Radio Or Not

Please join us at the NEW Radioornot.com

2010-01-31T13:42:00.000-05:00

The Nicole Sandler Show continues online at Radio Or Not, Monday through Thursday from 6-8pm EST/3-5pm PST.

If you're still arriving at this blog, you're following the old link. Please click here or point your browser to www.radioornot.com to visit the new and improved website.

Beginning Monday, February 1, we'll have a live audio-only stream in addition to the video stream I've been using since transitioning to internet only following the demise of Air America radio.

Please go to the new site for more information, and be sure to sign up for our email newsletter!

It's All Just a Little Bit of History Repeating....

2010-01-25T16:51:00.000-05:00

It’s odd that on the day that the Supreme Court ruled that corporations are persons when it comes to first amendment rights, the corporation that I worked for died. There will be no funeral or burial for Air America, just a lot of people either mourning its loss or cheering its demise, and Monday morning quarterbacking why and how it failed.

All I know is that I’ve been here before. A couple of times.
Many of my listeners know that I came to talk radio from the music side. I had the opportunity to be part of a radio station in Los Angeles that was truly a treasure. KSCA fm 101.9 was the last station owned by Gene Autry’s Golden West Broadcasters. As his health was failing and the radio consolidation boom was in full explosion mode, Jackie Autry pulled the plug on LA’s Finest Rock.

We had some warning, and we held a wake. I still get emails from listeners asking me if there’s anything like KSCA anywhere. (Yes, but that’s a story for another day…)

A few years later, I was fortunate to be in on the start up of another “Triple A” station in Los Angeles. Clear Channel had decided to take two small signals, both at 103.1 FM, and simulcast an adult alternative format on them, and hired me as Music Director/Afternoon host. Channel 103.1 wasn’t quite KSCA, but it was still a wonderful radio station… until consolidation got the best of us again.

When Clear Channel merged with another broadcasting behemoth, the resulting mega group had too many stations in Los Angeles, and some had to be divested. My station included!

However, by that time, the internet boom was in full swing, and we were a unique format– a type of music station that wasn’t in every city. Clear Channel had recently launched their internet department, and I made the case to my boss that we could make history as the first radio station to go from a terrestrial signal to internet only. Much to my pleasure and surprise, they decided to do it!

You can read my account of the transition, the Chicago Tribune’s coverage, Washington Post, NY Times… You get the idea. We were the first. We were revolutionary. We made news.

We were too early! The dot com bust happened less than a year after the transition, and the door was shut on worldclassrock.com in August 2001.

I’ve seen too many radio entities, into which I had put my heart and soul, die.

It’s now ten years after my first radio to internet only venture failed. We’ve reached new levels of connectivity and technology that makes it possible to pick up internet radio. The Consumer Electronics Show held just a few weeks ago featured a new in-dash wifi internet radio, as detailed in this Consumer Reports article, and I constantly hear from listeners who are hearing my show on their iPhones.

So, here we go again. This time, I hope, we’re right on time!

When you log back on to RadioOrNot.com, you’ll notice a brand new website (thanks to the amazing Heather Chase!). Now that I’m my own boss again, I’ll give myself a better time slot, so I can get to sleep at a reasonable hour.

So, starting tonight, The Nicole Sandler Show will be live from 6-8pm ET/3-5pm PT. While I figure out the best solution for audio streaming, you’ll be able to watch and listen to the show live via the ustream link embedded directly into the RadioOrNot website.

Shortly after the end of the show, the video will be archived, and the audio stream will be ready for podcasting or downloading.

There’s obviously still a lot of work to be done, and speed bumps to traverse. I hope you’ll check out the new website, and feel free to send any bugs you find, or suggestions about how to make it better. Stay tuned for info about the audio stream in the next few days. And please help spread the word. This can only work if you help!

That said, should you in a position to help financially and are so inclined, The Nicole Sandler Show is now listener supported. There’s a paypal link in the upper right hand corner of the page. All contributions are truly appreciated!

My show will also be available for radio stations to run. Please feel free to call or write you local station and suggest they carry it!

Thanks again for all the wonderful emails and kind thoughts since we got the news. They mean more to me than I can express.

As long as you want to hear the show, we’ll keep going…. Radio or not….

Life Goes On or Every Cloud has a Silver Lining

2010-01-24T13:52:00.002-05:00

***Post corrected! The new time for The Nicole Sandler Show, beginning Monday Jan. 25, is 6-8pm ET. You can find the links to watch/listen right here at RadioOrNot.com ***

It's been a really rough week.

It started last Sunday, when my boyfriend and I realized it was time to put his dog down. Orion was 12 years old, and had suffered for the last year from oral melanoma. Despite David's superhuman efforts, love and ridiculous amount of money spent, Orion closed his eyes for the last time Sunday afternoon.

On Tuesday, Scott Brown won the Senate seat held by Ted Kennedy for the last 46 years, and killing the supposed filibuster-proof majority (not that it did the Dems much good, anyway).

Thursday started off badly enough, with the Supreme Court ruling that effectively gutted democracy in the USA. No, I'm not exaggerating. The laws that limited corporate campaign contributions that have stood for over 100 years were overturned by five activist members of SCOTUS.

While I was scrambling Thursday afternoon to bring you a show to spell out how serious an event that was for our country, I got the news that Air America radio had closed its doors.

No, it was not a good week at all.

I still had to do a show Thursday night. As a radio lifer, it's what I do.

I had gone through a similar situation in 2000-2001. The station I was working for at the time, Channel 103.1 in Los Angeles, was sold. It had been owned by Clear Channel but, due to a merger with another broadcasting behemoth, had to be divested.

The internet boom was in full swing, and we were a unique format-- a type of music station that wasn't in every city. Clear Channel had recently launched their internet department, and I made the case to my boss (the wonderful Charlie Rahilly) that we could make history as the first radio station to go from a terrestrial signal to internet only.

You can read my account of the transition, the Chicago Tribune's coverage, Washington Post, NY Times... You get the idea. We were the first. We were revolutionary. We made news.

We were too early! The dot com bust happened less than a year after the transition, and the door was shut on worldclassrock.com in August 2001.

Then 9/11 happened, and I found myself without a microphone. It was tough to sit by that day and watch the world change and not be able to interact with people on the air.

So, when our world changed on Thursday via the Supreme Court decision and, albeit in a smaller way, though the loss of Air America, I knew I had to keep talking.

Thankfully, I had started webcasting my show recently using ustream. Though this website, Facebook and twitter, and my email list, I was able to spread the word that I would do my show Thursday night.

By scrolling down to the right blog entry, clicking the link to your left or clicking here, you can watch the show I did Thursday night. And if you just want the audio, click here to listen.

You can also subscribe to my podcasts via iTunes here.

In the days and weeks ahead, I'll be figuring out the best way to bring you the show live via audio and video streams, as well as a podcasting model. I hope you'll bear with me as I get all the pieces of the puzzle placed. But I want to keep the show going uninterrupted while I do all of that.

Beginning tomorrow-Monday- I'll move the show to a more reasonable hour. I'll be live from 6-8pm, Monday thru Thursday, for now anyway. I hope you'll join me!

All you need to do is come here to www.radioornot.com for all the links you'll need to watch or listen. And please spread the word to your friends and other interested people.

Thanks for your continued support. It means more to me than you know!

My first post Air America show

2010-01-22T01:25:00.000-05:00

Today was a tough day. After learning that Air America had ceased operations, following the horrendous Supreme Court ruling on corporate campaign contributions, I knew I had to get back on the air, or web, as it were.

Thanks to all who came and watched & listened. I appreciate the support more than you know!

I'm going to take tomorrow off, have a long weekend, regroup, and I'll be back Monday. I'm not sure what time I'll be on, though. The late night thing does take it's toll, so I'll likely move the show to an earlier time slot. Your suggestions are welcome (nicole at nicolesandler.com).

Please check back here over the weekend or Monday morning, as I'll be sure to have an update here!

In the meantime, here's tonight's show.... just in case you couldn't stay awake!

SCOTUS Screwed Us

2010-01-21T22:07:00.004-05:00

Watch this video for the information on how the Supreme Court screwed the American people today with their ruling on Citizens United vs. the FEC

Air America Radio - RIP, but Radio or Not lives on!

2010-01-21T18:25:00.001-05:00

I'll have to really take some time to put together a fitting eulogy for the company who helped bring a progressive message to a country inundated with right wing propaganda.

But for now, I'm focused on getting through tonight's show. Yes, you heard right. I will do a live show tonight in my former 11pm-1am ET timeslot on Air America. On the left hand side of the page you'll see a screen that will go live when the show begins at 11pm.

Today brought such bad news from the Supreme Court, and I spent all day putting together a show to help get the word out about what the ruling in Citizens United vs. the FEC means.

I'll be joined by John Bonifaz, legal director of Voter Action, and the director of the new campaign for a constitutional amendment to clarify that corporations are not people and the constitution doesn't give them rights under the first amendment, at www.freespeechforpeople.org.

I'll also speak with Congressman Alan Grayson (who's launched a website to help turn things around at www.savedemocracy.net) and Congresswoman Donna Edwards (who is introducing legislation for a constitutional amendment) about what happened today. And we'll lighten things up a bit with my regular Thursday night guest John Fugelsang.

I hope you'll join me too.!

Happy Anniversary Mr. President... or Not

2010-01-20T22:35:00.001-05:00

Today marks one year since we all watched Barack Obama sworn in as the 44th President of these United States. Tonight we'll take a look at how he's doing.

I'll be joined by Ellen Ratner of the Talk Radio News Service, Bill Adair- Washington Bureau Chief of the St. Petersburg Times and Editor of PolitiFact.com, legendary White House correspondent Helen Thomas, and Jason Leopold - Deputy Managing Editor of Truthout.org and Editor-at-Large of The Public Record.

You already know my thoughts, though I'm sure I'll elaborate tonight. And I look forward to hearing what you think of Obama's first year in office too. Feel free to post them here, and call in tonight between 11pm and 1am ET at 866-303-2270.

Watch me talk, or just listen to the audio stream by clicking on the links!

Why We Need Real Health Care Reform (and what we've been given so far isn't)

2010-01-19T18:10:00.000-05:00

I don't understand the people in this country who think we don't need health care reform. Perhaps they lack the compassion gene. How can anyone deny that we have a serious problem in the United States when a family can lose everything simply because one of its members got sick?

Compassion is a theme to which I keep returning, for good reason. Access to quality, affordable health care should be a basic human right, not a privilege for the wealthy. The United States is the only developed nation on the planet that doesn't take care of its citizens in this most basic and, yes, compassionate way.

In this country where the middle class is quickly dwindling, our health care stem is only helping to accelerate the process. With real unemployment hovering at around 17.3%, more and more Americans are losing their employer-provided insurance policies each day. COBRA is prohibitively expensive but, if you're lucky enough to have enough money squirreled away to pay the premiums, watch out when the 18 months is up.
< Along with probably millions of other Americans, I'm living the problem right now.

On August 22, 2008, I lost my job. The morning show I hosted on South Florida's then-progressive talk station was replaced by Imus(!), followed by a full format flip six months later, but that's a story for another day!. On Sept. 1, I went on COBRA.

COBRA is an acronym for The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, which allows workers and their families who lose their jobs, and therefore their benefits, to continue participating in the group plan for up to 18 months, by paying for the full cost of the policy, up to 102%.

With so many Americans losing their jobs during this recession, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 offered some help by way of premium reduction. Eligible people would only have to pay 35% of the COBRA premiums, with the other 65% reimbursed to the employer through a tax credit.

This break originally was to last for nine months, but was later extended to 15.

Unfortunately for me, to be eligible, "the involuntary termination" must have occurred between September 1, 2008 and February 29, 2010. Yes, I was fired on August 22. If only for eight days more...

But that still wouldn't help me now, as the length of COBRA coverage is only 18 months. My coverage runs out on February 28, 2010.

So, I've been shopping around to see what's available.

My plan doesn't allow for conversion to an individual plan, so that option is out. There are a number of websites that will allow you to shop for health insurance, so I began looking. At first blush, it seems almost manageable. But don't be fooled.

I turned 50 in November. I'm relatively healthy, but I challenge you to find a 50-year old who doesn't have at least one "pre-existing condition." You'd certainly have to look beyond me to find one!

I got a representative from United Health Care on the phone to find out what my options were. I answered her litany of questions before getting to the kicker: In the last 10 years, have you had any abnormal physical exam, x-ray, EKG, MRI, CT scan or any adverse or abnormal laboratory or other test results?

Well, duh! In 10 years? Of course. Here we go...

I had to disclose that I've had two bouts with skin cancer. A malignant melanoma a few years ago, and that pesky squamous cell carcinoma that was removed from my nose just three weeks ago. Bingo.

According to one of the brokers I spoke with, who represents Aetna, Cigna, Humana and a number of other ~~extortionists~~ health insurance companies, in order to be approved, one must be "squamous-free for 10 years!"

So, do I have any recourse? Yes. There are six questions you're asked to determine if you are eligible for a guaranteed issue "HIPAA" plan. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, in addition to being responsible for all those privacy papers you have to sign at any visit to a doctor, also makes some provisions for continuation of coverage.

If you answer yes to all of the following questions, you're eligible to buy insurance from the company you're currently with, with a caveat. Of course, there's always a caveat. Hold on, it's coming.

But first, the questions:

I do not have any other health insurance coverage (or it will be involuntarily terminated soon).
I have been insured by creditable coverage¹ (as defined below) for the last 18 months or more with no lapse in coverage of more than 63 days.
My most recent coverage was under a group health plan² (as defined below), a governmental plan, or a church plan; or under an individual plan that terminated due to: the insurer's insolvency; the insurer's discontinuance of all its individual coverage in Florida; or the fact that I no longer live in a Florida service area of my prior insurer's network plan.
My most recent coverage was not terminated due to nonpayment of premiums, fraud, or intentional misrepresentations.
I am not eligible for any coverage under a conversion plan, a group health plan² (as defined below), Medicare, or Medicaid.
I accepted and exhausted any group continuation of coverage (including COBRA) that was offered to me.

Yippee! I answered yes to all six questions! I can get insurance! Oh yeah, the caveat.

If you answered YES to all six questions, your current insurer has to cover you, pre-existing conditions and all, for 10% above the cost of the policy, multiplied by two! Did you get that?

My i~~nsurance~~ extortionist company, United Healthcare, has one plan that they can offer me. It's their "co-pay select". They offer it with a choice of at $2500 or $5000 deductible, with 80/20 co-insurance. I asked the woman on the line what that would cost.

She was only able to give me ballpark figures, but here's what I was able to write down through my anger and tears.

She said that the $2500 deductible plan was somewhere around $476 a month, plus 10% then doubled, with the grand total for me coming out to $1073 a month. When I asked about the $5000 deductible, it came out to around $800 a month. For me only! Plus a $5000 deductible.

If the health care bill passes as it now looks, I'd be the not-so-proud owner of a "Cadillac Plan!" The definition of a Cadillac plan is one that costs more than $8500 a year for a single person.

With the higher deductible, this policy would cost me $9600 with another $5k out of pocket before the insurance pays, for a grand total of $14,600. With the lower deductible, I get to pay this leech $12,876 plus another $2500 before they come to the party, for a total of $15,376.

And REFORM would tax me on that to boot?

John McCain campaigned on the absurd notion of taxing health care benefits; Barack Obama opposed it. Why then is President Obama pushing it now? Doesn't he get what he's doing to middle class working people like me?

I'm getting screwed from both sides, and it's certainly not fun.

This is not the change I voted for. And if the Democrats and the administration are wondering why the base is turning on them, all they have to do is read my story. I am not alone. There are millions more Americans just like me, fighting to keep their heads above water but getting deeper by the minute. If they don't fix this bill while they still can, we're all going to drown.

What If Martha Coakley loses?

2010-01-18T22:05:00.001-05:00

Let's consider the possibilities. Conventional wisdom says that health care dies with her senatorial bid. Not so fast, my friend. And, honestly, it might work out for the best!

To those who are saying that the House would just have to pass the Senate bill as it stands so that they wouldn't need 60 votes in the Senate again, I say it's that kind of thinking that took Single Payer off the table even before dinner was cooking!

Let's face it, we were sold out by the same Democrats who promised us change. Instead of change, we got more of the same government for the big corporations who ~~bribe~~ make the biggest campaign contributions.

The fact that the Democratic Party is faced with the loss of the Senate seat that Ted Kennedy held for 46 years should be a massive wake-up call to the party of Hope & Change! WE VOTED FOR CHANGE! We voted for REAL health care reform, not a massive corporate giveaway to the for-profit health insurance ~~extortionists~~ industry.

If Martha Coakley loses tomorrow, it's time for the Dems to make a deal. Not with Ben Nelson or Joe Lieberman or Mary Landrieu or Blanche Lincoln. But FOR us, the American people who voted them into office. Because if Martha Coakley loses tomorrow, it'll be because of the deals the White House and the ConservaDems and the Blue Dogs made with the devil for which they sold us out!

This deal should be for the people, pure and simple. The House will agree to pass the Senate bill as it is, on the condition that immediately, a companion bill is introduced through budget reconciliation - that would only require 51 votes to pass - that would give us a robust and meaningful public option, a medicare buy-in for people aged 55-64, re-importation of prescription drugs, and the end of the insurance industry anti-trust exemption.

And what if Martha Coakley wins tomorrow? They should do the same exact thing!

Democratic Leadership, LISTEN UP: Learn from your mistakes, and realize that the people are turning against you because we believe that you've turned against us. Show us that you're fighting for us, and we'll remember that feeling we had last January 20, when we really believed things were going to get better. If you don't learn from this experience, get ready for the Scott Browns to crawl out of their rat holes all over the country and wipe the floor with the Martha Coakley's because most of us won't believe a single thing you say, and will have no desire to vote for you at all.

Tonight, I'll be joined on my Air America radio show by Brent Budowsky, who's written a couple of pieces for The Hill on this topic ("If Massachusetts goes Republican, all hell breaks loose with healthcare!" and "Win One For The Ted," and Brad Friedman of BradBlog who has a warning about tomorrow's special election in Massachusetts because of the Diebold optical-scan machines in use there.

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, or on either the audio or video stream to your left, and call in at 866-303-2270!

Also on the show tonight...

2010-01-15T22:48:00.000-05:00

In addition to speaking with Bob Ferguson of Oxfam America, I'll be joined by Larisa Alexandrovna, managing editor of investigative news for Raw Story. We'll talk a bit about what's happening in Haiti, and she'll also fill us in on a disturbingly sad story about former UN weapons inspector Scott Ritter.

It was a busy week in the war against prohibition. In our second hour tonight, I'll be joined by Judge Jim Gray, retired CA Superior Court judge who's a speaker for Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, and author of Why Our Drug Laws Have Failed And What We Can Do About It: A Judicial Indictment of the War on Drugs."

And we'll wrap up the week on the same subject with Raw Story's Stephen C. Webster, who's responsible for the vast majority of drug war reporting at Raw Story, who'll fill us in on where we are in this insane waste of money.

Look to your left for links to listen and/or watch the video stream live. Calls are welcome too, at 866-303-2270 from 11pm-1am ET/8-10pm PT.

A Heartbreaking Week Comes To An End

2010-01-15T22:28:00.000-05:00

I'm certainly glad it's Friday. This has been an incredibly difficult week.

Although Monday was just another day, the world changed on Tuesday afternoon at 4:53pm ET. It's impossible to avoid the heartbreaking stories and images coming from Haiti, where the death toll today is estimated at somewhere around 150,000 people.

Schools, hospitals, homes and most of the other buildings in and around the capital city of Port Au Prince collapsed under a massive earthquake that registered 7.0 on the Richter scale. As the days pass, the chances of survivors being pulled from the wreckage lessens.

And we watch, helplessly, though not hopelessly. We're still hoping for the best, yet sadly, aware that this is truly the worst for a country that has already seen so much disaster and sorrow.
The silver lining to this very dark cloud is evident in the depths to which Americans have reached to help our neighbors in the Caribbean. It's difficult not to feel pride when the lists of relief agencies run pages long, and the posts on Twitter and Facebook show our friends and acquaintances filled with compassion and care.

Most of us (the Rush Limbaughs of the world notwithstanding) are coming together in solidarity to do whatever we can to help these people, and in our thoughts/prayers/wishes that help arrives as soon as possible.

Tonight I'll speak with Bob Ferguson who works for OxFam America as their Music Artist Relations coordinator about what musical artists are doing in our worldwide quest to help.

Many of us have taken advantage of the ease of text message donations. Today, the Red Cross crossed the $10 million threshold of donations received from people texting Haiti to 90999. Each time someone does that, $10 goes to the Red Cross. I did that on Wednesday, as did so many others.

There are now many other relief organizations who are tapping in to the text network for donations as well. Tonight OxFam America, who is on the ground in Haiti providing clean water and sanitation to survivors joins in. Text OXFAM to 25383 to make a $10 donation to their Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.

Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile have all agreed to waive their regular texting charges for these donations, and Verizon has agreed to pay all the money pledged immediately, rather than wait until the cell phone bills are paid. The others are expected to follow suit.

In addition to those two text donation numbers, here are some others you might want to help:

Text HAITI to 25383
International Rescue Committee
Donates $5
Text HAITI to 52000
Salvation Army
Donates $10
Text YELE to 501501
Yéle
Donates $5
Text HAITI to 864833
The United Way
Donates $5
Text CERF to 90999
The United Nations Foundation
Donates $5
Text DISASTER to 90999
Compassion International
Text HAITI to 20222
The Clinton Foundation
Donates $10

And should you want to check out a long and growing list of relief organizations to help in other ways, here's a great list provided by The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC:

Action Against Hunger, 877-777-1420
American Red Cross, 800-733-2767
American Jewish World Service, 212-792-2900
AmeriCares, 800-486-4357
Artists for Peace and Justice
Beyond Borders, 866-424-8403
CARE, 800-521-2273
CarmaFoundation
Catholic Relief Services, 800-736-3467
Childcare Worldwide, 800-553-2328
Concern Worldwide, 212-557-8000
Cross International, 800-391-8545
Direct Relief International, 805-964-4767
Doctors Without Borders, 888-392-0392
Feed My Starving Children, 763-504-2919
Food for the Poor, 800-427-9104
Friends of WFP, 866-929-1694
Haiti Children, 877-424-8454
Haiti Marycare, 203-675-4770
Haitian Health Foundation, 860-886-4357
Hope for Haiti, 239-434-7183
International Medical Corps, 800-481-4462
International Rescue Committee, 877-733-8433
International Relief Teams, 619-284-7979
Lutheran World Relief, 800-597-5972
Medical Teams International, 800-959-4325
Meds and Food for Kids, 314-420-1634
Mennonite Central Committee, 888-563-4676
Mercy Corps, 888-256-1900
Operation Blessing, 800-730-2537
Operation USA, 800-678-7255
Oxfam, 800-776-9326
Partners in Health, 617-432-5298
Project HOPE, 800-544-4073
Rural Haiti Project, 347-405-5552
The Salvation Army, 800-725-2769
Samaritan's Purse, 828-262-1980
Save the Children, 800-728-3843
UN Central Emergency Response Fund
UNICEF, 800-367-5437
World Concern, 800-755-5022
World Hope International, 888-466-4673
World Relief, 800-535-5433
World Vision, 888-511-6548
Yele Haiti, 212-352-0552

Although the week is ending, the nightmare in Haiti has just begun. We'll be helping them for a long time to come, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Photo credit: Raedle/Getty

Baseball, Politics, and Humor!

2010-01-14T21:46:00.000-05:00

It's a busy show tonight, and I want to make sure you have links to all the guests and most of the topics!

We'll kick things off at 11pm ET/8pm PT with John Amato of Crook & Liars. I've been a fan of that site for a long time, and this is John's first appearance on my show, so I'm quite excited about it.

But I'm at a bit of a disadvantage, as the story he wants to talk about tonight deals with baseball player Mark McGwire, his steroid use, and the fact that former George W. Bush spokesliar Ari Fleisher has stepped in for steroid damage control.

But I have a secret weapon at my disposal. My boyfriend, David Sloane, happens to be a sports agent who exclusively represents baseball players. So he'll join in on the conversation to help me look good, as he usually does!

At 11:30 ET/8:30 PT, we'll head out to Los Angeles to speak with the woman who will hopefully be the next Congresswoman from CA's 36th district, Marcy Winograd. On Saturday, the Blue America PAC will announce their first 2010 endorsement, and Marcy Winograd is the candidate who gets the honor.

The midnight hour is saved for my regular Thursday night guest, comedian John Fugelsang. We'll talk about anything and everything in the news and more. And tonight we really want to hear from you, so pick up the phone and call in at 866-303-2270.

To listen live or watch the video stream of me talking into the microphone, just look to your left and click on the appropriate link!

Wherefore Art Thou Compassion?

2010-01-13T22:04:00.002-05:00

For some time now, I've bemoaned the lack of compassion in today's world. But we're not all lacking in that area. It seems that the most compassion-deficient in the US today are of the Republican persuasion.

If we didn't already know that Rush Limbaugh was a drug-addled, sexist, over-paid windbag, that conclusion would have been a no-brainer to anyone who heard some of his comments today:

Limbaugh claimed that President Obama was somehow happy about the catastrophic loss of life and property in Haiti because he'd be able to use our response to boost his credibility with the "light-skinned and dark-skinned black community in this country."

That was only a small part of his despicable reaction to the earthquake in Haiti and the charitable response of the President and many Americans. In fact, Limbaugh said that we needn't help the people of Haiti at all, as we already do. He actually said, "We've already donated to Haiti. It's called the U.S. income tax."

The lack of compassion is astounding. But then again, I'd expect nothing less from Rush Limbaugh. He's a pig and he's always shown himself to be a selfish piece of shit. In that same clip, a listener suggested that we shouldn't donate any federal funds to help the people of Haiti... that's what churches are for, so he said.

So, we should look to the religious community for compassion? Now I'm not saying that all people who claim to be Christians are insensitive to the plight of those who are suffering. But as one who holds himself out there as, according to his website, a "Broadcaster, Humanitarian, Author, Christian, Businessman, Statesman," Pat Robertson is nothing but a fraud.

On The 700 Club today (who knew it still existed?), on the Christian Broadcasting Network (which he founded), this hypocrite and charlatan in Christian clothing proffered the ultimate insult to the people of Haiti by actually claiming that Haiti was suffering because of a deal with the devil. Seriously.

ROBERTSON: And, you know, Kristi, something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it. They were under the heel of the French. You know, Napoleon III and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said, "We will serve you if you will get us free from the French." True story. And so, the devil said, "OK, it's a deal."
And they kicked the French out. You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after the other.

I thought compassion was supposed to be a hallmark of Christianity. I guess not.

As for Rush Limbaugh's sanctimonious proselytizing, he and his supporters should just crawl back into the hole where they belong, and let the rest of us get on with humanity.

One Small Step for CA, One Giant Leap Toward Ending Prohibition

2010-01-12T20:27:00.004-05:00

The state of California made history today! Until today, no U.S. state legislature had ever even considered voting on a measure that would legalize, regulate and tax marijuana. Today, not only did the California Assembly's Public Safety Committee consider it, they voted on and passed A.B. 390!

The Marijuana Control, Regulation and Education Act, authored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco) passed the committee by a vote of 4-3, clearing the way for it to move to the Health committee before heading to the Assembly floor for a full vote.

This is huge news not only for the pot smokers of America, but for the people of California who've been suffering under a terrible budgetary drought. According to the LA Times, "by some estimates, California's pot crop is a $14-billion industry, putting it above vegetables ($5.7 billion) and grapes ($2.6 billion). If so, that could mean upward of $1 billion in tax revenue for the state each year."

And, it signals reason for optimism that that the rest of the country may soon follow suit. California was the first state to legalize medical marijuana when 56% of the voters passed Prop 215 in 1996. Oregon, Washington and Alaska followed in 1998. Maine came on board in 1999. Colorado, Hawaii and Nevada legalized medical marijuana in 2000, followed by Montana and Vermont in 2004, Rhode Island in 2006, New Mexico in 2007 and Michigan in 2008. And just this week, New Jersey became the 14th state to approve medical marijuana when the state legislature approved legislation that would make it available from state-licensed dispensaries to seriously ill patients.

Already following California's lead on dropping the medical requirement from the marijuana, voters in Washington state on Monday announced the start of a petition drive to get a legalization question on the ballot in November, and activists in Nevada are planning a similar campaign.

And the town of Breckenridge, Colorado legalized marijuana in November. The law allowing residents and tourists alike to carry up to an ounce of marijuana, along with the paraphernalia that goes along with it, with no worry of any civil or criminal penalties, went into effect on January 1. And Denver voters actually decriminalized small amounts of pot in the Mile High City, though the state law still makes possession illegal.

The United States is spending an inordinate amount of money and resources in fighting the so-called war on drugs. At a time when every state in the nation is in financial straits, this is a massive waste of taxpayer dollars-- money that could certainly be better used to provide necessary services like education and health care.

In June of 2009, Congressman Barney Frank re-introduced his measure "Act to Remove Federal Penalties for Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults."

Groups like Law Enforcement Professionals Against Prohibition even take it a step further, encouraging legalization of all drugs with this statement on their website:

After nearly four decades of fueling the U.S. policy of a war on drugs with over a trillion tax dollars and 37 million arrests for nonviolent drug offenses, our confined population has quadrupled making building prisons the fastest growing industry in the United States. More than 2.2 million of our citizens are currently incarcerated and every year we arrest an additional 1.9 million more guaranteeing those prisons will be bursting at their seams. Every year we choose to continue this war will cost U.S. taxpayers another 69 billion dollars. Despite all the lives we have destroyed and all the money so ill spent, today illicit drugs are cheaper, more potent, and far easier to get than they were 35 years ago at the beginning of the war on drugs. Meanwhile, people continue dying in our streets while drug barons and terrorists continue to grow richer than ever before. We would suggest that this scenario must be the very definition of a failed public policy. This madness must cease!

So, hurray for California. You know the old saying, As goes California, so goes the nation. Let's hope that's true... and let's hurry!

Monday Night Mash-Up

2010-01-11T20:33:00.003-05:00

If you happened to watch any of the MSNBC shows today or listened to progressive talk radio, chances are you heard a lot about the new book Game Change, about the 2008 presidential election.

Tonight, on my Air America radio show, I won't be talking about the book. But I will discredit one of the authors.

In October of 2007, before we knew exactly who would be in the running for the presidency, Mark Halperin of Time magazine wrote a book called The Undecided Voter's Guide to the Next President, which he presented as an unbiased look at the seven people who he thought stood the best chance of running and winning.

At the time, I was hosting the morning show on what was then Miami's progressive talk station, 940 WINZ (which, unfortunately, no longer exists). Halperin joined me on the air to discuss his book. Although it started off on a cordial note, I soon called him out on some of the items that I perceived to be quite partisan.

So, tonight, we'll listen to some of that interview, so you can hear why I don't consider Halperin to be a very credible source and therefore take what he's written in this book with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Also on tonight's show, a follow-up to a segment from Friday night with Coleen Rowley. I invited Coleen on the show to talk about the plight of whistleblowers, as she's lived it. Coleen was named one of three "Whistleblower Persons of the Year" by Time magazine in 2002 for her role in exposing the problems in the FBI's prosecution of 9-11.

On Friday afternoon, the latest of our nation's high profile whistleblowers started a 40-month federal prison term. Brad Birkenfeld was a "mid-level banker with an undistinguished history," according to a 60 Minutes piece on him last week, with UBS bank in Switzerland. When his conscience got the best of him and he went to the feds with information on 19,000 Americans defrauding the US government by keeping their money tax-free in Swiss banks, he became probably one of the most important whistleblowers ever.

When I wondered why he was going to jail when no one else associated with this case would, neither Coleen nor I knew the answer. Tonight, I'll be joined by Steve Kohn, Birkenfeld's attorney and executive director of the National Whistleblowers Center.

And finally, the cries in favor of ending the filibuster in the Senate are getting louder! Tonight, I'll speak with Jonathan Tasini, candidate for the US Senate from New York, who has also just launched a petition to kill the filibuster.

One final note for tonight.... I've been speaking out on behalf of progressive organizations who are actively supporting progressive candidates, with the key word being PROGRESSIVE. So, imagine my surprise when I read that Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey, co-chair of the Congressional PROGRESSIVE Caucus was endorsing and headlining a fundraiser for BLUE DOG Jane Harmon!

I sent a note today to Tim Carpenter of Progressive Democrats of America, asking for their response, as Lynn Woosley is also on the PDA board of directors. The response was this letter that will be delivered to Rep. Woosley next week. Please read and, if you agree, click here to sign on!

Dear Lynn,

In recent days, ever since the announcement of your scheduled appearance as the headliner at the January 16 fund-raising event in Venice for Rep. Harman, we have been hearing about it from many PDA activists and other progressives in California and around the country. The tone and emphasis of the responses vary, but the overwhelming gist is clear: The progressive base is upset about your scheduled involvement and hopes that you will withdraw from this event.

As an organization, Progressive Democrats of America joins in that request.

Given your longstanding and exemplary leadership on a wide range of peace and justice issues, it would be counterproductive to aid Rep. Harman’s re-election efforts. Her pro-war record is well known, having voted most recently to spend billions to continue the occupation of Iraq and escalate in Afghanistan. Her October 2002 vote to authorize the invasion of Iraq was in stark contrast to the "no" votes by most House Democrats. Harman has an equally appalling record on civil liberties, having lobbied the New York Times to suppress the story about Bush's wiretaps on the eve of the 2004 election, then going on television to defend the illegal wiretaps. In addition, she voted for the bankruptcy bill, then more recently voted against mortgage relief in bankruptcy court, despite the fact that several thousand of her constituents are facing foreclosure. On the health care front, she recently voted against fast-tracking affordable generic medications for patients with breast cancer, brain tumors, Parkinson's and rare diseases.

Fortunately, Rep. Harman faces a strong primary challenge from someone who exemplifies the idealistic commitments and progressive values that have been central to your work in Congress. Marcy Winograd’s decades of dedication to working for economic equity, social justice, civil liberties and peace offer a sharp contrast to the incumbent in California’s 36th district. Unlike the incumbent, Winograd will represent the public interest, not Wall Street or war profiteers.

As Marcy Winograd said in the speech that kicked off her current campaign: "Jane Harman took us to war without taking a second look at the National Intelligence Estimate, which highlighted and boxed analysts’ doubts about the fictitious weapons of mass destruction. Jane Harman not only took us to war, but continued to waste our taxpayer dollars on supplemental budgets that hid the true cost of the war by not including the price tag in the Defense Department budget."

The reason that we have Rep. Donna Edwards in the House today as a stalwart advocate for peace and justice is precisely because of her successful primary campaign that unseated a non-progressive Democratic incumbent. Surely such victories are in the interests of all progressives.

This is a painful letter for us to sign, particularly because of our longtime admiration and deep respect for you. But we hope you'll agree that progressive principles must prevail among friends. We urge you to withdraw from the fund-raising event for Rep. Harman’s campaign.

We look forward to your response.

Peace and justice,

Tim Carpenter
National Director, Progressive Democrats of America

Mimi Kennedy
Advisory Board Chair, Progressive Democrats of America

Donna Smith
Progressive Democrats of America Healthcare NOT Warfare Campaign Co-chair

Norman Solomon
Progressive Democrats of America Healthcare NOT Warfare Campaign Co-chair

Nicole Sandler
Radio or Not

The Dangers of Whistle-blowing

2010-01-08T21:02:00.004-05:00

According to wordnet the definition of whistle-blower is an informant who exposes wrongdoing within an organization in the hope of stopping it.

Common sense tells us this is a good thing. So can anyone explain to me why whistle-blowers in the United States who've helped uncover fraud, wrongdoing and other heinous crimes are being prosecuted and imprisoned?

The latest, and possibly most abhorrent example of the despicable treatment of someone coming forward for the right reasons came to a head today, when Bradley Birkenfeld reported to a federal prison to begin serving a 40-month sentence!

Birkenfeld was an international banker working for the Swiss banking giant UBS. In 2007, he came forward to US authorities with information on how thousands of Americans were hiding assets in secret Swiss bank accounts.

Due to Birkenfeld's information, UBS pleaded guilty last February, paid a $780 million fine, and agreed to turn over the names of nearly 4500 of it's American clients (out of an estimated 19,000 they claim have secret accounts with them).

Federal prosecutors have admitted that this fraud scheme would likely have never been uncovered if not for Birkenfeld, yet he's the only one connected with UBS to serve time!

According to the National Whistleblowers Center,

The facts of the case are clear:

Mr. Birkenfeld repeatedly tried to correct the illegal UBS tax fraud scheme internally.
Mr. Birkenfeld resigned from UBS when they failed to correct the problem internally.
Mr. Birkenfeld voluntarily approached the U.S. government with his allegations.
Mr. Birkenfeld made full disclosures to the Department of Justice, Internal Revenue Service, Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Every UBS tax cheat that has been prosecuted has received probation, fines, and/or community service - NO jail time.
Mr. Birkenfeld is the ONLY person connected with UBS to receive a prison sentence.

TAKE ACTION! Tell Attorney General Holder that you want a high-level independent review of the Birkenfeld case!

Why are whistle-blowers being persecuted and prosecuted?

Tonight, I'll speak with another whistle-blower, who was recognized as such by being named one of Time Magazine's Whistleblower 2002 Persons of the Year. Coleen Rowley began her career as a special agent with the FBI in 1981. In May of 2002, Rowley brought some of the pre 9/11 lapses in the investigation of Zacarias Moussaoui to light. According to Time,

Coleen Rowley is the FBI staff attorney who caused a sensation in May with a memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller about how the bureau brushed off pleas from her Minneapolis, Minn., field office that Zacarias Moussaoui, who is now indicted as a Sept. 11 co-conspirator, was a man who must be investigated.

The 9/11 Commission subsequently described Moussaoui as an "Al Qaeda mistake and missed opportunity," the investigation of whom may have led to the center of the Al Qaeda plot if it had been pursued in a timely and effective manner.

In June of 2002, Coleen testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee about some of the endemic problems faced by the FBI and the intelligence community. In April of 2003, following an unsuccessful attempt to warn the Director and other administration officials about the dangers of launching the invasion of Iraq, she "stepped down" from her legal position and returned to being an FBI Special Agent.

It's another sad indictment of the way things work in America. Honest people trying to do the write thing are ostracized and prosecuted while the people they're blowing the whistle on are whistling all the way to the bank.

Tonight, Coleen Rowley will join me on Air America radio to discuss her story and what's happening now to Bradley Birkenfeld. Listen live beginning at 11pm ET.

Where In the World Would You Go?

2010-01-08T20:02:00.004-05:00

There are a few times in my life I've thought about becoming an expat. I certainly gave it great consideration during the months leading up to last November's presidential election when there was a chance we'd have a McCain-Palin administration!

In recent months, as I've watched as President Obama's campaign promises -- for transparency, real health care reform, correcting the underlying causes of the economic failure and many more -- all seem to be gone with the wind, I've begun thinking about the possibilities again.

Earlier this week, International Living magazine released their 2010 Quality of Life Index, in which they rank and rate 194 countries to come up with their list of the best places in the world to live.

As I've been dealing with the imminent loss of my health insurance (my COBRA will run out at the end of February), I'd already been thinking about Canada. Although I've never been there, Vancouver is on my short list of places I could imagine living. The fact that they have a single payer health care system is, of course, the main reason I'd consider venturing north. According to International Living's index, Canada ranks as the 9th best country in which to live!

After seeing Michael Moore's Sicko, France was looking pretty damn good too. Not only do they have the world's best health care system according to the World Health Organization's rankings, but they offer their citizens a free education from pre-school through university too!

Since I don't speak French, the language might be a problem, and then there's the problem of the French being basically rude and that they have a reputation for being anti-Semitic. But I'd probably be willing to give France a shot... They ranked #1, again, on the International Living Quality of Life index.

As for the good ole' USA, we ranked #7, down from #3 last year. We didn't fare very well when it came to health care, although we outshone all the others in infrastructure.

The most surprising category in the index was freedom. Of the top 10 countries on the list -- France, Australia, Switzerland, Germany, New Zealand, Luxembourg, US, Belgium, Canada and Italy -- eight scored 100 in the Freedom category. The United States and Italy both garnered a score of 92.

Italy has Berlusconi, and here in the US, we have warrent-less wiretapping, "free speech zones," government sponsored torture, we're currently waging wars in two countries who haven't threatened us and, sadly, the list goes on.

Hmmm, France is beginning to look even better.

Ray McGovern on the CIA

2010-01-07T01:00:00.004-05:00

I just wrapped up one of the most fascinating shows I've ever hosted. With the recent spate of national security and intelligence failures, I invited Ray McGovern on the show.

I first learned of Ray McGovern some 3 1/2 years ago, when he stood up to challenge Donald Rumsfeld about the lies that got us in to Iraq at a speech Rumsfeld was giving in Atlanta. You might remember this:

Since that introduction to Ray, I've been reading his articles and have had the opportunity to interview him a few times.

Today, he published an article at consortiumnews.com entitled "Why Counterterrorism is in Shambles."

Over the past couple of weeks, he's written a few other pieces that certainly piqued my interest. On December 22, he wrote "Break the CIA in Two" and on the 29th, "Are Presidents Afraid of the CIA?"

All are required reading! And when you're done, click here to listen to my interview with Ray McGovern!

Eric Massa and Howie Klein

2010-01-05T11:38:00.002-05:00

Two great Americans. Seriously! And they were my first two guests of the new year on my Air America radio show last night.

Howie Klein is an old acquaintance from my days in music radio in Los Angeles, and Howie's days as President of Reprise Records! As our lives progressed and I moved to issues-based talk radio and Howie retired and launched DownWithTyranny.com, he's become a frequent guest and friend.

Through DWT's partnership with John Amato's Crooks and Liars and Digby's Hullabaloo, they formed the Blue America PAC which identifies and helps progressive candidates around the country.

One of the candidates they helped is Eric Massa, Congressman from Western NY state. Eric Massa is one of the most outspoken and principled members of the House and, as such, as being targeted by the right. You can help support him at www.massaforcongress.com.

Both Congressman Massa and Howie Klein joined me on Air America radio for my first show of the new year. (Click on the links to listen to the interviews.) Now, that's the way to kick off a decade!

The Blame Game

2010-01-04T19:57:00.003-05:00

Here we stand at the start of a new year, and a new decade. Oh, if it were only as easy as turning the page on a calendar to get a blank slate on which to begin a new year.

But such is not the case.

The aughts began on a much higher note than the teens. (OK, I know officially we're only in the tweens and, as the mother of a 10-year old daughter, I'm not anxious to rush the process. But we're talking about a decade here.)

As Bill Clinton was preparing to leave office, the country was -economically speaking - in great shape. Although Clinton brought about some changes and policies that I didn't agree with, his time in office was certainly was an era of prosperity for the country.

But then came that decade-- The George W. Bush years, and the downfall of the United States of America as we knew it.

So many of the battles scars we're nursing today and the new injuries we're sustaining come as a direct result of that administration.

Let's begin with the attacks or attempted attacks that bookmarked the uh-ohs (my preferred name for the decade that just ended). George W. Bush took office on January 20, 2001. The U.S. was attacked on September 11 of that same year. By that time, W had already spent 96 days on vacation! Seriously, do the math and you'll find that in his first nine months in office, the 43rd president was on vacation 41% of the time!

He was, indeed, on vacation at his Crawford "ranch" when the Presidential Daily Briefing of August 6 warned that Osama bin Laden was determined to strike in the U.S. But he was too busy hauling brush to deal with that imminent threat.

Do you recall anyone on the other side of the aisle chastising him for that? I don't.

I do remember a country that came together around our president to do what was right for our nation.

This magnanimous attitude, by the way, came after years of the Republicans trying to take down a popular Democratic president because of an extramarital affair-- something that Republicans have since proven very proficient at.

Fast forward to the end of the decade. On Christmas day, in the final week of the uh-oh decade, the terrorists who hit us on 9/11/01 attempted another attack. As opposed to their "successful" attack on the World Trade Center which resulted in bringing down the twin towers, a coordinated hijacking and crashing of four planes over US airspace, and the murders of more than 3000 innocent people, this one would have taken out one plane and a few hundred people. Thankfully, it failed.

But the vitriolic finger-pointing from the right toward this president and the Democrats in control has taken us to new depths of despicable politics, and the Republicans seem to have cultivated it as an art form.

This Hypocrisy (yes, with a capital H) is maddening, and the fact that Dick Cheney's constant venom-spewing is covered as news is infuriating and sickening.

He and his puppet George inhabited the White House for eight very long, very frustrating and very costly years. They took us into war -- two wars -- which we should not have been in and, to make matters worse, they refused to pay for them!

The U.S. had never before entered into a war without raising taxes to pay for it. But Bush/Cheney did just that. And now they're trying to blame Obama for the massive deficit that's bankrupting our country and its people?

Connect the dots.

That's the phrase being bandied about in the media today for how the Christmas underwear bomber was able to get on the plane with explosives on his person. No one connected the dots.

Well how about we start this new year, this new decade, by connecting the dots to show us how we got here?

Let's stop paying attention to the man behind the curtain and finally expose Dick Cheney for the walking disaster he is and the bigger one he helped create. At least W has had the sense to remain, for the most part, quiet. Perhaps Dick should, for once, follow the lead of the man who was his boss and just shut up.

Good Riddance to the Uh-Ohs

2009-12-29T20:54:00.002-05:00

We're finally getting ready to close the books on a decade that many of us are more than happy to put behind us!

It seems like much less than ten years ago that I was pondering what we'd call the next decade! The "aughts" or the "naughts" sounded arcane, and the "ohs" just didn't seem right. But now, on retrospect, the "uh-ohs" seems to nail it.

It was a decade made up of many mistakes, beginning with the election of George W. Bush. But it really wasn't so much a mistake as a gross error in judgement by the Supreme Court who decided to overstep their jurisdiction and appoint a president rather than reinforce the law that states that all the votes should be counted.

We should have known then that the decade was destined to be troublesome.

And that it was. It started with an almost overblown mass hysteria. Remember Y2K? We were all afraid of what would happen to our computers when the clock chimed midnight. Fizzle to nothing....

The early oh-ohs brought about the dot com bust and things seemed to go downhill from there. Nobel Prize winning economist and NY Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote that the decade should be called The Big Zero, as that's what it brought about-- zero economic gains for the average family, zero job growth, zero gains for homeowners-- a big fat O.

The end of the decade did bring about something good. We finally got George W. Bush and his cronies out of the White House. We elected the first African American President in Barack Obama, and gave the Democrats control of both Houses of Congress. Unfortunately, all is still not well. We just have to get big money out of the political equation and perhaps we can get the change we worked so hard for.

So let's look upon the start of a new year and a new decade with a renewed sense of purpose. Let's take back control of our country. Let's fight for real campaign finance reform so that we can truly change things for the better. Let's work to elect progressives to represent us, and get rid of the Blue Dogs and ConservaDems along with the Republicans (because if there's one lesson we should have learned from the health care reform battle, it's that they're all the same).

The liberals and progressives need to band together in the coming years to make sure we get the change we champion so loudly. We should begin with compassion, as that's the quality our opponents across the aisle so glaringly lack.

If we work from a place of caring for our fellow human beings, we could bring about health care as a basic human right for all people, and an end to war. I'd say those are pretty good goals for the teen years.

A quick programming note before I sign off... I'll be on the air tonight, and will host my final Air America late night program of the year tomorrow night from 11pm-1am ET by finishing up our look back at 2009. I'll spend tomorrow afternoon once again guest-hosting the Randi Rhodes Show from 3-6pm ET too.

Although 2009 was a tough year for most Americans, it was a very professionally rewarding one for me. I had a professional dream come true when Air America radio asked me to fill in on their late night program this summer. Here we are, six months later, still on the air, and I thank you for listening!

Although I can't predict what 2010 has in store, I promise you that I'll continue to speak truth to power and calling things as I see them. And I hope you'll join me as we fight to bring this country back to the principles that made it great.

Happy New Year!

Regrets Of A Sun Worshipper

2009-12-28T21:36:00.002-05:00

My family moved to South Florida in 1971. I was 11 years old, and entering junior high. Moving to Florida from New York City was a big change. But it was OK, as I quickly became a beach bum.

We lived about 10 minutes from Hollywood Beach, which soon became my hangout of choice, and remained such for many years.

Those were the days before SPF was a household acronym or "put sunscreen on" was ever uttered by a concerned mother.

Those were the days when sun reflectors were routinely held by prone bodies under chins to magnify the intensity of the sun onto the face which was often helped along by a mixture of baby oil and iodine.

Yes, I was guilty of all of the above, and am paying for it tonight.

I am now a two-time skin cancer survivor. I spent a few hours today in the office of a skin cancer specialist, who painstakingly removed a squamous cell carcinoma growth from my nose.

The technique used is known as Mohs surgery, named after the doctor who came up with the idea of removing very small slices of tissue, freezing and examining them under the microscope, so that the least amount of tissue is removed, while extracting all of the cancerous cells.

After my cancerous growth was excised from my nose, there was a quite noticeable cavity, so a skin graft was then done. Of course the skin to put over the hole in my nose had to come from somewhere, and the place of choice was the inside of my left ear.

Needless to say, I'm somewhat uncomfortable tonight and, thanks to the bandages I'm now wearing, look like a combination of Cyrano de Bergerac and Van Gogh.

Sadly, this was not my first run-in with the evil skin cancer. That happened a couple of years ago, when a routine body check turned up a malignant melanoma on my left leg. I now have a nasty looking scar where they cut a large slice out of it.

Yes, the years of sun worshipping has taken its toll.

It's now sunscreen, hats and regular dermatologist body checks for me. And if you haven't yet made a decent charitable contribution for 2009, check out the Danny Fund, named for Danny Federici, keyboardist for the E Street Band until he succumbed to malignant melanoma.

And please, get checked too...

The Left vs. The Left and Me vs. I

2009-12-22T11:54:00.004-05:00

There's a battle royale being waged among Democrats today. On the left, progressive bloggers like Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake, Markos Moulistsas of DailyKos, Howard Dean and even Keith Olbermann all, to one degree or another, saying that the health care bill passed by the Senate isn't reform and should either be killed or vastly improved, or it should not be passed.

And on the left is Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman, fivethirtyeight.com's Nate Silver, and the man who pretty much invented the public option, Jacob Hacker, all coming out in support of the bill.

And then there's me and, I'm guessing, lots of other people who can argue both sides of the battle.

I'm for passing anything that gives more people access to health care. It's an abomination that the United States of America doesn't treat its people with more compassion. This is the only industrialized country on the planet in which health care is not considered a basic human right; the only country in which someone can lose everything simply because he, she or a family member got sick... even those who have health insurance!

I'm for passing whatever bill comes out of conference, even without any improvements that hopefully will be inserted during conference, because we can't afford to do nothing! As it now stands, insurance companies can deny people coverage because of pre-existing conditions, and can employ a practice known as "rescission" and cancel your policy at any time, just because they decide to (and it's always because you're note enough of a profit center for them).

As flawed as it is, the current Senate bill would do away with those practices.

The latest version of the bill also includes some other really good provisions:

They've banned pre-existing conditions for children immediately, starting in 2010.
Insurance companies will be banned from the exchange if they raise their rates above a certain amount. And if an insurer denies a claim, there will be an independent board to which customers can appeal.
There are $1.25 billion in new resources for community health centers in the bill, totaling $10 billion overall. (We can thank Bernie Sanders for this one!) And there's more. But basically, it's a foundation from which real reform can build upon.

But then there's also me, on the left, who says "Wait a minute. This bill truly sucks. It's a massive bailout for the for profit health insurance extortionists." (Really, I do say that!)

There are so many good reasons to scrap this monstrosity of a bill and start over. The most blatant one is the fact that we will be required to purchase policies from companies who put profits over patients. We will be forced to pay anywhere from 8 to over 20% of our hard-earned money to these leeches, and those who cannot afford it will receive subsidies to help pay. The subsidies come from our tax dollars, and that money will go to boost the profits of this already obscenely profitable industry who makes money off of the sick, while we struggle to get care.

A few more reasons to kill the bill:

The taxes and the expense of this bill start immediately, though most of the benefits don't kick in until 2013 or 2014!
Although we can no longer be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions, there are no limits on what the insurance extortionists can charge you for the policy, so can effectively deny coverage by making it too expensive for you to buy.
Although it purports to end sex discrimination by doing away with the 48% in additional premiums women currently pay over what men are charged, abortion rights are extremely curtailed, setting women's rights back 30 years.

So, the argument between the left and the left (and between me and I) continues to rage. But we're not at the finish line yet.

The bill will emerge from the Senate and head to conference where it will merge with the House bill. We must push, hard, to get as many improvements as possible.

Last night, I spoke with Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), who co-chairs the House Progressive Caucus, and asked him what they will do to insure that we get some real reform in the final health care bill. (Listen to that interview by clicking here)

I'm still clinging to that word we heard so much during the campaign... HOPE. I'm hoping that those who still think that President Obama is playing chess while the rest of us are playing checkers are right. I hope that once this bill with insurance reform is passed, the President will get Congress to use reconciliation to give us the public option or medicare buy in (for anyone who wishes to participate), and truly give us real health care reform.

Now that would be a wonderful way to start the next decade!

Coming up tonight...

2009-12-21T22:43:00.002-05:00

Round 2 for this Monday. I had a great time guest hosting The Randi Rhodes Show today, and will be back again tomorrow and Wednesday. Tomorrow on Randi's show, I'll speak with former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich and call on his expertise about the health care reform process. I'll also be joined by Tony Hendra, who worked with George Carlin on his "sortabiography," Last Words.

Tonight, on my regular Air America show (11pm-1am ET), I'll speak with journalist Sasha Abramsky about his new book, Inside Obama's Brain, and we'll re-cap the latest developments from the Senate regarding health care reform.

You can listen online here, or click the link to your left (or here) and watch the broadcast. Yes, I'm moving into the 21st century! And, if you're so moved, call in at 866-303-2270!

I'm Filling in today for Randi Rhodes

2009-12-21T14:09:00.002-05:00

You can watch and listen here, and call in at 866-87-RANDI, as we take a good look at where we are at on health care reform.

I'll be joined by Huffington Post's Ryan Grim with an update on what transpired over the weekend, by Donna Smith of the California Nurses Association, who is also co-chair of Progressive Democrats of America's "Health Care Not Warfare" campaign, Jon Walker of Firedoglake.com, who's been battling it out with fivethiryeight.com's Nate Silver over whether or not we should kill the bill. And finally, Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus will give us an advance look at what we can expect from them when the bill goes to conference.

You can listen live by clicking here, or watch and listen here:

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It's Time To Get Rid of the Filibuster

2009-12-17T17:55:00.004-05:00

You let one petulant brat get his way, and then all the other brats start acting out too.

Joe Lieberman showed the conservadems in Congress that it was pretty easy to get the White House to cave on the most important elements that would have made health care reform actually reform the system, so now Ben Nelson is getting in on the act.

The AP reported, just moments ago, that Nebraska DINO Ben Nelson issued a statement saying, "As it is, without modifications, the language concerning abortion is not sufficient," and told a radio station that abortion wasn't his only concern.

Let's see, Nelson got the provision that would eliminate the anti-trust exemption now enjoyed by insurance companies deleted from the health care legislation, but his Stupak-like abortion amendment went down to defeat. But his pal Joey showed him that the White House will bend over and give in to any extortion demands in order to get any legislation that they can label "health care reform" passed.

If Ben Nelson has his way (and judging from recent White House actions, I'm not sure he won't get it), Roe v. Wade will be overturned so President Obama can sign a health care bill before the State of the Union!

It's amazing to me that we're being held hostage by members of the progressive caucus! I think it's time to revisit the Senate rules and get back to the principles of majority rule in this country.

But what can we really do? Political organizer, strategist and author Robert Creamer wrote a piece yesterday for Huffington Post, "Lieberman Betrayal Illustrates Why Senate Filibuster Rules Must Change." He'll join me tonight on Air America to discuss what should and can be done to fix the problem.

I'll also speak with Donna Smith of Cal Nurses and co-chair of Progressive Democrats of America's Healthcare not Warfare campaign about Sen. Bernie Sanders attempt yesterday to have a debate on his single payer amendment on the Senate floor, and the heartbreaking reality of the how the party of NO derailed it.

Click here to watch the amazing video of Senator Sanders as he very reluctantly withdrew the amendment. It should be required viewing for all Americans...

Bill Mumy to Wish Lieberman to the Cornfield Tonight!

2009-12-16T17:22:00.006-05:00

***Updated to include the audio of Bill Mumy wishing Lieberman to the cornfield, and my custom production piece too.. Click here to listen! ***

Yesterday I guest hosted the Randi Rhodes Show and, of course, we were talking about Joe Lieberman and his despicable actions regarding health care reform. A caller exclaimed about Lieberman, "He's a bad man...a really bad man!"

A few minutes later, I got an email from listener Joanie, who simply wrote "Quick son! wish Joe Lieberman out into the cornfield!"

In case you never saw the Twilight Zone episode It's A Good Life, sit back and enjoy... it's good... it's very good television...

Tonight, Anthony Freemont himself will join me on Air America radio to do just that... Yes, Bill Mumy will be my guest. Bill is still acting, and making great music. We'll listen to some of his songs, including what has become my favorite Christmas song of all time, sung by another friend, Sarah Taylor, who'll also join us tonight.

We'll take care of the serious stuff first, like a conversation with insurance industry whistle blower Wendell Potter (who will make some real news tonight), Christy Harvey from the Center for American Progress, and lots more... 11pm-1am ET on Air America radio!

Is It Reform, Or Highway Robbery?

2009-12-15T21:32:00.005-05:00

I'm truly sickened that a miserable, vindictive little man like Joe Lieberman could hold this country hostage. And the more I think about his vendetta against the left, the angrier I get.

US Senators are elected to represent their constituents. I guess for Joe Lie-berman, that means the insurance industry, because he sure doesn't seem to give a damn about the people.

The White House is so desperate to pass something called health care reform that they gave this shill for big insurance the right to decide what will and won't be included in the legislation. It doesn't really matter if the so called health care reform bill actually contains any reform, as long as they can pass it.

OK, maybe I'm being overly critical. According to Senators Tom Harkin and Ron Wyden, this bill does include some very real reform: it outlaws the practices of cherry picking, rescission and denying coverage due to pre-existing conditions. It will get the exchange up and running, and lay a foundation for future reform to be built upon.

I get it. And I get that some lives will be saved. And that's the main point of health care reform.

But this "reform" is also a giant wet kiss for the for-profit insurance industry. It will require us -- all of us-- to purchase insurance from a for-profit health insurance company. If we can't afford it, the government will give us subsidies to help pay for it.

Yes, our taxpayer dollars will go to line the coffers of these leeches. For years now I've maintained that the for-profit health insurers are government sanctioned extortionists. Now they'll be able to get their payoff money right from the treasury.

If there's a mandate for citizens to buy insurance, and our tax dollars are going to be used to subsidize the purchases, shouldn't there be a way to do it without paying the extra dollars that go toward the insurance company profits? It seems to me a no-brainer.

It's enough of an issue that Gov. Howard Dean today stepped out and said that this legislation should be killed, and advised Democratic senators to vote against it.

There's still a long way to go before we get to the finish line. But any legislation that calls itself health care reform but puts corporate profits ahead of the American people is a really sick joke.

Maybe We Should Just Talk About Sex?

2009-12-14T22:36:00.002-05:00

After all, the health care debate is just too damned depressing. The Democrats, led by the "Hope and Change" man himself, President Obama, are all rolling over to appease Joe Lieberman. Seriously? Who elected him President?

Actually, we should drum Connecticut out of the union just for re-electing him to the Senate after he lost the Democratic primary. Lieberman is a Narcissist (yes, with a capital N), and a certifiable piece of shit.

A video surfaced today, thanks to Greg Sargent, who writes the Plum Line blog for the Washington Post, who requested it from the Connecticut Post, after reading about the interview. Talking Points Memo today reported that Lieberman, in that interview, had endorsed a Medicare buy in for people aged 50 or 55 and older. Sargent requested the tape, and now we can all see it for ourselves:

Today, when pressed by Talking Points Memo's Brian Beutler, "Lieberman explained that the reason he's opposed to a Medicare buy-in, after favoring it only three months ago, is that the Baucus bill already addressed the problems of the uninsured in the 55-65 age bracket: a buy-in would be redundant." Uh, let's all say it together... bullshit Senator!

We'll get back to the health care talk when we have more information, like what' going to be in the bill. We're still waiting for the CBO to come back with their score for the "gang of 10" compromise which had the Medicare buy-in. But it's probably moot, as Joe Lieberman doesn't want it... and, according to the White House, if Joe doesn't want it, it's not going to be in the bill.

You see, the White House wants something they can call health care reform. They want to pass a bill so they can put a little check mark next to the box that says he got health care done. But we know what it is...

So, tonight, we'll talk about what the majority of the country wants to talk about. Sex. Seriously!

The America people are more preoccupied with how many women Tiger Woods has bedded... so we'll check in with Jenny Block, who wrote a Newsweek web exclusive: The Case Against Monogamy.

And we'll also check in with Larisa Alexandrovna for some really good news in the case of Paul Minor....

It's all happening tonight on Air America radio from 11pm-1am ET/8-10pm PT.

War Time Holiday Gift Guide

2009-12-11T20:52:00.003-05:00

If you're wondering what to get the person on your holiday gift list who seemingly has everything, I have the solution.

It came by way of a Facebook post from my old friend and former co-worker Mimi Chen. She posted an email she received from her nephew, a US Marine:

-----Original Message-----
From: Scully Capt Devin T
Sent: Wednesday, December 09, 2009 19:02

Dear family,

If you were wondering "what does Devin want for Christmas??," please follow
the below link and choose from a number of great products:

http://fromharmtohome.org/

Do not worry, I have done thorough research on the organization and it is
legitimate. Also, a close friend from high school used to work with them and
can vouch. The International Rescue Committee (IRC) was founded in 1933 at
the request of the head of the International Relief Association (IRA),
Albert Einstein, in order to assist Germans suffering under Hitler
(sean-hope I have your attention). Since then the IRC has provided aid to
Refugees fleeing from conflicts in Vietnam, Zaire, East Pakistan, Uganda,
Chile, Soviet Union, Lebanon, El Salvador, Poland, Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Iraq,
and most recently Afghanistan. For over 75 years, the International Rescue
Committee has been a leader in humanitarian relief. They mobilize quickly,
bringing sustained support to regions devastated by violence and
deprivation. The most important aspect of their mission, in my mind, is that
they provide hope to extremely vulnerable populations. I will explain what
that means in a minute.

First, I'm sure you're asking at this point.. "uh.. is he serious? Isn't he a
Marine? Has he gone soft? Is this spam??.." Nope, just hang with me.
Providing support to a population who have become refugees as a result of
armed conflict benefits more than just those individuals. It benefits you,
your family, and your MARINES fighting abroad. How you ask?

I shall explain:

As I'm sure you can imagine, refugee camps are a terrible place. They are
filled with displaced individuals who are jobless, moneyless,
education-less, hungry, and angry because they were forced from their
home/family (directly or indirectly) and moved to a trash heap in a country
that doesn't want them.

The depression that results from this environment breeds something called
"hopelessness," especially in youths. Back in my F&M days while studying the
Hopelessness Theory of Depression I learned that experiences in such negative
environments can lead to the formation of dysfunctional beliefs, which in turn
lead to negative self views, which in turn leads to depression, followed by
desperation. THIS is why you have a "vulnerable population" within these refugee
camps. Desperate people are easily exploited. Many terrorist organizations
or extremist groups recognize this and are taking advantage of the social and
psychological dysfunction within these camps to breed dysfunctional beliefs
(Radical Islamic Extremism) and recruit suicide bombers.

You often wonder, "how can someone walk into a crowded square and blow
themselves up?" Research refugee camps on the border of conflict ridden regions
and I'm sure you will understand how easy it would be for an al-Qaida operative
to recruit individuals using promises of hope, meaning to life, and a guaranteed
spot in heaven. A large majority of the suicide bombers who are killing our troops in Afghanistan are not Taliban. They are extremists who grew up in refugee camps
bordering Pakistan. Look deeply into conflicts in Somalia and the Congo, you will find
similar backgrounds in the majority of the extremists, guerrillas, or
terrorists involved.

SO, by getting me my Christmas present you can save a life and disrupt the
proliferation of terrorism by providing these underprivileged individuals
with an alternative form of hope. Give them education to fight extremist
views, food and medicine to maintain their desire to live, and HOPE that
they can create a better life for themselves and their families. Help fight
the long war.

If you can find a present like this in a store at the mall.. Let me
know..I'll buy stock

Thanks for taking the time to consider my Christmas list. There are many
organizations to give to during the holidays and this is certainly not the
only one you should look into. I look forward to seeing/hearing from you all
this Christmas. Take care, Miss you!!

Love,
Devin

If that doesn't move you, I don't know what would. It inspired me to reach out to the IRC - the International Rescue Committee. Their website is www.theirc.org. And if you follow the link Devin gave, www.fromharmtohome.org, you'll see the "products" he mentioned are not gifts for him at all, but for the selfless.

They include blankets, coats, farming tools and more for refugees; mosquito nets, first aid training, safe birthing kits, maternity care and more medical services; school supplies, classrooms, teaching supplies and more educational tools; water tanks, family survival kits and more emergency supplies. And yes, the IRC will send you a gift card to share with your friends and loved ones for each gift you purchase.

Tonight, I'll speak with Janet Harris, VP of Development for the IRC, who'll tell us a bit more about the organization and their From Harm to Home gift giving program. This is what holiday gift giving should be.

Deal...or No Deal

2009-12-09T21:04:00.003-05:00

**Updated to include audio links!
Click to listen to my interview with John Nichols of The Nation, and Brent Budowsky of The Hill***

I've been doing my best to follow the progress, or lack thereof, of the fight toward meaningful health care reform. Last night, a new wrench was thrown into the political machine. Apparently, the "gang of 10" senators -- 5 progressive and 5 "moderate" members of the Democratic caucus were charged with coming up with a solution to the public option impasse.

And compromise, they did. Although we still don't have the details, and won't until the Congressional Budget Office scores the new idea, bits and pieces have been trickling out.

While some of the components sound intriguing (a Medicare buy in for people ages 55-64), the devil is definitely in the details. And the more details I can find, the more evil they appear.

It seems that the buy-in wouldn't be open to all people in the specified age group, but only those who are unable to otherwise buy insurance from the for-profit leeches. Just as the watered-down public option that was last on the table was set up to fail, so too is this Medicare buy-in.

While Medicare For All is the gold standard for what it would take to fix our seriously broken health care system, a limited Medicare buy-in for only the sickest of an already limited population would be prohibitively expensive and a solution for no one.

As Brent Budowsky writes in a column for The Hill, the Democrats are indeed doing what they seem to do best... blowing a golden opportunity for real change. Budowsky will join me tonight on Air America, but will provide a bit of hope in this seemingly hopeless world... He wrote another column just days ago that pointed to JFK, one of our country's greatest leaders, and the fact that his presidency survived a major screw-up with the Bay of Pigs. But he was able to come back from that and even save us from nuclear annihilation with the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Today, Q uinnipiac University released their latest polling data, which shows President Obama's approval ratings at an all-time low. In fact, his numbers are the lowest for any president at 11 months into their first term!

Perhaps President Obama will take a hard look at how he got where he is tomorrow, while he's in Oslo collecting his Nobel Peace Prize, and realize what it'll take to win back the support of those of us who put him there.

Peace. Now. Please!

2009-12-07T11:17:00.004-05:00

I was in New York City last week. I arrived on Wednesday, just in time to head over to Times Square to take part in a peace vigil which took place less than 24 hours after President Obama announced his plans to send 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan.

Here's what I saw....

Obama's War

2009-12-01T22:42:00.003-05:00

It is now. Does he really think that he can do, with 30,000 additional troops, in 18 months, what no other "superpower" ever could, in the history of the world?

So, what happens in July of 2011, when our economy is in even worse shape after spending many more billions on this war?

Too many in our government are more than willing to kill our nation's economy with war spending, but don't want to spend a dime on health care for all, on creating jobs, or on helping citizens keep their homes.

No, but after spending many more billions of dollars on trying to "disrupt, dismantle and defeat Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and to prevent its capacity to threaten American and our allies in the future," what then?

Do you really think that, magically, come July 2011, all will be well, and our soldiers will start coming home, and the problems in Afghanistan will be over

I didn't think so....

And if Al Qaeda is such a terrible international threat, why is it America leading the charge, and bearing almost all of the burden-- both with our soldiers and our dollars?

I just don't get it.

We'll be discussing this tonight on Air America radio tonight at 12 midnight ET/9 pm PT.

In our first hour, I'll be joined by investigative journalist Greg Palast, who just filed a special report on the WTO, on the occasion of their meeting in Geneva, and the 10th anniversary of the Battle in Seattle.

I hope you'll weigh in tonight with your thoughts on "our new strategy" in Afghanistan. Listen live by clicking here, and call in at 866-303-2270.

Monday on Steroids!

2009-11-30T12:20:00.003-05:00

***Updated to include audio links!

Click here to listen to my interview with Senator Bernie Sanders.

Click here to hear my interview with Congressman Dennis Kucinich***

Mondays are always tough. But the Monday after a four day weekend, complete gluttony galore (both in terms of food and purchases), is even harder. So it's best to jump in with both feet! And that's just what I'm doing today.

I'll be guest hosting The Randi Rhodes Show today from 3-6pm ET, and will be back in my usual 11pm-1am ET slot on Air America Radio tonight too.

I'm not the only one jumping right back in either!

The Senate, this afternoon, begins debate on Health Care Reform. Tomorrow night, President Obama will address the nation from West Point, explaining to us his rationale for sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.

Oh, there are other things going on as well. For some reason, President Obama wants to keep Ben Bernanke on for another term as Chair of the Federal Reserve. The White House is going to address the Jobs disaster, and will also be enacting some programs to help those of us in danger of losing our homes to foreclosure.

And there are distractions too.... A couple of narcissistic attention-seekers crashed the State Dinner at the White House Wednesday night, begging the question "Who's in charge?".

We'll deal with many of these issues today, between the two shows.

I'll be joined by both Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressman Dennis Kucinich today during Randi's show (and will also share them with you tonight on my show). If I had my way, they'd be our next president and vice president. Unfortunately, that won't happen. But fortunately, they're both looking out for our best interests in Congress. I just wish we could clone them and get a lot more like them!

As you probably know, they're both against the plans that President Obama will put forth tomorrow night. Michael Moore is too, and he wrote about it in an open letter to the president today.

The Daily Beast's Peter Beinart takes a different approach today in a piece entitled "Stop Talking About Leaving." He'll join me this afternoon to discuss his rationale too.

Monday Night Menagerie

2009-11-23T22:06:00.002-05:00

Just a reminder that tomorrow night is the big adoption show on Air America radio.... Tonight, we have a bit of everything!

We'll get started with a Quickie News Update with Victoria Jones of the Talk Radio News Service.

We'll follow that with a conversation with Will Bunch, senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, whose "Attytood" blog is one I enjoy immensely. He wrote a piece on Thursday "The 26% Solution" that caught my eye, so I invited him on to tell us about it... He is also author of the book, Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Has Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future.

We'll round out the first hour with a visit from Howie Klein of downwithtyranny.com, who live-tweeted Saturday's Senate debate before the vote to open debate on the health care bill.

Hour two will be filled with a no-holds-barred conversation with Dylan Ratigan, host of MSNBC's Morning Meeting.

Join in the fun! Click here to listen live (11pm-1am ET), and call in at 866-303-2270.

My Best Thanksgiving Ever

2009-11-22T19:29:00.006-05:00

Ten years ago this month, I was hoping to bring my daughter home. Six months earlier, I had started the process to adopt my daughter. I wasn't sure where she was, or what she looked like, but I had already spent countless hours assembling my adoption dossier, and dreaming of a baby girl in an orphanage somewhere in Russia.

It took another year of waiting, of re-doing paperwork, and lots of frustration. But at the end of October, 2000 I accepted the referral of an 18-month old little girl in an orphanage in the village of Karakastek, Kazakhstan.

Nine years ago tonight, I was in the city of Almaty, about 90 minutes by car from her village, but I had already visited three times. Nine years ago tonight I was spending my final night as a childless woman.

It was Thanksgiving Day! On November 23, 2000, I appeared in a freezing cold courtroom in a tiny village on the other side of the world, trying to convince a judge that he should allow me to take this precious little girl with me home to the US, to be her mother.

I've made many mistakes in my life, but I often say that adopting my daughter is the one thing I know I did right.

The process was long and involved, but it certainly didn't get any easier after bringing Alison home. Parenting is the toughest job I've ever had, but it's also the most rewarding.

People often comment to me that Alison was very lucky, and I have always respond that we both were. She is definitely my daughter; that was apparent almost immediately!

This Tuesday, November 24, Alison and I will celebrate our 9th "Forever Day." Many in the adoption community refer to the day the new parents take their child from the orphanage as their "gotcha" day. We prefer the more sentimental description, as it is the day we became mother and daughter, forever.

November also happens to be National Adoption Month, so I tend to do at least one adoption related show every year at this time.

I hope you'll tune in to Air America radi o this Tuesday night, November 24, 11pm-1am ET, for a very special show. (Click here to listen live)

When I first made the decision to adopt internationally, I joined a few list-serves. (FRUA, EEAC are home to the two biggest.) Through those lists, I found a group of families who were using the same agency as me, and we formed our own little list.

It's now more than 10 years since we began the process, and I count this group among my closest friends, even though some of us have never even met in person! We went through the heartbreak of long waits and broken promises, the fear of making bad decisions, the joy of accepting referrals and traveling to meet and bring home our children.

We've supported each other through issues with our kids, deaths, divorces, surprise births and so much more...

Tuesday night, a few of these very dear friends will join me on Air America to tell their stories. Perhaps you'll be moved to find out if your child is out there somewhere waiting for you.

Click here to read my journal, and please join us Tuesday night!

What a Long, Strange Week It's Been

2009-11-20T21:17:00.007-05:00

***Updated with audio links... click to hear the interviews with
Robert Reich, Dave Dayen and Kevin Zeese****

This has been a strange, strange week.

It was the week of Palin. Sarah Palin who, by all rights, should have disappeared from the national discourse after she quit her job as governor of Alaska with 18 months left in her first term, is a phenomenon.

Palin is revered by the non-thinkers, the anti-intellectuals, the Bible-thumpers who know not the meaning of Christianity, the hate-mongers and the teabaggers, and reviled by those of us with a conscience, with compassion for our fellow human beings, with a modicum of education and the minds to think for ourselves.

I was planning to have a little fun with Palin tonight. I was going to conduct my own "interview." There's certainly more than enough footage of recent Sarah interviews from the past few days to piece together the answers to the questions I'd pose. But I realized after about 10 minutes of sifting though her inane answers to questions from everyone from Oprah and Barbara to Hannity and Beck that I had much better things to do with my precious time.

Then I came across this gem from funnyordie, which says it all... Finally, Sarah Palin tells the truth!

Sarah Palin Tells the Truth - watch more funny videos

Now on to things much more important...

Tomorrow night, the Senate will hold the first procedural vote on the way to passing their health care bill (which you can read here). Tonight, I'll check in with a great panel of folks who'll weigh in with their expertise and opinions on what's good and bad about this bill, and what will happen with it.

Secretary of Labor under Bill Clinton and now professor at UC Berkeley, Robert Reich will join me to talk about two of his most recent blog entries: "Harry Reid and What Happened to the Public Option" and "The Great Disconnect Between Stocks and Jobs."

Dave Dayen writes the FDL News blog for FireDogLake, and he'll give us the details on where the 3 rogue ConservaDem Senators stand the night before the first vote tomorrow.

Kevin Zeese is president of Prosperity Agenda, one of the organizations, one of the three "initiating groups" behind Mobilize for Healthcare, a nonviolent campaign to end private health insurance abuse and win health care for all! He'll talk with us about their next step in the fight for the real “public option”: Medicare for All, a national single payer plan that cuts out the profit, covers everyone, and puts patients first.

And my favorite activist, David Swanson will check in too. He's in California, on his book tour for Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union. He was in Miami last month for a book reading/signing, and I was honored to introduce him to the crowd. C-Span was there too, and will show that event this Sunday morning at 7:45 ET on C-Span 2.

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, and call in at 866-303-2270!

One Step Closer

2009-11-18T21:59:00.004-05:00

Tonight, the United States moved one step closer. One step closer to the rest of the free world.

It should come as a huge shock to realize that the United States of America stands alone as the only industrialized nation on the planet that doesn't consider health care to be a basic human right. The good ole US is the only first world country in the world in which a person can go bankrupt and lose everything he or she owns simply because he, she or a family member got sick.

The United States of America, where compassion seems to be a very rare commodity.

At least, that's what the rest of the world must think of us.

But I know that I, as a liberal, progressive, ACLU card-carrying democratic-socialist wannabe, I am compassionate. I don't think anyone should have to choose between putting food on the table or visiting the doctor when something is wrong. Health care, to me, falls under the heading of those inalienable rights granted us in the Declaration of Independence of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Nowhere does it say "if you can afford the premiums, co-pays and deductible!"

Today, Harry Reid introduced the new Senate Health Care bill, H.R. 3590 "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act." This is the product of the two Senate committee bills merged into one that will be debated, amended and, hopefully, voted on.

Once that passes, this bill will have to be merged with the House bill. And then both the Senate and the House will have to pass it in order to take us yet another step closer to giving Americans the peace of mind that so many of our fellow world citizens already enjoy. The dignity of life.

It's more than a little ironic that the Republican members of Congress who, unanimously, claim to be "pro-life" are so against the one thing that can help our people live. Health care for all.

Tonight on my Air America radio show, I'll bring you the latest updates on the Senate bill, from Ryan Grim at Huffington Post and Brian Beutler at Talking Points Memo.

And I'm thrilled to speak tonight with Rich Stockwell, a senior producer at MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann. He's the man who came up with the wonderful idea to show the Democratic Senators who just might stand in the way of health care reform just what's at stake by mounting a series of free clinics, in conjunction with the National Association of Free Clinics. The first one was held last weekend in New Orleans.

Rich wrote about the experience in "Health reform's human stories," a piece that Keith felt compelled to read on the air in its entirety.

Listen live from 11pm-am ET by clicking here, join us in the chat there too, and call in at 866-303-2270 with your thoughts!

Two Smart Women....

2009-11-17T21:41:00.002-05:00

I'll have two brilliant, accomplished women on the show tonight. OK, I felt I needed to make up for last night's night of Pa(l)in. But more importantly, the two women on my show tonight are both fascinating and each has much to say.

I first heard of Connie Schultz in 2007, when I saw a review of her book "...and His Lovely Wife: A Memoir from the Woman Beside the Man," which told of her experiences on the campaign trail with her husband, now-Senator Sherrod Brown from Ohio. At the time, I was producing a talk show, and the male host was not interested in interviewing her. Hmmm....

I've since become a fan of this Pulitzer Prize winning columnist for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Schultz has just returned from Hong Kong where, as a visiting lecturer, she was teaching Chinese women who were allowed to leave mainland China for one year to study the principles of a free press!). In her latest column dealing with the gruesome discovery of 11 bodies at the home of a convicted sexual predator in Cleveland, Connie writes of the incredulity with which the Chinese women digested this story, who all wondered how the 11 victims could be missing for so long, yet not missed.

Yes, there is much to talk about with Connie Schultz, including this amazing column called "No magic can keep us young; the trick is aging gracefully" which, considering my recent 50th birthday, touched a chord for me.

In hour two, I'll speak with the inimitable Kathy Griffin, who also has a book. "Official Book Club Selection" is the actual title, and it actually should be one! I read the whole thing in less than a weekend, and was sad when it ended. I am a big fan of Kathy's because she says what she thinks, and pulls no punches. We need more people like her.

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, and call in at 866-303-2270!

A Pa(l)in in the Ass

2009-11-16T22:14:00.003-05:00

***Updated to include audio links..
Click to hear Lisa Derrick, Richard Kim, Shannyn Moore, and my "tribute" to Sarah Palin***

I'm sorry. I know that everywhere you turn today and tonight, you'll be subject to the inane ramblings of a woman who doesn't deserve the time of day, much less the fifteen minutes of fame she's used up a thousand-fold!

But here we are, with a Sarah Palin on Oprah the most talk-about media event of the season. Seriously, it will likely be one of Oprah's highest rated shows of the season. The question is, though, how many are watching hoping for the train wreck?

I know I am... or did. Unfortunately, other than one truly stupid choice of words (she's "reloading"?!?!), it was a rather boring show.

Hopefully, my show tonight will not be! We'll have some fun at Palin's expense, a fairly easy thing to do. I've put together one of my production pieces -- not from today's Oprah appearance, but some of our favorite blasts from the past.

I'll also have a great slate of guests... Richard Kim, Senior Editor of The Nation magazine, and co-editor of Going Rouge: An American Nightmare will join us to talk about the book, a collection of essays about Palin and her 14 months in the spotlight and her inauspicious political career. (Note: Going Rouge is only available through OrBooks.com until Dec. 1, when it will be available at all other booksellers.)

Lisa Derrick was live blogging today's Oprah broadcast on her La Figa blog at Firedoglake.com,
and she'll join us tonight with the high... or low points.

And finally, a woman who can thank Sarah Palin for unwittingly helping her career! Shannyn Moore has had a pretty good year as an Anchorage, Alaska- based blogger and broadcaster. She's been telling us the truth about Palin through her radio show, TV appearances, her blog, and more, and we've been loving it. Shannyn penned a piece today on Huffington Post "Sarah's Oily Lies Drip from the Pages of Going Rogue" and we'll talk about that and others of Palin's lies too.

And although Sarah's five part interview with Barbara Walters starts tomorrow (I kid you not), we're done after tonight. Unless she says something we, like the proverbial train wreck, just can't ignore.

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET here, and call in at 866-303-2270.

Friday Night: Keeping the Light Alive

2009-11-13T21:45:00.002-05:00

It's been a long week. Friday's are always welcome in my world, but even more so this week.

On tonight's Air America radio show, we'll deal with the news of the week...

I'll visit with Larisa Alexandrovna of Raw Story and atlargely.com, who wrote today about Greg Craig's resignation from his post as White House counsel. Why is this important, you ask? Well, there are just some weird things about the story... like the fact that Craig is a Karl Rove buddy, and that Craig will be replaced by veteran Democratic lawyer Bob Bauer, who just happens to be married to outgoing White House communications director Anita Dunn. Hmmm....
Mark Karlin, editor and publisher of BuzzFlash.com will check in with the BuzzFlash stories of the week, including health care reform/Stupak and the Senate and the revolt of the Democratic women, the rise of Jon Stewart as a media force exposing the wrongs of Faux News, the Afghanistan conundrum, and the jobless recovery.

And we'll wrap up the week with an old, dear friend of mine. Dan Navarro is best known as half of the singer/songwriter duo of Lowen & Navarro. Dan and Eric Lowen wrote, recorded and made music together for twenty years, releasing nine albums.

Five years ago, Eric Lowen was diagnosed with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease), and just a few months ago retired from performing.

A group of artists and friends of Lowen & Navarro -- including Jackson Browne, Keb' Mo', John Ondrasik (Five for Fighting), The Bangles, and others - have released Keep The Light Alive: Celebrating the Music of Lowen & Navarro, the proceeds of which will benefit The Eric Lowen Trust, ALSA LA and Augie's Quest. Find out more at www.keepthelightalive.org.

Listen live tonight from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, and call in at 866-303-2270!

The Other Side of Nicole Sandler

2009-11-13T14:29:00.004-05:00

My Multimedia Page is now up, featuring a huge video/music project I've been working on for the better part of the last year.

My dear friend, Michele Clark, has been producing an amazing event for the past 12 years, called Sunset Sessions. She brings adventurous radio programmers, music supervisors (the people who place music in film and televison shows), music industry professionals and artists to beautiful locations to enjoy three days of music, conversation, information and networking.

Michele Clark's Sunset Sessions 2009 was held Feb 12-14 at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, CA, and featured a wonderful mix of established stars (Chris Isaak, Third Eye Blind) along with some up and coming bands (Eric Hutchinson, Zac Brown Band) and others whom you may not have heard of yet, but should soon...

I posted the entire project on my new multimedia page, www.radioornot.wordpress.com. I hope you'll visit and enjoy some of the great music there. Here are a couple of my favorites from the project:

Chris Isaak:

Eric Hutchinson:

On Veterans Day- Get Out Of Afghanistan

2009-11-11T21:20:00.003-05:00

Congressman Eric Massa joins me tonight on my Air America radio show. Since today is Veteran's Day, we'll talk a bit about his career in the Navy, and get his thoughts on Afghanistan. He might surprise you.

Eric Massa also surprised a lot of his colleagues Saturday night, when he joined with Dennis Kucinich as the only two signatories of this letter from the Congressional Progressive Caucus who vowed to vote against any bill without a "robust" public option to actually follow through on that promise!

Progressive Caucus Letter Public Option

View more documents from DocJess.

We need more representatives like Massa and Kucinich. Perhaps if the rest of the 57 held true to their word, as apparently the Blue Dogs and the anti-choice members did, we'd have a better health care bill today.

Last night, Congressman Kucinich joined me and, in discussing the Kucinich amendment, we spoke a bit about ERISA. Tonight, I'll once again be joined by Jeff Metzger, an attorney from Orange County, California who represents clients against insurance companies for unfair denials. Most of those claims are subject to ERISA, which we'll explain again tonight.

As we continue to feature the fight for real health care reform as the primary topic on the show these days, I'll be joined tonight be Joan McCarter. She blogs at DailyKos as McJoan, and has done amazing work. She'll bring us up to date on the latest developments, as Harry Reid has said we'll see the final Senate bill by the end of the week, and debate will begin on Monday.

And we'll also check in with Courtney Scott, a listener from Portland who sent a note asking if I'd consider doing a segment on animal rights. After following the link in her email signature, I saw that she's a film producer, currently finishing up a film called "The War on Animals," so I invited her to tell us a bit about it.

In honor of Veteran's Day, tonight's music will have a message too...

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, and join in the conversation at 866-303-2270.

It Ain't Over Till It's Over

2009-11-10T20:54:00.004-05:00

**Updated to include links to the interviews... Click to listen to Dennis Kucinch, Raul Grijalva, and Eleanor Smeal.****

That's a quote from Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who joins me tonight on Air America radio to talk about the reasons why he voted against HR 3962 on Saturday night, but continues to fight to bring real health care reform to the nation.

As I wrote yesterday, I'm truly conflicted. We need reform so badly, but I'm afraid that this bill --while bringing some much needed regulation -- still serves as a massive boondoggle for the for-profit leaches, government sanctioned extortionists known as the for profit health insurance industry.

What would have made Dennis Kucinich vote for it? As he'll explain tonight, if there was any protection for consumers, his vote would have been different.
The Kucinich Amendment (you can read the text here) would make it possible for states to enact their own single payer health care systems, and not be subject to the little known ERISA regulations that would render such systems impotent.

ERISA (The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) is a very complicated topic. I've done two shows on the subject. Jeff Metzger is a listener who happens to be an attorney who represents clients against insurance companies, and contacted me to educate me on the topic. I invited him on the show to explain what it's about. You can listen to that broadcast from August 18 here.

To underscore the importance of the issue, an opposing attorney contacted me, asking to present his side of the issue. So, on August 26, we revisited the subject, with an insurance company attorney, and Richard Johnston, the author of the blog called problemisERISA.blogspot.com. You can listen to that broadcast here.

Anyway, Congressman Kucinich will continue fighting for real reform. Stay up to date with what's going on at www.kucinich.us. And, as he'll tell us tonight, calls and emails to the White House, Speaker Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, imploring them to put the Kucinich Amendment back in the final health care bill can only help.

You might be wondering, as I was, what happened to the rest of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, 63 of whom wrote a letter to Nancy Pelosi vowing to vote against any bill that didn't contain a "robust" public option. Tonight, I'll also speak with Congressman Raul Grijalva (D-AZ), co-chair of the Progressive Caucus. He'll answer that question for us.

And then there's the question of the Stupak Amendment. The more I think about that piece of shit- er- legislation, the angrier I get. As I was perusing the interwebs today, I came across this piece on HuffPo, "Abortion in Health Care Reform: The Fight Is Far From Over," written by Eleanor Smeal, one of the true heroes of the feminist movement.

Today, in addition to serving as publisher of Ms. magazine, Ms. Smeal is president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, and she'll join us tonight too, to discuss the giant step backwards for human rights foisted upon us by the Stupak amendment.

I hope you'll join us too. Listen live (11pm-1am ET) by clicking here, and call in at 866-303-2270.

Reform... Or Not

2009-11-09T20:51:00.004-05:00

***Updated to include links to the interviews. Click the links to hear Howie Klein and John Nichols***

I'm truly conflicted.

I watched much of the "debate" in the House of Representatives on Saturday. I watched some during the early morning hours, presided over by John Dingell - who's spent his entire 28 terms in Congress, and carried on the legacy his father, John Dingell, Sr. started when he first introduced health care legislation in 1943 -- when the Republicans attempted to derail the debate by objecting every time a Democrat spoke.

But it eventually got back on track, and the bill - HR 3962 - Affordable Health Care for America Act, squeaked through by a vote of 220-215.

There's a lot of good in the bill, but way too much bad. Most notably, the horrendous Stupak Amendment, which was introduced and passed in the eleventh hour, which sets women's reproductive rights back to the stone age.

Tonight, John Nichols from The Nation will join me to talk about his piece "Six Smart Progressive Complaints About House Health Bill", and I agree with all of those arguments.

Congressmen Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Eric Massa (D-NY) both voted against the bill for reasons that we should all heed.

Kucinich:

"We have been led to believe that we must make our health care choices only within the current structure of a predatory, for-profit insurance system which makes money not providing health care. We cannot fault the insurance companies for being what they are. But we can fault legislation in which the government incentivizes the perpetuation, indeed the strengthening, of the for-profit health insurance industry, the very source of the problem. When health insurance companies deny care or raise premiums, co-pays and deductibles they are simply trying to make a profit. That is our system.

"Clearly, the insurance companies are the problem, not the solution. They are driving up the cost of health care. Because their massive bureaucracy avoids paying bills so effectively, they force hospitals and doctors to hire their own bureaucracy to fight the insurance companies to avoid getting stuck with an unfair share of the bills. The result is that since 1970, the number of physicians has increased by less than 200% while the number of administrators has increased by 3000%. It is no wonder that 31 cents of every health care dollar goes to administrative costs, not toward providing care. Even those with insurance are at risk. The single biggest cause of bankruptcies in the U.S. is health insurance policies that do not cover you when you get sick.

"But instead of working toward the elimination of for-profit insurance, H.R. 3962 would put the government in the role of accelerating the privatization of health care. In H.R. 3962, the government is requiring at least 21 million Americans to buy private health insurance from the very industry that causes costs to be so high, which will result in at least $70 billion in new annual revenue, much of which is coming from taxpayers. This inevitably will lead to even more costs, more subsidies, and higher profits for insurance companies-- a bailout under a blue cross.

"By incurring only a new requirement to cover pre-existing conditions, a weakened public option, and a few other important but limited concessions, the health insurance companies are getting quite a deal. The Center for American Progress' blog, Think Progress, states, 'since the President signaled that he is backing away from the public option, health insurance stocks have been on the rise.' Similarly, health care stocks rallied when Senator Max Baucus introduced a bill without a public option. Bloomberg reports that Curtis Lane, a prominent health industry investor, predicted a few weeks ago that 'money will start flowing in again' to health insurance stocks after passage of the legislation. Investors.com last month reported that pharmacy benefit managers share prices are hitting all-time highs, with the only industry worry that the Administration would reverse its decision not to negotiate Medicare Part D drug prices, leaving in place a Bush Administration policy.

"During the debate, when the interests of insurance companies would have been effectively challenged, that challenge was turned back. The 'robust public option' which would have offered a modicum of competition to a monopolistic industry was whittled down from an initial potential enrollment of 129 million Americans to 6 million. An amendment which would have protected the rights of states to pursue single-payer health care was stripped from the bill at the request of the Administration. Looking ahead, we cringe at the prospect of even greater favors for insurance companies.

"Recent rises in unemployment indicate a widening separation between the finance economy and the real economy. The finance economy considers the health of Wall Street, rising corporate profits, and banks' hoarding of cash, much of it from taxpayers, as sign of an economic recovery. However in the real economy-- in which most Americans live - the recession is not over. Rising unemployment, business failures, bankruptcies and foreclosures are still hammering Main Street.

"This health care bill continues the redistribution of wealth to Wall Street at the expense of America's manufacturing and service economies which suffer from costs other countries do not have to bear, especially the cost of health care. America continues to stand out among all industrialized nations for its privatized health care system. As a result, we are less competitive in steel, automotive, aerospace and shipping while other countries subsidize their exports in these areas through socializing the cost of health care.

"Notwithstanding the fate of H.R. 3962, America will someday come to recognize the broad social and economic benefits of a not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, which is good for the American people and good for America's businesses, with of course the notable exceptions being insurance and pharmaceuticals."

From Eric Massa's office:

Today Congressman Eric Massa outlined his reasons for voting against H.R. 3962 on Saturday night. To summarize the specific votes: Rep. Massa voted for the rule of debate, against the Stupak Amendment and against final passage of the bill.

When H.R. 3962 was first introduced on Thursday, October 29th, Rep. Massa canceled his weekend schedule to read and review the legislation. Following seven days of studying the bill, consulting with experts and speaking with constituents, Rep. Massa announced his intention to vote against the bill.

Rep. Massa had several concerns because the legislation did not meet several of his key objectives, including guaranteed universal access for all Americans and an assurance of individual affordability. While this bill does contain a public option, it is far from a "robust" one and Rep. Massa pledged, in a letter months ago, to vote against anything less than that. The public option in this bill is available for only about 2% of the American population and its premium rates will match private health insurance, guaranteeing no effective competition in the marketplace.

Additionally, he thinks that this bill, if signed into law, will not do enough to regulate the private for-profit health insurance industry and will actually empower them further. This is a major problem with the legislation as far as he is concerned. During the months of public debate on this topic, Rep. Massa called for the health insurance industry to be able to write plans across state lines and, while this bill partially addresses this, it does not lift this exemption outright. As such, he views this as a half measure rather than true interstate competition and believes that the goals of interstate competition will not be realized.

Rep. Massa also expressed concerns about the constitutionality of the individual mandate. While the Constitution empowers the Congress to raise and levy taxes, there is no clear indication that it allows for Congress to require the public to purchase insurance plans if they can afford them.

Detailed careful reading and understanding of the bill shows that should this become law, property taxes in New York State must increase by a minimum of 3%. By increasing Medicaid availability to citizens with an income of 150% of the federal poverty level, the federal government passes to New York State and its counties a cost sharing increase of at least 3% at the county level. Rep. Massa views this as being exceptionally counterproductive to our economy at this time.

During the closing hours of the debate, Rep. Massa voted against the Stupak Amendment which he viewed as a significant universal increase of current federal law. For the first time, if passed, the federal government would have prohibited a private citizen from using private funding to buy an insurance policy that covered elements of reproductive rights. The bill as written is clear, no federal funding for abortion procedures is allowed. Rep. Massa agrees with that but does not support an increase in federal law on this matter. This amendment passed and became part of the final legislation.

While there are several provisions that he did like in the bill, such as the elimination of patient rejections on the basis of pre-existing conditions, and the closing of the Medicare Part D Donut hole, members of Congress cannot vote for one part of a bill and against another.

"There are several reasons why I voted 'no' on H.R. 3962," said Congressman Eric Massa. "I have always said that I will vote 'no' on a bad bill to try and get a better one and that's what I did. Reforming our health care system is critical to our economy and our nation, but I had some serious concerns regarding the bill that we voted on Saturday night. If the Senate is able to move forward, I hope we can get a better bill back for a conference version."

I love that these two men are standing firm on their principles. Some progressives have very short memories. We cheered the Congressional Progressive Caucus when 62 of them sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi in which they vowed to vote against any bill that did not contain a "robust" public option. Kucinich and Massa are the last men standing.

And the despicable Stupid, er, Stupak Amendment just made this bill reprehensible. So, how could anyone who cares about women's rights vote for this bill with that amendment in it? To move it forward. This is NOT the final bill.

From the NY Times:

Some Democrats said they voted for the legislation so they could seek improvements in it. “This bill will get better in the Senate,” said Representative Jim Cooper, a Tennessee Democrat who has been outspoken in his criticism of some provisions of the bill but decided to support it. “If we kill it here, it won’t have a chance to get better.”

We can only hope!

Is there enough good in this bill, as it stands today, to outweigh the bad? I honestly don't know. But I can support these measures that ARE included:

Ending the insurance companies' anti-trust exemption
Extending coverage for kids to remain on their parents plans up to their 27th birthday
Creating a new voluntary, public long term insurance program
Begins closing the Medicare Part D Donut Hole immediately
Immediate help for the uninsured

I know that if we held out for what I'd consider acceptable, we'd never get anything done.

Down With Tyranny's Howie Klein will join me for the first hour tonight to break down the vote, and look at who voted for what, and consider the ramifications.

Listen live (11pm-1am ET) by clicking here, and add your thoughts by calling in at 866-303-2270.

It's Friday Night,, Do You Know Where Your Health Care Bill Is?

2009-11-06T21:11:00.002-05:00

We'd heard that the House of Representatives would be voting on HR 3962 - Affordable Health Care For America Act - tomorrow, sometime around 6pm. Or not...

It's now looking like the vote may not happen tomorrow at all. Perhaps Sunday, or Monday, or Tuesday... The Obstructionist Party is trying to delay things, as usual. But the Blue Dogs are throwing their own wrenches in the works too.

Tonight, we'll check in with Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA), the co-chair of the House Progressive Caucus to find out how she and the other progressives will vote on the bill, and get an update about what's actually in the final House bill.

We're all still reeling from yesterday's massacre at Ft. Hood, while those on the other side of the aisle seem to be dealing with it by ratcheting up the hatred toward Muslims. Larisa Alexandrovna (Raw Story), has written very eloquently, as usual, about this topic on her blog, atlargely.com, and will join me in the first hour tonight to talk about the insanity of it all.

And since it's the Friday night, we'll end the week with a fun interview with Jo Maeder. Radio listeners from South Florida and NYC might remember her from Y100, K-Rock and Z-100. The former "Rock & Roll Madam" left radio to care for her ailing mother, and wrote about it in the book When I Married My Mother: A Daughter's Search for What Really Matters --and How She Found It Caring for Mama Jo.

The Miami Book Fair International is coming up next weekend, and I've been fortunate to be able to speak with a number of the author's who'll be appearing, including Jo. She'll be reading Saturday afternoon, 11/14.

If It Were Up To Me....

2009-11-05T21:39:00.002-05:00

A wonderful singer songwriter named Cheryl Wheeler has a song called "If It Were Up To Me." I play it on the radio too often. And I will, unfortunately, be playing it tonight.

I first played it on the air in 1999, after two kids opened fire on their fellow classmates, killing 12 of them and a teacher, and injuring many more, at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO.

I played it eight years later, almost to the day, when a mentally unstable student at Virgina Tech terrorized a building on campus, and killing 32 people and wounding many others before killing himself.

Although music is one of my greatest joys, I've never taken pleasure in playing "If It Were Up To Me," as it's always in response to a crazed person with a gun.

Today, at the "soldier readiness facility" inside the world's largest military base, Ft. Hood in Texas, US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan allegedly began shooting. At last count, 12 of his victims have died; 31 more are wounded.

I don't know if it's irony or somehow related to his alleged actions today, the fact that Hasan is a graduate of Virginia Tech. So many thoughts spinning through my mind, and I'm sure yours too. We'll talk about it tonight.

Initial reports said that one shooter was killed, and two or three other suspects were either in custody or at large. We've now learned that Hasan likely acted alone and that he is still very much alive. Perhaps we'll be able to get some idea of what goes on inside the crazed mind of a person who'd do such a thing.

Hasan might be able to give us more answers into his own state of mind. He's an Army psychiatrist, who spent many hours counseling soldiers upon their return from Iraq and Afghanistan, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder at Walter Reed Medical Center.

If It Were Up to Me
Words and Lyrics by:
Cheryl Wheeler

Maybe it's the movies, maybe it's the books
Maybe it's the bullets, maybe it's the real crooks
Maybe it's the drugs, maybe it's the parents
Maybe it's the colors everybody's wearin
Maybe it's the President, maybe it's the last one
Maybe it's the one before that, what he done
Maybe it's the high schools, maybe it's the teachers
Maybe it's the tattooed children in the bleachers
Maybe it's the Bible, maybe it's the lack
Maybe it's the music, maybe it's the crack
Maybe it's the hairdos, maybe it's the TV
Maybe it's the cigarettes, maybe it's the family
Maybe it's the fast food, maybe it's the news
Maybe it's divorce, maybe it's abuse
Maybe it's the lawyers, maybe it's the prisons
Maybe it's the Senators, maybe it's the system
Maybe it's the fathers, maybe it's the sons
Maybe it's the sisters, maybe it's the moms
Maybe it's the radio, maybe it's road rage
Maybe El Nino, or UV rays
Maybe it's the army, maybe it's the liquor
Maybe it's the papers, maybe the militia
Maybe it's the athletes, maybe it's the ads
Maybe it's the sports fans, maybe it's a fad
Maybe it's the magazines, maybe it's the internet
Maybe it's the lottery, maybe it's the immigrants
Maybe it's taxes, big business
Maybe it's the KKK and the skinheads
Maybe it's the communists, maybe it's the Catholics
Maybe it's the hippies, maybe it's the addicts
Maybe it's the art, maybe it's the sex
Maybe it's the homeless, maybe it's the banks
Maybe it's the clearcut, maybe it's the ozone
Maybe it's the chemicals, maybe it's the car phones
Maybe it's the fertilizer, maybe it's the nose rings
Maybe it's the end, but I know one thing.
If it were up to me, I'd take away the guns.

(P) October 1, 1997

Penrod And Higgins Music / Amachrist Music ACF Music Group International Copyright Reserved

Unfortunately, I have the song ready to play, once again, tonight.

Also on tonight's program, I'll be joined by Christy Harvey of the Center for American Progress with a look at some of the other stories of the day.

And I'll talk with Diane Havens, one of the co-founders of HearTheBill.org, a place you can go to hear volunteer voiceover artists read the text of HR 3962 "The Affordable Health Care for America Act".

As always, I hope you'll listen tonight (11pm-1am ET) by clicking here. And participate in the conversation by calling 866-303-2270.

One Big Day, Two Big Shows!

2009-11-04T13:31:00.004-05:00

It's a busy day today. The country is reflecting on President Barack Obama, one year after we made history by electing him our nation's 44th leader. I'm celebrating my 50th birthday today with two shows on this auspicious anniversary.

From 3-6pm ET, I'll be guest hosting The Randi Rhodes Show. What an honor, and a great birthday gift from a woman who inspired me to enter the realm of talk radio.

I'll be taking your calls at 866-87-RANDI throughout the three hours, during which we'll be joined by various guests weighing in too.

DC insider and The Hill columnist Brent Budowsky penned two columns this week, both taking a hard look at Obama then vs. now. Check out yesterday's "Come Home, Mr. President" and Monday's "Voters Are Not Stupid."

Howie Klein, the man behind DownWithTyranny.com and the Blue America PAC, will join in for a look at yesterday's off-year election day, and we'll discuss whether or not the outcomes are a reflection of Obama's performance.

And Ryan Grim will check in from Huffington Post with the latest in the fight for health care reform. Is the president doing enough to enact real change? Did Nancy Pelosi reinstate the Kucinich amendment when she released the "manager's amendment" late last night?

I look forward to your thoughts this afternoon too!

Tonight, we'll end the day with my regular Air America radio program, from 11pm-1am ET. I've pre-recorded it so I can celebrate my 50th with some friends and family. But I hope you'll tune in for an in-depth and spirited conversation with Ralph Nader about his new book, "Only the Super Rich Can Save Us" and how his work of fiction could, possibly, become reality!

And we'll wrap up the day with Russ Baker, who explained in "What Obama is Up Against" on truthout.org some of the hidden factors affecting the Obama - and every- presidency.

You can actually listen to both shows today on the AAR stream, as Air America carries the Randi Rhodes show on their Washington DC station.

Thanks for making my 50th a very happy birthday indeed!

Election Day 2009 and God

2009-11-03T21:25:00.004-05:00

What do those two things have in common? Other than the fact that all wining candidates will probably thank the man in the sky, they'll both be discussed on my show tonight!

Let's start with election day. OK, it's an off year, but there are a few important contests. The gubernatorial races in both VA and NJ might signal a resurgence for Republicans. The VA race was called almost immediately after the polls closed, as Republican Bob McDonnell handily defeated Democrat Creigh Deeds. Perhaps it was Deeds' name that sunk him.

NJ, at the time of this writing, is still too close to call.

Maine voted today on medical marijuana and marriage equality. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will find out if he will win a third term (money has it's advantages), and the nation's eyes are, unfortunately focused on the strange race in the 23rd District, where the teabaggers endorsed a carpetbagger right winger instead of the Republican candidate, who finally dropped out of the race and endorsed the Democrat!

Ahh, politics. Jack Rice, my Air America colleague will join me at the top of the show to bring us all the latest returns.

Then I'll be joined by one of my favorite guests. Frank Schaeffer's new book, Patience With God --Faith for People Who Don't Like Religion (or Atheism) hit stores last week.

Frank's father, Francis Schaeffer was the founder of the religious right movement, and Frank was right by his side... until he saw the light, so to speak. He wrote of that experience in his last book, Crazy For God-- How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) Of It Back.

And, if time permits, we'll take a listen down memory lane, with an interview I did with Shirley Maclaine two years ago. She had just written a book which contained a brief passage about Dennis Kucinich and UFO's. Tim Russert had asked Kucinich about it in a presidential debate, and I asked her about that question!

Join us tonight from 11pm-1am ET on Air America! Click here to listen live, and call in at 866-303-2270!

Milestones and Reflections

2009-11-02T15:49:00.002-05:00

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 is quickly approaching. I will be fifty years old.

It's at these major milestones that we tend to pause for reflection. For me, a number of milestones have converged. This is not my typical Radio or Not newsletter. It's a bit more personal in nature than I usually get. But I hope you'll read on as I indulge in some mid-life reflection.

I recently wrote about my mom, on the 30th anniversary of her passing. I was an idealistic and, in many ways, naive young woman, a scant two weeks away from turning 20. On the verge of leaving my teens behind and entering adulthood, I was catapulted into learning one of life's toughest lessons all too soon.

The world kept turning, but it was a new era, my life after mom. On my 20th birthday, November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the US Embassy in Tehran, beginning a crisis in which 53 hostages were held for 444 days. I remembered thinking, as I watched this unfold, that my mother would never know about that.

A year later, on my 21st birthday, Ronald Reagan was elected president. Milestones and Reflections.

Ted Kennedy challenged Jimmy Carter in the primary that year. I honestly don't have any memories of that, but I can now only imagine how differently things might have turned out had Ted Kennedy become president. I believe the world would be a much better place today.

I wasn't politically involved as a young adult. I was aware, but not involved. I graduated from the University of South Florida with a degree in broadcasting, and soon after moved to NY to pursue a radio career.

Mom never heard me on the radio; that part of my life happened after mom. Aware but not involved, I moved from my first NY radio job (producing the very conservative Bob Grant Show at WMCA) to the pop culture/music world, working with Jim Kerr at WPLJ. In 1987, I headed west, out to Los Angeles, for a man. The relationship lasted a year, but Southern California became my home for fourteen years. My life was music and FM radio, when music radio still held the promise of creativity.

Perhaps some day I'll write a book. My first job in LA was producing the Phil Hendrie morning show at KLSX. Yes, the same Phil Hendrie who had great success years later with his very creative shtick, arguing with himself as the colorful characters he created.

The world kept turning and Bill Clinton was elected president November 3, 1992. Ahh, the Mark & Brian years. About a year after I moved to Los Angeles, a morning duo also arrived. Mark & Brian had a successful morning show in Birmingham, Alabama, and were brought to LA to do something different.

They were unique. A couple of overgrown kids who tried to crack each other up every morning. It was endearing. When they hit the air, I was working at KNX-FM (LA's Mellow Rock), which then became LA's other oldies station, KODJ.

Finally, in early 1990, I was hired to produce the show.

Radio was much less corporate back then.. KLOS was, at the time, owned by Cap Cities/ABC. The Mark & Brian Program was FUN. We did silly things like "stealing" the Bob's Big Boy statue from in front of the restaurant on La Cienega Blvd. and dressing it up like Elvis, and putting it on the top of the Capital Records building so the whole city could pay tribute to "the King". (And, of course, Elvis always wanted to be on Capital Records!)

The Elvis Bob had a long life... he became Franken Bob and Dracu Bob for successive Halloweens, and was the star of the M&B Drive In movie events, at which we'd show double features of the scariest movies.

He became Evel Bob for a trip to Vegas when hundreds of listeners, Tom Jones and Evel Knevil himself were on hand as we launched the Bob over the fountains at Caesar's Palace.

And we threw skydiving Bob out of a plane, for the thousands of listeners who trekked out to the desert for this bit of live on air silliness.

Music was secondary, but we were allowed the freedom from KLOS's classic rock format to bring all kinds of acts into the studio for our #1 by a huge margin morning show. We had them all... from Bon Jovi to James Taylor to Lyle Lovett to Pete Townshend (pictured below) who led a slew of listeners with their guitars in hand in a parking lot play-along, so they could tell their grandkids they played guitar with Townshend, and more than I can recount here. And many of them took us up on our invitations to perform at the annual Mark & Brian Christmas Show, which was staged, produced and aired live from 6-10am.

Looking back on those days, I'm amazed at what I was able to pull off as the lone producer of that show. It was pre-internet, and before every desk was home to a PC. "My" computer was actually delivered the day I left KLOS to cross the street to help launch a new radio station, fm 101.9 KSCA.

I had actually decided to leave KLOS about six months before I did. Howard Stern had come to town about midway through my four year run with M&B. He was great at entering a new market and targeting the top morning show in town. He came at Mark and Brian with guns blazing, accusing them of copying his act. Honestly, that accusation couldn't be further from the truth. First of all, they never listened to him - or any other morning show. And second, their act was nothing like his. Although there was some sexual content, it was mostly fun, not creepy. We didn't have naked women in the studio (except for the time they had someone make a mold of my friend Andrea's breasts before she went for breast reduction surgery.)

Click here for an audio trip down memory lane, from the M&B days.

But Stern did succeed in knocking them out of first place, and bringing lots of tension to the show.

I got into radio in the first place because of my love for music. When I had to choose a major for college, the only thing that really interested me was radio, because I figured I could keep going to concerts and listening to the music I loved. But, of course, I have fairly eclectic taste in music, and no commercial radio stations played what I liked!

That is, until around 1994, as a new format was just starting to pop up in some cities. KBCO in Boulder, Colorado had actually been around for a while, and is still considered one of the founders of the Triple A (Adult Album Alternative) format. Dennis Constantine had been the Program Director and was now consulting other such stations.

I had reached out to him, longing to work at a radio station that actually played the music about which I was passionate! After he responded to my letter with a standard "let me know when you're in town, and we'll talk," I flew out to Boulder to meet with him. I learned that Constantine had been speaking with the late, and greatly missed, Bill Ward, GM of LA's KLIT, the last remaining station in the Golden West Broadcasters group owned by Gene Autry.

The weekend of July 4, 1994 saw the launch of the new fm101.9, Southern California's Album Alternative! We made magic. KSCA was my favorite radio station ever, and those 2 1/2 years remain among the happiest in my professional life.

At KSCA, I got to interview some of my biggest idols

(Jackson Browne, Ray Davies)

and introduce listeners to others (Dave Matthews first LA radio interview, and
Ben Folds Five's first one too!)

Unfortunately, Bill Clinton threw a wrench in the industry. He signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 into law, which did away with all the ownership rules of broadcast stations. The era of consolidation had begun, and brought with it the end of local, creative. adventurous radio.

In February of 2007, owners Gene and Jackie Autry sold KSCA to Entravision, who changed the programming to a Spanish language format.

I moved to a radio and record trade magazine, the now-defunct Album Network, where I wrote about music, then down to San Diego for a stint as co-host of the 91X "Brand X Morning Show", when I heard that Clear Channel (who had now grown to gargantuan size during that consolidation frenzy) was going to flip two small signals in Santa Monica and Newport Beach to Triple A.

They brought me back up to Los Angeles to be Music Director and afternoon host at Channel 103.1.

Before Bill Clinton's monstrous gaffe, companies were permitted to own one AM, one FM and one TV signal in a market, with a cap of 40 stations total. After the Telecom Act became law, companies were, and still are, (generally speaking) allowed 8 stations in a single market, with no cap on the total number of stations they can own. Clear Channel now owns somewhere in the neighborhood of 1200 radio stations!

By 2000, after merging with yet another company, Clear Channel owned more than their limit of stations in LA and, since we were actually two stations with less than full market coverage and a niche format, we were the first to go. And to another Spanish language format it went!

In the year 2000, the internet was becoming a force for radio to reckon with. Clear Channel had been one of the earliest radio companies to launch an internet division.

Charlie Rahilly, now the CEO of Premiere Radio, was the force behind Channel 103.1. He believed the format would work in LA, and he agreed with me that we could make history by moving it seamlessly from over the air to online only as worldclassrock.com.

You can read my first-hand account of that transition here.

Unfortunately, the story didn't have a happy ending. We were just too early! Broadband was still a rarity, and people just weren't listening to much music and certainly not radio online yet! Then the dot com bust happened and, the rest, as they say, is history.

Meanwhile, I had adopted my daughter from Kazakhstan (you can read all about that journey here), and I was out of work. I was already ready to leave LA when 9/11 happened. I wanted to move as far away from a big city as possible, so I sold my wonderful home in Culver City (stupid, stupid, stupid!) and moved to Taos, New Mexico.

I was told that Taos Mountain either welcomes you or it doesn't... and, in my case, it didn't! After a few months with at KTAO, I once again picked up and moved back home to Florida so my daughter could know her cousins and her Pop-Pop.

Another job brought me up to Boston for a year, but it still wasn't right, so we came back to South Florida, where I decided to start my own video production business, helping families transform their stories, photos, home movies, etc., into DVDs they could hand down to future generations.

But a funny thing happened. While doing the video production work, instead of listening to music, I had the radio tuned to the local Air America affiliate.

Thanks to my dad, I had always listened to talk radio. I even started my professional career in talk in both Tampa and New York.

But back in South Florida, where music radio is abysmal, it was Air America radio keeping me company.

It was also a sign of the times. George W. Bush had squandered the budget surplus left by the Clinton administration, and lied us into a war in Iraq.

Day by day, this aware but not involved woman morphed a bit more into a concerned single mom wondering and worried about what was happening to this world her daughter would soon inherit.

Although I loved the creative side of my video business, I loathed the selling part. I remembered the feeling of loss on 9/11, but not in the way you'd imagine. Having worked my entire professional life in radio, my first thought any time there's a major tragedy or disaster is to run to the radio station and help!

This wasn't just an event; our world was being destroyed by the administration!

I contacted Peter Bolger, then-Program Director at WINZ, the then-Progressive Talk station here in South Florida. After a six month courtship, he finally hired me to produce a new local morning show, hosted by newspaper veteran Jim DeFede. After a year, Jim moved on, and I took over hosting the show.

I found my new voice. I still love music, and work it into my show whenever possible, (like this interview with Neil Finn from last Thursday night!).

But by being able to talk for more than 30 seconds at a clip, by being able to voice an opinion, by being able to interview newsmakers and others with their own opinions, I felt, for the first time in a long time, that I was making a difference! I was loving being creative, and doing something really worthwhile at the same time!

Unfortunately, the consolidation era in radio was just a symptom of a bigger problem. Radio had become like most other industries in our country-- a tool to feed Wall Street. The product was no longer important; it was all about the bottom line.

I was always attracted to radio because of its immediacy and the personal nature of the medium. TV talked to the masses; Radio was the private, intimate medium.

But now it's about voicetracking and syndicated programs.

Most local radio stations' broadcast day is filled with national talent. The rare local talk show is usually found in morning drive only, which is where I was fortunate enough to be able to speak with the people of South Florida for a couple of years.

August 22, 2008, the Friday morning before the Democratic National Convention convened in Denver, I was let go from WINZ, only to be replaced by Don Imus. So much for "progressive talk" in South Florida. Six months later, the whole station was gone. WINZ now offers South Florida's fifth sports talk format!

Thankfully, I was introduced to the people at Air America, who gave me my first shot at a national audience about six weeks after losing my morning show. I guest hosted The Thom Hartmann Show. What an honor! To me, Thom is the most knowledgeable, respected voice in talk radio.

Air America has been my lifeline! As a listener, their programming moved me from aware to informed to involved.

They suffered through a number of management and ownership woes, but continue to survive and, I hope, to thrive. The right constantly refers to the liberal media bias but, you and I know that that's a myth. There are too few liberal voices on the airwaves, and too few radio stations offering Air America's programming.

Since that first day filling in for Thom Hartmann, I've been honored to guest-host for Rachel Maddow, Ron Reagan, Ron Kuby and Montel Williams. And for the past four months, it's been my privilege to host a nightly program on Air America radio.

I've come a long way, and I'm truly grateful for the wonderful notes of support and encouragement I receive from listeners; from the new ones who've just found me on Air America to the old M&B fans who are still listening!

On November 4, 2008, my 49th birthday, Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States. We had so much hope.

How audacious of us. To believe that a bright, young, good looking, dare I say Kennedy-esque man could appear out of relative obscurity to bring this nation back to the promises and ideals of those pre-Reagan days. Back to the security I felt when I was still in my teens, and could go home to the safety of my mother's arms.

OK, I got caught up in the hype too. But this president was supposed to be different from the rest. And as I'm fortunate enough to be able to talk about every night on Air America, we've still got a very long way to go!

This Wednesday, November 4, 2009, I will turn 50 years old. As I take stock of my life in this rambling note of reflection, I realize that I have lots to be grateful for. I have a healthy, happy, beautiful, energetic, creative daughter (and I must remember those things when the less than joyous traits of her complex personality surface to infuriate me). I have a wonderful, loving, generous, patient, smart, compassionate, politically involved, brilliant boyfriend who loves me dearly (and I must remember those things when I get frustrated at the complexity of relationships and the lack of simplicity implicit in them).

I have a voice and an opinion and the opportunity to share them and, perhaps, have some sort of influence in an increasingly difficult world. I get to interview and ask tough questions of some of the best and brightest people who are truly working to change our country for the better, and challenge many of those, personally, whom I feel could be doing a much better job on our behalf. And I still get to listen to great music and introduce what I love to listeners who might otherwise not get to hear it.

I'm fifty years old this week. I lost my father six years ago. After he died, I learned that his degree from Boston University was in radio! He never told me that. He was very proud of me and happy for the success that I enjoyed during the good runs, and was always supportive when times were tough.

I'm now the parent, with my young daughter on my mind every day. She motivates me to try to make the world a better place.

The day I turn 50 will mark one year since we elected Barack Obama president. His year in office hasn't miraculously transported us back to my early childhood, when JFK was president. We haven't been returned to the peace and prosperity of the Clinton years, when I crossed the globe to adopt my daughter.

Obama isn't the hero so many of us thought he would be. What I've learned, aided by the wisdom of my years, is that nothing worthwhile is easily attained. And I don't think we'll ever have the answers. But we have to keep plugging away.

We leave childhood behind because we can't live in that state forever. But we must also fight for those things that are truly important.

I'll keep talking about what I believe, exposing truths and looking for answers. I'll keep listening to great music, I'll continue trying to teach my daughter what's important, all while trying to change what I can and be grateful for all I'm so lucky to have in my life.

Ever evolving, growing, learning, loving. Remembering the past, but moving forward....

Thanks for your continued support. It means more to me than you know.

I hope you'll share this with any friends who might be interested in my thoughts, activities or whereabouts! I also hope you'll find me on Facebook, where I tend to post a lot of information, and at my podcast/blog at www.radioornot.com.

And, for as long as they'll have me, I'm on Air America Radio, every weeknight from 11pm-1am ET, streaming live here!

Here's to making the next fifty better than the first. At least I know I'll die trying!

Greatest American Hero

2009-10-30T21:25:00.004-04:00

**Click here to listen to my interview with Congressman Dennis Kucinich**

The fight for real health care reform is far, very far from over!

We political junkies know who the true heroes are. They've been in the fight for a long time, knowing that slow and steady wins the race.

Then there are the newcomers, the flashes in the proverbial pans.

Not that there's anything wrong with them. Congressman Alan Grayson became an overnight sensation, earning the hearts and dollars of progressive democrats, and the ire of the right wing media after standing up on the floor of the House and blowing the lid off of the GOP health care plan: "Don't get sick. And if you do get sick, Die Quickly!"

It wasn't even so much what he said; it was more just simply the fact that he said it!

Democrats are not used to any of our elected officials actually standing up and speaking truth to power.

Anthony Weiner has become another regular on all of the MSNBC shows. He's been calling for a floor vote in the House on his amendment, which would basically replace the House health care bill with the single payer bill HR 676. I know he has the best of intentions, yet he probably should have consulted with the authors of HR 676.

John Conyers and Dennis Kucinich wrote that bill. And Dennis Kucinich has been working diligently for YEARS, pushing for real health care reform in the US. In fact, when you visit kucinich.us, the masthead reads "Whatever it takes, for as long as it takes. Health Care For All" followed by a petition you can sign "establishing health care as a civil right."

When I asked him a few months ago about Congressman Weiner's efforts to resurrect HR 676, Kucinich was less than enthusiastic. Of course, being the kind of guy he is, he'd never criticize his colleague and only spoke of him glowingly. But he did assert that the Weiner amendment would not pass; moreover it would suffer a crushing defeat in a floor vote.

Weiner was publicly pushing this bill, which stood no chance in hell of winning, when he could have joined with Kucinch in a slow, steady movement toward actual reform. Instead, Weiner's flash served to undermine the Kucinich amendment, which was the one bright shining element in the massive HR 3200.

The Kucinich Amendment is brilliant. It appeals to Republicans because it's all about state's rights. And it's our best chance to get a single payer health care system in this country, in that it allows us to achieve it in the same way Canada was able to. State by state to their province by province.

The Kucinch Amendment would allow states to set up single-payer health care systems modeled after Medicare, passed the House Education and Labor Committee in July, but was stripped out by Democratic leaders as they pieced together their final bill from the various committee proposals.

Congressman Kucinich today sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi urging her to reinstate his amendment. According to the Washington Independent, the letter was also signed by the House Progressive Caucus leadership, including Democratic Reps John Conyers (Mich.), Eric Massa (N.Y.), Neil Abercrombie (Hawaii), Janice Schakowsky (Ill.), Lynn Woolsey (Calif.) and Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.)

We all must join the effort. You can contact Nancy Pelosi's office, and your congressional representative, and insist that the Kucinich Amendment be reinstated too.

You can send Nancy Pelosi a message from her website, using the very handy form here. And you can call her office at 202-225-0100.

If you don't know who your Congressman is, just click here and put your zip code in the upper left hand corner to find out and get his or her contact information.

Congressman Dennis Kucinich will be my special guest tonight at midnight ET on Air America radio. I hope you'll join me tonight to listen to our greatest American hero.

Say It Ain't So, Joe

2009-10-30T20:51:00.003-04:00

I don't give politicians much credit these days, though I have to give them props for the strength of their collective stomachs. I don't think I could take the rollercoaster that is is the legislative process.

Perhaps it's my adult ADD or my need for instant gratification (or at least near future gratification). Patience was never a virtue of mine.

The long, bumpy, twisty road to health care reform has been enough to make me sick. Just when we think we're on the home stretch, another obstacle pops up. This time, it wears the scary Halloween mask of Joe Lieberman. Truly terrifying.

Maura Keaney, in an editorial for The Guardian (UK) offered this bit of brilliance:

Joe Lieberman has become the Balloon Boy dad of the Senate Democratic caucus, a fame-whore so addicted to media attention that he hatches ever-more-desperate and risky schemes that sell out his "family" to earn press attention.

Progressives can only hope that, like Richard Heene, Lieberman will finally be exposed as a fame-seeking fraudster after his latest stunt, Tuesday's threat to filibuster any bill for health care reform that includes a public option.

So, what do we do about the errant Senator from Connecticut? I'll try to assess the options, and keep the nausea at bay.

Joe Lieberman, who was defeated in the Democratic primary in Connecticut in 2006 by challenger Ned Lamont, decided to go rogue and run as an independent. Although he had shown little loyalty to the party, it got behind him in a big way.

Lieberman, as we now know all too well, won and retained his seat in the Senate and in the Democratic caucus. Apparently, party leadership with their brilliance at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory again and again, neglected to get any loyalty assurances from Mr. Lieberman in return for his place in the caucus. And even more irresponsible, he was given a prime committee chairmanship, again, with apparently no conditions.

How long should the Democratic party allow Lieberman's Republican ways to sit with the Dems, and even more importantly, to chair the all-important Homeland Security committee?

He not only campaigned in 2008 for the GOP ticket of McCain-Palin, but also for a number of Republicans in their bid for seats in the Senate. Today, he said he plans to actively campaign - again - for more Republican candidates in the coming days.future contests.

This week, Droopy Joe has been threatening to make history by siding with the Republicans to filibuster the health care bill -- voting against the cloture motion to cut off debate and bring the bill to the floor for a vote.

No Senator has ever gone against his caucus to filibuster legislation. If Lieberman does, indeed, do this, it will finally end his relationship with the Democratic party.

Many loyal liberals are calling for Lieberman's hide right now. Much to my amazement, I caution patience here. If Lieberman is stripped of his chairmanship and kicked out of the caucus now, he most definitely will filibuster and do all he can to block any new legislation.

He is a wimp. I have a feeling that with enough pressure put on him, he'll bow his head and come crawling back to the Democrats and will vote for cloture. I believe, as Maura Keaney wrote above, that Joe Lieberman is an attention seeking whore.

Perhaps when push comes to shove he will do the right thing. If not, there's plenty of time to kick him to the curb later.

Health Care Reform... Not Dead Yet

2009-10-29T19:38:00.005-04:00

**Updated to include links to the interviews mentioned below:
Congressman Alan Grayson
Brent Budowsky
Neil Finn ***

Though it sure seems as if someone in Washington is trying to kill the public option.

Harry Reed surprised the hell out of me last week when he announced that the Senate health care bill would include a public option. It gave me great pleasure to announce that I was wrong. I'd love nothing more than to be proven wrong in my pessimism today.

Nancy Pelosi today released the final House bill, HR 3962 The Affordable Health Care for America Act, which includes a less than robust public option. The concession she had to give to garner the 218 votes necessary to get the bill off the floor, I suppose, was to promise reimbursement rates to be negotiated with doctors, rather than based on Medicare rates plus 5%.

But that's not the worst part of what happened today. Speaker "Off the Table" Pelosi sold out a couple of progressive members of the House.

First up, Anthony Weiner. You might remember Weiner introducing an amendment that would replace the then-House bill, HR 3200, with the Single Payer bill HR 676. At first, I thought this was a wonderful idea! That is, until I spoke with Congressman Dennis Kucinich, who co-authored HR 676 with John Conyers.

Mr. Kucinich has been in the House a long time, and understands the snail-like pace and frustrating ways in which things get done. Obviously, as author of the bill, he'd like nothing more than a single payer health care system in the country. But, as he explained to me, bringing the Weiner amendment up for a floor vote is the wrong way to go about it! It would lose, handily. You don't go into these fights when you know you're going to lose!

Congressman Weiner didn't heed the advice of his colleague, and pushed ahead, appearing on MSNBC, seemingly at every opportunity. Today, we learned that even though Congressman Weiner was promised a full floor vote on his amendment, it will not happen. Again, since it would have failed by a huge margin, it's probably just as well. And it did take the attention and efforts away from the better, more logical, Kucinich Amendment. But that certainly doesn't excuse the Speaker from her serious breach of trust; Education and Labor Committee Chairman Henry Waxman told him that Pelosi promised Mr. Weiner a full floor vote if he'd skip a committee vote.

Dennis Kucinich got his amendment through the Education and Labor committee bill, which would have allowed states to create their own single payer statewide health care system. This was the one hope we had in this legislation that would have opened the door to the only system that would truly reform health care in this country. It passed in the committee on which Dennis sits; one of the three bills that was reported in the House, and merged into this new bill that Pelosi introduced today. Although, as David Swanson reports today on afterdowningstreet.org, the Kucinich Amendment was stripped out of the bill, and no new amendments will be allowed in the debate before the House votes on the legislation.

I invited Congressman Kucinich on the program tonight to respond to today's developments. He will likely appear tomorrow night. In the meantime, he issued this statement today:

Washington D.C. (October 29, 2009) – Following a statement on the Floor of the House of Representative, Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today made the following statement about the latest House health care plan:

“Is this the best we can do? Forcing people to buy private health insurance, guaranteeing at least $50 billion in new business for the insurance companies?

“Is this the best we can do? Government negotiates rates which will drive up insurance costs, but the government won’t negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies which will drive up pharmaceutical costs.

“Is this the best we can do? Only 3% of Americans will go to a new public plan, while currently 33% of Americans are either uninsured or underinsured?

“Is this the best we can do? Eliminating the state single payer option, while forcing most people to buy private insurance.

“If this is the best we can do, then our best isn’t good enough and we have to ask some hard questions about our political system: such as Health Care or Insurance Care? Government of the people or a government of the corporations.”

Tonight, we'll talk about what happened today with Democratic advisor and The Hill columnist, Brent Budowsky. We'll also check in with Christy Harvey at the Center for American Progress.

Earlier today, I guest-hosted Montel Across America, and Alan Grayson was my guest. I'll share with you some parts of the interview, and explain why I'm becoming a bit disenchanted with the guy who, before our interview, I considered a hero.

And we'll have a treat tonight as well. One of my favorite bands of all time is the under-appreciated Crowded House! Neil Finn led the band, forming it after the band he and his brother fronted, Split Enz, broke up.

Neil Finn has put together a stellar group of musicians for a project called 7 Worlds Collide. Neil, his brother Tim Finn, sons Liam and Elroy, wife Sharon, along with Johnny Marr (The Smiths, Modest Mouse), Jeff Tweedy and Pat Sansone (Wilco), KT Tunstall, Ed O'Brien & Phil Selway (Radiohead) along with other equally notable musicians, got together at Finn's New Zealand home for three weeks last Christmas to record the album "The Sun Came Out." The proceeds will go to Oxfam America, an international relief and development organization that creates lasting solutions to poverty, hunger, and injustice. Find them at www.oxfamamerica.org.

Here's a look and listen to a few of the songs from Neil Finn and the all-star band of the players of 7 Worlds Collide:

Billionaires for Wealthcare Strike Again!

2009-10-27T00:02:00.001-04:00

These guys rock! Check them out at www.billionairesforwealthcare.com

Inching Closer Toward Health Care Reform

2009-10-26T21:46:00.002-04:00

I can't recall exactly how many times in the past few months I heard some pundit proclaim that "the Public Option is dead!" I refused to believe it.

I knew that whatever passed wouldn't be as good as it should be, and would be nowhere near what we need to truly provide affordable, quality health care for our citizenry. But I always believed that, in the end, we'd have some semblance of a public option.

But I never thought that Harry Reid would emerge the hero! On that count, I was wrong! And I'm thrilled to admit it!

Harry Reid held a press conference this afternoon in which he said that the final Senate bill will have a public option, with states having an opt out provision.

Cool! Let the Republican led states try to wiggle out of the public option after some of their citizens have been enrolled for a year, and see them fall out of office! Works for me.

Once it's passed, it'll be up to us to strengthen the program, and expand it so that anyone who wants to buy into the system is able to. But I realize we'll have to take it one step at a time. Perhaps we can call it patience for patients.

It's still far from perfect. The biggest problem is that none of the benefits of this reform will take effect until 2013! So I was thrilled to see an article in Politico.com today entitled "Dems Push for Benefits to Start by 2010" Now, that's what I'm talking about!

So, I reached out to Carrie Budoff Brown who authored the piece, and she'll join me tonight on Air America.

I wasn't alone in my contention that Harry Reid was an ineffective and spineless excuse for a Senate Majority Leader. The Progressive Change Campaign Committee had been running spots in Nevada targeting him, which appear to have paid off in a big way today. Tonight, we'll also check in with PCCC co-founder Adam Green to congratulate him and find out what comes next!

And we'll get the big picture from Democratic party insider Brent Budowsky, who was an aide to former Senators Lloyd Bensten and Bill Alexander, then chief deputy majority whip of the House. He can be read on The Hill's Pundit's blog, and occasionally also writes a column for the paper. "Public Option Will Win" will appear tomorrow, and he'll speak with us, at length, about it tonight.

It is a jam-packed show tonight, but we should have time to get your thoughts in too, if you call 866-303-2270! Listen live from 11pm-1am ET here, and join in the live chat by clicking on the link below the player.

History Repeating

2009-10-26T21:43:00.002-04:00

I use a song called "History Repeating" as the theme music for my radio show. It constantly amazes me how often the song fits the topics we discuss.

This weekend, a group of Vietnam War protestors who were known as The Resistance reunited in Santa Monica California.

On Friday night, I spoke with Bob Zaugh, one of the organizers of the event, who himself was a member of The Resistance. (hear that interview here)

They've invited one Vietnam veteran to speak at the event as well -- Ron Kovic.

Most of us know of Ron Kovic through the book he wrote about his experiences, both during and after the war: Born On the Fourth of July. The book was turned into a major motion picture directed by Oliver Stone, and starring Tom Cruise as Ron Kovic.

It was a special hour as I spoke with Ron Kovic about the Vietnam war, his experiences and the parallels with Afghanistan. (Listen to that interview here)

We also previewed Saturday's International Day of Climate Change Action with Bill McKibben, the co-founder of www.350.org. (listen here)

My Mom

2009-10-23T14:06:00.005-04:00

Thirty years ago, my whole life changed.

Just about two weeks shy of my 20th birthday, I arrived home from college, summoned by my dad.

My mother wasn't doing well.

She had suffered, silently, with leukemia for about 10 years, though I didn't know it for a long time.

My family moved from NY to Hollywood, Florida in June of 1971. I was eleven. Apparently, mom was already sick.

Dad ran a business, publishing magazines... Spanish language "girlie" magazines. Mom didn't work. Such was life a generation ago.

We moved from an apartment in Bayside, Queens, to a sprawling home in South Florida, and I thought life was good. That is, until one Saturday morning when I awoke to hear one side of my mother's phone conversation with a friend, and the words, "they did a biopsy, and it's malignant."

I was fifteen at the time, old enough to know what that meant. I confronted her and, only then, did she tell me the truth. She had been diagnosed with a malignant melanoma. But the bigger part was that she had been suffering with "chronic leukemia" for some time.

As a child, then a young teenager, I never questioned why my mother went to the doctor at least once a week. Nor did I ask why she had to take so many pills. It was just part of our normal, everyday life. But, in that one moment, the pieces of the puzzle, which I had never previously attempted to solve, came together.

My friends knew. They all knew before I did, because their parents knew. My mother just wanted to protect us. She didn't want us to worry.

At sixteen, I got my drivers license. There were times I'd drive her to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Still in that selfish teenage mindset, I never asked what the doctors appointments were for, nor did I ask why she had to be driven. When she winced in pain, silently, so as not to alarm me, I never asked what was hurting. I now realize that she was undergoing chemo. Though I still don't know for sure.

She had prescriptions for Quaalude, which I suppose was the late 70's equivalent of Oxycontin. I figured she was in pain, but instead of sympathizing with mom, I would sneak a few of them every now and then for my own teen aged pleasure.

Although I loved my mother and got along well with her, I was a real teenager, and never really talked with her about the things that matter.

In the fall of 1977, I went off to college. Four hours away, Tampa, seemed like far enough from home.

I put on a good act for my parents. I always got decent grades without much effort. But I was a pretty wild child, who enjoyed the excesses of
the time -- sex, drugs, rock and roll.

I had a good life. An apartment in Tampa, a car, and tuition... all paid for by my dad. And a sick mother, about which I didn't think much.

I spoke to my mom on the 21st of October, 1979. She told me that she was going in to the hospital for a few tests. When I asked why, she simply said it was no big deal. One of her legs gave out from under her, and the doctor wanted to run tests. Again, she told me not to worry.

The next day, I called the hospital, and my dad answered the phone. When I asked to speak to mom, he told me she was sleeping. But I could have sworn I heard her voice in the background. I didn't question it.

That night dad called, and told me to come home. It wasn't good.

When I arrived at the hospital, mom was unconscious and hooked up to machines. On October 23, we were told that she had suffered a brain hemorrhage. Apparently, the bleed is what caused her leg to give out. And the day before when I called, she was indeed awake. But she was having trouble speaking coherently. She couldn't find the words to say what she was trying to say. So I didn't get to speak with her that one final time.

The doctors said she was brain dead, but that they'd have to wait 24 hours before officially declaring her dead and removing her from life support.

Patricia Sue Brown Sandler was 47 when she was declared dead on October 24, 1979.

I turned 20 less than two weeks later, on November 4, 1979.

The world kept turning. On my 20th birthday, the US Embassy in Iran was seized, and the hostages were taken. A year later, on my 21st birthday, Ronald Reagan was elected president. All these things happened in a world without my mother.

Although I'm not a religious person, I think my mom is with me for the truly important things. I believe she was there in January of 1994, when the Northridge earthquake hit. I was at the time producer of the Mark & Brian Program on KLOS in Los Angeles. At 4:30 every morning, I was in the shower.

On the Friday before, in a very uncharacteristic move, I told my boss that I needed a day off, and would not be in on Monday! It was Martin Luther King Jr. Day, though it wasn't a holiday for us. So, on that Monday morning, when the quake hit at 4:31am, I was in bed. If I had been in the shower, it's a pretty good bet that I would have joined my mother that day.

For some reason, there was a floor length mirror on a ledge in my shower when I rented the apartment. I never thought much of it, and it remained there...until the earthquake, when
the shower filled with giant, sharp shards of glass. It's a pretty good bet that, if I had been in the shower, I would have been killed. To this day, I credit my mom for my blurting out that I was taking Monday off!

And although my mother and my daughter have never met in person, I also think Mom had a hand in bringing us together. I adopted Alison from Kazakhstan.

The adoption process was a long 18 months, during which I was shuffled from one region to another, then finally to another country where I found my daughter. She was a foundling, actually left on a doorstep of a private home. It was evident that she was loved, as she was left with a bottle of formula, diaper, a blanket and a little hat.

The authorities estimated she was about a month old, that she was likely born around May 1, 1999. My mother's birthday was May 3. When the new birth certificate was issued, showing me as her mother, they asked me if I wanted to change the date! Of course I did. Alison's birthday is now, also, May 3. Her middle name, Paige, is for Patricia.

Thirty years have passed since I lost my mother. I have so many regrets. I wish I would have talked to her more, asked questions about her, and listened to what she had to say. I regret that I was so selfish and wasn't there for her when she was in pain. But I know that she was selfless in her suffering. She didn't want us to worry....

I never thought I'd make it past 47. That was always this number ---- off in the future. And I just figured I'd follow in my mother's footsteps. Well, in less than two weeks, I'll turn 50. Amazing. And I still think of my mother, almost every day.

And I miss her.

Medicare Part E (E for Everyone)

2009-10-21T20:55:00.005-04:00

Last Friday, I wrote a piece saluting Blue Dog Mike Ross of AR, who had some sort of epiphany. Although he had previously railed against the idea of a public option, the conservadem all of a sudden decided that what might work would be to allow people in need of health insurance the option of buying in to Medicare, but having the doctors reimbursed at a higher rate than the current Medicare reimbursements. Voila. A movement has begun.

Actually, Congressman Ross wasn't the first to suggest this. Many have suggested it. In fact, it really is (drum roll please) the public option, which we all agree was a pretty lousy name in the first place!

Tonight, Keith Olbermann was talking about how he had suggested it a couple of weeks ago, during his hour-long Special Comment on health care. And today, on his radio show, Thom Hartmann reiterated his call, first issued months ago, for Medicare Part E. E, for Everyone!

As we inch ever closer toward the merging of the five pieces of health care legislation into one final bill, members of both Houses of Congress are weighing in. And although none can promise with actual numbers that it will happen, most are saying they believe the bill that lands on President Obama's desk will contain a public option... now being re branded as Medicare Part E.

In all fairness, Medicare for All would only be accomplished with a Single Payer health care system, though I do believe that a public option, or Medicare Part E would be a huge step in the right direction.

Dr. Aaron Carroll is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Indiana University School of Medicine, and an outspoken advocate of Single Payer. I was a bit surprised to read a piece he wrote for Huffington Post entitled "The Public Option Is Not Where You Draw The Line."

I'll speak with him tonight, as I fully disagree! I'll also bring you up to date on what happened today in the Capital Hill wheeling and dealing on the way to a final bill.

We'll start the show with a visit from my favorite activist, David Swanson, author of Daybreak: Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming a More Perfect Union. David is a frequent guest of mine and, tonight, in addition to talking about the book and finding out what actions David's involved with now, we'll find out what got him started on the activism road.

And Lisa Derrick, who writes the La Figa blog at FireDogLake will join us with a special announcement... We'll all find out together what it is shortly after midnight ET.

Listen live by clicking here from 11pm-1am ET, and join us in the chat (open it up, directly below the player!). And of course, your calls are always welcome at 866-303-2270.

Yes.. Yes... Yessss!

2009-10-20T22:23:00.003-04:00

We all love a good prank. Especially this time of year. Halloween tricks are not as prevalent as treats, but when done well, they're great. Ashton Kutcher won over a generation with Punked, and those of us who are a little older remember the great pranks in the original Candid Camera.

But when you combine the absolute genius of a perfect ruse with social activism, you get the Yes Men!

I reached out to one of the men-Andy Bichlbaum-last month, when they published an exact replica of the NY Post, except that this one dealt entirely with climate change, and everything in it was factually correct!

Today, I caught up with Andy once again, this time to talk about their Washington DC press conference, in which Andy posed as the assistant to the president of the US Chamber of Commerce, claiming that they had changed their stance on climate change.

They issued a fake press release, and posted the text of the remarks that he would deliver on a mock-up of the chamber website, at a reasonable sounding URL.

The video of part of the presser, and the appearance by an actual Chamber employee is priceless:

The Yes Men have a movie out, The Yes Men Fix the World. Click on the link to find out when and where it will be playing near you. And keep an eye out for the next Yes Man action! Perhaps you'll get motivated to do one yourself... Visit BeyondTalk.net for ideas!

In the first hour of tonight's show, we'll explore the idea of corporate person hood. It's truly absurd, but even crazier than the idea of it is the reality of how it came to be. To explain it to us, Thom Hartmann will join me.

Thom is the smartest guy I know and somehow, in addition to his daily radio program, he finds the time to be a prolific author. One of his many books is entitled "Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights," which details the story. It also brings us right up to today, when any time now the Supreme Court will rule on Citizens United vs. the Federal Elections Committee, to decide whether federal campaign finance laws apply to a film about Hillary Clinton, and the bigger question about the constitutionality of limiting corporations' independent spending during campaigns for the Presidency and Congress.

Listen live here from 11pm-1am ET, and join us in the chat (right below the player). As always, I hope you'll join in the conversation on air too, by calling 866-303-2270.

A Woman's Work Is Never Done

2009-10-19T21:38:00.002-04:00

And as a single, working mother, I know how true that statement is. This week, my knowledge is verified, as Maria Shriver and The Center for American Progress team up to release "The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation Changes Everything."

Yes, you can click on the link to download the whole report. I'm sure I will one of these days, when I get the time. Or, if I lived in one of the fourteen states that allow some use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, I might just actually de-stress for a while.

The connection, dear reader, will soon be apparent!

In the first hour, I'll speak with Bruce Mirken, communications director for the Marijuana Policy Project, where they must be celebrating on some level today. The Justice Department issued a directive today, followed by a collaborating statement by Attorney General Eric Holder, which basically said that people who use marijuana for medical purposes and those who distribute it should not face federal prosecution, provided they are acting according to state law. (Read the NY Times story here.)

Although motherhood is not considered one of the medical conditions for which marijuana is prescribed in the fourteen states which recognize its medicinal value, the for-profit health insurance industry considers pregnancy a pre-existing condition, as it does a cesarean section, or being a victim of domestic violence.

By my unscientific calculations, I'd say probably 75% of women should qualify for one of those prescriptions!

Back to the Shriver Report... In the second hour of tonight's show, I'll be joined by a remarkable woman. Dr. Judith Rodin truly blazed some trails for women. She currently serves as the President of the Rockefeller Foundation (the first woman to hold that position in its 96 year history). Before that, she was the first female dean at Yale, and then went on to become the first female President of the University of Pennsylvania.

The Rockefeller Foundation paid for the polling done to research the subject matter that became the Shriver Report.

I'll speak with Dr. Rodin tonight, add some of my thoughts as a woman on the cusp of turning 50, and share some of the wisdom of my dear friend Amy Simon, who makes her living (or attempts to make a living) by writing about and poking fun at the plight of women throughout history to today.

As always, listen live to the show from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, be sure to join us in the chat (just below the player). And feel free to join in the conversation by calling 866-303-2270.

A Public Option Solution!

2009-10-16T20:56:00.003-04:00

As we head into the second half of October, the health care debate continues raging on.

In the Senate, Max Baucus, Chris Dodd, Harry Reid and Rahm Emanuel are merging the bills reported by the Finance and the HELP committees into one.

On the House side, Nancy Pelosi, along with the chairs of the three committees who put forth their health care bills, will come up with one merged piece of legislation.

The big question still hanging over all of the negotiations is "What about the public option?"

Well, the best suggestion I've heard in a long time came from Mike Ross (D-AK), head of the Blue Dog coalition of conservadems! Apparently, yesterday, he suggested an idea that would make me very happy!

From "The Hill":

Blue Dog Rep. Mike Ross, who made headlines by rejecting a compromise he'd negotiated on a public health insurance option, has suggested to Democratic leaders that the government-run Medicare program be opened to all Americans.
Ross (D-Ark.) has made the suggestion in meetings with House Democratic leaders and brought the idea to the closed-door House Democratic Caucus meeting Thursday.

"I -- speaking only on behalf of myself -- suggested one possible idea could be that instead of creating an entirely new government bureaucracy to administer a public option, Medicare could be offered as a choice to compete alongside private insurers for those Americans eligible to enter the national health insurance exchange, but at a reimbursement rate much greater than current Medicare rates," Ross said in a statement to The Hill.

It makes so much sense, that it's probably doomed before it even gets started.

Democratic Strategist and author of The Progressive Revolution: How the Best in America Came To Be, Mike Lux authored a piece for Huffington Post today, "Can Progressives and Conservatives Agree on Health Care Reform?" about this idea. He'll join me tonight to talk about it.

I'll also check in Larisa Alexandrova of managing editor for investigative news at Raw Story, who also blogs at atlargely.com. She regularly visits with us on Friday nights to talk about the stories she covered during the week that's wrapping up. We'll do that tonight, but we'll also talk about Larisa's own personal struggle with health insurance.

She's in the same position as millions of other American citizens, and it's just plain wrong. By the way, I'll likely be joining those ranks in February, when my COBRA runs out.

I'll close out the show with an interview with journalist and author Olivia Gentile, who's written a lovely book called Life List: A Woman's Quest for the World's Most Amazing Birds. Honestly, I have no interest in bird watching... or rather, I didn't before finding out about this book. I think you'll enjoy the story too.

Listen live by clicking here, and be sure to click on the link below the player to join us in the chat room! And, by all means, join in the discussion by calling 866-303-2270.

Climate Change, Public Options, And Lots Of Hot Air

2009-10-15T21:22:00.005-04:00

Did you hear the one about the Democrat and the Republican who joined forces to pass climate change legislation, and gave us more nuclear power plants, offshore drilling and coal?

I know, it sounds like the beginning of a joke, but it isn't! It's real, it's deadly serious, and it's happening today!

Seriously, John Kerry and Lindsey Graham together wrote a NY Times Op-Ed piece that appeared on Sunday entitled "Yes We Can (Pass Climate Change Legislation)" and it pushes for more nukes, offshore drilling, and turning the US into the "Saudi Arabia of clean coal." I kid you not. Read it for yourself.

When you're done reading that and your head has stopped shaking, read "Is the Climate Bill Being Fossil/Nuked?" The piece comes courtesy of Harvey Wasserman, author of Solartopia! Our Green Powered Earth, and senior editor of www.freepress.org where the article first appeared.

Harvey Wasserman will join me tonight to explain why the Democrats are so eager to pass any bill so the President has something to bring to Copenhagen in December that they're willing to sell our nation's soul to get something with the word "climate" attached to it! ***Listen to our interview here!***

The Nuclear Information & Resource Service organized a "call your Senator day" today (it's not too late to join in), and a series of demonstrations for the environment are set for October 24.

In the second hour of tonight's show, I'll speak with Lisa Derrick, who writes the La Figa blog at FireDogLake. We'll dish about the week's news, and she'll tell us about a new contest at PublicOptionPlease.com.

Listen live by clicking here, and join in the chat too (we'll be in the chat room for the stream from 1050am). As always, call in at 866-303-2270.

White House: What Fox Does Is Faux News

2009-10-14T22:18:00.003-04:00

I've been saying it all along. In fact, the words Fox and News will not easily escape from my lips one after the other. Faux (or fake - to make it easier for their viewers to understand) is a more apt description of the type of "news" they offer.

Finally, White House Communications Director Anita Dunn made it official last week, while speaking with Howie Kurtz on CNN, and even took it a step further by saying that Fox is essentially the PR wing of the Republican Party!

Media Matters' Eric Boehlert, who wrote a great piece about the reality of what the offending cable channel has become, "Memo to the media: Fox News is now the Opposition Party." will be my guest tonight in the first hour of my show on Air America radio.

We'll also deal with the monster that is Rush Limbaugh and, now that he's out of the bidding, I want to get your thoughts on whether or not he should be allowed to purchase the St. Louis Rams.

Hopefully by now you've noticed that we have a new website up at AirAmerica.com. It has lots of great features, including its own chat!

Thom Hartmann has been gracious enough to allow me the use of his chat room during my show for the past few months, but tonight, we'll try to transition to the new Air America chat.

Just click here to listen live, and from that screen, just below the player, you can open the chat window.

The number to call in remains the same: 866-303-2270.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

2009-10-13T21:49:00.003-04:00

We have one thing from each of those categories to talk about tonight on my Air America radio show.

Let's start with the good. Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur. She's definitely one of the good ones! Although I had already been aware of her, she made an indelible mark on my consciousness a couple of weeks ago with a one-two punch. First, she was one of the stars of Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story. So much so that the movie theater audience cheered her!

The same weekend I saw the film, she appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher, and again, everything she said made so much sense! Not my average response to a member of Congress.

In fact, it was those two appearances that influenced me to really go gung-ho on campaign finance reform.

We spoke earlier this evening, and we'll hear that interview in the second hour of tonight's show. We spoke quite a bit about campaign finance reform, and she references a bill that she has introduced.

After you hear the interview, you might want to read up on H. Con. Res. 13 "Expressing the sense of Congress that the Supreme Court misinterpreted the First Amendment to the Constitution in the case of Buckley v. Valeo" (which said that money = free speech), and H.J.Res. 13 "Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to limitations on the amounts of contributions and expenditures that may be made in connection with campaigns".

On to the bad. There's not much to talk about, as we don't have the facts yet. But Congressman Robert Wexler is apparently resigning his office to take a public policy job that deals with the Middle East. He'll meet with reporters tomorrow morning in Boca Raton, at which time I'm sure most of our questions will be answered.

I did reach out to someone who works closely with him with the simple question, "Is he OK?" The answer that came back was "He's fine. Don't worry. It's all good."

Except for the people in his district and those of us who aren't, but are proud to have him represent Florida nonetheless. I guess we'll know more tomorrow.

As for the ugly, well, that's Max Baucus's health care bill, which passed out of committee today. Let's face it. As far as a health care reform bill, it's a piece of shit. But it needed to clear this hurdle and make it out of the Senate Finance committee in order to move on.

Now it can be merged with the HELP committee bill; the three House bills can be merged into one; and those two can be put together... Hopefully some of the stink will be gone by then.

We'll discuss what happened today and try to predict the future of health care reform with David Dayen. You probably know him as D-Day, under which name he blogs at www.d-day.blogspot.com. He's also serving as a blog fellow for Robert Greenwald's Sick for Profit.

And perhaps you'll chime in too! You can call in at 866-303-2270, join in the live chat here, and listen live from 11pm-1am ET here!

Last night's audio

2009-10-13T13:48:00.003-04:00

Ahh, the morning after. Actually, afternoon!

Here are links to listen to last night's interviews, just in case you missed them last night! (Just click on the guest's name to listen, and on the other links for more information.)

Juan Cole, salon.com contributor who wrote a great piece "Obama got the Nobel because he's a game changer" is also a professor of modern Middle Eastern and South Asian history at the University of Michigan, and the author of "Engaging the Muslim World." He also writes the "Informed Comment" blog at www.juancole.com.

Brent Budowsky, a Democratic Party insider and advisor, writes for TheHill.com's Pundit's Blog. We spoke about Obama's Nobel Prize and the ongoing fight for health care reform.

And although I live in Florida, since I've been hosting a national program on Air America radio, I've been less than diligent about covering this state's soap-operatic political scene. So I checked in with State Senator and candidate for Florida Attorney General Dan Gelber last night, who had just returned from the Florida Democratic Convention. Find him at www.dangelber.com.

Of Concerts and Nobel Peace Prizes

2009-10-12T17:54:00.003-04:00

Wow. I take one Friday night off to go to a concert, and the President wins the Nobel Peace Prize. Even though I had prepared a wonderful show filled with four fantastic new interviews just for the occasion, who'd have thunk Obama would make this kind of news as I was headed to Tampa to see U2? Just my luck.

To make matters even worse, the concert was not all that! Oh, I know, it was hyped beyond compare. Sorry Bono. Give me a Bruce Springsteen concert over the 360° tour any day of the week.

With Bruce, you get a bare stage, except for all the instruments and members of the legendary E Street Band. But bare enough so that everyone can see. And of course, video screens, big enough so that, really, everyone can see. You also get a party-like atmosphere that feels like we were all invited! And three hours of non-stop rock and roll fun. A brief mention near the end that we should have health care for all, and a plea to stop at the table for the local food bank that he invites from every city along the tour. That's it...

By contrast, the 360° in the title of the U2 tour refers to the circular video screen, as that was the only thing that was truly in the round. Oh yes, the stage was round, and people were seated all around it. Silly me, I though that the stage would rotate, so that people seated all around would, at some point, be right in front. But that wasn't the case. Bono remained center stage facing the front of the stadium for most of the night, occasionally venturing to one of the sides and rarely to the back, to grace the fans with a few lyrics from one of the songs during the two-hour show.

But it wasn't even two hours of non-stop music. I'm glad Bono is concerned about the world, but to have the clown from Cirque du Soleil speaking "live from the International Space Station" for at least five minutes during the meat of the show, telling us about the wonder of the planet, really pissed me off. After all, U2 is carting this ridiculously massive spaceship set around the country (world?) at a cost of close to a million dollars a day, and what I'm sure is a massive carbon footprint. Can anyone else spell hypocrisy? It didn't even blast off! I was waiting for it to do something, and it never did!

Then there was the video of a political prisoner, the Iranian people after their sham of an election, and other causes that I'm sure are just and good. But Bono, there's a time and a place for everything. I'm probably among the most sympathetic and informed of your audience, and I was getting annoyed. Really annoyed. Just play the fucking music, thank you very much.

And don't even get me started on the Tampa police. It's a wonder my mouth didn't get me arrested.

So, as much as I enjoyed the music, and I did, I wish I would have been live on the air Friday night to talk about the fact that President Obama was awarded with the Nobel Peace Prize Friday morning.

There's just so much there....

President Barack Obama wins the Nobel Peace Prize, and the Faux News minions cry foul. Rush Limbaugh says he speaks for "all Americans" (since when?) and sides with the Taliban. That should tell his followers a few things.

We've been hit over the head with the fact that there were only 12 days between Obama's inauguration and the deadline for the Nobel Prize nominations. In the first two weeks of his administration, I too thought he could and would try to bring about world peace. Perhaps this is just the impetus he needs to realize he shouldn't send more troops to Afghanistan!

I have not been President Obama's biggest cheerleader recently. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I may have one of the more critical voices in this tiny sliver of media that truly is liberal. But I criticize because I have very high expectations.

This president was supposed to be different! He was supposed to bring us change, and no more politics as usual. Maybe the Nobel Peace Prize will be a wake-up call to President Obama, with the alarm loudly ringing out "This is what you're supposed to be! You are the Peace President. Now ACT LIKE IT!"

But let's also take a moment to look across the aisle. I know, it's difficult not to avert your eyes when you see a train wreck. The same people who said during the past eight years that it's un-American to criticize the President seem to have selective amnesia.

They burned records by the Dixie Chicks for making an off-hand remark during a concert that slightly bashed Bush. But they're still touting Sarah Palin as their "It" girl, even after she spoke at length on foreign soil of her dislike and displeasure with President Obama.

They demand an apology from Alan Grayson, the first Democrat to show he actually has a spine in a long time, for what I still don't know, while they make Joe Wilson out to be a hero for a breach of decorum never before seen at a Presidential address to a joint session of Congress.

I could continue on this diatribe, but you get the point. They live in the do as I say, not as I do world, and I say it's time to get off. Them, not us.

Enough of this nonsense.

Perhaps President Obama got the Nobel Prize simply because he's not George W. Bush.

That's still worth a prize in my book, any day! Just please, next time, let it happen on a day when I'm working!

Well, I am working tonight, and we will talk about it... I'll be joined by Democratic strategist and The Hill's Pundits Blog contributor Brent Budowsky, and Juan Cole, President of the Global Americana Institute to talk about it and more..

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, join in the live chat here, and call in at 866-303-2270.

Details on Keith's Plan

2009-10-08T21:11:00.004-04:00

Many of us watched Keith Olbermann's hour-long Special Comment last night on the subject of health care, and the dire need for major reform. To top it off, Keith came up with a beautiful plan: embrace the National Association of Free Clinics!

Support them in their wonderful work, and fund free medical events in the major cities of the five states of the Democratic Senators who just might side with the Republicans to filibuster any bill with a public option: Nevada and Harry Reid; Arkansas and Blanche Lincoln & Mark Pryor; Nebraska and Ben Nelson; Louisiana and Mary Landreau; Montana and Max Baucus.

Just click on the link (the url is www.freeclinics.us) and make a donation-- whatever you can afford. Let's get this party started!

Just in case you missed it tonight, here's the video of Keith giving the details, and speaking with Nicole Lamoureux, executive director of NAFC:

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Tonight on Air America radio, I'll join with Keith in his effort by giving the details, and then move on...

I'll be joined in the first hour by my old friend John LeBoutillier. John happens to be a conservative. He was a Congressman from NY when I met him and, at the time, I thought he was a wing nut. But in this day and age of the lunatic fringe running the GOP asylum, LeBout is one of the most reasonable conservatives I know. I want to question him about the health care battle, and find out how anyone with an ounce of compassion can be against health care reform!

In hour two, as part of my ongoing mission toward campaign finance reform, I'll speak with Congressman John Larson (D-CT), who introduced the Fair Elections Now Act in the House.

And we'll wrap things up with a conversation with Rebecca Griffin, political director for Peace Action West. I had never heard of Peace Action West until earlier this week, as I was preparing for a show commemorating the 8th anniversary of the start of our war in Afghanistan. On Facebook, I noticed a few posts on the White House wall from a "Facebook vigil". I clicked on it to find out more, and saw that thousands of my fellow Americans had joined in this friendly takeover of the White House Facebook page, protesting the war. I joined in too.

Tonight, we'll find out what type of impact was made, as well as learning a bit about Peace Action West.

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, call in at 866-303-2270, and join in the live chat here!

Watching Keith...

2009-10-07T22:15:00.003-04:00

...and his special comment on health care. From the heart, and heartbreaking.

So, my blog entry tonight will be short and sweet.

I'll hit the air at 11pm ET, with a news update from Ellen Ratner at the Talk Radio News Service.

Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny.com will join me to talk about the latest in the fight for health care reform and against the continuation of the war in Afghanistan, as we enter year #9 of our occupation.

And in hour two, I'll be joined by the dean of the White House Press Corp, Helen Thomas, and CQ Politics columnist Craig Crawford, who have joined forces to write "Listen Up, Mr. President: Everything You Always Wanted Your President to Know and Do."

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, join in the live chat here, and call in at 866-303-2270.

Gotta get back to Keith...

In Places We Shouldn't Be

2009-10-06T20:47:00.006-04:00

**Updated to include links to the interview audio***

Tonight, when the clock strikes midnight, it will mark eight years since the US invaded Afghanistan. We thought we were going in for the right reason: to get the people who ordered the 9/11 attacks.

But the Bush administration dropped the ball on that one, and let Osama bin Laden get away.

Then they invaded and occupied Iraq. We're still in clean-up mode for that mess.

During the campaign, Obama said that the Bush administration took it's eye off the ball in Afghanistan. True that. But he said we need to focus more troops there to fix the situation.

What we're learning is that troops are not the answer. Unfortunately, this administration isn't listening to the loud chorus of voices screaming that we need to help the Afghan population, not continue killing them and making their lives even more difficult.

In the second hour of tonight's show, when it will officially be October 7 on the east coast, I'll speak with Code Pink co-founder Jodie Evans, who just returned from a 10-day mission to Afghanistan, where she met with people from all walks of life. I hope you'll listen and hear what's really going on over there. For my fellow females, please also visit codepinkalert.org to help the plight of the Afghan women.

**Click here to listen to my interview with Jodie**

I also encourage you to watch Rethink Afghanistan. You can purchase the DVD (just click the link to your left), or watch any or all of the segments online for free. I'll even post them all here, at the bottom of this essay. Just watch. Learn. Feel.

Another place we shouldn't be is Guantanamo Bay. President Obama made it his first order of business to shut it down. Unfortunately, we'll miss his target date, with no end to the torture chamber in sight.

My Air America colleague Jack Rice just returned from a trip over there. We'll discuss it during the first hour of tonight's show. He has lots of video on his website from his visit. Including this one:

**Click here to listen to my interview with Jack Rice**

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, join in the live chat here, and call in at 866-303-2270.

Now, it's time to Rethink Afghanistan....

Part 1: More Troops + Afghanistan = Catastrophe

Part 2: Pakistan: "The Most Dangerous Country"

Part 3: The Cost of War

Part 4: Civilian Casualties

Part 5: Women of Afghanistan

Part 6: Security

Congressional Money Disarmament

2009-10-05T16:57:00.003-04:00

On Thursday night, I went to a screening of Michael Moore's "Capitalism: A Love Story." I was already mad as hell about what's happened in and to our country. We, the people, no longer control our government. Instead, the big corporations have taken over and run amok.

On Friday night, I watched Real Time with Bill Maher, a show that has become the best forum for real discourse on what's happening in our world and to us. Representative Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), who was also featured (beautifully, I might add) in Mr. Moore's film, spoke the most poignant and telling lines in a show that was packed full of contenders. She said about
"the raw partisanship that characterizes national politics now...

"When Washington founded the country, he didn't believe in political parties. He said they would be very dangerous.

If you come inside Congress today, some of the raw partisanship, I believe, is directly related to the change in the way campaigns have been financed. And rather than political parties on the outside being involved and helping to promote candidacies, what's happened on the inside is that campaign committees are now formed by members themselves, and both parties are pitted against one another. It is a totally different Congress than when I first arrived there, when Tip O'Neill was Speaker.

Today, every member becomes a money center, and if you don't raise as much money as somebody else, you frankly don't get as far ahead, in terms of the institution. It is a great indictment of our country.

And the American people know this, they know we need money disarmament in the Congress, and we can't get there because neither side will take the first step.

We need Anwar Sadat, Menachim Begin and Jimmy Carter again... on campaign finance... and we don't have them! We need to try to reach accommodation.

In the last cycle for House and Senate, $250 million was raised; to elect the President this time, they spent nearly half a billion dollars, both parties! But inside the Congress, you have the DCCC and RCCC... People need to know about this because we've got to cleanse it, get it out!"

On Saturday night, I watched SNL, which opened with a bit featuring President Obama checking off the list of things he hasn't yet accomplished. It was sad in that so much of it was true.

Of course, the number one reason he hasn't accomplished any of the things on that list is money.

We need to stop kidding ourselves. We, the people, have lost the power to enact change. We voted overwhelmingly for change, and yet, here we are, just about a year after we stood in lines to CHANGE the way things are done. But what we've learned is that the more things supposedly change, the more they stay the same. If we've learned one thing from the lack of change since inauguration day, it's that WE MUST BE THE CHANGE WE WANT.

The Democrats now control both houses of Congress and the White House, yet the corporations still rule. That's because members of both parties are beholden to the special interests that contribute to their re-election coffers.

We must take money out of the equation. We must get off our asses and stop expecting our elected officials to do something about this. It MUST COME FROM US, or it will not happen.

At the end of "Capitalism: A Love Story," Michael Moore said he can't and won't do it alone. But he left it at that. He didn't give us any direction.

I think we must act, together, on a grassroots level, to enact wholesale changes in the way our leaders are elected. And that starts with putting real limitations on how those elections are financed. As long as big corporations and special interests keep financing campaigns, they'll continue calling the shots. It's as simple as that.

I pledge to you today that I will begin working overtime on this issue. I'll start by forming a Facebook group, Restore Democracy in the USA, which you can access here. Obviously, this is only a first baby step in trying to bring everyone concerned about this issue together. I may have started the group, but all should use it to post information, articles, thoughts, links and events. Especially events. We all must get involved.

Tonight on my Air America radio show, I'll speak with Dan Weeks, president of Americans for Campaign Reform (http://youstreet.org). He'll be with me live at 11:35pm ET/8:35 PT. If your local Air America affiliate doesn't carry the show, you can listen live by clicking here.

Dan and his group have been laying the ground work for this effort for years now. But obviously, they're not reaching a wide enough audience.

I'm hoping that we can all work together to spread the message and then act on it and make the change we voted for actually happen.

The Republicans Have No Clothes!

2009-10-02T21:20:00.004-04:00

Congressman Alan Grayson burst into the nation's political consciousness this week. He is now known as the Democrat with Balls to those of us who've felt throughout the battle for real health care reform as if we've been beating our heads against a brick wall.

We, who voted in big enough numbers to get President Obama in the White House, secure a huge majority in the House, and 60 Democratic seats in the Senate (the magic filibuster-proof number), have been scratching our heads wondering why the hell the Democrats in Congress are acting like the Republicans are still in charge!

Ta Da! Alan Grayson to the rescue. A first term Congressman from Central Florida, whom most Americans had never heard of before Tuesday evening, when he courageously took to the floor of the House and loudly exclaimed "The Republicans have no clothes!"

Pretty much.

He did tell us that those pieces of paper they were waving in the air during the President's address to the joint session of Congress on health care reform were, in fact, just blank pieces of paper pretending to be the GOP health care plan. He exposed the fact that everything they're doing and saying is a sham, and aimed only at derailing anything the Democrats propose.

Grayson came armed with facts, citing a Harvard Medical School study entitled "Health Insurance and Mortality in US Adults" that proves that close to 45,000 Americans die each year due to lack of health insurance. Facts. No made up death panel nonsense here.

Tonight, I'll speak with Congressman Alan Grayson, who made me proud that someone on our side of the aisle was actually saying what we've all been screaming for the past few months.

I'll also speak with Dr. Steffie Woodlander, one of the authors of that Harvard study cited by Congressman Grayson. Dr. Woodlander has been on my show before, talking about the need for a single payer health care system, in her role as a co-founder and board member of Physicians for a National Health Program (PHNP.org).

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, join in the live chat here, and call in at 866-303-2270.

Last Night...

2009-10-02T14:10:00.002-04:00

I went to see Capitalism: A Love Story, and arrived home just in time to hit the air at 11pm ET.... So, I neglected to post a blog.

Ahh, but here it is, the next morning... um.. afternoon, with a recap!

Governor Howard Dean was my special guest. Click here to listen to our interview.

And my regular Thursday night date... um... guest, John Fugelsang made the midnight hour fly by. Listen to our conversation here.

Tonight, join in for a visit from the Democrat with balls.. Congressman Alan Grayson joins in the fun!

Talk to you then....

A Democrat With A Spine!

2009-09-30T21:14:00.005-04:00

Just when you thought they were extinct, into our consciousness pops Congressman Alan Grayson. And he's from Florida? I guess all things really are possible!

Seriously, this freshman Congressman from the Orlando/Ocala area actually spoke up on the House floor yesterday, calling the Republicans out on their health care "plan."

Seriously, until I saw this clip, I still didn't know what the Repugs were waving around during the President's address to a joint session of Congress on the health care issue. They claimed it was their plan, but when Grayson found one that was left behind, he saw that they were just blank pieces of paper.

So, his interpretation of their plan is not too far off...

This morning, I awoke too early to miss Pat Buchanan on "Morning Joe" demanding that Congressman Grayson apologize, comparing this missive to Joe Wilson's disgusting lack of respect for the office of the President, when he shouted out "You lie" during an address to a joint session of Congress. Grayson showed some real guts by issuing the best-apology-ever!

Lots of discouraged Democrats are thrilled that one of us is actually speaking out. In fact, there's a fundraising page for him at ActBlue where many are thanking him with contributions.

We'll discuss this issue tonight on Air America radio, once we get through the guests...

Tonight's guests include Ellen Ratner from the Talk Radio News Service with a Quickie News Update, and Christy Harvey of the Center for American Progress with a look at some of the stories we might otherwise have missed.

And we'll also talk about President Obama's trip to Copenhagen to lobby for the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Chicago. I actually thought it was a good idea, until I read "Obama's Olympic Error" -- a piece posted on HuffPo by Dave Zirin, sports correspondent for The Nation, and host of EdgeOfSports.com.

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, join in the live chat here, and please call in to voice your views at 866-303-2270.

The Truth About Acorn

2009-09-29T22:06:00.004-04:00

The right has been targeting the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now, better known as ACORN for a few years now, and it's passed the point of absurdity.

Tonight, Bertha Lewis, CEO of ACORN, will join me for the whole second hour. We'll talk about the history of ACORN, and why they've been demonized and crucified.

In addition to our interview, you should check out their website, and all the documentation about the PR campaign that's been waged against them.

Once you hear the interview, you might want to check out the roll call and see which Congressmen voted for and against the "De fund ACORN Act" to thank those who voted against the madness.

We'll kick off the show with tonight's Quickie News Update with Ellen Ratner from the Talk Radio News Service and get the details on today's debate and votes on the public option in the Senate Finance Committee.

Then, Howie Klein of DownWithTyranny.com will join me for a conversation about what we need to do with Senators like Baucus, Conrad and and Lincoln. In addition to blogging at DownWithTyranny, Howie also runs the Blue America PAC. They have a special campaign going to help oust Blanche Lincoln in November 2010. Click here and help out, if you can!

And while you're checking out DownWithTyranny.com, scroll down to the entry to find out how you might be able to win a really cool platinum record award of the Baha Men Who Let the Dogs Out!

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET here, call in at 866-303-2270, and join in the live chat here!

Day of Atonement or What Would Lieberman Do?

2009-09-28T20:40:00.003-04:00

The sun has now set in the east, and Yom Kippur is over. For my gentile friends, Yom Kippur is the day of atonement; the one day set aside each year to consider our deeds of the year just passed, to reflect on the wrongs we may have done, and to try to make up for them.

The way observant Jews atone is by fasting and spending the day praying at temple. As for me, I tend to do everything differently.

I don't fast, nor do I go to temple. And I don't pray. But I always try to treat others the way I'd like to be treated. I don't always behave with the best of intentions, but when I do something wrong, and treat others badly, I'm pretty tough on myself. I guess it's the old Jewish guilt. It gets me every time.

I wonder what Joe Lieberman is feeling today. He claims to be an orthodox Jew. Obviously, he took part in the traditions of fasting and observing the day of atonement. I wonder if he feels badly about being against a public option, about his efforts to create laws that will continue to deny millions of Americans quality, affordable health care.

It's no different, really, than those Christians who can claim to be followers of Christ who similarly vote against the interests and well-being of their fellow Americans.

I don't claim to be religious, yet I know I have more compassion for my fellow humans than these so-called believers do. And they invoke the name of God, for God's sake!

Tonight on Air America, I'll speak with Bing Perrine, the subject of the latest ad from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America, under the heading of HealthCareCantWait.com:

I'll also speak with Adam Green, co-founder of the PCCC to get some background on how this campaign is going.

We'll get a few updates on some stories we covered last week, too...

The G20 Summit wrapped up on Friday, and I still have questions about what they did, or didn't do. Tonight, we'll speak with Todd Tucker, research director for the Global Trade Watch division of Public Citizen, who'll attempt to explain to me the outcome of the summit.

And I'll check in with Dennis McMahon, attorney for the NYC Coalition for Answers Now (NYCCAN.org) to hear the latest in their quest for a new investigation into what happened on 9/11.

Listen live from 11pm-1am tonight by clicking here, call in live at 866-303-2270, and join in the live chat here....

What's Wrong With America?

2009-09-28T17:31:00.005-04:00

I grew up hearing and believing that America was the greatest nation in the world. I believed it when I was a kid, and I still believe that it was true...back then.

But as I'm closing in on my 50th birthday and the reality that men age better than women, I'm realizing that America is also showing age spots, wrinkles, and even signs of dementia.

Once upon a time, the United States of America was the richest, most powerful, most morally superior country on the planet. People from all over the world wanted to come here to pursue the American dream.

Now we all have cause to wonder whether the American dream still exists? Or has it become a nightmare?

It used to be that every generation's goal was for a better, richer and happier life. We knew that we could achieve a higher station in life than our parents did. It used to be an attainable goal. Is that still possible?

I think not, and the turnaround occurred while I was growing up.

While the rich kept getting richer, and the poor descended to depths that this country should be ashamed of, the middle class now is on the verge of extinction.

Middle class income has become stagnant over the past 40 years. But those already atop the success ladder are climbing to even higher heights. Back when I was ten, the average CEO made 40 times more than his average employee. Today, that CEO makes an obscene 550 times more than that worker makes.

Note that I didn't say "earns." That's because the average worker earns a hell of a lot more than he or she gets paid for. And the CEO? I can't think of one that actually earns the ridiculously exorbitant paychecks they should feel truly guilty about cashing.

Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman and former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer (who should consider running again) were guests on Bill Maher's Real Time Friday night. They were joined by filmmakers Michael Moore and John Waters, and together the five of them made more sense on matters of the economy than any of our elected officials I've heard on the same subject recently.

John Waters, in a flash of brilliance, said "I expect a hint of socialism, and that's an ugly word for a beautiful thought. And if my taxes go up a tiny bit to pay for health care, I'm ok with that."

As we've all been learning, and as Michael Moore is preaching with his new film, Capitalism isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's rife with corruption, and is an inherently unfair system.

Although the wing-nut followers of Speck, Limp-paw and the Faux News cabal like to group Socialism, Fascism, Communism, Naziism and all the other -isms together, we know how to read history books and, more than that, know better than to listen to any of the nonsense they're spewing.

We also know that there is a lot wrong with America these days. It's no longer the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave.

It's become the Land Full of Greed and the Acting Brave while losing our Homes.

Perhaps instead of Socialism or Capitalism, we here in America can start practicing something called Compassionism, and head back on the road toward where we were 40 years ago, when we actually cared about our fellow human beings and the American dream was still alive and well.

Lots of new audio posted

2009-09-28T12:55:00.002-04:00

Sometimes the days get away from me and I don't get a chance to post the links to my interviews. Today I played catch up...

Click on any of the links below to hear these interviews from last week:

Wed 9/23:

The guys from New Left Media, who put together an amazing video of the 9-12 rally

Josh Silver, executive director of FreePress.net, on Net Neutrality

Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films on Rethink Afghanistan

Thurs 9/24:

Lori Wallach, Global Trade Watch director at Public Citizen, on the G20 Summit

Comedian John Fugelsang, on his regular Thursday night visit to the show, talking about the news

Fri 9/25:

Larisa Alexandrovna of RawStory.com and atlargely.com, talking about the rise of hate speak

Manny Badillo of NYCCAN.org about the need for a new, independent investigation into what happened on 9/11

Comedienne Lisa Lampanelli about men, chocolate, candy, and her new book "Chocolate, Please"

Teaching Hate

2009-09-25T22:01:00.002-04:00

A few weeks ago, when President Obama spoke (or attempted to) to the America schoolchildren, the hatespeak was deafening.

I memorialized the occasion with sound clips from his speech, juxtaposed with those of his critics, and the song "Carefully Taught" from South Pacific. You can hear it by clicking here.

The hateful cries of "indoctrination" are emanating from the wingnuts again; this time due to some misguided teacher with no connection to President Obama, who taught her students some songs -God forbid - that praise the leader of our country!

The outrage reached such a fever pitch that the school was temporarily placed on lock-down after its principal received death threats!

Today, Larisa Alexandrova at www.atlargely.com reminded us that
very same people who are screaming indoctrination at this act by a single individual had no problem with Bush's FEMA indoctrinating NOLA kids. ThinkProgress reported the following in '06:

"Today at the White House Easter Egg Roll, dozens of children “from the stricken Gulf Coast region serenaded First Lady Laura Bush with a song praising the beleaguered Federal Emergency Management Agency.” To the tune of Hey Look Me Over, the kids from Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama sang:
Our country stood beside us
People have sent us aid. Katrina could not stop us, our hopes will never fade.
Congress, Bush and FEMA People across our land
Together have come to rebuild us and we join them hand-in-hand!

In case you're wondering about the lyrics to the "in praise of Obama" songs... here you go:

Song 1:
Mm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said that all must lend a hand
To make this country strong again
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said we must be fair today
Equal work means equal pay
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said that we must take a stand
To make sure everyone gets a chance
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
He said red, yellow, black or white
All are equal in his sight
Mmm, mmm, mm!
Barack Hussein Obama
Yes!
Mmm, mmm, mm
Barack Hussein Obama
Song 2:
Hello, Mr. President we honor you today!
For all your great accomplishments, we all doth say "hooray!"
Hooray, Mr. President! You're number one!
The first black American to lead this great nation!
Hooray, Mr. President we honor your great plans
To make this country's economy number one again!
Hooray Mr. President, we're really proud of you!
And we stand for all Americans under the great Red, White, and Blue!
So continue ---- Mr. President we know you'll do the trick
So here's a hearty hip-hooray ----
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!
Hip, hip hooray!

When will the craziness end? We are teaching our kids to hate. We're also teaching lots of kids in the Muslim world to hate us. Just think about all the hate that will be coming of age in a few years. Pretty scary, huh?

Here's part two of the Carefully Taught to Hate montage, for your teaching pleasure.

Tonight, we'll end the week of shows on Air America radio, I'll discuss this story with Larisa Alexandrovna.

Victoria Jones of the Talk Radio News Service will join us for a live edition of the Quickie News Update.

Manny Badillo will give us an update on the NYCCAN.org efforts to get a new, independent 9/11 investigation, and give us the details on the march in Manhattan happening this Sunday.

And we'll finish it off with a fun conversation about sex and chocolate with comedienne Lisa Lampanelli.

Listen live from 11pm-1am ET by clicking here, join in the live chat here, and call at 866-303-2270.

I Don't Know Everything!

2009-09-24T21:19:00.002-04:00

That's a really brash statement for a talk show host to make. But it's the truth.

There aren't many in my line of work who'll admit it. What I do know is how to ask questions to find the answers. That's what I'll do tonight.

The G20 summit convened today in Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, I hear the words "global economy" and my eyes begin glazing over. But, in my line of work, that's not permissible.

But, I figured, if I react that way, I'd guess there are lots of others out there like me who don't understand what the leaders of these 20 world economic powers are gathering to do. I know there's something not quite right about it, but don't know why this gets people out of their homes and taking to the streets to protest (and why they don't do it in the name of health care for all!).

I still can't answer the second part of that question, and won't be able to tonight either. But I hope to get answers to the first part.

In the first hour of tonight's show, I'll be joined by Lori Wallach, the Global Trade Watch Director at Public Citizen. I'll ask her to explain what the G20 is all about, what it's connection is to the WTO, and how it affects policies like NAFTA and CAFTA.

Just to get you started before the program begins, Public Citizen issued this statement:

The Obama administration must carry the message at the G-20 that “Financial Stability Comes Before the WTO.” Please call Public Citizen’s Global Trade Watch division at 202-546-4996, or visit www.TradeWatch.Org – for access to a database detailing U.S. WTO service-sector commitments, along with fact sheets and other information describing how so-called “trade” policy affects you.

In hour two, it's my standing Thursday midnight date with comedian John Fugelsang. We'll chat about what's happening in the news today. Usually Christy Harvey does that with me on Thursday nights, but she's not feeling well today, so John and I will pick up the slack.

BTW, if you hear him every week and don't think you've seen him... you have. Check out his reel:

Listen live (11pm-1am ET) by clicking here, join in the live chat here, and call in at 866-303-2270!

It's a Mad World

2009-09-23T21:20:00.002-04:00

That's the only way to describe the day today...

Sarah Palin dissing the President on foreign soil. Why is that OK, but it wasn't when the Dixie Chicks said something negative about Bush?

Fox News airs Libyan President Muammar Qaddafi's rambling "speech" at the UN live for 90 minutes before finally breaking away. The same faux news organization that wouldn't run President Obama's address to a joint session of Congress cut back to the studio, pointing out the reference to Obama as "our son" as the main point of his diatribe.

A US Census worker was found hanged in Kentucky, with the word "Fed" scrawled across his body, and the FBI is investigating whether he was a victim of anti-government sentiment.

Mark Foley, the Congressman who had a penchant for sending provocative Instant Messages to pages, is now hosting a talk show in his former district in West Palm Beach.

And the hits just keep on rolling....

Tonight, we'll cover a number of stories.

We'll start with two young men who made a splash with their video coverage of the 9/12 rally in Washington DC. Erick Stoll and Chase Whiteside call themselves New Left Media, and they've gone viral:

Josh Silver, executive director of FreePress.net will join me to talk about the first attempt by the GOP to derail net neutrality regulations.

Mark Karlin, editor and publisher of BuzzFlash, will join me to run down some of the bigger stories of the week.

And Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films will tell us about the release of the DVD version of Rethink Afghanistan, and talk about the events and news this week concerning our involvement there.

Yes, we have a lot of ground to cover tonight. Listen live here from 11pm-1am ET, call in at 866-303-2270, and hang out with us in the chat room here.

Whistleblowers and Single Payer

2009-09-22T22:46:00.003-04:00

**Updated with links:

Brad Friedman on Sibel Edmonds

Dr. Paul Hochfeld of Mad As Hell Doctors ***
-----------------------------------------------------

That's what's on tap for tonight on Air America radio, from 11pm-1am ET.

I'm running late tonight, but I do hope you'll join me for what I know will be a great show.

In the first hour, I'll be joined by Brad Friedman of BradBlog. He's been covering the story of Sibel Edmonds, who the ACLU refers to as "the most gagged woman in the US." And I'll bet that 99% of the people reading this blog have never heard of her.

Be prepared for a spy story that you probably wouldn't believe if you saw it on the big screen, but it's happening right now, and involves lots of our Washington "elite."

In hour 2, I'll be joined by Dr. Paul Hochfeld of Mad As Hell Doctors, who is currently on the Care-A-Van, driving across the country with a bunch of other doctors in support of a single payer health care system.

I hope you'll join in too.. Listen live here, call in at 866-303-2270, and join in the live chat here.

Still Fired Up and Ready to Go on the Air

2009-09-21T21:28:00.003-04:00

**Updated to include links to the interviews**
My rant, and Robert Scheer interview
Dr. Andrew Weil
Andy Bichlbaum of The Yes Men
----------------------------------------------

I wrote a pretty scathing attack on the disappointing performance of the Obama administration at eight months earlier today. The response on facebook and via email has been faster and more voluminous than I expected.

The majority of the posts have been in agreement with what I wrote. In essence, that the man occupying the White House bears little resemblance in vision, action or stature to the man we voted for 10 months ago.

But there are those hopeful voices still singing the praises of the smartest guy in the room, hinting at the "he's playing chess and thinking three moves ahead the rest of us, who are only playing checkers" defense.

And honestly, I hope they're right. I'd like nothing more that to be able to write in this space six months from now that I was wrong. Truly, honestly, seriously.

In the meantime, I'm going to keep calling them as I see them...

The article I wrote earlier today was percolating in my restlessness all weekend. And I was struggling all morning to put it down on paper. Two things provided the fuel...

First was the oddly worded fundraising email from Madeleine Albright, which stated right in the subject line that it was a Referendum on Obama. Bad timing Madame Secretary.

The second was a piece I read on truthout.org from Robert Scheer, entitled "Obama's Presidency Isn't Too Big to Fail."

Misery loves company, I guess. The first thing I did after reading that essay was to track down Mr. Scheer and invite him on tonight's show (and I'm thrilled that he'll be with us for the final half hour tonight -- 9:30pm PT/12:30am ET). And then I began writing my own version of what he said!

I have a couple of other wonderful guests before I get to commiserate with Robert Scheer.

Dr. Andrew Weil, the famous American MD best known for establishing and popularizing the field of integrative medicine. He's promoting his new book, "Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine that Can Transform Our Future" and I had the opportunity to get his views on the fight for health care reform.

In addition to today being the 27th annual UN International Day of Peace, it's also the Global Day of Climate Action.

At thousands of "flash-mobs" -- quick, spontaneous actions -- around the world today, people sounded a climate alarm to wake our leaders out of their slumber and demand a fair, ambitious, and binding treaty this December 24 in Copenhagen, when the world leaders gather to reach an agreement on a new climate treaty.

In New York, The Yes Men outdid all others by putting into circulation a "special edition NY Post" with the headline "We're Screwed." The paper, all 35 pages of it, looked very real. The only indications that something was amiss was the fact that the entire thing was about the global climate crisis, and everything in this "special edition" of the Post was true!

They pulled this off in conjunction with the group BeyondTalk.net. We'll hear a bit more about it tonight with Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum.

I guess it's OK to have some hope left...

Listen live tonight between 11pm and 1am ET by clicking here, join in the live chat here, and call in at 866-303-2270.

I Thought We Could

2009-09-21T17:06:00.000-04:00

I just received an email from Madeleine Albright. The subject line read "The Referendum on President Obama."

Of course, when I opened it, it was a fundraising letter from the DCCC, which began thusly:

"Every new president inherits headaches, but President Obama has inherited an entire emergency room.

Our struggle to reclaim our standing in the world has been challenging, but we are making progress. Together, we will need to continue to speak up, fight back, and give President Obama the support he needs to succeed."

And therein lies my problem.

I've been struggling with my hopes versus our reality. Our reality is a president who bears an ugly resemblance to his predecessor, and that's not the change I voted for. Our president is showing none of the courage that was inherent in the guy I believed in; the one who was supposed to be different.

President Obama's first eight months is looking more and more like a continuation of the previous eight years, and that's something I distinctly remember voting against!

I agree with Secretary Albright that President Obama inherited an emergency room. Unfortunately, he seems to have closed down the trauma center.

I agree that we need to speak up and fight back, but he's not giving us -- those who fought hard for his victory -- the things he promised during the campaign-- the things we would gladly fight for!

He promised to get our troops out of harms way. As of today, we still have way too many troops in Iraq, and his new chief in Afghanistan today is calling for more. (And, in a cruel twist of irony, today is the 27th Annual UN International Day of Peace.)

When our economy was melting down during the final days of the campaign, Candidate Obama promised to take care of Main Street over Wall Street. Today, his Fed chairman Ben Bernanke says the recession is over. That's because Wall Street is back to their money-making, bonus-pilfering ways. Yet unemployment and foreclosures continue to rise, and Main Street is burning. Wall Street might say the recession is over, but can we? NO, WE CAN'T!

State Senator Barack Obama was in favor of a single payer health care system in the U.S. On June 30, 2003, Obama spoke to the Illinois AFL-CIO:

"I happen to be a proponent of a single payer universal health care program." (applause) "I see no reason why the United States of America, the wealthiest country in the history of the world, spending 14 percent of its Gross National Product on health care cannot provide basic health insurance to everybody. And that's what Jim is talking about when he says everybody in, nobody out. A single payer health care plan, a universal health care plan. And that's what I'd like to see. But as all of you know, we may not get there immediately. Because first we have to take back the White House, we have to take back the Senate, and we have to take back the House."

It's now six years later, the Democrats have taken back the White House (with Obama as it's occupant), the Senate and the House, but single payer was never even given a place at the discussion table. And the public option, which most of us see as an absolutely necessary tiny first baby step toward any meaningful reform, is now being used as a bargaining chip to get a bill that would result in a massive windfall to the blood-sucking leeches that call themselves health insurance companies.

In his address to a joint session of Congress last week, President Obama said that he has no interest in putting the health insurance industry out of business.

Why not?

No one should be making a profit off of our health care. It should be a self-sustaining concern that costs just enough to provide care to keep us healthy, and pay our providers a comfortable living. Health insurance company CEOs certainly shouldn't be getting wealthier by the moment while their paying customers are dying because the death panel, I mean, pencil pushers in their accounting office decide what procedures they'll pay for, despite what the doctor ordered.

As he went on a tour of the Sunday talking head shows yesterday, the president that I had so much hope for and faith in actually had the gall to say that those of us on the left need to stop clinging to the ideological idea of a public option.

The need for a public option has nothing to do with ideology or politics. It's his backpedaling on it and willingness to give it up that proves that it's politics as usual (just check www.opensecrets.org and see how much money Obama takes from the healthcare and insurance industries), and it disgusts me.

And now we're seeing the political discourse in this country deteriorate to base bigotry and hatred, threats of violence with no veil to disguise the intent, and gun and ammunition sales are at the highest levels in recent history. But this president - who has to be living in fear of his and his family's well-being in the wake of the threats -- is blaming the 24-hour news cycle which celebrates the rude.

I agree that the media is a problem, and we can thank Bill Clinton and the 1996 Telecommunications Act for a talk radio industry with a 9:1 ratio of conservative to progressive voices, and the total deregulation of ownership rules. But I can't just fault the Faux News channels for that. Where are the liberal voices calling foul? Do I have to do this alone?

And what about our elected officials? I have to give Nancy Pelosi credit for her statement last week, and giving voice to the fears that we're feeling! Why is it ok for Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh to use the public airwaves to spread lies and incite the populace to violence? When will those in position of power say "Enough!" and stop the madness?

Instead, we have the leader of the free world basically shrugging it off and saying it's just political discourse. By taking that approach, and not calling the guilty on the seriousness of their rhetoric, at the very least, truly troublesome, is making President Obama look even weaker and leaving him wide open to more attacks.

Where is this strong man, who had the courage of convictions during the campaign? The one who gave us hope in the belief that we were on the cusp of a change for the better?

Who is this person occupying the White House today, who is in lock-step with the Bush policies on corporate welfare, nation building and even rendition?

Secretary Albright, I'd love nothing more than to be able to support the president I voted for. Unfortunately, the person I'm seeing now is not him.