US of Ed

"I think we should listen to the underlying message here, let's get the hell out of being warmongers."

The passing of a long-stalled funding bill for Ukraine and Israel means a fresh injection of cash for Ukrainian and Gaza war efforts but, particularly for House Speaker Mike Johnson, it could come at a cost. Meanwhile, Donald Trump's hush money trial in New York continues with Justice Juan Merchan weighing options to hold the for...

"Israel created a mess rather than cleaning up a mess."

Israel has successfully repelled an air attack by Iran as part of an escalation of hostilities over Gaza, and the world waits to see just what a more complete reaction will look like. Meanwhile, Trump is having his day in court over hush money charges in New York while his lawyers ready arguments to be made before the Supreme Court in favour of total presidential immunity. Al...

"It doesn't matter what a court decides today or tomorrow, the legislation needs to be clear."

Arizona has resurrected an 1864 law to ban almost all abortions in the state, once again underlining the importance of reproductive rights in the 2024 campaign and damaging Donald Trump's attempts to paint himself as an abortion moderate. Meanwhile, Joe Biden is marrying policy and campaigning with new tariffs on Chinese and Japanese imp...

"This is a turning point for Biden and the election, he has to, quick-smart, hopefully, get Israel to withdraw entirely."

Seven aid workers killed in Gaza by Israeli forces brings the war home for Australians and Americans, but will Biden's strong words ever be matched by strong actions? Also, Donald Trump continues to slip out of consequences when it comes to his legal cases, with a reduced bond now covered by a Californian billi...

"This degrades the court and the court system."

A devastating incident has left six dead and Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge in ruin with the city and the Biden Administration now wrestling with how to steer the recovery. Meanwhile, Trump has been handed a lifeline after being unable to pay the bond in his New York case over fraudulent business practices leaving many wondering whether it will ever be possible to see him held ...

"Joe's going to have to pull a rabbit out of a hat because the American people are just disillusioned."

While still battling over border control and funding for Ukraine, Democrats and Republicans appear to have reached a deal to avoid government shutdown once again, or have they? And what happens at the next federal budget two months before the election? Meanwhile, Trump has failed to secure bond for his New York civil case and ma...

"Trump always finds the wrong side of the tracks."

Joe Biden has laid out the stakes of the 2024 election in stark terms in last week's State of the Union address, we look at battle lines on both rhetoric and policy. Plus, Donald Trump has secured his hold on the Republican party as the presumptive nominee with a purge of the Republican National Committee with the former president hitting the campaign trail and set to start receiv...

"There's a clear chance that Trump might be the victor."

In spite of denying Trump a clean sweep of the primaries, Nikki Haley has dropped out of the Republican race after a lacklustre Super Tuesday showing leaving Donald Trump as the presumptive nominee to go up against Joe Biden in the November election. And in spite of a Supreme Court decision in Trump's favour this week, with ongoing legal battles and Trump facing a clear ment...

"America's in a mess... neither one of these candidates offers hope, unfortunately, for a nation that's in decline."

The Supreme Court will rule on Donald Trump's claims of total presidential immunity in April as the former president tries to escape consequences for his rule in the January 6th attempted coup, while Trump's litany of other legal issues continue. Meanwhile, a ruling in the Alabama Supreme Court determining that froz...

"This man and his voice are deeper in Russia than Russians want to admit. And maybe this cataclysmic event will get some of them, in some small number, to form a movement to overthrow this regime."

The death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny in an arctic prison has led to worldwide condemnation and more economic threats from the United States, but at this point is there anything left to sanction? Meanwhile, another big r...

"Trump was giving a little underhanded nod... hey, Russia, like you did last time, give me a hand in this campaign."

The House of Reps continues to block funding for Ukraine's military defense against Russian incursion as support for Russia's actions appears to grow amid Republicans and is actively encouraged by former president Donald Trump. Meanwhile, frustrations grow as the Biden administration continues failing to make any he...

"This is his endgame, he wins it all or he loses it all."

Bad news for Donald Trump this week with an appeals court unanimously ruling he is not immune from prosecution over his actions inciting insurrection on January 6th, 2021. Will it make a difference or is the appeals process just a delaying method anyway? Meanwhile, a band of both Democratic and Republican senators have turned back a bill that links funding for Ukraine and I...

"This is an important issue but you notice how the Republicans are using it for themselves. They're not interested in the border."

Texas Governor Greg Abbott is dating Biden to act, defying federal law and a mandate delivered by the Supreme Court with his border control crackdown. He's not alone, with Republicans seeing Biden as weak on borders and looking to leverage that as an attack even if they have to weaken the borders thems...

"America is spread too thin everywhere, and of course that thinness makes America weak internally."

It's a two horse race in the Republican primaries as Ron DeSantis drops out and returns to the state he's meant to be governing in defeat. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has set out his resistance to an independent Palestinian state in his clearest terms yet, so how does American stay invested? Also looking at Anthony Bli...

"If Joe Biden runs or doesn't run they're trying to make the case that democracy is at stake."

The race to the polls in November has already kicked into gear as we enter the new year! Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have amassed the largest campaign war chest in US history, but are they too preoccupied with their presumptive opponent? Meanwhile, Donald Trump is more concerned with his ongoing legal cases than the campaign trail and ye...

"Be strong, because it's going to take all of our fortitudes, external and internal, to make it through next year."

Ed and Sean look back on the biggest stories of 2023 in their final podcast of the year, most of which continue to drag us forward in 2024. Gaza, Ukraine, Donald Trump's legal issues and escalating rhetoric on race, the Biden agenda and preparing for the 2024 campaign, the climate crisis, opioids, and a hopeful upswi...

"Biden is DOA, he can't win the election now."

Republicans have moved ahead on efforts to impeach Joe Biden in spite of a lack of evidence of any wrongdoing to provide cover for Trump whose legal issues are set to dominate the 2024 campaign, so what are the next moves for Biden and for Republicans? Meanwhile, Israel faces new accusations of war crimes carried out on a civilian population as Biden cautions it is losing the world's ...

"There is nothing for him to lose, and that's a terrible position to be in."

Bumper week for bad news as we head toward the end of the year, with fighting resuming in Gaza, trouble securing more aid for Ukraine, record-setting numbers of mass shootings, Republicans protecting January 6th rioters, and Donald Trump practically crowing over the possibility of a Trump dictatorship. But all the news can't be bad, with Trump appeals den...

"This is going to be, in our lifetime, a forever arrangement that keeps the Palestians humble, poor, and without resources to fight."

A pause in fighting continues this week as Israel and Hamas exchange hostages, how long will it continue and what will it mean for US involvement if fighting resumes? Meanwhile, Nikki Haley has been endorsed by the powerful Koch network for the Republican presidential nomination but Trump still rule...