March 30th Show

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The Political Junkie

The budget impasse continues on Capitol Hill with divisions in both parties. Six senators, though, are working on a bipartisan compromise to solve the long term issues surrounding government spending and debt. Host Neal Conan and guest Political Junkies Mara Liasson and Chris Cillizza will speak with Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Saxby Chambliss (R-GA) — two of the "Gang of Six." They will also recap the week in politics, from the announcements by Michelle Bachman and Donald Trump that they might run for president, to the return of Indiana Democrats to the Hoosier state after 6 weeks in Illinois exile, to another hearing on the Hill about Islam in America.

Arab-Israeli Conflict

While much of the world's attention has been focused on anti-government uprisings across the Middle East, new violence has broken out across the Israeli-Gaza border. On Monday's show, Aaron David Miller argued that the revolutions in the Middle East have put the Israeli-Palestinian standoff solidly on the back burner. Today, Neal Conan speaks with Middle East scholar Shibley Telhami, who says that while the political shifts in the region will make a near-term solution unlikely, the Arab spring could present an opportunity for progress between Israel and the Palestinians.

When Is A Revolution A Revolution?

In Egypt and Tunisia, the dictators are gone — but much of the previous system remains. What comes next is far from clear. The protesters who overthrew the government have little political experience and risk being sidelined by more powerful interests. Neal Conan talks with NPR's Deborah Amos and Pulitzer Prize winning author Joseph Ellis about what has — and has not — changed in Egypt and Tunisia and about what defines a revolution.

Exiled Dictators

Egypt's military says former President Hosni Mubarak will not be allowed to leave Egypt, while there are reports that Italy may be trying to facilitate a safe haven in another African country for Libyan president Moammar Ghadafi. Other former heads of state have ended their days in exile in France or Saudi Arabia or the United States. Mubarak and Ghadafi may not be so fortunate — many want the dictators to appear before the International Criminal Court. Lawyer Scott Horton talks to host Neal Conan about the options available to Gadhafi and what's happened to previous exiled dictators.