John Lennon and the Politics of the New Left: Jacobin.com

Forty years after his murder in New York City, we remember John Lennon’s record of political engagement as a champion of the anti-war movement and a self-styled “instinctive socialist” — which brought him into conflict with Richard Nixon and J. Edgar Hoover. 12-8-2020
Read at Jacobin.com: HERE

TLS Review of “Set the Night on Fire”: “A central figure looms. . . Leviathan itself, the LAPD.”

“Across the 13 years of struggle and upheaval, a central figure looms. This presence isn’t Malcolm X, Eldridge Cleaver or Angela Davis. Rather, what manifests in disquieting detail is the antagonist, Leviathan itself:” the LAPD, headed by “Whiskey Bill” Parker, a “sloppy drunk,” a “master extortionist,” and a “vehement racist.”–Robert Anasi, 12-4-2020, “continued HERE

How the Democrats can Win Georgia: Joan Walsh, plus David Cole on the Supreme Court and Trump’s Reapportionment Plan

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Georgia is the center of the political universe right now. On January 5, Georgia votes for two senators, a runoff election that will determine which party controls the Senate and thus the fate of any Democratic initiatives after Joe Biden becomes president on January 20. Joan Walsh comments on the campaigns of Jon Ossoff and the Rev. Raphael Warnock as they challenge incumbent Republicans Kelley Loeffler and David Purdue—and on Trump, who once again is eager to make it all about himself.
Also: On Monday the Supreme Court heard arguments on Trump’s effort to change the way seats in the House of Representatives are apportioned. It has been based on a state’s total population, as the Constitution requires; he wants to exclude the undocumented, which would mean California would lose or two or three seats. David Cole reviews the arguments—he’s The Nation’s legal affairs correspondent and national legal director of the ACLU.  12-3-2020

Georgia Voters: Harold Meyerson; Trump Kids: Amy Wilentz; ‘Small Axe’: Ella Taylor

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Joe Biden got six million more votes than Donald Trump—so how come the Democrats did so poorly in the Senate and House elections? Harold Meyerson has an analysis – and some comments on how the Dems could win the Georgia Senate runoff.
Also: how are the Trump kids dealing with the refusal of their father to admit he lost the election? Amy Wilentz will comment—on another episode of The Children’s Hour, stories about Ivanka, Don Junior, Little Eric—and Lara. But who IS Lara Trump? Answers, later in this hour.
Plus our TV critic Ella Taylor talks about the series of five films about West Indians living in London in the sixties and seventies, made by Steve McQueen, the British artist and filmmaker—it’s play now on Amazon Prime. It’s called “Small Axe.”  12-3-2020

Stacey Abrams: The Fight for Georgia; plus Amy Wilentz: Who is Lara Trump?

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All eyes are on Georgia now, as the campaigns for both senate seats are underway to determine which party will control the US Senate. For Democrats, the starting point for winning in Georgia is the historic work of Stacey Abrams. When she ran for governor of Georgia in 2018 as the first African American and the first woman candidate, she got more votes than any Democrat in Georgia history, including Obama and Hillary Clinton. But because of Republican vote suppression she was not elected. Nevertheless she paved the way for Biden to win the state—a historic victory. We spoke with her in April 2019, about how she built the coalition that now hopes to win two senate seats in January.
Also: How are the Trump kids dealing with the refusal of their father to admit he lost the election? Amy Wilentz comments—on another episode of The Children’s Hour, stories about Ivanka, Don Junior, Little Eric—and Lara. 11-25-20

The Fight for Georgia: Stacey Abrams

Listen HERE
All eyes are on Georgia now, as the campaigns for both senate seats are underway to determine which party will control the US Senate. For Democrats, the starting point for winning in Georgia is the historic work of Stacey Abrams. When she ran for governor of Georgia in 2018 as the first African American and the first woman candidate, she got more votes than any Democrat in Georgia history, including Obama and Hillary Clinton. But because of Republican vote suppression she was not elected. Nevertheless she paved the way for Biden to win the state—a historic victory. We spoke with her in April 2019, about how she built the coalition that now hopes to win two senate seats in January.  11-25-20

Bobby Seale Chicago 7 panel

Watch HERE
Bobby Seale discusses the Trial of the Chicago 7/8 with filmmaker Jeremy Kagan (“Conspiracy: Trial of the Chicago 8”); defendant Lee Weiner; Stuart Ball, attorney, defense team assistant to Lennie Weinglass;Corinna Fales, unindicted coconspirator; Michael Lembeck, actor (Abbie Hoffman in Jeremy Kagan’s documentary); Carl Lumbly, actor (Bobby Seale in Jeremy Kagan’s documentary), and author Jon Wiener (“Conspiracy in the Streets.”)  Moderator: John McAuliff, Vietnam Peace Commemoration Committee.  11/20/2020

Covid-19 vaccines: Why does Big Pharma get to keep all the profits? Gregg Gonsalves, plus J. Hoberman on ‘The Chicago 7’

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Monday we had good news on a Covid vaccine from Moderna, created with a billion dollars of taxpayer funding. Gregg Gonsalves takes up the question, Why does Big Pharma get to keep all the profits? Also: Why Mitch McConnell is a bigger threat to Americans than the virus.
Plus: The legendary film critic for the late, lamented Village Voice, J. Hoberman, talks about Aaron Sorkin’s new film, playing now on Netflix, The Trial of the Chicago 7. He asks the question, “is it great courtroom drama—or boomer porn?”  11-18-2020

Mike Davis on Trump Voters; Gregg Gonsalves on Vaccine Profits; Ella Taylor on ‘The Crown’

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Mike Davis on Trump voters: Latinos in south Texas and white workers in the rust belt—and Biden’s big mistake: allowing Trump to claim “the economy” as his issue, instead of connecting jobs to controlling the pandemic.
Also: Monday we had good news on a covid vacine from Moderna, created with a billion dollars of taxpayer funding. Gregg Gonsalves takes up the question, Why does Moderna get to keep all the profits?
And Ella Taylor talks about this season’s guilty pleasure on TV: “The Crown” – in season four, Margaret Thatcher fights the queen, and Prince Charles marries a woman he doesn’t love: Princess Diana. 11/20/2020