Money, the 2010 Election Season, and the Environment: Dave Leventhal of Open Secrets and Andrew Restuccia of The Washington Independent

Talk Nation Radio for October 28, 2010
Money, the 2010 Election Season, and the Environment
Dave Leventhal of Open Secrets and Andrew Restuccia of The Washington Independent

We’ll look at how the massive influx of dollars has impacted races in various states. The political debates nationwide have centered vaguely on taxes, fear has been a major component, yet what about concern about global warming? That has fallen by the wayside during an election season that has been mainly focused on generic voter angst. We discuss elections in key states.



Produced by Dori Smith, Storrs, CT
TRT: 29:23
Download at Pacifica's audioport here or at Radio4all.net and archive.org

Environmental groups like the Sierra Club and Clean Water Action have endorsed candidates. Still, they are scaling back their hopes and becoming more “realistic” according to our guest Andrew Restuccia of The Washington Independent. Andrew Restuccia writes about energy and the environment. He joins us to discuss his analysis of what might happen during the lame duck session and beyond when it comes to environmental legislation. How will key bills like Cap and Trade? Given the severity of the BP oil spill, can the new Congress pass a responsible package to respond to the disaster in 2010 and 2010? Or will it be gridlock?

And Dave Leventhal of Open Secrets explains how much money were talking about and the influence it has had on the 2010 Congressional Election. Dave Leventhal is communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics and editor of Open Secrets blog.

The group, Clean Water Action is calling the Rhode Island Governor’s race a priority, they’re endorsing Lincoln Chafee because of his vote to tighten mercury regulations on oil & gas power plants, and his authorship of the Brownfield’s Remediation Act. Chaffee also served on the Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works. That group is also endorsing Democrats David Cicilline and Jim Langevin for the House. In Massachusetts, Clean Water Action favors Jim McGovern, Niki Tsongas, and Bill Keating for the House. Deval Patrick for Governor. For New York they see Carolyn Maloney as the better House candidate. Turning to Connecticut, the Sierra Club has endorsed Richard Blumenthal, who says his support for cap and trade is incontrovertible. The long time Attorney General is in a hotly contested race against Republican Linda McMahon. Bloggers at My Left Nutmeg, criticize McMahon for her position against cap and trade and also for claiming that Blumenthal wants to set up a quote: “energy tax”

Open Secrets: Blumenthal has long been considered pro environment in Connecticut, and is actually opposing large rate hikes by North East Utilities. What may be more important though is the fact that Linda McMahon has sunk a fortune into the race. She has purchased saturation ad time and says she will continue to spend as much as 50 million on the race. She has spent nearly 44 million compared to Richard Blumenthal’s $7 and a half million. McMahon’s campaign is 100% self financed while Blumenthal’s campaign is 30% self financed. (Open Secrets)

Elections in all states are influenced by donations to parties from the oil and gas industries, but some states are more targeted than others to include Louisiana, Alaska, and Colorado. (Open Secrets)

Andrew Restuccia of The Washington Independent: "First and foremost is whether negotiations behind the scenes can get on-the-fence Democrats like Sen. Mary Landrieu (La.) and some Republicans on board. These negotiations will likely focus on language in the bill that removes a company’s $75 million cap on economic liability in the event of a spill. Landrieu and Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska), as well almost all Republicans, have raised concerns about the language.

Secondly, post-recess passage of the energy/oil spill bill will be dependent on the mood in the Senate after lawmakers talk to their constituents. It seems like it would be difficult to leave for the year without passing any legislation responding to the spill, but a lot will depend on pre-election jitters."



Underwriting for this program was brought to you by JeremyRHammond.com, political analysis from outside the standard framework. Jeremy R. Hammond is founder and editor of ForeignPolicyJournal.com and a recipient of the Project Censored 2010 Award. At jeremyrhammond.com, you will find stories about US policy on Iran, negotiating with the Taliban, Gaza, and more.

See: "Thin Evidence from War Logs of Iranian Backing of Iraqi Militias", Jeremy R. Hammond,
"Under the headline “Leaked Reports Detail Iran’s Aid for Iraqi Militias“, the New York Times reports that documents from the Wikileaks Iraq War Logs “provide a ground-level look – at least as seen by American units in the field and the United States’ military intelligence – at the shadow war between the United States and Iraqi militias backed by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.”

The Yes Men, Rainforest Action Network, Amazon Watch, Nab Chevron for False PR Campaign

Talk Nation Radio for October 21, 2010


The Yes Men, Rainforest Action Network, Amazon Watch, Nab Chevron for False PR Campaign
"We Agree" with Chevron say the Yes Men, but they are spoofing the oil giant.


Interview with Maria Ramos of the Rainforest Action Network about the trick they played on Chevron, and why. She discusses the critical situation in the Amazon where people are sick and some have died because of oil toxicity that is Chevron's responsibility. The oil giant has tried to evade that responsibility, and Ramos explains what they are doing to try to see to it that they clean up the ongoing oil disaster in the rainforest.

Media reports pay more attention to the spoof than Chevron's multi million dollar ad campaign.

TRT: 29:57 longer music fades
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at: Radio4all.net and Archive.org

CLIPS: Chevron Toxico: The Campaign for Justice in Ecuador

Clips: Woven Songs of the Amazon, film trailer shows women and children singing songs about the earth, water, and trees, and protecting them.

Stephen F. Downs of Project Salam on Repression against Muslims and Peace Activists

Talk Nation Radio for October 14, 2010

Stephen F. Downs of Project Salam on Repression against Muslims and Peace Activists:
Will the 2010 Midterms Lead to an increase in Repression?

Attorney Stephen F. Downs is with Project Salam in Albany, New York. Their new web project is designed to help people understand the magnitude of the problem of U.S. repression against Muslims. They will list hundreds of case histories of Muslims that have been arrested "preemptively" and unfairly, they say.



Produced by Dori Smith
TRT: 29:40
Download at Pacifica's audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

Attorney Stephen F. Downs joins us for a discussion about the growing climate of anger toward Muslim Americans. Is it the politics of the right? Right wing candidates are getting a bump from the media’s focus on anger itself as a motivator for casting a vote in the November 2nd election. If many of the more hard right wing candidates that are running actually win, could America become even more repressive toward Muslims that it is now? Already peace activists are being seen as next in line for FBI surveillance and so-called "preemptive arrest". Stephen F. Downs argues that we are in a devastating climate where lies and fear are once again the heart of the matter.

As to the media, there are lies of omission and lies of confusion. At a "Town Hall Meeting" on ABC, Christiane Amanpour framed the debate as a question about Holy War, should Americans Fear Muslims? The media encourages us to draw sides in often militant debates where news coverage has been short on the facts. The emotionally charged words of people like Rev. Franklin Graham provokes a response by claiming that Muslim nations "don't allow" the building of churches, a debate ensues. But news outlets don't clarify. In which Muslim nations are Temples or Churches not allowed?

In fact, in Iraq there are many Muslims, yet ancient Mosques and also Churches survived for hundreds of years before they were destroyed after the U.S. invasion and occupation of 2003. We will be following up with a discussion about the impact of Bush/Cheney policy, preemptive war and occupation, that it is war and occupation that provokes violence, not religion. In upcoming programs we will be taking a look at the real causes of violence in countries with Muslim populations. Dr. Robert Pape and others at the University of Chicago’s Project on Security and Terrorism. have studied the root cause of terrorism, and it's not being Muslim, not reading the Koran, but living under occupation.

Underwriting for this program was brought to you by JeremyRHammond.com, political analysis from outside the standard framework. Jeremy R. Hammond is founder and editor of ForeignPolicyJournal.com and a recipient of the Project Censored 2010 Award. At jeremyrhammond.com, you will find stories about US policy on Iran, negotiating with the Taliban, Gaza, and more.

Shannon Young from Oaxaca with News in Context: Compelled to Find Justice

Talk Nation Radio for October 7, 2010
Shannon Young from Oaxaca with News in Context: Compelled to Find Justice
Produced by Dori Smith, in Storrs, CT


TRT:29:33 music fades
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here and here and at radio4all.net and archive.org

Music by Fritz Heede, also Avion de Kondoy, Banda Region Mixe, on My Space. Other music of The Mixe of Tlahuitoltepec here.
Active audio Link: http://ia700106.us.archive.org/20/items/ShannonYoungFromOaxacaMexicoWithNewsInContext/2010-10-07-TNR-ShannonYoung-Oaxaca-NewsInContext.mp3 for download as an 128 Mp3 File.

Journalist Shannon Young is a headlines producer at FSRN, and reports for PRI, Public Radio International's, The World. She has been providing breaking news reports from Oaxaca, Mexico, during years of change and upheaval there. She joins us to talk about her breaking news stories in context. For example, she expands on her report on a paramilitary siege endangering civilians in San Juan Copala. Peace convoys trying to reach them have been violently attacked and rights workers died. Organizers of a convoy that was being organized to help women and children leave San Juan Copala for their safety were killed a day before the convoy was supposed to leave.

Shannon Young’s stories are best understand in the context of Oaxaca history and in San Juan Copala where there is a three way factional struggle that has long been exacerbated by the politics of poverty versus wealth. We’ll also hear about the isolation of some indigenous groups due to violence or landslides which have left some cut off since August. Then of course there is the ever present threat to journalists.

From Shannon Young's report to FSRN: San Juan Copala, in May of 2010: "The ambush last month that killed a prominent Mexican human rights defender and a Finnish observer near San Juan Copala, Oaxaca may be the first time in Mexican history that paramilitaries have opened fire on an international humanitarian caravan, but it’s not an isolated act of violence. The fiercely independent Triqui nation has been steeped in years of bitter internal fighting which was itself preceded by decades of military occupation. Francisco López Bárcenas, an academic who has written extensively about Triqui history, traces the current crisis back to the 1940s when the government withdrew recognition of San Juan Copala’s status as a county seat municipality – Mexico’s only political district with a distinctly Triqui identity. Governor and UBISORT paramilitaries".

Underwriting for this program was brought to you by JeremyRHammond.com, political analysis from outside the standard framework. Jeremy R. Hammond is founder and editor of ForeignPolicyJournal.com and a recipient of the Project Censored 2010 Award. At jeremyrhammond.com, you will find stories about US policy on Iran, negotiating with the Taliban, Gaza, and more.

Links: Democracy Now, Oaxaca Wiki, Salon Chingon, FSRN, Mexico Celebrates Bicentenial, FSRN, Mexican Prosecutor found Dead, Sprouts, PROTESTS IN OAXACA AND CALIFORNIA.

Shannon Young from Oaxaca with News in Context: Compelled to Find Justice

Talk Nation Radio for October 7, 2010
Shannon Young from Oaxaca with News in Context: Compelled to Find Justice
Produced by Dori Smith, in Storrs, CT


TRT:29:33 music fades
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here and here and at radio4all.net and archive.org

Music by Fritz Heede, also Avion de Kondoy, Banda Region Mixe, on My Space. Other music of The Mixe of Tlahuitoltepec here.
Active audio Link: http://ia700106.us.archive.org/20/items/ShannonYoungFromOaxacaMexicoWithNewsInContext/2010-10-07-TNR-ShannonYoung-Oaxaca-NewsInContext.mp3 for download as an 128 Mp3 File.

Journalist Shannon Young is a headlines producer at FSRN, and reports for PRI, Public Radio International's, The World. She has been providing breaking news reports from Oaxaca, Mexico, during years of change and upheaval there. She joins us to talk about her breaking news stories in context. For example, she expands on her report on a paramilitary siege endangering civilians in San Juan Copala. Peace convoys trying to reach them have been violently attacked and rights workers died. Organizers of a convoy that was being organized to help women and children leave San Juan Copala for their safety were killed a day before the convoy was supposed to leave.

Shannon Young’s stories are best understand in the context of Oaxaca history and in San Juan Copala where there is a three way factional struggle that has long been exacerbated by the politics of poverty versus wealth. We’ll also hear about the isolation of some indigenous groups due to violence or landslides which have left some cut off since August. Then of course there is the ever present threat to journalists.

From Shannon Young's report to FSRN: San Juan Copala, in May of 2010: "The ambush last month that killed a prominent Mexican human rights defender and a Finnish observer near San Juan Copala, Oaxaca may be the first time in Mexican history that paramilitaries have opened fire on an international humanitarian caravan, but it’s not an isolated act of violence. The fiercely independent Triqui nation has been steeped in years of bitter internal fighting which was itself preceded by decades of military occupation. Francisco López Bárcenas, an academic who has written extensively about Triqui history, traces the current crisis back to the 1940s when the government withdrew recognition of San Juan Copala’s status as a county seat municipality – Mexico’s only political district with a distinctly Triqui identity. Governor and UBISORT paramilitaries".

Underwriting for this program was brought to you by JeremyRHammond.com, political analysis from outside the standard framework. Jeremy R. Hammond is founder and editor of ForeignPolicyJournal.com and a recipient of the Project Censored 2010 Award. At jeremyrhammond.com, you will find stories about US policy on Iran, negotiating with the Taliban, Gaza, and more.

Links: Democracy Now, Oaxaca Wiki, Salon Chingon, FSRN, Mexico Celebrates Bicentenial, FSRN, Mexican Prosecutor found Dead.

Chris Gauvreau, CT Activist Responds to FBI Raids

Talk Nation Radio for September 30, 2010

Chris Gauvreau, CT Activist Responds to FBI Raids

Connecticut Groups Oppose FBI Raids on Unions and Peace Groups

Chris Gauvreau of Connecticut United for Peace discusses the uniting of her group with CAIR, the Council of American-Islamic Relations, in CT, http://www.cair-ct.com/ as they join other peace groups in vowing to keep on fighting policies of U.S. intervention, and demanding jobs. They see the latest rounds of FBI arrests and grand jury subpoenas as an outrage.


Produced by Dori Smith
TRT:29:00
Download at Pacifica’s audioport here and at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

Peace groups and union leaders in coalition with them have been organizing ahead of a national demonstration in Washington D.C. and we discuss the impact of FBI raids on peace activists who will be facing grand juries in early October. Groups are re declaring their commitment after the FBI has arrested and subpoenaed leaders in Chicago and Minneapolis just one week prior to their national protest.


Talk Nation Radio for September 30, 2010
Peace groups have set up a web site to discuss the crisis here. Chris Gauvreau offers advice to people who have been arrested or who fear they might be arrested in the ongoing FBI sweeps that have affected Quakers, Catholic Workers, the Thomas Merton House, Greenpeace, and groups working for Palestinian rights such as the Arab American Action Network. Their executive director, Hatem Abudayyeh of Chicago, is one of those subjected to an FBI raid and subpoenaed to a grand jury.

Why did FBI agents take these repressive measure now in spite of a Department of Justice review of their actions targeting the very same types of groups? They were criticized by the DOJ for applying 'war on terror' rules when targeting peace activists, yet they are claiming the very same grounds now. What is up with the FBI, and is it incompetence or a carefully planned political attack?

New reports (wire services) indicate that 22 FBI employees were just found to have cheated on tests during an open book exam on agent guidelines.The Office of the Inspector General found the cheating, and Inspector General Glenn Fine said, "We believe the extent of the cheating...was greater than the cases we detailed in this report." The Hartford Courant.

Chris Gauvreau has recently presented arguments against peace groups organizing a “right-left” coalition. We fold these comments into our program as part of a discussion on the wider political implications, and also air clips of what Noam Chomsky said during an interview with Tom Ashbrook of ‘On Point Radio.‘ The show is an NPR daily program produced out of Boston’s WBUR. They titled their interview with Chomsky: Noam Chomskey on U.S. Rage, Ruin. They have lately been taking a look at how anger is affecting voters ahead of the U.S. Congressional races November 2, 2010. Chomsky mentioned that there is a rising fascist trend in the United States. He also discussed the Republican Party as having deteriorated, and said members of the tea party are waiting to be organized.

These are voters who are being misinformed and who can’t vote their self interests until they have the facts. Chomsky is also calling on people who are being critical of the Tea Party voters to see some of what they are saying as a “cry for help”. The Democrats are not reaching out to them he argues.

Chris Gauvreau agrees with Chomsky and she has also said that the leadership on the right could not be helpful in building a national coalition of the majority. So it is a matter of addressing individual voters, not demagogic leaders using slogans, targeting Social Security, and in some cases using xenophobic and even racist language. Listen to her entire speech here along with other views about this topic:
http://www.thestruggle.org/MediaP.htm

October 9th CELEBRATION with Poetry, Dance, Music, Visual Arts, Willimantic, Connecticut

October 9th CELEBRATION with Poetry, Dance, Music, Visual Arts, Willimantic, Connecticut The line up will include Poetry, Dance, Music and Visual Arts, plus the writer Wally Lamb.




Download an interview with organizers Marge and David Schneider here.

Willimantic Makes it Happen and the Rays of Hope Project have a fun evening in store for you.

It’s a celebration with Poets, Dancers, Musicians, and Visual Artists, featuring writer Wally Lamb at the Capital Theater in Willimantic Connecticut on October 9th 2010. The event features some of the artists featured in Wally Lamb’s latest book, 'I'll Fly Away: Further Testimonies from the Women of York Prison' (2007). Plus world music, Afro, Celtic, Jazz and Funk: the music of Alvin Carter with African Drum, Katherine Blossom on Celtic Harp, Richard McGhee with flute and Peter Onofrio on Digeridoo, and singers Margaux Hayes and gospel singer Tonya Cherry May round out the program. Contact Margedavidpeace@yahoo.com for tickets and information.

There will be an auction run by the Mayor Ernest Eldridge, and you could wind up with 2 tickets to an African safari! The CELEBRATION is a chance to find great items, and you will be helping deserving people who have recovered from hard times to get what they need the most, JOBS.

This is the culminating event for the CooperARTiva fiesta that will be going on all day October 9th on Main Street in Willimantic, where people can workshop on how to trade job skills cooperatively. The doors open at 6:00 PM at the Capital Theater, 896 Main St., Willimantic, the curtain opens at 7:00 PM. Again for further information contact Marge or David Schneider for tickets at margedavidpeace@yahoo.com, or 860-872-6899.

Brad Friedman Troubleshoots our Voting Systems ahead of the November 2, 2010 Congressional Elections

Talk Nation Radio for September 23, 2010

Brad Friedman Troubleshoots our Voting Systems
ahead of the November 2, 2010 Congressional Elections

Voting special Number 1 for the 2010 Congressional Election on November 2, 2010

Produced by Dori Smith, Storrs, CT
TRT: 29:00
Download at Pacifica's audioport here
Or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

Brad Friedman of Bradblog.com joins us with an overview of the nation's voting systems as we approach the November 2nd, Congressional election. He has used his http://www.bradblog.com web site to document problems with the nations voting machines for years. We talk about the latest round of problems with voting machines and with absentee ballots, voter rolls, numbers that don't add up and more.

Brad Friedman raises questions: Did Tea Party Republican Christine O'Donnell actually win Delaware? He says no one can actually prove that she did. Meanwhile, angry Republicans have filed a Federal Elections Commission complaint against O'Donnell, but they are looking at campaign contributions and public outreach.

-Meg Whitman's attack on former President Bill CLinton about what amounted to a CNN error. "Billionaire Meg Whitman, a former EBay CEO who surpassed the $100 million mark in campaign spending nearly a month prior to the traditional Labor Day kickoff of the Fall campaign, who, by Sept. 16, had donated a record-smashing $119 million of her own funds to her campaign, who refused to meet with former California Democratic Governor Jerry Brown and Republican State Insurance Commissioner Steve Poisner in a pre-primary debate, has knowingly sought to fill the gaping knowledge deficit created by the corporate media's gross neglect of its fourth estate responsibilities with disinformation about Brown, her Democratic opponent". (From Bradblog.com)

How much negative campaigning can voters take and how much can wealthy candidates like Whitman or Republican Linda McMahon spend? Both gained razor sharp corporate skills, but are they running their campaigns more like CEO's than candidates?

As Linda McMahon campaigns for the U.S. Senate being vacated by long time Democratic Senator Chris Dodd, she is promising to spend as much as it takes to win. She has been saturating local TV and radio with negative attack ads about Attorney General Richard Blumenthal and some have questioned her judgment. Still she has pulled to near even with Blumenthal. But how much money are corporations contributing to candidates? They don't have to say.

We also hear about faulty voting machines and systems, it's Diebold again, and we hear about problems in Shelby County in Memphis, Tennessee where ten candidates filed lawsuit and in Alaska where Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski now plans to run as a write-in candidate after losing her GOP primary race to "Tea Party" candidate Joe Miller. Can the voting machine system really function for write in candidates?

http://www.bradblog.com

This program is produced in Storrs, Connecticut and syndicated nationally with Pacifica Network. Our web site is talknationradio.org and you can write to us at talknationradio@gmail.com. Our theme music is by Fritz Heede.

Underwriting for this program was brought to you by JeremyRHammond.com, political analysis from outside the standard framework. He is founder and editor of ForeignPolicyJournal.com and a recipient of the Project Censored 2010 Award. New at jeremyrhammond.com, “Newly Disclosed Documents Shed More Light on Early Taliban Offers, Pakistan Role”, a review of Taliban proposals to turn over Osama bin Laden and Pakistani efforts to get the U.S. to negotiate with the Taliban on their offers.”

Talk Nation Radio interview with Jeremy R. Hammond Has the US been fomenting unrest in Iran? here

Jerry Lembcke interviewed by Dori Smith on his book, Hanoi Jane, part 2

Talk Nation Radio for September 15, 2010,
Jerry Lembcke on his book, Hanoi Jane, part 2

Produced by, Dori Smith in Storrs, Connecticut and syndicated with Pacifica Network
TRT: 29:00
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org. Here is an active link: http://ia360700.us.archive.org/11/items/AnInterviewWithJerryLembckeOnHisBookHanoiJanePart2/2010-09-15-Jerry-Lembcke-Part2-Myths-and-War-Vietnam-to-Iraq-Afghanistan.mp3



We hear more from Vietnam War veteran and scholar Jerry Lembcke as we continue our conversation about propaganda, myths, and war, from Vietnam to Iraq and Afghanistan. Jerry Lembcke is a Professor of sociology at the College of the Holy Cross and served as a chaplain’s assistant during the war. His 2010 book about actress Jane Fonda is titled, 'Hanoi Jane, War, Sex, and Fantasies of Betrayal' published by University of Massachusetts Press, 2010. (See Amazon)

Jane Fonda visited Vietnam in 1972 as one of hundreds of peace activists. They were trying to reach out to the enemy and send a message to both the American people and U.S. forces, that the war was wrong. Like others before her including Pete Seeger and Noam Chomsky, she made an appeal for peace on Radio Hanoi, accusing the Nixon administration of lying to the troops. Her message to U.S. pilots according to Lembcke was, 'If they told you the truth, you wouldn’t fight, you wouldn’t kill'.

Jane Fonda was accused of demoralizing the troops and POW's with the broadcasts. Yet during his research for the book, Jerry Lembcke had trouble finding any U.S. veterans who remembered even hearing the radio dispatch. It was in fact the hard right wing, the John Birch society, even the Klu Klux Klan* that went after Jane Fonda. They began calling her Hanoi Jane and making all sorts of charges that she was a traitor. The FBI had in fact created a file on her, and Jerry Lembcke found an undated page stating that Fonda “denied being a Communist”. A memo from 1972 classifying her though as quote: “not dangerous”. It was the height of the Cold War, but there are many similarities to what is happening in the media today,

During the Vietnam War era many Americans were struggling to cope with the heavy cost of the war and confidence in the Nixon administration was shaky. There were regular news reports showing the devastating consequences of U.S. carpet bombing on Vietnamese civilians in vivid detail.

The Hanoi Jane myth was later folded into Hollywood’s portrayal of soldiers who were psychologically damaged by the war. The crisis in confidence that was really caused by the fact that the U.S. Military lost Saigon, was covered up in a smokescreen of excuses about U.S. peace activists like Fonda who were supposedly causing the loss, and because of her tremendous beauty she was also accused of castrating soldiers. In truth, the soldiers became invisible, replaced by macho mythology that helped to disguise America’s failed policy and hide those responsible for it.

During the Presidency of George W. Bush, and in the wake of 9/11, rhetoric about U.S. war policies was in many ways similar to rhetoric from former President Nixon. Americans were divided into hawks versus doves, and Nixon created a political smokescreen, covering up policy failures by turning U.S. attention to questions of honor. He was talking about a cessation of hostilities, but at the same time escalating U.S. forces.

The Vietnam War was very costly to both the U.S. and Vietnamese forces. There were 58,159 U.S. military casualties, more than 303,000 were seriously wounded. The highest price for the war, however, was paid by the people of Indochina. U.S. bombing and ground war killed most of the 4 million civilians who perished in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

The famous CBS News man, Walter Cronkite said of April 29, 1975, the day U.S. forces were airlifted from Saigon, that it was "a mad dash out the door into the parking lot for the waiting helicopter. And then it was farewell to Vietnam." He also said, 'We should be very cautious. We should be sure that we understand what we're getting into when we dabble in the affairs of other nations. And that is particularly true when dabbling gets to the point of committing military forces'. Walter Cronkite reflecting on U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam.

Jerry Lembcke on Propaganda, Myths, and War, from Vietnam to Iraq

Talk Nation Radio for September 9, 2010

Scholar and Vietnam War veteran Jerry Lembcke joins us to talk about propaganda, myths, and war, from Vietnam to Iraq. Who betrayed U.S. soldiers during the Vietnam War era? Who is betraying them today? We discuss the similarities along with imagery in popular culture that now substitutes for real history lessons.



Jerry Lembcke is a professor of sociology at the College of the Holy Cross. His 2010 book about actress Jane Fonda is titled, 'Hanoi Jane, War, Sex, and Fantasies of Betrayal'. His previous book was, 'The Spitting Image: Myth, Memory, and the Legacy of Vietnam'. He has been trying to set the record straight about war in general and he is exposing a political tactic of scapegoating peace activists like famed actress Jane Fonda.

Jerry Lembcke has explained that stories about US soldiers being spat upon as they returned home have been wildly exaggerated to the point where people get the impression of peace activists lining up to spit on returning soldiers as they arrived at airports. (Does that sound like the peace activists you know?) In fact, the spitting myths are but one of many devices used by the right to attack the left, and in the process bury the truth about the lives of U.S. soldiers and the Vietnam War.

Jane Fonda is blamed, peace activists are blamed, for U.S. failures, rather than the architects of the Vietnam War war itself. Such rewriting of history adjusts our attention away from grotesque U.S. policy blunders and atrocities.

Produced by Dori Smith, Storrs, CT, syndicated with Pacifica Network
TRT: 29:25
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here and at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

Since the 2004 swift boat propaganda campaign against then Presidential candidate John Kerry, U.S. political campaigns have seemed more like a review of Vietnam War era 'patriotism' than current Iraq and Afghan War policies. The glaring absence of real debate about America’s trillion dollar wars has left a void that the political right wing has stepped into just ahead of the 2010 Congressional vote. Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, for example, is boosting fear and anger with appearances on US television. He is re-framing political discourse about Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran, into an old-fashioned cold war era battle against Islamic extremism. Blair helped former President George W. Bush, former VP Dick Cheney and former Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld, sell the Iraq War back in 2003 and 2003. He is now doing the same thing for President Obama, arguing that if he were still in office he would likely attack Iran. Blair refuses to admit that he was wrong about the invasion of Iraq based on the argument that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. He didn't. We hear clips of Blair onPBS and ABC.

The cost of war against Iran today would be immeasurable, would likely kill millions according to global security experts. The general public is nevertheless being denied real media debate about the costs. In fact, the American people are not getting the truth about the motivations of those who are designing new rhetoric about old arguments for attacking Iran. An additional cost of such an action could be the reinstatement of a military draft.

We review an era when the draft pulled in lots of different kinds of Americans, many of whom would eventually become peace activists like Jerry Lembcke. Why were their stories folded into a new narrative, who has distorted Vietnam War history, and why?

The most important truth about the cost of the Vietnam War is that 58,159 US Military personnel were killed, over 303,000 were wounded, many suffered in Indochinese POW camps. Four million Indochinese civilians perished during saturation bombing by US forces and in the ground warfare. (From U.S. Military records available online and Wiki, in more detail: here and here for civilian casualty numbers.)

Underwriting for this program was brought to you by JeremyRHammond.com, political analysis from outside the standard framework. He is founder and editor of ForeignPolicyJournal.com and a recipient of the Project Censored 2010 Award. “New at JeremyRHammond.com, the piece, ‘Turning Back From the Point of No Return: Implications of the Threat to Bomb Iran.’ He wrote it to counter the public narrative arguing that an air strike on Iran might be necessary in order to prevent a nuclear holocaust.”

Josh Ruebner on Israeli and Palestinian Talks in DC

Talk Nation Radio for September 3, 2010
Josh Ruebner on Israeli and Palestinian Talks in DC

He is national advocacy director for the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation And Marine Biologist Dr. Samantha Joye, Journalist Dahr Jamail, chemical dispersants breaking up oil but making toxicity in Gulf of Mexico worse.

First, this news about an oil and natural gas platform explosion about 100 miles off Louisiana's central coast in the Gulf of Mexico. An oil sheen was detectable for about a mile near the site owned by Mariner energy. We’ve not been able to determine if Mariner has used dispersants in the area. Spokespersons for the company say they will now try to learn what they can from the BP spill. Hopefully, that will include information from marine biologists who have found that dispersants like Corexit could make the environmental damage from the accident worse.

According to an article in Deep Sea News notes that fifty percent of studies found that chemical additives inhibited microbial degradation and the other half of studies didn’t find any significant difference between treatment and control groups. The author, Bik, (part two of the story) reports that the most toxic components of oil, the Polyaromatic Hydrocarbans, are not biodegraded by dispersants. This has been known for at least two years.
Marine Biologist Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia told us that she feels it was a mistake for BP to use the dispersants in the Gulf.

Journalist Dahr Jamail has been reporting from the Gulf of Mexico and found ample evidence that the Corexit dispersant being sprayed from planes, poured, and distributed via automatic pumps, in the Gulf, is dangerous to both marine life and human beings. (See also the litigation involving BP, Corexit, and Earth Justice here in the July 14, 2010, piece by Brian Smith, 'Earthjustice Sues EPA for Oil Dispersant Safety Information').



TRT: 29:00
Download at Pacifica's audioport here
also at Radio4all.net and archive.org plus archive.org

Josh Ruebner, U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation discusses the U.S. led talks between Palestinians and Israelis begin with news of an attack by Hamas. We discuss the talks in context with both headline news and the problems inherent to such talks dating back to the Oslo accords.

This week's program is dedicated to Karin Norton who has been battling major illness. Karin has been devoted to peace and justice causes as a professional social worker and activist. She spent more than ten years as the public affairs director for WHUS radio, a Pacifica affiliate at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. She has served as an advisor to this and other radio programs going back to the 1980s and 90s and she has been a true friend. The Israeli human rights organization B'tselem has condemned an attack by Hamas which killed four Israeli civilians just prior to peace talks in Washington, D.C. B'tselem calling the attack a violation of international law.

The human rights organization has long been critical of the Israeli authority for its tendency to respond to Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians by committing more violations of international law and human rights. On their web site B’tselem points out that Israel has employed an undeclared policy of leniency and compromise toward the perpetrators. They continue to document incidents of settler violence against Palestinians including killings and illegal theft of Palestinian homes. The imbalance in protection of basic human rights will no doubt be a major stumbling block in peace negotiations.

Underwriting for this program was brought to you by JeremyRHammond.com, political analysis from outside the standard framework. He is founder and editor of ForeignPolicyJournal.com and a recipient of the Project Censored 2010 Award. “New at JeremyRHammond.com, the piece, ‘Turning Back From the Point of No Return: Implications of the Threat to Bomb Iran.’ He wrote it to counter the public narrative arguing that an air strike on Iran might be necessary in order to prevent a nuclear holocaust.”

Jen Marlowe on her play, There is a Field, the life and death of Palestinian Aseel Asleh in context

Talk Nation Radio for August 26, 2010
A Call to Theatrical Action from Jen Marlowe



Jen Marlowe on her play, There is a Field, the life and death of Palestinian Aseel Asleh in context

Produced by Dori Smith, Storrs, CT
Download at Pacifica's Audioport here or at Radio4all.net and Archive.org

www.donkeysaddle.org For information on how to do a dramatic reading or performance of the play, There is a Field.

Jen Marlowe is an award winning filmmaker, human rights activist, author and playwright. We talk about her new play, 'There is a Field' as she organizes simultaneous readings throughout the month of October. It is to mark the 10th anniversary of the death of Israeli Palestinian, Aseel Asleh, a peace activist.

Aseel Asleh was 17-years-old. He was shot to death by Israeli security forces in 2000. Jen Marlowe tells his story, talks about his writing, the words and stories of his family and friends, and explains the historical meaning of his life.

The Israeli security forces ran at Aseel Asleh, charged him, as he stood watching a peaceful demonstration. He ran and they chased him into an olive grove. As his friends and horrified parents watched the Israeli security agents hit him with a rifle butt knocking him to the ground. He fell out of sight and then they all heard the shot… “You can come and get him now” an Israeli said to Asleh’s parents. The evidence points to an execution style shooting of a young man who dreamed of peace, not war, and friendships, not hatreds.

Jen Marlowe explains how she has developed her play to tell the story of one individual who lost his life as a way to help people understand the broader crisis facing Palestinians inside Israel. Jen Marlowe has was a friend to Aseel Asleh and remains close to his family.

Underwriting for this program was brought to you by JeremyRHammond.com, political analysis from outside the standard framework. He is founder and editor of ForeignPolicyJournal.com and a recipient of the Project Censored 2010 Award. “New at JeremyRHammond.com, the piece, ‘Turning Back From the Point of No Return: Implications of the Threat to Bomb Iran.’ He wrote it to counter the public narrative arguing that an air strike on Iran might be necessary in order to prevent a nuclear holocaust.” An Atlantic Magazine article by Goldberg indicates that an Iran attack might be necessary to 'prevent'a nuclear holocaust.