The Scramble

Many of us hoped the white nationalist movement that instigated last year's "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, would suffer a fatal blow. The majority of Americans condemned both the blatant bigotry displayed by the protesters and the president's failure to single out the nationalists as the perpetrators of the "hatred, bigotry and violence." He instead, said he saw that violence "on many sides."

That's not what happened.

The Washington Post, in The Fact Checker database they've kept since the 2016 election, notes an increase in the number of false or misleading claims the president has made in recent months while traveling the country to campaign for Republicans running in summer primaries.

George Packer wrote in The New Yorker this weekend that the only obstacle left to prevent President Trump's full consolidation of power is public opinion. We must vote.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a 28-year-old Democratic socialist from New York who beat the fourth-ranked Democrat in the U.S. House in an upset primary victory in June. She won by unapologetically supporting Medicare for all and free college tuition. 

We had planned ("planned") to do a show today about how we're getting too familiar with our sinking feelings.

And then that Trump-Putin press conference happened.

We enjoyed speaking with all of the people who called our show last Monday. We want to keep the conversation going. We want you to keep calling so that we can all talk or listen to one another - even when we disagree. Today, it's Colin and your calls. 

America has never been able to fully measure up to the ideals we embody. Yet, we could reasonably believe that we at least aspired to those ideals of equality, opportunity, and civility.  Today, we can no longer deny that those in power care little about the people they govern. 

Today, we have no guests. Just a conversation between you and Colin about Stephanie Wilkinson's request that Sarah Huckabee Sanders leave the Red Hen restaurant Friday night. Wilkinson owns the Red Hen, where Sanders and her party were dining Friday night.

Despite First Amendment protections separating the press from unchecked presidential power, President Trump is pushing limits beyond any president before him.

It's lonely at the top.

President Trump has a lot of acquaintances but not many close friends, according to those who know him best. 

There has been a lot of confusion about how many people died in Puerto Rico as the result of Hurricane Maria and its aftermath. Several publications reported last week that approximately five-thousand people may have died. They based their reports on a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine that reflected more ambiguity than often reported.  

We didn't book any guests today. We decided to take your calls for the entire hour so you could share what's on your mind.

A lot happened this weekend in the news that you may want to talk about. But, instead of encouraging reactions to the latest news, many of you expressed interest on Colin's Facebook page in talking about something deeper. 

Does the investigation of Trump lawyer Michael Cohen signal the beginning of the end for the Trump presidency? 

Conservative media giant Sinclair Broadcast Group will reach 72 percent of American homes with televisions if they're allowed to acquire Tribune Media. The president likes the idea - even as it breaks current FCC rules that no TV station owners should reach beyond 39 percent of homes. No wonder he likes it. A new analysis shows President Trump does better in areas lacking a trusted news outlet. 

U.S. Congresswoman Elizabeth Esty apologized​ Thursday​ ​for failing to dismiss​ Tony Baker, her former Chief of Staff, after learning that Anna Kain, a former aide who once dated Baker, filed serious allegations against him for sexual harassment and death threats.