The Mad Centrist

Send us Fan Mail In the throes of COVID-19 a movement gained power. A silly on, but still, Q Anon grew unexpectedly. In hindsight it would be laughable that it ever happened, except for the damage done to our nation, and families and individuals. Now we have a poor-man's "Q" trying similar tactics when everyone is much wiser, and a pandemic is not keeping us inside in front of scree...

Send us Fan Mail Who would have thought we would be here?  Camps now across multiple states, and most of the population recognizes them as what they are: concentration camps. The crazy part is half of the people seem to be OK with concentration camps in the United States of America. Show Notes: Scientific American article:  Trump’s Massive Deportation Plan Echoes Concentration Camp History | Scien...

Send us Fan Mail Jeffrey Epstein has a sorted past.  Ghislane Maxwell, his partner in crime is serving 20 years for human trafficking and other sex crimes.  Both of these notorious people have ties to President Trump from the 1980s to the mid-2000s. In this episode I put together a pretty comprehensive timeline of events and crimes and how the lives of two of the most notorious pedophiles and huma...

Send us Fan Mail The Trump Administration and the Supreme Court - frienemies? Trump continues to try to bully law firms, and has some success, and some failures.  Why does Trump continue to attack the legal system?  How does he get away with it? For the answer to these questions and more we welcome back Professor Balderas, first amendment lawyer and friend of the show! No show notes - it is an int...

Send us Fan Mail Sometimes things go another direction, and the perfect opportunity arrives. I wanted to speak about how I get news sources for some time, and I also thought it would be an injustice to not touch of some of the most important current events.  When scheduling conflicts kept a guest off the show, lemonade from lemons! This week I hit REAL news, inflation, The Supreme Court (or rather...

Send us Fan Mail Juneteenth just passed, so, yeah, I am a bit late.  I had mentioned wanting to cover the history of "Woke," and adding Juneteenth seemed perfect, if a few days late. This is a shorter episode, but very important none the less. Show notes! The history of The Choctaw and the Irish:  Irish Return an Old Favor, Helping Native Americans Battling the Virus - The New York Times...

Send us Fan Mail The Mad Centrist plays off of the famous Kurt Vonnegut quote "A sane man, to an insane world, must appear insane."  Recently this seems even more apt. The world is hitting new levels of insanity, and we must be Mad to be so sane! Arresting Federal Marshalls? Not able to bring back Abrego Garcia, until of course we are able to - only to make him stand trial for made up ch...

Send us Fan Mail The Episode I promised long ago, in Episode #37.  This episode covers the social programs Medicare and Medicaid.  Two programs with similar names, but they are very different indeed!  Take a listen to see if you feel they are worth our tax dollars, or if maybe you believe they are not. Before you make up your mind though, listen and learn enough to make that an informed decision....

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode we have a special guest: Professor, Lawyer, and Journalist Israel Balderas.  The conversation is focused on Journalism - an area of expertise where you might be hard pressed to find a better professional to give their opinion.   Even better, when questions about the legal challenges the Trump administration is putting forth come up, Balderas is also an exp...

Send us Fan Mail A really rare non-political episode - well, not really.  It centers on the president, but it is about his mental acuity, and not his politics.  To that extent, it really is not political. This episode asks the question, a question I think many people around the world ask: Is Donald Trump dumb, brilliant, and more of an idiot savant?  I go through many situations where a questionab...

Send us Fan Mail Thanks to the listeners!   A recap episode, on what has happened, what the show is about, and where we are going. We have covered a lot of ground, but we are just getting started! Starting it out with a quote. Finishing with the new tagline:  The political podcast for everyone!

Send us Fan Mail Covering some stories of continued government removing people - sometimes even citizens - from the streets and trying, and succeeding, to deport them. Then we get to the heart of the show: the SAVE Act.  How does it harm voting in America?  What is the stated goal, and was it even necessary?  What is the REAL goal, and will that be achieved? Show Notes: Redux from Last week: Arizo...

Send us Fan Mail Taken from the street.  Disappearing from an appointment with ICE. Held at the border, or at an airport on your way home.  The stories are coming in fast and way too frequent. The stunning thing is we aren't seeing more outrage. Let's take a walk back in history and find out why all Americans should be downright furious at people being renditioned by our government - som...

Send us Fan Mail The President of the United States.  Mission #1, choose a cabinet. The question: does this help fill the swamp or drain it? This is part 3 of a look into Donald Trump's cabinet choices, and providing information for YOU to decide if this makes Washington D.C. more corrupt, or less corrupt?   Or is the swamp being drained, or filled? We come to the end.  Well, of cabinet membe...

Send us Fan Mail The President of the United States.  Mission #1, choose a cabinet. The question: does this help fill the swamp or drain it? This is part 2 of a look into Donald Trump's cabinet choices, and providing information for YOU to decide if this makes Washington D.C. more corrupt, or less corrupt?   Or is the swamp being drained, or filled? Show Notes: Howard Lutnik's Social Sec...

Send us Fan Mail The President of the United States.  Mission #1, choose a cabinet. The question: does this help fill the swamp or drain it? This is part 1 of a look into Donald Trump's cabinet choices, and providing information for YOU to decide if this makes Washington D.C. more corrupt, or less corrupt?   Or, is the swamp being drained, or filled? Show Notes: Forbes article on the most exp...

Send us Fan Mail February 25th was a rough day, but it really shouldn't have been.  Learn why the House Budget Bill means about as much as a wooden nickel.  Also, learn what the bill is, and what it isn't.  History provides amazing perspective sometimes - this is one of those times. Show Notes: Budget law and history piece from PEW research: Government shutdown? Congress’ history of spen...

Send us Fan Mail The Trump Administration seems to be flailing.  I know, Republicans say it is the best ever, Democrats say it is the worst.  I think neither is correct, because it is proving to be largely ineffective.  Immigration, slow and expensive.  Tariff paying for everything, not happening.  Inflation is up.  And Trade Deficits are being completely mischaracterized.  The only thing DOGE is...

Send us Fan Mail Trump has an ED issue , and Congress is the only solution.  Find out why that is a problem even he knows will not work out in his favor. Learn about the Education Department, its history, what it does, and the $$$ behind it - and maybe make up your own mind if it should stay or go! Show Notes: 10th amendment text:  U.S. Constitution - Tenth Amendment | Resources | Constitution Ann...

Send us Fan Mail What is a currency exactly?  And is a Crypto Currency really a currency? Once the hope for a means to make a currency democratically available to all, something along the way went wrong.  Criminals started to use and then abuse the systems. Learn some history, have some fun, and get a solid understanding of Crypto Currency, and recent politician's shenanigans. A felon has got...

Send us Fan Mail Capitalism is being treated as some sort of evil that needs to be destroyed.  I think this is the wrong approach.  Capitalism is very much like people - some capitalist or companies or organizations are indeed bad.  Most however are good.  Capitalism is getting a bad reputation it doesn't deserve - let's dive into this! Show Notes: Info on Quarterly Financial Reports: As...

Send us Fan Mail Inauguration day 2025 also happens to be the day we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  Many may choose to watch the inauguration; I will choose to embrace one of the greatest Americans to ever live. In troubled times when our nation is tested, it is a wonderful thing to have the writings, speeches, and teachings of Dr. King to fall back on, to learn from, and to live by.  List...

Send us Fan Mail The United States has a problem.  Our elected officials keep getting older and older.  The Constitution says nothing about the elderly serving in Congress, the White House, or on the Supreme Court.  Let's examine this and maybe make some history too! Notes: Members of Congress by Age   8 Oldest Members of Current U.S. Senate (Updated 2024) - Oldest.org More than half of Ameri...

Send us Fan Mail It is full-on Political Football season again! Republicans are running their backward-yardage play of Cut-Social-Security, making sure the most dependent among us can no longer get in the game... or get food, clothing, and housing. Learn about Social Security, history, how it works, 3 stupid ways to fix it, and 2 smart ways with no impact.  Become a better-informed citizen when it...

Send us Fan Mail We have been told immigration is bad.  We have been told to vote for tougher immigration laws and strong anti-immigration leadership. We have been lied too.  Learn the truth on immigration and the American economy. The Mad Centrist - The political podcast for the rest of us. The MAD Centrist – named after the Kurt Vonnegut quote from The Monkey House , “A sane person to an insane...