Hurley: I think our reluctance to talk about impeaching Bush comes from a deep fear that we will sound like a lefty public radio show. Maybe we are being lazy in not trying hard to figure out a unique way of discussing this on the air. Maybe we’re being lazy in not offering a solid rationale as to why we don’t want to do this show. I’ll bring it up in our next meeting. Stay tuned.

Emmett O’Connell: You bring up a very interesting trend in our foreign policy, which could be an interesting way to approach a show on Pakistan. I’ll see what the rest of the staff — particularly those who produce the bulk of our Middle East shows — think about this.

For example Terry Gross on NPR asked George Tenet why he did not resign when he felt that the iraq war was driven by political reasons. Tenet responded that he had too much work to do.

Michael Frayn’s interesting play “Democracy” potrays the downfall of Willie Brandt whne a stasi spy became a close personal assoicate. Brand the former Mayor of Berlin during the Berlin Crises and former hero of the German resistance to Nazi ended up resigning not merely because of his politcal mistake by because in his own moral worlview it was the right and moral thing to do.( Contrast Nixon with Brandt)

In Europe politications resign to own up to mistakes they also resign to demonstrate difference in policy. Did not a member of Blair’s cabinet resign.

Did Colin Powell and Tenet betray us by not resigning in the lead up to the Iraq war?

“The question could prompt a constitutional debate over war powers that only the federal courts could resolve.”

Isn’t this a debate that’s about 60 years overdue? I think plenty of citizens have tried challenging presidents (in and out of the courts) but where has Congress been–why hasn’t it asserted itself?

More questions: How did we ever lose something that seems so fundamental to a republic–that is, the idea that it is the branch of government most answerable to the people that should have the solemn responsibility of declaring war? And how did we lose all sense of the gravitas of war such that we’ve allowed our presidents to engage in unchecked “police actions” all over the world for decades? Finally, is this a power that can be wrested back from the executive branch?

One of the major themes of “Open Source” is that of the evolution of the United States from republic to empire. I would suggest that nothing has facilitated this transformation more than allowing Presidents unfettered access to military power.

I know you guys may not believe us when we tell you this, but Chris really doesn’t watch tv. On top of that, is there really, actually enough stuff to to talk about to make an hour of radio *about* Dancing With the Stars interesting? I suspect not. Now if you re-pitch this as a passion for ballroom dancing show, Allison, you may get my attention. The subculture of ballroom dancing, as portrayed in Baz Luhrmann film Strictly Ballroom, seems really strange and fascinating to me.

Thanks for alerting us to this story, Bobo. Pretty intense. It’s interesting, and I’m definitely going to bring it up in the story meeting tomorrow, but honestly, I’m not really sure how to convince Chris and Mary to make this into a show. Is it about the power of mass protest on the web? The downfall of digital copyright? I think this guy has an interesting take re: the negative feedback loop that law suits start.

4/29/07 New York Times Editorial

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/29/opinion/NYmoney.2.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Thanx for your reply!

Specifically, I’d like to talk about the current crisis involving Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the former chief justice who was recently fired. Apparently, protests outside the supreme court include liberal reformers, right wing religious folks and lawyers.

Maybe as a way to move away from the last Pakistan show, talk about the people who we choose to expediently align ourselves with overseas. People like Musharraf and Mubarak may do what we want, but they aren’t exactly saints in the eyes of their people. Are we seeing the danger of this strategy in Pakistan with popular protests against a hard line ruler who happens to be our friend?

http://www.counterpunch.org/lindorff05032007.html

Vijtable: The trick to pitching this one is figuring out how to make a Biko hour fresh today. What about the story resonates in South Africa in 2007?

rahbuhbuh: I don’t know that we’d do a legalization show (been done a lot), but a couple of people in the office have been flirting with the idea of a Passion: Beer show.

Sutter: A very smart critique. You’ll be pleased to know that Greta’s cracking the whip on getting posts up as early as possible. As far as the open source stuff goes, you may well be right that it’s not a perfect metaphor. We do hope that our editorial judgment is part of what makes OS interesting and original. Chris and Mary have been in the radio talk show business for a long time, and their standards for guests and angles are pretty high. So while editorial control will never be perfectly democratic, your pitches and leads are truly informing the way we produce. We’re now airing many more listener-suggested hours than when we first started — both because all of you are getting very good at pitching and because we’re learning how to use your ideas. We hope that the new website (to be developed this summer) will allow listeners to vote for their favorite pitches.

rahbuhbuh: We’ve been hoping since the very birth of OS to work listener-supplied audio into the show. Unfortunately we haven’t had the resources develop the software we need. It’s definitely high up there on our wish list!

rahbuhbuh: We’ve done several shows on the future of newspapers. I think this one was our most recent. It doesn’t focus exactly on what you’re pitching, but I don’t think we’ll revisit the general topic immediately. As far as NPR goes, it did receive a $200M bequeath just a few years ago, so it’s not 100% dependent on listener or corporate support…

TromboneErik: Public campaign financing is something we might think about closer to 2008, but it would take someone with a fresh sermon.