Episode 994 of The Professional Left takes a hard look at the war on memory — the long, grinding campaign to erase what actually happened to this country and replace it with a comfortable myth that lets the people who caused the damage off the hook. A fascinating breakfast conversation between a writer and ten of his late father's Trump-voting friends provides the jumping-off point, raising a question that cuts right to the heart of everything: where exactly are these voters getting their opinions about Democrats, and has any of them ever actually listened to one? Driftglass and Blue Gal dig into the epidemic of recycled lies that keeps millions of Americans firmly convinced that Both Sides are equally to blame, no matter how much evidence piles up to the contrary. And with episode 1000 just around the corner, this one serves as a sharp reminder of why remembering clearly and accurately — and saying so out loud — is one of the most radical acts left in American politics.

Links for this episode: 

Open Letters by Mersault – https://patricemersault.substack.com/

Driftglass's guest appearances this week:

Bob Cesca Show (May 20, 2026): https://www.bobcesca.com/the-bob-cesca-interview-driftglass-day-5-20-26/

Nicole Sandler Show (May 20, 2026): https://nicolesandler.com/5-20-26/

BradCast (May 21, 2026): https://bradblog.com/?p=16941

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Episode 993 of The Professional Left finally arrives at the pivotal year of 2008 — the moment the Republican party began eating itself alive — and traces exactly how a party that had just driven the country into a ditch decided that the best response was to sabotage the guy trying to pull it out. Driftglass and Blue Gal walk through the deliberate, coordinated Republican strategy to destroy Barack Obama before he even got started, complete with the death panels lie, the "government takeover" lie, and the racist conspiracy theory that a reality TV con man would ride all the way to the White House. Mitt Romney makes a long, painful, and very instructive appearance as the man who tried to straddle a party that was already too broken to straddle, rewriting his own book along the way to prove it.

If you've ever wondered exactly how America got from the wreckage of the Bush years to the rise of Trump, this episode lays out the trail.

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In this episode of The Professional Left, Driftglass and Blue Gal trace how the Clinton-era budget surplus was dismantled piece by piece during the Bush years, setting the stage for the catastrophic financial collapse of 2008. While millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes, the mainstream media — led by Both Sides propagandists like David Brooks and the newly hired Bill Kristol — refused to lay the blame where it actually belonged: on the Republican Party. Driftglass and Blue Gal have been calling out this "Both Sides Do It" lie for over twenty years, and this episode shows exactly how that lie worked in real time to let Republicans off the hook for disasters of their own making. From the gutting of PAYGO rules to the death of the auto industry bailout in the Senate, the evidence is clear — both sides don't.

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Episode 991 of The Professional Left starts with a question that sounds absurd on its face — are Americans "underbabied"? — and then spends an hour making the case that the people asking that question are the same ones who have spent decades doing everything in their power to make starting a family feel financially impossible. Driftglass and Blue Gal trace the long arc from the post-war baby boom through the Reagan era's war on the social safety net, showing how decades of Republican policy quietly transformed children from a shared public good into a personal lifestyle choice that you'd better be able to afford on your own. A detour through the Enron collapse and the Great Recession ties it all together — because low birth rates aren't the disease, they're the symptom, and this episode lays out exactly what's causing them.

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Artwork courtesy of "america has rabies" on BlueSky @thebatshitsutras.bsky.social

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Episode 990 of The Professional Left takes a step back from the daily chaos to talk about something the mainstream media almost never bothers with — scale — and why understanding it is the difference between seeing propaganda clearly and getting played by it every single time. Driftglass and Blue Gal run the actual numbers on one of the most successful political smear campaigns of the last decade, and what those numbers reveal about how a fringe slogan gets laundered into a party platform by people who know exactly what they're doing. The Both Sides media gets its share of the blame too, because without their eager assistance, none of this industrial-scale message warfare would work nearly as well as it does. And just when you think the math can't get any more damning, a certain former president shows up to say something that proves the point all over again.

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Episode 989 of The Professional Left takes on one of the most overused words in modern politics — "authenticity" — and asks whether anyone in American political media is actually serving the real thing, or just a smooth, processed, cheese-like substitute that melts consistently and tastes like what people want to hear. Driftglass and Blue Gal trace the long, strange history of politicians and pundits who have made a very comfortable living telling their audiences exactly the lies those audiences paid to believe, and why the whole operation works so much better when everyone pretends it isn't happening. A detour through French onion soup, a Bonanza story that will make your jaw drop, and a very revealing moment on CNN all help make the case that what Republican and Independent voters actually want has never really been authenticity at all. If you've ever wondered why the truth keeps losing to a smirk and a folksy quip, this episode has your answer — and it involves processed cheese.

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Episode 988 of The Professional Left is a drama in three acts, each one taking a hard look at a political strategy that keeps failing — and the people who keep insisting it will work next time. Driftglass and Blue Gal dig into the endless, maddening cycle of reaching out to voters who have made it abundantly clear they don't want to be reached, and why the media keeps writing the same breathless story about it anyway. Then things get complicated when a very familiar face from the enemy camp shows up claiming to have seen the light, forcing a very serious question about exactly who gets welcomed into the "pro-democracy coalition" and why. And finally, a minor pundit with a very convenient memory gets a long-overdue look at her greatest hits — because in this Club, the only thing that matters is who you know and when you decided to care.

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Episode 987 of The Professional Left takes a deep look at the concept of authority — where it comes from, who really has it, and what happens when the people in charge decide the rules no longer apply to them. Driftglass and Blue Gal trace a clear line from the lawless Bush years straight through to today, making the case that what looks new and shocking is really just the same old playbook with the volume turned all the way up. A surprising visit from a 500-year-old German philosopher helps explain exactly why Trump's war with Pope Leo is going so badly for him, and what that tells us about the difference between real authority and just really loud bullying. And if you think the answer to all of this lies in yelling about the Constitution at people who couldn't care less, this episode will make you think again — and offer a more useful strategy borrowed from a very unlikely historical source.

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Episode 986 of The Professional Left traces how one simple political rule — Ronald Reagan's "Eleventh Commandment" never to speak ill of a fellow Republican — quietly mutated over decades into something far more dangerous. Driftglass and Blue Gal dig into how that rule created a closed loop where loyalty to the team mattered more than the truth, and how the endless flood of dark money on the Right kept feeding the beast no matter how extreme it got. A disturbing New Yorker article about a new generation of young, openly fascist activists who think Trump wasn't nearly radical enough takes center stage, raising hard questions about where the Republican party goes from here. If you thought MAGA was the bottom of the barrel, this episode will make you think again.

LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:  

The New Yorker “How the Internet Fringe Infiltrated Republican Politics:  Inside the battle for the post-MAGA G.O.P.” By Antonia Hitchens (paywall)  https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/how-the-internet-fringe-infiltrated-republican-politics

Thanks to David B for the “freshly poured” jingle via Musely. 

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"The cheaper the crook, the gaudier the patter." -- The Maltese Falcon 

Episode 985 of The Professional Left takes a deep dive into the word "normalizing" — a term that gets thrown around constantly in political coverage, but rarely gets a clear definition. Driftglass and Blue Gal trace how a stubborn 30% of Americans have believed one wild conspiracy theory after another for decades, and argue that what looks like normalization on the Left is really just exhaustion from years of fighting battles that others are only now waking up to. The episode uses a surprising example — the slow, hard-won acceptance of women priests in the Church of England — to show what real normalization actually looks like, and why it's very different from what pundits mean when they scold people about Trump. Personal stories, sharp media criticism, and a 1973 sci-fi film all make appearances along the way, connecting the political moment to something much bigger and longer in the making.

Link for this episode:  Driftglass and Blue Gal on The Bill Show from Australia!  https://www.podbean.com/ep/pb-q42x7-1a99204

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In this episode of The Professional Left, Driftglass and Blue Gal take a hard look at how America ended up in yet another Middle East war — and why the whole thing feels like a rerun that somehow got worse the second time around. Drawing a sharp line from the lies that launched the Iraq War to the chaos of today, they walk through the playbook Republicans use every time reality refuses to cooperate with their sales pitch. The real question isn't just what happened — it's what comes next, and who's already lining up to offer the MAGA base a way to forget they were ever on board with any of it. If you think some of the loudest voices suddenly breaking with Trump are doing it out of principle? Naaah.

Links for this episode: 

• Driftglass on The Bob Cesca Show:  https://www.bobcesca.com/the-bob-cesca-interview-driftglass-day/ 
• Driftglass on The Nicole Sandler Show (second half) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jxANUK4Y6k 
• Media Matters for America, “Heretic”: After Trump spiritual adviser Paula White-Cain likens Trump to Jesus during Easter, right-wing media figures lash out. https://www.mediamatters.org/donald-trump/heretic-after-trump-spiritual-adviser-paula-white-cain-likens-trump-jesus-during 

Stay in Touch! 

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Mail: The Professional Left, PO Box 9133, Springfield, Illinois, 62791

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