January 3 – House Republicans Target Ethics on Day One; Is Erdogan Trying to Make His Own Islamic State in Turkey?; How Liberals Can Make a Comeback

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the stealth attempt by House Republicans to get rid of the Office of Congressional Ethics as their first priority that backfired, igniting a firestorm of protest which prompted Donald Trump to tweet out a message to them to back down in the name of draining the swamp, which they did. Noah Bookbinder, the Executive Director of CREW, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, joins us to discuss the about face reversal of a secret vote of 119 to 74 by House Republicans to strip the independent Office of Congressional Ethics of its powers on day one of the new Congress that was quickly dropped from the rules package of measures the next day due to public outcry which allowed Donald Trump to take credit while House Republicans ended up looking corrupt and weak.  

Part 2

Then we explore the irony that President Erdogan’s lslamist government in Turkey encourages religious and nationalist hatemongers while jailing a prominent journalist for predicting weeks ago that Islamists might target New Year celebrations. Natana DeLong-Bas, a Professor of Theology at Boston College who researches modern and contemporary Islamic thought and practice, joins us to discuss whether Erdogan is trying to create his own Islamic State in Turkey while the terrorists of the Islamic State in Syria that he previously enabled, are now attacking him for turning on them and allying with Russia.

Part 3

Then finally we speak with Daniel Rodgers, Professor Emeritus of History at Princeton University whose recent book “Age of Fracture” won the 2012 Bancroft Prize. He has an article at The Guardian “Liberals Risk Becoming a Permanent Minority in America” and we discuss how anger overrode optimism in the recent election and the need for liberals to find new means of talking truth to Americans and making sure they hear them, while a populist billionaire spins fairy tales and trickle-down fantasies about freeing up the billionaires to make America great again.