The DSR Network

On Tuesday, in a decisive 70 to 29 vote, the Senate passed a mammoth bill containing $60 billion for Ukraine’s self defense against Russian aggression, as well as $14 billion for Israel. Yet House Speaker Mike Johnson is vowing that the House won’t vote on the measure, in part because MAGA hard-liners are raging against it. We talked to Democratic Congressman Jason Crow of Colorado about what’s really driving the opposition, how Democrats can try to get around it with a “discharge petition,” and whether there’s a genuine pro-Putin faction in the U.S. House of Representatives. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On our Tuesday edition of the DSR Daily, we discuss the Senate passing an aid package for Ukraine and Israel, Estonian reports that Russia is preparing for confrontation with the West, new polling on the Biden document probe, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the freakout among Democrats about President Biden reached its shrillest pitch yet, after a special counsel report exonerated Biden but included combustible claims about Biden’s mental capacities. While many Democrats redoubled calls for the party to entertain alternatives to nominating Biden, confusion and disagreement reigns among them about what precisely to take away from this moment. We talked to Brian Beutler, who  regularly criticizes the Democratic Party’s approach to politics on his “Off Message” Substack, to sort through all the noise. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Donald Trump will throw Europe to the wolves, and he’s said so himself. The former president has said that he would not defend NATO countries in case of a Russian invasion, shocking our European allies. Yet the story has been little more than a footnote in the US news cycle. Journalist Michael Weiss joins Marc Polymeropoulos and David Rothkopf to discuss the profound damage of Trump’s statements and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On our Monday edition of the DSR Daily, we discuss the Israeli strikes on Rafah, Trump’s threats to abandon NATO allies in the case of a Russian attack, post-election strife in Pakistan, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Elon Musk has unleashed numerous tweets lately boosting far right personalities and endorsing MAGA tropes holding that migration constitutes a deliberately engineered invasion. He even endorsed a version of “white genocide theory.” Along with his elevation of Tucker Carlson’s interview with Russian president Vladimir Putin, it all amounts to a genuine ideology: Reactionary tech authoritarianism. We discussed this with Gil Duran, author of a New Republic piece called “The Tech Plutocrats Dreaming of a Right Wing San Francisco,” which offers a window into this ugly worldview. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: 07/1/22On this week's episode, we talk about the end of a monumental Supreme Court term and the explosive testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson before the January 6th committee. We ground all of our analysis in the words of Justice Barrett, Cassidy Hutchinson, and Kelly Shackelford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Original Air Date: 3/29/22The war in Ukraine has extended into its second month. To make sense of how we got to this point and what comes next David Rothkopf speaks with Ed Luce of the Financial Times, Rosa Brooks of Georgetown University, and Kori Schake of the American Enterprise Institute. Is Macron getting constantly fooled by Putin? How well is the West doing when the Ukrainians continue to fight alone? What impact has the war had on the defense budget moving forward? Find out as we get the original crew back together for a fascinating conversation. Join us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a Pentagon program is over budget. The Sentinel ICBM program is envisioned as a keystone of the US nuclear triad, but why do we need 400 new missiles? Slate columnist Fred Kaplan and Mackenzie Knight from the Federation of American Scientists join Jon Wolfsthal and Heather Williams to shine a light on the program and why it may, or may not, be necessary.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court is finally hearing Trump’s appeal of the Colorado ruling removing him from the ballot. The decision will be massive, but it is not the only legal challenge on Donald Trump’s plate. Norm and Kavita break down the case before the Court, and the state of Trump’s numerous legal battles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices