I just had a very…animated discussion with Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat of Rhode Island. I began by asking if he believed Donald Trump will be committing an impeachable offense if he accepts the Qatari 747 and takes it home in a doggy bag.
A longtime crusader against the distorting force of dark money in American politics, Whitehouse has had a front-row seat at the critical arguments of the Trump era. We talked about the open corruption of the Trump regime, whether the Democratic Party has failed to meet the moment, and whether the old guard should bow out for the new.
The conversation became animated when I challenged the senator on whether Democrats are willing to actually change as a party in order to meet this crisis. Why do so many Democratic voters feel so totally undefended? Are they all wrong? Who are some leaders the senator looks to? Are there any fighters he sees on the horizon?
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In the later part of the video, we also had a great meeting of The Ink Book Club, not just about our book this month, Abundance, but about democracy itself, and how clubs like this — that can draw 2,000 people to talk about the real issues, not just the firehose of news — role model democracy. Reading really is the opposite of fascism!
More Live conversations this week!
Tomorrow, Thursday, May 15, at 12:30 p.m. Eastern, messaging guru Anat Shenker-Osorio returns; then at 1:15 p.m., we will be joined by Amanda Litman of Run for Something. We hope you’ll join us for both conversations!
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