Keeping Democracy Alive

The Burt Cohen Show - Sequestration: What It Should Mean for the Defense Budget - 12/13/12

Congress has consistently passed the buck and now, instead of taking responsibility themselves, cuts across the board are threatened. Some, like Defense Secreatary Gates, have blamed entitilements, others, like today's guest cites out of control spending at the Pentagon. Dr. Gordon Adams is professor of International Relations at American Univerity where he teaches national security policy and resource planning. He was a member of the OMB Agency transition team for Obama in 2009 and regularly meets with Pentagon decision makers. Adams argues that cuts, not just in the level of growth, but real cuts can be made without harming our national security. And this year, it may even be politically possible.

The Burt Cohen Show - Lincoln: Great Movie. It is Fiction. Here's the Truth. - 12/06/12

If you see the movie, you owe it to yourself to listen to this interview. Spielberg's basic premise is false. What is true is that Lincoln's presidency had a profound effect on the America we now live in, with so much power in the hands of a few corporate interests. There's a reason why the so-called Civil War (it was not) is still so hotly contentious. Author Professor Thomas DiLorenzo sheds a great deal of much needed light on the real Lincoln. Enjoy the movie, it's a good one, but recognize it is entertaining fiction. Here's the truth.

The Burt Cohen Show - Legal MJ in Colorado and Washington - 11/29/12

Who would have ever thought it would take this long? The states of Washington and Colorado on November 6th voted to legalize recreational use of marijuana. How did it happen, how can the good sense spread? And on the second half hour, the state of our Constitutional rights under Obama is analyzed in a discussion with the ED of the Center for Conastitutional Rights. The left has been stunningly quiet as our liberties have been undermined. Time to pressure the re-elected president?

Crawling From The Wreckage: What Next for Republicans? - 11/15/12

Without a doubt, controversial right wing NH Speaker of the House Bill O'Brien was the Democrats best organizer Democrats could have asked for. Now with the rout behind us, can the sane segments of the Republican Party retake control? Today's guest is Fergus Cullen, who served as state Republican Party chair in 2007-08, talks about adjustments that he thinks can be made to make the party relevant in the twenty teens. Will the hard right allow it to happen? Time will tell.

The Burt Cohen Show - Two Great Dead Guys Interviewed - 11/08/12

First we lost Gore Vidal, then on October 21, it was George McGovern. From the archives of 1981, Burt interviews Gore Vidal at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston during his tour for his book Creation. See if his descritions of ancient days remind you of anything today. And of course they talk politics, about the Reagan years then ahead. Then it's Burt's final interview with George McGovern, from April 2012, regarding his book What It Means to Be A Democrat. America was never to be blessed with a McGovern presidency, but his vision continues.

The Burt Cohen Show - The Politics of Voter Suppression - 10/25/12

We need a photo ID to buy liquor or fly on an airplane, so what's the big deal about needing one to vote? Don't we need to stop voter fraud? Actually voter ID is a solution in search of a problem, according to Burt's guest Tova Andrea Wang, author of a new book, The Politics of Voter Suppression: Defending and Expanding Americans Right to Vote. A ghuest on many national radio and TV news programs, in this show Wang explains that the new efforts are part of a long history of the intentional suppression of certain segments of American society. Voting is a right, not a privilege. Don't let them scare you, it is still easy to exercise that right. And we must, to keep America a republic.

America's Chernobyl: It's in Navajo Country - 10/11/12

For most of us the cold war is a bad memory we'd like to forget. But for thousands living in America's southwest, it's a toxic nightmare that is there each and every day. On this show, internationally renowned expert on alternative energy technologies Mark Snyder explains why it is no exaggeration to call the ongoing massive exposure to radiation from uranium mines America's Chernobyl. And some politicians claim nuclear power is safe and clean!

Slow Democracy: Is Real Democracy Possible? - 10/04/12

What passes for democracy today is more like fast junk food: corporate created, no citizen input, and it's not very good for us. In her new book, Slow Democracy: Rediscovering Community, Bringing Decision Making Back Home, Burt's guest Susan Clark and co-author Woden Teachout lay out specifics of what is being done to bring back real democracy. And it looks like 2013 will be a very productive time for a public hungry to bring power back to those affected.

The Burt Cohen Show - Consciousness and Ethics - 09/27/12

There's an emerging science of consciousness. Guest on this show is the UK's  Dr. Daniel Bor, author of The Ravenous Brain; How the New Science of Consciousness Explains Our Insatiable Search for Meaning. The discussion asks what consciousness is, what about consciousness in fetuses, and animals for that matter? Is our consciousness evolving or have we hit a plateau? Not your usual political show, but the issue certainly relates.

The Burt Cohen Show - Hurtling Toward Election - 09/20/12

Obama Getting a Backbone, Republicans Panicking? Better late than never? Some political observers swear they see the president displayijng a boackbone after all. Today Alternet columnist Steven Rosenfeld talks about this, the Republican strategy of voter suppression, and what they are so deathly afraid of in an Obama second term.