home / subscribe / donate / tower / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events

 

Will the US Turn into Argentina?
Get the Answer Only in CounterPunch's Print Edition

US's top radical economist, Prof.Robert Pollin, gives CounterPunch newsletter subscribers exclusive briefing on the global casino and the dollar's future. Is neoliberalism still calling the shots? Is US now under Chinese rule? Move over, Kansas! Maybe Tom Frank got it wrong. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz asks, What's the matter with Oklahoma? How did one state go from pro-worker to proto-fascist in a generation? It'll take a mutiny: Alexander Cockburn on how Cindy Sheehan and a radical movement can end the war. Get the answers you're looking for in the latest subscriber-only edition of CounterPunch ... CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now!

Note: If you tried to purchase a subscription or a book earlier this week, you probably gave up in frustration That's because our shopping cart was undergoing some plastic surgery. It seems to ready to please now. Please give it a try!

Call Toll Free 1-800-840-3683
or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558

Today's Stories

September 17 / 18, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Levee Town

Ralph Nader
The CEO's Chief Justice

Diane Christian
Abortion and the Politics of Death

Ned Sublette
Mr. Bush's Tuba

Dave Lindorff
One Big Sham: New Orleans as Potemkin Village

James Petras
From Victims to Vandals: Katrina and the Mass Media

Jeff Chapman
Katrina's Victims and the Minimum Wage

Ron Jacobs
The Politics of Withdrawal from Iraq

Matthew Koehler
Battering the Bitterroot National Forest

 

September 16, 2005

Ishmael Reed
Race, Katrina and the Media

J.L. Chestnut, Jr.
Bush's Judges and Black America

James Petras
The St. Patrick Four: the Feds Confront the Anti-War Movement

Louis Proyect
Brawl at Baruch: Hitchens vs. Galloway

Christopher Brauchli
Baked Brownie: Cooking a Resumé

Naomi Archer
"It's Not that the Government isn't Responding, They are Obstructing Responses"

Edward Gibbon
The Patron Saint of Defense Contractors

Francis Boyle
Grounds for Impeachment?

Paul Craig Roberts
America is in the Clutches of Autocrats

 

September 15, 2005

Jeffrey St. Clair
Flirtations with Disaster

Brian J. Foley
The Profit-Driven War

Justin E.H. Smith
Frances Newton and the Prospects for a New Abolitionism

Dave Lindorff
Sacrificial Murder by Texas: Frances Newton Died for Bush's Sins

Kevin Zeese
Katrina and Iraq: the War Comes Home to Roost

Jason Leopold
Funeral Gate in New Orleans

Todd May
There are Palestinians Here!: the Demographic Factor

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Brawl in the Family

Pat Williams
Lewis and Clark in Montana

William S. Lind
Swept Away in Iraq

Saul Landau
Bush, God and Katrina

 

September 14, 2005

Gary Leupp
Managing Perceptions of Presidential Ignorance

Evelyn Pringle
Iraqis to Bush: Where Did All Our Money Go?

Jordan Flaherty
Back Inside New Orleans

Jeff Chapman
The WJS's Flawed War on the Minimum Wage

Ramzy Baroud
The Perils of Normalization with Israel

Manuel Garcia, Jr.
The Power of Water

Mickey Z.
Eugene V. Debs and the Legacy of Dissent

Sam Husseini
A Statement from Mother Nature

Ralph Nader
Questioning Judge Roberts

 

September 13, 2005

Uri Avnery
Who Murdered Arafat?

Werther
Jackals and Jackasses

JG
Where's the Outrage Over the Jailing of Kevin Pina?

Marlene Martin
The Texas Killing Machine: Will Another Innocent Woman be Executed?

Joshua Frank
Katrina's Political Aftermath: Blame More Than Bush

Ron Jacobs
Saving America's Serengetti

Dave Lindorff
Compassion for the Camera

Ben Tripp
It's an Ill Wind

Dave Zirin
Galloway Goes to Washington

Billy Sothern
How the Other Half Lived in New Orleans

Website of the Day
Save the Life of Frances Newton

 

September 12, 2005

Bill Glahn
Tears of Rage in New Orleans

Jason Leopold
How Michael Brown Helped Bush Win Florida

Bill Simpich
Confronting Nancy Pelosi

Mike Whitney
Padilla and the Death of Personal Liberty

Justin Felux
Free Kevin Pina!: US Journalists Arrested in Haiti

Rep. Cynthia McKinney
No One Came to Get Them

Carol Norris
Let Them Eat Toxins

Robert Jensen
Our Grief is Not Special

Gideon Levy
The Mean Streets of Tel Rumeida

Paul Craig Roberts
Power Grab in New Orleans

Website of the Day
New Orleans Artists Relief Fund

 

September 9 / 11, 2005

William A. Cook
From New Orleans to Palestine

Saul Landau
How the US Supplied Iran with Nuclear Know-How

Lance Selfa
Confederacy of Dunces: Why FEMA Failed

Col. Dan Smith
Paying the Piper

Elaine Cassel
Judge Roberts: On the Far Right of a Far Right Party

Ron Jacobs
Food as Govt. Weapon in New Orleans

Elisa Salasin
My September 11th

Christopher Brauchli
When "Action" is Delay: Bush's Picnic & Plan B

Evelyn Pringle
War Pays: Douglas Feith's Platinum Parachute

Tom Crumpacker
The Posada Case: When Injustice is Justice

Dave Lindorff
The Big Blowback

Robert Jensen
Race Stories: the Heart of Whiteness

Gary Bass
A Civics Lesson from Katrina

Dr. Susan Block
Katrina Speaks!

Steven Sherman
The American Left and the Battle of New Orleans

Col. Douglas A. Macgregor
Escape from Oz: the Pentagon's Light Show

Barghouti / Grima
Re-Thinking the Mediterranean

Jeff Berg
Katrian and the Baghdad Dead: Bush's Tipping Point?

Fred Gardner
Marijuana Might Really Make You Cool

Charles Sullivan
It's Not Easy Being King

Dan Vojir
God's Ambulance Chasers

Website of the Weekend
On the Road in Louisiana


September 8, 2005

John Chuckman
Lessons from Hell

Dan La Botz
Rehnquist: the Chief Injustice

Carol Norris
The Psychological Aftermath of Katrina

David Krieger
Cindy, Katrina and Iraq

Irma Thomas
An SOS from the Soul Queen of New Orleans

Roger Morris
Legacy of Neglect

September 7, 2005

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
John Wayne and the New Orleans Indians

Werther
Victor Davis Hanson: Bard of the Booboisie

Chris Floyd
No Direction Home

Jason Leopold
The Rich and the Dead

Michael Donnelly
Cassandra, Apollo and the Red Queen

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Clueless in Crawford; Witless in Washington

Linda Milazzo / John Stern
Idiot Wind: Haley Barbour, Katrina and Hiroshima

Gary Leupp
Nepal: the Prachanda Path

Pierre Tristam
Commander-in-Zilch Fails New Orleans

Kevin Zeese
Kucinich Speaks: Dem Leadership Needs to Get Out of the Way

Charmaine Neville
How We Survived the Flood

 

September 6, 2005

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor
Our Birmingham: Did Katrina Blow Off the White Sheets of American Racism?

Dan La Botz
Katrina: State Failure and Human Solidarity

Larry Bradshaw / Lorrie Beth Slonsky
Trapped in New Orleans: First By Floods, Then By Martial Law

Chuck D.
Hell No We Ain't Alright

Debbie Dupre / Bill Quigley
Thank God There's No One to Bomb in Retaliation

Omar Wariach
Edward Said vs. Orwell and Hitchens: "It's Racism at the Bottom"

Mike Whitney
Why Rehnquist Doesn't Deserve to be Buried on US Soil

Carol Norris
In the Wake of Katrina

Norman Solomon
Firing Mike Brown is not Enough

Michael Neumann
But What About the Snipers?


September 5, 2005

Paul Craig Roberts
Resurrecting Karl Marx

David Vest
The Battle of New Orleans:It's Looking a Lot Like Fallujah

John Blair
Don't Rebuild New Orleans, At Least Where It Was

Fidel Castro
What Cuba Has Offered the People of the Gulf Coast

Mike Whitney
80,000 Rodney Kings in New Orleans

Alan Farago
Talking Points for a City of Corpses

Doug Giebel
Bush's New Orleans: "So This is Where He Used to Come to Get Drunk"

Mark Chmiel
Beatitudes for This New American Century

Carol Wolman, MD
God to Bush: "You Blew It"

Norman Solomon
Bush's Answer to Cindy Sheehan: "It Was About Oil"

Eli Stephens
An Administration Without Shame

Peter Linebaugh
Loo! Loo! Lulu! Loot!

 

September 3 / 4, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
From Mitch to Katrina

Paul Craig Roberts
Failure on Every Front

Gary Leupp
New Orleans and the System that Destroyed It

Dave Lindorff
Profiteering from Disaster: the Real Looters Wear Pinstripes

Dan La Botz
Time for the U.S. to Start Over

Jonathan M. Feldman
From Iraq to New Orleans: the U.S. as a "Failed State"

Landau / Hassen
The Cuban 5: In Prison for Fighting Terrorism

Tim Wise
In the Name of the Lord: "Those Looters Should be Shot"

Mitchel Cohen
People of the Dome: "Let Them Eat Shit..."

Dave Zirin
The Superdome: the Earth's Most Damnable Homeless Shelter

Mike Ferner
Waiting on the Outside World: Who Will Rescue America?

Rep. Cynthia McKinney
Shame on the Bush Administration

Jason Leopold
Bush's Demented Priorities: the State of Marriage Over the State of Louisiana

Justin Felux
Kayne West is My Hero: "Bush Doesn't Care About Black People"

Monica Benderman
Iraq War as Thrill Ride: Getting Off the Rollercoaster

Ben Tripp
Grab a Towel, You're Next

Jordan Flaherty
Notes from Inside New Orleans

Bill Pahnelas
A Rising Tide has Swamped All Boats

Seth Sandronsky
Hurricane Katrina Exposes the True Face of Capitalism

Mark Donham
Where's Karl Rove?

Fred Gardner
CHP Agrees to Follow Law; Justice Stevens Apologizes

Joshua Frank
Winning the West

Jackie Corr
The Privatization Mob

Poets' Basement
Albert, Engel, Louise

 

September 2, 2005

Evan Jones
Katrina and the Corps of Engineers: Manufacturing Disaster

David Stocker
How Good is Your Levee? Frankly, Scarlet I Don't Think He Gives a Damn

Dave Lindorff
Baghdad on the Big Muddy

Norman Solomon
The Smirk of a Killer: Ending the Impunity of the Bush White House

Mike Whitney
How Bush Deals with a Disaster He Helped Create: Blame the Looters

Eli Stephens
What They Should Have Learned from Hurrican Ivan

Ron Jacobs
Katrina, Iraq and Blood Profits

Christopher Brauchli
Onward Christian Assassins

Harvey Wasserman
Bush to New Orleans: Drop Dead

CounterPunch Wire
Faith-Based FEMA? Feds Directing Katrina Money to Pat Robertson

Glen Ford
Will the "New" New Orleans be Black?

 

September 1, 2005

Dr. Greg Henderson, MD
Situation Critical: a Doctor in the Flood

Paul Craig Roberts
How New Orleans Was Lost

Mike Whitney
Hurricane Donald: How Rumsfeld Smashed the National Guard

Lee Sustar
Left Behind to Drown: the Poor and Hurricane Katrina

Dave Lindorff
The Real Disaster: Bush and the Democrats

Lynn Gonzalez
The Cindy Spark: Mainstream America Stirs

Chris Floyd
The Perfect Storm


August 31, 2005

Cockburn / St. Clair
New Orleans After Katrina

John Walsh
Democrats and the War

Bernstein / Mishel
Bush Economy: Incomes Down; Poverty Up!

Alan Farago
What are the Hurricanes Trying to Tell Us?

Norman Solomon
The National Guard Belongs in New Orleans, Not Baghdad

Bryan Newbury
"Hey, Shoot that Black Guy Running Off with the Bottled Water!"

Jason Leopold
What's Eating Cindy Sheehan?

Website of the Day
The Swiftboating of Cindy Sheehan

 

August 30, 2005

Gary Leupp
Venezuela: Launch Pad for Muslim Extremism?

Joshua Frank
Bunny and the War Profireers

Evelyn Pringle
The Woman Who Blew the Whistle on Halliburton Gets Canned

Urariano Mota
To Die by Mistake: the Killing of Jean Claude de Menezes

Ron Jacobs
High Water Everywhere

CP News Service
An Open Letter to Alberto Gonzales: Free the Cuban 5

Roger Morris
The War for the Future

 

August 29, 2005

Seth Sandronsky
Pat Robertson, Big Oil's Televangelist

Norman Solomon
War Liberals and Cindy Sheehan

Charles Sullivan
Nation of Fools

Paul Craig Roberts
Does Anyone Know What We're Doing in Iraq?

Website of the Day
Monsanto Threatens "Bitter Greens"



August 27 / 28, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Assassination: as American as Apple Pie (and Torture)

Ricardo Alarcon
The Cuban 5 in Atlanta: a Long March Towards Justice

Diane Christian
The Politics of Death: Assassination

M. Shahid Alam
How to be a Good Victim

Laith al-Saud
Baghdad Circus: Iraq's Constitutional Process

Diane Farsetta
School of the Americas Fights Back: PR Plan for Pentagon's "Demonstration Village"

Saul Landau
Reagan and Bottled Water: the Privatization of Everything

Tom Barry
Hurricane Hugo: Relating to Venezuela

Nicholas Rowe
Barenboim in Ramallah: an Unfinished Symphony

George E. Bisharat
Enforce the Ban on Settlements

Dave Lindorff
Another Mother for War: the Exploitation of Tammy Pruett

Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: Doing the Right Thing, Even If You Are Fearful

John Francis Lee
The Juggernaut of Jingo

Evan Jones
I.F. Stone on the Perils of Empire

Ali Khan
Defining Aggression

Poets' Basement
Albert, Nettnin, Engel, Ford, Krieger, Louise

August 26, 2005

Lee Sustar
Showdown at Northwest

Ramzy Baroud
Cindy Sheehan and the Power of the Ordinary

Christopher Brauchli
The Return of Edwin Meese

Peter Harley
The Wall as a Good Thing?

John Snider
Not One of the Gang

Kathleen Christison
Can Palestine be Put Back in the Equation?

 

 

August 25, 2005

Paul Craig Roberts
Hegemony Lost: the American Economy is Destroying Itself

Cockburn / St. Clair
Loewenstein's Big Mail Bag: Gaza and "the Shame of It All"

J.L. Chestnut, Jr.
Racial Politics in California They May Vote for You, But They Won't Have Lunch with You

Chhandasi Pandya
Libeling Venezuela

Richard Ward
Impressions from Camp Casey

Norman Solomon
Exploiting the 9/11 Anniversary: Will the Media Help Bush, Again?

Joshua Frank
Will the Real Leaders Please Stand Up?

Seth Sandronsky
GM, the UAW and US Health Care

Lucinda Marshall
The Democratic Unraveling: How Not to Mention the War

VIPS
Memo to Bush: Try a Circle of Wise Women

Ralph Nader
It's Time to Make the Iraq War Personal

 

 

August 24, 2005

Stan Goff
Containing the Anti-War Movement: the Hayden Plan

Rachard Itani
Papal Double Standards

Elisa Salasin
The Militarization of Our Children

Ron Jacobs
Who Would Jesus Assassinate?

John Chuckman
Robertson and Posada: Bush's Kind of Terrorists

Leibowitz / Heller
Gaza: Disengagement or Military Redeployment?

Douglas Valentine
Suicide as Sacrament

Thomas Nagy
Congress Should Go to Crawford: an Open Letter to Cindy Sheehan

Alexander Cockburn
Hitchens Backs Down, Says Sheehan "Not a La Rouchie"

Website of the Day
Stations of the Cross

 

 

 

August 23, 2005

Rev. Graylan Scott Hagler
Pat Robertson is Not a Christian

Karen Kilroy
Pittsburgh and Salt Lake City Protests: Violent Echoes of Kent State

Stew Albert
Fascism in America: Are We There Yet?

Joshua Frank
The Democrats and Cindy Sheehan

Dave Zirin
Pedaling Away from Principle: Lance Armstrong Cozies Up to Bush

Julia Olmstead
Our Reckless Chemical Dependence: A Little Round-Up With Your Precautionary Principle?

CounterPunch Wire
Prosecuting Bush in Canada for Torture: a Legal Update

Jason Leopold
Bush's Lips Move, But He Says Nothing

Diane Christian
The Politics of Death

 

 

August 22, 2005

Sonia Nettnin
Gaza Stripped, the Occupation Remains

Mike Whitney
"Shoot to Kill": Tony Blair's First Trophy

Kevin Zeese
The Latest Falsehood: the US is in Iraq to "Stablize It"

Norman Solomon
Bush's Bloody Option: Escalate the War in Iraq

Christopher Brauchli
Secret Talkers

Jeff Bale
The Left's Challenge in Germany

Greg Moses
Raw Talk Revival at Camp Casey Two

 

 

August 20 / 21, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Can Cindy Sheehan End the War?

Saul Landau
Terrorism Then and Now: Townley Talks

Kevin Zeese
an Interview with Tom Hayden

Greg Moses
A Daytrip without Cindy

Ray McGovern
Cindy Sheehan and Creative Protest

Fred Gardner
Merck Gets Whacked

Martin Smith
Rebellion in the Ranks: the Soldiers' Revolt in Vietnam

Benjamin Granby
Gaza's Economy: the Key to Sharon's Strategy?

Frankie Lake
Dirty Tricksters: How the Federalist Society Operates

Joshua Frank
Failing Nature: the Democrats and the Environment

Ron Jacobs
When Sympathy is Not Enough

Tom Crumpacker
Moral Values and the CIA

Mike Ferner
"All of Our Stories are Sad"

James Petras
Suicide Bombers: the Sacred and the Profane

Col. Dan Smith
The President's Dilemma

Dr. Teresa Whitehurst
What de Menezes Didn't Know

Ben Tripp
Moses on Top of Old Smokey

Poets' Basement
Landau, Albert, Engel and Louise

 

 

August 19, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
A Short History of Meat, Part 4: Cutting Up Mochie

Neve Gordon
After the Withdrawal

Gary Leupp
The Pandora's Box of Iraq's Constitution

William S. Lind
Getting Swept

Vijay Prashad
The Rosa Parks of the Anti-War Movement

Dave Lindorff
Something Has Happened

Pat Williams
Social Security and the American West

John Pilger
Free Speech and the War on Terror

Elaine Cassel
Judge Roberts and the Death Penalty

 

 

August 18, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
A Short History of Meat, Part 3: Vegetarians, Nazis for Animal Rights, Blitzkrieg of the Ungulates

Greg Moses
Cindy, the Peace Train and the Little Ditch that Could

Ramzy Baroud
Theatrics in Gaza: the Disengagement That Isn't

Joshua Frank
Bush's Emotional Incapacities

Monica Benderman
For Cindy: There's No Glory in Dying

Paul Craig Roberts
Courthouse Jackboots: Corrupted Justice

 

August 17, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
A Short History of Meat: Part Two, the March to Porkopolis

Robert Jensen
America's Good Germans?

Carl G. Estabrook
News Notes from the Global War on Terrorism

Mike Whitney
Greenspan and the Housing Bubble

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Shaming the Shameless

Norman Solomon
Slurs, Lies and Innuendos: Blaming the Antiwar Messengers

Dave Zirin
In Defense of Felipe Alou

Jennifer Loewenstein
The Shame of It All: Watching the Gazan Fiasco

CounterPunch
Clarification

 

 

August 16, 2005

Greg Moses
Mona in a Field of Crosses at Camp Casey, Texas

Thomas Larson
The Unmitigated Gall of Dinesh D'Souza

Diana Barahona
Uneasy Standoff in Venezuela's Media Wars

Dave Lindorff
The Inquirer's Minds Don't Want to Know

Rep. Cynthia McKinney
A Letter to President Bush: Meet with Cindy Sheehan

Elisa Salasin
Hitchens Slimes Cindy Sheehan

David Krieger
Amazing Grace and Cindy

Alexander Cockburn
A Short History of Meat: Part One, Peter's Dream

Website of the Day
Reclaiming Appalachia: a Mountain Takeover

 

 

August 15, 2005

Greg Moses
Pilgrims of Protest in Crawford

Paul Craig Roberts
Slouching Toward Armageddon?

Mike Whitney
Failing in Iraq

Robert Jensen
The Challenges We Face

CounterPunch Wire
Judge Fines Voices in the Wilderness $20,000 for Taking Medicine to Iraq; Voices Refuses to Pay

Norman Solomon
Someone Tell Frank Rich the War Isn't Over

Kathleen Christison
Camp David Redux: Anatomy of a Frame-Up

 

August 13 / 14, 2005

Cockburn / St. Clair
When Down is Up: the "Stricken" President

William Blum
The al-Dubya Training Manual

Gary Leupp
High Tide for the Neocons?

Jack Z. Bratich
Secreting the News: Anonymous vs. Confidential Sources

Brian Cloughley
The Ridiculous Rice

Ron Jacobs
Klan Justice: Mississippi is Still Burning

John Farley
"Beyond Chutzpah" Too Hot for Harvard Bookstore?

Dave Lindorff
Making the World Safer...for Nukes

Tim Wise
Animal Whites: PETA and the Politics of Putting Things in Perspective

J.L. Chestnut, Jr.
There's Not One Real Liberal or Conservative in the Senate

John Gershman
The Bolton Opportunity

Felice Pace
Saving Northwest Forests: Time for a Fresh Look

Fred Gardner
Feds Takeover Prosecution of Dustin Costa

David Krieger
The Fable of the Emperor and the Grieving Mother

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
Being a Protestant Fundamentalist

Ben Tripp
GWAT: a Tone Poem

Poets' Basement
Reiss, Nettnin, Engel and Louise

 

 

August 12, 2005

Christopher Brauchli
Courting God: Justice Sunday II

Greg Moses
A Crawford Peace House Morning with Cindy Sheehan

Ramzy Baroud
Israel's Nuclear Puzzle

Norman Solomon
Cindy Sheehan's Message: Repudiating Bush and Dean

Chris Genovali
Why is a Canadian Politician Trying to End Protections for US Grizzly Bears?

Chris Floyd
Cheney and Halliburton, the Stench Gets Worse

Tariq Ali
Blair's New Authoritarianism

 

 

August 11, 2005

Saul Landau
Globalization and Its Discontents

Dave Lindorff
Privatization will Harm Same Sex Couples

Ralph Nader
Dear Cindy Sheehan: May You Prevail Where Others Have Failed

Talli Nauman
Radioactive Border: the Hot Mounds of Samalayuca

Gary Leupp
Politics of an Outing: Plame, Ledeen and Iran

Sharon Smith
The New Anti-War Majority

Paul Craig Roberts
Why is Cheney Lobbying for a Boost in China's Nuclear Capability?

 

 

August 10, 2005

Tim Wise
Indian Mascots and White Rage

Ron Jacobs
Rumsfeld's Delusions

Joshua Frank
Dean and the PDA: Don't Believe the Hype

Cynthia McKinney
The 9/11 Op-Ed the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Refuses to Run

Rick Wilhelm
Peter Jennings, Excuse Maker for War and Empire

Stan Goff
Homegrown Resistance

 

 

August 9, 2005

Mike Ferner
What One Mom has to Say to Bush: Cindy Sheehan in Dallas

Monica Benderman
Is Being a Conscientious Objector Now Criminal?

Mike Marqusee
Making Excuses for Killing De Menezes

Rep. Cynthia McKinney
Strange Fruit and Tree-Shakers

Paul Craig Roberts
Watching the US Economy Crumble

 

 

August 6-8, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
How the British Destroyed India

Jason Leopold
Halliburton and Iran: Still Doing Business After All These Years?

Ray McGovern
Iran, Truth-Tellers and the Devotees of Preemption

David Krieger
From Hiroshima to Humanity

Sharon K. Weiner / Robert Jensen
From Hiroshima to Iraq and Back

Fred Gardner
The Budtender's View of a Rip-Off

 

 

August 5, 2005

Bill Christison
New NIE Report on Iran's Nukes will Not Deter US's Posture of Extreme Aggressiveness

Paul Craig Roberts
Kelo: a Supreme Assault on Personal Liberty

Alexander Cockburn
The Taj Mahal as Kitsch; the Editor and the Water-Walking Guru

 

 

August 4, 2005

Tom Barry
Inside Bush's "World Democracy Movement"

Lila Rajiva
John Bolton's New Internationalism

Greg Moses
Bush Teaches Intelligent Design in Prison

Alexander Cockburn
Indian Journal: Why Indian Farmers Kill Themselves

August 3, 2005

 

 

August 3, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Broken Arrows and Iran: a B-52 Pilot Remembers

Paul Craig Roberts
The Kelo Calamity: Money, Power and Eminent Domaine

William A. Cook
Innocent Victims: From Hiroshima to Lower Manhattan

Dave Zirin
Bush's Texas Rangers: a Crackhouse for Juiced Players?

Dave Lindorff
Court Packing and Worker Rights

José Pertierra
Why Hamdi Isaac Yes and Posada Carriles No?

 

August 2, 2005

Ramzi Kysia
Disengagement and Diaspora: High Walls and Razor Wire in the Hebron

William A. Cook
Words Without Meaning: Torturing Bodies and Language

Paul Craig Roberts
When Armageddon Gets No Press

Mike Whitney
Chertoff's Preemptive Crackdown: 600 Arrests, Only 76 Charged

Ron Jacobs
Be a Hero: Demand That Johnny Come Home

Norman Madarsz
Before the Stun Gun: Jean Charles de Menezes, RIP

Tim Wise
The Faulty Logic of "Terrorist" Profiling

 

 

August 1, 2005

Virginia Rodino
Why Bono and Geldof Got It Wrong: War and Global Poverty are Linked

Diana Barahona
Return to Venezuela: Land Reform and Neighborhood Doctors

Joshua Frank
Gitmo's Kangaroo Courts: First Torture Them, Then Rig Their Trials

Mike Whitney
The Consolidation of Powers: Rubber Stamp Roberts

Norm Dixon
The Worst Terror Attacks in History

Norman Solomon
Operation Withdrawal Scam

James Petras
The Corruption of Lula's Regime

 

 

July 30 / 31, 2005

Alexander Cockburn
Lost Nuclear Warheads Now in Iran?

JoAnn Wypijewski
Scenes and Silver Linings from Labor's Crack-Up: a Special Report from Chicago

Sheldon Rampton
War is Fun as Hell: the Video Games Recruiters Play

Jack Z. Bratich
Fingerprints of Power: a Summer of Double Super Secrecy

Greg Moses
How to Cool Your Heels in Texas When It's Late July Across the World

Jordan Green
From Woolworth to Wal-Mart: Economics and the Race Divide in a Southern City

Patrick Cockburn
Getting Out of Iraq: 5,000 US Troops Have Gone AWOL

Brian Cloughley
The Bush-Cheney Fixation on Iran

Justin Taylor
Harry Potter and the War on Terror

Saul Landau
Enhancements for the Imperial Life: Fashionism Takes Command!

John Walsh
Dems Field Another Pro-War Candidate: Meet Hack the Hawk

Joshua Frank
Color-Coded Justice: John Roberts's Racial Hang Up

Ron Jacobs
Who Needs Feminism? We Have Condi Rice!

Fred Gardner
The Ethan and Gavin Show

John Chuckman
Friedman on Terrorism: the Dumbest Story Ever Written

Liaquat Ali Khan
Lessons City Bombers Need to Learn from Newton and Donne

Remi Kanazi
Annexing Justice in Palestine

Naveen Jaganathan
The Gurgaon Riots Rock India

Richard Heinberg
Where is the Hirsch Peak Oil Report?

Max Watts
Francis Ona, the Napoleon of Mekamui

Ben Tripp
Write Your Own Editorial!

Poets' Basement
Whalen & Engel, Landau, Albert and Krieger

 

 

 

July 29, 2005

Cockburn / St. Clair
Who's the Real Martyr? Judy Miller or Jim DeFede?

P. Sainath
The Class War in Gurgaon

Niranjan Ramakrishnan
How the West Was Lost: CAFTA and the Disassembling of America

Dave Lindorff
Marvelous Marvin Bush

J.L. Chestnut, Jr.
America's Racist Inventory: Oppression Breeds Violence

Pat Williams
Giving Away the Last Best Place

Norman Solomon
In Praise of Kevin Benderman: a Moral Leader of the Nation Goes to Prison

Sen. Russ Feingold
The Bad News About the Energy Bill

 

 

July 28, 2005

Paul Craig Roberts
Departing Iraq

William S. Lind
The Duke of Alba and George W. Bush

Gilad Atzmon
Blair the Camera Man

Joshua Frank
Passing CAFTA: Blame the Democrats

Lila Rajiva
Vision Mumbai Submerged

Amina Mire
Pigmentation and Empire: the Emerging Skin-Whitening Industry

Website of the Day
Gateway to Underground News

 

 

July 27, 2005

Roger Morris
The Source Beyond Rove: Condoleezza Rice at the Center of the Plame Scandal

Gary Leupp
Is Iran Being Set Up?

Paul Craig Roberts
US Falling Behind Across the Board

Jackie Corr
Class War on the Ruby River: the Billionaire with His Foot in His Mouth

Mike Whitney
The Coming End of the Housing Bubble

Dave Zirin
Why Lance Armstrong Must Break with Bush

Christopher Bradley
Why I Have Trouble Reading the News

Norman Solomon
Thomas Friedman, Liberal Sadist?

Website of the Day
Stormin' Norman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Subscribe Online

September 17 / 18, 2005

Wake Up White America!

Racist Policies Lead to Death and Destruction

By HEATHER GRAY

As we entered the 21st century, I reflected upon the appalling reality of white supremacy in America and the western world generally and decided I wanted to write about it in ways I'd not before. I particularly wanted to challenge other white folks. This resulted in my article "A Message to White America: It's Time We Woke Up" in March 2000 that took on a life of its own. Within minutes of it being posted on the Black Radical Congress list serve and other websites, I started receiving messages from all over the country. This included some scathing remarks from whites, of course, but some 250 remarkably revealing and heartfelt comments from both blacks and whites. It was and remains on numerous websites presently, but given the recent overwhelming tragedy in New Orleans and the gulf coast I wanted to dust it off and re-issue it with a few edits and a forward.

As I watched, with anger, the images of death and destruction of the poor, the people of color, the children and the elders in New Orleans and juxtaposed the same scenes in Iraq I connected the dots. Invariably these tragedies reveal the violent and greedy underbelly of western white supremacy that bolsters and informs the U.S. policies both domestically and internationally. This is, categorically, not only a Bush thingit's American as apple pie. Arrogant white supremacy coupled with government and corporate financial mismanagement is far more than an academic or economic issue or even greed for that matter, it is criminal behavior that leads to loss of life and livelihood for the masses in the U.S. and throughout the world, in fact. But we as whites rarely will allow ourselves to look critically at what we do. We constantly deny our past and present racist and white supremacy policies.

When the planes struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in 2001, I thought "all right" here is some entity out there sending an amazingly tragic and profound message to America. Whatever their message was, the fact is that the planes struck at the heart of western capitalism and the military used to bolster it around the world. Maybejust maybe Americans will begin to reflect on these targets and what this meant. Maybe they'll reflect about the impact of American corporate abuse and arrogant racist policies throughout the worldpolicies that I've witnessed in Asia and Africa and here in America. Maybe Americans will do this. My hopes were dashed. At virtually all levels of American political and economic society there was never a hint of self-reflection or questioning why 9/11 occurred on American soil. Americans instead acted like they were innocent victims of terrorists ­ as if there is no blood on our hands. Unfortunately, this was a time honored typical response by us. We almost always refuse to look at ourselves and claim any responsibility. We tend to live in a dream world of lies and deception.

The world and our own people here in America can ill afford us keeping our heads in the sand any longer.

At a recent event in Atlanta, Jesse Jackson spoke of the 40th anniversary of the 1965 "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, Alabama when marchers, including my Congressman John Lewis, walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge to be met by George Wallace's Alabama State Patrol armed with clubs and horses. They were planning a march to Montgomery to demand their voting rights but instead were beaten and clubbed by the Alabama patrol. John Lewis was particularly targeted and unconscious at the end of the debacle. Attorney J.L. Chestnut was there that day and described hearing bones crack as horses stepped on people's bodies. Quite a few years ago I stood with John Lewis at the top of the bridge where he said that as they looked across all they could see was an ominous "sea of blue" ­ the uniforms of the Alabama State Patrol.

Jackson said that later he had talked with George Wallace about that fateful event and asked why he ordered the patrol to the bridge that day. Wallace apparently responded that there was a white mob beyond the State Patrol that would have been far worse and that he was fearful of the consequences so he placed the State Patrol between the marchers and the white mob. Jackson said that the issue here is that even if Wallace had genuinely felt he was protecting the marchers in this way, why didn't he instead turn State Patrol on the white mob, rather than the marchers who demanded justice under the constitution.

The question is a sobering one indeed and much could be written about this. But for now it is important to realize at least that we as whites ­ George Wallace and all of us - rarely challenge ourselves or other whites about white supremacy and its dreadful consequences. Enough is enough!!!

In his book on W. E. B Dubois, David Levering Lewis notes that DuBois struggled with attitude of those who contended that the "resolution of class struggle resolved the race problem." Levering states that DuBois contended that, "exploitation of black workers by white workers was preordained, inscribed, as it were, on the DNA of the white American proletariat. White Alabama and Arkansas workers workers would prevent black workers from rising out of the mudsill by mob and apartheid laws...just as their northern counterparts had historically done through urban riots exclusionary union rules...."

While we have seen some changes in America, much of DuBois' concerns have simply not been addressed and the progress we've made is now threatened by conservative trends and Bush's Supreme Court meddling. This is likely happening, for one, because we've not looked at and addressed the core problems in America that now scream at us in New Orleans. Race and class? Absolutely! But injustice is never without response and people always rise to challenge. "A luta continua" - the struggle continues ­ is the great African saying during the anti-apartheid era is all the more relevant in today's America ... and suffice it to say, it's long past time that we as whites met the challenge of addressing white supremacy that under girds so much of the world's problems.


It's Time We As Whites Woke Up

I am of European descent and, while I prefer to be called European American, given the American practice of classifying people by their race, I need to state unequivocally that I am "white". And it is of this "whiteness", it's repercussions and responsibilities that I write.

All of my adult life I have been a political activist. For more than 30 years I have participated in virtually all the major movements for justice in this country encompassing pro-civil rights, pro-human rights, pro-environment, pro-women's rights and anti-imperialism, anti-war, anti-apartheid, anti-nuclear, anti-corporate, anti-death penalty, on and on. Throughout this vast experience, invariably racism and class oppression raise their ugly heads. Both are powerful independent variables. For me, however, the most compelling and disturbing of these is racism and its companion white supremacy. Invariably, white supremacy is used to bolster financial gain and virtually every other gain. The brilliant and profound scholar W.E.B Dubois warned us that the issue of race would define the 20th century, which indeed it has. And because America has been so lax in adequately addressing this disease of racism and all it's augmented problems, race will likely define the 21st century as well.

It has been said that virtually every group can and does "discriminate" on the basis of race or other issues. What makes it different for us whites, in the United States and the western world generally, is the "power" ­ financially and otherwise ­ to enforce our discriminatory attitudes and we as whites have always done this with arrogance and without apology.

White supremacy in America is of epidemic proportions and whoever denies this must be a fool or blind. It surrounds us in our economic strata, in our prison system, in our schools, in our food system, in our political infrastructures, in our foreign policy, in our health system, in our housing, in our banking to name only a few! It is not a problem only in white conservative circles, where most activists would expect it to be lodged, but in the so-called liberal and progressive circles as well. Yet, all will attempt to state otherwise. Conservatives might claim some of their best friends are Black. Liberals might state that they are working for changes of some policies which will "make life better for Blacks". Progressives in various organizations might say that they are working under the leadership of Blacks so they must be doing something right. None of this is ever enough and it is literally and figuratively "white wash". It is true that historically there have always been whites who have taken a stand against racism but the numbers have been far too limited given the enormity of the problem. This has frustrated me to the point that a few years ago I wrote a lengthy poem entitled "Being White and Angry" in which I delineated what some have described as an epistle of "white" ancestral and present day immoral, disgraceful and tragic exploits from slavery to the Gulf War in the early 1990's.

What has been built on the basis of racism and white supremacy has always teetered on the walls of decay because the foundation is grounded on lies and deception. No one has gained from racism despite claims to the contrary. If anything, we as whites have diminished our souls through racist practices and any economic gains are tainted - I refer to such gains as blood money.

We, as whites, will rarely claim responsibility for our creation of racism and white supremacy (they are ours after all) in spite of the fact that we demand recognition for virtually all other inventions. When it suits us and when we can benefit from it we'll claim it! It has been said that often the most important things in life are not discussed or written and whites are definitely selective on not speaking out on the above issues. Could this suggest the importance of the issue to whites? I think so because it requires us to look deep into our souls and admit we are and always have been wrong about our entrenched present and past racism. This is seemingly an impossible task for most whites. Most of us have a shell that's almost impenetrable.

While everyone else rails against us whites for our racist attitudes and policies, we are largely and despicably silent on the issue. Why are we like this? Do many of us who are white want to maintain the present white supremacist system? Yes, beyond doubt! While rarely are we now wearing sheets over our heads, we are instead sitting in board rooms where we implement racist policies. But in today's climate it is not appropriate to state, without reserve, that we are racist. Instead everyone skirts around the issue. This false impression by other whites drives me nuts.

Are some of us nervous about reactions from other whites if we take up the call against white supremacy? For some, this is likely true. Are we ignorant of white supremacy? No, but nevertheless it seems the majority of whites claim ignorance. Are we apathetic? Yes. Do some of us feel guilt? Probably. Would we prefer to pass the buck? Always. Strangely, we prefer to blame those who are the victims of our prevailing racism as if they were architects of their own victimization and not us. The insanity and hypocrisy of this is mind boggling.

Throughout the years, whenever I've attended panels or conferences on racism organized by whites, invariably Blacks will be invited to participate. This is important because we as whites always need to be educated about the devastating impact of our actions and attitudes. But where, I've always asked, are the masses of whites who need to take up the mantle with other whites on this issue. Why are we, in vast numbers, not also on those panels and in the streets demanding change. Indeed, it is this lack of attention to racism on the part of whites with other whites that, in my opinion, has always been the missing equation in addressing the morass of the tragic effects of racism and white supremacy. The problem of racism rests with those of us who are white - we are the racists, we are the architects of this dreadful disease, we are the supremacists, and, guided by our Black sisters and brothers, we need to begin being accountable, speaking out and taking action. We need to plant the seed and let it grow deliberately and exponentially....from individual to individual, from community to community, from city to city, from nation to nation.

A few weeks ago, while having dinner with a Black friend, the discussion veered toward an update of racism in America. Citing the diminishing of affirmative action programs across the country and other telling signs, he said "I think white America is getting tired of everything being blamed on racism." I said "So what! White America needs to be badgered every minute of every day about our racist attitudes and actions." In fact, I still rankle over the "angry white male" contention in the early 90's stating that because of policies to reverse the preeminent white access to virtually all privileges in this country, at the expense of everyone else, they felt they were being discriminated against. The gall of white males expressing anger over anything after hundreds of years of ancestral privilege astounds me...leaves me breathless. To be perfectly frank, I remain an "angry white female" expressing indignation at "angry white males" for this insult.

Upon reflection, I realized that my friend's comment was but an ancient response from Blacks who try to appease whites to prevent repercussions - a tragic defensive legacy of America's racist paternalistic society. Upon further reflection, however, I realized that whites react similarly with other whites. Invariably whites will attempt to make other whites feel comfortable with their racism or will be deplorably apathetic. We as whites need to stop this nonsense.

It is my hope that in the 21st century, America's white community will finally come to its senses. Bill Clinton thankfully began this dialogue with his Commission on Race. But this was just a start and we know not to expect anything of integrity along this line from the Bush administration. But in communities throughout the country we white Americans can take a stand now, this very minute, and always should have been acting on or own and with other whites and Blacks. We can first educate ourselves about racism and address our own racist attitudes which should start with the basic premise that if you are white and born in America you are a racist. Don't think otherwise because it will not be true. We can learn from Blacks and other whites how to get beyond our racist background, how to be watchful of our own actions and attitudes and change them. Secondly, never let other whites get away with their racist attitudes and actions. Stop them immediately. Don't excuse them or attempt to make them feel comfortable. Thirdly, study the history of white and Black resistance to racism and injustice. This is not something you will learn in public schools, which would view white resistance, in particular, as traitorous to the racist American system. After all, it is traitorous to the status quo in America as well it should be. Fourthly, and most importantly, seek advice from Blacks on what we as whites should do to adequately and aggressively address racist problems in our communities, in the nation, in the world. Don't ever think for one minute that we as whites have the answers because we don't.

Finally, after centuries of "white" deceit, be mindful that pathetically we as whites still want to control everything and usually think we know everything. We need to recognize that we should never pursue any struggle against racism or for justice alone - or any other struggle for that matter. With whites leading the way we have experienced untold disasters for centuries. Forbid we should revisit such devastating consequences and pain. Actually, this is rather a non-issue. Our deceit and lies are now out there for everyone to see, we could never get away with leading the way even if we tried. Let's admit our ignorance and false vacuous, hopeless pride. It's time we started to learn and do something worthwhile. We are centuries too late, but now is as good a time as any to start!

Heather Gray produces "Just Peace" on WRFG-Atlanta 89.3 FM covering local, regional, national and international news. She lives in Atlanta, Georgia and can be reached at hmcgray@earthlink.net








 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 






 

 

 

 



CLARIFICATION

ALEXANDER COCKBURN, JEFFREY ST CLAIR, BECKY GRANT AND THE INSTITUTE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF JOURNALISTIC CLARITY, COUNTERPUNCH

We published an article entitled "A Saudiless Arabia" by Wayne Madsen dated October 22, 2002 (the "Article"), on the website of the Institute for the Advancement of Journalistic Clarity, CounterPunch, www.counterpunch.org (the "Website").

Although it was not our intention, counsel for Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi has advised us the Article suggests, or could be read as suggesting, that Mr Al Amoudi has funded, supported, or is in some way associated with, the terrorist activities of Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

We do not have any evidence connecting Mr Al Amoudi with terrorism.

As a result of an exchange of communications with Mr Al Amoudi's lawyers, we have removed the Article from the Website.

We are pleased to clarify the position.

August 17, 2005



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming in the Fall
from CounterPunch Books!
The Case Against Israel
By Michael Neumann

Click Here to Advance Order Philosopher Michael Neumann's Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz

Coming This Fall
Grand Theft Pentagon:
Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror

by Jeffrey St. Clair