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Good News, Bad News, No News

Gitmo Habeus, One Hard-Core Judge

Bill Radke

Full Episode Audio

1. The Supreme Court ruled this week that detainees at the U.S. military facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, constitutional right to challenge their detentions before a civilian judge. President Bush and presidential candidate Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) say this is bad news. Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) says it's good news. Are either of them right, or is this somehow no news?

2. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was asked this week if he has an estimate for when American troops might leave Iraq. He said: "No, but that's not too important. What's important is casualties in Iraq." McCain said American troops are in South Korea, Japan, Germany and "that's all fine -- the key to it is, we don't want any more Americans in harm's way." Was his assessment good news, bad news or no news?

3. There's been a sensational federal obscenity trial going on in Los Angeles -- a Hollywood filmmaker claims his hard-core fetish films are art, and therefore protected by the First Amendment. The jurors were going to have to watch this stuff and decide. Then, a bombshell: The federal judge in the case gets caught with smut on his personal Web site, which he says he thought was private. The trial is suspended and the judiciary is scandalized. Is this good news, bad news or no news?

  • Music Bridge:
    Glamour Hammer
    Artist: Emperor Penguin
    CD: Extreme Gaming (My Pal God)
More stories from our Good News, Bad News, No News series

Comments

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  • By Rob Mayer

    From Cincinnati, OH, 06/15/2008

    Whenever I've listened to the "Good News - Bad News" segment of your show, I've always had a vague sense of unease, even though the commentators have usually been entertaining. This past week's discussion finally pushed me over the edge. I now realize why this segment of the show is my least favorite. Similar to the cable "Entertainment News" format, each week you bring up relevant issues but then pimp the discussion by choosing individuals from "opposing" positions and require them to choose from the limited pallet in an attempt to generate the simple answer sound bite or a joke. The recent Supreme Court decision does not exclusively fall into just one of the three categories you require as a response. It is decidedly mixed news, with plenty of good and bad to fill everyone's plate. The fact that the Court was divided is evidence of that. That a "liberal" view sides with the majority and a "conservative" sides with the dissent is, unfortunately, "No News". The "News" is that, after six years we come to a place where both the security of the country and the constitution on which it was founded are seriously damaged. The polarized political debate has guaranteed that outcome.

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