November 29 - Blowback From the Republican Demonization of Planned Parenthood; How Much is Erdogan Responsible for Turkey's Problems; Historical Analogies With Today's Rejection of Refugees

Full Program

Part 1

We begin with the attack on the Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado and look into the extent to which politicians like Carly Fiorina are responsible for inciting impressionable people with easy access to military-style firearms by broadcasting emotionally-charged falsehoods about harvesting "baby parts" in order to inflame the evangelical constituency to vote for her in the Republican primaries. Francis Kissling, the president of the Center for Health, Ethics and Social Policy and the former president of Catholics for Choice, joins us to discuss who has blood on their hands following the demonization of Planned Parenthood by Republican politicians who are prepared to shut down the government to punish Planned Parenthood for what they were purported to be doing in a deceptive and manipulated “sting” video produced by anti-abortion zealots.

Part 2

Then we examine a number of political crises in Turkey that are either created by or exacerbated by President Erdogan who has picked a fight with Vladimir Putin, reignited a war with the Kurds that has led to the public assassination of a prominent pro-Kurdish human rights lawyer, and is using the refugee crisis as leverage to get concessions on joining the E.U. and aid from Europe for keeping refugees in Turkey. David Phillips, the Director of the Peace-building and Rights Program at Columbia University and the author of “The Kurdish Spring: A New Map for the Middle East” joins us to discuss how much Turkey’s problems are compounded by its polarizing leader.   

Part 3

Then finally, with Republican presidential candidates pandering to nativism and spewing Islamophobia as the Republican House and most of the country’s governors close the door on refugees from Syria, we speak with Martin Goldsmith, the author of “Alex’s Wake: The Tragic Voyage of the St. Louis to Flee Nazi Germany – and a Grandson’s Journey of Love and Remembrance”, about tragic similarities his story has to today’s callous treatment of refugees fleeing murderous regimes.