The Week at WhoWhatWhy

The Week at WhoWhatWhy

On Monday: The Two Biggest Powers of the American President, and Their Limits by Joseph L. Flatley
The American Presidency is thought to be the most powerful position in the world. Yet a president’s power is limited to two spheres: growing the empire abroad and producing unlimited economic growth at home, according to presidential scholar Joseph Peschek. Read Joseph L. Flatley’s interview with Peschek, the inauguration of WhoWhatWhy’s 2016 presidential coverage.


Also on Monday:
WhoWhatWhy’s 2016 Presidential Election News Feed by The WhoWhatWhy Team
Following the candidates and the controversies with a WhoWhatWhy view. Want beauty contests and horse races? You won’t find them here. The stories which help you make a real judgment? Here’s where you start.

Also on Monday: WhoWhatWhy’s 2016 Presidential Campaign Promise to You by The WhoWhatWhy Team
Here’s our 2016 presidential campaign promise to you: election coverage like you’ve never seen before.

On Tuesday: American Pilot Reveals Al Qaeda’s Early Airborne Assassination Ambitions by Phil Hirschkorn
Al Qaeda’s ambitions to use planes as weapons started much earlier than was previously known, according to explosive testimony given by one of the group’s first pilots. Secretly imprisoned by the U.S. for a decade, American citizen Ihab Mohamed Ali revealed how Osama bin Laden’s plan to kill the Egyptian president gave birth to the strategy used in the 9/11 attacks. Phil Hirschkorn reports.

On Wednesday: MediaFail: Jeb Bush, the Media, and the Public as Dunce by Russ Baker
WhoWhatWhy Editor-in-Chief Russ Baker weighs in on an early salvo in the Jeb Bush 2016 campaign, fired off in disguise as journalism. See why the big media appears to think we’re all dunces.

On Thursday: Marathon Bombing Suspect’s Slim Chance of Moving His Trial from Boston by The WhoWhatWhy Team
Boston Marathon Bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s multiple attempts to move his trial out of the city he’s accused of traumatizing finally got a hearing at the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. The same court has told him to stay put once, by a vote of 2-1. Thursday’s arguments before the same judges didn’t seem to reveal a change in sentiment. WhoWhatWhy’s Andy Thibault reports.

Also on Thursday: Up for a Vote: Rejoining America’s Police State by Curt Hopkins
Portland, Oregon, may seem like an unlikely site for a stand against the FBI-led counterterrorism task forces that have spread to more than 100 cities since 9/11. Yet the city, which prides itself on odd-man-out independence, is now voting on whether it will rejoin the feds. The question they’re considering is an important one: whether cities or states get any protection from the federally-funded operations, or are just losing their independence to a national mandate.

On Friday: Boston Bombing: Rare Opportunity to Hear the Tsarnaev Case in Action by The WhoWhatWhy Team
On Feb. 19, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals heard Dzhohar Tsarnaev’s argument why his trial for the Marathon Bombing should be moved from Boston. Since the media is barred from recording the proceedings in his trial, the oral arguments before the appeals court offer a unique opportunity to actually hear the case in action. Listen in to decide for yourself if the three-judge panel was persuaded by the arguments put forth by both sides.

Also on Friday:
Car Hacking Report Refuels Concerns About Michael Hastings Crash by Mary Papenfuss
A chilling 60 Minutes demonstration of how easy it is for hackers to take over a vehicle’s controls is refueling suspicion about the death of gonzo journalist Michael Hastings.

WhoWhatWhy’s Presidential Coverage

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Sunday Round-up

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson went 5-for-5 today, hitting all of the political gabfests to discuss Obama’s just-completed summit on extremism and the Administration’s unwillingness to use the word “Islamic” when discussing terrorists.

The main takeaway from his appearances on Meet the Press, Face the Nation, This Week with George Stephanopoulos, FOX News Sunday and CNN’s State of the Nation was his warning to shoppers at the Mall of America in Minnesota. Al Shabaab—the Somali terrorist group—issued a video threatening the nation’s largest shopping mall. The Somali al Qaeda affiliate carried out the infamous and deadly Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya, nearly two years ago. Minnesota is home to the largest Somali immigrant community in America.

The other lead was Rudy Giuliani’s appearance at a fundraiser for 2016 hopeful Gov. Scott Walker (WI). He handed the political media a plateful of red meat when he said that he doesn’t think Obama “loves America.” It’s turned in to something of a litmus test for the other candidates, with Lindsay Graham, Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush all avoiding the mistake made by Walker when he refused to distance himself from Giuliani’s attention-grabbing bloviation.

Finally, the best and worst of Sunday came on Meet the Press. After spending a lot of time talking about Giuliani, they featured an excellent explainer by Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel on the debacle that is Libya. Engel explored how America’s attack on a country that didn’t attack America fueled problems in Syria and Iraq, while helping catalyze the rise of ISIS. On the other hand, they gobbled up airtime with an “NBC Exclusive” from the set of the Netflix series “House of Cards” and then closed the panel discussion with a chat about their favorite fictional presidents. Say “Goodnight,” Gracie.

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