Moyers & Company; Trading Democracy for 'National Security'
Description:
The Boston Marathon Bombings triggered a local and federal response that, according to journalist Glenn Greenwald, adds a new dimension to troubling questions about government secrecy, overreach and what we sacrifice in the name of national security. Greenwald, a former constitutional and civil rights litigator, joins Bill Moyers to peel back layers that reveal what the Boston bombings and drone attacks have in common and how secrecy leads to abuse of government power. Political scholars Norman Ornstein and Thomas Mann tell Bill Moyers that Congress' failure to make progress on gun control — despite support for background checks from 90% of the American public — is symptomatic of a legislative branch reduced to dysfunction. In their book, IT'S EVEN WORSE THAN IT LOOKS: HOW THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM COLLIDED WITH THE NEW POLITICS OF EXTREMISM, they argue that congressional gridlock is mostly the fault of right-wing radicals within the Republican Party in their political war against the president. What's more, Ornstein and Mann say, the mainstream media and media fact-checkers add to the problem by indulging in "false equivalency" — pretending both parties are equally to blame. MOYERS & COMPANY is a weekly series aimed at helping viewers make sense of our tumultuous times through the insight of America's strongest thinkers. The program also features Moyers hallmark essays on democracy.
