Electoral Law Reform; Gas Crisis in Europe; Torture and State Secrets

Political Misfits

Dr. David Schultz, distinguished university professor of political science and legal studies at Hamline University and the author of “Presidential Swing States: Why Only Ten Matter,” joins us to talk about electoral law and proposals that are being floated around as solutions to a dysfunctional system, including fixing existing ambiguities about what it means for a state to “fail to make a choice” on Election Day, too-lenient rules about how objections to votes can be filed, and the role of the vice president in certifying the vote. We also talk about what’s the resistance to reforms, and what it would take to restore confidence in U.S. democracy.
Dr. Kenneth Surin, professor emeritus of literature and professor of religion and critical theory at Duke University, tells us about the energy crisis that has gripped Europe after months of rising gas prices, and sudden surge that is threatening to create political havoc both in the countries affected and the EU as a whole. We also talk about disagreements over how the bloc should respond, what EU leaders have presented so far, the response to those proposals, and how not all members want to see far-reaching measures enacted for a crisis they might not be feeling as acutely as their neighbors.
Kei Pritsker, journalist with BreakThrough News, joins us to talk about the homelessness problem in both Washington D.C. and the country and how it embodies the reality of our unequal system, the fallout of the scandal at Facebook after the whistleblower revelations, and the intersection between social media, the national security state, and foreign policy. We also talk about the ever shrinking infrastructure bill and what we could end up with after all the horse trading is done.
John Kiriakou, co-host of The Backstory on Radio Sputnik, joins us to talk about the case of Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn, a Palestinian man who is currently held at the US prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba after he was captured in Pakistan in 2002, the torture he suffered, and how the CIA admitted after the fact that it had made a mistake.