Podcast
Kagro in the Morning
Hosted by David Waldman · EN
News, politics and commentary from former Daily Kos Contributing Editor David Waldman
75episodes
Episodes
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Kagro in the Morning "Encore Performance" - June 19, 2025, airing June 19, 2026
1w ago01:56:51Tap to summarizeBeach day! Well, sort of. I don't think the weather is entirely ready to cooperate, but I'll be nearby the beach in case the weather is better on Saturday. But between packing for the trip and hoping to watch a little World Cup action, I couldn't get a new show recorded for you. Still, I think this episode from one year ago may be instructive, in that it takes us back to the first round of the Trump 2.0 armed conflict with Iran. So it's a chance to see it all coming, which might not quite be uplifting, but like I said, hopefully instructive. Here's how Scott Anderson described the happenings from that morning: David Waldman is back on the air again, LIVE! Greg Dworkin returns, with mega polls! No, not Trump's high poles, but Trump's low polls, along with the latest takeaways from the KITM World Headquarters Primaries… well, Virginia primaries, same difference. Will TikTok TACO Trump chicken out with Iran? We're talking about millions of actual lives here… so maybe not. MAGA thought they opposed such things as "forever wars", but they'll get over it, like their opposition to Russia. It's easy to do when you think about it, and even easier when you don't. You'd think that making conspiracy theorists put up or shut up would put them in some sort of bind, but these are a spunky and resilient group of whackadoodles. Confronted with a tragically factual Christian nationalist assassin, they expeditiously took reality lemons and turned them into MAGA lemonade. Chinese license plates and thousands of cards stole the 2020 election for Bernie Sanders. Not many people know that. Donald K. Trump is objectively bad for America. Journalists are hesitant to point that out, lest their network soapboxes be turned into real ones. Still, with protests, it pays to not give MAGA a seed of truth to roll their dung around. Nonviolence is the way. Then later, we'll impeach the bastard, maybe this term, maybe his third or fourth. Four execs from the top tech companies in Silicon Valley have joined the Army Reserve but probably won't be putting boots down in Isfahan soon or even in the next two weeks. They were of course invited because of their special technological genius. NYC tycoons are saying "There goes the neighborhood" if Zohran Mamdani moves in.
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Kagro in the Morning - June 18, 2026
2w ago01:56:39Tap to summarizeDavid Waldman delivers us to the weekend! His weekend, maybe even yours! Greg Dworkin is in and out right on schedule to catch the Knicks Parade and pick up his souvenir trashcan. Fat, evil, and stupid Is no way to go through life, and doesn't win many wars either. Unless we attacked Iran in order to provide them with new infrastructure, missiles, nuclear materials and terrorist support, you even might say that we actually "lost" Donald K. Trump's Iran war. Worst yet for neoconservatives, we might not get to attack Iran again for a little while. As Donald might say, we "pretty much shot our load"… Of course, the quicker we rearm Iran, the sooner we can nuke them. This is definitely not what Bibi Netanyahu ordered. Ben Shapiro blames the mean boys for abusing our poor dotard. On the bright side, Trump has been able to keep Ronald Reagan rolling in his grave for more than a decade now. For either one, war crimes don't seem that bad when their memory only goes back minutes. Trump signing off on his Iran war between dessert courses in Versailles might have made it harder for him to taco on it later, but Donald is always up for a challenge, unless it's challenging. The Palace Guard could have helped Trump get up that flight of stairs. Mexico? Cuba? Canada? Greenland? Intestinal or arterial blockage? What will Trump conquer next? Donald probably misses those days when it was just him and Jeff, some roofies and a checkbook. Tacoing out of Iran will be easy compared to the midterms. MAGAs and Gops are getting tired of each other. Dan Sullivan doesn't want to be associated with Dan Sullivan. Urban voters face voting hurdles that just irritate election reporters. Across the pond, Wallace and Gromit head to their polls to rotate out their latest PM.
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Kagro in the Morning - June 17, 2026
2w ago01:56:47Tap to summarizeDavid Waldman boosts us over the hump of the week. Greg Dworkin's raft o' stories™ include some of his tookaways from yesterday's primaries in Georgia, Alabama and Oklahoma. Georgia had several run-offs, and Donald K. Trump threatens to rally there until someone drops from heatstroke. Trump needs Bill Pulte to dig some more skulls before Jay Clayton takes over. Every department with 3 initials or more will be tasked with rigging and throwing elections. Trump evades assassination attempts about as often as he ends wars. This time, a couple of Nazi accelerationists were thinking of shooting up Trump's UFC shindig but did not count on FBI Director Clouseau showing up. Kash Patel caught them in a steel trap just like the Broadview Six. The DC pool boys dumped every bottle they could find out in the shed into Trump's new cement swamp but will be needing to swing by the store for a few thousand more. Read the 14-point draft agreement between the US and Iran before Trump does! Take your time, Trump will not be getting around to reading anything. "Agreements" are for the other side! Anyhow, Donald is too busy making love to make war. Dotard Donald dodders through the G7. French President Macron invited Trump over to Versailles, where it is hoped that Trump might get to experience the real thing. The Trump family business will now be FDIC insured up to… well, what you got?
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Kagro in the Morning - June 16, 2026
2w ago01:56:52Tap to summarizeDavid Waldman attempts to catch us up on last weekend before next weekend. Good luck! Sick of winning yet? You would think that Donald K. Trump might be sick of spinning losses as wins by now, but no. Some say that Trump's Iran truce has the "hallmarks of defeat", primarily the hallmark of "not winning", but "losing". But unless you actually read the terms of the agreement, all you have are facts and evidence on which to base your opinion. We do know that now Donald is mad at Bibi until the moment that Trump needs Netanyahu's, Isreal's, Evangelical's, or a donor's support. Elon Musk doesn't need much from anybody yet seems so needy. Elon egged on a race riot in Belfast, Northern Ireland, when he could have just had one Ubered in. Jeffrey Epstein paid a Palm Beach deputy to get special treatment in jail. Everything Trump touches turns into… petty insults and endless lawsuits.
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Kagro in the Morning - June 15, 2026
2w ago01:56:16Tap to summarizeDavid Waldman and Greg Dworkin whoop it up for one thing or the other on today's KITM. Winning! The Knicks win and New York couldn't be happier. Losing! Trump's name comes off the Kennedy center. Trump hides his shame under a tarp while the scheming and rigging continue without pause. Winning!? The US declares victory and high tails it before the many Taco Tuesdays to follow. Pete Hegseth occasionally let Iran win so that the victory would be twice as sweet. It's hard to count the number of losers at the UFC thing Sunday. From airline pilots to US service members. As everything, there was only intended to be one winner. Abraham Lincoln suspended Habeas Corpus during the civil war, so why can't Stephen Miller do it to win an argument or two? Maggie Haberman has another house payment, so we get another news flash. Maybe she was just doing her job. I can't believe this is a news story! Extra-fat butter makes your baked potatoes out of this world!
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Kagro in the Morning - June 12, 2026
2w ago01:56:28Tap to summarizeDavid Waldman presents Kagro in the Morning, the best investment for your entertainment dollar… or dollars if you're rolling in it. Elon Musk, for instance, could pay several dollars for one of our episodes and hardly feel it. Ah, well, he's done so much for us already. There's the World Cup, if you'd want to see it, or are allowed to see it. Then there's the Idiocracy 250 Gladiator Jamboree this Sunday. It's not a good investment, but then again, you've already paid for it, so a 30 pack of Bud Light might be the only investment you need to make it enjoyable. Even in DC, however, the best sights remain the ones that you can see for free. Bill Pulte has some free time, so tourists can catch him promenading Tulsi Gabbard on her Walk of Atonement along the National Mall. New nominee Jay Clayton will be just as bad as Bill, but is less known going in, so he might be able to get away with more for a while. Trump is willing to forget that he was ever impeached, if we all agree to never speak of it again. Months, and weeks, and days, after its complete obliteration, Iran still has enough energy to bend Donald K. Trump over and art of the deal his brains out, leaving a strong memorandum of understanding on the nightstand on their way out. Once he's done with his Iran excursion, Donald is thinking that he might swing by and overthrow the District of Columbia... and Los Angeles… blue states… Ohio… Heck, make it everybody.
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Kagro in the Morning - June 11, 2026
3w ago01:56:48Tap to summarizeNo description available
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Kagro in the Morning - June 10, 2026
3w ago01:56:36Tap to summarizeOn today's KITM, we bring in David Waldman, who brings in Greg Dworkin, who brings in the latest primary updates and some news summaries, which is perfect, exactly what we needed them to do. There are a bunch of important elections this month, with some big ones yesterday. Going anti-Trump is working out well for Dems, not so much for Gops. Nancy Mace does hate the Trans but was not a true believer in hushing up the Epstein files, so she doesn't even get a participation trophy. Nothing to be too proud of there. Lindsey Graham still had to spend the kind of money some spend on a reflecting pool just to stay in office. On the other hand, Graham Platner ran the gauntlet and came out unscathed even without Kellyanne Conway's approval. Mike Johnson knows that he's never smelled anything like this around Trump. A yearslong effort to woo Trump culminates with the World Cup. Why? Sending Donald cash usually results in a quick turnaround. Donald K. Trump might be getting sick of winning, but he wants to see his arch before he gets too sick. Trump's arch could become taller than the Statue of Liberty, the same way Trump Tower became taller than the World Trade Center.
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Kagro in the Morning - June 9, 2026
3w ago01:57:12Tap to summarizeDavid Waldman fit a KITM into his Tuesday schedule, and ours! Everybody saw this coming. The New York Knicks won 13 times in a row, then Donald K. Trump touched their winning streak, and it died. Trump was greeted by boos. He was booed while he was there. He was booed as he was leaving. Trump heard "cheering", because he's an idiot or he thinks you are, or both. Trump was a deluded liar on Meet the Press. Are all Gops deluded liars? Are all MAGA? JD Vance and Mike Johnson are here to lie to the deluded. Omar Artan was set to be the first Somali to referee at the World Cup, but won't now, because he is Somali… It says it right there on his papers. Black Americans are moving back to southern states, which is why southern whites are in such a hurry to block them. Virginia was the first southern state to pass an assault weapons ban, which its rural counties won't enforce. JD Vance wants Tim Walz investigated for fraud. Trump wants to transfer billions in Iranian assets to Jared Kushner. Trump says he will not nominate Bill Pulte to be permanent intelligence chief. That's ok, John Thune will handle it. Todd Blanche loves Donald so much that he'll handle anything for him.
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Kagro in the Morning - June 8, 2026
3w ago01:56:23Tap to summarizeDavid Waldman and Greg Dworkin recall the weekend and envision the week on today's KITM. Donald K. Trump burned through 11 layers of makeup before doddering off the set of Hee Haw/Meet the Press on Sunday. Facts do anger Trump but will never stop him. Donald makes it about himself. If he can make America's 250th anniversary all about him, why not some basketball game? If the game can't be played, Trump can stand in the center of the court and bask… in whatever they want to bask him in. It doesn't matter as long as he's being basked. Scott Pelley was at CBS supervising the editing of videos to make ICE protesters look like rioters, when Bari Weiss came along and tried to make him cross his ethical line. Brendan Carr can tell you it is the boss who always draws the ethical lines. Often it is the boss who erases the ethical lines. Anywhere the Trump Supreme Court draws a line, at that moment it is exactly where that line should go. If there was a Purcell principle for Secretaries of State, it was just violated in Texas. Meanwhile, Ken Paxton's defense lawyer endorses James Talarico.
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