Americana - 11/10/2009

Matt Frei is joined by two prominent commentators on the American political landscape: Michelle D Bernard, the president and CEO of the Independent Women's Forum (IWF) and an MSNBC political analyst, and Ron Brownstein, the political director for Atlantic Media Company, the publisher of The Atlantic and National Journal. Bernard and Brownstein weigh in on the accomplishments of President Barack Obama, who is the recipient of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. They find out what is going on with the conservative movement these days. Are politicians still wielding power or have the top media voices taken centre stage? And how is it possible that Sarah Palin's book is wracking up such big sales before it has even been released? Syndicated sex columnist Dan Savage tells us just how hot the United States is for a good sex scandal. In light of David Letterman's on-screen announcement about his sexual relations, and the sordid history of major figures transgressing, Matt talks to Dan about the line between the appropriate and the passable in American sexuality. The cold shoulder that the US has given Cuba may be warming up a little. Matt Frei talks to the BBC's Michael Voss in Havana about the changing relationship between the US and its communist neighbour. And 90 miles north of Cuba is Miami, Florida, hometown of Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart. Although he has family relations to Fidel Castro, he is a fervent anti-communist. He argues that the US should not be pandering to the Cuban regime.