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2012 Program Archive
April 2 - "The Three Amigos" Summit and Tragedy in Tibet; Democracy Blossoms In Burma; Will Sanctions Revive Iran's Green Movement?
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We begin with today’s White House North American Leaders Summit, otherwise know as the “Three Amigos” summit, and speak with the Mexico City Bureau Chief for McClatchy Newspapers, Tim Johnson. We discuss the upcoming elections to succeed Mexico’s lame duck President Calderon, and since Tim Johnson was recently McClatchy’s Bureau Chief in Beijing and is the author of “Tragedy in Crimson: How the Dalai Lama Conquered the World but Lost the Battle With China”, we also discuss the recent rash of self-immolations by Tibetans protesting Chinese rule. |
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Then we examine the elections in Burma that are being celebrated as an important step towards democracy, although the pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won 40 seats in a parliament where the ruling military junta control the vast majority of the 664 seats. Dr. Josef Silverstein, a distinguished professor emeritus of Political Science at Rutgers University who has written extensively on Burma, joins us to assess the changes ahead. |
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Then finally, as the noose tightens on Iran’s economy, we will gauge political dissent inside Iran to determine whether tightened sanctions and economic distress will revive the Green Movement or turn the Iranian people against the West. Roya Hakakian, an Iranian/American poet and journalist joins us. She has an article in the New York Times International Weekly “Where Did Iran’s Green Movement Go?” Unfortunately, the guest did not show. So, the host gave a background of the Iranian political landscape. |
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| MUSIC: Kunchok Tsering - Nowhere; Bob Dylan - Chimes of Freedom; Rolling Stones - Street Fighting Man |
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April 1 - Another War Based on Fake Intelligence?; The Republican Right Wing Stalinist Machine; A Plan to Use "Soft Power" Against Assad
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We begin with a repeat of history as the neoconservatives, who brought us the Iraq fiasco, are apparently manufacturing another case for war, this time with Iran. Jeremiah Goulka, a specialist on the politics and policy of U.S. national and homeland security joins us. He was sent to Iraq by the Bush Administration to investigate the State Department-designated terrorist organization, Mujahedin–e Khalq, the MEK, who the neocons are now using as a source of intelligence to build a case for war against Iran. |
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Then we speak with author and historian Kevin Baker about his essay in the New York Times Sunday Review “The Outsourced Party” which explains the strategy and mechanism behind the Republican party’s drift towards right wing radicalism, and the extent to which, through their interlocking network of billionaire-funded think tanks, media propaganda outlets and judicial activists on the Supreme Court, they are carrying the country with them. |
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Then finally, as some 70 Western and Arab Foreign Ministers meet in Turkey with the Syrian opposition to forge some unity and respond to the Syrian regime’s foot-dragging on the UN- Arab League peace proposal, we discuss alternative approaches with Henri Barkey. A former member of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff, he had a recent op-ed in the Los Angeles Times “Syria in the Balance: If the international community wants to stop the bloodshed and prevent disasters, it needs to act rather than react.” |
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| MUSIC: Elton John - Seen That Movie Too; Lee Greenwood - God Bless The USA; Randy Newman - Rednecks; Syrian Protesters - Bashar Must Go |
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March 29 - Gingrich's Sugar Daddy Shifts Support to Romney; A Way for Isreal to Attack Iran; Van Jones on Rebuild the Dream
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We begin with previously unreported secret meeting between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich revealed in The Washington Times and speak with Peter Stone who heads the Money and Politics team at the Center for Public Integrity, to determine whether Gingrich, who has helped Romney throughout the Republican primary by splitting the anti-Romney vote, has made a deal with Romney to drop out. Gingrich denies he made a deal with Romney to help with campaign debts or to get a position in a Romney Administration. |
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Then we examine the possibility that Israel has found a way to make an attack on Iran feasible by using airbases in Azerbaijan. An author and historian specializing in foreign affairs and intelligence analysis Mark Perry joins us. He has an article at Foreign Policy “Israel’s Secret Staging Ground” and we discuss whether, after striking targets in Iran, the Israeli Air Force could land and refuel in nearby Azeri airfields. |
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Then finally we speak with Van Jones, the founding president of “Rebuild the Dream” and author of the new book “Rebuild the Dream.” We discuss the 99% Spring in which 100,000 Americans will mobilize to advance economic fairness and social justice at a time when billionaires are buying our elections and conservative “activist” judges are threatening to undo access to affordable healthcare. |
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March 28 - JOBS Act Opens Business for Hucksters and Fraudsters; A Silver Lining in Gutting Obamacare; U.N. Speaks Out of Both Sides of the Mouth on Syria
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We begin with the so-called JOBS Act now heading to the White House for the President’s signature. Jeff Mahoney, the General Council of the investor watch dog group the Council of Institutional Investors, joins us to assess the damage that this de-regulation of Wall Street in the name of job creation will do to unsophisticated mom and pop investors who will soon be prey to boiler room hucksters now free to advertize in almost any medium. |
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Then a former health insurance insider Wendell Potter, joins us to analyze why the Affordable Care Act is vulnerable to having the individual mandate overturned by the Supreme Court. A former chief corporate spokesman for CIGNA and the head of corporate communications at Humana, Wendell Potter is the author of “Deadly Spin: An Insurance Company Insider Speaks Out on How Corporate PR is Killing Health Care and Deceiving Americans”.
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Then finally we assess the chances of Kofi Annan’s so-called peace plan for Syria going anywhere, given that as a precondition, the opposition will be asked to surrender to a regime that is killing its own people and trust that the Assads have any interest in reform. A former Syrian diplomat and Professor of Middle East Studies at the National Defense University Murhaf Jouejati joins us the analyze the Annan plan and discuss the Arab Summit now underway in Baghdad where Syria is on the agenda but not present, having been expelled from the Arab League. |
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| MUSIC: The Eagles - Lyin Eyes; Bright Eyes - The Trees Get Wheeled Away; Elvis Costello - License to Kill; M. Ward - Cosmopolitan Pap |
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March 27 - A Bad Day For Obama At The Supreme Court; The Pope In Cuba Trashes Capitalism and Marxism; The Big Brands Behind ALEC
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We begin with today’s key and critical arguments before the Supreme Court which go to the heart of the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Dahlia Lithwick, a contributing editor at Newsweek and a senior editor at Slate who covers the Supreme Court, joins us. She was in the Supreme Court today and we discuss what many court-watchers are describing as a disastrous day for President Obama and supporters and beneficiaries of his healthcare reform law. |
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Then we look into the Pope’s visit to Cuba where he is now meeting with Raul Castro and may or may not meet with Raul’s brother Fidel. Joining us is a former political analyst with the Cuban government, Arturo Lopez Levy and a professor of Hispanic Studies Marta Hernandez Salvan. We discuss the gulf between the Pope’s call for an “open society” in Cuba and a Cuban government official’s statement that “there will be no political reform in Cuba”. |
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Then finally we speak with Brendan Fischer, a law fellow with the Center for Media and Democracy who have been at the forefront in exposing ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council. We examine the big brand corporate powers behind ALEC who have had hundreds of model bills passed in State Legislatures across the country, including the controversial “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida. |
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| MUSIC: Shorty Long - Here Comes The Judge; Cuban Anthem; The Beatles - Revolution; The Shins - No Way Down |
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