Donziger Goes to Prison, Spending Bill Gutted

The David Pakman Show - October 28, 2021

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Trump Coup Lawyer Caught on Hidden Camera

Former Trump legal adviser John Eastman was caught on camera telling an undercover progressive activist that he stood by his blueprint on how Mike Pence could have subverted the 2020 election to give Donald Trump the win. The activist is Lauren Windsor, and she has been on a tear lately catching pro-Trump figures saying nefarious things with her undercover techniques. In this instance, Windsor peppered Eastman with compliments and then asked him: “why do you think Mike Pence didn’t do it?” (meaning steal the election for Trump). Eastman followed up, “well because Mike Pence is an establishment guy at the end of the day. And all of the establishment Republicans in DC bought into this very myopic view that Trump is destroying the Republican Party.” Another activist pressed Eastman as to why Trump didn’t join his supporters at the Capitol that day. Eastman claimed that Trump was planning on coming down to the Capitol but was deterred by the break-ins that already begun before his speech concluded. Eastman went on to make claims like an “Antifa guy got paid 60,000 bucks by CNN to break in” and that the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys in attendance were “FBI plants.” With people like John Eastman advising Trump over how to respond to his 2020 election defeat, it’s no wonder why the presidential transition and the events of January 6th got as tumultuous as they did.

Joe Rogan Slams Paternity Leave, Pete Buttigieg

Joe Rogan piled onto the attacks against Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is currently on partial paternity leave to raise his premature newborn twins. Rogan said on a recent podcast episode with Bridget Phetasy that family leave should be reserved only for the mother who gave birth and that while other countries can have paternity leave, American men need to get back to work. Rogan said “if I was an employer and I had a guy who worked for me who wanted to take three months off because his wife gave birth, I’d be like what the f*** are you talking about Mike?” When Phetasy pushed back and said that paid paternity leave was standard practice in Europe, Rogan fired back: “we’re not in Europe. This is America. This is better.” Rogan’s reasoning falls flat for a few reasons, chief among them being that paid time off is less about recovering from childbirth and more about taking care of the newborn baby. We know about there being better outcomes for newborn children when they have time to bond with their parents. And as Phetasy pointed out, paid paternity leave is standard practice throughout the rest of the developed world, so there’s no reason it can’t happen in the United States. Buttigieg is right for taking paternity leave and he would do best to ignore the criticisms that are currently coming his way.

From yesterday’s show:

Fox Host's Audience Wants Him Dead for Encouraging Vaccine

Fox News host Neil Cauvto recently got over a breakthrough case of COVID-19, and after making his return to television, he took the opportunity to encourage his audience members to get vaccinated if they haven’t already done so. Cavuto said earlier this week on his program, “we’ve lost nearly 800,000 in the US. Take the political speaking points and toss them. For now, I’m begging you toss them and think of what’s good, not only for yourself but for those around you.” Upon making these pro-vaccination statements, Cavuto was met with a whirlwind of hate from his conservative audience, some of which amounted to death threats. One viewer wrote in and said to Cavuto, “it’s clear you’ve lost some weight with all this stuff. Good for you. But I’m not happy with less of you. I want ‘none’ of you. I want you gone. Dead. Caput. Fini. Get it? Now, take your two-bit advice and deep-six it, and you!” While it’s a shame that Cavuto is getting these aggressive messages for doing the right thing, it’s important to stress that he helped build the monster that is the modern American right wing. For the many years that he has been on the air at Fox, Cavuto has furthered the conservative agenda and now it seems as though he is witnessing the dangers of its radicalization as it just so happens to now be turned against him.

From yesterday’s show:

LOL: Republican Blames His Staff for Trump Riot Involvement

Republican Congressman Mo Brooks of Alabama is blaming members of his staff over accusations that he was involved in the planning of the January 6th Capitol riots. The basis of the allegation is that two organizers spoke with Rolling Stone under the condition of anonymity and implicated Rep. Brooks as one of several Republican congresspeople who helped coordinate the events that day. CNN Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona asked Brooks about his alleged involvement, and he reportedly told her that while he had no personal involvement, “I don’t know if my staff did . . . but if they did I’d be proud of them for helping to put together a rally lawful under the First Amendment at the Ellipse to protest voter fraud and election theft." While it’s clear that Brooks wants to distance himself from the events that day, he cannot do so entirely because he spoke before the crowd at the “Save America” rally. Brooks told the crowd of Trump supporters to start “taking down names and kicking ass,” as he wore body armor, perhaps anticipating that the crowd could take him up on his word and get violent. Surely there will be more to learn about Brooks’s participation in the January 6th planning along with several of his colleagues who worked their hardest to enable a desperate Donald Trump to do his best to hold onto power.

More on the show:

--David Liss, health services researcher at Northwestern University who specializes in researching primary care medicine, joins David to discuss whether routine health screenings, check-ups, physicals, and other interventions actually increase quality of life, health status, and life expectancy

--Attorney Steven Donziger is being sent to prison in one of the most outrageous miscarriages of justice of its kind in recent years

--After both Republicans and centrist Democrats have gutted the infrastructure and spending bill, should progressives vote against it?

--Notable discussions from the David Pakman Show subreddit, including about 2024, "antibody passports," work visas and shortages, and much more

--Republican Senator Ted Cruz cites Nazi salutes in a bizarre defense of "free speech" during a recent hearing

--Voicemail caller wildly claims, without evidence, that the Alec Baldwin shooting was a false flag planned to justify seizing guns from Americans

--On the Bonus Show: Billionaires could end starvation, Iran will return to nuclear negotiations, cigarette sales up in 2020 for the first time in 20 years, much more...

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