GDAE Podcast - Episode 18

American Exceptionalism

• Exploring "American Exceptionalism" with journalism professor Robert Jensen
• MUSIC: "If I had a Rocket Launcher," by Ryan Harvey
• Recession Vs Depression
• Worse than 1930s Depression? Insights from Nixon advisor Kevin Phillips
• Prosecuting Bush Officials: Rogue CIA Agents who went beyond the torture memos.

Play GDAE Podcast Episode 18 from this page.

Previous Episodes & 60-Sec Promo:

GDAE Podcast 60-Second Promo

GDAE Podcast Episode 17 August 31, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 16 July 30, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 15 June 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 14 June 10, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 13 May 22, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 12May 5, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 11 April 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 10 April 9, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 9 March 28, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 8 March 15, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 7 March 1, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 6 February 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 5 February 6, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 4 January 24, 2009

Emanuel and Obama Shockers

On Sunday: Rahm Emanuel says Obama will not prosecute Bush attorneys.

On Tuesday: President Obama says prosecution possible.

My heart sank after reading about Emanuel's statement. My heart lifted when hearing President Obama's statement.

Our best hope of preventing similar crimes in the future is to hold Bush administration criminals accountable in full public view.

• Contact Obama
  Comment Line: (202)456-1111.

• Contact Attorney General Eric Holder
  

• Contact the Broadcast Media
  
• Contact the Newspapers
  
• Contact the US Senate
  
• Contact the House of Representatives

GDAE Podcast Episode 8

Episode 8 - March 15, 2009 

• Music by Ryan Harvey about a Swimm'n Hole;
• Nancy Pelosi on the Prosecution of Bush administration officials (Rachel Maddow Excerpt);
• Rolling Stone's Matt Taibbi on the Depths of the Financial Crisis (Media Matters Excerpt);
• E-mails and Protest Placards
• Nationalizing banks, a Definition.

Play GDAE Podcast Episode 8 from this page.

Previous Episodes & 60-Sec Promo:

GDAE Podcast Episode 7 March 1, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 6 February 17, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 5 February 6, 2009
GDAE Podcast Episode 4 January 24, 2009
GDAE Podcast 60-Second Promo

Visit GDAE Podcast webpage - CLICK HERE.

FISA Obermann and Obama

Really. this is a "must watch" set of videos. Usually, I don't have patience for corporate media, but Obermann has done his homework on this. The "key" point is what he says about "criminal" prosecution of telecom companies, which apparently isn't closed by the FISA legislation. We can make change if we push on this issue collecitvely.

Part 1

Part 2

Keith Olbermann discusses Sen. Barack Obama's second chance to vote on the FISA bill & still show voters that he can stand on principle through the advantage of a loophole within the bill.

Justice Prevailing in Chile Fifteen Years Later

Bush operatives take note. You should never rest easy, because justice just might prevail in your prosecution.

Chile Cracks Down on Ex-Dictatorship Forces

In Chile, arrest warrants have been issued for nearly 100 former soldiers and police officers under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. It’s the single largest mass arrest for crimes under the seventeen-year military rule that began with the overthrow of the elected Allende government in 1973. The suspects are accused of involvement in Operation Colombo, in which at least 120 dissidents were killed. Chilean Interior Ministry lawyer Boris Paredes says the government will press the case until the end.

Boris Paredes:

Judge Montiglio’s investigations are accusatory investigations. Because of this, they give so much responsibility, which is logical here because the entire state conspired in this crime, in these horrendous crimes. Therefore, we will pursue criminal responsibilities to the end.

More than 3,000 people died under Pinochet’s rule. He died in December 2006 after evading numerous attempts to put him on trial.

Sources:


DemocracyNow Headlines, May 27, 2008.

Preserve Right to Criminal Prosecution of Bush

For the next three weeks the blog takes to the road. Last time I did this I was exposed to the NYC Mentality.

OK. So there's a debate about the wisdom of impeaching Bush. I side with those who say Impeach Bush and Cheney to set the record straight for history, and to deter future Presidents from abusing power.

Despite Pelosi's "off-the-table" proclamation, the impeachment process is happening; that's because it is an organic process that unravels on it's own, just like the GOP support for the Iraq war is unraveling.

Politics is the art of the possible. The US House of Representatives should impeach Bush and Cheney with an explicit provision that the Senate need not act on the impeachment. This would avoid the question of double-jeopardy, thereby preserving the right to criminally prosecute Bush for capital offenses (See Update).

This is a win-win compromise for the progressive camps on both sides of the impeachment debate. It addresses the concerns of people like Senator Sherrod Brown who think Rove and others will exploit the situation by having the press say, "Give Democrats power, and see what they do with it? Spend time on vindictive acts rather than solving problems of the people."

The talk needs to turn to criminal prosecution of Bush Administration officials. Once we get Bush over the barrel, with capital punishment in play, then we can start talking about a grand compromise that will redistribute some of our stolen wealth.