Stephen Zunes
Professor of politics and chair of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco, Zunes recently wrote the piece “The Case Against Kerry.” He said today in assessing Hillary Clinton’s foreign policy: “It is not unusual for a president to want to be his own secretary of state, but rarely has a secretary so badly wanted to be her own president. Unlike most administrations — in which the State Department would sometimes challenge the hawks in the National Security Council — it has been the other way around under Obama, as the NSC was forced to play the moderating voice to the hawkish Secretary of State Clinton and her appointees. Clinton pushed for stronger U.S. support for pro-Western dictators in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Bahrain, as well as the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara. She successfully convinced the initially critical White House to support the right-wing golpistas in Honduras who ousted that country’s democratically-elected government in 2009. She was a major proponent of NATO’s military intervention in Libya’s civil war and has encouraged a more active U.S. role in the Syrian conflict.

“Clinton came to the State Department with a penchant for military solutions to complex political problems and a propensity to exaggerate alleged threats against the United States and its allies. As a senator, she had supported the invasion and occupation of Iraq, attacked the United Nations, opposed restrictions on land mines and cluster bombs, defended war crimes by allied right-wing governments, and largely embraced Bush’s unilateralist agenda. While she moderated her positions somewhat once she became Secretary of State, Clinton was one of the administration’s more hawkish voices.”

Matthew Breen is editor-in-chief of The Advocate. He was previously executive editor of Out magazine. Waaay back in the day he worked for the Sundance Film Festival, was a freelance music and film reviewer, and for a time was a lousy publicist.

Download: The Smart Show: Monday, February 4, 2013 (MP3)

Gosztola just wrote the piece “CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou, Sentenced to 30 Months in Jail, Wears Conviction as ‘Badge of Honor’,” which states: “A former CIA officer, who was the first member of the agency to publicly acknowledge that torture was official U.S. policy under the administration of President George W. Bush, has been sentenced to 30 months in jail. He was convicted in October of last year of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act when he provided the name of an officer involved in the CIA’s Rendition, Detention and Interrogation program to a reporter.

Leah Bolger

President of Veterans for Peace, Bolger said today: “It’s kind of a civil rights issue, certainly anyone who is capable of doing any job should be able to do it. However, I don’t see this as cause for a big celebration. We should be trying to abolish war. The U.S. shouldn’t be sending ANY combat troops to these wars.” Bolger can also talk about cases of sexual assault and harassment in the military.

Gay author Wade Rouse
Multiple award-winning story teller of minority issues

Download: The Smart Show: Monday, January 28, 2013 (MP3)

Download: The Smart Show: Monday, January 14, 2013 (MP3)

Ray McGovern is a veteran CIA analyst looking at Obama’s pick of Brennan as new CIA director. Brennan known for his backing of torture and drone killings. See his interview “Obama’s and Brennan’s “Kill List” and his letter on Brennan, in which he notes:

Nov. 24, 2008 saw the publication of a letter to President-Elect Obama, signed by 200 psychologists, urging him not to select John Brennan to head the CIA because of his open support of “dark-side” policies (Brennan’s, as well as Dick Cheney’s, adjective). Brennan withdrew his name the next day, and The New York Times explained the move as a reaction to ‘concerns he was intimately linked to controversial CIA programs authorized by President Bush.

Download: The Smart Show: Monday, January 7, 2013 (MP3)

Dr. McCombs looks at the “down lo”, philandering politicians, and toxic shame. We’ll encourage callers to anonymously share their stories and ask intimate questions. Also encourage heavy use of Twitter and Facebook as communication on this if telephone is too spooky for some.  This will encourage a greater use of social media which benefits the network at large

Download: The Smart Show: Monday, December 17, 2012 (MP3)

Download: The Smart Show: Monday, December 10, 2012 (MP3)

iTunes: GoHarrison – Monday, December 3, 2012

Download: GoHarrison – Monday, December 3, 2012 (MP3)