Moyers & Company — Season 1, Episode 12: The Case for Old-School Faith & Politics

Episode synopsis

Two movements once at the vital center of our society, liberal politics and American Christianity have gone astray, says Eric Alterman (from the left) and Ross Douthat (from the right). On this weekend’s Moyers & Company (check local listings) each meets separately with Bill to discuss the implications of this wayward course on American Democracy. First, Eric Alterman describes the grand aspirations, ambitions, and historical ironies that prompted him to write his new book The Cause: The Fight for American Liberalism from Franklin Roosevelt to Barack Obama. He calls on liberals to regain “the fighting spirit” that characterized Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and to put it in service of new liberal policies for the 2lst century. Liberals, he tells Moyers, have overpromised and underperformed, and it’s time once again to make government credible.

More episodes from Season 1

• E1On Winner-Take-All Politics
• E2Crony Capitalism
• E3How Big Banks are Rewriting the Rules of Our Economy
• E4How Do Conservatives and Liberals See the World?
• E5Economic Malpractice and the Millennials
• E6Decoding the Campaigns
• E7Where Movies End and Politics Begins
• E8Moving Beyond War
• E9Standing Up For Democracy
• E10Gambling With Your Money
• E11An Optimist for Our Times
• E13Big Money, Big Media, Big Trouble