Report From the Rafah Crossing: An Interview With Jeff Merkley – THE NATION

The Oregon senator who tried to get into Gaza explains what he saw and learned.

Jon Wiener: Recently you went to the Rafah border crossing, between Gaza and Egypt—it’s one of the very few ways for anyone to get into or out of Gaza, and is the principal route for delivery of humanitarian aid. Why did you go, and what did you see?

Jeff Merkley: Senator Chris Van Hollen and I felt like we should try to understand the humanitarian issues, and the best way to do that was to go to Gaza. We tried to get into Gaza. We tried every possible strategy. But quite frankly, none of the governments wanted to risk letting two senators in. We were the only two members of Congress, I believe, who have made it to Rafah Gate…

… continued at The Nation, HERE 2-9-2024

Jeff Merkley on a Ceasefire in Gaza, Sean Wilentz on Disqualifying Trump

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Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon is one of our leading progressives, and one of 5 Senators to call for a cease-fire in Gaza. He’s on this episode of the Start Making Sense podcast to explain why, and to discuss his new book, “Filibustered! How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America.”

Also on this episode: the case for disqualifying Trump as a candidate, based on the 14th Amendment banning those who have engaged in insurrection from holding public office. That case goes before the Supreme Court this week. Princeton historian Sean Wilentz has our analysis.

Transcript HERE 2-8-2024

GOP Failures: Harold Meyerson; Disqualifying Trump: Sean Wilentz; Progressive Heroes: John Nichols

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Trump’s immunity defense has been denied by the U.S. Federal Court of Appeals; the Republican-controlled House has failed to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas; and other GOP failures – Harold Meyerson comments.

Also: The case for disqualifying Trump as a candidate, based on the 14th Amendment banning those who have engaged in insurrection from holding public office. That case went before the Supreme Court this week. Princeton historian Sean Wilentz has our analysis.

Plus: The Nation’s annual Progressive Honor Roll features movement leaders who provide hope for 2024. John Nichols tells their stories.  2-8-2024

Heroes of the Left, Plus Healthcare for the Undocumented

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The Nation’s annual Progressive Honor Roll features movement leaders who provide hope for 2024. John Nichols tells their stories.

Also: California moved one step closer to universal healthcare on January 1, when it expanded coverage to all low-income residents, regardless of immigration status. Sasha Abramsky reports.

Transcript HERE 2-1-2024

The Trump Meltdown: Harold Meyerson; Calif. Healthcare: Sasha Abramsky; Franz Fanon: Adam Shatz

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Trump’s legal and financial crises are deepening, and Nikki Haley isn’t quitting – his mental deterioration is becoming more evident, and she is making it a campaign issue. Harold Meyerson comments.

Also: California moved one step closer to universal healthcare on January 1, when it expanded coverage to all low-income residents, regardless of immigration status. Sasha Abramsky will report.

Plus: Adam Shatz will talk about Franz Fanon, whose books Wretched of the Earth and Black Skin, White Masks made him a huge figure on the left, not just in the ’60s when they were published, but in the era of Black Lives Matter when “his shadow looms larger than ever.” Now he’s the subject of Adam’s new book, The Rebel’s Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon.  Adam is the US editor of the London Review of Books.  2-1-2024

New Hampshire Left And Right, Plus Frantz Fanon Today

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On this episode of Start Making Sense, John Nichols has our analysis on the New Hampshire primary – Biden’s big win, and Trump’s furious victory speech.

Also: Adam Shatz talks about Franz Fanon, whose books “Wretched of the Earth” and “Black Skin, White Masks” made him a huge figure on the left, not just in the ’60s when they were published, but in the era of Black Lives Matter when his shadow looms larger than ever. Now he’s the subject of Adam’s new book, “The Rebel’s Clinic: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon.” Adam is the US editor of the London Review of Books, and former Literary Editor of The Nation.  1-25-2024

After New Hampshire: Harold Meyerson and John Nichols; plus Mazie Hirono

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In the New Hampshire Republican primary, the first in the nation, Trump got 54%, Nikki Haley got 43% – and, 42% of NH Republicans say that if Trump is convicted of a crime, they would not vote for him – Harold Meyerson comments.

Also: John Nichols talks about Biden’s big win in NH, and Trump’s furious victory speech.

Plus: Mazie Hirono, Senator from Hawaii: Last week, out of a 100-member chamber, only 11 Senators supported Bernie Sanders’ measure that would require Israel to provide a human rights report; Hirono was one of them. In this episode from the archives, she talks about the need for filibuster reform and Supreme Court reform, and about the storming of the capitol on January 6. Her autobiography is “Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter’s Story.” (First recorded May, 2021.)  1-25-2024

Reasons for Hope from the Iowa GOP, plus “American Fiction”

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John Nichols reports on Monday’s Republican caucuses in Iowa, and explains why Iowa is the state with the biggest shift from blue to red between Obama in 2008 and Trump in 2020.

Also: The new film “American Fiction,” starring Jeffrey Wright, takes up the question, do Black writers have to “write Black”? The film is based on the novel “Erasure” by Percival Everett, which is considerably wilder and more uncompromising than the film. John Powers comments—he’s critic at Large on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

Transcript HERE  1-18-2024

From Iowa to New Hampshire: John Nichols; “American Fiction”: John Powers; Irish politics: Fintan O’Toole

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John Nichols reports on Monday’s Republican caucuses in Iowa, and explains why Iowa is the state with the biggest shift from blue to red between Obama in 2008 and Trump in 2020.

Also: The new film “American Fiction,” starring Jeffrey Wright, takes up the question, do Black writers have to “write Black”? The film is based on the novel “Erasure” by Percival Everett, which is considerably wilder and more uncompromising than the film. John Powers comments—he’s critic at Large on NPR’s Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

Plus: Fintan O’Toole’s personal history of Ireland since the fifties: how a country dominated by a corrupt Catholic church came to legalize gay marriage and abortion — by referendum. His much-honored ‘personal history’ of Ireland, titled “We Don’t Know Ourselves,” is out now in paperback. (Originally recorded in February, 2023.) 1-18-2024

Only Joe Biden Can Stop the War in Gaza, plus ‘Corporate Bullsh*t’

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Israel’s war in Gaza has been going on now for three months, and the IDF said over the weekend they plan to keep the war going for another year. Amy Wilentz talks about Netanhayu’s use of the war to hold on to power.

Also: the lies that protect profit, power and wealth in America: they are documented, and dealt with, in a wonderful new book co-authored by Joan Walsh. It’s called Corporate Bullsh*t.

Transcript HERE  1-11-2024