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Articles
JANUARY
2003
Shock and Disgust
January
31, 2003 · Does it bother anyone in the
Pentagon that our battle plan is organized around the deliberate
taking of civilian life? And does it bother anyone that by
publicizing this plan in advance, we have ensured that Saddam
Hussein will not be in Baghdad when we send in the Cruise
missiles to shock and awe it to death? By The
Plaid Adder
The Five Fingers of Focus
January
31, 2003 · As we approach the three-month
mark following the midterm election, a handful of things have
come into focus much more clearly. By Bernard
Weiner
What Kind of Pitt is This?
January
31, 2003 · Harvey Pitt, Chairman of the
SEC, resigned on election night last year. But Harvey Pitt
is still on the job. What kind of Pitt is this? By Bernard
Weiner
An Unprecedented President
January
30, 2003 · What is it about this president
that he has set war fever above all else? Why is it this era
we must face with deep chagrin and dark despair, when there
were seemingly so many others we could have suffered through,
which contained even more dire threats? By Eddie
Ruff
We Are Not George W. Bush
January
30, 2003 · Dubya's state of the union
address (no caps necessary) Tuesday night has charted a course
of aggression destined to change, for some years to come,
life in this United States. First Iraq, then Iran, then North
Korea. By punpirate
Speaking Out on Medical
"Reforms"
January
29, 2003 · To hear Bushites fret about
the burgeoning healthcare mess, rising prices and unaffordable
health costs are the fault of those nasty trial lawyers who
just coincidentally support the Democratic Party with hefty
financial contributions. Naturally the Republicans want to
help their wallets by siding with the perpetrators rather
than the victims of medical malpractice. By Andrew
Sarchus
A Case for Affirmative Action
January
29, 2003 · Recently the University of
Michigan has come under scrutiny as it prepares to defend
its admissions policy in front of the Supreme Court. The op-ed
pages of papers nationwide have been filled with positions
supporting and attacking the university's admissions policy.
By Eric
Munoz
John Edwards - Of the
People, For the People
January
29, 2003 · Coming from North Carolina,
I can tell you a thing or two about John Edwards from my hometown
perspective that might help you in your job of ferreting out
the best Democratic candidate to send on to the rest of the
country. So why not sit a spell and listen to my story of
a man named Edwards. By Carol
Love
The Most Dismal State of
the Union
January
28, 2003 · Though his role in the address
begins when they fire up the teleprompter and ends when it
runs out of words, even Bush must realize that the state of
the union that he at least theoretically presides over has
rarely been more dismal. By Mike
McArdle
Rot on the Vine
January
28, 2003 · Newt Gingrich and Bob Dole
both agreed that a frontal assault on Social Security should
be finally abandoned. They concurred that a better tactic
would be to merely watch it "rot on the vine." Just in case
anyone thought that that partisan paradigm ended with the
millennium, in rides George W. Bush and the Republican controlled
Congress. By Ted
Westervelt
The Elephant in America's
War Room
January
28, 2003 · Our foreign policy is being
hijacked by people who believe in a fairy tale. Will Iraq
suddenly be transformed into the tap-dancing slave in a Shirley
Temple movie? Thanking us for pats on the head and the bobbles
and trinkets we generously buy? By Maureen
Farrell
Rumsfeld Offers Media
Good Advice on How to Protect Viewers From Leaders' Lies
January
25, 2003 · The American people have a
desperate need for news media that protect them from a flood
of disinformation from an unscrupulous administration. But
that administration is not headed by Saddam Hussein. By Dennis
Hans
How To Lose Friends and Influence
Nobody
January
23, 2003 · This administration barely
tries to hide its lust for Iraq's oil and political and military
control over the entire region. If one were truly concerned
about world peace, proliferation itself is the enemy, coupled
with the rapid advance of killing technology embraced by these
same warmongers. By Daniel
Patrick Welch
Low Ethics
January
23, 2003 · Sen. John Cornyn of Texas
is yet another Republican politician who talks the talk but
doesn't walk the walk when it comes to ethics. By Jackson
Thoreau
American Fascism
January
23, 2003 · We must examine what has happened
to politics and society in the United States since January
2001 to see just how much our national discourse is drawing
parallel to the fascism that gripped Italy, Germany, Spain,
and (yes) the Soviet Union during the 1930's. By Andrew
Sarchus
Putting the Kids to Work
January
23, 2003 · There's nothing wrong with
wanting to get the kids out of the house and gainfully employed.
But the Bush administration is parceling out chunks of the
republic like they're reading the family will. By Sheila
Samples
Democratizing War
January
23, 2003 · War must once again become
a equal opportunity operation. Sons and daughters of the powerful
and the wealthy must be made to bear their fair share of the
suffering. We must no longer abide by the proposition that
armed conflict is "a rich man's war and poor man's fight."
By Bob
Volpitto
A Message from the Powerless
to the Powerful from the Anti-War Protests
January
22, 2003 · What's the point of these
protests? Bush and the ruling elites have the power to do
whatever the hell they want and we are powerless to stop them.
Right? By Dwayne
Eutsey
Polarizing Plutocrats
January
22, 2003 · Politicians love the middle
ground, but the middle ground is pretty far to the right these
days because the prostitutes for the plutocrats push an extreme
agenda and the first words out of most progressive mouths
are a compromise. By David
Swanson
Black History Month in Bush's
America
January
22, 2003 · Is George W. Bush sincere
in his support for minorities or is he merely putting a soft
and fuzzy face on the hard-right policy of covert racism?
By Christian
Dewar
Bush Is Racking Up “Frequent
Liar Miles”
January
18, 2003 · Lyndon Johnson is remembered
for lying about Vietnam, Richard Nixon for lying about Watergate,
Bill Clinton for lying about adultery. George W. Bush is known
as a “straight shooter.” What’s wrong with that picture? Bush
has, after all, racked up more “frequent liar miles” than
any other politician in recent memory. By Dennis
Hans
No Evidence is Evidence:
Rumsfeld’s Paradigm Shift
January
18, 2003 · Rumsfeld was quoted as saying
that “the fact that the inspectors have not yet come up with
new evidence of Iraq’s WMD program could be evidence, in and
of itself, of Iraq’s noncooperation." The entire world
ought to have stood up and shouted a collective: “You’ve got
to be kidding!” By Carol
Norris
A Message from the Prime
Minister of "aUStralia"
January
18, 2003 · With zombie-like loyalty I
remain right behind your country in pursuing and punishing
"Evil-doers." All I need from the US are words like "National
Security" and without question I will leave my own country
totally defenseless by deploying any number of my troops wherever
I'm told to. By Ozzy
Drongo
The Constitution
vs. Conservatism
January
17, 2003 · Lately, the administration,
in the assertion of its rights, has said that it is simply
protecting Presidential authority against encroachment by
Congress, that it is protecting administration authority from
diminution by Congress. Nothing could be less true. By punpirate
Inside Saddam Hussein's
War Diary: Hot Damn! It's Showtime!
January
17, 2003 · Dear Diary: This is a tough
one. If I hang in there, I may just survive to carry out my
plans. But if I make a wrong move, or misinterpret the wide
variety of signals coming my way, I'm vaporized toast. By Bernard
Weiner
Saint George
January
17, 2003 · Having convinced gullible
Americans that President Bush gained both gravitas
and legitimacy following the terrorist attacks in September
2001, the right-wing spin machine is starting to portray him
as the "anointed one" as well. By Andrew
Sarchus
Bright College Days, Dark
White House Years
January
16, 2003 · It is clear the personal style
and deep-rooted sensibilities of both GWB and Bill Clinton
were made, or at least made plain during their time in college.
Because the White House mirrors its occupant and thus magnifies
the personal into political, it projects upon our history
their every strength and flaw. By demosthenes
The Bush Family Cashes
In
January
16, 2003 · William H.T. ("Bucky")
Bush, an uncle of George W. Bush, is on the Board of Directors
of a company which will benefit substantially from war with
Iraq, according to financial analysts. By Margie
Burns
Antonin Scalia - Supreme
Court Evangelist
January
15, 2003 · Regardless of how you feel
about the validity of church/state separation, it should be
obvious that one cannot be both a Supreme Court Justice and
a proselytizing evangelist. Scalia needs to choose one or
the other as a public persona, and hang the other in the closet.
By Patrick
Ennis
Mutually Assured Honesty
January
15, 2003 · Everyone who votes knows that
voting is the cornerstone of our American Democratic way of
life. Take away this one right and our Constitution collapses
and becomes just another piece of paper we can line our bird
cages with. By Judith
Foster
Strategies for Underdogs
January
14, 2003 · Before the folly of Bushism
leads to catastrophe, the opposition must proceed immediately,
with dedication, vigor, and strategic intelligence. And we
must amass an alliance of opposition that will become irresistible.
By Ernest
Partridge
A New Anthem: America the
Ugly?
January
14, 2003 · People around the world are
enormously suspicious of the US government. Easy to understand,
because the US government has treated the rest of the world's
population with either suspicion, outright contempt or as
a ready market to be exploited. By punpirate
Class Warfare
January
14, 2003 · If it is considered class
warfare to point out that George W. Bush's new economic plan
would give the top 5% nearly half of this economic "stimulus"
package, I wonder what we should call the plan itself.
By Eric Munoz
The Reality of the Burning
Sand
January
14, 2003 · We've consistently trivialized
or demonized others for long decades, and the short truth
is that we're soon about to experience some exceedingly painful
payback. The hits to our national standing, in global impact,
could be staggering.
By Dennis Rahkonen
The Poodle and The Puppeteer
January
11, 2003 · The sad difference between
Rove, Bush, Powell, Rumsfeld et al and Tony Blair appears
to be that Blair knows he has to answer to the members of
his party and the opposition and the Bushies thus far have
gotten away with sneering at the patriotism of anybody who
asks questions. By Mike
McArdle
Ellsberg's "Secrets" and
Bush's War: An Intersecting History
January
11, 2003 · Five Presidents were tragically
wrong with regard to Vietnam; and our current resident in
the White House is wrong with regard to his secretive war
policies. The lock on secrets must be broken once again, before
we become permanently engaged in an imperial foreign policy.
By Bernard Weiner
Trent Lott Is Not The Problem
January
11, 2003 · Lott's racism is not the point.
The point is that the Republican party has used race from
1964 to this day to divide people and win elections. And that's
the shame of the Republican party. By Richard
Prasad
From Bad to Unimaginable
January
10, 2003 · By the admission of the intelligence
services of the United States, North Korea has most likely
already produced one or two nuclear warheads. With the expulsion
of UN nuclear inspectors and the restarting of their nuclear
plant, this number may double or triple in the very near future.
By Mike
Shannon
Message to America from
the Racist Republican Regime: We Don't Really Care About Improving
Race Relations
January
10, 2003 · The subtle and overt racism
of the Republican Party is a stench they have to live with,
and no amount of history rewriting by Republican apologists
can eradicate that smell. To eradicate it, they must admit
that racism in their party goes far beyond Lott and make at
least as much progress on advancing race relations as the
Democratic Party has. By Jackson
Thoreau
Turning Up the Heat on Bush
January
9, 2003 · This president has an amazing
power to make people feel physically ill by the sheer force
of his cynical cruelty. But some people are ill for a less
intellectual reason: they have no heat. By David
Swanson
Fasting for Dubya
January
9, 2003 · Bob Sjogren's goal is to have
1,000 people fasting for Geedubya every single day of the
year. "That will greatly encourage him," Sjogren says, "and
keep him accountable when the Evil One seeks to sidetrack
him from his commitment to the Lord..." By Sheila
Samples
Bush Gets a Shot
January
9, 2003 · Wouldn't you know it? Just
when Bush was literally giving his publicity a shot in the
arm, Trent Lott had to go open his big yap and sum up (rather
eloquently, actually) the right-wing agenda of leading the
country forward into yesterday. By Kevin
Dawson
Plenty of Patriotism,
but Little Citizenship
January
8, 2003 · What does it mean to "love
America" and have little or no regard for its land and its
inhabitants? Citizenship is a forgotten concept. By Diane
E. Dees
New Majority Leader Stops
to Help Family by the Road; Kills Their Cat
January
8, 2003 · Alligator Alley, Florida —
Tennessee Sen. Dr. Bill Frist, who came to the rescue of the
GOP when Trent Lott was in trouble, interrupted his holiday
break to aid a family by the side of the road, resulting in
the death of their cat. By Gil
Christner
Lessons Learned?
January
8, 2003 · As the Democratic hopefuls
combat to secure the Party's nomination, there are many important
things for them to remember. However, the primary concern
should be to take back the Presidency and control of the Congress,
but not at all costs. By Ronald
Gerughty
Another Stupid Idea From
The Bush Administration
January
8, 2003 · The idea that taxes should
be cut on dividends is a major part of the economic policies
of the Republican administration, seeking to once again give
a huge tax break to their major donors at the expense of the
American economy and the vast majority of its citizens. By Hochizen
Whose Presidency is
This, Anyway?
January
7, 2003 · Dubya literally brandishes
"The American People" phrase like a patriotic shield, which
not only cloaks what he's doing to the American people on
virtually every Constitutional front, but gives him license
to do it. By Sheila
Samples
Mr. Rangel's Modest Proposal
January
7, 2003 · While I think I understand
the underlying motive--to establish some equality in defense
of the country, especially with regard to the children of
national legislators and administrators, and therefore deter
the impulse to war--I doubt that simple conscription will
ultimately effect that end. By punpirate
The Administration's Miracle
Weapon
January
7, 2003 · The lobbyist for the industrial
giant Takeheed-Martin had a giant grin on his face, as he
placed his model on the Secretary of Defense's desk. "With
this device, America can be secure," said the lobbyist, Jack
Tarter. "This identity-tagger will keep the bad guys away
from our borders." By Bernard
Weiner
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