Today's Stories

December 5 / 7, 2008

Brian Cloughley
Shambles in Afghanistan

December 4, 2008

Ece Temelkuran
Inside the Ergenekon Case

Ralph Nader
Turning Crisis into Opportunity: Who Will Seize the Moment?

Harry Browne
The Bush-Obama National Security Strategy

Eamonn Fingleton
The American Car Industry: a Riposte to the Knockers

Conn Hallinan
The Syria Attack

Mike Whitney
Fiasco in Somalia: Another CIA Cock-Up

Stewart J. Lawrence
Obama and Latinos: Richardson, Alone, is Not Enough

Paul Fitzgerald /
Elizabeth Gould
Message to Obama: Stop Killing Afghanis

Karyn Strickler
Show Us the Green, Before We Show You the Money

Jennifer Matsui
Obama-Cola: the Great National Temperance Beverage

Website of the Day
"He Ain't Got Laid in a Month of Sundays..."

December 3, 2008

Andrew Cockburn
What's Wrong with the U.S. Military

Sheldon Rampton
Mormon Homophobia: Up Close and Personal

Robert Weissman
Nationalize GM

Yifat Susskind
From Mumbai to Washington

William Blum
The Obama Bummer: Vote First, Ask Questions Later

Alan Singer
The Ghost of the Defunct Economist

David Macaray
Trampled Under Foot at Wal-Mart

Martha Rosenberg
Born With a Statin Deficiency? Line Forms to the Left!

Mats Svensson
The Crimes Have No Period of Limitations

Website of the Day
Why Bill Richardson's Nomination Should be Opposed

December 2, 2008

Jeremy Scahill
Obama's Kettle of Hawks

Paul Craig Roberts
The New Arms Race

Ayesha Ijaz Khan
The Mumbai Terror Attacks: Is Pakistan to Blame?

Sarah Anderson /
John Cavanagh
Skewed Priorities: How the Bailout Dwarfs Spending on Other Global Crises

William Blum
The Mythology of the War on Terrorism

John Ross
Mexico's Drug War Goes Down in Flames

Dave Lindorff
A Tale of Two Terror Attacks

Nicola Nasser
A Peace Process That Makes Peace Impossible

Steve Conn
Operation Redskin Removal

Robert Bryce
Coal Hard Facts

Website of the Day
Country, Funk, Soul

December 1, 2008

Patrick Cockburn
From Baghdad to Mumbai, by Way of Pakistan

Damien Millet /
Eric Toussaint
Obama's Economic Team: Records of Failure

Vijay Prashad
The Fires in South Asia

Deepak Tripathi
Obama's Foreign Crises

Joshua Frank
Madam Secretary Clinton and the Middle East

P. Sainath
The Unlikely Martyrdom of Free Market Jihad

Alan Farago
The Right's War on Regulators

Binoy Kampmark
Sydney's Ball and Chain

Chris Genovali
Silent Fall

David Michael Green
Hope You Die Before You Get Old

Stephen Martin
The Chinese are Coming, the Chinese are Coming!

Website of the Day
Robert Rubin: Coward, Liar or Both?

November 28-30, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
In Time of Trouble

Mike Whitney
The Obama "Dream Team": Rubin Clones and Other Fakers

Ted Honderich
What is the Meaning of Obama's Election?

Tom Kerr
Preserving Filthy Lucre (Or Becoming My Dad)

Mike Ely
The Conquest of New England

David Yearsley
Hymns of the Conquest

Deepak Tripathi
Uproar in Police-State Britain

Sonja Karkar
Gaza's Death Throes

Ramzy Baroud
Salvation in a News Broadcast

Robert Weitzel
Israel's Settlement on Capitol Hill

Robert Roth
Can We Create a Movement for Change?

Carlos Fierro
Obama and the End of Racism?

David Macaray
How to Kill a Union

David Rosen
A New Sexual Agenda

James Cockcroft
Indigenous People Rising

Stan Cox
The Most Disappointing Gift

Steve Conn
Talking Turkey About College Basketball

Stephen Martin
The Electromagnetic Pulse and Economic Warfare

Richard Rhames
Busty Bimbettes, Bombs and Brand Obama

Kim Nicolini
Women as Products and Cannibalistic Achievers

Lorenzo Wolff
A Battle Cry for the Confused and Vulnerable

Poets' Basement
Woods, Harrison and Corseri

November 27, 2008

Tariq Ali
The Assault on Mumbai

Steve Hendricks
Thanksgiving We Can Believe In: Justice in Indian Country

Ralph Nader
Open Up Those Corporate Tax Returns

John Walsh
The Root Cause of the Crisis of 2008

Dave Lindorff
The Department of Homeland Lunacy

Christopher Brauchli
Thanks A Lot, Mr. Meese: How Alberto Gonzales Learned to Get You to Pay for His Legal Bills

Matthew Koehler
Giving Thanks for Burned Forests

Website of the Day
John Trudell: "Crazy Horse We Hear What You Say"

November 26, 2008

Michael Hudson
The Obama Letdown

Alan Farago
Bailouts and the New Math

Stanley Heller
Don't Bail Them Out, Take Them Over

Kevin Zeese
The Real Cost of the Bailout

Steve Conn
Now It Can Be Told (Except in North Carolina)

Ray McGovern
Kafka and Uighurs at Guantánamo

Ron Jacobs
King George is Gone: Now It's Time to Organize

Eric Walberg
Obama's Odious Entourage

Martha Rosenberg
Pay No Attention to That Turkey Being Slaughtered (Or How Sarah Palin Created a Whole New Generation of Vegetarians)

Matt Siegfried
Back to the Future With Barack

Website of the Day
"Every Time I've Compromised, I've Lost"

November 25, 2008

James Abourezk
Of Arrogance, Bailouts and the Big Three

Ralph Nader
Don't Suppress Carter

Patrick Irelan
PBS Reports for Big Oil on Venezuela

John Ross
Obama in Bedlam

Fred Gardner
Dr. Goodwin and the Infinite Con

Dan LaBotz
The Auto Crisis: a Big Caravan to Washington?

Tom Barry
Napolitano and Immigration Policy

Norman Solomon
The Ideology of No Ideology

Richard Morse
Memo From Haiti: Where the Culture of Corruption Meets the Corruption of Culture

Chris Strohm
The Missing Rules of Engagement in Cyberwar

Website of the Day
Green vs. Green?

November 24, 2008

Mike Whitney
You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Pam Martens
The Rise and Fall of Citigroup

Laray Polk
Bush's Library: the Kurds, Oil and Missing Records

David Ker Thomson
American Friends: With Friends Like These, Who Needs Canadians?

Uri Avnery
Likud Rising

Joe Mowrey
Deprivation and Desperation in Gaza

Ramzi Kysia
An Administration in Search of a Progressive: the Team Obama Should Have Picked

Kevin Zeese
The Causes of the Auto Crisis

Dave Lindorff
Rescuing the Blob: Idiots and Bailouts

David Macaray
Seven Reasons You Should Join a Union

Howard Lisnoff
Inaugurations Past and Present

Website of the Day
I Hate the Beatles

November 21 / 23, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
The Honeymoon is Looking a Bit Wan

Michael Hudson
Paulson's Cascade of Lies

Mike Whitney
Time to Move to Plan B ... If There is One

Barbara Rose Johnston /
Holly M. Barker
Cautionary Tales From a Nuclear War Zone

Serge Halimi
The Gloom of Empire: Downhill All the Way

Alan Farago
The Suburbs March On

Ralph Nader
Changing With Retreads: the Third Clinton Administration

Saul Landau
When Old Axioms Don't Apply

Robert Bryce
From LBJ to Obama: the End of Texas Dominance

Shannon May
Ecological Crisis and Eco-Villages in China

Binoy Kampmark
The End of the Yugo

Jack Ely
The Fate of the West's Wild Horses

Ramzy Baroud
The Rights of Women in War Zones

Missy Beattie
Why Vote, Anyway?

Larry Portis
Women Soldiers Serving in (and Barely Surviving) the Israeli Army

James McEnteer
Colombia's Laboratory of Failure

Christopher Brauchli
A Tale of Two Whales

David Yearsley
Real Swords, Fire and Don Giovanni

Adam Engel
Power Down

Ron Jacobs
The Continuing Saga of the White Album

Lorenzo Wolff
Honky Tonk Heroes: When Country Got Real

Poets' Basement
Raza Ali Hasan

Website of the Weekend
Lips and Fingers

November 20, 2008

P. Sainath
The Jurassic Auto and Idea Park

Brian McKenna
How Dow Chemical Defies Homeland Security and Risks Another 9/11

Paul Craig Roberts
What Uncle Sam Has to Say to His Creditors

Andy Worthington
How Guanántamo Can be Closed

Peter Lee
India Doubles Down in Afghanistan ... Maybe

Dr. Eyad al-Serraj
At the Erez Crossing

Sen. Russ Feingold
The Bush Pardons

Lance Selfa
Who Made the New Deal?

Ray McGovern
Keeping Gates

Benjamin G. Davis
Ending Torture; Prosecuting the Torturers

Tracy McLellan
Obama's Crony Democracy: the Return of Tom Daschle

Website of the Day
Finally, a Victory for Palestinians

November 19, 2008

M. Shahid Alam
Obama and the Politics of Race and Religion in America

Mario A. Murillo
Holder, Chiquita and Colombian Death Squads

Martine Boulard
Escaping the Dollar's Shadow

Robin D. G. Kelley
Will Obama be the First "Freedom" Democrat?

Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi
Obama and the Iron Cage

Jonathan Cook
Who Will Stop the Settlers?

Steve Conn
Spare Change or No Change at All

George Wuerthner
The NYT and the Beetles of Mass Destruction

Michael Winship
This Just in From Middle Earth

Stephen Martin
The Other Side of the Pleasure-Dome

Website of the Day
An Important Holiday Message From Kristen Johnston

November 18, 2008

Chellis Glendinning
Cheering for Morgan Stanley

George C. Wilson
Perils of Pakistan: Will It Prove to be Obama's Cambodia?

Franklin Lamb
Who Will Evict Israel from Lebanon: Hezbollah or the UN?

Bill and Kathleen Christison
The Irresponsibility of Appointing Hillary Clinton Secretary of State

Roger Burbach
Orchestrating a Civic Coup in Bolivia: How Bush Tried to Bring Down Morales

John Ross
Drilling vs. Direct Democracy in Mexico

Wajahat Ali
Is Obama the Muslim World's Superman?

Damien Millet /
Eric Toussaint
What Really Happened in Washington? The G20 and the Inconsistent Script

Marc Gardner
When Mooning is a Sex Crime

Eric Walberg
Courting the Bear: a New Era for Russian/Western Relations?

Wendy Williams
The Bottled Water Con

Website of the Day
Where's Zappa When We Need Him?

November 17, 2008

Michael Hudson
Bankers Shake Down Congress and the G-20

Paul Craig Roberts
When It's a Clear Day and You Can't See GM

Mike Whitney
Busted in Washington

Steve Conn
Where is Nader Country 2008? Mapping the Nader Votes

Andy Worthington
Closing Guantánamo: Advice for Obama

Jonathan Cook
The Real Goal of Israel's Blockade of Gaza: "They Are All Hamas"

Rannie Amiri
Dual Loyalties Will Doom Obama

David Macaray
Bailing Out the Automakers

David Michael Green
Twelve Victories

Charles Modiano
Sports Illustrated and Sexism: Tokenism or a New Day?

Website of the Day
The South Sea Bubble

November 14 / 16, 2008

Alexander Cockburn
Heading for the First Hundred Days

Jeffrey St. Clair
How Bill Clinton Doomed the Spotted Owl: a Cautionary Tale for Greens in the Age of Obama

Mike Whitney
Paulson the Bungler

Sasan Fayazmanesh
RIP: the Experts, 1929-2008

Moshe Adler
Keynes: China's Greatest Export?

Anthony DiMaggio
Transcending Race?

Jean Bricmont
Cats, Dogs and Creationism

Sheldon Rampton
The Eisenstadt Hoax: a Real Life Example of a "Fake Fake"

Douglas Valentine
Let the Trials Begin!

Joseph Nevins /
Timothy Dunn
Barricading the Border

Tom Barry
Rahm Emanuel's Political Pragmatism on Immigration

Ron Jacobs
Che Guevara Meets Trashman: the Genius of Spain Rodriguez

Larry Portis
The State of the Israeli State

Mary Lynn Cramer Obama's Brain Trust: Seems Like Old Times

Sherry Wolf
The Myth of the Black/Gay Divide

Peter Cervantes-Gautschi
Secretary of Greed: How Larry Summers Championed Wall Street by Impoverishing the Mexican People

Jacob Hornberger
The Conservative Malaise: Hey, Brother, Can You Spare Some Habeas Corpus?

Lance Selfa
The Center-Right Nation Con

Benjamin Dangl
Vermont Against General Dynamics

Seth Sandronsky
Lifelines in Hard Times

Russell Mokhiber
Time to Give the Friends of Big Coal the Boot

Allan Stellar
Nuke a Gay Whale for the Navy

Kelly Overton
Get Thee to a Shelter: the Obamas and the Million-Mutt March

Martha Rosenberg
Why Mink are Cheering the Economic Crisis

Richard Rhames
Palling Around with Ray the Plumber

David Yearsley
How I Played Hooky from "High School Musical 3"

Lorenzo Wolff
Zach is Back: Songs of Hurt, Rage and Resistance

Poets' Basement
Gibbons, Ford and Buknatski

Website of the Weekend
The Eyes Have It

November 13, 2008

Pam Martens
The Two Trillion DollarBlack Hole

Vijay Prashad
Guilt by Participation: Sonal Shah's Membership Has Expired

Patrick Cockburn
Who is Paying for the Iraqi National Intelligence Service?

Jonathan Cook
The Withering Palestinian Economy

Ralph Nader
Obama and the Rogue Regime

Bill Quigley
McCain Owes America an Apology

Lee Sustar
Bailing Out the Big Three

Omar Barghouti
Boycotting Israeli Settlement Products

Steve Conn
More Alaska Fun

Howard Lisnoff
The Last Bastion of Hate

Jeff Cohen
What Indy Media Heroes Can Teach Us

Website of the Day
Who are the Obamagelicals?

November 12, 2008

Johanna Berrigan
Scattered Families: the Iraq Refugee Crisis

Steve Conn
The Big Mystery Election in Alaska

Patrick Bond
Against Volcker

Bokar Ture /
Dedrick Muhammad
Remembering a Black Radical in a Barack Obama America

Alan Farago
The Hispanic Vote in South Florida: Not Dyed Blue Yet

Dave Lindorff
Rescuing Joe Lieberman

Karl Grossman
Break Up Big Oil: Tyranny in the Tank

David Macaray
An Obama Litmus Test: Will Labor Have a Seat at the Table?

George Wuerthner
Act Now to Save America's Public Forests

Susie Day
Heavy Weather

Website of the Day
Does the Planet Have a Future? an Interview with Derrick Jensen

Weekend Edition
December 5 / 7, 2008

(Or Boy is Bill O'Reilly in a for a Surprise!)

Thank God I'm an Atheist!

By CARL FINAMORE

Bill O'Reilly new book is entitled “A Bold, Fresh Piece of Humanity.” It's a rather strange formulation. Most of us probably have not had the distinction of being described as a “piece” and those that have would normally take offense.

But, then again, Bill O'Reilly is not easily offended because he is too busy being offensive. It's his calling card and he makes a good living off it.

Now, 50 years after his third-grade teacher, Sister Lurana, uttered those fateful words of his book title, the man says it describes “the essence of Bill O'Reilly.” Pretty lofty stuff.

O'Reilly promises readers “will learn how his traditional outlook was formed in the crucible of his family, his neighborhood, his church, and his schools, and how his views on America's proper role in the world emerged.”

Now this would otherwise not have the slightest interest for me, but it appears Bill O'Reilly and I have something in common. We both attended Catholic schools in the 1950s and 1960s and both came from devout religious families.

So, I began to think how and why our religious education affected us so differently. O'Reilly emerged from the experience as a right-wing, self-proclaimed enemy of “secularism,” whereas I emerged as a left-wing thinker and atheist. O'Reilly has sappy school-boy recollections, whereas my recollections yield memories of a stifling academic environment hostile to debate and critical discussion.

A Disclaimer

Now, this is not a review of O'Reilly's book. That would require me shelling out $26 and actually reading through the text. That is not going to happen.

You see, I already have an opinion of the man. I consider him a blabbermouth bully hosting a “show” that should be sued by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) for copyright infringement. In fact, O'Reilly very much resembles Bobby "The Brain" Heenan of WrestleMania fame in the 1980s.

Remember him? Bobby would strut around the ring with glib responses to questions, fast answers and outrageous declarations.

Just like O'Reilly, Bobby stretched the truth by calling himself a "broadcast journalist," despite references to his wrestling critics as "humanoids" and "ham-and-eggers."

But the similarities end there. Bobby never meant any real harm to anyone. His humiliation of opponents was laughable and was intended to be so.

Not so with O'Reilly. It's just not possible for him to conceal his deeply-embedded frustration and even virulent hatred for those with whom he disagrees. It all comes out in periodic eruptions such as his recently televised, vein-popping tirade against Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) over the mortgage crisis.

Indeed, O'Reilly's frightening mean streak often shatters his carefully cultivated veneer of Irish charm. But I suspect the source of O'Reilly's combative, often ugly defense of his self-described “traditional outlook” may actually be those youthful experiences that began with the good Sister Lurana.

I can believe it. Both personal experience and my own intellectual development have taught me that the clergy are metaphors for the police, courts and government, just as centuries ago Popes were the spiritual surrogates for the monarchy. Strict adherence to religious orthodoxy has always been designed to curtail rebellious impulses, especially among young people. It's all about preserving the existing class structure of society.

In the 1950s and 1960s, the reactionary Cardinal Spellman of New York City, often referred as the American Pope, embodied this religious rigidity and social authoritarianism. There was no brutal, murderous dictator on earth denied Spellman's celestial blessings. The cardinal was wined and dined by Batista in Cuba, Trujillo in the Dominican Republic, Stroessner in Paraguay, and Somoza in Nicaragua.

His busy CIA travel schedule still left time to enthusiastically support the Joe McCarthy witch hunt; severely criticize baseball legend Leo Durocher for marrying a woman of Jewish faith; and stridently condemn a few books and movies along the way.

The religious message of Spellman and his type really meant: “Don't Fight the Power.”

Of course, uncritical acceptance of the Church hierarchy and their ideology has always been contrary to educating critical thinkers. Rejection of rational discussion in favor of Church “infallibility” severely harms the human spirit, dampens curiosity and curtails debate and discussion.

Recall poor Galileo. On orders from the Pope, he spent his last few remaining years under house arrest for producing evidence that the sun, not the earth, was at the center of our solar system. (1)

In our time, the dark consequences of uncritical acceptance of Church authority revealed itself most vividly and tragically in the unchecked, deviant conduct of thousands of child-abusing Catholic clergy.

As a product of Catholic education, I knew nothing of such devastating childhood traumas at the time. Nonetheless, my Catholic education changed my life, though not in the way Church officials intended.

Authority becomes Authoritarian

In 1958, I was among the 1300 students from mostly working-class families who attended Our Lady of Victory grade school on the northwest side of Chicago. All the teachers were Franciscan nuns. Of course, there were very dedicated and caring nuns and priests at the school but, unfortunately, the bad ones made the biggest impression on me.

There is a reason for that. Those entrusted with my care were never held accountable for unacceptable behavior. Challenging the nuns and priests was simply not done. They were untouchable. Not even my loving parents would take my side when they were called to the Church rectory to discuss my “rebellious attitude.”

My rebellion began in the fourth grade when I was ten years old. Like most youngsters, I was naturally curious and full of questions. I went to school wanting to learn as much as possible.

In class one morning, we were discussing science with Sister Estelle. This nun was probably in her late 70s, having endured a lifetime of being clothed in medieval black robes covering her whole body except small parts of her face.

Any normal person must certainly internalize the effects of decades of emotional denial and restraint nuns of that era suffered. Consequently, Sister Estelle was no one to mess with. She kept a ruler in her hand ready to mete out street justice to anyone who challenged her.

In any case, I had often been the target of her wrath so I was on my best behavior that day. I knew instinctively it was not good to ask her a question she could not answer. Predictably, such impudence would arouse her rage.

But I had a question. I wanted to know how rain fell from the sky. So I took the risk and speaking as softly and with as much deference as I could muster, I asked my question. Sister Estelle hesitated for a few seconds before responding. “The tops of mountains poke holes in passing clouds and the rain falls out,” she explained.

Brilliant. It was so simple even I could understand. I was very appreciative. With all her faults, I thought at least I could learn something in her class. But later that day another thought hit me: There are no mountains in Chicago. In fact, Chicago has to be one of the flattest places on earth. I had never seen anything in the city even remotely resembling a hill.

So how does it rain in Chicago when there are no mountains to poke holes in the clouds? I had the youthful audacity to return to class the next day, cautiously raise my hand and say, “Sister Estelle, yesterday you said it rains when mountain tops poke holes in the clouds. But there are no mountains in Chicago.”

That was it. She hesitated only slightly before rushing down the aisle and smacking me right across the face. “You smart-Alec, don't you talk back to me.” After a few years of both seeing and feeling this mistreatment, I had enough.

From that day forward, I declared to my Mom and Dad that I did not believe in God, would not go to Church, and was definitely not a Catholic. Needless to say this was both dramatic and shocking to my innocent, kind parents.

In fact, it was so shocking they didn't believe me. That was good, because I didn't want to upset them, I loved them. Of course, as a ten year old it was also true that I really was not sure of what exactly I was saying.

I only knew my defiance was my own slap in the face to those who would control me rather than teach me. I was putting a plan into action. I began to dispute everything they wanted me to believe that was only based on faith. In fact, I had no faith in them. They had betrayed my trust and would never earn it back. I can thank the ignorance of Sister Estelle for teaching me the value of thinking for myself.

Rebellion: Act One

Soon after, I was asked to be an altar boy. I refused. The nuns and priests could not believe their ears. I was the first child to ever refuse this “honor.” But they still forced me to go to formal classes. I was finally drummed out because I refused to learn key Latin phrases required at the time. At the tender age of ten, I had my first successful experience with civil disobedience.

Later, I felt bad about missing out on learning Latin because it would have at least been progress in my education.

My encounters with priests were not much better. Years and years of unrealistic, secluded and denied lives took its toll on them, just as it had warped the personalities of many nuns.

The Church pastor was the elderly Father Fitzgerald. In the mornings, I would give the obligatory “Good Morning, Father” as we passed in the hallways and he would literally growl and sneer an undecipherable response.

I couldn't understand why he reacted to me in that way and tried to avoid him. I now understand with adult insight why he was so angry and detached. Clearly, he was an alcoholic.

Sadly, several other priests had unmistakable symptoms of this terrible disease which I could not recognize as a child.

O'Reilly's book cover features him in 1957 at eight years old with his hair neatly combed and slicked back while impeccably dressed in the traditional First Communion white pants and suit jacket.
He is posed at stiff attention with prayer book in hand. The young O’Reilly appears as the angelic, good Catholic-boy idyllic public image the Church liked to project.

But at my school around the same time, things did not go so well during one memorable First Communion ceremony. In fact, Father Sullivan was so drunk that he placed two Holy Eucharist Hosts in the extremely small mouths of the row of seven-year old First Communicants. He did not realize his error until the kindly Father O'Donnell and several nuns in the side vestibule began wildly waving their hands to get his attention.

Of course, Host wafers are considered sacred embodiments of the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Handing out two Hosts was truly an extraordinary lapse.

What was Father Sullivan's response when he realized his grave error? He abruptly and dismissively waved away the nearly-traumatized seven-year old children. I had a front-row view of this outrageous act of Fatherly irresponsibility and distinctly remember the look of utter horror in the eyes of these poor First Communicants.

Like me, they were trained to never question authority. If a priest gives you two Eucharist Hosts, just open your mouth and take them. Then shut up.

Trained to be obedient, they were all frozen, kneeling at the altar staring in utter disbelief. I had a different reason for my silence. I wasn't going to tell Father Sullivan he was making a grave error. In fact, I wanted his faults to be exposed. I wanted everybody to see these priests and nuns were not infallible. They made mistakes like everyone else.

In time, I would realize neither Sister Estelle, Father Fitzgerald nor Father Sullivan would ever be held personally accountable for their actions. But I also began to realize the problem was bigger than these individuals. The Church, as an institution, acted to protect itself rather than acting to protect me and the other students.

This was a huge revelation to me.

Opening My Eyes to the World

My plan in response was to overcome the odds against getting a good education by seeking the truth elsewhere. Fortunately, the world was changing considerably at the time. The youth rebellion of the 1960s challenged all levels of authority and sought alternative explanations for everything. Discussions and debates were occurring often and on an extremely wide variety of topics. I fit right in. My real education took place outside Catholic school.

I grew to believe religion was nothing more than primitive fantasies intended to substitute for genuine scientific inquiry. I found the whole idea of a Supreme Being to be both a preposterous fairy tale and a serious obstacle to understanding, explaining, and investigating the world around us.

Of course, many individual Catholics act with deep compassion and humanity guided by earnest religious convictions. In fact, I continue to admire my boyhood heroes, Fathers Daniel and Philip Berrigan, who acted selflessly against the militarism and greed in our society. At one time, these brave, non-violent peace activists were both listed among the FBI's Ten Most Wanted fugitives. Another personal hero is Father Roy Bourgeois who is still at it. He was recently threatened with Papal excommunication for his outspoken support of ordaining women priests.

But I consider the admirable personal actions of some Catholic clergy and believers not indicative of the otherwise sterile, reactionary essence of the institution of the Church and its “infallible” theology.

As George Carlin said in one his frequent sacrilegious bits: “Why pray if everything is already worked out by an invisible man in the sky. I say man because no woman would ever screw things up this bad.”

To those who pray as a substitute for rational thinking, I also prefer Carlin's recommendation to “just flip a coin or wear a rabbit's foot, it gives you the same random odds as praying to God or any of the other superstitions available.”

Besides, I can't forget the example of Fredo Corleone in The Godfather. Hoping to gain an edge in catching fish, Fredo said a “Hail Mary” only to be shot dead and dumped right in the middle of the lake for his efforts.

For myself, I long ago left behind any belief in superstitions and any allegiance to absolute authority. I can thank my Catholic education for that.

Bill O'Reilly and I, it would seem, both got something out of the whole experience.

Carl Finamore agrees with Woody Allen that “after we die, there is nothing, so get over it.” Until that time comes, he is living it up in San Francisco where he can be reached at local1781@yahoo.com

1 A brief commentary on how fiercely even the modern Church favors Biblical revelations over facts. The same Cardinal Robert Bellarmine, acting on directives from the Inquisition, who ordered Galileo to not “hold or defend” the idea the earth moves and the Sun stands still at the center, was not only Sainted in 1930 but declared a Doctor of the Church. A Church near my Chicago neighborhood carries his name. Even more revealing, the current Pope Benedict XVI caused a stir when he favorably quoted a leading Catholic philosopher who wrote that the Church's “verdict against Galileo was rational and just….”

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