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“I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” These are the nine words Ronald Reagan called “terrifying.” Just another brick in the wall of disdain and deflection politicians use to get elected to the government they hate so much. Cascading structural failures in the system appears to give credence to claims of government incompetence but how much of it is actually by design? This week we unfuck the corporate attack on the system and break down the inherent evils of privatization and deregulation, the dreaded sisters of oligarchy. Show Notes: The Lewis Powell Memo: A Corporate Blueprint to Dominate Democracy Capitalizing on Mass Incarceration: U.S. Growth in Private Prisons From Pittsburgh to Flint, the Dire Consequences of Giving Private Companies Responsibility for Ailing Public Water Systems Towns sell their public water systems — and come to regret it Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack to get the essays these episode are derived from sent to your inbox every week. If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review: ratethispodcast.com/unftr and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftrpod.com. Unf*cking the Republic is produced and engineered by Manny Faces Media, and written, hosted and distributed by Nunya Fuckin’ Bidness. Podcast art description: Image of the US Congress ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Congress is a quirky place. The rules are arcane. The people are diverse. The power struggle is real. We take a brief, and sometimes ridiculous journey through history to examine the beating heart of our democracy to find out whether or not Congress has always been this fucked up. We call out some of the best and worst actors in the 117th Congress, why it’s impossible to get anything done these days and look back at some of the biggest assholes that ruined it for everyone else. (Hint: Newt Gingrich has a starring role.) We finish with the biggest hurdles we face in straightening out this whole mess and the one priority that supersedes all else. Show Notes: The text of H.R. 1: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/1/text NYT Kinzinger Profile: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/15/us/politics/adam-kinzinger-republicans-trump.html Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate and the Crippling of American Democracy by Adam Jentleson: https://bookshop.org/books/kill-switch-the-rise-of-the-modern-senate-and-the-crippling-of-american-democracy/9781631497773  The Man Who Broke Politics Story by McKay Coppins: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/11/newt-gingrich-says-youre-welcome/570832/ NYT Op-Ed. Former Congressman Steve Israel: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/09/opinion/steve-israel-confessions-of-a-congressman.html Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack to get the essays these episode are derived from sent to your inbox every week. If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review: ratethispodcast.com/unftr and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. Visit us online at unftrpod.com. Unf*cking the Republic is produced and engineered by Manny Faces Media, and written, hosted and distributed by Nunya Fuckin’ Bidness. Podcast art description: Image of the US Congress ripped in the middle revealing white text on a blue background that says, "Unf*cking the Republic."See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we covered in our insurrection episode, it’s actually quite difficult to take down an Empire, particularly one as fortified as the United States. But that hasn’t stopped one family from trying. If you haven’t met them yet, it’s our pleasure to introduce you to the Mercer family. The patriarch Robert is a reclusive billionaire—we think—who uses his fortune to fund fun initiatives like, rolling back Civil Rights legislation, climate change denial and alt-right white supremacist groups. His willing co-conspirator is his middle child, Rebekah, who is the subject of this episode and recipient of our love letter. Join us as we unfuck the Mercer fortune and discuss chaos is their chief desire. -- Subscribe to Unf*cking The Republic on Substack to get the essays these episode are derived from sent to your inbox every week. If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review: ratethispodcast.com/unftr and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The minute the election was called, the GOP went into high gear reshaping its image for the next cycle. Because nostalgia is its single greatest weapon, they’ll be digging into the archives to revise history once again. Nixon’s still forever off the table. George W. Bush will have Iraq hanging over him for decades to come. Bush Sr. was so forgettable he couldn’t win a second term. So that leaves the Gipper. Mark my words, the beatification of Ronald Reagan is already underway so it’s time to brush up on Dutch and remember his most fucked accomplishments, including one caper so diabolical we’re still living with it today.  -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review: ratethispodcast.com/unftr and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is he gone yet? I mean really gone? Okay. Wow. So that happened. Holy shit, what a four years. This episode of Unf*cking The Republic briefly encapsulates the utter shit show that was the Trump administration while pointing out that we ultimately dodged a massive bullet precisely because it was a shit show. But while Trump’s stupidity is ultimately what saved the republic, he left behind a playbook for a more capable authoritarian to dismantle our democracy. Lastly, we’ll review the conditions necessary for a proper collapse and the one surprising factor that is ironically holding it all together.   -- If you like #UNFTR, please leave us a rating and review: ratethispodcast.com/unftr and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of UNFTR we unfuck the theory of “objectivism,” a movement inspired by novelist Ayn Rand in the 1950s and talk about how it still influences our politics today. We’ll uncover how this little Russian chain smoking gnome garnered a massive American following from her crappy novels and inspired generations of politicians who see themselves as the embodiment of John Galt, the protagonist of her most famous novel Atlas Shrugged. Who IS John Galt? Answer: Who gives a shit? -- If you like this podcast, please leave us a rating and review: ratethispodcast.com/unftr and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Prior to the 20th Century evangelical Christians were seen as the babbling mystics and frauds that they were. Then something happened in the 1920s to legitimize these maniacs. Since then, conservative Christians have been inserting their throbbing dogma into America’s policy womb and transforming the nation. In this episode we trace the journey of the Christian Fundamentalist movement from its origins through to today where millions of Americans believe that a thrice divorced cheater who shits on a gold toilet is somehow a modern day savior in the image of Jesus Christ. -- If you like this podcast, please leave us a rating and review: ratethispodcast.com/unftr and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The left claims America is proof that Capitalism is destroying the working class and the planet. The right claims America is proof that Capitalism is the most successful economic model in history. How much do we really understand about Capitalism? In this episode we unfuck Adam Smith’s chief contribution to the world and show how both sides are wrong because America is far from a capitalist economy. -- If you like this podcast, please leave us a rating and review: ratethispodcast.com/unftr and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week in Unf*cking the Republic we dive into U.S. interventions in the post-Vietnam War era. Starting with our recent meddling in Bolivia we work our way through the past few decades to review how the United States has either directly invaded, bombed, helped overthrow the governments of Laos, Cambodia, Lebanon, Syria, Grenada, Haiti, Cuba, Chile, Panama, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Iran, Guatemala, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Venezuela, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, Indonesia and Yemen. Don’t worry, it’s just our way of spreading democracy and showing how much we love you. -- If you like this podcast, please leave us a rating and review: ratethispodcast.com/unftr and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Greetings fellow unfuckers. A brief interlude to comment on the big election shitshow we just witnessed. #UNFTR -- If you like this podcast, please leave us a rating and review: ratethispodcast.com/unftr and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode of Unf*cking the Republic we do a deep dive into the American system of propaganda and pull back the curtain on the tangled web of think tanks, lobbying groups, media organizations and corporations that live to fuck over the American people. We’ll demonstrate how dark money works its way through a labyrinth of special interest groups and emerges as public policy that looks and sounds patriotic and helpful but is actually designed to strip away your rights and generate profits for a handful of assholes. And we’ll show how groups like the Heritage Foundation help craft and sell these messages to turn people against their own best interests and make you believe the horse shit they’re peddling.  -- If you like this podcast, please leave us a rating and review: ratethispodcast.com/unftr and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While the country wrestles with police brutality and protests, dividing between Black Lives Matter or Back the Blue, a bizarre phenomenon has been unfolding in policing under our noses for decades. It’s nearly impossible to tell the difference between domestic law enforcement and the military. That’s not by accident. In this episode we unfuck policing in America and find out how civil liberties are eroding and why cops have tanks. #UNFTR -- If you like this podcast, please leave us a rating and review: ratethispodcast.com/unftr and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @UNFTRpod.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Coronavirus exposed the American budget and monetary policy as giant myths. Turns out, we can afford to pay for just about anything we want. Unfortunately, until now it seems we’ve only wanted to pay for things like war and prisons. We demonize welfare, education and healthcare and protect billionaires like fragile little eggs. In this episode we unf*ck the national budget and expose the lies behind how it’s constructed. #UNFTRSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to Unf*cking the Republic (UNFTR). So what is this? Glad you asked. Long story short, and as you have no doubt observed, our little republic is fucked. On so many levels. The central objective of this podcast, however, isn’t to prove how fucked we are, but show that we’re fucked in ways we haven’t really considered. #UNFTRSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Unf*cking The Republic (UNFTR) is a series of audio essays on the grand American experiment lovingly curated and presented by a quasi-anonymous political writer.  Each essay reflects on a singular topic that is generally misunderstood or purposely obfuscated by the so-called “powers that be.” As we know, history is written by the victors and can be perilously manufactured to favor destructive world views. These views become intractably ingrained in the public consciousness and pervert public policy, oftentimes with horrific results.  As of this podcast’s founding, we find ourselves living in a true kakistocracy. The disconnect between what we believe and what is actually happening below the surface or in plain sight is where this podcast lives.  Together we’ll upend conventional wisdom, blow up narratives on the left, right and center and use magical devices like facts, logic and reason to explain how exactly we arrived in bizarro America, the funhouse mirror version of what was originally intended. #UNFTRSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.