This Week on GR
by C. L. Cook
If past elections are any indicator, millions will forgo the privilege of voting, while millions more will have their franchise disallowed through a variety of restrictive ID requirements, new rules governing eligibility, and good old fashioned voter suppression.
There will be controversy, and probably blood too, but one thing is certain; the election will provide the nation a chance to evaluate its values, and the potency of American democracy in the increasingly troubled days of the early 21st Century.
Dave Lindorff is an award-winning muck raking journalist, founder of the news website, This Can't Be Happening.net, and author of the books: 'This Can't Be Happening: Resisting the Disintegration of American Democracy,' 'Marketplace Medicine: The Rise of the For Profit Hospital Chains,' and 'Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal.' He is also co-author, with Barbara Olshansky of, 'The Case for Impeachment: Legal Arguments for Removing President George W. Bush from Office.' Dave is also recipient of a 2011 Project Censored award for his expose, 'Toxic Intervention,' uncovering the use of Depleted Uranium by NATO forces during the "liberation" of Libya.
Dave Lindorff in the first segment.
And; since September 2001, America has ramped up its militarization at home and abroad. But, it didn't take that day of infamy to create America's modern military empire, that was a project well underway long before the PNAC crowd took over Washington, D.C. Today, ten years into what might be termed the "perpetual warfare era," the U.S treasury is sinking under the weight of war debt, as its subject citizens flounder in a rising tide of unemployment, under-employment, and an increasing scarcity of jobs necessary to lead "decent," let alone financially transcendent lives.
Michael Parenti is an American educator, lecturer, social justice activist, and author of 23 books, including: 'The Assassination of Julius Caesar,' 'Superpatriotism,' The Culture Struggle,' 'Democracy for the Few,' ' God and His Demons,' and his latest, 'The Face of Imperialism.' Parenti is also recipient of awards from Project Censored, the Caucus for a New Political Science, the Social Science Research Council and many others organizations, including being awarded the Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition. He now serves various advisory boards and sits as a judge for Project Censored.
The crimes of empire, it's often said, come home to roost, and The Face of Imperialism notes the homecoming of the "litany of injustices visited upon victims of U.S. imperialism: expropriation of their communal wealth and natural resources, complete privatization and deregulation of their economies, loss of local markets, deterioration of their living standards, a growing debt burden, and the bloodstained suppression of their democratic movements."
Michael Parenti from the archive in the second half.
And; Victoria Street Newz publisher and CFUV broadcaster, Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour to bring us news from the city's streets and beyond. But first, Dave Lindorff and America going to the polls.
Chris Cook hosts Gorilla Radio, airing live every Monday, 5-6pm Pacific Time. In Victoria at 101.9FM, and on the internet at: http://cfuv.uvic.ca. He also serves as a contributing editor to the web news site, http://www.pacificfreepress.com. Check out the GR blog at: http://gorillaradioblog.blogspot.ca/G-Radio is dedicated to social justice, the environment, community, and providing a forum for people and issues not covered in the corporate media.
