Fake News 1968 Style

Don’t think that “Fake News” is solely President Trump’s domain. Oh no….

As we listen in to this weeks phone call, you’ll hear TITP fave President Lyndon B. Johnson bitching about news coverage - even suggesting that a reporter be taken out and shot at one point.

Granted, Johnson was having a pretty tough week. This phone call, taken from February 5, 1968, was recorded during a time when Johnson was under a bit of stress.

Just a few weeks prior, the USS Pueblo, and all it’s crew, were captured in the waters off North Korea (yean, that North Korea) and accused of spying. Then, just a few days before this phone call, the North Vietnamese launched the Tet Offensive, immediately dismissing any notion that the end of the war was anywhere near.

Here’s an interesting bit of trivia that didn’t make it to the podcast - the captured crew of the USS Pueblo later figured out that the North Koreans had no idea what “flipping the bird” meant, so they started doing it in every staged photo taken of them. Here’s a still taken from a propaganda film made by the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea of the Pueblo crew….

So take a few minutes in to listen as LBJ rattles on about the press, easily standing up to anything that President Trump has mouthed off about lately. And the best part - LBJ is talking to a reporter! It’s like getting to listen in to Trump talk to his favorite news reporters from Morning Joe!

Also, we catch up on some of the craziness in Washington and, of course, we go back and visit Trump in the Amazon.

This episode is brought to you in part by Blinkist

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And last, but not least, this episode is also sponsored by Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

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The Justice Abe Fortas Pornographic Film Festival

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Well, well….and how was YOUR weekend?

Our long national nightmare is now over and we’ve got a shiny new Bro-Judge installed on the Supreme Court. A “non-partisan” judge who starts waving around conspiracy theories at the drop of a hat (ie: let’s all blame the Clintons). Well, this is going to be fun.

But don’t worry - we here at This is the President will be right here by your side. In today’s episode, we wanted to take a look at another controversial Supreme Court appointment - this one from 50 years ago. It was the summer of 1968 when President Johnson decided to throw his weight behind nominating his pal Abe Fortas as the Head Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Let’s just say that the Senate was not amused - so much so to the point that they forced Fortas to testify before them. The first time in history that a judge from the Supreme Court was called in this manner - sound familiar?

Download this episode to listen in on Fortas advising President Johnson on exactly what type of book he needed to take his oath of office on and how the Johnson’s walked away with a little souvenir after that fateful day in Dallas, Texas in November, 1963.

We’ll also hear from Senator Strom Thurmond with his opinions on Fortas and discuss the Abe Fortas Film Festival that Thurmond threw on the floor of the Senate.

ALSO - Check out our newest segment - Amazon Reviews of Donald Trump products!

This episode brought to you in part by Plowdypod - the think tank that answers the questions that nobody asked, like “Would you rather be Trump’s wife or Putin’s mistress?” Check it out and subscribe on iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts.

We’d also like welcome our returning sponsor, The Political Research Digest. The Political Research Digest delivers fresh insights on the big trends driving American politics and policy today.

Each 20-minute episode explores one hot topic in the news with two political scientists who have just published relevant empirical studies. Hear about their new discoveries and get important insights that are lost in the daily news shuffle.

Download the Political Research Digest with your favorite podcast app today!

Oh yeah - let’s also not forget to mention  Words Over Chair Productions and Comedy History 101.

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1968: LBJ's Worst Year Ever

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To put it mildly, 1968 was a bad year for LBJ.

The Tet Offensive, the North Korean seizure of the USS Pueblo, assassinations of MLK and RFK, a supreme court battle, riots in the streets during the 1968 Democratic convention and a duplicitous Richard Nixon were just among the few issues he faced in that fateful year. 

In this special episode, we're joined by noted scholar and author Kyle Longley, author of LBJ's 1968: Power, Politics, and the Presidency in America's Year of Upheaval to discuss what made 1968 such a not-that-great of a year.  We'll touch on all of the bad points of LBJ's 1968, Kyle's pick for best LBJ phone call and what LBJ and the current president have in common. 

Harmon is out in New Zealand, but you can still to pick up a copy of Harmon's new book, Meet the Deplorables, now available on Amazon. 

This episode is also sponsored by BLACKBX. Running a restaurant, bar, pub or retail business? Offer your customers fast, free and secure wireless while gaining awesome customer insights.

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Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes

Yelling LBJ - The Real Story - TITP Excusive!

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Happy 2018 everyone! 

Here at TITP we're starting the year off with a bang by presenting you with an exclusive! 

In this week's episode, we'll delve into the real story behind one of the most famous political photographs of all time, which you can see over there to the right and we here at TITP have dubbed Yelling LBJ. A picture that does such an amazing job of catching a specific moment in time that it is now in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. 

The place is Amarillo, Texas and the time is November 3, 1960 - just a few short days before the 1960 presidential elections. US presidential candidate John F. Kennedy and his running mate Lyndon Johnson make a brief touchdown in the Texas panhandle on a whirlwind campaign stop. They'll be speaking briefly at the Amarillo airport before jetting off to their next engagement. 

The Kennedy campaign team, always planning ahead, ensured that flight traffic would be stopped long enough for the candidates to make their brief speeches. What they didn't realize, however, was that some of the pilots of the waiting planes weren't exactly the biggest Kennedy fans. So they made their displeasure known and tried to harass the candidates with the loudest tools at their disposal - their jet engines 

The result? Well, you'll be able to hear for yourself when you listen to our episode where you can hear - for the first time ever - just how loud those engines were! Also - Harmon brings us the latest Trump news from that famous shithole, Brooklyn, and tells us about his latest book, Meet the Deplorables, now on Amazon.

In addition, we're welcoming a new sponsor onboard - Dennis Miller. Yes, THAT Dennis Miller. Maybe you’ve seen him on “The O’Reilly Factor.” Perhaps you remember him from his days as an anchor of the “Weekend Update” segment on “Saturday Night Live.” 

So wherever you may know him from, now you’ll have the chance to see Dennis Miller
live at the Silver Legacy Resort Casino in Reno, Nevada on Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018.

Tickets start at $49.50 and can be purchased at the Silver Legacy web site. Enjoy 20 percent off a hotel room on the night of the show with the purchase of a show ticket. What a great Valentines Day idea! 

Use offer code TIX18 when purchasing.

This episode is also sponsored by BLACKBX. Running a restaurant, bar, pub or retail business? Offer your customers fast, free and secure wireless while gaining awesome customer insights.

Get started with a FREE trial today

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes and now over at Google Play as well! 

Episode 17 - Trump Tweets and Lone Star Beer

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Happy 2017 Everyone!

In keeping with the New Year theme, we dug up this call from President Lyndon Johnson to Lone Star Beer magnate Harry Jersig on January 1, 1964 to get your year started off right.

But don't think that's all we've got for you - oh no!

In addition to such popular segments as the "Whether or not Weather Report" and "Harmon's Presidential Impressions" we're introducing what we think is going to be our killer new feature - Presidential Tweets!

That's right, in each episode Harmon and I read out and analyse our favorite tweet from the soon-to-be 45th President of the United States, Donald J. Trump!  

You can also subscribe to the podcast over at iTunes and now over at Google Play as well!