Spc. Ryan Howard of Niles, Mich., right, and Spc. David Straub of Ardmore, Okla., wait for news of fellow soldiers while waiting at the gate of the Fort Hood, Texas, Army base on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

A shock out of Texas at the end of this week, and a day of horror.

Thirteen killed, thirty wounded at Fort Hood in a shooting rampage in the heart of an American military base. Apparently by a uniformed Army major, Nidal Malik Hasan.

It’s a tragedy and horror the country is still taking on board — overshadowing the economy, where unemployment has hit 10.2 percent. Overshadowing state elections and their fallout. An imminent health care vote. Hard news in Afghan and Palestinian politics.

This hour, On Point: The killings at Fort Hood, and the news of the week in review.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Dallas, Texas, is Bill McKenzie, editorial columnist for the Dallas Morning News.

Joining us from New York is Hendrick Hertzberg, staff writer for The New Yorker. His new book is “Obamanos!: The Birth of a New Political Era.”

And from Hanover, N.H., is Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

The Republican side remains empty during the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee markup on climate change legislation in Washington on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009. All Republicans except one boycotted the start of committee debate, protesting that the bill's economic costs have not been fully examined. (AP)

Post your comments below

The global climate conference next month in Copenhagen has had a long drum roll of sky-high expectations.

This is it, the world has been told as recently as last month by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The make-or-break moment on reining in climate change.

Apparently the U.S. Senate did not get that memo. A comprehensive climate change bill has faced tough going there. Republicans boycotting the whole process. Democrats divided and afraid of economic fallout. The clock ticking.

This hour, On Point: One month before Copenhagen, where the U.S. stands.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Margaret Kriz Hobson, energy and environment correspondent for National Journal. She wrote recently about “the Senate’s climate-change dealmakers.”  She also writes a federal column for the Environmental Law Institute’s Environmental Forum magazine.

Dave Hamilton, director of the Sierra Club’s global warming and energy program.

Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat from Ohio. He wants Congress to provide free allowances under the cap and trade program to companies that need to transition to using cleaner burning fuels and manufacturing green energy products. He is also pushing Senate Democrats to require that importers pay a carbon dioxide fee for products made in countries that don’t control their greenhouse gases.

Conservative Party congressional candidate Doug Hoffman waits to vote at the town hall in Lake Placid, N.Y. on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

It was a “shot across the bow” Election Day for both parties yesterday. Different versions of a wake-up call.

For Democrats, two big losses in governors’ races in Virginia and New Jersey. No Obama effect to save the day. Maybe a damper on the Obama agenda.

For the GOP, big victories in those states, but a high-profile defeat for hard-right conservatives in an upstate New York district that has gone Republican since 1872. The Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Tea Party candidate down in flames, and the GOP civil war still on.

This hour, On Point: The ‘09 elections — and the shots across the bow.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Charles Mahtesian, national politics editor at Politico.  He’s been following the 2009 races closely and reported this week on conservatives gearing up to challenge GOP candidates. He joins us from Washington.

Ross Douthat, op-ed columnist for The New York Times and co-author of “Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream.” He writes in his latest column that third-party candidates injected substance into this year’s races.  He joins us from Washington.

Thomas Edsall, political editor of The Huffington Post and a professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. A political reporter at The Washington Post from 1981 to 2006, he’s author of “Building Red America: The New Conservative Coalition and the Drive for Permanent Power.”  He joins us from New York.

Mickey Edwards, former Republican Congressman from Oklahoma and member of the House Republican leadership. He’s now a lecturer at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and author of “Reclaiming Conservatism: How a Great American Political Movement Got Lost–And How It Can Find Its Way Back.”  He joins us from Newark, New Jersey.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner (left) gets ready to testify before the House Financial Services Committee in Washington on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009, as the Committee's Chairman, Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) presided. (AP)

Post your comments below

One year ago, the U.S. government and all of us were over a big, ugly barrel. Bail out the mega banks, or they would crash and take the whole economy down with them. “Too big to fail.”

And so we bailed and bailed and bailed. Billions and billions in taxpayers’ dollars to save the banks that had driven the crisis. And the cry went up: “Never again.”

Well, now the tools for “never again” are on the table, and there’s a huge debate over whether they will work, or bring Wall Street running back for more.

This hour, On Point: How to fix “too big to fail” on Wall Street.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us in our studio is Kenneth Rogoff, professor of economics and public policy at Harvard University. His new book is “This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly.”

Joining us from Washington is Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.  He’s spearheading the Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009.

Also from Washington we’re joined by Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA), member of the House Financial Services Committee. He calls the Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009 “TARP on steroids.”

 

The United States Chamber of Commerce building in Washington, seen in August 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

Apple Inc. reported an incredible 47 percent jump in quarterly profits yesterday, making it — by a long shot — one of the most successful corporations in America.

What Apple is not is a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It’s quit. Pulled out.

The Chamber sounds boring, but it is hot as a pistol right now as an issue in Washington. The biggest lobbying voice in the nation, set dead against much of the Obama agenda. And now, losing high-profile members.

This hour, On Point: The heavyweight battle over the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — and who speaks for American business.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Lisa Lerer, a staff writer at Politico covering the Chamber of Commerce story. Earlier this week she wrote about White House strategy and the Chamber.

Also from Washington, we’re joined by David C. Chavern, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

And from San Francisco we’re joined by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ernest L. Arbuckle Professor at Harvard Business School and Chair and Director of the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University. Her book “SuperCorp: How Vangaurd Companies Create Innovation, Profits, Growth, and Social Good” was published in August. (Read more about it here.)

Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) listens during the Senate Finance Committee hearing on health care reform, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

Nevermind the boy not in the balloon. We’ve got more than that up in the air this week.

The Dow flying high again at 10,000. Bonus numbers over the moon.

A healthcare reform package out of committee in the Senate, and up in the air, with Republican Olympia Snowe onboard — so far.

An Afghanistan troop decision, up in the air. The future of Pakistan, up in the air — with Taliban and Al Qaeda attacks all over.

Rush Limbaugh’s NFL ownership dreams? Crashed to earth. Sacked.

This hour, On Point: Joe Klein, Liz Halloran, Jack Beatty, and you, take on a week in the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Liz Halloran, Washington correspondent for NPR.org.

Joining us from New York is Joe Klein, political columnist for Time magazine and author of six books, most recently “Politics Lost.”

And from Hanover, N.H., we’re joined by Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

President Barack Obama walks from the Oval Office to the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington, Friday, Oct. 9, 2009, to make remarks about being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (AP)

Post your comments below

Barack Obama’s presidential scorecard is getting one tough going-over these days.

The Nobel Peace Prize committee may see his message alone as a winner. Critics on the left and right do not. When they’re not charging socialism, conservatives crow he is all talk. Progressives complain he hasn’t delivered when it comes to change.

A massive healthcare reform could shift the tone — and right now it’s moving on Capitol Hill. But the audience has grown tough. Even on Saturday Night Live.

This hour, On Point: Arianna Huffington, Byron York, and Jack Beatty, on the Obama scorecard now.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Huffington Post.

Byron York, chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner.

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Watch Saturday Night Live’s Oct. 3 skit on President Obama’s scorecard (and see what the fact-checking site Politifact had to say about the SNL checklist):

Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, left, and former Vermont Governor and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean, right. Both are doctors. Both have strong views on health care reform. (Photos: AP)

Post your comments below

Republican Bill Frist, former Senate majority leader, is a heart surgeon, lung surgeon, and heir to the biggest hospital company in the world.

On Friday, Bill Frist said what not a single Republican now sitting in Congress has said — that he would vote for emerging health care reform.

Today we’ll ask him why.

Democrat and doctor Howard Dean is an internist and champion of the “public option” missing from the latest Senate bill. We’ll ask where his support goes now.

This hour, On Point: Bill Frist, Howard Dean, and the showdown ahead on health care reform.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Julie Rovner, health policy correspondent for NPR.

Bill Frist, former Republican Senate majority leader from Tennessee, served for 12 years in the U.S. Senate. A renowned surgeon, he practiced medicine for twenty years. His new book is “A Heart to Serve: The Passion to Bring Health, Hope, and Healing.”

Howard Dean, former Governor of Vermont, former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and 2004 presidential candidate. He is also a medical doctor and a prominent voice in the health care debate. His most recent book is “Howard Dean’s Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform.”

President Barack Obama chairs a meeting of the United Nations Security Council at the United Nations headquarters, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2009. At rear is U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. (AP)

Post your comments below

The small-world principle was on big display in the U.S. this week. Leaders from all over, sitting elbow to elbow at the UN in New York. Leaders of the world’s twenty most powerful economies descending on Pittsburgh.

We’ve got a nuclear weapons vote in the Security Council. “Rebalancing” on the table at the G20. Explosive charges that Iran is hiding secret nuclear capacity.

Health care reform grinding on in Wahsington. And terrorism plot allegations tumbling out of Denver, Dallas, and Springfield, Illinois.

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Ruth Marcus, editorial writer and columnist for The Washington Post.

Also from Washington, we’re joined by Susan Glasser, executive editor of Foreign Policy magazine.

And from Hanover, N.H., we’re joined by Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Screenshot from the web video produced by amateur filmmaker James O’Keefe III and conservative activist Hannah Giles, right, playing the part of a prostitute seeking advice at ACORN's office in Baltimore. (Click image to watch the video on YouTube.)

Post your comments below

It’s hardly on the scale of Wall Street’s bonus and bailout scandals — not in the same universe. But ACORN, the liberal community organizing group that works for the poor, has some pretty ugly egg on its face right now.

The Internet and Fox News are on fire with video of undercover conservative activists posing as pimp and prostitute seeking and getting tax advice — shady, outrageous advice — from ACORN staff.

An embezzlement scandal has tumbled out. Congress has cut off federal funding. Loud critics are saying they were right all along.

This hour, On Point: Not a pretty picture. ACORN in trouble.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Carol Leonnig, reporter for The Washington Post covering  the ACORN story. Her article on Sunday’s front page was headlined “For ACORN, Video Is Only Latest Crisis.”

From New York we’re joined by John Fund, columnist for The Wall Street Journal and author of  the On the Trail blog. He’s been writing critically about ACORN since 1999. His latest piece, “Acorn Who?,” looks at President Obama’s reaction to the latest scandal.

Also from Washington, we’re joined by Brian Kettenring, spokesman for ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.

And from Rio de Janeiro, we’re joined by Glenn Greenwald, columnist for Salon.com, where he’s taken on the criticism of ACORN. He’s author of “Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics.”

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, gestures during his news conference on health care legislation, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

Healthcare moves and missile-shield news this week.

In the Senate, Max Baucus finally delivers his proposal on healthcare reform. Questions now: Will he get a single Republican vote? Will enough Democrats sign on to pass or change the bill? Was it worth trying to compromise?

Poland and the Czech Republic will not have American missiles aimed over Russia at Iran. There are better ways to defend, says President Obama — and George W. Bush’s defense secretary, Robert Gates.

We’ve got trade war talk. Carter on race. This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Michael Gerson, columnist for The Washington Post, contributor to Newsweek, and senior research fellow at the Institute for Global Engagement.

Katrina vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of The Nation. You can read her latest writings on politics at her “Editor’s Cut” blog.

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Jeremy Ben-Ami, executive director of J Street, in Washington, on Thursday, May 21, 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

For years, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, AIPAC, has been the big player in Israel lobbying in Washington. Still is, dwarfing all others in its field.

But there’s a new player in town. It’s called J Street. It’s much smaller. More liberal. And it’s trying to open up the American debate on the Middle East and represent, it says, more American Jews’ actual views. To be “pro-Israel,” it says, and “pro-peace.”

Small as J Street is, it may matter right now. This hour, On Point: The new Israel lobby. A conversation with J Street founder Jeremy Ben-Ami.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Seattle is Jeremy Ben-Ami, founder and executive director of J Street, a year-old, Washington-based lobbying organization that describes itself as “the political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement.” He served as President Bill Clinton’s deputy domestic policy adviser and as policy director on Howard Dean’s presidential campaign.

From New York, we’re joined by Marty Peretz, editor in chief of The New Republic. His blog at TNR.com is The Spine.

More links:

James Traub, in a piece titled “The New Israel Lobby,” wrote about Jeremy Ben-Ami and J Street in last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine.

Sam Tanenhaus has spent twenty years studying American conservatism. Hobnobbed with Bill Buckley. Wrote a much-admired biography of Whittaker Chambers. Dipped deep into the core philosophy of Edmund Burke.

Now, he looks around to find Rush Limbaugh, Bill Kristol, and Sarah Palin in charge of movement conservatism. Anger replacing loyal opposition. A destructive impulse killing true conservative principles.

Rush won’t like it, but Tanenhaus says honest, old-time conservatism is dead.

This hour, On Point: Sam Tanenhaus and his new book, “The Death of Conservatism.”

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Sam Tanenhaus, editor of The New York Times Book Review and the Week in Review section of the Times. He’s the author of a well-received biography of Whittaker Chambers and is working on an authorized biography of conservative icon William F. Buckley Jr. His new book is “The Death of Conservatism.” 

Here’s an excerpt from “The Death of Conservatism” (at RandomHouse.com) and an essay in The New Republic, “Conservatism Is Dead: An Intellectual Autopsy of the Movement,” from which the book grew.

John Fund, editorial page columnist for The Wall Street Journal and author of “Stealing Elections: How Voter Fraud Threatens Our Democracy,” released in an updated edition for 2008.

President Barack Obama addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, on Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2009. At back are Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. (AP)

Post your comments below

Wherever you stand on health care reform, it was clear where Barack Obama stood last night.

Not in a quiet Oval Office or on a cloud of inaugural adulation, but right down in the arena. In the ring. A president toe-to-toe with critics, even when they shouted back at the head of state.

He said the time for games is over. He chided those who would run up debt for war and the rich but turn their back on health. He told insured Americans they’d be safe, and all Americans they face a test of character.

Will it work? This hour, On Point: The president’s big speech on health care reform — and whether he can now get it done.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Gerald Seib, executive Washington editor and “Capital Journal” columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He’s co-author of “Pennsylvania Avenue: Profiles in Backroom Power.”

Noam Levey, health policy reporter for the Los Angeles Times. His analysis piece in today’s paper is headlined “Obama avoids the details on divisive issues to keep his healthcare goals on track.”

Drew Westen, professor of psychology and psychiatry at Emory University and author of “The Political Brain: The Role of Emotion in Deciding the Fate of the Nation.”  In a recent piece for the Huffington Post he analyzed President Obama’s communication strategy on health care.

Rep. Anthony Weiner, Democrat of New York. He has been a strong supporter of the public option.

Rep. Adam Schiff, Democrat of California. He is a member of the Blue Dog Coalition.

President Barack Obama walks to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Monday, Sept. 7, 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

And so, all the chips are on the table tonight for Barack Obama. Except they’re not chips. They’re lives.

American health care is in trouble. Even Republican leaders say the status quo is not acceptable. The last month has been a melee over what to do.

Tonight, President Obama makes a rare address to a joint session of Congress and the American public to make his case for reform. The hour is late. Stakes are over the moon.

This hour, On Point: We’ll talk with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, and more, about the president’s challenge and health care reform.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services. She was governor of Kansas from 2003 until earlier this year.

Also from Washington we’re joined by Ceci Connolly, national health care correspondent for The Washington Post.

And from Washington we’re also joined by Gail Wilensky, economist and senior fellow at Project HOPE, an international health education foundation. She was an adviser to John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign and a contributor to the McCain health care plan. She was administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration under President George H.W. Bush, directing the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

And from Ann Arbor, Mich., we’re joined by Jonathan Cohn, senior editor at The New Republic, where he writes the widely-cited health care blog, The Treatment. He’s also a senior fellow at the non-partisan public policy think tank Demos and author of the 2007 book “Sick: The Untold Story of America’s Health Care Crisis – and the People Who Pay the Price.” 

Smoke from the Station Fire rises over downtown Los Angeles on Monday, Aug. 31, 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

Back to school. Back to the health care debate — and the president’s task of selling health care reform to the public, and members of his own party. Bill Clinton tried it 16 years ago — next week, President Obama delivers a major speech to the American people.

We’ll look at that and other stories this week: in Afghanistan, more civilian deaths, debate over more troops, and questions about its election.

Plus, more jobs numbers… a swine flu comeback … two nightly female TV news anchors … and jockeying for a Kennedy Senate seat.

This hour, On Point: Our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jacki Lyden, guest host

Guests:

Janine Zacharia, diplomatic correspondent for Bloomberg News.

Jonathan Weisman, White House reporter for The Wall Street Jounral.

Eleanor Clift, contributing editor at Newsweek.

(On Point news analyst Jack Beatty is off this week.)

The U.S. Capitol is seen in the background as flags fly at half-staff at the Washington Monument in Washington, Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009, in honor of the passing of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. (AP)

Post your comments below

The end of an American era this week, as Senator Ted Kennedy succumbed to cancer.

While the nation marks the passing of an unrivaled political dynasty, Kennedy’s absence from the health care debate in Washington is felt more than ever. We’ll look at that and other stories this week:

Attorney General Eric Holder names a special prosecutor to examine CIA interrogations.

President Obama taps Ben Bernanke for another term as Fed Chairman.

Afghanistan awaits election results amid more violence and charges of fraud.

This hour, On Point: our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Jane Clayson, guest host

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Karen Tumulty, national political correspondent for Time. Her latest piece is “Health-Care Reform After Kennedy.” She blogs at Time.com’s Swampland.

Also from Washington we’re joined by Howard Fineman, senior Washington correspondent and columnist at Newsweek. In his latest piece he suggests why Ted Kennedy’s death resonates most with Baby Boomers.

And from Hanover, N.H., we’re joined by Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy joined South Boston's St. Patrick's Day parade on March 17, 1964. Inclement weather failed to dampen the spirits. (AP)

Post your comments below

Ted Kennedy left a big mark on a big country. But his most intimate compass settings were within a half-day’s sail of Boston.

Harvard and Hyannis. A debate in Southie. A death in Chappaquiddick. Friends and foes and New England supporters, right back through his brothers and father’s and grandfather’s generation.

Now the last of those brothers is gone. JFK. Robert Kennedy. Senator Ted Kennedy, dead at 77.

This hour, open phone lines to Ted Kennedy’s home turf. We’re going local, to the heart of Kennedy country.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Kevin Cullen, columnist and longtime reporter for The Boston Globe.

Steve Brown, WBUR reporter and news host, joining us from Hyannisport.

Sacha Pfeiffer, WBUR reporter, joining us from Martha’s Vineyard.

See full coverage of Ted Kennedy from WBUR, and a timeline of his life from NPR.org.

Watch a slideshow of Ted Kennedy’s life in pictures:

Sen. Edward Kennedy during a news conference in Washington on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001. Kennedy has died after battling a brain tumor, his family announced early Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

Senator Ted Kennedy — liberal lion and liberal lightning rod — died last night at 77.

He was the last of nine children in a storied American political family. The last of a generation of Kennedy brothers who left a nearly incalculable mark on American politics and culture.

JFK. RFK. Teddy.

As senator, Ted Kennedy became, over decades, legend and workhorse. Champion of the disenfranchised. Friend to Republican peers. Key supporter of Barack Obama.

This hour, On Point: the passing of Ted Kennedy and the state of the dream he said would never die.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Gerald Seib, executive Washington editor and “Capital Journal” columnist for The Wall Street Journal. He’s co-author of “Pennsylvania Avenue: Profiles in Backroom Power.”

Martin Nolan, former Washington bureau chief and editorial page editor for The Boston Globe. His obituary for Ted Kennedy runs in today’s paper.

Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire.

Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.

Ross K. Baker, professor of political science at Rutgers University and author of “House and Senate” (4th edition, 2008), “Strangers on a Hill: Congress and the Court” and “Friend and Foe in the U.S. Senate.”

Bob Shrum, longtime Democratic strategist. He was press secretary for Senator Kennedy from 1980 to 1984, and served as Kennedy’s principal speechwriter during and after the 1980 presidential campaign. He’s the author of “No Excuses: Concessions of a Serial Campaigner.”

See full coverage of Ted Kennedy from WBUR, and a timeline of his life from NPR.org.

Watch a slideshow of Ted Kennedy’s life in pictures:

An Afghan woman voter walks past male voters lining up to cast their ballots, as she heads towards the women's side of a mosque made into a polling station in Kabul on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. (AP)

Post your comments below

Rocket attacks didn’t stop the vote in Afghanistan this week. And town hall fireworks haven’t stopped the health care push at home.

In Kabul and beyond, Afghans braved Taliban threats and went to the polls, though in smaller numbers than five years ago. It’s been a long war.

At home, Democrats pushed back on health care, but pushed each other, too, in debate over the “public option.”

We’ve got Blackwater back in the news, a new human speed record, and Cash for Clunkers’ last hurrah.

This hour, our weekly news roundtable goes behind the headlines.

You can join the conversation. Tell us what you think — here on this page, on Twitter, and on Facebook.

-Tom Ashbrook

Guests:

Joining us from Washington is Tom Braithwaite, business and politics correspondent for The Financial Times.

Joining us from Philadelphia is Trudy Rubin, foreign affairs columnist for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

And from Hanover, N.H., we’re joined by Jack Beatty, On Point news analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic.