Mike & Trey kick off the show by talking about a big opioid verdict against Johnson & Johnson in Oklahoma as well as a pending mega-settlement between Purdue Pharma and nearly 2,000 litigants. They agree that opioid abuse has had disastrous and tragic consequences, but neither Mike nor Trey are convinced that the Johnson & Johnson verdict will hold up on appeal. Purdue Pharma, having already admitted wrongdoing in previous cases (including a settlement with Oklahoma) is altogether different they believe.
Next, they discuss the 2020 presidential race, including a new Republican challenger to Donald Trump (one-term Illinois representative Joe Walsh), the Democrats who made the cut for the next debate, transparency of the Democratic debate rules, and who they see as the most likely - and most dangerous - general election opponent to President Trump.
After that they turn to the resignation of Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson and what it means for 2020. They agree that it’s good news for the Democrats, but Mike thinks the Republicans will still probably hold both seats, especially as Stacey Abrams has said she won’t run (which Mike thinks might have something to do with her hopes of being Joe Biden’s VP pick).
The show ends with a discussion of the border wall - first, allegations that President Trump has promised pardons to those who break the law to get the wall built, followed by President Trump’s keen interest in the aesthetics of the wall. Trey thinks that Trump probably did at least joke about pardons, and that it was either intuitively or strategically a smart move. Mike says that the focus on building a big, intimidating wall is largely empty symbolism, and characteristic of Donald Trump.
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Kristi Noem’s Dog, Civil Forfeiture, Swing State Polling
Israel Weapons Pause, Speaker Johnson, Trump Doc Case, Cuellar Indictment
Abraham Lincoln and Our Ancient Faith
Redistricting, Texas Porn Law, Trump’s Time Interview
Campus Protestors, Antisemitism Awareness, Marijuana Rescheduling
Can Capitalism Save the Planet?
SCOTUS on Homelessness, Trump Immunity, FTC Bans Noncompetes
Ukraine Aid, TikTok Ban, Campus Protests
Bryan Caplan Will Not Be Stampeded!
The Sixth Amendment
Israel, Johnson's Foreign Aid, Uri Berliner, the 1st Amendment
The Lie Detectives: In Search of a Playbook for Winning Elections in the Disinformation Age
Guns, Table Saws, America Divided (or maybe not)
AZ Abortion Law, Student Loan Debt, Trump on Trial
The Uses and Abuses of the Modern University
The Fifth Amendment
Israel and Iran, Biden’s Foreign Policy, Florida’s Supreme Court on Abortion Ban, Trump Media & Technology
NBC and Ronna McDaniel, Truth Social IPO. RFK Jr. and 3rd Parties
Joe Lieberman, Abortion Pill Access, Eastman Disbarment
Parliamentary America: The Least Radical Means of Radically Repairing Our Broken Democracy
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