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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 All Aboard the Hope Train?Bandwagon PoliticsBy JAMES L. SECOR I wonder. . .is anybody listening? Is anybody paying attention? Is anybody actually seeing anything? I feel like I’m calling Laurie Anderson's home: “Hello? Is anybody home?” “Hi. I’m not home right now but if you wanna leave a message, just start talking at the sound of the tone.” "Hello? This is your mother. Are you coming home?" "Hello? Is anybody home? Well, you don't know me but I know you. And I've got a message to give to you." Yes. That’s right. Nobody’s home. Because if they were, they’d not be jumping on the Obamarama Bandwagon. But somebody is giving them a message. Somebody they don't know yet who knows about them. The Left--a handy tag for people who write and who say they want change but, in fact, aren’t really into doing anything when it comes right down to it (and have probably never been on the streets in the first place)--and The Nation--a magazine of disillusioned upper middle class/upper class writers with neat ideas but still believe that you can fix a broken machine with recycled broken parts from that broken machine. Recycling with new grease? Even Robert Greenwald is supporting Obama via choosing to only bash McCain. Who really knows what the rest of the American US public is thinking, after all. . .they believe they "elected" George W. Bush--twice. In fact, they let him steal the elections; in fact, he was not elected the first time around but appointed. . .without any outrage from the plebs. It seems, though, that the Left, The Nation and the plebs are all ecstatically for Obama for President based on. . .based on speeches that say nothing, address nothing but are about hope, the last scourge left in Pandora’s box. This isn’t, however, surprising because no has no one bothered to look at Mr. Obama’s voting record. If you look closely at Obama's performance for "the people" you find that, well. . . he's cynical, cynical and practical in his own interests (www.votesmart.org/voting_category.php?can_id=9490). He plays it safe as, closer and closer to this year, he begins not voting for much of anything. That's what "NV" stands for. That is as if to say that he's never around. It is also of note that he whenever he votes for something, it is not passed: all of these bills are pro-people, service-oriented bills. None of them passed and so it looks like Obama is all for us but the Senate is all against us. Our hero! But wait! There's more! Whenever he voted "No" the bill was passed, bills that would have stripped us, "the people," of things we'd like to have. Again, he comes out looking like our hero, for those evil Senators all voted to pass what was bad for us. . .that Obama voted "No" for. What pops up like a cartoon Jack-in-the-box boxing glove that clobbers the clown who opens the box is that he knew what was going down; he knew what was going to pass and what was not and voted so that he'd come out looking like a wonder boy fighting for our rights. In a manner of speaking, he never loses--when he votes. And he don't vote often (Cf. also www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18967): 40% of the 570 votes were "No Vote" votes. This may not so too bad but. . .he voted "Yes" only 44% of the time. With only 16% "No" votes, Obama comes off looking like a fairly positive guy, what some people like to call a moderate. If you just look at these numbers, he does come off looking much like he's practicing Aristotle's Golden Mean. Until you look deeper and then you find that he votes for himself, for looks--and he's an adept at it, for the vast majority of America has hopped on his bandwagon, a bandwagon run by the monied elite bankrolling his rise to fame and fortune--another fact people are choosing to ignore. Of the 251 "Yes" votes, 127 were defeated. Calculated? Well. . .although 127 "Yes" votes were affirmed, one must consider that 27 of them were no more than accepting Conference Reports and seven were nomination affirmations, including all of the guys liberals/progressives/etc. do not like--that is, all of George Bush's suggestions. That comes out to 93 affirmative "Yes" votes. But it is the 127 defeated "Yes" votes that are important in concluding that Mr. Obama is self-interested and cynical: all were soundly defeated. Bills supporting teen pregnancy issues and equal pay and health care for veterans and surveillance/telecom immunity and Medicare/prescription drug plans and military tax cuts and minimum wage and immigration policies and union protection--gosh! Just about everything that is meaningful and helpful to--and supportive of--the people. How good he looks because he voted against a sure thing. . .and lost. My hero! (O-ooooh! Swoon.) He's not really for gun control or women's rights but. . .he's kind of not against it either? Y'know? Middle of the road. A man who can't make up his mind? Oh, no, no. He knew which way the wind was blowing and voted accordingly so he'd come off looking good. "Hey! Hey! Look at me! I'm great! I'm your man! Hey!" His "No" votes followed the same trend: if there was a possibility of the bill passing but it was bad for the people, he voted "No." Only one out of 570 votes was even-steven: 47-47. Obama was never what you might call a "swing" vote. The New York Times picked up on this voting trend in 2007 when they did an article on his voting record in the Illinois Senate: just exactly the same method he's used in the US Senate ("It's Not Just 'Ayes' and 'Nays': Obama's Votes in Illinois Echo". For further confirmation of his self-interested voting, see "Obama's Voting Record Belies Moderate Image". How our elected officials vote and their trends in voting are important to us, for they tell us about their fulfilling their responsibilities to us--they are representing us, yes? Well. . .we all know this is not true, yet we continue to elect them. Why is that, I wonder. . .why do we continually (continuously?) hurt ourselves? Obama is a tad more slick than most, a tad more machine-like than his predecessors or, it seems, contemporaries; for he only talks about his "ayes" and "nays" and never about the majority of his voting: NO VOTE. "No vote" is like saying "I don't care." That's right, Obama don't care about you all, his constitiency. . .and you's climbing aboard de Obamarama Bandwagon without thought, without looking at the evidence. And then, in the future when he disappoints you and your chosen blindness, your preferential ignorance, you will be broken hearted and bitch, bitch, bitch. As Frank Zappa sang, "Broken hearts are for assholes." Obama's not hidden anything but he has engaged in the magician's stock in trade: misdirection. And everyone seems to have bought it. Ambrose Bierce noted that a politician is "An eel in the fundamental mud upon which the superstructure of organized society is reared". But he also notes that a vote is "The instrument and symbol of a freeman's power to make a fool of himself and a wreck of his country". Highly applicable to the present situation--and many times in the past. Casey Jones wasn't paying attention at the controls and had a head-on collision. Killed alot more people than himself. Obama = Hope? And what did hope ever get you? I am reminded of the old joke about the man sitting atop his house in a flood praying to God to save him. A log comes along and bumps up against the house but he doesn't get on. A row boat comes by to pick him up but he turns it down because he's praying to God and God will save him. A helicopter comes by: same result. When he dies, he goes up to heaven and shouts at God, "I believed in you! Why didn't you save me?" And God says, "I sent you a log, a boat and a helicopter what more do you want?" The Obamarama Bandwagon. . .just rolling along selling its snake oil to any and all--and everybody's buying, hoping it'll fix their ills. Hope, the last scourge in Pandora's box. James L. Secor is a retired professor, a writer-playwright living out on the edge of the Gobi Desert where the skies are clear, the air fresh and the water possibly the only non-polluted water in the country: mountain run-off from the year-round snow-capped Qilian Range, which he can see from his front patio. He can be reached at znzfqlxskj@gmail.com any time night or day.
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