Trump, Bannon, and Globalism as the New Dividing Line
The Trump campaign successfully took over the Republican party, replacing conservatism with nationalism. Today, we discuss globalism as the new dividing line. In the Pearls, we talk about the House's passage of the American Health Care Act and the French election, and in the Heels we discuss the Kentucky Derby, Beth's car accident, and the way our brains and bodies work together.
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The Pearls
First, we talk about the House's passage of the American Health Care Act. Spoiler: we aren't impressed by the process. Senate Republicans have assembled a working group to try to rewrite the bill. It doesn't include any women.
We also talk about Emanuel Macron's decisive victory over Marine Le Pen in France's election.
In our regular feature of complimenting the other party, Sarah praised Senators Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker for their comments on the AHCA. Beth complimented Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for her video series encouraging folks to run for office.
The Suit
We were inspired by several op-eds and an episode of This American Life to discuss the way views on globalism are redefining the political parties. In an op-ed in the New York Times, R.R. Reno described how the party of Reagan has become the "America First" party. Similarly, The National Review has lamented that Republicans have abandoned conservatism. In "The Beginning of Now," This American Life traces globalism's roots in the GOP back to Pat Buchanan, through Eric Cantor's defeat, to Brietbart, to Trump. We discuss what's happening with American identity and the future of the political parties.
We also discuss the political impact of the next stage of globalization and the book Beth is currently enjoying. We also discussed another episode of This American Life on Russian propaganda and parallels in our own country.
We end with a simple question, "What do we do now that our labels don't make sense anymore?"
The Heels
We obviously had to spend a couple of minutes on the Kentucky Derby (with a shout-out to Keeneland, one of the most beautiful racetracks in the country)!
Beth spent a recent day watching arraignments and has some thoughts on our criminal justice system, including the impact of our process on the poor. (Cash bail system under attack as unconstitutional) She also learned about the incredible case of Tyra Patterson, which we hope to discuss on a later show. Sarah also talked about this article and it's interesting illustration of similar issues in the criminal justice system.
We also discussed this phenomenal article by Atul Gawande on the brain-body connection and Beth thanked everyone for the support on Twitter after her recent car wreck.