04 Dec 2009: Today's Democracy Now!

Eliot Spitzer: Geithner, Bernanke "Complicit" in Financial Crisis and Should Go
In an extended interview, we speak with former New York governor Eliot Spitzer about the financial crisis and how it was handled by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Bernanke and Geithner “actually built and participated in creating the structure that now has collapsed,” Spitzer says and calls on them to be replaced. Spitzer also talks about the scandal that erupted last year that forced him to resign as governor. “I have no doubt there were many people who were opposed to me, very powerful forces, who were happy to see me go,” Spitzer says. “Whether they participated, I’ll let others figure that out. I resigned because of what I did.” [includes rush transcript]

"The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther"
Today marks the fortieth anniversary of the death of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton. On December 4th, 1969, Chicago police raided Fred Hampton’s apartment and shot and killed him in his bed. He was just twenty-one years old. Black Panther leader Mark Clark was also killed in the raid. While authorities claimed the Panthers had opened fire on the police who were there to serve a search warrant for weapons, evidence later emerged that told a very different story: that the FBI, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office and the Chicago police conspired to assassinate Fred Hampton. We speak with attorney Jeffrey Haas, author of The Assassination of Fred Hampton: How the FBI and the Chicago Police Murdered a Black Panther.

Headlines

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Report: US Expands Pakistan Drone Strikes
Top Climatologist Hopes Copenhagen Talks Collapse
India Unveils Proposal to Reduce Emissions
23 Killed in Somalia Attack
Comcast Reaches Deal for Majority Stake in NBC Universal
Senate Rejects Amendment to Undo Medicare Cuts
NY Court Rejects Columbia University Eminent Domain Claim
Self-Proclaimed FBI Informant Claims He Spied on Mosques
Texas Prisoner Executed Despite Claims of Mental Retardation
Musician Stevie Wonder Named UN “Messenger of Peace”