February 12 – The Severe Versus the Sanctimonious Conservative; A Reflection on Permanent War; Thomas Frank’s Pity the Billlionaire

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with a wry report on the conservative conclave C-Pac that just concluded in Washington with a keynote speech last night by Sarah Palin. Alternet’s Washington Bureau Chief Adele Stan joins us, she has an article at Alternet “Occupy Protesters Mic-check Palin During C-Pac Speech”. We discuss the civil war within Republican ranks as Mitt Romney desperately defends his conservative credentials while Rick Santorum assails the party establishment for backing a moderate.

Part 2

Then Mary Dudziak joins us in studio. She is a Professor of Law, History and Political Science at the University of Southern California and the author of a new book, just out “War – Time: An Idea, Its History, Its Consequences”. Since the United States has been engaged in constant armed conflict for over a century and has a permanent war economy, Mary Dudziak’s inventive meditation on war, time and the law, offers a welcome and important insight into our politics of war.

Part 3

Then finally we are joined by Thomas Frank, the author of a new book “Pity the Billionaire: The Hard-Times Swindle and the Unlikely Comeback of the Right” which examines how the worst economy since the 1930’s that crashed under George W. Bush, brought about a revival of
conservatism.