Between The Lines

Announcements

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

Robert had been a regular guest on our Between The Lines and Counterpoint radio shows -- and many other progressive outlets across the U.S. over four decades.

His penetrating analysis of U.S. foreign policy and international conflicts will be sorely missed, and not easily replaced. His son Nat Parry writes a tribute to his father: Robert Parry’s Legacy and the Future of Consortiumnews.

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The Resistance Starts Now!

Between The Lines' coverage and resource compilation of the Resistance Movement

"The man who predicted Trump presidential win now says Trump impeachment could happen," AM Joy with Joy Reid, MSNBC, Jan. 21, 2018
"Sketchy Kazakh money finds its way into Trump dealings," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Red flags seen in many Trump real estate deals," The Rachel Maddow Show, MSNBC, Jan. 15, 2018
"Secret Money: How Trump Made Millions Selling Condos To Unknown Buyers," BuzzFeed, Jan. 12, 2018
"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
"Here's what we know so far about Team Trump's ties to Russian interests," Washington Post's ongoing compilation
"What Comey Was Investigating, Explained," The Moscow Project, Center for American Progress

"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
Full resource list ...

SPECIAL REPORT: "The Resistance - Women's March 2018 - Hartford, Connecticut" Jan. 20, 2018

Selected speeches from the Women's March in Hartford, Connecticut 2018, recorded and produced by Scott Harris

SPECIAL REPORT: "No Fracking Waste in CT!" Jan. 14, 2018

Jen Siskind Jennifer Siskind, local coordinator for Food and Water Watch, describes the campaign to stop fracking waste in Connecticut, which so far has led to fracking waste bans in 34 towns around the state. Interviewed by Richard Hill on Mic Check, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT

SPECIAL REPORT: "Resistance Round Table: The Unraveling Continues..." Jan. 13, 2018

Lindsay Kanaly The panel discusses Trump's long history of racism and the Republican voter suppression juggernaut confronting Democrats leading up to the 2018 elections. Special guest: Lindsay Kanaly, a lead organizer of the Women's Marches planned for Jan. 20, 2018. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill on Resistance Roundtable, WPKN Radio, Bridgeport, CT.

SPECIAL REPORT: "Capitalism to the ash heap?" Richard Wolff, Jan. 2, 2018

Richard Wolff, Economics professor Richard Wolff declares U.S. capitalism to be beyond repair and suggests the need for a radical alternative. Interviewed by Richard Hill

SPECIAL REPORT: Maryn McKenna, author of "Big Chicken", Dec. 7, 2017

Maryn McKenna, investigative journalist and author of Big Chicken, talks about the widespread use and dangers of antibiotics in commercial poultry, beef and fruit production. Interview by Bill Duesing, Richard Hill and Guy Beardsly on WPKN's Organic Farm Stand.

SPECIAL REPORT: Nina Turner's address, Working Families Party Awards Banquet, Dec. 14, 2017

Nina Turner, president of Our Revolution, talks about the fight ahead for progressives as she receives the Working Families Organization Award for Exceptional Leadership Towards Advancing Progress. The event was held in Meriden, CT. Produced by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Dec. 12, 2017

Working Families Party of CT talks strategy and issues for 2018.
Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Working Families Party of Connecticut, discusses the state's electoral landscape and lays out the issues and strategies that could lead to progressive victories in 2018. Interviewed by Richard Hill.

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Dec. 9, 2017

Disturbing developments in the Trump/Republican Agenda
Focus on the tax bill, destruction of our public lands, North Korea and Trump's private CIA. Panel: Scott Harris, Ruthanne Baumgartner and Richard Hill. Special guest: Jo Macallero of Rise and Resist.

SPECIAL REPORT: On Tyranny - one year later, Nov. 28, 2017

Professor Timothy Snyder, author of the highly acclaimed resistance manual On Tyranny, discusses his book and offers a fresh assessment of the state of our beleaguered republic. Timothy Snyder, history professor at Yale, is introduced by Stanley Heller, administrator of Promoting Enduring Peace, a Connecticut-based organization that sponsored this event at the United Church Parish House in New Haven on Nov. 28. A brief interview with Snyder conducted by WPKN radio producer, Richard Hill, follows his talk.

SPECIAL REPORT: Mic Check, Nov. 12, 2017

Lynne Ide, director of program and policy with the Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut, talks about the current state of health care coverage in Connecticut. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resistance Roundtable, Nov. 11, 2017

Focus on the Republican tax plan, the just-released autopsy on the Democratic Party, and Internet censorship by Google, Facebook and Youtube. Including an interview with Hilary Grant, a lead organizer with Action Together Connecticut, who discusses the local results of the recent election, with hosts Richard Hill, Scott Harris and Ruth Baumgartner WPKN producers

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Two leaders from Redneck Revolt, an anti-racist, anti-capitalist movement, talk about their work organizing with white working class people in Suffolk County, New York. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Rainy Day Radio, Nov. 7, 2017

Bruce Gagnon, coordinator for the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space, describes the extent of -- and motives underlying -- the vast US network of military bases around the globe. Interviewed by Richard Hill, WPKN radio producer

SPECIAL REPORT: Resisting U.S. JeJu Island military base in South Korea, Oct. 24, 2017

Joyakol, South Korean peace activist and singer, discusses the crisis on the Korean peninsula and focuses on the resistance to the U.S. huge military base being constructed on Jeju Island. The event was sponsored by the Greater New Haven Peace Council and this audio was recorded by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.
Joyakol discusses Americans' biggest misconceptions about the conflict between North and South Korea and the U.S., Interview by Richard Hill, WPKN producer.

SPECIAL REPORT: John Allen, Out in New Haven

John Allen, founding director of the New Haven Pride Center, Connecticut, talks about his new LGBTQ television show, Out in New Haven, which presents a range of political and cultural issues to the community. Interviewed by Richard Hill on WPKN's Rainy Day Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018.

2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

Promoting Enduring Peace presented its Gandhi Peace Award jointly to renowned consumer advocate Ralph Nader and BDS founder Omar Barghouti on April 23, 2017.

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THANK YOU TO EVERYONE...

who helped make our 25th anniversary with Jeremy Scahill a success!

For those who missed the event, or were there and really wanted to fully absorb its import, here it is in video

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 1 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scahill keynote speech, part 2 from PROUDEYEMEDIA on Vimeo.

Between The Lines on Stitcher

Between The Lines Presentation at the Left Forum 2016

"How Do We Build A Mass Movement to Reverse Runaway Inequality?" with Les Leopold, author of "Runaway Inequality: An Activist's Guide to Economic Justice,"May 22, 2016, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, The City University of New York, 860 11th Ave. (Between 58th and 59th), New York City. Between The Lines' Scott Harris and Richard Hill moderated this workshop. Listen to the audio/slideshows and more from this workshop.

Listen to audio of the plenary sessions from the weekend.

JEREMY SCAHILL: Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker "Dirty Wars"

Listen to the full interview (30:33) with Jeremy Scahill, an award-winning investigative journalist with the Nation Magazine, correspondent for Democracy Now! and author of the bestselling book, "Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army," about America's outsourcing of its military. In an exclusive interview with Counterpoint's Scott Harris on Sept. 16, 2013, Scahill talks about his latest book, "Dirty Wars, The World is a Battlefield," also made into a documentary film under the same title, and was nominated Dec. 5, 2013 for an Academy Award in the Best Documentary Feature category.

Listen to Scott Harris Live on WPKN Radio

Between The Lines' Executive Producer Scott Harris hosts a live, weekly talk show, Counterpoint, from which some of Between The Lines' interviews are excerpted. Listen every Monday evening from 8 to 10 p.m. EDT at www.WPKN.org (Follows the 5-7 minute White Rose Calendar.)

Counterpoint in its entirety is archived after midnight ET Monday nights, and is available for at least a year following broadcast in WPKN Radio's Archives.

You can also listen to full unedited interview segments from Counterpoint, which are generally available some time the day following broadcast.

Subscribe to Counterpoint bulletins via our subscriptions page.

BTL Blog

"The Rogue World Order: Connecting the Dots Between Trump, Flynn, Bannon, Spencer, Dugin Putin," by Anna Manzo (GlobalHealing), Daily Kos, Feb. 13, 2017

"Widespread Resistance Begins to Trump's Muslim Travel Ban at U.S. Airports," by Anna Manzo (GlobalHealing), Daily Kos, Jan. 28, 2017

"MSNBC Editor: Women's March is a Revival of the Progressive Movement," by Anna Manzo (GlobalHealing), Daily Kos, Jan. 24, 2017

"Cornering Trump," by Reginald Johnson, Jan. 19, 2017

"Free Leonard Peltier," by Reginald Johnson, Jan. 6, 2016

"For Natives, a "Day of Mourning"by Reginald Johnson, November 23, 2016

"A Bitter Harvest" by Reginald Johnson, Nov. 15, 2016

Special Programming

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Progressive Resources

A compilation of activist and news sites with a progressive point of view

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Labor Must Put Pressure on Obama to Fight for Nation's Workers

Real Audio MP3/Podcast

Interview with labor and racial justice activist Bill Fletcher Jr., conducted by Scott Harris

labor The state of working America was grim as the nation commemorated Labor Day 2010. Unemployment stands at 9.6 percent, while housing foreclosures remain at record levels. Private sector job creation is moving in a positive direction, but remains weak. Last year's injection of $814 billion of stimulus funds into the economy may have helped prevent a full blown depression, but has not yet produced a recovery. As workers struggle to make ends meet in this bad economy, labor unions continue to lose membership, now down to 12.1 percent of the workforce.

President Obama, speaking at a Labor Day event in Milwaukee, attacked Republicans for policies which he says caused the worst economic decline since the Great Depression, while proposing a new $50 billion jobs bill to rebuild roads, railways and runways. The President is also expected to propose an increase and permanent extension of the research and development tax credit, and permit companies to write-off 100 percent of their new investments in plant and equipment through 2011.

Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with longtime labor and racial justice activist Bill Fletcher, who is the past president of TransAfrica Forum, former vice president for International Trade Union development at the AFL-CIO and founder of the Black Radical Congress. Fletcher talks about the current state of the U.S. labor movement, disappointments in the Obama administration's agenda -- and the dangers and opportunities in this November's congressional mid-term election.

BILL FLETCHER: The problem is that this administration has too often backed away from taking the steps that you need to take because of their absolute fear that they'll be criticized by Fox News and the various other pundits on the political right. And they took some steps that were valuable, that were important, but were just simply insufficient. Now you add onto that the week state of organized labor, and this compounds the problem because instead of there being a large mass out there with millions of people that are pushing this administration, you have a much weakened union movement, and a union movement that is, we try to say in our book Solidarity Divided, is itself much too cautious.

I mean one of the things that, you know, is going to happen Oct. 2, is that there is going to be a massive demonstration for jobs in Washington D.C. This is tremendous. The NAACP and 1199SCIU were the originators of this and other unions have jumped in, and other groups. That's great. The question that I ask is, why weren't we doing this in 2009? Why weren't we doing this in the fall of 2008? And I think that that speaks to some of the structural and ideological problems in organized labor.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Bill, there are many people critical of the Obama administration for its anemic response to the constant barrage of attacks from the right; there seems to be a lack of response in the judgment of many to the constant attack on the working people of this country, the obstacles the GOP has put in front of unemployment insurance packages, as well as their attempt to continue the Bush tax cuts, the massive Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest people in the country. If there ever was a case for class warfare, certainly the GOP since the Reagan era could be accused of it, and the Democrats don't seem to have much of a response. Why not?

BILL FLETCHER: For a few reasons. Some that are very particular to Obama and others that are more general. So at the more general level, part of what we are dealing with is that top leaders in the Democratic party and the top opinionmakers are those who are shaped by certain economic theories that became very important and very prominent in the 1980s and 1990s, specifically something that came to be known as neoliberalism. This whole idea of let the market run wild and that ultimately that will be the producer of wealth. And so what's happened is that the larger corporations, their political and economic advisers, have pushed the Democratic party to the right, contrary to what someone like Glenn Beck would say.

They've pushed them to accommodate themselves to the needs of the major corporations. And this has been to the disservice of working people. Now I think part of what's going on with Obama is what I just laid out, plus some other factors. One is that President Obama, as the first African American president of the United States, is deeply fearful of being portrayed or perceived as the angry black man. And one of the things that we've got to understand -- and this is where race politics becomes very important, and a lot of people don't want to talk about it -- is that there is in the United States a very deep concern among many, many whites about angry black folks. And that when black people get angry, many white people get nervous. And if you have a president who happens to be black, who gets angry, "Oh boy! Let's watch out."

So one of the things that Obama has been doing ever since he was on the campaign trail, has been to be "the mild-mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper," as they used to say in the beginning of Superman, with the idea that he is not going to show great anger, great emotion, he's going to be very calm, and a lot of regular folks don't get this, but I think we have to factor in this issue of race. So, you have a combination of class politics that have influenced the upper echelons of the Democratic Party, and then you have the issue of race.

And the result is that we have an administration that instead of raising the rabble against what FDR, President Roosevelt, called in the 1930's "the economic royalists," you have this attempt by the administration constantly to compromise with people who want to destroy the administration. The issue then is that there needs to be a force, and I've argued time and again that the principle force needs to be organized labor, that is pushing this administration and pushing Congress, and saying that if "you're fearful of the Right, you better watch out because you really should fear us. We're going to be the ones that are going to be pushing you. And we're not going to remain silent in the name of aiding the other side. We're going to be pushing you and forcing you to live up to your promises." You know whatever criticisms we have of President Obama, we do not need to return to power the same idiots that got us into this mess. So we've got to turn out and vote! But then in addition, we've got to keep the pressure on this administration. It means being militant, it means hitting the streets, and frankly it means being a little bit disrespectful.

Bill Fletcher Jr. is co-author of "Solidarity Divided, The Crisis in Organized Labor and A New Path Toward Social Justice." Read his articles at blackcommentator.com, where he serves as a member of the editorial board, or at zcommunications.org