So, that happened: This week, we lived through the horrors of two mass shootings -- one in Colorado Springs, Colorado and one in San Bernardino, California. On Capitol Hill, the living has become easy: a comms director tells the staff social media intern, "Tweet something about prayers," and the day rolls on. It's not just inaction -- it's brutally efficient inaction with repetitive pageantry and playacting.
We'll fight this battle of broken records with our Aug. 28 interview with Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), whose urgings to action, and his reminder that Congress continues to simply give a "quiet endorsement" to these murders will remain relevant -- until that day when it isn't.
In hopeful news, world leaders have assembled in Paris to discuss the next steps to combat climate change, and observers are coming away feeling fairly optimistic about what's unfolding. And closer to home, a few lawmakers have hit upon one of those small ideas that make a big difference -- a way to help working class parents make ends meet by providing them with diapers, a product that poor parents spend an astonishing portion of their income procuring. Joining us to discuss this is Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.).
Meanwhile, in Washington, a big winner has emerged in the fight to pass a highway funding bill and, naturally, it's an obscure bank with enough lobbying clout to get key lawmakers to just hand it money. Finally, the ostensible mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, is presiding over the biggest public crisis his city has faced during his tenure -- so why is he so angry about Politico's Mike Allen asking him about his vacation plans?
"So, That Happened" hosts Jason Linkins, Zach Carter and Arthur Delaney are joined this week by HuffPost reporter Dave Jamieson.
This podcast was produced, edited and engineered by Adriana Usero and Peter James Callahan, with assistance from Christine Conetta.
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