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May 28 - Here Come the Judges; California Shows the Way with Obamacare; The Filmmaker of "Wings of Life" and a Scientist on the Disappearing Bees
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We begin with the president’s plans to nominate three federal judges to the critical DC Court of Appeals which many see as a challenge to the Republicans to filibuster the nominees they have routinely blocked. But this time the Democratic majority in the Senate might bite back and employ the so-called “nuclear option”. Former Counsel to President Nixon and best-selling author John Dean joins us to discuss the looming showdown on Obama’s judicial nominees, and the high-stakes rulings coming soon from the Supreme Court. |
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Then we examine the good news from California indicating that as the states implement Obamacare through their new insurance exchanges, the price of premiums will drop dramatically due to transparency and free-market competition. Ethan Rome, the Executive Director of Healthcare for America Now, a national coalition of more than 1,000 groups in 50 states representing 30 million people, joins us to discuss why the Republicans are fighting the Affordable Care Act tooth and nail, which now appears to be because it will work and be good for the American people. |
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Then finally, award-winning film maker Louie Schwartzberg, joins us in the studio to discuss his latest feature documentary from Disneynature “Wings of Life”, narrated by Meryl Streep. We discuss the film’s message that life depends on little things that we take for granted, like the bees. Also joining us is Dr. Charles Benbrook, a professor at the Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources at Washington State University who explains the mysterious collapse of these vital populations of bees that pollinate the fruits, vegetables and much of the food we eat. |
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May 27 - Global Demonstrations Against Monsanto; Rigged on the Right: Iran's Elections; America and its Military on Memorial Day
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We begin with a report on the global demonstrations against Monsanto that took place on Saturday and assess the dependence on chemical herbicides and pesticides in American agriculture that is dominated by agribusiness. Jaydee Hanson, a senior policy analyst at the Center for Food Safety joins us to discuss what is happening to our food and who is to blame, and also look into the alarming issue of Colony Collapse Disorder, which has resulted in half of the bees dying off in America last year. |
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Then we examine the upcoming elections in Iran which the Supreme Leader and his son, the heir apparent Mojtaba Khamanie, appear to have rigged to the point where only the extreme among the extremists are allowed to run. Dr Trita Parsi, the co-founder and president of the Iranian American Council and author of “A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran” joins us to discuss his recent article at the Huffington Post “Iran’s March to Naked Dictatorship”. |
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Then finally, on Memorial Day, we speak with Colonel Douglas Macgregor, a decorated U.S. Army combat veteran who has testified as an expert witness on national security issues before the House Armed Services Committee and the House Foreign Relations Committee. We discuss President Obama’s declaration of an end to the “global war on terror” and the lack of accountability for those who led America into its recent disastrous military misadventures. |
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May 26 - An Analysis of Obama's Policy Shift Away From Endless War; An Historical Perspective on Obama's New Policy; How to Make us Safe From Tornados and Collapsing Bridges
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We begin with an analysis of the president’s recent speeches on ending the war on terror and giving more transparency to the targeted-killing program while reducing the use of drones. Steve Clemons, the Washington Editor-at-Large for The Atlantic and Editor-in-Chief of Atlantic LIVE joins us to discuss the significance of Obama’s speech to the military and defense community, and reactions to it from the reflexively hostile Republicans. |
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Then we get another opinion on the Obama Administration’s shift away from policies inherited from the Bush Administration and get an historical perspective on the changes from a former Senior Staffer on the National Security Council who served in both Republican and Democratic Administrations. Joining us is Roger Morris, whose latest book “Between the Graves”, is about the history of U.S./Afghan relations and American policy in South Asia based on thousands of previously secret documents. |
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Then finally, with the president visiting Oklahoma today to offer aid to the victims of the recent tornados, we speak with Pulitzer-Prize winning investigative reporter David Cay Johnston, the president of Investigative Reporters and Editors, about both steps that can be taken to make children safe in their classrooms as well as addressing America’s crumbling infrastructure since one in three American bridges are way past their design life and should be fixed immediately with money now at the lowest interest rate in 700 years. He has new articles at The Daily Beast and Newsweek, “Pay to Fix America’s Crumbling Infrastructure Now, or Pay More Later” and “More Tornado Shelters? Not Necessarily”. |
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May 23 - A Lawyer for 11 Guantanamo Prisoners on Obama's Speech; Obama's Call to End the "Perpetual" War on Terror; The Truth About the "Too Big to Jail" Bankers
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We begin with two different impressions of President Obama’s speech today at the National Defense University where he called for an end to the endless war on terror. First Carlos Warner joins us. He is an attorney with the Federal Public Defender of the Northern District of Ohio who represents 11 Guantanamo prisoners. We discuss why the president has not closed Guantanamo which again Obama called for today. |
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Then we speak with Peter Singer the Director of the Center for 21st Century Security and Intelligence at the Brooking Institution who was coordinator of the Obama ’08 campaign defense policy task force. He has an article at the Los Angeles Times “Finally Obama Breaks his Silence on Drones” which we discuss along with the president’s call to end the “perpetual” war on terror which Obama called “self-defeating”. |
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Then finally we look into the DOJ and Treasury documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by Bartlett Naylor, the financial policy advocate for Public Citizen who served as chief of investigations for the U.S. Senate Banking Committee. He joins us to discuss this new evidence that completely undercuts claims by the Department of Justice that they did not prosecute “too big to jail” bankers because of a fear that the whole financial system might unravel if some big Wall Street bankers went to jail. |
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May 22 - Increasing Tensions Between the White House and the Press; The Brazen Hypocrisy of Oklahoma's Senators; A Cure For Capitalism
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We begin with increasing tensions between the White House and the press over the government’s snooping on the AP and a Fox News reporter which has prompted the New York Times to editorialize that the Obama Administration “has moved beyond protecting government secrets to threatening fundamental freedoms of the press to gather news”. A former Justice Department legal ethics advisor who now represents whistleblowers, Jesselyn Radack, joins us. She is the National Security and Human Rights Director at the Government Accountability Project. |
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Then we speak with Arnold Hamilton, the Editor of the Oklahoma Observer, about the hypocrisy of Oklahoma’s Senators Inhofe and Coburn who have consistently opposed federal disaster aid that the state now sorely needs. Following the disastrous destruction of lives and property from tornados that killed young children in their unprotected schools, we discuss the Republican-dominated state government’s war on education where the school budgets have been cut by 30% in the past few years, with the governor proposing teachers arm themselves at their own expense while she cuts their pay. |
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Then finally Richard Wolff, Emeritas Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts and author of “Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism” joins us to offer his critique of U.S. and global capitalism. With the rich getting richer, and the poor poorer, we discuss what can be done to revive a democracy captured by plutocrats and corporatists to restore a government of the people, by the people.and for the people. |
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