Out d’Coup Podcast

Out d’Coup LIVE | What’s going on? Seriously. Updates, thoughts, plans, and comments for 9/26/22

Tonight we’re digging into a couple articles and we're looking at you. What's on your mind and what's happening in your neck of the woods? We'd love to hear! Drop into chat and spill the beans. 

We might just talk about some articles I am reading for a class that I am teaching, so...here's the links to those articles: 

• "We're Not All in This Together: A Case for Advocacy, Factionalism, and Making the Political Personal," by Kevin Mahoney. From Unruly Rhetorics: Protest, Persuasion, and Publics | https://drive.google.com/file/d/19JzHrXyNVv97iS_Fb2de9qPI9-z8HqxM/view?usp=sharing
•  "What is 'Peak Indifference'?: A Theory and Plan for Change," Cory Doctorow | https://doctorow.medium.com/what-is-peak-indifference-b7ddb6d92ca5

We'll also probably talk about the new article in the Philly Inquirer on the Pennridge School District's upcoming vote (while this podcast will be live) on curbing student expression and faculty advocacy: 

• "The Pennridge school board is debating policies including 'teacher advocacy.' Here's where those guidelines stand," Oona Goodin-Smith in Philadelphia Inquirer.
  https://www.inquirer.com/news/pennridge-school-student-expression-teacher-advocacy-20220925.html

And thanks to a question from one of our Twitter warriors, Starry-Eyed, I'll probably talk about some of the choices being faced by unions - especially public sector and teachers' unions.

You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. 

Don’t Let Paul Martino & Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.

Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

 

Friday Politics Roundup | NYT sounds alarm on US democracy; QAnon-laced Trump rally in Youngstown; Big Oil gaslighting; Banned Books Week; NASA Artemis I & DART news; Happy Birthday to The Jetsons

A new long-form article in the New York Times by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist David Leonhardt, takes a deep dive into what he’s calling the “twin threats” to American democracy today: First, “a growing movement inside one of the country’s two major parties — the Republican Party — to refuse to accept defeat in an election.” Second, “the power to set government policy is becoming increasingly disconnected from public opinion.”

Last weekend saw the weirdest - and perhaps the most troubling - Trump rally to date. Closing out his Youngstown, OH rally, Trump got dark about the decline of America as creepy QAnon themed music played over the speakers. As he spoke, people in the audience began raising their arms and pointing a single finger in the air. It felt like a Nazi salute mixed with religious signs of devotion. Even journalists who have been covering Trump and right-wing extremist groups for a long time were baffled. 

New internal documents show that Big Oil companies openly admit to gaslighting the public about their commitment to “going green.” Documents also showed that some company officials wished climate activists would get infested with bed bugs. 

It’s Banned Books Week and public libraries across the Commonwealth and the country are shining bright lights on censorship and attempts by right-wing zealots to remove books from our schools. Bucks County has, of course, been front and center of the book-banning agenda. This year alone has seen 681 attempts to ban or restrict library sources, according to the American Library Association. 

As ALA president Lessa Kanani’opua Pelayo-Lozado put it, “The unprecedented number of challenges we’re seeing already this year reflects coordinated, national efforts to silence marginalized or historically underrepresented voices and deprive all of us — young people, in particular — of the chance to explore a world beyond the confines of personal experience.” 

Saturday, Sept. 24 from 4 to 6 p.m. at State and Main Streets with the first annual Banned Books Parade. Participants will dress up in cardboard box book costumes to bring banned books to life. 

The educational website Docuseek was blocked by the Central Bucks School District after “concerned parent” Vonna DeArmond complained at a recent school board meeting that some of the materials available on the site made references to sexually explicit themes and were discriminating against Christians. 

Abortion is proving to be a key issue in PA’s 1st Congressional district and Brian Fitzpatrick seems to believe that avoid talking to the media and his constituents is his best strategy. A recent WFMZ’s 69 News story covering the issue featured Ashley Ehasz speaking out about abortion rights, but as the reporter put it: “69 News wanted to talk more to Fitzpatrick about his views, but several attempts to reach his campaign went unanswered.” Duck and cover, Fitzy.

A couple of big things happening in space news. NASA is holding a press briefing today to discuss the status of the Artemis I mission to the Moon following two failed launches. Artemis ! may now launch as soon as September 27. Also, NASA will also be streaming its asteroid-smashing DART mission Monday evening. 

And the cartoon The Jetsons, premiered on this date in 1962.

Out d’Coup LIVE | Alyssa Bowen from True North Research on Dark Money school groups trying to buy the midterms for the GOP

It’s Banned Books Week and have we got a show for you. Tonight I welcome Alyssa Bowen back to the show and the timing couldn't be better. Alyssa is a Senior Researcher and Managing Editor for the progressive watchdog group, True North Research. We'll be talking about their new report, "The Disinfo Playbook Targeting Our Public Schools & Elections" and Alyssa’s related article for TruthOut, "Dark Money Groups are Trying to Buy the Midterm Elections for the GOP." True North's new report is a "guide to the anti-public school front groups - like the Independent Women's Forum (IWF) adn Moms for Liberty - and their Dark Money-funded efforts to censor books, disrupt equality, and impede fact-based learning by kids."

Alyssa received her PhD in History from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 2021 with an interest in fascism and antifascism, solidarity and social movements, immigration/exile and transnational history. She has bylines in the Nation and in Truthout, where she is a regular contributor. More of her public writing can be found on True North Research’s website and Substack. Follow Alyssa on Twitter @AlyssaAnnBowen.

LINKS:

• "The Disinfo Playbook Targeting Our Public Schools & Elections" | True North Research https://bit.ly/3UdVCxP
• "Dark Money Groups are Trying to Buy the Midterm Elections for the GOP" | Alyssa Bowen, TruthOut https://bit.ly/3LnWOuh

RESOURCES:

• True North Research: https://truenorthresearch.org/
• Documented: https://documented.net/
• Center for Media and Democracy: https://www.prwatch.org/
• Racial Justice Training Series with H.E.A.L. Together: https://bit.ly/3f3vBRG
• All H.E.A.L. Together trainings: https://www.raceforward.org/trainings

You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress.

Don’t Let Paul Martino & Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.

Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

 

Friday Politics Roundup | UN climate report; averted rail strike; NPR’s “quiet quitting” fail; CB West HS orders teachers to be complicit with anti-trans agenda; Republicans for Shapiro; Mars rover

This year’s United Nations climate report states pretty plainly that we are heading into “uncharted territory of destruction” as the world moves in the wrong direction on climate action. The report comes out as ⅓ of Pakistan is under flood water causing upwards of 1500 deaths thus far. Fires rage in Europe and the U.S. West Coast. Droughts deepen across the globe.. Near famine conditions across parts of Africa. As Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of the Climate Action Network told the Guardian, “The terrifying picture painted by the United in Science report is already a lived reality for millions of people facing recurring climate disasters. The science is clear, yet the addiction to fossil fuels by greedy corporations and rich countries is resulting in losses and damages for communities who have done the least to cause the current climate crisis.”

A massive railroad strike was temporarily averted as union negotiators reached a tentative agreement on a contract. But don’t get too comfy. The agreement still needs to be ratified by workers - and it’s not a shoo-in 

Quiet quitting is all the rage. A recent NPR story on the trend had me enraged. How you doin’? 

The founder of the outdoors company Patagonia transferred ownership of the $3 billion company to the nonprofit organization The Holdfast Collective which is devoted to combating climate change. The company’s website now reads: “Earth is now our only shareholder.” 

Central Bucks West High School administrators tell teachers not to use a student’s preferred name or pronoun if it does not match the information in the school’s database unless they have permission of the student’s parents. The school’s new “Gender Identification Procedure” is putting Central Bucks in legal jeopardy once again and teachers are speaking openly about defying the order. 

Bucks County Republicans reluctantly removed January 6 insurrectionist Down Bancroft from her Doylestown committee seat. In now an infamous video Bancroft posted from the riot, she said “We broke into the Capitol. … We got inside, we did our part. ... We were looking for Nancy to shoot her in the friggin’ brain but we didn’t find her.” 

A group of former Republican lawmakers and officials under the banner of “Republicans for Shapiro,” held a fundraiser for Josh Shapiro in Bucks County at the home of former Republican U.S. congressman James Greenwood. But don’t hold your breath for a change of course for the Bucks County Republican party. A Bucks County Republican Committee statement about the group called it “disappointing.” The statement continued saying that "While the list may contain former elected officials who once ran as Republicans, these men and women do not represent the values of the Republican Party, especially here in Bucks County." 

NASA Perseverance rover turns up the highest concentration of organic matter on Mars in an ancient river delta in the Jezero crater. Scientists say that while organic matter by itself does not prove that Mars could have sustained life at one point in its history, we are one step closer to an answer. The rock samples drilled by Perseverance will be returned to Earth as part of two missions in 2027 and 2028. 

Giant fireball streaked across the skies of Northern England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland Wednesday night. No, it was not an angel blessing the coronation of King Charles III. Nor was it more of Elon Musk’s space junk. Scientists now confirm that it was a large meteor that may have broken off a larger asteroid.

Out d’Coup LIVE | What’s on your mind? We talked education, 2022 election, lunch debt cancelation, and more.

Welcome to another Out d'Coup LIVE. Tonight we're looking at you. Can things get crazier? Yes. Yes, they are about to. What's on your mind and what's happening in your neck of the woods? We'd love to hear!

Links from tonight:

• PA-01 Indivisible Postcard effort sign up: https://t.co/AMqLzIplsh
• Bucks Cancel Lunch Debt Coalition: https://buxmontdsa.org/events/bucks-cancel-lunch-debt-coalition/2022/06
• WHYY: "A Bucks County school district just canceled over $20,000 of student lunch debt" https://whyy.org/articles/pa-bucks-county-school-district-canceled-student-lunch-debt/
• Support the Bucks County Beacon. Become a supporter during their September fundraising push: https://buckscountybeacon.com/2022/09/we-the-media-the-bucks-county-beacons-future-is-in-your-hands/

You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress.

  Don’t Let Paul Martino & Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.

Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

Friday Politics Roundup for September 9, 2022

Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup for September 9,, 2022. We're back at our regular time and there's a lot going on. We'll help to dig into the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics.

You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress.

Don’t Let Paul Martino & Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.

Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

 

Out d’Coup LIVE | Jennifer Cohn on dangerous, little-known New Apostolic Reformation

This week I welcome Jennifer Cohn to the show. We'll be talking about her new article in the Bucks County Beacon, "Underreported And Massive Theocratic Movement Joins Forces With Michael Flynn And Roger Stone." She sounds the alarm about the New Apostolic Reformation, a Christian Nationalist, authoritarian movement that believes that "Christians must take control of government, business, and culture in order for Jesus to return to Earth." We might dismiss this movement as the lunatic fringe if they were not building strong connections with right-wing power and money, including former Trump National Security Advisor, Michael Flynn,  longtime Trump advisor, Roger Stone, and PA gubernatorial candidate, Doug Mastriano. Following Cohn's Bucks County Beacon article, Elle Hardy, writing in The New Republic, amplified the alarm about the rising influence of the New Apostolic Reformation and connections with Mastriano. 

Jennifer Cohn is an attorney, election integrity advocate, and political essayist whose articles have appeared in the New York Review of Books, Who What Why, The Independent, TYT Investigates, The Brad Blog, Salon, and the Bucks County Beacon. You can follow Jennifer on Twitter at @jennycohn1.

Article links: 

• Jennifer Cohn | "Underreported And Massive Theocratic Movement Joins Forces With Michael Flynn And Roger Stone," Bucks County Beacon: https://bit.ly/3AnIGMx
• Jennifer Cohn’s Twitter thread onFrank Scavo, Teddy Daniels, and J6 Commission: https://twitter.com/jennycohn1/status/1564277932452786176 

Additional resources:

• Elle Hardy | "The Right-Wing Christian Sect Plotting a Political Takeover," The New Republic: https://bit.ly/3KpJs0n

Follow on Twitter: Bruce Wilson - @brucewilson; @LeaLovesUSA; & @VisionSurreal

Don’t Let Paul Martino & His Oligarch Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.

You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress.

Join our Discord server: https://discord.gg/WMW98RQEYV

 

Out d’Coup LIVE | Cyril Mychalejko, Editor-in-Chief of the Bucks County Beacon

This week I welcome Cyril Mychalejko to the show. Cyril is, of course, the Editor-in-Chief at the Bucks County Beacon. Cyril and I will be talking about a growing right-wing movement to call for a Constitutional Convention. Some supporters like Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick are calling for Pennsylvania to sign on to a Constitutional Convention. While publicly shopping a “reasonable” case for such a move, such a convention could fundamentally remake our democracy, ushering in an era of right-wing minority rule. We’ll also check in to see what else is happening at the Bucks County Beacon and in our communities.

Check out all the great work at the Bucks County Beacon at https://buckscountybeacon.com/

and you can sign up for Cyril’s newsletter on Substack: https://cyrilmychalejko.substack.com/

Article link:

• Cyril Mychalejko, "Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick Wants To Change The US Constitution And Radically Transform The Country," Bucks County Beacon https://bit.ly/3dNQRKm

You can help support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at patreon.com/rcpress.

Your support has helped make today’s show possible.

And make sure to join our Discord Server to continue the conversation all week long. Just click on the link in today’s show notes: https://discord.gg/WMW98RQEYV

Don’t Let Paul Martino & his Oligarch Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money. You can get more information and drop your donation at https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.

 

Friday Politics Roundup for August 19, 2022 | Build Back a Little Bit now law; climate crisis worsens; Bucks Co school boards; Fetterman trolls Oz; big D&D anouncement

Raging Chicken's Friday Politics Roundup for June 24, 2022. We're back at our regular time and there's a lot going on. Amy Knecht is back to help to dig into the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics.

Joe Biden finally signs the build back a little bit bill, aka the Inflation Reduction Act. Yes, it’s the biggest climate legislation in U.S. history. No, it will not be enough and we are once again putting faith in the market and the tax code, because that’s the only way we do policy in this country. 

Speaking of climate change, the Colorado River is at historic lows. Have you seen the pics? It’s not just the U.S. astounding pictures of the Loire River, France’s longest river, reduced to a trickle is pretty telling of our climate future. 

New study finds the emergence of an “extreme heat belt” in the U.S. By 2053, an area running from Texas to Illinois will hit a heat index of at least 125 degrees at least one day a year. 

Liz Cheney, to no one’s surprise, lost her primary to a Big Lie proponent. 

School Boards are back in session! Palisades held its first meeting of the new school year this past Wednesday night. A few irate parents showed up and demanded answers from the Superintendent over a trespassing incident that occurred at one the elementary schools.  

Fetterman is heating up the troll machine in his race against the Wizard of Oz. How’s shopping at Wegners for crudité - that’s a veggie tray for us plain folk. 

Big D&D news. Wizards of the Coast announced the coming of One D&D which will include an updated rule system, digital and hardcover book bundles, and a digital platform driven by the Unreal Engine…all through D&D beyond.

You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. 

Don’t Let Paul Martino & His Oligarch Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.

Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u

Out d’Coup LIVE | Mark Pinsley - Democratic candidate for PA State Senate’s 16th district

This week I welcome Mark Pinsley to the show. Mark is the Democratic candidate for PA State Senate for the 16th district. The 16th district was newly drawn to include portions of Northern Bucks County and Lehigh County. Mark is currently the Lehigh County Controller and is seeking to add to Democratic pick ups in the State Senate.

Following Republican Pat Browne's loss to his right-wing challenger in the Republican primary, Jarrett Coleman, there is even more at stake. Jarrett Coleman is an anti-abortion candidate that served on the Parkland School Board to push anti-masking policies during the pandemic and who stoked the flames of Critical Race Theory conspiracies. Mark Pinsley brings an experienced, progressive voice to this election with so much at stake. With enough people on the ground organizing by his side, Mark Pinsley has a good shot at turning the PA16 Blue!

We'll talk to Mark about his campaign and the stakes of this November's election.

LINKS:

• Mark Pinsley's campaign site: https://www.votemarkpinsley.com/

You can support this show by becoming a patron for as little as $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/rcpress.

Don’t Let Paul Martino & his Oligarch Friends Buy Our Schools and push extremist politics in our community. Raging Chicken has teamed up with LevelField to launch a truly community rooted PAC to invest in organizing, support local and state-wide progressive candidates, and unmask the toxic organizations injecting our communities with right-wing extremism. We’re putting small-dollar donations to work to beat back the power of Big Money.  You can get more information and drop your donation at  https://ragingchicken.levelfield.net/.

Join our Discord to continue the conversation all week long: https://discord.gg/BnjRNz3u