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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! From Nixon to Sarah Palin
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
From Nixon to Sarah Palin
What’s happened to the Republican Party? What’s happened to populism? Read Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair on the life and death of Nixonland, and the class politics of the war over Sarah Palin. ALSO in our new subscriber-only CounterPunch newsletter, read Serge Halimi on how Russia gave Georgia and the U.S.a well-deserved black eye. PLUS Carrie Dann’s wonderful first-hand account of the fight of the Western Shoshone to reclaim their land. 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 September 6 / 7, 2008 Linn Washington, Jr. September 5, 2008 Elizabeth Walters Bill Quigley Alan Farago Dave Lindorff Ira Glunts Peter Morici Deepak Tripathi Manuel Garcia, Jr. Michael Donnelly Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day September 4, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair Paul Craig Roberts Ron Jacobs M. Junaid Levesque-Alam Andy Worthington Osama Dawoud Stephen Lendman Fidel Castro Website of the Day September 3, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Sen. Mike Gravel Vijay Prashad Nikolas Kozloff Ralph Nader Howard Lisnoff Steve Early / Cal Winslow Shepherd Bliss Bill Quigley Website of the Day
September 2, 2008 Marjorie Cohn Jonathan Cook Robert Weitzel Corey D. B. Walker John Ross Eric Walberg Judith Scherr Richard Morse B. R. Gowani Michael Greenberg Website of the Day September 1, 2008 Nikolas Kozloff C. G. Estabrook Manuel Garcia, Jr. David Macaray B. R. Gowani Saul Landau Charles Orloski Gloria La Riva Website of the Day August 30 / 31, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Bill Quigley Jeffrey St. Clair Andy Worthington Deepak Tripathi Stanley Howard Dave Lindorff Wajahat Ali Robert Fantina Josh Schlossberg Benjamin Dangl Missy Beattie Howard Lisnoff Suzan Mazur Rev. Jim Rigby David Yearsely Serge Quadruppani B.R. Gowani Richard Rhames Poets' Basement Website of the Day
August 29, 2008 Mike Whitney Brian Cloughley David Ker Thomson Joanne Mariner Neve Gordon Chris Genovali Ron Jacobs Michael Donnelly August 28, 2008 Judy Gumbo Albert Paul Cantor Saul Landau / Andy Worthington Ben Terrall Leonard Peltier Niranjan Ramakrishnan Donna J. Volatile Website of the Day
August 27, 2008 Anthony DiMaggio Jordan Flaherty Ralph Nader Melissa Checker Bob Sommer Cynthia McKinney Ali Khan M. Junaid Levesque-Alam Dave Lindorff David Macaray Website of the Day
August 26, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Michael D. Yates Paul Craig Roberts Andy Worthington Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Huwaida Arraf Joseph Grosso Sheldon Richman Binoy Kampmark Website of the Day August 25, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Bill Quigley Jonathan Cook James McEnteer Uri Avnery Will Potter Robert Jensen Stephen Lendman Wajahat Ali Carl Finamore Website of the Day August 23 / 4, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patty O'Grady Nicole Colson Steve Conn Deepak Trapathi Robert Fantina Jonathan M. Feldman Joshua Frank Osama Qashoo Howard Lisnoff David Michael Green Dave Lindorff Christopher Brauchli Alan Farago Michael Winship Richard Rhames David Rosen Patrick B. Barr Jamie Newlin Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 22, 2008 Boris Kagarlitsky Laura Carlsen Bob Barr Marwan Bishara Peter Morici Manuel Garcia, Jr. Charles Mostoller Sumbul Ali-Karamali Keith Rosenthal John F. Miglio Website of the Day August 21, 2008 Allan J. Lichtman Dave Lindorff Loserville: How Obama Blew It Ralph Nader Joanne Mariner Wajahat Ali Ron Jacobs Rostam Purzal Anthony Papa Website of the Day August 20, 2008 Michael Neumann Ray McGovern Eric Walberg Fidaa Abed Daniel Haack Mike Whitney Website of the Day August 19, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Deepak Tripathi Marwan Bishara Saul Landau William S. Lind Martha Rosenberg James Brittain Pratyush Chandra David Macaray Website of the Day August 18, 2008 Tariq Ali Gary Leupp Uri Avnery John Ross Farooq Sulehria Luis Rodriguez Manuel Garcia, Jr. Noah Baker Merrill Charles Thomson Website of the Day August 16 / 17, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Deepak Tripathi Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Ray McGovern Nicole Colson Fatima Bhutto Jean-Luis Rocca David Michael Green Ramzi Kysia Dave Lindorff Lisa Martinovic Richard Rhames Don Santina Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud John Stanton Howard Lisnoff Ron Jacobs Seth Sandronsky Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
August 15, 2008 Steve Niva David Remington Michael Winship Paul Craig Roberts Farzana Versey Harvey Wasserman Felice Pace Julian Critchley Website of the Day August 14, 2008 Saul Landau / Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Reza Fiyouzat Ralph Nader Christopher Brauchli The Cheerleader in China Jack Bradigan Spula Patrick Irelan John Walsh Dan Bacher Website of the Day
August 13, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts David Remington Brian Cloughley Glen Ford Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Tom Lewis Stan Cox Alan Farago Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day August 12, 2008 Uri Avnery Anthony DiMaggio Bill Christison Eric Walberg Kate Connolly Diane Farsetta Peter Morici Thom Rutledge Lee Patton Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day August 11, 2008 Ishmael Reed Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Douglas Kammen William Willers Greg Moses Jeff Leys Cynthia McKinney Alan Farago Website of the Day August 9 / 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Bruce Jackson Kevin Young Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Robert Fantina Brendan Cooney Mark Almond Lois Gibbs Rev. William Alberts Kathy Kelly John Ross David Michael Green Bill Moyers / Ron Jacobs Richard Rhames David Yearsley Lee Sustar Brenda Norrell Ben Terrall Poets' Basement 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
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Weekend Edition Pot and PalinJoe Biden, Drug WarriorBy FRED GARDNER An ominous thing happened off-stage immediately after Barack Obama delivered his eloquent acceptance speech to 83,000 admirers at Mile High Stadium in Denver. Steve Croft was waiting in the wings by pre-arrangement to interview him and Joe Biden for "60 Minutes."
In this instance Biden was stealing the thunder. Interrupting at that moment, in that context, was disrespectful and presumptuous (as if he and Obama were equals, when in fact it's a hierarchical relationship and Obama is the boss). I guarantee you that the district attorney of San Francisco -like most elected officials or CEOs, or Joe Biden himself, were the positions reversed- would not apprecige an interruption like that, especially with CBS News cameras rolling. The excitement of the moment is no excuse for what Biden did; every day in the White House is going to bring exciting moments calling for deference on his part. Croft had addressed his question to Obama, who is articulate and was answering with care. We can only wonder how he would have finished his thought. If you want to hear this revealing episode, go here. It's ominous because it presages an administration in which Vice-President Biden will have an unrestrained voice. He won't have the power of Dick Cheney, thank God, but he will have an unrestrained voice which, his record strongly suggests, will be raised to oppose reforms that threaten corporate interests. Joe Biden, Drug Warrior Kevin Zeese has been watching Joe Biden in action for more than two decades. Zeese is a Beltway-based political organizer with a law degree who, in the 1980s, co-founded the Drug Policy Foundation. A CounterPunch contributor, he doesn't wear single-issue blinders. "Corporate government and militarism are the major issues," said Zeese when asked for his take on the vice-presidential nominee, "and Biden is terrible on both.” As for the war on Drugs, Zeese says, “Pick a drug law you don't like from the last 25 years and thank Sen. Joe Biden. He deserves a lot of the credit for the U.S., with 5% of the world's population, having 25% of the world's prisoners —-and the racially disproportionate impact of the drug laws.” As Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Biden was responsible for the mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines passed in 1986. “The Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984 had forced judges to harshly sentence within a narrow range,” Zeese recounts. “So Biden knew in '86 that mandatory sentences were not needed... But he pushed for and passed mandatory sentencing anyway, because that’s what the narcs and prosecutors wanted. He held hearings at which they got opportunity to testify while opponents of mandatory minimums were kept out.” Biden also pushed for much harsher penalties for possession, use, or sale of crack (prevalent in the ghettos) than for powder cocaine (favored by white folks). Zeese notes: "In the past year Biden has said that was a mistake based on lack of information. He said the same thing about the Iraq war approval. In that case, as in many others, he helped ITAL cause END ITSthe lack of information. As Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee he put on phony hearings where only pro-war viewpoints were heard. He would not allow testimony from weapons inspectors, former military officers opposed to the war, or foreign policy academics opposed to the war. He used the hearing to mislead his colleagues and the public." Biden was also instrumental in creating the Office of National Office of Drug Control Policy and takes credit for coining the phrase "Drug Czar" to describe its director. He introduced the “Reducing Americans Vulnerability to Ecstasy (RAVE) Act of 2002,” which, Zeese called “an election-year bill, sloppily written and overbroad, based on exaggerated fears.” Zeese says, "Biden also beat the drug-war drum for escalating penalties for methamphetamine. He never sees drug absuse as a medical problem, only a law enforcement problem. His heart is always with the cops and prosecutors.” Zeese is dismayed by the prospect of Biden "taking the law enforcement line in an Obama White House, warning the young president, 'Be careful, remember, you smoked pot and used cocaine, you have to be tough on drugs.' Zeese also sees Biden pressuring Obama on behalf of his longtime corporate sponsors. “It’s fitting that the Senator from Delaware, the foundation of corporate government, was the biggest cheerleader for a bankruptcy bill that protects the credit-card issuers instead of consumers. He was always a spokesman for MBNA [Maryland Bank North America] in the Senate and now his son is a lobbyist for them... He wants to give the internet over to the telecom industry --the same industry he protected with immunity for illegal wiretapping of Americans. This is consistent with his views on civil liberties. He has voted for every version of the Patriot Act.” What does Zeese make of Biden calling for an end to the cocaine rock/powder sentencing disparity? “Election-year recognition of the importance of African Americans in the Democratic Party primary... Moving away from his sponsorship of this horrendously racially unfair law was essential to a presidential campaign, so he signed onto a bill that went nowhere.” The Case for Palin In an election between Joe Biden and Sarah Palin, a voter whose only concern was marijuana prohibition would have to favor the redneck babe. She acknowledges having smoked the herb, and she governs a state where medical use is legal. In 2006, when she was running for governor against Republican incumbent Frank Murkowski, Kyle Hopkins of the Anchorage Daily News queried the candidates and reported: “Palin doesn’t support legalizing marijuana, worrying about the message it would sent to her four kids. But when it comes to cracking down on drugs, she says methamphetamines are the greater threat and should have a higher priority. “Palin said she has smoked marijuana —remember it was legal under state law, she said, even if illegal under U.S. law — but says she didn’t like it and doesn’t smoke it now. ‘I can’t claim a Bill Clinton and say that I never inhaled.’” (Joe Biden, who is very Bill Clinton-like, lies every time you look at his hairline.) Gov. Murkowki’s re-election campaign emphasized his opposition to Alaska’s unique marijuana law, which allowed personal use and possession of up to four ounces in one’s home. Murkowski took credit for supporting ”re-criminalizing” legislation, which he signed in 2002 (and which was then disallowed, in part, by the courts). Hopkins of the Anchorage Daily News reported, “Murkowski said he’s never smoked marijuana and never been tempted. ‘The answer is no, no, no. It’s pretty simple.’” And look where it got him —a ticket back to civilian life, courtesy of Sarah Palin.
Note to Barack Obama I tried to get word to you through a mutual friend, but she probably didn't forward my suggestions. Too bad. Sarah Palin would not present much of a challenge if your running mate was Gov. McCaskill of Missouri (a woman with significant political experience) or Sen. Tester of Montana (a rancher who met his wife in church, and a true friend of yours). My advice at this point is to campaign with the Dixie Chicks (if they're willing) and don't be afraid to endorse the medical marijuana initiatives in Michigan and Colorado. These are states you need to win. Three out of four Americans know that marijuana is safe and effective medicine. And so do you. To thine own self, be true, Barack! Fred Gardner edits O’Shaughnessy’s, the journal of cannabis in clinical practice. He can be reached at fred@plebesite.com
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