George Maurer’s Jan 28 - Feb 2 Audio Program
STREAMING AUDIO BROADCAST
with JUST GEORGE MAURER
The Just George Maurer program returns on Monday thru Friday, 5:30-6:30 PM, EST, preceded each day by a 10-15 minute musical interlude. The simplest way to listen is to go to your computer, click on to our website (http://www.justgeorgemaurer.com) and, on the home page, at the top right hand corner or in the top center, click on Windows Media Compatible, and listen in anywhere in the nation and around the world.
On Monday, January 28, we’re honored to have our phone guest, from Chicago, Illinois, Clifton Truman Daniel, grandson of Harry S. Truman, son of Margaret Truman and Clifton Daniel (past Managing Editor of The New York Times).
Our guest, born in 1957, is himself a former feature writer and editor of The Wilmington Morning Star in North Carolina, and he now is Director of Public Relations for the 5,000+ student Truman College in near north Chicago.
Harry Truman, 33rd President of the United States, now recognized as one of our greatest presidents, led the nation to a successful conclusion of World War II; led the Marshall Plan to rebuild war-torn Europe (as compared to the current debacle in Iraq); displaced a highly popular Army General who tried to wage aggressive war rather than continuing mere, successful defensive measures; overcame racism to integrate the US military; and is the only ex-president that I was ever privileged to see flying on a regular commercial flight with me and the rest of us peons
Margaret Truman, still living at 83-84 years of age, married Clifton Daniel in 1956; she’s author of some 30 books including 20+ Capital Crime novels including one of her most recent Murder at the Opera (which now, that her dad passed in 1972 at 88 years of age, I guess I can safely say [with tongue in cheek] does not refer to her musical debut some 60 years ago). Despite the accusations of Fred Barnes, executive editor of the arch-conservative The Weekly Standard and frequent guest on Fox News’ Brit Hume’s program, Margaret Truman is generally known, perhaps with help of husband and son and researchers, as authentic author of this vast collection of books and novels, as well as finding time to be mother of 4 children, the eldest being our guest and one of whom was tragically killed in a taxicab collision in New York City, at 40 years of age, some 7-8 years ago.
Our guest, like many other children of famed parents, is said, with the help of his dad in particular, to have overcome his own demons, to have remade himself, to have authored his own book, Growing Up With Memories of Harry S. Truman, to have married and become the parent of his own 2 children, and to have delivered, with his wife at his side, a perfectly delightful presentation at Key West’s annual Truman symposium this past summer (when I was honored to have met him).
On Tuesday, January 29, our guest will be Raj Purohit, Interim Director at Citizens for Global Solutions, a membership organization that seeks to have nations work together to abolish war; to promote the International Criminal Court and the Law of the Sea; etc.. Purohit was previously Legislative Director for Human Rights First; Legislative Director for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers; Director of Legal Services at the Center on Conscience and War. Purohit obtained his LL.M and teaches at American University’s Washington College of Law.
This past December, Purohit wrote that “U.S. Secretary of Street Condoleeza Rice plans to name Paul Wolfowitz, the former deputy defense secretary and an architect of the Iraq War, as chair of the International Security Advisory Board. This is a terrible idea and my organization has just come out and urged her to reconsider.” Purohit also wrote a few weeks ago about Senator Obama’s use of Zbigniew Brzezinski as a foreign policy advisor.
On Wednesday, January 30, during our first half-hour, our guests will be Michigan’s Mark Brewer and Florida’s Jon Ausman. Brewer has been a distinguished lawyer for nearly 30 years; he was Assistant General Counsel for the Michigan Democratic Party from 1983 to 1995; he was elected Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party in February, 1995 and has continuously served for the last 13-14 years. He is President of the national Association of State Democratic Chairs since June 2003 and one of the handful of Democratic National Committee Vice-Chairs. He serves on the DNC’s Executive Committee and its Rules and Bylaws Committee.
Jon Ausman is one of Florida’s some one dozen members of the 400+ member Democratic National Committee and he, too, has served in a variety of county and state Democratic roles here in Florida for the last 2 + decades. He is a nationally acknowledged expert on urban mass transit matters and is employed as a senior manager at Florida’s Department of Transportation. Jon has served as parliamentarian for numerous organizations; he’s a nationally awarded cyclist in the 50-54 years of age bracket and a respected amateur athlete and umpire/referee.
For the second part of the progam on January 30, I’m pleased to have my former law partner Shel Klimist as a guest. Shel was extraordinarily active in Michigan Democratic politics during his early career and then made a mid-age life change when he and his wife Inez moved to Israel where they have spent about half of each year for the past 3 decades. Shel is still active in Michigan, however, currently serving as Detroit Chapter Chair of the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace and still serving on the Board of Trustees of Birmingham Temple, a congregation for Humanistic Judaism. Shel also serves as Of Counsel to a Southfield, Michigan law firm which he founded.
On Thursday. I’ll welcome Frida Berrigan as a guest. Ms. Berrigan was supposed to have been with us on January 21, but she apparently failed to get her flu shot and was felled by influenza. As noted previously, Ms. Berrigan is the niece of Daniel Berrigan and daughter of Phil Berrigan and Elizabeth McAlister (co-founders of Baltimore’s Jonah House Community) and Ms. Berrigan herself, in late 2005, walked from Santiago, Cuba to Guantanamo to minister to detained prisoners. She’ll discuss with us the tragic existence of some 26,000 nuclear weapons, enough to blast the world to smithereens, many times over.
Additionally, during our hour on January 31, I hope to be able to bring on the program someone from Massachusett’s congressperson Edward Markey’s office. This past Friday, his office “Slam(med) White House Decision to Ignore Nuclear Terrorism Law” which required that “cheap and well-established anti-radiation drug potassium iodide be provided to all communities living within 20 miles of nuclear power plants.”
Finally, on Friday, February 1, frequent co- and guest hostess Pam Martin and I have to drive 6-8 hours + up to Orlando for Saturday meetings of the Florida Democratic Party’s State Central and Executive Committees (on which she and I are privileged to serve). We hope to spend Friday evening at good friend and general manager Michael Proimos’ Florida Hotel and Conference Center and, maybe, to rope him into being a guest on our Friday evening “rants and raves” program.
Hope y’all will listen.
George Maurer