It’s Time to Mobilize for Voting Rights: John Nichols; plus David Kipen on a new Federal Writers Project
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Voting rights suffered a defeat in the Senate this week, but really it’s just the latest battle in a continuing struggle—and if anything, it clarifies the real problem: the filibuster must go, at least for voting rights legislation. John Nichols says it’s now up to grassroots groups to go to work on reluctant Democrats during the July 4 break.
Also, here’s an idea: Create a new Federal Writers Project, hiring a thousand out of work writers and journalists to document American lives during the pandemic year. It’s in a bill proposed in the House by Los Angeles Representative Ted Lieu. David Kipen explains; he’s former director of literature for the National Endowment for the Arts, and it was his idea. 6/23/2021
Voting rights: What Now? Harold Meyerson; Jimmy Carter: Kai Bird; ‘Rebel Hearts”: Ella Taylo
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Tuesday Republicans blocked the Senate from even beginning to consider voting rights legislation. Chuck Schumer said afterwards, “In the fight for voting rights, this vote was the starting gun, not the finish.” Now what? Harold Meyerson comments.
Also: Most of us think of Jimmy Carter as a failure as president, the Democrat who opened the door to Reagan, and the only president whose work AFTER leaving office was better than his work IN office. Kai Bird says we need to reconsider Carter and his presidency: He had more accomplishments, and was more complicated, than people realized. Kai’s new book is called “The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter.”
And Ella Taylor talks about LA’s rebel nuns of the sixties – Sister Corita and her friends at Immaculate Heart College. They’re the subject of a new documentary, called “Rebel Hearts.” 6-23-2021
It’s Not Just Joe Manchin: Joan Walsh on ‘Moderate’ Democrats, plus Kai Bird on Jimmy Carter
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Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema are not the only Democrats opposed to filibuster reform—Dianne Feinstein says she won’t vote for it, either. And there are more Democrats in the Senate staying the same thing. But without filibuster reform, the rest of the Democrats’ agenda is dead—starting with protection of voting rights and elections. What’s wrong with these people? Joan Walsh comments.
Also: Many people think of Jimmy Carter as a failure as president, the Democrat who opened the door to Reagan, and the only president whose work after leaving office was better than his work in office. Kai Bird says that’s wrong—Carter had more accomplishments, and was more complicated, than people realized. Kai’s new book is called The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter. 6-16-2021
The GOP vs. Voting: Harold Meyerson; Advice to Men: Katha Pollitt; “In the Heights”: Ella Taylor
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Republican efforts to make it harder to vote, and easier for their judges and state legislatures to reverse elections they have lost, may backfire: Harold Meyerson comments. Also: rethinking the Green New Deal.
Also: Katha Pollitt talks about a new book of advice for men – Jordan Peterson’s international best-seller “Rules for Life”. Rule Number One: “stand up straight, with your shoulders back.”
And our TV critic Ella Taylor will review “In the Heights,” the wonderful new Lin Manuel Miranda musical on HBO Max about young people of color singing and dancing in Washington Heights at the north end of Manhattan. 6-16-2021
What Does Joe Manchin Want? John Nichols on Filibuster Reform, plus Amy Wilentz on Israeli Politics
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Republicans are not just making it harder to vote—they’re making it easier for judges and state legislatures to reverse the results of elections they have lost. Congressional action could block these changes—but that requires filibuster reform, and Joe Manchin says he won’t vote for filibuster reform. What does Joe Manchin want? John Nichols comments.
Also: Amy Wilentz comments on the earthquake in Israeli politics: the end of Bibi Netanyahu, after 12 years as Prime Minister, and a new governing coalition that includes for the first time in Israeli history and an Israeli Palestinian Islamist party as part of the government. Amy, who was Jerusalem bureau chief for The New Yorker, talks about what this might mean for Palestinians inside Israel, and on the West Bank and in Gaza. 6-9-2021
The Filibuster vs. Democracy: Alan Minsky; Israeli politics: Amy Wilentz; ‘Lupin’: Ella Taylor
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What does Joe Manchin want? Doesn’t he want Democrats to have equal voting rights? Without filibuster reform, Republican attacks on voting will broaden. Alan Minsky explains: he’s Executive Director of Progressive Democrats of America.
Plus the earthquake in Israeli politics: Amy Wilentz comments on the end of Bibi Netanyahu, after 12 years as Prime Minister, and on the new governing coalition that includes for the first time in Israeli history an Israeli Palestinian Islamist party as part of the government. Amy, who was Jerusalem bureau chief for The New Yorker, will talk about what this might mean for Palestinians inside Israel, and on the West Bank and in Gaza.
Also: TV talk with Ella Taylor, who reviews “Lupin,” the French comic heist series about a sort of Robin Hood who’s a Black immigrant, reckoning with racism in France and the country’s legacy of plunder. Season two opens Friday on Netflix. 6-11-2021
White Politics and Black History in Tulsa: David Perry on the Massacre Commemoration, plus Katha Pollitt on Advice for Men
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Joe Biden went to Tulsa on Tuesday to commemorate the fact that, 100 years ago this week, in 1921, a white mob attacked an all-Black neighborhood there–one of the worst episodes of racial violence in U.S. history. Historians think it left 300 dead and 10,000 homeless. David M. Perry comments on the political issues around the historical facts — he’s a journalist and historian whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Guardian, The Washington Post, and The Nation.
Plus: Katha Pollitt talks about a new book of advice for men – Jordan Peterson’s “Rules” start with “stand up straight, with your shoulders back.” 6-2-2021
Progressives & Biden: Alan Minsky; Tulsa & history: David Perry; Tulsa on TV: Ella Taylor
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Progressives and Biden: the threat of a bipartisan “compromise” on infrastructure; Biden’s ‘American Families Plan,” $1.8 Trillion for workers, students and families, financed through higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans—and healthcare reform, which will pass only with filibuster reform in the senate. Plus: Enbridge Line 3, the tar sands pipeline through northern Minnesota, will face nonviolent direct action protests this Monday, organized by the Treaty People Gathering.
Also: White politics and Black history in Tulsa: historian David Perry talks about the 1921 Tulsa race massacre and how it was covered up, as a “riot,” for most of the century.
And more on Tulsa: our critic Ella Taylor talks about documentaries about the events there—on PBS and the Nat Geo channel, as well as on the History channel. Plus: highlights of Pride month on TV. 6-3-2021
Democrats, Israel, and Palestine: John Nichols, plus Robin D.G. Kelley on “Exterminate All the Brutes”
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While Joe Biden has pledged an “ironclad commitment to Israel’s security,” many Democrats in Congress, and outside of Congress, have been moving away from unquestioning support for Israel since the Israeli attacks on Gaza last week. John Nichols reports.
Plus: It’s probably the most radical show that’s ever been on TV: Exterminate All the Brutes, the 4-part, 4-hour documentary about colonialism and genocide, by Raoul Peck, playing now on HBO Max. Historian Robin D.G. Kelley comments. 5-26-2021
Bipartisan Biden? Harold Meyerson; Adam Shatz on Edward Said; Ella Taylor on “Don’t Look Back”
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A group of moderate Republicans led by Mitt Romney are offering Joe Biden a bipartisan compromise on infrastructure-one trillion that would fund traditional roads and bridges, leaving out all of his proposals for a Green New Deal. Will he go for it? Harold Meyerson comments.
Also: As many Democrats urge Biden to take steps toward self-determination for Palestinians, Adam Shatz recalls the life and work of Edward Said, the most prominent voice of Palestinians in America until his death in 2003.
Plus: we celebrate Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday with Ella Taylor by watching “Don’t Look Back,” the wonderful 1967 documentary by D.A. Pennebaker, about Dylan’s 1965 tour of England. 5-27-2021