We at Gaslit Nation like to think big picture, so like a pair of melting clocks in a desert wasteland we shall force your memory to persist! This week, we look back at the last two years and come to a terrible realization: Trump lost, but the coup won.
Among the points of evidence for this claim: 1) The seditionists and insurrectionists who plotted the coup now control the House of Representatives 2) Trump remains free and running for POTUS 3) Radical right-wing SCOTUS made possible by Trump is tossing out fundamental rights and overruling the public will 4) The US is the first country to not prosecute its own coup plotters, thanks to Merrick Garland’s DOJ 5) Other coup abettor officials, like Christopher Wray and Louis DeJoy, remain in office despite their betrayal 6) We still don’t know key details about the 1/6 attacks – like who that lady planting bombs was -- and neither the DOJ nor the Jan 6 committee members are in any hurry to provide them 7) The GOP launched an attack on civil rights, called it a “culture war”, and liberal officials surrendered in advance.
And there’s more where that came from! We ask and answer key questions, like “What the actual ****?” and “What can be done?” Tune in and find out!
Our Patreon bonus this week will be an analysis of Biden’s State of the Union address followed by Q & A with our Patreon subscribers. We are recording on Wednesday and will release the episode later in the week. To send us a question and get an in-depth answer, subscribe at the Democracy Defender level or higher; to get a weekly bonus episode and other perks, subscribe at the Truth-Teller level or higher. Gaslit Nation is a 100% independent podcast, and the only reason we have that freedom is because of supporters like you. If you appreciate what we’re doing and would like to keep it going, please consider subscribing on Patreon!
Show Notes
Join the virtual February 25 7:30pm screening of Mr. Jones followed by a live audience Q&A with Andrea to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s total war invasion of Ukraine: https://www.mobilize.us/mediademocracyproject/event/548495/
Hey DOJ – quit writing and start indicting! This week we discuss the ongoing grotesque trend of former officials writing books about all the crimes they didn’t solve instead of actually protecting our country while in office. This is a long-brewing crisis going back to the days of John Bolton and James Comey, and its latest iteration is Mark Pomerantz, another lawyer lackey timing his “tell-all” for maximum profits and minimum democracy. We discuss how NDAs block the public from vital info and how the publishing industry has created an incentive for officials to remain silent about – or even participate in -- state crimes.
We continue to discuss the case of Charlie McGonigal – the indicted FBI official who was secretly working for sanctioned Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska – in the context of a broader look at corruption in the so-called “department of justice.” We examine the factors that contribute to this crisis including insularity, elitism, and nepotistic networks. We also destroy the myth that authoritarianism and law are two separate categories and that expertise on one negates knowledge of the other. Mafia states are in fact dependent on the judiciary, which functions as the cage bars of autocracy. If you understand how the judicial system works in a typical kleptocracy, the Biden and Trump DOJs will strike you as familiar. This is why the “legal pundits” polluting our airways with savior syndrome myths are not only vapid, but, over time, dangerous, as they destroy public expectations of good governance.
We also discuss the difficulty of parenting during this era of flagrant injustice. It’s Merrick Garland’s DOJ, but our children will have to live in its aftermath.
For our bonus episode, available to Patreon subscribers at the Truth-Teller lever or higher, we answer questions from our listeners. Among the topics covered are Fani Willis and the Georgia investigation, what happens if Trump is indicted, Ron DeSantis lackey Christina Pushaw, and the debt ceiling crisis. We will answer ANYTHING so please join on Patreon and send us your questions! Gaslit Nation is 100% independent. Our independence is what makes it possible to address topics most media outlets avoid. We thank you for your support and for keeping us going!
Show Notes:
The Broken Film – a documentary about genocides. For more information, including the trailer, visit the website: https://www.thebrokenpromisefilm.com/
Manhattan Prosecutors Begin Presenting Trump Case to Grand Jury https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/30/nyregion/trump-stormy-daniels-grand-jury.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur
National Progressive PAC Plans To Back Manhattan DA Candidate Alvin Bragg With $1 Million Cash Infusion https://gothamist.com/news/national-progressive-pac-plans-back-manhattan-da-candidate-alvin-bragg-1-million-cash-infusion
Read the Full Text of Mark Pomerantz’s Resignation Letter https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/23/nyregion/mark-pomerantz-resignation-letter.html
Welcome to the Gaslit Nation Q&A! We answer questions from our listeners subscribed at the Democracy Defender level and higher on Patreon. To access this and all episodes of Gaslit Nation, support the show at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe. Join our community here: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Welcome to the Gaslit Nation Q&A! We answer questions from our listeners subscribed at the Democracy Defender level and higher on Patreon. To access this and all episodes of Gaslit Nation, support the show at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe. Join our community here: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
America has a new leading export – sedition! Globe-trotting unpunished coup-plotter Steve Bannon and his elite operatives have moved their operation to Brazil, attempting to violently unseat democratically elected president Lula. Meanwhile, ousted dictator Jair Bolsonaro has taken up residence in Florida, the home base of unpunished mafiosos from around the world! We discuss the events in Brazil, how much more effective Lula’s response was to their attacks than the Biden administration has been to 1/6, and how the DOJ’s refusal to hold criminal elites accountable has created a global national security crisis.
We also discuss the continuing downfall of Congress, which has become less of a governing body than a gathering place for social media addicts attempting to build political personality cults. These reality TV show wannabes exist not to pass policy or protect the American people but to follow the path of the departed Donald Trump, a celebrity/criminal/politician hybrid cheered on by an army of “people” indistinguishable from bots. We also discuss the cliquish and cultish behavior in the Democratic party that has served only to strengthen the GOP’s fascist agenda. We also praise the rare officials who are exceptions to this behavior – new California Senate candidate Katie Porter, for one. Never forget that congresspeople are public servants and they work for you, not the other way around!
For our bonus episode, available on Patreon, we talk more about Brazil and about the contrived chaos in the House last week, in which Kevin McCarthy staged a feud with the Seditious Caucus in order to frame himself as a “moderate”, which he is not! We also answer questions from our listeners about covid lies and buried statistics, the failures of the DOJ and the January 6 committee, and much more. You can listen to this bonus by joining at the Truth-Teller level, and send us questions to answer in depth by joining at the Democracy Defender level or higher. Democracy Defenders are also invited to participate in our special live taping of Gaslit Nation on January 24! So sign up today, and we will see you soon – we could not make this show without you!
Our opening clip is from a November 2022 video of Steve Bannon, serial violent coup-plotter. It was put out by Eduardo Bolsonaro, the son of defeated former Brazillian president Jair Bolsonaro, who visited Florida in November, meeting with Bannon and Trump. His father is currently in the suburbs of Orlando. Florida is a growing hotbed of the global fascist movement. For the full discussion and to receive our weekly bonus episodes, subscribe at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won't hear every episode unless you subscribe to the show: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
This is an excerpt of our January 6 anniversary special. For the full discussion, which includes the GOP chaos in the House of Representatives and our usual Q&A where we answer questions from our listeners at the Democracy Defender level and higher, and to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation, sign up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe. Thank you so much to everyone who supports the show. Join our community of listeners here: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
***
Another year around the sun and coup mastermind Donald Trump still walks around free in his Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida, a foreign adversary’s paradise of stolen state secrets. And yet he’s still allowed to run for president. Now Trump’s many accomplices in Congress who helped fuel the incitement to violence that nearly overthrew our democracy on January 6 are currently raking in fundraising dollars from their Trumpian cult base as they proudly prevent the House of Representatives from getting to work. The dysfunction of the far right extremists that now control the Republican Party is by design and decades in the making, as we discuss in our spring 2022 series with leading experts on confronting fascism. The Trump rally that deliberately killed people on January 6, 2021 can now hold up the House of Representatives, raising alarms about the US once again on the global stage, jeopardizing the essential functioning of a major branch of government, and showing our global allies, at a time when we’re at war with Russian facism determined to undermine democracies around the world, that the US is not a reliable ally, that the US is plagued by political instability. Putin’s greatest assets aren't just Tucker Carlson and the GOP. It’s the utter lack of accountability for the Kremlin Klown Kar that carried out their treasonous conspiracy on January 6 two years ago and continues to threaten our democracy once again from the House floor. Let January 6 now be known as Merrick Garland Day as he's the one condemning us to a ground hog's day of attempted coups as the ones tasked with protecting us remain scared of their shadows or paid off in the shadows. Show Notes: Our initial reaction to January 6, 2021 captured here: https://twitter.com/sarahkendzior/status/1610641793913159680 Matt Gaetz friend handed 11-year prison term in US sex trafficking case https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/dec/02/matt-gaetz-friend-joel-greenberg-sex-trafficking Judge scolds Justice Department for its slow investigations at hearing for Rep. Matt Gaetz’s convicted associate https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/30/politics/joel-greenberg-matt-gaetz-investigation-hearing/index.html It’s Unclear Whether the Justice Dept. Will Take Up the Jan. 6 Panel’s Charges https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/us/politics/jan-6-trump-justice-dept.html The feds say they're in for the long haul in the Jan. 6 investigation. There is a time limit. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/feds-say-long-haul-jan-6-investigation-rcna61728Welcome back to the fifth year of Gaslit Nation and the fiftieth year of the quest for Donald Trump’s tax returns!
This week we discuss a panoply of government criminals and their dirty donors, ranging from newly minted oligarch cash receptacle “George Santos” (or whatever his name really is) to fellow recipients of mafia money in Congress (sadly it’s nearly everyone) to Trump’s half-century free ride from the IRS (because, again, they’re all in on it!) to the backers of Putin and Netanyahu’s wars (again it’s the same network enabling the crimes!) We also discuss the chaos and corruption that will ensue under a GOP House, the disturbing rhetoric of new Democratic House Minority Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, and give an update into Putin’s war on Ukraine.
We come fully armed with receipts and discuss what this entrenched corruption means for American democracy in the year 2023, a year in which Congress may have lost its illusions but has not found its soul. We discuss the lackluster release of Trump’s tax returns and stress the urgent need for release of his returns going back to the 1970s, which is when he allegedly made a pact with the US government to not pay taxes for thirty years in return for unnamed favors. (Read about it in Sarah’s book HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT which is having a $2.99 Kindle sale.)
We are recording our weekly bonus episode, available to Patreon subscribers at the Truth-Teller level or higher, on Wednesday to mark the second anniversary of the January 6 attack on the Capitol and the continued inaction of Merrick Garland’s DOJ to hold the organizers accountable. We will also be answering your questions so please keep them coming! If you subscribe to Gaslit Nation at the Democracy Defender level or higher, you can ask us anything you want and we will answer it in depth! Subscribers at that level are also invited to a live Gaslit Nation taping on January 24! Stay tuned for more details and thank you for your continued support of the show – we could not make it without you.
Show Notes:
Russian Oligarch’s Cousin Funneled Cash to N.Y. Politician https://www.thedailybeast.com/republican-george-devolder-santos-got-cash-from-andrew-intrater-cousin-of-russian-oligarch-viktor-vekselberg
Conservatives turn to a new message: ‘God bless the Ukrainian people’ https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/02/27/conservatives-cpac-ukraine/
Here's the first evidence Russia used Twitter to influence Brexit https://www.wired.co.uk/article/brexit-russia-influence-twitter-bots-internet-research-agency
Scrutiny mounts over tech investments from Kremlin-connected expatriates https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/12/19/russia-expatriates-links-probed/
The Russia Investigations: Another Oligarch Becomes Embroiled In The Imbroglio https://www.npr.org/2018/05/12/610466404/the-russia-investigations-did-a-nice-oligarch-pay-trump-s-lawyer
Russian Oligarch’s Cousin Funneled Cash to N.Y. Politician https://www.thedailybeast.com/republican-george-devolder-santos-got-cash-from-andrew-intrater-cousin-of-russian-oligarch-viktor-vekselberg
Moscow Heat: George Santos and His Moscow Trips https://petestrzok.substack.com/p/moscow-heat?r=1pz15w&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web
Russians getting seized off the street by police to go fight in Ukraine https://twitter.com/Laurie_Garrett/status/1609668327525203969
Firm Tied to Russian Oligarch Made Payments to Michael Cohen https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/08/us/politics/michael-cohen-shell-company-payments.html
A tiny paper broke the George Santos scandal but no one paid attention https://www.washingtonpost.com/media/2022/12/29/north-shore-leader-santos-scoop/
GOP operative convicted in scheme to funnel Russian money into Trump campaign https://www.axios.com/2022/11/18/trump-campaign-jesse-benton-russia
$858,000,000,000 - by Judd Legum - Popular Information
SBF and the Injustice Democrats - by Max Berger (substack.com)
The Ties That Bind: Ehud Barak’s Business Network - CTech (calcalistech.com)
‘Israel today, Israel tomorrow, Israel forever,’ Rep. Hakeem Jeffries says at NY rally – Mondoweiss
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! There'll be scary ghost stories, and tales of the glories of war criminals from long, long ago!
This week’s Gaslit Nation tells two stories. One is about the imprisoned Russian mercenary arms trader who enabled the most brutal people in the world for decades only to be freed in a trade for an American basketball player and released to his homeland to likely help carry out logistics in an imperial war. The other story is about a hammer-wielding maniac and his girlfriend – a “nudist activist” imprisoned for child abuse who roamed the US drugging people while her siblings immersed themselves in sex cults, artificial intelligence and the occult, with one of them single-handedly reviving the Freemasons of San Francisco before going on to work for the Trump and Biden administrations.
This is because life in America is fine and normal, and everything is normal and going to plan, and we should not be at all alarmed because clearly our institutions have got it under control!
Anyway, this episode of Gaslit Nation – a deep dive into war criminal Viktor Bout and then into Paul Pelosi attacker Dennis DePape and his girlfriend, Gypsy Taub, and her family – is a series of strange tales to share around the fire this holiday season. That’s because we are living in a real-life scifi dystopia. Might as well record it before Elon Musk inserts a chip in our brains and replaces it with his own!
For our weekly bonus episode, available to Gaslit Nation subscribers at the Truth-Teller level or higher, we discuss crypto and attacks on democracy, book banning, Jack Smith's backstory, the Hunter Biden laptop fiasco, the MeToo backlash, and more. If you are a subscriber at the Democracy Defender level or higher, stay tuned because you are invited to a special live taping of Gaslit Nation on January 24! Details to come. Thank you to everyone who subscribes to our podcast and keeps it going. We know economic times are tough and we very much appreciate your support – we could not make this show without you!
Show Notes Galore!
Arms dealer Bout seeks new U.S. trial, hires Ashcroft law firm (yahoo.com)
See Every Stock Trade Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Husband Has Made Since 2021 (businessinsider.com)
Lawmakers Unlikely to Be Banned From Trading Stocks, at Least for Now (businessinsider.com)
RELIGION AND SEX / The Immoral Majority / Finding sexual ethics in the godless masses (sfgate.com)
Women's Temple LLC :: Minnesota (US) :: OpenCorporates
Fundraiser by Diana Soline : Please help my Ukranian family! (gofundme.com)
Freemasons charter new San Francisco lodge - San Francisco Business Times (bizjournals.com)
Dennis Chornenky | Presidential Innovation Fellows
Optum's Chief AI Officer: AI is Driving Value-Based Care Improvements | HealthLeaders Media
Victor Ivan Chornenky, PhD - Marquis Who's Who Milestones (marquiswhoswho.com)
Who is Viktor Bout, the Russian arms dealer swapped for Griner?
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
We're doubling your chances to receive a signed copy of Sarah's latest book They Knew and a Mr. Jones film poster. Join us for our final phone bank of 2022 as we make calls to get out the vote in Georgia with Indivisible to keep Reverend Warnock in the Senate where he belongs and to defeat Herschel Walker, a puppet of GOP fascism. Every phone call we make matters, because every vote matters. So come join us December 5th Monday -- election eve! -- at 5pm to 7pm EST. We will select *two volunteers* to receive the book and movie poster. Sign up here: https://indivisible.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0vc-mrpz0qHtVTZtq2ouaDYLF1XgnQc2Or
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Important announcement! We’re phone banking with our friends at Indivisible for Reverend Raphael Warnock who we need to keep in the Senate, because he’s a good person; Dems need a 51 majority in the Senate to have a stronger hand negotiating with the ruthless GOP/Manchin/Sinema; and we cannot normalize bonkers Herschel Walker in the Senate for six years. And finally, the Senate map is abysmal for Dems in 2024 so we must ensure Warnock wins the December 6th Georgia runoff to stand a chance of keeping the Senate majority. Join us at any or all of the below phone banks. We’re selecting one volunteer at each event to receive a signed copy of Sarah’s new book They Knew and a Mr. Jones film poster! Sign up here:
- Saturday, November 19th 3:00pm - 5:00pm ET with special guest David Pepper, author of Laboratories of Autocracy
It’s been one week since the midterms and, as of now, it looks like the Democrats won the Senate but lost the House – or, shall we say, threw the House away. We look at the hard-fought wins and highly preventable losses of a party full of honest voters and dirty power brokers -- specifically the Pelosi Vichy Democrats and DCCC chair Sean Patrick Maloney, who, along with heirs to the Cuomo corruption ring, was responsible for the Democrats losing New York and therefore the House itself. This was not a loss but a forfeit, and what these Vichy Democrats are trying to forfeit is our future.
This conversation on Democratic wins and losses turned into a broad and emotional discussion on racism, regional stereotyping, media bias, the pandemic, and the future that America’s young people deserve. As Sarah said in a previous episode, the difference between the GOP and the Democrats is that the GOP will kill you but the Democrats will let you die. America’s young people do not deserve a future designed by a geriatric crime cult and its octogenarian enablers. There are so many good people out there – you among them! – and none of you deserve this. We want to make that abundantly clear because as soon as they call the midterms for the GOP, the Democratic politicians will tell you it was your fault and the media will try to convince you that you wanted it all along. Don’t listen! Stay strong and follow your moral compass; you will find it in your heart.
In our bonus episode, Andrea answers questions from our subscribers at the Democracy Defender level and higher about where do we go from here, how to talk to your children and deal with your own anxiety in a time of fascism, and whether Putin’s corruption has weakened Russia’s nuclear arsenal like it has his dysfunctional military in Ukraine. Never miss an episode of Gaslit Nation by subscribing at the $5/month Truth teller level or higher on Patreon, or join our regular Q&As and live events by supporting our independent journalism at the Democracy Defender level or higher. Thank you to everyone who helps keep our show going!
Show Notes
The Inside Story of Sean Patrick Maloney’s Face Plant in New York https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2022/11/sean-patrick-maloney-new-york-red-wave-dccc-house.html
New York Democrats urge Hochul to push out the state party chair. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/14/nyregion/new-york-democrats-urge-hochul-to-push-out-state-party-chair.html
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
If you have a young person in your life, take them to vote, and if they're voting for the first time do something special to mark the big occasion. That's the advice of this week's special guest. Here is an excerpt of our interview with Dakota Hall, the executive director of the Alliance for Youth Action—the first Black and Indigenous leader of the organization—and former executive director of the Alliance’s Wisconsin-based affiliate Leaders Igniting Transformation. The Alliance for Youth Action grows progressive people power across America by empowering local young people’s organizations to strengthen our democracy, fix our economy, and correct injustices through on-the-ground organizing.
If you're receiving this message before 4pm EST on November 7th, election eve, there's still time to join our phone bank with Indivisible for Mandela Barnes for U.S. Senate and Lauren Underwood for the U.S. House in Illinois. We're selecting one person at the phone bank to receive a signed copy of Sarah's new book They Knew and a Mr. Jones poster. Mandela Barnes himself will join the phone bank so don't miss it! RSVP here: https://twitter.com/gaslitnation/status/1587816319872811008
Important reminder! Come join our phone bank Monday November 7th -- election eve! -- at 4pm EST with Indisvible for Mandela Barnes for U.S. Senate in Wisconsin and to re-elect Lauren Underwood to the U.S. House in Illinois. One volunteer who attends Monday's phone bank will be selected to receive a signed copy of Sarah's new book They Knew and a Mr. Jones poster. Mandela Barnes will join the Zoom meeting at the start of the phone bank so don't miss it!
Sarah and Andrea were on MSNBC Sunday morning talking to host Ali Velshi about the far-right threats to our democracy and what must be done to protect our country from sliding into autocracy. You can watch the clip here, and RSVP to Monday's phone bank here!
And now, for an important message to our community about our decision to stay on Twitter and why we think you should, too. For those subscribed to our show on Patreon, we're working on a way to add Discord on Patreon just for our community of listeners and will keep you updated on that shortly!
Where else would you like to connect with Gaslit Nation online? Let us know in the comments on this Patreon post! Thank you!
We're very excited to announce that Mandela Barnes is going to speak at our phone bank for his U.S. Senate race in Wisconsin on Monday November 7th -- election eve! -- at 4pm EST. Join us and our friends at Indivisible Illinois as we make calls to get out the vote in Wisconsin and also for U.S. House super-star Lauren Underwood in Illinois. Every phone call we make matters, because every vote matters. And remember: at the event, we're selecting a volunteer to receive a signed copy of Sarah's new book They Knew and a Mr. Jones poster. That could be you! Listen to our quick reminder of why Ron Johnson, the Kremlin's "useful idiot" in the Senate, needs to go. Sign up here to RSVP.
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
- October 28th Friday 4pm to 6pm Eastern Time — Phonebank with Indivisible for U.S. Senate Candidate John Fetterman in Pennsylvania. RSVP here!
- October 30th Sunday 2pm to 5pm Eeastern Time — Phonebank with Swing Left for Christy Smith for California's 27th Congressional District. She lost last time around by only 333 votes! RSVP here!
- November 7th Monday 4pm to 6pm Eastern Time — Phonebank with Indivisible for U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin and U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood in Illinois. RSVP here!
- October 28th Friday 4pm to 6pm Eastern Time — Phonebank with Indivisible for U.S. Senate Candidate John Fetterman in Pennsylvania. RSVP here!
- October 30th Sunday 2pm to 5pm Eeastern Time — Phonebank with Swing Left for Christy Smith for California's 27th Congressional District. She lost last time around by only 333 votes! RSVP here!
- November 7th Monday 4pm to 6pm Eastern Time — Phonebank with Indivisible for U.S. Senate candidate Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin and U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood in Illinois. RSVP here!
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Imagine: the year is 2005. The Apprentice dominates the airwaves, Kanye West dominates the charts, and you are told that in seventeen years, you will be comparing the antisemitic rants of former presidential candidate West to the antisemitic rants of former president Trump as you analyze the descent of the United States into full-fledged authoritarian kleptocracy. Where is a Tesla time machine when you need one?! Surely transporting us back to an era in which we could alter our current timeline this would be a better endeavor for shit-talker Elon Musk than taking over Twitter while bonding with the extremist right.
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
David Pepper has witnessed Ohio devolve into an electoral autocracy where extreme Republican gerrymandering ensures that the results of the state elections are pre-determined. This is happening across the country in so-called red states, which are in reality voter suppression states or Republican hostage states. Pepper explains how we got here, what can still be done about it, and his list of reasons and strategies to fight like hell. For more on Pepper's work, check out his book Laboratories of Autocracy: A Wake-Up Call from Behind the Lines and his website LaboratoriesOfAutocracy.com.
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
This week we kick off by examining a country that is technically a democracy on paper but is actually ruled by an unelected supreme court of theocrats who strip women of their basic rights! Is it the United States? Iran? Does the fact that we have to ask not speak to a broader global attack on women’s bodily autonomy?! We look at the brave protests of Iranian women and prepare for a horrific month of rulings on the Supreme Court here in the US. We also note that a woman will become prime minister of Italy for the first time, but of course she is a fascist groomed by Steve Bannon, because it is 2022 and we are in hell.
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Hey remember when Trump stole a bunch of classified documents related to nuclear material and stored them in his Florida golf compound and the legal pundits said “he can’t do that” and Trump summoned the ghost of Roy Cohn who said “it doesn’t matter what the law is, only who the judge is” and a Trump-appointed judge ruled in favor of Trump and then another throwback from Trump’s mafia glory days in NYC was appointed “Special Master”?
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Sarah's latest book "They Knew: How a Culture of Conspiracy Keeps Americans Complacent", is available in stores, as an ebook, and as an audiobook, so please go out and get it! In this special episode, Andrea interviews Sarah in what turned out to be an unusually personal conversation about the book and more.
Gaslit Nation is back with breaking news: Joe Biden calls out fascism, and Merrick Garland has still not discovered obvious crimes! This week we break down Biden’s comments on “semi-fascism” (he’s right!) and his September 1 speech, which was notable not only for the Dario Argento production design but for finally confronting the threat of autocracy in stark terms. But where was this speech eighteen months ago? And more importantly, where is the action to match his words?
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Missouri has long been the bellwether of American politics, predicting presidents and anticipating trends – and lately, it’s been the bellwether of American decline. This week Gaslit Nation welcomes Jason Kander, a former Missouri Secretary of State, Missouri Democratic Senate candidate, voting and veterans’ rights advocate, and bestselling author. Kander’s new book, Invisible Storm: A Soldier's Memoir of Politics and Ptsd, is a raw and moving account of his battle with PTSD as well as a thoughtful overview of US politics and media. This is an unusual book for a politician to write, but Kander is not your average politician, which is one reason we were excited to welcome him to the show. (Also you should buy his book, all royalties go to the Veterans Community Project, a nonprofit organization serving homeless and at-risk veterans.)
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
In this episode, we take a break from our ongoing analysis of why the DOJ won’t prosecute a coup-plotting career criminal nuke fetishist who has confessed to his crimes dozens of times to turn our attention to the ongoing genocide of Ukraine by Russia. August 22 marked the six-month anniversary of Russia’s escalated invasion, and the body count is immense – not only among Ukrainians murdered by Russian imperialists and Russian soldiers sacrificed by their own government, but in the mysterious deaths of those caught up in the middle.
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It’s been over a week since the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago to retrieve highly sensitive classified documents concerning nuclear materials and we’re so glad that career criminal Kremlin asset Trump is finally behind bars – just kidding, they’re still letting him run around and do whatever! This week we review the criminal investigation into Trump and his crime cult, which is once against faltering, whether in NYC in the pseudo “plea deal” granted to Alan Weisselberg, or in the refusal to stop the immediate threat Trump, Kushner, Ivanka, and the rest pose not only to the United States, but to the entire world.
We review new details of the raid, warn about Trump’s successful manipulation of the media narrative, and focus on two key players – Ivanka and Jared, who were installed in the White House thanks to Merrick Garland’s BFF Jamie Gorelick. Kushner has since made illicit two billion dollar deals with Saudi Arabia and had fallen under House investigation for illicit nuclear deals in 2019. (Remember when the Oversight Committee investigated things?!) We warn that the classified information that has been stolen and weaponized is not limited to the physical documents that the DOJ took its sweet time retrieving from Mar-a-Lago. We dig deep into the dirty dealings of the Trump spawn and their partners, and also look at Trump’s own obsession with nuclear weapons, which dates back over forty years. This is a very dangerous situation!
Our bonus episode is the Gaslit Nation Live episode recorded last week with our wonderful Patreon subscribers, in which we answered questions from our audience in real time. This episode was taped the day after the raid and the questions are very lively, making it a Must-Listen! To hear it, sign up at the Truth-Teller level or higher. Gaslit Nation is an extremely independent podcast and the only reason we have the freedom to investigate these controversial topics is because of listeners like you, and we thank you for keeping us going!
Show Notes:
From Andrea on Twitter: Want to protect the White House from Trump in 2024? Protect Pennsylvania, a must-win state in the Electoral College, in 2022. Join me in donating to a @StatesProjectUS giving circle to elect Democrats and keep Trump's Big Lie out of power in Pennsylvania https://twitter.com/AndreaChalupa/status/1559199165674098688
Donate to help keep Pennsylvania Blue in 2022 and Beyond! https://www.grapevine.org/giving-circle/zjrhpjw/State-Fair
Here's an excerpt of our live Q&A with our audience at the recent live taping of Gaslit Nation. Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Welcome to a Gaslit Nation special episode that wil bury you with stone cold facts! Over the past eighteen months, we have faced incredulity and even threats when detailing the shady background of Merrick Garland and his ineffectiveness as Biden’s attorney general. But unlike the DOJ, we welcome requests for proof and have provided it here!
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
The January 6th Hearings are a ratings bonanza. It’s a shame Democrats didn’t do more prime time hearings into Trump corruption sooner, following the Blue Wave of 2018. We told them then that the American people demand long overdue justice, and hearings are a great way of building public outcry to insist on accountability. Unfortunately, hearings can also be a way to rewrite history and rehabilitate reputations. Sarah breaks down the disturbing parallels between the 9/11 hearings and the January 6 hearings to provide warning signs of justice being denied. Another reminder of why we must handle our democracy with care.
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
This week we take on shady internal affairs (the enormous number of people in the Trump crime cult circle who died violent or mysterious deaths) and burning external affairs (the horrors of climate change and Joe Manchin’s role in destroying the planet). But before we get to that, we examine yet more confirmation of what we already knew – that Merrick Garland is a mafia state enabler. We discuss the leaked DOJ memo that Rachel Maddow discussed on her show Monday night, Bill Barr’s influence over the DOJ, and shadow mentor Jamie Gorelick, who is still molding both Garland and the January 6 committee.
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
This week we catch up on developments in two of the main stories we cover on Gaslit Nation: the January 6 Committee hearings, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Sarah breaks down the hits and misses of the hearings thus far, and warns of the hearings being used for reputational rehab for dirty Republicans both in the Trump administration (Barr, Kushner) and outside of it (Liz “Democrats kill live babies” Cheney.) Don’t fall for it! We also address the continued refusal of Merrick Garland’s DOJ to bring perpetrators to justice and how it’s torpedoing Joe Biden’s approval rating. The hearings have done a great job reminding Americans what happened eighteen months ago – and left them wondering why it took eighteen months to address crimes that still go unpunished.
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
We’re ba-a-a-ack! Like a poltergeist of civic conscience, Gaslit Nation has returned to tell you all the things you do not want to know but need to hear. We were off for three months while Andrea had a baby (welcome to the family Chloe!) and Sarah had her bodily autonomy signed away by the Attorney General of Missouri. An eventful spring for all!
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
In a two-part discussion, this week we’re joined by two experts on the frontlines of fighting for our democracy on the all critical state level. If you want to fight for our democracy and prevent the slide into authoritarianism, clean up your local state government! How to proceed? Two experts from The States Project – Melissa Walker, a widely read author for teen novels turned democracy defender, and the Head of Giving Circles, and Aaron Kleinman, the Director of Research – are here to tell you. Walker and Kleinman address structural impediments to democracy – including gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the composition of the Senate – as well as challenges from dark money shadow networks and astroturf protests. They also give advice on navigating state politics and staying strong in the midst of this onslaught on our rights. We need all hands on deck for 2022, and an informed public is a powerful public!
In a two-part discussion, this week we’re joined by two experts on the frontlines of fighting for our democracy on the all critical state level. If you want to fight for our democracy and prevent the slide into authoritarianism, clean up your local state government! How to proceed? Two experts from The States Project – Melissa Walker, a widely read author for teen novels turned democracy defender, and the Head of Giving Circles, and Aaron Kleinman, the Director of Research – are here to tell you. Walker and Kleinman address structural impediments to democracy – including gerrymandering, voter suppression, and the composition of the Senate – as well as challenges from dark money shadow networks and astroturf protests. They also give advice on navigating state politics and staying strong in the midst of this onslaught on our rights. We need all hands on deck for 2022, and an informed public is a powerful public!
This is Part II of our interview. In this two-part interview, we take a deep dive into a right-wing hellhole with acclaimed scholar Nancy MacLean, the author of the bestseller Democracy in Chains, which discusses how anti-democratic networks run by powerful plutocrats came to hold the United States hostage. MacLean discusses the Koch dark money network and its shadowy political partners, the decades-long libertarian takeover of the Republican Party by far-right mercenaries, the infrastructure of this extremist network and how it has sustained itself for so long, the rise of the neo-confederacy, and the dystopian plans billionaires have for the American future. We also get MacLean’s opinions on recent crises like the pandemic, the Trump Crime Cult’s Capitol attack, and the assault on voting rights. And of course we ask her how we best battle these insidious adversaries, break America’s Koch addiction, and get our country back!
In this two-part interview, we take a deep dive into a right-wing hellhole with acclaimed scholar Nancy MacLean, the author of the bestseller Democracy in Chains, which discusses how anti-democratic networks run by powerful plutocrats came to hold the United States hostage. MacLean discusses the Koch dark money network and its shadowy political partners, the decades-long libertarian takeover of the Republican Party by far-right mercenaries, the infrastructure of this extremist network and how it has sustained itself for so long, the rise of the neo-confederacy, and the dystopian plans billionaires have for the American future. We also get MacLean’s opinions on recent crises like the pandemic, the Trump Crime Cult’s Capitol attack, and the assault on voting rights. And of course we ask her how we best battle these insidious adversaries, break America’s Koch addiction, and get our country back!
This is Part II of our discussion. Gaslit Nation is excited to welcome Anne Nelson, an expert on American right-wing aspiring autocrats who has been warning about the conditions that led to our present national crisis for our entire adult lives! Yes, you should have listened to Anne Nelson’s warnings earlier but it’s never too late to start. In this crash course in America’s secret history, Nelson describes a radical right-wing takeover that was decades in the making. She explains the nefarious financial and political alliances that arose during the Reagan administration and still guide the US today, the rise of the religious right over the past five decades, “shadow network” think tanks like the Council for National Policy, and the infusion of dark money in politics. She also describes the ineffective response of the Democratic Party to Republican extremists, the January 6 attack on America, and what steps we can take to preserve our democracy.
Gaslit Nation is excited to welcome Anne Nelson, an expert on American right-wing aspiring autocrats who has been warning about the conditions that led to our present national crisis for our entire adult lives! Yes, you should have listened to Anne Nelson’s warnings earlier but it’s never too late to start. In this crash course in America’s secret history, Nelson describes a radical right-wing takeover that was decades in the making. She explains the nefarious financial and political alliances that arose during the Reagan administration and still guide the US today, the rise of the religious right over the past five decades, “shadow network” think tanks like the Council for National Policy, and the infusion of dark money in politics. She also describes the ineffective response of the Democratic Party to Republican extremists, the January 6 attack on America, and what steps we can take to preserve our democracy.
Back in 2015 and 2016, as the GOP caved to the Trump crime cult and the mainstream media normalized their corrupt ambitions, a few voices from the right rose up in dissent. One of the leading lights in this regard was Cheri Jacobus, a political commentator and former Republican who was an early target of Trump’s vicious campaign and its propaganda machine. Currently a registered Independent, Cheri was the founder, President, and Executive Producer of “America Reads The Mueller Report” and the former host of the podcast “Politics with Cheri Jacobus”. She remains an outspoken critic of the Trump crime cult and its enablers.
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
We’ve got a new District Attorney in New York City – but it’s the same old story of entrenched corruption and impunity for criminal elites! Last month, new DA Alvin Bragg decided not to pursue the prosecution of Trump for obvious crimes, and last week, lawyer Mark Pomerantz, who had come out of retirement to aid then-DA Cy Vance in the Trump Crime Cult investigation, published a blistering resignation letter in which he blamed Bragg for stopping the investigation in its tracks. What Pomerantz failed to mention was that Vance had spent his entire tenure protecting criminal elites – including the Trump family! – while lawyers in the know like Pomerantz said nothing until it was too late. Bragg did not create these problems; he inherited them. But now it is Bragg’s job to fix them, and he seems more content to be the fall guy than to act.
This episode tackles the urgent need for accountability in both the United States and in Putin’s war on Ukraine. We start out with yet another deep dive into the cesspool that is Merrick Garland’s political career and in particular, his alliance with lifelong mentor and corruption queen Jamie Gorelick. We then turn again to the Kremlin’s war on Ukraine and the urgent need for Ukrainians to be protected from the brutal Russian air strikes and ongoing mounting genocide of Ukrainian civilians. For that, we welcome a special guest this week: Ukrainian analyst Olena Tregub, Secretary General of NAKO (the Independent Defense Anti-Corruption Committee), an international oversight body created by Transparency International.
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
On Friday March 11 at 1pm EST, we're holding a fundraiser with Agnieszka Holland, the director of Andrea's film Mr. Jones, and Mr. Jones himself, British actor James Norton, in support of The Kyiv Independent -- journalism on the frontlines of Putin's war -- and Proliska -- a humanitarian relief organization serving Donbas, a region in eastern Ukraine under Putin's invasion since 2014. Get access to the event by making a donation here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/meet-agnieszka-holland-james-norton-the-kyiv-independent-tickets-291927923277
The rest of this clip is a teaser of Gaslit Nation's Early Show. Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
This week, we review the chaotic and horrific developments in Putin’s war against Ukraine. We cover the West finally sanctioning Russia and beginning to isolate it from positions of geopolitical power; Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons; the protests in support of Ukraine that broke out all over the world, in particular in independent states that were once colonized by the Soviet Union; the shameful and unforgivable role Kremlin media lackeys played in abetting Kremlin violence in Ukraine and Syria; and what NATO and the West should do to protect Ukrainians trying to flee to the border.
Subscribe today to access all episodes of Gaslit Nation by signing up at the Truth-teller level or higher. You won’t hear every weekly episode unless you subscribe: https://www.patreon.com/gaslit
We have two special guests reporting from L'viv, Ukraine! Gaslit Nation welcomes back intelligence expert Malcolm Nance, the author of several bestsellers on Trump’s ties to the Kremlin as well as the aptly titled upcoming book on Trump’s insurgency, THEY WANT TO KILL AMERICANS. (Listen to our previous interview with Malcom here.) We also welcome back journalist Terrell Starr, host of the must-listen podcast Black Diplomats which decolonizes foreign policy by amplifying historically marginalized voices and providing crucial perspectives on the crises the world faces. (Listen to our previous interview with Terrell here.)
