conservatives

It's become common to hear that the Republicans are just "the Party of No," with no ideas beyond obstructing the Democratic agenda. But Arun Gupta of the Indypendent has a new piece out at Truthout.org where he questions that view. The Republicans have deftly turned being the "Party of No" into a positive stance: They signal to their base they are working to defeat an alien ideology while defending real Americans and traditional values and institutions. Arun joins Laura in studio to discuss his piece, the "Party of No" strategy, and where the Left is in all of this.

For all his faults, I was struck by outgoing British Prime Minster Gordon Brown's resignation speech. It wasn't the pomp of the job he loved, he said, it was the chance to make his country a fairer place. Brown's out, but he may not be the only loser here. After the 2008 crash it was Brown who led the way when it came to stimulus spending and bank regulating (even Barack Obama acknowledged that this week.) Now the accepted wisdom seems to be that all that lead to his defeat. There's a potentially dangerous lesson there, and it may be the wrong lesson at that. In Britain, the Conservatives are back in power in coalition with centrist Liberal Democrats. For all their differences, both are deficit-obsessed. Tory leader David Cameron's already called for a more "responsible society - where entitlements are not center stage. So what comes next? Two and a half million Britains are already officially unemployed - a rate of over 8 %. Laying government workers off will push that number up and bring consumer spending down. As speculators thrive, any progress to fairness will be on the skids. I haven't seen exit polls or polled people myself, but isn't it just possible that after 18 years of rule, the Labor Party took a beating because Brown is a downer of a guy -- and more importantly, because of his predecessor, Tony Blair's lies leading his country into war? The UK has been racked by conflict over coal, policing, collaboration with US torturers - and did I mention WAR -- in Afghanistan and Iraq. British casualties are up. And it may not be Brown, but it's those casualties politicians ought to be thinking about. When it comes to Brown's defeat I'd say the verdicts not as clear - or as convenient- as some might like. The F Word is a regular commentary by Laura Flanders, the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on satellite TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415 Free Speech TV) on cable, and online at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com. Support us by signing up for our podcast, and follow GRITtv or GRITlaura on Twitter.com. Distributed by Tubemogul.

The Olympics have seen more than their share of controversy this year, from the death of a Georgian luger early on to the ongoing debate about policing, spending and co-opting Native land for sports. But many people still love the games, and tune in to watch sports that get forgotten the other three years--or to see dream teams put together to compete for gold. To talk about the good, the bad, and the corporate at the Vancouver games, we're joined by two veteran sports journalists, Ann Liguori of WFAN and Robert Lipsyte, PBS contributor and former New York Times contributor. And of course, we couldn't talk sports without touching on the media's ongoing fascination with Tiger Woods... You've seen them: the signs that pop up everywhere, with just a phone number and a seemingly-unbelievable promise. "We Buy Houses" "Make $45 an Hour." They're becoming even more common during this recession, the Huffington Post Investigative Fund has found, and they made this video in Baltimore with Robert Strupp, director of research and policy at the Community Law Center. President Obama revealed his health care plan this week, and activists across the country are gearing up to push to actually pass health care reform. In this video from Ramblin' Man Films, we check in with protesters in Los Angeles outside of Anthem Blue Cross's office, angered by a 39% rate hike by the insurer. Frank Schaeffer, author of Crazy for God and Patience with God, has had enough of claims that America is now in a "post-racial" era; if that's true, he asks, why does so much of the opposition to Obama's actions seem to have a nasty undertone? Last week, while Esther Armah held down the fort here at GRITtv, Laura was in Santa Fe meeting with activists. Of course, she took a camera with her, and captured this interview with Maude Barlow, author of Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water and one time Senior Advisor on Water to the 63rd President of the United Nations General Assembly. We've also got the trailer for the documentary film FLOW, which Barlow also appeared in. Jose Alcoff was in Honduras recently, and contributed this exclusive report recapping the turmoil, and checking in with the social movements there about what's happening next. Finally, Laura and Mother Jones magazine have some suggestions for what we could do with the bankers' $20 billion.

Author Thomas Frank has spent a lot of time thinking about why people are Republicans or Democrats. His study of conservatives has left him convinced that having anti-government people in charge of government leads only to destruction. With a Democrat in charge in Washington, is there a way to fix the wreckage left behind? Frank sits down with Laura to discuss.