Abortion Messaging Failures and the Tech Chaos Reshaping America

On December 4, 2023, Kim Monson shares the passing of her father and his wisdom about free speech, then hosts Dr. Brian Joondeph on the Republican Party’s abortion messaging failures and Kurt Gerwitz on the tech industry’s ethical meltdowns from cryptocurrency fraud to AI power struggles.

Crypto Collapse and the FTX Fraud Conviction

Start listening at 85:17 – Hour 2

Kurt Gerwitz, finance professor, breaks down the Sam Bankman-Fried conviction on seven counts of fraud. Gerwitz explains how FTX operated as a cryptocurrency exchange that allowed Bankman-Fried to essentially invent his own currency to pay himself, creating a house of cards that collapsed when competitors questioned the value of his invented tokens. The conviction represents rare accountability in the largely unregulated crypto space.

Gerwitz connects the case to broader questions about financial transparency and regulation. He contrasts the lack of oversight in cryptocurrency with the quarterly reporting requirements for publicly traded companies, where external audits and SEC regulations create accountability. His students analyze Colorado’s 100 publicly traded companies, learning to read income statements and balance sheets, skills increasingly rare as digital assets operate outside traditional frameworks.

“The strength of America is because our accountants would rather lose their jobs than lie.”

Kurt Gerwitz, Finance Professor

The GOP’s Self-Inflicted Wounds on Abortion

Start listening at 30:44 – Hour 1

Brian Joondeph, a physician and American Thinker contributor, argues that Republicans have sabotaged themselves on abortion for decades. Rather than treating the issue as a moral question best left to individuals and states under the Tenth Amendment, GOP leaders like Lindsey Graham have repeatedly handed Democrats a political weapon by pushing for federal abortion legislation right before elections. Joondeph points to the Dobbs decision as the proper constitutional resolution, returning the question to state legislatures where citizens can vote on referendums reflecting local values.

The conversation reveals a stark divide between moral conviction and political strategy. Joondeph contends that government cannot and should not legislate morality, drawing parallels to other contested issues like drug policy and gender surgery. He notes that even European countries considered progressive have stricter abortion limits than many American states, typically restricting the procedure after 12-14 weeks. Colorado’s unlimited abortion access through birth stands as an outlier even internationally.

“The Republicans are making it far more difficult. And they’re playing into the hands of the Democrats. The Democrats are using it as a campaign issue, a fundraising issue, and literally just beating the Republicans over the head with it every election cycle.”

Brian Joondeph, Physician and American Thinker Contributor