Biography

Preserving America with Dr. Steven Porter

Throughout his life, Steven Porter has followed four streams of activity: education, political involvement, writing, and music.

He earned BS, MA, PhD, and PD degrees in fine arts and educational administration at leading university centers in the New York metropolitan area and enjoyed a career in teaching and educational administration lasting from 1967 to 2002. His work in fine arts, education and educational administration garnered both national and international attention.

His involvement in politics began in the 1960s. As a Graduate Fellow at Queens College of the City University of New York, he worked for New York Senator Robert Kennedy’s 1968 presidential campaign. The Senator was assassinated before the primary was held.

Dr. Porter has run as a Democratic candidate for congress twice, bringing him into close contact with many top Democrats, including Congressmen Maurice Hinchey, John Murtha, and Dennis Kucinich; Senators Hilary Clinton, John Kerry, and Bill Bradley; and Governors Mario Cuomo and Ed Rendell.

In 1970, Dr. Porter began writing and composing and has subsequently published over 150 works for the concert and theatrical stage as well as twenty books ranging in topics from education to theatre and from fiction to political science and philosophy.

Among his books are WISDOM’S PASSING: the decline of American public education, and AMERICA’S DYING DEMOCRACY, a political treatise on the current corruption of the U.S. political system. He has also published a philosophical treatise entitled THE ETHICS OF A DEMOCRACY.

Today, Dr. Porter continues to be active in local politics and continues to write and compose. He and his wife Rita, devote much of their marriage to the rescue and rehabilitation of abused and abandoned dogs.

Archived Shows

• Preserving America – The Unheeded Warning

  In this program, Dr. Porter repeats the warning given to America which tried to alert the people of the nation to the forces which would destroy the democracy. He explains the warming, explains why it was true, and explains what the people of the natio...

• Preserving America – What Do We Do When the Government Violates the Law?

  In recent years, in so many ways, both state and federal rulings have flaunted the laws of the land in both spirit and in letter. Unconstitutionality abounds in many federal and state court decisions. Dr. Porter discusses instances of the abuses of gov...

• Preserving America – What Do We Do When the Government Violates the Law?

  In recent years, in so many ways, both state and federal rulings have flaunted the laws of the land in both spirit and in letter. Unconstitutionality abounds in many federal and state court decisions. Dr. Porter discusses instances of the abuses of ...

• Preserving America – Walking the Walk

  Having railed for many weeks against the dysfunction and corruption of our government and the pitifully low level of candidates for President, in this program Dr. Porter announces that he will do more than talk the talk. He will walk the walk and run f...

• Preserving America – Why Is America's Democracy Failing

  Left-leaning, Right-leaning, Centrist--virtually all Americans of every political stripe are unhappy with our democracy. They do not see America any longer as a model of democratic government, and most of our citizens believe that the nation is headed ...

• Preserving America – American Elections: Unfree and Unfair

  If you think that America--the great bastion of freedom--has elections which are fair and free, think again. The rules which allow for gerrymandering, ballot access, and the right to speak at public forums are so crooked and so manipulated, they have m...

• Preserving America – Once To Every Man

  The failure of the so-called "super-committee" has brought our nation to the precipice of economic calamity. The lack of leadership of our President, the pitiful choices offered up by the Republican candidates opposing him, the dysfunction of our Congr...

• Preserving America – From Occupy to Change

  Thus far, with the exception of the day the public moved some money from the big banks to local ones, the occupy Wall St. movement has contented itself with protests of little significance in terms of bringing about real change. While the movement is y...

• Preserving America – For Want of a Nail

  The Republican election mantras truly reveal how phony the candidates are. On the one hand they claim to want to help small business. On the other they rail against any national health care system as being some kind of socialist government takeover. In...

• Preserving America – Questions I'd Like to Hear

  The questions posed to our President and Presidential candidates are often shallow and rarely follow up on answers which cry out for follow-up. In this program, Dr. Porter laments this failure on the part of the news media and acts out the role of a de...

• Preserving America – Interview with Congressman Charles Rangel

  This is a very special program. For thirty uninterrupted minutes, the Congress's third most senior member speaks about the polarization and paralysis of government, the economy, taxes, jobs, health care, and the spirituality of the nation. It is an imp...

• Preserving America – Are They All Nuts?

  The economic plans of all the candidates running for President are so ridiculous and so incomplete that none of them are worth presenting to the public. In this program, Dr. Porter exposes the lies of the Republicans and the ineptitude of the Presiden...

• Preserving America – And We Become Victims

  The manipulation of our democracy by the powerful and privileged has made us see ourselves as victims. And so we become victims. In this program, Dr. Steven Porter discusses the ways in which Americans have been made to feel that regaining our democr...

• Preserving America – Electing a Real Democracy

  Articulating the functions of government and citizen in a real democracy and articulating the characteristics needed by the elected representatives of a real democracy are not enough to achieve a real democracy. We must also state how those representa...

• Preserving America – The American Covenant

  The conscious attempt of the American political right wing to dismantle the purposes for which the American democracy was established are discussed and opposed in this program. It is the most important discussion our nation can have at this juncture o...

• Preserving America – Pitifully Undistinguished

  One would think that at this critical time in our history the candidates for President would be of the highest intellectual caliber. Sadly that is not true. On the Democratic side we have a President standing for re-election who has thus far not dist...

• Preserving America – Here's Why Not

  The fixes for the healthcare, Social Security, and defense debts which are swamping our nation are really not difficult. Nor would it be difficult to give the people of this country the right to vote directly for President and Vice President. And it ...

• Preserving America – How Green Was Our Valley

  The ocsar for best picture of 1941 went to a film entitled HOW GREEN WAS MY VALLEY. It told of the destruction of a Welsh coal-mining town due to the forces of economic greed. We see the tragedy unfold through the eyes of the youngest son of a mining...

• Preserving America – Mud Wallowing

  An enormous amount of media coverage is devoted to things which have little to do with the problems our nation faces and the solutions to those problems. The hype of Donald Trump over President Obama's birth certificate and the endless photos of the ...

• Preserving America – The Delusion of Democracy

  In this program, Dr. explains how the glorious history of America has been diverted from the expansion of universal equality to the prostitution of its democratic precepts by skewing political influence to the rich and powerful. He also suggests a way...

• Preserving America – Color Us Demented

  In this program Dr. Porter discusses how candidates deliberately misrepresent themselves during their campaigns, and how they plan to rip off the American people in their new budget battles. He also offers a 7-point plan to fix our economy and preser...

• Preserving America – A Matter of Law

  Ever since the Korean War, American Presidents have engaged the nation in military action without the proper Congressional authorization. This is an unconstitutional act and a monumentally dangerous one for the survival of our democracy. In this progra...

• Preserving America – It's Tax Time!

  With humor and facts you just aren't going to get from the corporate media, Dr. Porter reveals the Congressional conspiracy to shift the tax burden of the nation from the wealthy and corporations to the beleaguered working middle class. This is must l...

• Preserving America – The Mission

  In this program, Dr. Porter discusses the mission of his program--to present the research of current events and the conclusions it leads to regardless of whether those conclusions benefit a left-leaning or right-leaning political agenda. He illustrate...

• Preserving America – Debt and Disaster. Part IV

  In this, the last part of the series on the American debt, Dr. Porter unfurls facts rarely, if ever, given to the American public on who has gained and who has lost in the national economy during the last 30 years. For example, the top 1% of American...

• Preserving America – Debt and Disaster. Part III

  In the third segment of the series on what is happening in states like Wisconsin and Ohio and in the Congress of the United States, Dr. Porter discusses what is the true agenda of the political right under the guise of economic reform. The gutting of ...

• Preserving America – Debt and Disaster II

  In this second broadcast of the series "Debt and Disaster," Dr. Porter laments the fact that under the guise of economic responsibility, the Governor of Wisconsin is trying to eliminate the bargaining rights of unions in order to break them and the an...

• Preserving America – Debt and Disaster Part I

  Congress simply hasn't got the courage to tackle the big-ticket items. Instead, it is making cuts which are both harmful and only the equivalent of window dressing. In this program, Part I of a series, Dr. Porter gives us all a website (www.usdebtclock...

• Preserving America – Antiquated Policies

  Dr. Porter continues his discussion of events in the Middle East, allying them with the misrepresentations of our media with respect to war and energy policies. He offers two alternatives with regard to energy as the result of what is happening in Egyp...

• Preserving America – Dangerous Alliances

  In this program, Dr. Porter discusses the alliances which have put America on the wrong side of history with respect to the current democratic revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt. Our rhetoric may say that we support the democratic ideals of oppressed pe...

• Preserving America – Where Did Our Watchdogs Go?

  When all else fails, there are two institutions of last resort designed to safeguard the American democracy. They are a free press and the United States Supreme Court. But since 1976, both our media and our Supreme Court have lost the ability and the...

• Preserving America – State of the Union

  In this program, Dr. Porter speaks directly to President Obama about his State of the Union address.

• Preserving America – Tuscon

  There is a wide-spread feeling that the tragedy of Tuscon was simply the act of one deranged citizen. In this program, Dr. Porter counters that opinion with a frank discussion of the many factors which led not only to the events in Tuscon but have led ...

• Preserving America – When Truth Stops Mattering: part 2

  Concluding this two-part series, Dr. Porter continues to expose the lies of our federal government, this time regarding the origins and conduct of the war in Afghanistan. First, he recaps the crimes and cover-ups the public has endured from the JFK as...

• Preserving America – When Truth Stops Mattering. Part 1

  The stream of lies and cover-ups by the federal government over the past fifty years or so is discussed by Dr. Porter in Part 1 of a two-part series which will culminate in his next program about Afghanistan. From the magic bullet theory of the JFK as...

• Preserving America – Hi, John. Hi, Mitch. It's Time We Talked

  Dr. Porter talks directly to Republican leaders John Boehner and Mitch McConnell about their opposition to the solution of a problem which threatens the survival of mankind.

• Preserving America – Hi, Mr. President!

  With humor and serious social commentary, Dr. Porter substitutes his wish list for the presents of the twelve days of Christmas with things our President and Congress might do for America in the upcoming New Year.

• Preserving America – Hey, Congress! Here's Your Assignment

  As if addressing one of his classes, former Assistant Professor Dr. Steven Porter gives the United States Congress his assignment for the New Year. It contains the five pieces of legislative action which Dr. Porter considers to be of immediate signifi...

• Preserving America – Beck and Call

  In this program, Dr. Porter takes a hard, critical look at Glenn Beck's newest book, "Broke." When the ignorance of people and the power of media elevates a 'spitoon philosopher' to national prominence, Dr. Porter argues, it presents a great threat t...

• Preserving America – To Be or not To Be

  In this program, Dr. Porter discusses the laws which relate to assisted suicide and euthanasia. He exposes the inconsistencies of the laws from state to state and the fuzzy thinking of the US Supreme Court in its rulings on the issue. Finally, he off...

• Preserving America – Take Your Cap Off

  In this program, Dr. Porter discusses the impending cuts to Social Security as well as projected changes in Medicare and tax laws. He offers real solutions to preserving the Social Securty system--solutions which would save benefits, eliminate the nat...

• Preserving America – American Elections: unfree and unfair

  There is nothing in the US Constitution which guarantees the right of the people to vote for President or Vice President. The laws of every state make unconstitutional rulings to prevent third party candidates from getting on the ballot. The Bush v. Go...

• Preserving America – The American Covenant. Part 3.

  In Part 1 of the American Covenant programs, Dr. Porter discussed the obligations of our government to our citizens. In Part 2, he discussed the obligations of the citizens to the nation. Both programs are in the archived section of Preserving Americ...

• Preserving America – The American Covenant. Part 2.

  In this second part of the American Covenant series, Dr. Porter discusses the obligations of citizens to our representative democracy, particularly as they apply to the politics and candidates of the current election year.

• Preserving America – The American Covenant. Part 1.

  In this program, Dr. Porter discusses the obligations of the American government as well as the rights and obligations of American citizens using the United States Constitution as his guide. In the absence of such discussions from candidates and medi...

• Preserving America – The Day the Earth Stood Still

  Using the 1951 film "The Day the Earth Stood Still" as a reference, in this program Dr. Porter speaks passionately against the campaign rhetoric which is encouraging a pre-emptive strike--perhaps even a nuclear strike--against Iran. He points out the ...

• Preserving America – The ASPCA and Your Pet's Health

  Dr. Porter is joined on this program by Aimee Christian of the ASPCA in a discussion of the importance of spaying and neutering your pets and in the ability of pets to bring about a spiritual growth in humans which at this point in human history is cri...

• Preserving America – WWF in the Arctic

  Naturalist Dave Aplin joins Dr. Porter in an information-packed discussion of what is happening to the ecology of the Arctic Circle. Mr. Aplin works with the World Wildlife Fund on issues which impact the preservation of the Arctic, one of the most im...

• Preserving America – Taxes and Truth

  In this program, Dr. Porter discusses the real facts behind the distribution of wealth in America and realities of who pays federal income taxes. He does this to debunk the lies of commentators like Rush Limbaugh who claim that the majority of income i...

• Preserving America – Intolerance

  In the nine years since 9/11 our world has become more violent, more polarized, and more intolerant. In this program, Dr. Porter discusses the origins of our growing intolerance in both history and religion and offers a perspective which has a chance...

• Preserving America – Cuddles the Duck and the Shining Light of Truth

  In this broadcast Dr. Porter examines the mis-use of language on the part of political figures and the media to mis-inform and manipulate the American public. In particular, he focuses on the mis-use of words, the omission of facts and the hype of pre...

• Preserving America – A Nation of War:Part II

  In this second part of the Nation of War broadcast (the first part of which is in the archived selection of shows), Dr. Porter discusses the historical roots of America's geopolitical position that we are somehow entitled to dominate the world. He trac...

• Preserving America – Athletes and Our Children

  One of the key elements in the education of our kids is the influence which the society at large has on them--what they see on TV, what they read in magazines, their heroes in the sports and entertainment industries. Today, it seems that our athletic a...

• Preserving America – AEHI

  As the world's carbon footprint continues to increase and our government seems more interested in subsidizing the fossil fuel industries than in developing jobs through alternate forms of energy, it is fortunate that some Americans are moving ahead in...

• Preserving America – A Nation of War

  Since the end of World War II in 1945, the United States has engaged in major military activities in Korea, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Lebanon, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama, the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan--in all ...

• Preserving America – Stop Prop 23

  If you think we have finished with the savagery of the oil companies, think again. Now that BP has finally stopped the carnage in the gulf, it is time to turn our attention to a collection of Texas oil companies who are trying to dispose of Californi...

• Preserving America – PNHP

  In last week's show, "The Hookers of Healthcare," which you can find by clicking the archives tab, Dr. Porter discussed the inadequacy and corruption behind the new Obama healthcare bill (HR 3590). In this follow-up, Dr. Porter interviews Oliver Fein...

• Preserving America – The Hookers of Healthcare

  In the wake of the "Obamacare" bill HR 3590, now law, Dr. Porter discusses the details of the political prostitution responsible for the writing and passage of this dreadful piece of legislation. Names are named, and the special interest perks of the ...

• Preserving America – Saving Social Security

  We are currently being told that the only two options for Social Security are to send it into austerity by cutting benefits or to continue benefits as they are by running up an unmanageable national debt. In this program, Dr. Porter debunks the myth th...

• Preserving America – Strictly Constitutional

  The superficial nature of the questioning of Supreme Court nominee, Elena Kagan, leaves a great void in the democracy. In this program, Dr. Porter talks about what questions might have been asked--should have been asked. But more, he asks you--the a...

• Preserving America – Fixing American Education

  The failure of America's schools has been an on-going problem for decades. In this program, Dr. Porter uses his career of more than 35 years in education to explain why our schools have failed, but more, he offers clear solutions to enable us to turn ...

• Preserving America – The Death of Journalism

  Most news broadcasts are no longer news. Sensationalism has replaced content. Entertainment has replaced information. America has very few news sources and most of them more intent on making money than preserving the democracy. In this program, Dr....

• Preserving America – Fixing our Financial House

  The federal government's budget for next year will be $3.8 trillion. Unfortunately it is projected to raise only $2.6 trillion, leaving a deficit of $1.2 trillion. When we add this to the existing national debt, America will be in the hole for more t...

• Preserving America – The Gulf oil spill--outrage and inactivity

  In this program, Dr. Porter discusses the political corruption behind the current environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion of the BP oil rig. He discusses America's lack of clean energy development and the lax, irresponsibl...

• Preserving America - Primary Results--the real story.

  In this program, Dr. Porter explains the effects of campaign financing on the outcomes of elections and how money is far more a determinant of election results than the rhetoric a candidate is programed to deliver during a campaign. He disects several...