October 15, 2008

In the beginning, many pundits predicted that race could cost  Senator Obama the election.  Too many people had strong prejudices against African Americans, conventional wisdom went, to elect a black man as president.

But Slate.com reporter Chris Beam says that for various reasons, Obama's race may actually help him in this election.  From the economy to racists' belief in Obama's exceptionalism, Beam says there are plenty of reasons that those who dislike blacks in general will go to the polls in support of Obama-and why this does not necessarily represent a victory over racism.  Chris Beam joined Marc by phone.

And then, we discussed the Winter Soldier hearings that are taking place in Baltimore this weekend.  Veterans of Iraq will be coming to Baltimore to share their stories and discuss why they are now against the war.  We spoke with Trey Kindlinger, an organizer of this event who is a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War, Fort Meade Chapter, and Brian Casler, the NE Regional Director of Iraq Veterans Against the War who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan.  We also heard stunning, horrific testimony from the March 2008 Winter Soldier event in Silver Spring.

Note: Due to a technical error, the first few seconds of the broadcast were not recorded.  Our apologies.