A message from Chris Owens:

This weekend:

With our regular and urgent report on voter protection: Benjamin Todd Jealous, NAACP President & CEO, on the NAACP’s legal ground work to protect votes before and after the election.

** If you have problems voting call 866-OUR-VOTE and a legal expert will be there to take your call, answer questions and if necessary, come down to your voting station. **

And Ludovic Blain, Project Director, StopDogWhistleRacism.com, based in Oakland, California, joins me to explain how campaigns have often been shaped by the “dog whistle” tactics that seek to divide and spread fear. StopDogWhistleRacism.com is a non-partisan research project of the Center for Social Inclusion, which seeks to examine the ways that race figured implicitly in the 2008 campaigns, ballot initiatives and policy debates.

That’s this weekend on Black Politics.

Tonight, from Ron Reagan:

Rachel Maddow on her BIG get: Obama!

Plus Sonja Eddings Brown, Rev. Susan Russell, Chris Carlson, on some of the more controversial ballot proposals:

- Prop 8 California Constitutional Amendment to eliminate same-sex couples from marriage.

- Prop 1000 in Washington State "Right to Die"

Plus, linguist George Lakoff & filmmaker Eugene Jarecki later in the show on framing talk about war and politics.

And your calls.

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

On today's show:

- First, the breaking news: Sen. Ted Stevens found guilty in corruption case

- And later, your money:
o on the bailout – what happens if the banks just pocket the money?
o what might a "global recession" mean for you and me?
o How to define socialism?

"Alaskan senator Ted Stevens was found guilty today of lying about free home renovations and other gifts he received from a wealthy oil contractor. The Senate's longest-serving Republican was convicted on all seven counts of making false statements on Senate financial documents." Seth Colter Walls, reporter for the Huffington Post has the latest on this breaking news

And, we'll take a look at the economy with Robert Reich. What will a "global recession" mean for you and me? And on the bailout – what keeps the banks from just pocketing the bailout money? Reich is Professor of Public Policy at the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He served in three national administrations, most recently as secretary of labor under President Bill Clinton. And his latest book, "Supercapitalism "(2007) is now out on paperback.

Plus, your calls.

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

Ron Reagan:

Tonight on the show, on the heels of the Powell announcement, we discuss the appeal Obama has had for some on the Republican side of the aisle.

Joining us on the line from Philadelphia, Michael Smerconish, columnist (Philadelphia Inquirer and Philadelphia Daily News), commentator and radio host.

Over the past 28 years, he has never voted for a Democrat for President. But in this past Sunday’s Philadelphia Inquirer he endorsed Senator Obama.

After the interview, we'll take your calls.

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

From Ron Reagan:

Tonight's the last presidential debate and I'm here in New York City for Air America's special events coverage.

First, the latest stump speeches. . . and then I'll be joined in studio with Politically Direct's David Bender.

And later, we'll have the enlightened reactions from our very own: from the Hofstra University debate, Air America Chairman Charlie Kireker, plus Ron Kuby, Lionel, Thom Hartmann, Mike Papantonio, Mark Green, Jon Elliott , and Rachel Maddow.

And we'll be taking your calls all evening.

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

.

From Ron Reagan . . .

What will your choice be? When is a candidate snooty, angry or aloof? And in the end, what really matters to you from a leader?

I'm talking tonight with Michael Kirk, the award-winning producer and documentary filmmaker. He's a senior producer for special projects at FRONTLINE, produced more than 200 national television programs. His latest film, “The Choice 2008,” a profile of the McCain and Obama campaigns and airs tonight on PBS.

His credits include: the two-part special “Bush’s War,”
o “Cheney’s Law” (Peabody Award),
o “The Lost Year in Iraq” (Emmy Award),
o “Rumsfeld’s War,” &
o “The Torture Question” (Emmy Award)
all of which provide examined the "war on terror" and the work of our military.

And, we'll be taking you calls.

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

From Ron Reagan . . .

On the heels of last week's story broken by ABC News: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Story?id=5987804&page=1 – we're discussing in greater depth how the NSA has transformed since 9/11.

It's the topic of James Bamford's new book, "THE SHADOW FACTORY: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America" (out this week on Doubleday).

The New York Times bestselling author is an expert on the National Security Agency and this is his third in a trilogy ("Body of Secrets" and "The Puzzle Palace") of books discussing the ultra-secret agency.

Plus, we'll take your calls.

866 – 303 – 2270 IS THE NUMBER TO CALL-IN FOR YOU LISTENERS OUT THERE.

A message from Chris Owens:

I'm taking apart this week’s big news: the bailout bill and the VP debate.

And, with little over 30 days to the election, tune in for our regular segment on protecting your vote. I’ll be speaking with Sheryll Cashin, a Harvard classmate of Barack Obama’s and now professor of law at Georgetown University. She’s an expert on civil rights, so we’ll be talking about voting and activism, as well as her incredible memoir, "THE AGITATOR’S DAUGHTER: Four Generations of One Extraordinary African-American Family," which reveals her own family's involvement with politics and activism.

She is also the author of "The Failures of Integration: How Race and Class are Undermining the American Dream" (PublicAffairs, 2004) which was an Editors’ Choice in the New York Times Book Review and a finalist for the 2005 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award for non-fiction.

September 1, 2008

I got up at 5:00 am this morning. It takes me a bit longer than it should to get out of the house – just like I pack a little more than I should when traveling – and I had a train to catch. I was going to Chicago and then, after a short layover, onward to New York City.

My job was to get the Southwest Chief at 7:45, which meant that my checked baggage had to be at Union Station in Kansas City by 7:00 am. Well, thanks to Jan, we made it with no problem. Of course, we had to check with CNN first to see how Gustav was doing. Things did not look good.

It is Labor Day – a day that has come to mean many things in my life. Most notably, it is the day of the huge West Indian Day parade on Eastern Parkway back in Brooklyn, New York – the culmination of weeks of celebrations around independence and national pride. For people like me, the day is always burdened with a political responsibility – either I am marching with a candidate and/or an entourage or I am the candidate (only once so far.) As much as tourists flock to see the parade for the music and splendor, the politicians and their appendages are a critical part of what makes the parade a “must see’ event.

Last year, I was part of a rogue float sponsored by the Caribbean-American Weekly that hoisted a huge picture of Barack Obama with Calypso star The Mighty Sparrow and other community leaders. (The paper had already endorsed Obama.) Response to the float politely appreciative during that long, hot day. Many people, particularly Caribbean women, were enthusiastic about Hillary Clinton. We were definitely “on the edge,” politically.

Well, I am missing this year’s parade, but I am sure the reaction is quite different – if there’s another float! And next Saturday I will march with working people in New York City to celebrate the now-deferred Labor Day.