Background Briefing: February 9, 2023
The Far-Right House Republican’s Madcap Hearings Yesterday and Today
We begin with yesterday’s madcap hearing by the new Republican House Oversight Committee focusing on Hunter Biden then today’s even more ludicrous hearing by Jim Jordan’s House Judiciary Committee on the “weaponization of government.” Joining us is Andrew Feinberg, the White House Correspondent for The Independent where his latest articles are “GOP airs grievances at ‘bizarre’ Twitter hearing” and “Trump paid himself almost $1m from donors since leaving White House.”
The Spiking of a Story on The Nation Magazine’s Publisher’s Pro-Putin Bias By the CJR’s Kyle Pope
Then we investigate the spiking of a story on The Nation Magazine’s publisher’s pro-Putin bias by the editor of the Columbia Journalism Review Kyle Pope who is now embroiled in a controversy having published an article by Jeff Gerth that furthered the theory William Barr and John Durham had demonstrably failed to prove. Joining us is the author of the article on The Nation’s Russia coverage that was killed, Duncan Campbell, an investigative journalist, author, consultant and television producer specializing in privacy, civil liberties and surveillance issues. A recognized forensic expert witness on computers and communications data, he has provided specialist testimony in over a hundred criminal and civil cases and has given evidence to the House of Commons and the European Parliament on surveillance legislation. His best-known investigations led to major legal clashes with successive British governments and he is the author of a number of books including Warplan UK, The Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier, On The Record, Interception Capabilities 2000 and his latest The World Under Surveillance.
What Are “Spaces Not Bases” When the US Already has 750 Bases in 80 Countries?
Then finally we look into what the Pentagon means when it says the new deal with the Philippines is “for spaces not bases” when the U.S. already has 750 bases worldwide in 80 countries with 313 in the Asia/Pacific region. Joining us is David Vine, a Professor of Anthropology at American University and the author of Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World, Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia, and, most recently, The United States of War: A Global History of America’s Endless Conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State, now out in paperback. He is a contributor to the blog overseasbases.net and is a member of the Overseas Base Realignment and Closure Coalition where there is a new report, “Why New US Military Bases in the Philippines Are a Bad Idea.”