The Tony Michaels Podcast

Send us Fan Mail The war with Iran did not begin with the latest bombs. It did not begin with one president, one missile strike, or one nuclear dispute. It grew out of decades of foreign interference, authoritarian rule, sanctions, hostage crises, proxy wars, retaliation, and one constitutional failure America keeps refusing to face: Congress surrendering its war power to presidents. Today’s Opening Argument begins with an American family, a flag-draped casket, and a question Washington ne...

Send us Fan Mail A retired electrician and a 24-year-old grocery clerk have something in common. Neither one of them started a war. Yet both of them are paying for one. In today's Opening Argument, Tony Michaels tells the story of two Americans standing on opposite sides of a checkout lane who discover they're living inside the same economic squeeze. One can't afford the groceries. The other can't afford the groceries she sells. Meanwhile, grocery prices keep rising, wages struggle to kee...

Send us Fan Mail Stephen Miller said it out loud. The Trump administration openly discussed suspending habeas corpus—the constitutional protection that forces the government to explain why it is detaining someone. Most Americans have never heard the term. But they've seen what happens when governments decide some people don't deserve constitutional protections. In today's Opening Argument, I tell the story of a father who lost his freedom, his home, and his rights because America was afra...

Send us Fan Mail Trump Got Embarrassed... So He Covered It Up The President is embarrassed because he lost to the Constitution. That's not a metaphor. A federal judge ruled that Donald Trump's name could not remain on the Kennedy Center because Congress—not the President—controls the institution. The name came down. The appeals failed. And then a giant tarp appeared over the spot where Trump's name used to be. The tarp became the story. Because embarrassment is a powerful thing. In toda...

Send us Fan Mail Obama had it right: don’t boo, vote. Today we’re talking about congressional term limits — and why a reform that sounds like accountability could actually take power away from voters and hand more of it to lobbyists, donors, party machines, and the executive branch. The real term limit for the House is already built into the Constitution: every two years, members have to come back to the people and ask permission to keep the job. So the question is not just whether Congres...