home front with bill moyers (1991)

Synopsis

Documents the major crises facing our country at a time when the media and political world are distracted with matters abroad.

"Walking to work every morning during the Gulf war and following its progress like millions of other Americans, it was impossible to miss the paradox. While from thousands of miles away came reports of impressive military success, all around us were reminders of the battles we are losing at home.  

When the Persian Gulf crisis began last summer, it knocked a lot of other wars right off the front pages. Those of us who live in New York, like so many of you in troubled cities and towns across the nation, knew that nothing at home had really changed. America was battling a recession, fighting drugs, crime and poverty, struggling with budget deficits and the loss of public services. Yet suddenly all the cameras and all our eyes were focused on the Middle East. So during and just after the 100-hour ground war, producer Marc Levin and I covered some of the stories that were still happening here on the home front. We began on February 23rd, as George Bush’s noon deadline for a ground war approached."   - BILL MOYERS, Homefront, 1991