MAGA Says the ’60s Were Too Woke and Wants Racial Immigration Quotas Back
Release Date: 05/20/2026
He's Literally the Worst Dealmaker Ever. EVER.
Opening Arguments
OA1271 - The single stupidest war of choice the U.S. has ever gotten itself into may finally be coming to an end--or at least the concept of a plan for an end? We go beyond the headlines to see what is actually in this thing, and take on some of the most interesting legal questions raised here. How could this possibly bind Israel, a country which specifically refused to be a party to it? How is the U.S. promising a $300 billion investment which hasn’t been authorized by Congress? And how much power does the President of the United States really have to end Congressional and international...
info_outline
The National Review’s Defense of Todd Blanche Is So Bad It's Confusing
Opening Arguments
VR35 - In this episode released on the 54th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, the Vapid Response team raids the archives of the New York Times to retrieve one of the single worst (and worst-timed!) contemporary takes on the scandal which would end Richard Nixon’s Presidency. We then return to a time in which a Watergate-style burglary would be a fun diversion to see how at least one conservative legal writer is defending Trump’s nomination of his former defense attorney to serve as Attorney General. William Safire, The New York Times (4/19/1973) The Editorial Board, The...
info_outline
When It Comes to Juries, All of a Sudden the Supreme Court Can See Race
Opening Arguments
OA1270 - A good court thingie! A famous case from 1986 gave us the “Batson rule” that prevents the use of “peremptory strikes” to remove people from juries on the basis of race. To this day, racial discrimination in jury selection continues to be a problem. But the Supreme Court recently reinforced the on-going utility of Batson challenges in two decisions… written by Kavanaugh? Tune in to learn about the history and modern application of this important protection of our rights. , 380 U.S. 202 (1965) , 476 U.S. 79 (1986) , 511 U.S. 127 (1994) , 588 U.S. 284 (2019) , 608...
info_outline
LAM1014: Green Card
Opening Arguments
Hoo boy what a bizarre experience! Listen as Matt tries to convince us a really bad movie is good just because it deals with immigration law! If you'd like to hear the rest, go to and pledge at $2+!
info_outline
Trump Is Trying to Blanche His Taint
Opening Arguments
OA1269 - It’s official: Donald Trump has nominated Acting Attorney General “Two Taint” Todd Blanche to run the Department of Justice for real. We review Blanche’s three-year career as Trump’s personal defense attorney before considering the questions the Senate Judiciary Committee should be asking to determine just who Blanche has been really working for in his time at DOJ so far. Then: the U.S. is hosting the world’s biggest international sports event at a time when our immigration system has never been less hospitable, and even before the first World Cup kickoff Trump’s CBP has...
info_outline
Is Fender Threatening Anyone Who Makes Strat-Shaped Guitars?
Opening Arguments
OA1268 - Patents, trademarks, and copyrights, ach mein! How did the Fender Stratocaster, a guitar that has been in continuous manufacture since 1954, become the subject of an intellectual property dispute? Well, maybe this didn’t exactly come from . Fender has had 5 utility patents, 1 design patent, and 3 trademarks relevant to the Stratocaster . But the one thing that’s been all this time was protection for that iconic (or is it?) body shape. After their design patent expired, their trademark application was , and US copyright was definitionally , anyone could see that to the US Patent...
info_outline
35 Judges Say Trump's DOJ Committed Fraud on the Court
Opening Arguments
OA1267 - Is Trump’s 1.8 billion dollar “anti-weaponization” fund really done, or is there something else going on here? Also can a few dozen federal judges really reopen any given civil suit with one magic filing? We take a closer look before going behind the recent commutation of former Mesa County (CO) elections clerk Tina Peters’ sentence by Colorado governor Jared Polis to the actual legal basis behind her successful appeal of her sentence to the Colorado Appeals Court. Finally in today’s footnote: an NPR host’s lawsuit claiming that Google stole his voice. ,...
info_outline
Molly Hemingway's Alito Book Is EMBARRASSING Propaganda
Opening Arguments
VR34 - This week in Vapid Response: Vanilla Ice provides the platonic ideal of an amuse douche before we order up an excerpt of the worshipful new Alito biography by the editor-in-chief of The Federalist. We then take a closer look at MAGA’s desperate attacks on Trump accuser E. Jean Carroll as expressed in a recent piece in the Examiner. OA Book Club is coming for all patrons! Sign up now for ad-free listening at , and start reading our first selection ahead of our first live Zoom meetup later this month. “,” Mollie Hemingway, The Federalist (April 21, 2026) ,” Joe Concha, The...
info_outline
When Super Soaker Got Sued by a Totally Lame Squirt Gun
Opening Arguments
OA1266 - Can wearing a corset be considered a “public” use of the product? What makes someone (or some thing) an inventor? What is it exactly that makes the Super Soaker so rad? Get the answers to these questions and more from… patent law? Jenessa walks us through some of her favorite wacky cases (that also teach us core patent law concepts). , 104 U.S. 333 (1881) , 43 F.4th 1207 (2022) , 27 U.S.P.Q.2d 1280 (E.D. Pa. 1993) , 91 F.3d 166 (Fed. Cir. 1996) Check out the OA for all the places to go and things to do!
info_outline
Judge Eviscerates Blanche’s DOJ, Tosses Abrego Garcia Indictment
Opening Arguments
OA1265 - THIS IS SUCH A GOOD NEWS SHOW. Seriously. It was so good that Matt invented a new form of entertainment that you need to hear about. We've got Markwayne saying possibly THE dumbest thing a cabinet member has ever said. We've got a judge absolutely schooling Trump's corrupt DOJ and dismissing the bogus Kilmar Abrego Garcia indictment, AND we've got some interesting emolument talk. Can Florida just give Trump land?
info_outlineVR32 - As the economic effects of Trump’s war of choice in the Middle East begin to hit home, his party is playing the one card it has going into the midterms: the promise of fully restoring open white supremacy to the US immigration system. We begin with a sampler platter of amuse douche from a recent episode of Tim Pool’s podcast–mercifully free of Tim Pool–to get a sense of how the MAGA right is talking about immigration reform these days. Matt then gives a brief history lesson about the openly racist origins of the Immigration Act of 1924 and the Cold War origins of the 1965 Hart-Celler bill which Republicans are now trying to repeal before we dive into the main course: a recent piece in The Federalist written in support of Rep. Andy Ogle’s Assimilation Act. Why do these people hate families so much? Can Congress really end birthright citizenship? And can you really build an entire thinkpiece entirely out of red flags? Join us this week on Vapid Response Wednesday to find out.
-
The National Visa Bulletin’s website
-
Whom We Shall Welcome (1952)
-
It’s Long Past Time To Scrap Hart-Celler And Insist That Immigrants Assimilate (John Daniel Davidson, The Federalist; 5/15/2026)
Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!