July 14 – Was Tamarod Used by the Military as a Pretext for a Coup in Egypt?; The Saudi Monarchy’s Motives in Undermining Egyptian Democracy; The Prosecution’s Failures in the Trayvon Martin Trial

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Part 1	We begin with an assessment of the political crisis in Egypt from a political insider who knows many of the important players involved in what is widely described as a military coup. Dr. Mona Makram-Ebeid, who recently resigned from the Shura Council in support of the Tamarod (rebellion) movement joins us to discuss the opposition movement that galvanized around a rejection of the Morsi Muslim Brotherhood government and the extent to which Tamarod might have been used as a pretext by the military and old guard to seize power.
Part 2	Then we examine the role of Saudi Arabia in undermining the Morsi government through political and economic sabotage, while conversely rewarding the new government with $8 billion in aid as gasoline suddenly becomes available and the Mubarak-era police force reappears to police the streets. Toby Jones, a professor of history at Rutgers University and author of “Desert Kingdom: How Oil and Water Forged Modern Saudi Arabia” joins us to discuss the ruling Saudi monarch’s motives in undermining Egypt’s democratic progress.
Part 3	Then finally we address the legal questions surrounding the failure of the prosecution in the Trayvon Martin case with Kenneth Nunn, a Professor of Law at the University of Florida and the Associate Director of the Center for Children and Families in Gainesville, Florida. We discuss the failure of not having an African American on the jury, not allowing the issue of race to enter the trial, and inadequate jury instructions explaining all of the legal landscape surrounding the “Stand Your Ground Law”, particularly the prohibition against an armed citizen being the aggressor.