Results tagged “frontline” from Ye Olde Rad Blog III

Frontline launches its new season tonight .. with a feature titled » Obama's War. We're taken to Afghanistan, where we hear a commander begin the segment by saying, "We are experts in the application of violence." Catchy. Got my attention.

Obama's War Was surprised to hear the f-word uttered so many times. Soldiers use the f-word a lot. Even more than sailors do. But then, sailors don't normally get shot at .. which can't be a very pleasant experience.

Glad to know they didn't edit-out the real-life dialogue. That's why I like Frontline .. feel like they give me the straight poop. (Much as possible.)

Great contrast showing the difference between the suit-n-tie crowd discussing policy in an air-conditioned banquet-room in Washington .. with soldiers dodging bullets in Afghanistan's withering heat (.. one of whom got shot thru the neck and died).

If nothing else, this program illustrates the gulf that exists between the Washington policy-makers and the bullet-dodging soldier.

I'm convinced that anybody who is involved in making war policy should be required spend a week (just a week) with the soldiers who are charged with executing policy.

Nothing like a little first-hand experience to inject a dose of reality into the plan. Cuz it's much easier to make policy, while sitting in an air-conditioned room (sipping a dry martini) .. than it is to execute policy .. with bullets whizzing by your head.

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Frontline is my favorite TV show. I like the way they take the viewer inside places we'd normally never be permitted. (Deep inside.) And I like their understated narrator » Will Lyman.

Hank Paulson: Secretary of the Treasury who presided over the economic meltdown of 2008

Yesterday they released a documentary titled » Inside the Meltdown. One of the most hair-raising programs I've seen.

Many smart people (and very highly-paid, too) were so enchanted by the glitter that they apparently failed to notice they were undermining the foundations of our economy. (Or maybe they did notice, but didn't care.)

Sad. Tragic. Disturbing.

Speaks volumes about certain parts of our culture and its priorities .. where profit-n-loss usurp right-n-wrong .. and even common sense gets shoved aside .. when there's money to be made. These people give capitalism a bad name.

It wasn't like nobody saw this coming, or didn't try to stop it. The Chairman of the FDIC, Sheila Bair, was one of those waving a red flag far back as 2001 regarding a potential crisis in the subprime market. (That had to be a frustrating experience.)

If you play the video-excerpt posted on THIS page, you'll hear Sheila say (in her own words):

"For years there were bills in congress to try to address 'predatory lending'. They just couldn't get the political momentum to get anything done. And I think that's because everybody was making money. It's very difficult to get the political will in Washington to move when everybody is making a profit."

On THIS page, we read reports of Bernanke telling members of Congress things like, "After today, we won't even discuss the Great Depression, because this is much worse. Nothing like this has ever happened before."

The new term we learn is » moral hazard (or lack thereof) .. tho I don't see how 'morals' has anything to do with it.

The big day came on Monday September 29, 2008, when the Dow plunged 777 points, its biggest-ever single-day drop .. shortly after the government (suffering from bail-out fatigue) let Lehman Bros fail.

Watch the remarkable hour-long special » HERE. What a picture it paints of how close to the edge we live, and the condition of our (fracturing) economic foundations.

Frontline airs the first of a 2-part special tonight, titled » Bush's War (the war which will define the Bush presidency) .. to mark the 5th anniversary of the Iraq invasion. (Part II airs tomorrow night.)

If you miss it, you can catch this (and other Frontline specials) online. See here » Watch Frontline Online.

Bush's WarFrontline is my favorite TV show. Besides no commercials (PBS), and a decidedly understated approach, they manage to uncover facts you simply can't find anywhere else (based on more than 400 interviews) ...

.. which helps us become better-informed citizens.

I also like the way they present their findings .. as objectively as possible, focusing more on the facts than trying to sway the audience .. allowing us to draw our own conclusions. And I like their narrator, too » Will Lyman.

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