2009
GRITtv: Rebooting the System: David Swanson & Mark Winston Griffith
After the 2008 election, a cartoon was circulated of Obama sitting in the Oval Office Scotch-taping the Constitution back together. But a year later, David Swanson, founder of AfterDowningStreet, notes that Obama has quietly allowed many Bush-Cheney practices to stay in place. Mark Winston Griffith, former candidate for New York City Council, joins Swanson and Laura to talk about the way nothing seems to change in politics. Is there a way around the machine to create a true politics of the people?
Email this pageGRITtv: Dec. 1, 2009
President Obama is about to announce a troop escalation in Afghanistan. Though it's consistent with his campaign promises, public opinion has shifted and now, according to most polls, a majority of the American people oppose the war. We continue our discussion about how nothing seems to change in politics with David Swanson, founder of AfterDowningStreet, and Mark Winston Griffith, on leave from the Drum Major Institute. Jay Rosen, New York University professor and author of "What are Journalists For?," talks about how the media are at least partly to blame for the narrow scope of discussion in Washington.
GRITtv: On The Street: New Yorkers on Obama One Year Later
GRITtv's Natalia Ospina and Sophie Gore-Browne hit the streets to talk to New Yorkers about the anniversary of Obama's election and what it means for them, one year later. Are they disappointed, pleased, still hopeful?
