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Today's
Stories
October 19,
2004
Jeffrey St.
Clair
Party
Favors: the Political Business of Terry McAuliffe
October 18,
2004
Saul Landau
Facts
and Lies; Slogans and Truth
Dave Lindorff
Bulletin
on the Bush Bulge
Diane Christian
Sheep
and Goats: On the Language of Goodness
Greg Bates / Dave Lindorff
Betting on War: a Wager on the Fallout of a Kerry Presidency
Uri Avnery
Ariel
Sharon's Philosophy
Peter LaVenia
Leaving the Greens So Soon? a Response to Josh Frank
Mike Whitney
O'Reilly at the Whipping Post
Elaine Cassel
The Other War: Civil Liberties Three Years After 9/11
October 16
/ 17, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
The
Free Speech Movement and Howard Stern
Leslie Brill
Unmerciful Judge, Merry Executioners: the Death Penalty as the
True Measure of Bush's Character
Jules Rabin
Reckoning Deaths in an Agitated World
Dave Lindorff
About the Bush Bulge: Was There a Pucker in That Jacket or Was
the President Just Glad to be There?
Peter Linebaugh
Judging Judges: a Few Pages from The Mirror of Justices
Gary Leupp
Iran and Syria: How to Effect Regime Change and Expand the Empire
M. Shahid Alam
America, Imagine This!
Ron Jacobs
Trying to Cross Lake Champlain
Fred Gardner
The Flu Vaccine Question: How Bush Blew It
Jenna Orkin
The Toxic Legacy of 9/11
Dave Zirin
Name the DC Baseball Team: Contest Results
David Hamilton
Alone and Exposed: Bush as a Strong Leader?
Ralph Nader
Criticizing Israel is Not Anti-Semitism
Doug Giebel
Thinking the Unthinkable
Mark Engler
Crimes in Freedom's Name: Dick Cheney's El Salvador
Derek Tyner
Blacks Didn't Get the Vote by Voting: an Interview With Clarence
Thomas on the Million Worker March
Evan Jones
Gimme That Ole Time Religion: Cash and "The Mind of the
South"
Poets' Basement
LaMorticella, Klipschutz and Albert
Website of
the Weekend
No More Bush Girls
October 15,
2004
Paul Craig
Roberts
Where
Did These "Conservatives" Come From?: The Brownshirting
of America
Laura Carlsen
Wal-Mart
vs. the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon
Greg Bates
Empire of Insanity: Kerry's Iraq Troop Numbers
Michael Donnelly
News from a Swing State: Does Anyone Here Have a Spine?
Katherine Lahey
The Venezuelan "Threat": Why Do Kerry and Bush Fear
Hugo Chavez?
Robert Jensen
/ Pat Youngblood
Election Day Fears
Leah Caldwell
From
Supermax to Abu Ghraib: the Masterminds of Torture and Abuse
Website of
the Day
An Anti-Billionaire Policy? Why That Would Be Economic Racism
October 14,
2004
Darcy Richardson
The
Other Progressive Candidate: the Lonely Crusade of Walt Brown
Willliam A.
Cook
Turning
Myths into Truth
Laura Santina
Water, Women and War
Evelyn Pringle
Free Speech Banned by Big Pharma: What You Can't Say About Drug
Importation
Alan Farago
Lessons
from Nature
Rep. Maxine Waters
A Letter to Colin Powell on Haiti
Nicole Colson
Maimed
for Oil and Empire
October 13,
2004
Bishop Thomas
Gumbleton and Bill Quigley
Aftermath
of a Coup: The Other Disaster in Haiti
Sharon Smith
Barak
O-Bomb-a?: Democrats Target Iran
Christopher Brauchli
God and the Bush Administration
Mike Whitney
The Real Meaning of the Hamdi Case
Paul de Rooij
Amnesty
International: a False Beacon?
Website of
the Day
Operation
Truth
October 12,
2004
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
"Indian
Country"
Greg Bates
The Year of Voting Dangerously: a Survey Request of Nader Voters
in Swing States
Steven Conn
Progressives as Pawns: Kerry's War on Nader
Jason Leopold
Under Cheney, Halliburton Helped Saddam Siphon Billions from
UN Oil-for-Food Program
Security Scholars
for a Sensible Foreign Policy
Time for a Change of Course
Timothy J. Freeman
Dying for a Mistake
Pierre Tristam
Deconstructing Bush
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
The 2nd Debate: the Blurring of Act and Audience
Bill and Kathleen
Christison
Israel as Sideshow
Website of the Day
John Kerry's Personal Off-Shore Tax Shelters
October 11,
2004
Robert Fisk
Iraq:
Unforgivable Betrayals and Broken Promises
Kevin Pina
The
Untold Story of Aristide's Departure from Haiti
Patrick Gavin
Rethinking
Columbus Day
Chris Floyd
Tribes with Flags in the New Afghanistan
Daniel Wolff
Radioactive Money: Entergy, Political Cash and America's Most
Dangerous Nuclear Plant
Walter Brasch
The Only Ones Who Believe Saddam Had WMDs are Bush, Cheney...and
40% of All Americans
Mike Whitney
The Phony Afghan Elections: Ballot of the Disappearing Ink
Ari Shavit
"He Talks to Condi Rice Every Day": an Interview with
Sharon's Lawyer
Paul Craig
Roberts
The
Debates and the Big Lie
Website of the Day
Dylan's Greatest Recording?
October 9 /
10, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
"There
Are No Innocents"
Paul de Rooij
Northern Ireland is Still the Issue: a Conversation with Gerry
Adams
M. Shahid Alam
Making Sense of Our Times
Laura Carlsen
Protest and Populism in Latin America
Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: ASA Goes to Court
Col. Dan Smith
Bush's Credibility Gap
Paul Craig
Roberts
Faith-Based Economics
Greg Bates
What If Nader Critics Get What They Demand?
Joshua Frank
Cobb, the Greens and the Collapse of the Left
Felice Pace
Wilderness, Politics and the Oligarchy: How the Pew Charitable
Trust is Smothering the Grassroots Environmental Movement
Walter A. Davis
Of Pynchon, Thanatos and Depleted Uranium
William A.
Cook
The Agony of Colin Powell
Phyllis Pollack
Twas No Crank Call Love Affair: London Calling, 25 Years Later
Poets' Basement
Klipschutz, Albert, Ford
Website of the Weekend
Abu Ghraib: the Taguba Annexes
October 8,
2004
Jennifer Loewenstein
The
Israeli Invasion of Gaza
Moshe Adler
Edwards' Gambit: He Hoped No One Would Notice the Similarities
David Swanson
Media Blackout: Press Continues to Ignore Labor's Opposition
to Iraq War
Dave Zirin
CounterPunch Contest: Let's Name the New DC Baseball Team!
Rep. Ron Paul
The Draft is a Form of Slavery
William S. Lind
Keeping Our SA Up
Samar Assad
Kerry v. Bush: No Difference When It Comes to Israel / Palestine
Jim Ingalls
and Sonali Kolhatkar
The Elections in Afghanistan
October 7,
2004
Dave Lindorff
All
Out of Volunteers: A Draft is in the Air
Masha Hamilton
Fear in Kandahar
Christopher
Brauchli
Master of Corruption: the Ripening Scandals of Tom Delay
Jason Leopold
Is There Still Time to Impeach Bush?
Bruce K. Gagnon
Bombing the Panhandle: Fighting the Pentagon in Rural Florida
Meredith Kolodner
Where
is the Urgency?: The Anti-War Movement's Election Year Challenge
October 6,
2004
Jeffrey St.
Clair
"Please,
Dude, Can I Take Them Out?": Targeting Civilians in Fallujah
Ron Jacobs
Going
Nuclear: the Ghost of Edward Teller Lives
Michael Colby
The National Flip-Flop: Suddenly Bush is Unfit to Lead?
Tarif Abboushi
More of the Same: Israel Wins the Debates
Matthew Behrens
Canadian Firms Profit from Iraqi Blood
Mike Whitney
Rethinking WMDs
John Pilger
Stealing Diego Garcia
Ben Tripp
Kerry's "Triumph"
Kevin McKiernan
Cheney's Poison Lab: Wrong Time, Wrong Target
Patrick Cockburn
Elections
Will Not End the Fighting in Iraq
Website of the Day
Is There an Islamic Problem?
October 5,
2004
Anthony Loewenstein
Rupert
Murdoch and the Marginals: "Personally Creating Outcomes"
Mark Clinton
and Tony Udell
The
Suicide of an Iraq War Veteran
Greg Bates
Trading
Idiots: an Open Letter to Eric Alterman
Dave Lindorff
What's
the Frequency, Karl?
Norm Dixon
Why Washington Won't Save Darfur Villagers
Larry Kearney
God Talk and Burning Children
Bill Linville
Dirty Politics in the Land of "Clean" Government
Gary Leupp
What
Edwards Should Ask Cheney
Website of
the Day
A Guide to Halliburton for Tonight's Debate
October 4,
2004
Diane Christian
The
Gates of Hell
Joshua Frank
An Interview with David Cobb
Doug Giebel
Incurious George: What If Bush Didn't Lie?
John Chuckman
Strange Victory: Sen. Obvious and the Pathetic Lump
Ramzy Baroud
Reverse the Picture: Anatomy of a Palestinian Outrage
Julia Stein
Remembering Mario Savio and the FSM
Sean Donahue
Outsourcing
Terror: Kerry and Special Forces
Website of
the Day
Mapping
Mt. St. Helens as She Rocks
October 2 /
3. 2004
Paul Wright
John
Kerry on Criminal Justice
Kathleen and Bill Christison
An Exchange with Israeli Historian Bennie Morris
Kathie Helmkamp
My Son Trent: a Marine Who Doesn't Want to Kill
Phillip Cryan
Indigenous Mobilization in Colombia
Lenni Brenner
The First Ex-Catholic Saint: Memories of Mario Savio
Fred Gardner
Pot Shots: In Case You Missed "Montel"
Ron Jacobs
It Did Happen Here: When Neo-Nazis Terrorized Olympia
Ben Tripp
Sticker Shock
William S.
Lind
The Grand Illusion: Iraqi Security Forces
Dave Zirin
The Swindle of the Century: Baseball Comes to DC
Dave Lindorff
Lies from the Great Debate
Luscon Pierre-Charles
Haiti's Elections: a High-Tech Sham is Underway
Zoe Moskovitz
& Sasha Kramer
Separating Lies from Truth About Haiti
Nelson P. Valdes
Habana Night vs. Latin American Scholars in Vegas: 61 Banned
Cuban Academics
Alan Farago
The "Ownership Society" and the End of the Everglades
Nancy Haley
What is the Historical Jesus Trying to Tell Us?
Alex Billet
Long Live The Clash: London Still Calling After 25 Years
Steve Fesenmaier
Save and Burn: The War on Libraries
Poets' Basement
Smith, Holt, Albert
October 1,
2004
Steve Breyman
Kerry's
Missed Opportunities
Rose Gentle
My
Son Died for a Lie
Lee Sustar
Iran
in the Crosshairs
Ralph Nader
What
We Didn't Hear at the Debate: Where's the Exit Strategy?
Walter Andrews
We Are Less Secure Now Than Ever
Mike Whitney
Pandora's
Government
Mickey Z.
Debate
This
Saul Landau
The
Iraq Invasion: Lessons from the Pinochet Cases
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante
Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click
Here for More Stories.
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October 19, 2004
"I Won't
Regret My Vote for a Minute"
Confessions
of a Swing State Voter
By
JEFF TAYLOR
Editors' Note: What follows is Jeff Taylor's response
to the Greg Bates's survey of swing
state voters published in CounterPunch on October 12, 2004.
Taylor wrote the chapter on Paul Wellstone in CounterPunch's
new volume, Dime's
Worth of Difference.
1. Do you live in a swing state?
Which one?
Yes. Minnesota.
2. Are you still planning to
vote Nader? Why?
Yes. Because Nader is by far
the best candidate running for President in 2004. He's an honest,
humane, informed, and intelligent man. He shares my ideology
(populism). I agree with him on most of the issues (but not all--we
disagree on some social issues).
3. If Nader wasn't running,
would you vote for Kerry? Explain.
No. I would not vote for Kerry
under any circumstances. I've been familiar with John Forbes
Kerry since he was elected to the Senate in the 1980s as an inspiration
for all self-satisfied yuppies. Like Bush, Kerry was born into
wealth and tapped for Skull & Bones while at Yale. I think
Kerry has always been an ambitious and opportunistic politician
with a commitment to plutocracy, militarism, and imperialism
(despite occasional rhetoric to the contrary). I disagree with
Kerry on every major issue of the day. There's no rational reason
to vote for a man I neither respect nor agree with. If Nader
wasn't on the Minnesota ballot, I would either write-in his name,
vote for a different third-party candidate, or not vote at all.
4. Assuming you plan to vote
Nader, do you think your vote could help tip the election to
Bush by taking a vote from Kerry?
No. I'm not taking a vote from
Kerry because voting for Kerry was never a possibility for me.
Kerry never had my vote--or the vote of anyone else--in his back
pocket. The votes are cast on Election Day. Until that time,
they belong to individual voters, not politicians or parties.
My one vote is not going to reelect Bush. I'm not going to vote
for Bush. If I voted for Bush, I would be morally complicit in
his past and future misdeeds. In my case, I'm voting FOR Ralph
Nader because he's the best man and I generally agree with him...and
AGAINST Bush because he deserves to lose. Kerry also deserves
to lose. I only have one vote. One popular vote has never determined
a presidential election and it's very unlikely it ever will.
Even in a "swing state," one popular vote doesn't make
any significant difference. Despite all the controversy of 2000,
in the end, with the way the votes were counted, Bush defeated
Gore in Florida by hundreds of votes (not one vote). I only have
one vote and one conscience. I'm not going to divorce the two
for the sake of a strategy aimed at gullible voters and devised
by dishonest Democrats.
5. Are you aware of the costs
of another Bush presidency? If yes, what accounts for your determination
to vote Nader?
Yes. Bush is a bad president,
but the badness of his presidency has been exaggerated vis-a-vis
other presidencies. His administration is no better or worse
than most during the past century. After four years of a Republican
president, the Democrats always pull out the "sky is falling"
mantra to stir up fear and hysteria among those who comprise
their political base. The Republicans do the same thing when
Democrats have the White House. It's just part of the game. The
extreme, manichean rhetoric during the election season might
lead you to think that the national leaders of the two major
parties believe in something beyond personal power and privilege,
but that's almost never the case. It has nothing to do with policy
or issues or their impact on the 99% of Americans who lack power,
money, and fame. It's a charade.
George W. Bush is the latest
in a long line of bipartisan plutocrats, militarists, and imperialists
(and liars). Every major misdeed of his administration has an
antecedent under Bill Clinton and/or his predecessors. Hundreds
of thousands of innocent Iraqis died at the hands of Clinton/Gore
because they kept the sanctions in place. The 9/11 attack was
planned during the Clinton years...and Clinton chose to keep
U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia, continue U.S. backing of Israeli
oppression, and maintain U.S. dependence on middle eastern oil
(thus making Americans more unsafe).
Clinton started a war against
Serbs without any conceivable threat to the American people,
without UN approval, and without the congressional declaration
required by the Constitution. Anglo-American imperialism took
the lives of many innocent people in the Balkans in the 1990s
with the support of the Democratic Party. The Bosnia and Kosovo
wars were justified by the demonization of Milosovich, as if
U.S. foreign policy is actually determined by things like concern
for human life or human rights. The propaganda about Milosovich
echoed and foreshadowed the same verbal attack on Hussein. Of
course, Milosovich was a thug, but he and the Serbs did not have
a monopoly on atrocities during the Balkan civil war (as Clinton,
Gore, Albright, and Kerry well knew). Instead of acknowledging
this, and allowing the Europeans to continue working on a brokered
peace, the Democrats poured gasoline on the fire and killed more
innocent people. The Patriot Act is an updating of the Anti-Terrorism
Act created by Clinton in 1996. CAFTA proposed by Bush builds
upon NAFTA pushed by Clinton. Kerry supported war against Iraq
as early as 1998, when many congressional Democrats were agitating
for bloodshed.
It should go without saying
that Senator Kerry has supported President Bush in every major
policy area during the past few years, including the Iraqi war
resolution, No Child Left Behind, Patriot Act, coddling of the
Chinese government, and oppression of the Palestinians. Looking
to the future, Kerry has promised to "try to" withdraw
U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of his first term (if circumstances
permit). That's quite a promise to those of us who oppose the
war! At least four more years of American troops killing and
being killed in an occupied country. Kerry's approach to Iraq
is identical to that of Bush, except he thinks he can talk some
Europeans into sending troops to the quagmire for international
political cover. Kerry has repeatedly said that we have to "win"
the war in Iraq and he's going to stay the course. He constantly
talks out of both sides of his mouth, but, in this instance,
I believe him. Peaceniks should wake up. With Kerry, "hope"
is not on the way--it's only false hope. The faux war hero is
promising a "stronger America" at a time when the world--and
Americans--need just the opposite. Widely perceived, for good
reason, as a global bully, America needs to be humbler or even
weaker--not stronger.
I think war against Iran is
more likely under Kerrry than Bush. Just listen to what Kerry,
Edwards, and the Democratic platform are saying about Iran. This
would be a perfect opportunity for John "Reporting for Duty"
Kerry to prove how macho he is, expand the American empire, please
the Israeli government, and help out U.S.-based oil companies.
In the second debate, Kerry was specifically asked how he would
handle Iran if they don't stop working on their reputed nuclear
program. In typical fashion, he gave a mealy-mouthed answer but
ended up saying, "If we have to get tough with Iran, believe
me, we will get tough." If you support war with Iraq, vote
for Kerry because he's the most likely candidate to give you
what you want. (If he does, maybe some of the neoconservatives
will return to their Democratic home and join the DLC hawks who
have long loved Kerry and Edwards.)
Is Bush bad? Of course. Is
Kerry just as bad? Yes. In some ways, he's a slightly lesser
evil and in some ways he's a slightly greater evil. It's a wash
in the end. The Bush bogey-man doesn't scare me. It's a tactic
that pulls the Bush administration out of its historical context
and it's spewed by dishonest Democrats and self-serving leaders
of pseudo-liberal interest groups. Bush may be an idiot, or at
least an ignorant man with an Alfred E. Newman smirk. Kerry may
be more sophisticated and somewhat smarter than Bush (although
I doubt that he's half as smart or knowledgeable as Nader). But,
in the end, the real problem we face are Bush's policies, not
Bush the man. I don't see any improvement if Bush's policies
are handed off to Kerry for his smoother style of administration.
It might make Barbra Streisand or Jacques Chirac feel better,
but it won't help the rest of the world. A vote for Kerry is
truly a vote for Bush's policies. It's illogical, delusional,
and immature to think otherwise.
6. Various organizations opposed
to Nader's run have been running ads and broadcasting petitions
to convince people such as yourself to vote for Kerry. What impact,
if any, have these efforts had on your thinking?
None. On second thought, they
do have one small impact: They lessen my respect for the persons
involved in such stupid and pernicious activities.
7. Is there something those
groups could tell you that would sway your vote?
No.
8. How have the efforts to
keep Nader off the ballot affected your decision?
They've made me even more disgusted
by the Democratic Party than I normally am. They've inspired
me to send additional money to Nader's campaign. They inspired
my wife to commit her vote to Nader. Until my wife saw the Democratic
dirty tricks on C-SPAN, with Professor Lawrence Tribe arguing
against democracy before the Florida Supreme Court, she was thinking
of voting for Kerry. That spectacle eliminated Kerry as a possibility
for her.
9. Some of Nader's allies from
2000 have said his candidacy this year is a strategic mistake.
Do you agree? Explain.
No. Nader's 2000 allies have
a right to criticize Nader's 2004 campaign, even when it makes
them look stupid (e.g., Michael Moore begging for Nader's withdrawal
on TV or promoting an anti-war film for the benefit of a pro-war
candidate). However, I disagree with them. It's a poor reflection
on themselves, not on Nader or his current supporters.
10. Let's suppose that you
and others vote Nader in a swing state, Kerry loses that state
which he would have won if the Nader voters had backed him and
that loss costs Kerry the election. What is your thinking about
this outcome?
I won't regret my vote for
a minute. Will I feel sorry for John Kerry? No. For Bob Shrum?
No. For Robert Rubin? No. For George Soros? No. For the Democratic
Party hacks who want a job or an invite to a White House cocktail
party? No. For the living-in-a-dreamworld yellow-dog-Democrats?
No. Who am I supposed to feel sorry for? The American people?
Sad to say, they're going to be neglected, abused, and exploited
whether Bush or Kerry wins. Neither party in the White House--or
in Congress--will stand up for their needs, interests, and aspirations.
The same goes for the common people in the rest of the world.
They're going to be at the mercy of the transnational corporations,
American imperialists, and homegrown elites whether Bush wins
or Kerry wins. Politics is a crooked game dominated by evil principles.
That's why candidates like Ralph Nader never win the White House
and candidates like Russ Feingold or Ron Paul only rarely win
seats on Capitol Hill. My one vote won't change this political
context, but at least I can be true to my conscience, abstain
from endorsing the morally bankrupt system, and make a small
symbolic statement on behalf of good things like truth, justice,
peace, and democracy. That's something.
Weekend
Edition Features for October 16 / 17, 2004
Alexander Cockburn
The
Free Speech Movement and Howard Stern
Leslie Brill
Unmerciful Judge, Merry Executioners: the Death Penalty as the
True Measure of Bush's Character
Jules Rabin
Reckoning Deaths in an Agitated World
Dave Lindorff
About the Bush Bulge: Was There a Pucker in That Jacket or Was
the President Just Glad to be There?
Peter Linebaugh
Judging Judges: a Few Pages from The Mirror of Justices
Gary Leupp
Iran and Syria: How to Effect Regime Change and Expand the Empire
M. Shahid Alam
America, Imagine This!
Ron Jacobs
Trying to Cross Lake Champlain
Fred Gardner
The Flu Vaccine Question: How Bush Blew It
Jenna Orkin
The Toxic Legacy of 9/11
Dave Zirin
Name the DC Baseball Team: Contest Results
David Hamilton
Alone and Exposed: Bush as a Strong Leader?
Ralph Nader
Criticizing Israel is Not Anti-Semitism
Doug Giebel
Thinking the Unthinkable
Mark Engler
Crimes in Freedom's Name: Dick Cheney's El Salvador
Derek Tyner
Blacks Didn't Get the Vote by Voting: an Interview With Clarence
Thomas on the Million Worker March
Evan Jones
Gimme That Ole Time Religion: Cash and "The Mind of the
South"
Poets' Basement
LaMorticella, Klipschutz and Albert
Website of
the Weekend
No More Bush Girls
/
|