jwiener

The End of Clintonism: Harold Meyerson on KPFK 11/9

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On our day-after show on KPFK, HAROLD MEYERSON says Hillary’s biggest problem wasn’t FBI director Comey–it was the legacy of her husband Bill’s turn toward globalism and deregulation, which left an angry and fearful and declining white working class.
Also: KATRINA VANDEN HEUVEL says we need to mourn — and then we need to resist and organize.
and AMY WILENTZ talks about the election, and the frightening prospects of Trump’s presidency.

Pico Diary: Election Day — LA Review of Books 11/8

At Factor’s Deli on Pico in Beverywood, a dozen carts are lined up, filled with party platters ready to be delivered.  “Those have to be for parties tonight,” I say to the woman who must be the catering manager.  She says “One lady told me ‘it will either be a celebration, or a suicide party.  Either way we need a deli platter.”
… continued at LA Review of Books Blog HERE

 

Trump: The View from Muncie

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Gary Younge has spent a month in the rust belt city of Muncie, Indiana, talking politics with people there.  The Trump supporters are well aware of his faults, but say they need “something big” to change things for them.
Plus: Katha Pollitt asks whether Trump’s misogyny will spark a wave of women’s political action.
Also, Tom Frank talks about email: he says the John Podesta emails—released by Wikileaks—tell us much more about how America is run than Hillary’s do.
And Adam Shatz argues that Obama’s presidency provoked a white backlash—and rekindled a spirit of black resis

Republican Repress the Vote, Dems Turn Out the Vote: KPFK 11/2

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HAROLD MEYERSON says Trump seems uniquely horrible, but is relying on a standard Republican electoral strategy: repress the vote.  Hillary meanwhile is doing everything possible to turn out the vote.
Plus: TOM FRANK talks about the media treatment of Bernie Sanders: it was terrible.
And JOHN NICHOLS comments on some candidates we actually like — for the Senate, the House, and the Minnesota State Legislature.

Hillary’s Biggest Decision: Moving to Arkansas in 1974: LA Review of Books 10/28

The biggest decision in Hillary’s life came in 1974, when she moved from Washington, DC to Little Rock to be with Bill.  Friends  begged her not to do it — they said she could have a stellar career in politics without Bill, and that Arkansas was the backwoods compared to her world in Washington.  At a time when the women’s movement was rising, Hillary would devote her remarkable energy and talents to advancing her husband in the world, instead of herself — taking on the traditional role of the wife. The question is simple: why?  …continued HERE

Candidates we really like: The Nation podcast 10/27

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John Nichols talks about some of our favorite progressive candidates—for the Senate (Deborah Ross in NC), the House (Angie Craig in MN), and state legislatures—who show what good politics look like these days—and who have been endorsed by “Our Revolution,” the Bernie Sanders political group.

Also: Tom Hayden, who died on Sunday at 74, meant a lot to a lot of us, including Katrina vanden Heuvel—she comments on his amazing life as an activist and writer. Tom was a long-time member of the Editorial Board of The Nation and a frequent contributor to the magazine’s pages.

Plus: The documentary filmmaker, Deia Schlosberg, who was arrested while reporting on a climate-change protest in North Dakota. She is now charged with three counts of felony conspiracy and faces a possible sentence of up to 45 years.

The Progressive Movement after Bernie: KPFK 10/26

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HAROLD MEYERSON looks at what’s next for the millions of young people who voted for Bernie–at the prospects for sustained political commitment and action in other races this fall, and in two yearsl for example, the Bernie campaign successor organization, “Our Revolution.”  Harold wrote about it for The American Prospect.

Plus TODD GITLIN remembers Tom Hayden – he succeeded Tom as president of SDS in the early sixties, and wrote about his life for Dissent and The Baffler.

Tom Hayden Remembered: TheNation.com 10/26

I first met Tom when he was a community organizer for SDS in Newark in 1964 or ’65. I was a student going to college in New Jersey, and Tom came down to tell our SDS chapter about organizing poor people, and about how and why black Newark was going to explode (and of course it did, in 1967). He was already a hero to us, even before the Vietnam war took over everything on the left.
. . . continued at TheNation.com HERE

Greil Marcus on Bob Dylan’s Nobel Prize: LA Review of Books, 10/22

Q.: Dylan won the Nobel Prize for literature — do we have to argue about whether what Dylan writes is “literature”? Do we have to say Homer sang his epics, or that Virgil was a lyricist?
A.: I have no interest in those questions. I’ve always thought the question of whether Bob Dylan was a poet was a waste of time.
. . . continued at LA Review of Books HERE