Team Biden responds to concerns that the president may be senile with assurances that, behind the scenes, Biden is energetic and sharp. We don’t get to see that, of course…not that we get to see much of the Leader of the Free World at all. Maybe it’s time for Team Trump to deploy their own version of “you don’t know him the way I know him” argument.
Too Much Might Never Be Enough
Reparations for Black people is becoming a thing in the real political world. San Francisco is considering paying $5 million to eligible Black adults. California is thinking $1 million. Are you white and think that that’s too much money? How much would you take to be victimized by a life of racial discrimination?
DMZ America Podcast #95: Senate Votes to Deauthorize Iraq War, DeSantis the Gitmo Torturer, Reparations to Black Americans
Two of America’s top political analysts, left-wing cartoonist Ted Rall and right-wing cartoonist Scott Stantis, discuss the week’s events and cultural happenings on the DMZ America podcast.
In a surprising move, the United States Senate has voted to revoke the 2002 Authorization to Use Military Force legislation that presidents beginning with George W. Bush relied upon in order to invade and occupy Iraq, as well as a number of other military conflicts. Will the House of Representatives follow suit? The answer is more complex than you might expect. Will Congress reassert its Constitutional exclusive right to wage war?
The Washington Post revealed that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a possible top contender for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, enthusiastically participated in torture as a JAG at Guantánamo Bay concentration camp in 2006, where he suggested that hunger-striking inmates be force-fed and personally supervised and smiled while observing what international human rights organizations universally describe as torture. DeSantis hasn’t denied the shocking charges. Will Trump make it an issue? Would a Democratic challenger? What does it say about the United States that the story doesn’t seem to be catching on?
San Francisco and the State of California are contemplating the issue of reparations to Black American descendants of slaves in order to compensate them for being the victims of systemic racism. Setting aside the issue of the vast amount of money involved, who would qualify? What would be the practical considerations of such a program? Is it even possible to compensate for such enormous injustice that is baked into the American economic and political system?
Watch the Video Versions of DMZ America Podcast #95:
DMZ America Podcast Ep 95 Sec 1: Senate Votes to Deauthorize Iraq War
DMZ America Podcast Ep 95 Sec 2: DeSantis the Gitmo Torturer
DMZ America Podcast Ep 95 Sec 3: Reparations to Black Americans
DMZ America Podcast #90: Two In-the-Know Cartoonists Analyze “Dilbert” Creator Scott Adams and His Racist Rant
Professional cartoonists Ted Rall (Left) and Scott Stantis (Right) dig deep into the dumpster fire started by “Dilbert” cartoonist Scott Adams, who used his YouTube channel and Twitter account to espouse apparently racist views that got his once-huge comic strip decimated by cancellations across the nation over the course of a few days. Ted and Scott dive into the fraught waters of this cartoon-world controversy, first analyzing whether the context of what Adams was saying differed from the news coverage. Ted shares his personal and professional interactions with Adams. Scott contextualizes the effect on syndication and the newspaper business from his vantage point as a long-time comic strip artist himself. Could Adams be suffering from a cognitive disorder or early onset Alzheimer’s? Is he evil or just weird? Does the punishment (in this case, being dropped by most of his client newspapers), fit the crime? Finally, Ted, a former newspaper syndicate executive at the company that distributed “Dilbert,” reveals how he and his colleagues would have handled the imbroglio and what Adams’ current syndicate will likely do going forward.