As Bat stated in one of the comment threads, Philip Shenon, author of ‘The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation’, was on Fresh Air yesterday. You can listen to the interview here.
Excerpt from Chapter I of the book:
Washington, DC, May 30, 2002
Sandy Berger walked down Pennsylvania Avenue toward the row of massive Corinthian columns that were the most notable architectural feature of the National Archives. The public entrance to the archives was around the corner on Constitution Avenue, and it would normally be jammed with throngs of boisterous tourists on such a bright spring morning, eager to gaze upon the great documents of -American democracy. But on the day of Berger’s first visit, the few out-of-town visitors who did not have special permission to enter the archives were turned away. The building had been closed to the public for months, undergoing a $125 million renovation. The pair of 6.5-ton bronze doors at the public entrance were locked tight. The archives’ most precious documents-the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights-had been removed from their display cases in July 2001 and placed in storage at a secret location as part of the renovation. After the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the archives was in no hurry to return them to public view, since the building was considered a potential target if al-Qaeda carried out a second wave of attacks. The new goldplated titanium display cases being built for the documents would seal the Declaration, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights in argon gas beneath layers of bulletproof, bombproof glass, protecting them from anything that Osama bin Laden’s terrorist followers might have in mind.
It was May 30, 2002, eight months after the terrorist attacks, and Berger walked unnoticed into a separate entrance on Pennsylvania Avenue that was used by the archives staff, who had continued to work in the building during the renovations. Berger had special permission to visit the archives that day, although he was hardly pleased to be there. The archives employees who encountered Berger that morning would remember that he made little effort to hide his annoyance with the assignment he had been given there by his old friend and boss Bill Clinton.
“O.J.” is back in the news! Yea! (not!) Update on the Petraeus report, “Look What I’ve Done” by George W. Bush. Music from Bonnie Raitt, The Traveling Wilburys and B.J. Thomas
“The Problem with A War Strategy”, Bush “resells” his speech, fimmaker Charles Ferguson with a rebuttal to an op/ed piece by L. Paul Bremer. Music from George Strait, The Bee Gees and Pink Floyd.
Special Feature - “Empire By Proxy: American Imperial Rule By Death Squad”, a look at the U.S. Labor Force, music by Sara Evans, The Beatles and Glenn Frey
from Military.com: “Families are cracking under the pressure of war”, the war of words between Chris Wallace and Bill Moyers, music from Paul Revere and The Raiders, Asleep at the Wheel and Taj Mahal.
First of all, thank you all so much for your support of “Blue Herald Radio” and Blue Herald’s “Week In Review“. Both shows/podcasts will be on hiatus until September 10th, when “Blue Herald Radio” will return. “Week In Review” will begin again on Saturday September 15th.
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News of the White House wanting yet more time to respond to subpoenas, “20/20″ investigates “Dateline”, The Clergy Response Team (be very afraid) and Vietnam Veteran Richard Hoffman describes what it’s like living with PTSD. Music from The Black Crowes, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson and Gary Allan.
Bill Moyers’ comments on Karl Rove leaving the White House, Part One of Two parts…David Gregory talks with Karl Rove, A “General Strike” is set for September 11, 2007 in the U.S. Music from Keith Urban, The Spirit Theory and Duke Ellington
Giuliani is a “liar, liar, pants on fire”, Mississippi election argument, Part Two of David Gregory’s interview with Karl Rove and a report on “Artificial Life”. Music from Stevie Ray Vaughan, Alice Cooper and Otis Rush.
Two hours after American forces launched their “shock and awe” assault against Baghdad in March, Mike Malloy went on the air from a concrete office building outside Atlanta for his weekday syndicated talk show. “I don’t know if you saw it, but I did,” he said near the outset, his voice uncommonly subdued. “This is the United States attacking a truly defenseless Third World country.”
For the next five minutes and 19 seconds, Malloy wordlessly broadcast the noise of missiles shrieking, bombs exploding, antiaircraft fire rattling. He had taped the audio straight from CNN, but on radio the war was shorn of television’s video game visuals, its safe distance from danger. This soundtrack thrust Malloy’s listeners into a nocturnal Baghdad, reeling from concussions.
When the battle tape ended, Malloy switched to a sound bite of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at a press conference lauding the “careful, measured beginning” of the war. Then Malloy returned to the air, saying, “This is a dark day, this is a filthy day, this is a day for shame.” And finally, heading into a commercial break, he wove together more combat racket with a madrigal-like song by Pink Floyd, “Goodbye, Blue Sky.”
For nearly 20 years, Mike Malloy has been making talk radio like this: caustic, abrasive, inventive, confrontational and resolutely left of center. It has won him admirers and awards, and it has cost him jobs. At a time when the very genre of talk radio is widely seen as synonymous with strident conservatism, his career both ratifies and belies that premise.
Malloy has hosted shows on major stations in major markets — WSB in Atlanta and WLS in Chicago — defying the conventional wisdom that liberal talk radio barely exists. Yet the fact that Malloy, at age 60 a proven success with a numerous honors and much critical praise, now reaches only a handful of affiliates on a network run by a labor union attests to the structural obstacles liberal talk radio faces. The vast majority of his listeners hear him not on the radio at all, but from his own Web site , which streams live audio of his daily show and also links to an archive of recent broadcasts. The site attracts “tens of thousands” of listeners each day, Malloy estimates.
I just want to say a few words about Blue Herald Radio here. Jim Swanson is a true professional, and we are so very blessed to have had him choose Blue Herald to post his radio podcasts. Since it’s inception, he’s interviewed Matt Rothschild, Editor of “The Progressive” Magazine, Shawn Chang, Deputy Policy Director with FreePress.net, Matt Kelley from “The Innocence Project”. Larry Synclair, whose son, Larry Jr., was abducted by Larry’s ex-wife and taken to Russia illegally, comedienne Judy Croon, Craig Aaron from FreePress.net, Teresa Stack, President of “The Nation” magazine, Dr. Dewey Caron regarding the disappearance of the honey bees, and actor and author Kim Strauss. They are all great interviews and if you haven’t listened to them, you sure should.
If you have a blog, you can run Blue Herald Radio on your blog so people can listen as they read and comment with you. Just go here to get the code to put the button on your blog so people can listen at your place, too. Easy as 1,2,3. If you have any trouble with it, just email us and we’d be happy to help you set it up.
Tell your friends about Blue Herald Radio. It’s something we’re very very proud of. It’s great to listen to as your cruising the information highway! Give Jim a call anytime at all and leave him a message. Let him know what you think about anything you feel passionate about. Politics, music, current affairs……whatever. Show him some love!
Interview with Shawn Chang, Deputy Policy Director with FreePress.net, talking with Jim about the recent Rupert Murdoch acquisition of The Wall Street Journal. Music from The Rolling Stones, Gary Allan and Roy Buchanan.
Part One of a two part interview with Matt Kelley from “The Innocence Project” regarding their work at exonerating innocent men and women falsely imprisoned. Music from Jimi Hendrix, Alanis Morrisette and Peter Frampton.
Update on The Minneapolis bridge collapse, the GOP debate, The Goldman Family wins the rights to “If I Did It” and “ID-SPAN”. Music from Tina Turner, Montgomery Gentry and Freddy King.
Michael Moore on “Hardball”, Michael reveals on “The Tonight Show” that he’s received a subpoena from the Bush Administration regarding his trip to Cuba for “Sicko” and music from T-Bone Walker and The Spinners
Hour One features plenty of News, politics & discussion. Features on the contaminated FEMA trailers, tainted imported foods and portions of Katie Couric’s interview with Michael Chertoff. Music from Jethro Tull, Jimmy Reed and LeAnn Rimes.
In Hour Three, we gleefully relive Keith Olbermann’s “special comment from last week, telling Bush to hit the sand and fight his war himself. Plus, fun with audio during the “Senate Sleepover” last week.
Music from Booker T. and The MGs, Spencer Davis Group and Coco Montoya.
SoundExchange, a group responsible for collecting music broadcasting royalties, on Friday confirmed it has proposed new terms for internet radio that could lower fees for some webcasters.
While limited in scope, Thursday’s proposal offers a partial reprieve for smaller sites facing the axe Sunday when a payment scheme approved by the Copyright Royalty Board, or CRB, is set to take effect. Webcasters have said the fees would effectively force many services that personalize individual channels for listeners to close shop by the end of the weekend.
Under the new proposal, which must be implemented by the CRB, SoundExchange would cap the $500 monthly per-channel minimum fee at $50,000 per year for webcasters. In exchange, webcasters would be required to provide more detailed data on the music that they play and make an effort to stop unauthorized copying from streamrippers — software that can turn ephemeral net radio streams into permanent recordings.
In addition to the minimum caps proposal, Webcasters were given assurances that negotiations would continue to work out breathing room for small and non-commercial broadcasters.
Part Two of the interview with Judy Croon, discussing her work on radio with Mike Bullard and her great charity called “Laugh Lines.” Visit the “Laugh Lines” link to find out more HERE.
Jim speaks with Teresa Stack, President of “The Nation” magazine about the July 15th Postal rate increase that may put a HUGE strain on smaller publications (such as “The Nation” and “Mother Jones“) to the tune of an additional ONE HALF MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR in postage. Again, Craig Aaron from FreePress.net joins in the conversation.
For the next five minutes and 19 seconds, Malloy wordlessly broadcast the noise of missiles shrieking, bombs exploding, antiaircraft fire rattling. He had taped the audio straight from CNN, but on radio the war was shorn of television’s video game visuals, its safe distance from danger. This soundtrack thrust Malloy’s listeners into a nocturnal Baghdad, reeling from concussions.
