November 20 - Super Committee Deadlock and Congressional Kabuki; Turkey Steps Up; Obama and The Asian Pivot

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Part 1	We begin with the deadlocked Supercommittee that has to agree on 1.2 trillion in cuts by Monday to meet the Wednesday deadline before the sequester happens and automatic across-the-board cuts take place. Former six-term Congressman Bob Edgar, who is now head of Common Cause, joins us to talk about our broken Congress, corrupted by lobbyists and special interests to the point where they have exempted themselves from insider trading laws on stock transactions. We will follow up on whether, as a result of the recent “60 Minutes” expose and citizen outrage it provoked, the Stock Act aimed at cleaning up Congress will be revived.
Part 2	Then we examine Turkey’s more assertive role in the Middle East as it emerges as the best hope to facilitate the removal of the bloody Assad regime next door in Syria, avoid civil war and help stabilize a post-Assad Syria. Asli Bali, a specialist on International Human Rights and the Laws of War joins us. We discuss what motivates Turkey’s leader and the behind-the-scenes reasons for Turkey’s alienation from Israel and the reversal of its support for the Assad regime.
Part 3	The finally Susan Shirk joins us. She served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of East Asia and Pacific Affairs and we will discuss President Obama’s trip to Australia and the APEC Summit in Indonesia and the so-called pivot towards Asia in terms of the Obama Administration’s new foreign policy doctrine that promises to look more towards Asia and China and away from the traditional primary focus on Europe.
	MUSIC: James Blake - Limit To Your Love; The National - Start A War; Africa Hitech - Do You Really Wanna Fight; M. Ward - Shangri-La