Does It Matter That Impeachment Enthusiasts Are Lousy on Foreign Policy?
The Reason Roundtable panelists ask: Why so many hawks in the anti-Trump clump?
What have we learned after the second week of the House impeachment inquiry, aside from the fact that President Donald Trump abuses power and says crazy things while pretty much everybody else rationalizes one way or the other? One persistent peculiarity, argue Nick Gillespie, Peter Suderman, Katherine Mangu-Ward, and Matt Welch on the Reason Roundtable podcast, is that so, so many of the president's greatest antagonists are—like many in the permanent foreign policy apparatus—more interventionist on foreign policy than your average Joe. So how exactly should that color our opinion of the proceedings?
In addition to disagreeing about that, the quarrelsome quartet bickers over best and worst in the Democratic presidential field, discusses the origin-story theology of The Fantastic Four, makes an uncomfortable menstruation metaphor, and ponders just how many of Sacha Baron-Cohen's anti–social media ideas should be thrown down the well.
SPEAKING OF HOLES: A final reminder that with our annual Webathon lurking around the corner, The Reason Roundtable is soliciting your questions, queries, praise, and abuse, for the purpose of a special bonus Webathon AMA episode. Email your queries to podcasts@reason.com, por favor!
Audio production by Ian Keyser and Regan Taylor.
Music credit: 'Russian Dance' by Joey Pecoraro
Relevant links from the show:
"Trump Team Plotted Post-Hoc Justification for Withholding Ukraine Aid, Emails Suggest," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
"The Evidence That Trump Abused His Powers Is Clear and Convincing," by Jacob Sullum
"Judge Napolitano: Enough Evidence 'To Justify About Three or Four Articles of Impeachment,'" by Nick Gillespie
"As Impeachment Moves Forward, Trump's Story Changes," by Elizabeth Nolan Brown
"House Republicans Are Spreading 'Fictional Narrative' on Ukrainian Election Interference, Says Former Top White House Adviser," by Billy Binion
"'We Followed the President's Orders': Gordon Sondland Says There Was a Quid Pro Quo," by Billy Binion
"Kurt Volker Revises Testimony and Says Corruption Allegations Against Biden Are 'Not Credible,'" by Billy Binion
"White House Adviser: Trump Didn't Actually Seem to Care About Fighting Corruption in Ukraine," by Billy Binion
"Wanted: A Dem Presidential Candidate Who Defends Individualism, Capitalism, Non-Interventionism," by Nick Gillespie
"Cory Booker Just Crushed Joe Biden Over His Tepid Support for Marijuana Legalization," by Eric Boehm
"Booker Says Warren's Wealth Tax Would Destroy Economic Growth," by Billy Binion
"Cory Booker Pushes for Greater Democratic Support for Charter Schools," by Scott Shackford
"The Anybody-but-Warren Primary," by Peter Suderman
"Sacha Baron Cohen's Anti-Facebook Rant at the ADL Summit Was Pure Moral Panic," by Robby Soave
"Martin Scorsese Is a Grumpy Old Fart—and Wrong About the State of 'Cinema,'" by Nick Gillespie
"Reviews: The Irishman and Terminator: Dark Fate," by Kurt Loder
"Nobody Knows What Television Is Anymore," by Peter Suderman
"The Reason Podcast Is Now 3 Great New Podcasts. Subscribe!" by Katherine Mangu-Ward