Podcast #128

Filmmaker Laura Poitras and Prof. Roberto Rodriguez on apartheid in Arizona. Poitras is producer/director/cinematographer of new documentary The Oath which adds new information to the case of Salim Hamdan (bin Laden's driver) who spent 5.5 years at Guantanamo and tried in a military tribunal; he is now free in Yemen. The film also profiles Abu Jandal, who recruited Hamdan into al Qaeda. It opens in early May in NY, watch for it this summer. Rodriguez wrote a commentary for Common Dreams which adds context to Arizona Gov. Brewer's signing of SB 1070, the draconian law that allows police to stop anyone they suspect of being an illegal resident. We talk about how McCain unleashed the Tea Party virus that is now threatening his re-election. Rodriguez supports boycotts, and political theater--like citizens going to police stations to ask to have their documents inspected. The second portion begins at 22:55