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Today's
Stories
November
13 / 14, 2004
David
Domke
Bush, God and the Election: a Theology
of War?
November
12, 2004
Forrest
Hylton / Sinclair Thomson
Insurgent Bolivia: the Roots of Rebellion
November
11, 2004
Peggy
Thomson
Encounters with Arafat
Joe
Bageant
Hung Over in the End Times: Heaven's
Foot Soldiers Escape the Dog Patch
Ben
Tripp
The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grief
Edwin
Krales
Cuba's Response to AIDS: a Model for
the Developing World
Jordan
Green
How They Tried to Suppress the Black
Vote in South Carolina
Gary
Leupp
Guzman's Fist
Mike
Whitney
Meet Your New AG: Alberto Torquemada
Sam
Bahour
Palestine is Bigger Than Arafat
Sylvia
Shihadeh and Robert Jensen
The Irony of Arafat
Russ
Wellen
Why Do They Laugh at Us?
Mark
Scaramella
Kerry's Enablers: the Clinton
Cult Factor
November
10, 2004
Joshua
Frank
The Bright Side of Bush's Reelection
Mickey
Z.
The Worst President Ever?: Bush +
Clinton = Bubya
Stan
Goff
Debating a Neo-Con
Mike
Whitney
Exit Ashcroft
Dave
Lindorff
Taking a Leak on the Bush Bulge
Ghada
Karmi
After Arafat
Fr.
Gerard Jean-Juste
Letter from a Haitian Jail
Rev.
Bob Jones, III
A Letter to President Bush: "God Has Granted America a Reprieve"
Bernestine
Singley
Tampa Vote: Dispatches from the Ground
Website
of the Day
Free Camilo Mejia
November
9, 2004
Meredeth
Kolodner
Rebuilding the Anti-War Movement
Saul
Landau
The Appeal of George W. Bush: a Mystery for the World to Solve
Brian
Cloughley
Diego Garcia and Freedom, Bush-Style
Charles
Glass
US is Failing the Test of History in
Iraq
Robert
Fisk
Arafat Died Years Ago
Paul
Craig Roberts
The American Century is Over
Adam
Federman
Witch Hunt at Columbia: Middle East Profs Smeared as Anti-Semites
M.
Junaid Alam
The Discredited Logic of ABB
Tony
Kevin
Fallujah and the Making of a War Crime
Pierre
Tristam
Zealots on the Mount: Get Voltaire on Speed Dial!
Patrick
Cockburn
Crushing Fallujah Will Not End the
Iraq War
Website
of the Day
Don't Blame the Voters!
November
8, 2004
Roger
Burbach
Out of the Ashes: Bush Win is a Defeat
for Democrats, Not the Left
Dave
Lindorff
Lessons from a Quagmire: Fallujah, the Hue of Iraq
Greg
Moses
After the Morning After: On the Homefront of the Civil War
Greg
Bates
Nader's Election Legacy: Something to Stand On
Michael
Donnelly
The Hit-and-Run Left: From ABB to CYA
Nick
Schwellenbach
Gutting FOIA: the Harm of Too Much Secrecy
Adam
Jones
Men vs. Civilians in Fallujah
Amelia
Peltz
Note from Palestine: This Is Not the Time for Despair
David
Swanson
The Media Black Out on Vote Fraud
Brian
Rainey
The Devil Made Them Do It? Elections, Religion and the American
People
Poets'
Basement
Albert, Landau, Hamod
Website
of the Day
A Report on the US Supply of Toxic Weapons to Iraq
November
6 / 7, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
Don't
Say We Didn't Warn You
Jeffrey
St. Clair
Green Out
Carl
G. Estabrook
Who Killed Cock Robin?
Saul
Landau
Che: the Man and the Movie
Gary
Leupp
Let There Be Conflict!
Ben
Tripp
You Call This a Party?
Paul
Craig Roberts
The October Numbers: Continuing Stress on the Jobs Front
Jordan
Green
Heroin, Cocaine and Espanola, NM
Fred
Gardner
Haul of Justice
J.A.
Miller
Cults of the Jealous God: the Balfour Decision Reconsidered
Ramzy
Baroud
Life Without Arafat
Dave
Zirin
Out at the Ballgame: Pro Sports and the Gay Athelete
Ron
Jacobs
The Arrow on the Doorpost
Robert
Oscar Lopez
How White Liberals Became a New Racial Minority
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
The November Surprise
Dave
Lindorff
Silver Linings
Richard
Oxman
Invitation to the Bodily Snatched
John
Whitlow
Value Wars: the View from Lexington, Kentucky
Rahul
Mahajan
Fallujah and the Reality of War
Leila
Matsui
Political "Ju-On": Carrying a Grudge
November
5, 2004
David
Vest
The Not-Bush Brothers: a Fond Farewell
Elizabeth
Boylan
The Dems and Faith-Based Politics
Conn
Hallinan
War Crimes and Iraq
David
Zonsheine
Poetry and the Courage to Refuse
Cynthia
McKinney
It's a New Day!
Elaine
Cassel
Running from the Religious Right
Chris
Geovanis
First Protect Your Vote: Lessons for Democrats on Fixing Elections
from Chicago
Rob
Ritchie
Election 2004 by the Numbers
Jo
Guldi
The Beast of History is In
November
4, 2004
Sharon
Smith
The Self-Fulfilling Prophesy of Lesser-Evilism
CounterPunch
Wire
Bush Voters: 2000 v. 2004
Ben
Tripp
My Fellow Americans...Get Stuffed!
Michael
Donnelly
Why Not Blame Rosie?
Vijay
Prashad
An Election of Homophobia and Misogyny
Jules
Rabin
De Profundis: the Morning After
Robert
Jensen
Politics and Professions of Faith:
"Your Rich Men are Full of Violence"
Zoltan
Grossman
Blue State Secession: the Only Solution?
Jonah
Birch
1968 and Today
Dave
Lindorff
What Went Wrong?
Jack
McCarthy
I Knew It Was Over When Michael Moore Showed Up: He Was For Nader...Before
He Was Against Him
Donna
J. Volatile
Ahoy Kerrycrats! Welcome to Our Nightmare
Paul
Craig Roberts
The Bright Side of Black Tuesday
November
3, 2004
James
Hodge / Linda Cooper
The CIA and Abu Ghraib: 50 Years of
Training Torturers
Ann
Harrison
The Ghost Votes in the Machine: Voting Snafus Across the Nation
Greg
Moses
Blues for Fallujah
Anis
Memon
The Moral (Values) of This Election
Mickey
Z.
Post Mortem
Josh
Frank
The Dems Should be Ashamed
Chris
Floyd
No Ways Tired: Defeat, Dissent and the Bush Machine
spArk
Smoke Signals from Portland: Karmic Blowback and the Democrats
Friedrich
von Schiller
Folly, Thou Conquerest
Cockburn
/ St. Clair
Democrats in End Time: Who to Blame
Now?
November
2, 2004
Gary
Leupp
Democratic Elections in Historical
Perspective: The Wrong Side Wins
Lance
Selfa
Selling the War on Terror
Laura
Carlsen
The US Elections and Latin America: Can the US Ever be a Good
Neighbor?
James
Davis
To Control the Event: Attention Bicyclists
Richard
Oxman
Getting Up with Osama
Dr.
Ira Kay
A Mental Map of the Bush Presidency
Jesse
Walker
Frankenstein v. Chucky: the Halloween Election
Thomas
C. Mountain
Election '24, Deja Vu?: LaFollette, Nader, & the "Most
Important Election of Our Lifetimes"
November
1, 2004
Cockburn
/ St. Clair
How Bush Was Offered Bin Laden and
Blew It
Dave
Lindorff
Bulgegate Confirmed; Press Yawns
Greg
Bates
Nader Voter Survey Results
Roger
Morris
Novel Politics: Only Fiction Can Do
This Election Justice
Diane
Christian
Death Tolls
Lenni
Brenner
Secularists Be Warned: Christlike Kerry Roams Spiritual Universe
Christopher
C. Conway
Can the Left Sink Any Lower?
Francis
Boyle
Legal Elites and the Iraq War: the Nazis Had Their Law Professors,
Too
Jason
Leopold
Rummy's Failed War Plan
Website
of the Day
Dylan Resurrects "Masters of War"
October
30 / 31, 2004
JoAnn
Wypijewski
The Long March and the Million Worker
March
Winslow
T. Wheeler
Spartacus Tells All
Bruce
Anderson
Notes from the Big Empty: When the Hippies Invaded NoCal
Vicente
Navarro
They Worked for Franco: How Sec. of State Cordell Hull and Nobel
Laureate Camilo Jose Cela Collaborated with the Fascist Regime
Robin
Blackburn
How Monica Lewinsky Saved Social Security
Greg
Bates
A Question of Character: What Makes Nader Tick?
Nancy
Welch
The American Health Care Crisis: an Interview with Dr. David
Himmelstein
William
Lind
Election Day: Which Menendez Brother Will You Vote For?
Brian
Cloughley
Uzbekistan and Bush Hypocrisies
Suzan
Mazur
Oops They Did It Again: the NYTs the Paper of Record and Rip-Offs
Greg
Moses
Standing at the Graves of Iraq
John
Chuckman
Osama's Endorsement
Richard
Oxman
Why Not Accept Osama's Offer?
Ken
Avidor
Landscape of Fear: When Ugly is Suspicious
Niranjan
Ramakrishnan
Bush, Ba'ath and Beyond
Hope
Bastian
Strangling Cuba's Economy
P.
Sainath
Tower of Gabble: Toward a Sustainable Rhetoric
Dave
Zirin
Bush League: Why MLB Owners Support the Prez
Jon
Swift
The Dry Drunk Thang: Put a Cork in It
Ron
Jacobs
The Joke's on Me: a Review of Bob Dylan's Chronicles Vol. 1
Alexander
Billet
Taking Theatre Back: Are the States Ready for "Stuff Happens"?
Poets'
Basement
Jones, Laymon, Norris, Ford and Albert
Website
of the Weekend
The Origins of Halloween
October
29, 2004
Harry
Browne
No Justice for Peace Activist in County
Clare
October
28, 2004
Forrest Hylton
"The Gas is Ours:" Bolivia's
Ghosts of October
Col. Dan Smith
Rebellion
in the Ranks
Alan Maass
Jon Stewart v. the Pundits
Ron Jacobs
Ecstasy
in Red Sox Nation
Alexander
Cockburn
Kerrycrats and the War
October
27, 2004
Jules
Rabin
Crammed with Distressful Politics
Dave
Lindorff
Bulgegate: the Lies Continue
Katherine
Van Tassel
On the Home Front: Both Parties
Ignore Working Parents
Jeffrey
St. Clair
The Bi-Partisan Politics of Oil
October 26,
2004
Brian Cloughley
Three
Weddings and Lots of Funerals: Atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan
William Blum
Fear
Factors
Lenni Brenner
The
1964 Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Lessons for 2004
Ben Tripp
The
Chicken Salad Election
Fidel Castro
After the Fall
Greg Bates
The Nation's Flawed Calculus
Walter Brasch
Gag the Public: the War on Dissent
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
An Open Letter to Pat Buchanan
Mickey Z.
Rumble in the Jungle at 30: Ali, Foreman and the Congo
Amir Taheri
The Boom in Conspiracy Theories
Alexander Billet
Say It Ain't So, Bruce!: the Boss Endorses Kerry
Doug Giebel
The Religion of G.W. Bush
Kathleen Christison
Why
I Liked Thomas Friedman's Latest Column Before I Didn't
October 25,
2004
Ralph Nader
Letter
from a Minnesota Highway
Werther
West
Texas Wahabbism
Dave Zirin
Boston's Killer Cops: Death of a Fan
Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: Oregon Revokes Dr. Leveque's License
Omar Barghouti
Executing Another Child in Rafah
William J. Nottingham
Lori Berenson's Story
John Chuckman
A Foolish Consistency
Uri Avnery
On
the Road to Civil War
October 22
/ 24, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
You
Can't Blame Nader for This
Rev. William Alberts
On Bended Knee: Faith-Based Deceptions
Willliam A.
Cook
Killing for Christ
Saul Landau
George W. Bush: a Man of His Words?
Bill Quigley
I Held the Bullet in My Palm: Masked Haitian Police Shoot Children
While Arresting Priest
Christopher Brauchli
Seal It With a Frown: What Compassionate Conservativism Really
Means
William S.
Lind
Fallujah and the Moral Level of War
Sharon Smith
Guilt Trippers for Kerry
Greg Bates
Kerrynomics: "Hurt the Ones Who Vote for Us"
Justin E.H. Smith
Is Lesser Evilism a Compromise with Evil?
Rebecca Evans
Tarnished Legacy: Pinochet and the Chilean Military
Mike Whitney
Al Hurra TV: the Second Invasion
M. Junaid Alam
Purchasing Individuality in America
David Krieger
Nuclear Non-Proliferation: Examining the Policies of Bush and
Kerry
David J. Ledermann
The Emperor's New Crumbs
Lawrence Reichard
Same Old FBI Story
Website of
the Weekend
Lie Girls: the Real Coalition of the Willling
October 21,
2004
Ben Tripp
The
Undecided Voter Examined
Joshua Frank
Kerry
and the Environment:
It's Not Easy Pretending to be Green
Stan Cox
What
the Left Doesn't Get About Small Businesses
Bill Martinez
State
Depart and Cuban Visas: Only Anti-Castro Agitators Need Apply
Mark Engler
The War and Globalization
Lina Britto
and Lucia Suarez
Bolivia:
a Year After the October Insurrection
Website of the Day
Two Pampered Children of Wealth
October 20,
2004
Yitzhak Laor
"Did
You Two Squabble?": a Bullet Fired for Every Palestinian
Child
Jason Leopold
Sinclair
Broadcasting's Air War: a Long History of Journalistic Deception
Jesse Sharkey
A
Teacher's Account of How Military Recruiters Prey on High School
Students
Col. Dan Smith
Choking
Free Speech About the Draft
Dr. Teresa Whitehurst
Using My Religion
David Vest
If
Bush Wins, Blame Me
Jack Random
The Jackson 17: Reflections on a Mutiny
Ron Jacobs
Time
to Kick It Up a Notch
James Brittain
Plan Patriota and the FARC: a Change in the Countryside?
Christopher
Dols
Bombing Madison: Michael Moore's Fright Fest
Dave Lindorff
First They Came for the Nurses...
Website of
the Day
Banana Republican Catalogue
October 19,
2004
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Party
Favors: the Political Business of Terry McAuliffe
Jeff Taylor
Confessions
of a Swing State Voter
Matt Vidal
American
Myopia: "More Money in Your Pocket"
Victor Kattan
"It's Not Who You're Against; It's Who You're For":
Palestine Takes Center Stage At Euro Social Forum
William Loren
Katz
What Goes Around Comes Around
Sean Carter
O'Reilly Should Shut Up About Extortion Claiims
CounterPunch Wire
Who's Really in Bed with Republican Funders: Kerry or Nader?
October 18,
2004
Saul Landau
Facts
and Lies; Slogans and Truth
Dave Lindorff
Bulletin
on the Bush Bulge
Diane Christian
Sheep
and Goats: On the Language of Goodness
Greg Bates / Dave Lindorff
Betting on War: a Wager on the Fallout of a Kerry Presidency
Uri Avnery
Ariel
Sharon's Philosophy
Peter LaVenia
Leaving the Greens So Soon? a Response to Josh Frank
Mike Whitney
O'Reilly at the Whipping Post
Elaine Cassel
The Other War: Civil Liberties Three Years After 9/11
October 16
/ 17, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
The
Free Speech Movement and Howard Stern
Leslie Brill
Unmerciful Judge, Merry Executioners: the Death Penalty as the
True Measure of Bush's Character
Jules Rabin
Reckoning Deaths in an Agitated World
Dave Lindorff
About the Bush Bulge: Was There a Pucker in That Jacket or Was
the President Just Glad to be There?
Peter Linebaugh
Judging Judges: a Few Pages from The Mirror of Justices
Gary Leupp
Iran and Syria: How to Effect Regime Change and Expand the Empire
M. Shahid Alam
America, Imagine This!
Ron Jacobs
Trying to Cross Lake Champlain
Fred Gardner
The Flu Vaccine Question: How Bush Blew It
Jenna Orkin
The Toxic Legacy of 9/11
Dave Zirin
Name the DC Baseball Team: Contest Results
David Hamilton
Alone and Exposed: Bush as a Strong Leader?
Ralph Nader
Criticizing Israel is Not Anti-Semitism
Doug Giebel
Thinking the Unthinkable
Mark Engler
Crimes in Freedom's Name: Dick Cheney's El Salvador
Derek Tyner
Blacks Didn't Get the Vote by Voting: an Interview With Clarence
Thomas on the Million Worker March
Evan Jones
Gimme That Ole Time Religion: Cash and "The Mind of the
South"
Poets' Basement
LaMorticella, Klipschutz and Albert
Website of
the Weekend
No More Bush Girls
October 15,
2004
Paul Craig
Roberts
Where
Did These "Conservatives" Come From?: The Brownshirting
of America
Laura Carlsen
Wal-Mart
vs. the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon
Greg Bates
Empire of Insanity: Kerry's Iraq Troop Numbers
Michael Donnelly
News from a Swing State: Does Anyone Here Have a Spine?
Katherine Lahey
The Venezuelan "Threat": Why Do Kerry and Bush Fear
Hugo Chavez?
Robert Jensen
/ Pat Youngblood
Election Day Fears
Leah Caldwell
From
Supermax to Abu Ghraib: the Masterminds of Torture and Abuse
Website of
the Day
An Anti-Billionaire Policy? Why That Would Be Economic Racism
October 14,
2004
Darcy Richardson
The
Other Progressive Candidate: the Lonely Crusade of Walt Brown
Willliam A.
Cook
Turning
Myths into Truth
Laura Santina
Water, Women and War
Evelyn Pringle
Free Speech Banned by Big Pharma: What You Can't Say About Drug
Importation
Alan Farago
Lessons
from Nature
Rep. Maxine Waters
A Letter to Colin Powell on Haiti
Nicole Colson
Maimed
for Oil and Empire
October 13,
2004
Bishop Thomas
Gumbleton and Bill Quigley
Aftermath
of a Coup: The Other Disaster in Haiti
Sharon Smith
Barak
O-Bomb-a?: Democrats Target Iran
Christopher Brauchli
God and the Bush Administration
Mike Whitney
The Real Meaning of the Hamdi Case
Paul de Rooij
Amnesty
International: a False Beacon?
Website of
the Day
Operation
Truth
October 12,
2004
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
"Indian
Country"
Greg Bates
The Year of Voting Dangerously: a Survey Request of Nader Voters
in Swing States
Steven Conn
Progressives as Pawns: Kerry's War on Nader
Jason Leopold
Under Cheney, Halliburton Helped Saddam Siphon Billions from
UN Oil-for-Food Program
Security Scholars
for a Sensible Foreign Policy
Time for a Change of Course
Timothy J. Freeman
Dying for a Mistake
Pierre Tristam
Deconstructing Bush
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
The 2nd Debate: the Blurring of Act and Audience
Bill and Kathleen
Christison
Israel as Sideshow
Website of the Day
John Kerry's Personal Off-Shore Tax Shelters
October 11,
2004
Robert Fisk
Iraq:
Unforgivable Betrayals and Broken Promises
Kevin Pina
The
Untold Story of Aristide's Departure from Haiti
Patrick Gavin
Rethinking
Columbus Day
Chris Floyd
Tribes with Flags in the New Afghanistan
Daniel Wolff
Radioactive Money: Entergy, Political Cash and America's Most
Dangerous Nuclear Plant
Walter Brasch
The Only Ones Who Believe Saddam Had WMDs are Bush, Cheney...and
40% of All Americans
Mike Whitney
The Phony Afghan Elections: Ballot of the Disappearing Ink
Ari Shavit
"He Talks to Condi Rice Every Day": an Interview with
Sharon's Lawyer
Paul Craig
Roberts
The
Debates and the Big Lie
Website of the Day
Dylan's Greatest Recording?
October 9 /
10, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
"There
Are No Innocents"
Paul de Rooij
Northern Ireland is Still the Issue: a Conversation with Gerry
Adams
M. Shahid Alam
Making Sense of Our Times
Laura Carlsen
Protest and Populism in Latin America
Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: ASA Goes to Court
Col. Dan Smith
Bush's Credibility Gap
Paul Craig
Roberts
Faith-Based Economics
Greg Bates
What If Nader Critics Get What They Demand?
Joshua Frank
Cobb, the Greens and the Collapse of the Left
Felice Pace
Wilderness, Politics and the Oligarchy: How the Pew Charitable
Trust is Smothering the Grassroots Environmental Movement
Walter A. Davis
Of Pynchon, Thanatos and Depleted Uranium
William A.
Cook
The Agony of Colin Powell
Phyllis Pollack
Twas No Crank Call Love Affair: London Calling, 25 Years Later
Poets' Basement
Klipschutz, Albert, Ford
Website of the Weekend
Abu Ghraib: the Taguba Annexes
October 8,
2004
Jennifer Loewenstein
The
Israeli Invasion of Gaza
Moshe Adler
Edwards' Gambit: He Hoped No One Would Notice the Similarities
David Swanson
Media Blackout: Press Continues to Ignore Labor's Opposition
to Iraq War
Dave Zirin
CounterPunch Contest: Let's Name the New DC Baseball Team!
Rep. Ron Paul
The Draft is a Form of Slavery
William S. Lind
Keeping Our SA Up
Samar Assad
Kerry v. Bush: No Difference When It Comes to Israel / Palestine
Jim Ingalls
and Sonali Kolhatkar
The Elections in Afghanistan
October 7,
2004
Dave Lindorff
All
Out of Volunteers: A Draft is in the Air
Masha Hamilton
Fear in Kandahar
Christopher
Brauchli
Master of Corruption: the Ripening Scandals of Tom Delay
Jason Leopold
Is There Still Time to Impeach Bush?
Bruce K. Gagnon
Bombing the Panhandle: Fighting the Pentagon in Rural Florida
Meredith Kolodner
Where
is the Urgency?: The Anti-War Movement's Election Year Challenge
October 6,
2004
Jeffrey St.
Clair
"Please,
Dude, Can I Take Them Out?": Targeting Civilians in Fallujah
Ron Jacobs
Going
Nuclear: the Ghost of Edward Teller Lives
Michael Colby
The National Flip-Flop: Suddenly Bush is Unfit to Lead?
Tarif Abboushi
More of the Same: Israel Wins the Debates
Matthew Behrens
Canadian Firms Profit from Iraqi Blood
Mike Whitney
Rethinking WMDs
John Pilger
Stealing Diego Garcia
Ben Tripp
Kerry's "Triumph"
Kevin McKiernan
Cheney's Poison Lab: Wrong Time, Wrong Target
Patrick Cockburn
Elections
Will Not End the Fighting in Iraq
Website of the Day
Is There an Islamic Problem?
October 5,
2004
Anthony Loewenstein
Rupert
Murdoch and the Marginals: "Personally Creating Outcomes"
Mark Clinton
and Tony Udell
The
Suicide of an Iraq War Veteran
Greg Bates
Trading
Idiots: an Open Letter to Eric Alterman
Dave Lindorff
What's
the Frequency, Karl?
Norm Dixon
Why Washington Won't Save Darfur Villagers
Larry Kearney
God Talk and Burning Children
Bill Linville
Dirty Politics in the Land of "Clean" Government
Gary Leupp
What
Edwards Should Ask Cheney
Website of
the Day
A Guide to Halliburton for Tonight's Debate
October 4,
2004
Diane Christian
The
Gates of Hell
Joshua Frank
An Interview with David Cobb
Doug Giebel
Incurious George: What If Bush Didn't Lie?
John Chuckman
Strange Victory: Sen. Obvious and the Pathetic Lump
Ramzy Baroud
Reverse the Picture: Anatomy of a Palestinian Outrage
Julia Stein
Remembering Mario Savio and the FSM
Sean Donahue
Outsourcing
Terror: Kerry and Special Forces
Website of
the Day
Mapping
Mt. St. Helens as She Rocks
October 2 /
3. 2004
Paul Wright
John
Kerry on Criminal Justice
Kathleen and Bill Christison
An Exchange with Israeli Historian Bennie Morris
Kathie Helmkamp
My Son Trent: a Marine Who Doesn't Want to Kill
Phillip Cryan
Indigenous Mobilization in Colombia
Lenni Brenner
The First Ex-Catholic Saint: Memories of Mario Savio
Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: In Case You Missed "Montel"
Ron Jacobs
It Did Happen Here: When Neo-Nazis Terrorized Olympia
Ben Tripp
Sticker Shock
William S.
Lind
The Grand Illusion: Iraqi Security Forces
Dave Zirin
The Swindle of the Century: Baseball Comes to DC
Dave Lindorff
Lies from the Great Debate
Luscon Pierre-Charles
Haiti's Elections: a High-Tech Sham is Underway
Zoe Moskovitz
& Sasha Kramer
Separating Lies from Truth About Haiti
Nelson P. Valdes
Habana Night vs. Latin American Scholars in Vegas: 61 Banned
Cuban Academics
Alan Farago
The "Ownership Society" and the End of the Everglades
Nancy Haley
What is the Historical Jesus Trying to Tell Us?
Alex Billet
Long Live The Clash: London Still Calling After 25 Years
Steve Fesenmaier
Save and Burn: The War on Libraries
Poets' Basement
Smith, Holt, Albert
October 1,
2004
Steve Breyman
Kerry's
Missed Opportunities
Rose Gentle
My
Son Died for a Lie
Lee Sustar
Iran
in the Crosshairs
Ralph Nader
What
We Didn't Hear at the Debate: Where's the Exit Strategy?
Walter Andrews
We Are Less Secure Now Than Ever
Mike Whitney
Pandora's
Government
Mickey Z.
Debate
This
Saul Landau
The
Iraq Invasion: Lessons from the Pinochet Cases
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
|
Weekend Edition
November 13 / 14, 2004
Hot Love, Not
Perma War
Blue
Values
By
Dr. SUSAN BLOCK
"Question with boldness
even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must
more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded
fear."
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)
"As democracy is perfected,
the office of president represents, more and more closely, the
inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the
plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last
and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."
H.L. Mencken (1880-1956)
"Morality is a venereal
disease. Its primary stage is called virtue; its secondary stage,
boredom; its tertiary stage, syphilis."
Karl Kraus (1874-1936)
Like most folks I know, I've been singing
the Blues since Red Tuesday. Yes indeed, Brothers & Sisters,
Lovers & Sinners, I got dem Dem-dumb Blue State Blues...I'll
get over it. I'm essentially optimistic. But let me tell you:
When I'm Blue, I don't need some red-faced Red State redneck,
who voted for the nastiest gaggle of chickenhawk war criminals
and crony-nesting thieves ever to perch upon the Executive Branch,
lecturing me about "moral values." Nor do I need any
lily-livered, "Time for Healing," down-n-defeated Dems
trying to turn my deep Blue Values purple with acquiescence,
or render them vomit green with a dollop of cowardly yellow.
And speaking of cowardly lions,
hey Cowboy King George: Now's the time to hop on your horse and
ride through town, spending all that political capital you claim
you earned! What's the matter, Georgy, 'fraid of horses?
Not daring to question the
"mandate" of their horse-fearing Moral Leader, American
pundits in both Red and Blue States have taken refuge in bloviating
upon the importance of Moral Values in politics. As if the phrase
"honest politician" is anything but an oxymoron. Though
this is not about honesty, of course. Honesty is only a Red Issue
when you're talking about a Democrat, and it has something to
do with sex.
Nor does it seem that Red State
Moral Values have anything to do with torturing, raping or killing
innocent people. As the pundits never tire of telling us, one
in five American voters (obviously, a small minority of Americans)
cited "moral values" as a major issue, and eight out
of 10 of these Solomonic adjudicators voted for a President who,
independent studies had just revealed, had summarily, and quite
merrily executed over 100,000 men, women and children (mostly
the latter) upon invading the wrong country in his terrorist
War on Terror. And that's just a count for the first year.
But who cares about counting
dead people? Not General Tommy Franks who says, "We don't
do body counts." Even if we did, Barbara Bush (the Matriarch
Medusa, not the cute Yalie half of the Bush Twins) doesn't want
to "waste my beautiful mind on something like...body bags
and deaths and how many and when..." Nor does moral Red
America, who much prefers counting sexual sins, in which any
kind of sex--outside of married, monogamous, missionary position
intercourse with the lights out, for procreation only-counts
against you, if you're caught. And that's a big IF. As a Blue
State sex therapist who counsels a lot of Red State clients,
I know that more than a few exurbs-full of these pink-cheeked
moralizers are screwing their neighbors' wives, as well as their
neighbors' sons, not to mention their sheep, in between voting-as-sacrament
for the horse-phobic cowboy with the trigger-happy soul. And
no, I won't name names.
Though I'm their trusted Mother
Confessor in private, the Red Statists spare no effort in excoriating
my profession in public. Typical Madonna/Whore complex, I suppose,
but it's getting medieval. In the World According to the Red
States, sex therapists, educators, entertainers and other Americans
like me (especially those of us who reside in the azure-Blue
State of California) are more dangerous than Osama, Saddam, John
Kerry or even Hillary Clinton.
With the supreme assurance
of the ignorant, they assert our lack of values. Correct me if
I'm wrong (and please, no anthrax or horse poop in my email),
but as far as I can see, Red State Values come down to the 10
A's: antiabortion, anti-female, anti-secular, anti-science, anti-environment,
anti-poor-people, anti-gay, anti-art, anti-porn & anti-sex
(aka abstinence only). Now excuse me for not helping with the
"healing" here, but these are some sorry, terrorized
excuses for values. Any political compromise that bows down to
these values is as immoral and irrational as saying your candidate
would be "better and smarter" at conducting Dubya's
depraved War on Iraq.
To hear the pundits tell it,
one could assume that Americans who don't genuflect to the 10
A's have no values (or value) at all. It's just Red Values and
Blue Flipflops. It's true that many Democrats don't seem to know
which end is up these days, which is one reason why their candidate
could barely inspire the mammoth Anybody But Bush (ABB) vote.
Just imagine if he really had represented Blue Values. We actually
might have "Licked Bush, Beat Dick" and taken the bastards
out.
So what about Blue Values?
What about good old-fashioned Jeffersonian, radical-liberal,
democratic (with a small d), progressive, populist, personal,
Constitution-enshrined, science-based, heartfelt, sexual values?
Yes, SEXUAL. After all, VALUES is code for SEX, isn't it? Or
is it WAR? Well, it depends on the color of your glasses
So let me bring these colors
into focus, Brothers & Sisters, Lovers & Sinners, at
least as I see them. And remember: I'm a sex therapist, so don't
be shocked if my values turn you on.
MY BLUE
VALUES
Note: The following is a personal
free-associated list, not necessarily in order of importance,
and not necessarily representing YOUR BLUE VALUES
When I talk about Blue Values...
I'm talking about the values
of the Enlightenment, and not the Apocalypse;
I'm talking about the value
of Hot Love, and not Perma-War;
I'm talking about the values
of the U.S. Constitution, and not the Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad-Gita,
The Book of Thoth, or the Gospels According to Anybody;
I'm talking about the value
of lust, and not greed;
I'm talking about the value
of explosive orgasms, and not exploding ordnance;
I'm talking about the value
of bare beauty, and not naked aggression;
I'm talking about the value
of pussy juice and lube, and not our blood for their oil;
I'm talking about the value
of hard dicks, and not hardnosed dickheads;
I'm talking about the value
of "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness," and
not "God, Guns and Gay-Bashing";
I'm talking about the value
of Ethical Hedonism, and not Unethical Puritanism;
I'm talking about the value
of dildos and vibrators, and not cruise missiles and killing
machines;
I'm talking about the value
of intelligent erotica and smokin' BLUE movies, and not Mel's
Christian death porn or U.S. military snuff films showing the
village greens of Iraq running RED with blood;
I'm talking about the value
of the Bonobo Way, and not acting like a baboon;
I'm talking about the value
of masturbation, and not occupation;
I'm talking about the value
of consensual BDSM games, and not colonial-style torture;
I'm talking about the value
of people in bed with their lovers, and not TV news shows "embedded"
with the government;
I'm talking about the value
of science, innovation, open-mindedness and courage, and not
superstition, creationism, bigotry and fear;
I'm talking about the value
of governance based upon sweet reason, thrift and compassion,
and not religious hysteria, acid-induced ecstasy, or even the
rose-colored glasses of love;
I'm talking about the value
of sexual connection, and not gender competition;
I'm talking about the value
of good wine and good weed, and not jamming more than 2 million
Americans in prison, many for victimless "crimes";
I'm talking about the value
of blue skies and a clean environment, and not red skies radiating
pollution;
I'm talking about the value
of sex research and education, and not enforced sexual stupidity;
I'm talking about the value
of marriage, and not banning "certain people" from
getting married;
I'm talking about the value
of helping those less fortunate, and not blaming the poor for
being poor;
I'm talking about the value
of stem cell research, and not valuing the so-called "rights"
of the unborn over the living
And...
I've got plenty more values
I could talk about...though I don't want to get too preachy (hehe).
But speaking of abortion, let me indulge my Blues State Blues
for just a moment here, since being "pro-life" is being
touted, in hushed tones, as the #1 Moral Values Issue rallying
the Red State "values voters." I've often wondered
why Corporate America supports the Religious Right's war on women's
reproductive freedom. I mean, what do all these rich folks get
out of forcing all these poor women-even raped women--to have
kids they don't want to have? Of course, they don't help these
reluctant moms raise their unwanted kids; on the contrary, they
take away their aid. It's not possible that all these corporate
fat cats who support the rabid anti-abortionites are just sadists
(though as a therapist, I happen to know that more than a few
of them are). There has to be a solid, practical reason.
But I just didn't get it. Then
Kelpie Wilson reminded me to look to history, specifically Ancient
Rome, so often compared to modern America. Abortion was very
popular in Rome and throughout the ancient world. It was neither
immoral nor illegal. Unwanted children were a problem then as
they are now. Many families sold their "extra" kids
into slavery. Was abortion less moral than selling one's own
child into brutal slavery? You decide.
History tells us that more
and more Roman women decided in favor of abortion, as well as
contraception. They enjoyed their sex, those Romans. But as the
Imperial Empire spread and the Imperial economy slowed, they
stopped having large families they couldn't afford. Thus the
Roman slave population was drastically reduced. What was practical
and moral for Roman women and their families became an obstacle
for the Empire.
The Empire needed slaves. At
its height, about 20% of the Roman Empire's subjects were slaves.
When fewer women bore unwanted children that they had to sell
into slavery, many Roman systems (like the military) started
to falter. That's when the Roman government stepped in to outlaw
abortion, as well as some forms of contraception. Lawmakers forced
women, especially poor women, to bear unwanted children, precisely
because they wanted these women to sell these same children into
slavery to the state-and at a cheap price. Is that what the Reds
mean by "value"?
Obviously, American Evangelicals,
despite the fact that their movement made its name by being avid
"abolitionists" instrumental in awakening the nation
to the evils of slavery before the Civil War, don't see it this
way. But the fact is that all empires need slaves. They need
militaries filled with poor young people who have virtually no
other options. Of course, we don't call them "slaves"
here in modern America. We call them the Volunteer Army.
When a young poor person is
enticed to enlist to "be all they can be," then sent
to Iraq to do Dubya's dirty work and die, that's slavery. So:
when women have the right to abortion and contraception, they
produce fewer slaves. They tend to match the size of their families
to the resources available, to Mother Nature. They do not breed
for the state's slave army naturally; that sort of breeding tends
to be forced upon them.
The Nazis also criminalized
abortion. I know, it's not very sporting to utter the N-word
in the wake of Kerry's defeat and the desire of the jubilating
Reds and certain obsequious Blues for "healing." But
there's no doubt that Hermann and Adolf rode the wave of Red
Values (Rote Werte!), just like Karl and George II. In both Nazi
Germany and Bush's America, a militant, political Protestantism
was and is used to try to destroy "evil" and dominate
the world. Of course, the Nazis didn't ultimately succeed, and
neither will the Bushites. But our Blue Values place us rather
close in spirit to the academies and theaters of Weimar Berlin
that flourished in the 1920s, and look what happened to them
when the German Christian Brownshirts stormed in to "clean"
up the town.
It's scary enough to make us
Blue Staters spend hours drawing and redrawing maps featuring
the United States of Canada, with a short front "leg"
reaching into the Northeast and a longer hind leg picking up
the Pacific. We Californians are threatening secession, and only
half-joking when we do. We're the beautiful, blue-eyed, battered
wife, beaten black-and-blue by the redneck husband with a pistol
under his pillow. Beaten and belittled! So enough already, we
want a divorce! To add insult to injury, this battered wife here
is paying the bills! That is, almost every one of the Blue States,
led by California, sends more tax dollars to Washington than
Washington sends back to us, meaning we hedonistic but hardworking
Blues are subsidizing our Red church-hugging counterparts (so
ignorant they can't support themselves), even as they slap us
around, spend our hard-earned money on stupid wars and other
extravagances, and call us sluts and whores and bitches.
If a woman like California
asked me for advice on what to do about a husband like, say,
Mississippi, I'd counsel her to "Cut your losses and leave,
honey." And I must say, it's tempting. But I think I'll
give it another year. Ever the optimist, I see a silver-blue
lining in Electile Dysfunction '04. It has made me, and many
Blue Staters like me, stand just a little taller for our true
Blue Values than we did during the height of the election season
when the ABB mantra effectively shut us up. I'm true Blue, and
I stand by my Blue Values with as much passion and conviction
as Red Staters believe that the Virgin Birth was a fact of life,
and Dubya is an honest man
And I believe that Jesus is
on my side; after all, wasn't his "best friend" Mary
Magdalene? Mohammed, too; that harem thing isn't so bad if the
women are bi and like each other.
Brothers and Sisters, Lovers
and Sinners, we are all Children of Sex. We may or may not be Children of God, but no
matter what color our state, no matter whom we vote for or whether
our votes are counted or stolen, or whether we're of the majority
of Americans that don't bother to vote at all, no matter how
many people we kill or liberate or touch or heal, no matter whom
we hate or how much we love, we are ALL Children of SEX. Praise
the Lord and the Lady.
Now we true Blues just need
a few sexy, smart, media-friendly candidates to represent our
values. Let's start a Blue Party! Let's mount our horses, and
battle on, as indecent insurgents in our own land, doing what
we can to protect our Enlightenment-inspired Constitution and
hard-won political and sexual freedoms. Let us ride like Paul
Revere, singing out to the world that not all Americans are Red
with love for the murderous policies of George W. Bush. Let us
conspire, preach, protest, party and inform. And let us not
take up arms (except in self-defense or the defense of our loved
ones), for that is against our values.
Suing for our rights is another
matter. Let us cultivate the friendship of lawyers and/or sue
for our rights in pro per. Actually, I sued the LAPD in
pro per for infringement of my 4th amendment rights last
year, and negotiated a very good financial settlement, as well
as reached a more respectful understanding (more on that later).
And let us fight-in the courts and in the media, in the streets
and in the cornfields, in the boardrooms and in the bedrooms,
in the churches and in the strip clubs--for what we believe.
And let us continue to do so with pleasure, compassion, art and
lots of lube, because these are things we value.
Can I hear an Amen? Can
I hear an Awomen? All
right then, Brothers & Sisters, Lovers & Sinners, I want
you to roll up your sleeves and pull down your pants! There's
lots of work and play to be done, and less and less freedom to
do it.
Note from Dr. Suzy: This column
was extrapolated from my monologue "Bottoms Up For Blue
Values," broadcast live on November 6, 2004 on The Dr.
Susan Block Show.
Please Write Me! Send me your
tired, your poor, your hate mail, love letters, commentary, photos,
questions and confessions at liberties@blockbooks.com.
Dr. Susan Block is a sex educator,
cultural commentator, host of The Dr. Susan Block Show
and author of The 10 Commandments of Pleasure. Her essay
on John Ashcroft's "breast fetish" is included in CounterPunch's
Serpents
in the Garden: Liaisons with Sex and Culture. Visit her website
at http://www.drsusanblock.com.
© November 10, 2004, Dr.
Susan Block. For reprint rights, please contact rox@blockbooks.com
Weekend
Edition Features for October 30 / 31, 2004
November
6 / 7, 2004
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