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 attempt to elect another speaker with Tom Emma getting the nomination,

but with 26 House Republicans opposing him along with Trump, who was calling him a rhino.

Tom Emma has decided to drop out of the race.

So we are back to the chaos caucus.

As the shutdown of the legislative branch of government reaches an all-time record of three weeks,

joining us is Lawrence Jacobs, the McKnight Presidential Chair in Public Affairs,

the Walter F. and Joan Mondale Chair in Political Studies,

and Director of the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance in the Hubbard H. Humphrey School and the Department of Political Science at the University of Minnesota. His books include Politicians Don't Pander, political manipulation and the loss of democratic responsiveness, who governs, presidents, public opinion and manipulation, and democracy

under fire Donald Trump and the breaking of American history.

Then we'll assess whether the insurrectionist House Republicans are fascists or nihilists

or both, and speak with Rebecca Gordon, who teaches in the philosophy department at the University of San

Francisco and for the university's Leo T. McCarthy Center for Public Service and the Common Good.

She is the author of mainstreaming torture, American Nuremberg, the U.S. officials who should stand

trial for post-9-11 war crimes crimes and is now at work on a new book

on the history of torture in the United States. A regular contributor to Tom Dispatch

will discuss her latest article, Trump's Schedule F for Failed State. Then finally, with

Secretary of State Blinken addressing the UN Security Council today,

insisting the U.S. does not want to see the war between Israel and Hamas become a regional conflagation,

we will look into Iran's role as an escalation looms following warnings from Tehran

that a ground invasion of Gaza is a red line for Iran and its proxy Hezbollah.

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