The Middle with Anthony Weiner

We are already wearing out the word “chaos” in our weekly wrap up of the news. But let’s just say January was a hell of a year. The out party never likes when the other team controls the House, Senate, Presidency and the Judiciary, but the biggest losers this week seem to be the whole legislative branch of government – especially the Republicans. Laws? We don’t need your stinkin’ laws! Trump and Co. seem to be dealing with the carefully constructed checks and balances by just ignoring the will of the legislature. And the Republicans in charge are walking shrug emojis. Some voters wanted Trump to break things. Constitutional balance of powers may not what they meant. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It seems like pages are turning, pivots are happening and changes are afoot. From the Middle East to the west front of the Capitol, the world is a changing. (Ok, maybe its too cold for the outside inauguration but you get the idea.) Its happening in New York City also. One election ends and another begins. Anthony takes it all in and issues some takes. But he also gives an update on his renewed life on the stump and Billy’s displeasure about it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Apocalyptic fires in California brought out the Trump in Trump this week. Not much empathy but a lot of name calling. Speaking of name calling, Facebook set its rules and probably its social media platform on fire in a sort of sacrifice to the incoming President. Anthony predicts the changes will cost Mark oodles of Zuckerbucks. And in local news, a felon was sentenced and he didn’t like it one bit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The new year got off to a scary and tragic start with two deranged people making news in the early morning of the first day of 2025. It took a few days – as it always does – for the story to be told. But, as is par for the course, the lust for clicks and the desire for a clear narrative that makes sense out of senseless killing, lead Fox News and their most irresponsible Viewer-in-Chief to get stuff wrong/make stuff up. In sort of related news, Trump the felon won’t be Trump the incarcerated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well that didn’t take long. Before anyone is even sworn in, Donald Trump has an insurrection on his hands. Elon Musk plants a flag in favor of allowing more foreign workers into America and the MAGAs most definitely do not salute. In fact they rebel against the foreign born First Buddy. Anthony returns to the fraught issue of immigration and can’t contain he glee when a campaign built on hate of immigrants unravels once they have power. Ok, maybe its not a full unraveling, but it is at least an ungluing. Get the popcorn for the fight and also for the adult conversation about how immigration reform might actually pass. Also, this week, what chaos awaits Congress on January 3rd? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President-in-waiting took an “L” this week when his new best buddy waded into the very messy work of funding the government, paying our debts and getting bills passed. Elon Musk took some swings at his version of government fantasy camp. Anthony gives Musk his due. Perhaps he is good at systems and engineering. The problem with the modern Congress is not the systems though, it is the humans who have to run it. Anthony offers his pal Elon and his listeners a review of how all of this is supposed to work. Also, some more ideas for the city he loves. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Not to minimize the horror of murdering someone for political reasons, but may we have a word about the slipping standards for what gets deemed a “manifesto”? Coming in at only 262 words, Luigi Mangione took a shallow run at the chronic American issue of how we pay for and distribute health care. Anthony and the callers put some meat on the bones of the issue. Also this week, Weiner sparks a media freak out. Ah, just like the old days. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Like Ground Hog Day, Anthony can’t seem to escape the Hunter Biden talk. Maybe the pardon was the best thing to happen so we can now move on to talking about Trump nominees who: have pledged not to drink anymore; promised to close the FBI building down; gets their news from Russian TV; and, doesn’t want our kids vaccinated. Did we miss anyone? Also, New York City crime stories got us arguing this week. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone seems to agree there are lessons to be learned from the results of election ’24 but as the dust settles on one of the closest races in American history, there is little consensus on what those lessons are. The first testing ground for the “new and improved” Democratic party will be the campaigns of 2025 in New Jersey, Virginia and…New York City. Anthony rarely ventures into New Jersey and hasn’t been a resident of Virginia since his days as a Capitol Hill staffer in the 1980’s but he does have a thought or two about The Big Apple. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The best strategy for Democrats nowadays seems to be to simply be quiet and leave it to the Republicans to explain a proposed cabinet full of law breakers, Putin stoolies and science deniers. One of the closest elections in American history is over and now it’s up to the Republicans in Congress govern. History tells us that might not go well. But Anthony is not dismissing the most recent stab at weeding out government waste being run by Musk and Vivek. It may be valuable for a couple of tech bros to learn what serious students of our country already know – American likes the things Washington spends money on. Also, more talk about the future of New York City. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week brought some really batty nominations from our President-elect. Many Americans seem to be responding with a combination of surprise and fear. But Anthony posits that these are exactly the kinds of picks that we all should have anticipated. What does this say about his second term? Probably that we should not be shocked to learn there is a bull in the china shop. We just voted that we hated china! Also, Anthony reflects on his first week as a maybe candidate in 2025. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ever wake up from a long campaign and just wonder what the hell just happened? Like an unfunny sequel of The Hangover, Anthony sorts it all out for us. Some of it we saw coming and some of it left us scratching our heads. At least we can listen to a podcast without any fear of missing out on an insurrection this year. Next up, a whole list of crazy proposals that Trump wont do…or will he? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just can’t wait for the actual returns? Funny, neither can Donald Trump. He is already declaring he won. The rest of us join in and get the results early this week as Anthony gives us his predictions. They are pretty much iron clad locks, since we all know his very excellent record in presaging these things. He damn near got every one right in 2022! Also, an update from the Trump rallies in the closing week. Oh, joy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ah, Chefs Kiss. As the election winds down and the polls agree that it will end in a tie, what could be a more perfect story? Anthony looks at the news that Donald Trump’s biggest supporter and promulgator of anti-immigrant lies, is himself an…illegal immigrant. The Washington Post my not be endorsing Kamala Harris this year, but they have given us a runaway winner of the Biggest Hypocrite contest. Also this week, why you haven’t seen Nikki Haley on the stump appealing to Nikki Haley voters to vote for Trump. A hint : she worked for Trump, so she knows him. Finally, Obama is good at word talking. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are we there yet? Seventeen days more of this?? Anthony tries to be of service with a issue wrap up for the, uh, 31 remaining undecided voters in his listening audience. But he still found time to acknowledge the end of another significant thing – the life of the head of a middle east terrorist organization. Hamas and Hezbollah have both been beheaded in recent weeks in a vindication of the Israeli strategy of house-to-house combat. Is it enough to save Bibi? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was a tragic week in our country as two big storms ravaged the south. While Americans pulled together, our contentious politics hardly missed a beat. Actually it was worse: one candidate actually used the catastrophes to break out his favorite weapon – lies. Donald Trump cast doubt about storm spending and made things up about the cooperation of the federal government. It was unseemly even to members of his party but even worse, it left many victims of the storms feeling that they had nowhere to turn for help. Barak Obama weighed in and Anthony offered an Amen. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Veep debate was mostly a tie. Anthony called it a good reminder about how politics used to be sort of normal. The stickiest viral moment came when Vance got hung up refusing to acknowledge that his boss lost the last election. Suddenly January 6th was back in the news in more ways than one. Jack Smith began the trial before the trial with this brief about whether the insurrection was by Trump the candidate or Trump the President. Maybe Trump isn’t immune from the voters not liking their votes denied. Also, this week, the anniversary of October 7. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Every October, the world visits New York and the United Nations General Assembly brings questions of foreign affairs to the fore. Harris and Trump – barely a month before the election – staked out their positions. Anthony looks at which candidate looked and sounded like an American President and which one seemed to be using Putin’s speechwriters. In other big news from overseas, Israel cuts off the head of the snake and the hand wringing is predictable. Oh, by the way, the race for president is close…very close. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Was Trump threatening Jews or blaming them? Either way, it wasn’t a good look from a guy who seems to be worried about losing. When he wasn’t stoking antisemitism, the Republican nominee sounded like he was auditioning for a seat in The Squad. Free IVF? Government controls on car insurance and credit card rates? This guy has a lot of socialist concepts of ideas. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It was a huge civic and cultural moment – the big debate. What did we learn? Anthony puts a bow on a week of takes. Here is a hint – plenty of mentions of cats and dogs. Also, a serious conversation that we have had many times about the story of Haitians in Springfield Ohio which is the story of America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices