Shadow Politics, October 4, 2026

Shadow Politics with US Senator Michael D Brown Brazil's Primary Vote, Martial Law Fears, and the Politics of Fear Michael D. Brown and co-host Liberty Jones use Liberty's Brazilian primary vote as a starting point to discuss misinformation about Sharia law and socialism, partisan division, fear-based politics, and the midterms. Sharia Law, Socialism Fears, and a Call to Calm Michael D. Brown opens the broadcast by welcoming listeners to Shadow Politics and introducing his co-host, Liberty Jones, whom he calls his favorite person in the whole wide world. He turns first to misinformation he sees on Instagram and Twitter, where a post asks whether President Trump wants to ban Sharia law. Brown explains that Sharia is a religious code rather than American law, that it cannot be banned under religious freedom, and that the claims are meant to frighten people about Muslims, who make up less than three percent of the population. He then addresses warnings about communists and democratic socialists. Brown reminds listeners that Social Security, Medicare, public schools, and the fire department are already socialist ideas, and he says democratic socialists simply believe government should work for the people. Brown asks Jones to move on, and she responds that both sides use fear to push misinformation during the midterms. Division Past and Present, from Jackson to the Internet Jones asks whether American politics has always been this dysfunctional or is simply more visible now, and Brown answers that both are true. He recalls Andrew Jackson's wife, who was hounded by the press over a brief, unconsummated arranged marriage and died the day before he was inaugurated, a story he uses to show that nastiness in politics has always existed. Brown says the 1960s were just as divided, with assassinations, a never-ending war in Vietnam, and a divided decade he lived through as a hippie. He argues that the internet is what feels new, because anyone can find thousands of people who agree with them. Brown adds that in the past, Americans had to do research to learn anything, while today a twenty-four-hour news cycle spans fifteen outlets with different prejudices. Brown concludes that the internet has made the situation more toxic than it has ever been before. He says he is an old guy, stuck in his ways, and that Jones's view as someone younger matters more than his. Brazil's Primary Vote, Television, and Who Profits Jones reports that she voted earlier that day in Brazil's primary elections, which Brazilian citizens living in the United States may join for the presidency. She names the top two options as Flávio Bolsonaro, the son of the former president, and the current president, Lula, whom she calls the leftist option. Jones describes Bolsonaro as a former military man who was found guilty of trying to incite a militaristic dictatorship and imprisoned, and she says President Trump defended him and helped him get out of prison. She describes Lula as the leftist choice she is leaning toward for his environmental laws, recalls the car wash corruption scandal, and says she voted for a third candidate, Ronaldo Caiado, to defend her people. The conversation then turns to television, with Brown recalling that the 1950s brought four channels that signed off at midnight and a single set in most homes. Jones ties that to today's phones and asks whether division grows from real disagreement or because institutions profit from it. Martial Law Fears and the Question of Who Decides Brown argues that both parties exploit fear, and he jokes that some liberals are "liberals against going along," just as rigid as the MAGA side. He also says most people did not pass through Ellis Island, pointing to his grandfather, who lived here ten years before becoming a citizen. Brown's biggest concern is that Republicans are trying to rig the midterms and may place ICE agents and National Guard at polling places. He says martial law, which he notes has been declared sixty-eight times in American history, frightens him because a declaration would suspend the right to vote. Brown says the Supreme Court would be the arbiter if the president did something Congress considered illegal, and he doubts the courts are as impartial as civics lessons suggest. He warns that a clash of that kind could throw things into chaos, and he admits he does not know what would happen next. Jones answers that if one man can annul the right to vote, America is no longer the land of the free. Fear, Hope, and the Politics of Words Brown asks what lesson Brazil holds for America, and he is baffled that a promised $5,000 for voting Republican is not called a bribe. Brown wonders whether a hierarchy of needs, like Maslow's pyramid, explains which priorities voters put first, such as immigration or the economy. He concludes that fear is the greatest motivator in politics, from fascism and communism to democracy itself. Brown contrasts fear with the message of King, Gandhi, Jesu