Trump Watch

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Donald Trump: fascist, or clown?  JOHN POWERS considers the possibilities — John is critic at large on Fresh Air with Terry Gross, where he has an audience of four million.

Also: one of the great political upsets in recent history: Bernie in Michigan.  HAROLD MEYERSON analyzes what happened.  Harold is executive editor of The American Prospect and writes for the LA Times and The Guardian.

Plus: a different kind of politics: the gay revolution. LILLIAN FADERMAN talks about the 50-year fight—the years of outrageous injustice, the early battles, the heartbreaking defeats, and the victories beyond the dreams of the gay-rights pioneers. Her new book is The Gay Revolution.

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Bernie’s big surprise–victory in Michigan!  BRAD FRIEDMAN comments — he’s host of the BradCast on KPFK and of BradBlog.com.
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And we’ll have an eyewitness report on a Donald Trump rally in Jackson from our man in Mississippi, JED OPPENHEIM.

Also:  let’s remember that everything isn’t politics. There’s also music – so Let’s Party Like It’s 1685!  Bach in The Subways returns to LA March 19-21 to celebrate the 331st birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach. There will be free pop-up performances all over LA. DALE HENDERSON will explain.

On Super Tuesday we had primary elections in a dozen states, and, in case people have forgotten, the winners were: On the Republican Side, Donald Trump won 7 out of 10 states.  Ted Cruz had to win his home state of Texas—he did – and he also won two others.  Marco Rubio never won any state, until Super Tuesday – he won Minnesota! And John Kasick almost won Vermont!  So we have TWO Republican headlines: One, Trump triumphs; Two, nobody’s getting out.  HAROLD MEYERSON comments.

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John Nichols says it’s hard to see how the Republican Party can stop Trump from winning the nomination—for starters, nobody is trying—and it’s not hard see how Trump’s appeal to working-class white voters could make him president.

Julianne Hing reports from Nevada: Trump, Cruz and Rubio rallies all start with a prayer, the pledge of allegiance, and the national anthem.  Hillary’s and Bernie’s don’t.
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And, for something completely different, A.O. Scott, film critic for The New York Times, talks about art, pleasure, beauty, and truth—topics in his new book, Better Living Through Criticism.

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Katha Pollitt asks, “Is it wrong for women Democrats to want to vote for a woman Democrat?”  In 2008 she voted for Obama rather than Hillary; today she’s a Clinton supporter.

Gary Younge looks back on Hillary’s 30-plus years in American politics and argues that “It is easy to forget what a mould-breaking, bad-ass figure Hillary cut when she first appeared on the national stage in 1992.”

Award-winning filmmaker Joshua Oppenheimer talks about The Look of Silence, his Oscar-nominated documentary on genocide in Indonesia in 1965-66 and its aftermath today—in Indonesia, and in American politics.

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Republican disarray deepens after New Hampshire: Rick Perlstein explains the dilemma of the GOP establishment, as their chosen candidates continue to slide.

Also: The startling success of Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire. It’s not just that he’s from the state next door, says D. D. Guttenplan.  And, he says, Hillary’s problem is bigger than “the messaging.”

And Jane Mayer of The New Yorker examines the secret efforts of the Koch brothers and their billionaire friends to move the Republican Party, and the country, to the right—the far, far right.

John Nichols explains how Bernie went from 50 points behind to tie Hillary in Iowa – and what she is doing to change course.

Plus: Gary Younge says Trump is not a uniquely American phenomenon, but part of a broader Western European phenomenon of white, nativist responses to globalization, immigration and terrorism.

Also: Joan Walsh analyzes the GOP after Trump’s second place finish—as the party establishment has a chance to reassert itself.

And, as the Superbowl approaches, David Zirin has some unkind words about the NFL’s claims that its “Head Health Initiative” has reduced concussions.

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The Republican establishment is moving toward accepting Donald Trump as their candidate, says FRANK RICH—they think he will make deals with them, while Ted Cruz won’t.

Also: BILL McKIBBEN, founder of 350.org, on the global climate movement. He says the fight to end the fossil-fuel era is happening almost in secret, as local activists battle on thousands of fronts around the world.

Plus: ANNA DEVEARE SMITH, the actor and playwright, talks about her new work on the school-to-prison pipeline, and about performing in her home town of Baltimore after the police killed Freddie Gray.

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The Iowa caucuses on Monday: will we see the triumph of Trump? Bernie in the lead? HAROLD MEYERSON will explain everything—he’s executive editor of The American Prospect, where he wrote “Can the Democrats Channel America’s Discontent?”

Also: DAVE ZIRIN, sports editor of The Nation, talks with KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR about black politics, Ferguson, John Lewis, Donald Trump, and also Gil Scott-Heron. The full conversation is at Dave’s podcast, “Edge of Sports,” HERE.

And we’ll talk about “revolutionary fast food” – The amazing new restaurant “LocoL” in Watts, from celebrity chefs Roy Choi and Daniel Patterson—they say “the giant corporations that feed most of America have degraded our communities by maximizing profits over decades. We believe that chefs should feed America, and not suits.” JOSH KUN will explain: he writes about music, culture, and food, and teaches at USC.