To hear Donald Trump (mostly), everything that ails America can be traced to illegal immigration and legal migrant applicants eating pets and, I imagine, driving up inflation.
DMZ America Podcast #164: Pager Rager, Dogging Cats, Half the Point
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Political cartoonists and analysts Ted Rall (on the Left) and Scott Stantis (on the Right) take on the week in politics.
First up, Israel’s Mossad launches a fearsome attack against Hezbollah by blowing up their pagers and walkie-talkies throughout Lebanon, injuring thousands of people and killing at least a dozen. Does this impressive act of international terrorism cross a red line for supporters of Israel against Gaza? What happens next in the Middle East?
Springfield, Ohio has made headlines, most of them probably false, about the allegation that Haitian migrants have been chowing down on the locals’ cats and dogs. Ted relates what he heard from relatives who live in Springfield and Scott and Ted dissect Trump’s ability to touch upon big truths even while lying like the day is long.
Finally, the Federal Reserve Bank has decided to cut short-term interest rates by 0.5%. How much will juicing the economy help Kamala Harris’ campaign?
Watch the Video version: here. (Will be live 9/18/24 8:00 Eastern time)
DMZ America Podcast Ep 163: Presidential Debate Preview
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Political cartoonists Ted Rall (Left) and Scott Stantis (Right) preview the big September 10th presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump. What does each candidate need to do to win?
Watch the Video Version: here.
DMZ America Podcast #162: Kamala’s Big First Interview a Flop? & Trump Tries to Abort His Abortion Problem
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Political cartoonists and analysts Ted Rall (on the Left) and Scott Stantis (on the Right) take on the week in politics.
Forty days after becoming the de facto nominee of the Democratic Party, Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz have finally held their first interview, with Dana Bash of CNN in Savannah, Georgia. Scott disagrees with Ted’s assessment that Harris’ performance was a disaster. Ted Scott handicap the upcoming debate on September 8th, wondering what Trump can do to counter Harris despite her interview.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump is still struggling to find his sea legs regarding Harris. Most problematic for him, abortion has surpassed the economy as the number-one issue for voters in key battleground states. Desperate for votes, Trump is even endorsing federal subsidies for in vitro fertilization, which is anathema to pro-life Republicans.
Watch the Video version: here.
DMZ America Podcast Ep 160 | August 17, 2024: Kamala Takes the Lead, Ukraine Takes a Risk
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Political cartoonists and analysts Ted Rall (on the Left) and Scott Stantis (on the Right) take on the week in politics.
The 2024 presidential campaign settles into the new reality following the withdrawal of Joe Biden and the ascension of Vice President Kamala Harris. Donald Trump, 78, is having trouble pivoting and accepting going from a six-point lead to a three-point deficit. Vice Presidential candidates Walz and Vance prepare for a pair of debates next month. Economic policies, all populist but vaguely formed and seemingly untethered to basic economic philosophies, are beginning to emerge from both sides—and Harris is lifting the Trump ones she likes best.
The Russo-Ukraine conflict has entered a new phase as Ukrainian forces invade Russia and seize territory in the rural Kursk region. At the same time, Russian forces are advancing inside Ukraine. What next?
DMZ America Podcast Ep 146: Biden Cuts Off Israel, Stormy Daniels Rages, Our Weird Economy
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Political cartoonists Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right) debate the week in news and culture as friendly adversaries to bring you spirited debate and smart insight.
First up: President Biden’s patience with the war cabinet of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has expired. After warning Bibi not to enter the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Bibi went ahead and did just that, cutting off aid trucks at the border to boot. For the first time in memory, the president put a “pause” on the delivery of 3,500 bombs that were set to be delivered to Israel for use against Gaza. How significant is this? Is this a rupture or just a temporary squabble between allies?
Second: Porn actor Stormy Daniels testified in the Donald Trump’s hush-money trial in Manhattan. It says a lot about the current state of politics that the first-ever criminal trial of a former President of the United States, in which he faces jail time, is not a huge story. Yet the implications, both legal and political, are significant.
Finally: American voters continue to be dissatisfied with the state of the economy. Scott and Ted dissect the good, the bad and the ugly in the current situation.
Watch the Video Version: here.
DMZ America Podcast #144: USC Censors Its Valedictorian for Being Palestinian, Trump on Trial, Biden’s Weird Steel Tariffs
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Cartoonists Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right) are back at their respective abodes in New York and Alabama. As always, Ted and Scott put friendship first in their spirited but civilized debates and discussions about the issues at hand.
First up: The University of Southern California denies this year’s valedictorian Asna Tabassum
her right to deliver the commencement address because she is Palestinian and might have had the audacity to call for Palestinians to stop being slaughtered en masse by Israel in Gaza. If ever there was cause for people of all ideological stripes to be appalled albeit for different reasons, here it is.
Next: Donald Trump becomes the first former president to face a criminal trial. Scott and Ted dissect the nature of the charges, related to the payment of hush money to Stormy Daniels, and explore the disturbing trend of prosecutors letting members of the public that they’re so out to get them that they’re willing to campaign on it.
Finally: Joe Biden imposes brutal tariffs to protect America’s steel industry, which is now owned by Japan, from China.
Watch the Video Version: here.
DMZ America Podcast #142: RFK Jr. R.I.P., The Trouble with Bidenomics, Endangered Sperm
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The DMZ America Podcast is where civilized but spirited and intelligent political talk thrives. Hosted by editorial cartoonists Scott Stantis (from the Right) and Ted Rall (from the Left), the colleagues and best friends debate the issues of the day.
Robert F. Kennedy’s choice of tech sis and fellow Californian Nicole Stranahan as his vice presidential running mate marks a decidedly unserious turn for a campaign that has already shrunk from 19% to 12% in the polls. Nothing is decided yet, of course, but Ted and Scott doubt that RFK will be able to rescue his presidential bid now.
President Biden keeps arguing that the economy is basically sound and that, sooner rather than later, Americans will start to feel better following that spike in inflation a few years back. The problem is, even if he’s right, how can this president possibly communicate that message, or any message, effectively?
Americans’ national fertility rate is 1.66 children per woman. Now it turns out that sperm counts are plummeting due to environmental causes as well as a nasty disease. Scott and Ted discuss the demographic and cultural implications.
Watch the Video Version: here.
DMZ America Podcast #134: Biden’s Bad Good Economy & Death Cab for Print Media
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Political Cartoonists Ted Rall (from the Left) and Scott Stantis (from the Right) discuss the week in politics, current events and culture. This time, the guys start out wondering about the state of the economy and the 2024 presidential campaign. Though Biden has pulled ahead of Trump in national polls, key swing states Biden needs to win continue to support Trump. One of the big reasons give is that they’re unhappy with the state of the economy. But unemployment is low, wages are high and inflation is easing. Why are Americans pissed? We have answers.
The month of January saw major layoffs at legacy media companies like the Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated and Pitchfork. Is there a future for journalism, and if so what does it look like?
Watch the Video Version: here.
Abortion vs. Inflation
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Democrats and Republicans are going to feud over abortion rights and inflation, respectively, in the coming presidential election. They might not be the most important issues we face, but they’re the ones the politicians will be talking about.
