Why the Dems will win in Calif.: The Nation 11/1

When the votes are counted on Tuesday night in California, Democrats will easily sweep the top contests. Senator Barbara Boxer is likely to defeat challenger Carly Fiorina, 51-46 per cent (Nate Silver’s projection at 538.com), and last week’s California Field poll shows Democrat Jerry Brown ahead of Republican Meg Whitman in the gubernatorial race by 10 points.

Why are the Republicans doing so badly in California, when they are anticipating sweeping victories so many other places?

. . . Continued at TheNation.com HERE.

How Bad for the Dems? KPFK Wed. 10/27

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Six days out from the midterm elections, the punditocracy predicts massive losses for Democrats in the House.  California, however, remains the exception – Republican candidates Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina seem to face certain defeat.  What explains California’s exceptionalism?  We’ll ask HAROLD MEYERSON — he writes columns for the op-ed pages of the Washington Post and the L.A. Times — and JOHN NICHOLS — he’s Washington Correspondent for The Nation and writes “The Beat” blog at TheNation.com.

Also: TOM HAYDEN on the new WikiLeaks: the largest classified military leak in history –400,000 pages that document the brutal war and occupation in Iraq.  Tom of course is a leading voice for ending the wars in Iraq and Aftghanistan, after 40 years of activism, politics, and writing.

WikiLeaks and 9-11: The Nation 10/17

As WikiLeaks prepares to release 400,000 Iraq war documents, a former FBI agent argues that WikiLeaks could have prevented 9-11, if the website had been around in 2001.  . . . Continued at TheNation.com HERE.

Sarah Palin: Snubbed by Cal. GOP – The Nation 10/14

Sarah Palin is coming to California this weekend, but the state’s top Republican candidates, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, don’t want to bee sen with her.

. . .  The reason can be found in the new polls: most Californians don’t like Sarah Palin.  According to last week’s Field Poll, 69 percent of the state’s independent voters say they have an “unfavorable” impression of the former Alaska governor. . . . Continued at TheNation.com HERE.

Michelle in Milwaukee: KPFK Wed. 10-13

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Campaign update: Michelle Obama campaigned in Milwaukee today for endangered progressive Senator Russ Feingold — and our JOHN NICHOLS was there. He says she was terrific. John is Washington Correspondent for The Nation and writes “The Beat” blog at TheNation.com.

And 84-year-old ELMORE LEONARD has just published his 48th novel: Djibouti.  We’ll ask him about his famous “rules for writing” (originally broadcast 2/28/2004)

Also: How to Win Elections: JAMIE COURT explains how to win grassroots campaigns, pass ballot box laws, and get the change we voted for.  Court, a longtime organizer of ballot campaigns and other initiatives, is the author of The Progressive’s Guide to Raising Hell. WATCH Jamie’s 30-second video now running in Times Square on the Jumbotron HERE.

John Lennon’s 70th/Yoko interview: KPFK Sat. 10/9

KPFK kicks off a special twelve-hour Lennon 70th birthday celebration Saturday Oct. 9 at noon, and I’ll be hosting the first hour.  We’ll be listening to my interview with Yoko last week, plus the new “Stripped Down” versions of the great songs on “Double Fantasy”— remixed to bring up Lennon’s voice and remove some of the rest – starting with “Starting Over” and “I’m Losing You.”  We’ll also be featuring my long-ago interviews  with Abbie Hoffman and Pete Seeger about Lennon.

Plus;  highlights from the great documentary “The US vs. John Lennon,” featuring the bed-in for peace, Beatle record-burnings, and Geraldo Rivera, Tariq Ali and Gore Vidal on Lennon.
It’s the KPFK fund drive, and we’ll be featuring as thank you gifts the DVD of “The US vs John Lennon,” plus the new “Double Fantasy Stripped Down” CD, and a few surprises.  Please listen – and please call 818-985-5735 and pledge during the show!  Saturday noon-1:00pm, 90.7FM, streaming live at www.kpfk.org.

Lennon Top 5: OC Weekly 10/9

On what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday, a list of my top five Lennon solo records–and they included audio and video links to Lennon’s performances of each: Audio and video HERE.
5. “God”:  “I was the Walrus, but now I’m John” . . .
4. “Imagine”: We’ve heard it a thousand times, but still. . .
3. “I’m Losing You”: the strongest song on “Double Fantasy” . . .
2. “Instant Karma”: “Who do you think you are, a superstar?”
1.  “Oh Yoko”: playful, passionate, and perfect.

Bob Dylan’s Defense of Lennon: Nation 10/8

How do you explain the value of a rock musician to the Immigration Service?  Bob Dylan tried, in his letter opposing the Nixon Administration’s move to deport John Lennon.  “John and Yoko,” Dylan wrote, “inspire and transcend and stimulate,” and thereby “help put an end to this mild dull taste of petty commercialism which is being passed off as artist art by the overpowering mass media.”
TheNation.com story HERE;  Dylan’s letter HERE.