I am happy to have professor downs join us. I am going to talk about something that is overlooked in all kinds of narratives which is the importance of doing nothing. When congress billy hollowak in in december of 1865 came back in december of 1865 for many people it looked like they dont find a solution to address reconstruction until march of 1867. Despite things like the 14th amendment, this session can seem like and was critiqued at the time as a donothing session precisely because it didnt determine the end of the war. That it never established terms for war. But i want to flip that on its head and think about why it was so important for them not to establish terms for the end of the war and why doing nothing turned out to mean so much. I was led to this by contemplating the justly celebrated philosopher Jerome Allen Seinfeld known as jerry who said, doing nothing is not as easy as it looks. You have to be careful because the idea of doing anything could easily lead to doing somet
If you want to totally immerse yourself in black hawk down and hopefully in a year or so well have a feature film. Host mark bowden, thank you are joining us on booktv. Appreciate it. We are fascinated by every aspect of the matter in theory and this. Maybe not quite as much as ken starr is, but no less. I wanted to give the reader a chance to understand the process by which ive made decisions. The environment are legitimate decisions, decisions, the people i listen to effort made decisions. This is not an attempt to rewrite history. It is not an attempt to fashion a legacy. It is to be part of the historical narrative. Every single justice on the court has a passion and love for the constitution and our country thats equal to mine. Then you now but if you accept that as an operating truth which it is, you understand that you can disagree. For me, whats interesting is negotiation of a moral position. Do no harm, let somebody i respect yourself. All of that is reduced to simplify notion
This is not an attempt to rewrite history, its not an attempt to fashion a legacy, it is an attempt to be a part of the historical narrative. Also Supreme Court justices. Every single justice on the court has a passion and a love for the constitution and our country thats equal to mine. Then you know that if you accept that as an operating truth, which it is, you understand that you can disagree. And nobel prize winners. That, for me, whats interesting is negotiation of a moral position. Do no harm. Love somebody. And respect yourself and do some work you respect. All of that is reduced, simplified notions. The philosophers have spent their lifetime trying to imagine what it is like to live a moral life, what morality is, what existence is, what responsibility is. We visited book fairs and festivals around the country. And booktv is live at the annual l. A. Times festival of book withs on the campus of ucla in los angeles. Theres our signature programming, in depth each month and if yo
New court date. And alexandra field has the the latest on all of it including breaking news, yet one more factor that may have helped sweat and matt prepare their escape. Alexandra, what have you learned . Good evening, anderson. Cnn learned that investigators are now looking at whether Prison Guards on the honor block may have been sleeping during ally allowed richard matt and david sweat to prepare for they escape unsupervised. The Inspector Generals Office launched a full investigation. They have been onsite at the prison. Theyre trying to determine whether and what extent any prison protocols may have been breached. At the same time, gene palmer is speaking to constituent police giving them a look at what was really happening behind bars. Reporter an official closer to the investigation tells cnn gene palmer, a prison guard, gave at least one of the now escaped inmates, a screwdriver and needle nosed pliers supposedly to help fix electrical breakers behind their cells alug the two
Cooked up for him. The guard gene palmer has spoken to one of our producers. The latest on that. We are also learning even more including what he told new York State Police about the favors he did for matt and david sweat. And in addition mr. Palmer has a new attorney. He has also got a new court date. And alexandra field has the the latest on all of it including breaking news yet one more factor that may have helped sweat and matt prepare their escape. Alexandra, what have you learned . Good evening, anderson. Cnn learned that investigators are now looking at whether Prison Guards on the honor block may have been sleeping during their evening shifts which would have potentially allowed richard matt and david sweat to prepare for they escape unsupervised. The Inspector Generals Office launched a full investigation. They have been onsite at the prison. Theyre trying to determine whether and what extent any prison protocols may have been breached. At the same time gene palmer is speaking