the nation

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Democratic Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio joins us to discuss why he thinks President Obama may have committed an "impeachable offense" by committing U.S. military forces to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya without congressional approval. Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich has signed a bill that strips collective bargaining rights for more than 360,000 state workers and bars them from striking. “This idea of government of the corporations, by the corporations and for the corporations has actually taken hold,” says Kucinich, who represents Ohio’s 10th District. “Unions are one of the last lines of defense against a corporate plutocracy.” Ivory Coast leader Laurent Gbagbo is battling to remain in power as rival Alassane Ouattara’s forces surround the main city of Abidjan. Much of the fighting is concentrated around Gbagbo’s heavily fortified presidential palace. We speak to Corinne Dufka, senior researcher in the Africa Division of Human Rights Watch, and Ivory Coast political analyst Gnaka Lagoke of AfricanDiplomacy.com. In a move criticized by progressives, Obama has appointed former White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina as his campaign manager. Obama’s move has drawn scrutiny over Messina’s ties to corporate America, his push to drop the public option from healthcare reform, and his lack of support for gay rights. We speak with journalist and author Ari Berman about his new profile of Messina in The Nation. Democracy Now!, a daily independent newshour.

"Unions realize that this is a threat to their very existence," says Matt Rothschild, editor of The Progressive , of Scott Walker's attempt to strip collective bargaining rights from public workers. And some of the usual suspects are behind Walker's attack--from the Koch brothers to Republican ideologues. "These corporations want to get these people off the playing field," says John Nichols, of The Nation .John and Matt join Laura in the studio at WORT, Wisconsin community radio, in Madison, Wisconsin for a special broadcast from the site of the historic labor protests.

"We don't write about class struggle in the US so it's hard for us to see it elsewhere," says the Huffington Post's Ryan Grim on the failings of the US media around issues in Egypt. And Katrina vanden Heuvel notes that Islamophobia in the US leads many to focus on fear of the Muslim Brotherhood rather than understanding the ways that Islam and democracy coexist and complement one another. Here in the US, too, there were big media stories, as the Huffington Post merged with AOL, and Keith Olbermann signed up with Al Gore's Current TV. What's in those stories for independent media? Ryan, Katrina and Laura discuss.