March 19 – Trump’s Disregard For the Truth; What’s Behind Trump’s Strategy of Trashing Allies?; Should Democrats Block Gorsuch Like Republicans Blocked Garland?

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with Donald Trump’s disregard for the truth and whether he is delusional in his beliefs or simply a salesman who may or may not believe in his sales pitch. Lawrence Douglas, a Professor of Law, Jurisprudence and Social Though at Amherst College joins us to discuss his article at The Guardian “Donald Trump’s disregard for words – and truth – is finally catching up with him” and look into how much there are two separate universes at play in America with liberals who watch MSNBC expecting Trump to be impeached at any moment while conservatives inside the Fox News bubble see Trump as being wildly successful as his support amongst Republicans remains sky high.  

Part 2

Then we try to assess what is behind the Trump Administration’s apparent strategy to trash allies and undermine long-standing alliances while praising adversaries, in particular Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Having insulted and hung up the phone on Australia’s leader, Trump behaved boorishly and went out of his way to insult Germany’s Angela Merkel then blamed the U.K. for tapping his phone after the White House had promised the British PM that he would not repeat his ridiculous charges. Scott Horton, a professor at Columbia Law School and a contributing editor at Harpers in legal affairs and national security, joins us to examine whether Monday’s testimony by FBI director Comey will expose Trump as a liar who smeared his predecessor with reckless disregard, calling Obama “a bad (or sick) guy!”

Part 3

Then finally we speak with Ian Millhiser, the author of “Injustices: The Supreme Court’s History of Comforting the Comfortable and Afflicting the Afflicted”. He joins us to discuss the upcoming confirmation hearings of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Gorsuch, and whether grassroots pressure with force Democratic senators to play hardball like Mitch McConnell did with Obama’s nominee Judge Garland.