populism

"This is beyond serious," Harvery Wassermn of NukeFree.org says of the situation surrounding Japan's damaged nuclear facilities. "If all four of those reactors go, the death toll will be in the millions." Japan has been left reeling by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami that has killed thousands. To make matters worse, numerous nuclear energy facilities in damaged in Japan are in danger of releasing deadly radiation. Experts are already claiming the situation is worse that the nuclear emergency of Three Mile Island and may get worse. "This has been spontaneous combustion, what's happening here in Wisconsin," Jim Hightower says. "Ordinary folks have been knocked down: workers, farmers, consumers, environmentalists." Hightower and former Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager spoke with Laura Flanders this weekend during protests that saw more than 120,000 people descend on Madison to demonstrate against Governor Scott Walker's bill that took collective bargaining rights away from public unions. Lautenschlager says that the process Governor Scott Walker and other Republicans circumvented Wisconsin state law and will face pending legal challenges, both to the process and the bill itself. Finally, President Barack Obama is firing up his behind-the-scenes campaign personnel and looking to draw from his base for support, but what about his support for the base? Laura has a few choice words of warning. Distributed by Tubemogul.

"If there was ever a case of voting for something that is going to make the problem worse, this is it," says Thomas Frank of the 2010 midterms. We've gone from voting for Democrats to fix the economy to kicking them out in favor of Republicans calling for more of the policies that created the crisis: deregulation, tax cuts, and nebulously-defined "freedom." With those people in charge of the House, what's going to happen next?Frank joins us in studio to discuss the elections, whether what's wrong with Kansas is wrong with the rest of the country, and if this is the same Wrecking Crew with a new label, heading for more disaster.Was it Obama that caused Democrats' major midterm losses? Racism? The economy? Why was the Democratic base demoralized--failure to take on Wall Street or immigration reform? And which constituencies did come out to vote? These are all questions worth answering the morning after the Republicans take back the House with little more than inchoate rage and promises of "smaller government."Kai Wright and Steve Cobble were both with us for our special live coverage with Free Speech TV, Democracy Now! and more, and they join us in studio for some morning-after analysis--and a warning for 2012: Obama better keep his eyes on his left flank as well.

"The first step is to stop apologizing," says Deepak Bhargava, executive director of the Center for Community Change. "We have ideas; we are often cowed by the ferociousness of the argument from conservatives." Indeed, in the wake of Larry Summers' departure from the Obama administration--and the news that the administration wants to head off criticism that it's been anti-business--as well as the failure of Don't Ask Don't Tell repeal and the DREAM Act in the Senate, it often seems like conservatives are winning. But, Bhargava notes, ordinary Americans are organizing as well, and the One Nation march in Washington will be a start toward holding the administration accountable, and building a real bottom-up movement.

May Day is observed in most countries outside of the U.S. as International Worker's Day or Labor Day. The word "mayday" is also a distress signal, a call for help and a call to action. Shepard Fairey, a longtime underground and street artist who came to be a household name with his "Hope" poster of Barack Obama, evoked both of these meanings at once with his "May Day" exhibition at Deitch Projects in New York City. Fairey's prints take on an array of political issues and celebrate icons from rock'n'roll, sports, and politics; from Woody Guthrie to Joe Strummer, Muhammad Ali to Aung San Suu Kyi. His friend and frequent collaborator, writer and filmmaker Antonino D'Ambrosio, wrote an essay to accompany the exhibition. In addition to the gallery show, Shepard hasn't forgotten his street art roots, painting a mural on the street at Lafayette and Bowery, and several less formal pieces of his have been spotted throughout the city recently. The exhibit is open through May 29th at the Deitch gallery. We sat down there recently with Shepard and Antonino to talk about art, rock'n'roll, populism, politics, and the common threads that run through all of their work.