This is a preview episode of The Muckrake Podcast's Patreon show that happens every Friday. To unlock the full show and a host of other great things, visit http://patreon.com/muckrakepodcast
Co-hosts Jared Yates Sexton and Nick Hauselman hosted a live show last night and answered a number of great questions from our Patreon community. They tackled subjects like what a Trump 2nd term would look like, what does Alex Jones do next, and whether Trump will actually go through with the debates against Joe Biden.
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Hey everybody, it's Nick Hauselman here, co-host of the Muckrake Podcast.
Unfortunately, the first couple of minutes of our live show didn't get recorded, so that's why it starts a little bit abruptly.
But the rest of the show went great, so enjoy!
Some attacks on journalists and analysts and so-called leftists and communists and socialists.
I will say, one, history shows us that this is what happens.
That authoritarians, they gain power.
And what happens is that they start to use the legal system as one of their main ways to go after people.
So it wouldn't necessarily be attacking quote-unquote propagandists, right?
It would start out by, probably with immigrants because they're always the people who are like, you know, at the forefront of this stuff, who are always being attacked.
And I could see the first year of Trump's presidency being like an all-out assault On immigrants.
I think that that is completely true.
I think they've already lined up the strategies for that.
I think as it moves forward, we would undoubtedly see protesters, correct?
We would see a lot of people who'd be protesting Trump and his policies.
We've already seen that the state is starting to leverage its power towards protesters, not just recently with the campus protesters, but also what we've seen in red states creating situations where people can run them over with their cars.
Kyle Rittenhouse murdered a couple of people and got away with it.
So you start to see that sort of stuff start to take off.
The other question here, Nick, is how can you start sort of leveraging the judicial system and law enforcement against people?
Well, there have to be quote-unquote crimes.
Right.
So what we could talk about are pandemic crimes.
I'm sure Anthony Fauci and people like him and doctors, right, would definitely get in the crosshairs, particularly if Republicans take control of Congress.
There would be no end to the hearings and possible prosecutions.
Then all of a sudden you'd have to start taking a look at what's happening around the world right now, where gay and trans people are starting to be called mentally ill.
You know, we've already laid the groundwork for them to be called groomers and predators.
We could see a lot of that stuff start to happen.
On top of that, let's just point out that one of the major social media platforms is owned by a right wing psycho in Elon Musk.
They could plant evidence.
We've already seen through the Twitter files a pretty impotent attack on journalists and politicians.
I think this thing could ramp up.
I'm not so sure that this wouldn't end up in the worst case scenario.
And for the record, I'm not completely sure that Donald Trump would only stay for one more term on top of that.
I mean, J.D.
Vance, given an ounce of power, I could see him getting really, really aggressive and dangerous.
So, I'm not completely convinced that we couldn't see something that seems a little extreme right now.
The idea that those camps would be filled with people, particularly political dissidents, within the first year, I don't buy that, but I guarantee there are discussions about this.
There have already been plans for things like this.
Yeah, I think also like in the joking sense, he's like, I only want to be a dictator for the first day, you know.
Generally, when you say things like that, and you get a little taste of it, you might think, you know what, tomorrow might be nice to do this as well.
And then that could continue going from there.
So I think a lot of times the ineffectuality of the GOP tends to be what causes them to be so incompetent.
And I think that like they're never sort of sure they're ever going to win these races.
And so if they do on this one, they are going to be prepared, unlike in 2016.
And that is concerning.
So all those things you said are definitely are reasonable conclusions to make out of this, which is why it's really imperative that we work as hard as we can to get as many people out to vote.
Because you have to remember, Republicans have already made it harder and harder to vote than it was in 2020.
So that was a big key to Biden's victory.
And have already laid the groundwork for questioning the 2024 election going forward.
I would also be remiss, Nick, if I didn't point out that this week, and by the way, when was he convicted?
Was that two weeks ago?
Let me try and wrap my head around that.
What is time?
What is time?
Convicted of 34 felonies two weeks ago, where a couple of weeks, about a month out from his supposed sentencing.
What are we seeing this week, Nick?
It's the reboot!
Donald Trump's on Capitol Hill talking to Republicans, getting all their ducks in a row.
He just had a meeting with a bunch of corporate CEOs in which he basically promised them a tax cut and, you know, basically to run the ship however they want.
We're already seeing this thing start to move into a different direction and, you know, we know this.
We've talked about it.
The media loves the back-and-forth horse race.
They're not going to let him just sort of like fade into oblivion.
There are real consequences that are on the board here and people need to take it seriously.
Number two, Tim says, I have to assume you've heard the Samuel Alito recordings.
Boy, have we.
Is there anything the Democrats, or anyone for that matter, can do about this?
And if not, is it time to just write off the Supreme Court forever?
Your lips to God's ears, Tim.
I wish we could write off the Supreme Court forever.
I've heard the recordings, I assume you have.
What are your feelings on, I believe it's Elizabeth Windsor, Who went undercover at a Supreme Court Historical Society dinner, something along those lines.
Got Alito on tape saying a lot of really, really problematic, frightening things.
I mean, from what I gathered, it was really rooted in religious fervor, right?
And how this is going to be a war that someone needs to win.
That's sort of what I thought I took from that.
By the way, Mrs. Alito was also caught on camera.
Charming.
Charming.
I wish we could hoist a couple of drinks.
You know, I don't want to cast dispersions, but I don't remember when we were talking about the flag thing if I sort of indicated my feelings for her being, I believe the term would be piece of work.
She's a piece of work.
And I love that in subsequent reporting, it's like not only was she getting in major fights with the neighbors, but was like spitting at people.
And by the way, her and Ginny Thomas and Alito and Clarence Thomas, I imagine that they have just incredible nights.
Oh gosh, yeah, playing Gin Rummy after dinner.
So I had the inkling based on a very little reporting we had even a month ago, whatever that was, because what is time, but I think all that proved pretty correct as far as she is just out there and aggressive and hostile and all those things that you picture when you're talking about the Karens and whatnot.
So, you know, we've all read Macbeth.
We all know, you know, the power of the woman behind the man.
And there's no question that all this ideology is mixing together and they all believe this and they're all in a situation.
Now, did you happen to hear how Justice John Roberts answered her questions?
John Roberts turns out walks the line.
He talks the talk.
He walks the walk.
He basically was like, no, I don't believe in any of this.
America is not a Christian nation.
We should be impartial judges.
Hats off, John Roberts.
You're wrong on almost everything, but congrats.
And he probably believes that.
He certainly understands what the role of the Supreme Court's supposed to be.
So that's cool.
But at any rate, to hear then Alito be so flippant with his take on that and not have any sense or awareness of what he's saying out in public like that, it clearly shows you what kind of a zealot the guy is.
So it is really concerning.
You know, you throw on that with it what Clarence Thomas wasn't reporting for all the gifts.
Well, I'll say this first of all.
They gotta do something.
They have to impeach somebody. - Well, I'll say this, first of all, the really amazing thing here is that Alito said this to a person that he didn't know.
Windsor was at this thing, sort of like took him aside and talked to him.
And without, with very, very little provoking, Alito was just like, we are in the middle of a war between godliness and secularism, and one side will win.
There's a, there are a few things that we have to talk about here.
First of all, None of this is stuff we didn't know.
Nick, I just wrote on my substack about this.
He has years worth of history of saying this stuff in speeches and addresses.
He's very open about the fact that he believes this.
Yes, it is shocking that we have this undercover thing immediately after the flag controversy.
He is who we thought that he was, and he is very open about that.
The other problem with it is And this is something we have to start to wrap our minds around.
Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito are not aberrations.
They are part of what has happened with the right wing and particularly the Federalist Society and their wealthy benefactors who have created this entire scenario that we're now living in.
Why did they want Samuel Alito, Nick?
Because he's a religious extremist.
They wanted somebody to come in and do what they wanted.
I talked about in the Substack article, they used to get libertarian judges.
Judges who didn't want the government to do anything and leave alone the rich people.
Now they need to move the project forward.
They want religious zealots!
And so they found Kavanaugh.
They found Amy Coney Barrett.
Samuel Alito was like a harbinger of what was to come.
So we need to understand that that is what has happened.
And quite frankly, even if you were to impeach him, and for the record, Nick, I have a little story for people who might not know this.
Even if you were to impeach him, Like, he would eventually be replaced by another religious zealot, and on top of that, the Democrats aren't going to!
They have no interest in going after him or Thomas.
It doesn't matter how many plane rides Thomas took, how absolutely corrupted Alito is, and how much of an extremist he is.
They're not interested in doing this.
It's one of the most popular things in the world right now to go after the Supreme Court or talk about changing it.
We're not hearing it.
Now, all that being said, do you know who is the one Supreme Court Justice who was impeached?
Do you know that?
Yeah, I mean, gosh, it was a long time ago.
It was a long time ago.
But I forgot what the name of it was.
Samuel Chase, back in the 19th century.
Just a little story about that.
We've talked about it on this show before.
The Supreme Court gave themselves the right to review laws.
They just made that up out of whole cloth.
It's not in the Constitution.
That's not what they're supposed to do.
They did it in part to go after Thomas Jefferson.
The Federalists saw Thomas Jefferson as a dangerous person.
Turns out, based on the Federalist Project, he was dangerous, and he brought in a lot of Democratic, small-D Democratic ideas that really threw them off and ended up destroying the party.
They tried to go after him with the judiciary and as a result he basically declared war on the Federalist in court.
Samuel Chase was impeached for, let me check this Nick, drunkenness and insanity.
In that order?
Insanity and drunkenness.
He was eventually acquitted.
He continued to serve on the Supreme Court.
But that is the one time.
They're not, unfortunately, they're not going to go after Alito.
And they're definitely not going to go after Clarence Thomas, even though both of them have been shown to be unfit for the position.
This is where we should be going after the judiciary.
This is where the Supreme Court should be held accountable.
It's right there on the table.
They're not interested in doing it.
Well, for what it's worth, I am willing to go on the record and say that whatever we've discovered so far about Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, we will find out more and it'll be worse.
So, we don't know necessarily, but it will be worse than we've already heard.
I can guarantee you there's going to be more stuff that comes out.
And, you know, maybe then we can begin the discussion all over again to see if they're going to do anything about it.
But I have a feeling at some point, if it continues on that path, They're not going to have a choice.
And who knows, maybe they'll even step down.
But I don't know.
Do you think they will?
I mean, if you want to use Alito's response to the request to have him come talk to Congress as an indicator, then no, he will not.
No, no, no.
He actually, you know, he I think he somehow enjoys this to some degree.
And this is No, he likes it.
I think the conflict gives him, and we saw this from Martha Ann Alito, I think the conflict gives them energy, you know?
I think they're combative for a reason.
And by the way, let's not, like, let's not play down what this was.
Alito is a Christian nationalist.
He is a radical Catholic judge who believes that it is the duty of the court to inflict morality and oppression based on quote-unquote God's will.
He's a true believer.
Like, these people are there for very, very specific reasons.
Clarence Thomas, I mean, he's there for the trips and the polos.
Oh yeah.
Quite frankly, that's what's going on there.
But Alito, I would be shocked if he were to step down.
I think this is what makes him happy.
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