The Critical Hour

US Started, Ended 2020 With Aggression Toward Iran

The US started 2020 by assassinating the iconic Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani and ended it with a massive military buildup and threats of all-out war.
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Caleb Maupin, journalist and political analyst, joins us to talk about US foreign policy. US President Donald Trump is again beating the neoconservative war drums towards Iran as he blames the country for a recent rocket attack on the US Embassy in Baghdad. A massive military buildup in the Persian Gulf region could indicate a plan to circumvent US President-elect Joe Biden's plan to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal by starting a war prior to the inauguration. Also, we discuss the success and future of China's poverty elimination programs.

Dr. Jack Rasmus, professor in the Economics and Politics Departments at St. Mary's College of California, joins us to discuss US economics. Despite Congress appearing hopelessly lost and deadlocked when working on economic relief for everyday Americans, the House of Representatives united in a bipartisan veto override for the latest defense spending bill, and the Senate will vote on an override soon. Meanwhile, the $2,000 stimulus check is facing almost certain death at the hands of the extremely conservative Senate. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) promised to freeze the defense veto override pending a vote on the stimulus increase, but Democrats joined with Republicans to circumvent his plan. 

Dan Kovalik, lawyer, professor and author, joins us to discuss US policies towards Iran, Russia and Venezuela. Kovalik has the unique resume of writing a book about each of the subjects that we are addressing in this discussion: "The Plot to Overthrow Venezuela: How the US Is Orchestrating a Coup for Oil"; "The Plot to Attack Iran: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Iran"; and "The Plot to Scapegoat Russia: How the CIA and the Deep State Have Conspired to Vilify Putin."\

Danny Haiphong, author and contributor to Black Agenda Report, teams up with Margaret Kimberley, editor and senior columnist at Black Agenda Report and author of "Prejudential: Black America and the Presidents," to discuss the main news issues of the week. Two new members of the US House of Representatives are refusing to reveal whether they will support House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for another term. Also, Senate Democrats have allied with their GOP colleagues to spoil Sanders' plan to freeze the defense spending bill veto override pending a vote on the increased stimulus checks requested by Trump. 

Dan Lazare, investigative journalist and author of "The Velvet Coup," joins Jim Kavanagh, writer at The Polemicist and CounterPunch, to talk about foreign policy. Dan recently wrote an interesting article criticizing the media coverage of the "suspected" Russian hack and quickly found that it was blocked from most social media platforms. Also, the hacking story looks to be setting up the cybersecurity firms involved to cash in, as Biden has pronounced Russia the culprit and pledged to dramatically increase spending to address such issues in the future. 

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