9/12
GRITtv: Tea Parties, Unions and the Working Class
Tea party protests and labor unions might not seem at first to have much in common, but both groups are angry about bailouts of massive banks and the struggles of working people to make ends meet while jobs disappear overseas. Is the dispute between the tea parties and the progressive left just one of the means to an end? To discuss their differences and talk about finding common ground, Michael Johns, Tea Party organizer and Ed Ott, former executive director of the New York City Central Labor Council and Disinguished Lecturer at the Murphy Institute at CUNY, join us in studio.
Email this pageGRITtv: Jan. 12, 2010
Tea partiers and the left? To discuss their differences and talk about finding common ground are Tea Party organizer Michael Johns and Ed Ott, former executive director of the New York City Central Labor Council; Audacia Ray spent time in Sangli, India, and made a short documentary about the sex workers in Sangli and their fight to organize for their own human rights; a video from Not Under the Bus reminds us not to give up on healthcare and to take action to ensure women don't get thrown under the bus for the sake of reform; Jan. 13 is National Day to Take Action for healthcare; and Laura has some thoughts on reconsidering conclusions about Proposition 8, gay marriage and Ted Olson.
GRITtv: Where's the Revolution? Populist Rage on the Left and Right
A lot of media attention has been paid to the 9/12, tea party and town hall protests featuring an angry horde of mostly white citizens shouting about socialism and comparing President Obama to the Nazis - often in the same sentence. Our question is, where's the left-wing populist anger? Chip Berlet of Political Research Associates, Joel Silberman, fellow at the New Organizing Institute, and author and journalist Barbara Ehrenreich join us to talk about the rage in the country and figure out how the left can harness it for progressive change. They compare the grassroots attendance at the National Equality March on October 11, estimated at 250,000, with the 9/12 protests stoked by Glenn Beck, and note the need for mass movements to push the Democratic Party to enact the changes it keeps promising--for all Americans.
GRITtv: October 13, 2009
Daniel Gross asked earlier this week why there wasn't more outrage in the country over the state of the economy, saying that if we haven't seen a revolution yet, we probably wouldn't. Yet popular protests have been happening across the country this summer and fall and show no signs of stopping. A lot of media attention has been paid to the 9/12, tea party and town hall protests. Our question: Where's the left-wing populist anger? Plus all the day's news.
