The Samantha Clemens Show
On the show:
Is Dick Cheney really Barack Obama’s Father? (Okay, maybe I took Star Wars theme a little too far this time 😉 )
Join Samantha Clemens as she welcomes former Republican Party officer Michael Stafford as the two discuss the direction of the GOP in 2011. Can the party be taken back from the extremists? Tune in and find out!
Michael Stafford earned his Juris Doctorate from Duke University School of Law in 2003 and practices law in Wilmington, Delaware. He is a former Republican Party officer and is a nationally syndicated political columnist through Cagle Cartoons. His writing has been featured on numerous blogs including FrumForum, The Moderate Voice, and The Cagle Post. He is also the author of “An Upward Calling: Politics for the common good” published in June, 2011. The book is a call to action for a new politics based on solidarity, civic virtue, and advancing the common good. Mike remains active in politics as the Delaware Coordinator for Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP) and received REP’s Theodore Roosevelt Grassroots Leadership Award for 2011.
Be sure to call in between 10 and 11 AM Eastern: +1 617 237 1234. To leave a message that may be played on the air, call: +1 617 249 4567.
Click here to listen live.
On my show this Saturday, Oct 23rd at 10 am:
Bill Keating (D), candidate for the 10th Congressional District in MA will join us to talk about his values, the issues, and the attacks from the National Republican Congressional Committee ….
Jeff Perry, his Republican opponent has been dogged by a story from 20 years ago that as a police officer, he stood by while a 14 year girl was strip searched by a fellow officer and then covered it up. He’s denied any knowledge of the event. Fast forward… Today, the 14 year old, now in her early thirties, came forward with her statement about what happened that night and her belief that Jeff Perry should “not be in a position of power:”
I cannot stand by silently any longer while what happened to me is discussed in the press. It upsets me that Jeff Perry can run for Congress after what he did to me when I was fourteen years old. Jeff Perry was nearby when Scott Flanagan illegally strip searched me. Perry knew what Flanagan did, he had to hear me screaming and crying. Instead of helping me, Jeff Perry denied anything happened. Even after Scott Flanagan admitted the truth under oath and pled guilty, Perry never apologized for allowing Flanagan to abuse me. Now he has said he would not do anything differently if he had the chance. Perry did not care about protecting teen-aged girls in Wareham from police officer Flanagan. Jeff Perry cared only about protecting police officer Flanagan. Chief Joyce now says Jeff Perry was a good cop. Neither Chief Joyce nor Sgt. Perry were good cops. Chief Joyce refused to investigate when my mother complained about what Flanagan did to me. Like Perry, Chief Joyce protected police officer Flanagan instead of protecting teen-aged girls from police officer Flanagan. Jeff Perry was not an honest police sergeant; he should not be in a position of power.
I cannot stand by silently any longer while what happened to me is discussed in the press. It upsets me that Jeff Perry can run for Congress after what he did to me when I was fourteen years old.
Jeff Perry was nearby when Scott Flanagan illegally strip searched me. Perry knew what Flanagan did, he had to hear me screaming and crying. Instead of helping me, Jeff Perry denied anything happened. Even after Scott Flanagan admitted the truth under oath and pled guilty, Perry never apologized for allowing Flanagan to abuse me. Now he has said he would not do anything differently if he had the chance.
Perry did not care about protecting teen-aged girls in Wareham from police officer Flanagan. Jeff Perry cared only about protecting police officer Flanagan.
Chief Joyce now says Jeff Perry was a good cop. Neither Chief Joyce nor Sgt. Perry were good cops. Chief Joyce refused to investigate when my mother complained about what Flanagan did to me. Like Perry, Chief Joyce protected police officer Flanagan instead of protecting teen-aged girls from police officer Flanagan.
Jeff Perry was not an honest police sergeant; he should not be in a position of power.
Check out the video report from NECN on Boston.com.
Then SUDDENLY, moments later, the National Republican Congressional Committee release a statement, charging Keating with being soft on rape during his tenure as Prosecuting Attorney in Norfolk County.
-AND-
A radio spot radio spot by Scott Brown supporting Jeff Perry and attacking bill Keating is released today . Was it recorded today??
Does plea bargaining in rape cases equate to standing by while a 14 year old girl allegedly is strip searched (i.e. 40-something cop makes her pull up her top and bra, unzip her pants, and shoves his hand down her pants!!)? She claims he could hear her screaming as he was 15 feet away.
Should Lisa Allen have come forward at this late date? Does it seem like the Republican have been ready, waiting for this to come out?
Does this matter to you or does it make you more cynical about politics.
Should we focus instead on taxes, infrastructure, the military, health care……..
We’ll talk about it on Saturday morning @ 10 am.
2010-10-16-samantha-clemens.Mp3
While banking executive compensation and profits are up again, tenants living in foreclosed building are just more collateral damage from the 2010 American Banking Ponzi Scheme… except that some have been and continue to fight back…
Steve Meacham of City Life/Vida Urbana (CLVU) tells us about direct street action to keep people in their homes…
Next action is this Sunday – check out the press release below…
—and—
Jim Bleikamp of Dow Jones Radio has been reporting on financial issues for over a decade. He joins us to talk about the foreclosure crisis… what is the insider point of view, what actions can progressives take that are effective.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: CONTACT: Russ Davis, (617)-413-0713 October 17, 2010 Massachusetts Working Families to “Welcome” American Banking Association to Boston Boston— Massachusetts workers, families, and community allies are preparing to “welcome” the American Bankers Association annual convention in Boston on Sunday. The convention is themed “History Happens Here, Be A Part of It” and Massachusetts working families are determined to make history too by standing up to the very bankers who crashed the economy, cost the country 8 million jobs, and have seized 5 million homes through foreclosure. Participants will demand that banks immediately halt foreclosures in all 50 states and work to keep families in their homes through real mortgage modification, including reduction of principal. This march comes amidst revelations that banks have signed off on nearly 40,000 foreclosures every month without making sure they had a legal right to foreclose on the homes. Meanwhile, Wall Street bankers are expected to pay themselves $144 billion this year. The rally will feature a skit including a large puppet in a top hat, representing the banks, with an assistant. They will knock on large paper mache doors of homeowners, who will refuse to move. The rally is part of a larger campaign to hold banks accountable for the devastation they have caused our communities—similar actions will be taking place at bank branches across the country in the coming weeks. Homeowners can visit www.WheresTheNote.com to demand their mortgage note and protect themselves from being foreclosed on by a bank that cannot prove it owns their loan. WHO: Jobs With Justice, National People’s Action, Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, Alliance to Develop Power, Jobs With Justice, City Life, Pico National Network, Massachusetts Communities Action Network, New England United for Justice, ACCE, SEIU WHAT: Massachusetts working families demanding bankers end foreclosures and provide real solutions to getting our economy moving again WHERE: March: 4:30 pm from Copley Sq. to the Hynes Center Protest: 5-7 pm in front of the Hynes VISUALS: Large top-hat puppet representing the banks, accompanied by pig-nosed assistant, knocking on large paper mache doors of homeowners. Large banners and signs For more information, please visit http://www.massjwj.net/ ###
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: CONTACT: Russ Davis, (617)-413-0713
October 17, 2010
Massachusetts Working Families to “Welcome” American Banking Association to Boston
Boston— Massachusetts workers, families, and community allies are preparing to “welcome” the American Bankers Association annual convention in Boston on Sunday. The convention is themed “History Happens Here, Be A Part of It” and Massachusetts working families are determined to make history too by standing up to the very bankers who crashed the economy, cost the country 8 million jobs, and have seized 5 million homes through foreclosure.
Participants will demand that banks immediately halt foreclosures in all 50 states and work to keep families in their homes through real mortgage modification, including reduction of principal. This march comes amidst revelations that banks have signed off on nearly 40,000 foreclosures every month without making sure they had a legal right to foreclose on the homes. Meanwhile, Wall Street bankers are expected to pay themselves $144 billion this year.
The rally will feature a skit including a large puppet in a top hat, representing the banks, with an assistant. They will knock on large paper mache doors of homeowners, who will refuse to move.
The rally is part of a larger campaign to hold banks accountable for the devastation they have caused our communities—similar actions will be taking place at bank branches across the country in the coming weeks. Homeowners can visit www.WheresTheNote.com to demand their mortgage note and protect themselves from being foreclosed on by a bank that cannot prove it owns their loan.
WHO: Jobs With Justice, National People’s Action, Northwest Federation of Community Organizations, Alliance to Develop Power, Jobs With Justice, City Life, Pico National Network, Massachusetts Communities Action Network, New England United for Justice, ACCE, SEIU
WHAT: Massachusetts working families demanding bankers end foreclosures and provide real solutions to getting our economy moving again
WHERE: March: 4:30 pm from Copley Sq. to the Hynes Center
Protest: 5-7 pm in front of the Hynes
VISUALS:
For more information, please visit http://www.massjwj.net/
###
2010-09-11-samantha-clemens.Mp3
9/11: how does the memory of 9/11 compare to other tragic moments in history? pearl harbor, JFK, Martin Luther King… do any other moments have the same resonance?
Book burning: is burning the Koran the same as cartoons of Mohammed? Why not? Why didn’t we have the same outcry for the cartoons? In fact, there were Facebook groups and movements for people to make more cartoons. What’s the difference?
Democracy in action: Tony Schinella, editor of Politizine.com, moderated the debate between Barney Frank and Rachel Scott. Amazing he agreed to it. Amazing to listen to it. Tony tells us how it went.
Video: Barney Frank debates Rachel Brown
Texas evangelist says ‘100 percent’ that Quran-burning is off Saturday
Press freedom threatened
Abigail Disney, a filmmaker and an heiress to the Disney family, defended the estate tax eloquently: “My grandfather [Roy Disney] would be the first person to tell you that he’d managed to amass his fortune not in spite of, but because of, the American system,’’ she said. “After all, without reliable and safe roads there would be no such thing as Disneyland; without high-functioning legal systems and a well-regulated business environment there would have been no copyright protection for Mickey Mouse.’’
It’s a simple, powerful point: Even if they’re talented and have made every right move, the extremely wealthy do owe something to a system that provides them with countless legal protections and business advantages.
2010-07-31-samantha-clemens.Mp3
Newsflash!!! Libs and cons view immigration differently!!! We libs are certain that for us, it is a moral issue. Not only is it immoral to let people die of thirst in the desert, it is immoral to not provide healthcare, separate families, withhold a better living standard to people who just out of bad luck were born into a poorer country.
But, is it POSSIBLE that conservatives have their own moral view? That it isn’t just naked self-interest?
We’re going to look at some cutting edge research on the science of morality; studies that have been done globally on the moral intuitions of people and how that effects their stances on immigration and a whole lot of other things.
These guys got together to talk all about it…
Jonathan Haidt has a theory, the Moral Foundations Theory, where he proposes that liberals and conservatives view the world differently:
Moral Foundations Theory was created to understand why morality varies so much across cultures yet still shows so many similarities and recurrent themes. In brief, the theory proposes that five innate and universally available psychological systems are the foundations of “intuitive ethics.” Each culture then constructs virtues, narratives, and institutions on top of these foundations, thereby creating the unique moralities we see around the world, and conflicting within nations too. The foundations are: 1) Harm/care, related to our long evolution as mammals with attachment systems and an ability to feel (and dislike) the pain of others. This foundation underlies virtues of kindness, gentleness, and nurturance. 2) Fairness/reciprocity, related to the evolutionary process of reciprocal altruism. This foundation generates ideas of justice, rights, and autonomy. [Note: In our original conception, Fairness included concerns about equality, which are more strongly endorsed by political liberals. However, as we reformulate the theory in 2010 based on new data, we are likely to include several forms of fairness, and to emphasize proportionality, which is more strongly endorsed by conservatives] 3) Ingroup/loyalty, related to our long history as tribal creatures able to form shifting coalitions. This foundation underlies virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for the group. It is active anytime people feel that it’s “one for all, and all for one.” 4) Authority/respect, shaped by our long primate history of hierarchical social interactions. This foundation underlies virtues of leadership and followership, including deference to legitimate authority and respect for traditions. 5) Purity/sanctity, shaped by the psychology of disgust and contamination. This foundation underlies religious notions of striving to live in an elevated, less carnal, more noble way. It underlies the widespread idea that the body is a temple which can be desecrated by immoral activities and contaminants (an idea not unique to religious traditions)
Moral Foundations Theory was created to understand why morality varies so much across cultures yet still shows so many similarities and recurrent themes. In brief, the theory proposes that five innate and universally available psychological systems are the foundations of “intuitive ethics.” Each culture then constructs virtues, narratives, and institutions on top of these foundations, thereby creating the unique moralities we see around the world, and conflicting within nations too. The foundations are:
1) Harm/care, related to our long evolution as mammals with attachment systems and an ability to feel (and dislike) the pain of others. This foundation underlies virtues of kindness, gentleness, and nurturance. 2) Fairness/reciprocity, related to the evolutionary process of reciprocal altruism. This foundation generates ideas of justice, rights, and autonomy. [Note: In our original conception, Fairness included concerns about equality, which are more strongly endorsed by political liberals. However, as we reformulate the theory in 2010 based on new data, we are likely to include several forms of fairness, and to emphasize proportionality, which is more strongly endorsed by conservatives] 3) Ingroup/loyalty, related to our long history as tribal creatures able to form shifting coalitions. This foundation underlies virtues of patriotism and self-sacrifice for the group. It is active anytime people feel that it’s “one for all, and all for one.” 4) Authority/respect, shaped by our long primate history of hierarchical social interactions. This foundation underlies virtues of leadership and followership, including deference to legitimate authority and respect for traditions. 5) Purity/sanctity, shaped by the psychology of disgust and contamination. This foundation underlies religious notions of striving to live in an elevated, less carnal, more noble way. It underlies the widespread idea that the body is a temple which can be desecrated by immoral activities and contaminants (an idea not unique to religious traditions)
Take the morality quiz to see where you fall…
2010-07-24-samantha-clemens.Mp3
Glen Beck is on a crusade; a self-appointed prophet of God, the Founding Fathers, and anyone else he can think of.
According to him, social justice is wicked. Collective salvation is what liberals are trying to get by taking wealth from individuals and spreading to the needy. And atheists are to blame for it all. As reported in the Utah News…
First, though, he asked the audience to visualize a pyramid illustrating his view of how liberals are attacking America’s foundation. Originally, he said, America was built on God at its base and personal charity (as opposed to government welfare) at its center, with government occupying only the pointy, narrow top, doing only the things people couldn’t do for themselves. Now, he argued, the U.S. government has reversed the equation, insinuating itself into all aspects of life while pushing God aside. “There is a perversion of faith right now,” he said, “a wicked, wicked perversion. And it is all about social justice. It is all about collective salvation. It’s actually all about Marxism.” Collective salvation, he said, is a liberal goal meant to force individuals into doing the right thing by taking wealth from them and spreading it to the needy. In his view, he said, salvation only comes when individuals accept God. Utah News, July 18, 2010.
First, though, he asked the audience to visualize a pyramid illustrating his view of how liberals are attacking America’s foundation.
Originally, he said, America was built on God at its base and personal charity (as opposed to government welfare) at its center, with government occupying only the pointy, narrow top, doing only the things people couldn’t do for themselves. Now, he argued, the U.S. government has reversed the equation, insinuating itself into all aspects of life while pushing God aside.
“There is a perversion of faith right now,” he said, “a wicked, wicked perversion. And it is all about social justice. It is all about collective salvation. It’s actually all about Marxism.”
Collective salvation, he said, is a liberal goal meant to force individuals into doing the right thing by taking wealth from them and spreading it to the needy. In his view, he said, salvation only comes when individuals accept God. Utah News, July 18, 2010.
We’re going to get a real live atheist on the show to explain why he wants to destroy America by imposing Marxism and thus thwarting the Founding Fathers, who apparently weren’t deists or atheists… except they were.
Interestingly, even faith organizations are protesting Beck’s characterizations – we’ll look into that as well.
Michael Smerconish: For Me, the Party Is Over.
I think President Obama is earnest, smart, and much more centrist than his tea party caricature suggests. He has never been given a fair chance to succeed by those who openly crow about their desire to see him fail (while somehow congratulating one another on their relative patriotism). I know he was born in America, isn’t a socialist, and doesn’t worship in a mosque. I get that he inherited a minefield. Still, the level of federal spending concerns me. And he never closed the deal with me that health insurance is a right, not a privilege. But I’m not folding the tent on him. Not now. Not with the nation fighting two wars while its economy still teeters on the brink of collapse.
Five European states back burka ban
Do you think people should be legally obligated to show their faces?
More than half of voters in four other major European states back a push by France’s Nicolas Sarkozy to ban women from wearing the burka, according to an opinion poll for the Financial Times.
Cultural divide: women of different faiths in a street in Blackburn, Lancashire