January 7 - Chuck Hagel's Evolution From War Hero to Republican Heretic; Torture Returns With Brennan's Nomination to Head CIA; The Magic Trillion Dollar Platinum Coin

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Part 1	With today’s nomination of Chuck Hagel for Secretary of Defense, we begin with an analysis of Senator Hagel’s evolution from a loyal Republican soldier to a fierce critic of the Vietnam and Iraq wars which he concluded were wars of choice based on lies. John Judis, a senior editor at The New Republic who profiled Chuck Hagel in an article “Look Back in Anger: The Unmooring of Chuck Hagel” joins us to describe the war hero turned heretic whose nomination the neocons and his former Republican colleagues are determined to block.
Part 2	Then we examine the choice of John Brennan to be the next director of the CIA with a former member of the CIA’s Clandestine Services who retired in 2007 as Deputy National Intelligence Officer for transnational threats. Glenn Carle joins us to discuss the role of torture that is reported to have scuttled Brennan’s earlier chances of getting the job and how that issue, which has been revived by the movie “Zero Dark Thirty”, will effect Brennan’s confirmation.
Part 3	Then finally we look into the possibility of minting a platinum coin with a trillion dollar denomination to be deposited in the treasury in the event that the Republicans again hold the debt ceiling hostage and shut down the government. Jon Hilsenrath, the chief economics correspondent for The Wall Street Journal who covers the Federal Reserve, joins us to discuss this gimmick endorsed by Paul Krugman and the possibility it will be used.