chip berlet

The House of Representatives, under Speaker Nancy Pelosi, passed historic health care reform late Sunday night. That's a fact. Also a fact is that the bill is far from perfect, and legislators from all sides will be working to shape the bill more to their liking. Progressives regret the lack of a public option, let alone single payer, and the use of women's reproductive choice as a political football in the negotiations--Obama was forced into an executive order reaffirming the Hyde Amendment's commitment not to use federal dollars for abortions. But what does it all mean? Will the protests die down, or just get worse? What can we do to get REAL change we can believe in, with a country this polarized? Laura asks Chip Berlet, an expert on right-wing populism and senior analyst with Political Research Associates, and Nina Agrawal, pediatrician and director of community outreach with the National Physicians Alliance.

While progressives argue over who's failing to organize whom, other organizations have no trouble rounding up recruits from the many in the U.S. who are angry over bailouts, economic failures, and a governing class they feel is out of touch. Independent journalist Rick Rowley of Big Noise Films co-produced a film, "White Power U.S.A.," for Al Jazeera English on the rise of white nationalist groups since the inauguration of Barack Obama. He found that many of the new recruits to these groups don't consider themselves white nationalists, but are finding few other places to turn. Rowley and Chip Berlet, senior analyst at Political Research Associates, join us to talk about the rise of the extreme right, racism, anti-immigrant sentiment and the proper progressive response. We also talk to Jonathan "J.D." Meadows, who is featured in Rowley's film, about his involvement with the Council of Conservative Citizens and his fears for the economy.

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.