campaign
GRITtv: Feb. 14, 2011
"I feel reborn," says Egyptian feminist author and activist Nawal El Saadawi. "I am 80, but I feel young, I feel all my energy coming back, I feel my childhood dream coming back." The revolution in Egypt has inspired people across the world, and we talk to Nawal today to find out why she thinks the successful removal of the Mubarak regime is the culimation of a movement to change the entire structure of Egyptian capitalist, patriarchal politics. "The US has to go back to the drawing board," says legendary journalist Helen Thomas of US policy in the Middle East and North Africa. As Egypt throws off its regime and protests ripple across the region, she notes that the world is waking up to the fact that people under repressive dictatorships can and will fight back--and use nonviolence to achieve their aims rather than invasion. We check in with the longest-serving White House correspondent to discuss revolution, and why she's not done fighting. Meanwhile back at home, the Conservative Political Action Conference is a good place, says Sarah Posner, to "put your finger on the pulse of the conservative movement" in the US. From straw polls for president--Congressman Ron Paul won that one--to tiffs over gay conservatives and Islamophobia, this past weekend at CPAC saw a lot of action, and Sarah was there to report, for Religion Dispatches and The Nation. Sarah joins us via Skype to give us a rundown of the good, the bad, and the unintentionally hilarious--from Ann Coulter's declaration of support for GOProud to Dick Cheney's run-in with a heckler or two. And while people are drawing different lessons from the Egyptian revolution, Nicholas Kristof notes that one of the biggest is to listen to the powerless, not the powerful. And Laura looks at a few stories of the relatively powerless--the workers--being ignored right here at home. Distributed by Tubemogul.
Email this pageGRITtv: Sarah Posner: Conflicts and Questions at CPAC
The Conservative Political Action Conference is a good place, says Sarah Posner, to "put your finger on the pulse of the conservative movement" in the US. From straw polls for president--Congressman Ron Paul won that one--to tiffs over gay conservatives and Islamophobia, this past weekend at CPAC saw a lot of action, and Sarah was there to report, for Religion Dispatches and The Nation. Sarah joins us via Skype to give us a rundown of the good, the bad, and the unintentionally hilarious--from Ann Coulter's declaration of support for GOProud to Dick Cheney's run-in with a heckler or two. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Kai Wright: Campaign Begins with State of the Union
"There was no there there. There wasn't a whole lot you could sink your teeth into, but it was very much Obama in 2008 in terms of 'let's spend responsibly, let's all get along, let's be scientific and smart and go forth and be Americans and we're exceptional,'" said ColorLines editor Kai Wright of Obama's State of the Union speech last night. Obama made the case for "winning the future" with investment in education and green technology, Kai notes, but didn't lay out specifics for how to get there--but with Republicans putting up Paul Ryan and Michele Bachmann putting up her own Tea Party response to the speech, he may still get four more years. Campaign 2012 begins now, and Kai joins Laura to discuss what's coming next. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Jan. 26, 2011
"There was no there there. There wasn't a whole lot you could sink your teeth into, but it was very much Obama in 2008 in terms of 'let's spend responsibly, let's all get along, let's be scientific and smart and go forth and be Americans and we're exceptional,'" said ColorLines editor Kai Wright of Obama's State of the Union speech last night. Obama made the case for "winning the future" with investment in education and green technology, Kai notes, but didn't lay out specifics for how to get there--but with Republicans putting up Paul Ryan and Michele Bachmann putting up her own Tea Party response to the speech, he may still get four more years. Campaign 2012 begins now, and Kai joins Laura to discuss what's coming next. Michele Bachmann isn't the only one who believes in American exceptionalism--there was plenty in Barack Obama's State of the Union speech that reiterated the notion that the US is somehow above the rest of the world. But what does all that mean now? Richard Wolff says "We are exceptional these days not only in the nice and happy things but in things that are not so good." And Maya Wiley points out "It's good if we feel strongly about the importance of our nation. What's complicated is what's behind it." Maya and Richard join Laura in the studio for a discussion of American exceptionalism in 2011--the hard truths we're not acknowledging, what Obama spoke about in his speech, and what changes need to be made to live up to some of the promises being made by politicians on both sides. What happens in Tunisia apparently doesn't stay in Tunisia. Cairo, the capital city of Egypt, has been rocked by protests for the past two days that show no sign of stopping. While the US State department is issuing statements that the government is stable, everyone's paying attention to unconfirmed reports that President Mubarak's wife and family have landed in Heathrow airport in London, landing with 97 pieces of luggage. Al Jazeera English, which can be seen on Free Speech TV alongside GRITtv, had this report from the early morning hours in Cairo. In the State of the Union speech, Barack Obama did get applause for saying that the US stands with the people of Tunisia. Now, he didn't mention the two decades of support the US had given the dictatorship. Laura has some thoughts on the US response to the protests in Cairo as well. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: October 21, 2010
"The one thing I couldn't live without in Iraq was my own humanity," says Iraq veteran Ethan McCord, who came home from dropping his children off at school to find a video of himself rescuing an child from a bombed-out van. That was the now-infamous Wikileaks video, and McCord has been collecting his own video and stories from his fellow veterans, speaking out about what he saw at war and what his friends lived through.McCord joins Laura in studio for a discussion of the suppression of more video from WikiLeaks, the supposed end of the war in Iraq, and the way talking about the war helps him to heal."Women's rights are nothing but human rights when women exercise them," notes Ann Jones, but Afghanistan has never been big on women's rights. Still, as highly-touted negotiations continue between Taliban representatives and the Karzai government, where are the women? Can real peace come when it's negotiated without women when, Matthew Hoh notes, the population of the country between the ages of 20 and 45 is four to one women to men?Jones is the author most recently of War Is Not Over When It's Over: Women Speak Out from the Ruins of War, and Hoh was the first American official to resign in protest over the conduct of the war in Afghanistan and now directs the Afghanistan Study Group. They join Laura for a discussion of what real peace in Afghanistan would have to entail.Finally, the election season continues to get ever more ridiculous, and Laura has to ask: who's profiting?
GRITtv: The F Word: Who Profits from Silly Campaign Season?
We need another word for silly season. It's way beyond silly how some are competing in this midterm race. In Illinois in particular, it's not been pretty in the tight fight for Barack Obama's old seat. At three different points in a recent televised debate, Democratic contender Alexi Giannoulias challenged Republican Representative Mark Kirk over his claims that he had been shot at in a plane when he was serving in Iraq. "The question, Congressman, is, why would you not tell the truth? Why would you make all this stuff up?" Giannoulias asked. Watch more at http://grittv.org! Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Got Docs: Pricele$$
How much does it cost to run for office? That's the question behind this week's featured documentary, Pricele$$. ; We know that it costs a lot to run for office, but are we really aware of where that money comes from, and how much time the politicians really spend raising it? As we head into election season, the first major elections since the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United, we thought this was a good time to take a closer look at this subject.
GRITtv: Sept. 24 2010
"In every sense the Tea Party is able to get away with things that no group of color could ever possibly do," says Tim Wise, author of the new book Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity. While the Tea Party wails about socialism, Wise notes, they want to cut social services that they perceive as benefits for people of color--and the Obama administration's "race-neutral" politics aren't helping anyone. Wise joins Laura in studio for a special interview about his new book, and how racial bias infects every level of people's lives, from infant mortality rates to unemployment, college admissions and graduation rates to treatment in hospitals. Then, will censoring Craigslist keep young people from turning to sex work? Melissa Gira Grant of the Third Wave Foundation shares her thoughts. How much does it cost to run for office? That's the question behind this week's featured documentary, Pricele$$. We know that it costs a lot to run for office, but are we really aware of where that money comes from, and how much time the politicians really spend raising it? As we head into election season, the first major elections since the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United, we thought this was a good time to take a closer look at this subject.
GRITtv: Fighting for Equality on the Ground
In Maine, advocates of marriage equality suffered a setback in this past election, where voters overturned a decision by the state legislature to legalize gay marriage. Thousands of volunteers, both Maine residents and passionate out-of-staters, worked countless hours on the campaign, going door to door and making phone calls in an attempt to convert popular support in the state to votes. This video, from Chase Whiteside and Erick Stoll of New Left Media, gives an inside look at the No On One campaign, from get-out-the-vote training to a rally and candlelight vigil the night before election day. Watch for Part 2 tomorrow!
GRITtv: Nov. 17, 2009
Economist Dean Baker and the Nation's John Nichols talk about ways to create good, meaningful, well-paid jobs and rethink the way Americans look at work. The New Yorker's Hendrik Hertzberg's new book collects his essays on the Obama generation. Though hopeful, Hertzberg offers criticisms of the way the health care reform fight and others have been conducted. Chase Whiteside and Erick Stoll of New Left Media bring Part One of their inside look at the No On One campaign in Maine, where voters overturned a decision by the state legislature to legalize gay marriage. financial rating agencies and their future.
