Author: jwiener

Rick Perlstein: Another Bad Day for Donald Trump

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Every day seems to be a bad news day for the President — today, yesterday, the day before. . . Rick Perlstein comments–and points out the anniversary of the Watergate break-in this week.
plus Jonathan Lethem on Bob Dylan‘s Nobel speech and the new anthology Shake It Up: Great American Writing on Rock.
and  Larry Tye talks about how Bobby Kennedy brought together the white working class with people of color in 1968–something we need today.  His new book is Bobby Kennedy: The making of a liberal icon.

 High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case for Impeaching Trump

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John Nichols argues that Trump should be charged by the House with obstruction of justice and abuse of power and put on trial in the Senate.
Plus: Amy Wilentz talks about the trouble with Trump’s tweets, which the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals cited Monday in their ruling rejecting his travel ban.
And: Paul Mason of The Guardian analyzes last week’s elections in Britain, and finds lessons for the American left in the historic campaign led by Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn.

Trump is a Cornered Maniac: Sasha Abramsky

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As things get worse for Donald Trump, he’s likely to become more irrational and dangerous, says Sasha Abramsky of The Nation.
Also–Trump is NOT like Nixon–that’s what Rick Perlstein says. He wrote the classic Nixonland.

 Norman Lear: Donald Trump Is the Middle Finger of the American Right Hand

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Norman Lear, who created All in the Family, reflects on why it succeeded in the Age of Nixon—and on what is different about political satire in the Age of Trump.
Plus: The Nation’s Zoë Carpenter reports on Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who has taken the lead in fighting for an alternative to the GOP’s repeal and replacement of Obamacare.
And: Amy Goldstein of The Washington Post discusses what happened when Paul Ryan’s hometown lost its GM plant. Her new book is Janesville.

Trump is like a Cornered Animal: Sasha Abramsky–plus David Cole and Paul Mason

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The “new normal” of daily disasters for the White House make Trump more dangerous and irrational, Sasha Abramsky says, and more likely to adopt fascistic tactics.
Plus: conservatives argue that the courts have gone too far in rejecting Trump’s travel ban as an unconstitutional attack on Muslims—David Cole of the ACLU responds.
And Guardian columnist Paul Mason analyzes the British elections in the wake of Trump’s trip to Europe, which he calls “disastrous.”

Tricky Dick and Donald: Harold Meyerson

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Harold Meyerson traces parallels–and differences–between Nixon’s efforts to stop the FBI from investigating him, and Trump’s efforts to stop the FBI from investigating him.  The first obviously led toward impeachment and resignation; will the second?
Also: Evangelicals and politics: Frances Fitzgerald comments.

Trump’s Cruel and Unusual Budget

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All budgets are political statements—Trump’s, submitted to the House on Tuesday, represents a cruel attack on the weakest and most vulnerable, in order to slash taxes for the wealthiest. And the assumptions behind the claim that it is “balanced” could generously be called “unusual.” George Zornick comments.
Plus: The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that two of North Carolina’s congressional districts had been gerrymandered to weaken the black vote in the state. Ari Berman explains.
Also: Trump’s weekend visit to Saudi Arabia was an embarrassment in many ways, and sinister in others. Joshua Holland has the details.

The Trouble with Trump’s Tweets: Amy Wilentz

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Amy Wilentz follows Donald Trump on Twitter — we ask her what that’s like, and why she does it. Also, she has a modest proposal: somebody should stop him.
Plus: Harold Meyerson on the Trump impeachment scenario: lessons from the Democrats’ successful effort to remove Nixon, and the Republicans’ failure to remove Bill Clinton.