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September 2 - A "Clear Red Line" to Stop Iran; The War Not Mentioned; On-going Secret Cyber Wars
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We begin with increasing rumors of war, in spite of warnings from Angela Merkel and the U.S. scaling down of a joint exercise with Israel, on Sunday Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu called for a “clear red line” to stop Iran. The former Senior Director for Middle East Affairs at the National Security Council Flynt Leverett joins us to discuss a possible pre-election Israeli strike on Iran and the IAEA report that Iran has doubled its capacity to enrich uranium at the underground Fordo plant.
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Then we discuss what was barely mentioned at the Republican convention, Afghanistan. Rajiv Chandrasekaran, a senior correspondent and associate editor at the Washington Post joins us. He is the author of the new book “Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan” and we look into the serial blunders that have mired the U.S. in its longest war, a war in which most NATO casualties now result from Afghans turning their guns on their Western trainers. |
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Then finally we look under the radar to examine blowback in the cyber wars going on now in the Gulf and elsewhere, with veteran intelligence correspondent Richard Sale. We examine the August 15 attack on Saudi Aramco and the August 29 attack against Qatar’s RasGas by malware called “Shamoon”, apparently in retaliation for a cyber attack on the Iranian oil industry earlier this spring by malware called “Wiper”. |
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| MUSIC: The National - Start A War; Titus Andronicus - Four Score and Seven; Yacht - We Have All We Ever Wanted |
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August 30 - Are the Republicans Serial Liars?; Fact-Checkers Play Catch-up; The Six Billon Dollar 2012 Election
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We begin with Michael Cohen who is covering the Republican convention in Tampa for the UK Guardian and the Observer and discuss last night’s speech by Paul Ryan that has fact-checkers working overtime. And we preview Mitt Romney’s big speech tonight that will be boosted by an appearance by Clint Eastwood. |
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Then we speak with Tom Rosenstiel, the founder and director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism about the role of the press in reporting apparent lies and distortions and the subsequent role of fact-checkers in correcting the record. We discuss the aftermath of the Paul Ryan speech and the extent to which the original lie carries more weight than follow-up efforts to refute the lies. |
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Then finally we discuss the record-breaking six billion dollar 2012 election with Michael Franz, the co-director of the Wesleyan Media Project which tracks political ads in top races across the country. His books include “Campaign Advertising and American Democracy” and “Choices and Changes: Interest Groups in the Electoral Process”. |
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| MUSIC: Bob Dylan - Idiot Wind; M. Ward - Cosmopolitan Pap; DJ Shadow - Why Hip Hop Sucks in 96'; Shabazz Palaces - Echo from the Hosts that Profess Infinitum |
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August 29 - Ann Romney Improves Mitt's Likeability; The Return of Condoleezza's War Party; The GOP's Wisconsin Contingent
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We begin with Peter Canellos, the editor of the Boston Globe’s Editorial page who served as editor of the Globe’s seven-part series on Mitt Romney. He joins us from Tampa, Florida and we discuss whether Ann Romney’s well-received speech last night will improve her husband’s likeability factor which is at 29% compared to Barack Obama’s 51%. |
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Then we preview Condoleezza Rice’s speech to the Republican convention with someone who worked with her in the Bush Administration, Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, the former Chief of Staff to Secretary of State Colin Powell. We look into what a Romney foreign policy might look like, given the preponderance of Neocons on his team, and what wild cards might happen in terms of overseas crises that could sway the election. |
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Then finally John Nichols, The Nation magazine’s Washington correspondent and the associate editor of the Capitol Times, the daily newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin joins us. We discuss the Wisconsin contingent; Governor Walker, the head of the RNC Reince Priebus, and tonight’s keynote speaker Paul Ryan, the Republican Vice-Presidential nominee, as well as try to determine how Paul Ryan can sell himself as a savior of Medicare which the Ryan Plan intends to cut. |
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| MUSIC: The Pretenders - Human; Born Ruffians - Retard Canard; Edwin Star - War |
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August 28 - Republicans Reach Out to Women; Will Hatred of Obama be Enough to Win?; Conventions Used to Debate Party Policy and Direction
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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. |
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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. |
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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”. |
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| MUSIC: Whitney Houston - Every Woman; Ben Harper - Mister; Jose Gonzalez - Mister |
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August 27 - Today's Non-Events in Tampa; Organized Money Versus Organized People; "The Payoff: Why Wall Street Always Wins"
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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. |
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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. |
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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. |
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| MUSIC: Of Montreal - Doing Nothing; John Butler Trio - Revolution; Greenday - Nice Guys Finish Last; Shabazz Palaces - Gun Beat Falls |
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