honduras

Latin America is ahead of the curve when it comes to fighting resource-extracting corporations, says NYU professor Greg Grandin. While Obama makes nice with BP CEO Tony Hayward (and Glenn Beck claims that Obama is unfair to Hayward because he's white), Grandin notes, social movements across South and Central America have been fighting the companies that are after their resources for a while now--and dealing with the repercussions; often violent death squads, as well. Grandin joins us to keep us up to date on the coup in Honduras, the ongoing resource struggles in Latin America, and give us some insight on just why Glenn Beck has a "Tourettes-like" obsession with race. We also bring you footage from a new film that goes inside the Honduran coup; from director Katia Lara, check out "Who Is Afraid: Fathoming the Coup in Honduras."

Tea Party crowds held protests last week for tax day, but recent articles and polls have laid more blame for the anger at Obama at the feet of a deep-seated racial anxiety among certain sectors of Americans. "We have to embrace the fact that America is still going through a racial crisis," notes multimedia journalist and former NPR host Farai Chideya. Farai joins us in studio to talk about the "battle for the soul of America," and why the problem for some people isn't just their economic situation--it's that situation in relation to that of others. Barack Obama was able to win the presidency in part because of the strong support of self-identified "independent" voters. Yet the Tea Party movement draws many who also refer to themselves as independents. As the 2010 midterm elections approach, who's going to win over those supposed independents this time? And what about independent candidates for office? Joining us to discuss are Bill Hillsman, author of Run the Other Way: Fixing the Two-Party System, One Campaign at a Time, and Malia Lazu, executive director of The Gathering for Social Justice. The coup in Honduras is old news, but conflicts still endure in the Central American country. One of them has been portrayed by the media in Honduras as a fight between "terrorists," possibly foreign-supported, and the law-abiding government and military. The truth, as this video from The Real News Network shows, is a little different. Finally, the economy's getting better! Or is it? What's the real cost of the bailouts, anyway? Laura takes a look.

The coup in Honduras has all but been forgotten these days, but the people's struggle there goes on. Jose Alcoff was there recently, and contributed this exclusive report recapping the turmoil and checking in with the social movements there about what will happen next.

Obama's preparing for his first State of the Union speech, and we're wondering if once again he's going to try to be all things to all people. After all, on the campaign trail he dismissed talk of a spending freeze, only to adopt that language a year into his administration, and with the economic team he's still using, he's starting to remind us of the last Democratic president, Bill Clinton--who may have slashed the deficit, but did so on the back of his "welfare reform. We talk about Obama's choices for the economy and the path we hope he'll take now with Kai Wright of The Nation and The Root, Jeff Madrick, author of "The Case for Big Government," and Lynn Parramore of the New Deal 2.0. Cornel West, Princeton professor and author of "Democracy Matters," recorded a video message for President Obama on the eve of his first State of the Union address, asking him to recommit to concern for poor and working people. Some of the students from the Ciné Institute, who shot footage we've been airing from Haiti over the last couple of weeks, tell their personal stories from the earthquake. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders has been an outspoken leader in the Senate on everything from the fight for single-payer health care reform to blocking Fed chair Ben Bernanke's reappointment.