Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at background briefing. I'm Ian Masters,

and today we'll look into a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the increasing signs of the rise of American Theocracy, with a theocratic

Supreme Court in Alabama ruling that frozen embryos are people, and to think otherwise invites

the wrath of God, and Mike Johnson's invocation of God at a House Republican retreat

over the weekend that turned into a sermon, not a strategy meeting, and reporting from Politico

that reveals Trump's choice for a chief of staff is an ardent Christian nationalist, Russell Vout,

who would radically change the U.S. from a democracy into something

akin to the government in Iran. Joining us is Amanda Marcotte, a feminist author, blogger, and

politics writer at Salon. She is the author of Troll Nation, How the Right Became Trump Worshipping

Monsters, Set on Fing Liberals, America and The truth itself, and we will discuss her latest

article at Salon. Donald Trump may not believe in God, but he still plans to turn America into a

Christian theocracy. Then we'll examine the evidence now emerging that the source of the House

Republicans and Fox News's impeachment case against the so-called Biden crime family

is a dissembler working for Russian intelligence.

Joining us to discuss that, and Putin's increasingly brazen use of assassination with Navalny killed

to coincide with the Munich Security Conference is Robert Baer,

one of the most accomplished agents in CIA history

and the winner of the Career Intelligence Medal. He's the author of four New York Times bestsellers,

including Sleeping with the Devil, How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude. He's considered

one of the foremost authorities on the Middle East and is an intelligence and national security

affairs analyst for CNN.

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