep dive into the U.S. Constitution with an examination of Article VII. The pair discuss the government bypassing nature of the ratification process, what the ratification process was, how the anti-federalists brought us the Bill of Rights from the ratification battle, and set up an introduction to the Bill of Rights.

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After a brief discussion of the death of Diane Feinstein, including her legacy both positive and negative, Trey and Ken discuss the GOP debate. Trey just doesn’t see room at the GOP table for anyone other than Trump. Ken thinks that the nominees should have gone after Trump sooner, but now have no way to pivot. They then discuss the possibility of a Trump victory next year in the general election.

Next, they turn to the ongoing shutdown. As the show went live McCarthy lost his vote for a continuing resolution. Trey argues that a smaller faction of the House Freedom Caucus simply want McCarthy out as speaker for symbolic reasons. Ken argues that the Freedom Caucus wants to effectively burn the house down.

They then turn to the ongoing civil trial in New York over the valuation of Trump’s properties. Ken explains the nature of this kind of trial and what it means moving forward. They pair close the show discussing the U.S. Supreme Court’s unwillingness to allow Alabama to use its current electoral map.

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Listener support helps make The Politics Guys possible. You can support us or change your level of support at patreon.com/politicsguys or politicsguys.com/support. On Venmo we’re @PoliticsGuys.