Articles

AUGUST 2004

25 Things We Now Know Three Years After 9/11
August 31, 2004 · Here is an update of things we've learned during the three years since 9/11 about the Administration that rules in our names. By Bernard Weiner

This is What Democracy Looks Like
August 31, 2004 · I have some good news to report: Democracy is not yet dead in America. Try as they might, George Bush and pals have not quite hammered into place the final nail of the Constitution's coffin. By Mark Drolette

The White House Horrors: Why a Kerry Vote is the Only Rational Option
August 27, 2004 · We've endured nearly four years of the Bush Administration, and it is crystal clear that this reckless, corrupt, incompetent, extremist crew are a disaster for our country and for the world. They have to go. By Bernard Weiner

A Fish Called Kurtz
August 27, 2004 · In the movie A Fish Called Wanda a character struggles to say "I'm sorry," resorting to meditation in his fruitless attempt to get those syllables to pass his lips. I have reason to believe that the actor was secretly coached by Howard Kurtz. By David Swanson

A Tale of Two Evils
August 27, 2004 · Republicans are quite comfortable when the choice is between the "lesser of two evils." After all, they're the ones that worked so diligently to lower - and bury - the proverbial bar. By Violet Lake

Kerry Served, Bush Swerved
August 26, 2004 · Kerry, who volunteered to go to Vietnam, was dodging shots that could take his ass off - while Bush was dodging and taking shots to get off his ass. What's even to discuss? By Mark Drolette

John Ashcroft: Periodic Table of Elements Now Classified Information
August 26, 2004 · Effective immediately, the periodic table of the elements will be classified as part of a new plan to strangle terrorist groups. Satire by David Albrecht

Unfit - My Letter to the Swift Boat Organization
August 25, 2004 · You have chosen vanity over valor, hubris over honor, character assassination and fraud over fact. You have chosen to wear the uniform of shame. By John Cory

Still not Getting by in Bush's America
August 24, 2004 · According to recent statistics, the gap between rich and poor has grown by 75 percent since 1967. While the average total household income for families in the bottom 20 percent has grown by $2,500, the top 20 percent have seen their incomes soar by about $62,000. By Joel Wendland

Blame the Terrorist Behind that Tree!
August 24, 2004 · With this guy, the buck never seems to stop. It just veers crazily around corners, never turns back, thunders through the halls of the administration and scares the hell out of those who try to corral it. By Sheila Samples

De Mainstream that Leads to De Nile
August 21, 2004 · Lately I've been amazed by what appears to be the inability of Beltway insiders to learn from their mistakes. This denial manifests itself in a touching faith in what certain commentators call "the Mainstream," that being the voice of the Beltway as filtered through the mass media. By Pamela Troy

The Kingdom of Thieves
August 21, 2004 · The unilateral, go-it-alone, every-man-for-himself, preemptive-strike policies of the Bush/Cheney administration have set the tone for the slime now ripping off the Florida victims of Hurricane Charley. By Richard A. Stitt

Tom Ridge Announces Television Debut of "Timmy the Terror-Fighting Turkey"
August 20, 2004 · WASHINGTON (AP) - Tom Ridge, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, today announced a new program designed to get even the youngest Americans involved in the non-stop fight against terrorism. Satire by David Albrecht

Bush Face Down on Floor
August 20, 2004 · This week, Bush promised that his 2005 budget would do more for veterans than they could ever dream. I'm sure that's good news to the thousands of veterans who have had their benefits slashed and their health claims denied. By K. Hardesty

Stealing the Election Again?
August 20, 2004 · Election 2000's "one-time anomaly" was likely nothing of the sort. And it looks like the Bush Bros. may be preparing a repeat performance. By Brad Friedman

Suckers for Jesus
August 19, 2004 · Close inspection reveals that the secular and religious right have little in common - and because this is so the secularists are anxious that the religious right refrain from such close inspection. By Ernest Partridge

Dispute the Bogus Claim that Bush is Stronger on Terorism
August 19, 2004 · Bush claims to be a strong decisive leader, best equipped to protect us from terrorism. That's dangerous nonsense. By Robert Devereaux

484 Reasons for Young Voters to Choose John Kerry
August 18, 2004 · "Old enough to fight, old enough to vote." That was the rallying cry of a generation that fought and died but didn't have a voice in the government that sent them to war. More than half the American soldiers that died in Vietnam had enlisted at age 21 or younger. By DjTj

"B.S. Away!" Cuts Through the Political Spin and Slime
August 18, 2004 · So much campaign slime, so many lies told and retold - my head was spinning from listening to the sludge that passes for political discourse these days. So I headed down to Silicon Valley to get another cannister of "B.S. Away!" from my ingenious inventor-friend. By Bernard Weiner

In Heaven as it is on Earth? George W. Bush's Troubling Theocracy
August 17, 2004 · Bush's simplistic melding of politics and religion in the service of an elect corporate finance scheme allows him to think that the rich getting richer and the poor poorer is simply a result of God's Will shining down on the deserving. The right-wing radicals funding his mission couldn't be happier. By Jeremy Yunt

Devil's Dictionary
August 17, 2004 · The following document was recently found in the men's room of a McDonald's near the Capitol... Satire by lazylawyer

You Can't Go Home Again
August 14, 2004 · In the last half-decade, another generation of workers have suffered the destructive consequences of a finance capital regime that was out of control. It is tragic so many have had to suffer to expose this mass swindle. The sharks-in-suits must be stopped from orchestrating yet another Wall Street putsch. By T.W. Croft

National Guard Vets Nearly Remember Bush
August 14, 2004 · Countering charges that President George W. Bush was absent from duty after he was transferred to the Alabama National Guard in 1972, the "Veterans Who Nearly Remember Bush" held their first press conference at the Motel 6 in Gadsden, Alabama. Satire by Phil Lebovits

A Bush Win Would Complete the Hat Trick – White House, Legislative and Judicial
August 13, 2004 · While we have dodged the bullet so far, we know what another Bush term could mean for the Supreme Court. By Dan Gougherty

To my Friends on the Left: Choose Kerry
August 13, 2004 · I am sick and tired of being afraid; afraid not of terrorists, but instead of the path down which our country is tumbling. And whether we like it or not, only one man can beat George W. Bush in the 2004 election. By Mark Sullivan

Bush's AWOL Scandal: Let's Break Through the Media Barrier
August 12, 2004 · From the very beginning, the mainstream media neglected to adequately report on Bush's failure to complete his six-year obligation to the Texas Air National Guard. They gave the story a superficial glance, but there was virtually no deep investigative reporting. By Bernard Weiner

Bush's Sweep Stakes: Targeting Latino Workers
August 11, 2004 · Various reports from local media and human rights activists show that immigration sweeps have occurred in Latino communities from Maine, to Chicago, Washington State, the Southwest, and Southern California. By Joel Wendland

An Open Letter to CNN
August 9, 2004 · Dear CNN, I don't want you to think I'm picking on you, but ever since 2000, when Texas Governor George W. Bush and Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney ran through the streets screaming that storm clouds were gathering on the dashboard of our republic, you've been furiously raining on the democracy parade. By Sheila Samples

Bush versus Kerry- Questions About Military Service Revisited
August 9, 2004 · Questions about Bush's military service in the Air National Guard would in all likelihood be history by now if not for the constant Republican attacks on Kerry's patriotism and war record, along with a steady stream of accusations that he is weak on defense and national security. By Evelyn Pringle

A Different Choice
August 7, 2004 · Voting for the lesser of two evils has been the ugly fact of American politics for quite some time now, but to call John Kerry simply a "lesser evil" than the Bush Administration drastically understates the tremendously negative impact that George W. Bush's policies and actions have had. by Aden Nak

When the Law Goes Flat
August 6, 2004 · Amidst all the outrages of the Bush Administration it is almost too easy to overlook the erosion of the rule of law. Yet the law is the institution that most immediately affects us all. By Ernest Partridge

Resume of Vice President Dick Cheney to be Posted on Monster.Com
August 6, 2004 · Dick Cheney is too modest to list his past accomplishments as CEO of Halliburton on the White House Website, so I decided to give him a few pointers on writing a resume. By Evelyn J. Pringle

The Only Thing We Have to Fear...
August 6, 2004 · We are a house divided on issues from the economy to abortion. In all this chaos there is one recurring theme that binds the whole mess together - the ugly and dangerous aspect of ardently-held belief. By Tabetha Garman

Tom Ridge: Nostradamus Prophecies "Chilling, Compelling" Basis for Increased Terror Alert Level
August 5, 2004 · Tom Ridge today defended the Bush administration's decision to rely on the prophetic writings of Nostradamus to increase terror alert levels in New York, Newark and Washington, DC. Satire by David Albrecht

The Case for a Federal Marriage Amendment
August 5, 2004 · We need to turn Federal Marriage Amendment legislation and its ilk around and use it to amend the constitution to protect the rights of all Americans, in all states. By sui generis

The Security Czar
August 5, 2004 · This concept of having one person to whom all law enforcement and security departments of the government report does ring a distant bell. By Mary Pitt

Letter to European Friends: America's Weird Election Dance
August 4, 2004 · Politics in the U.S. is a spectator sport, with constant shifting of alliances, positions, leaders, trends. But I will try to help you and your friends abroad make some sense of our current presidential campaign puzzle. By Bernard Weiner

The Pickpocket
August 3, 2004 · With Congress and the White House under Republican control, we have been shown that fiscal responsibility definitely does not reside within that political party. By Bridget Gibson

The Pathology of Republican Passion
August 3, 2004 · The hardest thing for me to understand is the passion of Bush's supporters, those faithful disciples of a man many people see as an incurious dolt and an inarticulate pretender to the highest office in the land. By Doug Snider

The Disheartening David Brooks
August 3, 2004 · Brooks' haste to mirror Republican spin points on John Kerry leads him into faults much worse than those he falsely attributes to the Democratic candidate. By Glenn M. Edwards