Nick Martin, a staff writer for Splinter and Deadspin, joins us to discuss the first part of his new series State of the Nation, “How Jesse Helms Invented the Republican Party,” which focuses on the 5-term North Carolina GOP Senator whose bigotted opposition to any policy he considered “liberal” gave him the nickname “Senator No.” Martin’s exhaustive account of Helms uses the senator as the figurehead of an increasingly stubborn GOP party that went from policy to dogma in the years following civil rights movement through the accession of the neocons. Helms was the prototype for media scion turned policymaker in North Carolina. His campaign methods became a blueprint for conservatives in the 21st century, edging towards the far-right ideologies all the while. In his 1972 campaign, Helms popularized racist attack ads against his opponent and goes to work on the Senate Rule Book, railing against voice votes and adding absurd amendments which helped him cultivate a national following. Helms was every word you could throw at him, but ultimately he was good at what he needed to do: getting elected. Although Democratic candidates won’t be running on white identity politics or aggrievement, they can use ideology and strong conviction to win in a demographically shifting America.

In the Fun Half: A wild Scaramucci sighting in NYC, ICE is terrorizing Americans, K-File strikes again, Jeff Glor gloms onto Trump, F0x & Friends supercuts aren’t helping exonerate Trump, Raygun describes how USCIF is weaponizing its immigration policies, Alex Jones calls Tucker Carlson “The King,” Michael Tracy: the pathological contrarian, right-wing media parasites and their slush fund, reading 5-star reviews from TMBS iTunes show, MGM bringing a preemptive lawsuit against victims of Las Vegas shooting is peak late-capitalism, and Sam Harris’ ego made him a white nationalist.

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Check out Sam’s sister Betsy’s fundraiser: Make the Wave raises money for Swing Left via sales of fine art prints. She’s almost at 20k. Lets get her there, folks! Buy a print. Go to www.makethewave2018.com

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