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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 The Past and Future of the Republican PartyThe Cryptkeeper and His PitbullBy WAJAHAT ALI McCain and company unveiled a ghoulish and predictable narrative from their crypt this week: a boilerplate and intellectually vapid narrative catering to base, knee jerk emotions. One that also shamelessly and hypocritically plays the divisive, “Culture –War” card to elicit orgasmic glee from a Convention audience so White that I had to increase the Contrast just to see some color. In order to win over undecided moderates and independents, McCain disguised himself as a maverick Yoda, a seasoned and unorthodox statesmen pledging a promise that “change is coming.” However, it seems that no one told the Convention audience. One could easily play “Where’s Waldo?” while watching the Republican delegates, but instead replace “Waldo” with “Minorities.” [I counted about 6.25.] “CHANGE IS COMING” In a sign of desperation or perhaps blinding ignorance, McCain misappropriated Obama’s “change” slogan [which has become more nebulous and faltering] to convince a domestic and international audience that the Republican Party will clean up The White House. Apparently unbeknownst to the Republicans, they have lived as owners of that house for the past 8 years. McCain’s history with the Keating-5 Savings and Loan scandal no doubt gave him experience in this specific case of rhetorical “impropriety.” He placated the “wealthy Republican base”- corporate interests, upper class and multinational companies - as he rehashed the tired and failed Republican mantra of “less taxes, less government spending. ” Along with it, he followed Bush’s playbook and attached a ridiculous claim to “moral” superiority in comparison to elite, cowardly liberals: essentially all those who disagree with him and his Party. The Bush economic policy of taxing the poor, government deregulation, annihilating welfare programs, and attempting to privatize everything under the Sun [if they could privatize the Sun, they would] has resulted in one of the most disastrous economic conditions since the Great Depression. One that McCain and company selfishly follow to appease their wealthy donors, fatten their military contract investments, and shield the rich from paying high taxes. This Republican “Big Government vs. the little guy” line is so successful because it terrifies American workers. The Republicans love stroking economic uncertainty and fear by blaming the dark skinned immigrants, government regulation and socially responsible welfare reforms as the real cause of economic turmoil instead of highlighting their own selfish malfeasance, corruption [Jack Abramoff, the loyal Republican lobbyist was just sentenced to four years in prison] and lack of accountability. MOTHER. MOOSE HUNTER. MAVERICK. To woo his “cultural, religious base,” McCain unleashed his light saber in the guise of a well coiffed, moose hunting pit bull named Sarah Palin. The Vice President candidate, governor of Alaska, came out with fisticuffs and blazing guns, playing the role of aggressive, go get ‘em “drill sergeant” as a foil to McCain’s persona as the wise, calm but forceful “General.” Palin unveiled herself as a fascinating, political Frankenstein. Like the computer-designed woman in the movie Weird Science, she seems to be the perfect wet dream composite as imagined by lustful and passionate right wing, radical Republican teenage boys. She’s a salmon fishing, Bible thumping, pistol packing, hockey mom who can hunt a moose, skin it, make a burger out of it for lunch, catch the pastor’s Sunday sermon, and also find time to wear a sexy -but not butch - power suit the following day for a press conference. And, according to her drooling, Conservative acolytes, she thankfully doesn’t look “lesbian-y” and aggressively intimidating like that alleged man-hating ogre Hillary Clinton. In one of the few moments of incisive self-awareness, Palin asked a self-referential question: “What's the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? Lipstick.” The “Barracuda” has apparently evolved. Indeed, the pit bull is an even more apt metaphor. The pit bull, often referred to as the “All-American dog,” was bred primarily as a fighting terrier, an attack dog if you will. Furthermore, the image of the pit bull, draped with an American flag around its body, was used as WW1 pro-war propaganda to “fire up” the American masses. The jumbo sized, digital American flag behind Palin was sufficient for similar purposes. I, amongst many others, actually wish she would instead answer the thoroughly reassuring question she asked before being nominated: “What is it exactly that theVP does every day?” Apparently this VP candidate recites a mean spirited speech written by a George Bush aide, following the venerated smear tone perfected by Lee Atwater and Karl Rove, to mask her party’s intellectual and moral bankruptcy concerning foreign and domestic policy in favor of firing up a “base” infatuated with Guns, God, War, and randomly chanting “U.S.A.! U.S.A!” The Republican Convention touted this specific image of Palin: “Mother. Moose hunter. Maverick.” If the latter, then she resembles Tom Cruise’s reckless and ambitious Maverick from Top Gun, only without the loyal, wiseass counsel of Goose. [And McCain is no Goose. Can he play homo-erotic volleyball and karaoke to Righteous Brothers? I think not!] Even though Palin lays claim to God and moral superiority, the head of Alaska’s state police union recently alleged “Maverick” Palin’s aides improperly obtained her former brother-in-law’s state police personnel files to use the information to raise complaints against him- eventually leading to his improper dismissal. Furthermore, “The Maverick” decries the liberal elites’ lifestyle and values, yet her family now resembles the one portrayed in the “godless, leftist Hollywood” movie Juno [the Oscar nominated movie about a unwed, teenage pregnancy]. She maintains she has far more executive experience than the “12 years as elected official” Obama, even though she has been the Governor of Alaska for less than 2 years and previously a mayor of a city with less than 9,000 people. Along with McCain, she wants to bridge the bipartisan American community, yet she derides those community organizers, who sacrificed six figure incomes to help the disenfranchised, as lacking “actual responsibilities.” [Palin said: “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.''] She shamelessly uses her gender to win over Clinton’s female voters by repeatedly praising the Senator for breaking the “glass ceiling”, yet earlier she said she wouldn’t support Clinton because she couldn’t stand “Clinton’s whining.” However, when Republicans whine, it’s defensible because of that nefarious cabal known as the “liberal media” who have the audacity to ask the still unknown Palin critical questions. Just yesterday Palin complained, "The Obama-Biden Democrats have been vicious in their attacks directed toward me, my family and John McCain." When asked to cite an example of Obama-Biden’s attack on Palin’s family, Palin aides couldn’t find one, and instead offered as proof that the Obama-Biden camp erroneously attacked Palin as a “supporter of Buchanan.” Huh? Does that even make sense? But, hey, it’s OK. Let it go. She hunts moose, for God’s sake. Moose! Let’s leave the pit bull alone for now. CAPTAIN AMERICAMilking combat and aggression for all its worth, Palin acted like Flava-Flav and played hype man to bolster McCain’s war veteran narrative. McCain continued to revisit his “war” story; one told so many times throughout the convention that I wish McCain had simply parachuted to the stage wearing a Captain America uniform carrying a lifeless body of an “Islamic terrorist” whom he had either just shot with his handgun or strangled with his bare hands. I am still waiting for a mainstream talking head to ask how flying bombing raids on Vietnamese villages transforms one into an enlightened Commander in Chief capable of creating and implementing a competent foreign policy. I am also waiting for a talking head to ask if indeed being a veteran is such a sacred, hallowed status, then why did the Republicans implicitly endorse the “Swift Boat Kerry” smear campaign of 2004? Perhaps McCain’s most egregiously disingenuous claim is that he represents “average America” and its values. Most of my neighbors, who seem to be either working two jobs just to stay broke or dipping into their diminished savings to pay for gas and health care, aren’t married to a beer heiress worth more than one hundred million dollars. Also, most Americans, unlike John McCain, can answer the question: “How many homes do you own?” Many would say, “I don’t anymore – it got foreclosed.” When asked this question, McCain forgot how many he homes he owned. [Anywhere from 6 to 11 according to reports.] According to a Vanity Fair article, Cindy McCain’s Tuesday night wardrobe, including jewelry, cost more than $300,000. Apparently the “average American” family can afford to wear the cost of a house for an evening. All of these inconsistencies highlight the brilliant hypocrisy that fuels American political machinery. One that is straightjacketed by a two party system trumpeting candidates who talk pretty but deliver empty promises in favor of arrogant quests for power. As witnessed by the McCain-Palin Republican ticket, it seems the Empire finally struck back – just like it did four years ago. Wajahat Ali is a Muslim American of Pakistani descent. He is a playwright, essayist, humorist, and Attorney at Law, whose work, “The Domestic Crusaders” is the first major play about Muslim Americans living in a post 9-11 America. His blog is at http://goatmilk.wordpress.com/. He can be reached at wajahatmali@gmail.com
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