It’s Casual Friday! Sam and Emma host Jamelle Bouie, opinion columnist at the New York Times and co-host of the Unclear and Present Danger podcast, to discuss his recent piece “Joe Manchin Is a Symptom, but It’s the Senate That’s Sick”. Sam and Emma begin by diving into the advancing legislation to codify contraceptive rights alongside same-sex marriage, Miami’s crackdown on sex ed and Oklahoma’s “don’t say abortion” ruling, and Fox and Friends’ meltdown on the Jan 6 hearings. Then Jamelle Bouie joins as he dives right into the classic Senate mechanistic dysfunction as the US faces a heatwave (overheating creates a greater desire for vacation time), with Manchin killing his own proposals as he takes on the Senate’s role of minoritarian veto. Next, they shift into a discussion more focused on the Democratic Party, meeting their opponents’ incredibly unpopular crusade with a commitment to institutional chumminess and a fear of appearing anything by bipartisan (when the “bi” means working with homophobes and misogynists), and the role this impotency plays in Biden’s falling approval. Moving into yesterday’s 1/6 hearings, the three of them discuss the disconnect between the committee’s impact on the parties’ approval ratings (massive) and Biden’s (nothing), how this very clearly disproves Democratic leadership’s obsession with bipartisanship, before they wrap up the interview by looking at the upcoming bill on the allocations of electoral votes, and the role it can play with the Supreme Courts’ future cases on the matter.

And in the Fun Half: Sam and Emma tackle the success of the 1/6 hearings, the updates on the role of Trump’s Secret Service in the coverup and Pence’s Secret Service in fearing for their lives, and walk through Trump’s “truths” from last night. Dr. Oz appears on Fox News to tell his supporters to stop mowing their lawns and give him money, Jethro from Louisville reflects on Bolton’s denouncement of the way kids these days don’t plan out their coups as he did, and Valerie from AZ explores wordplay against the right. David Rubin assures Jordan Peterson that his husband will serve as a somewhat maternal presence, and Moira from NY explores transphobia and the lack of a Democratic response. Sam previews some Nick Fuentes leaks, Malcolm from TX discusses gun control and hunting, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Jamelle’s work here: https://www.nytimes.com/column/jamelle-bouie