2012 Program Archive

January 10 - A White House Shuffle as Romney Rises; "The GOP's Race to the Dark Ages"; Potential Conflict Hot Spots in the Geo-Energy Age.

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 We begin with an analysis of what is going on in the White House with the exit of the Chief of Staff as they gear up for a tough re-election campaign. And as results from the New Hampshire primary vote come in, we speak with Mike Lux, the founder and CEO of Progressive Strategies, and discuss what seems to be shaping us as an Obama/Romney race this year. lux

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 Then we are joined by Sarah Posner, the Senior Editor of Religion Dispatches and author of God’s Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values”.  She has an article about Rick Santorum at Religion Dispatches, “The GOP’s Race to the Dark Ages” and we discuss the desperate scramble on the part of religious right powerbrokers to find a suitable anti-Romney candidate. sarah posner

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 Then finally we speak with the director of the Five College Program in Peace and World Security Studies, Michael Klare. As the possibility of a new war breaking out in the Gulf escalates, we discuss his latest article “Danger Waters: The Three Top Hot Spots of Potential Conflict in the Geo-Energy Age”. michael klare
  MUSIC: M. Ward - Big Boat; The Shins - Fighting in a Sack; Wilco - Side with the Seeds; Modest Mouse - Tiny Cities Made of Ashes  

 

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January 9 - "Race, Liberty and Ron Paul"; Nigerians Strike Over Gas Prices; "The Devil and Rick Santorum: Dilemmas of a Holy Owned Subsidiary"

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 We begin with an assessment of whether Mitt Romney will be slowed or sullied in New Hampshire as Ron Paul makes gains on Romney’s substantial lead. Michael Lind, who has an article at Salon.com “Race, Liberty and Ron Paul”, joins us. michael lind

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 Then we look into strikes in oil-rich Nigeria over the removal of gas subsidies that have more than doubled the price of gasoline. Aniedi Okure, the Executive Director of Africa Faith and Justice Network, a community of advocates for responsible U.S. relations with Africe, joins us to discuss the government's rampant corruption and President Goodluck Jonathan's state of emergency with the Islamist militia Boko Harum. okure

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Then finally Tom Ferguson joins us. He has an article at Alternet “The Devil and Rick Santorum: Dilemmas of a ‘Holy’ Owned Subsidiary” that makes the case that while Republican policies are stunningly oriented towards making the richest Americans richer, they have spent decades cultivating ordinary voters to focus on social wedge issues rather economic policies and are thus missing an opportunity in 2012 since the Democrats are vulnerable on the economy.

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  MUSIC: Dead Prez - Police State; Tinariwen - Tenere Taqqim Tossam (Four Tet remix); Nina Simone - Funkier Than a Mosquittos Tweeter; Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon - Plastic Jesus  

 

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January 8 - War Games in Increasingly Troubled Waters; Pushing Iran to the Wall; Bringing Down the Assads and the Neighborhood

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We begin with the collision course the U.S. and Iran are on that could result in a another war in the Gulf which at a minimum would drive oil prices way up in an election year. A veteran CIA officer Robert Baer joins us to discuss the lethal mixture of Iranian paranoia, Israeli threats and American election-year politics that, combined with provocative naval exercises, could result in an incident that would spark a wider conflagration.

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Then we continue looking into this incendiary mix with Vali Nasr, an Iranian-born professor of International Politics at Tufts University who was recently the Senior Advisor to President Obama’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan. We discuss Iranian President Ahmadinejad’s trip to Venezuela, Cuba, Ecuador and Nicaragua to gain support as sanction ratchet up and Iran announces a new drill to close the Straights of Hormuz, codenamed “The Great Prophet’ that will coincide with joint US/Israeli exercises in the Gulf, codenamed “Austere Challenge 12”.

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Then finally as Arab League Foreign Ministers meet in Cairo, we assess new efforts to give some backbone to the Arab League monitors in Syria as the Assad clan continues its murderous repression of the Syria people.  Dr Muraf Jouejati, a former Syria diplomat in touch with the Syrian opposition, who now teaches at the National Defense University, joins us. We discuss whether UN Human rights experts will be allowed in to bolster the toothless mission that has so-far been unable to stop the killing.

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  MUSIC: Edwin Starr - War (What Is It Good For); The Shins - So Says I; Built to Spill - Temporarily Blind;  

 

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January 5 - Santorum's Sanctimony; "The Tide of War is Receding"; Protecting Predatory Lenders

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 We begin with a profile of the latest rising star in the Republican presidential primaries, Rick Santorum. Dr Terry Madonna, the founder of the Keystone Poll and an expert on Pennsylvania politics joins us. He has closely followed Rick Santorum’s political career for decades and we try to assess Santorum’s chances of becoming the nominee as well as his aggressive stance on social issues where he has not only crusaded against gay marriage and abortion but also opposes contraception. terry madonna

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Then with the president making a rare appearance at the Pentagon today where he presented a new Defense Strategic Review and announced “the tide of war is receding”, we get an analysis of what a leaner U.S. military might look like from Winslow Wheeler, who has worked on national security issues for 31 years as a senior Senate staffer and at the General Accounting Office. He is now director of the military reform project at the Center For Defense Information and is the author of “The Wastrels of Defense: How Congress Sabotages U.S. Security”.

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 Then finally, with the president’s recess appointment of Richard Cordray, we examine what is behind Republican attempts to block the new head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from assuming his office. The author of “Broke USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty Inc. - How the Working Poor Became Big Business” joins us. Gary Rivlin is a special correspondent for Newsweek and the Daily Beast and he explains why the Republicans are protecting payday lenders, mortgage companies, debt-collectors and other predators. gary rivlin
  MUSIC: Of Montreal - Enemy Gene; Modest Mouse - Broke; Conor Oberst - Roosevelt Room; Primus - Those Damned Blue Collar Tweekers  

 

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January 4 - The GOP Candidates and God's Plan; The Backlash Against Putin; An Analysis of What is in the NDAA

 

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 We begin with the invocation of God in the Republican primaries where both the winners and losers in Iowa made election night speeches attributing America’s freedom and greatness to God and their political purpose, guidance and fortunes to the will of God. Frederick Clarkson, the author of “Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy” joins us to discuss the threat posed by Romney and Santorum to the separation of church and state that John F. Kennedy stated as an absolute in the 1960 presidential campaign. clarkson

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Then we look into the growing opposition in Russia to Putin’s prolonged rule as demonstrations against the regime and the electoral fraud carried out by the ruling United Russia party are growing ahead of the March 2012 presidential elections. Daniel Treisman, the author of “The Return: Russia’s Journey from Gorbachev to Medvedev” joins us to shed light on an enigmatic country that emerged 20 years ago from the collapse of the Soviet Union, as an unruly democracy that Putin has since transformed into an authoritarian capitalist state.

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Then finally we try to determine what is in the National Defense Authorization Act President Obama recently signed into law accompanied by a signing statement. With civil libertarians on one side convinced it opens the door to an American police state, and on the other side an overwhelming majority of the Senators and Congressmen who signed it, insisting it protects the rights of American citizens and legal residents, we examine the bill’s contents with Dahlia Lithwick, a contributing editor at Newsweek and a senior editor and legal correspondent at Slate, where she specialized in covering the Supreme Court and judicial issues.

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  MUSIC: My Morning Jacket - Gideon; Devotchka - How It  Ends; Bright Eyes - Easy/ Lucky/ Free; Shabazz Palaces - Free Press and Curl  

 

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