The Nicole Sandler Show – Details, episodes & analysis

Marcy Wheeler of emptywheel.net joins Nicole Sandler every Friday for a spirited and no-holds-barred discussion about our world and what happened in it throughout the week. Today, it's Jack Smith's brief explaining to the court why the former guy's actions on and around January 6 do not fall under the heading of "official presidential business" and that his case must be permitted to go to trial. Plus the VP debate, the complete disconnect between Trump world and the political and cultural norms under which we live, and more...

It's Thursday and Howie Klein of Down With Tyranny is back with us this week. We have lots to talk about from the Veep debate and just how creepy JD Vance is... and we'll get a status update on how the Blue America PAC endorsed candidates are faring.
Plus a farewell to another friend. Getting old sucks, but it beats the alternative, I guess.

Every Monday we check in with Jonathan Larsen who tells us what's happening in our world at thefuckingnews.substack.com. Here at the Nicole Sandler Show, we use language like that, but apparently some are squeamish about expletives, so Jonathan is launching a second substack newsletter. He'll fill us in on that today, along with more important news like a second assassination attempt on TFG and the Trump campaign's latest attempt to pit Americans against Americans. Plus my thoughts on how we're coping with the sickening racism, xenophobia and contempt for our fellow human beings by Trump and his minions...

It's a Thursday, so we have a date with Howie Klein of Down with Tyranny & the Blue America PAC. It's not like there's a shortage of things to discuss... in fact, too much news for a one-hour show. There was the SCOTUS hearing this morning on Trump's ridiculous concept of absolute immunity (but there are some ridiculous people sitting on that extreme bench these days), the were 3 members of the AZ Republican House voting with all the Dems to kill the 1864 abortion ban (now goes to the senate and then the governor?). The FCC restored Net Neutrality rules killed by TFG's administration, and the FTC said no more airline junk fees. Of course TFG is still nodding off in a Manhattan courtroom where his first of four criminal cases against him is being heard. But Howie asked me an important question this week that I never answered, and the "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame" class of 2024 was announced, and I think they need to change its name to the Popular Music Hall of Fame.

And today was one of those days. My guest never showed... so it was a Friday ...

A bit of what's news for now

Although I don't think that invoking "I told you so" is a good look, Howie Klein gets a pass today should he care to say it. Today's the day that the reality hits that the Build Back Better act will not pass the senate before the end of the year. I guess I'm guilty of wishful thinking. Despite knowing deep down that Biden was the wrong man to lead us out of the Trump disaster, I tried to stay hopeful. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. And I don't put all the blame on him for the situation in which we now find ourselves... but he is at the "the buck stops here" desk. Is it realistic to expect the president to control members of Congress in his party? The Republicans do. I used to think the Democrats were *better* because they didn't take marching orders or recite talking points. But perhaps our side could use some of that discipline. We'll talk with Howie Klein today about that, and try to figure out how to turn this thing around. Good luck to us. At the top of the show, a quick conversation with Arthur Delaney of Huffpost who had a run-in with Joe Manchin yesterday. The senator called him "bullshit." Seems nice.

A bit of what's news, for now

It's Wednesday, 10 days before Christmas, and it's clear that Congress wants to go home for the holidays, as they're getting a lot of work done. Debt ceiling - check, NDAA - (unfortunately) check. Funding the government - (through mid Feb anyway) check. But wait. There's more! We should be on high alert and no one should be allowed to leave DC before the Right to Vote bill and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act are passed and signed in to law. And, of course, there's the Build Back Better legislation which Joe Manchin is still threatening to kill. Whether either of those happens is still to be determined. But frankly, if they don't fix our voting issues, they may as well just stay home after the holiday break, as our democracy will be lost. Today, Will Bunch, columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, returns to the show. His latest column deals with last weekend's tornado disaster that took over 100 lives and exposed the big problems that haven't been fixed in our country. And we'll begin with an interview I taped with Ryan Grim of the Intercept yesterday. He has more information on that Medicare privatization scheme we've been talking about, Direct Contracting Entities, that you need to know about.

A bit of what's news for now