In case you missed it, it was a rough weekend for the right-wing media.Exhibit A:
and Exhibit B. Might there be some relation here? On to the show...Joining Alex today:Maya Wiley, Founder and President, Center for Social Inclusion (@mayawiley)Jacob Weisberg, Chairman, Slate (@jacobwe)Jennifer Senior, Contributing Editor, NY Magazine (@JenSeniorNY)Rep. Tom Cole, (R-Okla. 4th District ), Deputy Majority Whip in the House (@tomcoleok04) [Russell Rotunda]Clark Stoeckley, Artist (@WikileaksTruck)David Sirota, Salon.com Columnist /Bestselling Author (@davidsirota)First up, Alex checks in on "the dumbest idea" in congress, the GOP threat to shut down the government over Obamacare funding. The saber rattling from the far right has drawn the ire of the party establishment, who warn that this sort of brinkmanship could spell political suicide. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) summed this sentiment up thusly:
“It’s dishonest…The President is never going to sign a bill defunding Obamacare ….I’m getting phone calls from Oklahoma saying, ‘Support Mike Lee,’ and I’m ramming right back: Support him in destroying the Republican Party?”
The last time the federal government shut down in 1995 and 1996, nearly twice as many Americans blamed the Republicans than they did Bill Clinton, so you can't really blame party veterans like John McCain and Tom Coburn for being a bit gun-shy. Some people just have to learn for themselves, I suppose. Are the shenanigans of the "wackobirds" hurting the party's prospects in 2014?Next up, in a rare interview with The New York Times this weekend, President Obama continued his efforts to pivot back to the economy, stating "I want to make sure that all of us in Washington are investing as much time, as much energy, as much debate on how we grow the economy and grow the middle class as we’ve spent over the last two to three years arguing about how we reduce the deficits.” The president also addressed the widening income inequality in the country, labeling the need to "build a broad-based prosperity" as the central problem we face. But stuck with a congress who literally gauges success by how much they can obstruct and repeal, how much leverage does the president have at this point?Finally, while Edward Snowden's global hijinks have gotten the lion's share of attention in recent months, a verdict is expected this week in the case of Bradley Manning, who stands accused of leaking 700,000 documents to Wikileaks. While the prosecution contends that Manning had effectively given information to Al Qaeda and other enemies by putting them on the internet for all to see, his defense calls him a "brave and conscientious objector to the wartime conduct of the United States." Manning faces life in prison, and the verdict will certainly have broader implications for national security and the first amendment rights of the press. Clark Stoeckley, the sketch artist banned from the courtroom for alleged "inappropriate behavior" will be Joining Alex to discuss the case from his insider's perspective.Not a Weiner in sight. It all happens at 12pm ET.