June 2002

Pledge Sketch
Satirists Bruce Kluger and Dave Slavin assume that the ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which takes issue with the phrase "one nation under God," will mean that school kids will require legal counsel in the classroom. They imagine a lawyer providing help to a little girl reciting the pledge. (3:45)

Cleveland Schools
Commentator Joseph Loconte says the court's ruling upholding Ohio's school voucher program is a good one -- for all sorts of reasons. Following the court's argument, recipients could use publicly funded certificates to buy social services from any provider -- be it a secular homeless shelter or an evangelical mission. He says that kind of choice widens the choices of compassionate care available to families in crisis. (3:30)

A Defeat for Powell?
NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that President Bush's speech on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict imposes virtually unattainable conditions as prerequisites for establishing a Palestinian state. This, Schorr says, represents a defeat for Colin Powell, who has been a strong advocate for creating a "provisional" state, and will likely lead President Bush to withdraw from the front lines of the peace process. (3:00)
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Cellular Phones On Buses
Commentator Chris Tsakis takes his tape recorder on the bus every day and records the loud talk of people on cellphones. The one-sided conversations annoy him. He says he never hides his microphone, but tries to embarrass people into toning it down or stopping, which they do only after a while. (3:00)

Switching Wars
With the shift of FBI personnel from the "war on drugs" to the "war on terror," the drug cartels can rejoice. But commentator Andrei Codrescu warns that wars on terror and anarchy historically round up the wrong people: not the bombers, but the theorists who inspire them. (3:00)

Security Leaks
In observing the recent furor over congressional leaks of classified information, NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr points out that the practice is nothing new. He says it represents, in part, the exercise of an unofficial disclosure function -- in response to the exclusive power of the executive branch to make authorized disclosures concerning national security matters. (3:00)

The Ball Player
Commentator Elissa Ely, a psychiatrist in Massachusetts, says one of her hospital patients once had hopes of being a baseball player. Now he sits and watches games in the wardroom. (2:45)

Picking Stocks
Commentator Andrei Codrescu was asked by an editor to pick winning stocks. Codrescu says he took it as a challenge. (3:14)

Fat Flier
Commentator Daniel Pinkwater reacts to the misreported news yesterday that said Southwest Airlines is changing its policy to charge fat people for two seats when they fly. Southwest says this policy has always been in effect if a passenger cannot fit comfortably into one seat. Pinkwater, who is "openly fat," says flying stinks anyway. He stopped flying when the seats shrank, the service went downhill and the food went bad. (2:15)

U.S. Mideast Policy
NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that the recent bombings in Jerusalem have done more than lead Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to re-occupy portions of the West Bank and accelerate work on a wall that would seal off Palestinian territories. They have also forced President Bush to postpone indefinitely his plans to play a more direct role in the peace process. (2:45)
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Juneteenth
Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, when the enslaved black men and women in Galveston, Tex. learned that they had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation two and a half years earlier. Observances of a Juneteenth holiday have been growing in recent years. Commentator Eric Copage thinks that African-Americans should look to the Jewish High Holy Days for an example of how Juneteenth could be celebrated. (4:00)

Check out more about Eric Copage at www.greatestmigration.com.

Cheerleading Camp
Commentator Eric Nuzum says his work is annually invigorated during the summer by the sounds of a cheerleader training camp rolling across the hills to his office window. (4:00)

Watergate Anniversary
On the 30th anniversary of the Watergate break-in, NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that it is common for presidents to use their powers for the purpose of self-preservation. But he says President Nixon used his authority for the purpose of punishing his enemies. (3:30)

Milvio's Wake
When commentator Heather King brought food to a weekly meeting last year, she happened upon a wake for Milvio. Milvio was a long-time guest in the house, run by a Catholic lay organization called the Los Angeles Catholic Worker, where the weekly potluck was held. (3:30)

Lemonade Girl
Commentator Ralph Schoenstein says he now gets a half glass of lemonade for 75 cents from a cute little girl on his block with a "Kenneth Lay smile." He predicts her 800-percent mark-up on water, lemon juice and sugar will carry her far in the free enterprise system. (2:15)

Hooliganism
The newly formed satirical group "New Gag Order" suggests a solution to America's deficiency in the field of rowdy soccer hooliganism. Imagine a promotional video for a summer hooliganism camp. (1:45)

Ariel Sharon
During Ariel Sharon's recent visit to the United States, NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr had a unique opportunity to gain insight into the Israeli Prime Minister's outlook on the Middle East conflict. He learned that Sharon feels very much embattled and is unyielding in his efforts to protect his fellow countrymen. (3:00)

Mothers
Commentator Marion Winik has some thoughts on motherhood, thanks in large part to her third child, a baby girl born when Marion was in her forties. (3:00)

Mideast Negotiations
NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that the unpopularity of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli plans for a security wall indicate no promise of a political solution. (2:30)
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One-Room Schoolhouse
Commentator Thomas Huggler tells us about the Loucks School near the town of Mulliken, west of Lansing, Mich. The 144-year old one-room school closed today for the last time. He says the sights and smells remind him of where he went to school. The floors creak, globe fixtures light the room and time stands still. (4:00)

Faerie Fest
Commentator Marion Winik sent us an audio postcard from Glen Rock, Pennsylvania, where she recently happened upon the 11th annual Faerie Festival on a local farm. (4:00)

Middle East Diplomacy
President Bush continues to entertain various heads of state from the Middle East in his efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but NPR Senior News Analyst Daniel Schorr says that he needs to form a more concrete plan for peace if he wants to make any real progress. (3:00)
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Mom's Voice
Commentator Mike Harkins' mother died of emphysema last year. She had come from Scotland and always got together with friends from Great Britain to sing. Months after her death, Harkins discovered a reel of audio tape in a box, and once again got to hear his mother's voice. (4:00)

Jonein'
Commentator Katie Davis examines a linguistic pattern in her inner-city neighborhood. Jonein', is a verbal assault which is at once fierce, intimate and painful. (6:15)

Value
Commentator Hollis Gillespie says her friend Larry is being stalked. The stalker is keeping her friend away from his two most valued possessions - his solitude and his cat. (3:30)

Change and the Church
The sex abuse scandal has led to many calls for the Roman Catholic church to change. But the Church has always been slow to change, commentator John Crowley observes. John Crowley lives in Conway, Massachusetts. His latest book is The Translator from William Morrow & Company. (3:00)

Pre-emptive Defense
The Bush administration has called for the use of pre-emptive military action to defend against terrorist attacks. But NPR Senior Analyst Daniel Schorr suggests that since most terrorist groups do not offer many targets for military strikes, Iraq may be the real focus of this new doctrine. (3:00)

Mexico - U.S. Border
Commentator Guillermo Gomez-Pena says before Sept. 11, there was talk from the Bush administration of creating a more open U.S.-Mexican border. Now that talk has faded. Still, Mexicans in the United States and in Mexico have created a kind of cross-border community. (3:00)

P.C. Police
Commentator Jake Tapper is outraged by two recent excesses of the P.C. (that's political correctness) Police: the New York Regents English exam censorship of certain literary passages, and the decision by the producer of the new Tom Clancy movie, The Sum of All Fears, to replace the bad guys in the book, which included a fanatical Muslim Palestinian, with Neo-Nazi bad guys. (4:00)

Drought
Commentator Dick George talks about the impact the drought has had on his home in rural Maryland. (2:45)

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