Politics

Tonight on The Independents: Historic NSA Ruling, Senate Budget Showdown, NoKo Madness, Affluenza, Gay Laws in India, and Delicious Jacob Sullum!

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Well, nothing much for a new libertarian-leaning cable news program to discuss tonight…OH WAIT—D.C. District Court Judge Richard Leon issues a preliminary injunction against the National Security Agency's hoovering of metadata, declaring it "almost-Orwellian" and likely unconstitutional. Reason Senior Editor Jacob Sullum will break it down for the 9 pm (Eastern) crowd (6 pm Pacific, repeats at midnight). Meanwhile, panelists Ellis Henican and Kayleigh McEnany will help America process last night's 60 Minutes NSA infomercial, including discussion about amnesty for whistleblower Edward Snowden and more.

With the Senate tomorrow expected to pass the sequester-busting Ryan-Murray plan overwhelmingly approved by the House, the question arises: Have Establishment Republicans finally kicked the fiscally conservative grassroots to the curb? FreedomWorks President/CEO Matt Kibbe will be on to count heads and take names.

Also: What's worse—"affluenza" as a criminal defense, or the lack of criminal defense available to the non-affluent? Looking overseas, India just re-criminalized certain kinds of sex between consenting adults, and North Korea's Lil' Kim Jong Un is busy executing family members.

All these topics and more, tonight at 9 pm ET, with your host Kennedy, plus co-hosts Matt Welch and Kmele Foster. Click on the links to read the open threads for Episodes Four, Three, and Two. Send raw Twitter snark to @IndependentsFBN (#independents) and the best of the SFW lot will displayed on the television screen.

Open thread commence!