U.S. Interventionism: In Search of a Coherent Foreign Policy — Podcast April 13, 2015

Posted on April 17, 2015 by William Timberman


Does Military Intervention in Other Countries Really Advance U.S. Interests? Democratic Perspective’s Mike Cosentino, Gary LaMaster and Steve Williamson  discuss the long list of American military interventions in the affairs of other countries, and the consequences to date. The balance sheet is far from positive, yet critics of our foreign policy have yet to make much headway against an entrenched foreign policy establishment which insists in the face of consistent failure that force and the threat of force are the key to favorable outcomes in foreign affairs.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Posted in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, International Relations, International Terrorism, Iran, Islamic Republic, Middle East, Middle East Policy, Military Policy, Palestinian/Israeli Conflict, Podcasts, U.S. Armed Forces | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on U.S. Interventionism: In Search of a Coherent Foreign Policy — Podcast April 13, 2015

The Iran Nuclear Framework Deal: Yet Another Historic Achievement to Bedevil the Right — Podcast April 6, 2015

Posted on April 9, 2015 by William Timberman


Binyamin Netanyahu and the Republicans Hate It: Will the Historic Nuclear Framework Agreement with Iran Survive the Meddling of Congressional Warmongers? Democratic Perspective’s Mike Cosentino, Gary LaMaster and Steve Williamson  discuss the framework plan agreed upon between Iran and the Six Powers for the final stages of negotiations toward a comprehensive treaty on Iran’s nuclear program. What are the elements of the framework, and why are they opposed by the Israeli government and by Congressional hawks? If they succeed in blocking the deal, are there any other alternatives short of war?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Posted in Disinformation, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, International Terrorism, Iran, Islamic Republic, Media Campaigns, Middle East, Middle East Policy, Military Policy, Nuclear Weapons, Palestinian/Israeli Conflict, Podcasts | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Iran Nuclear Framework Deal: Yet Another Historic Achievement to Bedevil the Right — Podcast April 6, 2015

The Arizona Legislative Lunacy Report: Spring 2015 Edition — Podcast April 30, 2015

Posted on April 1, 2015 by William Timberman


The March of Ideology and Incompetence Continues in Phoenix: Democratic Perspective’s Mike Cosentino and Gary LaMaster take a detailed look at the Arizona Republic’s recently published docket of bills pending in the Legislature. Listen as our intrepid analysts subject the moderately acceptable, the irredeemably awful, and the crazy ugly to the test of common sense.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Posted in Anti-Federalism, Arizona Budget, Arizona Economy, Arizona Politics, Budget Negotiations, Campaign Finance, Child Protection, Citizens United, Constitutional Issues, Corporate Welfare, Corruption, Dark Money, Education, Education Policy, Elections, Federal Lands, Firearms Legislation, Fiscal Policy, Gun Control, Immigration, Industrial Policy, Nullification, Podcasts, Political Contributions, Public Education, Regulatory Agencies, Special Interest Legislation | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Arizona Legislative Lunacy Report: Spring 2015 Edition — Podcast April 30, 2015

Peg Bowden Interview — Podcast March 23, 2015

Posted on March 26, 2015 by William Timberman


The Quality of Our Mercy: Peg Bowden Speaks from Experience on the Militarization of the U.S.-Mexican Border. Democratic Perspective’s Mike Cosentino, Gary LaMaster, and Steve Williamson talk to Peg Bowden about the experiences that impelled her to write her 2014 book, A Land of Hard Edges. Why do we treat impoverished refugees from Central America and Mexico as criminals? Why is it a felony to aid people in distress in the Sonoran desert which spans the border? Why are tourists who take pictures on the border detained, and their cameras confiscated by ICE in the same way that the East German Volkspolizei once did in Europe? The ugly politics of immigration, and its human costs, as seen by someone who lives in the midst of our current madness on the border.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Posted in Arizona Law Enforcement, Arizona Politics, Bigotry, Child Protection, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security, Immigration, Law Enforcement, Legal Issues, Podcasts, Racism | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Peg Bowden Interview — Podcast March 23, 2015

The Confederate State of Arizona — Podcast March 16, 2015

Posted on March 19, 2015 by William Timberman


The Payback for Dark Money in Arizona: More Corporate Tax Cuts, Continued Defunding of Public Education, and Yahoo! a Secessionist Republican Legislature. Gary LaMaster and Steve Williamson dissect the results of the 2014 election in Arizona: a seemingly endless stream of bills from both houses of the legislature which would reduce the state’s tax base, impoverish its universities and community colleges, and assert for Arizona the right to ignore the U.S. Constitution in theory, if not in practice. This tawdry little drama, starring Doug Ducey as Jefferson Davis, and Bob Thorpe as John C. Calhoun, is apparently destined, in the absence of U.S. Supreme Court intervention, for a long run on the capitol stage in Phoenix. As someone who shall  remain forever nameless* once remarked, history does indeed repeat itself; the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.

*Karl Marx in Der 18te Brumaire des Louis Napoleon, 1852

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Posted in Arizona Budget, Arizona Economy, Arizona Politics, Budget Negotiations, Conservatives and Reactionaries, Constitutional Issues, Dark Money, Education, Education Policy, Housekeeping, Jobs and Employment, Podcasts, Political Contributions, Privatization, Public Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Confederate State of Arizona — Podcast March 16, 2015

David R. Frazer Interview — Podcast March 9, 2015

Posted on March 14, 2015 by William Timberman


Ethical Meltdown: a Question of Values? Democratic Perspective’s Mike Cosentino and Steve Williamson welcome David Frazer, respected Arizona attorney and author of Ethical Meltdown: the Need to Recover Our Vanishing Values, for a discussion about the current decay of legal and professional ethics in the United States, and the threat it poses to a society which claims to value justice, fairness, and democratic government.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Posted in Arizona Law Enforcement, Arizona Politics, Corruption, Ethics, Interviews, Justice System, Law Enforcement, Legal Issues, Morality, Podcasts, Regulatory Agencies | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on David R. Frazer Interview — Podcast March 9, 2015

Terry Goddard Interview — Podcast March 2, 2015

Posted on March 6, 2015 by William Timberman


Dark Money: How Industrialized Lying Poisons the Well of Democracy. Democratic Perspective’s Mike Cosentino and Gary LaMaster welcome Terry Goddard, former Mayor of Phoenix, Attorney General of Arizona, and twice Democratic Party candidate for Governor, to another in our series of discussions on the malign influence of wealth on American political processes and governance.

Someone once said that you can be pretty sure that a country which calls itself The Independent Democratic People’s Republic of X is neither independent, democratic, nor do its people actually have anything to do with governing it. Likewise, when you see a political ad supposedly sponsored by Citizens for Mom, Apple Pie, and the Flag, you can be pretty sure that its sponsor is a) NOT a grassroots political organization, and b) that its agenda has less to do with motherhood, family values, or patriotism than it does with a corporate economic interest that is in fact inimical to all of them.

Listen in for fascinating insights from a career politician on why and how it’s come to this, and what we, as actual citizens, can do about it.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Posted in Arizona Politics, Citizens United, Constitutional Issues, Corruption, Dark Money, Democratic Governance, Elections, Government, Interviews, Media Campaigns, National Politics, Podcasts, Political Action Committees, Political Contributions, Propaganda, Special Interest Legislation, Supreme Court | Tagged | Comments Off on Terry Goddard Interview — Podcast March 2, 2015

Sam Pillsbury and Paula Woolsey Interview — Podcast February 23, 2015

Posted on February 25, 2015 by William Timberman


Arizona Wine Country: Vision, Passion, and a Lot of Hard Work. Democratic Perspective’s Mike Cosentino and Steve Williamson welcome Sam Pillsbury, filmmaker and winemaker extraordinaire, owner of Pillsbury Wine Company, and Paula Woolsey, long time Arizona wine advocate, and owner of Revelation Wines, for a discussion of the developing Arizona wine industry. Believe it or not, what just a few years ago was dismissed by many as an impossible dream is now a proven reality, and the Verde Valley, like other Arizona regions, is an understandably grateful beneficiary of its success.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Posted in Arizona Economy, Civic Renewal, Entrepreneurship, Housekeeping, Interviews, Oenology, Podcasts, Small Business, Viticulture | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Sam Pillsbury and Paula Woolsey Interview — Podcast February 23, 2015

Wendy Harford and Bob Rothrock Interview — Podcast February 16, 2015

Posted on February 20, 2015 by William Timberman


The Verde River: Why Does It Need Saving, And Why Should We Try To Save It? Democratic Perspective welcomes Wendy Harford, Executive Director, and Bob Rothrock, Board Member, of the Verde River Valley Nature Organization for a discussion of the Verde River — its beauty, its value as a natural resource, and its vulnerability to the pressures of economic development in the Prescott and Chino Valleys. As Henry David Thoreau once said, in Wildness is the preservation of the world. Wendy and Bob remind us that this is as true today as it was when Thoreau first said it, and that we all have a responsibility to live by its implications.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Posted in Agribusiness, Agricultural Policy, Environment, Environmental Issues, Environmentalism, Interviews, Podcasts, Public Lands, Sustainable Development, Water Policy | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Wendy Harford and Bob Rothrock Interview — Podcast February 16, 2015

Michael Austin Interview — Podcast February 9, 2015

Posted on February 11, 2015 by William Timberman


Ancient Wisdom: Lessons in Compassion From the Book of Job. Professor Michael Austin, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas, talks with Mike Cosentino, Gary LaMaster, and Steve Williamson about his most recent book, Re-reading Job: Understanding the Ancient World’s Greatest Poem. Why are concepts such as the wages of sin irrelevant to a true understanding of guilt, redemption, and compassion? Professor Austin explains why morality and human suffering are not the opposing halves of some divine accounting identity, and why Job’s friends should not have concerned themselves so much with discovering his sins as with sharing his pain. What the Book of Job tell us is that God’s purposes are not ours, and that, as often as not, those who claim to understand those purposes have mistaken their own self-righteousness for divine revelation.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Posted in Ethics, Exegesis, Homiletics, Interviews, Morality, Podcasts, Religion, Theodicy | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on Michael Austin Interview — Podcast February 9, 2015