In media and politics, some voices we need right now

Plus: the great billionaire suck-up rolls on

Friends, I’ve been away for a week or so, so please forgive my absence here. Quick personal note: My bucket list includes getting to all seven continents, and with my just completed trip to Morocco, I’ve checked off Africa. So I’m at five out of seven, with Australia and Antarctica yet to come. I also want to travel more in Africa, since Morocco isn’t typical, if there is such a thing. Anyway, it was great — as were brief visits on the way home to Seville and Madrid, cities that were new to me. The Prado was a highlight — as was, in Marrakech, the gorgeous Jardin Majorelle, restored by fashion designer Yves St. Laurent in the 1980s. In the Prado, I contemplated just where we might place ourselves in the masterpiece triptych, the Garden of Earthly Delights, painted in the early 16th century by Hieronymus Bosch. Its commentary feels all too contemporary.

Back here in the United States, the news is distressing, as I know you are aware. I wrote a column this past week in the Guardian about Jeff Bezos’s continued capitulation to Trump, with Amazon’s absurd $40 million deal for a Melania Trump documentary. Here’s the link to my column, which also takes up the resignation of Washington Post cartoonist Ann Telnaes over a Bezos-related cartoon that was “killed,” as we say in newsrooms.

Melania Trump on Nov. 6, 2024. Amazon has approved a $40 million licensing fee for a documentary about the past and future first lady / Getty Images

Recent moves by Mark Zuckerberg (to dismantle fact-checking on Facebook) and Elon Musk (to get behind every global miscreant) are even more worrisome, and the new Trump administration hasn’t even begun. I wonder how you are all feeling about Judge Juan Merchan’s decision to sentence Trump to “unconditional discharge” in the hush-money case over which the judge presided. How I wish the American justice system could have succeeded in holding him accountable — and there’s plenty of blame to go around about why it didn’t, from Merrick Garland to Fani Willis and beyond.

But in the spirit of moving into this new era with purpose and guarded optimism, I want to suggest you pay heed to some courageous truth-tellers and what they have to say. In an era of lies, propaganda and disinformation, it’s essential to hear these forthright voices. So here are my suggestions. I welcome yours, too.

Robert Reich, who served in Republican and Democratic administrations, including as Bill Clinton’s Labor secretary, writes in a few different places and (at age 78) also reaches people on TikTok and elsewhere on social media. I love his clear-eyed and direct style and his message about social inequality. Check out his short video on stock buybacks (“a scam to make the rich even richer”), which he insists should be illegal again.

Greg Sargent in the New Republic and Will Bunch in the Philadelphia Inquirer are two opinion journalists I admire for their relentless and fact-based interpretations of the dangers of Trump World, and — often — the failings of the mainstream media. (Greg is my former colleague at the Washington Post, and he brought me on his podcast recently.)

Lydia Polgreen, a columnist with the New York Times, is consistently wise, clear and knowledgeable. Here’s a gift link to a recent column of hers that I liked a lot: “A Spineless Senate Abandons a Qualified Judge.” She applies her cudgel to members of both parties and she notes, “the failure to confirm (Adeel) Mangi is yet another preview of the way capitulation, not courage, in the face of Trumpist forces will be the order of the day for some time to come.” Lydia’s background as a longtime foreign correspondent and a high-ranking editor is apparent.

Alexandra Petri, a humor columnist at the Washington Post, is one of the many reasons I can never cancel my subscription no matter how ticked off I am at my former employer. She’s both funny and dead serious about what’s happening right now; her voice is truly distinctive. Here’s a gift link to one of her recent pieces in which she takes aim at RFK Jr., among others, titled “Let’s try something different in how we deal with polio.”

Matt Gertz of Media Matters, the progressive media-watchdog nonprofit, is consistently excellent as he tracks what’s happening on right-wing media. He took a deep look this past week at how the propaganda machine (led by Trump’s Truth Social) unleashed “an unrelenting wave of bogus attacks” related to the California fire disaster. He has an awful job, but he does it exceedingly well. He is definitely not to be confused with Matt Gaetz, the disgraced Republican congressman, despite the similarity of their names. You can follow his work here, or in various social media places.

---

---

There are others — I’m always impressed by the impassioned thoughtfulness of Maryland Congressman Jamie Raskin and am intrigued by the progressive rising star Jasmine Crockett, Congresswoman from Texas, who seems fearless and knows how to work the social media angles. Here’s a good primer on her from the Texas Tribune, which includes this characterization from her Texas colleague Greg Casar: “She can speak so directly to people and bring humor to the table in a way that makes folks want to listen. And that’s what we need right now.”

Readers, I appreciated your excellent book, film and music suggestions in the comments section of my last post.

It’s fulfilling to know that we have a community here of smart, curious and thoughtful people who care about the role of journalism in our democracy. We need each other at this moment, which is why in November I removed the paywall here, including for commenting. I will also continue to provide gift versions of articles that might interest you so you don’t run into paywalls. (More media organizations need to figure out how to let people read the occasional story without expecting them to subscribe to a dozen or more newspapers and magazines.)

My photo of the Jardin Majorelle in Marrakech (left) and a section of Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden of Earthly Delights (right, from Getty Images), which I saw at the Prado on my recent travels

I welcome and thank every one of you, and appreciate those who have become paid subscribers to support this effort. Each American Crisis post now lands in 25,000 email inboxes; there’s been steady growth. Hang in there and let me know your thoughts, and your nominees for the inspiring truth-tellers we need right now.