civil liberties
GRITtv: Feb. 10, 2011
"We don't write about class struggle in the US so it's hard for us to see it elsewhere," says the Huffington Post's Ryan Grim on the failings of the US media around issues in Egypt. And Katrina vanden Heuvel notes that Islamophobia in the US leads many to focus on fear of the Muslim Brotherhood rather than understanding the ways that Islam and democracy coexist and complement one another.Here in the US, too, there were big media stories, as the Huffington Post merged with AOL, and Keith Olbermann signed up with Al Gore's Current TV. What's in those stories for independent media? Ryan, Katrina and Laura discuss.Karwan Abdul Kader left Iraq when he was 7, seeking refuge from Saddam's attacks on the Kurds. But he faces a different kind of attack in the U.S., as this next clip from our friends at Breakthrough shows. He shares his story of dealing with racial profiling after escaping a dictatorship.As the news comes that Mubarak may be gone from Egypt, attention has turned to his newly appointed Vice President (and possibly soon President) Omar Suleiman. Suleiman came up through the ranks of Egypt's intelligence service, and Jane Mayer and others have pointed out his role in American rendition programs. Meanwhile at home, several former CIA officers involved in some of the most egregious human rights offenses of the "war on terror" have not only not faced charges--they've been promoted.To discuss this and more, we have former US Air Force interrogator and author of the new book Kill or Capture , Matthew Alexander.Finally, speaking of the "war on terror," parts of the PATRIOT Act came up for renewal this week--and were shut down in the House by an oddly bipartisan coalition. A Tea Party revolt? Laura has some thoughts.
Email this pageGRITtv: F Word: Bright Bipartisan Future on Civil Liberties?
Lately, when the term “bipartisan compromise” is tossed around, it tends to mean that Democrats are giving in to the Republican position on issues, or that women's rights are being sacrificed to some larger purpose. But there was bipartisanship of a different sort this week in the House, when civil libertarians on the left and the right of each party joined together to defeat some particularly controversial portions of the PATRIOT Act. Distributed by Tubemogul.
GRITtv: Oct. 4 2010
"We need a grassroots coalition that's comparable to the Tea Party movement in many respects. It needs to be fairly decentralized, easy for people to join, and it needs to be audacious," says Bill Fletcher, Jr. of the way forward after the success of this past weekend's One Nation rally in Washington, D.C. This rally, he notes, needs to not simply be a nice day out for progressives--it needs to be a turning of the tide, a reversal of course away from anger and toward solidarity.Bill joins guest host Richard Kim of The Nation to discuss the rally this weekend, the media's reaction to it, and what it really means to be audacious.Laura was a cohost for Free Speech TV's coverage of the One Nation march this weekend, and she and Thom Hartmann spoke to two participants there who remember another march on Washington--one in 1963, for civil rights.
GRITtv: John Nichols: Fighting for Feingold
Russ Feingold has consistently been a progressive Senator to be counted on: the sole vote against the PATRIOT Act, a principled vote against bailing out the banks, a tireless fighter for civil liberties, and a man willing to stand up to his own party as well as the opposition. So it's no surprise that he's a prime target for conservatives. John Nichols is from Feingold's home state of Wisconsin, and when he came by our studio recently, he gave us his thoughts on Feingold's race to keep his seat.
Global Report: Aug. 4-10: Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the US
Afghanistan questions American silence about its ally Pakistan supporting the Taliban; leaked documents show the United States paying Afghan news media for positive coverage; President Barak Obama wants to double US weapons sales around the world; and oil and chemical dispersant from BP's disaster in the Gulf is now in the food-chain. These stories and more.
Global Report: July 7-13: Spying On Peace Activists On the Rise
Global Report news anchors Eamon Martin and Allie Morris review highlights from the week in under-reported news. This week: Pakistanis blame the US "war on terror" for an attack that killed 42 people; meanwhile, Iraq's government has been without a government for 4 months, and despite major bombings and assassinations, visiting Vice President Joe Biden had an upbeat message for the 4th of July. These stories and more!
GRITtv: N.Y. Activists Take On Stupak
On December 2, 2009, activists from NARAL Pro-Choice New York, Planned Parenthood, the New York Civil Liberties Union, and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health headed to Washington, D.C., for a day of lobbying against the Stupak amendment to the health care bill, which drastically sets back women's access to safe and legal abortion.
GRITtv: Dec. 15, 2009
In the news today: a tour of bicycle-friendly Copenhagen; who made Joe Lieberman king of health-care; Philippine transgender activist Sass Rogando Sasot addressed a panel of the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, France, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, calling for action to end discrimination and violence against people based on their gender identity; and Tabla player Suphala talks about her instrument and her cultural diplomacy, and plays a few songs with Mike Block on cello and Hadi Eldebek on oud.
August in the Empire State Part Two
The 2004 presidential election was one of the most politically divisive moments in recent American history. Amidst the division, the Republican Party held its first ever convention in New York City. Using the convention and the animated reaction of New Yorkers as its backdrop, "August in the Empire State Part Two" continues a look at the forgotten debate over the growth of poverty in America. The film takes the viewer behind the scenes, exposing the people and the very personal stakes at the heart of what divides us as a country.
August in the Empire State Part One
The 2004 presidential election was one of the most politically divisive moments in recent American history. Amidst the division, the Republican Party held its first ever convention in New York City, a potent symbol for both President Bush and the local progressives energized to defeat him. Using the convention and the animated reaction of New Yorkers as its backdrop, "August in the Empire State Part One" delves into the forgotten debate over the growth of poverty in America. The film follows two characters in the months leading up to the convention: Paul Rodriguez, a conservative Republican Congressional candidate, and Cheri Honkala, the National Spokesperson for the Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, the largest grassroots organization of poor people in the U.S, taking the viewer behind the scenes, exposing the people and the very personal stakes at the heart of what divides us as a country.
