#1327 Impeachment as a Lens Through Which to Understand the GOP
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 21 December 2019
⏱️ 70 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 12/21/2019
Today we take a look at the GOP through modern history to understand how they came to be what they are and how the impeachment is throwing this reality into such sharp relief.
Be part of the show! Leave us a message at 202-999-3991
EPISODE SPONSORS: Clean Choice Energy
SHOP AMAZON: Amazon USA | Amazon CA | Amazon UK
MEMBERSHIP ON PATREON (Get AD FREE Shows & Bonus Content!)
SHOW NOTES
Ch. 1: What the framers didn't foresee was Mitch McConnell - Impeachment, Explained - Air Date 10-26-19
A thought on why it’s Mitch McConnell, not Donald Trump, who poses the core threat to our constitutional structure.
Ch. 2: What’s wrong with the Republican Party? - Impeachment, Explained - Air Date 11-23-19
Thomas Mann, co-author of It’s Even Worse Than It Looks joins me to discuss how the Republican Party became the institution on display in this process.
Ch. 3: The GOP's Ultimate Defense Keeping America Tuned Out - On the Media - Air Date 11-22-19
David Roberts, a writer covering energy for Vox, on the "epistemic crisis" at the heart of our bifurcated information ecosystem.
Nicole Hemmer, the brilliant historian of conservative media, joins to discuss how Fox News and the larger conservative media-verse protects Trump but also lures him into disaster.
Ch. 5: Comparing the pubic opinion timeline from Nixon to now - Impeachment Today - Air Date 12-18-19
The second time the US impeached a president, it was Richard Nixon. And we all know how that turned out — except we don’t. Princeton history prof Kevin Kruse gives us the tour.
Noah Feldman is a Harvard Law professor and one of the constitutional scholars who testified at the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing. He joins me to talk about what he saw, what he learned, and the Republican argument that truly scared him.
Ch. 7: Trump impeached - Impeachment Updates from The Washington Post - Air Date 12-19-19
The House of Representatives voted last night to impeach President Trump on charges that he abused his office and obstructed Congress, branding an indelible mark on the most turbulent presidency of modern times.
FINAL COMMENTS
Ch. 8: Final comments on the end of the year, the end of the impeachment investigation and what we are looking ahead to next year
MUSIC (Blue Dot Sessions):
- Opening Theme: Loving Acoustic Instrumental by John Douglas Orr
- Minutes - Pacha Faro
- Astrisx - Bodytonic
- Trois Gnossiennes 3 - Blue Dot Sesisons
- Gondola Blue - Towboat
- Rapids - Grey River
- Tripoli - Pecan Grove
- Voicemail Music: Low Key Lost Feeling Electro by Alex Stinnent
- Closing Music: Upbeat Laid Back Indie Rock by Alex Stinnent
SHOW IMAGE:
"He's Number One: Trump Leads GOP Field in New Poll," Mike Licht, Flickr | License | Changes: Cropped and blurred top and bottom
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
Thanks for listening!
Visit us at BestOfTheLeft.com
Support the show via Patreon
Listen on iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify | Alexa Devices | +more
Check out the BotL iOS/Android App in the App Stores!
Follow at Twitter.com/BestOfTheLeft
Like at Facebook.com/BestOfTheLeft
Contact me directly at Jay@BestOfTheLeft.com
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award winning best of the left podcast in which we shall |
| 0:07.0 | learn about the GOP through modern history to understand how they came to be what they |
| 0:12.8 | are and how the impeachment is throwing this somewhat new reality into such sharp relief. |
| 0:19.7 | And before I get started just to explain a little bit, you know, if you've been listening |
| 0:22.5 | to it, I've been doing a series on impeachment with different aspects of it. |
| 0:26.5 | So did the history of Ukraine to explain how that ties in, did the history of the concept |
| 0:32.4 | of impeachment itself to understand how it's supposed to work, its intentions and so |
| 0:37.2 | forth. |
| 0:38.4 | And then my plan for today, which was going to be the third and final installment in the |
| 0:42.5 | series, not to mention the last episode of the year before we go on break, was just to |
| 0:47.9 | be the case against Donald Trump. |
| 0:50.4 | Bring, you know, tie it all together and now here, here's where we are today with the |
| 0:54.8 | case facing us today. |
| 0:57.6 | But what I realize is that there's a more interesting and maybe more important story to be told, because |
| 1:04.4 | well informed people on both sides of the political divide are probably going to have heard |
| 1:11.3 | most aspects of the case against Trump. |
| 1:15.4 | And they either see it clearly and believe his guilt and all of that, or they insist |
| 1:23.2 | that nothing is as it seems and it's all a hoax or this is all being made up by Democrats |
| 1:31.4 | who just hate Trump or you know, whatever. |
| 1:33.9 | And so that divide creates a scenario in which me doing an episode on the case against |
| 1:40.4 | Trump turns out to be kind of useless because many of you will have already heard those details |
| 1:48.1 | and you won't learn that much. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jay Tomlinson, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Jay Tomlinson and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.