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 a local reaction to the deadly floods that took the lives of over

100 mostly young girls and we will explore how intergenerational greed and inaction in Kerr County,

whose capital Kerrville has the second highest concentration of millionaires per capita in any

city in Texas led to the underinvestment in flood prevention.

Joining us is Jeremy Surrey, who holds the Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership

in Global Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is the

professor of history and public affairs.

He is the co-host of the podcast, This Is Democracy, and the author and editor of a number of books

including The Impossible Presidency, the Rise and Fall of America's Highest Office, Henry

Kissinger and the American Century, and most recently Civil War by other means,

America's long and unfinished fight for democracy.

We'll discuss his article at his substack out tomorrow, intergenerational destruction and the floods.

Then we'll examine the Ken Klippistine scoop full of leaked army documents, exposing the

military fiasco yesterday in Los Angeles, MacArthur Park, where ICE, CPB, and the National

Guard, along with other federal police, descended on an empty park to round up non-existent

MS-13 gangbangers.

Joining us is Tom McItis, a professor of history at DePaul University, where he teaches courses in British, modern European and military history.

His research and writing covers international security, terrorism, unconventional conflict, and

military history.

A regular to contribute to the Hill,

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