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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! How Cops Extort Confessions;
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
How Cops Extort Confessions;
How the U.S. “Justice System” Really WorksNinety-two per cent of felony convictions in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains or confessions. Without them the “justice system” would grind to a halt. In an important piece in our latest newsletter, available only to subscribers, Emily Horowitz shows how totally innocent people will “confess” under police pressure, even without physical torture. Horowitz outlines the powerful case for banning confessions altogether. Also in this new edition Marcus Rediker, co-author of the legendary The Many Headed Hydra, writes of popular heroism and resistance in the favelas of Medellin, Colombia. Alexander Cockburn reports on how America’s oldest bank, patronized by the global elites, washed billions smuggled out of Russia, and how the Russians might win their money back, shaking the world’s banking system if they do so. Serge Halimi describes the real battle for the soul of Europe. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
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Today's Stories August 9 / 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Bruce Jackson Kevin Young Robert Fantina Brendan Cooney Mark Almond Lois Gibbs Rev. William Alberts John Ross Ron Jacobs Richard Rhames David Yearsley Brenda Norrell Website of the Weekend August 8, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia, Jr. M. Shahid Alam Andy Worthington Lawrence J. Korb David Model Alan Farago Diop Olugbala Firmin DeBrabander Website of the Day August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond William Blum Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Robert Weitzel Jacob G. Hornberger Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ace Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day July 26 / 27, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair James G. Abourezk Joseph Nevins Uri Avnery Linn Washington, Jr. David Yearsley Binoy Kampmark Saul Landau Joshua Frank Brendan Cooney Jonathan Cook Robert Fantina Lee Sustar Michael Winship David Macaray Missy Beattie Robert Weissman Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend July 25, 2008 Harvey Wasserman Paul Craig Roberts Alan Farago Paul D'Amato Gary Leupp Niranjan Ramakrishnan Mike Whitney Paul Krassner Mike Roselle Website of the Day July 24, 2008 Greg Moses Andy Worthington James Bovard Joe Bageant George Wuerthner DC Larson William Willers David Macaray Website of the Day July 23, 2008 Winslow T. Wheeler Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Mike Whitney Susie Day Website of the Day July 22, 2008 Nikolas Kozloff Patrick Cockburn Soldz, Olson, Reisner Arrigo and Welch Moshe Adler Martha Rosenberg Dan Bacher Harvey Wasserman Anthony Papa Binoy Kampmark Website of the Day July 21, 2008 Ishmael Reed Mike Whitney Andy Worthington Scott Pellegrino John Ross Robert Weitzel Mike Stark Website of the Day July 19 / 20, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Dave Lindorff Saul Landau Ron Jacobs Uri Avnery Neve Gordon Roane Carey Robert Fantina Christopher Brauchli Fred Gardner David Macaray Richard L. Hutto Bill Moyers / Ronnie Cummins David Yearsley Alison McKenna Wajahat Ali Poets' Basement Website of the Day July 18, 2008 Corey D. B. Walker Mike Whitney Robert Bryce Mike Roselle Bouthaina Shaaban Eve Spangler Website of the Day
July 17, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts James G. Abourezk Ralph Nader Allan J. Lichtman Andy Worthington"Screwed Up" and"Abused": Omar Khadr's Interrogations at Gitmo Ronnie Cummins
July 16, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair Paul Craig Roberts Conn Hallinan Dave Lindorff William S. Lind Christopher Brauchli Website of the Day
July 15, 2008 Michael Hudson Brian Cloughley Patrick Cockburn John Ross Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day July 14, 2008 Uri Avnery Paul Craig Roberts Trish Schuh Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Alan Farago Seth Sandronsky Phyllis Pollack Website of the Day July 12 / 13, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair James Abourezk Nicole Colson Stan Cox Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Wajahat Ali / John Stauber Alan Farago Missy Beattie Robert Fantina Rannie Amiri Gregory Kafoury Fran Shor Martha Rosenberg David Macaray Andrew Wimmer Ron Jacobs Farzana Versey Kim Nicolini Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend July 11, 2008 Kevin Alexander Gray Sasan Fayazmanesh Peter Morici Mike Whitney Manuel Garcia, Jr. Robert Weissman Ramzy Baroud Kelly Overton Adrian Burgos Website of the Day July 10, 2008 Brian McKenna Paul Craig Roberts Saul Landau Ron Jacobs Joshua Frank Peter Morici Alan Maass Robert Weissman William Blum Alan Farago Website of the Day July 9, 2008 Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Luis Rodriguez Sheldon Richman Fatemeh Keshavarz Chad Hanson Sen. Russ Feingold Niranjan Ramakrishnan Dave Lindorff Stanley Heller Philip Rizk Website of the Day July 8, 2008 Nikolas Kozloff Laura Carlsen Mike Whitney Andy Worthington Patrick Irelan Chellis Glendinning David Macaray Dave Lindorff John Chuckman Phillip Doe Website of the Day July 7, 2008 Patrick Bond Kathy Kelly Andy Worthington Clifton Ross Elizabeth Schulte Ralph Nader Dave Lindorff Binoy Kampmark Stephen Fleischman Website of the Day July 5 / 6, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair / Patrick Cockburn Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Binoy Kampmark Rannie Amiri Eric Ruder Brian Cloughley William Blum Frank Barat Christopher Brauchli David Yearsley Ron Jacobs Karim Makdisi Wendy Thompson / N. D. Jayaprakash Ramzy Baroud Kelly Overton Richard Neville Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
July 4, 2008 Kathy Kelly Dave Lindorff Paul Krassner Jackie Corr Laray Polk Dan Bacher Walter Brasch Charles Modiano Website of the Day July 3, 2008 Sharon Smith Andy Worthington Laura Carlsen Peter Morici Ramzi Kysia Martha Rosenberg Anne Landman Dave Zirin Kristin Bricker Website of the Day
July 2, 2008 Patrick Irelan Vijay Prashad Brian Cloughley Ralph Nader Robert Fantina Dave Lindorff Parvez Ahmed Robert Bryce Website of the Day July 1, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Mike Whitney Douglas Macgregor Steven Higgs Andy Worthington Binoy Kampmark Dave Lindorff Roger Burbach Richard W. Behan Gary Leupp Website of the Day |
Weekend Edition Solzhenitsyn and the Origins of the American GulagThe Serpent's EggBy CHRIS FLOYD The first time I ever saw my name in print, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was the subject. It was a letter to the editor of the campus newspaper during my second year at the University of Tennessee. In a strange way, the letter -- published 30 years ago -- prefigured much of my later writing: it attacked the machinations of a right-wing organization seeking to cloak its low agenda of greed and elitism with deceitful manipulations of reality. This was in the days of the American Right's latest re-birth, which began -- with heavy corporate sponsorship and direction -- in the early 1970s. It was also the beginning of the grubby coupling of corporate elitists and sex-obsessed religious extremists, an unholy union which has produced many grotesque offspring in the last few decades, including, of course, the monstrous abortion that is the Bush Administration and the modern Republican Party. By the time I arrived in Knoxville in 1977, both the elitists and the religious extremists had made significant inroads, although still largely operating in separate spheres. The extremists preached a hard-core surrender of the will to an extremely narrow and brutally ignorant interpretation of Christianity. (So narrow that it made the Southern Baptist churching of my youth seem like laid-back Unitarianism.) My girlfriend, who had a troubled background, had fallen in with them for a brief time, before good sense -- and the natural desires of a healthy young body -- overrode the extremists' curdled proscriptions. So I got to know several of the adherents personally, and to see the ruinous effects of religious perversion on their lives. (Such as one young woman -- a gentle, trusting spirit, also from a troubled background -- who refused to study for her finals in her pre-law courses: "If Jesus wants me to be a lawyer, He'll give me the answers for the tests." Of course, He didn't; she failed, flunked out of school, and disappeared.) But at that time, the local right-wing Christians were more intent on ruling the private lives of their flock; they had not yet moved on to seeking dominion over the state. The intense politicization of modern American Christianity -- its grotesque metamorphosis into a nationalist, militarist, hateful servant of Mammon -- was still slouching toward Washington to be born. When it came to politics, the corporate elitists held sway on campus in those days. Most prominent among these were the weedy twerps of the Young Americans for Freedom, the rabidly anti-Communist -- and pro-segregation -- group founded by William Buckley in the early 1960s. After falling dormant in the days of detente, by 1978 it was reviving with new energy from the rising "neo-conservative" movement and the new infrastructure of right-wing welfare (think tanks, scholarships, publishing houses, etc.) now coming on line with corporate support. As I said, the agenda was raw greed; the exaltation of corporate power; the rollback of the personal freedoms and expansions of civil rights won, at such cost, since the 1950s; and the destruction of the very idea of a common good, of the notion that the quality of life in a community -- justice, equality, culture, recreation, infrastructure (good schools, roads, parks, libraries, other amenities), meaningful labor, humane commerce, opportunity for personal growth, and productive participation in a genuinely responsive democratic process -- could ever outweigh the private profit of a powerful few. Any expression of these higher values -- either in principle or, god forbid, in actual policy -- was (and still is) equated with "communism," and denounced as a rank, alien evil to be eradicated at all costs. At the same time, any expressions of opposition to communism, either in principle, or to the horrible abuses of particular communist regimes, were seized upon by the corporate elitists and put to the service of their rapacious agenda -- whether the opponent of communism agreed with that agenda or not. And this is where we came in. Having been expelled from the USSR in 1974 after the tremendous, harrowing labor of writing a landmark history of the Soviet concentration camps, The Gulag Archipelago, and smuggling it out of the country for printing abroad, Solzhenitsyn soon moved to the United States. There he made waves with his uncompromising denunciations not only of communism but also of what he saw as the fatal decadence of the West: sexual license, vulgar music, degraded culture, political chaos (the fierce anti-Stalinist always preferred a strong hand at the helm of state; hence his later praise for Putin), and unrestrained materialism, the heedless pursuit of profit. One could -- and did -- disagree with much of Solzhenitsyn's stance while also acknowledging that he had earned the moral authority to be heard with serious and respectful consideration. But it was also clear that the denunciation of materialism was an essential part of Solzhenitsyn's critique of the West. His preference seemed to be for a kind of modified capitalism under the direction of a benign, quasi-authoritarian regime with some democratic elements: something along the lines of what a few pre-Revolutionary officials, such as Count Sergey Witte and Pyotr Stolypin, tried vainly to introduce -- against much imperial opposition -- in the last years of Tsarist rule. In any case, his political ideas -- not to mention his artistic insights -- had nothing to do with the kind of ball-breaking corporatism and community-destroying elitism of the YAF and its ilk. Yet in an audacious act of intellectual burglary -- of a type we were to see over and over in the years to come -- the YAF appropriated Solzhenitsyn's moral authority and tried to dress their tawdry program in these stolen robes. One of the organization's weedy Buckley wannabes (they all seemed to ape the faux-aristo mannerisms of their founder) wrote a column in the campus paper brandishing the Russian master as an emblem and exemplar of the right-wing cause. I wrote in to register my fierce protest against this intellectual thievery. I was a student in Russian at the time, and had been reading Solzhenitsyn for several years. I was no expert, but it didn't take any expertise to spot the duplicity in the YAF's partisan hackery. Later of course, some of these local yokel cadres -- and countless others like them -- would go on to sinecures on the flanks of power in Washington, nuzzling on the public teat while denouncing "welfare queens" and other riff-raff. But of course their hypocrisy has a far more sinister side as well. For the products of the innumerable conservative organizations spawned by the corporate-sponsored "New Right" movement -- the YAF, the Young Republicans, the Federalist Society and others -- went on to help perpetrate and justify horrific abuses of power that echoed and replicated those that Solzhenitsyn denounced so bravely in the Soviet Union: torture, indefinite detention without charges, warrantless spying on the citizenry, deceitful propaganda campaigns, leaders beyond the law, and the construction of an American gulag of secret prisons and concentration camps across the world. Indeed, some of the torture techniques embraced and defended so avidly by the "movement conservatives" were taken directly from the KGB: the same agency that persecuted Solzhenitsyn. These are the people who dared associate themselves, for decades, with Solzhenitsyn's remarkable moral courage in standing up for truth against a vast and brutal engine of power. They were disgusting then; they are even more sickening now. For in those early days, they were just shallow, callow, second-rate fools, imitating their grown-up mentors in the boardroom; but soon enough they hatched from the serpent's egg that our corporate elite had nurtured with such care in the national bosom. They gained real power, and today stand with real blood dripping from their hands. Again, one needn't agree with Solzhenitsyn's politics to admire him as a man and artist – as one does with, say, the even more problematical Dostoevsky – and to mourn his passing. Politics was forced upon him by historical circumstances, and were in some ways his ultimate undoing, killing off the artist in him. Certainly, after becoming a lightning rod of dissidence and then the exiled figure of conscience, he never wrote anything that even approached the level of his masterpieces of the 1960s, particularly the two great novels, The First Circle and Cancer Ward. But Solzhenitsyn was, for a time, a supreme literary artist, and in those two works particularly he fused his moral and political vision with the abiding wisdom and insight into our common human predicament that only great art can provide. It is for this that I will most warmly remember him. Chris Floyd is an American journalist. He is a frequent contributor to Counterpunch, and the author of Empire Burlesque: High Crimes and Low Comedy in the Bush Imperium. He blogs at www.chris-floyd.com.
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