Michael Eric Dyson | Full Episode 2.21.20 | Firing Line with Margaret Hoover | PBS

Georgetown professor, prolific author and political commentator Michael Eric Dyson discusses the state of race in the US ahead of the South Carolina Democratic primary. He talks about how black voters are assessing the rest of the 2020 field—including Bloomberg and Sanders—as Biden’s support slips. Dyson responds to Trump’s economic pitch to African-American voters.

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FIRING LINE WITH MARGARET HOOVER airs on PBS. Launched in June 2018, Firing Line maintains the character of the original series by William F. Buckley Jr., providing a platform that is diligent in its commitment to a balanced exchange of opinion. In weekly 30-minute episodes, host Margaret Hoover engages in a rigorous exchange of ideas with political leaders, cultural luminaries, thought leaders and activists who represent a wide range of ideas and perspectives. New episodes are available Fridays here on YouTube at 8:30 pm ET.

[ddaaggeett]

Dyson cares more about race than anything else. Everything else.

[jpdj]

As old European, living in Europe, I'd welcome a discussion of the role of the US president. The way I remember history and political science classes of longer time ago, the role is a ceremonial head of state at the federation level, with limited authority, like European heads of state, on one end, and a few extra ones on the other. The way I remember it, the role is designed to prevent governing (the distinction in my prejudice between democrats and republicans), yet to lead defense of the federation from foreign threats and to lead a couple shared services. The limitations make the role ceremonial - I call that "ribbon cutters" - and a state needs that for pragmatic reasons. Of course, there comes respect with that in itself. The responsibility to lead the federation's shared security services including military, seems less political, except for the amount of money spent there.
Then the federal responsibility makes the president like the CEO of these shared services.
If this is how we should look at it, then it is very important to restart the debate about responsibilities of parties involved: the member states in the federation as well as the voters in the president;s election. As the president is not a messiah who can work magic and cannot give every state loads of freebies that, bottom line, have to be paid by everyone in the federation. Yes, the president and the central bank can print money, borrow internationally, etc., but the debt remains with all the voters, including the ones that staid home.
Member states and voters can act as if the president is an emperor and wears his new clothes.
When everybody plays this game, focus needs to shift to political leadership of the member states that collectively may need to step up in their own responsibilities and stop acting like victims of limited resources from a santa in a snow colored mansion.
Discuss?!

[jayr]

MARGARET .Most beautiful woman 👩 in public television 📺 .