Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org.

I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll look into a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with Trump's demented rambling yesterday on the first anniversary of his second term,

which was followed by his incoherent, slurred and embarrassing speech today at Davos

before a deathly silent audience as he railed against windmills,

repeated grievances about winning the 2020 election,

and told the Europeans how terrible Europe is without offering evidence.

Joining us to discuss why the press piled on about Biden's mental acuity,

but as silent in the face of Trump's obvious madness, is David K. Johnston, the co-founder of DCReport.org, a professor at the Rochester Institute

of Technology, and a Pulitzer Prize winning investigative reporter and 13-year veteran of the New York

Times. He is the best-selling author of the making of Donald Trump, and his latest book is The Big Cheat,

How Donald Trump Fleeced America and enriched himself and his family.

Then we'll examine the shocking fact that this country's closest friend and neighbor is now making precautionary military plans to defend itself against a U.S. invasion ordered by a dangerous American leader who has many times claimed Canada as his 51st state.

Joining us is Christian Newprecht, a distinguished professor in the Department of Political

Science and Economics at the Royal Military College of Canada and Director of the Institute

of Intergovernmental Relations at the School of Public Policy at Queen's University.

He's the editor-in-chief of the Canadian Military Journal, and his books include Security Cooperation Governance, the Canadian United States Open Border Paradox, and most

recently military operations in response to domestic operations and global pandemics,

implication for civil military relations.

Then finally, we'll speak with Jonathan Taplin, an author and director emeritus,

of the USC Annenberg Innovation Lab, who has produced music and film for Bob Dylan and the band,

George Harrison, Martin Scorsese, Vim Vendez, Gus Van Sant and others.

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