Good Guys Getting Better Christian Hanley

We're back -- at least two of us are! Christian is back from his travels right as John leaves and his and right before Aleem gets out of town -- but two is a quorum here, so two of us recorded a pod.
Thankfully, we didn't miss anything! Just an insane trial in New York where a former President of the United States is alleged to have paid off an adult film star to illegally influence the 2016 Election. But to non-lawyers understand the twists and turns of the case? Resident non-lawyer Aleem weighs in.
We also cover the Kendrick Lamar - Drake battle (which Christian, in turn, knows nothing about) and the laughable, seemingly fake information gap between Trump-leaning voters and Biden leading voters. Remember the "low information voters" of Saturday Night Live? Well NBC commissioned a poll with by both a Democratic and a Republican pollster, and they learned a lot from that key demographic and the media they consume -- or don't!
The results will not surprise you.
#trumptrial #hushmoneytrial #hushmoney #nbcpoll #biden #2024election #kendricklamar #drake


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This pod, we have the privilege of being joined by an old friend of Aleem, Razeeb Hossain. A former Republican, Razeeb shares with us his political evolution — before the Trump era in Republican politics — from leader of his law school’s Republican club to casting his vote for Barack Obama. He also tells the story of his family’s arrival in America from Bangladesh, with his parents initially leaving their country for educational opportunities abroad, then leaving permanently for better prospects here in America. And though never Republicans themselves, his parents were, to hear Razeeb tell it, lured to the shining city on a hill described by Ronald Reagan some forty years ago.
Unfortunately for Razeeb, his family ultimately settled in New Jersey, where he had to spend his adolescence with Aleem. Don’t worry, we take them both to task for defending a little to vehemently their beloved Garden State.
Back to substance, we tackle Biden’s growing problem with young voters over the war in Gaza, as well as the closing poll numbers in key swing states like Michigan and Pennsylvania. And while Biden is no longer trailing far behind Trump, John asks the critical question of whether Biden can bring home young voters who feel he’s done too little and acted too late when it comes to Netanyahu.
We also discuss the critical differences between Gaza and Ukraine, as well as attempts by members of the House GOP to prevent additional aid to help Ukrainians in their self-defense against Russia. At the same time, we get into the unfortunate prevalence and effectiveness of Russian propaganda here in the United States — and even in the House Republican caucus, where Republican Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Michael McFaul, has come out publicly decrying the infiltration of Russian propaganda.
On the campaign trail, we look at Trump’s use of Black Americans as validators for his campaign, whether through posed events, such as the one staged at an Atlanta-area Chick-fil-A recently, or with the use of fake images generated with the use of AI. In case you were wondering, this one gets under John’s skin.
It’s a great episode and not one you’ll want to miss!
#immigration #reagan #NJ #newjersey #putin #russianpropaganda #ukraine #israel #foreignaid #AI


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Hey everyone! We're back before dropping this week's full episode to react to Iran's unprecedented retaliation against Israel. We’re discussing whether this attack was mere retaliation or an escalation after Israel’s bombing of Iran’s embassy in Damascus, Syria, what comes next, and what Biden needs to do here at home.
Please let us know what you’re thinking in the comments here on Substack or over on YouTube.
#accountability #2024election #biden #iran #nationalsecurity


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christianhanley.substack.com

What does it look like to raise a child, teach them respect for themselves, for their family and their peer, in a society where accountability is something a person can buy their way out of? That's what Aleem, Christian, and John dig into in this pod.
It comes after Christian spent a week away from work to spend with his son on spring break. In the same time, former president Trump has been able to dodge just about every bit of accountability in criminal and civil proceedings up and down the east coast. Most recently, he had his bond in his New York fraud case massively reduced, from $464 million to about $175 million -- a large sum to be sure, but a reduction of over 50%, something few could ever ask for, let alone be granted.
Sean "Diddy" Combs, meanwhile, has become the subject of a civil suit and a massive federal criminal case, with agents raiding his home. The accusations are as of yet unproven in either case. But the civil complaint contains horrific, graphic descriptions of sex trafficking and sexual assault. His reaction after agents raided his compound? Remarkably similar to Trump: he deflects, accuses, and attempts to discredit the legal system and the news media.
Where does this all get started? How do these rich and powerful men even develop the taste for abuse and atrocity before they achieve positions of power, or is it really as simple as the old adage that power corrupts?
And where does this leave parents, especially parents of boys, in today's America? For one thing, it makes us all somewhat countercultural -- even if we never ever thought of ourselves in that light -- for teaching the next generation to not follow and even contradict what they're seeing around them.
Don't worry though! Aleem still says something awkward, John still calls him out, and an insomniac Christian still gets cherry red laughing. We have to have some fun, even when things around us are completely out of hand.

#trump #parenting #raisingoursons #accountability #personaldevelopment #personalresponsibility #toxicmasculinity #healthymasculinity #diddy #puffdaddy #diddydoit #hiphop


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christianhanley.substack.com

Congress have voted to force TikTok's parent company to divest from the popular social media app that counts over 170 million Americans among its users. That's of course due to the security concerns by the parent company being all but an arm of the Chinese Communist Party.
Meanwhile, TikTok users are up in arms over the proposal, which the app claims is a "ban". Concerning is the fact that their mass mobilization against Congress' proposed divestment plan was actually organized by TikTok itself, which used its massive reach into the American populous to urge adults and children alike to contact their representatives and voice their opposition. No need for concern there, not when the app that Congress is concerned could be used to manipulate American politics from the outside literally starts a movement overnight and mobilizes Americans to get involved in a political action, something even presidential campaigns struggle to do.
TikTokers have raised some important points in their opposition to Congress' plan, and they're not shy about about pointing out the lack of technological literacy in a Congress with an exceptionally high average age. Yet for whatever Senators and Members of the House lack in technical skill, they do have access to important intelligence that informs their decisions on matters of national security. TikTokers, for their part, have a great on screen presence and a mastery of the tech -- at least from a user's standpoint -- but are they glossing over the real security concerns? Seeing one brilliant TikToker's take, it seems like the best argument they have has little to do with China's dystopian use of personal data or Congress' national security concerns and more to do with "what about Meta and Alphabet." It's whataboutism, and not a very persuasive argument.
But the threats we all face in this Election Year aren't just from a social media app. Project 2025, a product of Trump's enablers at The Heritage Foundation, lays out the blueprint for Trump's takeover of the federal government should he retake the White House next January. This plan, far more researched and complex than Trump himself could ever fully appreciate, provides the keys for his inner circle to dismantle any remaining safeguards against presidential overreach once he's in office. With chapters on the "bureaucracy", presidential powers, and the Department of Justice, Project 2025 makes scary, if mandatory, reading as we barrel toward a rematch between the Donald and democracy itself.
We also get into the court's ruling on Fanni Willis' ability to continue to prosecute the criminal case against Trump in the Fulton County, Georgia case. Willis certainly made a mistake, but Trump once again, came out on top, no matter how much he and the Magaverse continue to complain. They've been able to move the national conversation away from the election fraud crimes of which he and his coconspirators are plausibly accused and all but put Willis herself on trial for her outsourcing legal work to an attorney she was dating. Not only has the underlying case been buried by the ensuing circus, but Trump has been able to do what he always does when the law comes knocking at his door: delegitimize the process and delay, delay, delay.
It's a full and fast moving pod -- one you don't want to miss!
#trump #fultoncounty #fultoncountyga #2024elections #georgia #tiktok #tiktokban #ccp #china #nationalsecurity #propaganda #project2025 #authoritarianism
Project 2025: https://www.project2025.org/
JWilliamj8 on Congress' TikTok divestment bill:


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In a pod Christian and John recorded before today's unanimous Supreme Court decision forcing Colorado to keep insurrectionist Donald Trump on the ballot, we address another giveaway the high court has handed the Donald.
That's right. Today, the justices conveniently forgot that the Constitution already gives individual states the power to decide a Presidential Election for the entire country. It's called the electoral college. Prior to that, they decided to take up the question of whether someone who used to live at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue had the right to lifelong, absolute immunity from prosecution.
Of course, the appeals court had already answered this question in great detail and without any of the condescension of which Trump and his lawyers' were absolutely deserving. So why would SCOTUS even bother to review the appeals court's thoughtful and thorough decision?
It could be to settle the question for all time. Given the late date, it's more likely though that the Trump-appointed Justices and their archconservative colleagues are using this to give Trump the delay he needs to escape criminal liability -- even if the high court rules against him! -- so that he has the chance to be reelected before being convicted.
This is one of our most in depth, but unfortunately somber discussions to date on this pod, but it's one you don't want to miss. This is not a conversation reserved for attorneys, nor is this a moment in American politics than can be left to the professionals. Now is the time for everyone to get involved and speak out. It's a cliche, but it's true: democracy is not a spectator sport.

#scotus #trump #trumptrials #trumpcampaign #supremecourt #jacksmith


This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit christianhanley.substack.com