Ralph welcomes Keira Havens a United States Air Force veteran and the executive director of Citizens’ Impeachment a grassroots organization that lobbies Congress and supports candidates who are willing to impeach and convict Donald Trump for a myriad of Constitutional violations. Then Michael Marx, founder of the group CorpEthics that conducts marketing campaigns that apply public pressure to corporations to change their behavior, joins us to discuss his new book “Reining in the Bulls: How to Stop Corporate Abuse in an Age of Unbridled Greed.”
Keira Havens is a United States Air Force veteran, a former scientist, and a longtime political activist. She is the executive director of Citizens’ Impeachment.
I am a veteran. I was in the United States Air Force. My job was to launch nuclear missiles. I was an ICBM crew commander for four years. And that entire system, that entire weapons system is based on trust that the person at the top has a handle on what needs to be done and has good faith and good leadership to navigate this country. That is not the case right now. That cornerstone is beyond weakened—it has just crumbled straight into dust. The trust and faith in the American President as a capable leader, capable of effective leadership, is an assumption we can no longer make.
Keira Havens
His entire cabinet, everybody that gets appointed to the judicial system under his people, everybody that is building out the roadmap for what the economy looks like, all of these failures of leadership—yes, they roll upward to the President. But it is an entire administration of people that do not respect the Constitution, and are not planning on upholding it, and require impeachment, removal and conviction at the bare minimum. Because these folks have had a taste of power now, and they will be back for more. And impeachment is the only way to insist that they never be allowed to hold power again.
Keira Havens
[Democrats] will talk about how bad things are (and they will fundraise off it repeatedly over and over again), but they will not take the additional step and say: “And that is why I will impose consequences.” Our recommended consequence is: impeachment, conviction, removal. But there is more that can be done. There is their making a more plain-spoken assessment of the current situation. And people are hungry to hear it. You don’t have to pretend that this is business as usual. You can actually identify this as a crisis for the Constitution and for this democracy and outline the steps that you will take in your own legislative power.
Keira Havens
Michael Marx is one of the world’s premier environmental corporate campaigners. He served as campaign director for both Rainforest Action Network and Sierra Club. He was the co-founder and executive director of ForestEthics (now Stand.earth) and founder of CorpEthics. He is the author of Reining in the Bulls: How to Stop Corporate Abuse in an Age of Unbridled Greed.
I think we’re a corporatocracy. I think we have the illusion of being a democracy, but really we’re controlled by corporations. Because from the beginning, they control the way we think with their advertising, with the kind of programs they put on, with their investments in local and state and federal political campaigns. And then, they own the government. I mean…not only can they literally get away with murder (particularly not just in the U.S., but worldwide) but the government protects them from liability.
Michael Marx
If you want to fight these companies—right now we’re on the defense, and particularly on the defense in the government. And the only thing saving us right now is legal cases in the courts by Earth Justice and NRDC and Sierra Club and groups like that. And we need to go on offense even stronger in the marketplace because companies don’t own civil society. They can’t buy the advocacy wing, the more ethical wing of civil society. And they don’t know how to play that game as well as they know how to play the government game.
Michael Marx
News 9/11/26
Our first story this week comes to us from New York City, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani used the occasion of Labor Day to launch the Mayor’s Office of Worker Power (MOWP). According to the city’s website, the MOWP is the “first office of its kind in the nation, [designed] to use the resources and convening power of City Hall to help workers get informed, connected and organized.” The MOWP will be led by Tony Perlstein, a former longshoreman and United Auto Workers (UAW) organizing director. Mayor Mamdani is quoted saying, “Every day, working New Yorkers show up, do their jobs, and keep this city running. Too often, they have no say in the conditions they work under…The Mayor’s Office of Worker Power will make sure workers have a seat at the table before exploitation becomes a crisis and violations become routine. We’re connecting workers to their rights, to each other and to the organizations ready to stand with them. Because when workers have power, this city works better for everyone.” Deputy Mayor for Economic Justice and former Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su added “This office allows us to get ahead of exploitation instead of simply responding to it…By building relationships with workers, unions and worker centers, we can understand what is happening on the ground and act before problems become crises. That is how we build an economy that delivers for working people.”
On the other end of the spectrum, ProPublica is out with a new report on the abject capitulation of the Trump administration to corporate interests in the field of consumer protection. This piece explains how Russell Vought – Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) until August of this year – previously “boasted” that he’d “refashioned” the CFPB’s approach to pursuing banks and other financial companies accused of exploiting Americans, focusing instead on deregulation, embracing “humility” and adopting a “collaborative approach” to its dealings with companies that harm consumers. This article highlights the example of Bilt, which “fumbled a critical transition” earlier in the year, and instead of using the tools the CFPB might have in the past, such as investigating Bilt’s technology platforms for potential flaws, questioning its third-party contractors or issuing subpoenas, Vought’s hollowed out shell of a CFPB instead bragged that they were able to solve the issue “before it got to the adversarial part of the process.” Lo and behold, just two weeks later “Bilt cardholders received mistaken debt collection notices and saw their credit scores go down as a result, sparking more embarrassing news stories and angry complaints.” This story just goes to show that whatever issues the CFPB might have had in the past, companies simply will not change their bad behavior if there is no proverbial stick in the incentive structure. This piece characterizes Vought’s plan as turning the Bureau from a watchdog into a golden retriever; the problem here is that the retriever has no bite.
Meanwhile, at least one Democrat is courting a key faction of Trump’s base: POLITICO reports Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is seeking inroads into the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) world. According to this story, AOC’s team has undertaken a monthslong effort behind the scenes to find common ground with this slice of the MAGA base on “pesticides, corporate power and access to safe food,” among other issues. AOC’s team argue that pesticides and chemicals are issues “the traditional left has cared about for decades.” Additionally, influential figures in this world are coming to the realization that these issues transcend partisan politics, something Ralph Nader has preached for his entire career. Zen Honeycutt of Moms Across America is quoted saying “I don’t agree with socialism…but…do believe in corporate responsibility…Even if somebody is into
socialism or a conservative, I think we should agree that everyone should have access to
nontoxic food.” Even Alex Clark of Turning Point USA is quoted saying “MAHA voters are not Republican…They’re so focused on health issues. They don’t care who it is that is saying they’re going to get it done.”
In more democratic socialist news, the LA Times reports DSA LA has voted to endorse mayoral candidate Nithya Raman in her race against incumbent Mayor Karen Bass. DSA LA requires a 60% yes vote in order to endorse a candidate; Raman came in just over that threshold, with 937 yes votes out of almost 1,500 cast. Raman’s relationship with DSA LA has been rocky in the past. She was a member before she ever ran for city council in 2020, becoming the first DSA member on the council following her victory, but was formally censured by DSA in 2024 for seeking the endorsement of the liberal zionist group Democrats for Israel-Los Angeles. This complicated relationship led many to wonder whether or not DSA LA would ultimately vote to endorse Raman in this election. However, Tal Levy a member of DSA-LA’s electoral politics committee, which voted 3 to 2 to recommend the endorsement of Raman, is quoted saying that “socialists are fed up with the status quo and really want to see a significant change in how the city is run,” and while acknowledging Raman’s imperfections, maintained that “there is near-unanimity that she is the better candidate in the race in the general election.” Bass and Raman finished first and second respectively in the June primary, meaning they will face each other head-to-head in November; Republican candidate and former reality TV star Spencer Pratt failed to advance to the general election.
DSA LA endorsed other candidates as well, most notably Angela Gonzales-Torres, who is running for Congress against incumbent Jimmy Gomez in California 34th congressional district. Gomez has come under intense scrutiny by progressives for his ties to AIPAC – which spent heavily on his behalf last cycle to help him fend off a primary challenge from his left – as well as the cryptocurrency industry and his previously close relationship with fellow California Democrat Eric Swalwell. In August, NPR reported that Gomez was under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over “allegations of sexual misconduct” including “inappropriate sexual contact with a House staffer.” As for his AIPAC connections, Track AIPAC estimates Gomez has received over $2.6 million from pro-Israel PACs. The LA Times, in a piece about Justice Democrats also endorsing Gonzales-Torres, notes that Gomez fended off a challenge from his left by David Kim in the last three cycles. Kim has now endorsed Gonzales-Torres.
In more local democratic socialist news, state legislator David Morales emerged victorious from this week’s mayoral primary in Providence, Rhode Island, defeating incumbent Mayor Brett Smiley by approximately five percentage points. A POLITICO article published shortly before the election, which framed Morales as the Mamdani of Providence, drew attention to the fact that Providence is considered the least affordable rental market in the country, with the “average cost of an apartment topping $2,000 per month while the median income for renters was roughly $50,000.” Morales ran on “establishing a rent-regulation system that would cap annual increases at 4 percent,” to be enacted within his first 100 days; Mayor Smiley “vetoed a similar proposal passed by the Council earlier this year.” Smiley also drew the ire of progressives for his support of Flock camera deployment. The Rhode Island primaries were also notable because they saw the first successful primary challenge against a sitting governor since 2018, with Dan McKee losing nearly two-to-one against Helena Foulkes, scion of the Dodd political dynasty. The final primary elections for this cycle will be held in Delaware next week. Then, it is on to November.
Yet, despite – or perhaps because – of the Left’s success, the Democratic Party refuses to provide the support infrastructure for these progressive candidates the way they would others. This is manifesting very clearly in the case of Will Lawrence, the climate activist who won the Democratic nomination in Michigan’s seventh congressional district. CNN reports that progressives are “fuming that…The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee [DCCC] has so far declined to add Lawrence to a coveted list of their priority House candidates,” called 2026 Red to Blue – widely seen as effectively a “stamp of approval” from party leaders. According to CNN’s sources, this reluctance to promote Lawrence is being driven by the Congressional Black Caucus over Lawrence’s past comments about moderate Black Democrats’ “defang[ing] the White left.” Lawrence has apologized for his “choice of words.” Ironically, this blacklisting of Lawrence would seem to support that very hypothesis. This article also notes that, for as much as the left is a thorn in the side of the establishment party leadership, it was the “centrist bloc that humiliated leadership last week when some of its members showed they were willing to defy the party line on key priorities — even if it meant helping Republicans…[triggering] a messy internal feud” and prompting House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and his team to discuss “ways to crack down on any of their members voting for procedural motions that hurt the party – a proposal that has infuriated the left and centrists alike.” Jeffries, who took over the top spot in the House Democratic Caucus in 2023, has never had to lead the caucus while they held a majority in the chamber. He will no doubt face a trial by fire from multiple sides if the Democrats do successfully retake the House, as they seem poised to do.
Turning to foreign affairs, Bloomberg reports, “The European Union and Canada are working toward a new, all-encompassing relationship that will range from trade to security, as the transatlantic partners seek to build a new alliance to offset the global power politics dominated by the U.S. and China.” This new relationship, which could include “everything short of actual membership,” in the EU is particularly focused on areas of cooperation in defense, space exploration and scientific research. This piece notes that “Canada is the first country outside of the EU to join the EU’s…$174 billion…military procurement fund last year.” More details are set to be announced at European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s state of the union address in Strasbourg, France set for September 16th. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney will “attend the speech then address European lawmakers the following day.” The two parties are also scheduled to hold a summit in Canada in October.
In addition to strengthening trade and security relationships, Canada also seems to be willing to throw their diplomatic weight behind EU priorities. Le Monde reports that this week, Canada and a large group of European nations – including France, Spain, Ireland, the Scandinavian countries, and more – agreed to impose “sanctions against products originating from Israeli settlements in the West Bank.” This piece notes this group is taking their own independent actions, still to be defined, because the 27 EU member states could not agree on a joint action plan. However, as Le Monde puts it, this move “signals a shift toward sanctioning all settlements – not just a handful of violent actors and organizations – while rejecting the gradual normalization on which Israel had long relied.” Joining Canada and the EU member states in this agreement is the United Kingdom, where Foreign Secretary and former Labour Party Leader Ed Miliband – himself the Jewish grandson of a Holocaust survivor – is promising a “broad reset” of the UK’s relations with Israel, centering a more active approach by the Labour government of Andy Burnham in supporting the Palestinian cause, the Guardian reports. Le Monde also emphasized Miliband’s speech to the British Parliament, wherein he used far stronger language than previous administrations, including words like “Ethnic cleansing,” “war crimes,” “violations” of “international humanitarian law,”and “settler terrorists.” In Israel, the Guardian adds, the country’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, appeared to respond to the reports by saying: “Expel the British ambassador tonight!”
Finally, in more Israel news, Haaretz is out with a bombshell report showing that United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed explicitly warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the Hamas attacks planned for October 7th before they occurred. According to this piece, bin Zayed – commonly called MBZ – called Netanyahu from the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi a week and a half before October 7th and spoke with him for 45 minutes. In that conversation, MBZ “warned that Hamas’ leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, was planning a major operation against Israel,” and “expressed concern that the event in question would not only lead to bloodshed but also destabilize the entire region and undermine the Abraham Accords,” an impressively accurate and far-sighted prediction. MBZ, who signed the Abraham Accords in 2020, urged Netanyahu to “find an economic solution for the Strip and calming the West Bank to prevent escalation.” Netanyahu apparently brushed off not only this but the warning itself, saying “Hamas intended to operate in the West Bank area,” and assuring bin Zayed that Israel was “prepared for any scenario.” This article goes on to detail meetings between UAE mediators and Sinwar, who told them in no uncertain terms: “Convey a message to [Israel] that I am preparing the mother of all surprises. A terrifying operation. Something extraordinary…[a] zilzal [an earthquake]...Please convey to the Israelis what I am saying word for word.” This reporting has sent shockwaves through the Israeli political class, but it remains to be seen whether even such a clear example of Netanyahu’s malevolent cynicism will be enough to dislodge him politically – either due to domestic resistance or a withdrawal of support from the United States.
This has been Francesco DeSantis, with In Case You Haven’t Heard.
