Sunday Monitor - (1) Rove. (2) Live from Crawford.

[SophieZ]

It's your world. Understand it!
August 14, 2005: Sunday Monitor

KPFT - Pacifica Radio
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(Show aired Sunday at 6 pm Central)

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<> 6:00 pm CDT -- HEADLINES

<> ~6:20 pm CDT -- GUEST 1 -- MICHAEL SHOOB



Michael Shoob will talk with us about "Bush's Brain," which he co-directed and co-produced. The film, updated since its debut last year, focuses on Karl Rove. Rove has been called everything from Boy Genius to Turd Blossom to the Puppetmaster of George W. Bush.

The film takes a close look at Rove's dirty tricks spanning several decades -- Rove is known for his savage ability to win elections at any cost for his Republican clients, and, for leaving a trail of victims behind, both Democrats and Republicans. The 80-minute film is based on the book of the same name by political reporters James Moore and Wayne Slater. Shoob has also been a Directing Fellow at the American Film Institute.

Shoob told the Lone Star Iconoclast: “I would say that if one thing was of concern to me it’s this idea of winning at any cost. In some sense, I think if Karl Rove is out of bounds and is practicing a kind of politics that shouldn’t be a part of the American system, then in some way, we are responsible for that, that we are tolerating that level of conduct of our elections."

Joe Wilson is among those interviewed in "Bush's Brain."

WEBSITE: Bush's Brain: A Documentary about Karl Rove (available on DVD, $9.95) www.bushsbrain.com

<> ~6:40 pm CDT -- GUESTS 2 and 3 -- TIM GOODRICH and ROCHELLE BRACKMAN re CRAWFORD, TEXAS


PHOTO -- Will Pitt (on left) and Tim Goodrich (on right) in Crawford

We will hear two short sound clips (from Truthout) of Cindy Sheehan and Celesta Zappala from the week-long peace vigil in Crawford, Texas. Then, we speak live with Tim Goodrich, co-founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War, who is in Crawford.

Tim grew up in Buffalo, NY in a family with a long history of military service. He plastered his room with posters of planes and dreamed of becoming an air force pilot, and enlisted in the Air Force at age 18.

From a base in Saudi Arabia beginning in October 2002, he maintained communication and navigation systems on the command and control aircraft patrolling the southern no-fly zone over Iraq. Goodrich told William Rivers Pitt that the bombing of Iraq intensified astronomically just a few months after the Downing Street Minutes, and well before the official beginning of the war. He says Bush was saying "We're going to try diplomacy first," but the war had already started.

He also participated in the war in Afghanistan, where he earned combat veteran status. After four years, he was honorably discharged in April of 2003.

But early in his mission, he decided, "If I was going to fight in this war, I’d better know about it.” Stationed overseas with limited access to media outlets, he began avid internet research. "I knew, even though the administration was talking about ‘weapons of mass destruction’ and ‘imminent threat,’ that after 12 years of sanctions, we had the country boxed in. If they weren’t a threat to my base, how could they possibly hit the US in 45 minutes? I could see this was a deception. ...I did as much research as I could and I came to realize the war was wrong."

“I joined the Army to defend my country,” Goodrich says emphatically. “I don’t feel this is defending my country. I feel it’s quite the opposite because I know that we’re just inflaming the population against us."

Goodrich co-founded Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW), a small but growing group of returnees opposed to the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Their mission is to bring an end to the violence in Iraq by advocating the immediate withdrawal of occupation forces and to provide moral support for soldiers returning home from the war.

“So many people are apathetic because the war doesn’t affect them directly…The troops over there need someone to fight for them… fight to bring them home so that no more people have to die for a lie... only difference between pulling out now and five years from now is the number of dead bodies."

We will also have live in the studio with us Rochelle Brackman, to report on her visit to Crawford earlier this week. She is a native Houstonian, a member of Progressive Action Alliance, and she also volunteers with Global Alliance, Code Pink, and other peace groups.

Also, we report on George W. Bush's activities -- attending a $2 million Republican fundraiser Friday evening, twice driving by Cindy and the peace vigil. He says he will stay the course in refusing to meet with Cindy: "I think it's important for me to be thoughtful and sensitive to those who have got something to say." And then added, "But I think it's also important for me to go on with my life, to keep a balanced life." The comments came prior to a bike ride on the ranch with journalists and aides.


CRAWFORD UPDATES:
Two good places to find frequent updates on happenings in Crawford:

http://www.truthout.org/cindy.shtml
http://www.iconoclast-texas.com

ORGANIZATIONS:
Gold Star Families for Peace .. www.gsfp.org
Military Families Speak Out .. www.mfso.org
Veterans for Peace .. www.veteransforpeace.org
CodePink .. www.codepink4peace.org
Vietnam Veterans Against War .. www.vvaw.org
Iraq Veterans Against the War .. www.ivaw.net

CO-HOSTS: Mark Bebawi and Pokey Anderson

ARCHIVES are at
http://www.kpftx.org/archives/kpftsignal/index.php
Just look for SUNDAY MONITOR and the date of the show.

Last week's show, August 7
-- ANN WRIGHT, former diplomat, live at the protest in Crawford, Texas
-- RAY McGOVERN, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity
-- JOYCE RILEY, former military nurse, on depleted uranium

July 31
--JAMES HALL, automotive expert
--MIKE GERMAN, former FBI counterterrorism expert

July 24
--ANN WRIGHT, former diplomat
--MIKE GERMAN, former FBI counterterrorism expert
--SUSAN PYNCHON, Florida Fair Elections director
--SHANNON YOUNG, updating Oaxaca newspaper standoff.

July 17
-- GREG PALAST on Judith Miller, Karl Rove, and Valerie Plame
-- BETSY LEONDAR-WRIGHT on working with people from diverse class backgrounds

July 10
-- SUSAN KLOPFER, author of "Where Rebels Roost: Mississippi Civil Rights Revisited."
--RAY McGOVERN, co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity