TMI Show Ep 130: “Judge Nixes Trump’s Deportation Power Grab”

Streaming Anytime, LIVE 10 AM Eastern time!

Get ready for TMI with hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan, as they dive into a seismic legal showdown that’s rocking the core of U.S. immigration policy! This week, a Trump-appointed federal judge in Texas, Fernando Rodriguez Jr., dropped a bombshell ruling that’s sending shockwaves through the administration’s playbook. Tune in as Ted and Manila unpack the dramatic decision that struck down Donald Trump’s controversial use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport Venezuelan migrants without due process—a move that saw over 130 migrants fast-tracked to El Salvador, skipping standard hearings.

In a scathing 36-page opinion, Judge Rodriguez dismantled the administration’s legal stance, ruling that the wartime-era law—meant for enemy nationals during conflict—cannot be weaponized for routine immigration enforcement. The decision, which found Trump’s actions in violation of the Immigration and Nationality Act, marks a historic first in challenging the misuse of this centuries-old statute. While the ruling is limited to South Texas, its implications are monumental, potentially shaping future legal battles nationwide as Trump weighs an appeal. Immigrant rights advocates, including the ACLU, are hailing the decision as a victory for justice.

Expect a gripping discussion as Ted and Manila bring their signature blend of sharp insight and unfiltered analysis to this landmark case. Why does this ruling matter? It’s a pivotal moment in the fight over presidential power, immigration rights, and the rule of law. Don’t miss this episode of TMI—where hard-hitting truths meet fearless commentary. Catch it live and join the conversation that everyone will be talking about!

 

 

TMI Show Ep 129: “What’s Left?”

LIVE 10 AM Eastern time & Streaming Anytime:

On The TMI Show with Ted Rall and Manila Chan, streaming live on May 1, 2025, at 10 AM ET— it’s International Workers’ Day! This isn’t just a broadcast; it’s a battle cry for justice, airing on YouTube and Rumble, perfectly synced with the launch of Ted Rall’s groundbreaking book, “What’s Left: Radical Solutions for Radical Problems” (ISBN: 979-8-8898622-0-1). Available live or on demand, this episode is set to ignite a movement.

As the world honors workers, “The TMI Show” confronts the raw truths of a system bleeding $3.8 trillion annually on wars and billionaire tax breaks while 770,000 Americans sleep on the streets. Rall and Chan bring their razor-sharp insight to the fight, exposing a government that preaches “for the people” but serves the elite. It’s unfiltered, urgent, and loaded with the kind of truth that demands action.

Enter “What’s Left”—a fearless manifesto for a true Left rooted in socialism and dignity. Rall, the incisive cartoonist and columnist, unleashes 20 radical demands: cut Pentagon spending by 90% to fund free healthcare and education; hike the minimum wage to $60/hour; turn 15 million vacant homes into housing for the homeless. With 40% of Americans warming to socialism, this book is a wake-up call—offering a roadmap to end poverty and inequality with resources we already have. It’s a provocation that dares the powerful to refuse, exposing their greed.

This episode fuses global worker solidarity with a vision for revolution. “The TMI Show” and “What’s Left” deliver a one-two punch: bold ideas, fierce critique, and a call to rise up. Don’t miss it—tune in and join the fight for a world where everyone thrives!

What’s Left

Now available on Amazon: https://a.co/d/fimtBfr

Or via your local bookstore.

Or here at Rall.com, where the copy comes autographed.

“What’s Left: Radical Solutions for Radical Problems”

To Order What’s Left via Amazon, click here.
Please Note: Books purchased via Amazon will not be autographed.

To Order What’s Left from your favorite local bookstore, give them this ISBN: 979-8-898622-0-1
Please Note: Books purchased via your local store will not be autographed. Ted is, however, available to visit your store if they choose to invite him for a public appearance.

 

 

DMZ America Podcast Ep 202: “50 Years Post-Saigon”

Live 4 pm Eastern Time + Streaming 24-7:

Join Ted Rall and Scott Stantis as they dive into the enduring lessons of the Vietnam War, marking 50 years since the fall of Saigon. This episode unpacks America’s failure to learn from defeat, exploring the universal value of self-determination, the pitfalls of military hegemony, and the staggering costs of war—$1 trillion in today’s dollars, millions of lives lost, and a legacy of PTSD and neglected infrastructure. From the haunting parallels in Iraq and Afghanistan to the historical ramifications of colonial powers like the Netherlands and France, who turned defeat into domestic renewal, Rall and Stantis challenge us to rethink America’s global role. Tune in for a raw, thought-provoking left-vs-right dialogue on how the U.S. can finally accept defeat and invest in its own future.

DeProgram: “Trump’s 100 Days & 2028 Dems”

LIVE 2 pm Eastern Time & Streaming On Demand Afterward:

Dive into “DeProgram with Ted Rall and John Kiriakou” as they unpack the high-stakes developments of Donald Trump’s first 100 days. With incisive clarity, they analyze today’s newly released economic figures, decoding their implications for America’s trajectory—growth or decline?

The hosts explore the heating 2028 Democratic presidential race, where Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo just announced her candidacy, joining potential contenders like Gavin Newsom, Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, and Pete Buttigieg in a fierce battle to shape the party’s future.

The episode intensifies with breaking news on Trump’s deportation policies: the president’s newly-admitted defiance in refusing to retrieve Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man wrongfully deported to El Salvador’s brutal CECOT prison, despite court orders, ignites a constitutional crisis. Meanwhile, a federal judge’s ruling to free Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia University student activist detained by ICE over pro-Palestinian protests, raises critical questions about free speech and government overreach.

Rall and Kiriakou deliver unflinching commentary, exposing the human and political toll of these unfolding dramas. From economic fault lines to immigration battles, this episode is essential listening for those craving truth amid the chaos. Expect bold perspectives and a challenge to question the status quo in this 60-minute deep dive. Catch DeProgram now on all major podcast platforms—don’t miss this electrifying discussion!

TMI Show Ep 128: “Unveiling Trauma’s Lasting Echoes with Dr. Neal King”

Live 10 AM Eastern time; Streaming All Other Times:

On “The TMI Show” with Ted Rall and Manila Chan, the hosts sit down with Dr. Neal King, a psychologist, former college president, and author of the profound new book “Trauma is a Thief.” Described by Midwest Book Review as “an extraordinary, compelling, and intensely personal life story and psychological study,” King’s work chronicles his journey from a childhood shattered by sexual and physical abuse, abandonment, and familial addiction to his distinguished career in international education and mental health advocacy.
Blending memoir with psychological insight, “Trauma is a Thief” explores how King survived the “thief” that stole something essential from him, drawing on his training, including Carl Jung’s wisdom, to offer strategies for navigating trauma’s lasting impact. As a licensed psychologist and former president of Antioch University Los Angeles, King transforms his painful past into a universal case study, creating a vital resource for survivors, their loved ones, and professionals.

Ted and Manila dive into King’s motivations for baring his story, the interplay of personal healing and professional expertise, and trauma’s broader societal impact. This candid, compassionate discussion promises to inspire and provoke thought, resonating with anyone affected by trauma’s echo.

Listeners on YouTube and Rumble can join the conversation by posting questions for Dr. King in the live chat, making this episode an interactive opportunity to engage with his insights and experiences. Tune in for a powerful exploration of resilience, survival, and the hope that comes from feeling seen and understood.

50 Years After the Fall of Saigon, Let’s Accept Defeat

My mom had an uncanny ability to size up current events and accurately predict their long-term effects. 50 years ago, I sat in my mom’s colonial dining room and watched the fall of Saigon on her black-and-white TV with two folds of aluminum foil dangling from the rabbit ears. America was not riding high. A year earlier, gas rationing went into effect and a president reelected in a record landslide resigned in disgrace.

As desperate Americans and South Vietnamese scrambled to evacuate, embassy staffers burned millions of dollars in cash to prevent it from falling into the hands of the victorious North Vietnamese. As landing decks on aircraft carriers in the South China Sea became overcrowded, UH-1 “Huey” helicopters, each worth at least $1 million in today’s dollars, were pushed into the ocean to make room for incoming aircraft. The estimated value of the military and other equipment left behind by retreating U.S. forces ranges between $1 billion and $4 billion, plus an additional $1 billion to $2 billion in corporate assets.

“The United States will never recover from this,” my mom said. “They’ll never learn anything from it, because they’ll never understand why it happened.”

Half a century later, she was clearly right. We lost but we didn’t learn.

The big lesson of the Vietnam catastrophe, one we haven’t begun to internalize, is that self-determination is a universal value. No one wants to be told what to do, much less exploited, by foreigners. There’s a corollary to that lesson: superior military and economic power cannot overcome the universal human desire to independently pursue one’s destiny.

“The enemy will win many battles, but in the end, we will win the war,” General Vo Nguyen Giap, commander-in-chief for North Vietnam, told a French interviewer in 1964. That’s what happened in 1975. And in 2011 in Iraq. And in 2021 in Afghanistan, where the $7 billion in abandoned war materiel and the falling bodies of our Afghan employees raining over Kabul created a perfect echo of the collapse of South Vietnam. Sooner rather than later, the same fate will befall Israel in Gaza.

Movies are a window into America’s political soul. American films about its invasion and occupation of South Vietnam depict a barely revised version of Kipling’s patriarchal “White Man’s Burden” with heavy dollops of confusion and self-pity. While “The Deer Hunter” (1978), “Apocalypse Now” (1979), “Platoon” (1986) and “Full Metal Jacket” (1987) all depict the brutalization of Vietnamese civilians by American troops, the primary effect of those narratives is to portray naïve young men corrupted by forces beyond their control and forced to cope with their physical wounds and psychological guilt in the aftermath. The Vietnamese play bit parts or none whatsoever, relegated to background scenery as their U.S. oppressors blow them to bits and struggle with PTSD—failing to make the ethnically correct decision to refuse to kill.

Americans weren’t victims in Vietnam. We were the bad guys. We lost 58,000 soldiers, who were sent to the other side of the earth to prop up a corrupt, unpopular regime against an enemy that posed no threat to us. Our troops killed 2 million Vietnamese. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial wall in Washington is slightly less than 500 feet long. An analogous structure dedicated to the Vietnamese would be more than three miles long.

We have never admitted that we had no business being there. “Rambo: First Blood Part II” (1985) marked the beginning of something even worse than mawkish self-pity, a string of right-wing negationist releases that attempted to retroactively justify the war as a noble patriotic cause—don’t feel guilty, be proud of your service to your country—followed by “Hamburger Hill” (1987), “We Were Soldiers” (2002) and similar imperialist whitewashing of the Iraq War in works like “Jarhead” (2005), “The Hurt Locker” (2008), and “American Sniper” (2014).

The second big lesson of Vietnam for a United States that continues to pursue international monetary, economic, political and military hegemony is that it’s cheaper to rent than to own. The United States currently has a $150 billion a year bilateral trade relationship with Vietnam and hundreds of thousands of Americans visit Vietnam every year as tourists. Business is good. There was no need to control their political system.

Finally, war is expensive. Eight million Vietnam war veterans require care for PTSD, exposure to Agent Orange and various psychological and physical injuries. Resources diverted to the Vietnam War contributed to the hollowing out of Rust Belt cities, declining schools and insufficient spending on infrastructure—problems we’re still dealing with, with no end in sight. The war cost approximately $1 trillion in 2025 dollars.

A crisis can be an opportunity. So can a defeat.
At the end of World War II, Indonesian nationalists waged a brutal war of independence against their colonial oppressors, the Netherlands. Forced to withdraw in 1949, the Dutch turned to their domestic needs. They prioritized postwar reconstruction and expanded the welfare state, funding affordable housing, pensions, and healthcare. Losing Indonesia was great for Holland. France performed a similar pivot after losing its war in Algeria in 1962; it decolonized most of its African possessions and invested in massive public works like high-speed rail. Belgium did the same thing after losing the Congo War in 1965, as did Portugal after 1974, when it lost to the liberation movements of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea-Bissau.

Fifty years after the fall of Saigon, we should learn from our fellow former colonial powers. Stop starting wars we’re bound to lose. Invest in ourselves.

(Ted Rall, the political cartoonist, columnist and graphic novelist, is the author of “What’s Left: Radical Solutions for Radical Problems,” which will be published May 1st. He co-hosts the left-vs-right DMZ America podcast with fellow cartoonist Scott Stantis and The TMI Show with political analyst Manila Chan. Subscribe: tedrall.Substack.com.

TMI Show Ep 127: “Kashmir on the Brink: Will Nuclear Rivals Clash Again?”

LIVE 10 am Eastern, Streaming After:

The TMI Show with Ted Rall and Manila Chan confronts the spiraling Kashmir crisis, where a horrific attack has pushed India and Pakistan to the brink of war. Joined by VK Samhith, a visionary Indian game developer and astute cultural commentator who founded BornMonkie Studios, the hosts deliver a blistering analysis of whether the April 22, Pahalgam attack—killing 26 tourists—could ignite a fourth war between these nuclear-armed rivals. Ted Rall, who’s traveled to the region and chronicled its fraught history, offers unparalleled insight, while Manila Chan’s razor-sharp questions cut through the chaos.

The attack, claimed by The Resistance Front but denied by Pakistan, has triggered India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, border closures, and a crackdown arresting over 500 in Kashmir. Pakistan retaliated by closing airspace to Indian flights and suspending trade, while both sides have exchanged gunfire along the Line of Control for days, raising fears of escalation. The UN and US urge restraint, but India’s vow to hunt the perpetrators “to the ends of the earth” looms large. Could this be the spark for a nuclear nightmare? TMI fearlessly dissects the stakes, blending hard-hitting facts with the raw, unfiltered edge that defines the show. This isn’t just news—it’s a pulse-pounding dive into war, power, and survival in a global flashpoint. Tune in for expert perspectives and a conversation that dares to challenge the mainstream narrative. Catch this urgent episode now on your favorite platform and join the dialogue that matters.

DeProgram: “Trump, Zelensky, and Deported Dreams: Unmasking Power Plays”

LIVE 1:30 PM Eastern Time/10:30 AM Pacific time + Streaming When You Feel It:

In this fast-moving episode of DeProgram, hosts John Kiriakou, a former CIA officer turned whistleblower who exposed the agency’s torture program, and Ted Rall, an award-winning political cartoonist and columnist renowned for his biting anti-establishment commentary, deliver a hard-hitting analysis of today’s most pressing issues.

The episode kicks off with an in-depth look at the high-stakes Rome meeting between Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, unpacking its ramifications for U.S.-Ukraine relations amid the ongoing Russia conflict. The hosts then turn to U.S.-Iran negotiations, offering sharp insights into the intricate dance of diplomacy and power shaping the Middle East.

On the domestic front, Kiriakou and Rall dive into the latest polls, dissecting public sentiment toward Elon Musk’s outsized influence and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s political ascent, revealing how these figures are redefining America’s political landscape. The episode also confronts the deeply polarizing issue of deporting U.S.-citizen babies, exploring its legal, ethical, and humanitarian consequences with unflinching clarity.

With Kiriakou’s insider perspective on intelligence and Rall’s razor-sharp cultural critiques, the duo dismantles mainstream narratives, exposing the systems driving these global and domestic developments. This episode of DeProgram blends wit, wisdom, and anti-imperialist fervor to connect the dots between geopolitics and power struggles at home. This is a must-listen for anyone seeking to understand the world beyond the headlines. Tune in and get deprogrammed!

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