Background Briefing has a new home at BackgroundBriefing.org.
Please visit and bookmark the new site. You can search show archives here.
2012 Program Archive
August 28 - Republicans Reach Out to Women; Will Hatred of Obama be Enough to Win?; Conventions Used to Debate Party Policy and Direction
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin and go live to Tampa, Florida and speak with Jo Freeman, a feminist, political scientist, writer and activist to get an update on today’s activities on the first full day of the Republican convention. We discuss how Ann Romney might humanize her husband in a speech tonight, and what the Republicans can do to reach out to women, given the recent remarks by Congressman Todd Akin and a Republican platform that opposes all abortions without exceptions. |
 |
|
|
Then we speak with Ed Kilgore, the principal writer for the Washington Monthly’s Political Animal blog. We discuss the dominance of the current Republican Party by white male evangelicals and whether appealing to their hatred and demonization of President Obama will be sufficient to get Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan elected. |
 |
|
|
Then finally we examine how conventions have changed following the turmoil of the sixties when real politics and passions were on display, into the bland orchestrated coronations of candidates that they have become today. Elizabeth Sanders, a professor of Government at Cornell University joins us. She has an article in The Cornell International Affairs Review Journal “The War Lovers (Again): What the Foreign Policy Advisers of Presidential Candidates May Tell us About Future U.S. Foreign Policy”. |
 |
| MUSIC: Whitney Houston - Every Woman; Ben Harper - Mister; Jose Gonzalez - Mister |
Tags:
August 27 - Today's Non-Events in Tampa; Organized Money Versus Organized People; "The Payoff: Why Wall Street Always Wins"
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin and go to Tampa, Florida for an update on what was to be the first day of the Republican convention before Hurricane Isaac forced a postponement. Tina Dupuy, a nationally syndicated columnist and previous managing editor of Crooks and Liars who is now Editor-in-Chief of the Contributor.com, joins us to discuss today’s non-events at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. |
 |
|
|
Then we speak with Congressman Tom Perriello about the organization of money versus the organization of people in the six billion dollar election underway that is awash with money, most of which in funding the Romney campaign with limitless and largely anonymous donors. Meanwhile President Obama, who is apparently not comfortable groveling for money, lags behind due to a reluctance to engage in what is called “donor maintenance,” otherwise know as stroking fat cats. |
|
|
|
Then finally we speak with Jeff Connaughton, the author of a new book “The Payoff: Why Wall Street Always Wins”. He was recently the Chief of Staff for Senator Ted Kaufman and together they took on the Wall Street Lobby which is chronicled in the book as they tried the bring the mega-bankers to justice for the massive fraud that led to the crash of 2008, all the while fighting the institutional inertia of the Justice Department and the SEC as well as the banking industry’s determination to gut any reform of Wall Street. |
|
| MUSIC: Of Montreal - Doing Nothing; John Butler Trio - Revolution; Greenday - Nice Guys Finish Last; Shabazz Palaces - Gun Beat Falls |
Tags:
August 26 - Shutting Out Ron Paul Will Not Shut Him Up; Will Money Buy the White House?; Rather Than Debate Facts Romney Invents Them
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin with Bruce Fein who was a Deputy Attorney General in the Reagan administration and wrote the articles of impeachment for President Nixon and President Clinton. He was a Senior Policy Advisor to the Ron Paul 2012 campaign and we discuss the bitter power struggles over the seating of Ron Paul’s delegates and how Ron Paul has been shunned by the Republican National Committee and will not appear on stage at the convention in Tampa. |
 |
|
|
Then we examine whether the White House can be bought and compare the record amount of spending so far where monthly totals exceed the entire spending totals of previous races. Sheila Krumholz, who is the Executive Director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan organization that tracks money, politics and influence in Washington, joins us. She has an article at CNN “Will Money Buy the White House?” |
 |
|
|
Then, following Mitt Romney’s “birther” quip that got an enthusiastic response from a Republican audience, we look into the “big lies” that are the basis of the Romney and Republican attacks on Obama, almost all of which have been completely manufactured, but are rarely challenged by the press. Mark Feldstein, an award-winning Investigative Correspondent for CNN, ABC, NBC and a two-time winner of the George Foster Peabody Award joins us to discuss a campaign that does not debate the facts but rather invents them. |
 |
| MUSIC: The Raconteurs - You Don't Understand Me; The Beatles - Can't Buy Me Love; DJ Shadow - Why Hip Hop Sucks in 96'; The Eagles - Lyin' Eyes |
Tags:
August 23 - A Run on the Euro as Europe Runs Out of Time; The Pew Center's Devastating Report on the Shrinking Middle Class; How the Republicrats Rigged the Presidential Debates
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin with a story that keeps coming back to haunt us, and that is the perennial Eurocrisis, now growing worse by the day while Europe's policymakers enjoy their long August vacation.Dimitri Papadimitriou, the president of the Levy Economics Institute joins us to discuss the accelerating run on the Euro as citizens in poorer nations move their money to Germany. making it impossible for Greece,Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Ireland.to cover their losses. |
 |
|
|
Then we look into the latest report by the Pew Research Center that finds the American middle class has shrunk by 10% from 1971 to 2010, while only the upper income group has increased their share of the nation's wealth to 46%, up from 29% in 1071. Meanwhile the lower income group rose to 29% of all adults, up from 25%. Branko Milanovic, a lead economist with the World Bank and author of "The Haves and Have-Nots: A Brief Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality" joins us. |
 |
|
|
Then finally we speak with George Farah, the founder and Executive Director of Open Debates, an organization working to reform the presidential debates. We will discuss how the Republican and Democratic Parties took the debates away from the non-partisan League of Women Voters and have since rigged the system to weaken the format, limit the number of debates and exclude third-party candidates. |
 |
| MUSIC: Barry McGuire - Eve of Destruction; The Shins - No Way Down; Modest Mouse - Missed The Boat; The Platters - The Great Pretender |
Tags:
August 22 - Romney/Ryan Win Money But Lose Message; U.S. Will Pay a Price for Staying Out of Syria; Is Press Asking the Right Questions About Assange?
|
|
LISTEN TO FULL PROGRAM | |
|
|
We begin with an analysis of why, in spite of an insurmountable advantage in money, the Republican Romney/Ryan ticket continues to be wrong-footed by gaffes which distract the campaign from its main message. Michelle Goldberg, a senior contributing writer for Newsweek and the Daily Beast joins us to discuss how lucky Barack Obama appears to be in terms of candidates he runs against. |
 |
|
|
Then we speak with Ambassador Marc Ginsberg, a former presidential advisor and a Special Advisor to the Department of Defense Special Operations Command about the president’s red line in Syria regarding chemical weapons and their possible use. He has an article at The Huffington Post “Obama’s Syrian ‘Red Line’ is No Red Light to Hezbollah or Iran”. |
 |
|
|
Then finally we speak with Robert Naiman who, back in June, delivered a letter signed by Michael Moore, Oliver Stone and Noam Chomsky and others to the Ecuadorean embassy in London urging Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa to approve Julian Assange’s request for asylum. We discuss the Wikileaks founder’s current predicament and the questions that Robert Naiman feels the press aren’t asking, principally whether Assange’s extradition to Sweden will lead to his extradition to the U.S. |
 |
| MUSIC: Monty Python - Every Sperm Is Sacred; Syrian Protesters - Bashar Must Go; Arcade Fire - The Well and the Lighthouse; Johnny Cash - Won't Back Down |
Tags:
RSS Latest Radio Programs
Pacifica App