Tag Archives: Bernie Sanders

“No Is Not Enough”: Best-Selling Author Naomi Klein on Challenging Trump’s Shock Doctrine Politics

Links to today’s show transcripts:

“No Is Not Enough”: Best-Selling Author Naomi Klein on Challenging Trump’s Shock Doctrine Politics
As Donald Trump is sued by the attorneys general of Maryland and Washington, D.C., for “unprecedented constitutional violations” and as another federal appeals court rejects Trump’s Muslim ban, Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez interview best-selling writer Naomi Klein, author of the new book, No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need.

Naomi Klein: Trump is the First Fully Commercialized Global Brand to Serve as U.S. President
A decade after Naomi Klein published her now-iconic book “The Shock Doctrine,” the best-selling author and activist reflects on how Donald Trump represents a form of continuous shock and how he ran a branding campaign—more than a political campaign—in order to capture the presidency.

Naomi Klein on Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders & Youth-Led Grassroots Progressive Insurgencies
Over the weekend, more than 4,000 people gathered for the People’s Summit in Chicago. Among those who spoke was Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, who called the Democratic Party’s strategy an absolute failure and blamed the party for the election of President Trump. This comes after the Labour Party in Britain won a shocking number of new seats in the British election. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn is now poised to possibly become the next British prime minister. For more on these insurgent progressive politicians, we speak with best-selling author and journalist Naomi Klein, whose new book is “No Is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics and Winning the World We Need.”

Naomi Klein: Climate Movement Is Growing Even More Ambitious as U.S. Goes Rogue & Exits Paris Accord
The United States has refused to sign on to a G7 pledge saying the 2015 landmark Paris climate accord is “irreversible.” On Monday, the U.S. said it would not join the six other member nations in signing on to the pledge. This comes after Trump announced he was pulling the U.S. out of the historic accord.

“A Transformative Vision”: Naomi Klein on Platforms for Racial, Health & Climate Justice Under Trump
Since Trump’s inauguration, the United States and the world have been rocked with a series of massive nationwide days of action, including the Women’s March, the People’s Climate March, the March for Science and the March for Truth. Just this weekend, more than 4,000 people joined the People’s Summit in Chicago.

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Democracy Now! — Wednesday, July 27, 2016

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Whatever you might think of Hillary Clinton (and believe us, we know it’s not all good), there’s no denying this is a moment of human progress. Image: video still

Hillary Clinton made history Tuesday when she secured the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, becoming the first woman to head the ticket of a major party in U.S. history. During the roll call vote at the Democratic National Convention, Bernie Sanders joined the Vermont delegation and moved to give Clinton the party’s presidential nomination by acclamation. Clinton’s nomination was officially seconded by Congressman John Lewis of Georgia.

The historic night marking the first nomination of a woman on a major party’s presidential ticket was not without protest. We speak to some of the hundreds of Bernie Sanders delegates who walked out of the Democratic National Convention soon after her former challenger asked to award her the nomination. “They did not listen to the people,” said Felicia Teter, a New Hampshire delegate. “They did not just ignore us, but they fought against us.”

Democracy Now! was on the floor of the convention speaking to delegates and political leaders from around the country who formerly backed Bernie Sanders and now plan to support Clinton, including AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Los Angeles City Councilmember Gil Cedillo, and Jesús “Chuy” García, former Chicago mayoral candidate. “This is really not necessarily about the individual,” says Carol Ammons, an Illinois state representative who introduced Sanders when he spoke in her district. “It is truly about the ideas.”

Broadcasting from the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, we host a discussion about how Sanders backers can move forward together with supporters of Hillary Clinton to defeat Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump. We are joined by Rep. Luis Gutiérrez of Illinois, who endorsed Hillary Clinton last year, and Danny Glover, an actor and activist who endorsed Bernie Sanders.

One of the most moving moments of the DNC came Tuesday when the Mothers of the Movement gathered on the convention stage. They were the mothers of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Mike Brown, Hadiya Pendleton, Dontré Hamilton and Sandra Bland, whose deaths spurred the Black Lives Matter movement. We hear from Geneva Reed-Veal, mother of Sandra Bland; Lucia McBath, mother Jordan Davis; and Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin.

Their address marked an “extraordinary moment,” says New Jersey delegate Larry Hamm, chair of the People’s Organization for Progress. But he adds, “I wish someone would have said police brutality must stop. … In the two years since the death of Michael Brown, 2,500 people have been killed by police in the United States.” Both he and Danny Glover say they formerly supported Bernie Sanders and now plan to vote for Hillary Clinton. Glover notes, “What we do beyond the 9th of November is the most important thing.”

As the Democratic National Convention enters its third day here in Philadelphia, one of the city’s most famous native sons is observing and covering the proceedings from inside a state prison facility. Former Black Panther Mumia Abu-Jamal is a well-known prisoner and also an award-winning journalist whose writing from his prison cell has reached a worldwide audience through his Prison Radio commentaries and many books. Abu-Jamal was convicted of the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner, but has always maintained his innocence. Amnesty International has found he was deprived of a fair trial.

We are honored to offer this broadcast as part of our affiliation with the Pacifica Network. Democracy Now! is a national, daily, independent, award-winning news program hosted by journalists Amy Goodman and Juan Gonzalez.

Democracy Now! — Tuesday, July 26, 2016

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Protesters at the DNC make their message clear. Image: video still

The tumultuous opening of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia began one day after Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz resigned following the release of nearly 20,000 emails revealing how the Democratic Party favored Hillary Clinton and worked behind the scenes to discredit and defeat Bernie Sanders. On Monday morning, protesters booed and heckled Wasserman Schultz at a Florida delegation breakfast.

Hours later, Senator Bernie Sanders spoke about the DNC email scandal in a meeting with his delegates. Later in the meeting with his delegates, the room erupted into boos when the Vermont senator repeated his support for Hillary Clinton. Supporters of Sanders chanted “Run! Run! Run!” and “Bernie or Bust!” The tension continued on to the floor of the DNC hours later. Democracy Now! was on the floor at the opening gavel of the convention and spoke with several delegates.

The show hosts a debate between Green Party presidential candidate Dr. Jill Stein and Ben Jealous, former NAACP president and CEO and a Bernie Sanders surrogate. Later there is a second discussiion between Clinton supporter Robert Reich, who served as labor secretary under President Clinton, and Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who backs Sanders.

Before the Democratic National Convention officially began on Monday, Democracy Now! was there when Senator Bernie Sanders addressed his 1,900 delegates and threw his support behind his former rival, Hillary Clinton. Today’s show features highlights from the night’s speeches and speak with several Sanders delegates, who say “it pains me,” but that they now plan to vote for Clinton. Others say they remain undecided and are at the DNC to ensure Sanders’s values are represented.

Day One

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I started writing this article Friday morning, one day after the Republican National Convention concluded business. According to their nominee Mr. Trump, the entire world outside my door should be a flaming paper bag of dog shit by now, and he is the only one who will save us from it. I am going to step outside a minute today to check on that and will be right back.

Okay. I have checked the world and confirmed it’s not entirely a flaming paper bag full of dog shit. It is, however, in a transition period between the end of the Republican National Convention and the beginning of the Democratic National Convention.

It appears as though this transition was written as a screenplay by John Le Carre and Richard Condon. For those not familiar with spy thrillers, Le Carre and Condon are (respectively) the authors of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Manchurian Candidate.

Outside of a spy novel plot, what has happened thus far in the 2016 American presidential campaign seems pretty fantastical. It all started off normally enough. On Friday, Mrs. Clinton successfully introduced her running mate Tim Kaine to the rest of the country at the Democratic ticket’s rally in Miami, Florida. Then, while that was happening, WikiLeaks dumped thousands of emails from the DNC’s servers — particularly from DNC leaders Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Amy Dacey and Brad Marshall — which showed the DNC may have colluded with the Clinton campaign against the Sanders campaign.

Although the content of the emails were individual, personal exchanges and suggestions by DNC leadership on how the Clinton campaign could use Sanders’ atheism as a means to stem the Sanders campaign’s insurgency, those suggestions were not used by the Clinton campaign. What the leak did do successfully was to throw the proverbial turd in the punch bowl of the Democratic National Convention. Its timing was perfect, ripping off the scabs from the wounds of die-hard Sanders supporters and delegates who felt cheated by Sanders’ loss in the primaries, thereby creating a contentious Day 1 for the Clinton-Kaine celebration.

But then the story gets even weirder. Over the weekend, the Clinton campaign accused Russia of tampering with American politics, citing that Russians hacked DNC email servers to benefit Donald Trump. The FBI, for their part, believe the same.

For those new to this storyline, the Putin-Trump connection started emerging long before this DNC email hack was reported by the press. Josh Marshall’s article in Talking Points Memo, the Washington Post, and Slate all cover Trump’s Putin connection and its relevance to the campaign, which in a nutshell is this: On the campaign trail, Trump has called for a new partnership with Moscow and overhauling NATO, the allied military force seen as the chief protector of pro-Western nations near Russia. And Trump has surrounded himself with a team of advisers who have or have had financial ties to Russia.

That advisory team includes Trump’s campaign manager Paul Manafort, partner in the lobbying firm Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelley, which is featured in the Center for Public Integrity’s Report, The Torturers’ Lobby. Manafort is a long-time friend and ally of Viktor Yanukovych, former President of Ukraine (elected 2010), who was sympathetic to Russia’s agenda for the region. He was deposed in 2014. Yanukovych now lives in southern Russia under protection of a Russian citizenship granted him by Putin.

With the exception of Deutsche Bank, major banks in the West refuse to do business with Trump. The risk is too great due to his unscrupulous business practices. Trump is a long-time admirer of Vladimir Putin, and Putin’s Russian oligarchic supporters provide capital for Trump’s projects here and abroad.

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The Trump campaign’s gutting of the Republican Party’s platform against Russian tactics in Ukraine indicate how and why he would like the US to change the way we view Russian interests in the region. It supports his financial interests.

Given late June’s Brexit vote, and the failed Turkish coup against Erdogan — another strong Putin fan — acting on behalf of Putin’s interests may serve to completely destabilize an already fragile Europe and NATO. And neither Trump nor Putin gives a shit. They’re bros.

But this week is about the Democrats. As of yesterday, Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla) has resigned from her post as Chair of the DNC. At this morning’s Florida state delegation’s breakfast she was roundly booed. She will not be speaking first to gavel the convention to begin. Donna Brazile will act as temporary Chair for the DNC and the campaign. Senator Sanders will formally endorse Secretary Clinton, though he was booed by his own supporters today when urging their support of her.

This is just Day One of the Democratic National Convention. Four days after the Republican National Convention and we haven’t even begun with the speeches. Who knows what’s going to happen next? It all feels like worlds are colliding, and indeed they are. We are connected by global finance and interests and, in this election year, it shows itself in every way imaginable from the “R” to the “D” side. It may be a case of picking your poison. But maybe one we can recover from; choose the other one, and the world may not.

So there is no real, big flaming bag of dog poop on my front porch at least. But who knows what will happen this week? Well, let me take that back. At least we will know one thing by the end of the evening: Michelle Obama will be the first First Lady ever to have spoken at both the Republican and Democratic national conventions. That’s a positive!

Democracy Now! — Tuesday, July 12, 2016

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Pres. Obama remarking (again) on the problems with current gun legislation. Image: video still

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is expected to endorse former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today at a joint rally in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The rally comes less than two weeks before the start of the Democratic National Convention. Clinton assumed the mantle of the party’s presumptive nominee after winning the California primary in June, but Sanders refused to concede the nomination in part to give his campaign greater power to push the party to adopt a more progressive platform. On Sunday Sanders sent out a release praising the adoption of what he called the “most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party.”

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) was one of the five people picked by Bernie Sanders to serve on the Democratic National Convention’s Platform Committee. “It takes a position in favor of $15 and a union for a federal minimum wage. It takes a position on a whole range of things, including the environment, that are progressive steps forward,” Ellison said. “What do we not achieve? Compete opposition to fracking; we don’t have that. What is else not achieved? There’s some things on foreign policy fronts that, I think, would and could be better; some saber rattling with regard to Iran that I don’t think is helpful.”

The Democratic Party platform committee held its last meeting in Orlando, Florida, over the weekend ahead of the party’s convention at the end of this month. The meeting of Clinton and Sanders delegates resulted in what’s being called the most liberal Democratic platform in a generation.

The draft platform still needs to be ratified at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, but it is already widely being touted as a victory for Sanders. Sanders appointed five members to the committee earlier this year, including scholar and racial justice activist Cornel West, leading environmentalist and 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben and Minnesota Congressmember Keith Ellison, who chairs the House Progressive Caucus.

The new platform includes Sanders’ call for a $15 per hour minimum wage, Social Security expansion and a carbon tax to price its impact on the environment. Award-winning documentary filmmaker and Sanders delegate Josh Fox guests on the show. He’s the director of “How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change,” which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year and is now playing on HBO.

Ahead of the Democratic National Convention, the television and film actress Shailene Woodley has launched a cross-country caravan campaign to bring people to the DNC in Philadelphia. Dubbed the “Up To US Caravan to the DNC,” Woodley is hoping to bring grassroots activists — including many Bernie Sanders supporters — to the DNC. Woodley appeared in the TV series “Secret Life of the American Teenager” and has starred in films including “The Divergent Series” and “The Fault in Our Stars.” She received a Golden Globe nomination for her role as Alex King in “The Descendants,” in which she starred alongside George Clooney. She spoke to Amy Goodman.

President Obama is speaking in Dallas, Texas, today at a memorial service for the five Dallas police officers killed by a sniper Thursday evening. Dallas authorities said Micah Johnson, the sniper, managed to amass a personal arsenal including a semiautomatic SKS rifle, bomb-making materials, bulletproof vests and ammunition. Over the weekend President Obama warned that the easy access to guns nationwide has exacerbated divisions between the police and local communities.