How Far Outside the Legal Mainstream is Neal Gorsuch? David Cole on “Start Making Sense” 2/2

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David Cole, the national legal director of the ACLU, discusses Trump’s nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, and its implications for constitutional rights and liberties in the Trump era and beyond. Cole also says that last weekend’s demonstrations against Trump’s Muslim ban were crucial to the court victories the ACLU has won so far against the executive order.”

Also, Zoë Carpenter reports on what Trump has actually done in his first days in office, as opposed to what he has tweeted.

Plus, John Nichols takes the long view, explaining the significance of recent victories against gerrymandering in Wisconsin.

Trump and the Women’s March: Harold Meyerson and Katha Pollitt on KPFK 1/26

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KATHA POLLITT talks about the Women’s March last Saturday, and why it was so great — starting with the Pussy Hats.

And Harold Meyerson reviews the situation in Washington –Trump’s first week has been a lively one.  Harold of course is Executive Editor of The American Prospect.

Also, Alan Minsky explains what’s happening with Trump and Trade after the TPP and with NAFTA after the blow-up with the Mexican president.

 

Our Insane Clown President: Matt Taibbi on The Nation podcast 1/26

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Matt Taibbi says “Trump made idiots of us all.” He covered the campaign for Rolling Stone—and his new book is Insane Clown President.

Also: The Women’s March last Saturday was glorious—what’s the next step? Joan Walsh comments—and responds to David Brooks’s argument that the marchers focused on the “wrong issues”: reproductive rights, equal pay, affordable health care, action on climate change—which, he said, are only “for upper-middle-class voters in university towns and coastal cities.”

And Erwin Chemerinsky, Dean of the Law School at UC Irvine, is suing Donald Trump—for violating the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution, which prohibits officials from taking money or gifts from foreign governments. To determine whether and how much he has received from foreign governments, the plaintiffs are seeking Trump’s tax returns.

We can’t just protest Trump: The Nation podcast 1/19

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Fran Piven argues that social movements need to “make trouble” to effectively challenge Trump—starting with sanctuary movements that will enlist large numbers of people in resisting his deportation efforts.

Plus, David Cole says defending First Amendment freedoms to criticize the president will be a major task in the coming year.

And Katha Pollitt talks about the Women’s March on Washington this Saturday, and about the danger of underestimating Trump.

The Democrats in Opposition: Harold Meyerson KPFK 1/18

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Trump is vicious, but vulnerable: that’s what GARY YOUNGE says—he writes for The Guardian and The Nation.

Also:  what’s wrong with the Democrats—a big topic!  HAROLD MEYERSON of The American Prospect talks about what the party needs to do to regain power.

And we’re still thinking about Obama – today we want to talk about what happened with his hopes to transform America’s relationship with the rest of the world – for that we turn to ADAM SHATZ, he’s a contributing editor at the London Review of Books.  He writes for the New York Review and the New York Times magazine.

Trump: Vicious, but Vulnerable: Gary Younge on The Nation Podcast 1/12/17

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Gary Younge says Trump’s victory shows the weakness of the Republican Party, not its strength—and argues that progressives must avoid despair and channel their anger into an effective resistance.

Plus: Obamacare has changed America, and that makes it hard for the Republicans to simply repeal it. David Dayen explains.

And Joy Reid of MSNBC talks about Obama’s rhetoric on race and what it suggests for the coming fight against Trump and white nationalism. Her new book is We Are The Change We Seek: The Speeches of Barack Obama.

Jeff Sessions, Rex Tillerson, Donald Trump, etc.: John Nichols on KPFK 1-11-17

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Today in Washington: the Jeff Sessions confirmation hearings for Attorney General, the Rex Tillerson confirmation hearings for Secretary of State, and then Trump’s wild press conference: John Nichols comments–John of course is National Affairs Correspondent for The Nation magazine.

Also: Black life and death in the Age of Obama: Kai Wright of The Nation talks about what might have been–if Obama had been willing to address the racial divide in America directly.

Plus: The case for a pardon for Edward Snowden: Ben Wizner of the ACLU argues that Obama ought to bring Snowden home.

Obama Didn’t Talk Much About Race. Did that Open the Door to Trump?
Kai Wright on TheNation Podcast 1/5/2017

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Obamacare saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of black people, but Obama never mentioned that fact—his rhetoric throughout his presidency was always more “race-neutral” than not. And the Obama years also saw the resurgence of white supremacy. Kai Wright asks whether there’s a connection.

Plus: Amy Wilentz comments on Michelle Obama’s White House years—her passion and eloquence in the face of Donald Trump, and also how big food and agribusiness defeated her campaign against childhood obesity.

And Harold Meyerson examines what Democratic control of California has achieved this year, and explains the forces that have made Republicans powerless in state politics.

The Republican’s Day One: John Nichols on KPFK 1/4/2017

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The Republicans started out their new era not by abolishing Obamacare but by trying to abolish the House ethics office.  JOHN NICHOLS comments–he says the popular response showed how mobilization outside of Washington can have a powerful effect.

Also: Legendary trial attorney MARTIN GARBUS makes the case for clemency for Leonard Peltier, the Native American activist who has been in federal prison for 41 years.

And David Cole assesses Obama’s achievements on civil rights and his failures on civil liberties — David’s new job is National Legal Director of the ACLU.

Best of the Left 2016: The Nation podcast 12/29

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John Nichols says 2016 wasn’t all bad.  With this year’s Progressive Honor Roll, we remember some of the people who fought the good fight, and sometimes even won; activists who pointed the way in the resistance to come.

Also: David Cole looks back on Obama’s achievements in civil rights, and his mixed record in civil liberties, over the last eight years.

And, from the archives, Hunter S. Thompson talking with Studs Terkel in 1966—about Hell’s Angels, the motorcycle gang that was the subject of the book he had just published. What Hunter Thompson had to say fifty years ago about Hell’s Angels is amazingly prescient in anticipating the support for certain hellish people in American politics today.