Trump’s Cruel and Unusual Budget

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All budgets are political statements—Trump’s, submitted to the House on Tuesday, represents a cruel attack on the weakest and most vulnerable, in order to slash taxes for the wealthiest. And the assumptions behind the claim that it is “balanced” could generously be called “unusual.” George Zornick comments.
Plus: The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that two of North Carolina’s congressional districts had been gerrymandered to weaken the black vote in the state. Ari Berman explains.
Also: Trump’s weekend visit to Saudi Arabia was an embarrassment in many ways, and sinister in others. Joshua Holland has the details.

The Trouble with Trump’s Tweets: Amy Wilentz

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Amy Wilentz follows Donald Trump on Twitter — we ask her what that’s like, and why she does it. Also, she has a modest proposal: somebody should stop him.
Plus: Harold Meyerson on the Trump impeachment scenario: lessons from the Democrats’ successful effort to remove Nixon, and the Republicans’ failure to remove Bill Clinton.

 

Harold Meyerson: Will Trump Make It Through One Term?

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Could the Democrats remove Trump from office?  Should they?  Harold Meyerson comments on the politics of impeachment, and the lessons of the Democrats’ successful effort to remove Nixon, and the Republicans’ failed effort to remove Clinton.

Also: D.D. Guttenplan reports on the Democrats’ efforts to flip a Republican House seat in the special election in Montana on May 25. The special election pits Democrat a bluegrass musician named Rob Quist against a multimillionaire.

And Amy Wilentz comments on Ivanka’s new book, Women Who Work. She calls it “a collated collection of bogus ideas and self-help puffery and platitude.”

The Special Counsel and the Impeachment Scenario: John Nichols

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John Nichols comments on the appointment of Robert Mueller as special prosecutor, and its significance for the impeachment scenario: he argues that the lack of transparency over the months and perhaps years of Mueller’s work will not be good for democracy.
and Ari Berman reports on the Supreme Court’s excellent ruling in the North Carolina voting rights case, and on Trump’s miserable “election integrity” commission.

 

 

Harold Meyerson: How the Comey Firing Takes Us toward Impeachment

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Trump firing FBI Director James Comey, and the Republican loyalty to the president — make it more likely the Dems will retake the House in the 2018 elections–and launch an impeachment investigation: that’s what Harold Meyerson argues.

Also, Laura Poitras talks about her film about Julian Assange, “Risk.”

 Rick Perlstein: What We Didn’t Understand About Trump

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The leading histories of the conservative movement don’t account for the Klan enthusiasts and the “tribunes of white rage” that Trump mobilized and that he represents—that’s what Rick Perlstein argues in a mea culpa on behalf of historians of American politics.
Also: the rock-star appeal of Modern Monetary Theory for the Sanders generation. Atossa Araxia Abrahamian says that, if money is understood correctly, “debt is not the end.”
And Heather Ann Thompson talks about the Attica prison uprising of 1971 and its legacy—her book Blood in the Water won The Nation Institute’s Ridenhour award.

Laura Poitras on Julian Assange: ‘Admirable, Brilliant, and Flawed’

JW:  In Citizenfour, you quote from your production diaries, “I thought I could ignore the contradictions. I was wrong. They are becoming the story.” How did you decide to do it that way?
Laura Poitras: I wanted to present a narrative that had complexity and contradictions, and tell the audience about some of the contradictions I was feeling when I was filming: What’s the story about? What am I filming? What’s going on?
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Laura Poitras: The Many Contradictions of Julian Assange

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Risk is the new film by Laura Poitras, about Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. Poitras, who won the Oscar for best documentary for her film about Edward Snowden, Citizenfour, calls Assange “admirable, brilliant, and flawed.”
Also: Stephen Cohen says a new cold war is threatening world peace, and a new McCarthyism is undermining American politics.
And Eric Foner says it might be possible to impeach Donald Trump—but having Mike Pence as president would probably be worse.

John Nichols: The House GOP Vote on Obamacare is Indefensible

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John Nichols on the House Republicans’ vote to repeal and replace Obamacare–he says the Democrats have an obligation to resist.
Plus Margaret Atwood on the shocking relevance of “The Handmaid’s Tale” on Hulu;
and Katha Pollitt says “It’s not McCarthyism to demand an investigation of Trump.”