Impeachment Fight Escalates Political Civil War in Washington

Published: Oct. 7, 2019, 10 p.m.

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Daniel Lazare. He is a journalist and author of three books--“The Frozen Republic,” “The Velvet Coup,” and “America's Undeclared War.”

A second so-called whistleblower has now come forward claiming first hand knowledge of the call between Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky that forms the basis of the Democrats’ impeachment probe. But the controversy is not just engulfing the White House -- Democratic 2020 frontrunner Joe Biden is also badly damaged by the details of the case, leaving the effort to unseat Trump in next year’s election in a severely weakened state.

In a surprise announcement, the Trump administration announced that U.S. troops would withdraw from Northern Syria to make room for a new Turkish military offensive targeting the Kurdish YPG militia. The move has caused great controversy in the United States and around the world. Ambassador Peter Ford, the former UK Ambassador to Syria, joins the show.

More than 100 people are now dead from an Iraqi government crackdown on protests that have been going on for the last week. Protestors have taken to the streets against unemployment, lack of basic infrastructure, and corruption in the government. Brian speaks with Kathy Kelly, co-coordinator of Voices for Creative Non-Violence.

Protests continued in Hong Kong over the weekend as many marchers defied a new regulation prohibiting the wearing of masks at actions. Demonstrations continue to be violent, and on Sunday a journalist was burned after being hit by a molotov cocktail. Mike Wong, the outreach coordinator for the San Francisco chapter of Veterans for Peace, joins the show.

Monday’s segment “Education for Liberation with Bill Ayers” is where Bill helps us look at the state of education across the country. What’s happening in our schools, colleges, and universities, and what impact does it have on the world around us? Bill Ayers, an activist, educator and the author of the book “Demand the Impossible: A Radical Manifesto,” joins Brian.

In this segment, The Week Ahead, the hosts take a look at the most newsworthy stories of the coming week and what it means for the country and the world, including the new second whistleblower in the impeachment inquiry, the potential withdrawal of US troops from the north eastern region of Syria, and the heavy death toll in Iraq following protests there over the past week. Sputnik News analysts and producers of this show Nicole Roussell and Walter Smolarek join the show.

Monday’s regular segment Technology Rules with Chris Garaffa is a weekly guide on how monopoly corporations and the national surveillance state are threatening cherished freedoms, civil rights and civil liberties. Web developer and technologist Chris Garaffa and Patricia Gorky, a software engineer and technology and security analyst, joins the show.