• Guest: Jeremy Ben-Ami, Executive Director, J Street, the political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement.
  
• Guest: Ray Hanania. Award winning journalist, stand up comedian & author (hosts a daily radio show on Chicago's WJJG 1530AM). A Palestinian American "Defining the moderate Palestinian Arab voice, offering reason to the American, Israeli and Arab publics. He has been a participant in peace talks in the past, meeting Yasser Arafat.


• Guest: Carrie Lukas, Vice President for Policy and Economics, Independent Women's Forum. What should be included in the '09 economic stimulus package?


• Guest: Andy Barr, Communications Director for Al Franken. Not one bit of effort was wasted, it is so close. The board will meet in hour and half, and is expected to declare Al the winner.


• Guest: Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation magazine. New book, "The Nation Guide to The Nation.


• Guest: Bill Samuel. AFL-CIO and the new Administration. They are launching a green jobs for America programme.

Topics, guests, upcoming events, quotes, links to articles, audio clips, books & bumper music.

Monday 05 January '09 show

• Quote: "It's not too late to seek a newer world."- Alfred Lord Tennyson.
  
• Al Franken has won most votes, but will he be certified? Roland Burris, will he be seated?
  
• Obama's financial stimulus package.
  
• Gaza summary. Hospitals are overwhelmed by the injured, including children. Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Neither Israel nor Hamas is cooperating.
  
• Thom:
  
  
  
• Article: Turkey wants international monitors to ensure Gaza truce.
  "Egyptian officials said Monday that Cairo was set to demand an immediate cease-fire from Hamas in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli forces moved into their 10th day of a military offensive on the coastal territory".
  
• Guests:
  
  
  
  • Jeremy Ben-Ami, Executive Director, J Street, the political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement.
    
  • Ray Hanania. Award winning journalist, stand up comedian & author (hosts a daily radio show on Chicago's WJJG 1530AM). A Palestinian American "Defining the moderate Palestinian Arab voice, offering reason to the American, Israeli and Arab publics. He has been a participant in peace talks in the past, meeting Yasser Arafat.
  
  The Israelis are driving the process right now. The newspapers and individuals in Israel are displaying a wide range of views. Jeremy said we are continuing down an unproductive path. There is no serious American engagement. If nobody steps in before Obama takes office there will be at least 3 more weeks of pointless violence. I3 the timing of the Israeli action tied to the waning days of the Bush administration and the February elections coming up? The 6 month truce was scheduled to end (coincidence?), elections coming up. Ray said the response from the Palestinian community was, as always, reactive. These emotions don't do anything to move things forward and resolve issues. There are huge protests in Chicago. We can continue to do the blame game, or we try to can find solutions. We need more people who can resist the temptation to point to the other side.
  
  Sarkozy, Hamas and Turkey are meeting in Egypt. Egypt to demand an immediate cease-fire from Hamas. The UN is telling Israel to stop. Jeremy: there are two levels, how do we stop the immediate violence, and how do we reach a longer term solution to prevent further flare ups? The former head of the Mossad, Efraim Halevy, Former Head of Mossad said we could have avoided this if Israel had wanted to open up the crossings and ease the blockade on Gaza. If they had, Hamas might have extended the cease fire. There was misinformation being out out to hide the beginning of the attack. They want Obama to put the issue at the center of his foreign policy. How better to rehabilitate America's standing in the world than to bring the parties together to explore the proposal by the Arab League for full recognition of Israel by the entire Arab community in return for a land for peace agreement?
  
  Ray said we need a Jimmy Carter. Obama's one president at a time is not working, we don't really have a president. By saying no at the UN, as we did yesterday, we are contributing to the problem. He was involved during the Clinton administration, to help sell the idea, to get Middle East and Palestinian American support for it. Former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski put Joe Scarborough in his place on Morning Joe (video) pointing out that Carter had worked things out with Arafat, who was taking it back to get it signed off, but then there were elections. Ray said that back in the 80's the PLO realized they could only go so far with revolution. They were influenced by Professor Ibrahim Abu-Lughod at Northwestern and Professor Edward Said to pursue a 2 state compromise with Israel to end the conflict and allow the Palestinians to get a base to reestablish their homeland. Arafat pursued that but it wasn't until Rabin in the 90s agreed. He met Arafat several tomes after they signed at the White House in 1993, and he had a difficult time explaining the issue of the right of return. He was able to accept compensation as a compromise, but his people did not understand that it was in their best interests. The one state solution would mean going back to before 1948, which is just not possible. It's not an easy issue to bring to a population constantly under threat of violence, and that has seen so many negotiations go nowhere.
  
  Statements such as calling Palestinians squatter are divisive. AIPAC. What about the Palestine lobby? Why are there not more Arab American journalists, etc? Where Ray's parents came from freedom of speech was restricted, the grandfather ran everything even though the kids much better qualified. Thom's piece " The Goddess of Democracy: A Sacred Archetype to Heal the World" in "From The Ashes". Thom is pro Israel, pro Palestine, pro peace.
  
• Bumper Music: Patriot's Plea,, Chuck Dunlap.
  
• Bumper Music: If today was your last day, Nickelback (video)
  
• Guest: Carrie Lukas, Vice President for Policy and Economics, Independent Women's Forum. Author, "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Women, Sex, and Feminism". What should be included in the '09 economic stimulus package? At least $300 billion of the estimated $700 billion will be tax cuts largely skewed towards working people and people who get tax credit, because they will spend it all. Thom thinks bad idea, because employers knows how much take-home pay you will work for so wages will go down after the short term stimulus. So over time income taxes are irrelevant to working people. [phones went down]. Rant on lowering taxes. Carrie agreed it will not change the long term dynamic, we should focus on the main things, like onerous high corporation tax rates. Thom said there are a zillion loopholes, so in fact US corporations pay near the lowest. But corporations use the commons. History does not support her assertion.
  
• Bumper Music: Bobble Head, Erin McCarley.
  
• Bumper Music: Over My Head, Fleetwood Mac.
  
• Music: Ghost Chickens in the Sky, Sean Morey.
  
• Article: The winged landlords of Rajasthan. Pigeons.