Progressive Commentary Hour

Progressive Commentary Hour - 05.30.17

The prosperity Gospel of Self and how the Evangelical Christian media empire hijacked the Republican party to bring us the Tea Party and Trump

Terry Heaton is a retired 28 year veteran as television news executive, news consultant and author specializing in the media and propaganda. He is also recognized visionary, iconoclast and expert in web related media and business.  In the 1980s, Terry was an executive producer for the Christian Broadcasting Network or CBN and specifically the executive producer for televangelist Pat Robertson's 700 Club, which also led to his campaign work for Robertson's presidential run in 1988. During that time, he was an insider into the Christian evangelical right's political maneuvering to usurp the Republican Party and dominate much of the media.  Prior to his retirement in 2015,  he was the senior vice president for Audience Research and Development in Dallas.  He hosts the popular Pomo Blog, which explores the deeper relationships between contemporary culture, media, religion and postmodernity.  Terry has written 7 books. His most recent is "The Gospel of Self: How Jesus Joined the GOP," which outlines his insider activity and political intrigues in the Christian media. His website is ThePomoBlog.com

Progressive Commentary Hour - 05.23.17

An eye-witness update on events and conditions in Syria and a look at Trump's recent statements in Saudi Arabia and Israel and why it will further destabilize the Middle East

Vanessa Beeley is a British investigative journalist who has focused on the conflicts in the middle east – particularly in Syria, Gaza and Yeme. She is an associate editor of 21^st Century Wire and was member of a peace finding mission to Syria and organized by the US Peace Council.  Vanessa was in Aleppo during and after its liberation after the city had been captured for almost 5 years by western backed Salafist terror organizations last year. She is credited with having exposed the fraud behind the faux charitable, volunteer organization the Syrian Civil Defense or better known as the White Helmets, which was nominated for the Nobel Peace prize and was featured in the documentary that recently received an Oscar award.   She is also a contributing writer for the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine, the Dissident Voice and manages the website The Wall Will Fall in London, where she blogs about her travels and reports from the Middle East.  She just recently returned to Paris from Damascus where she was doing investigative research. Her websites are TheWallWillFall.org   and   21stCenturyWire.com

Progressive Commentary Hour - 05.16.17

CONVERSATIONS WITH REMARKABLE MINDS

Donald Trump's Coup d'etat:  Erosion of the Constitution and civil rights, criminal conspiracy,  and the White House's conflict with the Deep State

Danny Sheehan is one of our nation’s most important and influential Constitutional and public interest lawyers.  During the past 45 years he has handled such public interest cases as the Pentagon Papers, the Watergate Break In, Iran Contra and the Silkwood murder case.  He has represented victims of he Three Mile Island nuclear disaster and fought against the American Nazi Party on hate crimes. Danny is also a leading attorney on behalf of the Native nations at Standing Rock against the North Dakota state government and the private corporations building the pipeline. He is the founder of the Christic Institute and the Romero Institute, the latter being a nonprofit public policy center in Santa Cruz California. Danny has his law degree from Harvard University and later returned to study at the Harvard Divinity School.. He is the author of “The People’s Advocate: The Life and Legal History of America’s Most Fearless Public Defence Lawyer,”   And his websites are DanielPSheehan.com   AND   RomeroInstitute.org

Progressive Commentary Hour - 05.09.17

And inside look at events in Venezuela and the US efforts for regime change

Dr. Maria Paez Victor is a sociologist who sits on the Board of Governors for the Law Commission of Ontario at York University, an independent organization that researches and advocates law and reforms for Ontario citizens. She is also the Chair of the Canadian Latin American and Caribbean Policy Center. With over 20 years experience in national and international energy policy analysis and environmental health assessment, she has served as a policy adviser and consultant for the Ontarian and Canadian governments and taught the Sociology of Medicine at the University of Toronto.  Born in Venezuela, Maria was educated in Caracas, New York, Mexico City and received her masters the University of Kent in the UK and her doctorate in sociology at York University in Toronto. She has been a long time active member in Canada's Latin American community and an observer and commentator on events unfolding in Venezuela since Hugo Chavez came to office as well as a sharp critic of US policies towards that nation. She is the author of "Give Me Liberty or Death: The Life and Campaigns of Richard Vowell" about a small group of British and Irish expat legionnaires who joined Simon Bolivar's revolution to oust the Spanish empire. Her articles appear on Counterpunch and in many liberal Spanish media sites. 

 

The Islamophobic Administration -- The rise of a nationalist ideology behind government policies 

Faiza Patel [Fi-za long i] is the co-director of the Liberty and National Security Program at the Brennan Center at New York University's Law School where she is specializing on the growing Islamophobia and regressive surveillance of Muslims by the US government. She has testified before Congress and organized advocacy efforts against state laws that incite fear of Islam. She is a frequent commentator on national security and counterterrorism issues on major media such as the New York Times, The Economist, The Guardian, MSNBC and NPR and other outlets. Earlier Faiza was a senior policy official for the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons in the Haque and served as a law clerk at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Born and raised in Pakistan, Faiza is a graduate of Harvard and received her law degree from NYU Law School.  She is a lead author of the recent Brennan report "The Islamophobic Administration" and the Trump administration's role in increasing and inciting a national hatred towards Muslims. The report can be found at BrennanCenter.org

Progressive Commentary Hour - 05.02.17

 

 

 

 

 

CONVERSATIONS WITH REMARKABLE MINDS

The need for a new theological or spiritual ethical agenda in the age of Trump

Professor Harvey Cox is one of America’s most preeminent theologians and the Hollis Research Professor emeritus at Harvard Divinity School, the oldest professorship at Harvard going back to 1721. Prof. Coxhas been called one of the most important liberal theologians during the last half century and a leading trend spotter in American religion.  He has also been a prominent civil rights and anti-war activist throughout his career. His book, The Secular City published in 1965 remains one of the most read theological books in the nation and predicted much of what we now witness unfolding as dogmatic religious beliefs become stronger and secular values take on higher spiritual value and meaning. Forty years ago, Prof. Cox viewed this as a maturing of humanity and a divine gift, rather than a threat to religion. Now at 87 years old, Prof. Cox has published another text – “The Market as God” – which lays down the argument along with Pope Francis’ observation that the capitalist market has been deified and has reached divine status in post modern civilization and consequently our ethical problems dealing with rampant inequality, climate change and global poverty are more difficult to solve.