Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen

Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen

By Burt CohenSociety & CultureNewsPolitics
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Keeping Democracy Alive with Burt Cohen episodes

  • Use of Fear For Political Gain: Nixon Started It in 1948
    Careers of good people have been destroyed in the pursuit of political gain. It goes on today but got its real start by the very smart ambitious Congressman Richard Nixon nearly seventy years ago. In her new book Alger Hiss: Framed: A New Look at the Case That Made Nixon Famous, author Joan Brady tells a tale of truth that is far more bizarre than any fiction writer could possibly dream up. And as the word “terrorist” is thrown around by today’s right wingers , so was the label “communist” in the early Cold War. Alger Hiss organized the United Nations and would be known  in history for that if not for the knowingly dishonest Nixon who decided to destroy a top State Department employee for his own political gain. And it worked.
     
     
     
     
    1 hr
  • Free Speech Threatened By Anti-BDS Bill
    Now and in the future, if certain opinions are not popular with the government in power, they can be prosecuted. Under the current bill S 720, which actually has Democratic sponsors, if a person even inquires about which companies may do business in the occupied territories, that would be a crime, punishable by big fines and serious time behind bars. We talk with U of SF professor Stephen Zunes about the chilling effect on free speech of this legislation. BDS=boycott, divest, sanctions.
    1 hr
  • Has All America Become Kansas? Chances for Democrats in 2018
    Author of the acclaimed “What’s The Matter with Kansas?” Thomas C Frank discusses the outlook for Democrats in 2018. he says that clearly some in the elite would rather lose than change. On one hand he points out that establishment Clinton Democrats do quite well personally with Republicans in office but on the other hand there are some signs that the party is listening to the majority of Democrats and moving toward taking on the monopolistic trends. There may actually be signs of learning about the strength of populism in terms of winning elections.
    1 hr
  • An Actual Coup in America: Democrats in 1944
    In the long held American tradition of opposition to colonialism and a government serving the common good, FDR’s vice president Henry A Wallace was an outstanding visionary. Then a corrupt political machine performed a bloodless coup at the 1944 Democratic convention. Just as his name was to be placed in nomination (he easily had the votes to win) the gavel was brought down and the convention instantly adjourned despite a huge outcry from the floor. Had Wallace remained as VP, he would have become president instead of Truman. American University History Professor Peter Kuznick explains the incredibly significance of this act to the next seventy years of American history. There would have been no atomic bombs dropped and no Vietnam War, had Wallace’s name simply been placed in nomination. The difference was about nine seconds. Listen in and learn.
    1 hr
  • Our Closest Allies Hurt Most By New Anti-Russia Sanctions
    Our most reliable allies in Western Europe are the ones most hurt by the new sanctions passed by congress and supported by the president. Europe depends on pipelines from Russia for their energy. Under the new law, any company doing business with Russia would be penalized. As our guest Patrick Lawrence points out, in 1940 the US cut off oil supplies to Japan. We all know what their reaction was. What’s been a mere drift away from dependence on the US in Europe is turning to a serious angry rift. All for US corporate energy interests. These sanctions, Lawrence says, are actually quite dangerous.
    1 hr
  • Sinclair News Sneaking In//Right Wing Men and Sex
    We all know the impact Fox News has had on politics and government. Now comes Sinclair with its alt-right slant and their clever way to your local TV without becoming a network. Media analyst John Kosinski sheds light into their plans to take over trusted local channel’s news in battleground states.  And on part two, author Amanda Marcotte reveals the hypocrisy on the right when they claim to be conservative but are much more of a threat to women than the allegedly licentious liberals. It’s about their imagined right to dominate girls.
    1 hr
  • Worse Than The First NAFTA//How Progressives Can Win in the South
    And you thought the first NAFTA was bad. Trump’s new version puts the globalist corporations squarely in the drivers seat, never mind local or state laws. Food labeling? Forget about it. The crucial work that bees perform? Again forget about it. It should disturb conservatives greatly. William Waren Senior Trade Analyst for Friends of the Earth says we the people can still stop it. And on part two, Paul Blest, North Carolina journalist dissects why Bernie got so badly beaten in the Southern primaries and offers why he believes this is a golden opportunity for traditional progressive Democrats after the loss of the establishment candidate.
    1 hr
  • The “Civil War” Re-Examined: It Set Back Civil Rights
    No side won, America lost. The so-called civil war (a civil war is a fight to take over the government; this was not) was America’s biggest failure, started by radical evangelicals on both sides. Lincoln was not the president of all of America,  he was elected without even being on the ballot in the states who considered themselves colonies, taxation without representation: the South. And according to author of America Aflame Professor David Goldfield, civil rights for African Americans would have come much sooner without the unnecessary war of choice. Most of what we think we know about that war is wrong. Give a genuine listen:
    1 hr
  • Redefining “Smart” in the Smart Machine Age
    Millions of jobs will be eliminated because artificial intelligence is smarter than we are in many ways. We humans therefore face a serious and historic new challenge. What must we do to endure? According to our guest, author Edward Hess, we will need to excel at critical, creative, and innovative thinking and at actual human relations, areas in which machines can not compete with us. The new book Hess co-authors with Katherine Ludwig is “Humility is the New Smart; Rethinking Human Excellence in the Smart Machine Age.” As we race at breakneck speed into this new world, Hess argues that “our cultural values from our earliest history may provide us with the keys to adapting…we need to actively and systematically re-create a culture of we.” Which sounds a bit like the values that emerged from the Great Prosperity era, from us baby boomers. A fascinating discussion.
    1 hr
  • America Better Off Broken Apart?
    No one in their right mind would ever think the Soviet Union would suddenly break down into its component parts. Then it did. Clearly America is more divided now than since the 1861 war against Southern independence. Many would argue we are not now and never have been truly one nation. Since the ascendance of Donald Trump to the presidency, talk of separatism and secession, CalExit for example, has increased in volume quite quickly. On this fascinating discussion, author, legal commentator, and law school professor Lis Wiehl talks about her research in writing her new book: The Separatists.
    1 hr

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