Critical Hour Discussion of Biden Picking Kamala as VP (8/14/2020)

 Biden Picks Harris as Running Mate; Trump Campaign Reverts to Birther Attacks

At approximately 4:15 pm ET on Tuesday, Biden named Harris as his running mate. Once she formally accepts the nomination, Harris will become the first Black and South Asian-American woman to run on a major US political party's presidential ticket.

"The number of reported coronavirus cases in the United States topped 5 million on Sunday, double the number since the end of June," the Washington Post reported Monday. "The 5 million mark comes just 17 days after the US total exceeded 4 million ... The United States leads the world with a quarter of global infections." The Post also reported Monday, "More than 97,000 US children tested positive for the coronavirus in the last two weeks of July ... according to data from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association." Later in the week, the Post further reported, "On Wednesday, the country reported its highest number of deaths in a single day since mid-May, at nearly 1,500." Is this another ripple on the water or an indication of a tsunami?

Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, the group’s highest-ranking official, gave a speech on Friday. For an update on what he said and insight into the latest developments in Lebanon, we turn to our next guest, Laith Marouf, a broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon. What are the takeaways?

It’s Friday, so that means it's panel time. We are joined by Jim Kavanagh, writer at The Polemicist and CounterPunch and the author of the article "Over the Rainbow: Paths of Resistance After George Floyd"; and by Daniel Lazare, investigative journalist and author of "The Frozen Republic," "The Velvet Coup" and "America’s Undeclared War." They discuss the selection of Harris for the Democratic ticket and the $100,000 question: Does a woman who was born in Oakland, California, whose father was from Jamaica and mother from India, meet the vice-presidential office requirement of being a natural-born US citizen?

For our final panel, we are joined by Dr. Clarence Lusane, political scientist, former chair of the Political Science Department at Howard University, internationally recognized expert on international and comparative politics, international poll watcher, author, professor and activist; as well as Washington, DC, news veteran Dr. Colin Campbell. They will also discuss the Harris nomination, the US Postal Service and American and Israeli media scrambling to blame Hezbollah for the August 4 explosion in Beirut.

Guests:
Caleb Maupin - Journalist and political analyst
Dr. Yolandra Hancock - Board-certified pediatrician and obesity medicine specialist
Laith Marouf - Broadcaster and journalist based in Beirut, Lebanon
Jim Kavanagh - Writer at The Polemicist and CounterPunch and author of the article "Over the Rainbow: Paths of Resistance After George Floyd"
Daniel Lazare - Investigative journalist and author of "The Frozen Republic," "The Velvet Coup" and "America’s Undeclared War"
Dr. Clarence Lusane - Author, professor, journalist and activist
Dr. Colin Campbell - Washington, DC, senior news correspondent

My segment starts ~58:25

Listen to "Biden Picks Harris as Running Mate; Trump Campaign Reverts to Birther Attacks" on Spreaker.

The Critical Hour is a daily news analysis and talk radio program on Radio Sputnik hosted by Dr. Wilmer Leon and Garland Nixon.