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America is in the midst of a constitutional crisis with a President who clearly wants to be king no matter what the Constitution says and ironically the constitution says nothing about what to do in this kind of crisis. Dr. Helen Castor, medieval historian, sees in America's current situation echoes of a constitutional crisis six hundred years ago in England when King Richard the Second put himself above the law and defied anyone to do anything about it. Give us 44:43 to explain it to you.

America's Constitutional Crisis: A Lesson From Medieval English History

The Republican Party has become the people James Madison warned us against: a Faction. In any country, the most dangerous thing that can happen is for a group and its political representatives to act as if their view alone represents the nation. That thinking leads to the view that they alone “are” the nation and that those who disagree with them are not of the nation - even if they are fellow citizens, born on the country’s soil. When this happens in a democratic republic, like the US, and the view takes over a political party, then the threat to the national fabric is mortal. 
And that is the heart of the crisis in America today: The Republicans are no longer a political party but a faction.
The danger of factions was noted at the foundation of the United States. In Federalist paper #10 
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Federalist_(Dawson)/10
James Madison defined faction as, "a number of citizens, whether amounting to a minority or majority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.”
The Republican Party has been slowly morphing into a faction for almost 70 years. In this FRDH podcast the history of this change is told through applying the words of the Declaration  of Independence to current Republican behavior. 
The Declaration of Independence is really a bill of divorcement, a declaration before the community of nations of the causes leading the states to separate from Britain. As I read through the list this past holiday it was amazing how many could be applied to the Republican faction today.
Republican factionalism leads their elected representatives to upend existing Constitutional customs and norms and defamed the design of Madison, Jefferson and the other Founding Fathers by refusing to cooperate with anyone not of their group  The design of the founders was a constitutional order that provided a mechanism for balancing the inevitable competing points of view that would grow in a society where people were free to follow different religions and debate ideas freely.  Without respect for these rules the system cannot work.
The result is the United States has, over the last quarter of a century, become ungovernable and now, more than at any moment in my lifetime is on the edge of some kind of catastrophic disintegration.

FRDH: Republican Party Is Now a Faction How it Happened

After intense touring ‘Of Desire’ in Europe, Asia and beyond,  The KVB returned to their studio to further immerse themselves in sonic experimentation. The resulting ‘Above Us’ heralds the next chapter in the adopted-Berliners dark, electronic pop development. With waves of synthesisers, flourishes of surf guitar and sequences driving with nervous energy, the tension finally relieves with a surging, euphoric chorus. 

Brighter and more expansive than ever, the track demonstrates the bands growing ability to create sonic journeys, yet retains the atmosphere synonymous with The KVB.

“‘Above Us’ is about defiance in reaction to the anxieties of modern life.  In a world where you and your data are the product, ‘Above Us’ seeks to reclaim the power over yourself and to make your own decisions.” - Kat & Nick, The KVB

This Summer sees the duo make several festival appearances including Green Man and Meltdown the latter of which is curated by The Cure’s Robert Smith.

‘Above Us’ is released on Invada Records, 30th May 2018

The KVB - Above Us

Oxytocin

taken from the album "Stadtgeil" (CYM04) - 2012
More info at: www.velvetcondom.com

VELVET CONDOM - Samt und Stein

Just Give Me A Reason - Madilyn Bailey Ft. Chester See 

Just Give Me A Reason - Madilyn Bailey Ft. Chester See ( Pink )

Host FRDH podcast. Radio essayist and documentarist for the BBC and NPR. Historian and author of Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace and Emancipation.

FRDH: Republican Party Is Now a Faction How it Happened

FRDH Podcast with Michael Goldfarb

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