The Critical Hour

Democratic National Convention Concludes: What Message, Plan is Party Offering?

On this edition of The Critical Hour, co-hosts Dr. Wilmer Leon and Garland Nixon talk to Caleb Maupin about the conclusion of the virtual Democratic National Convention on Thursday night.
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"President Trump has increasingly embraced, amplified or equivocated about a number of conspiracy theories in recent weeks," the Washington Post reported Thursday. "From the baseless QAnon movement to a racist theory about Sen. Kamala D. Harris of California’s citizenship, Trump has given a nod to fringe groups and welcomed them into the mainstream of his party." Is this the culmination of the Republicans' failure to rein in the Tea Party early in the game?

"New applications for unemployment benefits rose last week after a series of declines, another sign the labor market’s recovery is cooling amid continuing disruptions because of the coronavirus pandemic," the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. "Weekly initial claims for jobless benefits rose by 135,000 to a seasonally adjusted 1.1 million in the week ended Aug. 15, the Labor Department said Thursday." The Journal mentions a recovery, even if it's slowing down - what recovery?

"There is a misperception in western media that [Belarusian President Alexander] Lukashenko is [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s man. That is not true; Putin views him as an exasperating and rather dim legacy," Craig Murray wrote in a Thursday piece for Antiwar.com. "There is also a misperception in the west that Lukashenko really lost the recent election. That is not true. He almost certainly won, though the margin is much exaggerated by the official result." Why is it so difficult for Western media sources to get this right?

It's Friday, so it's panel time. Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and author of "Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents"; and Kevin Zeese, editor of Popular Resistance, discuss Thursday night's conclusion of the Democratic National Convention.

For our final panel, we're joined by Jim Kavanagh, political commentator, editor of The Polemicist and author of the article "Payroll Taxes Are the Achilles Heel of Social Security"; and Ted Rall, political cartoonist and syndicated columnist.

Guests:

Caleb Maupin - Journalist and political analyst

Jack Rasmus - Author of "Central Bankers at the End of Their Rope?: Monetary Policy and the Coming Depression," whose work can be found at JackRasmus.com

Scott Ritter - Former UN weapons inspector in Iraq 

Margaret Kimberley - Editor  and senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and author of "Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents"

Kevin Zeese - Editor of Popular Resistance

Jim Kavanagh - Political commentator, editor of The Polemicist and author of the article "Payroll Taxes Are the Achilles Heel of Social Security"

Ted Rall - Political cartoonist and syndicated columnist

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