Wednesday 25 March '09 show

• Thom was traveling to Germany, so Carl Wolfson and Christine Alexander, Thom’s co-hosts at KPOJ, filled in.
• Book: "The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld: A Prosecution by Book", Michael Ratner.
• Article: Justice after Bush: Prosecuting an outlaw administration, Scott Horton.
• Guest: Michael Ratner, president of the Center for Constitutional Rights and author of “The Trial of Donald Rumsfeld: A Prosecution by Book”. Truth commission vs. special prosecutor. Scott Horton Harper's article. A lot of the truth is already out. Jonathan Turley on Rachel Maddow earlier in the week asking what more do we need, the Red Cross said there was torture. The Department of Justice should be going forward already, there are plenty of reports. Why not international? The US has not joined the International Court of Justice, so jurisdiction is limited, but some sites were in countries that have joined, so they could prosecute those. They are political and avoid big western countries. Change in terminology from enemy combatant, but came up with different wording referring to almost the same people. Obama is not repudiating Bush's powers.
• Nixon should have been taken to court; two-tiered system. Cheney.
• Why is Obama putting the country further in debt, giving money to the rich?
• Upcoming Event: May 2 – Denver, CO – Green Festival – Thom is keynoting.
• Article: China to unleash 'Marx the Musical'.
• Article: Huzza! Md. mulls changing 'offensive' state song. "Northern scum".
• Clip:
  "But one of the most important lessons to learn from this crisis is that our economy only works if we recognize that we're all in this together, that we all have responsibilities to each other and to our country.

  Bankers and executives on Wall Street need to realize that enriching themselves on the taxpayers' dime is inexcusable, that the days of outsized rewards and reckless speculation that puts us all at risk have to be over.

  At the same time, the rest of us can't afford to demonize every investor or entrepreneur who seeks to make a profit. That drive is what has always fueled our prosperity, and it is what will ultimately get these banks lending and our economy moving once more.

  We'll recover from this recession, but it will take time, it will take patience and it will take an understanding that, when we all work together, when each of us looks beyond our own short-term interest to the wider set of obligations we have towards each other, that's when we succeed, that's when we prosper and that's what is needed right now.

  So let's look towards the future with a renewed sense of common purpose, a renewed determination, and most importantly, renewed confidence that a better day will come.

  "
  Obama's news conference, Tuesday, March 24, 2009.
• Income inequality rant.
• Tom Tancredo, who will be on Thom's show tomorrow, does not want to be known as single issue guy.
• Janet Napolitano, the new United States Secretary of Homeland Security, was replaced as Arizona Governor by Jan Brewer, extreme right wing. Arizona has had 3 female governors in a row. The top 5 were all women, once.
• Torture. Dick Cheney death squad. We need investigation. Donald Rumsfeld. Bipartisan report, including John McCain. Evan Bayh.
• Weasel of the week.
• Guest: "Everything You Know is Wrong": Ken Davis, "Don't Know Much About" series, America's Hidden History: Untold Tales of the First Pilgrims, Fighting Women, and Forgotten Founders Who Shaped a Nation. The best and the worst movies from a historical accuracy point of view, rather than from the acting or cinematography, plus some favorites.

  "

  Glory", "Mississippi Burning", "JFK", "Sophie Scholl - Die letzten Tage", "Schindler's List", "Cradle Will Rock", "Amistad", "Roots", "Taking Chance".
• Carl was auctioning off lunch with Thom for a group, and bidding reached a plateau. Carl threw in Thom's wife, Louise, and it took off again.
• Carl and Christine's suggested films: "Secret Honor", "Lincoln", "A Face in the Crowd", "Cradle Will Rock", "Bob Roberts" (a spoof, and Tim Robbins would not release the sound track in case it was miss-used), "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington", "Wag the Dog".
• Article: "Our Choice": Al Gore's New Book Follows On "Inconvenient Truth".
• Newspapers are closing down, so radio is important.
• Article: "Judgment at Nuremberg", "King Rat".
• Torture. Truth and reconciliation, which Carl says is half-baked. It is not good enough.
• "A Night to Remember", "Shackleton", "Inherit the Wind", "The Beast of War", "Das Boot", "Nixon", "Born on the Fourth of July", "JFK", "Wall Street", "Thirteen Days", "Meet Mr. X: The Personality & Thoughts of Fletcher Prouty".
• Art as a communicator.
• Article: Inside The White House: How Vets Won The Insurance Billing Battle.
• Article: Obama's Turnabout On Vets Highlights Budgeting Nuances.
• Article: Legislation Would Create Iraq War Registry.
• Article: Jim Strickland: A Military Veteran's Guide To Disability Compensation And Pension Benefits.
• Article: Court Notifies Vets Of Class Action Settlement In Va Computer Theft -- Those who suffered out-of-pocket expense because of computer theft can now make a claim for repayment..
• Guest: Larry Scott, founder and Editor of VA Watch Dog. "The American Veteran's On-Line News Magazine". Veterans' issues. "Putney Swope". Obama proposed an 11% increase in the budget for the VA. The administration trotted out and pulled back a proposal to bill for service-related treatment. People confused. The story, Pelosi called Obama and got it off the table, but how did it get on in the first place? Washington Post article. U.S. Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-Goddard) has introduced a bill to prevent it in the future. Chemical exposure, incinerators were used to burn trash. Curtis memo. Oregon National Guard, sodium dichromate, KBr. Bill for Iraq War registry. How to file a claim, Jim Strickland. Laptop theft, class action suit.
• Thom has called in to the morning show from Peru, Denmark, Sudan, the inauguration, and many American cities.
• "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb".
• Dick Cheney. Obama is a constitution lawyer. Cheney will claim he is a political prisoner. Injured soldiers from illegal war.
• We own 79.9% of AIG. Geithner wants new regulatory power so can seize non-bank institutions.
• Clip:
  Peter DeFazio: "But I support a tremendous era of reregulation here. I think we're at a turning point. We've got two choices to make, here. we can continue with this bubble cycle which has pretty much been going on since we started radical regulation about 30 years ago; the boom-bust bubble stuff. Or we can rebuild a robust regulatory structure that creates not only transparency, but restricts activities of a lot of folks. We also start enforcing anti-trust law so they don;t get too big too fail and then we don't have to worry about it very much, except and unless they are defrauding individual investors or pension funds or whatever. And that's why we also need a law enforcement investigatory apparatus, I think I talked about it last week. We need a massive investigation of everything that's gone on here. Something like the ? Commission, and people need to go to jail."
  Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio on today's KPOJ Mornings show about Tim Geithner's public/private bank plan.
• Clip:
  Peter DeFazio: "We had a very compelling presentation by Elizabeth Warren the other night, who's the Congressional board overseeing the TARP program, and it was appalling what she had to say; what went on, what is still going on, and very critical of what's being proposed with this new so-called private/public partnership."
  Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio on today's KPOJ Mornings show.
• Article: If Goldman Returns Aid, Will Others?
• Clip:
  Peter DeFazio: "Goldman Sachs has got money coming in the front and back door. Of course, they want to get out now. I mean, they got money up front; the government gave them money in the TARP program, and then they got money out of AIG. I mean, when I asked Geithner this a week ago Monday, I said, 'Gee, the Wall Street Journal said last weekend that Goldman Sachs and a bunch of other companies had made these bets', and I asked did they make them as a naked bet, which is called a naked credit default swap, or were they really insuring a collateralised debt obligation? He said, 'well, don't believe everything you read in the Wall Street Journal; those aren't necessarily accurate'. Well, it turns out, yes indeed, we are paying off all of Goldman Sachs' bets with AIG, we're paying off Deutsche Bank's bets with AIG, we're paying off a whole host of people's bets. So, Goldman Sachs have got their bets repaid from AIG through the taxpayers, thank you very much, and then the taxpayers shoveled money in the front door to Goldman Sachs. Of course they want out, so they can start paying massive bonuses again."
  Oregon Congressman Peter DeFazio on today's KPOJ Mornings show.
• Naked v nekkid.
• Article: EPA blocks mountaintop removal.
• Article: A Conversation with Timothy F. Geithner, Council on Foreign Relations.
  "Tomorrow, I testify in the House and begin the process of laying out a broader framework of financial reforms. And we're going to lay out a range of measures to help produce a more stable financial system in the future. Among other things, we're going to propose substantial changes to the basic prudential requirements, those that affect capital, liquidity, reserves, so that once we get through this crisis the large institutions that pose systemic risk to this system in the future have much greater cushions against future stress and shocks. We want these to be designed in a way that dampen rather than amplify future financial crises."
• Article: Barack Obama news conference, March 24, 2009.
• Ellen Ratner of Talk Radio News. Geithner at conference on foreign relations, tomorrow he'll be at the White House and will begin to lay out the broader framework of financial reform. People have now been nominated for most of the positions under him. The presidents news conference last night. She thinks that raising taxes on charitable contributions is very short sighted; Obama defended it in his press conference. Cap and trade.