My guests again today are J. David Markham, my regular co-host on the much-loved Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast, and his friend of 35 years, a regular guest on this show, Doug LaFollette, the Secretary of State of Wisconsin.
This week I again try to get down to basics – how do we form our political beliefs? Where do our ethics come from? Do we even know?
My guests again today are J. David Markham, my regular co-host on the much-loved Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast, and his friend of 35 years, a regular guest on this show, Doug LaFollette, the Secretary of State of Wisconsin.
This week I try to get down to basics – how do we form our political beliefs? Is government really about ethics? What political ethics do we want our society to strive towards? Are psychopaths screwing up the world? Do they make up a large percentage of the 1%?
My guests today are J. David Markham, my regular co-host on the much-loved Napoleon Bonaparte Podcast, and his friend of 35 years, a regular guest on this show, Doug LaFollette, Secretary of State of Wisconsin. They joined me this morning to discuss the recent US government shutdown and the forces at play behind it. If you, like me, have been trying to understand how something like this could happen in the world’s leading economic power, then I hope this conversation will shed some light on the issue. As David and Doug are both Democrats, I, being an Australian, try to throw in some counter-arguments into the conversation for balance.
BTW, if you’re having trouble getting the show to download in iTunes, please try deleting the feed from iTunes and re-adding it using this link.
Booz Allen Hamilton released a statement on its website Sunday addressing Snowden: “Booz Allen can confirm that Edward Snowden, 29, has been an employee of our firm for less than 3 months, assigned to a team in Hawaii. News reports that this individual has claimed to have leaked classified information are shocking, and if accurate, this action represents a grave violation of the code of conduct and core values of our firm. We will work closely with our clients and authorities in their investigation of this matter.”
(source)
So what exactly do the “core values” of Booz Allen Hamilton say an employee should do when they discover that the US government is secretly spying on its citizens? And is “telling the truth” against their “code of conduct”? I, for one, would like to know more.
Anyone who has watched it knows that The Wire is the most intelligent TV show ever created. It’s also full of memorable characters, delicious dialogue and brilliant performances. David Simon is, in many ways, the new Noam Chomsky. He tells us the truth about our society in a fearless, no bullshit fashion. He is our moral center.
Writer and ex-crime reporter David Simon, who created HBO TV drama The Wire, speaks to John Mulholland about capitalism, Margaret Thatcher and how anti-drug enforcement has evolved into social control. Simon features heavily in Eugene Jarecki’s documentary The House I Live In, which explores the war on drugs in the US.