Katrina vanden Heuvel: Obama Ceded to the ‘Anti-Russian Lobby’

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Obama Ceded to the ‘Anti-Russian Lobby’

Katrina vanden Heuvel: Obama Ceded to the ‘Anti-Russian Lobby’

Katrina vanden Heuvel spoke on a panel on MSNBC's NOW with Alex Wagner​ this morning to debate the reasons for and consequences of Obama's decisions and where Edward Snowden, the 2014 Olympics and LGBT rights in Russia fit into the picture.

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In the wake of the announcement that Russia had granted temporary asylum to Edward Snowden, President Obama cancelled plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in September. In doing so, Obama not only gave in to the anti-Russian lobby in Congress but also empowered the anti-American, anti-western lobby in Russia, according to Nation editor Katrina vanden Heuvel. Earlier today, she spoke on a panel on MSNBC's NOW with Alex Wagner​ to debate the reasons for and consequences of Obama's decision and where Edward Snowden, the 2014 Olympics and LGBT rights fit into the picture.

—Rebecca Nathanson

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

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Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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