The Professional Left Podcast with Driftglass and Blue Gal

Correction to Tuesday's episode on pardons:  Contrary to the false information we repeated in episode 858, George HW Bush did NOT pardon his son, Neil.  We regret the error. We got a letter we had to share.  The latest Morning Joe quarrel wasn't about Trump after all.  And Driftglass reads Royko.  We were also on The Bob Cesca Show this week.  Tune in here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/...

CORRECTION:  Contrary to the false information we repeated in this episode, George HW Bush did NOT pardon his son, Neil.  We regret the error. The Hunter Biden Pardon in the historical context of presidents pardoning family members and nobody remembering that they did that.  And Driftglass reads "To The Chicago Abyss" by Ray Bradbury (1963). More at proleftpod.com . Blue Gal's knitt...

Happy Thanksgiving to our listeners!  We are so grateful to you for support of our show. We are off on Thursday.  Next week we hope to do a Science Fiction University episode! Links for this episode: Mama Nous:  "Worrying Has Never Changed a Thing" is used by permission. https://www.instagram.com/p/DCPONzGqtHV/ and wherever you get your music. Parkrose Permaculture (excerpt) “Why are Tr*...

It's bathroom bigotry all over again.  We remember just how racist Jesse Helms was, and how perfectly okay the Republican Party was with all of that bigotry.  There's likely to be lots of Cabinet-appointment drama in the next little bit, but please keep your eyes on the corruption and grift.  What music is Bluegal listening to? Link for this episode:  "Franciscan Blessing"   Mo...

Today is a good day for us to remember that we are not alone or crazy...or doomed.  Trump Co is destined for SELF-destruction. And we came across a Steve Gilliard post from TWENTY years ago that is amazingly timely. More at proleftpod.com. Links for this episode: Athenae/Allison Hantschel in Dame Magazine, "Democracy is dying in broad daylight."  https://www.damemagazine.com/2024/11/19/d...

Thursdays with Royko.  Guess who says we need a new liberal media?  Guess who says Matt Gaetz is a Sex Pervert? And Blue Gal interviews our 26yo about the election.  More at proleftpod.com You can help us pay for DG's eye doctor expenses at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ease-dgs-medical-financial-burden Blue Gal's knitting podcast!  https://www.youtube.com/@flangum Our podcast YouTube...

We're on BlueSky!  bluegal, driftglass, proleftpodcast.  Join us! Five stages of grief?  How about five stages of MAGA victory, including bargaining, denial, and anger?  Because FAFO isn't just a cute acronym, it's their way of life. Also, Bluegal finds out that Artificial Intelligence can save a life, but may be programmed NOT to save a democracy. And Driftglass remembers when Arch...

The post-election episode.  We're going to get busy, working to make the world a better place, because that is what we are ALWAYS, in all circumstances, called to do. More at proleftpod.com. Link for this episode: Sojourners Magazine, 'Preaching the Word' (Sample page) https://sojo.net/preaching-the-word/epiphany-lord-year More at proleftpod.com You can help us pay for DG's eye...

h/t Jimmy Kimmel for turning "Dumpster Fire," which Driftglass actually coined on his blog, into "Dumpster Fuhrer."  Bible Bitch has a very special "thou shalt not" for the Trump campaign.  And Driftglass compares Harris at the Elipse with Lincoln at Gettysburg.  And it fits.   We're off next Tuesday, Election Day, but we will appear on the Hal Sparks program on...

Happy Birthday Driftglass (Oct 30)!!! Trump's very very racist rally.  Who could have predicted?  Everybody.  Also, a certain NYT columnist who is NOT David Brooks, Ross Douthat, makes up reasons why he can't endorse Harris, including, and we are not making this up, traffic deaths during Covid.  And we've seen election literature from BOTH parties here in Springfield Illinois, but o...

Brian Kilmeade should win an award.  Links for this episode:    Ezra Klein on Trump’s lack of guardrails… and dem failures? https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/22/opinion/donald-trump-ezra-klein-podcast.html Chris Hayes hosts Michelle Goldberg and Jess McIntosh on the press failure to cover women’s rage in the wake of Dobbs.  https://crooksandliars.com/2024/10/watch-what-happens-after-maga-candidate Y...

Funny how Republicans loved the "p" word when it was about Bill Clinton.  Driftglass's 'five minutes on David Brooks' is back.  Tick tock! And we're not exactly accepting the Cheneys and The Bulwark into our tent. More at proleftpod.com. You can help us pay for DG's eye doctor expenses at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ease-dgs-medical-financial-burden Blue Gal&...

Three weeks left. Kamala shows Bret Baier for the abusive bully jerk and not-a-journalist he is.  Driftglass reads a right wing Facebook post for filth and notes how much it depends...on the lies of the past?  More at proleftpod.com. You can help us pay for DG's eye doctor expenses at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ease-dgs-medical-financial-burden Blue Gal's knitting podcast!  https://...

Karl Rove, Fox News, and the rest wanted to program voters to vote Republican no matter what.  They spent so much time on the 'vote Republican' part, and now the 'no matter what' part has come home to roost. Also, Kamala Harris uses "Good Trouble" to drive Trump into publicizing his insanity repeatedly. And we make some predictions about the first David Brooks columns...

How is Donald Trump like a hurricane?  How is toxic Republicanism like climate change?  And snuggle up with a cuppa hot cocoa, kids, as Uncle Driftglass reads an excerpt from the 1955 story "Franchise" by Issac Asimov.  More at proleftpod.com . You can help us pay for DG's eye doctor expenses at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ease-dgs-medical-financial-burden Blue Gal's knitti...

The idea of focusing on the future isn't the flex (or the excuse) the Trump campaign thinks it is. We are pleasantly surprised on a road trip to Burlington, Iowa.  Is Elon Musk's mom alright? Is Megyn Kelly?  They seem upset. And Kamala Harris isn't aiming for "humble."  More at proleftpod.com . You can help us pay for DG's eye doctor expenses at https://www.gofundme....

Trump is melting.  Vance is a robot replacement.  Walz understood his assignment.  And isn’t it interesting that Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, #1 enemy of socialism, wants the taxpayers to fix her husband’s driveway in the wake of Helene?  More at proleftpod.com . You can help us pay for DG's eye doctor expenses at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ease-dgs-medical-financial-burden Blue...

We cover the usual (sad!) media failures leading up to the Vice Presidential Debate Tuesday night. Note:  Our recording host had some technical issues that other podcasters were also experiencing today.  Our apologies for "aborting" the show early...we had to get ready for the Vice Presidential Debate. Please listen to Driftglass and Digby discuss the Vice Presidential Debate on the Brad...

A Block:  Driftglass and Bluegal read each other a list of standard performance review questions.  Are we staff or management?  B Block (40:30): Donald Trump and his party are flat-out in favor of ethnic cleansing in the United States.  C Block (50:15):  Kamala Harris's substantive interview on economics; reactions to it broke precisely as expected.  News Round Up (57:30). Link for this episo...

Sorry, Maggie Haberman, we're just two married podcasters who live in a little house near a cornfield and who think the Beltway media is waaay too busy patting each other's backs.  We're not an industry, we're pro-journalistic ethics (hello Olivia Nuzzi), political integrity (good bye Mark Robinson), and funding school lunches (Ahem). More at proleftpod.com. You can help us pay...

This week, Blue Gal is traveling, so we're bringing you a special rebroadcast of our recent appearance on "The Bill Show," which originally aired on September 9, 2024.  Bill is an American ex-pat living in Australia, and his podcast is liberal and political with a heavy dose of ribald humor.  Sounds like a good match for us?  It is! Hear more Bill Show episodes at https://expatprogr...

No Fair Remembering 2010?  Our SECOND episode from over 14 years ago.  Before we were married!  Driftglass was in Chicago, and Blue Gal was in Springfield, recording over Skype.   This episode was recorded at a pivotal moment in recent American political history. The Supreme Court had just handed down its landmark Citizens United decision, fundamentally altering and corrupting the landscape of cam...

Our two cents about the Presidential Vs. Donald Trump Debate.  And we have some opinions, too, about Morning Joe guests attempting to "reunite the country."  More at proleftpod.com. Link for this episode, check out our Episode 713: No Fair Remembering Vice Presidents.  "The belief that somehow Kamala Harris isn't "doing something" as Veep runs counter to nearly every...

Thanks Liz and Dick Cheney now GET LOST.  You get NOTHING for doing the right thing.  And you especially don't get more political power because you're pretending to be "centrist."  Have a nice day! Also David Brooks pretends Trump was a "hostile takeover of outsiders" of the lovely kind Republican Party he knew and loved back when Dick Cheney was Vice President.  We r...

Oh wait, the Russia thing was real?  And DOJ just indicted a whole mess of September Surprise?  We muse on the idea of "earning" $100,000 an episode.  Did you think you were worth it,  Tim Pool?  And Mike Barnicle asks, "What happened to the Republican Party?"  Hey Mike! WE KNOW!!! More at proleftpod.com You can help us pay for DG's eye doctor expenses at https://www.gofun...