Lost in the Political Woods Podcast: Recent Episodes
David Champignon & Kevin Nunez
Putting the fun fact in politics! Cutting through the sound bites to offer thoughtful analysis and opinions. On today's most popular topics. Join a conversation between two lifelong friends who promised to make you laugh while they inform you along the way.
Lost in the Political Woods, episode 18 description
A brief look into why Congress is acting like children
Despite what television and other media tell us, Congress frequently engages in acts of bipartisanship In private, outside the presence of television cameras
Congress used to be At least somewhat Revered For being a relationship-building institution
The relationship between President Ronald Reagan and house speaker tip O'Neill is often held up as an example of the last time congress routinely functioned as intended
There are disagreements over policy We're usually smoothed over while drinking together
The breakdown of this camaraderie is often cited As a reason for widespread Congressional dysfunction that has persisted For somewhere between 20 and 30 years
The most recent example of this general dysfunction is a verbal confrontation between Marjorie Taylor Green and Lauren Bobert That included the use of curse words
Verbal and physical altercations involving members of Congress of both parties Aren't so rare anymore As the threat of impeachment of the president in power hangs over Just about any congressional severe discussion
This and other issues contribute to the perception that members of Congress of either party don't really care about ordinary people.
The influence of dark money in modern politics Is also briefly discussed
What is our path forward from this current schism?
https://app.slack.com/client/T04BXLNPX26/C04BH4PMERM#:~:text=11%3A40%20AM-,https%3A//www.pewresearch.org/short%2Dreads/2022/03/10/the%2Dpolarization%2Din%2Dtodays%2Dcongress%2Dhas%2Droots%2Dthat%2Dgo%2Dback%2Ddecades/,-Pew%20Research%20Center
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/congress-couldnt-have-been-this-bad-or-could-it-1-36911219/
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-broken-branch-how-congress-is-failing-america-and-how-to-get-it-back-on-track/
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/litwpodcast/message
Lost in the Political Woods, episode 17 description
Why stock trading by members of Congress should
Bills on this issue are constantly due.
Members of Congress make important decisions
These decisions shouldn't be influenced by their stock portfolios
Eg defense and insurance companies
It's nothing less than insider trading
In Congress it's something you can get away with little consequences as well
If Martha Stewart can go to jail for insider trading, so can members of Congress
See you next week!
Sources:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/3494
https://rollcall.com/2023/03/08/lawmakers-renew-push-for-stock-trading-ban-at-house-administration-hearing/
https://hollywoodlife.com/feature/martha-stewart-jail-4808313/
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/litwpodcast/message
Lost in the political Woods Episode 16 Description
A brief description of the debt ceiling battle
A few words on the need to contact local congressional representatives
Republicans and Democrats in Congress are actually bipartisan in private, though usually not on camera. Mostly in the Congressional Lunchroom or in the moments before press conferences
For all the talk, the reality is that the federal budget has not been balanced since the Clinton administration
Is there any hope of a balanced budget in the near future?
Pork barrel spending is also discussed(A particular member of Congress Getting a dingleberry for his or her district Attached to a must-pass bill)
Who has traditionally kept better control Over the US economy Republicans or Democrats?
Sources:
https://www.axios.com/2023/06/13/house-republicans-conference-gaetz-mccarthy
https://thehill.com/homenews/3256085-overwhelming-majority-disapproves-of-job-congress-is-doing-gallup/
https://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/2023/06/11/opinion/how-america-gets-to-a-new-center/
In Kevin's last solo episode, he does his absolute best to break down the contenders for the Republican presidential nomination. In the early days of the race, get to know the other players besides Trump and DeSantis. Does President Biden have a chance? Is there a chance for the first female president to be elected? Discuss this and more with Kevin. There's also a special message from David. He will be back next week.
In episode 14 of Lost in the Political Woods, Kevin does his best to give present Biden a school-grade rating. What has he done? Has he helped the economy? Are we involved in the war in Ukraine? These are all questions Kevin tries to answer. Join the conversation. Show Notes: https://congressionaldish.com/?s=Ukraine+&et_pb_searchform_submit=et_search_proccess&et_pb_include_posts=yes&et_pb_include_pages=yes https://beta.ncd.gov/council-members/emily-voorde/ (edited)
n episode 13 of Lost in the Political Words, Kevin does his best to break down the political commentary that is Eurovision. Most Americans don't know what this contest is about or the real significance behind it. The hope is that this will start a discussion about foreign policy at the dinner table. You can find additional resources in this playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHSFKpLZ7YvpEMMwbCO9PdDoZuC6APjwX (edited) YouTubeEurovision episodes sources
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I’m a 35-year-old single male with a developmental disability. I’m a capitalist, and I love this country. This is the land of the free, the home of the brave, and most of all, the land of opportunity. Individuals like myself are never given this opportunity. I don’t believe in complaining. I support small businesses, and I admire corporations like Google, Thanks to the dictation software on this Chromebook, I can give you blogs like these. I would like to showcase how expensive it is to live with a disability. I want to focus on two specific numbers $2,000 and $3,000. Read more here: https://advocatekevinnunez.wordpress.com/2022/08/10/financial-slavery-blog-12/
LITPW podcast episode 11 description
Essential question: is America ready for a third party to seriously challenge the status quo
A brief description of post-American revolution political parties
A brief description of the Libertarian party
A brief description of the Forward Party
The monopoly of both the Democrats and Republicans as far as organization, money, and television contracts
https://news.gallup.com/poll/402515/public-interest-having-third-major-party-dips.aspx
https://davidandkevin-oyn2561.slack.com/archives/C051821SK24/p1681237282964809
https://www.fec.gov/help-candidates-and-committees/registering-political-party/
A fun and engaging conversation about voting rights in the US territories including Puerto Rico and the Vir
gin Islands and Washington DC
A long history of lack of congressional representation
The Case for Puerto Rican Statehood vs History of the independence movement
The case for DC statehood vs a special designation
Short personal anecdotes about the history of Puerto Rican voter fraud
A short history of Puerto Rican government corruption
A special shoutout to Jennifer Briney’s tireless research on almost all matters of Puerto Rican politics
Show Notes
:https://www.house.gov/representatives#:~:text=The%20number%20of%20voting%20representatives,of%20the%20Northern%20Mariana%20Islandshttps://davidandkevin-oyn2561.slack.com/files/U04BXJU8GEP/F050TJF3CUF/voting-rights-in-the-territories-advisory-memo-ct-sac.pdfhttps://www.rockthevote.org/explainers/washington-d-c-puerto-rico-and-the-u-s-territories/
Related Congressional Dish Episodes:https://congressionaldish.com/?s=Puerto+Rico&et_pb_searchform_submit=et_search_proccess&et_pb_include_posts=yes&et_pb_include_pages=yesDavid Champignon | PDF voting-rights-in-the-territories-advisory-memo-ct-sac.pdfPDFRock the VoteD.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Territories - Rock the VoteResidents of DC, PR, and other U.S. territories have fundamentally different rights and representation than residents of the 50 states. (75 kB)https://www.rockthevote.org/explainers/washington-d-c-puerto-rico-and-the-u-s-territories/
The episode topic is about the 2018 movie Vice a biopic about the Bush Cheney years
While the movie generally depicts the mood of the country well it plays very fast and loose with historical accuracy
Some scenes that depicted while house conversations that didn't take place
The movie at timeshttps://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/vice/ tries to raise foreign policy questions but then let's then die in favor of comic relief
Christan Bale is very good as Cheney
Steve Carroll offers a dark take on former secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
Cheney and conservatism painted as cartoonishly evil
Liberalism is falsely treated as the solution to what ales the world
Lynne Cheney is falsely depicted as the dutiful wife uninterested in politics
Bush is made to look mostly uninvolved In making his own policies
Decision to ground all Us flights on 9/11 depicted as unilateral and a triumph of the Unitary Executive Theory
Show Notes
https://davidandkevin-oyn2561.slack.com/archives/C04BH4PMERM/p1679871875527859
https://www.historyvshollywood.com/reelfaces/vice/
https://slate.com/culture/2018/12/vice-movie-historical-accuracy-fact-fiction.html
Trump indictment predictions
I predict that Trump will face multiple indictments from the office of special council Jack Smith on or before June 30th
I will break down the possible charges by jurisdiction
Washington DC: Obstruction of a congressional preceding (the January 6th election certification)
Wire fraud (related to his fundraising emails for his election defense fund)
Fraudulent elector scheme
Obstruction of justice
Storage of classified documents outside of a SCIF area
Destruction of classified documents
Espionage Act
Georgia
Socialization of election fraud (Georgia Secretary of State phone call)
Threats to election workers or the people in charge of the post-election count
Rico statute violations (possible if a proof is acquired that he conspired with others to further the false elector scheme in Georgia)
Sources/special thanks
@MullerSheWrote and her podcast The Daily Beans
Kyle Cheney Senior legal affairs reporter for @Politico
@Zoe Tillman Bloomberg News
Numerous reporters for The Washington Post
Robert Costa Chief elections and campaign correspondent for @CBS News
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23514956-the-full-january-6-committee-report-text
Lost in the Political Woods Episode 8 description
The indictment of former president Donald Trump is now considered imminent by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg in the stormy Daniels hush money case
The case involves the allegation of an affair between Stormy Daniels and Donald Trump
At the cent
er of the case is an allegation of a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels allegedly by Trump attorney Michael Cohen
New York is now pursuing the case
the feds passed on in 2018
The satued of limitations presents a unique challenge in this case
Precise charges are unknown
The date of the indictment keeps getting moved
No indictment as of recording time
Security considerations may play a role in timing
This case probably presents the most serious serious challenge to prosecutors of the cases he faces
Show Notes:
https://davidandkevin-oyn2561.slack.com/archives/C04BH4PMERM/p1679406899087919
https://davidandkevin-oyn2561.slack.com/archives/C04BH4PMERM/p1679407055664519
https://davidandkevin-oyn2561.slack.com/archives/C04BH4PMERM/p1679407871156019
https://davidandkevin-oyn2561.slack.com/files/U04BXJU8GEP/F05095E62RW/eo_202.72_new.pdf
LITPW episode 7 description
World baseball classic and other stuff
American interest in the world baseball classic
Why do other countries seem to care about it more than us
Lack of us interest especially in comparison to other countries especially countries in Latin America as well as Japan
Is there a similar problem when it comes to other All-Star games within the US
Would having it during the Major League Baseball regular season increase both interest and participation in it
a broader question. The intersection of politics and sports
PS: Sorry for David's lighting; we're working on it.
Show Notes:
https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/max-scherzer-says-world-baseball-classic-would-benefit-by-moving-to-in-season-format-itd-be-a-real-game/
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/mar/06/why-is-the-us-finally-treating-the-world-baseball-classic-like-a-world-cup
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2023/03/10/world-baseball-classic-usa-stars-participation-country-enthusiasm/11448117002/
David honestly reacts to President Trump's arraignment and arrest in this short bonus episode. See show notes for more details.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/31/politics/trump-indictment-what-to-know/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/31/politics/trump-indictment-what-to-know/index.html
https://davidandkevin-oyn2561.slack.com/archives/C04NYU0Q86A/p1680649034449949
https://davidandkevin-oyn2561.slack.com/archives/C04NYU0Q86A/p1680649686982739
LITPW episode 6 description
A review of the political movie The Ides of March staring George Clooney and Ryan Gosling
The movie showed both the good and very ugly sides of a presidential campaign
The scandal and aftermath highlighted
Interesting hypotheticals based on recent races
A brief warning about political bias
This a reminder about treating politicians like ordinary citizens who make mistakes
Show Notes:
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_ides_of_march/reviews?intcmp=rt-what-to-know_read-critics-reviews
https://youtu.be/y494hUO-aw8
The hospitalization of Senator John Fetterman has started a rare conversation about the mental health of politicians
Fetterman hospitalized for clinical depression at Walter Reed Army Medical Center
The revolution has sparked a rare show of bipartisan support in this uniquely divided Congress
Former presidential candidate George McGovern was forced to withdraw running mate and Vice Presidential candidate Thomas Eagleton after Eaggleton admitted he was treated with electroshock therapy for depression.
Eaggleton was withdrawn from the ticket 18 days later
One of my research sources indicated that at least 8 politicians have sought mental health treatment during their terms
The majority sought treatment at the time but didn't reveal it until much later
Former Florida Governor and congressman Lawton Chiles struggled with depression since a 1985 heart surgery
Bipolar disorder was a surprisingly common diagnosis among politicians who sought treatment
With politicians in both houses of Congress dealing with everything from agriculture to national security despite appearances being a member of Congress presents unique stressors
Politicians should be able to seek mental health treatment without judgment from political pundits who often no nothing about the complex nature of mental health conditions
We also need to as a nation be far less judgemental when it comes to mental health treatment for everybody
If you recognize you need mental health treatment you should be given access to it instead of insurance red tape
We need help sometimes it's time we reward the courage to realize that
Sources:
https://thehill.com/changing-america/well-being/mental-health/3862175-8-lawmakers-who-have-publicly-struggled-with-mental-health/
https://6abc.com/sen-fetterman-depression-john-hospitalized-united-states-senate-pennsylvania-senator/12830127https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/healthcare/politicians-admit-mental-health-struggleshttps://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/10/politics-mental-illness-history-213276/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/04/16/politicians-mental-health-dan-kildee/
In episode 4 David and Kevin try their best to tackle one question. Is the government too big? In this 30-minute conversation, they discuss a wide range of topics from the Patriot Act to the government shutdowns. all sources are linked below please feel free to like, comment, and subscribe.
Show Note:
https://www.thoughtco.com/government-shutdown-history-3368274
https://www.pennstatelawreview.org/penn-statim/dont-be-silly-lawmakers-rarely-read-legislation-and-oftentimes-dont-understand-it-but-thats-okay/
Members literally don’t have enough time to read some bills before a vote is held.
The story of us. I have known your favorite host Kevin Nunez since he was five years old. Somehow he put up with my inner quirks longer than most though I may have hidden more than a few initially. Even on days when we goofed off. I knew there was an intellectual side to Kevin just waiting to get out. Our new podcast Lost in the Political Woods is a triumph of a vision we have had in our minds for a very long time. I hope you all enjoy our vision coming to life
written by David
Kevin's book:
https://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Disability-Limbo-Commentary-Society-ebook/dp/B09B81DLZS?ref_=ast_author_mpb
In this quick Bonus Episode Co- Host David Champignon Remind us about the little things that matter. For more content please visit the website
https://lostinthepoliticalwoodspodcast.wordpress.com/
Co-Host David Champignon gives his quick reaction to President Biden's state of the union address in February 2023. Nobody cuts through the political BS like him. Go to the website for more. https://lostinthepoliticalwoodspodcast.wordpress.com/
Classified Document Wars
Though former president Donald Trump started the most recent trend of mishandling classified documents he is not the first executive branch member to do so
Sandy Berger did so in the whole Clinton administration going so far as to hide documents in his clothes
Classified documents found in president Biden's home think-tank office and his garage
Classified documents were also found at former vice president Pence's home
Biden and pence reportedly immediately handed over documents to National Archives
Trump is still fighting the National Archives over giving back the documents
DOJ investigation of Trump over alleged document destruction and alleged obstruction of justice
Neither Trump Biden nor pence have been charged with a crime
Trump case allegedly has national security implications but DOJ in no hurry to charge
Simultaneous special counsels run by Jack Smith and Robert Hurr
Key inflection point for the creadablity of the DOJ and perhaps the executive branch itself.
Show Notes:
https://time.com/6249863/presidents-classified-documents-misplaced-history/
https://theintercept.com/2023/01/20/biden-trump-classified-documents/
https://theintercept.com/2023/01/20/biden-trump-classified-documents/
Episode 1 Sports VS Cancel Culture
Topic: Sports team changing their name to avoid offending people
The subject isn't new despite public perception
Isolated incidents in the 50s
It has been persistent since the 1970s ex Washington Redskins now Commanders
Cancel culture isn't new merely a buzzword to divide people
Both sides get things wrong on the issue
Sources:
Washington Commanders and 14 Other Sports Teams That Dumped Racist Names and Mascots
7 Sports Teams Who've Changed Their Names or Mascots Over Racist Origins
Lost in the Political Woods website