The “Je Suis Pam Geller” Edition
Listen to Slate’s show about Pamela Geller’s Muslim-baiting “Draw Muhammad” event, the unlikely diversity of the GOP presidential field, and the Jade Helm 15 conspiracy.
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On this week’s Slate Political Gabfest, Emily Bazelon, John Dickerson, and David Plotz discuss whether Pamela Geller’s “Draw Muhammad” event should be celebrated or condemned, why the newly expanded 2016 Republican presidential field has so much more diversity than the GOP itself, and what the paranoid conspiracy over the U.S. military’s Operation Jade Helm 15 is all about.
Here are some of the links and references mentioned during this week’s show:
- Why did gunmen open fire in Garland, Texas? Is this the first of many lone-wolf terror attacks in the U.S.?
- Who is Pamela Geller? Is she a free speech hero or villain—or somewhere in between?
- The GOP presidential field doubled this week, adding former director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University Dr. Ben Carson, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
- When did the Republican Party become so diverse? Will it help them with women and/or minority groups?
- John explores the challenges facing the GOP as it attempts to unify around a single candidate.
- What on earth is Jade Helm 15? Texas Republicans sure seem worried; why is everyone freaking out?
- Has everyone had enough fun yet?
Emily chatters about New York’s acceptance of the Uniform Bar Examination.
John chatters about old episodes of Face the Nation.
David chatters about “the most important cocktail chatter [he] will ever do”: Obscura Day.
Topic ideas for next week? You can tweet suggestions, links, and questions to @SlateGabfest.
The email address for the Political Gabfest is gabfest@slate.com. (Email may be quoted by name unless the writer stipulates otherwise.)
Podcast production by Mike Vuolo. Links compiled by Tarik Barrett.