Between The Lines - Frederick Clarkson on shooting rampage on meet-and-greet with Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (Week Ending 1/21/11)

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.

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In Wake of Tucson Shooting Rampage, Nation's Leaders Must Confront Political Hate and Violence

Posted Jan. 13, 2011

Real Audio MP3

Interview with Frederick Clarkson, journalist and author, conducted by Scott Harris

massacre The shooting rampage by Jared Lee Loughner in Tuscon, Ariz. on Jan. 8, which left six people dead and critically wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and 13 others, has sparked a national debate on the possible connection between toxic political rhetoric and violence. The attack, which claimed the lives of a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl, shocked the conscience of the country.

The assassination attempt targeting Giffords, by the apparently mentally unbalanced 22-year-old Loughner, may or may not have been directly related to the increasingly bellicose rhetoric of conservative politicians and activist groups like the tea party movement and other self-described "patriot" groups. But the senseless violence in Tucson has caused some to speculate on the effect of extreme right-wing media commentators and politicians who label their political opponents as "traitors," "communists," and "America haters," and use gun metaphors.

Since the election of Barack Obama, the United States' first African-American president, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, other right-wing organizations have experienced an increase in membership. In April 2009, a government report warned about the rise of extremist groups on the right and their recruitment of U.S. war veterans. Conservative politicians and radio talk show hosts quickly condemned the report, causing Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to make a public apology. Between The Lines' Scott Harris spoke with journalist and author Frederick Clarkson who has written about the religious right and tracked political hate groups for two decades. He looks at the toxic political climate in the U.S. which he believes has contributed to the increasing danger of domestic terrorism not seen since the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995.

FREDERICK CLARKSON: This has got to be a wakeup-call. This is the canary dying in the coal mine of American democracy. We have to be aware that this is not a matter of strictly speaking of right and left, although the violent ideology, rhetoric and actions come overwhelmingly from the right. This is a wake-up call about where we are in this society right now. And we have to look at it through that lens. If there are helpless people out there who are finding political ideas whose expression leads to walking up to a member of Congress at a supermarket and shooting them in the head, we have a problem.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Fred, what have you observed since the 2008 presidential election in terms of a escalation of the caustic and toxic rhetoric that seems to be ever more politically acceptable in mainstream circles and in our news media? What have you noticed about that?

FREDERICK CLARKSON: Well, I've probably noticed something a little different than what most people notice. Most of what we hear is that there's an escalation in the rhetoric and the violent suggestions, whether it's the sniper-scope targets on Sarah Palin's website aimed at congressional Democratic districts, or the racial edge, to a lot of commentary, the birther-ism and all that stuff. All that stuff is true; that's part of the context. I'm not sure it's any different, but I'm not sure it's any worse than what we saw in the '90s under Bill Clinton, although with a black president, obviously it's different. What strikes me most about it is two things: one is the ineptitude of the response for most of the rest of America -- journalists, progressive political activists, Democratic political leaders, you name it. We're not very good at figuring how to respond to this stuff and we're bullied into silence. The other thing that we are is too accepting of false framing, in the sense of false equivalence.

Democratic political leaders and pundits will go on television and say, "You know, there are extremists on both sides." As if that was the end of the story. It's a thought-stopper, it's a conversation-stopper. It doesn't allow us to actually talk seriously about what's going on, because the inciting to violence kind of rhetoric that we hear on talk radio and elsewhere is not just about the words, it's about the ideas behind them. And there are people who take those ideas seriously. They really believe that the American government is becoming tyrannical and they really believe that the feds are going to come and take their guns. And they really believe that Jewish bankers are running everything. And those ideas are virulent and a threat to democracy. And unless you can get past this idea of the false equivalence, we can't even begin to have the conversation about them.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Frederick, as you gauge the danger from the belief system that's sort of exhibited for us in the thetoric, what do you think the response should be? What do you think we need to do as a people to confront an ideology which describes their own government as the enemy?

FREDERICK CLARKSON: Well, one thing we need to ask our political leaders to recognize that the problem is different than what they're describing -- and, as well as our news media. Say, "Look this is not just a matter of violent rhetoric v. civility. It's not just a matter of words. And we have to ask ourselves and the people who we relate to and the people who we look to political leadership to treat it differently. We have active, ideological, pro-violent movements in the United States. Many of them overlap. We've talked on your show many times about anti-abortion violence, for example. People who are proponents of that are still out there, they're still organizing for it, and they'll find more people who are willing to take that kind of violent action. And, these things are not one-day news stories. They're the story of our time.

BETWEEN THE LINES: What role do you think the president should play in all this, given that this has happened on his watch just as the Oklahoma City bombing happened on Bill Clinton's watch -- and he did confront it vigorously, attacking the toxic rhetoric that he believed, and many others believed, fomented the rise of the militia movements that were part and parcel of that attack on the federal building in Oklahoma City.

FREDERICK CLARKSON: Well, he did, and I might add that the first significant inter-agency task force was to investigate anti-abortion violence -- it happened under his watch, and that of Janet Reno and the attorney general as well. I think we need to call on the president to be more vigorous in saying that his standards of civility need to be upheld. And the way that you do it is to call out those who are being uncivil. It's not civil to ignore threats and violence. It's a betrayal of civility. And, when the president and the people who think like him -- and a good many people inside the Beltway do -- will say, "Well, there are extremists on both sides," they need to be called out on that, saying that that is a lie, at least in the sense that they mean it. There is no overt violence and threats of violence, and ideologies of violence coming out of the liberal left and certainly not out of any element of the Democratic party that I'm aware of. If there are some exceptions, I'll believe that.

But, let's see the evidence. Let's see the facts. Let's see the crimes. Show us the people and the organizations that you claim are out there. And if you can't show us the facts, then you need to apologize for your failure of leadership. And I would say that to President Obama.

Frederick Clarkson is editor of the book, "Dispatches from the Religious Left: The Future of Faith and Politics in America." Read his articles online at Talk2Action.org