|
|
Inside the New Print Edition of Our Subscriber-Only Newsletter! STABBED IN THE BACK Order CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year ! Meet & Debate (Perhaps Even Date) CPers Online at CounterPunch's New Facebook Page! |
home / subscribe / donate / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events / faq
Inside the New Print Edition of Our Subscriber-Only Newsletter!
STABBED IN THE BACK
Eamonn Fingleton gives a stunning account of how the elite press – the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, the New York Times and Washington Post - pilloried US autworkers while systematically concealing the hidden subsidies which have allowed Japan and Korea to destroy Detroit. All this with the connivance of the US government. Also in our latest newsletter: Michelle Obama comes to Merced. Bill Hatch, the Balzac of the Central Valley, gives an uproarious account of Michelle’s state visit to UC’s new campus. Get your new edition 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.
How the U.S. Press Helped Destroy the Auto IndustryOrder CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year !
Meet & Debate (Perhaps Even Date) CPers Online at CounterPunch's New Facebook Page!
|
Today's Stories June 3, 2009 Paul Craig Roberts June 2, 2009 Uri Avnery Robert Weissman Conn Hallinan Gideon Spiro Roger Burbach Dylan Quigley Dave Lindorff Ray McGovern Belén Fernández Martha Rosenberg Willie L. Pelote, Sr. Website of the Day June 1, 2009 Pam Martens Yitzhak Laor Mark Weisbrot Ramzy Baroud Saul Landau Eugenia Tsao Afshin Rattansi Debra Sweet Abdul Malik Mujahid Bill Quigley John Wright Website of the Day May 29-31, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Patrick Cockburn Vijay Prashad Gary Leupp Ray McGovern Rannie Amiri Bill Hatch Chellis Glendinning, Stephanie Mills and Kirkpatrick Sale Phyllis Pollack David Yearsley Jean-Christophe Servant Dave Lindorff James McEnteer Missy Beattie James C. Faris David Macaray Harvey Wasserman Adam Federman David Ker Thomson Mark Seth Lender Stephen Martin Joseph Nevins Sophia Mihic Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 28, 2009 Joan Roelofs Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Mouin Rabbani Joe Bageant James McEnteer Dedrick Muhammad Richard Morse David Macaray Harvey Wasserman Website of the Day May 27, 2009 Joanne Mariner Paul Craig Roberts Walden Bello Dave Lindorff Brian M. Downing Carlos Villarreal Nadia Hijab Adam Federman Laray Polk Isabella Kenfield David Michael Green Website of the Day May 26, 2009 Manuel Garcia, Jr. Mike Whitney Sharon Smith Marjorie Cohn Dean Baker Deepankar Basu Fred Gardner Jordan Flaherty Josh Ruebner Brian Cloughley Website of the Day May 25, 2009 Diane Christian John Ross Kenneth Hartman Uri Avnery Fred Gardner Cindy Sheehan Sen. Russell Feingold Sibel Edmonds Franklin Lamb Dave Lindorff Daniel Wolff Website of the Day May 22-24, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Michael Teitelman Mike Whitney Ray McGovern Sonia Cardenas / Clive Hamilton Conn Hallinan Fred Gardner Carlo Cristofori Dean Baker Rannie Amiri Andy Worthington David Macaray Nadia Hijab Franklin Lamb Ted Newcomen David Ker Thomson David Rosen Mark Weisbrot Robert Fantina Heather Gray Farzana Versey Chris Genovali Ron Jacobs Jay Diamond Dr. Susan Block Ben Sonnenberg David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 21, 2009 Jeffrey St. Clair / Paul Craig Roberts Chris Floyd Gerald Paoli Zach Mason Uri Avnery Andy Worthington Niranjan Ramakrishnan Norman Solomon Dave Lindorff Website of the Day May 20, 2009 Michael Hudson Gary Leupp Michael D. Yates Jonathan Cook Peter Lee Binoy Kampmark Peter Zinn William Loren Katz Gary Lapon Trudy Bond Website of the Day May 19, 2009 Kristoffer Rehder Mike Whitney Ray McGovern Vijay Prashad Mirjam Hadar Meerschwam Mustafa Barghouthi Andy Worthington Binoy Kampmark John Walsh David Macaray Website of the Day May 18, 2009 Dave Lindorff Abdul Malik Mujahid Jonathan Cook Ben Rosenfeld Patrick Cockburn Ralph Nader Stephen Soldz Eugenia Tsao Walter Brasch Roberto Rodriguez Charlotte Laws Website of the Day May 15-17, 2009 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair David Rosen Mike Whitney Bruce Page Jeremy Scahill Fred Gardner Tom Barry Mats Svensson Ramzy Baroud Mark Engler Mark Weisbrot Farzana Versey Ron Jacobs Hannah Wolfe Cal Winslow David Macaray Christopher Brauchli Mark Seth Lender Robert Fantina David Ker Thomson Stephen Martin Charles R. Larson Chase Madar Kim Nicolini David Yearsley Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend May 14, 2009 Michael Hudson Andy Worthington Paul Craig Roberts Jonathan Cook Ray McGovern Lance Selfa David Green Dave Lindorff Frida Berrigan Sue Udry Website of the Day May 13, 2009 Brian M. Downing Gareth Porter Robert Sandels Ricardo Alarcón Eric Walberg Dave Lindorff Deepak Tripathi William S. Lind Kevin Zeese Franklin Lamb Website of the Day May 12, 2009 Gary Leupp Richard Neville Wajahat Ali Dean Baker Franklin Lamb Norman Solomon Paul Craig Roberts Lisa M. Hamilton Bob Fitrakis / David Macaray Website of the Day May 11, 2009 Andrea Peacock Michael Hudson Patrick Cockburn Ralph Nader John Kelly Saul Landau Dave Lindorff David Michael Green Anthony Papa Paul Krassner Website of the Day
|
June 3, 2009 When the Fat Cats Call, He Comes RunningWhy Congressman Cardoza Stiffed Michelle ObamaBy BILL HATCH Congressman Dennis Cardoza. D-18th CA, was able to suppress for two weeks the story of his personal reasons for not attending Michelle Obama's commencement at UC Merced, a new campus he did a great deal to bring to his district. Although covering San Joaquin Valley politics has sharpened our satiric senses, we could not even have imagined this one. Cardoza was at Pimlico for the Preakness, hosting fat cat contributors to something he calls the "Moderate Victory Fund," a Blue Dog Democrat front. The top five contributors in 2008 at this annual event were the American Bankers Association, the Blue Dog PAC, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the National Association of Realtors. Cardoza and the fat cats enjoyed sipping juleps in a luxury box and watching Calvin Borel boot home another one, a front-running filly this time. In addition to claiming he didn't know how much the fund-raiser raised, Cardoza doubtless claimed not to know how much money he and the fat cats won and lost on the Preakness and the rest of the card that day. But, that's our boy. He loves the fast company. Michelle Obama endured 106-degree heat to deliver an inspiring speech to the graduating class at UC Merced, mostly first-generation college students who seemed to understand and appreciate the speech, not just The Presence. Pimlico is reported to be a failing racetrack that loses money regularly except on Preakness Day. Perhaps that explains the thoroughbred industry's support for the fundraiser. Or is its support related to the persistent rumor that Cardoza bets heavily and compulsively on the ponies? It would seem that any local Democrat, registered to vote and able to walk and chew gum at the same time, could beat this bum simply by proclaiming his support for the president and for the 18th Congressional District of California. However, finding such a candidate in a district stupid enough to give Cardoza a free ride when real estate values were in a free fall might be a challenge. We aren't always so good at connecting dots because most of the time, the picture made is ugly. And we are Californians, too. In our hearts, we all live in Santa Monica and each purple Jacaranda petal falls for us, too. In the Fresno Bee, Jim Boren opines that the problem with the Valley is that its representatives don't have any clout in House Democratic leadership circles. It's a good thing for the nation that they don't, a fact possibly not utterly lost on Democratic Party leadership circles. Cardoza and his former dancing partner, Richard Pombo, tried to gut the Endangered Species Act three times for the benefit of finance, insurance and real estate interests in their own adjoining districts, now suffering among the worst foreclosure rates in the nation. Cardoza assisted in the looting of the 18th CD for his own social, political and economic gain. Presumably, at least some senior members of the California congressional delegation know that and prefer not to elevate him. Costa, Cardoza's new dancing partner, has been raving on behalf of the Westlands Water District and state water contractors in the south San Joaquin Valley. For a guy who's always claimed a deep knowledge of water politics to back this dog is ludicrous. He wants to invite the Obamas to the west side? For what, another rent-a-farmworker rally? All the Westlands massive campaign to suspend the Endangered Species Act to allow more Delta pumping is proving is the incredible amount of wealth west side farmers have made on federally subsidized water, now purchasing the best propaganda and political clout money can buy. The House Democratic leadership probably has what we now call the Costoza right where it want it, feeding off the bottom of the pond, occasionally surfacing to disgorge a bag or two of agribusiness cash at appropriate moments, then sinking quietly back into the slime. The "Moderate Victory Fund" is nothing more than a front for the Blue Dogs, a group of deeply frightened Democrats from largely rural districts when Republicans took the House in 1995. The Blue Dogs looked into their crystal balls and saw their gravy train sidetracked by millennial fascist hysteria and hopped into an empty boxcar on the Newt Ball Express. Cardoza's actions look even stupider than they did before we knew the "reason" he couldn't attend Mrs. Obama's speech at the UC Merced commencement. He not only insulted the president's wife. He did it to raise money for a bloc of knuckleheads like himself, stuffed very deeply in the pockets of special interests that don't give a damn about this district or any other in the nation that they have looted to the point the peasants have no more to give the lords. And this bloc will vote against the president whenever it figure they can get away with stabbing him in the back. Although all these numbnuts know of politics on their best days is when to sell what to which fat cat, they call their reasoning process "balance," "moderation," "leadership," and "realism." This pleasant myth is as comforting to Blue Dogs as a blanket is to a baby or a stick to a boy. We are indebted to McClatchy Washington reporter, Mike Doyle for the story. The aroma surrounding it is from one of two things: the scent of burning access bridges; or the odor of suppression through a news cycle. But, now that the story is finally out, it raises speculation into the reasons behind Mrs. Obama's acceptance of the invitation to the UC Merced commencement. It is reasonable to assume that Obama's team was aware of the Blue Dog fundraiser. It has been held at the Preakness for several years. It's no secret. Another factor was the incredible amount of flak preceding the event -- endless stories, mostly from UC, claiming that Mrs. Obama responded purely to the students' persistent invitations, personal letters from family members, and a slew of misspelled valentines. That was a sure sign of a coverup. We refrain from speculation about the first lady's motives, but note that from the political perspective of the White House it was a perfect way to set a Blue Dog's tail on fire. In this congressional district, that's a good political day.Cardoza did all he could to sell his district to finance, insurance and real estate for his own selfish gain. For his grand finale amid the ruins of the speculative housing What was the quid pro quo to House Majority Leader and old Cardoza mentor, Steny Hoyer, D-MD, behind that? The president's wife decides to visit the campus Cardoza did as much as any politician but Gary Condit to bring to Merced as the anchor tenant for urban growth. big farm-land prices, and a super realtor/banker/mortgage lender feeding frenzy. The Preakness and the fat cats call. What is he to do? It's a matter of values, maybe even of ethics. It could be about nothing more than good manners, excluding political protocol. For Cardoza it was simple: values are pecuniary, there ain't no such thing as ethics, the bum doesn't have the manners of an unemployed farmworker, Hoyer told him to be at the Preakness, and besides, at the track you can gamble legally instead of through a bookie with all those complexities, especially for a congressman that may not be able to cover his bets. Bill Hatch lives in Merced, CA. He can be reached at wmmhatch@sbcglobal.net. |
Now Available from CounterPunch Books! Spell Albuquerque:
Waiting for
Lightning
|
