Opening Arguments - OA237: Lowering the… Barr (Memo)

Today's Rapid Response episode takes a look at the just-released Law'd Awful Memo written by Attorney General nominee Bill Barr and sent to Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein concerning the Mueller investigation.  Are the argument(s) raised in the memo any good?  What does this mean for the future of the Mueller investigation?  Listen and find out!

We begin, however, with a brief foray into everyone's favorite show topic:  BASEBALL LAW!  Find out about the agreement reached between MLB and Cuba, and how (of course) Donald Trump can screw it up.

After that, it's time for an Andrew Was Wrong (and Maybe Not Wrong) on David Pecker and AMI.  Along the way, we'll learn about the corruption case against Sun-Diamond Growers in connection with former Agriculture Secretary (and nearly-Senator) Mike Espy.

Then, we delve deeply into the Barr memo, taking apart the legal "arguments" and featuring a guest appearance from one Antonin Scalia!

Then, it's time to tackle the rather surprising decision by Judge Sullivan in the Michael Flynn sentencing phase.  What happened?  Did he go off the rails?

After all that, we end with an all new Thomas (and Matt!) Takes The Bar Exam #106 on how to best transport heroin from Kansas City to Chicago and what the judge can instruct the jury... it's complicated, but you won't want to miss it!  And, as always, if you'd like to play along with us, just retweet our episode on Twitter or share it on Facebook along with your guess and the #TTTBE hashtag.  We'll release the answer on next Tuesday's episode along with our favorite entry!

Appearances

None!  If you'd like to have either of us as a guest on your show, drop us an email at openarguments@gmail.com.

Show Notes & Links

  1. Check out Matt & Mattingly's Ice Cream Social podcast!
  2. Baseball law:  Here's the press release from MLB.
  3. We discussed U.S. v. Sun-Diamond Growers of Calfornia, 138 F.3d 961 (D.C. Cir. 1998), aff'd, 526 U.S. 398 (1999).
  4. Don't forget to read the Barr memo for yourself, and you can also check out the Wall Street Journal article that leaked it.
  5. ...And here's our good buddy Antonin Scalia smacking down the logic used therein.
  6. You can check out the government's sentencing memorandum in Michael Flynn's case as well as the memo filed by Covington & Burling on Flynn's behalf.

Support us on Patreon at:  patreon.com/law

Follow us on Twitter:  @Openargs

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For show-related questions, check out the Opening Arguments Wiki

And email us at openarguments@gmail.com

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The Gist - Free Money for Everyone?

On The Gist, Amazon or marijuana?

In the interview, Andrew Yang has declared his candidacy for the 2020 presidential election, and his platform is universal basic income. But how does that work? Is there room for that and other progressive platforms like free college tuition or universal health care? Yang’s new book is The War on Normal People: The Truth About America’s Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future

In the Spiel, thought experiments and the extinction of the human race.

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Song Exploder - Yo-Yo Ma – Prelude, Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major

Yo-Yo Ma is perhaps the most famous and well-loved cellist in the world. He was born in Paris in 1955; his family moved to the U.S. when he was seven. He played for President Kennedy that year. He played at Carnegie Hall for the first time when he was 16. He’s won 18 Grammys, and he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

For this special episode of Song Exploder, Yo-Yo Ma talks about the Prelude to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Cello Suite No.1 in G Major. He discusses learning, performing, and recording the piece across 58 years of his life.

songexploder.net/yo-yo-ma

The NewsWorthy - Troops Withdrawal, Facebook Lawsuit & Safest Cars (+ Talking Good News with Branden Harvey) – Thursday, December 20th, 2018

All the news you need to know for Thursday, December 20th, 2018! 

Today: a surprise announcement from the White House affecting troops in Syria and an update about the possible government shutdown.

Plus: new research about Saturn's rings, Pinterest has a new plan for 2019 and the safest cars list.

Those stories and many more in less than 10 minutes!

Award-winning broadcast journalist and former TV news reporter Erica Mandy breaks it all down for you. 

 Then, hang out after the news for Thing to Know Thursday. This week we're talking about the most popular good news stories of 2018 with guest Branden Harvey of Good Good Good

See links and sources for all the stories referenced in today's episode at https://www.theNewsWorthy.com and click Episodes.

Today's episode is brought to you by the podcast, Techmeme Ride Home, a daily news roundup of tech news in minutes.