constitution
GRITtv: April 15, 2011
"I think it's an identity project that's been given to you, you can go out there and play the hero in the big scene, inscribe yourself in this political rhetoric about the situation," says Janus Metz, who went with a team of Danish soldiers to Afghanistan to make his documentary, Armadillo. The film follows the soldiers as they gradually become hardened to war and even commit acts that seem truly immoral. Janus joined Laura in studio for a conversation about the process of going to war with the soldiers and the reactions to his film. This is a moral issue; the budget is a moral document. We can take care of the deficit and rebuild our infrastructure and strengthen our safety net by reducing military spending and eliminating corporate subsidies and tax loopholes for the rich. Or we can sink further into debt and amoral individualism by demonizing and starving the poor. Which side are you on? Those are the words of GRITtv guest Mark Bittman in the New York Times recently, explaining the fast he had joined to protest austerity measures that overwhelmingly target the hungry. Now over 30,000 people have joined the fast, including pop star and GRITtv guest Moby, and MoveOn created this video in which fasters explain why they've made their choice. The Tea Party governor of Maine ordered a labor mural removed from the state's Department of Labor--and a controversy ensued that even involved the federal labor department, who contributed funds to the mural. Protesters have continued to fight to get the mural reinstated, but a group of artists made their protest a little more creative, projecting photos of the mural on the side of the capitol. And finally, Nancy Goldstein has some choice words for the President about Bradley Manning--some of them from Obama's own constitutional law professor. Distributed by Tubemogul.
Email this pageGRITtv: Nancy Goldstein: Losing Sleep over Bradley Manning
Phone home, Mr. President. Laurence Tribe, the legendary constitutional law professor, is really ticked off with you. That should be some kind of wake up call. Because he was your constitutional law professor. One of the key backers of your 2008 presidential campaign. Even joined your justice department as a legal adviser in 2010—briefly. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: John Nichols: The Right to Peaceably Assemble
When Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' Congress on Your Corner event was attacked on January 8th, gunman Jared Loughner did more than just go on a shooting spree. John Nichols notes that he attacked the very right of U.S. citizens to peaceably assemble and communicate with their representative in the government. When the 112th Congress first met this year, their first order of business was to read the Constitution out loud, and Rep. Giffords was the one who read the portion of the First Amendment that deals with the right to peaceably assemble, and Nichols argues that we need to honor Giffords and those killed that day by standing up for that right. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Jan. 6, 2011
John Boehner took charge of the House of Representatives with a bang--a really big bang, from a really big gavel. Also a few tears, of course, and a dramatic reading of the Constitution--though Nancy Giles notes that the Republicans might be surprised as to what they find in there, as they tend to treat it more like a game of Mad Libs. Meanwhile, the contest for who's going to lead the Republican National Committee seems to come down to who has bigger guns, and people are discussing excising the N-word -- yes, that one -- from Mark Twain's classic, Huckleberry Finn. Nancy, a contributor to CBS's Sunday Morning, joins us to discuss all this and more. A multibillion-dollar bailout and Wall Street's swift, subsequent reinstatement of gargantuan bonuses have inspired a narrative of parasitic bankers and other elites rigging the game for their own benefit. And this, in turn, has led to wider?and not unreasonable?fears that we are living in not merely a plutonomy, but a plutocracy, in which the rich display outsize political influence, narrowly self-interested motives, and a casual indifference to anyone outside their own rarefied economic bubble. So wrote Chrystia Freeland in a cover story in the new issue of The Atlantic. She joins us in the studio to discuss her piece, the new elite, and a few insights into the mindset of the ultra-ultra-rich. "Occasionally you see pictures and they're standing in some long line or applying for jobs, but they're not thought of," said GRITtv guest Edrie Irvine recently, speaking of unemployed people like her. She's right, and she's not the only one, Laura notes, missing from the discussion.
GRITtv: Nancy Giles: Gavels, Guns and Censorship
John Boehner took charge of the House of Representatives with a bang -- a really big bang, from a really big gavel. Also a few tears, of course, and a dramatic reading of the Constitution -- though Nancy Giles notes that the Republicans might be surprised as to what they find in there, as they tend to treat it more like a game of Mad Libs. Meanwhile, the contest for who's going to lead the Republican National Committee seems to come down to who has bigger guns, and people are discussing excising the N-word--yes, that one--from Mark Twain's classic, Huckleberry Finn. Nancy, a contributor to CBS's Sunday Morning, joins us to discuss all this and more.
GRITtv: Jan. 5, 2011
But there’s one big obstacle — almost as big as the rest put together — that has no pluses whatsoever, and that we don’t have to be stuck with: the arsenal of senatorial death rays that goes by the quaint name of filibuster. So wrote Hendrik Hertzberg in The New Yorker, and he joins us in studio to discuss the various proposals on the table to end abuse of the filibuster--or end the filibuster entirely. He also discusses the Constitutional basis -- or lack thereof -- of the filibuster, and argues that simple majority rule is the best for everyone.As Republicans take over the House of Representatives vowing to overturn Obama's health care reform, debate rages still among progressives as well about the best way to move forward toward still better health care for all. A judge in Virginia ruled the individual mandate portion of the bill unconstititional, and the case will likely wind up with the Supreme Court. Jamie Court of Consumer Watchdog says that progressives should cheer the end of the individual mandate; Maggie Mahar of the Health Beat Blog at the Century Foundation argues that the individual mandate is essential to health care reform.
GRITtv: Hendrik Hertzberg: Bust the Filibuster
"But there's one big obstacle - almost as big as the rest put together - that has no pluses whatsoever, and that we don't have to be stuck with: the arsenal of senatorial death rays that goes by the quaint name of filibuster." So wrote Hendrik Hertzberg in The New Yorker, and he joins us in studio to discuss the various proposals on the table to end abuse of the filibuster--or end the filibuster entirely. He also discusses the Constitutional basis -- or lack thereof -- of the filibuster, and argues that simple majority rule is the best for everyone.
GRITtv: The F Word: Constitutional Lessons For the New Congress
Republican lawmakers who read the Constitution out loud as their very first act in the new Congress better bask in their Tea Party glow because they're certainly not going to be feeling the love from Constitutional scholars. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Aug. 5 2010
In the nearly two years since Proposition 8 passed in California, putting a blot on the progressive victories of Election Day 2008 by taking marriage rights away from gay and lesbian citizens, there have been plenty of protests, arguments, and court cases. But when a judge appointed by George H.W. Bush struck down the law as unconstitutional on August 4, citing the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, celebration broke out around the country. The fight is, of course, far from over--the decision was stayed in expectation of inevitable appeal, and will probably end up before a conservative Supreme Court. But New York Assemblyman Daniel O'Donnell and comedian Kate Clinton are optimistic about eventual victory. Clinton joins us via Skype and O'Donnell in studio to discuss the victory, the decision, and the country's evolving view of equality. The aftermath of the earthquake that rocked Haiti six months ago had faded from the headlines when Haitian-American hip-hop artist Wyclef Jean announced that he would run for president of the country. Meanwhile, most Haitians are still struggling to rebuild, lacking basic necessities and sometimes succumbing to despair. Marie St. Cyr and Rodney Leon have both been working to help rebuild Haiti; St. Cyr with MADRE and the Lambi Fund of Haiti, and Leon as an architect, designing and helping to implement "soft houses" as interim solutions for those left homeless by the quake. They both returned to our studio to discuss the ongoing need for attention to Haiti's problems, and whether Wyclef's campaign will help or hurt.
GRITtv: The F Word: What Good is the 14th Amendment?
The 14th amendment has done it again! No wonder right wing radicals want to repeal it. Just a few days ago, in Congress, Tea Partiers and their pals were signing up 93 co-sponsors up for a bill to repeal the thing, or at least change it, to be clear that it can't and shouldn't justify citizenship for those born to inadequately documented people in the U.S.
