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’

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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”

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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

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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.

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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”

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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

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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.

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. . . 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

Barbara Ehrenreich: What’s Wrong with ‘Wellness’; plus David Cole on Trump and Mueller, and Katha Pollitt on Stormy and Melania

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Barbara Ehrenreich talks about the pressure to remain fit, slim, and in control of one’s body, even as the end of life approaches—and about the epidemic of unecessary testing pushed by our for-profit medical profession.  Barbara’s new book is Natural Causes: An Epidemic of Wellness, the Certainty of Dying, and Killing Ourselves to Live Longer.
Plus: David Cole explains why the FBI raid on the offices and residences of Michael Cohen was not, as Trump said, “an attack on our country,” but rather an example of the rule of law.  David is National Legal Director of the ACLU and Legal Correspondent for The Nation.
And Katha Pollitt comments on the recent developments in the legal battle over the payoff to Stormy Daniels by Trump’s attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, and she explains why she likes Stormy, and why she’s sympathetic to Melania.  Katha is a columnist for The Nation.  4/12/2018

A Russia Strategy for Progressives: Katrina vanden Heuvel; plus Mark Hertsgaard on cellphones & cancer, & Stephanie Schriock on Emily’s List

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How progressives should think about Russia: Katrina vanden Heuvel talks about Putin and his history, the democratic opposition inside Russia, and assuring American election integrity in the face of threats from both Russians and Republicans.
Plus: How big wireless muddied the waters on cell phone safety research: Mark Hertsgaard reports on a special investigation by The Nation—and warns about the lack of testing of G5 technology.
Also: How women will turn the House from red to blue: 34,000 women contacted Emily’s List about running for office in the wake of Trump’s election.  Stephanie Schriock, the organization’s president, explains the organization’s training and endorsement procedures, and the project of Democrats retaking the House this November.  4/4/2018

Guns in Trump’s America: Adam Hochschild; plus Joshua Holland on Stormy Daniels & Tavis Smiley on MLK’s Last Year

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Adam Hochschild talks about his visit to a gun show, the NRA, the Koch brothers, and gun laws in America — his new piece, “Bang for the Buck,” is in the latest issue of the New York Review of Books.
Next, Trump made his first statement on Stormy Daniels today — we turn to Joshua Holland of The Nation (our Chief Stormy Correspondent) for the update, and an answer to the question, “Why do 41 per cent of Republicans believe Trump’s version of the Stormy Daniels story?”
Lastly, yesterday was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. — Tavis Smiley talks about King’s final year, which began with his Riverside Church speech denouncing the Vietnam War, and ended with his plans for a Poor People’s March on Washington.  (originally broadcast in 2015)  4/5/2018