Welcome to Democracy-ish. I am Danielle Moody with guest host again, Washahat Ali. You know him as a columnist at The Daily Beast.

And he has a new book coming out.

Go back to where you came from.

Waj.

So let's just say we're pre-recording this show, right?

Because it is the holiday.

But the last week in America, just crap. I mean, your book says go back to where you came from. I'm from here, but I want to go back to someplace else. How are you feeling?

You know, I'm on the edge of hope because as we're recording this, listening to the closing statements of the prosecutor in the Ahmad Arbery case, it was much stronger than the written house case. I think the instructions were much better. I think it's going to be very hard for the defense to prove self-defense, specifically in Georgia, right? The fact that

they chased this man who wasn't on their private property, who was not found having stolen

anything, and then, you know, accosted him and shot him dead. And so I'm hopeful that maybe,

maybe we might get justice, but at the same time, I am slightly frustrated like I always am,

that not enough Americans realize what we're up against with this slow-moving coup

and how their right wing is turning more fascist. And I sent you that text. Remember I sent you

that text in the morning? You're like, hey, what do you want to talk about? And I'm like, oh,

you and me, well, by the way, for those you're listening, the last two times

we've done this, like Daniels, like, well, I just sit and we'll talk.

I have no idea what she's going to ask me.

We have nothing prepared.

And it's gone well.

So this time she's like, you know what? Hey, do you want some more depressing news? A report came out that for the first time ever,

America's officially sliding back in its democracy.

So it's stuff like this that also keeps me on edge and makes me seem like,

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