Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org. I'm Ian Masters, and today we'll examine a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the stalemated war in the Persian Gulf that could last well past Memorial Day

and punish working Americans even more, as oil prices are likely to rise to $200 a barrel,

with reserves drying up as 20% of the global supplies bottled up by Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

Joining us is Jeff Colgan, the Richard Holbroke Professor of Political Science and Director of the Climate Solutions Lab at the Watson Institute for Public and International Affairs at Brown University,

where his research focuses on international order,

especially as related to energy and the environment.

He's the author of Petroaggression, When Oil Causes War, and Partial Hegemony, Oil Politics and

International Order.

And he has an article in The New York Times, we will discuss,

Trump's war is punishing the poor, starting at the gas pump. Then we'll look into today's release of the Democratic National Committee's autopsy on the Democrats' 24 defeat that has been

held back by DNC Chair Ken Martin, who released a typo-riddle draft,

which he disavowed that failed to mention any reason why Democrats might not have shown up to vote

for Kamala Harris, like Gaza, for example.

Joining us is Ryan Cooper, a senior editor at the American Prospect, and the co-host of the Left Anchor

podcast, as well as the author of How Are You Going to Pay for that Smart Answers to the Dumbest

Questions in Politics? His latest articles at the American Prospect include Trump is wrecking the

US military, and Trump has created a climate opportunity.

Then finally we'll investigate how Democrats and the press are being played by Trump as they pile on his distraction of the $1.8 billion slush fund without focusing on the real scam, which is the deal to have the United States forever barred and precluded

from having the IRS investigate the Trump family's monetization of the presidency.

Meanwhile, Jared and the Sons are pocketing billions from Gulf potentates in crypto scams, etc.

while leading negotiations with Putin and other kleptocrats

...