In the Humble Opinion of LittleBill, Socialist, Atheist, and Humanist
America at the Crossroads

America at the Crossroads

HEADS UP Everyone!

Robert MacNeil, formerly of MacNeil Lehrer, will be hosting a VERY IMPORTANT six night series, beginning this Sunday, April 15th on PBS. Entitled America at the Crossroads, it will air every evening for two hours through Friday.

On the west coast, it will show from 9 to 11 each night. (I assume it will also air in the evenings wherever you are.)

Here is the lineup:

  • Sunday, 9 p.m.: "Jihad: The Men and Ideas Behind al Qaeda" provides an in-depth look at radical Islamic groups as well as the ideas and beliefs that inspire them. It focuses on al Queda leaders Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and Abu Musab Zarqawi, who was killed last June.

  • Monday, 9 p.m.: "Warriors" profiles American soldiers -- five men and one woman -- as they serve in Baghdad in 2005, coping with its dangers and difficulties.

  • Monday, 10 p.m.: "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience" is built upon a project created by the National Endowment for the Arts to gather the writing of servicemen and -women who have participated in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. With dramatic readings, it covers a full literary spectrum -- poetry, fiction, memoir, letters, journals and essays -- in expressing the wartime experience.

  • Tuesday, 9 p.m.: "Gangs of Iraq" examines the failure of an extensive and costly four-year training effort by the United States to "stand up" Iraq's new army and police forces and how these coalition-trained forces have been infiltrated by violent sectarian militias. This film was co-produced by "Frontline."

  • Tuesday, 10 p.m.: "The Case for War: In Defense of Freedom" follows former Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Perle as he travels the globe articulating and debating the neoconservative case for the war in Iraq and an assertive American foreign policy.

  • Wednesday, 9 p.m.: "Europe's 9/11" explores homegrown terrorism through the lens of the March 2004 train bombings in Madrid. It draws connections between those bombers and al Qaeda cell activities in Milan, Italy, as well as the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh in the Netherlands in November 2004.

  • Wednesday, 10 p.m.: "The Muslim Americans" chronicles the diversity of Muslims in America while contrasting life for them after September 11 in the United States with the lives of Muslims in Europe. This film was produced in conjunction with "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer."

  • Thursday, 9 p.m.: "Faith Without Fear" joins Irshad Manji (best-selling author of "The Trouble With Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith") on a quest to reconcile her faith in Allah with her love of freedom. One of many people she meets is Osama bin Laden's former bodyguard, who explains why he's willing to turn his young son into a martyr.

  • Thursday, 10 p.m.: "Struggle for the Soul of Islam: Inside Indonesia" travels to a nation where the practice of Islam reflects a centuries-old tradition of tolerance, compassion and inclusiveness. Even so, in recent years Indonesia has become both a target and a breeding ground for Islamic militants -- and the arrival of democracy in 1998 has proved to be a factor in the rise of violence.

  • Friday, 9 p.m.: "Security Versus Liberty: The Other War" tells three stories arising from new government policies after September 11 that, in the name of preventing future terrorist attacks, may have damaged individual liberties.

  • Friday, 10 p.m.: "The Brotherhood" investigates a secretive international movement dedicated to the spread of a fundamental version of Islam throughout the world. This movement may also be offering support and encouragement to terrorists.
The subject, according to my KCET monthly schedule,
. . . is significant because . . . it deals with vital issues in a different way, a sustained focus. . . It is a concentrated look at the origins of Islamist terrorists and why they have made us their target. . .

6 comments:

Vigilante said...

Thanks for this excellent public servicing post, Lil'Bill! I'll set my Tivo for a season pass. Maybe I'll link this post as I circulate through the Internet, too!

As they say, "Good Show!" Pertains to this post, as well!

Anonymous said...

I am lucky enough to recieve the PBS where I live. These serial types of programs demand commitment which I am usually hesitant to do. However, the trailer I saw peaked my curiosity and your magnificent sales job, LittleBill, convinced me that it would be time well spent.

J.C. said...

P.B.S. is total hype and bull. You will come away from all that with nothing. Their sponsors are the multi-nationals. You are fooling yourself, and everyone else if you think this show will be anything other than bullshit. This is the same P.B.S. that gave us Suzy Ormann. A crazed lunatic that trys to empower people with 'money'.
Hello Suckers.

Kentucky Rain said...

PBS usually does a great job of presenting some historical and timely topics Little Bill. Thanks for providing the schedule.

Vigilante said...

Skip has a point. Trophy Wife called me in to watch this so-called 'debate' with the Prince of Darkness. In the 90 gagging seconds I watched this crap, I heard more from this neoconasshole than I could right down in 90 minutes. PBS should be ashamed of itself, not have presented an actual DEBATE between Richard Perle and someone credible like Joe Wilson). It's more than disgusting. (Excuse me, I'm leaving before I tell you how I really feel.)

J.C. said...

Yea, funny Vigilante, right on, your assessment of that programing.
I happened to be tuning around the T.V. and caught a little of the Pearl program you reference. It was even worse than my earlier prediction. Public television is a joke.
Fake alternative.
Controlled by the powers that be.
Made to dumb down and brainwash.