Progressive Talk Radio

Most talk radio leans conservative, but alternative views are available from the internet and on some radio stations. Archives are available for many shows and some offer podcasts. My personal favorite Air America Radio shows include The Rachel Maddow Show (1 hour news show on M-F) and the following weekend shows: Politically Direct, Mother Jones and Ring of Fire.

Air America Radio (24/7 broadcast)
Stream: AirAmericaRadio.com or AirAmericaPlace.com
PodCast and Archives: AirAmericaPlace.com

Black Eagle Radio Show (Joe Madison)
RadioDiary.com/madison.htm

Ed Schultz Show
BigEddieRadio.com/

The Stephanie Miller Show
StephanieMiller.com/TheRadioShow.com

Thom Hartmann Show
ThomHartmann.com/

C-Span Archives

C-Span.org offers live video streams and archives as well as the TV schedule for C-Span 1, 2 and 3. To find an archived file, enter key words from the title / event into the "Video Search" engine on the home page and "sort by date". Some recent highlights...

House Hearing on Patriot Act Reauthorization (6-10-05) When Dems weren't allowed to call witnesses, they invoked Rule 11 and had their own hearing. Chairman Sensenbrenner (R-WI) interrupted witnesses mid-sentence and unilaterally (and illegally) ended the meeting taking his gavel with him and turning off the mics. What didn't the Republicans want to hear? Check it out.

House Judiciary Cmte. Democrats Meeting on Downing Street Memo and Iraq War (6/16/05) A House "hearing" can only be called by the majority and, since the Republicans didn't want to participate, this "meeting" was held in the House basement. Conyer's (D-MI) letter (signed by 122 members of Congress and accompanied by a petition with 560,000 signatures) was delivered to the White House after the meeting. The letter's five questions have yet to be answered.

Senate Indian Affairs Committee Oversight Hearing on Indian Lobbying (6-22-05) The testimony of the last panel is particularly interesting.

Democratic Policy Cmte. Hearing on Halliburton (6-27-05) Republicans didn't participate but Republican Senators (unlike Republican leaders in the House) provided a hearing room. If you care how your tax dollars are spent, watch this hearing. Consider following up by watching Frontline's Private Warriors.

Hearing on Religious Climate at US Air Force Academy (6-28-05) Background

Note: Occasionally a correctly typed Web address returns an error page. Refresh the screen (F5 on PCs) and / or wait for an internet transfer to complete before giving up.

Of Iraq, WMDs and Saddam Hussein

Note: To view the context of quoted material, click the link and search for a keyword from the quote (Ctrl +F on PCs).

No Iraqi WMDs - No link between Saddam and 9/11

Powell: "He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction." Speaking of Saddam Hussein on Feb 24th, 2001 (Though scrubbed from the official site, page copies are available at The Memory Hole and the Internet Archives. Video

Rice: "We are able to keep arms from him. His military forces have not been rebuilt." July 29th, 2001 (CNN Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer)

Bush: "We've had no evidence that Saddam Hussein was involved with the September 11th." (Sept 17th, 2003)

Bush joked about not finding WMDs at a public dinner (March 26th, 2004)

9/11 Commission: "We have no credible evidence that Iraq and al Qaeda cooperated on attacks against the United States." (June 16th 2004)

Duelfer Report: The CIA's report indicates that the inspection teams had successfully completed their mission. There were no WMDs at the time of the invasion. (Oct. 2004)

WMD search ended - Reported (Jan 12th, 2005)

Detailed 2004 review of the evidence.

Reported Sept. 9th, 2005: "Former US secretary of state Colin Powell says his United Nations speech making the case for the US-led war on Iraq was 'a blot' on his record.

"Mr Powell has also said that he had 'never seen evidence to suggest' a connection between the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States and the Saddam regime."

These facts have not deterred the Republican leadership from using misleading rhetoric

Cheney: "Simply stated, there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein now has weapons of mass destruction." (Aug. 26th, 2002)

Powell: "We also have satellite photos that indicate that banned materials have recently been moved from a number of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction facilities." Speaking at the UN Feb. 5th, 2003 (Original was scrubbed - see archived version)

Bush: "Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever devised." (March 17th, 2003)

Rumsfeld: "We know where they are." Speaking of WMDs on March 30th, 2003

Cheney: "I think the record is overwhelming that he had, in fact, had major investments in weapons of mass destruction." (Oct 4th, 2003)

Robin Hayes (R-NC) Vice Chair of the House SubCommittee on Terrorism: "Saddam Hussein and people like him were very much involved in 9/11." (June 29th, 2005!!!)

Americans were influenced by the Republican leadership's rhetoric

PIPA Report: The Separate Realities of Bush and Kerry Supporters (Oct. 21st, 2004)

Rasmussen Report: 49% Say Bush Responsible for Provoking Iraq War - 44% Say Hussein (June, 2005)

Why mislead Americans?

Politics

Gore: "President Bush and Vice President Cheney have decided to fight to the rhetorical death over whether or not there's a meaningful connection between Iraq and al Qaeda. They think that if they lose that argument and people see the truth, then they'll not only lose support for the controversial decision to go to war, but also lose some of the new power they've picked up from the Congress and the courts, and face harsh political consequences at the hands of the American people." (June 24th, 2004)

Wanted a Permanent Presence in the Middle East

Note: bin Laden issued a fatwah against the US because of our presence in the Middle East.

Richard Clarke: "Then I realized with almost a sharp physical pain that Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz were going to try to take advantage of this national tragedy to promote their agenda about Iraq. Since the beginning of the administration, indeed well before, they had been pressing for a war with Iraq." (June 24th, 2004)

The Downing Street Memos provide evidence of Washington "wanting to fix the facts to meet the objective" AND that "the U.S. had already begun 'spikes of activity' to put pressure on the regime" (i.e. bombed Iraq 6 weeks before Congress consented to war).

PNAC's Rebuilding America's Defenses Report: "...the need for a substantial American force presence in the Gulf transcends the issue of the regime of Saddam Hussein."

Note this famous statement from the same Sept. 2000 report... "Further, the process of transformation, even if it brings revolutionary change, is likely to be a long one, absent some catastrophic and catalyzing event like a new Pearl Harbor." (Link1 Link2)

PNAC Letter to President Clinton: "We urge you... to enunciate a new strategy that would secure the interests of the U.S. and our friends and allies around the world. That strategy should aim, above all, at the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime from power." (July 26, 1998)

Follow the Money

War profiteering, misplaced money, and oil and gas revenues... For starters check Link1 Link2 Link3 plus a general perusal of the Committee on Government Reform Minority Office documents.

Because They Could (It's all in the marketing)

Viguerie: "That's what journalism is. It's just all opinion. Just opinion."
Moyers: "So says Richard Viguerie, a founding father of the modern conservative movement and still one of its most powerful figures." (Dec 17th, 2004)

Jon Stewart: "In Nixon's day, the strategy with the press seemed to be - let's seal the well. Let's not let any leaks out. This administration seems to feel like - You know what? Leaks are going to happen. Let's poison the well. ...Journalism today is still relatively vibrant - it just doesn't register in the way that it used to because of the noise around it." Statement made during an interview with Bill Moyers on Comedy Central's ("The Daily Show").

Needed: a commitment to truth and justice

He has declared to you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8