Beating the Devil - The Incendiary Rants of Alexander Cockburn

Leftist political commentator Alex Cockburn has plenty to say on this live spoken-word CD. In a series of talks recorded in a couple of spots in the Bay Area, Cockburn discusses his experiences and the legacy of Seattle WTO protests, the 2000 elections, John Ashcroft, agribusiness, Bush's missile defense program, and the war on drugs, especially about Colombia and America's involvement there. Some of the info is a bit dated and was obviously recorded a year or longer prior to this record's release, though no date is mentioned on the CD. (He discusses the war in Afghanistan in present tense.) But much of the information is pertinent. (Though one might get more out of reading his weekly column online. He writes regularly for the Nation, the New York Press, and the Anderson Valley Advertiser). One of the more interesting bits, called "What Good Can Come of This?," has Cockburn discussing a few positive things that have come about after September 11, 2001. He mentions how people in America rallied to the support of American Muslims and how the multicultural current of the U.S., championed by the left, has succeeded in making America a fairly safe place for diversity. He also says crop dusters have been eliminated in the wake of September 11, which spread cancer-causing pesticides. Cockburn has pointed opinions on a variety of topics and is a lively speaker.