The New York Times reported earlier this week that Russia made an extraordinary effort in 2016 to influence the votes of African Americans, using an array of tactics to suppress voter turnout among Democrats and unleashing what it called a "blizzard of activity" on Instagram. But the implication of the article harkens back to the bad old days of segregation. It revives the racist narrative that African-American voters are so gullible to outside agitators that they effectively have no control over their own votes.
Thursday's weekly series "Criminal Injustice" is about the most egregious conduct of our courts and prosecutors and how justice is denied to so many people in this country. Paul Wright, the founder and executive director of the Human Rights Defense Center and editor of Prison Legal News (PLN), and Kevin Gosztola, a writer for Shadowproof.com and co-host of the podcast Unauthorized Disclosure, join the show.
President Trump's surprise announcement yesterday that he would pull all US troops out of Syria has ignited a firestorm of opposition among the political elite. Democrats, even those who were historically anti-war, have joined Republicans in their outrage that the United States might "lose" Syria. Brian and John speak with Massoud Shadjareh, the founder of the Islamic Human Rights Commission.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced this morning that he would unilaterally tighten work requirements related to food stamps, a move that threatens hundreds of thousands of people's access to the most basic of necessities. Anoa Changa, the director of political advocacy and a managing editor of Progressive Army, and host of the show The Way With Anoa, joins the show.
Despite ongoing negotiations, North Korea continues to suffer under a near total economic blockade imposed by the United States and other world powers. This has had a devastating effect on the North Korean people, and now even their efforts to mitigate the damage through scientific research is being demonized as a nefarious military plot. Author and professor Tim Beal, whose most recent book is "Crisis in Korea," joins Brian and John.
Veterans for Peace is Thursday's regular segment about the contemporary issues of war and peace that affect veterans, their families, and the country as a whole. Gerry Condon, a Vietnam-era veteran and war resister who refused orders to deploy to Vietnam and lived in exile in Canada and Sweden for 6 years, organizing with other U.S. military deserters and draft resisters against the Vietnam war, and for amnesty for U.S. war resisters, joins the show. He has been a peace and solidarity activist for almost 50 years and has served on the Board of Veterans For Peace for the last 6 years, currently as national president.
A federal jury yesterday found a former Blackwater security contractor guilty of murder in the 2007 shootings of dozens of unarmed Iraqi civilians. This was the second time that former sniper Nicholas Slatten had been found guilty in the case. The first verdict was overturned. This comes as Donald Trump is intervening in the case of Green Beret Major Matthew Golsteyn, who admitted to carrying out a summary execution of an Afghan prisoner. Brian and John speak with Kevin Zeese, the co-coordinator of Popular Resistance, whose work is at popularresistance.org.
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