Gaslit Nation with Andrea Chalupa and Sarah Kendzior

We lay out, yet again, the urgent arguments for impeachment, and fact-check those we often hear against it. We also interview Alexandra Flores-Quilty ( @ A F Q _ 9 2 ) of the grassroots group B y t h e P e o p l e ( @ b y _ t h e _ p p l ) that works with Rep. Rashida Tlaib and other Congressional leaders to call for impeachment hearings. The worsening c r i s i s a t t h e U . S . b o r d e r ; the continued purge of our government l e a v i n g c r u c i a l k e y p o s i t i o n s u n f i l l e d , threatening our national security and public safety; p o l i t i c a l l y m o t i v a t e d a t t a c k s o n i n v e s t i g a t o r s a n d o t h e r l a w e n f o r c e m e n t ; j u s t t h i s w e e k a l o n e strengthen the case.

We discuss the Barr memo fallout, the insipid media coverage, the unchecked assassins of Russia and Saudi Arabia, Ukraine's election, FBI purges, and more.

As we’ve said repeatedly at Gaslit Nation, the crisis in the US was never about Trump vs Mueller, but about corruption and exploitation – about massive institutional failure that worsened over multiple decades, culminating in a kleptocracy backed by a transnational crime syndicate. We discuss what’s next for the US and the world as the Trump team ramps up its autocratic goals.  

March 2019 marks the five-year anniversary of Russia’s annexation of Crimea. We explain why the fake referendum in Crimea is called a "referendum by gun point" and provide background on Russia's annexation which had been in the works since the mid-2000s. The story of human rights abuses that continue to this day in Russian-occupied Crimea are told through the political prisoner Oleg Sentsov, a filmmaker kidnapped from Crimea and held in a Siberian penal colony on trumped up charges. Despite the harsh conditions, Sentsov defies the odds by continuing to produce art, including a feature film. His story is an urgent reminder to choose hope over despair. 

Impeachment sends a message about who we are as a country and what we will accept and abide. The rule of law demands action. Refusing to take action is normalizing atrocity. Lawlessness must be confronted regardless of the outcome, as a matter of principle and conscience. Fighting only the battles that you know you will win is a sure way of ensuring you lose; preemptive surrender, in a rapidly consolidating autocracy, is permanent surrender. The American people have suffered enough under Trump; they should not have to suffer due to Pelosi’s capitulation as well. We all deserve better than this.