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GRITtv: Jay Rosen & Michael Otterman: What Will WikiLeaks Change?
"What if the elites decide that public opinion doesn't matter?" That's the truly scary question asked by Jay Rosen about the newest leaks from what he calls the world's first "stateless news organization," WikiLeaks. Using the power of the Internet, WikiLeaks is not bound by the laws of any particular country, and its release of the Afghanistan war documents this week to publications in three countries (the U.S., England and Germany) has been a topic of discussion all week. But right after the release of the documents, Congress voted to keep funding the war. So what will the leaks change? And what do they mean for journalism? Rosen joins us in studio along with journalist Michael Otterman, co-author of Erase Iraq: The Human Costs of Carnage, to discuss.
GRITtv: July 29 2010
This upper-crust of extremely wealthy families are hell-bent on destroying the democratic vision of a strong middle-class which has made the United States the envy of the world. In its place they are determined to create an oligarchy in which a small number of families control the economic and political life of our country. That's what Senator Bernie Sanders had to say in a recent piece in The Nation magazine, calling for Americans to say "No to Oligarchy." He joins us via Skype to elaborate on the problem, which he attributes to regressive taxation and deregulation, and to call for progressive legislators to rally the people behind them and behind strong progressive legislation as an antidote to the "Republican Party of No." What if the elites decide that public opinion doesn't matter?" That's the truly scary question asked by Jay Rosen about the newest leaks from what he calls the world's first "stateless news organization," WikiLeaks. Using the power of the Internet, WikiLeaks is not bound by the laws of any particular country, and its release of the Afghanistan war documents this week to publications in three countries (the U.S., England and Germany) has been a topic of discussion all week. But right after the release of the documents, Congress voted to keep funding the war. So what will the leaks change? And what do they mean for journalism? Rosen joins us in studio along with journalist Michael Otterman, co-author of Erase Iraq: The Human Costs of Carnage, to discuss. Finally, amid fights over deficits and war funding for Afghanistan, it appears that nearly $9 billion in Iraqi reconstruction money has up and disappeared. Really? Laura has some thoughts.
GRITtv: What if Elites Decide Public Opinion Doesn't Matter?
Jay Rosen and Michael Otterman discuss the WikiLeaks logs--and why so little appears to be changing. While Otterman notes that the lack of pictures might make the material harder, Rosen wonders if the elites just don't care what we know?
GRITtv: Tom Engelhardt: McChrystal's Gone, Policy The Same
The announcement came this afternoon: one day after being summoned back to the US to answer for an explosive article in Rolling Stone, General Stanley McChrystal has been relieved of his command in Afghanistan. Instead, General David Petraeus will step in to take his place. But will anything fundamentally change in US policy in the region? Tom Engelhardt of TomDispatch has a new book out, "The American Way of War: How Bush's Wars Became Obama's," and he joins us in studio to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, what's likely to happen post-McChrystal, and whether getting out entirely is a viable option. (Note: At the time of this taping, it had not officially been announced that McChrystal was being relieved of his post.)
GRITtv: June 23 2010
In Holder vs. Humanitarian Law project, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional law that it is illegal to “knowingly provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization,” overturning multiple lower court rulings that the law was too broad or vague.
GRITtv: Phyllis Bennis: Getting Out of Afghanistan
In addition to her primer on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Phyllis Bennis has a new book out on the war in Afghanistan--and how the U.S. can get out of it. She shared this commentary with us on the situation in that country and what we all need to know (and can do) about changing it. GRITtv with Laura Flanders brings participatory democracy onto your computer screen and into your living room, bridging the gap between audience and advocates. Watch any show, at any time: http://grittv.org Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Apr. 2 2010
Nina Simone died seven years ago this month, but her legacy of heartfelt, transformative music that spoke truth about the injustice that she saw all around her remains. A recent tribute to her took place at New York's Harlem Stage, with members of the Black Rock Coalition. Patricia Cruz of Harlem Stage and composer and perfomer Imani Uzuri joined us in studio to discuss Simone's impact on their careers and on using music and art to carry a message to the world.
The New York Times reported recently on yet another scandal in the Catholic Church, this one reaching as high as the current Pope. When he was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, the current Pope Benedict XVI was the head of the Vatican office called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 1981 to 2005. While there, he failed to respond to letters reporting that Father Lawrence Murphy was responsible for sexually abusing as many as 200 deaf boys. The Times wrote:
"Father Murphy not only was never tried or disciplined by the church’s own justice system, but also got a pass from the police and prosecutors who ignored reports from his victims, according to the documents and interviews with victims."
Actors Brian Jones and Jordan Mahome came to our studio to read a letter from one of Father Murphy's victims, and the response from the Church. These letters are graphic.
In addition to her primer on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Phyllis Bennis has a new book out on the war in Afghanistan--and how the U.S. can get out of it. She shared this commentary with us on the situation in that country and what we all need to know (and can do) about changing it.
GRITtv: Off the Map and Outside the Law
In Trevor Paglen's new book, Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World, he investigates the "off the map" locations of covert government activity, including the "salt pit" in Kabul where Khaled El-Masri was held.
Ben Wizner, from the ACLU's National Security Project, is El-Masri's lawyer and he joins Paglen in studio with Laura to talk about black sites, government secrecy, and why anything goes when prisoners are taken off the map.
GRITtv: Mar. 1 2010
In Trevor Paglen's new book, Blank Spots on the Map: The Dark Geography of the Pentagon's Secret World, he investigates the "off the map" locations of covert government activity, including the "salt pit" in Kabul where Khaled El-Masri was held.
Ben Wizner, from the ACLU's National Security Project, is El-Masri's lawyer and he joins Paglen in studio with Laura to talk about black sites, government secrecy, and why anything goes when prisoners are taken off the map.
In today's video from Street Films' new series, "Fixing the Great Mistake," Transportation Alternatives director Paul Steely White explains how New York's Park Avenue was changed to plan the city around cars, not people.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2002 that executing people judged "mentally retarded" qualified as cruel and unusual punishment, and thus unconstitutional. Yet for this ruling to apply, prisoners must be evaluated properly and fairly by professionals, whose medical opinion is unbiased.
Multimedia investigative journalist Renee Feltz found several cases in Texas where inmates were kept on death row--and in some cases executed--despite clear evidence that they suffered the kind of mental disability that the Court described. She joins Laura in studio to share some of her video from her investigation and explain why states are still managing to execute the mentally challenged.
The Real News Network reports on protests in the occupied Palestinian city of Hebron. After Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a new Israeli "heritage" plan, which classifies national and holy sites in Israel and the occupied territories as Israeli "heritage."
From our friends at Tactical Technology Collective, this third clip in the series explains how visual representations of information and data can broaden the reach of information activism across language barriers.
GRITtv: Dean Baker: Incentives for Recovery
"No one could've seen this coming." We heard that line over and over again as the economy crumbled around our ears. Yet many people DID see it coming, and Dean Baker was one of them. Co-Director of the Center for Economic And Policy Research, blogger at Beat the Press, and author of a new book, False Profits: Recovering from the Bubble Economy, Baker joins guest host Esther Armah in studio to explain the causes of the crisis, the reasons the stimulus wasn't big enough, and why Ben Bernanke should've been fired, not reconfirmed.
