Listen HERE
Full Employment is emerging as a key component of Democratic platforms — Harold Meyerson talks about the history and the prospect of a new “Jobs for All” program–and the current support for it, not just with Bernie Dems, but with onetime centrists Corey Booker and Kristin Gillibrand.
Plus, the Trump re-election nightmare could come true — Tom Frank talks about why (it’s the economy!) and how we can stop it.
Lastly, Mueller’s Questions and Trump’s Answers: Bob Dreyfuss of the Nation comments on the changing story about paying Stormy Daniels, and about Trump’s options in the face of the release of Mueller’s questions for him.
Trump Watch podcast, 5/3/18
When Will the Lone Star State Turn Blue? Q&A with Lawrence Wright
California and Texas, the two biggest states, are both 39 percent Latino. Hillary Clinton got 62 percent of the vote in California, and 43 percent in Texas. In California, Democrats hold all the statewide offices. In Texas it’s been the opposite for a long time. Obviously demography doesn’t explain the difference between the two states. How do you explain the political differences? I asked Pulitzer-prize winner Lawrence Wright–he lives in Austin. TheNation.com 4-27-18
David Cole on the Supremes and the Muslim Ban; Elizabeth Drew on James Comey, and Mark Rudd on Columbia ’68
Listen HERE
On Wed. April 25 the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the Travel Ban 3.0 case (Trump v. Hawaii) — David Cole, National Legal Director of the ACLU, for comments.
Plus, the legendary Washington political journalist and author of “Washington Journal: Reporting Watergate and Richard Nixon’s Downfall,” Elizabeth Drew, reviews “A Higher Loyalty,” by James Comey.
Lastly, it has been 50 years since Columbia ’68 — Mark Rudd, political organizer, mathematics instructor, anti-war activist and onetime member of the Weather Underground, shares his lessons for the left: “build the base!” 4-26-18
Comey’s Self-Justification Is ‘Not Good Enough’: Jonathan Freedland, plus Lawrence Wright on Trump and Texas, and Margaret Atwood on ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’
Listen HERE
James Comey’s monster best-seller, A Higher Loyalty, is “a plea for exculpation,” says Jonathan Friedland, but its self-justifications are “not good enough.” Jonathan is a columnist for The Guardian and a best-selling author.
Also: How long will Texas remain a red state? Lawrence Wright says demographic and political change is underway, and that Betto O’Rourke’s campaign for the senate, challenging Ted Cruz, is a crucial one. Wright’s new book is God Bless Texas.
Plus: The Handmaid’s Tale, that feminist dystopian novel, is beginning its second season as a TV series on Hulu this week. Margaret Atwood talks about the significance of The Handmaid’s Tale in the Age of Trump (recorded a year ago, just before the first season’s premiere). TheNation.com 4/26/18
James Comey’s Self-Regard: in “A Higher Loyalty”
Read HERE
The climax of James Comey’s long-awaited book, A Higher Loyalty: Truth, Lies, and Leadership, is a vivid and totally believable account of his infamous one-on-one dinner with Donald Trump. On what was clearly the most important night of his life, the moment when his lifelong study of ethicist and theologian Reinhold Niebuhr comes to fruition, Comey is asked to pledge his loyalty—and he refuses.
at TheNation.com, 4/23/2018
Thomas Frank: Trump Could Win the 2020 Election–But we can stop him
READ HERE
It’s really simple. Unemployment is extremely low right now. The economy is booming. He could succeed the way Bill Clinton did. . .
There’s really only one set of successful politics for an age like this one: It’s the politics that we identify with the party of Lyndon Johnson, the party of the New Deal. What Trump has offered is a kind of weird replica of that. But as I have said many times, the real thing would beat the fake.
TheNation.com, 4/20/2018
How Trump Could Be Reelected—and How Democrats Can Stop Him: Tom Frank; plus Adam Hochschild on guns, and Gary Younge’s return to Muncie.
Listen HERE
Trump is the most unpopular president in history—but could he be reelected in 2020? Thomas Frank says it wouldn’t be hard—if the economy continues to boom and wages go up, even a little. But the Democrats can stop him—if they change their ways.
Also: Adam Hochschild on guns in Trump’s America after the Parkland shootings. He talks about armed militias, about the law in Iowa that permits the carrying of loaded guns in public by people who are blind, and about why the Koch Brothers are major funders of the NRA—even though they are not especially enthusiastic about guns.
Also: Gary Younge returns to Muncie, Indiana, to talk to Trump supporters—and opponents—a year after Trump took office. He found supporters stillenthusiastic, and opponents mobilized as never before. Gary spent the month leading up to the 2016 election in that rust belt city. 4/20/2018
Viet Nguyen on Refugees; plus Harold Meyerson on California v. Trump, and Margaret Atwood on “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Listen HERE
Viet Thanh Nguyen, MacArthur genius and Pulitzer prize winner, talks about being a refugee in the US, and writing about refugees—his collection, The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives, is out now.
Plus, Harold Meyerson comments on California’s legal battle against Trump–29 lawsuits and counting, plus the teacher’s strikes around the country and their significance for the labor movement.
Lastly, the great Margaret Atwood talks about her book, The Handmaid’s Tale, and its significance in the Age of Trump: it’s now a TV series—season two premieres on April 25th. (originally broadcast in April, 2017) 4-20-2018
John Nichols on Paul Ryan Quitting; plus Adam Winkler on Corporations, and Mark Hertsgaard on Cellphones & Cancer
Listen HERE
Paul Ryan calls it quits: Why now? John Nichols comments: it’s devastating for Republican candidates on the ballot in November.
Plus, Adam Winkler on how the corporations won civil rights–free speech, the right to unlimited political contributions, and what corporate “rights” mean in this time of Trump; his new book, We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights, was published earlier this year.
Lastly, Mark Hertsgaard on how big wireless concealed the cancer risks in cellphone use, and why the 5G rollout presents unpredecented dangers. His new article for The Nation is “How Big Wireless Made Us Think That Cell Phones Are Safe: A Special Investigation.” 4/13/2018
The FBI Raid on the Michael Cohen’s Law Office: An ‘Attack on Our Country,’ or an Example of the Rule of Law? The ACLU’s David Cole explains the difference.
Read HERE
. . . JW: Working for the president doesn’t get you immunity if you’ve committed a crime.
DC: That’s right. If in fact there was not probable cause and the magistrate should not have issued the warrant, that issue can be litigated. But this is the way the law is supposed to work. It’s not an attack on our country; the president, by attacking the ordinary process of the rule of law when it applies to him, is the one who’s engaged in an attack.
. . . continued at TheNation.com 4/12/2018
About
Living in the USA
Talking about politics, thinking about the Left.
The podcast “Living in the USA” is the online version of “Living in the USA” at KPFK radio, hosted by Jon Wiener and broadcast live Thursdays at 4pm at 90.7FM in LA, also streaming live at www.kpfk.org
New episodes posted every Thursday afternoon, at livingintheusapod.com