Crooks and Liars

Once again, the best place to go for discussion of current events isn’t the mainstream media.  Democracy Now!’s Amy Goodman allows Naomi Klein to ask former Federal Reserve Chairman about his statement that the occupation in Iraq is all about the oil and those missing billions from Iraq.

 Download (5384) | Play (6716)    Download (2546) | Play (3529)  (h/t Heather)

The full interview is well worth your time and available on the Democracy Now! website.

Monday, September 24th, 2007
Alan Greenspan vs. Naomi Klein on the Iraq War, Bush's Tax Cuts, Economic Populism, Crony Capitalism and More

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In a Democracy Now! exclusive debate, former federal reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and journalist Naomi Klein square off on the Iraq war, oil, President Bush tax cuts, social security, economic populism in Latin America, corruption and crony capitalism. Greenspan headed the central bank in the United States for almost two decades. He has written a new 500-page memoir titled, "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World." At one point in the debate, Klein asks Greenspan, " The policies that you pursued -- deregulation, privatization, free trade -- have contributed to this extraordinary division of income that is really the fuel for this economic populism that you’re now denouncing. Aren't you the one that has caused this crisis of faith in capitalism?" [includes rush transcript]

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As the credit crisis continues to grow and the US dollar hits a new low, we turn today to the former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan. Greenspan headed the central bank in the United States for almost two decades. He was first appointed to this position in 1987 by President Ronald Reagan. Greenspan retired in January 2006 after deciding the fate of national interest rates under four different Presidents. Dubbed "The Maestro," he was widely regarded as one of the world's most influential economic policymakers.

He has just written a new 500-page memoir. It's called "The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World." Alan Greenspan joins us on the telephone. And we are joined in studio by journalist Naomi Klein, author of "The Shock Doctrine."

The Shock Doctrine: Naomi Klein on the Rise of Disaster Capitalism

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Pinochet's coup in Chile. The massacre in Tiananmen Square. The collapse of the Soviet Union. September 11th, 2001. The war on Iraq. The Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina. Award-winning investigative journalist Naomi Klein brings together all of these world-changing events in her new book, "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism." In her first national broadcast interview since the publication of "The Shock Doctrine," Klein joins us in our firehouse studio for the hour. Klein writes, "The history of the contemporary free market was written in shocks." She argues that "Some of the most infamous human rights violations of the past thirty-five years, which have tended to be viewed as sadistic acts carried out by anti-democratic regimes, were in fact either committed with the deliberate intent of terrorizing the public or actively harnessed to prepare the ground for the introduction of radical free-market reforms." [includes rush transcript]

• The Shock Doctrine Short Film, a film by Alfonso Cuarón and Naomi Klein, directed by Jonás Cuarón.
  - Click to watch the entire film

Naomi Klein is an award-winning journalist, the bestselling author of "No Logo" and the co-director of "The Take." Her latest book is called "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism." She joins us in the firehouse studio for the hour.

• Naomi Klein, award-winning journalist, the bestselling author of "No Logo" and the co-director of "The Take." Her latest book is called "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism." More information at NaomiKlein.org

Naomi Wolf blogs

and

Ten Steps To Close Down an Open Society

It is my argument that, beneath our very noses, George Bush and his administration are using time-tested tactics to close down an open society. It is time for us to be willing to think the unthinkable - as the author and political journalist Joe Conason, has put it, that it can happen here. And that we are further along than we realise.

Conason eloquently warned of the danger of American authoritarianism. I am arguing that we need also to look at the lessons of European and other kinds of fascism to understand the potential seriousness of the events we see unfolding in the US.