Category: PBC

Filmmaker Laura Poitras and Prof. Roberto Rodriguez on apartheid in Arizona. Poitras is producer/director/cinematographer of the new documentary The Oath which adds new information to the case of Salim Hamdan (bin Laden’s driver) who spent 5.5 years at Guantanamo and tried in a military tribunal; he is now free in Yemen. The film also profiles Abu Jandal, who recruited Hamdan into al Qaeda. It opens in early May in NY, watch for it this summer. Rodriguez wrote a commentary for Common Dreams which adds context to Arizona Gov. Brewer’s signing of SB 1070, the draconian law that allows police to stop anyone they suspect of being an illegal resident. We talk about how McCain unleashed the Tea Party virus that is now threatening his re-election. Rodriguez supports boycotts, and political theater–like citizens going to police stations to ask to have their documents inspected. The second portion begins at 22:55

NY Times makes correction, continues misreporting on ACORN; Gov. Don Siegelman updates his fight for justice. For months, Brad Friedman of Bradblog has waged a valiant fight with top editors at the NY Times, demanding corrections to its repeated false reports about ACORN and the entrapment video created by James O’Keefe. On March 21, Public Editor Clark Hoyt admitted that he and the Times had erred by repeating the claim that O’Keefe was dressed as a pimp when he set up some ACORN employees; he also acknowledged that the Times fumbled the overall story and failed to report on the investigation that exonerated ACORN. But recent stories include references that have not been updated to match the corrections. You are invited to register your comments with Times executive editor Bill Keller and managing editor John Geddes. Brad also details the recent convictions of 8 officials in Kentucky for election fraud. Gov. Siegelman is a victim of election fraud, conviction by a prosecutor with close ties to Karl Rove before a judge who should have recused himself. He explains his side of the story on one count he was convicted on, related to a motorcycle he acquired, and asks listeners to contact Chairman John Conyers of the House Judiciary Committee.

Phyllis Bennis: Ending Afghan War; Ian Fletcher: Free Trade Doesn’t Work. Bennis is a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in D.C, and co-author of the new “primer”: Ending the US War in Afghanistan. She explains that the war is illegal, not supported by most Americans, and appears unwinnable. We talk about Obama’s weak arguments for adding US troops, why this is not the “good war” that’s advertised, and Dennis Kucinich’s recent efforts to debate withdrawal. Bennis also comments on recent developments in the MidEast, as Israel has provoked an angry round of exchanges with the administration over proposed new settlements. Fletcher’s new book is Free Trade Doesn’t Work: What Should Replace it and Why. He is good at explaining complex economic concepts, and is strong and clear in his opposition to free trade. He proposes a 25% tariff on all imports, explains our trade deficit, and also talks about recent economic crises in Greece and Haiti.
Both books can be purchased here.