|
Articles
FEBRUARY
2004
Want fries with that economic
report?
February
28, 2004 · It causes me great sorrow
to see a treasured cultural institution being degraded by
people promoting their own perverted agenda. Nah, I'm not
talking about the sanctity of marriage. I'm talking about
the sanctity of the sandwich. By Rich
Lewis
What’s the rush?
February
28, 2004 · America pays attention to
a real contest. We should continue to give them one, especially
if beating Bush this November is our top priority. By Glenn
Rubenstein
A Letter to the Emperor:
Thanks, But No Thanks
February
27, 2004 · You've been feeding
us patriotism, religion, and above all, fear. A year ago you
stampeded your subjects into stripping store shelves of duct
tape and plastic sheeting to seal their homes against weapons
of mass destruction that have proved as illusory as your compassionate
conservatism. You perpetuate our terror by giving us a perpetual
war on terror. By Marty
Lolich
Trickle-Down Outsourcing:
A Brave New World
February
27, 2004 · The premise of Trickle-Down
or Supply-Side Economics is to stimulate the economy with
large tax cuts for the wealthy. That money hopefully is invested
in a way that creates economic growth. That translates into
increased productivity, profits and jobs. It sounds good and
to some extent, it used to really work. However, something
got terribly misunderestimated this time. By Todd
Smyth
The Passion of the Bush
February
26, 2004 · Mel Gibson and his defenders
have charged that anyone who objects to his Jesus biopic is
doing so out of a knee-jerk political agenda and not giving
the movie itself a fair chance to be evaluated on its own
merits and faults. Wasn’t it three months or so ago when conservatives
were going bananas over the TV movie “The Reagans,” eventually
crowing with triumph when CBS caved in to their pressure and
refused to air it? By Kevin
Dawson
Step Away from the
Constitution
February
26, 2004 · Though I may disagree with
you, you have a right to your feelings about homosexuality
and marriage. But, with respect to a constitutional amendment
banning gay marriage, our feelings are irrelevant. I may not
be a constitutional scholar, but this is not a matter for
constitutional consideration. By Todd
Boehm
The Progressives' Dilemma:
K, K or E?
February
25, 2004 · Those of us about to vote
in our state primaries -- Super Tuesday a week from now, with
more large-state balloting coming right on its heels -- have
some important pondering to do. The dilemma is this...
By Bernard Weiner
Going Soon, To A Re-Education
Camp Near You!
February
25, 2004 · I've been thinking about the
hatred and suspicion Republicans have for anyone who does
something for reasons other than money, and how this continues
to underlie their true attitude towards public education.
And today we get to see it underlined again, by Secretary
of Education Rod Paige, the Salesman from Houston, when he
calls the largest union of teachers in the United States "a
terrorist organization." By
Kelley S. Willis
Mr. Nader, please back out:
My open letter to Ralph Nader
February
24, 2004 · I couldn’t agree with you
more, Mr. Nader. That is why I cannot support your candidacy
for President this year as I did four years ago. That is why
I am going to vote for the Democratic nominee, whether it
is Kerry, Edwards, Sharpton, Kucinich or the Devil himself.
By Jack
Rabbit
The Beatings Will Continue
Until Morale Improves
February
24, 2004 · In 2001, we were told that
the Bush Tax Cuts would create two million new jobs. In 2002,
the administration projected 2.5 million new jobs and in February
2003, we were told that the Bush Tax Cuts would create 3.6
million jobs. However, the net job loss for 2003 was
53,000, bringing the total number of jobs lost since January
2001 to 2.2 million. By Bridget
Gibson
George W. Bush's Bright Shining
Lies
February
21, 2004 · The elder Bush's "Thousand
Points of Light" is a perfect metaphor for his son George
Bush's constellation of bright shining lies. Like stars spangled
across an ink-black sky, George Bush's lies seem to come in
all magnitudes. By
W. M. Tippins
Connections: China,
My Grandmother, and Walmart
February
21, 2004 · The relevance of China to
me is that my current (and last surviving) customer is in
the final stages of firing its engineers, after having closed
down most manufacturing and moved the factories to China.
All of my other customers have gone bankrupt, or sent their
work overseas. To believe Republican rhetoric, I have made
the wrong career choice, should have seen this coming, and
it’s not the government’s responsibility to see that I am
able to find work. By
Kerry Calvert
Appointment Determinism
February
20, 2004 · If you are a head of state
whose public has such grave concerns about your administration's
judgment, competence, credibility or integrity that you have
no choice but to establish an independent body to investigate,
all is not lost. By picking the right person to head up the
inquiry, you can all but guarantee a satisfactory outcome,
no matter how deserving of censure you and your aides are.
By Dennis
Hans
Time for the Buck to Stop
February
20, 2004 · This administration embarked
on a course of disaster from the day Cheney selected himself
as vice president. Its various factions are incompatible in
almost every way - most of them bound together only by a lust
for war and power, and a total disregard for human suffering.
By Sheila
Samples
Frist's Fibs on No Child
Left Behind
February
19, 2004 · As a public school teacher
I devote a considerable amount of my time to preparing students
for a world that can sometimes be brutal and unforgiving.
This is a duty I and my co-workers take seriously. Despite
the rumors being spread through the media and elsewhere, we
do in fact care if a student passes through our classes and
leaves without the amount of knowledge we feel they should
have acquired. By Gary
L. Taft
The Cover-Up That's Worse
Than the Crime
February
18, 2004 · Bush's alleged National Guard
AWOL happened over thirty years ago - ancient history. But
the cover-up is now, and it is ongoing. And time and again,
history has taught us that the cover-up is much worse than
the offense. By Ernest
Partridge
The Three "I"s
- Integrity, Intentions and Intelligence
February
17, 2004 · A lot of people don't understand
why the last two years have fermented growing distrust and
displeasure for George W. Bush. It is because people are reacting
to his failure to live up to their expectations about the
three "I"s - integrity, intentions and intelligence.
By Gerald
Plessner
Fort Knox vs. Fort Dix
February
17, 2004 · Currently, in our highest
office, there sits a man that has blasphemed our country by
his words and deeds. He has obfuscated and hidden the facts
from view for far too long. He has led our country into two
wars that have produced nothing but more chaos and death for
far too many innocent lives. By Bridget
Gibson
They Think I'm One of Them
February
17, 2004 · Just because I'm an ordained
minister doesn't mean that I am "one of them," yet
almost once a week I find a vicious and hateful email in my
inbox from some ultra-conservative right-wing Christian fundamentalist
group. By Rev.
Marie D. Jones
The Left Was Right
February
14, 2004 · The left was right on all
counts. As it turns out, Saddam was a paper tiger; there was
no imminent threat. Insofar as he was a threat, Saddam was
contained; for twelve years since being expelled from Kuwait,
all his saber rattling was nothing but bluster. Saddam had
no ties to al Qaida, let alone any part in the September 11
attacks. What Islamic fundamentalist terror organization operated
in Iraq operated in Kurdish regions beyond Saddam's control.
The left said there was no justification for the war, and
there was none. The left was right. By Jack
Rabbit
Love Your Vote Day: Embracing
the Disenfranchised Citizen
February
14, 2004 · On Saturday, February 14,
2004 get out the vote organizations around the country will
recognize Love Your Vote Day. VoterVirgin and New Voters Project
are proud to reach for a goal of 10,000 new voters registered
over a three day celebration across the nation. By Teresa
Van Deusen
Letting His Guard Down:
What Really Happened to George W. Bush in 1972?
February
13, 2004 · The reason Bush got retirement
credit and pay for service in 1972 despite the fact that his
superiors on the military bases to which he was assigned never
saw him is because he was not training at an Air Force Base
but spending time in a community center with underprivileged
children. So why was Bush spending time with underprivileged
children in 1972? By Raul
Groom
Shallow Throat to Dems:
"One Chance, Don't Blow It"
February
13, 2004 · I'd been trying to reach "Shallow
Throat" for several months, but had never received a response.
"I apologize, Bernie, for not answering your coded messages,"
said ST, as we sat opposite each other in a dimly-lit Virginia
tavern, "because you wouldn't believe how scary it is to be
inside the Bush Administration these days." By Bernard
Weiner
Why Bush Can't Win
the Conservative Vote
February
13, 2004 · Will Bush win in November?
I can assure you that if he does, it will not be because conservatives
supported him. We conservatives have been relegated to voting
for Independents, Libertarians or Reform Party members this
time around. By Donald
(R.J.) Carroll
We Weren't All Wrong
February
12, 2004 · It turns out that Dr. Kay
is wrong again, and not just regarding Iraq's WMDs. "All"
of us weren't wrong. In fact, most of us got it right. The
ones that did get it wrong were the ones named Bush, Cheney,
Rumsfeld, Blair, Wolfowitz, Rice, and Powell. By Alex
Young
Word Games: Mr. Bush Meets
the Press
February
12, 2004 · Many people throughout the
world are convinced that George W. Bush has been less than
candid about the war in Iraq. Even before the war, many doubted
that Saddam Hussein was the threat that Bush and his people
made him out to be. Questions now center on why the Administration
made such claims about Saddam's arsenal. By Jack
Rabbit
...And God Said
February
11, 2004 · The tele-evangelists who demonstrate
miracles on television with a wave of their hand or a touch
on the head proclaim to do God's work as they don their six-thousand
dollar Armani suits, board their private jets, and flaunt
their superiority while they sit upon their golden-gilded
chairs in front of the cameras of their church-owned television
stations. But their pulpit is used to bully and harass. The
notion of love and brotherhood are far removed from their
public pronunciations. By Norma
Sherry
It's the Intelligence,
Stupid
February
10, 2004 · Since David Kay's recent
testimony before Congress, many conservative politicians and
commentators have sullenly retreated to the position that
intelligence failures are to blame for the prosecution of
what is clearly an unnecessary invasion and occupation of
Iraq. The issue of intelligence failures, however, runs much
deeper than the quality of our espionage. By Jeff
Rosenzweig
Bush Supports Cohabitation
of Unwed Lovers
February
10, 2004 · Conservatives always
argue about what gays should not do: they should not be able
to marry, adopt, share benefits, visit each other when they
are sick, have power of attorney, inheritance rights, joint
custody, sex, or any of the multitude of things that constitute
a heterosexual marriage. But if conservatives are going to
fight against marriage for gay families, they need to offer
alternatives. By David
Rothschild
G. Walker Bush - Texas
Ranger
February
7, 2004 · In the 1980s, America watched
a B-movie actor become president. Today, it seems things are
reversed: we are watching our president become a B-movie actor.
George W. Bush plays a president for the cameras, but acts
very different off-stage. And while the made-for-TV "G. Walker
Bush, Texas Ranger" might make us feel safe and secure, the
real George W. Bush should not. By David
Sirota
The Other Caucus - Democrats
Abroad
February
6, 2004 · From St. Paul's Within the
Walls in Rome, the American Church in Paris, and the Foreign
Correspondents' Clubs in Hong Kong and Tokyo, to the ABC Treehouse
in Amsterdam, the Nueva Posada in Ajijic, Mexico, the Vinotheque
in Bangkok, and the more mundane Holiday Inn of London Bloomsbury,
overseas Democrats are expected to turn out in record numbers
for the worldwide Democratic caucus this weekend. By Jonathan
Cover-Messenger
No Soap
February
6, 2004 · In 2000 Bush campaigned as
a compassionate conservative and turned out to be anything
but. As the 2004 election approaches, the Bush White House
is trying to sell the same old bar of soap. But this time
it's not selling. And not only is it not selling, the American
people are realizing that they were lied to four years ago
and they are getting angry. By Gregory
Jefferson
A Tale of Two Budgets
February
5, 2004 · Meet the Americans: Mom, Dad,
Daughter in high school and schoolboy Son, who budget sensibly
and end the year with savings. And meet the Bushes, who are
unconcerned about their debt even as it approaches $6,000,000,000,000.
By David
Michael Rothschild
Controversy vs. Taste
February
5, 2004 · I'm a little confused by the
meaning of the word "controversial." Really, anything that
incites a discussion or argument can be described as "controversial,"
right? Let's take this year's Super Bowl as an example.
By Sebastian Wren, Ph.D
No Iraq Intelligence Needed
- Sources Have Already Spoken
February
4, 2004 · Many reputable intelligence
officers and analysts have already stated that the Bush administration
was intentionally selective in the intelligence claims it
accepted and quickly discarded contradictory information.
By Erik
P. Sorenson
An Open Letter to Andrew
Sullivan
February
4, 2004 · I have often criticized your
steadfast devotion to Mr Bush as being both unwarranted in
general and in particular, too narrowly focused on his response
to the events of That Day. Hearing you admit that your devotion
is being sorely tested is more than a little encouraging.
By Michael
Shannon
What Price Glory?
February
3, 2004 · We have too long turned
a deaf ear and a blind eye. Our leaders have betrayed our
innocence, our gullibility, our willingness to accept what
we're told. We can no longer feign ignorance. Not knowing
is no longer an option. It is time that we enacted our citizenship
and acted upon it with meaningfulness.
By Norma Sherry
And the Loser of Round 1
is... Bush
February
3, 2004 · For the entire month
of January President Bush was nothing more than a punching
bag in the political ring, with hits coming from all sides.
If Bush didn't fall down, he was certainly stumbling and holding
dearly to the ropes. Bush didn't just lose this round, he
lost big. Not many election years have started so poorly for
a President.
By Michael Dobbins
Move Over Joe Camel?
February
3, 2004 · We are inundating children
with caffeine, phosphoric acid and massive amounts of sugar
- the legacy will be the sickest generation of children in
modern United States history. Little is known about the health
effects of chlorinated sucralose, yet Coca-Cola is marketing
it in schools.
By John F. Borowski
ARTICLE
ARCHIVES
|
