A New Congress Sworn in Today
There is a lot of drama behind the scenes: Will Roland Burris be seated as Barack Obama’s successor? Will Al Franken make it past legal challenges to take the oath of office as senator from Minnesota? Once the dust settles, though, Democrats will have their largest majority the Senate in 30 years, and they will face the most serious challenges of any Congress since the Great Depression and World War II. We speak with David Hawkings, managing editor of Congressional Quarterly Weekly.
The Internet and the Presidency
Barack Obama hopes to keep his Blackberry when he becomes president, even though there are concerns about e-mail security and all of his correspondence, even online, would eventually become part of the public record. What does it mean for the first social networking president to not have a tool he considers essential? We speak with Jose Antonio Vargas, a staff writer for the Washington Post who covers politics and the internet; and Andrew Rasiej, founder of the Personal Democracy Forum, a website about the intersection of politics and technology. He’s advised Democratic candidates for office.
Service Animal Ban
The American with Disabilities Act of 1990 gives mentally and physically disabled persons the right to bring their service animals anywhere they go. But a new proposal by the Department of Justice could ban certain species from this protection. All kinds of animals have been successfully trained to aid the disabled, including monkeys, miniature horses, ferrets, parrots, reptiles and farm animals. But complaints and lawsuits about having to accommodate some of these animals have prompted the Justice Department to make changes. Public hearings were held on the matter, with voices for and against the ban, and now we wait for the verdict, which could come any day. Rebecca Skloot is our guest. She wrote about this in The New York Times Sunday Magazine.
Nantucket and Madoff
It appears the long tentacles attached to Bernard Madoff’s $50 billion Ponzi scandal have reached the shores of Nantucket, the tiny island off the coast of Massachusetts. Frank Avellino, a well-known summer resident of Nantucket, with substantial ties to Madoff, has been accused of cheating his house cleaner out of her $124,000 life savings. We speak with Jason Graziadei, senior writer for Nantucket’s weekly newspaper, The Inquirer and Mirror, about the story.
The Old Man and the Storm
In a new Frontline documentary, filmmaker June Cross chronicles the 18-month quest of 82-year-old Herbert Gettridge to restore his New Orleans home, which had been hard hit by Hurricane Katrina. We speak to June Cross and to Gale Gettridge-Branon, Herbert Gettridge’s daughter.
