Retired Congresswoman Pat Schroeder (D-CO) talks about the attempted killing of her friend Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the toxic political climate in Arizona and the nation; Truthout’s Jason Leopold returns to share his investigation into the Army’s “spiritual fitness test” and intolerance of nonbelievers; he also talks about Tom DeLay’s 3-year sentence for money laundering. Ms. Schroeder is an outspoken feminist and progressive who was a target of right wing attacks for many years, and she shares her views on the Giffords case and the hot and hateful rhetoric that originates from Fox News and talk radio. We talk about the Fairness Doctrine and the need for balance in the media, along with other issues. At 39:00, Leopold shares his investigation into a $125 million program that uses multiple choice computer quizzes to evaluate the “spiritual fitness” of a soldier. Those who flunk the quiz are told to improve their spiritual fitness, an obvious violation of the constitutional separation of church and state. In addition, this no-bid single source contract was given to Dr. Martin Seligman, who is also linked to the Bush-era torture programs. Chris Hedges is quoted calling this new program “quack science”, and Leopold talked with several soldiers who are very uncomfortable being pressured to be more spiritual. In the last few minutes, we recap the conviction and sentencing of Tom DeLay for laundering funds that were used to “re-redistrict” Texas in the middle of the decade to produce more GOP seats in the House.
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