Articles

JULY 2004

Those 16 Words Still Smell
July 24, 2004 · We are now told that the controversial 16-word sentence in the 2003 State of the Union address was "truthful" and "well-founded." Alas, it is neither. By Dennis Hans

The Brotherhood of the Lottery
July 24, 2004 · There is one day in my life that I will never forget, the day I returned - alive and well - from Vietnam. I was a lucky member of the Brotherhood of the Lottery. By John Lucas

The Waterman Paper
July 24, 2004 · This paper examines the possibility that Vice President Dick Cheney orchestrated the "leaking" of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to the news media in the summer of 2003. By H2O Man

A Sheep in Wolf's Clothing
July 23, 2004 · The media wasn't skeptical enough. They should have been. And more than 900 Americans have now given their lives, thousands more have given their limbs, and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi civilians are dead because of it. By Brad Friedman

An Army of None
July 22, 2004 · Imagine if George W. Bush was in Full Metal Jacket... By Max Udargo

The Art of Slip-Sliding
July 21, 2004 · Bush knows how ruinous mistakes can be to a career. So he just never goes there. If "mistakes were made," they were carried out by others, never him. By Bernard Weiner

Baby You Can Drive My War
July 21, 2004 · I knew a fella once... Fred was his name. One day an acquaintance told him of a dandy red sedan for sale at the dealership his Daddy had bequeathed to him in a nearby town... By Rick Hamel

Ralph, Ralph, Ralph
July 20, 2004 · I know you have a right to run. I know that you want the best for the country, to undo all the damage corporate money has done to the people's government. I believe you truly want to correct that. But let's get real. By punpirate

If Bush Were a Democrat...
July 20, 2004 · Come, my friends, to an alternate universe where the same people are in power in a place called the United States but some of their political affiliations have been switched. By Steven Vincent

Catch-9/11
July 20, 2004 · Heller's Catch-22 struck a chord with the 60s generation, when, in their effort to spread freedom and democracy, US soldiers in Vietnam were told to destroy villages in order to save them. Now, fast forward to today. By Greg Wilson

Who Would Jesus Torture? The Religion of George W. Bush
July 17, 2004 · A recent Time Magazine had a cover story entitled, "Faith, God and the Oval Office." In the same edition, there is an article entitled "Redefining Torture." Apparently, Time Magazine has no sense of irony. By Christian Dewar

Small Businessman Bush & the Evil Trial Lawyer
July 17, 2004 · Team Bush has decided to portray Edwards as some greedy bloodsucker who made his living bankrupting struggling small-businesses in a series of frivolous, trumped-up lawsuits. By Rush Roberts

George W. Bush's Tip-Top Flip-Flops
July 16, 2004 · I myself have no real quarrel with flip-flopping. In one of the earliest known indictments of the anally-retentive, Benjamin Franklin called consistency "the hob-goblin of little minds." But since some on the right so obviously do have a problem, I think it only fair we let them know about George. By Kurt Kurowski

Even Republicans and Military Members Applaud Fahrenheit 9/11
July 16, 2004 · Before you dismiss Moore's latest film as one that only appeals to people who didn't like Bush-Cheney much in the first place, consider the reaction of some Bush-Cheney supporters, military veterans and family members who saw it. By Kevin Shay

America, We Need to Talk
July 15, 2004 · What's going on here, America? What's it going to take to get your attention? Is there anything more morally horrifying than a hubris-infected fool who dares to recreate God in his own image, who forces upon the world a brutal doctrine of killing all who do not agree with him, claiming to liberate those who do - yet destroying both groups in the process? By Sheila Samples

An Uncivil Administration
July 14, 2004 · Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) was furious. Once again, the Bush Administration managed to subvert not only American civil liberties, but the democratic process as well. By Walter Brasch

Karl Rove's Campaign Diary: Time for Those "Surprises"
July 14, 2004 · It's July, August, September, October "surprise time." Take the leashes off them dogs, we're going right up in their faces again. Watch 'em blink. By Bernard Weiner

The Politics of Superheroes
July 14, 2004 · Two generations, two heroes, two different styles of getting the job done. We don't only have Kerry vs. Bush, we have Spider-Man vs. Batman. By Pab Sungenis

Beyond Fahrenheit 9/11
July 13, 2004 · Theories abound on the perversity of George W. Bush's character - obviously Michael Moore has his own - but a few of us have darker theories than most. If he were not who he is, who would George W. Bush be? By Marcus Reichert

Bush vs. Kerry: The Question of Core
July 13, 2004 · On the singular issue of "core," Kerry must stake his claim on knowledge, reason, and thoughtful debate. And to avoid the pitfalls of Al Gore, who during his 2000 presidential run often sounded like an agitated schoolmarm, he must temper his logic with humor, wit, and humility. By D.A. Blyler

40 years from now, will Fox and other corporate media admit to their distortions?
July 10, 2004 · In 40 years, how likely is it that Fox, or any other major corporate owned media outlets, will admit to its failure in covering the war in Iraq as the Herald-Leader recently did with civil rights? Given the speed of media consolidation and their increasingly cozy relationship with the government, that answer would have to be no. By Dan Gougherty

Oops, Fox Did it Again
July 9, 2004 · Earlier this week, the New York Post’s “exclusive” incorrectly declared, “Kerry’s Choice, Dem picks Gephardt as VP Candidate.” The New York Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which also owns Fox News. By Lisa Manzi

Edwards Provides the Best Balance
July 8, 2004 · John Edwards' recognition multiplied more than perhaps any other 2004 primary candidate. His message was already similar in content to John Kerry's. Yet at the same time, he brings things to the table that John Kerry cannot. By Aden Nak

Not Gay Marriage, Just Marriage
July 7, 2004 · No person, politician, religion, law or organization should stand between two adults who want to make a commitment to share their lives and to have that bond recognized by the government - regardless of their sexual orientation. By Karyn Strickler

The Decline and Fall of the Bush Fans
July 6, 2004 · A year ago, Bush supporters were waving their flags and gleefully rallying around a president who they saw as an upright war hero, a president who "stood his ground" and "saved us" from an imminent Iraqi threat. Unfortunately, the imminent threat wasn't really imminent or threatening after all, so now it's time for the legion of Bush fans to grasp at whatever comes along. By Newzmaniac

Are We Better Off?
July 6, 2004 · It is unfortunate but for someone who advertised himself in 2000 as the "Uniter" and a "Reformer with Results" and a "Compassionate Conservative," George W. Bush has been an absolute disappointment. By John R. Cobarruvias

The He-Man Women-Haters Club
July 3, 2004 · Team Bush have run their cynical calculus and have come to believe that they can win their second term without women; that is to say, with a platform that actively undermines traditional women's values. Victory for Bush will be realized through a classic, Nixonian Southern Strategy which aims primarily at white male voters in the red states but assumes that a not-insignificant number of women will obediently come along with their husbands on religious grounds or on the wildcard issue of security. By Tony Logan

The "Quiet" Christians
July 3, 2004 · In perusing newspapers and websites regarding current events, one would be led to believe that all Christians are right-wing Republicans and that all Democrats and "leftists" are Godless Communists. In fact, qiute the reverse is true. There are many in our nation who are devout Christians and are Democrats and Progressives by way of living their deeply-held beliefs. By Mary Pitt

Does Anyone Really Know There is a War Going On?
July 3, 2004 · With half of 2004 behind us, a historically crucial presidential election in four months and fourteen months removed from Bush's pompous proclamation of "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq, I am really beginning to wonder if average the American realizes we are at war. Is anyone paying attention? By Dan Gougherty

Good for Each, Bad for All
July 2, 2004 · The paradox of "good for each, bad for all," and its reciprocal "bad for each, good for all," are arguably the very foundation of social life and the fundamental justification of government. Furthermore, the failure of the radical right - libertarians, free-market absolutists, self-described "conservatives" - to acknowledge this paradox, renders their doctrines politically untenable and morally indefensible. By Ernest Partridge

Professional Optimists
July 2, 2004 · As we all know, there is no getting off now. There is only the ride ahead which, despite appearances, we will survive, at least most of us, and which will deposit us back on the ground once again in due time, free to roam the asphalt paths of this weird, corrupt amusement park we call the American Dream, where the prizes are real but the games are rigged, and even the carnies get swindled in the end. By Raul Groom

WMD? They Can't Be Syria's...
July 2, 2004 · The folowing highly sensitive intercept was made on the eve of the Iraq War. Saddam, facing certain death or capture, decides to call his closest ally in a last ditch effort to hide the goods... Satire by a_random_joel

Moore and More is Needed
July 1, 2004 · The size of the audiences seeing Fahrenheit 9/11 was guaranteed by the media hype, and the notion that the audiences consist mainly of liberal activists is disproved by the size of them. More people have already seen this movie than subscribe to progressive magazines or participate in political primary MeetUps. The question is what will happen in the heads of people who had never heard any of this stuff before. By David Swanson

Good for Business, Bad for the People
July 1, 2004 · Enraged and ashamed (hopefully), the audiences at Moore's film can indeed rise up if they seize the opportunity, throwing off the bullshit-encrusted mantra that "we are stuck in Iraq," along with the sham arguments that sold a pack of war crimes disguised as "liberation." By Daniel Patrick Welch

Negative Numbers
July 1, 2004 · A recent poll showed that people that support Bush do so because they actually approve of Bush, while the people that support Kerry do so not because they like Kerry, but because they hate Bush and Kerry is the alternative. Now granted, that doesn't sound too flattering to John Kerry. And, well, it isn't. But whether Kerry likes it or not, it's actually really good news. By Aden Nak

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