The Final Countdown – 6/21/23 – U.S. Doubles Down on Claim China is Building Base in Cuba

On this episode of The Final Countdown, the hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan discuss a wide range of topics, including U.S. claims of China opening a base in Cuba.  

Ted Harvey: Former Colorado State Senator, Chairman of StopJoe.com
KJ Noh: Journalist, Political Analyst, Writer, & Teacher
Luis Garate: Journalist, Expert in International Relations, and Director of Comunicambio 

The show starts with Former Colorado State Senator and Chairman of StopJoe.com Ted Harvey joins to discuss Hunter Biden’s plan to plead guilty. 
In the second half of the first hour, the hosts spoke to journalist KJ Noh to talk about U.S. claims of China opening a base in Cuba. 
 
The show wraps up with Luis Garate talking about the ex-Prime Minister of Peru being detained on conspiracy charges. 

DMZ America Podcast #105: Hunter Biden Skates, Donald Trump Going to Trial, Teenage Depression

The DMZ America podcast features two political cartoonists who happened to be best friends. Ted Rall (Andrews McMeel Syndication, Wall Street Journal, WhoWhatWhy) comes from the Left; Scott Stantis (Andrews McMeel Syndication, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News) comes from the Right.

Hunter Biden once again assumes his role as America’s Prince Andrew: safe, protected, facing minimal charges. In this case, it’s two years probation for evading the payment of $100,000 in taxes and for a gun charge. Republicans are going crazy. Maybe they have a point.

Former President Donald Trump has a trial date in his federal criminal case related to improper handling of classified documents: August 14. Scott and Ted examine the shocking political and legal repercussions of this completely unprecedented case, and what it means for the future of the country and democracy as we head into a presidential election.

Teenage depression hits new lows as more young people than ever before tell psychologists, that they feel worthless and without hope for the future. The cause: social media and digital devices. We don’t let a 12-year-old drive a car. Should we be allowing a six-year-old on Instagram?

Watch the Video Version of the DMZ America Podcast:

DMZ America Podcast Ep 105 Sec 1: Hunter Biden Skates

DMZ America Podcast Ep 105 Sec 2: Donald Trump Going to Trial

DMZ America Podcast Ep 105 Sec 3: Teenage Depression at New Lows

The Final Countdown – 6/20/23 – Judge Sets Trial Date for Trump’s Federal Charges

On this episode of The Final Countdown, the hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan discuss breaking news, including Trump’s federal charges. 
 
Mitch Roschelle: Media Commentator, Public Speaker 
Angie Wong: Journalist 
Mark Sleboda: International Relations and Security Analyst 
Esteban Carrillo: Ecuadorean journalist and Editor for The Cradle
 
The show kicks off with Media Commentator and Public Speaker Mitch Roschelle talking about RFK Jr. challenging a doctor to debate him about vaccines. 
In the second half of the first hour, the hosts spoke to journalist Angie Wong to talk about Trump’s federal charges.
 
In the first half of the final hour, International Relations and Security Analyst Mark Sleboda talks about the latest out of Ukraine. 
 
The show wraps up with Esteban Carrillo talking about the political situation in Palestine. 

The Final Countdown – 6/19/23 – Can a Top Level Meeting Cool U.S.-Chinese Tensions?

On this episode of The Final Countdown, the hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan discuss top news, including Blinken and Xi’s meeting in China. 

Melik Abdul: Cohost of Fault Lines 
Andy Mok: Senior Research Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization 
KJ Noh: Journalist, Political Analyst, Writer & Teacher 
Clinton Nzala: Political Commentator based in Nairobi, Writer for Africa Stream   
 
The show kicks off with Cohost of Fault Lines Melik Abdul to discuss Republicans’ lessons from the elections of 2020. 
In the second half of the first hour, the hosts spoke to Andy Mok, a Senior Research Fellow at the Center for China and Globalization to talk about A.I. and deep fakes in the upcoming 2024 elections. 
 
In the first half of the final hour, KJ Noh, Journalist and Political Analyst, discusses Blinken’s visit to China. 
 
The show wraps up with Clinton Nzala Political Commentator and writer for Africa Stream to talk about the South African president’s treatment in Poland. 

The Final Countdown – 6/16/23 – Pentagon Leaker Indicted on Six Counts

On this episode of The Final Countdown, the hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan discuss top news, including the indictment of Jack Texiera.  
 
Dr. Adrienne Pine: Medical Anthropologist, Professor  
Dr. David Bell: Former WHO Physician and scientist  
Daniel McAdams: Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity 
KJ Noh: Journalist, Political Analyst, Writer & Teacher 
 
The show kicks off with Dr. Adrienne Pine, Medical Anthropologist and Professor to discuss Texas Gov. Abbott dropping off migrants in L.A. 
In the second half of the first hour, the hosts spoke to Dr. David Bell, Former WHO Physician, and Scientist to discuss the new COVID vaccine recommended by the FDA. 
 
In the first half of the final hour, Daniel McAdams, Executive Director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity joins to discuss Rachel Maddow and the indictment of Discord leaker Jack Teixeira.  
 
The show wraps up with Journalist and Political Analyst KJ Noh to discuss the new NATO liaison office in Japan, and the country supplying weapons to the U.S. for Ukraine. 

The Final Countdown – 6/15/23 – Grand Jury to Indict Daniel Penny in Jordan Neely Chokehold Death

On this episode of The Final Countdown, the hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan discuss hot topics, including the indictment of Daniel Penny.  
 

Angie Wong: Journalist 

Rory Riley Topping: Attorney, broadcaster, former Congressional staffer 
Elijah Mangier: Veteran war correspondent, political analyst 
John Kirakou: Cohost of Political Misfits  
 
The show kicks off with journalist Angie Wong, joining to discuss New York City’s minimum wage for delivery workers.
In the second half of the first hour, the hosts spoke to Rory Riley Topping, attorney, broadcaster, and former Congressional staffer to discuss the indictment of Daniel Penny. 
 
In the first half of the final hour, Veteran War correspondent and political analyst Elijah Mangier joins to discuss the mini-Iran Deal. 
 
The show wraps up with Political Misfits Co-Host and Former CIA Whistleblower John Kirakou to discuss the UN report on the record number of displaced people. 
 

The Final Countdown – 6/14/23 – Trump Indicted on 37 Federal Charges in Unprecedented Case

On this episode of The Final Countdown, the hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan discuss breaking news, including the latest out of Trump’s indictment. 
 
Robert Patillo: Attorney, Executive Director of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition 
Tyler Nixon: Army Infantry Veteran, Counselor-at-Law
Nebojsa Malic: Serbian-American journalist
Todd “Bubba” Horowitz: Chief market strategist of BubbaTrading.com
 
The show kicks off with a panel of attorney and Executive Director of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition Robert Patillo and Army Infantry Veteran and Counselor-at-Law Tyler Nixon to discuss the latest out of the Trump indictment.
In the first half of the final hour, the hosts spoke to Nebojsa Malic, a Serbian-American journalist to talk about the latest out of Ukraine. 
 
The show wraps up with Chief Market Strategist of BubbaTrading.com Todd “Bubba” Horowitz to discuss the California housing market and Governor Gavin Newsome’s comments on the homelessness crisis.  

The Final Countdown – 6/13/23 – Biden Prepares to Kickoff Reelection Campaign Amid Trump Indictment

On this episode of The Final Countdown, the hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan discuss hot topics, including the Biden campaign. 
 
Ted Harvey: Former Colorado State Senator, Chairman of StopJoe.com 
Robert Patillo: Executive Director of Rainbow PUSH Coalition 
Steve Gill: Attorney and CEO of Gill Media 
Mark Sleboda: International Relations and Security Analyst
Sean Stone: Actor, filmmaker, TV host 
 
The show kicks off with Former Colorado State Senator Ted Harvey to discuss Biden’s imminent presidential campaign. 
In the second half of the first hour, the hosts spoke to a panel, consisting of Executive Director of Rainbow PUSH Coalition Robert Patillo, and Attorney and CEO of Gill Media Steve Gill to talk about the latest out of the Trump indictment. 
 
The final hour kicks off with International Relations and Security Analyst Mark Sleboda to discuss the latest out of Ukraine’s counteroffensive. 
The show wraps up with Sean Stone, actor, filmmaker, and TV host to discuss the new leadership of the Soros empire. 

For God’s Sake, Give Trump a Plea Deal

No one is above the law. But indicting the frontrunner for a major political party’s presidential nomination, a former president to boot, on charges with a maximum sentence of 400 years in federal prison sets the stage for a full-blown constitutional crisis. Is there some way to hold Donald Trump accountable for playing fast and loose with state and federal law, without forcing him to campaign while on trial or asking voters to head to the polls while the de facto leader of the Republican Party rots behind bars?

Consider how crazy this could get. Would Club Fed pipe in wifi for the debates? Can an inaugural ceremony be held in the visiting room? Who takes that 3 a.m. crisis phone call when the felon-in-chief is sitting in stir?

Biden and the Democrats fantasize about putting Trump in prison. If they calm down and think about it even for a moment, however, they should be able to see how badly doing this now, during an election, would inflame our highly combustible politics. Three prosecutors, all Democrats, all working for Democratic administrations with the support of Democratic-leaning corporate media organizations, are seen as waging nuclear lawfare to deny 70 million-plus Republican voters the right to support the presidential candidate and party of their choice.

I don’t know how this ends. Civil war? Random political violence? Polarization like you’ve never even dreamed of? Whatever happens, I guarantee it won’t be good.           

There is a way out.

Offer Trump a plea deal.

At this writing, here is the legal lay of the land. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has charged Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records, some related to paying hush money to porn actress Stormy Daniels. Legal experts think Bragg has a better-than-even chance to nail Trump in court, despite the novel construction of his case. Now Trump faces 37 counts for mishandling classified documents in federal court in Miami; his odds of walking away free are still worse there. Soon, in early August, Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis may join Indictment-a-palooza with her own set of felony charges, that Trump tried to interfere with the 2020 election.

Trump is famous for ignoring his lawyers’ advice. But he’s never before faced odds this long or downsides this steep. If a plea deal is offered, his legal team will be screaming at him to take it.

Assuming the former president is wise enough to listen—or listen to his second and third set of attorneys after he fires his first ones, for they too will be shouting at him to make a deal—the terms of a plea arrangement will have to satisfy the courts (i.e., Democrats) without enraging Team MAGA.

Charging parties in Georgia, New York and the Department of Justice would need to agree on a set of conditions that would ensure Trump was covered by any and all claims likely to be filed before the November 2024 election.

Now for the terms:

No prison.

By all means, disrespect Trump the man. Trump the former president and Trump the major-party candidate, however, represent the aspirations of tens of millions of Americans who felt unheard and unseen before he rode down the Trump Tower elevator in 2015. If you humiliate this man—trials, convictions, handcuffs, chains, jumpsuit—his supporters will feel his shame as their own. Furthermore, it would be impossible to overstate the international scorn and disdain that would be heaped upon the U.S. after a sordid spectacle better suited to an s-hole country in the developing world. We have a two-party system. If you hobble one candidate, tie him up in court and/or jail him, you no longer have the pretense of a democracy—you’ve created a one-party system. Biden will become America’s Saddam.

Who would ever listen to another pompous declamation about American exceptionalism?

For decades I was angry at Gerald Ford for pardoning Nixon because it sent the message that presidents are above the law. I was wrong. I have since come to appreciate Ford’s calm, common-sense Midwestern wisdom. Ford understood that America needed to move on, that to do otherwise would have meant we would have been talking about Nixon for the rest of the 1970s and beyond—the way we can’t stop obsessing over Trump now. Hard as it is to accept that Trump should walk free on so many charges, charges that his own administration pursued against far nobler people who went to prison as a result, if you want to salvage the republic Trump must be spared prison.          

Federal prosecutors sometimes require that a politician drop out of politics as part of a plea deal. In 1982, for example, a Congressman from New York agreed to resign his seat in Congress, stay out of politics and to plead guilty to federal tax, narcotics and conflict-of-interest. Plea bargains filed by state DAs forced out the governors of Alabama in 2017 and Missouri in 2018.

Trump’s ability to campaign and potentially regain the presidency in a fair election is essential to assure Republicans that they have not been victimized by a weaponized government. Democrats and Never Trump Republicans will find this tough to digest. Surely a man who incited the January 6th Capitol riot doesn’t deserve to be president. But democracy requires at least two candidates, neither behind bars or banned from participating.

If not prison or proscription, what?

Fines. Big fines.

Forbes estimates Trump’s net worth at $2.5 billion. Let the two states and the federal government split $2 billion, payable within a year of settlement. If he defaults, clap him in cuffs and frog-march him out of his hidey-hole, whether it’s Mar-a-Lago or the White House.

For a man who values money more than anything else, taking a financial haircut would represent real accountability. His agreement to pay a significant public settlement would serve as tacit acknowledgement of his guilt. No amount of grandstanding at his rallies would convince anyone of his innocence.

For God’s sake, offer Trump a deal before it’s too late.

(Ted Rall (Twitter: @tedrall), the political cartoonist, columnist and graphic novelist, co-hosts the left-vs-right DMZ America podcast with fellow cartoonist Scott Stantis. You can support Ted’s hard-hitting political cartoons and columns and see his work first by sponsoring his work on Patreon.)

 

The Final Countdown – 6/12/23 – Cuban Missile Crisis Part 2? U.S. Media Accuses China of Building Base

On this episode of The Final Countdown, the hosts Ted Rall and Manila Chan discuss the latest news in global politics, including China’s tensions with Taiwan.
 
Angie Wong: Journalist 
Kiji Noh: Journalist, political analyst 
Mark Sleboda: International Relations and Security Analyst
Lynn Shaw: Founder and Executive Director of Lynn’s Warriors 
 
The show begins with Journalist Angie Wong discussing the Trump indictment and his arraignment in Miami. 
In the second half of the first hour, the hosts spoke to Journalist and Political Analyst Kiji Noh, over the latest tensions between China and Taiwan.
 
The final hour kicks off with International Relations and Security Analyst Mark Sleboda to discuss the latest out of Ukraine’s counteroffensive. 
The show wraps up with Lynn Shaw, the Executive Director and Founder of Lynn’s Warriors about JP Morgan settling with Epstein victims. 

#Trump #Indictment #China #Taiwan #Cuba ##Ukraine #Putin #Zelensky #Epstein #JPMorgan

 
 
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