Episode
Blockades, Bad Faith & the Bears Ears Chainsaw Massacre
- Podcast
- Frangela: The Final Word
- Published
- Jul 17, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3598
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://frangela.com/the-final-word-podcasts/
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Summary
This week on The Final Word, we are holding onto our wigs, our snacks, and our last thread of patience as the United States decides to resume its naval blockade of Iranian ports — and then follows it up with four straight days of strikes like they’re trying to win a medal in Unforced Escalation. The ceasefire didn’t just collapse; it evaporated , ghosted , and left a “new phone, who dis?” message on the way out. Then ACE director Tom Homan announced that ICE will “pause” most vehicle stops nationwide after agents fatally shot two immigrants who weren’t even the intended targets. We dig into how “pause” is doing Olympic‑level gymnastics here, and why accountability shouldn’t require a tragedy to get anyone’s attention. Over at the Supreme Court, Justices Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett asked Congress for $14.6 million to expand their security details due to credible threats and information that those threats would get worse. Darline Graham Nordone was sworn in to finish the Senate term of her late brother, Lindsey Graham, becoming the first woman to represent South Carolina in the chamber. Because nothing says democracy quite like appointing siblings to elected positions. And then Trump took a chainsaw — metaphorically, but also spiritually — to Bears Ears and Grand Staircase–Escalante, slashing more than 90% of their protections and opening the land to mining, drilling, grazing, logging, and motorized recreation. Because nothing says “leadership” like turning sacred land into a strip mall for extractive industries. A federal judge also ruled that Trump filed his $10 billion lawsuit against the IRS in bad faith, calling it an attempt to “manipulate the judicial process.” We discuss the audacity, the creativity, and the sheer commitment to the bit. And finally, Mitch M…