Summary: Just weeks after his party took a historic drubbing in the midterm election, President Obama turned the tables on the Republicans and said he would use his executive powers to change the nation's immigration policy. He said he was forced to take that position after months and months of inaction in the Republican-led House. Lauren French of POLITICO reports that the GOP, who had been enjoying a post-election bounce, was pushed back on its heels, unsure of what course to take in response. Since you'll be filling up this Thanksgiving, the Political Junkie spent the rest of the program on lighter fare. Matt Viser of the Boston Globe explores the relationship between coffee and politics. Jules Witcover, the author of a new book on vice presidents, shares his anecdotes of some of the 47 men who became V.P. And Jack Ohman, the political cartoonist for the Sacramento Bee, talks about how he got into the business and who are his favorite victims, err, subjects. Finally, we go back to this week in 1993, when President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill, named after James Brady, Ronald Reagan's press secretary, who was seriously wounded by a bullet to the head during the 1981 unsuccessful attempt on Reagan's life. And we remember Marion Barry, the former "Mayor for Life" of Washington, D.C., whose four terms in office were filled with promise, hope and optimism ... as well as cronyism, corruption and crack. Cartoon via Jack Ohman at the Sacramento Bee Le petit jardin (with Les Gauchers Orchestra) (Lee Maddeford) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Funk the Bullshit by T.H.E. on Soundcloud / CC BY 3.o unreal_dm / CC BY 2.5 Sulphur, Tobacco, and Whiskey (Waylon Thornton) / CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 Ground Cayenne (The Good Lawdz) / CC BY-SA 3.0 Requiem for a Fish (The Freak Fandango Orchestra) / CC BY-SA 3.0 So Far So Close (Jahzzar) / CC BY-SA 4.0
