May 31 - Impasse in the Senate as the Patriot Act Sunsets; The Latest Scandal Involving a Closeted Gay Republican Politician; A War Between Israel and Hezbollah This Summer?

Full Program

Part 1

We be begin with the unusual Sunday session of the U.S. Senate ahead of a midnight deadline when three provisions in the USA Patriot Act expire and speak with constitutional lawyer and former Associate Deputy Attorney General, Bruce Fein. He is the author of “American Empire: Before the Fall” and we discuss the impasse in the Senate with Majority Leader McConnell unable to round up enough votes while Senator Rand Paul threatens to filibuster any bill that restores the NSA’s bulk collection of metadata, the “lone wolf” provision and the roving wiretap provision that will likely expire at midnight.

Part 2

Then we speak with Mike Rogers, a gay political activist, blogger, and the Vice Chairman of Raw Story Inc. He is a leading subject of the 2009 film “Outrage” which is about outing closeted politicians who vote against gay rights and we discuss the “past misconduct” of former Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert that is alluded to in an indictment which charges Hastert with illegally “structuring” bank withdrawals totaling $1.7 million to an unnamed person referred to as “Individual A” who Hastert had agreed to pay $3.5 million in hush money. We also look into the lucrative lobbying business Hastert has been involved in that would allow him to lavish millions on Individual A to cover up a prior sexual encounter.  

Part 3

Then finally we examine the possibility that there will be a war between Israel and Hezbollah this summer that will likely deal a death blow to President Obama’s opening with Iran that so far the powerful lobby AIPAC, Prime Minister Netanyahu, and his Republican supporters have been unable to stop. Dr. Trita Parsi, the co-founder and president of the National Iranian American Council and author of “A Single Roll of the Dice: Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran”, joins us to discuss the possibility of war and his article with Paul Pillar in The Huffington Post, “The Iran Talk’s Game Changer: An Israeli-Hezbollah War”.