Stephen Gottlieb

Mr. Trump and his Republican allies claim his “executive power” means he can do whatever he wants. To put it simply, that’s nuts.

I hate to tell people I’ve told them something before, but I have a point to make. In my book on the Roberts Court and in various other talks and writings I have tried to warn that the disparity between rich and poor in America was going to threaten our way of life, our democracy, our liberty, even our lives by leading to anger that brushed away all rational discourse about how or who would work to deal with it.

Do you care if presidents are corrupt, take gifts, bribes or benefits for official acts? Think it’s no concern of yours? I’d like to convince you that presidential corruption can hit you very hard.

Let me begin by saying I don’t speak Yiddish or understand more than a few words. My parents did their best to prevent me from learning it – they wanted me to be 100% American. But they spoke it when they didn’t want me to understand what they were saying or with people, like some of my aunts, who’d come from the old country and were much more comfortable with Yiddish than English. About the only Yiddish phrase my parents actually taught me was the phrase for “play with me,” schpil mit mir, which I used often as a youngster.

Let me give an example of why this station matters.

In 1947, under President Truman, George F. Kennan formulated the “containment” policy of preventing any expansion of the Soviet Union or its influence. It became “the basic United States strategy for fighting the cold war … with the Soviet Union until 1989.”

Israel was created when the European world was on a collective guilt trip after World War II, the Holocaust and its failure make space for Jewish refugees. Although Muslim states in the UN General Assembly didn’t accept Israel, it was supported by the US and Europe. And its foreign policy was designed to enlarge the circle of its friends.

Everyone says affordability is the big issue and wants government to make goods and services cheaper to buy. But the polls don’t ask us what we want done to make things we need more affordable, from groceries, to fuel to education.

Fires and natural disasters in California and the Southeast have made it hard to get homeowners’ insurance which has led people to think about how to provide it. Homeowners’ insurance has outpriced many. But providing insurance can lead people to stay put in unsustainable places. We can do better than that.

First, I want to wish you all a happy New Year, though I approach it with some trepidation.