On Democracy with FPWellman

It has been another insane political week in the United States and now more than ever the lack of ethics and even morals from Donald Trump and his propagandists have never been more clear. What do we do when politics becomes unmoored from norms and any sense of public service? Longtime Democratic attorney Bob Bauer set out to answer the question in his new book ‘The Unraveling: Reflections on poli...

It has been one of the biggest weeks in U.S. political history as President Biden stepped away from the race and Vice President Kamala Harris stepped in at light speed. Since then she has raised record amounts of money, volunteers, and support. It’s leaving almost all Democrats feeling something they haven’t in a long time…hope. Fred sits down with the biggest hopium dealer in the nation to discus...

This week included an attempted assassination of Donald Trump at a rally in Philadelphia by a young kid with a high-powered rifle. Many of his supporters called for revenge and “2nd amendment solutions.” This kind of rhetoric has been rising on the far right for years and nowhere has so much of it swirled than Nashville. From Nazis marching in the streets to militias guarding extremist local polit...

It’s been an absolutely insane couple of weeks. From Bidenmania, Christian Nationalists putting the Bible in schools, and Trump doing the hits on his own golf course. To get it all in perspective Fred turns to two lefties in the middle of the reddest of the red states with Oklahoma’s Jennifer Welch and Angie “Pumps” Sullivan the hosts of the now iconic and wildly popular “I’ve Had It” podcast. Lon...

The Supreme Court shocked the country this week deciding that a President can actually be above the law flipping centuries of American tradition and a fundamental concept of our nation that no man is above the law. It’s the last ruling in a string of increasingly outrageous decisions that have tossed out one precedent after another. Lisa Graves joins Fred to discuss the mess, how we got here, and...

The Christian Nationalism movement is gaining momentum with a goal to make the United States a Christian nation and subservient to the Bible. Long time journalist Heath Druzin has spent the last year following the movement right in his home state of Idaho for the second season of the Extremely American podcast on NPR titled ‘Onward Christian Soldiers.’ He and his partner James Dawson focus on the...

The Supreme Court is showing us over and over how out of touch they are with not just the American people but actual reality. Last week in a shocking decision written by none other than Clarence Thomas, they twisted themselves in knots to approve the sale of bump stocks over the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. A rule implemented after the devices were used in the slaughter in Las Vegas i...

Project 2025 is an insidious and extensive blueprint to dismantle the federal government and roll back Americans fundamental rights in the name of an authoritarian agenda. Led by the Heritage Foundation with over a hundred other extremist and MAGA organizations, funded by millions of dollars in dark money, and recruiting the most extreme MAGA people to flood the government if Donald Trump wins a s...

Donald Trump is increasingly unhinged, and his followers are constantly threatening retribution and revenge for his prosecutions and other perceived attacks. The likelihood of political violence hasn’t been this high since the run up to January 6th, 2021. The threat is growing. How bad is it and how can we stop it before it gets out of control? Fred speaks with one of the leading researchers on th...

The battle for the soul of our country is being fought from Washington D.C. to school board meetings across the country. A coordinated and well-funded movement has been sweeping the nation to roll back diversity, support for LGBTQ and minority students, and leverage vouchers to defund public schools. It started in Southlake, Texas and Mike Hixenbaugh has been following it all along. His new book ‘...

We are all hearing how the youth vote is in peril for Biden as the Gaza War drags on and support for Israel has become a dividing issue for many college students and young Americans. Sam Schwartz lost a cousin in the Parkland High School shooting and has taken up the cause of activism leading a coalition of youth advocacy groups in a nationwide bus tour to motivate young Americans to vote for Demo...

Trump is promising to be a dictator on Day One and the co-chair of the Republican Party has promised “scorched Earth” when he returns to power. In a new book Federico Finchelstein lays out how Trump can become a modern fascist if returned to power and how he’s already three quarters of the way there. Fred discusses it with Professor Finchelstein a world-renowned expert on fascism, populism, and di...

Each day the political media is showing their inability to meet this important moment in U.S. history. From the New York Times using polls to determine priorities to running fake stories as simple differences of opinion. The media can’t seem to call it like it is when it’s needed more than ever. Fred discusses it with former Chicago Tribune metro editor turned media critic Mark Jacob. In addition...

There is a growing militant movement of extreme Christians using the rhetoric of terrorism that has analysts increasingly worried. It was a good time to talk to an extremism expert. In her gripping new book, Kingdom of Rage: The Rise of Christian Extremism and the Path Back to Peace former senior counterterrorism official, Elizabeth Neumann, delves into the alarming intermingling of modern evangel...

There is a lot of talk about the legal issues surrounding Donald Trump’s New York election interference trial so Fred wanted to talk about the political fallout to his strongman image and the other stories you might have missed with author and writer Brynne Tannehill. Brynne is a graduate of the U. S. Naval Academy and the Air Force Institute of Technology with degrees in Computer Science and Oper...

Fred chats with Patrick Murphy about the attacks on our military and veterans and what it's like appearing on Fox News daily as the progressive voice trying to break through the lies and manipulations. Patrick regularly appears as an analyst and guest on Fox News and has served as a soldier, America’s first Iraq War veteran elected to Congress, and the 32nd Under Secretary of the Army. He is now a...

Rachel Vindman joins Fred on a special episode to discuss the outrageous abortion ruling in Arizona, Trump’s attempt to thread the needle, and Republican’s panic after finally getting what they wanted on abortion. Women are pissed and so are we. Rachel is a wife, mom, podcast host, writer, and activist. She is a co-host of the Suburban Women Problem podcast, and an advisory board member for the Re...

The Republicans and extremists have decided that transgender kids are their target to divide the nation and focus their hate. From laws banning their participation in sports, ending their care, investigating clinics that support them to turning families in for abuse investigations. The hate has been growing in red states. Fred wanted to speak to an advocate and the father of a trans child to share...

It only took about ten minutes for the lunatics on the far right to blame everything from DEI to the border for the accident at the Key Bridge in Baltimore. They have mastered the outrage cycle and that wasn’t even one of the craziest stories this week! Political strategist, podcast host, and bestselling author Cliff Schecter joins the show this week to discuss all of the craziness. You can find h...

Moms for Liberty and their clones have been causing chaos across the country in school board meetings and hallways alike. Guest Laura Pappano has attended both of their summits and just published her new book on the movement to save our schools ‘School Moms: Parent Activism, Partisan Politics, and the Battle for Public Education.’ She and Fred discuss what she has seen and the case for public scho...

Fifteen youth activism groups endorsed President Biden this week amid worries that the Gaza situation is peeling off support for the Administration. Fred discusses it with Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez, the President of NextGen America, the country’s largest youth voting rights organization. NextGen American helped mobilize one in nine young voters across the country in the 2023 elections. Named “Hero...

DC-based political advisor, commentator, and social entrepreneur Rina Shah joins Fred to discuss the madness of the Republican Party, how to reach the normies, and how no matter how professional a campaign they build its always going to be Trump blowing it up. Rina is a proud daughter of West Virginia and of immigrants from Uganda and India. In 2016, she led the #NeverTrump movement, becoming the...

Dr. Kevin M. Kruse has spent his career studying the conservative movement and race relations and unfortunately his expertise is coming in handy today as the Republican Party becomes more extreme by the day. He and Fred examine the racism, authoritarianism, and failure of today’s GOP and how Biden and the Democrats should take them based on the success of the past. He is a Professor of History at...

Fred is joined by the ‘Liberal Redneck’ himself, Trae Crowder to talk about the weird love Republicans have for Putin, the continued failure of Reconstruction in the South, and more. Trae first gained international attention (or notoriety depending on your politics) in 2016 for his hugely viral series of “Liberal Redneck” comedic “porch rant” videos. Since then, Trae has written a best-selling boo...

Host Fred Wellman is solo this week as it was one of shocking news here and abroad with the shooting in Kansas City and the death of Alexei Navalny in Russia. Both stories hit close to home for Fred as a veteran and Missouri resident. He watched his friend Mayor Quinton Lucas go from celebrating another world championship to managing a mass shooting in just minutes. We can do better both against R...