Today is Memorial Day, when we commemorate America’s military men and women who fought and sacrificed their lives to preserve democracy. Many of our parents and grandparents battled Nazi fascism during WWII to prevent the world from being dominated by those adhering to an ideology of a “master race” and requiring total loyalty to their dictator.

Today in 2025, our nation’s cherished democracy is under attack by a would-be dictator and his sycophants like never before in history. Donald Trump and the Republican party are in the midst of trying to consolidate their fascist takeover of our government. Buried In their latest “Big Beautiful Bill,” they will weaken federal judges’ ability to hold those who disregard their rulings in contempt of court—burning the Constitution and removing the judiciary as a co-equal branch of government. Trump's latest TruthSocial post describes his intentions (below).

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COUNTERPOINT RADIO, hosted by Scott Harris, is heard every Monday night on WPKN 89.5 FM, Bridgeport, CT between 8:00 – 9:30 pm ET. Webstreaming and audio archive at http://wpkn.org

1) Alex Lawson, Executive Director of Social Security Works, discusses his group's strategy to defeat Trump's grotesque budget bill in the U.S. Senate that mandates the largest cuts to Medicaid and Medicare in U.S. history, slashing the SNAP food assistance program, while disproportionately giving the wealthiest Americans and profitable corporations a tax break that will cost $4 trillion over the next decade -- all this while increasing the federal deficit by $3.8 trillion.

2) Ron Jacobs, contributor to Counterpunch.org and author of "Nowhere Land: Journeys Through a Broken Nation," talks about his commentary, "Culture, Christianity, and the Afrikaner Blues," in the context of the blatantly false claims made by Donald Trump during South African President Ramaphosa's recent meeting at the White House.

3) Vietnam Veteran Russell Brown, talks about his participation in the 40-day “Veterans & Allies Fast for Gaza,” where dozens of US war veterans and religious activists have gathered at United Nations headquarters in New York City, with the goal of raising awareness of the famine looming over Gaza. Participants plan to consume less than 250 calories a day, mirroring the average daily nutrient intake of residents in Gaza. The fasters are demanding 1) Full humanitarian aid to Gaza under UN authority and 2) No more U.S. weapons to Israel.

4) Leslie Blatteau, President of the New Haven Federation of Teachers talks about the CT chapter of the American Federation of Teachers union's recent civil disobedience protest resulting in the arrest of 10 members and students in front of CT Governor Ned Lamont's office at the State Capitol. The protest was part of a campaign to "secure more robust and equitable investments in Connecticut’s neighborhood and magnet schools."

Some segments featured on Counterpoint are edited for re-broadcast on the syndicated Between The Lines radio news magazine. Visit their web site at http://www.btlonline.org for free subscriptions to mp3 - podcast audio files, program summaries and interview transcripts. An archive of current and past Counterpoint interviews are accessible for free at our Counterpoint Radio web site: http://counterpointradio.org The full 1.5 hour unedited program can be accessed for a 2 week period after the show, at the WPKN Radio archives: http://archives.wpkn.org/bookmarks/search/counterpoint