Slate's Political Gabfest for June 27.

Slate's Political Gabfest for June 27.

Slate's Political Gabfest for June 27.

Slate's weekly political roundtable.
June 27 2008 12:13 PM

The Supreme Court Wrap-Up Gabfest

Listen to Slate's review of the week in politics.

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The Political Gabfest has moved! Find new episodes here.

Listen to the Gabfest for June 27 by clicking the arrow on the audio player below: You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

John Dickerson is on vacation this week, but Dahlia Lithwick stepped in to chat with David Plotz and Emily Bazelon. They discussed the final decisions of the Supreme Court term, campaign high jinks, and elections in Zimbabwe.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned in the show:

Dahlia, David, and Emily discuss several recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, including decisions on the right to bear arms, the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill, and the death penalty for child-rapists.

Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama spoke out against some of the court's decisions.

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Yale law professor Jack Balkin writes that Obama supports a compromise on wiretapping legislation because he feels he may need such a measure if he becomes president.

John McCain's adviser Charlie Black says a terrorist attack on U.S. soil before November would help the Republican's candidacy.

As Africa prepares for Friday's presidential run-off election in Zimbabwe, in which opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai has refused to run following increased violence against his supporters, some are calling for military intervention in the southern African nation.

Emily chatters about a visit to Capitol Hill by Dick Cheney aide David Addington and former Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo. The two appeared to testify about their roles in developing the Bush administration's interrogation policies.

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Dahlia giggles over a Department of Justice inspector general's report about the politicization of the department's summer intern program.

Daniel Kimmage, a senior regional analyst for Radio Free Europe, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about al-Qaida's failing Internet operation

The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Posted by Dale Willman on June 27 at 12:00 p.m.

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June 20, 2008

Listen to the Gabfest for June 20 by clicking the arrow on the audio player below:

You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and special guest William Saletan talk politics. This week, a discussion of flip-flops from both John McCain and Barack Obama, the role of candidates' spouses, and legalizing gay marriage.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned in the show:

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John opens the show with a discussion of flip-flopping by McCain and Obama.

Emily thinks flip-flopping on domestic oil drilling is a worthless exercise.

Obama decides not to accept campaign-matching funds. One reason is the belief that McCain's Republican supporters are going to use so-called 527 political groups to attack Obama, so his campaign will need as much money as possible to counter those hits. Perhaps the most well-known 527 group was Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, which attacked John Kerry's Vietnam service during the 2004 presidential campaign.

A June 18 poll by Quinnipiac University found that Obama leads McCain in three crucial swing states: Florida, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Obama commands a particularly strong lead among women.

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Content analysis of the past week's news by the Project for Excellence in Journalism finds that Obama received far more coverage, both positive and negative, than McCain did.

Emily talks about Michelle Obama's visit to The View.

Michelle Obama thanks first lady Laura Bush for coming to her defense over the attacks on her husband's patriotism.

McCain's first wife told British newspaper the Daily Mail that he divorced her because he "didn't want to be 40, he wanted to be 25."

As gay marriage becomes legal in California, William writes about what science has to say about the brains of gay and straight people.

Emily chatters about the end of the Supreme Court term.

William talks about so-called pro-life pharmacies that are refusing to fill prescriptions for any form of birth control.

John pays a final tribute to Tim Russert, who died on June 13.

The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com . (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Posted by Dale Willman on June 20 at 11:08 a.m.

June 13, 2008

Listen to the Gabfest for June 13 by clicking the arrow on the audio player below: You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz talk politics. This week, Obama's vice-presidential misstep, Clinton supporters for McCain, and the Supreme Court rules on Guantanamo—again

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned in the show:

David Plotz is Slate's new editor.

Jim Johnson, who headed Obama's vice-presidential search committee, resigned because of a question of improper home loans, as well as his role in providing lavish compensation packages for CEOs while he was a member of corporate compensation committees. David says there are lots of people who want to be a vice-presidential candidate.

The debate continues about whether supporters of Hillary Clinton will now vote for John McCain, and, if so, why.

The Bush administration loses another case involving detainees at Guantanamo.

Hanna Rosin writes about a puzzling increase in violent crime in the nation's midsize cities in this month's Atlantic.

John chatters about the lack of transparency when it comes to the spending programs being proposed by both Obama and McCain.

Emily recommends two books: Now the Hell Will Start, by Slate writer Brendan I. Koerner, and The Beautiful Struggle, by Ta-Nehisi Coates.

The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Posted by Dale Willman on June 13 at 11:55 a.m.

June 6, 2008

Listen to the Gabfest for June 6 by clicking the arrow on the audio player below: You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz talk politics. This week: Obama claims a sweet victory, what's next for Hillary, and the vice-presidential parlor game begins in earnest.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned in the show:

Barack Obama goes over the top, so the question becomes—now what?

Obama moves quickly to decide what to do with Hillary now that he has won the nomination.

Where do Hillary and her fans go, now that Obama has clinched the nomination?

As the political discussion turns to the vice-presidential parlor game, observers are asking whether there could be an Obama-Clinton "dream ticket."

Emily, John, and David discussed what the heck a parlor is, anyway. None of them actually got it right.

As the Democratic presidential nominee, Obama will once again face all the rumors surrounding his candidacy, including the claim that he is a Muslim.

More on what LBJ brought to the ticket for John F. Kennedy.

As John McCain and Barak Obama discuss a possible series of town hall debates, the Gabfest lingers for a moment on the Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858.

Emily chatters about new findings for bed-wetters and their sleep patterns.

David recommends the book Final Salute.

John chatters on the science of sarcasm and how it relates to politics.

The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Posted by Dale Willman on June 6 at 12:00 p.m.

May 30, 2008

Listen to the Gabfest for May 30 by clicking the arrow on the audio player below: You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz talk politics. This week: Scott McClellan comes clean, Democratic delegates from Michigan and Florida come knocking, and Sex and the City comes to the big screen.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned in the show:

John's take on Scott McClellan's revelations

A Slate V video showing what McClellan said about turncoats before he became one

Dana Stevens' review of Sex and the City

The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Posted by Andy Bowers on May 30 at 1:10 p.m.

May 23, 2008

Listen to the Gabfest for May 23 by clicking the arrow on the audio player below: You can also download the program here, or you can subscribe to the weekly Gabfest podcast feed in iTunes by clicking here.

Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz talk politics. This week: Speculation about vice-presidential nominees begins, Hillary Clinton is demonized, and Sen. Edward Kennedy is diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Here are links to some of the articles and other items mentioned in the show:

The group owns up to a mistake in last week's podcast involving the California Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage in that state.

David discusses John's recent piece in Slate that likens the Democratic race to a problem in quantum physics.

Barack Obama this week declared that he now has a majority of the pledged delegates and is very close to winning the Democratic nomination.

The Democratic National Committee's rules and bylaws committee meets in Washington, D.C., at the end of the month to discuss whether delegates from Florida and Michigan should be seated at the national convention.

There is speculation that if Obama becomes president, he will appoint Hillary Clinton to the Supreme Court.

Both Obama and John McCain are starting to look for running mates.

The panel reacts to the news of Ted Kennedy's brain tumor.

They talk about the Democrat Leadership Council's role in establishing the party's core beliefs.

The e-mail address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (E-mail may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)

Posted at 11:20 a.m. by Dale Willman.