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President Obama got his second chance to nominate a Supreme Court justice not even a year after the first one with the retirement of John Paul Stevens, the Court's oldest member and its liberal backbone. He has nominated Elena Kagan, the current Solicitor General and the former Dean of Harvard Law School, but many progressives are unhappy with the choice, wishing that Obama had instead chosen a staunch liberal who would not run the risk of moving the Court to the right. Catherine Albisa of the National Economic & Social Rights Initiative joins us to talk about Elena Kagan--and about pioneering attorney Rhonda Copelon, who passed away recently. What are the odds of getting a Rhonda Copelon on the Supreme Court someday? The federal government keeps trying to tell us that things are looking up for the economy, but cities and states across the country are still struggling to meet budget requirements. One of the things on the chopping block here in New York City is after-school programs, which provide kids of working parents someplace to go, get help with homework, and stay off the streets. GRITtv's Sam Alcoff and Anna Gold visited one such program, CAMBA, in Brooklyn and brought us this report. Actress and activist Lena Horne passed away this week at the age of 92. She was memorialized around the U.S. and the world as a beloved entertainer, but some have noted her background in work with the NAACP and the Civil Rights movement--as John Nichols wrote at The Nation, "Such appearances earned Horne a reputation, she joked, as the 'bad little Red girl.'" Poet and musician Joy Harjo joined us in studio and performed some of her poems for us; this poem, "Equinox," she dedicated to Lena Horne. We'll have more from Joy soon! Finally, as we see more cuts to social programs, Laura notes that despite what the Tea Party crowd says, our tax rates are the lowest since Truman's time.

Barack Obama already has the chance to nominate another justice to the Supreme Court with the retirement of the Court's oldest member, Justice John Paul Stevens. Stevens was appointed by Gerald Ford, a Republican, but was, as Elizabeth Holtzman says, a member of a long tradition of fair-minded independent justices. Holtzman, a former U.S. Representative from New York, has known Stevens for years and joins Laura in studio to discuss the recent swing of the Court toward right-wing ideology, and what Obama can do to change it. Her recommendation for Stevens' seat? Let's just say it's unexpected. Comedian Hari Kondabolu has some thoughts about what kind of starting place progressives should've chosen for health care negotiations. Here's a hint: it involves the phrase "Scalpel-wielding Robin Hoods of the night." Here in New York, we've seen several attempts, some more successful than others, to ban different harmful ingredients from food available for purchase. The New York Daily News wrote of the latest, "If State Assemblyman Felix Ortiz has his way, the only salt added to your meal will come from the chef's tears." But don't we have a certain right to eat things that are bad for us? KFC just introduced the ultimate in unhealthy--a bacon "sandwich" between two pieces of fried chicken "bread," called the Double Down, and there seems to be no shortage of appetite for such things. Will laws be able to change the way we eat? MeMe Roth of National Action Against Obesity and Jennifer Iannolo of the Culinary Media Network and My Food My Choice join us to discuss. Finally, Laura has some words on the retirement of antichoice Congressman Bart Stupak.

We've all seen the headlines about record bonuses on Wall Street just a year after record bailouts with taxpayer dollars. And we all know that the rest of the country is hardly feeling the recovery. But even right here in New York City, recovery hasn't yet trickled down, and inequality is just getting worse. To discuss real economic recovery for New York's working class (and the people in urban centers around the country) we invite Mark Winston Griffith, executive director at the Drum Major Institute and 2009 candidate for New York City Council, Matt Ryan, campaign director with Jobs With Justice New York, and Jonathan Hicks, former reporter with the New York Times and senior fellow at the DuBois Bunche Center for Public Policy. Bill Clinton, explaining the U.S.'s hand in Haiti's crumbled infrastructure. Queen Elizabeth, apologizing for colonialism. Has the world turned upside down? No, it's the Yes Men, putting some words in the mouths of world leaders that we'd like to see. Rev. James Forbes took part in sit-ins at Woolworth's lunch counters in his youth, and in his new book, Whose Gospel?: A Concise Guide to Progressive Protestantism, he shares his prescription for a way to build progressive communities through spiritual support and understanding one another's worldview. The Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission will allow unprecedented corporate money to influence United States elections -- essentially giving corporations free speech rights. Free Speech for People is calling for a movement to amend the constitution to keep corporate money out of our election process, and in this video they ask people whether corporations should be given the same rights as they have. Finally, as a result of policies around the tar sands in Alberta, the Royal Bank of Canada has been deemed the World's Most Environmentally Irresponsible company. This video from the Rainforest Action Network explains why.

Hope. It was the word for the Obama campaign, epitomized by the famous Shepard Fairey poster, with eyes uplifted, bright primary colors declaring that Americans believed in something good again. Last year on election day, we discussed the election and the future of America; hoping for an Obama victory and with it some restoration of the things we'd lost under Bush. This year, we look back with some of our guests from that day on what they said then and what they think now. Chris Hayes of The Nation remembers the feeling of social solidarity from the Obama campaign, hundreds of thousands of people coming together to work for a common cause, while Danny Schechter of MediaChannel and NewsDissector points out that Obama had plenty of support from Wall St. as well as Main St. Air America's Ron Reagan wonders why Maine managed to expand its rights to medical marijuana while closing off rights to same-sex couples, and Esther Armah of WBAI notes that Obama's election maintains its symbolic importance, even if dealing with the reality is somewhat more complicated.