October 21- Remembering George McGovern; In Spite of Romney's Surge, Will Obama Still Win?; Now a Political Football, a Reality Check on Libya

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 We begin with the news of the death today of George McGovern and speak with Richard Parker who was a political advisor to the former Democratic presidential nominee who in 1972 lost to Richard Nixon. We discuss McGovern’s life and legacy and whether a candidate of the left like McGovern could be elected in today’s right wing political and media environment. richard parker

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Then we look at the polls that are all over the place and talk with someone who has accurately predicted the winner of the all the past presidential elections since 1984. The Distinguished Professor of History at American University Allan Lichtman joins us to discuss why in spite of Romney’s surge in the polls, he feels Obama will still be re-elected to a second term.

 allan lichtman

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Then finally, following the death of American diplomats in Libya, a tragic incident that has been blown up into a presidential election issue, we speak with Abubaker Saad, a former Libyan diplomat from Benghazi. We discuss the chaos that has become a political football in a country that is essentially lawless, with groups on militias and tribes vying over regional control with little to no national army or police.  

abubakar

 

 

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October 18 - The "Perversion Files" and Romney's Biggest Donor's Efforts to Stop the Exposé; China-bashing as Their Middle Class Grows and Ours Shrinks; Stopping the Serial Killer Leading Sudan

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 We begin with the release today of the so-called “perversion files” that the Oregon Supreme Court forced the Boy Scouts of America to make public. Peter Zuckerman, who broke the story of child sex abuse in the Boy Scouts for the Idaho Falls Post Register joins us. Peter was hounded by Idaho’s richest man who tried to stop publication of the expose by outing the reporter and his partner. That man, Frank VanderSloot, is now one of Mitt Romney’s biggest donors and the National Finance Committee co-chair of the Romney for President Campaign. peter zuckerman

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Then we examine the China-bashing that went on in the last presidential debate with Clyde Prestowitz, who is the former counselor to the Secretary of Commerce and the founder and president of the Economic Strategy Institute. We discuss why China’s middle class is growing and ours is shrinking and Clyde Prestowitz’s article at CNN “Can iPhones and iPads be Made in the USA?”

 clyde prestowitz

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Then finally we discuss the likely outbreak of a war between the world’s newest country South Sudan and its northern neighbor Sudan, that is run by a serial killer General Omar al Bashir, the only world leader indicted by the International Criminal Court. David Phillips, the Director of the Program on Peace-building and Rights at Columbia University’s Institute For the Study of Human Rights and author of the new eBook “Liberating Kosovo: Coercive Diplomacy and U.S. Intervention” joins us.

 david phillips

 

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October 17 - Fact-checking the Liar-in-Chief; Breaking Records for Negativity; Science Gets Short Shrift in Debate

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 We begin with George Zornick, a Washington-based reporter for The Nation. He has an article at The Nation “Romney’s Seven Biggest Debate Lies” and we fact-check the howlers from last night’s debate that came thick and fast from a cynical candidate apparently operating on the assumption that a lie will go around the world before the truth has time to tie its shoelaces. george zornick

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Then, as billions are starting to pour into last-minute attack ads that will carpet-bomb the swing states, we look into how effective negative ads are with John Geer the Chair of Political Science at Vanderbilt University and the author of “In Defense of Negativity: Attack Ads in Presidential Campaigns”. We discuss how much presidential debates can alter opinions created from months of negative advertizing in a political climate where facts seem to matter less and less.

 john geer

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Then finally we discuss perhaps the most challenging issue facing the planet that was not mentioned or brought up in last night’s debate, global warming.  New York Times reporter Andrew Revkin, the creator of the Time’s Dot Earth blog joins us to discuss what wasn’t discussed and critique what was discussed; cheap gas, clean coal, more pipelines, more drilling and more jobs.

 andrew revkin

 

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October 16 - Despite Pressure to Do So, Obama Should Not Come Out Fighting; Romney Will Enable Wall Street, Not Regulate It; Plutocrats: They've Won, We've Lost

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 We begin with a long-time Democratic campaign strategist and political media consultant, Bill Zimmerman, and discuss what Obama has to do tonight to make up for not challenging the overnight brand new centrist Romney who repudiated almost his entire campaign so far and won over a lot of swing voters in the last debate.
zimmerman

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Then we speak with Michael Greenberger, the former director of the Division of Trading and Markets at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission about the asset-stripper posing as a job creator, Mitt Romney. We  discuss the extent to which Democrats have failed to inform the public about how Wall Street is fleecing the average American at the gas pump and the kitchen table by driving up the price of commodities, a parasitic and predatory activity that is likely to get worse in a Romney administration.

 greenberger

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Then finally Chrystia Freeland joins us. She is the Editor of Thompson Reuters Digital and the author of the new book “Plutocrats: The Rise of the New Global Super-Rich and the Fall of Everyone Else”. We discuss the disdain that Romney expressed for the 47% that the super-rich share, and their irrational anger and hatred of Obama that has them throwing money at Romney to defeat a president who has been so good to them.
chrystia freeland

 

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October 15 - Obama Needs to Be a Salesman Too; Arms to Syrian Rebels Going to Jihadists; The Next Supreme Court?

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We begin with Paul Glastris, the editor-in-chief of The Washington Monthly and a former speechwriter for President Clinton. On the eve of a crucial debate, we discuss the disparity between Mitt Romney the salesman who will say anything to close the deal, and Barack Obama the highbrow policy wonk who has been painfully reluctant to even sell his own successes, including his signature Affordable Care Act.

 paul glastris

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Then we examine why the arms flowing to the Syrian rebels are mostly going to Jihadist groups as the U.S. pursues an unsuccessful policy aimed of avoiding the worst outcome instead of achieving the best outcome. David Lesch, the author of “Syria: The Fall of the House of Assad” joins us to explain why the U.S. continues to support bringing down secular governments in the Middle East like Iraq, Syria, Libya and Egypt, that open the way for Islamic fundamentalist regimes to take power.

 david lesch

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Then finally Jeffrey Toobin joins us. He is a staff writer at The New Yorker and senior legal analyst at CNN. We discuss his new book “The Oath: The Obama White House and the Supreme Court” and what is at stake for America’s future if Romney is able to create a lasting activist conservative majority on the Supreme Court or Obama is able to move it in a more moderate direction.

 jeffrey toobin

 

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