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

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

We begin with the continuing paralysis of the legislative branch as nine Republican men,

only two of whom accept the fact that Joe Biden won the presidency,

offer themselves up as candidates to be the next speaker.

Joining us is E.J. Dion, a columnist for the Washington Post,

a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a visiting professor at Harvard University, and a professor at Georgetown University.

He is the author of Why the Right Went Wrong and co-author of the New York Times bestseller

One Nation After Trump and Code Red, How Progressives and moderates can unite to save our country.

His latest book co-authored with Miles Rappaport is 100% Democracy, the case for Universal Voting,

and we'll discuss his latest article at the Washington Post.

The GOP's Speaker Chaos is a blessing in disguise.

Then with two more hostages released today as the Israeli bombardment of Gaza intensifies,

we will examine the need to reconsider our position in the Middle East

instead of doubling down on failed policies and speak with John Hoffman,

a policy analyst in defense and foreign policy at the Cato Institute,

and a professor at George Mason University, specializing in Middle East geopolitics and political Islam. He was recently awarded

the 40 Under 40 Award from the Middle East Policy Council for his work on U.S. foreign policy in

the region and his work has been featured in the Middle East Policy, Open Democracy,

the Cipher Brief, and Foreign Policy Magazine, and we'll discuss his article at the national

interest, time to change course in the Middle East. Then finally we'll go to Argentina,

where a potty-mouth populist came in second in Sunday's's election and speak with David Adler, General

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