president

GRITtv: The Most Dangerous Man in America

Continuing with our Oscar theme, we bring you the second part of our conversation with whistleblower, anti-war activist, and documentary film subject Daniel Ellsberg. Since the 1960s, Ellsberg has been fighting to stop war and bring government secrets into the open, and he knows firsthand how much power citizens can wield against the government. Ellsberg is headed to the Oscars himself with the crew of the film, and he sat down with Laura to talk about his experience releasing the Pentagon Papers to the press, what's changed from the 60s and Vietnam -- and what hasn't.

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GRITtv: Should We Do Away With the Senate?

With the election of Scott Brown to Ted Kennedy's former Senate seat, Democrats in DC seemed to give up on getting any major legislation passed. 59 votes (well, 58 and Joe Lieberman) was just not good enough. The blame has been flying -- it's Obama's fault, Rahm Emanuel's, Harry Reid's -- but what if the problem simply is the Senate? What can we change?

GRITtv: Drinking the Obama Kool-Aid with Hendrik Hertzberg

Hendrik Hertzberg of the New Yorker describes himself as being "aboard the Obama express," and his new book collects his essays on the Obama generation and the way the campaign changed politics. A year into the administration, Hertzberg is still hopeful, though like many progressives he offers criticisms of the way the health care reform fight and others have been conducted. "During the campaign," he notes, "we agree to a fantasy" that electing a new president will change everything.

GRITtv: Sarah Palin: Sex, Lies & Book Deals

Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue: An American Life" comes out Tuesday, and she doesn't appear likely to fade from public prominence anytime soon. Pundits and political observers wrote her off after the Republican ticket's loss in 2008 and again after her rather unconventional exist from the Alaska governorship, but Palin remains popular with the Republican base and has demonstrated her ability to drive the discourse, whether it's her Facebook post about "death panels" or jumping into the race in New York's 23rd district.

GRITtv: The Secret Global Empire(s): Russ Baker & John Perkins

U.S. history has seen many presidents elected on a wave of progressive promises, only to see them compromise again and again once in office, caving to the very interests, military and corporate, that they railed against so effectively. Barack Obama is only the latest to get elected on a promise to end a war and take care of working people, only to preside over an administration stacked with Wall Street types and wind up continuing a war he wanted to wind down.