politics - The Nicole Sandler Show

It’s Always About the Money

Last Thursday, a federal judge ruled that BP’s “gross negligence” and “willful misconduct” had caused the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 and that the company’s “reckless” behavior made it subject to fines of as much as $4,300 a barrel under the Clean Water Act. Antonia Juhasz, Oil and Energy Analyst and author of three books - Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill, The Tyranny of Oil: The World's Most Powerful Industry--and What We Must Do to Stop It , and The Bush Agenda: Invading the World, One Economy at a Time - joined me on the show this morning to [...]

By nicolesandler|September 8th, 2014|Tags: Antonia Juhasz, Bill De Blasio, BP, conservadem, Corexit, deepwater Horizon, democrats, DNC, Elizabeth Warren, Halliburton, Howie Klein, NY, oil, politics, primary, progressive, Scotland, Tim Wu, Transocean, Zephyr Teachout|Comments Off

Lighting the Fuse

I'd always nod along when Randi Rhodes would say that it's not if it'll happen, but when. And I, like she, always wondered what the catalyst will be that finally lights the fuse. Back in 2010, the spark that begat the Arab Spring was one of those proverbial straws breaking the camel's back-- a Tunisian fruit vendor set himself on fire to protest his government's treatment of himself and his fellow citizens along with its brazen corruption. Before dawn on Friday, Dec. 17, as [Mohammed] Bouazizi pulled his cart along the narrow, rutted stone road toward the market, two police officers blocked his path and [...]

By nicolesandler|August 11th, 2014|Tags: #OpFerguson, anonymous, Down with Tyranny, Ferguson, Hawaii, Howie Klein, Iraq, Katrina vanden Heuvel, Kurds, Nan Rich, Nicole Sandler, politics, progressive, Radio or Not, Russia, Stephen F. Cohen, The Fuse, The Nation, Ukraine, Yazidi, Zephyr Teachout|Comments Off

Stop Making Sense or Life During Wartime

Once again, I feel as if I've entered Opposite World, where up is down, in is out and everything is completely backwards. I didn't meant to quote the Talking Heads, but it's the lower case talking heads who are making my brain hurt right now. First of all, the talking head making the most sense about Iraq right now is... Shephard Smith!?!?! Yes, the man who is relegated to keeping his sexuality safely hidden in the closet because his employer is Faux News is, once again, speaking the truth. This time, he's saying what I'm thinking about Iraq. If [...]

By nicolesandler|June 16th, 2014|Tags: afghanistan, dave brat, Democratic leadership, Eric Cantor, Gen Wesley Clark, Howie Klein, Iran, Iraq, politics, Steve Israel, war|3 Comments

Cutting Through the Bullshit

"Political discourse" and "Bullshit" are synonymous these days. It often feels like we need a dictionary to decipher and unpack some of the drivel that comes out of politicians mouths. Enter my old friend Stephen Goldstein. He's an op-ed columnist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, and author of a number of books including one of my favorites, Atlas Drugged: Ayn Rand Be Damned. And now, he's back with The Dictionary of American Political Bullshit! It's a must-read, especially in today's political climate. Stephen joined in for a spirited discussion about bullshit this morning, and we had a spirited debate about [...]

By nicolesandler|May 20th, 2014|Tags: bullshit, Charlie Crist, Florida, GottaLaff, Nan Rich, politics, primary, Rita Cosby, Stephen Goldstein, Super Tuesday|1 Comment

Grateful & Thankful

I began the show today with a big shout out of thanks and appreciation to all who have stepped up recently with financial support of the show. As I've reiterated often, I'll never put up a pay wall on this show. I know too many people who are struggling, and don't want to deny anyone access to the program. But with today's business/radio climate, the only way this show will survive is by virtue of your donations. And yesterday, a couple of listeners stepped up in a really big way. Erika from California has surprised and humbled me in [...]

By nicolesandler|May 13th, 2014|Tags: Bernie Sanders, GottaLaff, John Nichols, media, politics, POTUS run, progressive, radio, talk radio|1 Comment

Almost Blue

Today, we begin a new weekly segment on the show: The Steve Israel Hour, sponsored by Little Debbie , featuring Howie Klein of the Blue America PAC and Down With Tyranny. In case you didn't know about Blue America, it's a PAC run by Howie, Digby, and Crooks & Liars' John Amato, for the purpose of vetting and identifying the best progressive candidates out there, mostly in Congressional races, and help raise money for them. The sad fact is the today's Democratic Party - the DNC, led by Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and the DCCC, chaired by Steve Israel, tend [...]

By nicolesandler|May 12th, 2014|Tags: Blue America PAC, Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, Howie Klein, marijuana, medical marijuana, meet the experts, politics, progressive, prohibition, red to blue, Robert Platshorn, Should Grandma Smoke Pot, Steve Israel|Comments Off

Pagan Celebration!

Finally! Today marks the Vernal Equinox... or the beginning of Spring. Silly non-religious folks (like me) tend to celebrate these days- when we enter a new phase of planetary alignment with the sun- rather than religious holidays based on a book written a few thousand years ago. Yet somehow the pagans who join together to celebrate nature at Ostara Festivals around the world - and pre-date Christianity! - are considered the odd balls. Welcome to opposite world. It's somehow fitting that Fred Phelps, the founder of the hate-spewing Westboro Baptist Church, died on one of the biggest pagan holidays [...]

By nicolesandler|March 20th, 2014|Tags: Bill Mumy, Blue America PAC, equinox, Fred Phelps, Howie Klein, Julianna Forlano, Malaysian plane, media fail, pagan, politics, progressive, spring, Twilight Zone, US Senate, vernal equinox|Comments Off

Religion and Politics

The graphic above says it all... Religion is like a penis. It's fine to have one. It's fine to be proud of it. But please don't whip it out in public and start waving it around. And PLEASE don't try to shove it down my children's throats. It seems that the people who don't follow that golden rule are also the ones who have absolutely no understanding of what Jesus (who they claim to follow) actually taught. Today, we talked about religious hypocrisy with comedian John Fugelsang, who agreed with me that people like Pat Robertson, Bryan Fischer, Ralph Reed [...]

By nicolesandler|March 19th, 2014|Tags: John Fugelsang, Pat Robertson, politics, Ralph Reed, religion, religious hypocrisy, reproductive rights, Susie Madrak|Comments Off

Music Can Soothe the Savage Beast

It can.. I know that music certainly helps me when I'm feeling off. After hearing about a murder trial that some misguided members of the media decided to call the "Loud Music Trial" (instead of the Jordan Davis murderer trial), I decided to turn the spotlight on how music is helping raise money for some truly progressive candidates. The Blue America PAC just wrapped up a truly special fundraiser for Congressman Alan Grayson. Grayon's favorite artist is Joni Mitchell (click through for my print interview with her from a few years back), so all who donated to his campaign through [...]

By nicolesandler|February 18th, 2014|Tags: Alan Grayson, Bill Maher, Blue America PAC, Chris Christie, GottaLaff, Howie Klein, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Mike Honda, music, Olympics, politics, Sunset Sessions|Comments Off

Perplexing Questions

I used to keep a list of those pesky perplexing questions... the things that will make your brain hurt. Questions like Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Why do chefs wear those big white hats? Why is it that when you're driving and looking for an address, you turn down the volume on the radio? Why do you drive on parkways, but park on driveways? Why are there interstate highways in Hawaii? Why do noses run while feet smell? How would privatizing Medicare make it more efficient? What health insurance company would sell a policyto a 75 year [...]

By nicolesandler|May 26th, 2011|Tags: Allen West, Bugliosi, God, medicare, politics|Comments Off

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