The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Meagan Day, staff writer at Jacobin Magazine, joins the Majority Report to discuss her piece, "The Banality of Brett Kavanaugh."

On today's show: Trump mocks Christine Blasey Ford: "I don't remember."

Meagan Day, staff writer at Jacobin Magazine, joins us to discuss her piece in Jacobin, "The Banality of Brett Kavanaugh." After his unhinged testimony, casual perjury, and completely unremarkable hearings about his judicial record, Brett Kavanaugh has revealed himself to be the poster boy for Unremarkable White Men. In this piece, Day explores how this nomination fight spotlights the American myth of the meritocracy, and how that idea is used to justify massive inequality. From Kavanaugh's nomination to the Supreme Court, to the rise of Trump, to incompetence in Democratic Party leadership, recent events reveal the crumbling edifice of American meritocracy and the resultant rise of a populist impulse that could be used for good or ill. Also: in her piece "Austerity By Paperwork," Day explores how conservative politicians are limiting access to social safety net benefits like Medicaid by making it increasingly difficult to qualify, or even apply. The answer: universal programs.

On the fun half: Was DSA being "just like Jimmy Dore" when they released their statement on AOC endorsing Cuomo? Danny Glover films PSA in support of Lula. A caller on what we can learn from Mao Zedong and other flawed communist leaders. Amazon's Alexa schools Stephen Crowder on socialism, shows herself to be a crazy SJW liberal. News report shows DHS was unprepared to deal with family separation policy, resulting in horrible conditions for detainees. Amazon workers celebrate news of new $15/hour minimum wage for all US workers. Is "dum dum" left a bad term? A story from an elite all-boys summer camp. Numerous potential sources say the FBI has not contacted them in Kavanaugh investigation.

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Direct download: 10-03-18-Meagan_Day-pub.mp3
Category:general -- posted at: 3:34pm EDT

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