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Pardon me

President Donald Trump has brought presidential pardons into the news by granting clemency to several controversial people, including Joe Arpaio, a former sheriff in Arizona who targeted immigrants at traffic stops, and a serviceman who killed a suspected terrorist in the Iraqi desert. In this episode, we go beyond the headlines and tell the story of a pardons system that’s completely broken down.

Ken Hughes

Trump's 'Salute to America' Highlighted a Contradiction in His Presidency

The Fourth of July celebration itself stood in opposition to American military tradition. The U.S. has typically eschewed politically tinged displays of military equipment, which are most often associated with countries like North Korea, China and the former Soviet Union. And the military displays “come in the same week that he [Trump] meets with the dictator of North Korea,” noted Barbara Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center.

Barbara Perry

Jobs Report, Oil Outlook, ESG Investing (Podcast)

Former Deputy Secretary of Labor Chris Lu breaks down June nonfarm payrolls topping all economists’ estimates with a solid 224,000 jobs added, the most since January, after a disappointing 72,000 May advance.

Chris Lu

The case for moral courage

Pete Wehner’s new book, the Death of Politics, is at its core a book about moral courage in both senses—obeying principles and embracing opponents. Its great accomplishment is to provide a practical, working definition of political morality that can appeal to all Americans when our politics appear broken.

William Antholis

Trump extols U.S. military might in Fourth of July speech as jets fly over Washington

Russell Riley, a presidential historian at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, said the president’s fascination with the show is reflective of a presidency more concerned with style than substance. “This is a president who came to the office primarily because he’s a showman, and he loves this stuff,” he said. “There’s almost a childlike joy at being able to move the tanks and the airplanes around on the board.”

Russell Riley

With tanks and fighter jets, Donald Trump turns Fourth of July celebrations into parade of military might

“We have not typically had, as we didn’t feel we needed to have, a big military parade as the Soviets did in Red Square,” said Barbara Ann Perry, director of presidential studies at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center on Public Affairs. “That is not typically how we celebrate our patriotism.”