Interviews

TD Interviews

TD Blog Interview with Knut Royce

Knut Royce is a journalist who was a major contributor to three Pulitzer Prize winning stories for such publications as Long Island’s Newsday before joining the Center for Public Integrity as a Senior Fellow. He has won numerous journalism awards, and the Washingtonian named him one of the two best investigative print reporters in the nation’s capital. He is the co-author (with Peter Eisner) of “The Italian Letter“, the first book providing a detailed journalistic account of the background of the forged documents that linked the African nation of Niger and its yellowcake uranium to Iraq (care of the Italian...

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TD Blog Interview with Eric Freedman

Eric M. Freedman, a Professor of Law at Hofstra University School of Law, is the author of “Habeas Corpus, Rethinking the Great Writ of Liberty,” and numerous articles on constitutional law and related subjects. He is one of the attorneys working with the Center for Constitutional Rights with respect to of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. On October 25, 2006, I had the privilege of interviewing Professor Freedman by telephone; my interview notes, as corrected by Professor Freedman, follow. The Talking Dog: Where were you on September 11th? Eric Freedman: When I got the news reports about September 11th and the...

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TD Blog Interview with Bill Scher

Bill Scher is the executive editor of the popular Liberal Oasis web-site, among whose credits include the first interview with a presidential candidate by a blog. Mr. Scher is the author of “Wait! Don’t Move to Canada!: A Stay-and-Fight Strategy to Win Back America“, a handbook of political strategies for liberals interested in advancing the liberal cause. Mr. Scher also appears regularly on Air America’s “Majority Report“. On September 19, 2006, I had the privilege of speaking to Mr. Scher by telephone; what follows are my interview notes, as corrected where appropriate by Mr. Scher. The Talking Dog: I’ll belay...

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TD Blog Interview with Dr. Steven Miles

Dr. Steven Miles is the author of Oath Betrayed: Torture, Medical Complicity and the War on Terror, a scathing examination of the failings of members of the medical profession serving in the military with respect to treatment of prisoners held by American forces in the war on terror, demonstrating such abuses as medical personnel participating in coervice interrogations if not outright torture (including using prisoners’ own medical records against them), preparing misleading, if not outright falsifying, medical records including death certificates, and failing to advocate for prisoners being placed in dangerous situations (e.g., such as under weapons fire, or in...

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TD Blog Interview with George Lakoff

George Lakoff is Professor of Linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley, a senior fellow at the progressive think-tank Rockridge Institute, and is the author of “Whose Freedom: The Battle Over America’s Most Important Idea” and a number of other books including a multitude of articles in major scholarly journals and edited volumes, as well as books such as Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think, and Don’t Think of an Elephant: Know Your Values, Frame the Debate. Dr. Lakoff’s current work discusses the concept of “framing”, both deep frames representing an underlying value structure; for conservatives, the deep frames...

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TD Blog Interview with Michael Ratner

Michael Ratner is the president of the Center for Constitutional Rights, a legal advocacy group based in New York City that has spearheaded and coordinated the representation of detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and been at the forefront of Guantanamo related litigation. C.C.R. has also handled matters pertaining to extraordinary rendition and handled numerous litigations related to the war on terror, and handled its “usual” extensive caseload in the constitutional and civil rights areas in general. Mr. Ratner is the co-author (with Ellen Ray) of “Guantanamo: What the World Should Know.” On July 20, 2006, I had the privilege of...

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TD Blog Interview with Shafiq Rasul

Shafiq Rasul is a British national who was detained for two years at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mr. Rasul was the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case of Rasul v. Bush, which, contrary to the position then asserted by the United States government, held that detainees at Guantanamo had legal standing to challenge their detentions in federal court. Mr. Rasul is also one of the “Tipton Three” whose experiences are the subject of the soon to be released film, The Road to Guantanamo. After the recent suicides of three Guantanamo detainees, I interviewed Mr. Rasul, by e-mail exchange, on June...

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TD Blog Interview with Eric Boehlert

Eric Boehlert, a regular contributor to Salon and the Huffington Post, as well as to Rolling Stone, is the author of “Lapdogs: How the Press Rolled Over for Bush“, an exigesis of documented instances in which the Mainstream Media (MSM) has defaulted on even the pretense of fairness and objectivity, as demonstrated most clearly by the contrast between the picayune obsessions with seemingly minor scandals of the Clinton Administration versus the extraordinary deference shown to the current Bush Administration under virtually any and all circumstances. On June 1, 2006, I had the privilege of interviewing Eric Boehlert, by telephone. What...

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TD Blog Interview with Joshua Denbeaux

In February and March of this year, a pair of ground-breaking reports pertaining to detainees at Guantanamo Bay were issued by a team from Seton Hall University Law School in Newark, New Jersey, led by the tandem of attorneys Joshua Denbeaux of the law firm of Denbeaux & Denbeaux of Westwood, New Jersey and his father, Seton Hall Law Professor Mark Denbeaux, with assistance by a number of Seton Hall law students (David Gratz, John Gregorek, Matthew Darby, Shana Edwards, Shane Hartman, Daniel Mann and Helen Skinner). For the first time, the reports laid out a detailed analysis and evaluation...

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TD Blog Interview with David Hackett Fischer

On July 14, 2005, I had the privilege of speaking with Professor David Hackett Fischer by telephone from his home in Massachusetts. Professor Fischer is University Professor at Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass., and is the author of numerous works of note, including Albion’s Seed, Paul Revere’s Ride, and the winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for history, Washington’s Crossing. The following are my interview notes, with corrections as provided by Professor Fischer. The Talking Dog: I always start with this question. Where were you on 9/11? David Hackett Fischer: I was sitting at my computer terminal, writing a book....

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