It’s another EmMajority Report Thursday! She hosts Matthew Connolly, professor of international and global history at Columbia University, to discuss his recent book The Declassification Engine: What History Reveals About America’s Top Secrets. Then, Emma speaks with Orly Noy, editor at Local Call and chair of B’Tselem’s executive board, to discuss her recent piece in +972 Magazine entitled “Do Israeli protesters really want democracy?” First, Emma runs through updates on a rollback of the Iraq war authorizations, Netanyahu’s response to Biden, price gauging in the egg market, the Trump Grand Jury in New York, Texas’ anti-gay judicial decision, Biden advancing open drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, and far-right legislation coming out of Kentucky, West Virginia, and Florida, before diving into Mitt Romney, notorious job killer, running cover for Howard Schultz on the Senate floor. Mattew Connelly then joins as he walks through the current state of the US’ secrecy state and the outrageously massive extent of it, with the agency responsible for tracking classified document numbers declaring that they officially lost count five years ago, leading to the recent news revelations around the hoarding of documents at the homes of Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Joe Biden. Next, Connelly steps back to trace the evolution of the US’ “Dark State” from the Constitutional Convention, with the Framers enshrining Congress’ right to keep deliberations secret while still acknowledging the President’s need to act with secrecy and dispatch, through an era of general transparency from the state, and up to the start of the Second World War. From here, Matthew and Emma parse through the extensive expansion of the US intelligence and secrecy apparatus that aligned with the complete expulsion of marginalized identities from the Federal Government in the wake of the Second World War, ingraining a very particular white-male perspective throughout these institutions, before looking deeper at the impact of the US Elites’ Cold War anxieties and how they extended far beyond foreign fears, with the Pentagon running secret domestic war scenarios (for instance: race war). Wrapping up, Connelly walks through the evolution of the Dark State over the last few administrations, its relationship to US imperialism, and why he uses the term “Dark State” instead of “Deep State.” Orly Noy then joins as she and Emma attempt to tackle Israel’s relationship with democracy amidst a period of (supposedly pro-Democracy) political protests and the country’s ongoing apartheid regime, looking at the importance of considering all communities extending from the river to the sea when discussing Israeli democracy. From here, they work to assess the inherently anti-democratic nature of a system built on injustice and supremacy, and why “democracy for me and fascism for thee” will never be sustainable.

And in the Fun Half: Emma is joined by Matt Binder and Brandon Sutton as they watch Chaya Raichik struggle to fill the boots of Goebbels and the like, Pat Robertson accidentally answering a question about trans folks as a Christian rather than a fascist, and assess how much the Right-Wing truly drives culture war BS. Spacko, the Voice of Scam Economy, calls in to discuss mass social media harassment and legal recourse, Mark from New Mexico discusses James O’Brien’s concept of contempt for the conmen and compassion for the conned, and the MR Crew cover the San Jose Police Officer’s Association’s role in drug trafficking and Jamaal Bowman confrontation over gun control. Lucy from Delaware takes on the importance of calling out the fascist legislation cropping up across the US, plus, your calls and IMs!

Check out Matthew’s book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/545793/the-declassification-engine-by-matthew-connelly/

Check out Orly’s piece here: https://www.972mag.com/israel-protests-democracy-judicial-coup/

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