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<p>On Wednesday, President Donald Trump <a href="" type="internal">disbanded a White House commission</a> tasked with looking into unsubstantiated allegations of widespread voter fraud. In a&#160; <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-press-secretary-presidential-advisory-commission-election-integrity/" type="external">statement</a>, the president indicated the commission’s work would continue through the Department of Homeland Security.</p>
<p>DHS’ involvement may initially seem perplexing, because the agency has traditionally had little to do with administering elections.</p>
<p>However, documents unearthed in a lawsuit against Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, who led the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity, provide clues about why the project has been moved to DHS. They suggest the Trump administration’s ultimate goal may be to push for citizenship tests for people when they register to vote.</p>
<p>In Kansas, where a similar system is already in place, the citizenship checks have had the effect of preventing approximately 1 in 7 people who attempted to register to vote from getting onto the rolls.</p>
<p />
<p>In its suit over Kansas’ citizenship test, the American Civil Liberties Union sought a document that Kobach had been photographed holding after his interview with Trump for the top Department of Homeland Security job.&#160;Kobach turned over a heavily redacted version of the document, titled&#160; <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4343772-373-3-Ex-U-Kobach-NVRA-Plans.html" type="external">Department of Homeland Security Kobach Strategic Plan For First 365 Days</a>.</p>
<p>The one item on the list not blacked-out falls under the heading “Stop Aliens from Voting” and&#160;reads, “Draft Amendments to National Voter Registration Act to&#160;promote proof-of-citizenship requirements.”</p>
<p>The second&#160; <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4343773-396-3-Ex-EE-NVRA-Amendments.html" type="external">document</a>&#160;lists potential changes to law that would more easily allow states to adopt citizenship checks similar to the Kansas system without clearly violating federal law, which limits what information states can require people turn over when registering to vote through the DMV.</p>
<p>For example, the law currently holds that states “may require only the minimum amount of information” necessary to determine eligibility. Kobach’s changes would give states freedom to set their own standards as restrictively as they desire.</p>
<p>The alterations would also explicitly state that nothing in the law should be “construed to prevent a state from requiring documentary proof of citizenship from any applicant.”</p>
<p>Passed in 2011, Kansas’ citizenship check law has disenfranchised people like Lawrence, Kansas, resident Steven Wayne Fish. The suit’s lead plaintiff, Fish attempted to register to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles in 2014 while renewing his driver’s license. He was unable to do so because he had lost his birth certificate and couldn’t prove his citizenship. Fish was born on a now-shuttered military base in Illinois and has been unable to locate a new copy.</p>
<p>Fish is hardly alone. Many people lack the access to documents that can prove their citizenship, like a birth certificate or passport, often because of financial considerations. Between 2013 and 2016, over 35,000 Kansas residents have been suspended or purged from the registered voter list due to an inability to provide proof of citizenship. That’s about 14 percent of all new registrants.</p>
<p>Investigations into noncitizen voting by&#160; <a href="http://ceimn.org/files/Facts%20about%20Ineligible%20Voting%20and%20Voter%20Fraud%20in%20Minnesota_with%20appendix.pdf" type="external">Minnesota</a>,&#160; <a href="http://nmpolitics.net/Documents/SOSVoterFileReport.pdf" type="external">New Mexico</a>,&#160; <a href="https://www.ncleg.net/documentsites/committees/JointAppropriationsGeneralGovernment/2013%20Session/03-07-13%20Meeting/sbe_GA_response_with_attachments.pdf" type="external">North Carolina</a>,&#160; <a href="http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2015/03/12/husted-voting.html" type="external">Ohio</a>, and&#160; <a href="http://publications.iowa.gov/16874/1/DCI%20Voter%20Fraud%20Report%205-8-14.pdf" type="external">Iowa</a>&#160;all found cases to be relatively few and far between. In the wake of the 2016 election, The New York Times&#160; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/18/us/voter-fraud.html?_r=0" type="external">asked</a>election officials in 49 state for incidents of noncitizens voting and only found two potential cases out of the over 137 million ballots cast.</p>
<p>The citizenship requirements are even stricter than many of the voter ID laws that have captured so much attention in recent years. Under West Virginia’s voter ID law, which goes into effect this year, voters can show a driver’s license, debit card or even a utility bill.</p>
<p>The 1993 National Voter Registration Act, which first allowed people to register at the DMV, was intended to make voter registration simple. Because people already have to verify their identity with official documentation at the DMV to apply for driver’s licenses, it seemed like a perfect fit.</p>
<p>Many people who register to vote at the DMV are primarily there to take care of issues like renewing a driver’s license, which don’t require documentation beyond the expired license, and may not have their birth certificate in hand.</p>
<p>During the debate over the passage of the Voter Registration Act, Congress considered allowing states to require new registrants to provide documented proof of citizenship. However, that idea was ultimately rejected because the criminal penalties for getting caught voting illegally were considered sufficient safeguards to prevent noncitizens from registering to vote. Under U.S. law, noncitizens caught voting illegally can&#160; <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/611" type="external">face fines and jail time</a>.</p>
<p>According to an analysis conducted by University of Florida political scientist Michael McDonald, the Kansas citizenship test disproportionately disenfranchises young voters between the ages of 18 and 29, as well as independents.</p>
<p>“Based on the Kansas experiment, imposing a national documentary proof of citizenship requirement would be devastating for voters, particularly for new and young voters whom we should be making every effort to engage,” said Sophia Lakin, a staff attorney on the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project.</p>
<p>Kobach did not turn these documents over without a fight.&#160;He argued his memo did not propose any changes to voter eligibility requirements in the National Voter Registration Act, when in fact it did precisely that. The court&#160; <a href="https://www.aclu.org/legal-document/fish-v-kobach-federal-order-sanctioning-kris-kobach" type="external">fined</a>&#160;Kobach for operating in bad faith and warned Kobach’s legal team that this type of conduct could have long-term repercussions for their professional reputations. The judge wrote that Kobach “made patently misleading representations to the court about the documents.”</p>
<p>Trump’s voter integrity effort was plagued by controversy even before it was announced. The commission, led by Kobach and Vice President Mike Pence, was inspired by Trump’s assertion that millions of people voted illegally during the 2016 presidential election. That claim, which Trump sourced to the Houston-based group True the Vote, has never been&#160; <a href="https://www.revealnews.org/blog/group-behind-trumps-voter-fraud-claims-still-wont-show-its-work/" type="external">publicly supported by credible evidence</a>.</p>
<p>With at least&#160; <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/legal-actions-taken-against-trump%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%9Cfraud%E2%80%9D-commission" type="external">19 lawsuits</a>&#160;across the country aimed at blocking the commission’s work and an unnamed White House adviser&#160; <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/03/politics/presidential-election-commission/index.html" type="external">describing</a>&#160;the process as a “shit show,” Trump announced it wouldn’t be meeting sometime this month as scheduled. Instead, it would be shutting down.</p>
<p>If citizenship tests are the Trump administration’s true end game, neither the White House commission nor DHS have the authority to unilaterally impose them on the nation’s patchwork of state-run election systems.</p>
<p>University of California law professor Rick Hasen, who operates the influential Election Law Blog, said DHS could use its database of citizenship data to produce a study pushing Congress to allow states to more easily impose citizenship checks.</p>
<p>Lakin, the ACLU attorney, specifically worried about DHS using its Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements database as part of its analysis. SAVE was designed to determine if noncitizens are eligible for federal benefits, not ferret out voter fraud. That’s why there were&#160; <a href="http://www.politifact.com/florida/statements/2013/oct/30/league-women-voters-florida/league-women-voters-says-homeland-security-warned-/" type="external">serious problems</a>&#160;when Florida officials used it to identify around 180,000 registered voters who weren’t U.S. citizens in advance of the 2012 election. After further investigation, only 85 noncitizens were ultimately kicked off the state’s voter rolls.</p>
<p>“It’s critically important to recognize the significant limitations of SAVE that make it an extremely dangerous tool for identifying purported noncitizens on the voter rolls,” Lakin said.</p>
<p>DHS officials have remained vague on what shape the agency’s efforts on this front will ultimately take.</p>
<p>“At the President’s direction, the Department continues to work in support of state governments who are responsible for administering elections, with efforts focused on securing elections against those who seek to undermine the election system or its integrity,” DHS Acting Press Secretary Tyler Houlton said in a statement.</p>
<p>Houlton did not&#160;respond to questions about if DHS would be using the SAVE database as part of its analysis, but noted that Kobach is not presently involved in advising the agency on the matter.</p> | true | 4 | wednesday president donald trump disbanded white house commission tasked looking unsubstantiated allegations widespread voter fraud a160 statement president indicated commissions work would continue department homeland security dhs involvement may initially seem perplexing agency traditionally little administering elections however documents unearthed lawsuit kansas secretary state kris kobach led presidential advisory commission election integrity provide clues project moved dhs suggest trump administrations ultimate goal may push citizenship tests people register vote kansas similar system already place citizenship checks effect preventing approximately 1 7 people attempted register vote getting onto rolls suit kansas citizenship test american civil liberties union sought document kobach photographed holding interview trump top department homeland security job160kobach turned heavily redacted version document titled160 department homeland security kobach strategic plan first 365 days one item list blackedout falls heading stop aliens voting and160reads draft amendments national voter registration act to160promote proofofcitizenship requirements second160 document160lists potential changes law would easily allow states adopt citizenship checks similar kansas system without clearly violating federal law limits information states require people turn registering vote dmv example law currently holds states may require minimum amount information necessary determine eligibility kobachs changes would give states freedom set standards restrictively desire alterations would also explicitly state nothing law construed prevent state requiring documentary proof citizenship applicant passed 2011 kansas citizenship check law disenfranchised people like lawrence kansas resident steven wayne fish suits lead plaintiff fish attempted register vote department motor vehicles 2014 renewing drivers license unable lost birth certificate couldnt prove citizenship fish born nowshuttered military base illinois unable locate new copy fish hardly alone many people lack access documents prove citizenship like birth certificate passport often financial considerations 2013 2016 35000 kansas residents suspended purged registered voter list due inability provide proof citizenship thats 14 percent new registrants investigations noncitizen voting by160 minnesota160 new mexico160 north carolina160 ohio and160 iowa160all found cases relatively far wake 2016 election new york times160 askedelection officials 49 state incidents noncitizens voting found two potential cases 137 million ballots cast citizenship requirements even stricter many voter id laws captured much attention recent years west virginias voter id law goes effect year voters show drivers license debit card even utility bill 1993 national voter registration act first allowed people register dmv intended make voter registration simple people already verify identity official documentation dmv apply drivers licenses seemed like perfect fit many people register vote dmv primarily take care issues like renewing drivers license dont require documentation beyond expired license may birth certificate hand debate passage voter registration act congress considered allowing states require new registrants provide documented proof citizenship however idea ultimately rejected criminal penalties getting caught voting illegally considered sufficient safeguards prevent noncitizens registering vote us law noncitizens caught voting illegally can160 face fines jail time according analysis conducted university florida political scientist michael mcdonald kansas citizenship test disproportionately disenfranchises young voters ages 18 29 well independents based kansas experiment imposing national documentary proof citizenship requirement would devastating voters particularly new young voters making every effort engage said sophia lakin staff attorney aclus voting rights project kobach turn documents without fight160he argued memo propose changes voter eligibility requirements national voter registration act fact precisely court160 fined160kobach operating bad faith warned kobachs legal team type conduct could longterm repercussions professional reputations judge wrote kobach made patently misleading representations court documents trumps voter integrity effort plagued controversy even announced commission led kobach vice president mike pence inspired trumps assertion millions people voted illegally 2016 presidential election claim trump sourced houstonbased group true vote never been160 publicly supported credible evidence least160 19 lawsuits160across country aimed blocking commissions work unnamed white house adviser160 describing160the process shit show trump announced wouldnt meeting sometime month scheduled instead would shutting citizenship tests trump administrations true end game neither white house commission dhs authority unilaterally impose nations patchwork staterun election systems university california law professor rick hasen operates influential election law blog said dhs could use database citizenship data produce study pushing congress allow states easily impose citizenship checks lakin aclu attorney specifically worried dhs using systematic alien verification entitlements database part analysis save designed determine noncitizens eligible federal benefits ferret voter fraud thats were160 serious problems160when florida officials used identify around 180000 registered voters werent us citizens advance 2012 election investigation 85 noncitizens ultimately kicked states voter rolls critically important recognize significant limitations save make extremely dangerous tool identifying purported noncitizens voter rolls lakin said dhs officials remained vague shape agencys efforts front ultimately take presidents direction department continues work support state governments responsible administering elections efforts focused securing elections seek undermine election system integrity dhs acting press secretary tyler houlton said statement houlton not160respond questions dhs would using save database part analysis noted kobach presently involved advising agency matter | 782 |
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<p>Photo by Marc Nozell | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p />
<p>As <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/donald-trump-us-president-elect-russia-hacking-report-sleazebag-democrats-dodgy-dossier-a7525436.html" type="external">Donald Trump</a> prepares for his inauguration, he is struggling with opposition from the US media, intelligence agencies, government apparatus, parts of the Republican Party and a significant portion of the American population. Impressive obstacles appear to prevent him exercising arbitrary power.</p>
<p>He should take heart: much the same was said in Turkey of <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/turkey-preisident-recep-tayyip-erdogan-donald-trump-put-cnn-reporter-jim-acosta-in-his-place-press-a7525821.html" type="external">Recep Tayyip Erdogan</a> in 2002 when he led his Justice and Development Party (AKP) to the first of four election victories. He faced an army that, through coups and the threat of coups, was the ultimate source of power in the country, and a secular establishment suspicious of his <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/topic/islamism" type="external">Islamist</a> beliefs. But over the years he has outmanoeuvred or eliminated his enemies and – using a failed military coup on 15 July last year as an excuse – is suppressing and punishing all signs of dissent as “terrorism”.</p>
<p>As Trump enters the White House, the AKP and far right nationalist super majority in the Turkish parliament is this month stripping the assembly of its powers and transferring them wholesale to the presidency. President Erdogan will become an elected dictator able to dissolve parliament, veto legislation, decide the budget, appoint ministers who do not have to be MPs along with senior officials and heads of universities.</p>
<p>All power will be concentrated in Erdogan’s hands as the office of prime minister is abolished and the president, who can serve three five year terms, takes direct control of the intelligence services. He will appoint senior judges and the head of state institutions including the education system.</p>
<p>These far-reaching constitutional changes are reinforcing an ever-expanding purge begun after the failed military coup last year, in which more than 100,000 civil servants have been detained or dismissed. This purge is now reaching into every walk of life, from liberal journalists to businessmen who have seen $10bn in assets confiscated by the state.</p>
<p>The similarities between Erdogan and Trump are greater than they might seem, despite the very different political traditions in the US and Turkey.</p>
<p>The parallel lies primarily in the methods by which both men have gained power and seek to enhance it. They are populists and nationalists who demonise their enemies and see themselves as surrounded by conspiracies. Success does not sate their pursuit of more authority.</p>
<p>Hopes in the US that, after Trump’s election in November, he would shift from aggressive campaign mode to a more conciliatory approach have dissipated over the last two months. Towards the media his open hostility has escalated, as was shown by his abuse of reporters at his press conference this week.</p>
<p>Manic sensitivity to criticism is a hallmark of both men. In Trump’s case this is exemplified by his tweeted denunciation of critics such as Meryl Streep, while in Turkey 2,000 people have been charged with insulting the president. One man was tried for posting on Facebook three pictures of Gollum, the character in The Lord of the Rings, with similar facial features to pictures of Erdogan posted alongside. Of the 259 journalists in jail around the world, no less than 81 are in Turkey. American reporters may not yet face similar penalties, but they can expect intense pressure on the institutions for which they work to mute their criticisms.</p>
<p>Turkey and the US may have very different political landscapes, but there is a surprising degree of uniformity in the behaviour of Trump and Erdogan. The same is true of populist, nationalist, authoritarian leaders who are taking power in many different parts of the world from Hungary and Poland to the Philippines. Commentators have struggled for a phrase to describe this phenomenon, such as “the age of demagoguery”, but this refers only to one method – and that not the least important – by which such leaders gain power.</p>
<p>This type of political leadership is not new: the most compelling account of it was written 70 years ago in 1947 by the great British historian Sir Lewis Namier, in an essay reflecting on what he termed “Caesarian democracy”, which over the previous century had produced Napoleon III in France, Mussolini in Italy and Hitler in Germany. His list of the most important aspects of this toxic brand of politics is as relevant today as it was when first written, since all the items apply to Trump, Erdogan and their like.</p>
<p>Namier described “Caesarian democracy” as typified by “its direct appeal to the masses: demagogical slogans; disregard of legality despite a professed guardianship of law and order; contempt of political parties and the parliamentary system, of the educated classes and their values; blandishments and vague, contradictory promises to all and sundry; militarism; gigantic blatant displays and shady corruption. Panem et circenses [bread and circuses] once more – and at the end of the road, disaster.”</p>
<p>Disaster comes in different forms. One disability of elected dictators or strongmen is that, impelled by an exaggerated idea of their own capacity, they undertake foreign military adventures beyond their country’s strength. As an isolationist Trump might steer clear of such quagmires, but most of his senior security appointments show a far more aggressive and interventionist streak.</p>
<p>A strength of President Obama was that he had a realistic sense of what was attainable by the US in the Middle East without starting unwinnable wars as President George W Bush did in Iraq and Afghanistan. During the presidential election campaign, Trump showed signs of grasping – as Hillary Clinton did not – that Americans do not want to fight another ground war in the Middle East or anywhere else. But this naturally limits US influence in the world and will be at odds with Trump’s slogan about “making America great again.”</p>
<p>The disaster that Namier predicted was the natural end of elected dictators has already begun to happen in Turkey. The Turkish leader may have succeeded in monopolising power at home, but at the price of provoking crises and deepening divisions within Turkish society. The country is embroiled in the war in Syria, thanks to Erdogan’s ill-judged intervention there since 2011. This led to the Syrian branch of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) establishing a de facto state in northern Syria and Isis doing the same in Syria and Iraq. At home, Erdogan restarted the war with the Turkish Kurds for electoral reasons in 2015 and the conflict is now more intractable than ever.</p>
<p>Every few weeks in Turkey there is another terrorist attack which is usually the work of Isis or a faction of the PKK – although the government sometimes blames atrocities on the followers of Fethullah Gulen, who are alleged to have carried out the attempted military coup last July. In addition to this, there is an escalating financial crisis, which has seen the Turkish lira lose 12 per cent of its value over the last two weeks. Foreign and domestic investment is drying up as investors become increasingly convinced that Turkey has become chronically unstable.</p>
<p>Erdogan and Trump have a further point in common: both have an unquenchable appetite for power and achieve it by exploiting and exacerbating divisions within their own countries.</p>
<p>They declare they will make their countries great again, but in practise make them weaker.</p>
<p>They are forever sawing through the branch on which they – and everybody else – are sitting.</p> | true | 4 | photo marc nozell cc 20 160 donald trump prepares inauguration struggling opposition us media intelligence agencies government apparatus parts republican party significant portion american population impressive obstacles appear prevent exercising arbitrary power take heart much said turkey recep tayyip erdogan 2002 led justice development party akp first four election victories faced army coups threat coups ultimate source power country secular establishment suspicious islamist beliefs years outmanoeuvred eliminated enemies using failed military coup 15 july last year excuse suppressing punishing signs dissent terrorism trump enters white house akp far right nationalist super majority turkish parliament month stripping assembly powers transferring wholesale presidency president erdogan become elected dictator able dissolve parliament veto legislation decide budget appoint ministers mps along senior officials heads universities power concentrated erdogans hands office prime minister abolished president serve three five year terms takes direct control intelligence services appoint senior judges head state institutions including education system farreaching constitutional changes reinforcing everexpanding purge begun failed military coup last year 100000 civil servants detained dismissed purge reaching every walk life liberal journalists businessmen seen 10bn assets confiscated state similarities erdogan trump greater might seem despite different political traditions us turkey parallel lies primarily methods men gained power seek enhance populists nationalists demonise enemies see surrounded conspiracies success sate pursuit authority hopes us trumps election november would shift aggressive campaign mode conciliatory approach dissipated last two months towards media open hostility escalated shown abuse reporters press conference week manic sensitivity criticism hallmark men trumps case exemplified tweeted denunciation critics meryl streep turkey 2000 people charged insulting president one man tried posting facebook three pictures gollum character lord rings similar facial features pictures erdogan posted alongside 259 journalists jail around world less 81 turkey american reporters may yet face similar penalties expect intense pressure institutions work mute criticisms turkey us may different political landscapes surprising degree uniformity behaviour trump erdogan true populist nationalist authoritarian leaders taking power many different parts world hungary poland philippines commentators struggled phrase describe phenomenon age demagoguery refers one method least important leaders gain power type political leadership new compelling account written 70 years ago 1947 great british historian sir lewis namier essay reflecting termed caesarian democracy previous century produced napoleon iii france mussolini italy hitler germany list important aspects toxic brand politics relevant today first written since items apply trump erdogan like namier described caesarian democracy typified direct appeal masses demagogical slogans disregard legality despite professed guardianship law order contempt political parties parliamentary system educated classes values blandishments vague contradictory promises sundry militarism gigantic blatant displays shady corruption panem et circenses bread circuses end road disaster disaster comes different forms one disability elected dictators strongmen impelled exaggerated idea capacity undertake foreign military adventures beyond countrys strength isolationist trump might steer clear quagmires senior security appointments show far aggressive interventionist streak strength president obama realistic sense attainable us middle east without starting unwinnable wars president george w bush iraq afghanistan presidential election campaign trump showed signs grasping hillary clinton americans want fight another ground war middle east anywhere else naturally limits us influence world odds trumps slogan making america great disaster namier predicted natural end elected dictators already begun happen turkey turkish leader may succeeded monopolising power home price provoking crises deepening divisions within turkish society country embroiled war syria thanks erdogans illjudged intervention since 2011 led syrian branch kurdistan workers party pkk establishing de facto state northern syria isis syria iraq home erdogan restarted war turkish kurds electoral reasons 2015 conflict intractable ever every weeks turkey another terrorist attack usually work isis faction pkk although government sometimes blames atrocities followers fethullah gulen alleged carried attempted military coup last july addition escalating financial crisis seen turkish lira lose 12 per cent value last two weeks foreign domestic investment drying investors become increasingly convinced turkey become chronically unstable erdogan trump point common unquenchable appetite power achieve exploiting exacerbating divisions within countries declare make countries great practise make weaker forever sawing branch everybody else sitting | 656 |
<p>Screen shot: "The Black Banners"</p>
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<p>What is the best way to break a terrorist? Waterboarding? Stress positions? What about pizza, ice cream, or sugar-free cookies?</p>
<p>The most surprising element of former FBI interrogator Ali Soufan’s memoir, The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda, is how receptive terrorists are to food. When Soufan takes L’Houssaine Kherchtou, an Al Qaeda fixer, out for pizza, Khertchou tells him he’s “not an Al Qaeda guy anymore.” Mohamed Rashed Daoud al-Owhali, who helped facilitate the bombing of the American embassy in Nairobi in 1998, spills the beans after being plied with cookies and Meals Ready to Eat. Tariq el-Sawah, captured at Tora Bora and currently detained at Guantanamo Bay, has a fondness for ice cream. And in the desperate hours immediately following the 9/11 attacks, Soufan wears down the diabetic Abu Jandal, a former bodyguard for Osama bin Laden, with sugarless cookies, establishing that Al Qaeda was indeed responsible for the 9/11 attacks.</p>
<p>There are other levers Soufan uses, of course, to get information out of his subjects. Khertchou is furious over bin Laden’s refusal to pay for his wife’s cesarean section. Owhali is overwhelmed by the quality of information the FBI has assembled. Abu Jandal, despite his fondness for bin Laden, is shocked at the scale of the attacks—particularly after Soufan manipulates him into believing that hundreds of Yemenis died in the assault on the towers. Soufan also exploits regional resentments between Al Qaeda members; the “Gulf Arabs” were frequently resentful of Egyptian members’ superior influence and financial benefits, to the point that Al Qaeda would divide into Egyptian and Gulf teams for their Friday soccer games. Soufan leverages their ignorance of the Koran and uses their fidelity to extremist ideology to manipulate them into talking.</p>
<p>Because Soufan played a key role in investigating Al Qaeda’s most successful strikes against the United States, from the East Africa embassy bombings to the 9/11 attacks, his account reads a bit like a first-person version of Lawrence Wright’s <a href="http://www.salon.com/books/review/2006/08/30/looming_tower/" type="external">The Looming Tower</a>, a definitive book on bin Laden’s terrorist movement in which Soufan figures prominently. A Lebanese immigrant and self-identified “fraternity boy,” Soufan applied to the FBI armed with knowledge of Arabic, Islam, and the Middle East that would make him a crucial part of the bureau beginning in the late 1990s. His reliance on traditional methods of interrogation put him at odds with the brutal tactics implemented by the Bush administration after 9/11.</p>
<p>In 2009, having since retired, Soufan came forward as a key opponent of torturing suspected terrorists. Through newspaper op-eds and congressional testimony, he argued that torture was useless, and that the Bush administration had claimed credit for intelligence he himself had acquired without torture in order to retroactively justify its tactics. Soufan, who writes his book that he preferred Bush over Gore and identified with the “strong national security approach to the GOP,” quickly became a target for the political right because of his opposition to torture. Soufan’s criticism of the CIA, meanwhile, is reportedly the reason for the book’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/26/us/26agent.html?_r=3&amp;pagewanted=all" type="external">lengthy redactions</a> of information that is already public knowledge.</p>
<p>In The Black Banners, Soufan tells this story in more detail than ever before—complete with the Brechtian amateurism of the psychologists who insist, even as their “enhanced interrogation techniques” fail, that torture will work if only they can torture a little bit more. Soufan asserts that useful information extracted from key Al Qaeda operative Abu Zubaydah was acquired by Soufan prior to Zubaydah’s being waterboarded 83 times. He also points out that alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheik Mohammed, despite being waterboarded 183 times, didn’t just manage to withold information about the courier who ultimately helped the Obama administration find bin Laden’s secret compound; he also managed to keep secret “ticking time bombs” in Spain, Britain, and Indonesia—all places struck by Al Qaeda plots that KSM likely knew about.</p>
<p>Soufan’s story also serves as a rebuke to the Islamophobic “Shariah panic” that has gripped the right wing of the Republican Party since Bush left office. Support for torture and the blanket fear of Muslims have similar intellectual roots: Both presume that Muslim extremists are unflappable warrior-monks whose commitment to brutality is matched only by their encyclopedic knowledge of the Koran. Soufan writes of the prostitute-seeking, liquor-shot-pounding extremists that he was surprised “how morally corrupt (in Islamic terms) some al-Qaeda members are.” Soufan notes that while “they could quote bin Laden’s sayings by heart,” in many cases they were largely ignorant about theology. “I knew far more of the Koran than they did,” he writes.</p>
<p>The Islamophobes in particular blast their critics for failing to grapple adequately with the details of Al Qaeda’s brand of Islamic extremism: Know your enemy, they admonish. Which is ironic, because theirs is a mantra Soufan shares. “People ask what is the most important weapon we have against al-Qaeda,” he writes, “and I reply, ‘knowledge.'” Soufan is talking about the extremists’ unique and flawed Islamic theology, but he’s also referring to their petty jealousies, personal foibles, and past histories. Treating every terrorist as a mere drone in a massive Muhammadan hive mind misses the point. “Each detainee is different, knows different things, and has different triggers that will get him to cooperate.”</p>
<p>The title of the book stems from a hadith popular among Islamic extremists: If Muslims see an army rising from the historic region of Khurasan in Central Asia marching under the black banners, they should join them. The idea is that this army will defeat the enemies of Islam in an apocalyptic final battle. Yet despite its popularity among extremists, scholars consider the hadith to be of “questionable origin.” Like all religious extremists, Al Qaeda’s embrace of rigid textualism is selective.</p>
<p>Soufan describes many instances in which he uses his knowledge and a savvy rapport to exploit the personal foibles and intellectual weaknesses of his subjects. He kneels down to pray with Mohammed al-Qahtani, who was originally meant to be one of the 9/11 hijackers. He engages Al Qaeda propagandist Ali al-Bahlul in a theological debate whereby he shames Bahlul into giving up information. And Soufan’s encyclopedic knowledge of Al Qaeda helps him keep Fahd Mohammed Ahmed al-Quso, one of the planners of the USS Cole bombing in Yemen in 2000, talking. Shocked by how much Soufan knows, and unwilling to believe an Arab Muslim could be an FBI agent, Quso convinces himself that Soufan is an Islamist double-agent. “I saw you in Afghanistan!” Quso exclaims. “Maybe,” Soufan says. Quso starts bragging about his exploits, assuming he isn’t telling Soufan anything he doesn’t already know. He doesn’t realize how much he’s giving away. &#160;</p>
<p>The story of America’s most famous Arab American FBI agent couldn’t come at a more poignant time, with the FBI fighting off institutionalized Islamophobia in its own ranks. <a href="http://feeds.wired.com/~r/WiredDangerRoom/~3/rWCOUHFyk8I/" type="external">A recent spate</a> of stories from Spencer Ackerman at Wired exposed training that portrayed Islam as inherently violent, and mainstream American Muslims as terrorist sympathizers. FBI agents were being taught that the more religiously observant Muslims are, the more likely they are to be terrorists—a ridiculous proposition, especially when one considers that the 9/11 hijackers went out of their way not to be observant so as not to draw suspicion.</p>
<p>Soufan’s story, implicitly an example of the triumph of American pluralism, nevertheless underscores the degree to which the FBI has largely failed to produce more Ali Soufans.</p>
<p>“Having grown up in a country pulled apart by sectarian discord, I had come to appreciate the greatness of the United States and admire the ideals that had created the nation,” Soufan writes, remembering having to huddle with his parents as bombs exploded in his old neighborhood in war-torn Lebanon. “To those of us who have filled the alternatives, they are filled with meaning.” This is why families like Soufan’s have always come to the United States. Scores of America’s Muslims have similar stories—and yet agents like Soufan remain uncommon. Last year, Lawrence Wright <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2010/09/islamic_fundamentalism" type="external">said in a conversation</a> about his book that there were eight Arabic speaking agents in the FBI on 9/11, and still only nine now. In fact, as Wright <a href="http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2010/09/islamic_fundamentalism" type="external">told The Economist in 2010</a>, “If Ali Soufan tried to work in the FBI now, he probably couldn’t get security clearance.”</p>
<p>Towards the end of the book, Soufan recounts an incident that occurred shortly before his retirement from the FBI in 2006. At a gala in New York City, a reporter asks FBI Director Robert Mueller, “Where do you see the future of the FBI?” Mueller points to Soufan and says, “That is the future of the FBI.” It’s a prophecy that, sadly, still shows little sign of coming true.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | screen shot black banners best way break terrorist waterboarding stress positions pizza ice cream sugarfree cookies surprising element former fbi interrogator ali soufans memoir black banners inside story 911 war alqaeda receptive terrorists food soufan takes lhoussaine kherchtou al qaeda fixer pizza khertchou tells hes al qaeda guy anymore mohamed rashed daoud alowhali helped facilitate bombing american embassy nairobi 1998 spills beans plied cookies meals ready eat tariq elsawah captured tora bora currently detained guantanamo bay fondness ice cream desperate hours immediately following 911 attacks soufan wears diabetic abu jandal former bodyguard osama bin laden sugarless cookies establishing al qaeda indeed responsible 911 attacks levers soufan uses course get information subjects khertchou furious bin ladens refusal pay wifes cesarean section owhali overwhelmed quality information fbi assembled abu jandal despite fondness bin laden shocked scale attacksparticularly soufan manipulates believing hundreds yemenis died assault towers soufan also exploits regional resentments al qaeda members gulf arabs frequently resentful egyptian members superior influence financial benefits point al qaeda would divide egyptian gulf teams friday soccer games soufan leverages ignorance koran uses fidelity extremist ideology manipulate talking soufan played key role investigating al qaedas successful strikes united states east africa embassy bombings 911 attacks account reads bit like firstperson version lawrence wrights looming tower definitive book bin ladens terrorist movement soufan figures prominently lebanese immigrant selfidentified fraternity boy soufan applied fbi armed knowledge arabic islam middle east would make crucial part bureau beginning late 1990s reliance traditional methods interrogation put odds brutal tactics implemented bush administration 911 2009 since retired soufan came forward key opponent torturing suspected terrorists newspaper opeds congressional testimony argued torture useless bush administration claimed credit intelligence acquired without torture order retroactively justify tactics soufan writes book preferred bush gore identified strong national security approach gop quickly became target political right opposition torture soufans criticism cia meanwhile reportedly reason books lengthy redactions information already public knowledge black banners soufan tells story detail ever beforecomplete brechtian amateurism psychologists insist even enhanced interrogation techniques fail torture work torture little bit soufan asserts useful information extracted key al qaeda operative abu zubaydah acquired soufan prior zubaydahs waterboarded 83 times also points alleged 911 mastermind khalid sheik mohammed despite waterboarded 183 times didnt manage withold information courier ultimately helped obama administration find bin ladens secret compound also managed keep secret ticking time bombs spain britain indonesiaall places struck al qaeda plots ksm likely knew soufans story also serves rebuke islamophobic shariah panic gripped right wing republican party since bush left office support torture blanket fear muslims similar intellectual roots presume muslim extremists unflappable warriormonks whose commitment brutality matched encyclopedic knowledge koran soufan writes prostituteseeking liquorshotpounding extremists surprised morally corrupt islamic terms alqaeda members soufan notes could quote bin ladens sayings heart many cases largely ignorant theology knew far koran writes islamophobes particular blast critics failing grapple adequately details al qaedas brand islamic extremism know enemy admonish ironic mantra soufan shares people ask important weapon alqaeda writes reply knowledge soufan talking extremists unique flawed islamic theology hes also referring petty jealousies personal foibles past histories treating every terrorist mere drone massive muhammadan hive mind misses point detainee different knows different things different triggers get cooperate title book stems hadith popular among islamic extremists muslims see army rising historic region khurasan central asia marching black banners join idea army defeat enemies islam apocalyptic final battle yet despite popularity among extremists scholars consider hadith questionable origin like religious extremists al qaedas embrace rigid textualism selective soufan describes many instances uses knowledge savvy rapport exploit personal foibles intellectual weaknesses subjects kneels pray mohammed alqahtani originally meant one 911 hijackers engages al qaeda propagandist ali albahlul theological debate whereby shames bahlul giving information soufans encyclopedic knowledge al qaeda helps keep fahd mohammed ahmed alquso one planners uss cole bombing yemen 2000 talking shocked much soufan knows unwilling believe arab muslim could fbi agent quso convinces soufan islamist doubleagent saw afghanistan quso exclaims maybe soufan says quso starts bragging exploits assuming isnt telling soufan anything doesnt already know doesnt realize much hes giving away 160 story americas famous arab american fbi agent couldnt come poignant time fbi fighting institutionalized islamophobia ranks recent spate stories spencer ackerman wired exposed training portrayed islam inherently violent mainstream american muslims terrorist sympathizers fbi agents taught religiously observant muslims likely terroristsa ridiculous proposition especially one considers 911 hijackers went way observant draw suspicion soufans story implicitly example triumph american pluralism nevertheless underscores degree fbi largely failed produce ali soufans grown country pulled apart sectarian discord come appreciate greatness united states admire ideals created nation soufan writes remembering huddle parents bombs exploded old neighborhood wartorn lebanon us filled alternatives filled meaning families like soufans always come united states scores americas muslims similar storiesand yet agents like soufan remain uncommon last year lawrence wright said conversation book eight arabic speaking agents fbi 911 still nine fact wright told economist 2010 ali soufan tried work fbi probably couldnt get security clearance towards end book soufan recounts incident occurred shortly retirement fbi 2006 gala new york city reporter asks fbi director robert mueller see future fbi mueller points soufan says future fbi prophecy sadly still shows little sign coming true | 859 |
<p>“What have you learned in school today, my son?”</p>
<p>“There was no school today. There is an emergency!”</p>
<p>“And what have you learned from that, my son?”</p>
<p>ACTUALLY, QUITE a lot.</p>
<p>This week’s “round”, as the army likes to call it, followed a well-established pattern, as formal as a religious ritual.</p>
<p>It started with the assassination (or “targeted elimination”) of a hitherto unknown Palestinian resistance (“terrorist”) leader in the Gaza Strip.</p>
<p>The Palestinians responded with a rain of missiles, which lasted for four whole days. More than a million Israelis around Gaza stopped working and stayed with their children near their shelters or “protected areas” (meaning nothing more than relatively safe rooms in their homes.) One million Israelis roughly equate to 10 million Germans or 40 million Americans, in relation to the population.</p>
<p>A proportion of these rockets were intercepted in their flight by the three batteries of the “Iron Dome” anti-missile defense. There were some Israeli injured and some minor material damage, but no Israeli dead.</p>
<p>Israeli manned and unmanned aircraft struck and there were 26 Palestinian dead in the Gaza Strip.</p>
<p>After four days and nights, both sides had had enough, and Egyptian mediators achieved an unwritten Tahdiyeh (Arabic for “Quiet”).</p>
<p>Everything as usual.</p>
<p>EXCEPT FOR the details, of course.</p>
<p>It all started with the killing of one Zuhair al-Qaisi , the General Secretary of the “Popular Committees”. He has been in this position for only a few months.</p>
<p>The “Popular Committees” are a minor resistance/terrorist group, the third by size in the Strip. They are overshadowed by Hamas, which did not take part in this round, and “Islamic Jihad”, which took up the cause of the “committees” and launched most of the rockets.</p>
<p>The number of launches was a surprise. During the four days, 200 rockets were launched – an average of some 50 per day. 169 fell in Israel. There was no sign that the Jihad was running out of stock. Hamas, of course, is a much larger organization, with a much bigger arsenal. In the Gaza Strip, one must assume, there are now huge quantities of missiles, almost all the more sophisticated ones provided by Iran. How they made the long journey can only be guessed.</p>
<p>One must assume that in Hizbollah-dominated South Lebanon, the stockpiles of missiles are even greater.</p>
<p>On the other side (ours) the Iron Dome has chalked up a huge success, a source of great pride for the contractor, the army and the country at large.</p>
<p>This is a sophisticated system, made in Israel, which initially evoked a lot of skepticism. For that reason, there are at this moment only three batteries in action, each protecting one city (Ashkelon, Ashdod, Beer Sheva). A fourth battery is scheduled to be provided soon.</p>
<p>The system does not intercept every rocket, which would be enormously costly. Instead, the system itself calculates whether a rocket would fall in open space (and could be ignored) or on a populated area (when the interceptor would be launched), all in seconds. Of these, more than 70% were intercepted and destroyed, a great success by any reckoning.</p>
<p>The sting is that one of the Palestinian rockets costs only a few hundred shekels, while one single Iron Dome missile costs 315 thousand shekels. During the four days, 17.6 million shekels’ worth of missiles was spent by the Israeli side. This apart from the very high price tag of the batteries themselves.</p>
<p>The Air Force sorties over the Gaza Strip cost another tens of millions – one hour of flight costs some 100 thousand shekels (almost 25 thousand dollars).</p>
<p>THE FIRST question to be asked was therefore: was the whole exercise worthwhile?</p>
<p>Israelis rarely ask themselves such questions. They believe that those in charge know what they are doing.</p>
<p>But do they?</p>
<p>It all hinges on the necessity to kill al-Qaisi, even for those who believe in such killings as a solution.</p>
<p>Al-Qaisi was in his position as leader of the “Popular Committees” only since the assassination of his predecessor in similar circumstances. A replacement will easily be found. He may be better or worse, but will hardly make much difference.</p>
<p>The Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, gave a strangely convoluted explanation for the assassination: “(al-Qaisi) was one of the heads of Popular Committees who were, it seems, busy preparing a large attack. I cannot yet say whether this attack was averted.” It seems. I cannot say.</p>
<p>Unofficially it was said that al-Qaisi may have been involved in sending a group of militants from Gaza to the Egyptian Sinai, to attack Israeli territory from there. Last year there was such an attack near Eilat, with several Israeli dead, al-Qaisi’s predecessor was blamed for that and killed before an investigation had even started.</p>
<p>So was it worthwhile to endanger the lives of so many people, send a million people to the shelters and spend tens of millions of shekels on such grounds?</p>
<p>My guess is that al-Qaisi was killed because an opportunity presented itself to do so – such as information on his movements.</p>
<p>WHO MADE the decision?</p>
<p>Targeted assassinations are based on information received from the Shabak (aka Shin Bet). In practice, it is this security service that makes the decision to kill people – acting as gatherer of the information, the assessor of it, and the judge at the same time. No independent analysis of the information, no review, no judicial process of any kind. Questioning the Shabak almost amounts to treason, no politician and no journalist would dare to do so, even if he were so inclined- which he or she is not.</p>
<p>After the Shabak has decided to kill somebody, this is brought&#160; to a tiny group of men: the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the army Chief of Staff and perhaps the officer commanding. Nobody with an independent outlook.</p>
<p>Did any of these people ask the relevant questions?&#160; I doubt it.</p>
<p>For example: Binyamin Netanyahu prides himself on his huge success in America, indeed in the entire world: he has managed to get everybody deeply concerned about the (not yet existing) Iranian nuclear bomb. The Palestinian issue has been completely wiped off the map. And here he sets in motion another round of fighting that reminds people everywhere that the Palestinian issue is alive and kicking, and that it may explode at any moment. Does that make sense even from the point of view of a Netanyahu or a Barak?</p>
<p>ANOTHER INTESTING political aspect of this “round” was the role Hamas played in it, or, rather, didn’t.</p>
<p>Hamas rules the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government does not officially recognize this rule, but somehow still considers Hamas responsible for everything that happens in the Strip, whether Hamas was involved or not.</p>
<p>Until now Hamas entered the fight whenever Israel attacked objects in Gaza. This time, it stayed outside the fray, and even emphasized this fact in telephone interviews on Israeli TV.</p>
<p>Why? Hamas is closely connected with the Muslim Brotherhood, which now dominates the Egyptian parliament. It is under pressure to create a unity government with Fatah in Palestine and join the PLO. Taking part in the armed fight against Israel at this moment would jeopardize this effort. The more so as the Islamic Jihad is closely connected with Iran, the rival of Egypt and Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>ISRAELI TV correspondents have the annoying habit of concluding their reports with a disturbingly banal sentence. For example, a report about a fatal road accident will almost invariably end with the words: “…and he (or she) only wanted to get safely home.”</p>
<p>This week, almost all the final reports about the mess in the south ended with the words: “Quiet has returned to the South – until the next time!”</p>
<p>Everybody assumes that “next time” the rockets coming out of Gaza will have a greater range and perhaps reach the outskirts of Tel Aviv, and&#160; everybody in Israel hopes that the Iron Dome missile will become even more effective.</p>
<p>Until then, All Quiet on the Southern Front.</p>
<p>URI AVNERY&#160;is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom. He is a contributor to CounterPunch’s book&#160; <a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Books.html" type="external">The Politics of Anti-Semitism</a>.</p> | true | 4 | learned school today son school today emergency learned son actually quite lot weeks round army likes call followed wellestablished pattern formal religious ritual started assassination targeted elimination hitherto unknown palestinian resistance terrorist leader gaza strip palestinians responded rain missiles lasted four whole days million israelis around gaza stopped working stayed children near shelters protected areas meaning nothing relatively safe rooms homes one million israelis roughly equate 10 million germans 40 million americans relation population proportion rockets intercepted flight three batteries iron dome antimissile defense israeli injured minor material damage israeli dead israeli manned unmanned aircraft struck 26 palestinian dead gaza strip four days nights sides enough egyptian mediators achieved unwritten tahdiyeh arabic quiet everything usual except details course started killing one zuhair alqaisi general secretary popular committees position months popular committees minor resistanceterrorist group third size strip overshadowed hamas take part round islamic jihad took cause committees launched rockets number launches surprise four days 200 rockets launched average 50 per day 169 fell israel sign jihad running stock hamas course much larger organization much bigger arsenal gaza strip one must assume huge quantities missiles almost sophisticated ones provided iran made long journey guessed one must assume hizbollahdominated south lebanon stockpiles missiles even greater side iron dome chalked huge success source great pride contractor army country large sophisticated system made israel initially evoked lot skepticism reason moment three batteries action protecting one city ashkelon ashdod beer sheva fourth battery scheduled provided soon system intercept every rocket would enormously costly instead system calculates whether rocket would fall open space could ignored populated area interceptor would launched seconds 70 intercepted destroyed great success reckoning sting one palestinian rockets costs hundred shekels one single iron dome missile costs 315 thousand shekels four days 176 million shekels worth missiles spent israeli side apart high price tag batteries air force sorties gaza strip cost another tens millions one hour flight costs 100 thousand shekels almost 25 thousand dollars first question asked therefore whole exercise worthwhile israelis rarely ask questions believe charge know hinges necessity kill alqaisi even believe killings solution alqaisi position leader popular committees since assassination predecessor similar circumstances replacement easily found may better worse hardly make much difference minister defense ehud barak gave strangely convoluted explanation assassination alqaisi one heads popular committees seems busy preparing large attack yet say whether attack averted seems say unofficially said alqaisi may involved sending group militants gaza egyptian sinai attack israeli territory last year attack near eilat several israeli dead alqaisis predecessor blamed killed investigation even started worthwhile endanger lives many people send million people shelters spend tens millions shekels grounds guess alqaisi killed opportunity presented information movements made decision targeted assassinations based information received shabak aka shin bet practice security service makes decision kill people acting gatherer information assessor judge time independent analysis information review judicial process kind questioning shabak almost amounts treason politician journalist would dare even inclined shabak decided kill somebody brought160 tiny group men prime minister minister defense army chief staff perhaps officer commanding nobody independent outlook people ask relevant questions160 doubt example binyamin netanyahu prides huge success america indeed entire world managed get everybody deeply concerned yet existing iranian nuclear bomb palestinian issue completely wiped map sets motion another round fighting reminds people everywhere palestinian issue alive kicking may explode moment make sense even point view netanyahu barak another intesting political aspect round role hamas played rather didnt hamas rules gaza strip israeli government officially recognize rule somehow still considers hamas responsible everything happens strip whether hamas involved hamas entered fight whenever israel attacked objects gaza time stayed outside fray even emphasized fact telephone interviews israeli tv hamas closely connected muslim brotherhood dominates egyptian parliament pressure create unity government fatah palestine join plo taking part armed fight israel moment would jeopardize effort islamic jihad closely connected iran rival egypt saudi arabia israeli tv correspondents annoying habit concluding reports disturbingly banal sentence example report fatal road accident almost invariably end words wanted get safely home week almost final reports mess south ended words quiet returned south next time everybody assumes next time rockets coming gaza greater range perhaps reach outskirts tel aviv and160 everybody israel hopes iron dome missile become even effective quiet southern front uri avnery160is israeli writer peace activist gush shalom contributor counterpunchs book160 politics antisemitism | 714 |
<p>As inequalities in wealth expand, many working people are losing ground, with some falling out of the “middle class.” Classes have become more clearly defined, raising the possibility for outbreaks of class struggle. The Bernie Sanders campaign represented a small step in this direction as Sanders polemicised against the 1%. But the turmoil in the Labour Party of the U.K., triggered by the election of Jeremy Corbyn to head the Party, could alter the balance of forces in the U.K. and possibly throughout Europe. Corbyn has championed an anti-austerity, pro-working class platform. Of course, one gets no hint of the significance of this development from the mainstream media.</p>
<p>First, some background. Jeremy Corbyn has been a member of Parliament for decades and steadfastly stood on a radical left platform. He has opposed British imperialism and neo-liberalism, meaning that he is against privatizing government services, lowering corporate taxes, reducing funding to government programs, deregulating corporations, and diluting the rights of labor. He has adopted a platform that supports the working class, not the powerful corporations. He has marched with striking health care workers, spoken in support of protesting teachers, helped lead the anti-war movement, and defended immigrants.</p>
<p>Corbyn, however, has played the role of a rebel within the Labour Party. Under former Prime Minister Tony Blair, the Labour Party, like other social democratic parties in Europe, abandoned most of their principles and embraced capitalism, including the pro-corporate, neo-liberal agenda as well as British imperialism. Blair was a leading proponent of the Iraq War, for which he has been strongly rebuked by the recently released Chilcot report.</p>
<p>Nine months ago, when the Labour Party was in the process of choosing a new leader, Corbyn indicated interest in running for the position. But in order to qualify as a candidate, he had to be endorsed by a minimum number of Labour Party members of Parliament. Unfortunately, many established Labour Party leaders are loyal supporters of Tony Blair. Most of them, to one degree or another, have embraced the neo-liberal corporate agenda.</p>
<p>Corbyn faced an uphill battle in his quest to run in the Labour Party election. He had a few enthusiastic supporters among Labour Party members of Parliament, but most were hostile. Finally, some Labour members of Parliament gave him their endorsement, simply to promote a democratic contest, even though they would never vote for him themselves. So, with only seconds to spare, Corbyn became a candidate. None of the established Labour Party leaders gave him any chance to win.</p>
<p>But to the amazement of all, Corbyn not only won, but with 60 percent of the vote he won with a historically high margin. This stunning victory was in part made possible by recent changes in voting procedures that were introduced to reduce the influence of labor unions within the Labour Party. It meant that by paying a small fee, individuals could immediately join the Party and vote in the election. As a result and because of enthusiasm around Corbyn, two hundred thousand joined, doubling the number of Labour Party members, and they overwhelmingly voted for Corbyn.</p>
<p>Almost immediately after Corbyn’s victory, members of the Labour Party who are pro-corporate members of Parliament conspired to depose him. Tony Blair supplied aid and offered blessings. They started referring to Corbyn as “unelectable,” were he to run in a national, general election. But when local elections took place, although Corbyn’s critics predicted loses, the Labour Party not only held ground but gained some.</p>
<p>Then the referendum on membership in the European Union provided the conspirators with a new pretext for an attack. Corbyn campaigned to remain in the European Union, but when the remain-side lost and the majority voted to leave (Brexit), the Labor Party conservative stalwarts blamed Corbyn for the defeat, even though two-thirds of Labour Party members voted to remain. Tony Blair went out of his way in a New York Times op-ed to describe Corbyn’s performance in the referendum as “lukewarm.” The plotters’ new mantra for Corbyn was “incompetent.”</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, the U.K. mainstream media repeated this accusation uncritically. Even David Brooks of The New York Times jumped on the bandwagon, calling Corbyn an “incompetent, inexperienced outsider” without providing any evidence other than the vote of no confidence by an overwhelming majority of the Labour Party members of Parliament. The idea that such a vote could have been politically motivated by class interests was simply beyond the reach of David Brooks’ imagination.</p>
<p>But politics is the crux of the matter. Corbyn’s working-class platform is simply unacceptable to many of the old guard Labour Party parliamentarians who have made their peace with the corporate class and have decided that the working class must sacrifice to ensure the success of their employers. However, politicians who side with corporations seldom do so explicitly. They hide behind lies and ambiguities because they still need the votes of working people to win elections. When they run for office, they make vague promises to working people. Behind closed doors, they assure corporations of their loyalty. Corbyn’s Labour Party parliament critics consequently did not criticize his politics; they attacked his personal qualifications. And the mainstream media dutifully reported these attacks without demanding evidence or without ever questioning political motives.</p>
<p>The coup seemed to be gaining strength. One Parliamentary Labour Party member after another resigned from Corbyn’s shadow cabinet with carefully orchestrated timing to make it look as if a trickle was turning into a raging torrent. The conspirators clamored for Corbyn’s resignation.</p>
<p>Corbyn simply refused, noting that he had an overwhelming mandate from the rank-and-file membership of the Labour Party. And although some credit must go to him personally, Corbyn is not standing alone. His political platform has generated excitement and a movement among working people. Once he became a candidate to head the Labour Party, an organization called Momentum quickly formed to lend support. Momentum is a separate organization but supports the Labour Party and especially supports Corbyn. It calls for redistributing wealth to the many, putting people and the planet before profit, ending discrimination, ending austerity, reversing privatization, strengthening labor rights, providing decent housing for all, etc.</p>
<p>Once it was clear after Brexit that the anti-Corbyn attempted coup had shifted into high gear, Momentum organized pro-Corbyn demonstrations across the country, including a rally of 10,000 in London. In this short period its membership doubled to 12,000. These members are political activists and hence can play a crucial role in influencing the course of politics.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, membership in the Labour Party has also soared since Brexit. Because of the turmoil surrounding Corbyn, an additional hundred thousand joined, with a clear majority of them supporting Corbyn. And all the major unions have pledged him their support.</p>
<p>For now, the coup has failed. Given that Corbyn refused to resign, options of the Labour Party opponents have run out. Even they acknowledged that if Corbyn were to run again for head of the Labour Party, he would undoubtedly win.</p>
<p>But this only ends the first battle of this new class war in the U.K. More is yet to come.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | inequalities wealth expand many working people losing ground falling middle class classes become clearly defined raising possibility outbreaks class struggle bernie sanders campaign represented small step direction sanders polemicised 1 turmoil labour party uk triggered election jeremy corbyn head party could alter balance forces uk possibly throughout europe corbyn championed antiausterity proworking class platform course one gets hint significance development mainstream media first background jeremy corbyn member parliament decades steadfastly stood radical left platform opposed british imperialism neoliberalism meaning privatizing government services lowering corporate taxes reducing funding government programs deregulating corporations diluting rights labor adopted platform supports working class powerful corporations marched striking health care workers spoken support protesting teachers helped lead antiwar movement defended immigrants corbyn however played role rebel within labour party former prime minister tony blair labour party like social democratic parties europe abandoned principles embraced capitalism including procorporate neoliberal agenda well british imperialism blair leading proponent iraq war strongly rebuked recently released chilcot report nine months ago labour party process choosing new leader corbyn indicated interest running position order qualify candidate endorsed minimum number labour party members parliament unfortunately many established labour party leaders loyal supporters tony blair one degree another embraced neoliberal corporate agenda corbyn faced uphill battle quest run labour party election enthusiastic supporters among labour party members parliament hostile finally labour members parliament gave endorsement simply promote democratic contest even though would never vote seconds spare corbyn became candidate none established labour party leaders gave chance win amazement corbyn 60 percent vote historically high margin stunning victory part made possible recent changes voting procedures introduced reduce influence labor unions within labour party meant paying small fee individuals could immediately join party vote election result enthusiasm around corbyn two hundred thousand joined doubling number labour party members overwhelmingly voted corbyn almost immediately corbyns victory members labour party procorporate members parliament conspired depose tony blair supplied aid offered blessings started referring corbyn unelectable run national general election local elections took place although corbyns critics predicted loses labour party held ground gained referendum membership european union provided conspirators new pretext attack corbyn campaigned remain european union remainside lost majority voted leave brexit labor party conservative stalwarts blamed corbyn defeat even though twothirds labour party members voted remain tony blair went way new york times oped describe corbyns performance referendum lukewarm plotters new mantra corbyn incompetent surprisingly uk mainstream media repeated accusation uncritically even david brooks new york times jumped bandwagon calling corbyn incompetent inexperienced outsider without providing evidence vote confidence overwhelming majority labour party members parliament idea vote could politically motivated class interests simply beyond reach david brooks imagination politics crux matter corbyns workingclass platform simply unacceptable many old guard labour party parliamentarians made peace corporate class decided working class must sacrifice ensure success employers however politicians side corporations seldom explicitly hide behind lies ambiguities still need votes working people win elections run office make vague promises working people behind closed doors assure corporations loyalty corbyns labour party parliament critics consequently criticize politics attacked personal qualifications mainstream media dutifully reported attacks without demanding evidence without ever questioning political motives coup seemed gaining strength one parliamentary labour party member another resigned corbyns shadow cabinet carefully orchestrated timing make look trickle turning raging torrent conspirators clamored corbyns resignation corbyn simply refused noting overwhelming mandate rankandfile membership labour party although credit must go personally corbyn standing alone political platform generated excitement movement among working people became candidate head labour party organization called momentum quickly formed lend support momentum separate organization supports labour party especially supports corbyn calls redistributing wealth many putting people planet profit ending discrimination ending austerity reversing privatization strengthening labor rights providing decent housing etc clear brexit anticorbyn attempted coup shifted high gear momentum organized procorbyn demonstrations across country including rally 10000 london short period membership doubled 12000 members political activists hence play crucial role influencing course politics meanwhile membership labour party also soared since brexit turmoil surrounding corbyn additional hundred thousand joined clear majority supporting corbyn major unions pledged support coup failed given corbyn refused resign options labour party opponents run even acknowledged corbyn run head labour party would undoubtedly win ends first battle new class war uk yet come 160 | 695 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Here’s the way to look at the Election Day outcome: If the U.S. were a parliamentary democracy, Bush would be history. Our self-proclaimed “war president” has lost a vote of confidence, not by the members of his party, but by the people of the United States.</p>
<p>Of course, we don’t live in a parliamentary democracy, so we’re still stuck with the same megalomaniacal leader, even though the control of the Congress appears to be passing to the opposition party. (As of this writing, the new House will be firmly in the hands of the Democrats by a bigger margin than the current House is in the hands of Republicans, and the Senate appears headed towards Democratic control also, albeit by the narrowest of margins: 1 Lieberman.)</p>
<p>So the question is: what next?</p>
<p>We’re already hearing a lot from the mainstream media about how this was all about voters wanting less extremism and more civility in government.</p>
<p>Bull!</p>
<p>This was about voters who have had it with neocon imperialist militarism, had it with government lying, had it with corruption, and had it with campaign tactics that equate opposition to the president with support for terrorism.</p>
<p>We’ll also be hearing a lot about how a change of 30 or 32 seats in the House from one party to another is no big deal.</p>
<p>Nonsense! Not only is it a big deal by historical standards–it is an especially big deal given the historically unprecedented extreme to which the Republicans in control of state legislatures had gerrymandered districts over the last decade to insure their candidates’ re-election. It is also an unusually big turnover to occur at a time when the nation has over 160,000 troops tied down in bitter fighting in two countries–Iraq and Afghanistan. To have the public undercut the president at such a time is an extraordinary act by the voters, who normally tend towards jingoistic support of presidents when American troops are dying.</p>
<p>Of course it’s true that some of the Democrats who will be replacing Republican office-holders are conservative (some are liberal, too). That’s not the point, though. They are almost all honorable people who entered their races as underdogs earlier this year, not expecting to win, and who ended up winning because the voting public, whether liberal or conservative, wants them to clean the Stygian Stables, which have filled up with six years with of crap and bullshit.</p>
<p>Now the Democratic leadership in Congress doesn’t see it that way. They seem to be buying into the media illusion that what the public wants is civility in government and respect for the president. That’s certainly how Rep. Nancy Pelosi, the likely new House majority leader, puts it (even though her home district in San Francisco voted 61 percent for an impeachment resolution).</p>
<p>But civility and respect are not going to get the job done.</p>
<p>First of all, let’s consider that there are still two possibilities: one is that the two houses of Congress both go narrowly Democratic; the other is that only the House goes Democratic, while the Senate ends up more narrowly Republican, or perhaps tied, with Dick Cheney holding the tie-breaking vote as President of the Senate. In the latter two scenarios civility would be death, since Senate Republicans would be anything but civil. The only way Democrats could have any power would be by acting as obstreperously and obstructively as possible, to prevent more damage, by using their investigative power in the House to lay out the crimes of this administration as clearly as possible. If both houses of Congress end up in Democratic hands, they will be in the position to start passing legislation. But they will not be able to undo the damage caused over the past six years to the Constitution and to the nation because Bush will be able to veto their bills. Worse yet, even if they can manage in some cases to get enough Republican support on some issues to override a veto, Bush will use his “signing statement” ploy to block them, as he has already done over 800 times to legislation passed by a Republican Congress.</p>
<p>Clearly, in either event, the only appropriate response is for a Democratic House to initiate serious investigations into administration abuse of power, criminality, deceit and incompetence, and ultimately, to initiate impeachment proceedings.</p>
<p>It is perhaps wishful thinking to believe that Bush, as richly as he deserves it, will be impeached for war crimes. We can leave that to future prosecutors, either in a better post-Bush America or in other nations, since war crimes don’t have a statute of limitations, and Bush has a good 20 years left in him if he manages to stay off the bottle.</p>
<p>That said, there are crimes and constitutional violations that even Republicans should agree call for his impeachment (and in some cases Cheney’s). Among these are:</p>
<p>* The signing statements, in which Bush claims that as commander in chief he does not need to accept or enforce laws passed by the Congress. This is such an egregious abuse of power and undermining of the Constitution that if it is allowed to continue, with future presidents continuing the practice and citing Bush as precedent, Congress will cease to have any real constitutional function.</p>
<p>* The NSA warrantless spying. Democrats need to take a leadership role and demand to know what this program is all about. Clearly it’s not about spying on suspected terrorists, as Bush claims, because the secret Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Court judges would have no problem approving warrants for that. It has to be something so outrageous that Bush is afraid to present it to those famously accommodating judges. The case needs to be made that this is a flat-out felony and a breach of the Fourth Amendment, and that it has already been so ruled by a federal judge.</p>
<p>* The outing of CIA undercover agent Valerie Plame and the selective release of the Iraq National Intelligence Estimate in an effort to damage a critic–Plame’s husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson. This was exactly the kind of abuse of government power that led to an impeachment article being voted in the House Judiciary Committee against President Richard Nixon. Moreover, Democrats need to make the case that this attack on Wilson was motivated by a darker goal: the need to discredit someone who was exposing one of the Bush administration’s gravest crimes–namely faking evidence of an active Iraqi nuclear weapons program.</p>
<p>* Lying the country into a deadly, costly and interminable war in Iraq. It is clear now that Bush knew the uranium ore story, the aluminum tubes story, the Saddam links to Al Qaeda story and the germ weapons story, were all lies. It is clear that Bush had plans to invade Iraq from before he even assumed office in 2001, that 9/11 was just a pretext to do it, and that his claims to the American people and to Congress that he wanted a “diplomatic solution” to Iraq’s alleged WMD threat was a lie and a fraud. He must be impeached for this bloody travesty.</p>
<p>* Obstruction and lying to the Congress and the 9-11 Commission. The president, in what is an abuse of power and possibly even an act of treason, refused to provide testimony and evidence demanded by the Senate Intelligence Committee and by the 9-11 Commission, and himself refused to testify under oath or with any record being made of his answers, and had members of his administration lie to both bodies. This willful obstruction has put the nation in jeopardy, since without knowing what went wrong or even what went on before and on 9-11, there is no way to prevent another such attack. This is a clear impeachable crime.</p>
<p>* Bribery. For some time it was not clear whether the stench of money scandals would reach into the White House. Bush claimed he didn’t even know Jack Abramoff, even as members of Congress were falling like 10-pins. Now, however, we have learned that there are myriad pictures of Abramoff and his buddy Bush together, that Abramoff visited the White House so often it was practically a second home, and that he even managed to have his own secretary move over to work for Bush’s closest confident (and “brain” by some accounts) Karl Rove, the better to facilitate the money-for-favors exchanges. This is corruption on the scale of the Warren Harding administration, and it calls for impeachment, not respect. While they”re at it, Democrats in the House should also investigate the oil industry’s and Halliburton’s financial tentacles in the White House and Blair House.</p>
<p>* The Loss of New Orleans. Bush’s disastrous inaction as Katrina headed for New Orleans, and his even worse inaction after the disaster was apparent, is a classic violation of the presidential oath to “take care” that the laws are faithfully administered. The president had a duty to initiate drastic emergency action that only he could authorize, and instead he campaigned, played golf and guitar, and entertained Sen. John McCain, while over a thousand Americans were allowed to die and a major US city drowned. That is a clear impeachable offense.</p>
<p>American voters don’t want politeness. We want our country back. We have just proved to Republicans that we will punish lying and corruption. In the next election, Democrats should be on notice that we will also punish cowardice and inaction.</p>
<p>A great start for newly empowered Democrats would be to revoke or rephrase the September 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force, which was passed to authorize Bush to invade Afghanistan and to pursue Al Qaeda. Bush has been claiming ever since that the 2001 AUMF made him permanent “commander in chief” in an unending “War” on Terror, with the right to ignore the courts and acts of Congress. It is clearly in Congress’s power to redefine that AUMF more clearly, to make it unambiguously clear that it did not authorize the president to be generalissimo, that it was referring exclusively to combat outside the U.S., that it expects him to stay within the law and the Constitution under the resolution, and that the AUMF itself in any case has an expiration date. This is a move that even some Republicans–especially after their recent drubbing–will support.</p>
<p>The new Congress should also promptly revoke the military commissions law, and especially the parts that revoke habeas corpus, that grant the president and his gang retroactive immunity from prosecution for authorizing torture, and that undermine the Posse Comitatus Act, making it easier for a president to declare martial law. Again, it should be possible to get significant Republican support for this effort.</p>
<p>Although it doesn’t deserve it, the Democratic Party has by default been given a chance in this off-year election. So far, the leadership is showing every sign of preparing to blow it.</p>
<p>That means it’s up to us voters to make sure elected Democrats in Congress get the message, first by voting them into power, and then by riding them hard to make sure they take aggressive action to put the administration in the dock and rescue the Constitution and the country. A good start would be to go to <a href="http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/" type="external">Starting an Impeachment Movement</a>.</p>
<p>DAVE LINDORFF is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512283/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Killing Time: an Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal</a>. His new book of CounterPunch columns titled “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512984/counterpunchmaga" type="external">This Can’t be Happening!</a>” is published by Common Courage Press. Lindorff’s new book is “ <a href="" type="internal">The Case for Impeachment</a>“, co-authored by Barbara Olshansky.</p>
<p>He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 160 heres way look election day outcome us parliamentary democracy bush would history selfproclaimed war president lost vote confidence members party people united states course dont live parliamentary democracy still stuck megalomaniacal leader even though control congress appears passing opposition party writing new house firmly hands democrats bigger margin current house hands republicans senate appears headed towards democratic control also albeit narrowest margins 1 lieberman question next already hearing lot mainstream media voters wanting less extremism civility government bull voters neocon imperialist militarism government lying corruption campaign tactics equate opposition president support terrorism well also hearing lot change 30 32 seats house one party another big deal nonsense big deal historical standardsit especially big deal given historically unprecedented extreme republicans control state legislatures gerrymandered districts last decade insure candidates reelection also unusually big turnover occur time nation 160000 troops tied bitter fighting two countriesiraq afghanistan public undercut president time extraordinary act voters normally tend towards jingoistic support presidents american troops dying course true democrats replacing republican officeholders conservative liberal thats point though almost honorable people entered races underdogs earlier year expecting win ended winning voting public whether liberal conservative wants clean stygian stables filled six years crap bullshit democratic leadership congress doesnt see way seem buying media illusion public wants civility government respect president thats certainly rep nancy pelosi likely new house majority leader puts even though home district san francisco voted 61 percent impeachment resolution civility respect going get job done first lets consider still two possibilities one two houses congress go narrowly democratic house goes democratic senate ends narrowly republican perhaps tied dick cheney holding tiebreaking vote president senate latter two scenarios civility would death since senate republicans would anything civil way democrats could power would acting obstreperously obstructively possible prevent damage using investigative power house lay crimes administration clearly possible houses congress end democratic hands position start passing legislation able undo damage caused past six years constitution nation bush able veto bills worse yet even manage cases get enough republican support issues override veto bush use signing statement ploy block already done 800 times legislation passed republican congress clearly either event appropriate response democratic house initiate serious investigations administration abuse power criminality deceit incompetence ultimately initiate impeachment proceedings perhaps wishful thinking believe bush richly deserves impeached war crimes leave future prosecutors either better postbush america nations since war crimes dont statute limitations bush good 20 years left manages stay bottle said crimes constitutional violations even republicans agree call impeachment cases cheneys among signing statements bush claims commander chief need accept enforce laws passed congress egregious abuse power undermining constitution allowed continue future presidents continuing practice citing bush precedent congress cease real constitutional function nsa warrantless spying democrats need take leadership role demand know program clearly spying suspected terrorists bush claims secret foreign surveillance intelligence court judges would problem approving warrants something outrageous bush afraid present famously accommodating judges case needs made flatout felony breach fourth amendment already ruled federal judge outing cia undercover agent valerie plame selective release iraq national intelligence estimate effort damage criticplames husband former ambassador joseph wilson exactly kind abuse government power led impeachment article voted house judiciary committee president richard nixon moreover democrats need make case attack wilson motivated darker goal need discredit someone exposing one bush administrations gravest crimesnamely faking evidence active iraqi nuclear weapons program lying country deadly costly interminable war iraq clear bush knew uranium ore story aluminum tubes story saddam links al qaeda story germ weapons story lies clear bush plans invade iraq even assumed office 2001 911 pretext claims american people congress wanted diplomatic solution iraqs alleged wmd threat lie fraud must impeached bloody travesty obstruction lying congress 911 commission president abuse power possibly even act treason refused provide testimony evidence demanded senate intelligence committee 911 commission refused testify oath record made answers members administration lie bodies willful obstruction put nation jeopardy since without knowing went wrong even went 911 way prevent another attack clear impeachable crime bribery time clear whether stench money scandals would reach white house bush claimed didnt even know jack abramoff even members congress falling like 10pins however learned myriad pictures abramoff buddy bush together abramoff visited white house often practically second home even managed secretary move work bushs closest confident brain accounts karl rove better facilitate moneyforfavors exchanges corruption scale warren harding administration calls impeachment respect theyre democrats house also investigate oil industrys halliburtons financial tentacles white house blair house loss new orleans bushs disastrous inaction katrina headed new orleans even worse inaction disaster apparent classic violation presidential oath take care laws faithfully administered president duty initiate drastic emergency action could authorize instead campaigned played golf guitar entertained sen john mccain thousand americans allowed die major us city drowned clear impeachable offense american voters dont want politeness want country back proved republicans punish lying corruption next election democrats notice also punish cowardice inaction great start newly empowered democrats would revoke rephrase september 2001 authorization use military force passed authorize bush invade afghanistan pursue al qaeda bush claiming ever since 2001 aumf made permanent commander chief unending war terror right ignore courts acts congress clearly congresss power redefine aumf clearly make unambiguously clear authorize president generalissimo referring exclusively combat outside us expects stay within law constitution resolution aumf case expiration date move even republicansespecially recent drubbingwill support new congress also promptly revoke military commissions law especially parts revoke habeas corpus grant president gang retroactive immunity prosecution authorizing torture undermine posse comitatus act making easier president declare martial law possible get significant republican support effort although doesnt deserve democratic party default given chance offyear election far leadership showing every sign preparing blow means us voters make sure elected democrats congress get message first voting power riding hard make sure take aggressive action put administration dock rescue constitution country good start would go starting impeachment movement dave lindorff author killing time investigation death row case mumia abujamal new book counterpunch columns titled cant happening published common courage press lindorffs new book case impeachment coauthored barbara olshansky reached dlindorffyahoocom 160 160 160 160 | 1,006 |
<p>Onward ride the old familiar horses of colonialism. France and Britain have enthusiastically endorsed the U.N. resolution calling for a “no-fly zone” over Libya. Within hours of the vote both countries announced that their planes were at the ready. British Prime Minister David Cameron told Parliament that Britain had deployed warplanes, along with aerial refueling and surveillance aircraft. “To pass a resolution like this and they just stand back and hope someone in the region would enforce it is wrong,” Cameron said (emphasis added).</p>
<p>The United States, a relative newcomer to Western imperialism, seemed more hesitant, more reluctant, but nevertheless endorsed the resolution. The U.S. indicated its support for the air operations and offered the usual complement of 400 Marines offshore. Perhaps the Pentagon is eager to give new life to the Marines’ hymn and have the Marines return to “the shores of Tripoli.” Italy, the old colonial master of Libya, has been strangely silent, undoubtedly because Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is preoccupied with other things.</p>
<p>U.N. intervention has come when Libyan rebels apparently are on the verge of collapse. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had threatened to invade Benghazi, “closet by closet” to find and kill the rebels. But shortly after the U.N. vote the Libyan foreign minister declared “an immediate cease-fire” in “all military operations” against the rebels — an announcement which Prime Minister Cameron scornfully dismissed. Why are these Western nations so determined to impose their hand and footprints on Libya? Could the prize be the all-too-familiar one of oil?</p>
<p>The Libyan rebellion, part of a general Arab uprising against despotic regimes, naturally should be welcomed, particularly by the United States and its “democratic, anti-colonial” tradition. But Gadhafi’s regime has enormous power and resources to quash the disparate, poorly armed rebels, and it is unlikely that a no-fly resolution will succeed in stopping him from brutalizing his own people.</p>
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<p>The heavy patrolling and bombing over Bosnia and Serbia in the 1990s did nothing to prevent the massacre at Srebenica and other places. Even more significant, and strangely absent from commentary now, is the destruction the U.S. and its allies visited upon Iraq, also in the 1990s, in a futile attempt to bring down Saddam Hussein. What we destroyed instead was much of the professional and middle classes in Iraq. That nation’s medical delivery system, arguably the best in the Arab region, was destroyed and denied to the Iraqi people by coalition attack. The military tactics combined with heavily enforced sanctions shattered the Iraqi infrastructure and economy, and the invasion in 2003 only visited further disaster on what was a shell of a nation.</p>
<p>Recent events raised the possibility of an alternative, although probably not to the liking of David Cameron. On March 14, the Arab League called for imposing a no-fly zone over Libya. What welcome, but largely overlooked, news. Remembering the political adage “watch their feet, not their mouths,” we know there is no substance to the Arab League position. What the Arabs really were asking is that the United States, now the world’s foremost mercenary, do something about their despised Arab colleague, and perhaps incidentally aid the Libyan rebels.</p>
<p>The Arab League behaved as a mouthpiece for the seemingly discredited Paul Wolfowitz and his band of merry neocons (the Arab League and Wolfowitz — there is irony for you!), now anxious to wade into Libya with guns blazing and with what available troops, ordinance and airplanes can be mustered. For them, the march for empire is inevitable, inexorable and withal indubitably beneficial to us and the world. Wolfowitz defies F. Scott Fitzgerald’s dictum, as unfortunately there are bad second acts in American life. Until the passage of the U.N. resolution, President Barack Obama seemingly ignored and deflected the war chants and gratuitous advice of the Wolfowitz crowd. Perhaps Obama recognizes the limits not only for our capacity for war, but for mobilizing the energy and will to conduct — and finish — one.</p>
<p>The Arab League’s call for a no-fly zone has not been accompanied by a clear commitment that its members would participate beyond offering Arab cover and little more than sympathy and succor. Pity. The 22-member league could readily assemble a force vastly superior to Libya’s. Many of the members — notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan — have received lavish military aid from the United States for decades, including highly sophisticated aircraft.</p>
<p>The bold campaigner of the 2008 presidential race missed a wonderful opportunity for the audacious spirit he displayed then. Imagine if Obama had seized upon the news from the Arab League’s Cairo headquarters and urged our Arab “allies” to themselves impose a no-fly zone over Libya. “Yes you can,” the president might have said. We already have provided the Arabs with planes; presumably, the Saudis would be able to spare fuel. Let the Arabs themselves establish restraints and limitations on Gadhafi. We need not further impair our credibility in that part of the world. This time let us be the one to offer sympathy and succor, and let others do the heavy lifting.</p>
<p>More than 60 years ago United States committed itself to the doctrine of collective security. The ratification of the 1949 NATO treaty incorporated the idea as part of our fundamental law. But collective security has been a snare and chimera, with the United States bearing the effort and costs, with only token contributions from allied nations. (See Afghanistan.) Collective security all too often has been a ploy to mobilize public opinion in support of a dubious war. (See Iraq.)</p>
<p>George Washington Plunkitt, the longtime Tammany Hall chieftain and the prototype of the early 20th century machine politician, carefully navigated the shoals of “honest graft.” He had no difficulty in defending his actions, and nicely summed up his operating philosophy: “I seen my opportunities and I took ’em.” President Obama, with his familiar passivity, along with his perplexed foreign-policy and defense advisers, apparently is determined to let opportunity elude his grasp.</p>
<p>The president has been mired in a quandary over Libya. He seems to know better than to bog us down in another military adventure, yet his fundamental decency and regard for some measure of human rights in all probability propelled a desire on his part to do something for the Libyan rebels. But he missed a splendid opportunity to call the Arab League on its own pronouncement. Had he done so, he might well have imposed a new dimension to the concept of collective security — one that might have restored and fulfilled our original hopes.</p>
<p>Stanley Kutler is the author of “The Wars of Watergate” and other writings.</p> | true | 4 | onward ride old familiar horses colonialism france britain enthusiastically endorsed un resolution calling nofly zone libya within hours vote countries announced planes ready british prime minister david cameron told parliament britain deployed warplanes along aerial refueling surveillance aircraft pass resolution like stand back hope someone region would enforce wrong cameron said emphasis added united states relative newcomer western imperialism seemed hesitant reluctant nevertheless endorsed resolution us indicated support air operations offered usual complement 400 marines offshore perhaps pentagon eager give new life marines hymn marines return shores tripoli italy old colonial master libya strangely silent undoubtedly prime minister silvio berlusconi preoccupied things un intervention come libyan rebels apparently verge collapse libyan leader moammar gadhafi threatened invade benghazi closet closet find kill rebels shortly un vote libyan foreign minister declared immediate ceasefire military operations rebels announcement prime minister cameron scornfully dismissed western nations determined impose hand footprints libya could prize alltoofamiliar one oil libyan rebellion part general arab uprising despotic regimes naturally welcomed particularly united states democratic anticolonial tradition gadhafis regime enormous power resources quash disparate poorly armed rebels unlikely nofly resolution succeed stopping brutalizing people heavy patrolling bombing bosnia serbia 1990s nothing prevent massacre srebenica places even significant strangely absent commentary destruction us allies visited upon iraq also 1990s futile attempt bring saddam hussein destroyed instead much professional middle classes iraq nations medical delivery system arguably best arab region destroyed denied iraqi people coalition attack military tactics combined heavily enforced sanctions shattered iraqi infrastructure economy invasion 2003 visited disaster shell nation recent events raised possibility alternative although probably liking david cameron march 14 arab league called imposing nofly zone libya welcome largely overlooked news remembering political adage watch feet mouths know substance arab league position arabs really asking united states worlds foremost mercenary something despised arab colleague perhaps incidentally aid libyan rebels arab league behaved mouthpiece seemingly discredited paul wolfowitz band merry neocons arab league wolfowitz irony anxious wade libya guns blazing available troops ordinance airplanes mustered march empire inevitable inexorable withal indubitably beneficial us world wolfowitz defies f scott fitzgeralds dictum unfortunately bad second acts american life passage un resolution president barack obama seemingly ignored deflected war chants gratuitous advice wolfowitz crowd perhaps obama recognizes limits capacity war mobilizing energy conduct finish one arab leagues call nofly zone accompanied clear commitment members would participate beyond offering arab cover little sympathy succor pity 22member league could readily assemble force vastly superior libyas many members notably egypt saudi arabia jordan received lavish military aid united states decades including highly sophisticated aircraft bold campaigner 2008 presidential race missed wonderful opportunity audacious spirit displayed imagine obama seized upon news arab leagues cairo headquarters urged arab allies impose nofly zone libya yes president might said already provided arabs planes presumably saudis would able spare fuel let arabs establish restraints limitations gadhafi need impair credibility part world time let us one offer sympathy succor let others heavy lifting 60 years ago united states committed doctrine collective security ratification 1949 nato treaty incorporated idea part fundamental law collective security snare chimera united states bearing effort costs token contributions allied nations see afghanistan collective security often ploy mobilize public opinion support dubious war see iraq george washington plunkitt longtime tammany hall chieftain prototype early 20th century machine politician carefully navigated shoals honest graft difficulty defending actions nicely summed operating philosophy seen opportunities took em president obama familiar passivity along perplexed foreignpolicy defense advisers apparently determined let opportunity elude grasp president mired quandary libya seems know better bog us another military adventure yet fundamental decency regard measure human rights probability propelled desire part something libyan rebels missed splendid opportunity call arab league pronouncement done might well imposed new dimension concept collective security one might restored fulfilled original hopes stanley kutler author wars watergate writings | 626 |
<p>A political earthquake before an election is an unusual event, but not unknown. A second earthquake in such a period is already rare. But a third earthquake before an election, a short time after the first two–now, that is really scary.</p>
<p>Well, it has just happened. The nomination of Amir Peretz as leader of the Labor Party had already changed the political landscape of Israel. That is what pushed Ariel Sharon to create the Kadima party, the “Big Bang” that changed the landscape once again. Now, with the collapse of Sharon, the landscape has changed yet again–and this time beyond recognition.</p>
<p>Eighty days before the elections, the competition starts again right from the beginning. What will happen to Kadima? What kind of leader is Ehud Olmert? How will the parties do in the elections? Who will be the next Prime Minister? What kind of coalition will come into being?</p>
<p>Important questions. None of them has a clear answer at this time.</p>
<p>Kadima was born as Sharon’s personal party. He was the glue that held together the extreme right-winger Tsachi Hanegbi and the self-declared peacenik Shimon Peres, militarist Shaul Mofaz and former leftist trade union leader Haim Ramon.</p>
<p>The first thought after Sharon’s massive stroke was: this is the end of Kadima. Without Sharon, the entire package will fall apart. Only a miserable group of orphans will remain, something like a political refugee camp.</p>
<p>But that is really not certain at all. True, if someone joined this project only because he adores Sharon or needs a Big Father, he may now want to return to his former home. But if someone has already found a new home in Kadima, he will remain.</p>
<p>Who? First of all, the opportunists who have no chance of snatching a Knesset seat any other way.</p>
<p>But not only they. True, Kadima has no real program, no ideology. But its fuzzy sentiments and vague ideas can serve as a surrogate for a program. Many people entertain a hazy longing for peace–not peace with clear-cut contours, with a clear price, based on a compromise with the Palestinians, but a kind of abstract “peace”. This goes together with the slogan that one cannot trust the Arabs, that with Arabs you cannot make peace. This basic racism, perhaps a natural result of 120 years of war and conflict, expresses itself also in the feeling that the Jewishness of Israel should be reinforced and that Jewish traditions should be preserved, a vague, but nonetheless powerful sentiment.</p>
<p>Altogether this is a popular mixture, common to a significant proportion of the Israeli-Jewish public. It can serve as a convenient alternative to the explicit policies of the Left and the Right–all the more so since the public has become deeply suspicious of programs, ideologies and everything that looks like a miracle cure. The slogan could be: the vaguer, the better.</p>
<p>Until now, the Kadima people had put their trust in Sharon, believing that he would know what to do when the time came. They were sure that he had solutions–even if they did not know what they were–indeed, without wanting to know. They knew that he knew, and that was enough. Now this opaqueness can turn out to be an advantage in itself. A party that has no clear answer to anything can attract everyone.</p>
<p>Certainly, the party called Forwards will go backwards. It will not reach the 42 seats promised to Sharon by the opinion polls. But how many then? One can only guess, and no guess is worth much. My own guess: not less than 15, not more than 30.</p>
<p>One has to face the fact that Sharon is leaving the political arena empty of outstanding personalities and charismatic leaders. For better or worse, Israel will now be a normal Western-style country, with normal political parties headed by normal politicians.</p>
<p>And no politician is more normal than Ehud Olmert; the quintessential politician, who has never been anything but a politician, a politician pure and simple.</p>
<p>He is not a Great Father. Neither a glorious general nor a great thinker. He has no charisma, no vision, no exceptional integrity. At the start of his career, he soon betrayed several of those who favored him. But he is shrewd, smart, sober, ambitious and glib on TV, a politician, without grandstanding and poses.</p>
<p>He landed in his present position by sheer accident. The title “Deputy Prime Minister” was given him as a consolation prize, because Sharon could not satisfy his craving for the powerful Finance Ministry, which had already been promised to Netanyahu. As compensation, Sharon conferred on Olmert a title that was quite meaningless, because it meant only that Olmert would chair cabinet meetings on the rare occasions when Sharon was abroad.</p>
<p>Now, suddenly, the empty title turns out to be an excellent springboard. Automatic procedures have turned Olmert into Sharon’s temporary successor, and in politics, as is well known, nothing is more permanent than the temporary. The first to occupy a position has a huge advantage over all challengers.</p>
<p>One can trust Olmert not to do foolish things. His ego will not lead him into a hole, as frequently happens to Netanyahu. He is also much more experienced and devious than Amir Peretz.</p>
<p>If he maintains a steady hand until the elections, he has a chance to become the next prime minister.</p>
<p>Israeli politics now resemble the three fingers of a hand: Likud, Kadima and Labor. Three fingers instead of a fist.</p>
<p>It is quite possible that on election day, the three will get almost identical results–something around 25 seats each. If one of them does better than the others, its leader will probably be called upon to form the next government.</p>
<p>While the three are practically equal, Kadima has an advantage, since it occupies the place in the middle. When three lie in a bed, the one in the middle is always covered. In such a case, Olmert will be able to form a coalition either with Likud or with Labor. He will have no ideological qualms–he can be a leftist or a rightist, as required.</p>
<p>The situation presents a challenge to Amir Peretz. Since his nomination, his campaign has not left the ground. The massive figure of Sharon left no space for any contenders. Sharon had the initiative, with the media dancing around him. Now, with Olmert, Peretz has a much greater chance–provided he does not appear to be a second Olmert. Vagueness is good for Olmert, it is bad for Peretz.</p>
<p>Peretz has chosen the slogan “The Time Has Come!” A vague slogan that says nothing. He must move ahead, demonstrate leadership, present daring initiatives, capture the imagination, prove that he is capable of bringing about a revolution both in matters of peace and social affairs. It is hard to win, easy to fail. Now it’s up to him.</p>
<p>And all this, of course, is also true for Netanyahu on the other side.</p>
<p>After the third earthquake, these elections are good for democracy. For the first time in years, the public is faced with three clear options, represented by three parties with three leaders:</p>
<p>* On the right there is Likud under Netanyahu, championing the continuation of the occupation and the enlargement of the settlements, placing territory above peace.</p>
<p>* In the middle, Kadima under Ehud Olmert, will try to continue the ways of Sharon: annex territories and fix new borders for Israel unilaterally, adding some meaningless gestures spiced with vague slogans about peace.</p>
<p>* On the left, Labor under Amir Peretz will call for practical negotiations with the Palestinians, aimed at bringing an end to the conflict.</p>
<p>If these alternatives are clear-cut, and if the candidates do not try to obscure the differences between them, these elections can be really democratic, offering the public a real choice.</p>
<p>Voters will have to make the choice themselves, instead of leaving their fate in the hands of the Great Father.</p>
<p>URI AVNERY is an Israeli writer and peace activist with Gush Shalom. He is one of the writers featured in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/156584789X/counterpunchmaga" type="external">The Other Israel: Voices of Dissent and Refusal</a>. He is also a contributor to CounterPunch’s hot new book <a href="" type="internal">The Politics of Anti-Semitism</a>. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | political earthquake election unusual event unknown second earthquake period already rare third earthquake election short time first twonow really scary well happened nomination amir peretz leader labor party already changed political landscape israel pushed ariel sharon create kadima party big bang changed landscape collapse sharon landscape changed yet againand time beyond recognition eighty days elections competition starts right beginning happen kadima kind leader ehud olmert parties elections next prime minister kind coalition come important questions none clear answer time kadima born sharons personal party glue held together extreme rightwinger tsachi hanegbi selfdeclared peacenik shimon peres militarist shaul mofaz former leftist trade union leader haim ramon first thought sharons massive stroke end kadima without sharon entire package fall apart miserable group orphans remain something like political refugee camp really certain true someone joined project adores sharon needs big father may want return former home someone already found new home kadima remain first opportunists chance snatching knesset seat way true kadima real program ideology fuzzy sentiments vague ideas serve surrogate program many people entertain hazy longing peacenot peace clearcut contours clear price based compromise palestinians kind abstract peace goes together slogan one trust arabs arabs make peace basic racism perhaps natural result 120 years war conflict expresses also feeling jewishness israel reinforced jewish traditions preserved vague nonetheless powerful sentiment altogether popular mixture common significant proportion israelijewish public serve convenient alternative explicit policies left rightall since public become deeply suspicious programs ideologies everything looks like miracle cure slogan could vaguer better kadima people put trust sharon believing would know time came sure solutionseven know wereindeed without wanting know knew knew enough opaqueness turn advantage party clear answer anything attract everyone certainly party called forwards go backwards reach 42 seats promised sharon opinion polls many one guess guess worth much guess less 15 30 one face fact sharon leaving political arena empty outstanding personalities charismatic leaders better worse israel normal westernstyle country normal political parties headed normal politicians politician normal ehud olmert quintessential politician never anything politician politician pure simple great father neither glorious general great thinker charisma vision exceptional integrity start career soon betrayed several favored shrewd smart sober ambitious glib tv politician without grandstanding poses landed present position sheer accident title deputy prime minister given consolation prize sharon could satisfy craving powerful finance ministry already promised netanyahu compensation sharon conferred olmert title quite meaningless meant olmert would chair cabinet meetings rare occasions sharon abroad suddenly empty title turns excellent springboard automatic procedures turned olmert sharons temporary successor politics well known nothing permanent temporary first occupy position huge advantage challengers one trust olmert foolish things ego lead hole frequently happens netanyahu also much experienced devious amir peretz maintains steady hand elections chance become next prime minister israeli politics resemble three fingers hand likud kadima labor three fingers instead fist quite possible election day three get almost identical resultssomething around 25 seats one better others leader probably called upon form next government three practically equal kadima advantage since occupies place middle three lie bed one middle always covered case olmert able form coalition either likud labor ideological qualmshe leftist rightist required situation presents challenge amir peretz since nomination campaign left ground massive figure sharon left space contenders sharon initiative media dancing around olmert peretz much greater chanceprovided appear second olmert vagueness good olmert bad peretz peretz chosen slogan time come vague slogan says nothing must move ahead demonstrate leadership present daring initiatives capture imagination prove capable bringing revolution matters peace social affairs hard win easy fail course also true netanyahu side third earthquake elections good democracy first time years public faced three clear options represented three parties three leaders right likud netanyahu championing continuation occupation enlargement settlements placing territory peace middle kadima ehud olmert try continue ways sharon annex territories fix new borders israel unilaterally adding meaningless gestures spiced vague slogans peace left labor amir peretz call practical negotiations palestinians aimed bringing end conflict alternatives clearcut candidates try obscure differences elections really democratic offering public real choice voters make choice instead leaving fate hands great father uri avnery israeli writer peace activist gush shalom one writers featured israel voices dissent refusal also contributor counterpunchs hot new book politics antisemitism reached avnerycounterpunchorg 160 160 | 699 |
<p>The Federal Reserve is not going to push the economy into Zimbabwean hyperinflation. That’s pure bunkum. The Fed’s plan is to weaken the dollar to boost exports and to force China to let its currency appreciate to its fair-market value. By purchasing $600 billion in US Treasuries (QE2), the Fed effectively reduces the supply of risk-free assets, which sends investors into riskier assets like stocks and commodities. Is there an element of class warfare in the policy?</p>
<p>You bet there is. It’s a direct subsidy to the investment class while workers are left to face higher prices on everything from gasoline to corn flakes. It’s a royal screw job. But while Ben Bernanke may be a prevaricating class warrior and a charlatan, he’s not insane. He’s not going to shower the nation with increasingly-worthless greenbacks like they were confetti.</p>
<p>&#160;While rising headline inflation (gas and food) is painful for workers and people on fixed income, it actually intensifies the downturn by diverting money from other areas of consumption. So, discretionary spending falls and the economy begins to contract. It’s more proof that we’re in a Depression. And, yet, every day more ominous-sounding articles pop up warning of “The End of America” or “Gold to Soar to $10,000 per ounce” or some other such nonsense. \ Gloom and Doom has become a cottage industry employing a thriving class of worrywarts who all preach from the very same songbook.</p>
<p>Memo to Inflationists: The economy is not moving. Yes, the Fed can tie QE strings around the hands and feet and make them move like a marionette, but it’s all make-believe. Without the props and the support-system, the economy would drop to its knees, gasp for air, and expire. Dead.</p>
<p>Have you noticed that 1st Quarter GDP has been revised-down to 2 percent and could be headed lower still? (Maybe even negative!) Have you noticed that unemployment is stuck at 8.8 percent and underemployment at 16.2 percent with more people falling off the rolls and into abject poverty every day? Did you see that manufacturing is starting to slip and “the production index, a key measure of state manufacturing conditions, fell from 24 to 8, indicating slower growth in output.” Do you realize that the downturn in housing is getting more ferocious even after falling steadily for 5 years straight? Have you considered the fact that the government and Fed have pumped trillions of dollars of monetary and fiscal stimulus into the financial system with just about nothing to show for it? And, do you know why? Because we’re in a Depression, that’s why.</p>
<p>It’s ridiculous to wail about “money supply” when velocity is zilch. It’s pointless to crybaby over “bank reserves” when people are broke. It’s crazy to yelp about “printing presses” when lending is down, credit is contracting and the economy is mired in the most vicious slump in 80 years. We’re in a liquidity trap where normal monetary policy doesn’t work.&#160; Keynes figured it out more than 60 years ago, but since Bernanke is so much smarter than Keynes, we get to relearn it all over again. Now that QE2 is ending, the verdict is in. And what have we learned? That monetary policy doesn’t work in a liquidity trap.</p>
<p>The hullabaloo about inflation is vastly overdone. China’s not going to dump its $3 trillion stockpile of mainly USD and US Treasuries. Who started that cockamamie story? China’s doing everything it can just to keep its currency cheap just so to keep its people working. Are they suddenly going to do an about-face and commit economic harikari just to strike a blow against Uncle Sam? No way.</p>
<p>And, now the naysayers are worried that no one will buy Treasuries when QE2 ends in June.&#160; It’s a possibility, but is it likely? Here’s a piece from the Wall Street Journal that mulls over what will happen in June:</p>
<p>“The direction of interest rates after the Fed ends its bond-buying program is crucial for the economy. The issue will be in sharp focus this week, when Fed policy makers hold a two-day policy meeting, starting Tuesday, to discuss their efforts to steer the economy between the shoals of recession and inflation.</p>
<p>“They face an economy that has shown signs of losing momentum in recent months, with first-quarter economic growth now widely believed to be less than 2% annualized….</p>
<p>“One yardstick for the immediate future of Treasury yields after QE2 could be QE1, which included a $1.25 trillion Fed buying spree of mortgage bonds from late 2008 to March 2010. The mortgage-bond market felt barely a ripple when the Fed stopped buying. Treasuries, some observers reason, may follow the same path.</p>
<p>“Treasury yields ‘moved up significantly at the onset of QE1 but then fell precipitously when it ended,’ Mr. Rieder says. ‘So it’s not a given that Treasury yields will rise this time either.’” (“Fund Giants Take Competing Stands On US Bond Outlook”, Wall Street Journal)</p>
<p>True, that doesn’t guarantee that yields won’t rise when QE2 ends, but how high can they go when the economy is still stuck in the mud?</p>
<p>Not very high. And, who’s going to buy Treasuries when the economy is “losing momentum”? The same people who always buy them when the economy starts to crater; investors looking for a “safe harbor” from falling stocks or deflation. Don’t worry, there will be buyers. It’s just a matter of price.</p>
<p>So, forget about inflation. It just diverts attention from the real issue, which is finding a way to dig out of the mess we’re in and put people back to work. QE2 has been a total flop; we know that now. It’s time to return to traditional fiscal policies that have a proven track record of success. MIKE WHITNEY lives in Washington state. He can be reached at [email protected]</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | federal reserve going push economy zimbabwean hyperinflation thats pure bunkum feds plan weaken dollar boost exports force china let currency appreciate fairmarket value purchasing 600 billion us treasuries qe2 fed effectively reduces supply riskfree assets sends investors riskier assets like stocks commodities element class warfare policy bet direct subsidy investment class workers left face higher prices everything gasoline corn flakes royal screw job ben bernanke may prevaricating class warrior charlatan hes insane hes going shower nation increasinglyworthless greenbacks like confetti 160while rising headline inflation gas food painful workers people fixed income actually intensifies downturn diverting money areas consumption discretionary spending falls economy begins contract proof depression yet every day ominoussounding articles pop warning end america gold soar 10000 per ounce nonsense gloom doom become cottage industry employing thriving class worrywarts preach songbook memo inflationists economy moving yes fed tie qe strings around hands feet make move like marionette makebelieve without props supportsystem economy would drop knees gasp air expire dead noticed 1st quarter gdp reviseddown 2 percent could headed lower still maybe even negative noticed unemployment stuck 88 percent underemployment 162 percent people falling rolls abject poverty every day see manufacturing starting slip production index key measure state manufacturing conditions fell 24 8 indicating slower growth output realize downturn housing getting ferocious even falling steadily 5 years straight considered fact government fed pumped trillions dollars monetary fiscal stimulus financial system nothing show know depression thats ridiculous wail money supply velocity zilch pointless crybaby bank reserves people broke crazy yelp printing presses lending credit contracting economy mired vicious slump 80 years liquidity trap normal monetary policy doesnt work160 keynes figured 60 years ago since bernanke much smarter keynes get relearn qe2 ending verdict learned monetary policy doesnt work liquidity trap hullabaloo inflation vastly overdone chinas going dump 3 trillion stockpile mainly usd us treasuries started cockamamie story chinas everything keep currency cheap keep people working suddenly going aboutface commit economic harikari strike blow uncle sam way naysayers worried one buy treasuries qe2 ends june160 possibility likely heres piece wall street journal mulls happen june direction interest rates fed ends bondbuying program crucial economy issue sharp focus week fed policy makers hold twoday policy meeting starting tuesday discuss efforts steer economy shoals recession inflation face economy shown signs losing momentum recent months firstquarter economic growth widely believed less 2 annualized one yardstick immediate future treasury yields qe2 could qe1 included 125 trillion fed buying spree mortgage bonds late 2008 march 2010 mortgagebond market felt barely ripple fed stopped buying treasuries observers reason may follow path treasury yields moved significantly onset qe1 fell precipitously ended mr rieder says given treasury yields rise time either fund giants take competing stands us bond outlook wall street journal true doesnt guarantee yields wont rise qe2 ends high go economy still stuck mud high whos going buy treasuries economy losing momentum people always buy economy starts crater investors looking safe harbor falling stocks deflation dont worry buyers matter price forget inflation diverts attention real issue finding way dig mess put people back work qe2 total flop know time return traditional fiscal policies proven track record success mike whitney lives washington state reached fergiewhitneymsncom 160 | 527 |
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<p>A group of activists started a crowd-sourcing campaign to purchase the Tribune Company in response to bids by right-wing moguls Rupert Murdoch and the Koch Brothers to snag the massive newspaper corporation.</p>
<p>According to the Indiegogo campaign site, the Other 98% launched <a href="//www.indiegogo.com/projects/free-the-press-buy-the-tribune-company?c=home" type="external">Free the Press</a> to reclaim the media from its corporate owners. The Tribune Company owns a host of influential newspapers, including the Baltimore Sun, Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune. As the Huffington Post notes, Rupert Murdoch is interested in purchasing the latter two, while the Koch Brothers are eyeing all eight of the Tribune’s papers. To stop them, Free the Press aims to purchase the company and return these outlets to their local communities.</p>
<p>It’s not going to be cheap. The activists gave themselves 30 days to raise $660 million to purchase the company. It may be easy to mock the effort, but Free the Press raised more than $66,000 in a day, and donations continue to stream in. I spoke with one of the campaign’s leaders, Nicole Carty, who also stars in the launch video at the bottom of the page:</p>
<p>So, you’re aiming to raise $660 million to buy the Tribune Company. Is this a serious effort?</p>
<p>That’s the first question I get. I have to ask, “Why is it so crazy for people to own a newspaper company?” We’re obviously not naive. We know we’re asking for a lot of money. I think the real question is “Why is that a lot of money?” We’re more serious about the people being in control of the media.</p>
<p>Your campaign says you aim to give these newspapers “back to the communities.” What does a community newspaper look like?</p>
<p>It would be a newspaper without an agenda, free to report on any news. Journalists could come unshackled to report on news that actually affects communities. We obviously haven’t thought about how it would look like written down, but it would be powered by the people. It would be owned by the people. The press would be free to report on the information we need without corporate ownership or even the government coming down on us.</p>
<p>From your campaign’s standpoint, what do we lose when the Koch Brothers or Rupert Murdoch buys a newspaper company?</p>
<p>You don’t get the critique on government activity or corporate activity. I live in New York City. There are basic things happening here that aren’t making it into newspapers. Gentrification is happening in so many neighborhoods. New York City is turning into a destination for the wealthy. Everyone is else is literally getting squeezed out to the furthest points of the city. There’s no mainstream media that’s widely accessible to the side of ordinary people.</p>
<p>If you have a billionaire in New York City making the decisions about what’s going to be the news in LA or Chicago or Baltimore—these are cities with a lot of people of color. What do Murdoch or the Koch brothers have to say to them beside manipulate them? There’s a huge disconnection between these billionaires and their lives and what’s important to some kid who lives in Chicago. To bring it closer to home, that’s one huge step towards benefiting the coverage of a community.</p>
<p>The thing is, yes Murdoch and the Koch Brothers are the absolute worse option, but the whole idea of one billionaire controlling the media is fundamentally wrong. Even if they person has an agenda I agree with, it shouldn’t be someone who is really wealthy. It should be everyone. That’s what the media was made for.</p>
<p>Let’s talk about the media control and thought.</p>
<p>You have something going in the background, telling you a message, appealing to the worst side of you, your prejudices. Look back at the bombings in Boston. Immediately, almost everyone in the mainstream media super irresponsibly jumped to conclusions about who the bombers were and what their motivations were. People, because they’ve been exposed to media and this kind of scapegoating that’s happened for decades will be more prone to buy into the message. It’s because of the media, it’s because of the message that’s been circulated and ingrained in us. Even if we’re not aware of it, it’s a trap that’s running constantly. I don’t think it’s impossible to pay attention to something that’s so present. It’s everywhere.</p>
<p>Let’s say you’re successful and purchase the Tribune Company. What’s next? How would you keep these papers afloat? How would they remain competitive?</p>
<p>Just to be clear. We’re trying to buy the Tribune for the people. We don’t have much interest in actually owning it. We’d unleash the papers to report on whatever. Ideally, the papers would be crowd-sourced in some way on a local media. There are plenty of examples of public media. Look at the Pacifica network. That’s a publically funded radio station that works just find and covers important news. The Green Bay Packers uses a different model. They have a board and shareholders. There are definitely examples out there for how it can be done. It’s possible and there are options.</p>
<p>People have to buy into this no matter what. They know that CNN, MSNBC, Fox—they’re all owned by billionaires with agendas. Just knowing something is agendaless, reporting real news—that would speak for itself.</p>
<p>You guys have already raised more than $53,000 in a day (At time of publication, that number grew to more than $66,000).</p>
<p>It’s incredible. But seeing that amount of money and seeing so much of that bar left, it’s out of control. We’ve surpassed the average yearly salary of most Americans. We’ve made more money than that in one day and we’re still nowhere close. That, to me speaks that speaks volumes about how absurd this is.</p>
<p>What happens if you don’t meet the $660 million goal in 30 days?</p>
<p>We made the campaign fixed-funding, so if we don’t meet the goal, all the money goes back to the people it came from. We were really intentional about that, because we’re not trying to scam anyone or take people’s money for our own needs. We want to talk about the Tribune Company and we want to create a press.</p>
<p>Watch The Other 98%'s appeal:</p>
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<p>Steven Hsieh is an editorial assistant at AlterNet and writer based in Brooklyn. Follow him on Twitter <a href="https://www.twitter.com/stevenjhsieh" type="external">@stevenjhsieh</a>.</p> | true | 4 | 160 group activists started crowdsourcing campaign purchase tribune company response bids rightwing moguls rupert murdoch koch brothers snag massive newspaper corporation according indiegogo campaign site 98 launched free press reclaim media corporate owners tribune company owns host influential newspapers including baltimore sun los angeles times chicago tribune huffington post notes rupert murdoch interested purchasing latter two koch brothers eyeing eight tribunes papers stop free press aims purchase company return outlets local communities going cheap activists gave 30 days raise 660 million purchase company may easy mock effort free press raised 66000 day donations continue stream spoke one campaigns leaders nicole carty also stars launch video bottom page youre aiming raise 660 million buy tribune company serious effort thats first question get ask crazy people newspaper company obviously naive know asking lot money think real question lot money serious people control media campaign says aim give newspapers back communities community newspaper look like would newspaper without agenda free report news journalists could come unshackled report news actually affects communities obviously havent thought would look like written would powered people would owned people press would free report information need without corporate ownership even government coming us campaigns standpoint lose koch brothers rupert murdoch buys newspaper company dont get critique government activity corporate activity live new york city basic things happening arent making newspapers gentrification happening many neighborhoods new york city turning destination wealthy everyone else literally getting squeezed furthest points city theres mainstream media thats widely accessible side ordinary people billionaire new york city making decisions whats going news la chicago baltimorethese cities lot people color murdoch koch brothers say beside manipulate theres huge disconnection billionaires lives whats important kid lives chicago bring closer home thats one huge step towards benefiting coverage community thing yes murdoch koch brothers absolute worse option whole idea one billionaire controlling media fundamentally wrong even person agenda agree shouldnt someone really wealthy everyone thats media made lets talk media control thought something going background telling message appealing worst side prejudices look back bombings boston immediately almost everyone mainstream media super irresponsibly jumped conclusions bombers motivations people theyve exposed media kind scapegoating thats happened decades prone buy message media message thats circulated ingrained us even aware trap thats running constantly dont think impossible pay attention something thats present everywhere lets say youre successful purchase tribune company whats next would keep papers afloat would remain competitive clear trying buy tribune people dont much interest actually owning wed unleash papers report whatever ideally papers would crowdsourced way local media plenty examples public media look pacifica network thats publically funded radio station works find covers important news green bay packers uses different model board shareholders definitely examples done possible options people buy matter know cnn msnbc foxtheyre owned billionaires agendas knowing something agendaless reporting real newsthat would speak guys already raised 53000 day time publication number grew 66000 incredible seeing amount money seeing much bar left control weve surpassed average yearly salary americans weve made money one day still nowhere close speaks speaks volumes absurd happens dont meet 660 million goal 30 days made campaign fixedfunding dont meet goal money goes back people came really intentional trying scam anyone take peoples money needs want talk tribune company want create press watch 98s appeal steven hsieh editorial assistant alternet writer based brooklyn follow twitter stevenjhsieh | 553 |
<p>Hong Kong.</p>
<p>It was the greatest Chinese takeaway in history but the handover was not meant to happen, ever. The treaty of Nanking in 1842 ceded Hong Kong to the British. Their big ships and military might meant China had little choice at the end of the first opium war. It was given to them in perpetuity.</p>
<p>Food and water, in abundance in Kowloon and New Territories across the harbor, were in short supply on Hong Kong island, the barren rock. It was this, the New Territories, that in 1898 the British pledged to give back in 1997. They didn’t think they would ever have to give it back. The 99-year lease was a convenient agreement.</p>
<p>“Why do we have to give it back,” former British premier Margaret Thatcher asked in 1984 in post-Falklands triumphalist mode. The impracticality of keeping it with Kowloon in Chinese hands was impressed upon her by civil servants.</p>
<p>Beijing let it be known that they would march the People’s Liberation Army in anyway. China was not Argentina, Deng Xiaoping was not Leopoldo Galtieri. So Thatcher agreed in 1984 to hand it back in 1997.</p>
<p>Every Chinese emperor seeks the “Mandate of Heaven”. On that rainy night of June 30, 1997, this mandate was withheld (it rained for two weeks afterwards — a sign the gods were, if not British then, at least, not communist) the 260-island rocky archipelago with the most dramatic skyline in the world saw its policemen change the badges on their caps at midnight, swapping the crown insignia for the orchid, the Union Jack go down, Chris Patten the governor board the Britannia and the Chinese flag flutter in the air-conditioned almost completed showpiece seagull-wing exhibition hall, with roof tiles missing due to delays in its construction.</p>
<p>In the run-up to the handover there was a sense not of panic but of unease. Britain was not offering passports. Full stop. No entry. Long before the Polish plumber and Europe Union expansion (yes, a different world) meant that Latvians had right of entry to the United Kingdom, Hong Kong people were asking why could a German (two World Wars and a World Cup football final) live in Britain, but not a Hong Kong man or woman?</p>
<p>This question was asked not because Hong Kong people wanted to swap Mong Kok for Merseyside or Kowloon for Canterbury but if the Chinese decided to crack down (remember Tiananmen), then is it Britain’s duty to provide a safety net? The naïveté was almost touching. Hong Kong was the most successful colony in the world, with a popular governor — but still to London, a colony. China was the UK’s main focus, Hong Kong was getting in the way of the China market. Former British Prime Minister John Major had been the first western leader to visit post-Tiananmen Beijing. China, to Britain, meant business.</p>
<p>London’s last man in, helped Britain declare at 155 all out. On a night when showers lashed Hong Kong, rain was not going to stop play on June 30, 1997.</p>
<p>Chris Patten, the 28th and last governor of Hong Kong, was to lead the retreat. Britain was signaling not just its departure from Hong Kong but an effective end to empire, an imperial sunset.</p>
<p>Most politicians build their careers upon successes. Patten was astute enough to turn a humiliating failure into political success. When John Major’s Conservatives won the 1992 election, Patten, who had helped organise the party’s victory, lost his own seat in Bath, Somerset.</p>
<p>When the news came in, there was cheering and backslapping at the Conservative headquarters. Patten had never been right-wing enough for many Tories who questioned what they viewed as his “soft” social policies. Thatcher did not like him and let it be known.</p>
<p>Major, though, stood by him and made the former MP Governor until handover night on June 30, 1997. Whitehall wanted a safe pair of hands — no ruffling of the feathers — with the emerging China market. There was no point putting commercial gains at risk. Patten, a failed politician, seemed a safe choice. He was meant to appreciate the perks, build up a nice retirement fund; surely he wouldn’t be too worried about Hong Kong. They were spectacularly wrong.</p>
<p>No plumed hat for this governor, no traditional role as imperial bystander above the fray, battle was being joined. Upon his arrival in July 1992, he made the wrong noises — he mentioned rights, liberties and democracy. Beijing, like a former British queen, was not amused. Neither was London but Major resisted pressure to bring him home.</p>
<p>A heart operation in 1993 revealed just how distanced he was from the commercial establishment. News reports that he was undergoing the operation saw the stock market surge. There was a slight sell-off when it was announced that he was on the road to recovery.</p>
<p>Patten was a family man and his wife and three daughters lacked the reserve of previous governors’ families and were obviously comfortable with life in Britain’s most prosperous colony. They were approachable. His wife’s visits to hospitals and charity organisations were relaxed and free of undue protocol.</p>
<p>Newspaper cartoonists even sketched the Pattens’ dogs, Whiskey and Soda, depicting them as Norfolk Terriers snapping at the heels of Chinese politicians. Sometimes they were doing more than snapping.</p>
<p>Then horror of horrors, Patten started to go on walks, not to where the elite lived on the Peak but to Hong Kong’s more traditional districts. His popularity was obvious. Ordinary people, grandmothers, labourers on building sites would try to shake his hand.</p>
<p>When he visited teahouses and chatted with staff, he got a reception no Chinese politician could ever have dreamt of. Under Britain, Hong Kong was not a democracy. The lack of franchise was something Patten was determined to make right but major commercial interests in the colony as well as Beijing were dead set against his plans. Neither were the general public, who had little idea of democracy, clamouring for the right to vote.</p>
<p>While they appreciated a Hong Kong governor standing up to Beijing, people in Hong Kong had long harboured deep grievances about Beijing, many had fled from the Chinese mainland since 1949, but only 35 per cent of the eligible electorate voted in Legislative Council elections.</p>
<p>The low turnout took the steam out of Patten’s reforms. This council had limited powers and by the time Patten left Beijing felt confident enough to keep the colony’s pro-democracy politicians at arm’s length.</p>
<p>Patten was vilified by Beijing (whore of a thousand years was just one of the more colourful descriptions) in 1997 but in the years since, Hong Kong’s tea shops have never had a more popular customer.</p> | true | 4 | hong kong greatest chinese takeaway history handover meant happen ever treaty nanking 1842 ceded hong kong british big ships military might meant china little choice end first opium war given perpetuity food water abundance kowloon new territories across harbor short supply hong kong island barren rock new territories 1898 british pledged give back 1997 didnt think would ever give back 99year lease convenient agreement give back former british premier margaret thatcher asked 1984 postfalklands triumphalist mode impracticality keeping kowloon chinese hands impressed upon civil servants beijing let known would march peoples liberation army anyway china argentina deng xiaoping leopoldo galtieri thatcher agreed 1984 hand back 1997 every chinese emperor seeks mandate heaven rainy night june 30 1997 mandate withheld rained two weeks afterwards sign gods british least communist 260island rocky archipelago dramatic skyline world saw policemen change badges caps midnight swapping crown insignia orchid union jack go chris patten governor board britannia chinese flag flutter airconditioned almost completed showpiece seagullwing exhibition hall roof tiles missing due delays construction runup handover sense panic unease britain offering passports full stop entry long polish plumber europe union expansion yes different world meant latvians right entry united kingdom hong kong people asking could german two world wars world cup football final live britain hong kong man woman question asked hong kong people wanted swap mong kok merseyside kowloon canterbury chinese decided crack remember tiananmen britains duty provide safety net naïveté almost touching hong kong successful colony world popular governor still london colony china uks main focus hong kong getting way china market former british prime minister john major first western leader visit posttiananmen beijing china britain meant business londons last man helped britain declare 155 night showers lashed hong kong rain going stop play june 30 1997 chris patten 28th last governor hong kong lead retreat britain signaling departure hong kong effective end empire imperial sunset politicians build careers upon successes patten astute enough turn humiliating failure political success john majors conservatives 1992 election patten helped organise partys victory lost seat bath somerset news came cheering backslapping conservative headquarters patten never rightwing enough many tories questioned viewed soft social policies thatcher like let known major though stood made former mp governor handover night june 30 1997 whitehall wanted safe pair hands ruffling feathers emerging china market point putting commercial gains risk patten failed politician seemed safe choice meant appreciate perks build nice retirement fund surely wouldnt worried hong kong spectacularly wrong plumed hat governor traditional role imperial bystander fray battle joined upon arrival july 1992 made wrong noises mentioned rights liberties democracy beijing like former british queen amused neither london major resisted pressure bring home heart operation 1993 revealed distanced commercial establishment news reports undergoing operation saw stock market surge slight selloff announced road recovery patten family man wife three daughters lacked reserve previous governors families obviously comfortable life britains prosperous colony approachable wifes visits hospitals charity organisations relaxed free undue protocol newspaper cartoonists even sketched pattens dogs whiskey soda depicting norfolk terriers snapping heels chinese politicians sometimes snapping horror horrors patten started go walks elite lived peak hong kongs traditional districts popularity obvious ordinary people grandmothers labourers building sites would try shake hand visited teahouses chatted staff got reception chinese politician could ever dreamt britain hong kong democracy lack franchise something patten determined make right major commercial interests colony well beijing dead set plans neither general public little idea democracy clamouring right vote appreciated hong kong governor standing beijing people hong kong long harboured deep grievances beijing many fled chinese mainland since 1949 35 per cent eligible electorate voted legislative council elections low turnout took steam pattens reforms council limited powers time patten left beijing felt confident enough keep colonys prodemocracy politicians arms length patten vilified beijing whore thousand years one colourful descriptions 1997 years since hong kongs tea shops never popular customer | 640 |
<p>“It’s been 12 years. Why hasn’t Saddam Hussein complied?” So many ask.</p>
<p>“Follow the money” it’s been said is the way to get at the truth. It’s a good adage, but in this case: Follow the policy.</p>
<p>In his report Friday, UNMOVIC head Hans Blix claimed that “If Iraq had provided the necessary cooperation in 1991, the phase of disarmament — under resolution 687 — could have been short and a decade of sanctions could have been avoided.”</p>
<p>Blix also indicated that Iraq only complies because of the threat of use of force. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw went to town with this particular notion to the applause of some in the Security Council chamber.</p>
<p>One problem with such thinking is that it violates the U.N. Charter, which prohibits “ <a href="http://www.un.org/aboutun/charter/chapter6.htm" type="external">the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.</a>”</p>
<p>Another problem is that it ignores U.S. policy over the last dozen years, which has discouraged compliance with the arms inspectors. Ignoring the realities of U.S. policy is something the head of UNMOVIC should not do. Consider:</p>
<p>The original post-Gulf War U.N. Security Council resolution 687, passed in April of 1991, made lots of demands on Iraq — but, as Blix indicated, specified that once Iraq complies with the weapons inspection regime, the economic sanctions “ <a href="" type="internal">shall have no further force or effect.</a>”</p>
<p>The problem, and it’s a big problem, is that this declaration was rendered ineffective. President George Bush in May of 1991 stated: “At this juncture, my view is we don’t want to lift these sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power.” This was no slip of the tongue. The same day, then-Secretary of State James Baker sent the same message: “We are not interested in seeing a relaxation of sanctions as long as Saddam Hussein is in power.” So regardless of what Hussein did, comply or not, the sanctions would stay in place. He played games with the inspectors as it suited him. [ <a href="http://www.accuracy.org/iraq" type="external">See a timeline.</a>]</p>
<p>And what would Clinton’s policy be? Just before getting into office, in an interview with Thomas Friedman of the New York Times, Clinton said: “I am a Baptist. I believe in death-bed conversions. If he [Hussein] wants a different relationship with the United States and the United Nations, all he has to do is change his behavior.” The following day, faced with attacks for articulating such politically incorrect notions, Clinton backtracked: “There is no difference between my policy and the policy of the present administration.” This meant that the crushing economic sanctions would stay in place on Iraq for eight more years, dooming hundreds of thousands of Iraqi people to premature deaths.</p>
<p>It’s notable that Friedman has falsified this subject, <a href="http://www.scn.org/ccpi/nytimes-op-ed.html" type="external">writing from Qatar in February of 2001</a>: “Saddam totally outfoxed Washington in the propaganda war. All you hear and read in the media here is that the sanctions are starving the Iraqi people — which is true. But the U.S. counter-arguments that by complying with U.N. resolutions Saddam could get those sanctions lifted at any time are never heard. Preoccupied with the peace process, no senior U.S. officials have made their case in any sustained way here, and it shows.”</p>
<p>So Friedman, from his media perch, actually helped ensure that Clinton would continue the policy of keeping the sanctions in place no matter what Hussein did; resulting, by Friedman’s own admission, in “starving the Iraqi people.” And then he pretends that the policy does not exist, mocking Arabs for believing such a thing.</p>
<p>Just to be clear about it, in March of 1997 Madeleine Albright, in her first major foreign policy address as Secretary of State, proclaimed: “We do not agree with the nations who argue that if Iraq complies with its obligations concerning weapons of mass destruction, sanctions should be lifted.” I was there, at Georgetown University when she said that. This was on par with Albright’s infamous remark on CBS’s “60 Minutes” the previous year that the sanctions, after already killing half a million children, were “worth it.”</p>
<p>Through out the late 1990s, there were a series of standoffs between the Iraqi and the U.S. governments around weapons inspectors. In December of 1998, UNSCOM head Richard Butler issued a report (which the Washington Post would later reveal was shaped by the U.S. government) claiming Iraq wasn’t cooperating with the inspectors and withdrew them just before the U.S. launched the Desert Fox bombing campaign. <a href="http://www.fair.org/activism/post-expulsions.html" type="external">Some might remember this was on the eve of Clinton’s scheduled impeachment vote</a>.</p>
<p>In January of 1999 — after UNSCOM was destroyed by its own hand — the U.S. media reported that, contrary to U.S. denials, <a href="" type="internal">UNSCOM was in fact used for espionage</a> as the Iraqis had been alleging, <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/2161552.stm" type="external">in part to track Hussein</a>. (We’d do well to keep this in mind as those U2 flights go over Iraq.)</p>
<p>So Iraq kept the weapons inspectors out for four years. Why did the U.S. use the inspectors as spies? Why did it say that the sanctions would stay put regardless of what Iraq did? These would hardly seem to be the policies anyone would adopt if they really wanted disarmament.</p>
<p>There are other recent examples of the U.S. government adopting policies that betray an actual desire for Iraqi non-compliance. On October 1, 2002, just as Iraq was deciding whether or not to let inspectors have total access to presidential palaces, Ari Fleischer talked of “the cost of one bullet” being less than the cost of invasion. Was that supposed to help convince Saddam to say yes to letting inspectors into his palaces?</p>
<p>And now, just as Iraq begun destroying Al-Samoud missiles, the U.S. government is escalating its bombing of the “no-fly” zones — an ongoing, increasing years-long attack without legal justification.</p>
<p>So the U.S. policy of maintaining the sanctions in place no matter what Hussein did gave him incentive for non-compliance with the inspectors. Now, the U.S. policy seems to be invasion no matter what Hussein does. It’s hard to believe that this will ensure anything other than more massive violence from many quarters.</p>
<p>Or we could choose a different path. If the Bush administration were to state that it would respect resolution 687 and ensure the lifting of the economic sanctions on Iraq when it is verifiably disarmed, then that ostensible goal could well be reached without invasion, killing and slaughter. But that would mean that the stated goals have some relation to actual goals. The way to cut through illusions and rhetoric is to follow the policy.</p>
<p>SAM HUSSEINI is communications director for the <a href="http://www.accuracy.org/" type="external">Institute for Public Accuracy</a>. He also recently launched the web page <a href="http://www.compassroses.com/" type="external">Compass Roses</a>. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 12 years hasnt saddam hussein complied many ask follow money said way get truth good adage case follow policy report friday unmovic head hans blix claimed iraq provided necessary cooperation 1991 phase disarmament resolution 687 could short decade sanctions could avoided blix also indicated iraq complies threat use force british foreign secretary jack straw went town particular notion applause security council chamber one problem thinking violates un charter prohibits threat use force territorial integrity political independence state another problem ignores us policy last dozen years discouraged compliance arms inspectors ignoring realities us policy something head unmovic consider original postgulf war un security council resolution 687 passed april 1991 made lots demands iraq blix indicated specified iraq complies weapons inspection regime economic sanctions shall force effect problem big problem declaration rendered ineffective president george bush may 1991 stated juncture view dont want lift sanctions long saddam hussein power slip tongue day thensecretary state james baker sent message interested seeing relaxation sanctions long saddam hussein power regardless hussein comply sanctions would stay place played games inspectors suited see timeline would clintons policy getting office interview thomas friedman new york times clinton said baptist believe deathbed conversions hussein wants different relationship united states united nations change behavior following day faced attacks articulating politically incorrect notions clinton backtracked difference policy policy present administration meant crushing economic sanctions would stay place iraq eight years dooming hundreds thousands iraqi people premature deaths notable friedman falsified subject writing qatar february 2001 saddam totally outfoxed washington propaganda war hear read media sanctions starving iraqi people true us counterarguments complying un resolutions saddam could get sanctions lifted time never heard preoccupied peace process senior us officials made case sustained way shows friedman media perch actually helped ensure clinton would continue policy keeping sanctions place matter hussein resulting friedmans admission starving iraqi people pretends policy exist mocking arabs believing thing clear march 1997 madeleine albright first major foreign policy address secretary state proclaimed agree nations argue iraq complies obligations concerning weapons mass destruction sanctions lifted georgetown university said par albrights infamous remark cbss 60 minutes previous year sanctions already killing half million children worth late 1990s series standoffs iraqi us governments around weapons inspectors december 1998 unscom head richard butler issued report washington post would later reveal shaped us government claiming iraq wasnt cooperating inspectors withdrew us launched desert fox bombing campaign might remember eve clintons scheduled impeachment vote january 1999 unscom destroyed hand us media reported contrary us denials unscom fact used espionage iraqis alleging part track hussein wed well keep mind u2 flights go iraq iraq kept weapons inspectors four years us use inspectors spies say sanctions would stay put regardless iraq would hardly seem policies anyone would adopt really wanted disarmament recent examples us government adopting policies betray actual desire iraqi noncompliance october 1 2002 iraq deciding whether let inspectors total access presidential palaces ari fleischer talked cost one bullet less cost invasion supposed help convince saddam say yes letting inspectors palaces iraq begun destroying alsamoud missiles us government escalating bombing nofly zones ongoing increasing yearslong attack without legal justification us policy maintaining sanctions place matter hussein gave incentive noncompliance inspectors us policy seems invasion matter hussein hard believe ensure anything massive violence many quarters could choose different path bush administration state would respect resolution 687 ensure lifting economic sanctions iraq verifiably disarmed ostensible goal could well reached without invasion killing slaughter would mean stated goals relation actual goals way cut illusions rhetoric follow policy sam husseini communications director institute public accuracy also recently launched web page compass roses reached samaccuracyorg 160 | 595 |
<p>William K. Black, author of THE BEST WAY TO ROB A BANK IS TO OWN ONE, teaches economics and law at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC). He was the Executive Director of the Institute for Fraud Prevention from 2005-2007. Black was a central figure in exposing Congressional corruption during the Savings and Loan Crisis.</p>
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<p />SHARMINI PERIES: It's the Real News Network. I'm Sharmini Peries coming to you from Baltimore. The Equifax data breach that we reported on two weeks ago with Bill Black, where the company revealed that hackers might have stolen financial records of 143 million US citizens. This is just the US. It gets far worse if you look at it worldwide. In July, things got, of course, much worse and we didn't really know very much about what was going on and what Equifax knew and now, meanwhile, several government agencies such as the Consumer Financial Protection Agency, the Federal Trade Commission and at least 34 state attorney generals offices have all opened investigations into the Equifax data breach.
<p /> The first state to launch a lawsuit against Equifax is Massachusetts and on Tuesday, the Massachusetts attorney general charged Equifax with not having upgraded the security for its website, though it knew about its vulnerability as early as March. Now joining us to discuss all of this is Bill Black. We have him back. Bill is a white collar criminologist, associate professor of economics and law at the University of Missouri,Kansas City, and the author of the book, “The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One". So good to have you back here, Bill.
<p />BILL BLACK: Thank you.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: So Bill, give us a rundown of what has happened when and how did all of this lead to the charges that's been laid against Equifax from Massachusetts.
<p />BILL BLACK: Well there have been a large number of developments. We may not be able to cover them all, but the big ones are revealed perhaps best in the Massachusetts attorney general complaint that was just filed yesterday, at least as we're talking, that explains the nature of how the breach occurred, and so it turns out that the vulnerability was in an open source software used by Equifax, and this vulnerability was discovered in March of this year. When it was discovered, and it was discovered and reported to the volunteers that run this particular open source software called Apache Struts, they found both that it was very serious, that a significant number of breaches were occurring and they immediately notified the community of the vulnerability, and very quickly developed a patch for this.
<p /> So this is all by early to mid-March of this year. The warning went out. Equifax has admitted that it got the warning, knew about it, and did not apply the patch. Because they did not apply the patch and did not increase security in a way that would find people accessing through this known vulnerability, they still say that the hack began in May and persisted through basically the last days in July, and then they're still saying that they then, they Equifax, then awaited another basically six weeks to warn us that this had occurred and this wasn't for any tactical reason to protect us because they were doing something secret that was going to help us. No, it was so that they could in fact get their PR campaign and try to convert it into a profit center that we talked about in the last interview on this subject. The myriad ways in which they tried to make money off the victims.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: Right, and Bill, back then you called this scandal a 10 out of a 10 scandal. Now what do you call it?
<p />BILL BLACK: Well that's what I ... I was actually quoting experts in the field and indeed there's something called the common vulnerability scoring system that rates vulnerabilities and contemporaneously this was given the rating of 10.0. I'm reading from the Massachusetts complaint against Equifax: "The highest possible severity score on either scale." The notice stated the attack based on the vulnerability, "allows unauthorized disclosure of information, would be low in complexity to accomplish," in other words, almost anybody could use this to breach it, "and would not require the attacker to provide authentication, for example, a username and password to exploit the vulnerability," and the notice documented over 20 other website resources so that you could fix the problem. Now another thing that has happened since last we talked-
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: What is the reason? Why would Equifax not want to apply a patch and why would they not do it, because you would think they want to protect their data and their company?
<p />BILL BLACK: Yeah. No, there's no good business reason at all. Period, end of story, full stop. Since we last talked, two senior executives have had to walk the plank. One was the chief security officer and the other was the chief information officer, and these are the two obvious folks that, as we said, Equifax has admitted that it knew of the vulnerability. If you're the chief information officer of Equifax or the security officer, you are online every day, multiple times a day, looking for these kinds of breaches, and if you see them, you instantly go to higher order defenses and you look desperately ...
<p /> You've got, in this case, Apache Struts on the line saying, "Are you working on a patch? When will it be available? Do we have to do anything to be able to implement it immediately once it comes out?" Etc, etc, etc, that's what you would do. Now it turns out the chief security officer, her degree is in music. These folks ... I can't even think of some incredibly nefarious reason executives would do this deliberately. This one does appear to be incompetence, but you would have to go on a scale not of one to ten but one to several billion and these folks would top out that scale, just the utter indifference to us.
<p /> One of the things the Massachusetts complaint stresses, which we talked about briefly last time, is there was nothing we could do to protect ourselves from what Equifax was doing. We're not customers. We didn't authorize them to have this confidential information about us. This is an outrageous system in which other people can take our private information that is vital to keeping all kinds of things secure, and we're just talking about money here. There are other scams that actually physically harm people when they get this kind of information and Equifax thinks that we don't really need to change the system at all. It loves the system.
<p /> Now Massachusetts could do this, but it is only Congress that can fundamentally change this insane system and where even today ... So you look at the Massachusetts attorney general site, and it says, "What should you do now that you've been a victim?" It says, "Well, you could put a freeze," but then it explains if you do this you also can't get new loans and such in a number of instances, so that's a terrible remedy, just an absolutely terribly remedy. They say that you should, they again being the Massachusetts attorney general, and I'm not making fun of them. Their advice is actually good, but it shows how insane the system is. They say, "You should rush to file your taxes before the frauds do, because if the frauds do, they may get your refund before you can," and such. What kind of world is it where that has to be our remedy that we have to get in a race with the frauds on filing our tax returns?
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: Right. Bill, there are some very basic questions coming through. Obviously people are so upset about what's going on out there and some of this seems so abstract to people. So, let's get to some basics here. How does Equifax gather the information they have on us?
<p />BILL BLACK: In a bunch of different ways. Equifax is not a single business, so the thing that we know it best for, of course, is the credit scores, and of course, we are not the customers. The credit scores, the customers of Equifax and its two sister organizations are lenders in those circumstances and it's not used just in lending, it's also used by insurance companies wherever state statutes don't prohibit it. So, that's the big line of work, and that's the one where they get the most information, they get the information from the entities loaning money to us, not from us. They get it from merchants and they get it from banks and such.
<p /> As I said, this is much scarier in broad things. We're going to see scandal after scandal because they have information, for example, and they will sell this information to any bank in the world at a pretty low price as to whether at 2 am you're buying porn, and you can see what fun politicians will have leaking that information against their opponents and such. You may get charged, by the way, a higher interest rate if you read porn and such and you buy it with a credit card information, so that's another world they're in.
<p /> They're in a world of verification as well. When, for example, you forget your password and such. So many people, many businesses hire Equifax to provide that kind of service, and when they do that, they get another whole source of information. There sometimes we might actually be a customer, but usually we're not. Then they have all kinds of other enterprises where they do basically data mining. This is the stuff that's really valuable to them is they try to figure out what makes you tick as a consumer, and that information. By the way, that is one of the things that made Walmart very rich. They were among the very first large enterprise to exploit the data mining capacity because they were simply so big and their, the scanning system, they figured out, could be turned and made into a massive data mining system.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: Bill, does Equifax have a relationship with collection agencies?
<p />BILL BLACK: Well, certainly they get information from the collection agencies. They'll have information on people's residences and such, and if the collection agencies have difficulty finding you they can also get information on, of course, where basically you're operating from because they see your credit card trail.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: All right, and one question from Adam Mustafa from Facebook. "How do you check if you are affected?"
<p />BILL BLACK: That is one of the additional scandals in all of this. Again, what kind of crazy system where they are completely, they, Equifax, are completely at fault. You are not at fault in any possible way, and then the onus is put entirely on you to find out that you're a victim. They won't even tell you that they've screwed you up. That's nuts. That should be an absolute statutory requirement and the requirement that they should notify you should be very quick, not six weeks after they discover a breach. So Equifax has supposedly established this system that you can email into them, but what you get back is "Maybe." It's outrageous. It's outrageous on dimension after dimension after dimension. It's the gift that keeps on giving. Equifax finds constant new ways to make people outraged because they act outrageously.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: All right, and we have a question here from Beverly Dycor from Facebook asks, "How do we protect our social security numbers?"
<p />BILL BLACK: You can't. That's the point.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: All right, and another one from Tim Powers from Facebook. He asks, "Who did the hack?"
<p />BILL BLACK: We don't know.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: All right. Chris Anderson from Facebook also, "Was this breach by a nation, state, actor or a criminal syndicate?" I guess the answer to that is also we don't know?
<p />BILL BLACK: We don't know, but let me say something more general: These are the good old days because what the thieves that break in haven't yet created the networks to do is a way that they can instantly auction this information for large amounts of money because they are in parallel. The people that buy the information are prepared to make hundreds of thousands of purchases using our information, and that's technically doable now. Once they complete that nexus, then the amount of money they get for committing these breaches will go from the tens of thousands of dollars to the hundreds of millions of dollars and many of these huge breaches are not in fact followed by identity theft of really large numbers of people but that's, again, they will fix that. They will develop the technology, well, again, apply the technology, technology already exists, so that they can do this and when the financial incentive, when you can get tens to hundreds of millions of dollars by committing these breaches, of course it's going to become, it will draw thousands of very skilled people into trying to do exactly that.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: Right, and Bill, give us a sense of how we could possibly detect on our credit card bills or our bank accounts or whatever if there is suspicious activity. So are we to now check these documents to make sure that there isn't a suspicious activities?
<p />BILL BLACK: Yeah, now that's the one where I would differ from the Massachusetts attorney general recommendation list. It isn't that the things on it are wrong, it's that they don't put both of the things you've said, which are actually the single most important things you should do and you should do anyway, and you should have done it long before these breaches anyway. How do you figure out? Well, most people can remember in the last 30 days did they in fact buy $2,000 worth of photographic equipment and such. So it's usually not hard if you do have the discipline. Just look through each of the entries on your credit cards and then look at your bank statements for withdrawals in particular of course that don't make sense or checks where, "Wait a minute? I wasn't dealing with that person." Those are good protections that you should do anyway.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: Bill, last question from Evanne Katrina, who asks, "If people are trying to confirm whether their data is vulnerable and if they're checking, are they unknowingly consenting to not pursue a civil action against the company?"
<p />BILL BLACK: Not now, but originally Equifax set up its system in a way that might have led, well, was designed, you could say it more strongly, was designed to lead to wide scale unintended renouncement of your constitutional rights to sue them. And again, that was of course utterly outrageous that, and just again, they're completely in the wrong. We are completely not in the wrong, and the idea that they would then seek to exploit us rather than help us for something where they did everything wrong is a true demonstration that we're missing it. I have not seen a single news report about the chief security officer and the chief information officer resigning that says, "Wait a minute. Why isn't the CEO resigning? Who picked the chief security officer? Who picked the chief information officer? Who developed this outrageous strategy? Who created a culture where they wouldn't fix known vulnerabilities with patches that essentially cost them essentially nothing to do?"
<p /> Somebody created this organization, and it's the CEO and it's the board. And there should be, the CEO should have been gone months ago, as soon as this was known. He created one of the worst corporate cultures in the history and the board needs to be cleaned up as well because they're obviously not functioning at all. So again, this is the cynical stuff of the CEO, I mean the sacrificial victims, clearly they've screwed up. I'm not saying that they shouldn't go, but it's an attempt to distract attention from the deficiencies of the CEO.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: All right, Bill. There are so many more questions than we can’t answer today, and I'm wondering if you would come back and we would do this again, which is people can get their questions lined up, have them ready to send in and we would have another Q&amp;A session with you?
<p />BILL BLACK: Yeah. We can even tell them in advance.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: This time we could do that.
<p />BILL BLACK: A particular date and such, and they could be prepared for all that. That'd be great.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: All right. Let's do that. I thank you so much for joining us today, Bill.
<p />BILL BLACK: Thank you.
<p />SHARMINI PERIES: And thank you for joining us here on The Real News Network. | true | 4 | william k black author best way rob bank one teaches economics law university missouri kansas city umkc executive director institute fraud prevention 20052007 black central figure exposing congressional corruption savings loan crisis sharmini peries real news network im sharmini peries coming baltimore equifax data breach reported two weeks ago bill black company revealed hackers might stolen financial records 143 million us citizens us gets far worse look worldwide july things got course much worse didnt really know much going equifax knew meanwhile several government agencies consumer financial protection agency federal trade commission least 34 state attorney generals offices opened investigations equifax data breach first state launch lawsuit equifax massachusetts tuesday massachusetts attorney general charged equifax upgraded security website though knew vulnerability early march joining us discuss bill black back bill white collar criminologist associate professor economics law university missourikansas city author book best way rob bank one good back bill bill black thank sharmini peries bill give us rundown happened lead charges thats laid equifax massachusetts bill black well large number developments may able cover big ones revealed perhaps best massachusetts attorney general complaint filed yesterday least talking explains nature breach occurred turns vulnerability open source software used equifax vulnerability discovered march year discovered discovered reported volunteers run particular open source software called apache struts found serious significant number breaches occurring immediately notified community vulnerability quickly developed patch early midmarch year warning went equifax admitted got warning knew apply patch apply patch increase security way would find people accessing known vulnerability still say hack began may persisted basically last days july theyre still saying equifax awaited another basically six weeks warn us occurred wasnt tactical reason protect us something secret going help us could fact get pr campaign try convert profit center talked last interview subject myriad ways tried make money victims sharmini peries right bill back called scandal 10 10 scandal call bill black well thats actually quoting experts field indeed theres something called common vulnerability scoring system rates vulnerabilities contemporaneously given rating 100 im reading massachusetts complaint equifax highest possible severity score either scale notice stated attack based vulnerability allows unauthorized disclosure information would low complexity accomplish words almost anybody could use breach would require attacker provide authentication example username password exploit vulnerability notice documented 20 website resources could fix problem another thing happened since last talked sharmini peries reason would equifax want apply patch would would think want protect data company bill black yeah theres good business reason period end story full stop since last talked two senior executives walk plank one chief security officer chief information officer two obvious folks said equifax admitted knew vulnerability youre chief information officer equifax security officer online every day multiple times day looking kinds breaches see instantly go higher order defenses look desperately youve got case apache struts line saying working patch available anything able implement immediately comes etc etc etc thats would turns chief security officer degree music folks cant even think incredibly nefarious reason executives would deliberately one appear incompetence would go scale one ten one several billion folks would top scale utter indifference us one things massachusetts complaint stresses talked briefly last time nothing could protect equifax customers didnt authorize confidential information us outrageous system people take private information vital keeping kinds things secure talking money scams actually physically harm people get kind information equifax thinks dont really need change system loves system massachusetts could congress fundamentally change insane system even today look massachusetts attorney general site says youve victim says well could put freeze explains also cant get new loans number instances thats terrible remedy absolutely terribly remedy say massachusetts attorney general im making fun advice actually good shows insane system say rush file taxes frauds frauds may get refund kind world remedy get race frauds filing tax returns sharmini peries right bill basic questions coming obviously people upset whats going seems abstract people lets get basics equifax gather information us bill black bunch different ways equifax single business thing know best course credit scores course customers credit scores customers equifax two sister organizations lenders circumstances used lending also used insurance companies wherever state statutes dont prohibit thats big line work thats one get information get information entities loaning money us us get merchants get banks said much scarier broad things going see scandal scandal information example sell information bank world pretty low price whether 2 youre buying porn see fun politicians leaking information opponents may get charged way higher interest rate read porn buy credit card information thats another world theyre theyre world verification well example forget password many people many businesses hire equifax provide kind service get another whole source information sometimes might actually customer usually kinds enterprises basically data mining stuff thats really valuable try figure makes tick consumer information way one things made walmart rich among first large enterprise exploit data mining capacity simply big scanning system figured could turned made massive data mining system sharmini peries bill equifax relationship collection agencies bill black well certainly get information collection agencies theyll information peoples residences collection agencies difficulty finding also get information course basically youre operating see credit card trail sharmini peries right one question adam mustafa facebook check affected bill black one additional scandals kind crazy system completely equifax completely fault fault possible way onus put entirely find youre victim wont even tell theyve screwed thats nuts absolute statutory requirement requirement notify quick six weeks discover breach equifax supposedly established system email get back maybe outrageous outrageous dimension dimension dimension gift keeps giving equifax finds constant new ways make people outraged act outrageously sharmini peries right question beverly dycor facebook asks protect social security numbers bill black cant thats point sharmini peries right another one tim powers facebook asks hack bill black dont know sharmini peries right chris anderson facebook also breach nation state actor criminal syndicate guess answer also dont know bill black dont know let say something general good old days thieves break havent yet created networks way instantly auction information large amounts money parallel people buy information prepared make hundreds thousands purchases using information thats technically doable complete nexus amount money get committing breaches go tens thousands dollars hundreds millions dollars many huge breaches fact followed identity theft really large numbers people thats fix develop technology well apply technology technology already exists financial incentive get tens hundreds millions dollars committing breaches course going become draw thousands skilled people trying exactly sharmini peries right bill give us sense could possibly detect credit card bills bank accounts whatever suspicious activity check documents make sure isnt suspicious activities bill black yeah thats one would differ massachusetts attorney general recommendation list isnt things wrong dont put things youve said actually single important things anyway done long breaches anyway figure well people remember last 30 days fact buy 2000 worth photographic equipment usually hard discipline look entries credit cards look bank statements withdrawals particular course dont make sense checks wait minute wasnt dealing person good protections anyway sharmini peries bill last question evanne katrina asks people trying confirm whether data vulnerable theyre checking unknowingly consenting pursue civil action company bill black originally equifax set system way might led well designed could say strongly designed lead wide scale unintended renouncement constitutional rights sue course utterly outrageous theyre completely wrong completely wrong idea would seek exploit us rather help us something everything wrong true demonstration missing seen single news report chief security officer chief information officer resigning says wait minute isnt ceo resigning picked chief security officer picked chief information officer developed outrageous strategy created culture wouldnt fix known vulnerabilities patches essentially cost essentially nothing somebody created organization ceo board ceo gone months ago soon known created one worst corporate cultures history board needs cleaned well theyre obviously functioning cynical stuff ceo mean sacrificial victims clearly theyve screwed im saying shouldnt go attempt distract attention deficiencies ceo sharmini peries right bill many questions cant answer today im wondering would come back would people get questions lined ready send would another qampa session bill black yeah even tell advance sharmini peries time could bill black particular date could prepared thatd great sharmini peries right lets thank much joining us today bill bill black thank sharmini peries thank joining us real news network | 1,375 |
<p>Bill Moyers observed recently that poor people haven’t “lost their voice.” Rather, he said, “They can’t afford a voice.”</p>
<p>That “voice,” as more and more Americans are beginning to understand, is further muffled by Washington political elites, aided and abetted by their water-carriers — a puffed up pundit class, whose members dominate the corporate-owned airwaves with their circular and pointless election-year yammering and “intellectual masturbation.”</p>
<p>I am convinced that Tolstoy was referring to this self-enamored bunch in his novel War and Peace, when he wrote: “Whatever question arose, a swarm of these drones, without having finished their buzzing on a previous theme, flew over to the new one and by their hum drowned and obscured the voices of those who were disputing honestly.”</p>
<p>Yet, at this late date, agonizing over how the “swarm of drones” came — and continue — to drive the narrative (in the wrong direction) may not be nearly as important as “occupying” that narrative.</p>
<p>And, while the concept of occupying the political discourse may have been tapped, it has not yet come close to being fully exploited, notwithstanding the presence of various “alternative” media sources.</p>
<p>That discourse continues to be monopolized by the same swarm of corporate drones who have for decades dominated the political space with their endless hum of white noise, and whose job it is to perpetuate the themes and myths that serve the interests of a few (“one-percenters”). These shameless pimps justify their inflated salaries by drowning out the “rest of us” – and any meaningful conversation — with partisan pontificating that serves no more useful purpose than to clutter the already crowded airwaves, while selling consumers illusory “salvation” — currently packaged in election-year politics.</p>
<p>It speaks sad volumes about what we have become – and where we are going — that so many Americans remain so enamored, and thus easily seduced, by this clueless cadre of pundits who have grown so full of themselves, they can no longer hear any voices but their own.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, as the working and middle classes are plunged into poverty in record-breaking numbers, and more and more of us join the ranks of those “poor people” to which Moyers refers, we are also beginning to understand that we are losing far more than just “our voices.” We are losing our homes, paychecks and/or our ability to properly care for our families.</p>
<p>Correspondingly, and perhaps more importantly, we are losing our sense of self worth.</p>
<p>And, it may well be that, because most Americans have so deeply internalized the culture of commodification in which we are steeped, it is this loss that damages us most.</p>
<p>Damn the clueless elites, swarming drones and puffed up pundits … Bring in the fearless radicals …</p>
<p>All of this may at least partially explain why, when New York Times columnist and Wall Street “water-carrier-in-chief” David Brooks struggled recently on PBS’ Newshour to “make sense” of the lack of a “vigorous economic recovery,” it rubbed me so wrong.</p>
<p>Responding to host Judy Woodruff’s question about Obama and the economy, Brooks seemed genuinely baffled. He just couldn’t seem to reconcile his “analysis” with the apparent lack of a strong “growth recovery” — or the state of US finances in general.</p>
<p>“And we had this V, which suggested you were going to get some growth,” he began. “Then in the fourth quarter of ’09, it levels … And then it has just been scuffling along with the deceleration recently. So I don’t know what happened in ’09. Some of it, we were just baked in with the financial crisis. But even given a financial crisis, you don’t expect to see deceleration over the last couple months. And so, I think this is sort of baked in from either the health care reform or the lack of confidence or the European thing, a whole bunch of factors all crashing together.”</p>
<p>As the beleaguered Brooks tried to make sense of this seemingly incomprehensible state of affairs, he waved his hands and shook his head, visibly distressed by the confounding nature of the problem with which he grappled.</p>
<p>Later, in a moment of relative enlightenment,” he admitted that the problem suggested “something deep and structural, not just cyclical.”</p>
<p>Yes, Mr. Brooks. It’s “deep and structural” all right.</p>
<p>Notwithstanding the new “conventional wisdom” (invented by conservatives and perpetuated by their swarming drones), it is not wealthy elites who create jobs – or even the wealth they have acquired. It is the American “consumer.” You know, those hard-working Americans who spent their hard-earned savings on houses they would never really own — and now no longer live in — because, as it turns out, they couldn’t afford to buy them in the first place. Those same Americans today continue to spend whatever they can still extract from their ever-shriveling paychecks on crappy, over-packaged products sold to them for many times over what they are “worth” by the very corporations responsible for their accelerating impoverishment.</p>
<p>But there is an irksome and increasingly stubborn fact, a far deeper reality, that is emerging from the ruins of a corporate-owned economy gone mad. One that leaves most economists at a loss to explain (much less confront) and consumers feeling uncomfortable.</p>
<p>But it is a reality, nonetheless. And we continue to ignore it at our peril: It’s not just American paychecks that can no longer support or sustain unmitigated consumerism – it’s also the planet. When David Brooks or Fed chief Ben Bernanke or even “progressive economists” talk about “consumer spending” as key to “getting the economy back on track,” they fail to take into consideration the finite nature of that living, breathing organism we call Earth, without which we all perish.</p>
<p>Author and environmentalist Richard Heinberg drives home this point in his book, “ <a href="" type="internal">The End of Growth</a>,” making a compelling — and I would argue readily apparent – case that that the world and everyone in it is subject to environmental limits. And unless we are willing to recognize and come to terms with the fatal flaw of conventional economics and its primary article of faith — that these limits don’t exist and that anything can be replaced for the right price – it’s game over.</p>
<p>The current “financial crisis,” is only a symptom of a much deeper disease – one whose manifestations are being experienced (and are in full evidence) all over the world: Our lives and livelihoods are being wrecked, not just by debt, but by resource depletion, accelerating climate change and environmental devastation.</p>
<p>Those lives and livelihoods won’t be “saved” unless and until we reconcile this deeper dilemma.</p>
<p>Such a reconciliation, at this late date, will require us to do far more than most of us are accustomed to doing. There just isn’t time to confront the corporate purveyors of the wreckage we see all around us in an inch-by-inch, piece-by-piece fashion. That may have worked (to a limited extent) in the past. But it’s the 21st century, and the stakes are far too high now for incremental approaches. The models — from community gardens to solar rooftops to small banks that serve the interests of the community – are there. We need to draw from those models NOW – then pursue them with a vengeance.</p>
<p>The US Census Bureau reported recently – but didn’t really need to tell us — that some 104 million people — a third of the population — now have annual incomes below twice the poverty line. The ranks of America’s poor are on track to climb to levels unseen in nearly half a century, erasing gains from the war on poverty in the 1960s. So, it’s not just Africa or Russia or Eastern Europe or even the “Eurozone” that is “failing to thrive” these days. That failure is now palpable here in the US. And those who don’t yet qualify as “poor,” if they don’t see it coming, at least sense it.</p>
<p>We are the economy – and the democracy — we’ve been waiting for&#160;</p>
<p>REAL Democracy, if it is still even attainable, will require REAL transformation.</p>
<p>Such a transformation will require us to resist our heretofore reflexive impulses to succumb to the politics of fear and habit. In so-doing, we will need to find the courage to question not only authority, but the assumptions and addictions which keep that (corporate-owned) authority in power.</p>
<p>Those of us who would call ourselves “progressives” will need to embrace the idea of “radicalism” if we are ever to create “radical change.” We will need to find the courage to critically analyze our own positions and politics, and to look fearlessly at the “corporate liberalism” that has infested many of the organizations and institutions we once believed represented our interests.</p>
<p>REAL democracy will require us to do more than punching a ballot in a corporate-owned ballot box. And it will require us to view dissent as both a right and a responsibility, always bearing in mind that governments, if they are to serve the needs of the people, cannot be allowed to serve only a privileged few. We will need to remember also that in a real democracy, governments can do little without our consent, and that those who serve in government serve at our behest. They cannot collect taxes, wage wars, enforce repressive laws, approve budgets, repair roads, supply goods to markets, manufacture weapons or feed the hungry without the consent of the people.</p>
<p>REAL democracy, if it is still within reach, will require more than “inside-the-corporate-owned-ballot box” solutions, cosmetic “quick-fixes” or nibbling around the edges of the current corporate-owned structure. It will require the democratization of everything – from wealth to resources. Such a radical departure from the current corporate-dominated system will require us to fight at every turn Big Oil, Big Ag, Big Banks and all the other industrial powers that are poisoning our land, food and water. And we will need to start in or own communities.</p>
<p>Disabling the corporate plutocracy means never forgetting who it is that keeps the plutocrats on top and enables them to condemn the rest of us to a life of “consumer servitude.” It means remembering that it is we, and we alone, who have the power to change the course of history. If we refuse to fight, there can be no war; if we refuse to work in jobs that destroy our planet, our future and our souls, we can transform the workplace.</p>
<p>It has never been more clear than now, in the 21st century, that dissent is the essence of democracy.</p>
<p>Alice Walker once observed that the most common way people give up their power “is by thinking they don’t have any.” Until Americans are willing to internalize that concept at least as deeply as we’ve internalized a corporate value system imposed on us by those who would hold us in place, we will stay in that place.</p>
<p>After all, as it turns out, we really ARE the economy – as well as the democracy – that we’ve been waiting for.</p>
<p>Sandy LeonVest is a radio and print journalist and the editor of SolarTimes ( <a href="http://www.solartimes.org/" type="external">www.solartimes.org</a>), an independent news publication that works to change the corporate-dominated narrative on a range of issues – from democracy, energy and the economy to war, peace and social justice. She’s the host of “Political Analysis,” a weekly news magazine formerly hosted by Norman Solomon, and aired on the Progressive Radio Network every Tuesday at 6pm EST/3pm PST.</p> | true | 4 | bill moyers observed recently poor people havent lost voice rather said cant afford voice voice americans beginning understand muffled washington political elites aided abetted watercarriers puffed pundit class whose members dominate corporateowned airwaves circular pointless electionyear yammering intellectual masturbation convinced tolstoy referring selfenamored bunch novel war peace wrote whatever question arose swarm drones without finished buzzing previous theme flew new one hum drowned obscured voices disputing honestly yet late date agonizing swarm drones came continue drive narrative wrong direction may nearly important occupying narrative concept occupying political discourse may tapped yet come close fully exploited notwithstanding presence various alternative media sources discourse continues monopolized swarm corporate drones decades dominated political space endless hum white noise whose job perpetuate themes myths serve interests onepercenters shameless pimps justify inflated salaries drowning rest us meaningful conversation partisan pontificating serves useful purpose clutter already crowded airwaves selling consumers illusory salvation currently packaged electionyear politics speaks sad volumes become going many americans remain enamored thus easily seduced clueless cadre pundits grown full longer hear voices meanwhile working middle classes plunged poverty recordbreaking numbers us join ranks poor people moyers refers also beginning understand losing far voices losing homes paychecks andor ability properly care families correspondingly perhaps importantly losing sense self worth may well americans deeply internalized culture commodification steeped loss damages us damn clueless elites swarming drones puffed pundits bring fearless radicals may least partially explain new york times columnist wall street watercarrierinchief david brooks struggled recently pbs newshour make sense lack vigorous economic recovery rubbed wrong responding host judy woodruffs question obama economy brooks seemed genuinely baffled couldnt seem reconcile analysis apparent lack strong growth recovery state us finances general v suggested going get growth began fourth quarter 09 levels scuffling along deceleration recently dont know happened 09 baked financial crisis even given financial crisis dont expect see deceleration last couple months think sort baked either health care reform lack confidence european thing whole bunch factors crashing together beleaguered brooks tried make sense seemingly incomprehensible state affairs waved hands shook head visibly distressed confounding nature problem grappled later moment relative enlightenment admitted problem suggested something deep structural cyclical yes mr brooks deep structural right notwithstanding new conventional wisdom invented conservatives perpetuated swarming drones wealthy elites create jobs even wealth acquired american consumer know hardworking americans spent hardearned savings houses would never really longer live turns couldnt afford buy first place americans today continue spend whatever still extract evershriveling paychecks crappy overpackaged products sold many times worth corporations responsible accelerating impoverishment irksome increasingly stubborn fact far deeper reality emerging ruins corporateowned economy gone mad one leaves economists loss explain much less confront consumers feeling uncomfortable reality nonetheless continue ignore peril american paychecks longer support sustain unmitigated consumerism also planet david brooks fed chief ben bernanke even progressive economists talk consumer spending key getting economy back track fail take consideration finite nature living breathing organism call earth without perish author environmentalist richard heinberg drives home point book end growth making compelling would argue readily apparent case world everyone subject environmental limits unless willing recognize come terms fatal flaw conventional economics primary article faith limits dont exist anything replaced right price game current financial crisis symptom much deeper disease one whose manifestations experienced full evidence world lives livelihoods wrecked debt resource depletion accelerating climate change environmental devastation lives livelihoods wont saved unless reconcile deeper dilemma reconciliation late date require us far us accustomed isnt time confront corporate purveyors wreckage see around us inchbyinch piecebypiece fashion may worked limited extent past 21st century stakes far high incremental approaches models community gardens solar rooftops small banks serve interests community need draw models pursue vengeance us census bureau reported recently didnt really need tell us 104 million people third population annual incomes twice poverty line ranks americas poor track climb levels unseen nearly half century erasing gains war poverty 1960s africa russia eastern europe even eurozone failing thrive days failure palpable us dont yet qualify poor dont see coming least sense economy democracy weve waiting for160 real democracy still even attainable require real transformation transformation require us resist heretofore reflexive impulses succumb politics fear habit sodoing need find courage question authority assumptions addictions keep corporateowned authority power us would call progressives need embrace idea radicalism ever create radical change need find courage critically analyze positions politics look fearlessly corporate liberalism infested many organizations institutions believed represented interests real democracy require us punching ballot corporateowned ballot box require us view dissent right responsibility always bearing mind governments serve needs people allowed serve privileged need remember also real democracy governments little without consent serve government serve behest collect taxes wage wars enforce repressive laws approve budgets repair roads supply goods markets manufacture weapons feed hungry without consent people real democracy still within reach require insidethecorporateownedballot box solutions cosmetic quickfixes nibbling around edges current corporateowned structure require democratization everything wealth resources radical departure current corporatedominated system require us fight every turn big oil big ag big banks industrial powers poisoning land food water need start communities disabling corporate plutocracy means never forgetting keeps plutocrats top enables condemn rest us life consumer servitude means remembering alone power change course history refuse fight war refuse work jobs destroy planet future souls transform workplace never clear 21st century dissent essence democracy alice walker observed common way people give power thinking dont americans willing internalize concept least deeply weve internalized corporate value system imposed us would hold us place stay place turns really economy well democracy weve waiting sandy leonvest radio print journalist editor solartimes wwwsolartimesorg independent news publication works change corporatedominated narrative range issues democracy energy economy war peace social justice shes host political analysis weekly news magazine formerly hosted norman solomon aired progressive radio network every tuesday 6pm est3pm pst | 955 |
<p>Robert Fisk has a well-earned reputation as one of the most honest and hard hitting foreign correspondents in the British media. He has worked in Northern Ireland, where he exposed the presence of the SAS in the mid-1970s, as well as Bosnia, Palestine, Iraq, and Lebanon. It was here, as a witness to the immediate aftermath of the Israeli-organised Sabra and Shatila massacre of 2000 Palestinian refugees, that his journalism took on its current form: angry, passionate, and as he puts it “partial on the side of the victims”–a style of journalism which, unfortunately, is not shared by many of his colleagues in the profession. In the midst of a torrent of lies and propaganda emanating from our media about British and US policy on the Middle East, Fisk’s writings are a breath of fresh air–although the hellish reality he depicts does not always make for pleasant reading.</p>
<p>When I met Fisk in Christchurch College, sandwiched between an earlier speaking engagement in Bristol, and a lecture at the Oxford Literary Festival–seemingly without a moment’s rest–we began by talking about the role of journalism in times of war. Firstly, I wanted to know, does journalism, by sanitising or justifying war, also have a role in perpetuating it?</p>
<p>There are several things. First of all, there’s the inability of many journalists from the United States to actually tell the truth about the Israel-Palestine situation–hence, occupied territories are called disputed territories, the wall is called the security barrier, a colony or settlement is called a neighbourhood or an outpost. Which means that if you see a Palestinian chucking a stone, if it’s about an occupation, you can understand it, but if it’s about a dispute, which you can presumably settle over a cup of tea, then obviously the Palestinians are generically violent. So you demean one side in this appalling conflict.</p>
<p>Then you have this business where television will not show what we see, for reasons of so-called “bad taste”. I remember once being on the phone to a TV editor in London when Jazeera were asked to feed some tape of children killed and wounded by British shell fire in Basra, and the guy started saying, “there’s no point feeding us this, we can’t show this”the first excuse was, “people will be having their tea, so we can’t put it on”, and then it was, “this is sort of pornography, we don’t show this”. And it ended up–it is mesmeric to listen to this stuff – the last thing was “We have to show respect for the dead”. So we don’t show any respect for them when they are alive, we blow them to bits, and then we show respect for themSo because of this – and these bloodless sandpits with ex-generals pontificating – it becomes a game; you start propagating this idea that war is primarily about victory or defeat – when in fact, it’s about death, and the infliction of massive pain.</p>
<p>I was in Iraq in 1991, when the British and Americans had been bombing one of the highways. There were women and children dead and in bits, and all these dogs came out of the desert and started eating themIf you saw what I saw you would never ever think of supporting war of any kind against anyone again.</p>
<p>But of course, the politicians–our leaders–are very happy that these pictures are not shown, because they make war more attractive, less painful.</p>
<p>Do the British public never get to see this, more realistic, picture of war?</p>
<p>Look, if an Iraqi soldier is obliging enough to die by the side of the road in a romantic pose, and you can get him against the skyline without any boiled flesh – you know, “the price of war: an Iraqi soldier lies dead”, you know the sort of caption by now – you can do that.” But that’s about it.</p>
<p>Journalistic standards are degenerating rapidly in other areas too. Watching the news two weeks ago, I was shocked to see Yassin Nassari and Abdul Patel referred to by the BBC as ‘terrorists’–not “alleged” or “suspected”, but straight down the line “terrorists” – when the only charges they faced related to “possession of materials” (Islamist literature and video), and they had not even been accused of planning terrorist attacks, let alone carrying any out. Has ‘terrorism’ become a ‘catch-all’ phrase?</p>
<p>I’ve seen cases in the United States where the evidence of terrorism is a copy of a Lebanese newspaper.</p>
<p>I’ve just had an interesting example of what’s going on. I was lecturing in Ottawa to 600 Muslim Canadians, and I said to them “you are absolutely right to exercise your right to free speech to attack the United States and Israel when they kill people, commit torture, occupy other people’s lands- but why don’t I ever hear you condemning the regimes in Egypt, Damascus, Libya and so on?” Silence. I couldn’t work it out.</p>
<p>So what was going on?</p>
<p>Later, I was driving across Canada with two Muslims and they told me. In Canada, if they speak out against these regimes–the Syrian regime, or the Egyptian–what happens is that these various countries have their own muhabarat people in Canada–security people–who will then pass home the message that certain people are speaking up against Mubarak, Assad, or whoever. Then, under the new friendship between intelligence services, the Syrian or Egyptian regime tells the Canadians that there is a potential terrorist–anti-regime, right?–and CSIS, the Canadian version of the FBI, starts putting taps on them. So, by exercising their freedom of speech against dictatorships, they end up being suspected of terrorism by their new country of citizenship. So the result is, at the end of the day, they are silent. As I would be too, in their position.</p>
<p>What about the silence of the rest of us, who are not so easily excused? With ever dwindling numbers on the anti-war demonstrations, have we forgotten what is really going on in those countries suffering Western “liberation”?</p>
<p>You keep having to say to people in London, “but it’s real”–because most people don’t have any experience of war in the West anymore. There isn’t a single one of our political leaders with any experience of war. Bush dodged it, Cheney dodged it, Powell was in Vietnam, but he’s gone. Hollywood is their experience of war. And when you send people off to war, and your experience is Hollywood, you might be a bit shocked when they start dying. At the end of the day, it isn’t real to them.</p>
<p>But it’s all too real to the inhabitants of the Middle East, who have been subject to Western sponsored blitzkrieg and massacre for decades–from the ongoing nakbah against the Palestinians, through Israel’s 1982 invasion of Lebanon, the US arming of Iraq in the 8 year war against Iran, the 1991 Gulf ‘War’, and subsequent economic genocide of UN sanctions on Iraq–not to mention the West’s backing for the dictatorships in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. All of this has been witnessed first hand by Fisk, who believes the Muslim world has shown incredible restraint in the face of all this oppression:</p>
<p>I’m surprised 9-11 didn’t happen before, that it took that long. Now, whether that is because it took a lot of planning, I don’t know, but I am amazed that you can knock on a front door in the West Bank and not have them slap you in the face–instead of that, they offer you in for coffee and a meal. Can you imagine putting it the other way around–if we were being bombed and occupied by Arab armies and a friendly Arab reporter turned to chat, I don’t know if I would open the door; would you?</p>
<p>The true extent of occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan has been masked by the massive use of mercenaries–hidden from the troop figures. Estimates suggest 1000 have been killed in Iraq alone. Fisk is one of very few journalists to call them by their name, as opposed to the “contractor” euphemism:</p>
<p>“Just as the wall is called a fence instead of a wall, and it’s a neighbourhood not a settlement, so these are now contractors rather than mercenaries. I’ve always called them mercenaries. When they say two ‘contractors’ have been murdered, the idea that they are going around in an armoured humvee loaded with weapons doesn’t come into the brain pod immediately does it?”</p>
<p>What is your experience with these mercenaries?</p>
<p>I noticed that in 2003, they were popping up with belts loaded with machine gun bullets in the hotel I was in. It was obvious they were going to attract attacks like honey. So I went to some of them and said “look, for god’s sakes, can’t you just keep your weapons in your room?” – in those days, you weren’t being attacked in the street – “you’re making this out to be a barracks–you’re endangering yourselves and you’re endangering us” And this guy walked up to me with two rifles–he’d overheard the conversation–and he said, “well when you’re in trouble mate, don’t come asking me for help”. I said, “I don’t want your fucking help, I want you to leave.”</p>
<p>But they didn’t leave. And the big excuse for staying now is, of course, the looming spectre of civil war. Is there, then, a functional value to the occupation of the “civil war theory”?</p>
<p>The first man I ever heard mention the danger of civil war in Iraq was Dan Semor, spokesman for the occupying power in the Green Zone in August 2003. No one had ever heard about the danger of civil war before, no Iraqi ever mentioned it. I remember thinking, what are they trying to do, frighten the Iraqis into obedience?</p>
<p>I’m not suggesting that the American military are trying to stir up sectarian strife, but it’s not impossible that there are certain institutions operating either at one remove–i.e. with Iraqis or not – in order to get militias to fight each other rather than fight the Americans. The French did that in Algeria–it’s a fact. I don’t know if the same thing is happening in Iraq, but given everything else that’s gone on–murder, torture, etc–who knows?</p>
<p>But you don’t actually have to set off car bombs to do this. Look at the way we as journalists publish all these maps, you know–Shi’ites at the bottom, Sunnis in the middle, Kurds at the top. The British did the same in Belfast – green for Catholics, Orange for protestants, medium sherry colour for mixed areas, for people who are inconsiderate enough to marry across the religious divide. But we don’t, obviously, do these ethnic maps about Birmingham or Bradford or Washington. I could draw you an ethnic map of Toronto, with the suburb of Mississauga green for Muslim. But they wouldn’t print it. Because in our superior, civilised Western society, we don’t acknowledge it. In their society, we spend our time pointing it out to them. I was in New York some months ago, and on the front cover of Time was “How to tell a Sunni from a Shia.” Can you imagine it? And one of the ways was look at the licence plate of the car. So, you know, we contribute to civil strife, by constantly saying, “look at the guy in the next village”. So you don’t need to set up car bombs to divide people, you can do it quite successfully just by constant repetition – civil war, Shiites, militias, Sunnis, power. You create the narrative. And then in due course, people fall into line because it is the only one they get.</p>
<p>I once asked the brother of s Sunni dentist who had been shot dead, “So, will there be civil war?” He replied, “Why do you people want us to have a civil war? I’m married to a Shi’ite–do you want me to kill my wife?” He said, “We’re not a sectarian society, we’re a tribal society–the Duleimis have got lots of Sunnis and Shias.” And that was a response, you see, to an idea that had been set off by Dan Senor, the official spokesman for the occupying power.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the sectarian lines are becoming clearer in Iraq by the day, with the US army building walls to create separate ghettoes in Baghdad, and with the Kurdish north now negotiating its own oil deals. The Western imposed solution for Bosnia was full-scale ethnic partition. Will this be the future of Iraq?</p>
<p>Bosnia was in Europe, so eventually, we wanted to switch the war off. Iraq is a different matter–we’re in Iraq for oil. If the national product of Iraq was asparagus, we would not be there, I promise. There are parallels with Bosnia, not least indifference towards the Muslim victims–we did nothing for them until the war had consumed a quarter of a million of them–and we don’t care about the Iraqis. But I think there are big differences with Bosnia. There are more parallels, I think, between the NATO-Serb Kosovo war, because that is where we got people used to the idea that bombing civilian trains on railway bridges, bombing hospitals, bombing TV stations was OK. So when we hit lots of civilians in Iraq, it was “well, we were doing that back in Serbia, weren’t we?”. We bombed Al-Jazeera in Kabul, they bombed Al-Jazeera in Baghdad, which was not even an Iraqi station. So I think the Kosovo war started off the acceptability of doing these things.</p>
<p>Whatever the occupier’s plans for Iraq, and whatever barbarities it imposes, one thing is for sure–the future of that country is not entirely in their hands. Even with their full scale promotion of sectarian violence in 1950s Algeria, the French were still forced to leave. The dilemma for the US in Iraq, as Fisk puts it, is that “they must leave, they will leave, but they can’t leave–that is the equation that turns sand into blood”. For those who want to understand this process, and what it means in human terms, rather than simply be lied to about it, Robert Fisk’s reporting is a good place to start.</p>
<p>DAN GLAZEBROOK writes for the Morning Star newspaper and is one of the co-ordinators for the British branch of the International Union of Parliamentarians for Palestine. He can be contacted at <a href="" type="internal">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | robert fisk wellearned reputation one honest hard hitting foreign correspondents british media worked northern ireland exposed presence sas mid1970s well bosnia palestine iraq lebanon witness immediate aftermath israeliorganised sabra shatila massacre 2000 palestinian refugees journalism took current form angry passionate puts partial side victimsa style journalism unfortunately shared many colleagues profession midst torrent lies propaganda emanating media british us policy middle east fisks writings breath fresh airalthough hellish reality depicts always make pleasant reading met fisk christchurch college sandwiched earlier speaking engagement bristol lecture oxford literary festivalseemingly without moments restwe began talking role journalism times war firstly wanted know journalism sanitising justifying war also role perpetuating several things first theres inability many journalists united states actually tell truth israelpalestine situationhence occupied territories called disputed territories wall called security barrier colony settlement called neighbourhood outpost means see palestinian chucking stone occupation understand dispute presumably settle cup tea obviously palestinians generically violent demean one side appalling conflict business television show see reasons socalled bad taste remember phone tv editor london jazeera asked feed tape children killed wounded british shell fire basra guy started saying theres point feeding us cant show thisthe first excuse people tea cant put sort pornography dont show ended upit mesmeric listen stuff last thing show respect dead dont show respect alive blow bits show respect themso bloodless sandpits exgenerals pontificating becomes game start propagating idea war primarily victory defeat fact death infliction massive pain iraq 1991 british americans bombing one highways women children dead bits dogs came desert started eating themif saw saw would never ever think supporting war kind anyone course politiciansour leadersare happy pictures shown make war attractive less painful british public never get see realistic picture war look iraqi soldier obliging enough die side road romantic pose get skyline without boiled flesh know price war iraqi soldier lies dead know sort caption thats journalistic standards degenerating rapidly areas watching news two weeks ago shocked see yassin nassari abdul patel referred bbc terroristsnot alleged suspected straight line terrorists charges faced related possession materials islamist literature video even accused planning terrorist attacks let alone carrying terrorism become catchall phrase ive seen cases united states evidence terrorism copy lebanese newspaper ive interesting example whats going lecturing ottawa 600 muslim canadians said absolutely right exercise right free speech attack united states israel kill people commit torture occupy peoples lands dont ever hear condemning regimes egypt damascus libya silence couldnt work going later driving across canada two muslims told canada speak regimesthe syrian regime egyptianwhat happens various countries muhabarat people canadasecurity peoplewho pass home message certain people speaking mubarak assad whoever new friendship intelligence services syrian egyptian regime tells canadians potential terroristantiregime rightand csis canadian version fbi starts putting taps exercising freedom speech dictatorships end suspected terrorism new country citizenship result end day silent would position silence rest us easily excused ever dwindling numbers antiwar demonstrations forgotten really going countries suffering western liberation keep say people london realbecause people dont experience war west anymore isnt single one political leaders experience war bush dodged cheney dodged powell vietnam hes gone hollywood experience war send people war experience hollywood might bit shocked start dying end day isnt real real inhabitants middle east subject western sponsored blitzkrieg massacre decadesfrom ongoing nakbah palestinians israels 1982 invasion lebanon us arming iraq 8 year war iran 1991 gulf war subsequent economic genocide un sanctions iraqnot mention wests backing dictatorships egypt saudi arabia kuwait witnessed first hand fisk believes muslim world shown incredible restraint face oppression im surprised 911 didnt happen took long whether took lot planning dont know amazed knock front door west bank slap faceinstead offer coffee meal imagine putting way aroundif bombed occupied arab armies friendly arab reporter turned chat dont know would open door would true extent occupation iraq afghanistan masked massive use mercenarieshidden troop figures estimates suggest 1000 killed iraq alone fisk one journalists call name opposed contractor euphemism wall called fence instead wall neighbourhood settlement contractors rather mercenaries ive always called mercenaries say two contractors murdered idea going around armoured humvee loaded 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tribal societythe duleimis got lots sunnis shias response see idea set dan senor official spokesman occupying power unfortunately sectarian lines becoming clearer iraq day us army building walls create separate ghettoes baghdad kurdish north negotiating oil deals western imposed solution bosnia fullscale ethnic partition future iraq bosnia europe eventually wanted switch war iraq different matterwere iraq oil national product iraq asparagus would promise parallels bosnia least indifference towards muslim victimswe nothing war consumed quarter million themand dont care iraqis think big differences bosnia parallels think natoserb kosovo war got people used idea bombing civilian trains railway bridges bombing hospitals bombing tv stations ok hit lots civilians iraq well back serbia werent bombed aljazeera kabul bombed aljazeera baghdad even iraqi station think kosovo war started acceptability things whatever occupiers plans iraq whatever barbarities imposes one thing surethe future country entirely hands even full scale promotion sectarian violence 1950s algeria french still forced leave dilemma us iraq fisk puts must leave leave cant leavethat equation turns sand blood want understand process means human terms rather simply lied robert fisks reporting good place start dan glazebrook writes morning star newspaper one coordinators british branch international union parliamentarians palestine contacted danglazebrook2000yahoocouk 160 160 160 160 | 1,164 |
<p>More than 2500 students at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), India’s preeminent liberal arts university — and the university where I’m currently doing research &#160;— <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/arrest-of-kanhaiya-kumar-human-chain-on-jnu-campus-as-teachers-demand-arbitrary-charges-be-dropped/" type="external">joined together in protest</a> this past weekend.</p>
<p>Which isn’t actually that unusual — protest is sort of JNU’s thing.</p>
<p>A legendarily left-leaning campus, JNU is known and loved and bemoaned across India (and the world) for its progressive student politics, open atmosphere, intellectual rigor, and culture of debate.</p>
<p>But this time, as students, teachers, and supporters staged a human chain around campus more than a kilometer long, JNU Student Union president Kanhaiya Kumar sat in <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/jnusu-president-arrested-under-sedition-charges/article8227527.ece" type="external">police custody</a>, having been arrested under a colonial-era sedition law.</p>
<p>Five other campus activists, including present and former JNU Student Union (JNUSU) central panel members, have also been charged with sedition. Eight students, including Kanhaiya, have been suspended&#160;from the University without an inquiry. Students and teachers are both currently on strike.</p>
<p>“The unity of the people of different parts of the country in challenging divisive, authoritarian, anti-people and anti-student forces is what we stand with and look up to,” reads a February 13 <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/jnusu-statement-on-the-police-action-and-abvp-slander-in-jnu-jnusu/" type="external">statement</a>of the JNU Student Union, condemning administrative and police action against students.</p>
<p>Said the JNU Teachers Association in their own <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/democratic-ethos-of-the-university-under-threat-jnu-teachers-association/" type="external">statement</a> against the action, “[We] express our strong opposition to attempts to use the law and the police to suppress democratic dissent and conduct a witch-hunt on our campus.”</p>
<p>As teachers and students stood arm in arm in protest Sunday, police stood at the campus&#160;gates.</p>
<p>India has long been a place of incredibly vibrant intellectual, political, and social freedom of speech. But the charges, arrest, and police presence against&#160;student political expression at JNU come after rising concerns on the part of students and intellectuals about the BJP central government’s actions against campuses.</p>
<p>The backstory to the JNU students’ protest is a long one, and you should hear it. It’s a story about struggles over secularism and intellectual freedom in contemporary India. It’s a story about the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_student_protests_in_Chile" type="external">global importance</a> of student movements. And it’s a story we in the the U.S., in our own election season full of Trumpery, demagoguery, and racism — and, on the other side, potential progressive change — need to listen to.</p>
<p>India</p>
<p>In May 2014, the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power. Running a campaign based on promises of development, prime minister Narendra Modi’s party gained substantial numbers of seats across the country.</p>
<p>The BJP’s ideology is marked by several things. It is a pro-corporate party, inclined especially toward multi-national corporations. And it is a Hindu nationalist, or Hindutva party, meaning it advocates for Hindu cultural dominance in the religiously and culturally diverse subcontinent. It is backed by outlets such as the militant Hindu right-wing RSS, which has been <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/RSS-Indias-number-1-terror-group-Former-Mumbai-police-officer/articleshow/49943534.cms" type="external">described as a terrorist organization</a>, and is associated with some famous episodes of communal violence.</p>
<p>Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political career has also been associated with communal violence. Modi was Chief Minister of the West Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, when <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/06/world/asia/modi-gujarat-riots-timeline.html?_r=0" type="external">anti-Muslim rioters</a> killed, raped, injured and destroyed the property of&#160; <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4536199.stm" type="external">thousands of&#160;people</a>, most of whom were Muslim. A number of state government officials were <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2012/08/29/bjp-politician-convicted-in-gujarat-riots-case/" type="external">found guilty</a> of involvement in&#160;killing Muslims during the&#160;riots. Modi himself was found innocent of foul play by the Indian Supreme Court, though&#160;some human rights groups&#160; <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/02/24/india-decade-gujarat-justice-incomplete" type="external">remain skeptical</a>.</p>
<p>Modi was for a time officially&#160; <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303380004579520041301275638" type="external">denied a visa</a>&#160;by the United States for offenses to religious liberty.</p>
<p>Since the BJP government came to power in 2014, India has seen several <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34546960" type="external">communal incidents</a>, including religiously-motivated <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34546960" type="external">beef bans</a> and the <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-34421417" type="external">lynching of Muslim people</a> “suspected” of eating beef. Right wing groups have also continued the practice of harassing young people in cross-religious relationships, spreading false information about so-called “ <a href="http://www.openthemagazine.com/article/nation/love-jihad" type="external">love Jihad</a>” in which Muslim men supposedly target Hindu women.&#160;There have <a href="http://www.india.com/news/india/burkha-clad-rss-activist-caught-throwing-beef-at-temple-pictures-go-viral-on-facebook-593154/" type="external">been</a> <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Communal-violence-shows-24-jump-in-first-five-months-of-2015-shows-govt-data/articleshow/48167102.cms" type="external">countless similar incidents</a>.</p>
<p>There has also been concern among artists, academics, and intellectuals regarding&#160;a growing climate of <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/opinion/sunday/sonia-faleiro-india-free-speech-kalburgi-pansare-dabholkar.html?_r=0" type="external">intolerance</a> for open inquiry. In the past three years, <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/heres-what-we-know-about-slain-rationalist-mm-kalburgi-2414654.html" type="external">three rationalists</a>– who <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/books/the-three-rationalists-murdered-in-the-last-two-years-in-their-own-voice/" type="external">opposed Hindu hegemony</a> — have been murdered. This climate has motivated a number of prominent intellectuals across India to <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/14/indian-writers-return-awards-in-protest-against-climate-of-intolerance" type="external">give back</a> their <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/11963542/Top-Indian-artists-and-scientists-return-awards-in-protest-at-alleged-climate-of-intolerance-under-Narendra-Modi.html" type="external">government awards</a>.</p>
<p>The BJP’s student wing, the ABVP, whose popularity in student elections swelled following the victory of its parent party, has been active on college campuses — even winning one of four central panel seats in the historically leftist JNU.</p>
<p>JNU</p>
<p>First stepping onto JNU’s&#160;campus two years ago&#160;felt like falling in love, like stepping into the potential of a better world.</p>
<p>JNU occupies a sprawling jungle campus in the southwest corner of Delhi, acres of hills and red sandstone and dust that gets on your feet your hands your everywhere. In the warm weather students come out of their dorms when the heat has gone to sleep and drink tea and sing and&#160;talk, talk, talk.</p>
<p>JNU, like any institution, has its problems: Entrenched gender and caste inequality, petty politicking, sometimes the chai stands run out of samosas.&#160;But what makes this place so goddamn special — what made me, and what makes most people&#160;who know it, swoon — is its thriving campus democracy.</p>
<p>“Yeh university ek khatarnak jaga hai,” &#160;“This university is a dangerous place,”&#160;said Sucheta De in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSzOJZ3BpUM" type="external">speech</a> at a protest meeting on February 14, citing the challenge to convention, particularly gender norms, posed by the university’s progressive atmosphere (translations my own). De, a former JNUSU president, is current&#160;national president&#160;of the student wing of the Communist Party of India Marxist-Leninist Liberation (CPIML).</p>
<p>“Yeh baat bolte hain mujhe rona aata hai, ki yeh freedom, yeh equality, yeh liberty — main mahila hun, main insaan hun — aur absolutely equal hun.” “When I talk about&#160;this I feel like crying — this freedom, this equality, this liberty. I’m a woman, I’m a human — and I’m absolutely equal” at JNU, De said.</p>
<p>The JNU Student Union (JNUSU) is a body with an incredibly robust history of autonomous student governance. Consisting of elected student representatives from various campus political parties — most of which are wings of national parties, and most, but certainly not all, of which are communist — the Union frequently leads student movements in India, campaigning for social justice of all kinds.</p>
<p>There have been several such student movements under the current government — and several instances of central government pressure against students and intellectuals.</p>
<p>In April, the Indian Institute of Technology in Madras <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/iitmadras-derecognises-student-group/article7256712.ece" type="external">de-recognized</a> the Ambedkar-Periyar Study Circle, a group of mostly Dalit — the most oppressed caste in Hindu&#160;society — students committed to spreading the ideas of Dalit writer of the Indian constitution B. R. Ambedkar. The move, coming after the central education ministry expressed concern about Dalit students’ critique of the central government, prompted widespread condemnation among students, and <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/iit-madras-revokes-ban-on-studentss-group/" type="external">was revoked</a>.</p>
<p>In June, the central government appointed Gajendra Chauhan, a BJP party affiliate, Vice-Chancellor of the Film and Television Institute of India, the country’s premier cinema school. Students <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/all-you-need-to-know-about-the-ftii-students-strike/article7318002.ece" type="external">protested</a> the appointment of a man they felt <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/standoff-between-police-ftii-students-amid-protests-against-chauhan/article8076783.ece" type="external">wasn’t fit for the job</a> — and the RSS branded them “ <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/mumbai/dont-call-our-children-naxalites-anti-hindu-parents-of-ftii-students/" type="external">anti-Hindu</a>” for doing so.&#160;Progressive students across the country expressed concern over increasing patterns of right-wing <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/up-against-saffronisation-ftii-protests-arent-just-against-gajendra-chauhan-2331796.html" type="external">encroachments</a>on university spaces.</p>
<p>In October, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD)’s University Grants Commission voted to <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/occupy-ugc-movement-intensifies-after-crackdown/" type="external">discontinue the fellowship funding</a>&#160;M.phil and Ph.d students had been <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-educationplus/occupy-ugc/article7881154.ece" type="external">receiving</a> from the central government. This came in conjuncture with India’s greater move toward the privatization of education. In December, India signed a World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement labelling education a <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns/will-the-gats-close-on-higher-education/article8042337.ece" type="external">“tradable commodity,”</a> meaning a reduction of the historic protections afforded Indian educational institutions and an opening of India’s doors to neoliberal educational models and foreign&#160;education providers — a move that is sure to drastically limit educational accessibility. Students <a href="http://kafila.org/2015/10/23/students-occupy-ugc-to-defend-the-right-to-research-in-universities-across-india-sucheta-de/" type="external">protested</a> fellowship cuts and the WTO talks in the #OccupyUGC movement.</p>
<p>In mid-January, a Dalit research scholar at Hyderabad Central University, Rohith Vemula, committed suicide. Rohith’s suicide followed the University’s&#160; <a href="http://thewire.in/2016/01/19/the-chain-of-events-leading-to-rohith-vemulas-suicide-19580/" type="external">expulsion</a> of him and four other members of the Ambedkar Student Association (ASA), a Dalit organization, after an <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/behind-dalit-student-suicide-how-his-university-campus-showed-him-the-door/" type="external">alleged altercation</a> with BJP activists on campus the previous August. The expulsion occurred after a central government minister pressured Hyderabad Central University to deal with the supposedly “anti-national” and “casteist” students — Rohith and his friends. The branding of&#160;Rohith and the ASA, who advocated for the rights of Dalit students against upper caste oppression, as&#160;“casteist” and “anti-national,” is&#160;a move against their fight for both caste equality and student voice.</p>
<p>Following Rohith’s suicide, students across the country <a href="http://www.firstpost.com/india/cry-seeking-justice-for-rohith-vemula-gains-momentum-on-social-media-2597596.html" type="external">joined in protest</a> of the government’s harsh stance toward the students, and for caste justice. The student protestors were greeted with <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/delhi-police-rss-rohith-vemula-dalit-protest-violently-assault-student-protesters/" type="external">beatings</a> from the police.</p>
<p>JNU students joined — and helped lead — these protests.</p>
<p>JNU students join and lead many student protests. Students like Rohith and students like Kanhaiya — who have come from <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/jnu-sedition-case-afzal-guru-event-kanhaiya-kumar/" type="external">poverty</a> and <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/dont-want-your-rs-8-lakh-or-rs-8-cr-tell-me-why-my-son-died-rohith-vemulas-mother/" type="external">caste oppression</a> to become research scholars and student leaders — join and lead these protests. And advocacy for debate, for social justice, for heterogeneity, for the voice of the marginalized has long threatened established power.</p>
<p>Stifling&#160;the intellectual and political power of the JNU student union, student body, faculty, and staff is effectively a gesture to&#160; <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/why-our-universities-are-in-ferment/article8237580.ece" type="external">Indian student movements</a>.</p>
<p>What led up to Kanhaiya’s arrest?</p>
<p>Last week, a small group of JNU students put on an event questioning the hanging of Kashmiri separatist Afzal Guru. Guru was convicted and hanged in 2012 for his role in the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/dec/14/kashmir.india" type="external">2001 Indian Parliament&#160;attacks</a>. Some lawyers and human rights activists continue to <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/afzal-guru-hanged-in-secrecy-buried-in-tihar-jail/article4396289.ece" type="external">raise questions</a> about the validity of his <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/02/201321381025851408.html" type="external">trial</a>.</p>
<p>The JNU administration, who had given the students permission to stage the event, withdrew this permission at the last minute in response to a complaint lodged by the sole ABVP member of the JNUSU central panel. Progressive JNUSU members, according to their <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/jnusu-statement-on-the-police-action-and-abvp-slander-in-jnu-jnusu/" type="external">subsequent statements</a>&#160;and <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/02/15/jnu-arrest_n_9233910.html" type="external">student reports</a>,&#160;came to the event, which was protested by the ABVP, in support of the students’ right to host it and to monitor the situation in order to ensure violence did not break out.</p>
<p>Later that night, a complaint was lodged at the local police station that anti-national slogans had been shouted at the event.</p>
<p>By Friday, Kanhaiya was arrested, six students were slapped with sedition charges, and eight students were expelled. Police were stationed across campus and entering student dorms.</p>
<p>By Saturday, more than 2500&#160;students, professors, and community members had gathered on campus to protest in a human chain that stretched over 2 kilometers.</p>
<p>Shehla Rashid, JNUSU Vice President, responded by questioning the motives of the arrest.</p>
<p>“Aaj comrade Kanhaiya jail mein isliye nahin hai ki unhone koi nara lagaya. Voh jail mein isiliye nahin hain ki unki undar deshprem ki bhaaga nahin hai. Voh jail mein isliye nahin hain ki unhone azaadi mangi. Voh jail mein isiliye hain kyunki unhone fellowship ka savaal uthaya. Voh jail mein isiliye hain kyunki unhone hamare ek saathi student Rohith Vemula ke liey awaaz uthai.”&#160;</p>
<p>“Today comrade Kanhaiya isn’t in jail because he made any slogan,” Shehla Rashid, JNUSU Vice President, <a href="http://www.scoopwhoop.com/JNU-Students-Union-VP-Shehla-Rashids-Speech/" type="external">said in a speech</a> at a protest following the arrest. “He isn’t in jail because there’s no love of country inside him. He’s in jail because he demanded freedom. He’s in jail because he raised&#160;the question of fellowships. He’s in jail because he raised his voice for our comrade Rohith Vemula.”</p>
<p>What’s the Story with Sedition?</p>
<p>Here are some things you should know about&#160; <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/12/arrest-of-kanhaiya-kumar-a-short-summary-of-the-law-of-sedition-in-india/" type="external">sedition law</a> in India, and here are some other <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/compilation-of-resources-on-sedition-law/" type="external">resources</a> you can consult to learn more.</p>
<p>“‘Sedition’ as a crime has no place in a modern democracy,” wrote JNU Professor and noted feminist commentator Nivendita Menon in a piece on the protests in <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/why-our-universities-are-in-ferment/article8237580.ece" type="external">The Hindu</a>. “There is no justification whatsoever for provisions that criminalise and silence dissent and ethical challenges to the dominant order.”</p>
<p>What’s Happening Now?</p>
<p>Yeh pura desh azaadi mamgta hai WTO se. Yeh pura desh azaadi mang raha hai, jativaad se, us jativaad se jis ke vaje se hamari saathi Rohith Vemula ko apni jaan dena padi. Ham log azaadi mangte hain gender discriminatory laws se…</p>
<p>This whole country demands freedom from the WTO. This whole country demands freedom from casteism, from the casteism because of which Rohith Vemula was made to take his life. We demand freedom from gender discriminatory laws.</p>
<p>-JNUSU Vice President Shehla Rashid&#160;in a <a href="http://www.scoopwhoop.com/JNU-Students-Union-VP-Shehla-Rashids-Speech/" type="external">speech</a>&#160;at student protesters.</p>
<p>Over the past few days, JNU’s campus has become a <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/why-our-universities-are-in-ferment/article8238512.ece" type="external">public opinion battleground</a>. As social media — and conventional media — explodes with accusations that JNU students are terrorists, statements from <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/jnusu-statement-on-the-police-action-and-abvp-slander-in-jnu-jnusu/" type="external">students</a>,&#160; <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/democratic-ethos-of-the-university-under-threat-jnu-teachers-association/" type="external">academics</a>, <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/statement-by-educators-intellectuals-artists-and-writers-on-police-action-in-jnu/" type="external">artists</a>, <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/cpdr-condemns-arrests-of-jnusu-president-and-delhi-university-professor-under-sedition-charges-anand-teltumbde/" type="external">human rights activists</a>, <a href="http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/people-suppressing-the-voice-of-jnu-students-are-anti-national-rahul-gandhi/" type="external">politicians</a>, <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/15/solidarity-statement-by-jnu-alumni-and-international-academic-community/" type="external">intellectuals</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/AIIndia/" type="external">Amnesty International</a>&#160;and <a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/15/solidarity-statement-by-jnu-alumni-and-international-academic-community/" type="external">people</a>&#160;of all stripes have come out in favor of the striking university community.</p>
<p>On Saturday, several Parliament members, prominent activists and intellectuals, and <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Rahul-Gandhi-visits-JNU-says-those-suppressing-institutions-voice-are-anti-national/articleshow/50976332.cms" type="external">Congress Party Vice President Rahul Gandhi</a>&#160;came to campus to &#160;support the protesting students, affirming the issue as one of national political importance.</p>
<p>A small but vocal group of ABVP students&#160;attempted to provoke and disrupt the proceedings, chanting and waving black flags to show their disapproval of Gandhi, who met them&#160;with a speech&#160;on the importance of people raising their voices.</p>
<p>“People who showed black flags on my face, I feel proud that in my country they have the right to show black flags,” <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2016/02/13/rahul-gandhi-jnu-_n_9230044.html" type="external">Gandhi</a> said.</p>
<p>Even as the ABVP student group&#160;pushed into the crowd, reportedly&#160; <a href="http://www.ibnlive.com/news/politics/anand-sharma-attacked-in-jnu-campus-congress-suspects-abvps-hand-1202819.html" type="external">physically</a>&#160;aggressing on an MP, &#160;a group of professors formed a human chain around the meeting.</p>
<p>At a moment of high anxiety, with an institution that has allowed them to learn, grow, question everything, play cricket in the evenings, under threat, students sat&#160;and listened, the bodies of their teachers between them and those attempting to provoke them to violence.</p>
<p>And make no mistake: The bodies of students and professors are at potential risk.</p>
<p>On Monday, the first day of strike, as hundreds of students gathered at the JNU administrative block to continue meetings, Kanhaiya appeared before court. Teachers who went to support him were roughed up by right wing lawyers — <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jnu-row-students-journalists-attacked-in-court-premises/article8240518.ece" type="external">pushed and physically beaten</a> — inside the court of law. Students and <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/jnu-row-students-journalists-attacked-in-court-premises/article8240518.ece" type="external">journalists</a> were beaten by right wing groups&#160;outside. Journalists have since <a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/journalists-take-to-streets-to-protest-assault-116021600689_1.html" type="external">protested</a>&#160;the assault and police inaction.</p>
<p>Kanhaiya will appear again in court on the seventeenth. JNU students and professors continue to&#160;strike.</p>
<p>Nation</p>
<p>I want to tell you something about nationalism. The accusations leveled against JNU as a campus, against members of&#160;the student union, against our professors as they entered that court, is that JNU is “anti-national.”</p>
<p>As an American, I know a thing or two about nationalism. I know how, in the United States,&#160;in the name of nationalism we are not supposed to have birth control, and in the name of nationalism we’re not supposed to want to shut down Guantanamo. In the name of nationalism we are supposed to turn away Syrian refugees and in the name of nationalism we are supposed to build walls against immigrants and in the name of nationalism we are supposed to disregard Black lives.</p>
<p>Here is what I also know: I have never seen a group of people so singularly determined, so singularly mutually supportive, so singularly oriented toward community, as I have seen JNU students in the past few days. JNU doesn’t inspire so much loyalty in those that love it&#160;because students&#160;feel some kind of jingoistic obligation toward the institution. JNU inspires loyalty because its democratic student culture&#160;demonstrates that&#160;human community&#160;is a verb: It is a collective act of learning to live together, of learning in order to live together; of learning to change the world and of learning in order to change the world.</p>
<p>As the police stood at the gates of the university, students continued to sit under the smoggy Delhi stars and speak.</p>
<p>Academics and intellectuals from all over the world have spoken out in favor of the striking teachers and students of JNU. Their statements are below. Readers can support the students&#160;by tweeting under the #standwithJNU hashtag.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/jnusu-statement-on-the-police-action-and-abvp-slander-in-jnu-jnusu/" type="external">JNUSU Statement on the Police Action and ABVP slander in JNU: JNUSU</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/democratic-ethos-of-the-university-under-threat-jnu-teachers-association/" type="external">Democratic Ethos of the University Under Threat: JNU Teachers’ Association</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/cpdr-condemns-arrests-of-jnusu-president-and-delhi-university-professor-under-sedition-charges-anand-teltumbde/" type="external">CPDR Condemns Arrests of JNUSU President and Delhi University Professor under Sedition Charges</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/13/statement-by-educators-intellectuals-artists-and-writers-on-police-action-in-jnu/" type="external">Statements by Educators, Intellectuals, Artists, and writers on Police Action in JNU</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/15/solidarity-statement-by-jnu-alumni-and-international-academic-community/" type="external">Solidarity Statement by JNU Alumni And International Academic Community</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/16/statements-of-solidarity-for-jnu-from-various-quarters/" type="external">Statements of Solidarity for JNU From Various Corners</a></p>
<p><a href="http://kafila.org/2016/02/16/statement-of-solidarity-with-student-protests-in-india-students-of-the-university-of-chicago/" type="external">Statement of Solidarity with student Protests in India: Students of the University of Chicago</a></p> | true | 4 | 2500 students jawaharlal nehru university jnu indias preeminent liberal arts university university im currently research 160 joined together protest past weekend isnt actually unusual protest sort jnus thing legendarily leftleaning campus jnu known loved bemoaned across india world progressive student politics open atmosphere intellectual rigor culture debate time students teachers supporters staged human chain around campus kilometer long jnu student union president kanhaiya kumar sat police custody arrested colonialera sedition law five campus activists including present former jnu student union jnusu central panel members also charged sedition eight students including kanhaiya suspended160from university without inquiry students teachers currently strike unity people different parts country challenging divisive authoritarian antipeople antistudent forces stand look reads february 13 statementof jnu student union condemning administrative police action students said jnu teachers association statement action express strong opposition attempts use law police suppress democratic dissent conduct witchhunt campus teachers students stood arm arm protest sunday police stood campus160gates india long place incredibly vibrant intellectual political social freedom speech charges arrest police presence against160student political expression jnu come rising concerns part students intellectuals bjp central governments actions campuses backstory jnu students protest long one hear story struggles secularism intellectual freedom contemporary india story global importance student movements story us election season full trumpery demagoguery racism side potential progressive change need listen india may 2014 rightwing bharatiya janata party bjp came power running campaign based promises development prime minister narendra modis party gained substantial numbers seats across country bjps ideology marked several things procorporate party inclined especially toward multinational corporations hindu nationalist hindutva party meaning advocates hindu cultural dominance religiously culturally diverse subcontinent backed outlets militant hindu rightwing rss described terrorist organization associated famous episodes communal violence prime minister narendra modis political career also associated communal violence modi chief minister west indian state gujarat 2002 antimuslim rioters killed raped injured destroyed property of160 thousands of160people muslim number state government officials found guilty involvement in160killing muslims the160riots modi found innocent foul play indian supreme court though160some human rights groups160 remain skeptical modi time officially160 denied visa160by united states offenses religious liberty since bjp government came power 2014 india seen several communal incidents including religiouslymotivated beef bans lynching muslim people suspected eating beef right wing groups also continued practice harassing young people crossreligious relationships spreading false information socalled love jihad muslim men supposedly target hindu women160there countless similar incidents also concern among artists academics intellectuals regarding160a growing climate intolerance open inquiry past three years three rationalists opposed hindu hegemony murdered climate motivated number prominent intellectuals across india give back government awards bjps student wing abvp whose popularity student elections swelled following victory parent party active college campuses even winning one four central panel seats historically leftist jnu jnu first stepping onto jnus160campus two years ago160felt like falling love like stepping potential better world jnu occupies sprawling jungle campus southwest corner delhi acres hills red sandstone dust gets feet hands everywhere warm weather students come dorms heat gone sleep drink tea sing and160talk talk talk jnu like institution problems entrenched gender caste inequality petty politicking sometimes chai stands run samosas160but makes place goddamn special made makes people160who know swoon thriving campus democracy yeh university ek khatarnak jaga hai 160this university dangerous place160said sucheta de speech protest meeting february 14 citing challenge convention particularly gender norms posed universitys progressive atmosphere translations de former jnusu president current160national president160of student wing communist party india marxistleninist liberation cpiml yeh baat bolte hain mujhe rona aata hai ki yeh freedom yeh equality yeh liberty main mahila hun main insaan hun aur absolutely equal hun talk about160this feel like crying freedom equality liberty im woman im human im absolutely equal jnu de said jnu student union jnusu body incredibly robust history autonomous student governance consisting elected student representatives various campus political parties wings national parties certainly communist union frequently leads student movements india campaigning social justice kinds several student movements current government several instances central government pressure students intellectuals april indian institute technology madras derecognized ambedkarperiyar study circle group mostly dalit oppressed caste hindu160society students committed spreading ideas dalit writer indian constitution b r ambedkar move coming central education ministry expressed concern dalit students critique central government prompted widespread condemnation among students revoked june central government appointed gajendra chauhan bjp party affiliate vicechancellor film television institute india countrys premier cinema school students protested appointment man felt wasnt fit job rss branded antihindu so160progressive students across country expressed concern increasing patterns rightwing encroachmentson university spaces october ministry human resource development mhrds university grants commission voted discontinue fellowship funding160mphil phd students receiving central government came conjuncture indias greater move toward privatization education december india signed world trade organization wto agreement labelling education tradable commodity meaning reduction historic protections afforded indian educational institutions opening indias doors neoliberal educational models foreign160education providers move sure drastically limit educational accessibility students protested fellowship cuts wto talks occupyugc movement midjanuary dalit research scholar hyderabad central university rohith vemula committed suicide rohiths suicide followed universitys160 expulsion four members ambedkar student association asa dalit organization alleged altercation bjp activists campus previous august expulsion occurred central government minister pressured hyderabad central university deal supposedly antinational casteist students rohith friends branding of160rohith asa advocated rights dalit students upper caste oppression as160casteist antinational is160a move fight caste equality student voice following rohiths suicide students across country joined protest governments harsh stance toward students caste justice student protestors greeted beatings police jnu students joined helped lead protests jnu students join lead many student protests students like rohith students like kanhaiya come poverty caste oppression become research scholars student leaders join lead protests advocacy debate social justice heterogeneity voice marginalized long threatened established power stifling160the intellectual political power jnu student union student body faculty staff effectively gesture to160 indian student movements led kanhaiyas arrest last week small group jnu students put event questioning hanging kashmiri separatist afzal guru guru convicted hanged 2012 role 2001 indian parliament160attacks lawyers human rights activists continue raise questions validity trial jnu administration given students permission stage event withdrew permission last minute response complaint lodged sole abvp member jnusu central panel progressive jnusu members according subsequent statements160and student reports160came event protested abvp support students right host monitor situation order ensure violence break later night complaint lodged local police station antinational slogans shouted event friday kanhaiya arrested six students slapped sedition charges eight students expelled police stationed across campus entering student dorms saturday 2500160students professors community members gathered campus protest human chain stretched 2 kilometers shehla rashid jnusu vice president responded questioning motives arrest aaj comrade kanhaiya jail mein isliye nahin hai ki unhone koi nara lagaya voh jail mein isiliye nahin hain ki unki undar deshprem ki bhaaga nahin hai voh jail mein isliye nahin hain ki unhone azaadi mangi voh jail mein isiliye hain kyunki unhone fellowship ka savaal uthaya voh jail mein isiliye hain kyunki unhone hamare ek saathi student rohith vemula ke liey awaaz uthai160 today comrade kanhaiya isnt jail made slogan shehla rashid jnusu vice president said speech protest following arrest isnt jail theres love country inside hes jail demanded freedom hes jail raised160the question fellowships hes jail raised voice comrade rohith vemula whats story sedition things know about160 sedition law india resources consult learn sedition crime place modern democracy wrote jnu professor noted feminist commentator nivendita menon piece protests hindu justification whatsoever provisions criminalise silence dissent ethical challenges dominant order whats happening yeh pura desh azaadi mamgta hai wto se yeh pura desh azaadi mang raha hai jativaad se us jativaad se jis ke vaje se hamari saathi rohith vemula ko apni jaan dena padi ham log azaadi mangte hain gender discriminatory laws se whole country demands freedom wto whole country demands freedom casteism casteism rohith vemula made take life demand freedom gender discriminatory laws jnusu vice president shehla rashid160in speech160at student protesters past days jnus campus become public opinion battleground social media conventional media explodes accusations jnu students terrorists statements students160 academics artists human rights activists politicians intellectuals amnesty international160and people160of stripes come favor striking university community saturday several parliament members prominent activists intellectuals congress party vice president rahul gandhi160came campus 160support protesting students affirming issue one national political importance small vocal group abvp students160attempted provoke disrupt proceedings chanting waving black flags show disapproval gandhi met them160with speech160on importance people raising voices people showed black flags face feel proud country right show black flags gandhi said even abvp student group160pushed crowd reportedly160 physically160aggressing mp 160a group professors formed human chain around meeting moment high anxiety institution allowed learn grow question everything play cricket evenings threat students sat160and listened bodies teachers attempting provoke violence make mistake bodies students professors potential risk monday first day strike hundreds students gathered jnu administrative block continue meetings kanhaiya appeared court teachers went support roughed right wing lawyers pushed physically beaten inside court law students journalists beaten right wing groups160outside journalists since protested160the assault police inaction kanhaiya appear court seventeenth jnu students professors continue to160strike nation want tell something nationalism accusations leveled jnu campus members of160the student union professors entered court jnu antinational american know thing two nationalism know united states160in name nationalism supposed birth control name nationalism supposed want shut guantanamo name nationalism supposed turn away syrian refugees name nationalism supposed build walls immigrants name nationalism supposed disregard black lives also know never seen group people singularly determined singularly mutually supportive singularly oriented toward community seen jnu students past days jnu doesnt inspire much loyalty love it160because students160feel kind jingoistic obligation toward institution jnu inspires loyalty democratic student culture160demonstrates that160human community160is verb collective act learning live together learning order live together learning change world learning order change world police stood gates university students continued sit smoggy delhi stars speak academics intellectuals world spoken favor striking teachers students jnu statements readers support students160by tweeting standwithjnu hashtag160 jnusu statement police action abvp slander jnu jnusu democratic ethos university threat jnu teachers association cpdr condemns arrests jnusu president delhi university professor sedition charges statements educators intellectuals artists writers police action jnu solidarity statement jnu alumni international academic community statements solidarity jnu various corners statement solidarity student protests india students university chicago | 1,673 |
<p>In December 2002, British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell wrote the New York Times to tell Americans that all was well in the BC Forests. A negative article about ancient forest destruction and the impending extinction of the Spotted Owl had appeared in the newspaper, and Campbell wished to set the record straight with American consumers. He wrote that “habitat decisions are made with the best available understanding of scientific and socioeconomic factors affecting species sustainability, not with lumber interests solely in mind.” His final statement in that letter sums up the esurient hypocrisy that has characterized the biggest ramp-up of ancient forest destruction in 150 years of industrial logging in BC under his watch: “There is more old-growth in British Columbia than 100 years ago, amounting to 62 million acres. That total is projected to increase in the century ahead.”</p>
<p>In British Columbia, forestry science is specifically bought and controlled to prove that black is white. It’s no wonder that the fanaticism of scientism has garnered such unquestioned support amongst those whose primary religion involves nothing other that the making of money. Seven of Campbell’s top-ten ‘corporate contributions’ (a euphemism for quasi-legal bribery) for his 2001 election campaign were from giant logging interests, and British Columbian’s know that it’s the Weyerhaeusers, CANFOR’s and Interfors who call the tune on BC forest policies. The transnational logging industry simply bought themselves a BC government for the shameful pittance of around a million bucks over 10 years. But having bought the science, as well as the government to prosyletize it, this still couldn’t placate an increasingly sceptical and alarmed public that isn’t buying the bull.</p>
<p>Campbell took a beating in the 2005 election over his George Bush style “green-as-an-oil-slick” environmental policies. His was a government that axed the entire Ministry of the Environment and tried to privatise the entire British Columbia public landbase for the logging industry. The electors of BC sent a powerful message to the industry/government consortium that environment is a priority on a planet facing ever more disturbing ecological catastrophe. The Premier’s spin-stories about increasing amounts of old-growth in a province with an annual 70 million cubic metre cut, the scam of ‘variable retention’ logging, and the biggest lie of all, ~that voracious industrial destruction of forests was in any way sustainable were wearing thin. Yet the avalanche of regressive anti-environmental legislation and the onslaught of destruction on the ground during 4 years of Campbell was so sweeping, it completely overwhelmed any voices pleading for sanity in the beleagured BC forests.</p>
<p>Such a trashing of BC’s magnificent forested landbase is having severe negative consequences for the economy and ecology of the province, and the spin-meisters know that the seething undercurrent of outrage and despair are bound to develop traction, sooner, rather than later. Progressive customers around the world are demanding ethically-produced forest products, especially products which are not derived from the destruction of ancient forests. While the big companies log like there’s no tomorrow, forest-dependent communities, forest workers and First Nations have been atrociously abused and they are getting more and more agitated. Logging has never approached sustainability in BC, contrary to decades of propaganda, and today, more than 80% of the BC timber harvest continues to be derived from primaeval frontier forests. Big Logging and the global-warming-induced Mountain Pine beetle epidemic are now locked in a flat out race to exterminate the provinces interior forests, and with all easily accessible coastal forests on Vancouver Island and the mainland inlets now exhausted, including second-growth forests mowed down to the 30-40-year-old age class, the insatiable eye of industrial logging has now set its sights onto that most lucrative final frontier forest on the continent: the 20 million acre tract of endangered temperate rainforest which has become known as the “Great Bear Rainforest” (GBR).</p>
<p>To acquire unfettered access to the timber, the government/industry consortium required further buy-in from its most troublesome critics, namely BC’s largest environmental organizations, who had once positioned themselves in the preceding decade as a major threat to the global market for BC forest products. Highly successful international market campaigns identified the grossest destroyers of wilderness, and by staging effective protests at retail outlets, consumers around the world began to shun BC forest products. People are recognizing the impending ecological disaster, and with the loss of ancient forests as one of its most prominent features, the logging interests liquidation scheme for the Great Bear Rainforest needed some big-name Greenwash. That’s when Weyerhaeuser, Interfor, Canfor, Western Forest Products and Norske Skog decided to sit down with Greenpeace, the BC Sierra Club, Forest Ethics and the Rainforest Action Network, known collectively as the Rainfrest Solutions Project (RSP), to see how they might legitimize their rapacious scheme.</p>
<p>To get things rolling, 17 independent scientists were appointed by government, industry and the environmental groups to study the GBR area for 3 years. But when the results of the study finally came in, it threw a big wrench into the logging company’s hopes for the area. The scientists analysis concluded that between 44% and 60% of the GBR was essential for preservation in order to guarrantee species survival. Even so, the team found that this amount of protection from logging, mining and hunting would only ensure that 30% of the most important habitat of all focal species of the area would be protected. Well that just wasn’t going to cut it for the companies which were slathering at a vastly larger cut, so the wheeling and dealing began in earnest. Astoundingly, in January 2004, without any discussion, consultation, democratic process or mandate from the people of BC, or even from the larger BC environmental community, the RSP negotiators emerged with a compromise concensus deal with industry, and agreed to shelve the independent scientific conclusion. Now the pressure is on Gordon Campbell to finally endorse the deal. There’s little doubt that this will happen, and the industry is already sharpening its saws.</p>
<p>These American-foundation-funded environmental groups had inexplicably sold out the GBR forest and cut up the pie accordingly: industrial logging: about 80%, protected areas: 20%. Immediately, in December 2003, before news of the ‘concensus’ even went public, and years prior to Campbell’s official sign-on, the BC government was sending out faxes to its lumber customers all around the world, announcing that “Peace in the Woods” had been achieved, and all ethical obstacles to the purchase of BC forest products had been resolved. Meanwhile, during the period of ‘talk-and-log’ negotiations, full-on destructive clearcutting continued apace in the GBR, and under the deal, will continue until 2009. According to a David Suzuki Foundation study, since 2001, when the GBR discussions first began, 74% of all logging which has occurred on more than 600 cutblocks in the GBR forest has been by clearcutting, with 46% of it in the regions most productive salmon-bearing watersheds. Only 8% of salmon creeks which flowed through these cutblocks were properly protected. More than 65% of the most critical areas of the GBR will be available for logging and other development.</p>
<p>The Ecosystem Based Management (EBM) Handbook which is being hailed by the RSP as the primary excuse for the embarrassingly small amount of protected areas offers no legally binding changes to the status quo described above. In fact, the EBM version being put forward as groundbreaking for the GBR is nothing more than a recommendation which will allow the massive industrial exploitation of these forests to continue. From the Suzuki website: “[Our] analysis concludes that few elements of the Coast Information Team (CIT ) recommended prescription for EBM remain in proposed land-use agreements, thereby seriously reducing the effectiveness of the landuse plans in protecting biodiversity on the landscape outside of proposed protected areas…To date, the BC government and forest industry have not demonstrated the slightest willingness to ratify even a small number of important EBM principles and have proposed that consideration of the full suite of EBM recommendations proposed by the CIT could take another four years to complete, thereby providing the forest industry with an open playing field and no requirements to improve logging standards to meet EBM requirements. Essentially, this means more ‘talk and log.'”</p>
<p>Nobody, neither the industry, nor the RSP has much of an idea what EBM as slated for the GBR will look like, and there is zero regulatory enactment to define it. From the RSP’s own website: “Ultimately, a shallow application of EBM based on a wavering commitment will not cut it. The implementation of EBM must be stringent and entrenched, or otherwise, the long-term health of Great Bear Rainforest will remain in jeopardy.” Bill Bourgeois, spokesperson for the Coast Forest Conservation Initiative, a coalition of Canadian Forest Products, Western Forest Products, International Forest Products, Weyerhaeuser and Norske Canada, the parties which want to log the GBR, states that “Work has already begun, but [foresters] need further clarification on how to implement EBM. It’s one thing to have it written down on paper and another when you are standing on the edge of a creek deciding which to cut and not cut and why,” he says. He adds that “government must act, not only to ensure certainty for the forest companies, but in order for them to fully implement this new way of doing forestry on the ground.” Bourgeois said it has taken longer to bring about on-the-ground changes than anticipated but logging companies are voluntarily moving towards ecosystem-based management without the actual plan and guidelines in place. There are still examples of clear-cut logging, he said, as roads and cutting plans are developed years in advance.</p>
<p>Voluntarily, eh? Indeed.</p>
<p>It’s clear that Gordon Campbell will sign the deal, all the current “Stand-Tall for the GBR ~write the Premier Now” RSP hype notwithstanding. Obviously, if Weyerhaeuser etc. think this is a great deal, Gordo will certainly sign. He wavered on signing it just before the recent election, but wimped out at the eleventh hour. I doubt if that was a politically expedient calculation for him, as his tardiness in appearing to “turn over a new leaf” cost him the re-election of most of his obviously pro-logging MLA’s. His imminent endorsement of the deal will perpetuate his use of ‘pseudo-science’ to justify the sustainability of BC’s forest practices, proving the outright lie of his NYT article . But what about the “socioeconomic” considerations he promised? According to Will Horter of the Dogwood Initiative, a BC Environmental think-tank, “in the North Coast Forest District, home to a big portion of the yet unprotected Great Bear Rainforest, over 85% of the logging produces only 25 cents a cubic metre.” Horter asks, “Would you allow someone to log a tree the size of the average Canadian telephone pole from your backyard and pay you only a quarter?…” This is exactly the kind of BC tax-payer subsidy that Campbell has lavished on his logging industry friends which has brought about the disastrous US Softwood Lumber tariffs, which have so devasted revenues derived from the BC forests. The American lumber industry quite rightly argues that Campbell virtually gives away the public forest to the companies. This enormous giveaway of irreplaceable ancient forests exposes the other lie in his NYT statement, and makes it clear that forest policy BC-style is completely framed “with lumber interests solely in mind.”.</p>
<p>Finally, why, oh why are BC’s largest environmental organizations agreeing to this unprecedented giveaway of one of the Earth’s most precious final tracts of wilderness? How is it that our society’s so-believed primary defenders of the environment have compromised so much with those who will destroy it so utterly? Even the Rainforest Action Network admits that the deal has terrible consequences for forests far beyond the GBR. From their “BuyGoodWood” website: “RAN also acknowledges that the consensus failed to live up to the recommendations of the Coast Information Team and the balance of scientific opinion stating that the plan leaves these fragile ecosystems and the life that they support at risk. Specifically, the concensus only protects 22% of the Central Coast landbase with a further 11% off-limits to logging and hydro-electric development, but open to mining and road building that could substantially erode forest habitat. Moreover, RAN is deeply concerned that the central coast recommendations are being used to validate habitat destruction on Vancouver Island and elsewhere in the province. Already, companies like Weyerhaeuser are using the concensus in the media as a green-ticket for their old-growth logging operations throughout Canada.”</p>
<p>This deal cannot be based on any sense of “trust” that the Weyerhaeuser’s and ilk will finally live up to the hallucinatory pipe-dream of an as-yet un-defined “EBM” standard in their logging practices. Weyerhaeuser, the company that invaded, occupied and massacred Vancouver Island for 7 years and then ‘cut and ran’ is the world’s largest forest destroyer. There is not a single precedent in all of BC’s sorry logging history which demonstrates any semblance of ethical practices by a single one of these players. Tragically, there appears to be only one single rationale which has made such quisling compromise possible, ~it’s all about the money Heather Ramsay quotes Merran Smith in a recent article which appears on “The Tyee” website, “Landmark Great Bear Agreement Is Down to the Wire.” Smith, one of the RSP negotiators, argues that “one of their biggest concerns is the potential for $200 million in pledged conservation financing to fall apart, [should Campbell fail to endorse the deal] leaving a myriad of First Nations and coastal community projects, like shellfish aquaculture, tourism, non-timber forest products and sustainable logging to fail.Smith says the money, raised from private industry, government and foundations, became an important piece of the complicated Great Bear Rainforest Agreement, because communities demanded it. Environmental groups helped to secure $110 million dollars intended to help First Nations implement the land-use plans in their territories, Smith says. Some of the money will become seed capital for business ventures and some will be set aside to help First Nations go about the physical task of managing and monitoring the streams, forest and ocean. She sees it as one way to help First Nations build capacity and control in their territories. An additional $80 million in socially responsible investment dollars may be available to larger communities like Prince Rupert for sound business projects.”</p>
<p>Indeed. So the funding lined up by the RSP for the so-called benefit of coastal First Nations is only contingent on the giant logging companies having their way with the place.</p>
<p>At 25 cents a cubic metre in stumpage revenue to the taxpayer for the logging of 80% the GBR, the logging industry cut will totally dwarf that measely $200 million. We’re talking a trade-off of the equivalent value of 200 Victoria waterfront homes, ~in exchange for the Earth’s largest, contiguous remaining tract of intact temperate rainforest! That forest is simply priceless, -irreplaceable. The entirely unceded forested lands of the GBR already belong entirely to the First Nations of that coast . Why not follow the example of the Haida who have recently so ably demonstrated what it really takes to rid their forests of the rapacious scourge of Weyerhaeuser and ilk? There is no need to negotiate, nor is there any moral justification for environmentalists to cut big, ugly compromise deals with those who would destroy the final forests of the planet. Working together with First Nations AGAINST these destroyers, we could seriously damage the current BC forest industry for the benefit of all. We should have stayed the course with the market campaigns, and only by working together with First Nations to rid the province of the scourge of Big Logging and its lying Gordon Campbell lackies.</p>
<p>Compromise collaborationism with a voracious industrial menace will never protect the final forests of the world. British Columbian’s should quit supporting any environmental organization which does not have NO MORE ANCIENT FOREST LOGGING, as its primary, uncompromising stance. As Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says: “Greenpeace protests, we intervene.” Greenpeace has removed that kind of active interference from its arsenal. Greenpeace is a corporation now,”</p>
<p>We are rapidly losing all of the Earth’s final, irreplaceable primaeval forests. The loss of these forests is a global emergency!! Massive extinctions of intricate biodiversity accompany the destruction. When will people finally act to protect wilderness?? When there’s 15% left? 10%? 5%? It’s going, going and so nearly almost gone.</p>
<p>INGMAR LEE has planted more than 1,000,000 trees in the clearcuts of British Columbia in his 21 year career as a professional treeplanter. He now lives in Pondicherry, India He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>CLARIFICATION</p>
<p>ALEXANDER COCKBURN, JEFFREY ST CLAIR, BECKY GRANT AND THE INSTITUTE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF JOURNALISTIC CLARITY, COUNTERPUNCH</p>
<p>We published an article entitled “A Saudiless Arabia” by Wayne Madsen dated October 22, 2002 (the “Article”), on the website of the Institute for the Advancement of Journalistic Clarity, CounterPunch, www.counterpunch.org (the “Website”).</p>
<p>Although it was not our intention, counsel for Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi has advised us the Article suggests, or could be read as suggesting, that Mr Al Amoudi has funded, supported, or is in some way associated with, the terrorist activities of Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda terrorist network.</p>
<p>We do not have any evidence connecting Mr Al Amoudi with terrorism.</p>
<p>As a result of an exchange of communications with Mr Al Amoudi’s lawyers, we have removed the Article from the Website.</p>
<p>We are pleased to clarify the position.</p>
<p>August 17, 2005</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | december 2002 british columbia premier gordon campbell wrote new york times tell americans well bc forests negative article ancient forest destruction impending extinction spotted owl appeared newspaper campbell wished set record straight american consumers wrote habitat decisions made best available understanding scientific socioeconomic factors affecting species sustainability lumber interests solely mind final statement letter sums esurient hypocrisy characterized biggest rampup ancient forest destruction 150 years industrial logging bc watch oldgrowth british columbia 100 years ago amounting 62 million acres total projected increase century ahead british columbia forestry science specifically bought controlled prove black white wonder fanaticism scientism garnered unquestioned support amongst whose primary religion involves nothing making money seven campbells topten corporate contributions euphemism quasilegal bribery 2001 election campaign giant logging interests british columbians know weyerhaeusers canfors interfors call tune bc forest policies transnational logging industry simply bought bc government shameful pittance around million bucks 10 years bought science well government prosyletize still couldnt placate increasingly sceptical alarmed public isnt buying bull campbell took beating 2005 election george bush style greenasanoilslick environmental policies government axed entire ministry environment tried privatise entire british columbia public landbase logging industry electors bc sent powerful message industrygovernment consortium environment priority planet facing ever disturbing ecological catastrophe premiers spinstories increasing amounts oldgrowth province annual 70 million cubic metre cut scam variable retention logging biggest lie voracious industrial destruction forests way sustainable wearing thin yet avalanche regressive antienvironmental legislation onslaught destruction ground 4 years campbell sweeping completely overwhelmed voices pleading sanity beleagured bc forests trashing bcs magnificent forested landbase severe negative consequences economy ecology province spinmeisters know seething undercurrent outrage despair bound develop traction sooner rather later progressive customers around world demanding ethicallyproduced forest products especially products derived destruction ancient forests big companies log like theres tomorrow forestdependent communities forest workers first nations atrociously abused getting agitated logging never approached sustainability bc contrary decades propaganda today 80 bc timber harvest continues derived primaeval frontier forests big logging globalwarminginduced mountain pine beetle epidemic locked flat race exterminate provinces interior forests easily accessible coastal forests vancouver island mainland inlets exhausted including secondgrowth forests mowed 3040yearold age class insatiable eye industrial logging set sights onto lucrative final frontier forest continent 20 million acre tract endangered temperate rainforest become known great bear rainforest gbr acquire unfettered access timber governmentindustry consortium required buyin troublesome critics namely bcs largest environmental organizations positioned preceding decade major threat global market bc forest products highly successful international market campaigns identified grossest destroyers wilderness staging effective protests retail outlets consumers around world began shun bc forest products people recognizing impending ecological disaster loss ancient forests one prominent features logging interests liquidation scheme great bear rainforest needed bigname greenwash thats weyerhaeuser interfor canfor western forest products norske skog decided sit greenpeace bc sierra club forest ethics rainforest action network known collectively rainfrest solutions project rsp see might legitimize rapacious scheme get things rolling 17 independent scientists appointed government industry environmental groups study gbr area 3 years results study finally came threw big wrench logging companys hopes area scientists analysis concluded 44 60 gbr essential preservation order guarrantee species survival even team found amount protection logging mining hunting would ensure 30 important habitat focal species area would protected well wasnt going cut companies slathering vastly larger cut wheeling dealing began earnest astoundingly january 2004 without discussion consultation democratic process mandate people bc even larger bc environmental community rsp negotiators emerged compromise concensus deal industry agreed shelve independent scientific conclusion pressure gordon campbell finally endorse deal theres little doubt happen industry already sharpening saws americanfoundationfunded environmental groups inexplicably sold gbr forest cut pie accordingly industrial logging 80 protected areas 20 immediately december 2003 news concensus even went public years prior campbells official signon bc government sending faxes lumber customers around world announcing peace woods achieved ethical obstacles purchase bc forest products resolved meanwhile period talkandlog negotiations fullon destructive clearcutting continued apace gbr deal continue 2009 according david suzuki foundation study since 2001 gbr discussions first began 74 logging occurred 600 cutblocks gbr forest clearcutting 46 regions productive salmonbearing watersheds 8 salmon creeks flowed cutblocks properly protected 65 critical areas gbr available logging development ecosystem based management ebm handbook hailed rsp primary excuse embarrassingly small amount protected areas offers legally binding changes status quo described fact ebm version put forward groundbreaking gbr nothing recommendation allow massive industrial exploitation forests continue suzuki website analysis concludes elements coast information team cit recommended prescription ebm remain proposed landuse agreements thereby seriously reducing effectiveness landuse plans protecting biodiversity landscape outside proposed protected areasto date bc government forest industry demonstrated slightest willingness ratify even small number important ebm principles proposed consideration full suite ebm recommendations proposed cit could take another four years complete thereby providing forest industry open playing field requirements improve logging standards meet ebm requirements essentially means talk log nobody neither industry rsp much idea ebm slated gbr look like zero regulatory enactment define rsps website ultimately shallow application ebm based wavering commitment cut implementation ebm must stringent entrenched otherwise longterm health great bear rainforest remain jeopardy bill bourgeois spokesperson coast forest conservation initiative coalition canadian forest products western forest products international forest products weyerhaeuser norske canada parties want log gbr states work already begun foresters need clarification implement ebm one thing written paper another standing edge creek deciding cut cut says adds government must act ensure certainty forest companies order fully implement new way forestry ground bourgeois said taken longer bring ontheground changes anticipated logging companies voluntarily moving towards ecosystembased management without actual plan guidelines place still examples clearcut logging said roads cutting plans developed years advance voluntarily eh indeed clear gordon campbell sign deal current standtall gbr write premier rsp hype notwithstanding obviously weyerhaeuser etc think great deal gordo certainly sign wavered signing recent election wimped eleventh hour doubt politically expedient calculation tardiness appearing turn new leaf cost reelection obviously prologging mlas imminent endorsement deal perpetuate use pseudoscience justify sustainability bcs forest practices proving outright lie nyt article socioeconomic considerations promised according horter dogwood initiative bc environmental thinktank north coast forest district home big portion yet unprotected great bear rainforest 85 logging produces 25 cents cubic metre horter asks would allow someone log tree size average canadian telephone pole backyard pay quarter exactly kind bc taxpayer subsidy campbell lavished logging industry friends brought disastrous us softwood lumber tariffs devasted revenues derived bc forests american lumber industry quite rightly argues campbell virtually gives away public forest companies enormous giveaway irreplaceable ancient forests exposes lie nyt statement makes clear forest policy bcstyle completely framed lumber interests solely mind finally oh bcs largest environmental organizations agreeing unprecedented giveaway one earths precious final tracts wilderness societys sobelieved primary defenders environment compromised much destroy utterly even rainforest action network admits deal terrible consequences forests far beyond gbr buygoodwood website ran also acknowledges consensus failed live recommendations coast information team balance scientific opinion stating plan leaves fragile ecosystems life support risk specifically concensus protects 22 central coast landbase 11 offlimits logging hydroelectric development open mining road building could substantially erode forest habitat moreover ran deeply concerned central coast recommendations used validate habitat destruction vancouver island elsewhere province already companies like weyerhaeuser using concensus media greenticket oldgrowth logging operations throughout canada deal based sense trust weyerhaeusers ilk finally live hallucinatory pipedream asyet undefined ebm standard logging practices weyerhaeuser company invaded occupied massacred vancouver island 7 years cut ran worlds largest forest destroyer single precedent bcs sorry logging history demonstrates semblance ethical practices single one players tragically appears one single rationale made quisling compromise possible money heather ramsay quotes merran smith recent article appears tyee website landmark great bear agreement wire smith one rsp negotiators argues one biggest concerns potential 200 million pledged conservation financing fall apart campbell fail endorse deal leaving myriad first nations coastal community projects like shellfish aquaculture tourism nontimber forest products sustainable logging failsmith says money raised private industry government foundations became important piece complicated great bear rainforest agreement communities demanded environmental groups helped secure 110 million dollars intended help first nations implement landuse plans territories smith says money become seed capital business ventures set aside help first nations go physical task managing monitoring streams forest ocean sees one way help first nations build capacity control territories additional 80 million socially responsible investment dollars may available larger communities like prince rupert sound business projects indeed funding lined rsp socalled benefit coastal first nations contingent giant logging companies way place 25 cents cubic metre stumpage revenue taxpayer logging 80 gbr logging industry cut totally dwarf measely 200 million talking tradeoff equivalent value 200 victoria waterfront homes exchange earths largest contiguous remaining tract intact temperate rainforest forest simply priceless irreplaceable entirely unceded forested lands gbr already belong entirely first nations coast follow example haida recently ably demonstrated really takes rid forests rapacious scourge weyerhaeuser ilk need negotiate moral justification environmentalists cut big ugly compromise deals would destroy final forests planet working together first nations destroyers could seriously damage current bc forest industry benefit stayed course market campaigns working together first nations rid province scourge big logging lying gordon campbell lackies compromise collaborationism voracious industrial menace never protect final forests world british columbians quit supporting environmental organization ancient forest logging primary uncompromising stance paul watson sea shepherd conservation society says greenpeace protests intervene greenpeace removed kind active interference arsenal greenpeace corporation rapidly losing earths final irreplaceable primaeval forests loss forests global emergency massive extinctions intricate biodiversity accompany destruction people finally act protect wilderness theres 15 left 10 5 going going nearly almost gone ingmar lee planted 1000000 trees clearcuts british columbia 21 year career professional treeplanter lives pondicherry india reached ingmarzgmailcom 160 160 160 160 160 clarification alexander cockburn jeffrey st clair becky grant institute advancement journalistic clarity counterpunch published article entitled saudiless arabia wayne madsen dated october 22 2002 article website institute advancement journalistic clarity counterpunch wwwcounterpunchorg website although intention counsel mohammed hussein al amoudi advised us article suggests could read suggesting mr al amoudi funded supported way associated terrorist activities osama bin laden al qaeda terrorist network evidence connecting mr al amoudi terrorism result exchange communications mr al amoudis lawyers removed article website pleased clarify position august 17 2005 160 | 1,684 |
<p>In February, <a href="" type="internal">Bermuda</a> became <a href="" type="internal">the first country in the world</a> to re-ban same-sex marriage after previously legalizing it.</p>
<p>Now, Carnival Cruise Line is hoping to help it become the first country in the world to re-legalize same-sex marriage.</p>
<p>But how much pressure will it take for a socially conservative island like Bermuda to buckle?</p>
<p>As CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/03/cruise-line-carnival-joins-the-fight-against-bermudas-same-sex-marriage-ban.html" type="external">reported</a> Tuesday, Carnival Corp. announced that it will be providing “financial, civic, and public relations support” to LGBT rights charity OutBermuda as challenge the recent overturning of marriage equality, which <a href="" type="internal">cleared the Bermuda legislature in December</a> and was signed by Governor John Rankin in February.</p>
<p>At stake for the cruise giant, as CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/03/cruise-line-carnival-joins-the-fight-against-bermudas-same-sex-marriage-ban.html" type="external">noted</a>, is the fact that subsidiaries Cunard and P&amp;O Cruises will not be able to host same-sex marriages on board their vessels anywhere on the planet because the businesses themselves are registered in Bermuda.</p>
<p>“While we always abide by the laws of the countries we sail to and from, we believe travel and tourism brings people and cultures together in powerful ways,” Carnival said in a press statement. “As a result, we believe it is important to stand by the LGBTQ community in Bermuda and its many allies to oppose any actions that restrict travel and tourism.”</p>
<p>Carnival wading into the matter is one of the first major signs of potential backlash the British overseas territory could face as a result of the same-sex marriage repeal.</p>
<p>Talk show host <a href="" type="internal">Ellen DeGeneres</a> and <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/celebrities-call-for-bermuda-boycott_us_5aa2d1dbe4b07047bec64386" type="external">a handful of other celebrities</a> have called for boycotts of the popular vacation destination—and the Bermuda Tourism Authority, which did not immediately respond to The Daily Beast’s request for comment, has <a href="" type="internal">previously warned</a> that the repeal would “result in lost tourism for Bermuda”—but those potential impacts have not yet come into focus in any quantifiable way.</p>
<p>In a statement, OutBermuda told The Daily Beast, “In this brief window, we have not yet seen relevant economic data, apart from news reports and anecdotal evidence.”</p>
<p>One anecdotal sign that Bermuda may fear the economic impact of the legislation is the fact that, in early March, the territory’s Minister of Home Affairs delayed the effective date of the marriage ban to June to allow for same-sex marriages to occur on both the island and on cruise ships registered in Bermuda, as the <a href="http://www.royalgazette.com/same-sex-marriage/article/20180228/gay-couples-have-until-end-of-may-to-marry" type="external">Royal Gazette</a> reported.</p>
<p>Sarah Kate Ellis, president of the LGBT advocacy group GLAAD, interpreted the move in <a href="https://www.glaad.org/blog/bermuda-delays-repeal-marriage-equality-three-months" type="external">a statement</a> as a “small walk-back” that “shows that pressure from the tourism industry could have tremendous power if they collectively speak out for marriage equality.”</p>
<p>At this early point, however, that power cannot be measured.</p>
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<p>The Bermuda Tourism Authority’s <a href="https://www.gotobermuda.com/bta/visitor-statistics" type="external">publicly-available tourism data</a> for March 2018–the first full month after Gov. Rankin signed the ban—has yet to be published. &#160;</p>
<p>Data on the number of total leisure visitors for January and February shows a slower start to the year compared to 2016 and 2017, but given that the same-sex marriage repeal was only signed on February 8–and that February saw a year-over-year increase in total visitors—that fact is likely reflective of broader industry trends.</p>
<p>OutBermuda doesn’t want to wait for the economic consequences of the same-sex marriage ban to arrive before getting the legislation overturned.</p>
<p>As the Royal Gazette <a href="http://www.royalgazette.com/news/article/20180403/outbermuda-to-challenge-domestic-partnership" type="external">reported</a> Tuesday, the LGBT rights charity is already in the process of preparing a legal challenge against the legislation, which effectively consigns same-sex couples to domestic partnerships with benefits rather than allowing them to get legally married.</p>
<p>OutBermuda will be seeking an order from the Supreme Court—the same Supreme Court that legalized same-sex marriage in May 2017 after a gay couple petitioned for the right to wed. If the effort proves successful, Bermuda will have legalized same-sex marriage, repealed it, and re-legalized it all within the span of a few years.</p>
<p>“While marriage equality is just one issue facing the LGBTQ+ community, OutBermuda believes it is well-positioned to provide a legal voice on a topic that has recently been handled like a political football in Bermuda,” the charity said in a statement.</p>
<p>Carnival, as CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/03/cruise-line-carnival-joins-the-fight-against-bermudas-same-sex-marriage-ban.html" type="external">reported</a>, will also file an affidavit to support OutBermuda and be involved in the challenge. A spokesperson for Carnival confirmed to The Daily Beast that they are indeed looking to see the ban repealed: “Yes, we hope to help OutBermuda in its efforts to overturn the law to once again permit same-sex marriages in Bermuda.”</p>
<p>This level of involvement in LGBT-related affairs is not unusual for the cruise company.</p>
<p>As the Human Rights Campaign noted in 2015, Carnival joined a <a href="https://www.hrc.org/blog/carnival-corporation-joins-group-to-end-lgbt-discrimination-in-florida" type="external">coalition</a> of Florida employers to advocate for anti-discrimination legislation in t <a href="" type="internal">he Sunshine State</a>.</p>
<p>Carnival, like competitor Royal Caribbean, scored a perfect 100 on the <a href="" type="internal">HRC’s Corporate Equality Index</a>, which requires not just internal support for LGBT employees but external support for the broader <a href="" type="internal">LGBT</a> community.</p>
<p>Indeed, as CNBC <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/09/bermuda-same-sex-marriage-ban-means-trouble-for-tourism-cruise-ships.html" type="external">previously reported</a>, the overall LGBT-friendliness of the cruise and travel industry, could spell trouble for Bermuda in the months to come.</p>
<p>The legalization of same-sex marriage was a step forward for a territory that didn’t hold the highest level of appeal for traveling same-sex couples— <a href="https://www.lonelyplanet.com/bermuda/gay-and-lesbian-travellers" type="external">Lonely Planet</a>, for example, warns that although “gay travelers are unlikely to experience overt discrimination” in Bermuda, “open displays of affection are very much frowned upon—and the rapid rescinding of marriage equality seems unlikely to help that impression.</p>
<p>Time will tell if lost LGBT tourism dollars make enough of a splash to return same-sex marriage to the island—but, for now, Carnival’s involvement signals a possible wave of support for the effort.</p>
<p>OutBermuda told The Daily Beast they expect more corporations to show support for the challenge “in the weeks ahead.”</p> | true | 4 | february bermuda became first country world reban samesex marriage previously legalizing carnival cruise line hoping help become first country world relegalize samesex marriage much pressure take socially conservative island like bermuda buckle cnbc reported tuesday carnival corp announced providing financial civic public relations support lgbt rights charity outbermuda challenge recent overturning marriage equality cleared bermuda legislature december signed governor john rankin february stake cruise giant cnbc noted fact subsidiaries cunard pampo cruises able host samesex marriages board vessels anywhere planet businesses registered bermuda always abide laws countries sail believe travel tourism brings people cultures together powerful ways carnival said press statement result believe important stand lgbtq community bermuda many allies oppose actions restrict travel tourism carnival wading matter one first major signs potential backlash british overseas territory could face result samesex marriage repeal talk show host ellen degeneres handful celebrities called boycotts popular vacation destinationand bermuda tourism authority immediately respond daily beasts request comment previously warned repeal would result lost tourism bermudabut potential impacts yet come focus quantifiable way statement outbermuda told daily beast brief window yet seen relevant economic data apart news reports anecdotal evidence one anecdotal sign bermuda may fear economic impact legislation fact early march territorys minister home affairs delayed effective date marriage ban june allow samesex marriages occur island cruise ships registered bermuda royal gazette reported sarah kate ellis president lgbt advocacy group glaad interpreted move statement small walkback shows pressure tourism industry could tremendous power collectively speak marriage equality early point however power measured start finish day top stories daily beast speedy smart summary news need know nothing dont bermuda tourism authoritys publiclyavailable tourism data march 2018the first full month gov rankin signed banhas yet published 160 data number total leisure visitors january february shows slower start year compared 2016 2017 given samesex marriage repeal signed february 8and february saw yearoveryear increase total visitorsthat fact likely reflective broader industry trends outbermuda doesnt want wait economic consequences samesex marriage ban arrive getting legislation overturned royal gazette reported tuesday lgbt rights charity already process preparing legal challenge legislation effectively consigns samesex couples domestic partnerships benefits rather allowing get legally married outbermuda seeking order supreme courtthe supreme court legalized samesex marriage may 2017 gay couple petitioned right wed effort proves successful bermuda legalized samesex marriage repealed relegalized within span years marriage equality one issue facing lgbtq community outbermuda believes wellpositioned provide legal voice topic recently handled like political football bermuda charity said statement carnival cnbc reported also file affidavit support outbermuda involved challenge spokesperson carnival confirmed daily beast indeed looking see ban repealed yes hope help outbermuda efforts overturn law permit samesex marriages bermuda level involvement lgbtrelated affairs unusual cruise company human rights campaign noted 2015 carnival joined coalition florida employers advocate antidiscrimination legislation sunshine state carnival like competitor royal caribbean scored perfect 100 hrcs corporate equality index requires internal support lgbt employees external support broader lgbt community indeed cnbc previously reported overall lgbtfriendliness cruise travel industry could spell trouble bermuda months come legalization samesex marriage step forward territory didnt hold highest level appeal traveling samesex couples lonely planet example warns although gay travelers unlikely experience overt discrimination bermuda open displays affection much frowned uponand rapid rescinding marriage equality seems unlikely help impression time tell lost lgbt tourism dollars make enough splash return samesex marriage islandbut carnivals involvement signals possible wave support effort outbermuda told daily beast expect corporations show support challenge weeks ahead | 566 |
<p>The pre-ordained failure of a biased local prosecutor to obtain an indictment against Darren Wilson should not surprise us. But the movement for justice for Michael Brown has brought widespread attention to the nationwide problem of systemic and racist police violence and highlighted the movement that has come together to battle against it.</p>
<p>The Ferguson grand jury’s decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for the killing of African-American teenager Michael Brown is heartless but unsurprising. But it is important to place the case in context with the history of police violence investigations and prosecutions in high profile cases—and the systemic and racist police brutality that continues to plague the nation. In doing so, there are lessons for the movement for justice in the Michael Brown case, as well as for those who are engaged in the broader struggle against law enforcement violence.</p>
<p>What follows, then, is a brief history of similar&#160;high profile cases where public outrage&#160;compelled the justice system to&#160;confront acts of racially motivated&#160;police violence—with, to say the least,&#160;less than satisfactory results.</p>
<p>Over the past 45 years, Chicago has been a prime example of official indifference and cover-up when it comes to prosecuting the police for wanton brutality and torture.</p>
<p>On December 4, 1969, Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark were slain in a police raid that implicated the Cook County State’s Attorney and the FBI’s Cointelpro program. A public outcry led to a Federal Civil Rights investigation. Despite finding that the raiding police fired more than 90 shots to one by the Panthers, the Grand Jury in 1970 did not indict, but rather issued a report that equally blamed the police perpetrators and the Panther victims.</p>
<p>Outrage at this decision led to the appointment of a Special Prosecutor who, in the face of extreme official resistance, obtained an indictment against the police and the State’s Attorneys who planned and executed the raid—not for murder and attempted murder, but rather for obstruction of justice.</p>
<p>The case came to trial in front of a politically connected judge who dismissed the case without even requiring that the charged officials put on a defense. Again, the outrage, particularly in the African-American community was so extreme that the chief prosecutor, Edward V. Hanrahan, was voted out of office a week after the verdict was rendered in 1972.</p>
<p>The Jon Burge police torture scandal provides another stark example. Evidence that had been unearthed over the years demonstrated that a crew of predominately white Chicago police detectives, led by Jon Burge, tortured at least 120 African-American men from 1972 to 1991.</p>
<p>Cook County State’s Attorney Richard M. Daley was tendered powerful evidence of this torture as early as 1982, but did not investigate or prosecute Burge and his men. Daley’s office continued to use confessions tortured from the victims to send scores of them to prison—10 of whom went to death row, though they were later saved by a death penalty moratorium in 2000 and by a grant of clemency in 2003 by then-Governor George Ryan—during the next seven years.</p>
<p>In 1989, the local U.S. Attorneys’ office declined to prosecute, as did the Department of Justice in 1996 and Cook County State’s Attorney Richard Devine for the five years directly thereafter. In 2001, due to continuing public pressure, a politically connected Special Prosecutor was appointed to investigate the torture. But after a four year, $7 million investigation, he too refused to indict, instead issuing what is widely considered to be a whitewash report&#160;that absolved Daley, Devine, and numerous high Chicago police officials.</p>
<p>Finally, in 2008 the U.S. Attorney indicted Burge for perjury and obstruction of justice, and he was convicted in 2010, and sentenced to 4 ½ years in prison. However, the U.S. Attorney has subsequently declined to prosecute Burge’s confederates for similar offenses.</p>
<p>Chicago is by no means an isolated example of how difficult it is to obtain justice for wanton police violence through the judicial system. In New Orleans, a crew of white detectives responded to the killing of a white police officer in 1980 by terrorizing the black community of Algiers, killing four innocent people and torturing numerous others by “booking and bagging”&#160;them: beating suspects with telephone books and suffocating them with bags over their heads.</p>
<p>Seven officers were indicted by the Department of Justice for civil rights violations arising from the torture of one of the victims and three were convicted. &#160;No officers were charged for the four killings or for the other acts of torture.</p>
<p>In 2005, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, an NOPD officer fatally shot an unarmed black man named Henry Glover, then several of his fellow officers burned his body to cover-up their crime. NOPD officers also shot and killed two unarmed black men on the Danziger Bridge.</p>
<p>After state authorities botched their investigation, the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department indicted the officers involved in the two cases and obtained convictions of some of the main police actors. However, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit overturned the verdict in the Glover case, and the trial judge, citing government misconduct, took the extraordinary step of granting the convicted officers a new trial in the Danziger case.&#160;</p>
<p>In 1997, an NYPD officer sexually assaulted a Haitian-American man named Abner Louima in a precinct station bathroom by shoving a broken broomstick up his rectum. Louima’s attacker was subsequently charged with federal civil rights violations, while three of his police accomplices were charged with covering up the crimes.</p>
<p>After Louima’s attacker pleaded guilty, his accomplices were convicted, but the Second Circuit Court of Appeals overturned their convictions on the grounds that the lawyers who represented the officers had a conflict of interest. After they were convicted a second time, the Appeals Court again overturned their convictions—this time on the basis that there was insufficient evidence of intent.</p>
<p>In 1999, four officers from the NYPD’s Street Crimes Unit fired 41 shots at Amadou Diallo, a Guinean immigrant who was reaching for his wallet, hitting him 19 times. The officers were indicted for second degree murder and the case was moved to upstate New York, where a jury acquitted the officers.&#160;</p>
<p>In July of this year, NYPD officers arrested an African-American man named Eric Garner, allegedly for selling untaxed cigarettes. They put a prohibited chokehold on him, forced him to the ground face first with his hands behind his back, and shoved his face into the pavement, where he died a few minutes later of a heart attack. The deadly assault, which was captured on videotape, is now under investigation by a Special Grand Jury empaneled by the District Attorney’s Office.</p>
<p>Among the most notorious cases was the brutal 1991 beating of Rodney King by five LAPD officers. A videotape captured most of the brutality and also showed several other officers standing by and doing nothing to stop the pummeling of a defenseless black man.</p>
<p>Four officers were charged at the state level with assault with a deadly weapon and use of excessive force. The trial was moved to a predominantly white suburban county, and three of the officers were acquitted of all charges, while the fourth was acquitted of assault with a deadly weapon and other lesser charges. But the jury failed to reach a verdict on his use of excessive force.</p>
<p>After an angry uprising in the Africa- American community of Los Angeles that left 53 dead and around 2,000 injured, the U.S. Justice Department indicted the four officers, and a federal jury convicted two of them, while acquitting the other two.</p>
<p>This past August, LAPD officers fatally shot an unarmed mentally ill African-American man named Ezell Ford, who witnesses said was shot in the back while lying on the ground. Despite massive protests, there has been no grand jury investigation to date, the autopsy report is yet to be released, and the LAPD has not completed its investigation.</p>
<p>In Oakland, California in the late 1990s, a unit of police officers dubbed the “Rough Riders” systematically beat, framed and planted narcotics on African Americans whom they claimed were dealing drugs. Four of the “Riders” were indicted by the District Attorney’s Office, and the trial was moved to a suburban county. The ringleader fled the country, and was tried in absentia.</p>
<p>After a year-long trial before a bitterly divided jury on which there were no blacks, the officers were acquitted of eight charges, and the jury was hung on the remaining 27 counts. At the urging of then-Mayor Jerry Brown, the officers were not re-tried.</p>
<p>Also in Oakland, in the early morning hours of New Years Day, 2009, a BART officer shot and killed a young black man named Oscar Grant, who was lying face down, unarmed, &#160;in a busy transit station. The shooting was videotaped, and led to militant protests in Oakland.</p>
<p>Another jury with no black members rejected the charge of murder and instead found the officer guilty of involuntary manslaughter. As a result, Oscar Grant’s killer spent less than a year behind bars. The Department of Justice subsequently opened a civil rights investigation, but no charges were brought.</p>
<p>From 2007-2012 in Milwaukee, a unit of white police officers, spurred on by the Department’s CompStat program of aggressive policing, stopped and illegally body cavity searched more than 70 African-American men whom they claimed to be investigating for drug dealing. In conducting these searches, most commonly performed on the street, the searching officer reached inside the men’s underwear, and probed their anuses and genitals.</p>
<p>After this highly illegal practice came to light, the unit’s ringleader, Michael Vagnini, was indicted by the Milwaukee County District Attorney on numerous counts of sexual assault, illegal searches, and official misconduct, while three of the other unit officers were also charged for participating in two of the searches. The unit’s sergeant and several other members of the unit, all of whom were present for many of the searches, were not charged.</p>
<p>The charged officers were permitted to plead guilty to the lesser included offenses of official misconduct and illegal strip searches, with Vagnini receiving a 36-month sentence while the other three received sentences that totaled, collectively, less than a month in jail. By pleading guilty, they also received promises that they would not be charged with federal civil rights violations.</p>
<p>These high profile cases represent only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to cases where racist police violence has not been subjected to equal justice under the law.</p>
<p>Recently, the Justice Department declined to prosecute Little Rock, Arkansas, officers who shot and killed <a href="http://www.arktimes.com/arkansas/eugene-ellison-little-rocks-michael-brown/Content?oid=3514149" type="external">Eugene Ellison</a>, an elderly African American man who was walking out of his home with a cane in his hand, while there have been documented reports of unarmed black men recently being shot down by the police in Chicago; Houston; San Antonio; <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/ohio-wal-mart-where-cops-shot-black-man-pulls-pellet-n215156" type="external">Beaver Creek, Ohio</a>; and <a href="http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20140822/ARTICLE/140829888" type="external">Sarasota, Florida</a>.</p>
<p>In 1994, the United States Congress, recognizing that police misconduct and violence was systemic in many parts of the country, passed <a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/42/14141" type="external">42 U.S. Code Section 14141</a>, which empowered the Justice Department to file suit against police departments alleging patterns and practices of unconstitutional conduct, and to obtain wide ranging court orders, consent decrees, and independent monitors in order to implement reforms to those practices.</p>
<p>Although <a href="http://www.news.illinois.edu/news/14/0529policereform_StephenRushin.html" type="external">understaffed</a>, the Pattern and Practice Unit of the Justice Department has attacked systemic and discriminatory deficiencies in police hiring, supervision, and monitoring in numerous police departments over the past 20 years. &#160;A particularly egregious act or series of acts of police violence often prompts the Unit to initiate an investigation, and its lawyers have obtained consent decrees or court orders in Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Steubenville, Ohio, New Orleans, Puerto Rico, Oakland, and Miami.</p>
<p>Last month, lawyers handling the Little Rock cases requested that the DOJ do a pattern and investigation of the LRPD, and the Unit is reportedly now investigating the practices of the Ferguson Police Department. While these investigations are not a panacea, they offer a mechanism for exposing and reforming blatantly unconstitutional police practices, and have also demonstrated how pervasive the problem systemic police violence continues to be.</p>
<p>In light of this history, the pre-ordained failure of a biased local prosecutor to obtain an indictment against Darren Wilson should not surprise us. But the movement for justice for Michael Brown has brought widespread attention to the nationwide problem of systemic and racist police violence and highlighted the movement that has come together to battle against it.</p>
<p>Just two weeks ago, the Brown case, along with the Burge torture cases, was presented to the United Nations Committee Against Torture in Geneva. The movement should now turn its attention to the Department of Justice, demanding a federal civil rights indictment against Wilson a full scale pattern and practice investigation of the Ferguson Police Department, and, more broadly, an end to systemic and racist police violence.</p>
<p>As the history of the battle against racist police violence so pointedly teaches, the public outcry and agitation must continue not only in Ferguson but across the nation. Because as Frederick Douglas rightly stated many years ago, power concedes nothing without a demand.&#160;</p>
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<p>Flint Taylor is a founding partner of the People’s Law Office in Chicago. He is one of the lawyers for the families of slain Black Panther leaders Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, and together with his law partner Jeffrey Haas was trial counsel in the marathon 1976 civil trial. He has also represented many survivors of Chicago police torture, was involved in the struggle for reparations, and has done battle with the Chicago Police Department—and the Fraternal Order of Police—on numerous occasions over his 45 year career as a people’s lawyer</p> | true | 4 | preordained failure biased local prosecutor obtain indictment darren wilson surprise us movement justice michael brown brought widespread attention nationwide problem systemic racist police violence highlighted movement come together battle ferguson grand jurys decision indict ferguson police officer darren wilson killing africanamerican teenager michael brown heartless unsurprising important place case context history police violence investigations prosecutions high profile casesand systemic racist police brutality continues plague nation lessons movement justice michael brown case well engaged broader struggle law enforcement violence follows brief history similar160high profile cases public outrage160compelled justice system to160confront acts racially motivated160police violencewith say least160less satisfactory results past 45 years chicago prime example official indifference coverup comes prosecuting police wanton brutality torture december 4 1969 black panther leaders fred hampton mark clark slain police raid implicated cook county states attorney fbis cointelpro program public outcry led federal civil rights investigation despite finding raiding police fired 90 shots one panthers grand jury 1970 indict rather issued report equally blamed police perpetrators panther victims outrage decision led appointment special prosecutor face extreme official resistance obtained indictment police states attorneys planned executed raidnot murder attempted murder rather obstruction justice case came trial front politically connected judge dismissed case without even requiring charged officials put defense outrage particularly africanamerican community extreme chief prosecutor edward v hanrahan voted office week verdict rendered 1972 jon burge police torture scandal provides another stark example evidence unearthed years demonstrated crew predominately white chicago police detectives led jon burge tortured least 120 africanamerican men 1972 1991 cook county states attorney richard daley tendered powerful evidence torture early 1982 investigate prosecute burge men daleys office continued use confessions tortured victims send scores prison10 went death row though later saved death penalty moratorium 2000 grant clemency 2003 thengovernor george ryanduring next seven years 1989 local us attorneys office declined prosecute department justice 1996 cook county states attorney richard devine five years directly thereafter 2001 due continuing public pressure politically connected special prosecutor appointed investigate torture four year 7 million investigation refused indict instead issuing widely considered whitewash report160that absolved daley devine numerous high chicago police officials finally 2008 us attorney indicted burge perjury obstruction justice convicted 2010 sentenced 4 ½ years prison however us attorney subsequently declined prosecute burges confederates similar offenses chicago means isolated example difficult obtain justice wanton police violence judicial system new orleans crew white detectives responded killing white police officer 1980 terrorizing black community algiers killing four innocent people torturing numerous others booking bagging160them beating suspects telephone books suffocating bags heads seven officers indicted department justice civil rights violations arising torture one victims three convicted 160no officers charged four killings acts torture 2005 wake hurricane katrina nopd officer fatally shot unarmed black man named henry glover several fellow officers burned body coverup crime nopd officers also shot killed two unarmed black men danziger bridge state authorities botched investigation civil rights division justice department indicted officers involved two cases obtained convictions main police actors however court appeals fifth circuit overturned verdict glover case trial judge citing government misconduct took extraordinary step granting convicted officers new trial danziger case160 1997 nypd officer sexually assaulted haitianamerican man named abner louima precinct station bathroom shoving broken broomstick rectum louimas attacker subsequently charged federal civil rights violations three police accomplices charged covering crimes louimas attacker pleaded guilty accomplices convicted second circuit court appeals overturned convictions grounds lawyers represented officers conflict interest convicted second time appeals court overturned convictionsthis time basis insufficient evidence intent 1999 four officers nypds street crimes unit fired 41 shots amadou diallo guinean immigrant reaching wallet hitting 19 times officers indicted second degree murder case moved upstate new york jury acquitted officers160 july year nypd officers arrested africanamerican man named eric garner allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes put prohibited chokehold forced ground face first hands behind back shoved face pavement died minutes later heart attack deadly assault captured videotape investigation special grand jury empaneled district attorneys office among notorious cases brutal 1991 beating rodney king five lapd officers videotape captured brutality also showed several officers standing nothing stop pummeling defenseless black man four officers charged state level assault deadly weapon use excessive force trial moved predominantly white suburban county three officers acquitted charges fourth acquitted assault deadly weapon lesser charges jury failed reach verdict use excessive force angry uprising africa american community los angeles left 53 dead around 2000 injured us justice department indicted four officers federal jury convicted two acquitting two past august lapd officers fatally shot unarmed mentally ill africanamerican man named ezell ford witnesses said shot back lying ground despite massive protests grand jury investigation date autopsy report yet released lapd completed investigation oakland california late 1990s unit police officers dubbed rough riders systematically beat framed planted narcotics african americans claimed dealing drugs four riders indicted district attorneys office trial moved suburban county ringleader fled country tried absentia yearlong trial bitterly divided jury blacks officers acquitted eight charges jury hung remaining 27 counts urging thenmayor jerry brown officers retried also oakland early morning hours new years day 2009 bart officer shot killed young black man named oscar grant lying face unarmed 160in busy transit station shooting videotaped led militant protests oakland another jury black members rejected charge murder instead found officer guilty involuntary manslaughter result oscar grants killer spent less year behind bars department justice subsequently opened civil rights investigation charges brought 20072012 milwaukee unit white police officers spurred departments compstat program aggressive policing stopped illegally body cavity searched 70 africanamerican men claimed investigating drug dealing conducting searches commonly performed street searching officer reached inside mens underwear probed anuses genitals highly illegal practice came light units ringleader michael vagnini indicted milwaukee county district attorney numerous counts sexual assault illegal searches official misconduct three unit officers also charged participating two searches units sergeant several members unit present many searches charged charged officers permitted plead guilty lesser included offenses official misconduct illegal strip searches vagnini receiving 36month sentence three received sentences totaled collectively less month jail pleading guilty also received promises would charged federal civil rights violations high profile cases represent tip iceberg comes cases racist police violence subjected equal justice law recently justice department declined prosecute little rock arkansas officers shot killed eugene ellison elderly african american man walking home cane hand documented reports unarmed black men recently shot police chicago houston san antonio beaver creek ohio sarasota florida 1994 united states congress recognizing police misconduct violence systemic many parts country passed 42 us code section 14141 empowered justice department file suit police departments alleging patterns practices unconstitutional conduct obtain wide ranging court orders consent decrees independent monitors order implement reforms practices although understaffed pattern practice unit justice department attacked systemic discriminatory deficiencies police hiring supervision monitoring numerous police departments past 20 years 160a particularly egregious act series acts police violence often prompts unit initiate investigation lawyers obtained consent decrees court orders cincinnati pittsburgh steubenville ohio new orleans puerto rico oakland miami last month lawyers handling little rock cases requested doj pattern investigation lrpd unit reportedly investigating practices ferguson police department investigations panacea offer mechanism exposing reforming blatantly unconstitutional police practices also demonstrated pervasive problem systemic police violence continues light history preordained failure biased local prosecutor obtain indictment darren wilson surprise us movement justice michael brown brought widespread attention nationwide problem systemic racist police violence highlighted movement come together battle two weeks ago brown case along burge torture cases presented united nations committee torture geneva movement turn attention department justice demanding federal civil rights indictment wilson full scale pattern practice investigation ferguson police department broadly end systemic racist police violence history battle racist police violence pointedly teaches public outcry agitation must continue ferguson across nation frederick douglas rightly stated many years ago power concedes nothing without demand160 like youve read subscribe times magazine make taxdeductible donation fund reporting flint taylor founding partner peoples law office chicago one lawyers families slain black panther leaders fred hampton mark clark together law partner jeffrey haas trial counsel marathon 1976 civil trial also represented many survivors chicago police torture involved struggle reparations done battle chicago police departmentand fraternal order policeon numerous occasions 45 year career peoples lawyer | 1,345 |
<p>Oliver Stone</p>
<p>Before Oliver Stone’s movie on the Kennedy assassination was filmed, national news media began an effort to destroy JFK in the eyes of the public. But moviegoers turned out in droves to see JFK and make up their own minds about a film journalists had savaged as irresponsible and paranoid.</p>
<p>FAIR noticed that the news outlets and journalists that attacked JFK the most vociferously were the ones with the longest records of error and obstruction in defense of the flawed Warren Commission inquiry, which concluded that Lee Harvey Oswald had acted alone. Indeed, the factual and artistic license taken by Stone in creating his movie often paled in comparison to the gross inaccuracies peddled in national news reports over the last three decades.</p>
<p>DAN RATHER. The CBS anchor asked of JFK (12/16/91): “Is it an outright rewrite of history?” On the day after the assassination, as the CBS reporter covering JFK’s trip to Dallas, Rather rewrote the most important piece of evidence in the case: the Zapruder film.</p>
<p>The first journalist to view the 20-second film of the assassination, taken by Abraham Zapruder with his home movie camera, Rather reported to a national audience that the fatal head shot drove Kennedy “violently forward.” As viewers of JFK know, the Zapruder footage shows just the opposite: Kennedy’s head is driven violently backward, suggesting the fatal shot may have been fired from the Grassy Knoll area in front of the motorcade. But the government theory, announced within hours of the killing, had all shots fired by Oswald from behind Kennedy in the Book Depository.</p>
<p>Dan Rather later explained (in his book The Camera Never Blinks) that he made this mistake because his viewing of the film was so rushed. But this error (in the government’s favor) didn’t hurt Rather’s career; in fact, his rise up the CBS ladder was aided by major reporting assignments on documentaries (in 1964, 1967 and 1975) that did evidentiary somersaults in defense of the Warren Commission.</p>
<p>Frame from the Zapruder film</p>
<p>TIME-LIFE, INC. Time-Life paid $150,000 to buy all rights to the Zapruder film, and instead of making it available to experts or journalists, spent the next decade trying to prevent the footage from being seen or studied (Publisher’s Weekly, “Life Sues to Enjoin Book on Assassination of Kennedy,” 12/25/67). Life publisher C.D. Jackson, who ordered the Zapruder film kept from public view, was a close CIA associate (New Times, 10/1/76).</p>
<p>While hoarding the Zapruder film, Life magazine repeatedly distorted what the footage showed. One Life article (10/2/64) claimed that the fatal shot caused Kennedy’s “skull to explode forward.” Another argued (12/6/63) that Oswald had shot JFK in the throat from the rear by claiming—falsely—that the film showed the president turning far around to wave to someone in the crowd.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Time magazine assailed Warren Commission critics as “leftists,” “Communists,” or, in the case of Bertrand Russell, “that sometime philosopher” (6/12/64). Six months before JFK opened, with the movie only half-filmed, a Time subheadline (6/10/91) referred to Oliver Stone’s “strange, widely disputed take on the Kennedy assassination.”</p>
<p>NEW YORK TIMES. The “paper of record” has broken all records in heavy lifting for the Warren Commission. From day one in Dallas to opening night for JFK, the New York Times has specialized in the selective usage of evidence while denouncing people like Oliver Stone for doing the same.</p>
<p>Besides publishing editions of the Warren Report, the New York Times compiled a book, The Witnesses, which offered highly selective “highlights” of testimony before the commission. The book included a witness’ statement that he’d seen a man with a rifle on the sixth floor of the Book Depository, but not his testimony that he’d actually seen two men there, and that an FBI agent told him to “forget it.” Deleted from the testimony of Abraham Zapruder and others were their impressions that shots were fired from in front of JFK. Omitted from the testimony of the autopsy surgeon was the bizarre admission that he’d burned the notes and draft of his autopsy.</p>
<p>The day after the Warren Report was released (9/28/64), Anthony Lewis, then the Times’ Supreme Court reporter, wrote that “the commission analyzed every issue in exhaustive, almost archeological detail.” Still supporting the Warren Report 27 years later, Lewis (1/9/92) claimed that TV was fascinated with Stone but “has no time for the man who knows more of the actual facts of the assassination than anyone else: David Belin, who was counsel to the Warren Commission and has seen every document, every CIA file.” Belin, who was also executive director of the Rockefeller Commission’s 1975 whitewash of the CIA, has been lavished with media attention for decades (most recently, he was on Nightline–1/22/92–and had an anti-Stone op-ed with Gerald Ford in the Washington Post, 12/17/91). Lewis, who normally supports freedom of information, asks the public to rely not on the CIA files themselves, but on what a government lawyer says the files say.</p>
<p>After the House Assassinations Committee concluded in 1979 that two gunman had probably fired at JFK, Times editors were unswayed (1/7/79): “To the lay public, the word ‘conspiracy’ is freighted with dark connotations of malevolence perpetrated by enemies. But ‘two maniacs instead of one’ might be more like it.”</p>
<p>Is Oliver Stone’s conspiracy theory any more absurd than the New York Times’ invention of the “two maniacs” theory? Ironically, one of the Times’ many recent critiques of JFK (by Tom Wicker, 12/15/91) was headlined: “Does JFK Conspire Against Reason?”</p>
<p>WASHINGTON POST. Throughout the 1960s, the Washington Post denounced proponents of a JFK murder conspiracy as irresponsible kooks. But in 1976, the Post promoted its own kooky conspiracy theories…as long as the finger pointed at Fidel Castro. One Post article speculated that Kennedy was killed by a conspiracy of Castro and the Mafia (who’d been thrown out of Havana by Castro). Seven months before JFK opened, the Post returned from kookdom to denunciation mode, accusing Stone of exploiting “the edge of paranoia.”</p>
<p>Kevin Costner as Jim Garrison in ‘JFK’</p>
<p>JACK ANDERSON. The columnist has excoriated JFK for relying on dubious sources such as Jim Garrison. In the mid-1970s, Anderson penned “Castro killed JFK” columns sourced to Frank Sturgis, the Watergate burglar whose anti-Castro guerrilla activities had been shut down by the Kennedy administration. On the day after the assassination, Sturgis says an FBI agent told him, “Frank, if there’s anyone capable of killing the president, you’re one guy that can do it.” In August 1974, Sturgis told True magazine: “The liberals have twisted everything. If I had my chance, I’d kill every one of them.” On the subject of who killed JFK, Sturgis was a dubious source indeed.</p>
<p>Oliver Stone made a Hollywood movie, and chose a flawed hero in District Attorney Jim Garrison to drive his drama. Stone acknowledges that his movie is a work of fiction, a “countermyth” to the “lone assassin myth.”</p>
<p>Journalists, however, aren’t supposed to deal in myth but in facts. In the JFK assassination, they failed. Perhaps that explains the ferocity of their attack on JFK .</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>SIDEBAR:</p>
<p>The crossfire aimed at JFK has claimed at feast one bystander—Pat Dowell, a movie critic for Washingtonian magazine, who resigned in protest after editor Jack Limpert spiked her review of the Oliver Stone movie (Washington City Paper, 1/24/92). After Limpert killed the capsule review, which said, “If you didn’t already doubt the Warren Commission report, you will after seeing Oliver Stone’s brilliantly crafted indictment of history as an official story,” Dowell wrote in protest: “The editors of Time, Newsweek and the [Washington] Post… have all sputtered in protest about JFK’s controversial speculations, but those editors felt no need to soften, censor or omit the rave reviews of the movie by their critics.”</p>
<p>Dowell demanded that editor Limpert run her review or accept her resignation: “I cannot in good conscience keep my job at the price of tailoring my evaluation of a film’s merits to fit someone else’s idea of political (or cinematic) correctness.”</p>
<p>Limpert accepted her resignation. “My job,” he wrote her, “is to protect the magazine’s reputation and it seemed to me that Stone’s film went to the heart of what kind of city this is.”</p>
<p>Dowell told the New York Post (1/25/92) that her former editor “identifies with the Washington elite who are policy makers, pundits and government officials, who are accused in the film of possibly taking part in a conspiracy or at least in a cover-up…. I think the heart of Washington is the rest of us poor schmoes.”</p> | true | 4 | oliver stone oliver stones movie kennedy assassination filmed national news media began effort destroy jfk eyes public moviegoers turned droves see jfk make minds film journalists savaged irresponsible paranoid fair noticed news outlets journalists attacked jfk vociferously ones longest records error obstruction defense flawed warren commission inquiry concluded lee harvey oswald acted alone indeed factual artistic license taken stone creating movie often paled comparison gross inaccuracies peddled national news reports last three decades dan rather cbs anchor asked jfk 121691 outright rewrite history day assassination cbs reporter covering jfks trip dallas rather rewrote important piece evidence case zapruder film first journalist view 20second film assassination taken abraham zapruder home movie camera rather reported national audience fatal head shot drove kennedy violently forward viewers jfk know zapruder footage shows opposite kennedys head driven violently backward suggesting fatal shot may fired grassy knoll area front motorcade government theory announced within hours killing shots fired oswald behind kennedy book depository dan rather later explained book camera never blinks made mistake viewing film rushed error governments favor didnt hurt rathers career fact rise cbs ladder aided major reporting assignments documentaries 1964 1967 1975 evidentiary somersaults defense warren commission frame zapruder film timelife inc timelife paid 150000 buy rights zapruder film instead making available experts journalists spent next decade trying prevent footage seen studied publishers weekly life sues enjoin book assassination kennedy 122567 life publisher cd jackson ordered zapruder film kept public view close cia associate new times 10176 hoarding zapruder film life magazine repeatedly distorted footage showed one life article 10264 claimed fatal shot caused kennedys skull explode forward another argued 12663 oswald shot jfk throat rear claimingfalselythat film showed president turning far around wave someone crowd meanwhile time magazine assailed warren commission critics leftists communists case bertrand russell sometime philosopher 61264 six months jfk opened movie halffilmed time subheadline 61091 referred oliver stones strange widely disputed take kennedy assassination new york times paper record broken records heavy lifting warren commission day one dallas opening night jfk new york times specialized selective usage evidence denouncing people like oliver stone besides publishing editions warren report new york times compiled book witnesses offered highly selective highlights testimony commission book included witness statement hed seen man rifle sixth floor book depository testimony hed actually seen two men fbi agent told forget deleted testimony abraham zapruder others impressions shots fired front jfk omitted testimony autopsy surgeon bizarre admission hed burned notes draft autopsy day warren report released 92864 anthony lewis times supreme court reporter wrote commission analyzed every issue exhaustive almost archeological detail still supporting warren report 27 years later lewis 1992 claimed tv fascinated stone time man knows actual facts assassination anyone else david belin counsel warren commission seen every document every cia file belin also executive director rockefeller commissions 1975 whitewash cia lavished media attention decades recently nightline12292and antistone oped gerald ford washington post 121791 lewis normally supports freedom information asks public rely cia files government lawyer says files say house assassinations committee concluded 1979 two gunman probably fired jfk times editors unswayed 1779 lay public word conspiracy freighted dark connotations malevolence perpetrated enemies two maniacs instead one might like oliver stones conspiracy theory absurd new york times invention two maniacs theory ironically one times many recent critiques jfk tom wicker 121591 headlined jfk conspire reason washington post throughout 1960s washington post denounced proponents jfk murder conspiracy irresponsible kooks 1976 post promoted kooky conspiracy theoriesas long finger pointed fidel castro one post article speculated kennedy killed conspiracy castro mafia whod thrown havana castro seven months jfk opened post returned kookdom denunciation mode accusing stone exploiting edge paranoia kevin costner jim garrison jfk jack anderson columnist excoriated jfk relying dubious sources jim garrison mid1970s anderson penned castro killed jfk columns sourced frank sturgis watergate burglar whose anticastro guerrilla activities shut kennedy administration day assassination sturgis says fbi agent told frank theres anyone capable killing president youre one guy august 1974 sturgis told true magazine liberals twisted everything chance id kill every one subject killed jfk sturgis dubious source indeed oliver stone made hollywood movie chose flawed hero district attorney jim garrison drive drama stone acknowledges movie work fiction countermyth lone assassin myth journalists however arent supposed deal myth facts jfk assassination failed perhaps explains ferocity attack jfk 160 sidebar crossfire aimed jfk claimed feast one bystanderpat dowell movie critic washingtonian magazine resigned protest editor jack limpert spiked review oliver stone movie washington city paper 12492 limpert killed capsule review said didnt already doubt warren commission report seeing oliver stones brilliantly crafted indictment history official story dowell wrote protest editors time newsweek washington post sputtered protest jfks controversial speculations editors felt need soften censor omit rave reviews movie critics dowell demanded editor limpert run review accept resignation good conscience keep job price tailoring evaluation films merits fit someone elses idea political cinematic correctness limpert accepted resignation job wrote protect magazines reputation seemed stones film went heart kind city dowell told new york post 12592 former editor identifies washington elite policy makers pundits government officials accused film possibly taking part conspiracy least coverup think heart washington rest us poor schmoes | 851 |
<p>The most important words anyone said to me in the weeks immediately after September 11, 2001, came from my friend James Koplin. While acknowledging the significance of that day, he said, simply: “I was in a profound state of grief about the world before 9/11, and nothing that happened on that day has significantly changed what the world looks like to me.”</p>
<p>Because Jim is a bit older and considerably smarter than I, it took me some time to catch up to him, but eventually I recognized his insight. He was warning me that even we lefties — trained to keep an eye on systems and structures of power rather than obsessing about individual politicians and single events — were missing the point if we accepted the conventional wisdom that 9/11 “changed everything,” as the saying went then. He was right, and today I want to talk about four fundamentalisms loose in the world and the long-term crisis to which they point.</p>
<p>Before we head there, a note on the short-term crisis: I have been involved in U.S. organizing against the so-called “war on terror,” which has provided cover for the attempts to expand and deepen U.S. control over the strategically crucial resources of Central Asia and the Middle East, part of a global strategy that the Bush administration openly acknowledges is aimed at unchallengeable U.S domination of the world. For U.S. planners, that “world” includes not only the land and seas — and, of course, the resources beneath them — but space above as well. It is our world to arrange and dispose of as they see fit, in support of our “blessed lifestyle.” Other nations can have a place in that world as long as they are willing to assume the role that the United States determines appropriate. The vision of U.S. policymakers is of a world very ordered, by them.</p>
<p>This description of U.S. policy is no caricature. Anyone who doubts my summary can simply read the <a href="" type="internal">National Security Strategy</a> document released in 2002 and the <a href="" type="internal">2006 update</a> and review <a href="http://www.zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/interventions.htm" type="external">post-World War II U.S. history</a>. Read and review, but only if you don’t mind waking up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat of fear. But as scary as these paranoid, power-mad policymakers’ delusions may be, Jim was talking about a feeling beyond that fear — a grief that is much broader and goes much deeper.</p>
<p>Opposing the war-of-the-moment — and going beyond that to challenge the whole imperial project — is important. But also important is the work of thinking through the nature of the larger forces that leave us in this grief-stricken position. We need to go beyond Bush. We should recognize the seriousness of the threat that this particular gang of thieves and thugs poses and resist their policies, but not mistake them for the core of the problem.</p>
<p>FUNDAMENTALISMS</p>
<p>One way to come to terms with these forces is to understand the United States as a society in the grip of four fundamentalisms. In ascending order of threat, I identify these fundamentalisms as religious, national, economic, and technological. All share some similar characteristics, while each poses a particular threat to sustainable democracy and sustainable life on the planet. Each needs separate analysis and strategies for resistance.</p>
<p>Let’s start by defining fundamentalism. The term has a specific meaning in Protestant history (an early 20th century movement to promote “The Fundamentals”), but I want to use it in a more general fashion to describe any intellectual/political/theological position that asserts an absolute certainty in the truth and/or righteousness of a belief system. Such fundamentalism leads to an inclination to want to marginalize, or in some cases eliminate, alternative ways to understand and organize the world. After all, what’s the point of engaging in honest dialogue with those who believe in heretical systems that are so clearly wrong or even evil? In this sense, fundamentalism is an extreme form of hubris, a delusional overconfidence not only in one’s beliefs but in the ability of humans to know much of anything definitively. In the way I use the term, fundamentalism isn’t unique to religious people but is instead a feature of a certain approach to the world, rooted in the mistaking of very limited knowledge for wisdom.</p>
<p>The antidote to fundamentalism is humility, that recognition of just how contingent our knowledge about the world is. We need to adopt what sustainable agriculture researcher Wes Jackson calls “ <a href="" type="internal">an ignorance-based worldview,</a>” an approach to world that acknowledges that what we don’t know dwarfs what we do know about a complex world. Acknowledging our basic ignorance does not mean we should revel in stupidity, but rather should spur us to recognize that we have an obligation to act intelligently on the basis not only of what we know but what we don’t know. When properly understood, I think such humility is implicit in traditional/indigenous systems and also ­the key lesson to be taken from the Enlightenment and modern science (a contentious claim, perhaps, given the way in which modern science tends to overreach). The Enlightenment insight, however, is not that human reason can know everything, but that we can give up attempts to know everything and be satisfied with knowing what we can know. That is, we can be content in making it up as we go along, cautiously. One of the tragedies of the modern world is that too few have learned that lesson.</p>
<p>Fundamentalists, no matter what the specific belief system, believe in their ability to know a lot. That is why it can be so easy for fundamentalists to move from one totalizing belief system to another. For example, I have a faculty colleague who shifted from being a dogmatic communist to a dogmatic right-wing evangelical Christian. When people hear of his conversion they often express amazement, though to me it always seemed easy to understand — he went from one fundamentalism to another. What matters is not so much the content but the shape of the belief system. Such systems should worry us.</p>
<p>That said, not all fundamentalisms pose the same danger to democracy and sustainability. So, let’s go through the four I have identified: religious, national, economic, and technological.</p>
<p>RELIGION AND NATION</p>
<p>The fundamentalism that attracts the most attention is religious. In the United States, the predominant form is Christian. Elsewhere in the world, Islamic, Jewish, and Hindu fundamentalisms are attractive to some significant portion of populations, either spread across a diaspora or concentrated in one region, or both. Given all the attention focused on religious fundamentalism, I’ll assume everyone has at least a passing acquaintance with the phenomenon and is aware of its threats.</p>
<p>But religious fundamentalism is not necessarily the most serious fundamentalist threat loose in the world today. Certainly much evil has been done in the world in the name of religion, especially the fundamentalist varieties, and we can expect more in the future. But, moving up the list, we also can see clearly the problems posed by national fundamentalism.</p>
<p>Nationalism poses a threat everywhere but should especially concern us in the United States, where the capacity for destruction in the hands of the most powerful state in the history of the world is exacerbated by a pathological hyper-patriotism that tends to suppress internal criticism and leave many unable to hear critique from outside. In other writing (Chapter 3 of <a href="" type="internal">Citizens of the Empire</a>) I have outlined in some detail an argument that patriotism is intellectually and morally bankrupt. Here, let me simply point out that because a nation-state is an abstraction (lines on a map, not a naturally occurring object), assertions of patriotism (defined as love of or loyalty to a nation-state) raise a simple question: To what we are pledging our love and loyalty? How is that abstraction made real? I conclude that all the possible answers are indefensible and that instead of pledging allegiance to a nation, we should acknowledge and celebrate our connections to real people in our lives while also declaring a commitment to universal principles, but reject offering commitment to arbitrary political units that in the modern era have been the vehicle for such barbarism and brutality.</p>
<p>That critique applies across the board, but because of our power and peculiar history, a rejection of national fundamentalism is most crucial in the United States. The dominant conception of that history is captured in the phrase “the city upon a hill,” the notion that the United States came into the world as the first democracy, a beacon to the world. In addition to setting the example, as soon as it had the capacity to project its power around the world, the United States claimed to be the vehicle for bringing democracy to that world. These are particularly odd claims for a nation that owes its very existence to one of the most successful genocides in recorded history, the near-complete extermination of indigenous peoples to secure the land and resource base for the United States. Odder still when one looks at the U.S. practice of African slavery that propelled the United States into the industrial world, and considers the enduring apartheid system — once formal and now informal — that arose from it. And odd-to-the-point-of-bizarre in the context of imperial America’s behavior in the world since it emerged as the lone superpower and made central to its foreign policy in the post-WWII era attacks on any challenge in the Third World to U.S. dominance.</p>
<p>While all the empires that have committed great crimes — the British, French, Belgians, Japanese, Russians and then the Soviets — have justified their exploitation of others by the alleged benefits it brought to the people being exploited, there is no power so convinced of its own benevolence as the United States. The culture is delusional in its commitment to this mythology, which is why today one can find on the other side of the world peasant farmers with no formal education who understand better the nature of U.S. power than many faculty members at elite U.S. universities. This national fundamentalism rooted in the assumption of the benevolence of U.S. foreign and military policy works to trump critical inquiry. As long as a significant component of the U.S. public — and virtually the entire elite — accept this national fundamentalism, the world is at risk.</p>
<p>ECONOMICS</p>
<p>Economic fundamentalism, synonymous these days with market fundamentalism, presents another grave threat. After fall of the Soviet system, the naturalness of capitalism is now taken to be beyond question. The dominant assumption about corporate capitalism in the United States is not simply that it is the best among competing economic systems, but that it is the only sane and rational way to organize an economy in the contemporary world.</p>
<p>In capitalism, (1) property, including capital assets, is owned and controlled by private persons; (2) people sell their labor for money wages, and (3) goods and services are allocated by markets. In contemporary market fundamentalism, also referred to as neoliberalism, it’s assumed that most extensive use of markets possible will unleash maximal competition, resulting in the greatest good — and all this is inherently just, no matter what the results. The reigning ideology of so-called “free trade” seeks to impose this neoliberalism everywhere on the globe. In this fundamentalism, it is an article of faith that the “invisible hand” of the market always provides the preferred result, no matter how awful the consequences may be for real people.</p>
<p>A corresponding tenet of the market fundamentalist view is that the government should not interfere in any of this; the appropriate role of government, we are told, is to stay out of the economy. This is probably the most ridiculous aspect of the ideology, for the obvious reason that it is the government that establishes the rules for the system (currency, contract law, etc.) and decides whether the wealth accumulated under previous sets of rules should be allowed to remain in the hands of those who accumulated it (typically in ways immoral, illegal, or both; we should recall the quip that behind every great fortune is a great crime) or be redistributed. To argue that government should stay out of the economy merely obscures the obvious fact that without the government — that is, without rules established through some kind of collective action — there would be no economy. The government can’t stay out because it’s in from the ground floor, and assertions that government intervention into markets is inherently illegitimate are just silly.</p>
<p>Adding to the absurdity of all this is the hypocrisy of the market fundamentalists, who are quick to call on government to bail them out when things go sour (in recent U.S history, the savings-and-loan and auto industries are the most outrageous examples). And then there’s the reality of how some government programs — most notably the military and space departments — act as conduits for the transfer of public money to private corporations under the guise of “national defense” and the “exploration of space.” And then there’s the problem of market failure — the inability of private markets to provide some goods or provide other goods at the most desirable levels — of which economists are well aware.</p>
<p>In other words, economic fundamentalism — the worship of markets combined with steadfast denial about how the system actually operates — leads to a world in which not only are facts irrelevant to the debate, but people learn to ignore their own experience.</p>
<p>On the facts: There is a widening gap between rich and poor, both worldwide and within most nations. According to U.N. statistics, about a quarter of the world’s population lives on less than $1 a day and nearly half live on less than $2. The 2005 U.N. Report on the World Social Situation, aptly titled “The Inequality Predicament,” stresses:</p>
<p>“Ignoring inequality in the pursuit of development is perilous. Focusing exclusively on economic growth and income generation as a development strategy is ineffective, as it leads to the accumulation of wealth by a few and deepens the poverty of many; such an approach does not acknowledge the intergenerational transmission of poverty.”</p>
<p>That’s where the data lead. But I want to highlight the power of this fundamentalism by reminding us of a common acronym: TGIF. Everyone in the United States knows what that means: “Thank God it’s Friday.” The majority of Americans don’t just know what TGIF stands for, they feel it in their bones. That’s a way of saying that a majority of Americans do work they generally do not like and do not believe is really worth doing. That’s a way of saying that we have an economy in which most people spend at least a third of their lives doing things they don’t want to do and don’t believe are valuable. We are told this is a way of organizing an economy that is natural.</p>
<p>TECHNOLOGY</p>
<p>Religious, national, and economic fundamentalisms are dangerous. They are systems of thought — or, more accurately, systems of non-thought; as Wes Jackson puts it, “ <a href="http://www.oriononline.org/pages/oo/sidebars/America/Jackson.html" type="external">fundamentalism takes over where thought leaves off</a>” — that are at the core of much of the organized violence in the world today. They are systems that are deployed to constrain real freedom and justify illegitimate authority. But it may turn out that those fundamentalisms are child’s play compared with U.S. society’s technological fundamentalism.</p>
<p>Most concisely defined, technological fundamentalism is the assumption that the increasing use of increasingly more sophisticated high-energy, advanced technology is always a good thing and that any problems caused by the unintended consequences of such technology eventually can be remedied by more technology. Those who question such declarations are often said to be “anti-technology,” which is a meaningless insult. All human beings use technology of some kind, whether it’s stone tools or computers. An anti-fundamentalist position is not that all technology is bad, but that the introduction of new technology should be evaluated on the basis of its effects — predictable and unpredictable — on human communities and the non-human world, with an understanding of the limits of our knowledge.</p>
<p>Our experience with unintended consequences is fairly clear. For example, there’s the case of automobiles and the burning of petroleum in internal-combustion engines, which gave us the interstate highway system and contributes to global warming. We haven’t quite figured out how to cope with these problems, and in retrospect it might have been wise to go slower in the development of a transportation system based on the car and think through the consequences.</p>
<p>Or how about CFCs and the ozone hole? Chlorofluorocarbons have a variety of industrial, commercial, and household applications, including in air conditioning. They were thought to be a miracle chemical when introduced in the 1930s — non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-reactive with other chemical compounds. But in the 1980s, researchers began to understand that while CFCs are stable in the troposphere, when they move to the stratosphere and are broken down by strong ultraviolet light they release chlorine atoms that deplete the ozone layer. This unintended effect deflated the exuberance a bit. Depletion of the ozone layer means that more UV radiation reaches the Earth’s surface, and overexposure to UV radiation is a cause of skin cancer, cataracts, and immune suppression.</p>
<p>But, the technological fundamentalists might argue, we got a handle on that one and banned CFCs, and now the ozone hole is closing. True enough, but what lessons have been learned? Society didn’t react to the news about CFCs by thinking about ways to step back from a world that has become dependent on air conditioning, but instead looked for replacements to keep the air conditioning running. So, the reasonable question is: When will the unintended effects of the CFC replacements become visible? If not the ozone hole, what’s next? There’s no way to predict, but it seems reasonable to ask the question and sensible to assume the worst.</p>
<p>This technological fundamentalism makes it clear why Jackson’s call for an ignorance-based worldview is so important. If we were to step back and confront honestly the technologies we have unleashed — out of that hubris, believing our knowledge is adequate to control the consequences of our science and technology — I doubt any of us would ever get a good night’s sleep. We humans have been overdriving our intellectual headlights for some time, most dramatically in the second half of the 20th century. Most obviously, there are two places we have gone, with reckless abandon, where we had no business going — into the atom and into the cell.</p>
<p>On the former: The deeper we break into the energy package, the greater the risks we take. Building fires with sticks gathered from around the camp is relatively easy to manage, but breaking into increasingly earlier material of the universe — such as fossil fuels and, eventually, heavy metal uranium — is quite a different project, more complex and far beyond our capacity to control. Likewise, manipulating plants through selective breeding is local and manageable, whereas breaking into the workings of the gene — the foundational material of life — takes us to places we have no way to understand.</p>
<p>We live now in the uncomfortable position of realizing we have moved too far and too fast, outstripping our capacity to manage safely the world we have created. The answer is not some naïve return to a romanticized past, but a recognition of what we have created and a systematic evaluation of how to step back from our most dangerous missteps.</p>
<p>REDEFINING A GOOD LIFE</p>
<p>Central to that project is realizing that we have to learn to live with less, which we can accomplish only when we recognize that living with less is crucial not only to ecological survival but long-term human fulfillment. People in the United States live with an abundance of most everything — except meaning. The people who have the most in material terms seem to spend the most time in therapy, searching for answers to their own alienation. This “blessed lifestyle” — a term Bush’s spokesman used in 2000 to describe the president’s view of U.S. affluence — perhaps is more accurately also seen as a curse.</p>
<p>Let’s return to CFCs and air-conditioning. To someone who lives in Texas, with its miserable heat half the year, it’s reasonable to ask: If not air-conditioning, then what? One possible reasonable response is, of course, to vacate Texas, a strategy I ponder often. More realistic: The “cracker house,” a term from Florida and Georgia to describe houses built before air-conditioning that utilize shade, cross-ventilation, and various building techniques to create a livable space even in the summer in the deep South. Of course, even with all that, there are times when it’s hot in a cracker house — so hot that one doesn’t want to do much of anything but drink iced tea and sit on the porch. That raises a question: What’s so bad about sitting on the porch drinking iced tea instead of sitting inside in an air-conditioned house?</p>
<p>A world that steps back from high-energy/high-technology answers to all questions will no doubt be a harder world in some ways. But the way people cope without such “solutions” can help create and solidify human bonds. In this sense, the high-energy/high-technology world often contributes to impoverished relationships and the destruction of longstanding cultural practices and the information those practices carry. So, stepping back from this fundamentalism is not simply sacrifice but an exchange of a certain kind of comfort and easy amusement for a different set of rewards.</p>
<p>Articulating this is important in a world in which people have come to believe the good life is synonymous with consumption and the ability to acquire increasingly sophisticated technology. To miss the way in which turning from the high-energy/high-technology can improve our lives, then, supports the techno-fundamentalists, such as this writer in the Wired magazine:</p>
<p>“Green-minded activists failed to move the broader public not because they were wrong about the problems, but because the solutions they offered were unappealing to most people. They called for tightening belts and curbing appetites, turning down the thermostat and living lower on the food chain. They rejected technology, business, and prosperity in favor of returning to a simpler way of life. No wonder the movement got so little traction. Asking people in the world’s wealthiest, most advanced societies to turn their backs on the very forces that drove such abundance is naïve at best.”</p>
<p>Naïve, perhaps, but not as naïve as the belief that unsustainable systems can be sustained indefinitely. With that writer’s limited vision — which is what passes for vision in this culture — it’s not surprising that he advocates economic and technological fundamentalist solutions:</p>
<p>“With climate change hard upon us, a new green movement is taking shape, one that embraces environmentalism’s concerns but rejects its worn-out answers. Technology can be a font of endlessly creative solutions. Business can be a vehicle for change. Prosperity can help us build the kind of world we want. Scientific exploration, innovative design, and cultural evolution are the most powerful tools we have. Entrepreneurial zeal and market forces, guided by sustainable policies, can propel the world into a bright green future.”</p>
<p>In other words: Let’s ignore our experience and throw the dice. Let’s take naiveté to new heights. Let’s forget all we should have learned.</p>
<p>WHAT’S NEXT?</p>
<p>So far, it appears my criticism has been of the fundamentalist versions of religion, nation, capitalism, and high-technology. But the problem goes deeper than the most exaggerated versions of these systems. If there is to be a livable future, religion as we know it, the nation-state, capitalism, and what we think of as advanced technology will have to give way to new ways of understanding the world and organizing ourselves. We still have to find ways to struggle with the mystery of the world through ritual and art; organize ourselves politically; produce and distribute goods and services; and create the tools we need to do all these things. But the existing systems have proven inadequate to the task. On each front, we need major conceptual revolutions.</p>
<p>I don’t pretend to have answers, nor should anyone else. We are at the beginning of a long process of redefining what it means to be human in relation to others and to the non-human world. We are still formulating questions. Some find this a depressing situation, but we could just as well see it as a time that opens incredible opportunities for creativity. To live in unsettled times — especially times in which it’s not difficult to imagine life as we know it becoming increasingly untenable — is both frightening and exhilarating. In that sense, my friend’s acknowledgement of profound grief need not scare us but instead can be a place from which we see clearly and gather the strength to move forward.</p>
<p>What is that path? Tracking the four fundamentalisms, we can see some turns we need to make.</p>
<p>Technologically: We need to stop talking about progress in terms that reflexively glorify faster and more powerful devices, and instead adopt a standard for judging progress based on the real effects on humans and the wider world of which we are a part.</p>
<p>Economically: We need to stop talking about growth in terms of more production and adopt a standard for economic growth and development based on meeting human needs.</p>
<p>Nationally: We need to stop talking about national security and the national interest — code words for serving the goals of the powerful — and focus on people’s interests in being secure in the basics: food, shelter, education, and communal solidarity.</p>
<p>Religiously: We need to stop trying to pin down God. We can understand God as simply the name we give to that which is beyond our ability to understand, and recognize that the attempt to create rules for how to know God is always a failed project.</p>
<p>I want to end by reinforcing the ultimate importance of that recognition: Most of the world is complex beyond our ability to comprehend. It’s not that there’s nothing we can know through our rational faculties, but that it’s essential we recognize the limits of those faculties. We need to reject the fundamentalist streak in all of us, religious or secular, whatever our political affiliation.</p>
<p>We need to stop mistaking cleverness for wisdom. We need to embrace our limits — our ignorance — in the hopes that we can stop being so stupid.</p>
<p>When we do that we are coming to terms with the kind of animals we are, in all our glory and all our limitations. That embrace of our limitations is an embrace of a larger world of which we are a part, more glorious than most of us ever experience.</p>
<p>When we do that — if we can find our way clear to do that — I think we make possible love in this world. Not an idealized love, but a real love that recognizes the joy that is possible and the grief that is inevitable.</p>
<p>It is my dream to live in that world, to live in that love.</p>
<p>There is much work to be done if we want that world. There is enormous struggle that can’t be avoided. When we allow ourselves to face it, we will realize that ahead of us there is suffering beyond description, as well as potential for transcending that suffering.</p>
<p>There is grief and joy.</p>
<p>And there is nothing to do but face it.</p>
<p>ROBERT JENSEN is a journalism professor at the University of Texas at Austin and a member of the board of the <a href="http://thirdcoastactivist.org/" type="external">Third Coast Activist Resource Center</a>. He is the author of <a href="" type="internal">The Heart of Whiteness: Race, Racism, and White Privilege</a> and <a href="" type="internal">Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity</a>. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>[A version of this talk was delivered to the Brisbane Social Forum, Australia, May 21, 2006.]</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | important words anyone said weeks immediately september 11 2001 came friend james koplin acknowledging significance day said simply profound state grief world 911 nothing happened day significantly changed world looks like jim bit older considerably smarter took time catch eventually recognized insight warning even lefties trained keep eye systems structures power rather obsessing individual politicians single events missing point accepted conventional wisdom 911 changed everything saying went right today want talk four fundamentalisms loose world longterm crisis point head note shortterm crisis involved us organizing socalled war terror provided cover attempts expand deepen us control strategically crucial resources central asia middle east part global strategy bush administration openly acknowledges aimed unchallengeable us domination world us planners world includes land seas course resources beneath space well world arrange dispose see fit support blessed lifestyle nations place world long willing assume role united states determines appropriate vision us policymakers world ordered description us policy caricature anyone doubts summary simply read national security strategy document released 2002 2006 update review postworld war ii us history read review dont mind waking middle night cold sweat fear scary paranoid powermad policymakers delusions may jim talking feeling beyond fear grief much broader goes much deeper opposing warofthemoment going beyond challenge whole imperial project important also important work thinking nature larger forces leave us griefstricken position need go beyond bush recognize seriousness threat particular gang thieves thugs poses resist policies mistake core problem fundamentalisms one way come terms forces understand united states society grip four fundamentalisms ascending order threat identify fundamentalisms religious national economic technological share similar characteristics poses particular threat sustainable democracy sustainable life planet needs separate analysis strategies resistance lets start defining fundamentalism term specific meaning protestant history early 20th century movement promote fundamentals want use general fashion describe intellectualpoliticaltheological position asserts absolute certainty truth andor righteousness belief system fundamentalism leads inclination want marginalize cases eliminate alternative ways understand organize world whats point engaging honest dialogue believe heretical systems clearly wrong even evil sense fundamentalism extreme form hubris delusional overconfidence ones beliefs ability humans know much anything definitively way use term fundamentalism isnt unique religious people instead feature certain approach world rooted mistaking limited knowledge wisdom antidote fundamentalism humility recognition contingent knowledge world need adopt sustainable agriculture researcher wes jackson calls ignorancebased worldview approach world acknowledges dont know dwarfs know complex world acknowledging basic ignorance mean revel stupidity rather spur us recognize obligation act intelligently basis know dont know properly understood think humility implicit traditionalindigenous systems also key lesson taken enlightenment modern science contentious claim perhaps given way modern science tends overreach enlightenment insight however human reason know everything give attempts know everything satisfied knowing know content making go along cautiously one tragedies modern world learned lesson fundamentalists matter specific belief system believe ability know lot easy fundamentalists move one totalizing belief system another example faculty colleague shifted dogmatic communist dogmatic rightwing evangelical christian people hear conversion often express amazement though always seemed easy understand went one fundamentalism another matters much content shape belief system systems worry us said fundamentalisms pose danger democracy sustainability lets go four identified religious national economic technological religion nation fundamentalism attracts attention religious united states predominant form christian elsewhere world islamic jewish hindu fundamentalisms attractive significant portion populations either spread across diaspora concentrated one region given attention focused religious fundamentalism ill assume everyone least passing acquaintance phenomenon aware threats religious fundamentalism necessarily serious fundamentalist threat loose world today certainly much evil done world name religion especially fundamentalist varieties expect future moving list also see clearly problems posed national fundamentalism nationalism poses threat everywhere especially concern us united states capacity destruction hands powerful state history world exacerbated pathological hyperpatriotism tends suppress internal criticism leave many unable hear critique outside writing chapter 3 citizens empire outlined detail argument patriotism intellectually morally bankrupt let simply point nationstate abstraction lines map naturally occurring object assertions patriotism defined love loyalty nationstate raise simple question pledging love loyalty abstraction made real conclude possible answers indefensible instead pledging allegiance nation acknowledge celebrate connections real people lives also declaring commitment universal principles reject offering commitment arbitrary political units modern era vehicle barbarism brutality critique applies across board power peculiar history rejection national fundamentalism crucial united states dominant conception history captured phrase city upon hill notion united states came world first democracy beacon world addition setting example soon capacity project power around world united states claimed vehicle bringing democracy world particularly odd claims nation owes existence one successful genocides recorded history nearcomplete extermination indigenous peoples secure land resource base united states odder still one looks us practice african slavery propelled united states industrial world considers enduring apartheid system formal informal arose oddtothepointofbizarre context imperial americas behavior world since emerged lone superpower made central foreign policy postwwii era attacks challenge third world us dominance empires committed great crimes british french belgians japanese russians soviets justified exploitation others alleged benefits brought people exploited power convinced benevolence united states culture delusional commitment mythology today one find side world peasant farmers formal education understand better nature us power many faculty members elite us universities national fundamentalism rooted assumption benevolence us foreign military policy works trump critical inquiry long significant component us public virtually entire elite accept national fundamentalism world risk economics economic fundamentalism synonymous days market fundamentalism presents another grave threat fall soviet system naturalness capitalism taken beyond question dominant assumption corporate capitalism united states simply best among competing economic systems sane rational way organize economy contemporary world capitalism 1 property including capital assets owned controlled private persons 2 people sell labor money wages 3 goods services allocated markets contemporary market fundamentalism also referred neoliberalism assumed extensive use markets possible unleash maximal competition resulting greatest good inherently matter results reigning ideology socalled free trade seeks impose neoliberalism everywhere globe fundamentalism article faith invisible hand market always provides preferred result matter awful consequences may real people corresponding tenet market fundamentalist view government interfere appropriate role government told stay economy probably ridiculous aspect ideology obvious reason government establishes rules system currency contract law etc decides whether wealth accumulated previous sets rules allowed remain hands accumulated typically ways immoral illegal recall quip behind every great fortune great crime redistributed argue government stay economy merely obscures obvious fact without government without rules established kind collective action would economy government cant stay ground floor assertions government intervention markets inherently illegitimate silly adding absurdity hypocrisy market fundamentalists quick call government bail things go sour recent us history savingsandloan auto industries outrageous examples theres reality government programs notably military space departments act conduits transfer public money private corporations guise national defense exploration space theres problem market failure inability private markets provide goods provide goods desirable levels economists well aware words economic fundamentalism worship markets combined steadfast denial system actually operates leads world facts irrelevant debate people learn ignore experience facts widening gap rich poor worldwide within nations according un statistics quarter worlds population lives less 1 day nearly half live less 2 2005 un report world social situation aptly titled inequality predicament stresses ignoring inequality pursuit development perilous focusing exclusively economic growth income generation development strategy ineffective leads accumulation wealth deepens poverty many approach acknowledge intergenerational transmission poverty thats data lead want highlight power fundamentalism reminding us common acronym tgif everyone united states knows means thank god friday majority americans dont know tgif stands feel bones thats way saying majority americans work generally like believe really worth thats way saying economy people spend least third lives things dont want dont believe valuable told way organizing economy natural technology religious national economic fundamentalisms dangerous systems thought accurately systems nonthought wes jackson puts fundamentalism takes thought leaves core much organized violence world today systems deployed constrain real freedom justify illegitimate authority may turn fundamentalisms childs play compared us societys technological fundamentalism concisely defined technological fundamentalism assumption increasing use increasingly sophisticated highenergy advanced technology always good thing problems caused unintended consequences technology eventually remedied technology question declarations often said antitechnology meaningless insult human beings use technology kind whether stone tools computers antifundamentalist position technology bad introduction new technology evaluated basis effects predictable unpredictable human communities nonhuman world understanding limits knowledge experience unintended consequences fairly clear example theres case automobiles burning petroleum internalcombustion engines gave us interstate highway system contributes global warming havent quite figured cope problems retrospect might wise go slower development transportation system based car think consequences cfcs ozone hole chlorofluorocarbons variety industrial commercial household applications including air conditioning thought miracle chemical introduced 1930s nontoxic nonflammable nonreactive chemical compounds 1980s researchers began understand cfcs stable troposphere move stratosphere broken strong ultraviolet light release chlorine atoms deplete ozone layer unintended effect deflated exuberance bit depletion ozone layer means uv radiation reaches earths surface overexposure uv radiation cause skin cancer cataracts immune suppression technological fundamentalists might argue got handle one banned cfcs ozone hole closing true enough lessons learned society didnt react news cfcs thinking ways step back world become dependent air conditioning instead looked replacements keep air conditioning running reasonable question unintended effects cfc replacements become visible ozone hole whats next theres way predict seems reasonable ask question sensible assume worst technological fundamentalism makes clear jacksons call ignorancebased worldview important step back confront honestly technologies unleashed hubris believing knowledge adequate control consequences science technology doubt us would ever get good nights sleep humans overdriving intellectual headlights time dramatically second half 20th century obviously two places gone reckless abandon business going atom cell former deeper break energy package greater risks take building fires sticks gathered around camp relatively easy manage breaking increasingly earlier material universe fossil fuels eventually heavy metal uranium quite different project complex far beyond capacity control likewise manipulating plants selective breeding local manageable whereas breaking workings gene foundational material life takes us places way understand live uncomfortable position realizing moved far fast outstripping capacity manage safely world created answer naïve return romanticized past recognition created systematic evaluation step back dangerous missteps redefining good life central project realizing learn live less accomplish recognize living less crucial ecological survival longterm human fulfillment people united states live abundance everything except meaning people material terms seem spend time therapy searching answers alienation blessed lifestyle term bushs spokesman used 2000 describe presidents view us affluence perhaps accurately also seen curse lets return cfcs airconditioning someone lives texas miserable heat half year reasonable ask airconditioning one possible reasonable response course vacate texas strategy ponder often realistic cracker house term florida georgia describe houses built airconditioning utilize shade crossventilation various building techniques create livable space even summer deep south course even times hot cracker house hot one doesnt want much anything drink iced tea sit porch raises question whats bad sitting porch drinking iced tea instead sitting inside airconditioned house world steps back highenergyhightechnology answers questions doubt harder world ways way people cope without solutions help create solidify human bonds sense highenergyhightechnology world often contributes impoverished relationships destruction longstanding cultural practices information practices carry stepping back fundamentalism simply sacrifice exchange certain kind comfort easy amusement different set rewards articulating important world people come believe good life synonymous consumption ability acquire increasingly sophisticated technology miss way turning highenergyhightechnology improve lives supports technofundamentalists writer wired magazine greenminded activists failed move broader public wrong problems solutions offered unappealing people called tightening belts curbing appetites turning thermostat living lower food chain rejected technology business prosperity favor returning simpler way life wonder movement got little traction asking people worlds wealthiest advanced societies turn backs forces drove abundance naïve best naïve perhaps naïve belief unsustainable systems sustained indefinitely writers limited vision passes vision culture surprising advocates economic technological fundamentalist solutions climate change hard upon us new green movement taking shape one embraces environmentalisms concerns rejects wornout answers technology font endlessly creative solutions business vehicle change prosperity help us build kind world want scientific exploration innovative design cultural evolution powerful tools entrepreneurial zeal market forces guided sustainable policies propel world bright green future words lets ignore experience throw dice lets take naiveté new heights lets forget learned whats next far appears criticism fundamentalist versions religion nation capitalism hightechnology problem goes deeper exaggerated versions systems livable future religion know nationstate capitalism think advanced technology give way new ways understanding world organizing still find ways struggle mystery world ritual art organize politically produce distribute goods services create tools need things existing systems proven inadequate task front need major conceptual revolutions dont pretend answers anyone else beginning long process redefining means human relation others nonhuman world still formulating questions find depressing situation could well see time opens incredible opportunities creativity live unsettled times especially times difficult imagine life know becoming increasingly untenable frightening exhilarating sense friends acknowledgement profound grief need scare us instead place see clearly gather strength move forward path tracking four fundamentalisms see turns need make technologically need stop talking progress terms reflexively glorify faster powerful devices instead adopt standard judging progress based real effects humans wider world part economically need stop talking growth terms production adopt standard economic growth development based meeting human needs nationally need stop talking national security national interest code words serving goals powerful focus peoples interests secure basics food shelter education communal solidarity religiously need stop trying pin god understand god simply name give beyond ability understand recognize attempt create rules know god always failed project want end reinforcing ultimate importance recognition world complex beyond ability comprehend theres nothing know rational faculties essential recognize limits faculties need reject fundamentalist streak us religious secular whatever political affiliation need stop mistaking cleverness wisdom need embrace limits ignorance hopes stop stupid coming terms kind animals glory limitations embrace limitations embrace larger world part glorious us ever experience find way clear think make possible love world idealized love real love recognizes joy possible grief inevitable dream live world live love much work done want world enormous struggle cant avoided allow face realize ahead us suffering beyond description well potential transcending suffering grief joy nothing face robert jensen journalism professor university texas austin member board third coast activist resource center author heart whiteness race racism white privilege citizens empire struggle claim humanity reached rjensenutsccutexasedu version talk delivered brisbane social forum australia may 21 2006 160 160 | 2,340 |
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<p>As Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (AMLO), the leftist firebrand who millions of Mexicans consider their legitimate president, made his way to the podium in the packed Zocalo plaza here March 18th, the 70th anniversary of the expropriation and nationalization of an oil industry now threatened with re-privatization, hundreds of senior citizens, AMLO’s firmest followers, rose as one from their seats of honor at the side of the stage, raised their frail fists in salute, and chanted that, despite the cobwebs of old age, they do not forget. “Tenemos Memoria!” – “We Have Memory!”</p>
<p>What did they remember? Tiburcio Quintanilla, 83, remembers how when President Lazaro Cardenas called upon his countrymen and women to donate to a fund to pay indemnities to the gringo oil companies he went with his father to the Palace of Bellas Artes and stood on line for hours with their chickens, their contribution to taking back “our chapopote (petroleum).” I was born in the same week that Lazaro Cardenas nationalized Mexico’s oil, I tell Don Tiburcio. I’m only a kid.</p>
<p>Up on the same stage from which he directed the historic seven week siege of the capital after the Great Fraud of 2006 that awarded the presidency to his right-wing rival Felipe Calderon, AMLO looked more grizzled, weather-beaten, a little hoarse after two years on the road relentlessly roaming the Mexican outback bringing his message to “los de abajo” (those down below) and signing up nearly 2,000,000 new constituents for his National Democratic Convention (CND) which is increasingly embroiled in a bitter battle for control of the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD.)</p>
<p>Now Lopez Obrador has thrust himself into the leadership of the movement to defend the nation’s oil industry (PEMEX) from privatization in the guise of Calderon’s “energy reform” legislation, which could be introduced in the Mexican Congress as early as March 25th.</p>
<p>Calderon and his cohorts seek to persuade Mexicans that PEMEX is broken, the reserves running out, and the nation’s only hope is in deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. Drilling for what the Calderonistas describe as “The Treasure of Mexico” in a widely distributed, lavishly produced infomercial, will require “association” with Big Oil. But as many experts such as Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, son of the president who expropriated the oil in the first place, point out, it is not at all certain that these purported deep sea reserves are actually in Mexican waters.</p>
<p>AMLO’s March 18th “informative assembly” of the National Democratic Convention was certainly the most emotional since he convoked the CND on Independence Day in September 2006 after the courts had designated Calderon as president. Poised under a monumental tri-color flag that furled and unfurled dramatically in the spring zephyrs, and addressing tens of thousands of loyalists in the heart of the Mexican body politic, Lopez Obrador told the story of Mexico’s Oil.</p>
<p>Oil is a patriotic lubricant here and AMLO is imbued in what historians once called “revolutionary nationalism”, the apogee of which was Lazaro Cardenas’s March 18th 1938 order expropriating the holdings of 17 Anglo-American oil companies who were about to secede from the union and declare themselves “The Republic of the Gulf of Mexico.” AMLO recalled how the companies had defied a Supreme Court order to pay $26 million USD to the nation’s oil workers leaving General Cardenas (he had been a revolutionary general) no option but to take back Mexico’s oil. How patriotic Mexicans like Don Tiburcio and his father lined up to pay off the debt with their chickens and family jewels. Cardenas’s subsequent creation of a national oil corporation, “Petrolios Mexicanos” or PEMEX was seen as the guarantee of a great future for Mexico. But things have worked out differently.</p>
<p>“Privatization is corruption!” AMLO harangues, “The oil is ours! La Patria No Se Vende!” “La Patria No Se Vende, La Patria Se Defiende!” the crowd roars back, “The country is not for sale, The country is to defend!” “Pais Petrolero, Pueblo Sin Dinero” – “Country With Oil, People Without Money!”</p>
<p>Lopez Obrador or “El Peje”, as his followers affectionately nickname him, warms to the task, outlining plans for a new “civil insurrection” that will be led by “women commandos” who will encircle congress on the day “energy reform” legislation is introduced, shut down banks, the Stock Exchange, the airports, and block highways. If all that doesn’t work, AMLO calls for a national strike. All of this projected and highly illegal activism would unfold “peacefully, without violence” – El Peje is a disciple of Gandhi and often cites Dr. King in his calls to action.</p>
<p>Indeed, Lopez Obrador takes pains to warn the petroleum defenders about government provocateurs and those who would foment violence, perhaps a message to the Popular Revolutionary Army (EPR), which has thrice bombed PEMEX pipelines in the past year.</p>
<p>Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador is at his incendiary best as a leader of social upheaval. During the post-electoral struggle, he put 2,000,000 souls on the streets of Mexico City July 30th 2006, the largest political demonstration in the history of this contentious republic. Back in 1996, this reporter shadowed Lopez Obrador as he led Chontal Indian farmers in blocking 60 PEMEX oil platforms that had been contaminating their cornfields in his native Tabasco, a movement that catapulted AMLO into the presidency of the PRD, later to become the wildly popular mayor of Mexico City and the de facto winner of the 2006 presidential election.</p>
<p>Although Lopez Obrador once seemed assured of his party’s nomination in 2012, he is now challenged by his successor as the capital’s mayor, Marcelo Ebrard, who stood stolidly at his side during the March 18th convocation.</p>
<p>While Lopez Obrador held forth in the center of the republic, its titular president Felipe Calderon campaigned in El Peje’s home turf of Tabasco, the site of Mexico’s largest land-based deposits, touting the “association of capitals” as the key to the “Treasure of Mexico” and swearing up and down that he had no intention of privatizing PEMEX. The idea instead was to make the laws governing oil revenues more “flexible” (“flexabilizar”) and build a “strategic alliance” with the global oil titans.</p>
<p>To mark the 70th anniversary of General Cardenas’s brave act of revolutionary nationalism, Calderon shared a stage with Carlos Romero Deschamps, the boss of the corruption-ridden oil workers union, and Francisco Labastida, the once-ruling PRI party’s losing 2000 presidential candidate and now chairman of the Senate Energy Commission where the “energy reform” legislation will most probably be introduced.</p>
<p>In 2000, PEMEX illegally funneled $110,000,000 USD through Romero’s union into Labastida’s campaign coffers, a scandal known here as PEMEXgate which has since been swept into the sea.</p>
<p>While Calderon embraced these scoundrels in the port of Paradise Tabasco, a thousand AMLO supporters were kept at bay a mile from the ceremony by a phalanx of federal police.</p>
<p>The most glaring absentee at the Tabasco séance was Calderon’s dashing young Secretary of the Interior Juan Camilo Mourino, his former chief of staff who the president appointed to the second most powerful position in Mexico’s political hierarchy this past January to oversee negotiations between the parties on “energy reform” legislation. But Mourino’s creds were seriously damaged this past February 24th when Lopez Obrador released documents revealing that the then-future Interior Secretary’s family business had been awarded four choice PEMEX transportation contracts while he presided over the Chamber of Deputies Energy Commission.</p>
<p>The GES Corporation also won four other PEMEX contracts when Mourino was Calderon’s right hand man during the much-questioned president’s stint as the nation’s energy secretary in the previous administration. AMLO accuses Mourino, who was born in Spain and may still be a Spanish citizen, of cutting a pre-privatization deal with the Spanish energy giant Repsol.</p>
<p>There were notable absences at AMLO’s big revival in the Zocalo too, among them Cuauhtemoc Cardenas, the scion of the General and founder of the PRD whose “moral authority” has been greatly eroded in recent years. Estranged from his protégé Lopez Obrador whose cause he did not leap to after the 2006 election was stolen, Cardenas chose to “defend the petrolio” in his home state of Michoacan to which he has semi-retired and where his son Lazaro, grandson of the “Tata”, is the outgoing governor.</p>
<p>Although young Lazaro has endorsed “the association of private capital” in PEMEX, his father has hedged on Calderon’s privatization plans, reserving judgment until legislation is actually presented. Cuauhtemoc has, however, urged that Mexico and the U.S. first settle the ownership of deep-water tracts in the Gulf before any legislation is ratified.</p>
<p>Deep-water exploration requires an 11-year construction and drilling cycle before wells come on line. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, Mexico has only ten years of proven reserves left.</p>
<p>Calderon’s legislative package is liable to steer away from constitutional amendment required for privatization and focus on secondary laws, a legaloid move that could take the wind out of Lopez Obrador’s sails. Manlio Fabio Beltrones, the PRI senate leader whose support Calderon needs to pass “energy reform” (not all PRIistas are expected to back it) once warned that a strong measure would “hand the presidency” to AMLO.</p>
<p>The other prominent no-show in Lopez Obrador’s revival tent in the Zocalo was Jesus Ortega, the front-runner for the PRD presidency in March 16th party elections. Ortega heads up the rival New Left faction, a group that is prone to negotiate with Calderon’s representatives despite AMLO’s insistence that the PRD continue to refuse to recognize what he labels the “spurious” president. Lopez Obrador backed former Mexico City interim mayor, the roly-poly ex-commie Alejandro Encinas in the race for the party presidency.</p>
<p>Ortega, a PRD senator, refused to attend the Zocalo rally because he said he feared for his personal safety after other leaders of the New Left faction (AKA “Los Chuchos” because so many top New Leftites are named Jesus – “chucho” is also an endearing name for a dog) had been roughed up by Lopez Obrador supporters during an anti-privatization demonstration at the PEMEX office towers some weeks earlier.</p>
<p>The head to head between Ortega and Encinas turned toxic overnight with mutual accusations of vote stealing, vote stuffing, vote buying, vote burning, voters “razored” from the voting lists, fake ballots and phony counts flying as if the March 16th debacle was a funny mirror reflection of July 2nd 2006 when Lopez Obrador was stripped of the presidency by Calderon’s chicanery. The PRD implosion has stoked the party’s enemies like Televisa, the TV tyrant, which devotes half its primetime news hour to the shenanigans. The television giant blacked out all news of similar fraud in the 2006 presidential election.</p>
<p>It is long-standing tradition that PRD internal elections will inevitably turn into a “desmadre” (disgrace.) Similar desmadres occurred in 1996, 1999, and again in 2002, the year Ortega first tried to take control after Rosario Robles, Cardenas’s successor as Mexico City mayor, bought the party presidency – her campaign was bankrolled by a crooked construction contractor who filmed videos of her go-fors pocketing boodles of bills with which he later tried to blackmail the PRD in general and Lopez Obrador in particular. “The horror is interminable,” laments Miguel Angel Velazquez who pens the “Lost City” column for the left daily La Jornada, a PRD paper.</p>
<p>The legitimacy of the March 16th results can be measured by the mechanism with which they will be determined. At the helm of the PRD’s internal electoral commission is one Arturo “The Penguin” Nunez, once the tainted president of the Federal Electoral Institute during his life as a PRIista, and the architect of countless PRI frauds, including one against Lopez Obrador in their native Tabasco.</p>
<p>In truth, Lopez Obrador has been running away from the “horror” of the PRD since the formation of the CND, a crusade to weld those who voted for AMLO in 2006 into a force for social and political change, and his base is now thought to be wider than that of the party. Should Encinas prevail in the brawl for the PRD presidency, Lopez Obrador’s hold on the party would still be tenuous – the Chuchos appear to have wrested many state elections – and he will look to the CND as he battles the privatizers. Indeed. The announced encirclement of congress by “woman commandos” will put pressure on the FAP – the Broad Political Front of left legislators led by the PRD – to pay attention and hold the line against privatization.</p>
<p>The Party of the Democratic Revolution was the Phoenix bird born in fire after the PRI stole the 1988 “presidenciales” from Cardenas. Its 16 original “currents” (now called “tribes”) included ex-PRIistas like Cardenas and Lopez Obrador, ex-communists (like Encinas), urban activists, peasants’ organizations, social democrats, and other left opportunists (like Ortega.)</p>
<p>In its early years, the party sought to define what it would be: a confluence of grassroots movements that ran candidates for public office as one means of achieving social change? Or an exclusively electoral formation intent on obtaining its quotient of power in which the party became an end in itself? Although the PRD has devolved into the latter, Lopez Obrador’s 2006 campaign reinvigorated the activist side of the equation.</p>
<p>Now, leading the defense of Mexican oil against the privatizers, AMLO has leveraged himself back into the political spotlight, and once again, is leading a reinvigorated challenge to the faltering Calderon who desperately needs to make good on his pledge to his Washington masters to privatize PEMEX.</p>
<p>JOHN ROSS is back in Mexico City purportedly working on a book about Mexico City. Write him at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> if you have further information.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 160 andres manuel lopez obrador amlo leftist firebrand millions mexicans consider legitimate president made way podium packed zocalo plaza march 18th 70th anniversary expropriation nationalization oil industry threatened reprivatization hundreds senior citizens amlos firmest followers rose one seats honor side stage raised frail fists salute chanted despite cobwebs old age forget tenemos memoria memory remember tiburcio quintanilla 83 remembers president lazaro cardenas called upon countrymen women donate fund pay indemnities gringo oil companies went father palace bellas artes stood line hours chickens contribution taking back chapopote petroleum born week lazaro cardenas nationalized mexicos oil tell tiburcio im kid stage directed historic seven week siege capital great fraud 2006 awarded presidency rightwing rival felipe calderon amlo looked grizzled weatherbeaten little hoarse two years road relentlessly roaming mexican outback bringing message los de abajo signing nearly 2000000 new constituents national democratic convention cnd increasingly embroiled bitter battle control centerleft party democratic revolution prd lopez obrador thrust leadership movement defend nations oil industry pemex privatization guise calderons energy reform legislation could introduced mexican congress early march 25th calderon cohorts seek persuade mexicans pemex broken reserves running nations hope deep water drilling gulf mexico drilling calderonistas describe treasure mexico widely distributed lavishly produced infomercial require association big oil many experts cuauhtemoc cardenas son president expropriated oil first place point certain purported deep sea reserves actually mexican waters amlos march 18th informative assembly national democratic convention certainly emotional since convoked cnd independence day september 2006 courts designated calderon president poised monumental tricolor flag furled unfurled dramatically spring zephyrs addressing tens thousands loyalists heart mexican body politic lopez obrador told story mexicos oil oil patriotic lubricant amlo imbued historians called revolutionary nationalism apogee lazaro cardenass march 18th 1938 order expropriating holdings 17 angloamerican oil companies secede union declare republic gulf mexico amlo recalled companies defied supreme court order pay 26 million usd nations oil workers leaving general cardenas revolutionary general option take back mexicos oil patriotic mexicans like tiburcio father lined pay debt chickens family jewels cardenass subsequent creation national oil corporation petrolios mexicanos pemex seen guarantee great future mexico things worked differently privatization corruption amlo harangues oil la patria se vende la patria se vende la patria se defiende crowd roars back country sale country defend pais petrolero pueblo sin dinero country oil people without money lopez obrador el peje followers affectionately nickname warms task outlining plans new civil insurrection led women commandos encircle congress day energy reform legislation introduced shut banks stock exchange airports block highways doesnt work amlo calls national strike projected highly illegal activism would unfold peacefully without violence el peje disciple gandhi often cites dr king calls action indeed lopez obrador takes pains warn petroleum defenders government provocateurs would foment violence perhaps message popular revolutionary army epr thrice bombed pemex pipelines past year andres manuel lopez obrador incendiary best leader social upheaval postelectoral struggle put 2000000 souls streets mexico city july 30th 2006 largest political demonstration history contentious republic back 1996 reporter shadowed lopez obrador led chontal indian farmers blocking 60 pemex oil platforms contaminating cornfields native tabasco movement catapulted amlo presidency prd later become wildly popular mayor mexico city de facto winner 2006 presidential election although lopez obrador seemed assured partys nomination 2012 challenged successor capitals mayor marcelo ebrard stood stolidly side march 18th convocation lopez obrador held forth center republic titular president felipe calderon campaigned el pejes home turf tabasco site mexicos largest landbased deposits touting association capitals key treasure mexico swearing intention privatizing pemex idea instead make laws governing oil revenues flexible flexabilizar build strategic alliance global oil titans mark 70th anniversary general cardenass brave act revolutionary nationalism calderon shared stage carlos romero deschamps boss corruptionridden oil workers union francisco labastida onceruling pri partys losing 2000 presidential candidate chairman senate energy commission energy reform legislation probably introduced 2000 pemex illegally funneled 110000000 usd romeros union labastidas campaign coffers scandal known pemexgate since swept sea calderon embraced scoundrels port paradise tabasco thousand amlo supporters kept bay mile ceremony phalanx federal police glaring absentee tabasco séance calderons dashing young secretary interior juan camilo mourino former chief staff president appointed second powerful position mexicos political hierarchy past january oversee negotiations parties energy reform legislation mourinos creds seriously damaged past february 24th lopez obrador released documents revealing thenfuture interior secretarys family business awarded four choice pemex transportation contracts presided chamber deputies energy commission ges corporation also four pemex contracts mourino calderons right hand man muchquestioned presidents stint nations energy secretary previous administration amlo accuses mourino born spain may still spanish citizen cutting preprivatization deal spanish energy giant repsol notable absences amlos big revival zocalo among cuauhtemoc cardenas scion general founder prd whose moral authority greatly eroded recent years estranged protégé lopez obrador whose cause leap 2006 election stolen cardenas chose defend petrolio home state michoacan semiretired son lazaro grandson tata outgoing governor although young lazaro endorsed association private capital pemex father hedged calderons privatization plans reserving judgment legislation actually presented cuauhtemoc however urged mexico us first settle ownership deepwater tracts gulf legislation ratified deepwater exploration requires 11year construction drilling cycle wells come line according us department energy mexico ten years proven reserves left calderons legislative package liable steer away constitutional amendment required privatization focus secondary laws legaloid move could take wind lopez obradors sails manlio fabio beltrones pri senate leader whose support calderon needs pass energy reform priistas expected back warned strong measure would hand presidency amlo prominent noshow lopez obradors revival tent zocalo jesus ortega frontrunner prd presidency march 16th party elections ortega heads rival new left faction group prone negotiate calderons representatives despite amlos insistence prd continue refuse recognize labels spurious president lopez obrador backed former mexico city interim mayor rolypoly excommie alejandro encinas race party presidency ortega prd senator refused attend zocalo rally said feared personal safety leaders new left faction aka los chuchos many top new leftites named jesus chucho also endearing name dog roughed lopez obrador supporters antiprivatization demonstration pemex office towers weeks earlier head head ortega encinas turned toxic overnight mutual accusations vote stealing vote stuffing vote buying vote burning voters razored voting lists fake ballots phony counts flying march 16th debacle funny mirror reflection july 2nd 2006 lopez obrador stripped presidency calderons chicanery prd implosion stoked partys enemies like televisa tv tyrant devotes half primetime news hour shenanigans television giant blacked news similar fraud 2006 presidential election longstanding tradition prd internal elections inevitably turn desmadre disgrace similar desmadres occurred 1996 1999 2002 year ortega first tried take control rosario robles cardenass successor mexico city mayor bought party presidency campaign bankrolled crooked construction contractor filmed videos gofors pocketing boodles bills later tried blackmail prd general lopez obrador particular horror interminable laments miguel angel velazquez pens lost city column left daily la jornada prd paper legitimacy march 16th results measured mechanism determined helm prds internal electoral commission one arturo penguin nunez tainted president federal electoral institute life priista architect countless pri frauds including one lopez obrador native tabasco truth lopez obrador running away horror prd since formation cnd crusade weld voted amlo 2006 force social political change base thought wider party encinas prevail brawl prd presidency lopez obradors hold party would still tenuous chuchos appear wrested many state elections look cnd battles privatizers indeed announced encirclement congress woman commandos put pressure fap broad political front left legislators led prd pay attention hold line privatization party democratic revolution phoenix bird born fire pri stole 1988 presidenciales cardenas 16 original currents called tribes included expriistas like cardenas lopez obrador excommunists like encinas urban activists peasants organizations social democrats left opportunists like ortega early years party sought define would confluence grassroots movements ran candidates public office one means achieving social change exclusively electoral formation intent obtaining quotient power party became end although prd devolved latter lopez obradors 2006 campaign reinvigorated activist side equation leading defense mexican oil privatizers amlo leveraged back political spotlight leading reinvigorated challenge faltering calderon desperately needs make good pledge washington masters privatize pemex john ross back mexico city purportedly working book mexico city write johnrossigcorg information 160 160 160 160 | 1,334 |
<p>By Steven Harper / <a href="http://billmoyers.com/story/100-days-of-deconstruction-part-two/" type="external">Moyers and Company</a></p>
<p>Beware of the enemy within. With respect to the U.S. government, the ultimate inside job is well underway. Through key Cabinet appointments, Trump is gutting federal agencies that have improved citizens’ daily lives in ways that most Americans will no longer take for granted.</p>
<p>&#160; Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos</p>
<p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/18/us/politics/betsy-devos-education-secretary-confirmation-donald-trump.html" type="external">In her confirmation hearing</a>, billionaire Betsy DeVos made the world painfully aware that she isn’t an educator or expert in curriculum. She’s not familiar with the decades-old Individuals with Disabilities Act, or the fraudulent for-profit colleges and graduate schools that exploit their students. She seems unconcerned about the funding crisis that confronts public education in America. But she has all of the credentials required to serve in the Trump administration: She’s a billionaire with a mission to destroy the federal department she now heads.</p>
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<p>Keeping Trump controversies in the family, DeVos’ brother Erik Prince is the founder of the infamous Blackwater private security firm and was a $250,000 donor to the Trump campaign. In January, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/blackwater-founder-held-secret-seychelles-meeting-to-establish-trump-putin-back-channel/2017/04/03/95908a08-1648-11e7-ada0-1489b735b3a3_story.html" type="external">Prince met secretly in the Seychelles Islands with a Russian close to Putin</a>. Russia’s goal in the meeting, according to The Washington Post, was to establish a back-channel line of communication with the Trump administration.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2017/01/can-betsy-devos-transform-from-lobbyist-to-policymaker/513266/" type="external">a lobbyist through her organization</a> — the nonprofit American Federation for Children — DeVos led the effort to privatize public education in Michigan. <a href="http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2014/06/22/michigan-spends-1b-on-charter-schools-but-fails-to-hold/77155074/" type="external">The result</a>: widespread abuses, dismal performance and no accountability for taxpayer funds flowing into the coffers of for-profit charter schools and management companies. In Michigan, DeVos helped to create a system that “leads the nation in the number of schools operated for profit, while other states have moved to curb the expansion of for-profit charters, or banned them outright,” the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2016/12/08/a-sobering-look-at-what-betsy-devos-did-to-education-in-michigan-and-what-she-might-do-as-secretary-of-education/" type="external">Detroit Free Press</a> observes. “[Michigan is] a laughingstock in national education circles, and a pariah among reputable charter school operators, who have not opened schools in Detroit because of the wild West nature of the educational landscape here.”</p>
<p>Likewise, the Obama administration put pressure on for-profit colleges that exploit students and leave them burdened with debt. Trump, on the other hand, promised to reduce government intrusions and allow schools like Trump University to thrive. After Nov. 8, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/20/business/for-profit-education-trump-devos.html" type="external">the stock of for-profit schools soared</a>. DeVos is now fulfilling Trump’s campaign promises.</p>
<p>Among her advisers is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/business/education-for-profit-robert-eitel.html" type="external">Robert S. Eitel, a lawyer on unpaid leave of absence</a> from his job at Bridgepoint Education, Inc. Bridgepoint, a for-profit college operator whose stock is up 40 percent since Nov. 9, faces multiple government investigations. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/business/education-for-profit-robert-eitel.html" type="external">One ended recently in a $30 million settlement</a> with the federal Consumer Finance Protection Bureau over deceptive student lending.</p>
<p>Another DeVos adviser is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/business/education-for-profit-robert-eitel.html" type="external">Taylor Hansen</a>, a former lobbyist for the for-profit sector’s trade association that fought Obama’s <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/for-profit-colleges-gain-beachhead-in-trump-administration" type="external">“gainful employment” rule</a>, which imposes minimal accountability on for-profit colleges. On March 6, 2017, the Education Department delayed the gainful employment rule deadline. Ten days later, DeVos <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-20/betsy-devos-hands-victory-to-loan-firm-tied-to-adviser-who-just-quit" type="external">rescinded an Obama administration rule</a> that prevented student guaranty agencies from charging exorbitant interest rates. <a href="http://www.usafunds.org/NewsMedia/NewsReleases/Pages/nr-12072016-USA-Funds-Transfers-Ownership-Largest-Guarantor-to-Great-Lakes.aspx" type="external">Until Jan. 1, the largest such guaranty agency was United Student Aid Funds Inc.</a>, whose president and chief executive officer is William Hansen, Taylor’s father. In a letter to DeVos, Sen. Elizabeth Warren cited <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/for-profit-colleges-gain-beachhead-in-trump-administration" type="external">ProPublica’s report</a> on Taylor’s conflicts. On March 17, he resigned.</p>
<p>On <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-betsy-devos-student-loan-protections-20170411-story.html" type="external">April 11, DeVos reversed Obama administration guidelines</a> aimed at protecting student borrowers and penalizing abusive loan servicing companies. Meanwhile, DeVos’ agenda to clear the field for private education profiteers revealed itself in Trump’s proposed budget: It would <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-presidential-budget-2018-proposal/" type="external">reduce Department of Education funding by 14 percent</a>. Randi Weingarten, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/16/us/politics/trump-budget.html" type="external">the president of the American Federation of Teachers</a>, lamented, “This budget takes a meat cleaver to public education.”</p>
<p>&#160; Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price</p>
<p>Tom Price is an orthopedic surgeon who seems to have forgotten his profession’s seminal creed, “First, do no harm.” As a Georgia congressman, Price was among the <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/02/anti-obamacare-crusader-tom-price-confirmed-in-2-am-vote" type="external">most prominent critics of Obamacare</a>, which has provided more than 20 million citizens with health insurance that they otherwise would not have. As the Secretary of Health and Human Services, he is now working to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.</p>
<p>On March 7, <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2017/03/07/secretary-price-supports-house-efforts-repeal-and-replace-obamacare.html" type="external">Price wrote Congress to express</a> support for the Republican repeal effort. By then, Trump’s campaign promise of “health insurance for all” had devolved into Rep. Paul Ryan’s notion of “universal access” in the <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2017/03/trumpcare-the-culmination-of-all-the-gops-health-care-lies.html" type="external">form of subsidies that would cover only a fraction of the premium cost for those most in need</a>. (But it did have a nice tax break for the wealthy.) The <a href="https://www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/115th-congress-2017-2018/costestimate/americanhealthcareact.pdf" type="external">Congressional Budget Office estimated</a> that under the Ryan/Trump/Price plan, 14 million Americans would lose coverage immediately; by 2026, the total would rise to 24 million.</p>
<p>Trump, Price and Ryan failed in their first assault on the Affordable Care Act, but they’ll be back. <a href="http://theweek.com/articles/688499/how-trump-still-sabotage-obamacare" type="external">Watch for Price to issue rules and regulations</a> that try to push Obamacare over a cliff. He’ll work at accomplishing administratively what Trump and Ryan could not achieve legislatively. Meanwhile, they and fellow Trump Party members push false narratives about “exploding premiums” when only <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/09/us/politics/who-is-really-affected-by-rising-obamacare-premiums.html" type="external">3 percent of Americans experience the individual rate increases</a> they cite. They talk about Obamacare’s “implosion” due to insurers are leaving markets, but don’t mention that <a href="http://www.salon.com/2017/03/22/how-republicans-quietly-sabotaged-obamacare-long-before-trump-came-into-office_partner/" type="external">the Republicans — especially Sen. Marco Rubio — sabotaged the “risk corridor”</a> program that reimbursed insurer losses for high-risk citizens. And they don’t <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/health/insurers-stem-losses-and-may-soon-profit-from-obamacare-plans.html" type="external">acknowledge the latest studies</a> showing that their “death spiral” rhetoric is simply a lie — unless <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/us/politics/health-care-affordable-care-act-trump.html" type="external">Trump’s policies</a> make it happen.</p>
<p>The Trump/Price impact on women’s health issues is becoming clear. On April 13, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/us/politics/planned-parenthood-trump.html" type="external">Trump signed a law aimed at eliminating federal funding</a> for Planned Parenthood (after Vice President Mike Pence had cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate). As for medical research, forget it. Trump’s proposed budget would <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/trump-presidential-budget-2018-proposal/" type="external">cut HHS funding (and its National Institutes of Health) by almost 20 percent</a>.</p>
<p>&#160; Attorney General Jeff Sessions</p>
<p>Jeff Sessions is just the person to send the federal agency charged with the pursuit of justice on a one-way ride back to a time of unspeakable injustice. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/magazine/the-voter-fraud-case-jeff-sessions-lost-and-cant-escape.html" type="external">In 1985</a> he led the prosecution of three African-American voter rights activists for voter fraud. As the US attorney for the southern district of Alabama, Sessions lost that case. Ruling that his theory was contrary to election law and the Constitution, the judge threw out many of the counts and a jury acquitted the defendants of everything else. A year later, even the Republican-controlled Senate considered Sessions too racist to become a federal judge after President Reagan nominated him.</p>
<p>In December 2016, a Trump <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/magazine/the-voter-fraud-case-jeff-sessions-lost-and-cant-escape.html" type="external">transition team member told The New York Times</a> that if Sessions had it to do over, he’d bring the 1985 voter rights case again. <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2017/01/24/trumps-attorney-general-pick-shares-some-of-the-presidents-voter-fraud-views-heres-what-that-could-mean/" type="external">In his January 2017 confirmation hearing</a>, he echoed that sentiment in response to Sen. Al Franken’s questions about Trump’s bogus voter fraud claims about millions of illegal votes for Hillary Clinton. Sessions equivocated, but the “voter fraud” mantra has now become an excuse for a new round of voter suppression efforts.</p>
<p>Once confirmed, Sessions went to work quickly on his mission to turn back the clock. On Feb. 22, his department coordinated with Devos’ to rescind the <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/02/22/516664633/trump-administration-rescinds-obama-rule-on-transgender-students-bathroom-use" type="external">Obama administration’s restroom rule</a> protecting transgender students. Shortly thereafter, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/06/us/politics/supreme-court-transgender-rights-case.html" type="external">the US Supreme Court reversed its earlier decision</a> to hear a case on transgender rights and returned it to the lower courts in light of the Trump administration’s new guidance.</p>
<p>On Feb. 23, <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/6765f35c920c4541a964a4aee0679f77/sessions-us-continue-use-privately-run-prisons" type="external">Sessions issued a memo reversing the Obama administration’s directive</a> to phase out privately run prisons. Obama’s order had come after a scathing government audit highlighting safety and security problems in private prisons. Sessions’s move was good news for the corporations that run those institutions, which <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/6765f35c920c4541a964a4aee0679f77/sessions-us-continue-use-privately-run-prisons" type="external">have been reliable Republican campaign donors</a>.</p>
<p>On Feb. 27, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/27/us/justice-dept-will-drop-a-key-objection-to-a-texas-voter-id-law.html" type="external">the Department of Justice reversed</a> the Obama administration’s six-year challenge to Texas’ voter-ID law. In 2016, a federal appeals court had ruled that the law discriminated against minority voters. But under Sessions, the Justice Department did a 180-degree about-face.</p>
<p>On March 17, the Justice Department filed a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/justice-department-files-brief-arguing-cfpbs-structure-is-unconstitutional-1489780968" type="external">brief seeking to restructure the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau</a>, which secured a $30 million settlement against for-profit college operator Bridgepoint (the same firm whose chief compliance officer is now on unpaid leave as a Betsy DeVos adviser). Trump now seeks unrestricted power to fire the CFPB director.</p>
<p>On March 31, Sessions ordered a <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3535148-Consentdecreebaltimore.html" type="external">review of all reform agreements</a> with troubled police departments nationwide. The Justice Department’s former chief of special litigation, which oversaw investigations into 23 police departments including New Orleans, Cleveland, and Ferguson, Missouri, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/sessions-orders-justice-department-to-review-all-police-reform-agreements/2017/04/03/ba934058-18bd-11e7-9887-1a5314b56a08_story.html" type="external">called Sessions’ announcement “terrifying”</a> because it raised “the question of whether, under the current attorney general, the Department of Justice is going to walk away from its obligation to ensure that law enforcement across the country is following the Constitution.”</p>
<p>On April 11, Sessions declared the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/13/opinion/jeff-sessions-unleashed-at-the-border.html" type="external">dawn of “the Trump era”</a> in immigration. In addition his earlier threat to deprive sanctuary cities of federal funds, he has ordered the hiring of “border security coordinators” for all 94 US attorneys offices, emphasized deportation for non-violent offenses, and promised a surge in the appointment of immigration judges to accelerate the flow of immigrants out of the country. Never mind that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/03/06/us/politics/undocumented-illegal-immigrants.html" type="external">fewer than 3 percent of the undocumented</a> have committed felonies — less than the 6 percent for the overall population.</p> | true | 4 | steven harper moyers company beware enemy within respect us government ultimate inside job well underway key cabinet appointments trump gutting federal agencies improved citizens daily lives ways americans longer take granted 160 secretary education betsy devos confirmation hearing billionaire betsy devos made world painfully aware isnt educator expert curriculum shes familiar decadesold individuals disabilities act fraudulent forprofit colleges graduate schools exploit students seems unconcerned funding crisis confronts public education america credentials required serve trump administration shes billionaire mission destroy federal department heads keeping trump controversies family devos brother erik prince founder infamous blackwater private security firm 250000 donor trump campaign january prince met secretly seychelles islands russian close putin russias goal meeting according washington post establish backchannel line communication trump administration lobbyist organization nonprofit american federation children devos led effort privatize public education michigan result widespread abuses dismal performance accountability taxpayer funds flowing coffers forprofit charter schools management companies michigan devos helped create system leads nation number schools operated profit states moved curb expansion forprofit charters banned outright detroit free press observes michigan laughingstock national education circles pariah among reputable charter school operators opened schools detroit wild west nature educational landscape likewise obama administration put pressure forprofit colleges exploit students leave burdened debt trump hand promised reduce government intrusions allow schools like trump university thrive nov 8 stock forprofit schools soared devos fulfilling trumps campaign promises among advisers robert eitel lawyer unpaid leave absence job bridgepoint education inc bridgepoint forprofit college operator whose stock 40 percent since nov 9 faces multiple government investigations one ended recently 30 million settlement federal consumer finance protection bureau deceptive student lending another devos adviser taylor hansen former lobbyist forprofit sectors trade association fought obamas gainful employment rule imposes minimal accountability forprofit colleges march 6 2017 education department delayed gainful employment rule deadline ten days later devos rescinded obama administration rule prevented student guaranty agencies charging exorbitant interest rates jan 1 largest guaranty agency united student aid funds inc whose president chief executive officer william hansen taylors father letter devos sen elizabeth warren cited propublicas report taylors conflicts march 17 resigned april 11 devos reversed obama administration guidelines aimed protecting student borrowers penalizing abusive loan servicing companies meanwhile devos agenda clear field private education profiteers revealed trumps proposed budget would reduce department education funding 14 percent randi weingarten president american federation teachers lamented budget takes meat cleaver public education 160 secretary health human services tom price tom price orthopedic surgeon seems forgotten professions seminal creed first harm georgia congressman price among prominent critics obamacare provided 20 million citizens health insurance otherwise would secretary health human services working dismantle affordable care act march 7 price wrote congress express support republican repeal effort trumps campaign promise health insurance devolved rep paul ryans notion universal access form subsidies would cover fraction premium cost need nice tax break wealthy congressional budget office estimated ryantrumpprice plan 14 million americans would lose coverage immediately 2026 total would rise 24 million trump price ryan failed first assault affordable care act theyll back watch price issue rules regulations try push obamacare cliff hell work accomplishing administratively trump ryan could achieve legislatively meanwhile fellow trump party members push false narratives exploding premiums 3 percent americans experience individual rate increases cite talk obamacares implosion due insurers leaving markets dont mention republicans especially sen marco rubio sabotaged risk corridor program reimbursed insurer losses highrisk citizens dont acknowledge latest studies showing death spiral rhetoric simply lie unless trumps policies make happen trumpprice impact womens health issues becoming clear april 13 trump signed law aimed eliminating federal funding planned parenthood vice president mike pence cast tiebreaking vote senate medical research forget trumps proposed budget would cut hhs funding national institutes health almost 20 percent 160 attorney general jeff sessions jeff sessions person send federal agency charged pursuit justice oneway ride back time unspeakable injustice 1985 led prosecution three africanamerican voter rights activists voter fraud us attorney southern district alabama sessions lost case ruling theory contrary election law constitution judge threw many counts jury acquitted defendants everything else year later even republicancontrolled senate considered sessions racist become federal judge president reagan nominated december 2016 trump transition team member told new york times sessions hed bring 1985 voter rights case january 2017 confirmation hearing echoed sentiment response sen al frankens questions trumps bogus voter fraud claims millions illegal votes hillary clinton sessions equivocated voter fraud mantra become excuse new round voter suppression efforts confirmed sessions went work quickly mission turn back clock feb 22 department coordinated devos rescind obama administrations restroom rule protecting transgender students shortly thereafter us supreme court reversed earlier decision hear case transgender rights returned lower courts light trump administrations new guidance feb 23 sessions issued memo reversing obama administrations directive phase privately run prisons obamas order come scathing government audit highlighting safety security problems private prisons sessionss move good news corporations run institutions reliable republican campaign donors feb 27 department justice reversed obama administrations sixyear challenge texas voterid law 2016 federal appeals court ruled law discriminated minority voters sessions justice department 180degree aboutface march 17 justice department filed brief seeking restructure consumer financial protection bureau secured 30 million settlement forprofit college operator bridgepoint firm whose chief compliance officer unpaid leave betsy devos adviser trump seeks unrestricted power fire cfpb director march 31 sessions ordered review reform agreements troubled police departments nationwide justice departments former chief special litigation oversaw investigations 23 police departments including new orleans cleveland ferguson missouri called sessions announcement terrifying raised question whether current attorney general department justice going walk away obligation ensure law enforcement across country following constitution april 11 sessions declared dawn trump era immigration addition earlier threat deprive sanctuary cities federal funds ordered hiring border security coordinators 94 us attorneys offices emphasized deportation nonviolent offenses promised surge appointment immigration judges accelerate flow immigrants country never mind fewer 3 percent undocumented committed felonies less 6 percent overall population | 976 |
<p>More than six years after US forces captured Baghdad, American combat troops have withdrawn&#160; from all Iraqi cities and towns, handing over full control to the 600,000-strong Iraqi army and police and marking a crucial step in Iraq’s return to independence.</p>
<p>Iraqi state television showed a clock with an Iraqi flag marking the time&#160; remaining until the US pull-out with the words: “June 30: National Sovereignty Day”. The Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki who, although closely allied to the US, nevertheless calls its departure a “great victory”, declared it a national holiday.</p>
<p>The strength of Iraqi nationalism was evident as Iraqis celebrated, with an enthusiasm not seen for years, the departure of US troops from cities and towns. Boats on the Tigris, which flows through Baghdad, sported Iraqi flags. Soldiers shinned up telegraph poles to tie flags to the top. People drove through the streets with flags and plastic flowers attached to their cars as if they were going to a wedding. Thousands of Iraqi soldiers paraded in the Green Zone in celebration.</p>
<p>Even before June 30 US troops had mostly already left the towns and cities where they were once the predominant military force. For months, it has been uncommon to see US patrols on the streets in Baghdad, though they have been more visible in Mosul in northern Iraq where there is more fighting</p>
<p>The Pentagon was intent on avoiding any dramatic television pictures showing Americans in retreat which might stir memories of the fall of Saigon in 1975. It will keep 130,000 soldiers in bases outside urban areas until September and then steadily withdraw all combat troops from Iraq by August 2010 and remaining forces by the end of 2011.</p>
<p>The US&#160; is seeing its power drain away as Iraqis take on board that American troops really are going. Mr Maliki is seeking to burnish his nationalist credentials by claiming it was he who forced the US to accept a timetable for the end of the occupation during lengthy and rancorous negotiations for a US-Iraq “status of forces agreement” signed by George Bush last year. President Barack Obama is sticking rigorously to this timetable.</p>
<p>A small number of US troops will remain behind but their presence will be low key and largely invisible. Convoys from Camp Victory, the US base at Baghdad airport, will travel to the Green Zone in central Baghdad only at night. In Mosul, US vehicles must have signs saying they are not part of a combat force. In rural areas, US combat operations can continue only with the permission of the Iraqi government.</p>
<p>Six years ago, Iraqis generally welcomed the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. But, unlike the US troop presence in Afghanistan, the US occupation was largely unpopular, according to opinion polls. Sectarian and ethnic divisions within Iraq were deepened by the occupation because each of the three big communities responded differently to it: Kurds supported it, Sunni Arabs fought against it and the Shia Arab majority co-operated with it in order to establish their rule. Having taken power, the Shia now want the Americans out, while many Sunni, defeated in the sectarian civil war between 2005 and 2007, are fearful of losing US protection.</p>
<p>The days immediately prior to the pullout saw a sharp increase in violence with some 250 Iraqis killed, mostly by vehicle-borne bombs targeting crowded Shia markets and worshippers leaving mosques. These atrocities have provoked doubts about whether or not the Iraqi security forces are capable of dealing with al-Qa’ida, the presumed perpetrators. Sadly, experience shows that neither Iraqi nor American security can stop bombs aimed at civilians.</p>
<p>Al-Qa’ida’s aim in attacking the Shia is to provoke reprisals by the Shia-dominated security forces against the Sunni community, which might then become frightened enough to turn back to al-Qa’ida gunmen for defense. This could happen, but so far Iraqi government forces have not taken the bait.</p>
<p>Security is much improved in Baghdad and central Iraq compared to two years ago, when 3,000 people were being killed every month. But the improvement is only in contrast to the slaughter of the recent past. Baghdad may now be safer than Mogadishu, but it is still more dangerous than Kabul, The 2.2 million refugees who fled to Jordan and Syria are not returning in large numbers.</p>
<p>The refugees are not coming back because they are still dubious about security and living conditions. Electricity supply is better this year, but is still not permanent. There is a continuing lack of clean water. Iraq now has no fewer than 18 million mobile phones compared to none under Saddam, though the reliability and quality of the service has dropped alarmingly in the last year. Some two million people have jobs with the government and are well paid, but there is little other secure employment.</p>
<p>Iraqi society, infrastructure and economy were shattered by 30 years of war and sanctions. The US occupation failed to rebuild what was destroyed and, in many ways, exacerbated Iraq’s problems.</p>
<p>Iraq is locked in a struggle with the world’s largest oil companies over contracts that would see “Big Oil” return to the Iraqi oilfields for the first time in almost 40 years. The award of contracts began in Baghdad on June 30&#160; and were broadcast live on television to show there were no secret corrupt deals. But the process was immediately in trouble as some of the 32 international oil companies involved balked at the low level of fees they would be paid by Iraq.</p>
<p>The government had hoped they would take risks to become involved once again in Iraq’s oilfields, where reserves at an estimated 115 billion barrels of crude are estimated to be the third largest in the world. Iraq wants to raise its faltering oil production, income from which is desperately needed to reconstruct the country after decades of war.</p>
<p>At stake were six producing oilfields and two undeveloped gas fields, the most important of which is the massive south Rumaila oilfield just north of the Kuwaiti border. The contract finally went to a consortium led by BP and included the China National Petroleum Company, but only after its initial bid, as well as that of a rival consortium led by Exxon Mobil, had been rejected by the Iraqi Oil Ministry as too low. Other fields attracted less interest.</p>
<p>What happens to Iraq’s oil will determine the future shape of the world’s energy supply. Iraq and Iran are the only countries in the world which are believed to have huge reserves of undiscovered crude, but war and sanctions have prevented exploration. Beneath Iraq’s western and southern deserts may be a further 100 billion barrels of recoverable oil. Decades of under-investment, limited expertise and poor management means that Iraq’s oil output is falling and at 2.4 million barrels a day is below what it was in the final days of Saddam Hussein in 2003.</p>
<p>The Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain Shahristani has been hoping to attract international oil companies by asking them to provide investment and technology over 20 years in return for a fixed fee to be paid for every extra barrel of oil they could produce over an agreed minimum which may be higher than current production. This is risky for the companies because neither they nor the Iraqi Oil Ministry know the extent of the damage done to the giant reservoirs by reckless exploitation or how much money it will cost to restore them.</p>
<p>At the opening of bids in Baghdad’s al-Rashid hotel, the start of which was delayed by one day because of sandstorms, the Exxon Mobil-led consortium asked for a fee of $4.80 for each barrel produced above the minimum, while BP wanted $3.99 a barrel, said Mr Shahristani. He said Iraq would pay only $2, a demand which was finally accepted by BP.</p>
<p>Mr Shahristani, a nuclear scientist who was imprisoned and tortured under Saddam Hussein, has to guard his back from criticism that he is selling out Iraq’s only asset. He points out that the companies will not own a single barrel of Iraqi oil and that the country will get an extra $1.7 trillion in revenue over 20 years which will pay for “infrastructural projects across Iraq – schools, roads, airports, housing, hospitals”.</p>
<p>Iraqis are frequently suspicious that the secret purpose of the US invasion of 2003 was to seize their oil reserves which are their country’s only resource. Playing the nationalist card over oil has been frequent as different political parties and factions vie for its control. Mr Shahristani has been under sustained attack in parliament for not stopping a fall in oil production and for bringing in foreign companies. He responds that Iraq has no choice if it is going to more than double its output to five million barrels a day in five years’ time.</p>
<p>PATRICK COCKBURN is the author of ‘ <a href="" type="internal">The Occupation: War, resistance and daily life in Iraq</a>‘ and ‘ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1416551476/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Muqtada! Muqtada al-Sadr, the Shia revival and the struggle for Iraq</a>‘.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | six years us forces captured baghdad american combat troops withdrawn160 iraqi cities towns handing full control 600000strong iraqi army police marking crucial step iraqs return independence iraqi state television showed clock iraqi flag marking time160 remaining us pullout words june 30 national sovereignty day prime minister nouri almaliki although closely allied us nevertheless calls departure great victory declared national holiday strength iraqi nationalism evident iraqis celebrated enthusiasm seen years departure us troops cities towns boats tigris flows baghdad sported iraqi flags soldiers shinned telegraph poles tie flags top people drove streets flags plastic flowers attached cars going wedding thousands iraqi soldiers paraded green zone celebration even june 30 us troops mostly already left towns cities predominant military force months uncommon see us patrols streets baghdad though visible mosul northern iraq fighting pentagon intent avoiding dramatic television pictures showing americans retreat might stir memories fall saigon 1975 keep 130000 soldiers bases outside urban areas september steadily withdraw combat troops iraq august 2010 remaining forces end 2011 us160 seeing power drain away iraqis take board american troops really going mr maliki seeking burnish nationalist credentials claiming forced us accept timetable end occupation lengthy rancorous negotiations usiraq status forces agreement signed george bush last year president barack obama sticking rigorously timetable small number us troops remain behind presence low key largely invisible convoys camp victory us base baghdad airport travel green zone central baghdad night mosul us vehicles must signs saying part combat force rural areas us combat operations continue permission iraqi government six years ago iraqis generally welcomed overthrow saddam hussein unlike us troop presence afghanistan us occupation largely unpopular according opinion polls sectarian ethnic divisions within iraq deepened occupation three big communities responded differently kurds supported sunni arabs fought shia arab majority cooperated order establish rule taken power shia want americans many sunni defeated sectarian civil war 2005 2007 fearful losing us protection days immediately prior pullout saw sharp increase violence 250 iraqis killed mostly vehicleborne bombs targeting crowded shia markets worshippers leaving mosques atrocities provoked doubts whether iraqi security forces capable dealing alqaida presumed perpetrators sadly experience shows neither iraqi american security stop bombs aimed civilians alqaidas aim attacking shia provoke reprisals shiadominated security forces sunni community might become frightened enough turn back alqaida gunmen defense could happen far iraqi government forces taken bait security much improved baghdad central iraq compared two years ago 3000 people killed every month improvement contrast slaughter recent past baghdad may safer mogadishu still dangerous kabul 22 million refugees fled jordan syria returning large numbers refugees coming back still dubious security living conditions electricity supply better year still permanent continuing lack clean water iraq fewer 18 million mobile phones compared none saddam though reliability quality service dropped alarmingly last year two million people jobs government well paid little secure employment iraqi society infrastructure economy shattered 30 years war sanctions us occupation failed rebuild destroyed many ways exacerbated iraqs problems iraq locked struggle worlds largest oil companies contracts would see big oil return iraqi oilfields first time almost 40 years award contracts began baghdad june 30160 broadcast live television show secret corrupt deals process immediately trouble 32 international oil companies involved balked low level fees would paid iraq government hoped would take risks become involved iraqs oilfields reserves estimated 115 billion barrels crude estimated third largest world iraq wants raise faltering oil production income desperately needed reconstruct country decades war stake six producing oilfields two undeveloped gas fields important massive south rumaila oilfield north kuwaiti border contract finally went consortium led bp included china national petroleum company initial bid well rival consortium led exxon mobil rejected iraqi oil ministry low fields attracted less interest happens iraqs oil determine future shape worlds energy supply iraq iran countries world believed huge reserves undiscovered crude war sanctions prevented exploration beneath iraqs western southern deserts may 100 billion barrels recoverable oil decades underinvestment limited expertise poor management means iraqs oil output falling 24 million barrels day final days saddam hussein 2003 iraqi oil minister hussain shahristani hoping attract international oil companies asking provide investment technology 20 years return fixed fee paid every extra barrel oil could produce agreed minimum may higher current production risky companies neither iraqi oil ministry know extent damage done giant reservoirs reckless exploitation much money cost restore opening bids baghdads alrashid hotel start delayed one day sandstorms exxon mobilled consortium asked fee 480 barrel produced minimum bp wanted 399 barrel said mr shahristani said iraq would pay 2 demand finally accepted bp mr shahristani nuclear scientist imprisoned tortured saddam hussein guard back criticism selling iraqs asset points companies single barrel iraqi oil country get extra 17 trillion revenue 20 years pay infrastructural projects across iraq schools roads airports housing hospitals iraqis frequently suspicious secret purpose us invasion 2003 seize oil reserves countrys resource playing nationalist card oil frequent different political parties factions vie control mr shahristani sustained attack parliament stopping fall oil production bringing foreign companies responds iraq choice going double output five million barrels day five years time patrick cockburn author occupation war resistance daily life iraq muqtada muqtada alsadr shia revival struggle iraq 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 | 856 |
<p>There are about 900 miles of interstate highway between eastern Pennsylvania and Columbus, Georgia. Route 78 runs east-west to Route 81 along the south slope of the Blue Ridge, 81 slides south and west through Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and then through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia for over 200 miles till you hit Route 77 over the mountains into North Carolina to Charlotte then west on 85 to Atlanta slicing south finally on 185 to Columbus, Georgia. 185 runs right into our destination, Fort Benning, one of the largest military installations in the world, within which lies the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC), formerly the School of the Americas (SOA). I have been making this trip on the weekend before Thanksgiving since 1998, to join thousands of others in protesting the SOA. This year I was accompanied by Sarah Snider, Tim Chadwick, and Art Landis, on his first visit to Columbus. The trip has become, in life span terms, a metronome, a click-click of a road trip that marks the Fall of the year.</p>
<p>The interstate road trip culture of gas stations, convenience stores, and bad food seduces one into the illusion that you haven’t really arrived at a different place, especially when the destination is Columbus, Georgia. Modern Columbus is an extension of the strip mall, fast food, automobile culture of the interstate, an expanse of concrete and four lane highways, shopping malls, pawn shops, cheap motels, military equipment stores and strip bars.</p>
<p>This year, I was aware of another Columbus, the Columbus of the Old South, of the culture that was defeated in the Civil War and that still clings to the Noble Myth of a South that was unjustly ground down by the marauding armies of the Union. I was introduced to this Columbus by David Rose’s recent book,”The Big Eddy Club: The Stocking Stranglings and Southern Justice”.</p>
<p>The <a href="" type="internal">“Big Eddy Club</a>” traces the thread of Columbus history from before the Civil War to the present through Rose’s investigation of a series of murders called “The Stocking Stranglings”. Seven elderly Columbus women were raped and murdered over a nine- month period of 1977 in the most elegant, rich, white part of Columbus, known as Wynnton. Five of these women were members of The Big Eddy Club, an exclusive all white social club that sits on the Chattahoochee River overlooking an area known as Oliver Lake, created by a hydroelectric dam just north of Columbus.</p>
<p>To turn off busy Buena Vista Road into Wynnton is to enter the old Columbus that was created for the rich owners of the industrial plants along the Chattahoochee River, one of which has now been rebuilt into a Convention Center that is occupied by the workshops and programs presented on this weekend for and by Latin America activists networking for the next years work. Wynnton contains rich stone houses; the roads are framed with tall pines, the foliage and lawns are lush. It is a quiet haven within the rush and bustle of Columbus.</p>
<p>The Big Eddy Club is at the terminus of a road that winds along Oliver Lake, past million dollar homes, the most opulent of which lie opposite the entrance. Sarah and I did not linger in either neighborhood. As outsiders without portfolio in a beatup 1994 Olds 88, we felt sufficiently edified with a drive-through look.</p>
<p>David Rose recounts the history of racism in Columbus, the slavery, the lynchings, the years of discrimination and segregation, and links it to the arrest, trial and conviction in 1986 of Carlton Gary for the Stocking Stranglings. Carlton remains on Georgia’s death row. His trial and conviction were a travesty of due process, and evidence continues to be discovered that points to his innocence. He is a black man, convicted of a crime by a police department badly in need of a suspect after a botched investigation. Carlton was a defendant who could be easily convicted by a Columbus jury, before a Columbus judge.</p>
<p>Those who have followed the struggle of Roy Bourgeois and the School of the America’s Watch will remember the first judge on the Gary case, the segregationist Robert Elliot, known as “Maximum Bob” for his inclination to inflict on convicts the maximum sentence allowed by law. David Rose’s interview with Elliott is chilling, as the aged jurist would only recount to him one thing–his memory of a rally he attended in Nazi Germany.</p>
<p>Elliott sentenced many SOA protesters to months and years in prison for their non-violent protest. He set the tone for his successor, Federal magistrate G. Mallon Faircloth, who continues to pronounce prison sentences for nuns and priests, grandmothers and grandfathers, and anyone else who may presume to question the existence of a school of torture and assassination on US soil, including myself. I spent three months in federal prison in 2006 for my minimalist protest, after being denied a jury trial and summarily pronounced guilty by Judge Faircloth.</p>
<p>This year, between 11,000 and 25,000 people were at the gates of Fort Benning, demanding a close to a school that provides aid and training to the most repressive and terrorist militaries of the world. Torture and assassination techniques have been taught at SOA/WHINSEC, as proven by the disclosure of manuals used in courses during the 1980’s and 1990’s. In August of this year, news reports appeared that Colombian graduates and instuctors of SOA/WHINSEC have been implicated in recent murders of US drug interdiction teams in Colombia, and have been providing protection for a Colombian drug lord, Diego Leon Montoya Sanchez, alias “Don Diego”.</p>
<p>WHINSEC continues to put forward a brave public relations front, with protestations that they are teaching human rights and democracy. Columbus closes ranks behind Fort Benning, and holds a Fort Benning Support Day on the same weekend as our rally. There was music, professional wrestling, games and toys for the kids, and the mandatory appearance of about 10,000 soldiers from the base. The Columbus newspaper and television dutifully report on the sad affair, trying to generate a pulse of excitement in this manufactured patriotism.</p>
<p>My friend Art Landis, of Perkasie, Pennsylvania, crossed the line this year, and will face Judge Faircloth in January. When asked why he took this stand to protest the SOA, he says, “The SOA is a terrorist camp and terrorism and torture and killing are things I don’t approve of, whether we do it or our friends do it or it’s done in other parts of the world.”</p>
<p>Art will likely go to jail for crawling under a fence with 10 other protesters. Trespassing is a serious crime in the eyes of the US courts, which use it to quell any protest that truly seeks to demand accountability by making a human presence on the empire’s sacred ground.</p>
<p>The rally at the gates of Fort Benning this year was dedicated to the life of Rufina Amaya, the sole survivor of the 1981 El Mozote massacre, committed by the SOA-trained Atlacatl Battalion. She hid in bushes and listened to the final moments of her children’s lives being impaled on the bayonets of the soldiers. She died in February, 2007, and her testimony and calm dignity will be remembered with our hopes.</p>
<p>My thoughts this year at the rally plotted the connections between WHINSEC/SOA and the massacres it supports and supported to the culture that now houses and defends the school/institute–an elitist, racist culture that has never let go of its privilege, and that also needs to be called to justice, as nooses appear in schoolyards and innocent black men are sent to death row, and retrograde fear permeates our days and lives and the violence extends to the occupation of Iraq, the subjugation of Palestine, the war in Colombia, the femicides of Mexico and Guatemala</p>
<p>Such are the turns of the mind on Route 81 at 2 AM, fueled by gasoline and caffeine, screaming north at 85 mph through the Shenandoah Valley, across West Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>JOE DeRAYMOND lives in Freemansburg, PA. He can be contacted at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 900 miles interstate highway eastern pennsylvania columbus georgia route 78 runs eastwest route 81 along south slope blue ridge 81 slides south west pennsylvania maryland west virginia shenandoah valley virginia 200 miles till hit route 77 mountains north carolina charlotte west 85 atlanta slicing south finally 185 columbus georgia 185 runs right destination fort benning one largest military installations world within lies western hemisphere institute security cooperation whinsec formerly school americas soa making trip weekend thanksgiving since 1998 join thousands others protesting soa year accompanied sarah snider tim chadwick art landis first visit columbus trip become life span terms metronome clickclick road trip marks fall year interstate road trip culture gas stations convenience stores bad food seduces one illusion havent really arrived different place especially destination columbus georgia modern columbus extension strip mall fast food automobile culture interstate expanse concrete four lane highways shopping malls pawn shops cheap motels military equipment stores strip bars year aware another columbus columbus old south culture defeated civil war still clings noble myth south unjustly ground marauding armies union introduced columbus david roses recent bookthe big eddy club stocking stranglings southern justice big eddy club traces thread columbus history civil war present roses investigation series murders called stocking stranglings seven elderly columbus women raped murdered nine month period 1977 elegant rich white part columbus known wynnton five women members big eddy club exclusive white social club sits chattahoochee river overlooking area known oliver lake created hydroelectric dam north columbus turn busy buena vista road wynnton enter old columbus created rich owners industrial plants along chattahoochee river one rebuilt convention center occupied workshops programs presented weekend latin america activists networking next years work wynnton contains rich stone houses roads framed tall pines foliage lawns lush quiet within rush bustle columbus big eddy club terminus road winds along oliver lake past million dollar homes opulent lie opposite entrance sarah linger either neighborhood outsiders without portfolio beatup 1994 olds 88 felt sufficiently edified drivethrough look david rose recounts history racism columbus slavery lynchings years discrimination segregation links arrest trial conviction 1986 carlton gary stocking stranglings carlton remains georgias death row trial conviction travesty due process evidence continues discovered points innocence black man convicted crime police department badly need suspect botched investigation carlton defendant could easily convicted columbus jury columbus judge followed struggle roy bourgeois school americas watch remember first judge gary case segregationist robert elliot known maximum bob inclination inflict convicts maximum sentence allowed law david roses interview elliott chilling aged jurist would recount one thinghis memory rally attended nazi germany elliott sentenced many soa protesters months years prison nonviolent protest set tone successor federal magistrate g mallon faircloth continues pronounce prison sentences nuns priests grandmothers grandfathers anyone else may presume question existence school torture assassination us soil including spent three months federal prison 2006 minimalist protest denied jury trial summarily pronounced guilty judge faircloth year 11000 25000 people gates fort benning demanding close school provides aid training repressive terrorist militaries world torture assassination techniques taught soawhinsec proven disclosure manuals used courses 1980s 1990s august year news reports appeared colombian graduates instuctors soawhinsec implicated recent murders us drug interdiction teams colombia providing protection colombian drug lord diego leon montoya sanchez alias diego whinsec continues put forward brave public relations front protestations teaching human rights democracy columbus closes ranks behind fort benning holds fort benning support day weekend rally music professional wrestling games toys kids mandatory appearance 10000 soldiers base columbus newspaper television dutifully report sad affair trying generate pulse excitement manufactured patriotism friend art landis perkasie pennsylvania crossed line year face judge faircloth january asked took stand protest soa says soa terrorist camp terrorism torture killing things dont approve whether friends done parts world art likely go jail crawling fence 10 protesters trespassing serious crime eyes us courts use quell protest truly seeks demand accountability making human presence empires sacred ground rally gates fort benning year dedicated life rufina amaya sole survivor 1981 el mozote massacre committed soatrained atlacatl battalion hid bushes listened final moments childrens lives impaled bayonets soldiers died february 2007 testimony calm dignity remembered hopes thoughts year rally plotted connections whinsecsoa massacres supports supported culture houses defends schoolinstitutean elitist racist culture never let go privilege also needs called justice nooses appear schoolyards innocent black men sent death row retrograde fear permeates days lives violence extends occupation iraq subjugation palestine war colombia femicides mexico guatemala turns mind route 81 2 fueled gasoline caffeine screaming north 85 mph shenandoah valley across west virginia maryland pennsylvania joe deraymond lives freemansburg pa contacted jderaymondrcncom 160 160 | 758 |
<p>A private prison company is reportedly seeking to reopen the Willacy County Correctional Center, which used to hold detained immigrants.David Pike/AP</p>
<p />
<p>Immigration agents sparked panic across the country last week, when <a href="" type="internal">a series of high-profile operations</a> made it clear that a new era of crackdowns on undocumented immigrants had begun. Coming on the heels of <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/25/executive-order-border-security-and-immigration-enforcement-improvements" type="external">a couple</a> of <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/25/presidential-executive-order-enhancing-public-safety-interior-united" type="external">major executive orders</a> on immigration, the arrests and deportations were a very public reminder of President Donald Trump’s promise to deport <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/11/13/donald-trump-plans-to-immediately-deport-2-to-3-million-undocumented-immigrants/?utm_term=.a687e129dcf8" type="external">upwards of 2 million immigrants</a> upon taking office.</p>
<p>But given that America’s detention system for immigrants has been running at full capacity for some time now, where is the president going to put all of these people before deporting them?</p>
<p>In new jails, for starters. In the same executive order that called for the construction of a southern border wall, Trump instructed Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to build out its <a href="http://www.endisolation.org/resources/immigration-detention/" type="external">sprawling network</a> of immigration detention centers. Starting “immediately,” his order said, ICE should construct new facilities, lease space for immigrants alongside inmates in existing local jails, and sign new contracts—likely with private prison companies. The scale of that expansion became clearer on February 5, when the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-deportations-20170204-story.html" type="external">Los Angeles Times</a> reported on a memo handed down in late January from White House immigration experts to top Homeland Security officials. The document called for raising the number of immigrants ICE incarcerates daily, nationwide, to 80,000 people.</p>
<p>Last year, ICE detained <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/wp-content/uploads/publications/DHS%20Immigration%20Enforcement%202016.pdf" type="external">more than 352,000 people</a>. The number of detainees held each day, typically between <a href="http://www.dhs.gov/news/2016/11/10/statement-secretary-johnson-southwest-border-security" type="external">31,000 and 34,000</a>, reached a historic high of about 41,000 people in the fall, as Customs and Border Protection apprehended more people on the southwest border while seeing a simultaneous rise in asylum seekers. But doubling the daily capacity to 80,000 “would require ICE to sprint to add more capacity than the agency has ever added in its entire history,” says Carl Takei, staff attorney for the ACLU’s National Prison Project. It would also take an extra $2 billion in government funding per year, detention experts interviewed by Mother Jones estimated. And, Takei warned, “we don’t know if 80,000 is where he’ll stop.”</p>
<p>Yet even if ICE does not adopt an 80,000-person detention quota, other changes laid out in Trump’s executive orders suggest that vastly more people will be detained in the coming months and years. For example, Trump <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/25/presidential-executive-order-enhancing-public-safety-interior-united" type="external">ordered ICE</a> to prioritize deporting not only immigrants who been convicted or charged with crimes, but also those who had “committed acts that constitute a chargeable offense”—a category that could include entering the country illegally and driving without a license. Trump also ordered Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, who oversees ICE, to take “all appropriate actions” to detain undocumented immigrants while their cases are pending.</p>
<p>Beyond that, ICE could stop granting parole to asylum seekers, explains Margo Schlanger, a former Obama administration official who served as Homeland Security’s top authority on civil rights. With ICE taking enforcement action against more categories of immigration offenders and releasing fewer of them, Schlanger says, “we could get to a very large sum of people in detention very quickly.”</p>
<p>It’s not difficult to guess who profits. In an <a href="http://seekingalpha.com/article/4044592-corecivic-incs-cxw-ceo-damon-hininger-q4-2016-results-earnings-call-transcript" type="external">earnings call</a> last week, the private prison giant CoreCivic (formerly known as the <a href="" type="internal">Corrections Corporation of America</a>, or CCA) announced that it saw the ICE detention expansion as a business opportunity. “When coupled with the above average rate of crossings along the southwest border, these executive orders appear likely to significantly increase the need for safe, humane, and appropriate detention bed capacity that we have available,” CoreCivic President and CEO Damon Hininger said.</p>
<p>As of November, a whopping <a href="" type="internal">65 percent</a> of ICE detainees were held in facilities run by private prison companies, which typically earn a fee per detainee per night and whose business model depends upon minimizing costs to return profits to their shareholders. Since Trump’s election, private prison stocks have <a href="" type="internal">soared</a>, and two new, for-profit detention centers are opening in <a href="http://www.myajc.com/news/national-govt--politics/immigration-detention-center-south-georgia-cost-116-million/jt6d6QjNFfdb4ElxbJnbCK/" type="external">Georgia</a> and <a href="http://www.towleroad.com/2017/01/transgender-immigration/" type="external">Texas</a>.</p>
<p>Another private prison company, Management &amp; Training Corp., is <a href="http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-immigrant-detention-20170214-story.html" type="external">reportedly</a> seeking a contract <a href="http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/valley/article_6535db4a-f3f9-11e6-a2b7-6f8f799ae40f.html" type="external">with ICE</a> to reopen the Willacy County Correctional Institution, a <a href="https://www.aclu.org/sites/default/wp-content/uploads/assets/060614-aclu-car-reportonline.pdf#page=7" type="external">troubled detention camp</a> that held up to 2,000 ICE detainees in Kevlar tents between 2006 and 2011. “Historically, ICE has relied heavily on the private prison industry every time the detention system has expanded,” Takei says. “There’s little doubt in my mind that they will continue to rely on the private prison industry in what’s going to be the biggest expansion of the agency in history.”</p>
<p>The first new detention center contracts will likely take the form of arrangements between ICE and local governments to reopen empty prison facilities as detention centers or rent beds in existing local jails, Takei says. The arrangements, known intergovernmental service agreements, allow ICE to cut deals with local governments and private prison companies while avoiding a lengthy public bidding process. Occasionally, the local government agrees to hold ICE detainees alongside inmates in their publicly run jail—an arrangement a Department of Homeland Security subcommittee <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/wp-content/uploads/publications/DHS%20HSAC%20PIDF%20Final%20Report.pdf" type="external">recently called</a> “the most problematic” option for holding detainees. But most of the time, local governments simply act as middlemen in deals between ICE and private prison companies.</p>
<p>The opaque nature of the process allows all parties to avoid public outcry before the deals are signed, explains Silky Shah, co-director of the Detention Watch Network, an immigrant rights advocacy group. So far, immigration advocates haven’t gotten wind of many new contracts being negotiated or signed since Trump’s inauguration. “But that doesn’t mean contracting activity is not taking place,” Takei says. “I suspect there are closed-door meetings taking place across the country right now.”</p>
<p>Expanding detention quickly could have a high human cost. Schlanger is worried that conditions inside detention facilities could deteriorate without proper oversight from the Department of Homeland Security. “There are a lot of bad things that happen if the number of beds is ramped up fast, without appropriate controls, monitoring, supervision, and care,” she says, pointing to the potential overuse of solitary confinement, inadequate safety measures, poor nutrition, and insufficient medical care. “That means detainees could die.” Asylum seekers, she warns, will have a harder time fighting their immigration cases from inside detention centers, where it’s difficult to access lawyers and gather evidence. More could be coerced into voluntary deportation: “You’re vulnerable to the government saying to you, ‘Look, we’ll let you out from detention, but you have to give up your immigration case.'”</p>
<p>We don’t have to look far in the past to see the danger of rushing to open new detention facilities. Last year, as several thousand Haitian immigrants arrived on the southern border, fleeing natural disasters and poverty, the Department of Homeland Security began <a href="https://www.dhs.gov/news/2016/11/10/statement-secretary-johnson-southwest-border-security" type="external">seeking contracts</a> for new detention facilities to accommodate the surge. In their scramble to secure space for the new arrivals, ICE officials reportedly considered ignoring quality standards for the facilities—”scraping the bottom looking for beds,” as one official told the <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/record-immigrant-numbers-force-homeland-security-to-search-for-new-jail-space-1477042202" type="external">Wall Street Journal</a>.</p>
<p>The bottom of the barrel, in this case, included a prison in Cibola County, New Mexico, owned by CoreCivic. Last summer, after an investigation by <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/ice-plans-to-reopen-the-very-same-private-prison-the-feds-just-closed/" type="external">The Nation</a> revealed a pattern of severe, longtime medical neglect in the 1,100-bed facility—which had gone months without a doctor—the US Bureau of Prisons decided to pull its inmates out and cancel its contract with CoreCivic. Yet less than a month after the last federal prisoner was transferred out, ICE was already negotiating an agreement with the county and CoreCivic to detain immigrants in the newly vacant facility. Four hundred immigrants are <a href="https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2017/02/08/915314/0/en/CoreCivic-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2016-Financial-Results.html" type="external">currently detained</a> there. Takei notes that ICE contracted with the same company, for the same prison: “There weren’t any substantive changes.”</p>
<p>Shah expects to see familiar problems like poor medical care worsen as new deals for detention facilities are finalized. “One of the concerns we hear most often is that when people complain about ailments, [officers] will come back and just say, ‘Well, drink more water, or take an Advil and you’ll be fine,'” she says. “It’s a really harsh system already. If you’re going to expand at this level, it’s just going to become that much harsher.”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | private prison company reportedly seeking reopen willacy county correctional center used hold detained immigrantsdavid pikeap immigration agents sparked panic across country last week series highprofile operations made clear new era crackdowns undocumented immigrants begun coming heels couple major executive orders immigration arrests deportations public reminder president donald trumps promise deport upwards 2 million immigrants upon taking office given americas detention system immigrants running full capacity time president going put people deporting new jails starters executive order called construction southern border wall trump instructed immigration customs enforcement ice build sprawling network immigration detention centers starting immediately order said ice construct new facilities lease space immigrants alongside inmates existing local jails sign new contractslikely private prison companies scale expansion became clearer february 5 los angeles times reported memo handed late january white house immigration experts top homeland security officials document called raising number immigrants ice incarcerates daily nationwide 80000 people last year ice detained 352000 people number detainees held day typically 31000 34000 reached historic high 41000 people fall customs border protection apprehended people southwest border seeing simultaneous rise asylum seekers doubling daily capacity 80000 would require ice sprint add capacity agency ever added entire history says carl takei staff attorney aclus national prison project would also take extra 2 billion government funding per year detention experts interviewed mother jones estimated takei warned dont know 80000 hell stop yet even ice adopt 80000person detention quota changes laid trumps executive orders suggest vastly people detained coming months years example trump ordered ice prioritize deporting immigrants convicted charged crimes also committed acts constitute chargeable offensea category could include entering country illegally driving without license trump also ordered homeland security secretary john kelly oversees ice take appropriate actions detain undocumented immigrants cases pending beyond ice could stop granting parole asylum seekers explains margo schlanger former obama administration official served homeland securitys top authority civil rights ice taking enforcement action categories immigration offenders releasing fewer schlanger says could get large sum people detention quickly difficult guess profits earnings call last week private prison giant corecivic formerly known corrections corporation america cca announced saw ice detention expansion business opportunity coupled average rate crossings along southwest border executive orders appear likely significantly increase need safe humane appropriate detention bed capacity available corecivic president ceo damon hininger said november whopping 65 percent ice detainees held facilities run private prison companies typically earn fee per detainee per night whose business model depends upon minimizing costs return profits shareholders since trumps election private prison stocks soared two new forprofit detention centers opening georgia texas another private prison company management amp training corp reportedly seeking contract ice reopen willacy county correctional institution troubled detention camp held 2000 ice detainees kevlar tents 2006 2011 historically ice relied heavily private prison industry every time detention system expanded takei says theres little doubt mind continue rely private prison industry whats going biggest expansion agency history first new detention center contracts likely take form arrangements ice local governments reopen empty prison facilities detention centers rent beds existing local jails takei says arrangements known intergovernmental service agreements allow ice cut deals local governments private prison companies avoiding lengthy public bidding process occasionally local government agrees hold ice detainees alongside inmates publicly run jailan arrangement department homeland security subcommittee recently called problematic option holding detainees time local governments simply act middlemen deals ice private prison companies opaque nature process allows parties avoid public outcry deals signed explains silky shah codirector detention watch network immigrant rights advocacy group far immigration advocates havent gotten wind many new contracts negotiated signed since trumps inauguration doesnt mean contracting activity taking place takei says suspect closeddoor meetings taking place across country right expanding detention quickly could high human cost schlanger worried conditions inside detention facilities could deteriorate without proper oversight department homeland security lot bad things happen number beds ramped fast without appropriate controls monitoring supervision care says pointing potential overuse solitary confinement inadequate safety measures poor nutrition insufficient medical care means detainees could die asylum seekers warns harder time fighting immigration cases inside detention centers difficult access lawyers gather evidence could coerced voluntary deportation youre vulnerable government saying look well let detention give immigration case dont look far past see danger rushing open new detention facilities last year several thousand haitian immigrants arrived southern border fleeing natural disasters poverty department homeland security began seeking contracts new detention facilities accommodate surge scramble secure space new arrivals ice officials reportedly considered ignoring quality standards facilitiesscraping bottom looking beds one official told wall street journal bottom barrel case included prison cibola county new mexico owned corecivic last summer investigation nation revealed pattern severe longtime medical neglect 1100bed facilitywhich gone months without doctorthe us bureau prisons decided pull inmates cancel contract corecivic yet less month last federal prisoner transferred ice already negotiating agreement county corecivic detain immigrants newly vacant facility four hundred immigrants currently detained takei notes ice contracted company prison werent substantive changes shah expects see familiar problems like poor medical care worsen new deals detention facilities finalized one concerns hear often people complain ailments officers come back say well drink water take advil youll fine says really harsh system already youre going expand level going become much harsher | 864 |
<p />
<p>Is this the return of the summer showdowns between Capitol Hill Democrats and the White House?</p>
<p>The Senate Judiciary Committee moved a big step closer to contempt citations against top Bush administration officials today. Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/29/AR2007112901125.html" type="external">ruled</a> that White House claims of executive privilege “are not legally valid.” A Senate aide tells Mother Jones the committee could begin contempt proceedings as early as next Thursday if current and former administration officials do not comply immediately with the subpoenas.</p>
<p>More than four months have passed since the House Judiciary Committee <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2007/07/4983_contempt_of_con.html" type="external">voted</a> to cite White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers for contempt. Bolten, Miers, and other administration officials had refused to comply with congressional subpoenas for testimony and documents relating to the U.S. attorneys scandal. But with the committee vote a fading memory, the full House still has yet to vote on the measure. On the Senate side, Leahy never followed through on <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/01/AR2007070101192.html" type="external">vague threats to cite the President for contempt</a> if the White House didn’t provide the documents Congress had subpoenaed. And despite a letter House Oversight Committee chairman Henry Waxman sent three months ago ( <a href="http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20070830152740.pdf" type="external">PDF</a>) requesting information on the <a href="/mojoblog/archives/2007/04/4151_rove_and_co_bro.html" type="external">5 million emails the White House “lost</a>,” they are still nowhere to be found.</p>
<p>The Democrats have made almost no progress in their efforts to obtain more information about the attorney firings. They have proven equally ineffective in holding the people stonewalling them accountable. The Democrats have been distracted by other issues, and they were outmaneuvered by a stubborn administration. For months, the Democratic leadership has held off on a confrontation with the White House, but Leahy’s ruling today may signal that they’re returning to the attack.</p>
<p>Some amount of distraction is understandable. With the much-hyped Petraeus report on Iraq in early September and the resignation and replacement of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the Dems had a lot on their hands. But the heart of the U.S. attorneys scandal—and the part the Democrats are most interested in—lurks at 1600 Pennsylvania, and the White House remains implicated, even if Karl Rove has resigned. If the Justice Department and Gonzales were fall guys to shift blame for the attorneys scandal away from the White House, as <a href="http://www.mydd.com/story/2007/3/15/13944/3734" type="external">many on the left alleged</a>, they did their job. Even after Gonzales’ replacement, Michael Mukasey, was confirmed in early November, the Democrats still failed to press for answers.</p>
<p>On November 5, House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers Jr. made what was widely reported as a “ <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/2007/11/05/conyers-makes-ninth-and-final-offer-to-white-house/" type="external">ninth and final</a>” offer to the administration to stave off contempt citations for Miers and Bolten, agreeing to previous administration requests that interviews with senior White House staff not be conducted under oath. He even went so far as to <a href="http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=911" type="external">file the contempt report</a> with the clerk of the House—a move toward a full House vote. “Subpoena Showdown in House Grows Near,” CBS News <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/05/politics/main3452934.shtml" type="external">reported</a>. Conyers asked for a response from the administration by the end of the week. The White House quickly indicated it would not comply with Conyers’ request. But no House vote on the contempt citations came. Instead, the Democratic leadership backed off, choosing to focus on Iraq and the budget.</p>
<p>That was just the opening the administration was looking for, says James Horney, director of fiscal policy for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “The president thinks it’s in his political interest to have a confrontation with the Congress over budget issues. Even if a majority of the people in the country doesn’t support what he’s doing I suspect he’d rather have people reading press accounts about this than about Iraq and a number of other issues.” Instead of battling over the attorneys scandal and voting on contempt charges or subpoenaing email records, Congress spent November bickering with the White House over budget issues and the war and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/16/getaway.day/" type="external">didn’t pass a single major bill</a>.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Democrats have been losing the battle on the president’s chosen ground: spending. After making no progress on passing the $22 billion of extra domestic spending they want for FY 2008, Senate majority leader Harry Reid <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/16/getaway.day/" type="external">offered to split the difference</a>. But the White House, sensing weakness, held firm. Now House Democrats are <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/26/MN4QTFUN6.DTL" type="external">worried</a> they’re being lured into a repeat of the Bill Clinton-Newt Gingrich clash that shut down the government in 1995. Between pay-as-you-go rules, Iraq war funding, and a White House that won’t give an inch, the Democrats look increasingly trapped.</p>
<p>In recent months, outside groups have made the most progress on the accountability front. Earlier this year, two nonprofits, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and the National Security Archive, sued to find out what happened to the missing emails. On November 12, they scored a big victory by obtaining a court order that forces the White House to maintain copies of all its emails.</p>
<p>Meredith Fuchs, the general counsel to the National Security Archive, says she was surprised Congress wasn’t being more aggressive. “It’s pretty remarkable that the Congress hasn’t done more,” she comments. “Congress ought to be asking the White House to explain what its doing with its records. These same kind of things happened with the Clinton administration and Congress was outraged.” CREW chief counsel Anne Weismann says she’d like to see Congress subpoena more information. “We have to operate within the court system and we have no way to compel a judge to rule on any of our motions,” she said. “I’d like Congress to ask for some of the same documents we have. Ask the White House to give them documents that show what the White House knows.”</p>
<p>Leahy’s ruling today may be a signal that the process is finally moving again. If the Judiciary committee does debate contempt citations next week, the full Senate could conceivably be voting on the issue before the end of the year. “The Senate Majority Leader has a very ambitious agenda for the next three weeks,” says Erica Chabot, a spokeswoman for Leahy. “But that doesn’t mean it can’t change should something develop” before Congress recesses over the Christmas holidays.</p>
<p>The House leadership has also signaled a willingness to proceed with contempt proceedings in December, and Brendan Daly, a spokesman for House speaker Nancy Pelosi, says part of the delay was the time it took for the leadership to consult members and make sure they had the votes. “It appears that we do [have the votes] and the speaker said it’s likely we’d go forward,” he said. Still, some in the blogosphere have questioned the leadership’s commitment to the issue. On November 16, TAPPED‘s Adele Stan <a href="http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=11&amp;year=2007&amp;base_name=freshmen_tasked_with_saving_co" type="external">asked</a> why freshman representatives had been asked to whip the contempt vote. “Why, in the House, where seniority is everything, has the fate of the U.S. Constitution been left in the hands of the freshman members?. . .Why is this fight not being fought without quarter, floor vote after floor vote?” Daly says the freshmen were the perfect choice. “They are the ones that are very concerned about this. Many of them got elected on restoring the integrity of the Congress and this is an important part of that.” Still, the rhetoric at the top remains strong. “Pursuing contempt is crucial,” Conyers said in an email to Mother Jones. And Daly, the speaker’s spokesman, notes, “It’s the integrity of Congress that’s at stake here.” But no one on either side of the Capitol was particularly committal about bringing contempt citations to a vote before the full Congress—or subpoenaing email records—before the end of the year. And no one had a good answer for the most obvious question: If holding the administration accountable is so important, why is it taking so long?</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | return summer showdowns capitol hill democrats white house senate judiciary committee moved big step closer contempt citations top bush administration officials today chairman patrick leahy dvt ruled white house claims executive privilege legally valid senate aide tells mother jones committee could begin contempt proceedings early next thursday current former administration officials comply immediately subpoenas four months passed since house judiciary committee voted cite white house chief staff joshua bolten former white house counsel harriet miers contempt bolten miers administration officials refused comply congressional subpoenas testimony documents relating us attorneys scandal committee vote fading memory full house still yet vote measure senate side leahy never followed vague threats cite president contempt white house didnt provide documents congress subpoenaed despite letter house oversight committee chairman henry waxman sent three months ago pdf requesting information 5 million emails white house lost still nowhere found democrats made almost progress efforts obtain information attorney firings proven equally ineffective holding people stonewalling accountable democrats distracted issues outmaneuvered stubborn administration months democratic leadership held confrontation white house leahys ruling today may signal theyre returning attack amount distraction understandable muchhyped petraeus report iraq early september resignation replacement attorney general alberto gonzales dems lot hands heart us attorneys scandaland part democrats interested inlurks 1600 pennsylvania white house remains implicated even karl rove resigned justice department gonzales fall guys shift blame attorneys scandal away white house many left alleged job even gonzales replacement michael mukasey confirmed early november democrats still failed press answers november 5 house judiciary committee chairman john conyers jr made widely reported ninth final offer administration stave contempt citations miers bolten agreeing previous administration requests interviews senior white house staff conducted oath even went far file contempt report clerk housea move toward full house vote subpoena showdown house grows near cbs news reported conyers asked response administration end week white house quickly indicated would comply conyers request house vote contempt citations came instead democratic leadership backed choosing focus iraq budget opening administration looking says james horney director fiscal policy center budget policy priorities president thinks political interest confrontation congress budget issues even majority people country doesnt support hes suspect hed rather people reading press accounts iraq number issues instead battling attorneys scandal voting contempt charges subpoenaing email records congress spent november bickering white house budget issues war didnt pass single major bill meanwhile democrats losing battle presidents chosen ground spending making progress passing 22 billion extra domestic spending want fy 2008 senate majority leader harry reid offered split difference white house sensing weakness held firm house democrats worried theyre lured repeat bill clintonnewt gingrich clash shut government 1995 payasyougo rules iraq war funding white house wont give inch democrats look increasingly trapped recent months outside groups made progress accountability front earlier year two nonprofits citizens responsibility ethics washington crew national security archive sued find happened missing emails november 12 scored big victory obtaining court order forces white house maintain copies emails meredith fuchs general counsel national security archive says surprised congress wasnt aggressive pretty remarkable congress hasnt done comments congress ought asking white house explain records kind things happened clinton administration congress outraged crew chief counsel anne weismann says shed like see congress subpoena information operate within court system way compel judge rule motions said id like congress ask documents ask white house give documents show white house knows leahys ruling today may signal process finally moving judiciary committee debate contempt citations next week full senate could conceivably voting issue end year senate majority leader ambitious agenda next three weeks says erica chabot spokeswoman leahy doesnt mean cant change something develop congress recesses christmas holidays house leadership also signaled willingness proceed contempt proceedings december brendan daly spokesman house speaker nancy pelosi says part delay time took leadership consult members make sure votes appears votes speaker said likely wed go forward said still blogosphere questioned leaderships commitment issue november 16 tappeds adele stan asked freshman representatives asked whip contempt vote house seniority everything fate us constitution left hands freshman members fight fought without quarter floor vote floor vote daly says freshmen perfect choice ones concerned many got elected restoring integrity congress important part still rhetoric top remains strong pursuing contempt crucial conyers said email mother jones daly speakers spokesman notes integrity congress thats stake one either side capitol particularly committal bringing contempt citations vote full congressor subpoenaing email recordsbefore end year one good answer obvious question holding administration accountable important taking long | 734 |
<p>[Note: This was written before the attacks on New York and the Pentagon, but it deals with an issue that is bound up with the attacks and with the war that Washington seems about to loose upon the world. It occurs to me to send it around now because of a report carried by Agence France Presse last Friday, quoting an interview by Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer with the newspaper Yediot Aharonot. He noted that “the international community has been silent about the recent Israeli killing of Palestinians in the West Bank” because of the attacks on the US. “It is a fact that we have killed 14 Palestinians in Jenin, Kabatyeh and Tammun, with the world remaining absolutely silent. It’s a disaster for Arafat,” Ben Eliezer told the Yediot. It seems more important now than it’s been in a while for us to try to understand the real situation in the US and it client states — rejecting the propaganda persistently propounded by pundit and professor.-CGE]</p>
<p>Each day the media bring us new accounts of killings in the Middle East, described as the result of “fighting between Israelis and Palestinians,” and we wonder why these people can’t simply be reasonable, like us, and stop it. The news reports rarely point out that on one side stands perhaps the second-strongest military in the world, armed and supplied by US money, and on the other a subject people with no army or heavy weapons, but who do have the weapon of the powerless — their willingness to die. And the media hardly ever point out that the killing goes on in a region under military occupation by Israel, a military occupation that is not only brutal, as military occupations often are, but entirely illegal under international law.</p>
<p>It could be argued that Israel’s military occupation of the “West Bank” (of the Jordan River) and the “Gaza Strip” (a parcel of land at Israel’s southwest corner) are even more clearly illegal than, say, Germany’s military occupation of France in World War II. In June of 1940, after a rapid invasion, the German army occupied three-fifths of France and secured the collaboration of the French government at Vichy that controlled the rest of the country. In June of 1967, after a rapid invasion, the Israeli army occupied the West Bank and Gaza, and, with the Oslo Accords of 1993, secured the collaboration of the Palestinian Authority that now controls some parts of the occupied territories. But UN Security Council Resolution 242 in 1967 demanded the complete withdrawal of Israel from the occupied territories; instead, Israeli governments continued the occupation and continued to establish settlements of its citizens throughout the occupied region, settlements in violation of international law as stated in the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, which was designed precisely to make illegal what Germany had done in the Second World War.</p>
<p>In France, to the dismay of the Vichy government, a resistance movement (maquis) grew up against the invaders almost immediately. In Palestine, the resistance has been much more sporadic, in part because of the far tighter control the Israeli army was able to exercise: in 1987 a resistance movement (intifada) broke out in the Jebalia refugee camp in Gaza, spread to the rest of the occupied Territories, and lasted until 1993 — a popular uprising, it came as a surprise to the PLO, then in exile in Tunisia; and then a year ago, popular resistance against occupation broke out again, out of the control of the Palestinian Authority.</p>
<p>We honor the French Resistance, because it can hardly be doubted that there is a right to resist illegal military occupation. The German rule in France was famously brutal, especially after the Germans occupied the rest of the country (as many American columnists are now advising the Israelis to do). Thousands were said to have been killed by the occupying forces in reprisals for attacks on members of the occupying army, although of course many of the French collaborated with the invaders as well.</p>
<p>Outside the area “served” by the US media, the real situation today in the Middle East is known to be similar. At a large meeting of NGOs (“non-governmental organizations” — service groups actually involved in alleviating suffering around the world) parallel to the recent World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa, 3,000 delegates from 44 regions agreed to a resolution referring to Israel as a “racist apartheid state” guilty of “war crimes, acts of genocide and ethnic cleansing.”</p>
<p>At the racism conference itself, the careful and diplomatic Secretary General of the UN, Kofi Annan, made an important comment in his opening address. (He has to be careful and diplomatic on these issues: his predecessor, also an eminently careful and diplomatic man, was thrown out of his UN job by the Clinton Administration because they deemed his support for Israel tepid at the time the Israelis carried out a massacre at Qana.) On the suggestion that anti-Semitism somehow justifies Israel’s crimes in the Middle East, Annan said, “We cannot expect Palestinians to accept [the killing of Jews in World War II] as a reason why the wrongs done to them — displacement, occupation, blockade, and now extra-judicial killings — should be ignored.” (The “extra-judicial killings” are the assassinations — forbidden by international law since 1907 — that Israel carries out in the Occupied Territories, as the Germans assassinated maquis.) It was the only line in the address that prompted interruption by applause.</p>
<p>Some American progressives say that the US approach to Israel and Palestine should be “even-handed,” which of course it surely has not been. Since the 1967 war, the US has regarded Israel as its cop on the block, guarding “our” oil. A decade later the Carter Administration increased aid to Israel to half of total US aid to the world as part of the Camp David settlement (and used a good bit of the rest to buy off Egypt, as we continue to do.) With the US money, Israel was able to consolidate its occupation and launch an attack against its northern neighbor. For the next 22 years, Israel also occupied Southern Lebanon in violation of a Security Council resolution and killed perhaps 45,000 people.</p>
<p>US support continues through the current uprising, as Palestinian towns and neighborhoods are attacked by the latest American helicopters, rushed to Israel by the Clinton administration when the resistance began a year ago. And the US and Israel are quite concerned that the rest of the world be prevented from even knowing the extent of the repression: at the end of August the US blocked proposals in the UN Security Council that would have provided international monitors (as the Palestinians have requested) for the region. Neither the helicopters not the Security Council proposals were discussed in the US media.</p>
<p>To the suggestion that US policy should be “even-handed” in regard to Israel and the Palestinians, we might ask, Should the US have been even-handed between the German army and the French Resistance in 1941? CP</p> | true | 4 | note written attacks new york pentagon deals issue bound attacks war washington seems loose upon world occurs send around report carried agence france presse last friday quoting interview israeli defense minister binyamin ben eliezer newspaper yediot aharonot noted international community silent recent israeli killing palestinians west bank attacks us fact killed 14 palestinians jenin kabatyeh tammun world remaining absolutely silent disaster arafat ben eliezer told yediot seems important us try understand real situation us client states rejecting propaganda persistently propounded pundit professorcge day media bring us new accounts killings middle east described result fighting israelis palestinians wonder people cant simply reasonable like us stop news reports rarely point one side stands perhaps secondstrongest military world armed supplied us money subject people army heavy weapons weapon powerless willingness die media hardly ever point killing goes region military occupation israel military occupation brutal military occupations often entirely illegal international law could argued israels military occupation west bank jordan river gaza strip parcel land israels southwest corner even clearly illegal say germanys military occupation france world war ii june 1940 rapid invasion german army occupied threefifths france secured collaboration french government vichy controlled rest country june 1967 rapid invasion israeli army occupied west bank gaza oslo accords 1993 secured collaboration palestinian authority controls parts occupied territories un security council resolution 242 1967 demanded complete withdrawal israel occupied territories instead israeli governments continued occupation continued establish settlements citizens throughout occupied region settlements violation international law stated fourth geneva convention 1949 designed precisely make illegal germany done second world war france dismay vichy government resistance movement maquis grew invaders almost immediately palestine resistance much sporadic part far tighter control israeli army able exercise 1987 resistance movement intifada broke jebalia refugee camp gaza spread rest occupied territories lasted 1993 popular uprising came surprise plo exile tunisia year ago popular resistance occupation broke control palestinian authority honor french resistance hardly doubted right resist illegal military occupation german rule france famously brutal especially germans occupied rest country many american columnists advising israelis thousands said killed occupying forces reprisals attacks members occupying army although course many french collaborated invaders well outside area served us media real situation today middle east known similar large meeting ngos nongovernmental organizations service groups actually involved alleviating suffering around world parallel recent world conference racism durban south africa 3000 delegates 44 regions agreed resolution referring israel racist apartheid state guilty war crimes acts genocide ethnic cleansing racism conference careful diplomatic secretary general un kofi annan made important comment opening address careful diplomatic issues predecessor also eminently careful diplomatic man thrown un job clinton administration deemed support israel tepid time israelis carried massacre qana suggestion antisemitism somehow justifies israels crimes middle east annan said expect palestinians accept killing jews world war ii reason wrongs done displacement occupation blockade extrajudicial killings ignored extrajudicial killings assassinations forbidden international law since 1907 israel carries occupied territories germans assassinated maquis line address prompted interruption applause american progressives say us approach israel palestine evenhanded course surely since 1967 war us regarded israel cop block guarding oil decade later carter administration increased aid israel half total us aid world part camp david settlement used good bit rest buy egypt continue us money israel able consolidate occupation launch attack northern neighbor next 22 years israel also occupied southern lebanon violation security council resolution killed perhaps 45000 people us support continues current uprising palestinian towns neighborhoods attacked latest american helicopters rushed israel clinton administration resistance began year ago us israel quite concerned rest world prevented even knowing extent repression end august us blocked proposals un security council would provided international monitors palestinians requested region neither helicopters security council proposals discussed us media suggestion us policy evenhanded regard israel palestinians might ask us evenhanded german army french resistance 1941 cp | 626 |
<p>It is fast becoming one of the most important issues of the 2008 presidential campaign. Both major candidates want to search for more domestic oil supplies, promising to drill up and down the spine of the Rocky Mountains and off our fragile coastlines. The perceived threat of global warming is making even the most skeptical of politicians a bit nervous. The future of planet Earth, they claim, is more perilous than ever.</p>
<p>Al Gore has made an impact.</p>
<p>Too bad the Gore effect is like a bad hangover: all headache no buzz. The purported solution to the imminent warming crisis, nuclear technology, is just as hazardous as our current methods of energy procurement. Al Gore, who wrote of the potential green virtues of nuclear power in his book Earth in the Balance, earned his stripes as a congressman protecting the interests of two of the nuclear industry’s most problematic enterprises, the TVA and the Oak Ridge Labs. And, of course, Bill Clinton backed the Entergy Corporation’s outrageous plan to soak Arkansas ratepayers with the cost overruns on the company’s Grand Gulf reactor which provided power to electricity consumers in Louisiana.</p>
<p>The Clinton years indeed saw an all-out expansion of nuclear power around the globe. First came the deal to begin selling nuclear reactors to China, announced during Jiang Zemin’s 1997 visit Washington, even though Zemin brazenly vowed at the time not to abide by the so-called “full scope safeguards” spelled out in the International Atomic Energy Act. The move was apparently made over the objections of Clinton’s National Security Advisor Sandy Berger, who cited repeated exports by China of “dual use” technologies to Iran, Pakistan and Iraq. The CIA also weighed in against the deal, pointing out in a report to the President that “China was the single most import supplier of equipment and technology for weapons of mass destruction” worldwide. In a press conference on the deal, Mike McCurry said these nuclear reactors will be “a lot better for the planet than a bunch of dirty coal-fired plants” and will be “a great opportunity for American vendors” — that is, Westinghouse.</p>
<p>A day later Clinton signed an agreement to begin selling nuclear technology to Brazil and Argentina for the first time since 1978, when Jimmy Carter canceled a previous deal after repeated violations of safety guidelines and nonproliferation agreements.</p>
<p>In a letter to congress, Clinton vouched for the South American countries, saying they had made “a definitive break with earlier ambivalent nuclear policies.” Deputy National Security Advisor Jim Steinberg justified the nuclear pact with Brazil and Argentina as “a partnership in developing clean and reliable energy supplies for the future.” Steinberg noted that both countries had opposed binding limits on greenhouse emissions and that new nuclear plants would be one way “to take advantage of the fact that today we have technologies available for energy use which were not available at the time that the United States and other developed countries were going through their periods of development.”</p>
<p>The atom lobby during the 1990s had a stranglehold on the Clinton administration and now they seem to have the same suffocating grip around the neck of the brightest star in the Democratic field today: Barack Obama.</p>
<p>In 2006 Obama took up the cause of Illinois residents who were angry with Exelon, the nation’s largest nuclear power plant operator, for not having disclosed a leak at one of their nuclear plants in the state. Obama responded by quickly introducing a bill that would require nuclear facilities to immediately notify state and federal agencies of all leaks, large or small. At first it seemed Obama was intent on making a change in the reporting protocol, even demonizing Exelon’s inaction in the press. But Obama could only go so far, as Exelon executives, including Chairman John W. Rowe who serves as a key lobbyist for the Nuclear Energy Lobby, have long been campaign backers, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars dating back to Obama’s days in the Illinois State Legislature.</p>
<p>Despite his initial push to advance the legislation, Obama’s office eventually rewrote the bill, producing a version that was palatable to Exelon and the rest of the nuclear industry. “Senator Obama’s staff was sending us copies of the bill to review, we could see it weakening with each successive draft,” said Joe Cosgrove, a park district director in Will County, Illinois, where the nuclear leaks had polluted local ground water. “The teeth were just taken out of it.”</p>
<p>Inevitably the bill died a slow death in the Senate. And like an experienced political operative, Obama came out of the battle as a martyr for both sides of the cause. His constituents back in Illinois thought he fought a good fight while industry insiders knew the Obama machine was worth investing in.</p>
<p>Obama’s campaign wallet, while rich with millions from small online donations, is also bulging from $227,000 in contributions given by employees of Exelon. Two of Obama’s largest campaign fundraisers include Frank M. Clark and John W. Rogers Jr., both top Exelon officials. Even Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod, has done consulting work for the company.</p>
<p>During a Senate Committee on Environment &amp; Public Works hearing in 2005, Obama, who serves on the committee, asserted that since Congress was debating the negative impact of CO2 emissions “on the global ecosystem, it is reasonable — and realistic — for nuclear power to remain on the table for consideration.” Shortly thereafter, Nuclear Notes, the industry’s top trade publication, praised the senator. “Back during his campaign for the U.S. Senate in 2004, [Obama] said that he rejected both liberal and conservative labels in favor of ‘common sense solutions’. And when it comes to nuclear energy, it seems like the Senator is keeping an open mind.”</p>
<p>The rising star of the Democratic Party’s ties to the nuclear industry run deep indeed, but Obama may not only be loyal to Exelon and friends.</p>
<p>Sadly for the credibility of the atom lobby, some of their more eye-grabbing numbers don’t check out. For example, as noted in a report by the Nuclear Energy Institute, the nuke industry claims that the world’s 447 nuclear plants reduce CO2 emissions by 30 percent. But existing nuclear plants save only about 5 percent of total CO2 emissions, hardly a bargain given the costs and risks associated with nuclear power. As you go up the nuclear fuel chain, you have carbon dioxide emissions at every single step — from uranium mining, milling, enrichment, fuel fabrication, reactor construction to the transportation of the radioactive waste.</p>
<p>Moreover, the nuclear lobby likes to compare its record to coal-fired plants, rather than renewables such as solar, wind, and geothermal. Even when compared to coal, atomic power fails the test if investments are made to increase the efficient use of the existing energy supply. One recent study by the Rocky Mountain Institute found that “even under the most optimistic cost projections for future nuclear electricity, efficiency is found to be 2.5 to 10 times more cost effective for CO2-abatement. Thus, to the extent that investments in nuclear power divert funds away from efficiency, the pursuit of a nuclear response to global warming would effectively exacerbate the problem.”</p>
<p>Clearly Senator Obama recognizes the inherent dangers of nuclear technology and knows of the disastrous failures that plagued Chernobyl, Mayak and Three Mile Island. Yet, despite his attempts to alert the public of future toxic nuclear leaks, Obama still considers nuclear power a viable alternative to coal-fired plants. The atom lobby must certainly be pleased.</p>
<p>Jeffrey St. Clair is the author of <a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Books.html" type="external">Been Brown So Long It Looked Like Green to Me: the Politics of Nature</a> and <a href="" type="internal">Grand Theft Pentagon</a>. His newest books, <a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Books.html" type="external">Born Under a Bad Sky</a> and <a href="" type="internal">Red State Rebels: Tales of Grassroots Resistance in the Heartland</a> (co-edited with Joshua Frank) are just out from AK Press. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>Joshua Frank is co-editor of Dissident Voice and author of <a href="" type="internal">Left Out! How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush</a> (Common Courage Press, 2005), and along with Jeffrey St. Clair, the editor of the brand new book <a href="http://www.redstaterebels.org" type="external">Red State Rebels: Tales of Grassroots Resistance in the Heartland</a>, published by AK Press in July 2008.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | fast becoming one important issues 2008 presidential campaign major candidates want search domestic oil supplies promising drill spine rocky mountains fragile coastlines perceived threat global warming making even skeptical politicians bit nervous future planet earth claim perilous ever al gore made impact bad gore effect like bad hangover headache buzz purported solution imminent warming crisis nuclear technology hazardous current methods energy procurement al gore wrote potential green virtues nuclear power book earth balance earned stripes congressman protecting interests two nuclear industrys problematic enterprises tva oak ridge labs course bill clinton backed entergy corporations outrageous plan soak arkansas ratepayers cost overruns companys grand gulf reactor provided power electricity consumers louisiana clinton years indeed saw allout expansion nuclear power around globe first came deal begin selling nuclear reactors china announced jiang zemins 1997 visit washington even though zemin brazenly vowed time abide socalled full scope safeguards spelled international atomic energy act move apparently made objections clintons national security advisor sandy berger cited repeated exports china dual use technologies iran pakistan iraq cia also weighed deal pointing report president china single import supplier equipment technology weapons mass destruction worldwide press conference deal mike mccurry said nuclear reactors lot better planet bunch dirty coalfired plants great opportunity american vendors westinghouse day later clinton signed agreement begin selling nuclear technology brazil argentina first time since 1978 jimmy carter canceled previous deal repeated violations safety guidelines nonproliferation agreements letter congress clinton vouched south american countries saying made definitive break earlier ambivalent nuclear policies deputy national security advisor jim steinberg justified nuclear pact brazil argentina partnership developing clean reliable energy supplies future steinberg noted countries opposed binding limits greenhouse emissions new nuclear plants would one way take advantage fact today technologies available energy use available time united states developed countries going periods development atom lobby 1990s stranglehold clinton administration seem suffocating grip around neck brightest star democratic field today barack obama 2006 obama took cause illinois residents angry exelon nations largest nuclear power plant operator disclosed leak one nuclear plants state obama responded quickly introducing bill would require nuclear facilities immediately notify state federal agencies leaks large small first seemed obama intent making change reporting protocol even demonizing exelons inaction press obama could go far exelon executives including chairman john w rowe serves key lobbyist nuclear energy lobby long campaign backers raising hundreds thousands dollars dating back obamas days illinois state legislature despite initial push advance legislation obamas office eventually rewrote bill producing version palatable exelon rest nuclear industry senator obamas staff sending us copies bill review could see weakening successive draft said joe cosgrove park district director county illinois nuclear leaks polluted local ground water teeth taken inevitably bill died slow death senate like experienced political operative obama came battle martyr sides cause constituents back illinois thought fought good fight industry insiders knew obama machine worth investing obamas campaign wallet rich millions small online donations also bulging 227000 contributions given employees exelon two obamas largest campaign fundraisers include frank clark john w rogers jr top exelon officials even obamas chief strategist david axelrod done consulting work company senate committee environment amp public works hearing 2005 obama serves committee asserted since congress debating negative impact co2 emissions global ecosystem reasonable realistic nuclear power remain table consideration shortly thereafter nuclear notes industrys top trade publication praised senator back campaign us senate 2004 obama said rejected liberal conservative labels favor common sense solutions comes nuclear energy seems like senator keeping open mind rising star democratic partys ties nuclear industry run deep indeed obama may loyal exelon friends sadly credibility atom lobby eyegrabbing numbers dont check example noted report nuclear energy institute nuke industry claims worlds 447 nuclear plants reduce co2 emissions 30 percent existing nuclear plants save 5 percent total co2 emissions hardly bargain given costs risks associated nuclear power go nuclear fuel chain carbon dioxide emissions every single step uranium mining milling enrichment fuel fabrication reactor construction transportation radioactive waste moreover nuclear lobby likes compare record coalfired plants rather renewables solar wind geothermal even compared coal atomic power fails test investments made increase efficient use existing energy supply one recent study rocky mountain institute found even optimistic cost projections future nuclear electricity efficiency found 25 10 times cost effective co2abatement thus extent investments nuclear power divert funds away efficiency pursuit nuclear response global warming would effectively exacerbate problem clearly senator obama recognizes inherent dangers nuclear technology knows disastrous failures plagued chernobyl mayak three mile island yet despite attempts alert public future toxic nuclear leaks obama still considers nuclear power viable alternative coalfired plants atom lobby must certainly pleased jeffrey st clair author brown long looked like green politics nature grand theft pentagon newest books born bad sky red state rebels tales grassroots resistance heartland coedited joshua frank ak press reached sitkacomcastnet joshua frank coeditor dissident voice author left liberals helped reelect george w bush common courage press 2005 along jeffrey st clair editor brand new book red state rebels tales grassroots resistance heartland published ak press july 2008 ad 160 160 160 160 | 835 |
<p>It’s a Saturday. The line winds around the block. People have been waiting for hours to get in. Inside, the hallways are crowded and the air is tense. The people who are walking out, though, are smiling. They look both surprised and relieved. They’re not here for the latest iPhone or some new trendy brunch place; they’re here for a warrant clinic. And yet we’re not in court but in a church building in the 7th Ward neighborhood of New Orleans. People from all over the city have waited all day to see a judge and clear a warrant that’s been hanging over their heads for months, often years. Almost every person who’s come in today is black. For <a href="http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2017/03/23000_in_traffic_fines_reduced.html" type="external">one man</a> who walked out the door, it meant turning an overwhelming $23,000 in accumulated traffic fines and interest into a single $9 payment.</p>
<p>The clinic, put together by a grassroots organization called <a href="http://nowcrj.org/stand-with-dignity/" type="external">Stand with Dignity</a>, as well as the Municipal and Traffic Court of New Orleans, the City Attorney’s office, and Orleans Public Defenders is an astounding success. In just one day, over 1,000 people came to get a warrant cleared. Most of these warrants were issued for a missed court date to pay the fines and fees attached to their case. The judges who dedicated their entire day to the clinic waived hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines and fees and dealt with the underlying case, if possible. Attendees were promised they would not get arrested if they came to the clinic, and not a single person was.</p>
<p>Too often in New Orleans’s courts system, money, or rather the lack thereof, is contributing to people’s continued involvement in the criminal justice system and pushing residents further into poverty. A <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/vera-web-assets/downloads/Publications/past-due-costs-consequences-charging-for-justice-new-orleans/legacy_downloads/past-due-costs-consequences-charging-for-justice-new-orleans.pdf" type="external">study published</a> earlier this year by my organization, the Vera Institute of Justice, found that over 8,300 people were assessed for fines and fees in 2015 alone, not counting traffic cases. That’s $3.8 million that people were ordered to pay, in a city where nearly a fourth of residents live below the poverty line. Black defendants and their families bore most of the burden (69 percent of assessed fines and fees), even though the median income for black residents is 57 percent lower than that of white residents.</p>
<p>For those who can’t pay right away, repeat court appearances to monitor payments give people impossible choices: Pay your rent or pay fines/fees, go to court and risk losing your job or miss a payment hearing and face the consequences. Wilkeitha, who we featured in a <a href="https://www.vera.org/research/past-due" type="external">short documentary</a> on the impact of bail, fines, and fees, explained “it was really a battle because when I got released, it was like I still was in prison, because I got this over my head now. Not counting my kids, my bills, food, clothing, because I’d lost a job, everything is gone. So when I come back out, I’m starting over.” In 2015, 4,000 warrants were issued in connection with unpaid fines and fees or missed payment hearings. One warrant for a missed payment hearing means a simple traffic stop can lead straight to jail.</p>
<p>But fines and fees aren’t the only way defendants are made to subsidize the criminal justice system. When someone is arrested and charged with a crime, a dollar amount is routinely set as bail, which must be paid to secure release until trial. Most people can’t afford the full price of bail and instead pay a private bondsman a fraction of the cost (in New Orleans, 13 percent) to act as surety. The money is not only non-refundable—even if the defendant is later found non-guilty—it also includes a 3 percent fee that helps fund the criminal justice system. Think of it this way: Every time the court sets bail and a defendant pays bond through a bondsman, the court gets 1.8 percent of the bail amount. The remaining 1.2 percent goes to the sheriff, the prosecutor, and the public defender.</p>
<p>People who were arrested in 2015 in New Orleans paid $6.4 million in bail and bail fees, an astonishing sum when we know that 85 percent of defendants in New Orleans are deemed so poor that they qualify for a public defender. The burden often extends to family members who jump in to help pay the costs. Alfred, also featured in the documentary, explained that he is still paying for his brother’s bond, months after his arrest, “Even though my brother has been relieved of all those charges, the burden falls on me, still: do I pay the bonding agency, or do I pay my rent?” This is an impossible choice for thousands of poor New Orleanians.</p>
<p>Even when putting aside the human consequences, this funding scheme doesn’t make sense from a financial standpoint. The money raised through bail and conviction fees in 2015 ($4.5 million) did not even cover the city’s cost for people who couldn’t pay and spent time in jail as a result ($6.4 million).</p>
<p>New Orleans is far from unique in the use of these practices. But the inefficiencies and harms of this “user-pay system” are particularly striking in a city with such deep socio-economic and racial disparities and a historically oversized jail system. At the heart of this issue is whether poor people should be spending time in jail simply because they don’t have money to pay a bond or a set of fees. As long as we look to defendants to pay part of the bill, we run the risk of further criminalizing poverty and eroding trust in the justice system in the process.</p>
<p>The past 10 years have brought a multitude of improvements to New Orleans’s criminal justice system, from jail population reduction to early bail reform efforts and consent decrees for the police department and the jail. The warrant clinic is a powerful example of community and government actors coming together to mitigate some of the harshest effects of the bail and fines and fees systems. But with 4,000 warrants issued each year in connection to fines and fees, it would take eight warrant clinics a year serving 500 people each to maintain the number of pending warrants, let alone start to address the backlog of decades of these practices.</p>
<p>Shifting away from funding the system on the backs of defendants and their families will require a change in practices further upstream, to prevent rather than mitigate the harms associated with bail and fines and fees practices. To achieve this goal, the reform movements will need to work collectively and across the spectrum of community organizing, policy, legislation, and litigation. Thankfully, the warrant clinic demonstrates that the people of New Orleans are eager to lead the way.</p> | true | 4 | saturday line winds around block people waiting hours get inside hallways crowded air tense people walking though smiling look surprised relieved theyre latest iphone new trendy brunch place theyre warrant clinic yet court church building 7th ward neighborhood new orleans people city waited day see judge clear warrant thats hanging heads months often years almost every person whos come today black one man walked door meant turning overwhelming 23000 accumulated traffic fines interest single 9 payment clinic put together grassroots organization called stand dignity well municipal traffic court new orleans city attorneys office orleans public defenders astounding success one day 1000 people came get warrant cleared warrants issued missed court date pay fines fees attached case judges dedicated entire day clinic waived hundreds thousands dollars fines fees dealt underlying case possible attendees promised would get arrested came clinic single person often new orleanss courts system money rather lack thereof contributing peoples continued involvement criminal justice system pushing residents poverty study published earlier year organization vera institute justice found 8300 people assessed fines fees 2015 alone counting traffic cases thats 38 million people ordered pay city nearly fourth residents live poverty line black defendants families bore burden 69 percent assessed fines fees even though median income black residents 57 percent lower white residents cant pay right away repeat court appearances monitor payments give people impossible choices pay rent pay finesfees go court risk losing job miss payment hearing face consequences wilkeitha featured short documentary impact bail fines fees explained really battle got released like still prison got head counting kids bills food clothing id lost job everything gone come back im starting 2015 4000 warrants issued connection unpaid fines fees missed payment hearings one warrant missed payment hearing means simple traffic stop lead straight jail fines fees arent way defendants made subsidize criminal justice system someone arrested charged crime dollar amount routinely set bail must paid secure release trial people cant afford full price bail instead pay private bondsman fraction cost new orleans 13 percent act surety money nonrefundableeven defendant later found nonguiltyit also includes 3 percent fee helps fund criminal justice system think way every time court sets bail defendant pays bond bondsman court gets 18 percent bail amount remaining 12 percent goes sheriff prosecutor public defender people arrested 2015 new orleans paid 64 million bail bail fees astonishing sum know 85 percent defendants new orleans deemed poor qualify public defender burden often extends family members jump help pay costs alfred also featured documentary explained still paying brothers bond months arrest even though brother relieved charges burden falls still pay bonding agency pay rent impossible choice thousands poor new orleanians even putting aside human consequences funding scheme doesnt make sense financial standpoint money raised bail conviction fees 2015 45 million even cover citys cost people couldnt pay spent time jail result 64 million new orleans far unique use practices inefficiencies harms userpay system particularly striking city deep socioeconomic racial disparities historically oversized jail system heart issue whether poor people spending time jail simply dont money pay bond set fees long look defendants pay part bill run risk criminalizing poverty eroding trust justice system process past 10 years brought multitude improvements new orleanss criminal justice system jail population reduction early bail reform efforts consent decrees police department jail warrant clinic powerful example community government actors coming together mitigate harshest effects bail fines fees systems 4000 warrants issued year connection fines fees would take eight warrant clinics year serving 500 people maintain number pending warrants let alone start address backlog decades practices shifting away funding system backs defendants families require change practices upstream prevent rather mitigate harms associated bail fines fees practices achieve goal reform movements need work collectively across spectrum community organizing policy legislation litigation thankfully warrant clinic demonstrates people new orleans eager lead way | 634 |
<p>Originally printed in <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/patrick-cockburn-this-is-the-war-that-started-with-lies-and-continues-with-lie-after-lie-after-lie-797788.html" type="external">The Independent</a>.</p>
<p>It has been a war of lies from the start. All governments lie in wartime, but American and British propaganda in Iraq over the past five years has been more untruthful than in any conflict since the First World War.</p>
<p>The outcome has been an official picture of Iraq akin to fantasy and an inability to learn from mistakes because of a refusal to admit that any occurred. Yet the war began with just such a mistake. Five years ago, on the evening of 19 March 2003, President George Bush appeared on American television to say that military action had started against Iraq.</p>
<p>This was a veiled reference to an attempt to kill Saddam Hussein by dropping four 2,000lb bombs and firing 40 cruise missiles at a place called al-Dura farm in south Baghdad, where the Iraqi leader was supposedly hiding in a bunker. There was no bunker. The only casualties were one civilian killed and 14 wounded, including nine women and a child.</p>
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<p>On 7 April, the US Air Force dropped four more massive bombs on a house where Saddam was said to have been sighted in Baghdad. “I think we did get Saddam Hussein,” said the US Vice President, Dick Cheney. “He was seen being dug out of the rubble and wasn’t able to breathe.”</p>
<p>Saddam was unharmed, probably because he had never been there, but 18 Iraqi civilians were dead. One US military leader defended the attacks, claiming they showed “US resolve and capabilities”.</p>
<p>Mr Cheney was back in Baghdad this week, five years later almost to the day, to announce that there has been “phenomenal” improvements in Iraqi security. Within hours, a woman suicide bomber blew herself up in the Shia holy city of [Karbala], killing at least 40 and wounding 50 people. Often it is difficult to know where the self-deception ends and the deliberate mendacity begins.</p>
<p>The most notorious lie of all was that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. But critics of the war may have focused too much on WMD and not enough on later distortions.</p>
<p>The event which has done most to shape the present Iraqi political landscape was the savage civil war between Sunni and Shia in Baghdad and central Iraq in 2006-07 when 3,000 civilians a month were being butchered and which was won by the Shia.</p>
<p>The White House and Downing Street blithely denied a civil war was happening — and forced Iraq politicians who said so to recant — to pretend the crisis was less serious than it was.</p>
<p>More often, the lies have been small, designed to make a propaganda point for a day even if they are exposed as untrue a few weeks later. One example of this to shows in detail how propaganda distorts day-to-day reporting in Iraq, but, if the propagandist knows his job, is very difficult to disprove.</p>
<p>On 1 February this year, two suicide bombers, said to be female, blew themselves up in two pet markets in predominantly Shia areas of Baghdad, al Ghazil and al-Jadida, and killed 99 people. Iraqi government officials immediately said the bombers had the chromosonal disorder Down’s syndrome, which they could tell … from looking at the severed heads of the bombers. Sadly, horrific bombings in Iraq are so common that they no longer generate much media interest abroad. It was the Down’s syndrome angle which made the story front-page news. It showed al-Qa’ida in Iraq was even more inhumanly evil than one had supposed (if that were possible) and it meant, so Iraqi officials said, that al-Qa’ida was running out of volunteers.</p>
<p>The Times splashed … it under the headline, “Down’s syndrome bombers kill 91”. The story stated firmly that “explosives strapped to two women with Down’s syndrome were detonated by remote control in crowded pet markets”. Other papers, including The Independent, felt the story had a highly suspicious smell to it. How much could really be told about the mental condition of a woman from a human head shattered by a powerful bomb? Reliable eyewitnesses in suicide bombings are difficult to find because anybody standing close to the bomber is likely to be dead or in hospital.</p>
<p>The US military later supported the Iraqi claim that the bombers had Down’s syndrome. On 10 February, they arrested Dr Sahi Aboub, the acting director of the al Rashad mental hospital in east Baghdad, alleging that he had provided mental patients for use by al-Qa’ida. The Iraqi Interior Ministry started rounding up beggars and mentally disturbed people on the grounds that they might be potential bombers.</p>
<p>But on 21 February, an American military spokesman said there was no evidence the bombers had Down’s. Adel Mohsin, a senior official at the Health Ministry in Baghdad, poured scorn on the idea that Dr Aboub could have done business with the Sunni fanatics of al-Qa’ida because he was a Shia and had only been in the job a few weeks.</p>
<p>A second doctor, who did not want to give his name, pointed out that al Rashad hospital is run by the fundamentalist Shia Mehdi Army and asked: “How would it be possible for al-Qa’ida to get in there?”</p>
<p>Few people in Baghdad now care about the exact circumstances of the bird market bombings apart from Dr Aboub, who is still in jail, and the mentally disturbed beggars who were incarcerated. Unfortunately, it is all too clear that al-Qa’ida is not running out of suicide bombers. But it is pieces of propaganda such as this small example, often swallowed whole by the media and a thousand times repeated, which cumulatively mask the terrible reality of Iraq.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | originally printed independent war lies start governments lie wartime american british propaganda iraq past five years untruthful conflict since first world war outcome official picture iraq akin fantasy inability learn mistakes refusal admit occurred yet war began mistake five years ago evening 19 march 2003 president george bush appeared american television say military action started iraq veiled reference attempt kill saddam hussein dropping four 2000lb bombs firing 40 cruise missiles place called aldura farm south baghdad iraqi leader supposedly hiding bunker bunker casualties one civilian killed 14 wounded including nine women child 7 april us air force dropped four massive bombs house saddam said sighted baghdad think get saddam hussein said us vice president dick cheney seen dug rubble wasnt able breathe saddam unharmed probably never 18 iraqi civilians dead one us military leader defended attacks claiming showed us resolve capabilities mr cheney back baghdad week five years later almost day announce phenomenal improvements iraqi security within hours woman suicide bomber blew shia holy city karbala killing least 40 wounding 50 people often difficult know selfdeception ends deliberate mendacity begins notorious lie iraq possessed weapons mass destruction critics war may focused much wmd enough later distortions event done shape present iraqi political landscape savage civil war sunni shia baghdad central iraq 200607 3000 civilians month butchered shia white house downing street blithely denied civil war happening forced iraq politicians said recant pretend crisis less serious often lies small designed make propaganda point day even exposed untrue weeks later one example shows detail propaganda distorts daytoday reporting iraq propagandist knows job difficult disprove 1 february year two suicide bombers said female blew two pet markets predominantly shia areas baghdad al ghazil aljadida killed 99 people iraqi government officials immediately said bombers chromosonal disorder downs syndrome could tell looking severed heads bombers sadly horrific bombings iraq common longer generate much media interest abroad downs syndrome angle made story frontpage news showed alqaida iraq even inhumanly evil one supposed possible meant iraqi officials said alqaida running volunteers times splashed headline downs syndrome bombers kill 91 story stated firmly explosives strapped two women downs syndrome detonated remote control crowded pet markets papers including independent felt story highly suspicious smell much could really told mental condition woman human head shattered powerful bomb reliable eyewitnesses suicide bombings difficult find anybody standing close bomber likely dead hospital us military later supported iraqi claim bombers downs syndrome 10 february arrested dr sahi aboub acting director al rashad mental hospital east baghdad alleging provided mental patients use alqaida iraqi interior ministry started rounding beggars mentally disturbed people grounds might potential bombers 21 february american military spokesman said evidence bombers downs adel mohsin senior official health ministry baghdad poured scorn idea dr aboub could done business sunni fanatics alqaida shia job weeks second doctor want give name pointed al rashad hospital run fundamentalist shia mehdi army asked would possible alqaida get people baghdad care exact circumstances bird market bombings apart dr aboub still jail mentally disturbed beggars incarcerated unfortunately clear alqaida running suicide bombers pieces propaganda small example often swallowed whole media thousand times repeated cumulatively mask terrible reality iraq | 520 |
<p>In the first two years of the Felipe Calderon administration, Mexico has become a focal point in the violation of the human rights of immigrants even as it criticizes the treatment of Mexican migrants in the United States. The UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants Jorge Bustamante states the problem in no uncertain terms: “We are responsible for violations of the rights of Central Americans passing through Mexico, the same or worse as those of Mexicans in the United States.”</p>
<p>The analogy between the treatment of Central Americans by the Mexican government and Mexicans by the U.S. government is particularly relevant. President Calderon came to office with two seemingly different challenges: to find a solution to U.S. treatment of Mexican migrants on the northern border, and to deal fairly and efficiently with a burgeoning flow of immigrants and trans-migrants crossing over his southern border.</p>
<p>Neither challenge has been met. The contrast between the mostly rhetorical defense of Mexican migrants and the violations of migrant rights here demonstrates not only hypocrisy, but more importantly, the absence of a coherent rights-based immigration policy that would apply the standards developed in UN declarations on migrant rights, and other conventions.</p>
<p>Participants in the World Social Forum on Migrations designated Mexico a “red flag” zone for the violation of migrants’ rights. The first reason is that it is one of the countries that produce the largest number of migrants. Migrant organizations in the United States accuse the Calderon government of a lack of results in defending their rights, and a lack of direct dialogue with the migrants. Calderon’s statements that migration is inevitable, they claim, show a fatalistic resignation to the lack of options at home.</p>
<p>The second reason is the treatment of Central Americans in Mexico. Chiapas alone receives some 45,000 agricultural migrant workers a year and 200,000 illegal entries. Bustamante reports that migrants are “tortured, robbed, and extorted” by criminal networks comprised of corrupt members of the armed forces, police, and government officials. The Salvadorean vice consul recently affirmed that 17% of Salvadoran migrants had been assaulted when entering Mexico. Press reports and testimonies reveal the terrible conditions of overcrowding in migratory stations, extortion by security forces, and routine violations of rights in raids and return programs. It’s not that the administration has entirely ignored the problem. Undocumented status was decriminalized. Discourse and training on human rights has increased within immigration agencies and services have been expanded. Special programs have been instituted to protect women and child migrants.</p>
<p>But even insiders admit these programs are at best Band-Aids on a hemorrhaging wound. The reason is the adoption of the security paradigm for migratory policy. Since the Vicente Fox administration, the U.S. government has pushed Mexico to control immigration over its southern border as part of stretching the U.S. security perimeter. Many of these commitments were hammered out in the context of the Security and Prosperity Partnership, or SPP, an agreement to extend NAFTA into regional security.</p>
<p>The Merida Initiative, developed in the SPP, will provide tens of millions of dollars to Mexico’s Migration Institute to institutionalize the security approach to immigration. Although heralded by Calderon as a joint initiative to fight organized crime, it is officially called a regional cooperation initiative on counter-terrorism, counter-narcotics, and border security. It intensifies conflict and aggressions against migrants by attacking “the flow of illegal goods and persons,” as if migrants were contraband or terrorists.</p>
<p>Placing immigration within a security paradigm is what led to the construction of the wall along the U.S. border and the 5,000 deaths to date of migrants forced to cross in the most dangerous parts of the border due to U.S. surveillance and enforcement. Ironically, the emphasis on border “control” in Mexico has fed organized crime and created booming underground businesses that prey on immigrants. The UN High Commission for Refugees has pointed out this relationship, saying, “All smugglers thrive on prohibition, so stronger borders and tightened visa restrictions have helped push more people—both refugees and economic migrants—into the arms of the smugglers.”</p>
<p>In those arms, women are forced into prostitution, migrants are kidnapped for the resources they were able to scrape together for the trip, their families are extorted, and children are forced into slave labor. All these problems have grown over the past two years, as the Calderon administration tightened border controls in the South while turning a blind eye to corruption, and has taken a weak stance on repressive measures in the North.</p>
<p>Illegal immigration is not a problem that will go away as long as it’s considered a problem. The problem is not people looking for work—people will always look for a way to feed their families and cannot be deterred from that. It’s jobs. The Calderon and Bush governments are spending millions each year on security forces, monitoring, detention, and deportation of immigrants. Many keep coming back, not because they’re recidivist lawbreakers, but because they don’t have options in their home countries.</p>
<p>Unless Mexico, the United States, and Central American countries form an effective regional employment strategy that includes a review of trade polices that lead to displacement, the human rights crisis for immigrants will continue to go from bad to worse.</p>
<p>LAURA CARLSEN (lcarlsen(a)ciponline.org) is the Mexico City-based director of the <a href="http://www.americaspolicy.org" type="external">Americas Policy Program</a> of the Center for International Policy.</p>
<p>This article was originally printed in <a href="http://www.thenews.com.mx/home/tnfeature.asp?cve_feature=73" type="external">The News</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | first two years felipe calderon administration mexico become focal point violation human rights immigrants even criticizes treatment mexican migrants united states un special rapporteur human rights migrants jorge bustamante states problem uncertain terms responsible violations rights central americans passing mexico worse mexicans united states analogy treatment central americans mexican government mexicans us government particularly relevant president calderon came office two seemingly different challenges find solution us treatment mexican migrants northern border deal fairly efficiently burgeoning flow immigrants transmigrants crossing southern border neither challenge met contrast mostly rhetorical defense mexican migrants violations migrant rights demonstrates hypocrisy importantly absence coherent rightsbased immigration policy would apply standards developed un declarations migrant rights conventions participants world social forum migrations designated mexico red flag zone violation migrants rights first reason one countries produce largest number migrants migrant organizations united states accuse calderon government lack results defending rights lack direct dialogue migrants calderons statements migration inevitable claim show fatalistic resignation lack options home second reason treatment central americans mexico chiapas alone receives 45000 agricultural migrant workers year 200000 illegal entries bustamante reports migrants tortured robbed extorted criminal networks comprised corrupt members armed forces police government officials salvadorean vice consul recently affirmed 17 salvadoran migrants assaulted entering mexico press reports testimonies reveal terrible conditions overcrowding migratory stations extortion security forces routine violations rights raids return programs administration entirely ignored problem undocumented status decriminalized discourse training human rights increased within immigration agencies services expanded special programs instituted protect women child migrants even insiders admit programs best bandaids hemorrhaging wound reason adoption security paradigm migratory policy since vicente fox administration us government pushed mexico control immigration southern border part stretching us security perimeter many commitments hammered context security prosperity partnership spp agreement extend nafta regional security merida initiative developed spp provide tens millions dollars mexicos migration institute institutionalize security approach immigration although heralded calderon joint initiative fight organized crime officially called regional cooperation initiative counterterrorism counternarcotics border security intensifies conflict aggressions migrants attacking flow illegal goods persons migrants contraband terrorists placing immigration within security paradigm led construction wall along us border 5000 deaths date migrants forced cross dangerous parts border due us surveillance enforcement ironically emphasis border control mexico fed organized crime created booming underground businesses prey immigrants un high commission refugees pointed relationship saying smugglers thrive prohibition stronger borders tightened visa restrictions helped push peopleboth refugees economic migrantsinto arms smugglers arms women forced prostitution migrants kidnapped resources able scrape together trip families extorted children forced slave labor problems grown past two years calderon administration tightened border controls south turning blind eye corruption taken weak stance repressive measures north illegal immigration problem go away long considered problem problem people looking workpeople always look way feed families deterred jobs calderon bush governments spending millions year security forces monitoring detention deportation immigrants many keep coming back theyre recidivist lawbreakers dont options home countries unless mexico united states central american countries form effective regional employment strategy includes review trade polices lead displacement human rights crisis immigrants continue go bad worse laura carlsen lcarlsenaciponlineorg mexico citybased director americas policy program center international policy article originally printed news 160 160 160 160 160 | 519 |
<p>“First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Finally they integrate (or co-opt) what you have been saying all along,” a wise person said decades ago.</p>
<p>After seventeen years of ignoring the growing Bioneers, the New York Times finally evolved to the second stage of ridicule. The Bioneers drew over 3000 people to its annual conference in San Rafael, California, Oct. 20-22. It was beamed by satellite to another 10,000 people at eighteen communities around the United States from Honolulu to Anchorage to Houston to Massachusetts. Then those some 13,000 people went home around the country and beyond to talk to their friends about what they learned.</p>
<p>The Times’ Oct. 24 article cynically describes the event as a “pep rally,” a “megachurch for the Prius set” and “true believers” and “a monoculture, a love-fest between graying activists and youthful idealists.” As one of those “graying activists,” now 62, I appreciate the Times’ growth into adolescence by covering this newsworthy event and await its maturing to understand at least some of the ideas advanced by the scientists and others at Bioneers. Perhaps better to be ridiculed than ignored.</p>
<p>The corporate media was skewered by “Democracy Now” host Amy Goodman, both at Bioneers and in her best-selling new book “Static: Government Liars, Media Cheerleaders, and the People Who Fight Back,” which is climbing up even the NY Times best-selling list. Though the Times article does not mention Goodman or her book–still trying to ignore the journalist whose radio and TV program appears on over 500 stations, making it the largest public media collaboration in the country–one wonders if there might be some childish payback going on here.</p>
<p>As a professional journalist who has also taught journalism in college, I try to be more neutral and objective than the Times when I write about the recent weekend. But let me admit to my bias toward the intention of the Bioneers to draw biological and other pioneers together to work to restore the Earth. Some still dismiss us with phrases like “tree huggers,” but with fewer trees each year to clean our air, draw water to the ground, provide beauty and food and do all the other wonderful things that trees naturally do, I must admit that I have indeed been hugging the redwoods, oaks, cedars, apples and other trees on my small Northern California farm.</p>
<p>My attempt at a more balanced-though sympathetic rather than cynical- report on last weekend’s Bioneers follows:</p>
<p>According to founder Kenny Ausubel, Bioneers seeks “to bring biological pioneers together to restore the Earth.” Co-producer Nina Simons described its intention to “co-create a living social system. This is not a spectator sport.” Among this year’s keynote speakers were New York Times writer Michael Pollan and businessman Paul Hawken.</p>
<p>These and other morning speakers were beamed to 18 communities. In the afternoon and evening different local presentations were made at each site. The aim of the Honolulu gathering, for example, was “to create community stories of practical environmental solutions and innovative social strategies for restoration of harmony between humanity and the earth.”</p>
<p>The Logan, Utah, site featured a presentation by Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson at the Mormon Tabernacle. The Anchorage site included a Native Elder Wisdom Circle. Images of the gatherings around the country were projected on a giant screen at the California base event.</p>
<p>“Democracy Now” radio and TV host Amy Goodman reported on her 80-city tour with her new book. “The media are the most powerful institution in the world,” Goodman asserted. “The Pentagon has employed the media and we need to take it back. We need a media that covers power, not one that covers up for power.”</p>
<p>Goodman told “stories in a time of war.” She talked about Cindy Sheehan camping outside “the Presidential Estate, which is not a ranch,” noting, “Beware of mothers who have nothing else to lose.” Sheehan lost her son Casey in Iraq and dogs Bush with a single question, “For what noble cause did my son die?” He has yet to answer. “When the media covers Cindy Sheehan,” Goodman added, “it is about her as an individual, not about the movement of which she is a part.” Goodman seeks “to report from the victim’s perspectives” and give voice to those who are silent.</p>
<p>“The level of resistance by soldiers is a huge story,” Goodman contended. “Soldiers in Iraq are overwhelmingly against the war.” Ann Wright, a former Army colonel who resigned her diplomatic post to protest the Iraq War, added in an interview, “The Pentagon admits that some 40,000 soldiers have gone AWOL since the Iraq War began.”</p>
<p>“This year Bioneers has a large number of workshops focusing on stories,” commented Ilyse Hogue of Moveon.org. Workshops were offered on themes such as “When Stories Change, the World Changes,” “Women Telling Our Stories and Promoting Justice,” and “Change the Story: New Strategies for Shifting Culture.”</p>
<p>“We are made of stories. Stories contain power,” asserted James Ball, who worked formerly for Fox TV and ABC and now with smartMemes. “People don’t just tell stories. Stories tell us who we are and how to live.”</p>
<p>“Indigenous Knowledge” was one of the main tracks of the gathering. The youngest-ever Chief of the Neetsail Gwich in Alaska, Evon Peter, spoke about Youth Leadership. A film about Sioux John Trudell was shown.</p>
<p>Bioneers gives ample attention to emerging leaders. Clayton Thomas-Muller of the Cree Nation in Canada has been the Native Energy organizer for the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) and was recognized by Utne Reader as one of the top 30 under 30 activists in North America.</p>
<p>“Indigenous people are the original bioneers,” Thomas-Mueller began his presentation. “The IEN is composed of 250 indigenous groups around North America. Our lands and people are being sacrificed for irresponsible energy policies. Oil, natural gas, and mining industries violate our humans rights and territories.”</p>
<p>“America’s burgeoning natural gas industry” threatens the indigenous people and their land in Canada, according to Thomas-Muller. He described a natural gas pipeline of 1700 miles that is being built to get oil from the tar sands in North Alberta, noting, “Tar sands are the second largest oil reserves in the world, next to Saudia Arabia. Industry’s goal is to make Canada the number one producer of oil for the US. Energy companies from China and India are also now arriving for this lucrative and destructive energy. They wants to get natural gas down to the tar sands to rip off the upper boreal forest surface. The tar sands are underneath the homes of a First Nation people just north of our Cree people.”</p>
<p>Michael Pollan is the bestselling author of various books on the relationship of humans to nature. He currently teaches at the University of California at Berkeley. His most recent book is “The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals.”</p>
<p>“The path to my current book was born in this room,” Pollan began. He referred to meeting Joel Salatin at a Bioneers Conference, the farmer who figures prominently in his book, “Joel calls himself ‘a grass farmer.’ So rather than talk to me on the phone, he insisted that I come to his farm, get on the ground, and meet his grass. If we go really local, we go the grass.”</p>
<p>“Local food is one of the most important movements going on today,” according to Pollan. Even organic food “is on the path of industrialization- including strawberries from China and blueberries from Canada. We are in the age of organic factory farming.” To counter this, Pollan described “a revolt of small producers and consumers that is on the rise today.” The growth of farmers markets are part of the solution. “Much more goes on in farmers markets than the exchange of money for food.”</p>
<p>“Our centralized food system is vulnerable to deliberate and accidental contamination,” Pollan declared. “We need to de-centralize our food supply and develop food independence. Lets put our faith not in technology and regulation, but in relationships.”</p>
<p>“We need a way to eat when the cheap oil is gone,” Pollan contended. “The industrial food system will break down. We need to have more food choices and think in terms of economic diversity. We need to cultivate multiple gardens and not seek a single source.”</p>
<p>A panel on “The Globalocal Food Movement: Act Globally, Eat Locally” occurred in the afternoon. Brian Halweil, author of “Eat Here,” told stories of food activism in Long Island and in Japan, contending that “eating local is a political decision.”</p>
<p>Paul Hawken was the gathering’s final conference-wide speaker. He has written various books, including “Natural Capitalism,” and is currently writing “Blessed Unrest.” Hawken advocated “liberation ecology,” “bottom-up power,” and “independence movements.”</p>
<p>“The social justice, environmental and indigenous movements are fast-growing and becoming the biggest movement in the world,” Hawken asserted. He favors linking them more. “The house is burning down, literally,” Hawken contended. “We are witnessing the breakdown of the world. We will either come together as a globalized people or we will disappear as a civilization. We need to arrest our descent into chaos.”</p>
<p>“Bioneers is an inspiration for the whole year for me,” Catherine Allport of Santa Fe, N.M., explained. “It takes me that long to integrate what happens here.”</p>
<p>“Bioneers gives us a taste of what could be,” noted Noli Hoye of Massachusetts. “I especially appreciated Paul Hawken’s closing message that we need to bridge various movements. Staying home was the central message that I heard. So I think I’ll go to the beaming Bioneers in Massachusetts next year.”</p>
<p>“This year there was more attention to creating a culture,” Puerto Rican Mara Nieves noted. “There were many different cultures present and we were able to create a multi-cultural community. Living in colonized Puerto Rico with all the hatred of the US globally, Bioneers is like medicine. It is healing to come and not be so negative and see all the good things that are happening.”</p>
<p>Dr. SHEPHERD BLISS is a retired college teacher who now runs Kokopelli Farm in Northern California. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | first ignore ridicule finally integrate coopt saying along wise person said decades ago seventeen years ignoring growing bioneers new york times finally evolved second stage ridicule bioneers drew 3000 people annual conference san rafael california oct 2022 beamed satellite another 10000 people eighteen communities around united states honolulu anchorage houston massachusetts 13000 people went home around country beyond talk friends learned times oct 24 article cynically describes event pep rally megachurch prius set true believers monoculture lovefest graying activists youthful idealists one graying activists 62 appreciate times growth adolescence covering newsworthy event await maturing understand least ideas advanced scientists others bioneers perhaps better ridiculed ignored corporate media skewered democracy host amy goodman bioneers bestselling new book static government liars media cheerleaders people fight back climbing even ny times bestselling list though times article mention goodman bookstill trying ignore journalist whose radio tv program appears 500 stations making largest public media collaboration countryone wonders might childish payback going professional journalist also taught journalism college try neutral objective times write recent weekend let admit bias toward intention bioneers draw biological pioneers together work restore earth still dismiss us phrases like tree huggers fewer trees year clean air draw water ground provide beauty food wonderful things trees naturally must admit indeed hugging redwoods oaks cedars apples trees small northern california farm attempt balancedthough sympathetic rather cynical report last weekends bioneers follows according founder kenny ausubel bioneers seeks bring biological pioneers together restore earth coproducer nina simons described intention cocreate living social system spectator sport among years keynote speakers new york times writer michael pollan businessman paul hawken morning speakers beamed 18 communities afternoon evening different local presentations made site aim honolulu gathering example create community stories practical environmental solutions innovative social strategies restoration harmony humanity earth logan utah site featured presentation salt lake city mayor rocky anderson mormon tabernacle anchorage site included native elder wisdom circle images gatherings around country projected giant screen california base event democracy radio tv host amy goodman reported 80city tour new book media powerful institution world goodman asserted pentagon employed media need take back need media covers power one covers power goodman told stories time war talked cindy sheehan camping outside presidential estate ranch noting beware mothers nothing else lose sheehan lost son casey iraq dogs bush single question noble cause son die yet answer media covers cindy sheehan goodman added individual movement part goodman seeks report victims perspectives give voice silent level resistance soldiers huge story goodman contended soldiers iraq overwhelmingly war ann wright former army colonel resigned diplomatic post protest iraq war added interview pentagon admits 40000 soldiers gone awol since iraq war began year bioneers large number workshops focusing stories commented ilyse hogue moveonorg workshops offered themes stories change world changes women telling stories promoting justice change story new strategies shifting culture made stories stories contain power asserted james ball worked formerly fox tv abc smartmemes people dont tell stories stories tell us live indigenous knowledge one main tracks gathering youngestever chief neetsail gwich alaska evon peter spoke youth leadership film sioux john trudell shown bioneers gives ample attention emerging leaders clayton thomasmuller cree nation canada native energy organizer indigenous environmental network ien recognized utne reader one top 30 30 activists north america indigenous people original bioneers thomasmueller began presentation ien composed 250 indigenous groups around north america lands people sacrificed irresponsible energy policies oil natural gas mining industries violate humans rights territories americas burgeoning natural gas industry threatens indigenous people land canada according thomasmuller described natural gas pipeline 1700 miles built get oil tar sands north alberta noting tar sands second largest oil reserves world next saudia arabia industrys goal make canada number one producer oil us energy companies china india also arriving lucrative destructive energy wants get natural gas tar sands rip upper boreal forest surface tar sands underneath homes first nation people north cree people michael pollan bestselling author various books relationship humans nature currently teaches university california berkeley recent book omnivores dilemma natural history four meals path current book born room pollan began referred meeting joel salatin bioneers conference farmer figures prominently book joel calls grass farmer rather talk phone insisted come farm get ground meet grass go really local go grass local food one important movements going today according pollan even organic food path industrialization including strawberries china blueberries canada age organic factory farming counter pollan described revolt small producers consumers rise today growth farmers markets part solution much goes farmers markets exchange money food centralized food system vulnerable deliberate accidental contamination pollan declared need decentralize food supply develop food independence lets put faith technology regulation relationships need way eat cheap oil gone pollan contended industrial food system break need food choices think terms economic diversity need cultivate multiple gardens seek single source panel globalocal food movement act globally eat locally occurred afternoon brian halweil author eat told stories food activism long island japan contending eating local political decision paul hawken gatherings final conferencewide speaker written various books including natural capitalism currently writing blessed unrest hawken advocated liberation ecology bottomup power independence movements social justice environmental indigenous movements fastgrowing becoming biggest movement world hawken asserted favors linking house burning literally hawken contended witnessing breakdown world either come together globalized people disappear civilization need arrest descent chaos bioneers inspiration whole year catherine allport santa fe nm explained takes long integrate happens bioneers gives us taste could noted noli hoye massachusetts especially appreciated paul hawkens closing message need bridge various movements staying home central message heard think ill go beaming bioneers massachusetts next year year attention creating culture puerto rican mara nieves noted many different cultures present able create multicultural community living colonized puerto rico hatred us globally bioneers like medicine healing come negative see good things happening dr shepherd bliss retired college teacher runs kokopelli farm northern california reached sb3ponnet 160 160 160 | 972 |
<p><a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-303412p1.html?cr=00&amp;pl=edit-00" type="external">Mykhaylo Palinchak</a> / <a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/editorial?cr=00&amp;pl=edit-00" type="external">Shutterstock.com</a></p>
<p>This post originally ran on <a href="http://www.juancole.com/2015/01/president-mideast-challenges.html" type="external">Juan Cole’s Web page</a>.</p>
<p>Barack Obama wanted to be the president who got the US out of Afghanistan and Iraq, and turned America’s diplomatic energies to the more promising Pacific Rim.</p>
<p>2014 was the year in which he failed decisively at these objectives. He has had to keep 10,000 US military personnel in Afghanistan, given the continued strength of the Taliban and the untested character of the Afghanistan National Army.</p>
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<p>The <a href="http://www.juancole.com/2014/12/ceased-exist-again.html%20" type="external">collapse of the Iraqi army in June in the face of a popular uprising coordinated with Daesh (ISIS or ISIL)</a> in the Sunni Arab north brought him back into Iraq. Not only are US aircraft bombing Iraq daily, some 3,000 US military personnel are in the country, and a military command is being created. Obama’s strategy against Daesh has had several successes since June. The minions of Ibrahim al-Samarra’i (who styles himself ‘caliph’ Abu Omar al-Baghdadi) have been pushed back from most Kurdish territory and no longer menace Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. They have been denied their stronghold at the town of Jurf al-Sakhr in southern al-Anbar Province southwest of Baghdad, and the capital seems more secure than it did last summer. They have lost territory in Diyala province, and just this weekend the Iraqi army, Shiite militias, Iranian Revolutionary Guards, and the Kurdistan Peshmerga paramilitary expelled them from Dhulu’iya northeast of the capital. The Iraqi forces have also pushed them back from the center of Beiji, the refining city. Most dramatically, the Peshmerga, aided by US close air support and Syrian Kurdish guerrillas of the YPG, took Mt. Sinjar from Daesh and rescued thousands of Yezidi Kurds who had been in danger of being killed and ethnically cleansed. Ironically, the US and Iran are de facto allies against Daesh in Iraq.</p>
<p>The Pentagon is planning a spring offensive against Daesh in its major base, Mosul. The challenge for Obama will be to expel Daesh from Mosul without reducing the city to rubble and killing large numbers of non-combatants, and to do it in alliance with Sunni Arab forces and not just the largely Shiite Iraqi Army and its radical Shiite militia auxiliaries or the Kurdish Peshmerga, both of whom Iraq’s Sunni Arabs would view as aliens. That is no mean challenge. But Obama did get lucky in his antagonist: Daesh is so brutal that most Mosulawis will likely be delighted to see it defeated.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.juancole.com/images/2015/01/middle-east-map-political.gif" type="external" /></p>
<p>The good news from the region, that Tunisia has had a relatively successful democratic transition, with the election of a full-term parliament and a president, should have led the US to reward Tunisia with more foreign aid. (US aid is piddling and is aimed at military allies, not at countries that actually need it). Obama should raise the profile of Tunisia in US aid and trade, to help it consolidate its new democracy.</p>
<p>Obama took his campaign against Daesh to Syria, where it rules over most of al-Raqqah Province in the east. The US and allies are bombing Daesh positions, equipment and buildings there, to prevent it offering logistical support to Daesh in Mosul. (This effort has been aided by the advances across northern Ninewah Province in Iraq of Kurdistan’s Peshmerga, which appears to have cut Daesh in Iraq off from its Syrian territories.</p>
<p>Obama’s strategy in Syria is a mess, since he wants to defeat Daesh, al-Qaeda (Jabhat al-Nusra or the Support Front), and their enemy, the Baath regime of Bashar al-Assad. But if Obama does weaken Daesh, likely the Baath regime and al-Qaeda will benefit. The US has also bombed the Support Front, what with it being al-Qaeda and all. So it is hard to see how Bashar al-Assad is not the ultimate beneficiary here. Obama said that he wanted to train up a new Free Syrian Army that would be ‘vetted,’ ‘moderate,’ and capable fighters. But Congress removed from the budget the $300 mn. Obama set aside for that training. The training is envisaged as being in Saudi Arabia. But Riyadh is backing the Islamic Front, a breakaway hard line Muslim religious faction that had formerly been in the Free Syrian Army coalition. The Islamic Front, which has a position at Aleppo in the north, now says it rejects democratic elections and wants sharia (Islamic-law) rule. So it is hard actually to see much difference between the Saudi-backed “moderates” and the hardliners in the Support Front and Daesh, except that they are for now allied with an ally of the US (but one, the religious and foreign policy of which is often troublesome to Washington).</p>
<p>The fact is that Obama needs Iran’s support for the central Iraqi government in Baghdad. He therefore cannot afford to bomb Bashar al-Assad’s facilities in Syria, since Iran is allied with al-Assad. If Obama is not careful, he will end up helping al-Assad reestablish a fragile control over most of the country. This outcome would be horrible, since al-Assad is a war criminal. But one has to admit that Obama equally cannot allow Daesh or al-Qaeda to take over Damascus.</p>
<p>Obama’s Secretary of State, John Kerry, failed in his effort at new peace negotiations between the far-right Israeli government and Palestine. The failure led to severe tensions in Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza and fed into Israel’s massive assault on the tiny Gaza strip this summer. Kerry pressured Nigeria and Rwanda to reject the resolution on the end of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza presented by the Arab League to the UN Security Council. Obama and Kerry appear to hope against hope that the hard liners will be defeated in the Israeli elections scheduled for spring and that they will have an opportunity to get the parties back to the negotiating table. But that is a slim reed, and it seems likely that the resolution of this conflict is no longer in US hands. The Palestinians are threatening to go to the International Criminal Court, and a ruling there against Israeli squatting on Palestinian territory captured in 1967 will likely provoke an acceleration of moves toward boycott, divestment and sanctions on Tel Aviv. Obama may be reduced to watching as the rest of the world takes action on this issue.</p>
<p>Obama seems determined to stay away from Libya, which has collapsed. Those who blame Obama for its collapse are typically doing so irrationally. Syria is in a much worse condition than Libya, and Obama is blamed for *not* intervening there. The fact is that Libya, Syria and Yemen all fell into revolution and political violence. All Obama did in Libya (quite against his own instincts) was to help level the playing field and prevent a massacre, Homs-style, of Libyan revolutionaries by the Gaddafi regime’s heavy weaponry. The revolution was that of the Libyan people. Gulf states unwisely flooded the country with RPGs and other weaponry, which allowed the militias to go on fighting after the revolution. In the past year in particular, social order has collapsed. It does not seem wise to me for Obama to have no policy at all in Libya. It appears that he does not. The GOP, which is still angry about what they think happened in Benghazi (it didn’t) should channel some of that rage into finding a way to help train a new and cohesive Libyan army so as to prevent further such attacks on US interests.</p>
<p>Yemen has fallen to the Zaidi Shiite Houthis of Saada in the north, and they are advancing west and south. This extraordinary development does have security implications, since Yemen bestrides the Bab al-Mandab, the opening from the Indian Ocean into the Red Sea, through which some 10 percent of world trade goes. The only silver lining is that the Houthis are deadly foes of al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, based in south Yemen. to the extent that the US is still droning AQAP, it is de facto allied with the Houthis in this regard. On the other hand, the Houthis chant ‘death to America!’ a la the Khomeinists in Iran. It is hard to know what Obama should do about all this, if anything. His instinct, to forward such matters to his ally, King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia, would serve him poorly here, since Saudi meddling against the Zaidis in Yemen helped to provoke the militancy of the Houthis in the first place.</p>
<p>Obama’s negotiations with Iran over it civilian nuclear enrichment program, aimed at ensuring that it stays civilian, could come to a head in 2015, or crash and burn. Either outcome will be a game changer for US Middle East policy, but arguably successful negotiations would be more of a game changer. Failure could lead to severe US-Iran tensions, especially given the severe American sanctions on Iran and the fall in price of petroleum, which will hurt the Iranian economy. The economic bad times in Iran will be blamed on the US, and that sort of thing could lead to hostilities.</p>
<p>2015 is likely to be a pivotal year in the Middle East. Daesh/ ISIS will likely prove to be a flash in the pan, and could well suffer substantial setbacks in the next 12 months. But the hard diplomatic and political work of putting Iraq back together will remain (if it can be accomplished at all). Libya and Yemen may not be done falling apart, and their downward spiral into failed state status has security implications, for Europe if not directly for the US. The Syrian regime may reassert itself; it its plan to take Aleppo succeeds, it could become unassailable, even if it cannot control the entire country any more. How will the US deal with a resurgent Bashar now that he has the blood of tens of thousands on his hands?</p>
<p>Obama’s best hopes for breakthroughs in the region are a consolidation of democracy in Tunisia, a win in Israel for the center-left coalition led by Livni and Herzog, a successful conclusion of the negotiations with Iran, and a decisive defeat of Daesh in Iraq. If he gets all four, he may have a winning hand. If he loses all four, and if state collapse continues in the region, it could be a rough year for US interests and Obama will continue to look weak. The latter outcome in turn would have potentially have an effect on the 2016 presidential race. Obama needs a Tunisia, Libya and Yemen policy if he is to avoid that outcome.</p>
<p>—-</p>
<p>Related video added by Juan Cole:</p>
<p><a href="http://youtu.be/iaXY1NVybt4%20" type="external">Aljazeerah English: “Battles rage for control of Iraq’s Kirkuk”</a></p> | true | 4 | mykhaylo palinchak shutterstockcom post originally ran juan coles web page barack obama wanted president got us afghanistan iraq turned americas diplomatic energies promising pacific rim 2014 year failed decisively objectives keep 10000 us military personnel afghanistan given continued strength taliban untested character afghanistan national army collapse iraqi army june face popular uprising coordinated daesh isis isil sunni arab north brought back iraq us aircraft bombing iraq daily 3000 us military personnel country military command created obamas strategy daesh several successes since june minions ibrahim alsamarrai styles caliph abu omar albaghdadi pushed back kurdish territory longer menace erbil capital iraqi kurdistan denied stronghold town jurf alsakhr southern alanbar province southwest baghdad capital seems secure last summer lost territory diyala province weekend iraqi army shiite militias iranian revolutionary guards kurdistan peshmerga paramilitary expelled dhuluiya northeast capital iraqi forces also pushed back center beiji refining city dramatically peshmerga aided us close air support syrian kurdish guerrillas ypg took mt sinjar daesh rescued thousands yezidi kurds danger killed ethnically cleansed ironically us iran de facto allies daesh iraq pentagon planning spring offensive daesh major base mosul challenge obama expel daesh mosul without reducing city rubble killing large numbers noncombatants alliance sunni arab forces largely shiite iraqi army radical shiite militia auxiliaries kurdish peshmerga iraqs sunni arabs would view aliens mean challenge obama get lucky antagonist daesh brutal mosulawis likely delighted see defeated good news region tunisia relatively successful democratic transition election fullterm parliament president led us reward tunisia foreign aid us aid piddling aimed military allies countries actually need obama raise profile tunisia us aid trade help consolidate new democracy obama took campaign daesh syria rules alraqqah province east us allies bombing daesh positions equipment buildings prevent offering logistical support daesh mosul effort aided advances across northern ninewah province iraq kurdistans peshmerga appears cut daesh iraq syrian territories obamas strategy syria mess since wants defeat daesh alqaeda jabhat alnusra support front enemy baath regime bashar alassad obama weaken daesh likely baath regime alqaeda benefit us also bombed support front alqaeda hard see bashar alassad ultimate beneficiary obama said wanted train new free syrian army would vetted moderate capable fighters congress removed budget 300 mn obama set aside training training envisaged saudi arabia riyadh backing islamic front breakaway hard line muslim religious faction formerly free syrian army coalition islamic front position aleppo north says rejects democratic elections wants sharia islamiclaw rule hard actually see much difference saudibacked moderates hardliners support front daesh except allied ally us one religious foreign policy often troublesome washington fact obama needs irans support central iraqi government baghdad therefore afford bomb bashar alassads facilities syria since iran allied alassad obama careful end helping alassad reestablish fragile control country outcome would horrible since alassad war criminal one admit obama equally allow daesh alqaeda take damascus obamas secretary state john kerry failed effort new peace negotiations farright israeli government palestine failure led severe tensions jerusalem west bank gaza fed israels massive assault tiny gaza strip summer kerry pressured nigeria rwanda reject resolution end israeli occupation west bank gaza presented arab league un security council obama kerry appear hope hope hard liners defeated israeli elections scheduled spring opportunity get parties back negotiating table slim reed seems likely resolution conflict longer us hands palestinians threatening go international criminal court ruling israeli squatting palestinian territory captured 1967 likely provoke acceleration moves toward boycott divestment sanctions tel aviv obama may reduced watching rest world takes action issue obama seems determined stay away libya collapsed blame obama collapse typically irrationally syria much worse condition libya obama blamed intervening fact libya syria yemen fell revolution political violence obama libya quite instincts help level playing field prevent massacre homsstyle libyan revolutionaries gaddafi regimes heavy weaponry revolution libyan people gulf states unwisely flooded country rpgs weaponry allowed militias go fighting revolution past year particular social order collapsed seem wise obama policy libya appears gop still angry think happened benghazi didnt channel rage finding way help train new cohesive libyan army prevent attacks us interests yemen fallen zaidi shiite houthis saada north advancing west south extraordinary development security implications since yemen bestrides bab almandab opening indian ocean red sea 10 percent world trade goes silver lining houthis deadly foes alqaeda arabian peninsula based south yemen extent us still droning aqap de facto allied houthis regard hand houthis chant death america la khomeinists iran hard know obama anything instinct forward matters ally king abdallah saudi arabia would serve poorly since saudi meddling zaidis yemen helped provoke militancy houthis first place obamas negotiations iran civilian nuclear enrichment program aimed ensuring stays civilian could come head 2015 crash burn either outcome game changer us middle east policy arguably successful negotiations would game changer failure could lead severe usiran tensions especially given severe american sanctions iran fall price petroleum hurt iranian economy economic bad times iran blamed us sort thing could lead hostilities 2015 likely pivotal year middle east daesh isis likely prove flash pan could well suffer substantial setbacks next 12 months hard diplomatic political work putting iraq back together remain accomplished libya yemen may done falling apart downward spiral failed state status security implications europe directly us syrian regime may reassert plan take aleppo succeeds could become unassailable even control entire country us deal resurgent bashar blood tens thousands hands obamas best hopes breakthroughs region consolidation democracy tunisia win israel centerleft coalition led livni herzog successful conclusion negotiations iran decisive defeat daesh iraq gets four may winning hand loses four state collapse continues region could rough year us interests obama continue look weak latter outcome turn would potentially effect 2016 presidential race obama needs tunisia libya yemen policy avoid outcome related video added juan cole aljazeerah english battles rage control iraqs kirkuk | 948 |
<p>Wars are folly.&#160; Rudimentarily, we know why wars happen.&#160; We know they spring from inhumane impulses and ignorance.&#160; We know the corrupting nature of avarice and the geopolitical realities that propel conflict.&#160; We know that the lust for power is systemic and that unrestrained nationalism plays a role.&#160; We understand the psychology of war.</p>
<p>The impulse to war sits in front of us like a morsel of poison.&#160; Yet we bite it off and swallow it.&#160; Like Vietnam, where France clung to its colony until the bitter end and was <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Dien_Bien_Phu" type="external">finally routed</a> by a people seeking the ideal we supposedly fought for in Europe—actual freedom.&#160; The hypocrisy of the epoch astonished Graham Greene and seemed worthy of a novel, <a href="" type="internal">The Quiet American.</a>&#160; Greene had seen the brutality of the French close-up in Vietnam, reporting for the London Times and Le Figaro.&#160; In creating quiet Alden Pyle, a naïve and privileged American, Greene wasn’t about to let American duplicity off the hook in 1955.&#160; A decade later, America had taken over the war in France’s stead, and the tragedy of America’s own neo-imperialistic adventure began to play itself out.</p>
<p>Only fourteen at the time, I wasn’t paying very close attention.&#160; My brother, however, had served in Vietnam in an “expeditionary” role as the slow buildup and evolving commitment to counterinsurgency spun out of control under Presidents Kennedy and Johnson. At that time, America was limited to an advisory role in the Nam, forbidden to exchange fire with the Viet Cong rebels or North Vietnamese regulars.&#160; Incoming mortars smashed my brother’s battalion as it built landing strips near the Ben Hai River, south of the Demilitarized Zone.</p>
<p>Before I graduated from high school in 1969, a school counselor had suggested I nab a deferment and go to college instead of joining the Air Force, which had been my vague plan.&#160; He had asked me why I was considering the Air Force, and I had told him the truth.&#160; I saw it as an alternative to the draft and the Army infantry.&#160; I was not fully aware at the time that Air Force and Navy enlisted men were also dying in Vietnam.</p>
<p>Though we had studied “current events” during my senior year, my teacher was a rabid anti-communist named Mr. Johnson (no relation to Lyndon), and he never bothered to probe too deeply into the details of the war.&#160; However, he did have a habit of reading letters from his former students who were in Vietnam at the time or had recently come home from the war.&#160;&#160; Noticeably missing was any letter from Harley Dimmick, a friend of my nephew Dennis, who didn’t make it home.&#160; Mr. Johnson was a patriotic cheerleader who felt certain that crushing communism and blocking the “falling dominoes” in Southeast Asia was the right course for America.&#160; To please him, I wrote a paper on the evils of communism.&#160; I parroted his views and he loved the paper, giving me a rare A for the class. Like most kids I couldn’t know enough about the particulars of the war to understand, much less believe, what I had written.&#160; I had merely succumbed to the pro-war propaganda.&#160; My teacher had not done me a favor by accepting my weak, uninformed effort, but I doubt even he understood how he was corrupting history as it unfolded around him.</p>
<p>Of course I was as naïve about Vietnam as Greene’s Alden Pyle.&#160; Had I been honest or less cowed by the authority of the educational system I might have simply stated the truth.&#160; I didn’t know anything about Vietnam.&#160; All I really understood is fear.&#160; And I didn’t want to end up dead.&#160; Nor did my mother, Icie, want me to die.&#160; In fact, she had hid the truth of my brother’s service from me—actually she simply lied to me.&#160; The entire time my brother was in Vietnam she told me he had a desk job in Okinawa.&#160; True to begin with, it had changed as the U.S. was drawn deeper into the war.&#160; With thousands of others he made the short flight from Okinawa to Vietnam when his time came to fight.</p>
<p>Perhaps my mother wanted to believe the lie herself.&#160; I later realized she did not want me to worry; she worried enough for both of us.&#160; My brother did finally ship back to Okinawa unscratched just before the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ia_Drang" type="external">Battle of Ia Drang Valley</a> in November, 1965, when the killing in Vietnam escalated.&#160; When he left the Marines a year later he didn’t return to our small Oregon town, except to visit briefly before settling in the San Francisco area.&#160; By the time I visited him in Fremont, south of Oakland, in 1972, he was married and the father of a baby girl.&#160; But I could tell something was seriously wrong.</p>
<p>My brother and I stood in sharp political contrast.&#160; I had been radicalized in college and I hated the Vietnam War with an abiding passion.&#160; My brother hated war protesters with equal force.&#160; Thus began a long stretch of hostility between two brothers born six years apart but separated by a war and rapidly changing American culture.&#160; I looked for a long time for the root meaning of our differences.&#160; I had become politicized in the middle of a great cultural change.&#160; When he joined the Marines in 1962 there were a few hundred American advisers in Vietnam, and any number of Alden Pyles.&#160; At first what they were doing there promised to be short-term.&#160; And then it turned to disaster and tragedy for everyone concerned.</p>
<p>That the U.S. thought it might supplant the French and save capitalist imperialism in Southeast Asia was of course folly.&#160; Few Americans knew it at the time, but that would change with the first flush of rising body counts.&#160; Six short years later, even Lyndon Johnson knew what many high school counselors in small town America knew.&#160; Vietnam was a quagmire and they were advising their students to stay clear of it.&#160; My counselor had, without tipping his hand.&#160; All he said was think about it.&#160; That was enough.</p>
<p>I did not get drafted and go to Vietnam or join the Air Force.&#160; I did not suffer a pang of patriotism and volunteer to save America from communism.&#160; I feared war, not communism.&#160; I did not go to Vietnam because I did not want to kill people—or be killed—for a cause I knew nothing about.</p>
<p>So I took my counselor’s advice and nabbed a student deferment and went off to college like a good kid.&#160; It was a fortuitous time for me, a narrow escape.&#160; Sadly, my fortuitous time was a tragic time for many young men my age.&#160; I cannot help but draw parallels to today’s tragedies in Iraq and Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Young Americans, often the very poor, continue to die for empire and the neocolonialism of today.&#160; I hesitate to say the cause is just, because nothing in my mind or soul tells me it is.</p> | true | 4 | wars folly160 rudimentarily know wars happen160 know spring inhumane impulses ignorance160 know corrupting nature avarice geopolitical realities propel conflict160 know lust power systemic unrestrained nationalism plays role160 understand psychology war impulse war sits front us like morsel poison160 yet bite swallow it160 like vietnam france clung colony bitter end finally routed people seeking ideal supposedly fought europeactual freedom160 hypocrisy epoch astonished graham greene seemed worthy novel quiet american160 greene seen brutality french closeup vietnam reporting london times le figaro160 creating quiet alden pyle naïve privileged american greene wasnt let american duplicity hook 1955160 decade later america taken war frances stead tragedy americas neoimperialistic adventure began play fourteen time wasnt paying close attention160 brother however served vietnam expeditionary role slow buildup evolving commitment counterinsurgency spun control presidents kennedy johnson time america limited advisory role nam forbidden exchange fire viet cong rebels north vietnamese regulars160 incoming mortars smashed brothers battalion built landing strips near ben hai river south demilitarized zone graduated high school 1969 school counselor suggested nab deferment go college instead joining air force vague plan160 asked considering air force told truth160 saw alternative draft army infantry160 fully aware time air force navy enlisted men also dying vietnam though studied current events senior year teacher rabid anticommunist named mr johnson relation lyndon never bothered probe deeply details war160 however habit reading letters former students vietnam time recently come home war160160 noticeably missing letter harley dimmick friend nephew dennis didnt make home160 mr johnson patriotic cheerleader felt certain crushing communism blocking falling dominoes southeast asia right course america160 please wrote paper evils communism160 parroted views loved paper giving rare class like kids couldnt know enough particulars war understand much less believe written160 merely succumbed prowar propaganda160 teacher done favor accepting weak uninformed effort doubt even understood corrupting history unfolded around course naïve vietnam greenes alden pyle160 honest less cowed authority educational system might simply stated truth160 didnt know anything vietnam160 really understood fear160 didnt want end dead160 mother icie want die160 fact hid truth brothers service meactually simply lied me160 entire time brother vietnam told desk job okinawa160 true begin changed us drawn deeper war160 thousands others made short flight okinawa vietnam time came fight perhaps mother wanted believe lie herself160 later realized want worry worried enough us160 brother finally ship back okinawa unscratched battle ia drang valley november 1965 killing vietnam escalated160 left marines year later didnt return small oregon town except visit briefly settling san francisco area160 time visited fremont south oakland 1972 married father baby girl160 could tell something seriously wrong brother stood sharp political contrast160 radicalized college hated vietnam war abiding passion160 brother hated war protesters equal force160 thus began long stretch hostility two brothers born six years apart separated war rapidly changing american culture160 looked long time root meaning differences160 become politicized middle great cultural change160 joined marines 1962 hundred american advisers vietnam number alden pyles160 first promised shortterm160 turned disaster tragedy everyone concerned us thought might supplant french save capitalist imperialism southeast asia course folly160 americans knew time would change first flush rising body counts160 six short years later even lyndon johnson knew many high school counselors small town america knew160 vietnam quagmire advising students stay clear it160 counselor without tipping hand160 said think it160 enough get drafted go vietnam join air force160 suffer pang patriotism volunteer save america communism160 feared war communism160 go vietnam want kill peopleor killedfor cause knew nothing took counselors advice nabbed student deferment went college like good kid160 fortuitous time narrow escape160 sadly fortuitous time tragic time many young men age160 help draw parallels todays tragedies iraq afghanistan young americans often poor continue die empire neocolonialism today160 hesitate say cause nothing mind soul tells | 613 |
<p>Illustration: Drew Friedman</p>
<p />
<p>This past March, an interviewer for Christianity Today asked Senator Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) what he thought of Thomas Frank’s What’s the Matter with Kansas?, which posits that conservative politicians have whipped up working-class anger over social issues as a smoke screen for a real agenda to benefit large corporations. Santorum leapt on the question as if he’d been waiting for it. “That’s just the kind of derogatory, elitist pablum,” he declared, “that you get when people don’t realize that there’s a lot of people who don’t put their treasure in this world and look for something more than just ‘How much more money I can make?’ They understand that life is more than a bank account. That’s the postmodern view of the world, which is, ‘It’s all about me; it’s all about how much I can get now for me.’” He concluded, “Thank God for Kansas.”</p>
<p>Postmodernism aside, Santorum could be a poster boy for Frank’s thesis. The day after the interview was published, he became the first member of Congress to visit the media scrum outside the hospice where Terri Schiavo lay dying. The senator, who had pushed for congressional intervention to keep Schiavo alive, noted that “I was in Tampa, I was 15 minutes away, and having worked on this case, I just felt an obligation to go by and pay my respects to the family.”</p>
<p>Santorum didn’t mention why he happened to be 15 minutes away. He had come to Tampa in part to attend a fundraising lunch organized by one of his corporate benefactors, Outback Steakhouses. And he’d flown in on the jet of another major donor, Wal-Mart.</p>
<p>Indeed, while Santorum has become perhaps the Senate’s most outspoken member on hot-button social issues such as abortion and gay rights, much of his day-to-day work involves matters of interest to corporate America. This year has been typically busy. Santorum authored a bill that would relax overtime regulations and exempt numerous businesses from minimum-wage rules, a move particularly dear to the restaurant industry (thus the Outback Steakhouses event). He sponsored measures aiding campaign contributors, such as the private weather company AccuWeather (which would benefit from Santorum’s proposed privatization of the National Weather Service); the fire-sprinkler industry; beer brewers; and the tomato grower Procacci Brothers, which is being accused of migrant-housing violations in Florida. And he has been pushing hard for Wal-Mart’s agenda, which includes tort reform and changes in overtime rules—Wal-Mart faces a slew of lawsuits over sex discrimination and alleged overtime violations—as well as reform of charitable giving laws and a permanent repeal of the estate tax, which would benefit the billionaire heirs of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. Wal-Mart’s political action committee gave $10,000, the maximum allowable PAC donation, to Santorum in 2004, plus another $10,000 to Santorum’s PAC.</p>
<p>Much of this comes as news to people in the senator’s hometown, the Pittsburgh suburb of Penn Hills, where residents have been organizing against a proposal to build a 200,000-square- foot Wal-Mart supercenter. Devon Johns, a 59-year-old house cleaner and member of an anti-Wal-Mart group, was stunned to learn of the senator’s close ties to the retailer. “He says one thing and does another,” she said bitterly as she stabbed at a plate of hash browns and eggs in a café near the proposed Wal-Mart site.</p>
<p>Johns moved to a house near Penn Hills—a timeworn burg of steep, winding two-lane roads and modest brown-brick homes interspersed with the occasional chiropractor’s office or Pizza Hut—in 1982. Now she fears that Wal-Mart will bring congestion and crime. Local unions have also mobilized against the retailer, angered by its low wages, overtime policies, and failure to provide health care for more than half of its employees.</p>
<p>An outsider might wonder why the neophyte community activists didn’t take their cause to Penn Hills’ most powerful politician. That’s because many people here don’t think of Santorum as a resident. In 2001, as he began his second term, the senator bought a fortress- like house, recently assessed at $777,500, in Leesburg, Virginia, an affluent exurb of Washington, D.C.; he also owns a small home in Penn Hills, where a relative of his lives. People here rarely see Santorum, who voted by ab-sentee ballot in 14 of the past 21 elections and didn’t seem troubled by the arrangement until it came out last fall that the local school district had paid at least $34,000 to educate five of the senator’s children in Virginia through online coursework. “This issue with the school and the house—that goes against everything I thought he stood for,” says Bonnie Franciscus, the founder of the local anti-Wal-Mart group who works at a Penn Hills car dealership.</p>
<p>Franciscus is the type of suburban voter who helped elect Santorum to two terms in the Senate even as Pennsylvania went Democratic in presidential elections. But she says she won’t vote for him again in 2006—and she may not be alone. Polls show the incumbent trailing his likely Democratic opponent, state Treasurer Robert Casey Jr., by a whopping 14 percentage points.</p>
<p>Those poll numbers are one sign that Pennsylvania isn’t Kansas, and that the combination of feel-good spiritual values and hardcore corporate advocacy may be wearing thin. At a Penn Hills strip mall, an elderly man in a seersucker coat with two stickers that read “Stick to Jesus” introduced himself as Bob Humes. He said he was impressed by the senator’s political skills, and that as a retired Presbyterian minister he cared deeply about matters of faith. But he had no plans to help reelect Santorum in 2006: “I resent the way he mixes politics and religion.”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | illustration drew friedman past march interviewer christianity today asked senator rick santorum rpa thought thomas franks whats matter kansas posits conservative politicians whipped workingclass anger social issues smoke screen real agenda benefit large corporations santorum leapt question hed waiting thats kind derogatory elitist pablum declared get people dont realize theres lot people dont put treasure world look something much money make understand life bank account thats postmodern view world much get concluded thank god kansas postmodernism aside santorum could poster boy franks thesis day interview published became first member congress visit media scrum outside hospice terri schiavo lay dying senator pushed congressional intervention keep schiavo alive noted tampa 15 minutes away worked case felt obligation go pay respects family santorum didnt mention happened 15 minutes away come tampa part attend fundraising lunch organized one corporate benefactors outback steakhouses hed flown jet another major donor walmart indeed santorum become perhaps senates outspoken member hotbutton social issues abortion gay rights much daytoday work involves matters interest corporate america year typically busy santorum authored bill would relax overtime regulations exempt numerous businesses minimumwage rules move particularly dear restaurant industry thus outback steakhouses event sponsored measures aiding campaign contributors private weather company accuweather would benefit santorums proposed privatization national weather service firesprinkler industry beer brewers tomato grower procacci brothers accused migranthousing violations florida pushing hard walmarts agenda includes tort reform changes overtime ruleswalmart faces slew lawsuits sex discrimination alleged overtime violationsas well reform charitable giving laws permanent repeal estate tax would benefit billionaire heirs walmart founder sam walton walmarts political action committee gave 10000 maximum allowable pac donation santorum 2004 plus another 10000 santorums pac much comes news people senators hometown pittsburgh suburb penn hills residents organizing proposal build 200000square foot walmart supercenter devon johns 59yearold house cleaner member antiwalmart group stunned learn senators close ties retailer says one thing another said bitterly stabbed plate hash browns eggs café near proposed walmart site johns moved house near penn hillsa timeworn burg steep winding twolane roads modest brownbrick homes interspersed occasional chiropractors office pizza hutin 1982 fears walmart bring congestion crime local unions also mobilized retailer angered low wages overtime policies failure provide health care half employees outsider might wonder neophyte community activists didnt take cause penn hills powerful politician thats many people dont think santorum resident 2001 began second term senator bought fortress like house recently assessed 777500 leesburg virginia affluent exurb washington dc also owns small home penn hills relative lives people rarely see santorum voted absentee ballot 14 past 21 elections didnt seem troubled arrangement came last fall local school district paid least 34000 educate five senators children virginia online coursework issue school housethat goes everything thought stood says bonnie franciscus founder local antiwalmart group works penn hills car dealership franciscus type suburban voter helped elect santorum two terms senate even pennsylvania went democratic presidential elections says wont vote 2006and may alone polls show incumbent trailing likely democratic opponent state treasurer robert casey jr whopping 14 percentage points poll numbers one sign pennsylvania isnt kansas combination feelgood spiritual values hardcore corporate advocacy may wearing thin penn hills strip mall elderly man seersucker coat two stickers read stick jesus introduced bob humes said impressed senators political skills retired presbyterian minister cared deeply matters faith plans help reelect santorum 2006 resent way mixes politics religion | 551 |
<p>The House GOP closing government services and threatening to default on its bills does the reverse of promoting domestic tranquility and general welfare. It creates domestic turmoil and general chaos.</p>
<p>Like “Git ’er done,” Americans should be yelling at Republicans in Congress: “Do yer job!” That’s because Republicans are shirking their sworn duty by both shutting down the government and threatening to default on its bills.</p>
<p>Before taking office, each member of Congress swears a simple, straightforward oath. It leaves little room for misinterpretation. They vow to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and to “faithfully discharge the duties of the office.”</p>
<p>High among those duties is paying the government’s bills. Just the threat of dodging that responsibility has serious consequences. Republicans’ 2011 threat to default on government debts <a href="http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-12-701" type="external">cost taxpayers $1.3 billion</a>, according to the Government Accountability Office. Last week, as a government shutdown loomed, the stock market reeled, declining four straight days. The S&amp;P 500 suffered its <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/25/us-markets-stocks-idUSBRE9890IQ20130925" type="external">longest losing streak in a year</a>. Republicans are hurting the economy. They’re jeopardizing the recovery and American jobs. They’re risking “full faith and credit” in the United States. They’re not just failing to perform their jobs, they’re doing the opposite of what they swore to do.</p>
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<p>The purpose of the U.S. Constitution as stated in the preamble, is pretty clear: “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”</p>
<p>The House GOP closing government services and threatening to default on its bills does the reverse of promoting domestic tranquility and general welfare. It creates domestic turmoil and general chaos.</p>
<p>The Constitution defines the authority of each branch of government. The first two powers it lists for Congress specify that it collects taxes, pays bills and borrows money when necessary. Putting them at the top of the list means the founding fathers gave them high priority.</p>
<p>By shuttering government and threatening default, Republicans in Congress are saying they will not perform the job given Congress in the Constitution. They’re just not going to do it, oath or no oath.</p>
<p>The government closed last night because Congress didn’t pass a resolution financing federal operations. Republicans in the U.S. House have refused to do that unless Democrats pay a ransom in the form of de-funding or delaying the Affordable Care Act. Republicans swore they’d defend the Constitution that establishes the U.S. government. What they’re doing, however, is wrecking that government.</p>
<p>On Monday, as the shut down appeared inevitable, the <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/30/investing/stocks-markets/" type="external">Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 128 points</a>, nearly 1%. It’s likely to continue to fall as House Republicans refuse to do their job. The recovery will stall. When the government shut down for 20 days in 1995, the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/08/business/economy/08econ.html?pagewanted=all" type="external">nation’s economic growth slowed</a> by nearly a full percentage point in that quarter. The unemployed will remain unemployed. In fact, they’re now <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/07/us/politics/07shutdown.html" type="external">joined by 800,000 federal workers</a> who were furloughed at midnight. Emergency and essential services, such as Medicare and Social Security, will continue, but many others won’t. That includes National Parks, the Federal Housing Administration which insures vast numbers of mortgages, and most of the Environmental Protection Agency, Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.</p>
<p>If Congressional Republicans mulishly persist in refusing to do their jobs, the government could be shut down through Oct. 17 when it’s projected that the U.S. Treasury will no longer have enough money to pay bills that Congress has already racked up. If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling before then, the U.S. government could, for the first time ever, default.</p>
<p>What that means is Congress bought a bunch of stuff but will refuse to pay for it. The Average Joe who does that gets smacked with a bad credit rating. And that’s likely to happen to the federal government too. If the United States fails to pay its bills, the faith of the world in the safety of Treasury debt would be shaken. And the result would be that both the government and citizens would pay more to borrow money.</p>
<p>Reaction on Wall Street would be violent. Stock prices would nosedive. That would shrink pension funds and individual workers’ retirement accounts. Some economists predict the cost could be in the <a href="http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/09/23/shutdown-vs-default-the-relative-impact/" type="external">hundreds of billions of dollars</a>.</p>
<p>That’s what Republicans are threatening to terrorize the American people with by refusing to do their basic job as members of Congress—pay the government’s bills.</p>
<p>Like with the government shutdown, Republicans say they’ll do their job only in exchange for ransom. They’re demanding a long list of changes that they’ve failed to achieve because the public did not elect them to the White House or as majority in the Senate. These include: delaying the Affordable Care Act, approving the Keystone XL oil pipeline, eliminating regulations on coal ash, allowing more offshore oil and gas production, blocking new regulations on greenhouse gas production, eliminating some financing for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and limiting medical malpractice lawsuits.</p>
<p>Self-righteous Republicans would be the first to condemn a worker who is fired for refusing to perform his job. The GOP would deny that guy unemployment benefits. They’d jail an accountant who deliberately paid company bills late, damaging the firm’s credit rating. But that’s exactly what Republicans are doing to their employer. They’re betraying America by violating their sworn duty of office.</p>
<p>Leo Gerard is the president of the United Steelworkers International union, part of the AFL-CIO. Gerard, the second Canadian to lead the union, started working at Inco's nickel smelter in Sudbury, Ontario at age 18. For more information about Gerard, visit <a href="http://www.usw.org/our_union/international_executive_board?id=0001" type="external">usw.org</a>.</p> | true | 4 | house gop closing government services threatening default bills reverse promoting domestic tranquility general welfare creates domestic turmoil general chaos like git er done americans yelling republicans congress yer job thats republicans shirking sworn duty shutting government threatening default bills taking office member congress swears simple straightforward oath leaves little room misinterpretation vow support defend constitution united states faithfully discharge duties office high among duties paying governments bills threat dodging responsibility serious consequences republicans 2011 threat default government debts cost taxpayers 13 billion according government accountability office last week government shutdown loomed stock market reeled declining four straight days sampp 500 suffered longest losing streak year republicans hurting economy theyre jeopardizing recovery american jobs theyre risking full faith credit united states theyre failing perform jobs theyre opposite swore 160 160 purpose us constitution stated preamble pretty clear people united states order form perfect union establish justice insure domestic tranquility provide common defense promote general welfare secure blessings liberty posterity ordain establish constitution united states america house gop closing government services threatening default bills reverse promoting domestic tranquility general welfare creates domestic turmoil general chaos constitution defines authority branch government first two powers lists congress specify collects taxes pays bills borrows money necessary putting top list means founding fathers gave high priority shuttering government threatening default republicans congress saying perform job given congress constitution theyre going oath oath government closed last night congress didnt pass resolution financing federal operations republicans us house refused unless democrats pay ransom form defunding delaying affordable care act republicans swore theyd defend constitution establishes us government theyre however wrecking government monday shut appeared inevitable dow jones industrial average dropped 128 points nearly 1 likely continue fall house republicans refuse job recovery stall government shut 20 days 1995 nations economic growth slowed nearly full percentage point quarter unemployed remain unemployed fact theyre joined 800000 federal workers furloughed midnight emergency essential services medicare social security continue many others wont includes national parks federal housing administration insures vast numbers mortgages environmental protection agency securities exchange commission commodity futures trading commission congressional republicans mulishly persist refusing jobs government could shut oct 17 projected us treasury longer enough money pay bills congress already racked congress fails raise debt ceiling us government could first time ever default means congress bought bunch stuff refuse pay average joe gets smacked bad credit rating thats likely happen federal government united states fails pay bills faith world safety treasury debt would shaken result would government citizens would pay borrow money reaction wall street would violent stock prices would nosedive would shrink pension funds individual workers retirement accounts economists predict cost could hundreds billions dollars thats republicans threatening terrorize american people refusing basic job members congresspay governments bills like government shutdown republicans say theyll job exchange ransom theyre demanding long list changes theyve failed achieve public elect white house majority senate include delaying affordable care act approving keystone xl oil pipeline eliminating regulations coal ash allowing offshore oil gas production blocking new regulations greenhouse gas production eliminating financing consumer financial protection bureau limiting medical malpractice lawsuits selfrighteous republicans would first condemn worker fired refusing perform job gop would deny guy unemployment benefits theyd jail accountant deliberately paid company bills late damaging firms credit rating thats exactly republicans employer theyre betraying america violating sworn duty office leo gerard president united steelworkers international union part aflcio gerard second canadian lead union started working incos nickel smelter sudbury ontario age 18 information gerard visit usworg | 574 |
<p>Civil rights groups in Israel have expressed outrage at the announcement last week that a special undercover unit of the police has been infiltrating and collecting intelligence on Israel’s Arab minority by disguising its officers as Arabs.</p>
<p>It is the first public admission that the Israeli police are using methods against the country’s 1.3 million Arab citizens that were adopted long ago in the occupied territories, where soldiers are regularly sent on missions disguised as Palestinians.</p>
<p>According to David Cohen, the national police commissioner, the unit was established two years ago after an assessment that there was “no intelligence infrastructure to deal with the Arab community”. He said that, in addition, undercover agents had been operating in East Jerusalem for several years to track potential terrorists.</p>
<p>Israel’s Arab leaders denounced the move as confirmation that the Arab minority was still regarded by the police as “an enemy” – a criticism made by a state commission of inquiry after police shot dead 13 unarmed Arab demonstrators inside Israel and wounded hundreds more at the start of the second intifada in 2000.</p>
<p>In a letter of protest to Israeli officials this week, Adalah, a legal rights group, warned that the unit’s creation violated the consitutional rights of the Arab minority and risked introducing “racial profiling” into Israeli policing.</p>
<p>Although the police claim that only Arab criminals are being targeted, Arab leaders believe the unit is an expansion of police efforts to collect information on political activists, escalating what they term a “climate of fear” being fostered by the rightwing government of Benjamin Netanyahu.</p>
<p>Awad Abdel Fattah, general secretary of the National Democratic Assembly party, whose activists are regularly interrogated by the police even though the party is represented in the national parliament, said there was strong evidence that undercover units had been operating in Arab communities for many years.</p>
<p>“The question is, why are the police revealing this information now? I suspect it is designed to intimidate people, making them fear that they are being secretly watched so that they don’t participate in demonstrations or get involved in politics. It harms the democratic process.”</p>
<p>Secret agents disguised as Arabs – known in Hebrew as “mista’aravim” – were used before Israel’s founding. Jews, usually recruited from Arab countries, went undercover in neighbouring states to collect intelligence.</p>
<p>The Haaretz newspaper revealed in 1998 that the secret police, the Shin Bet, also operated a number of mista’aravim inside Israel shortly after the state’s creation, locating them in major Arab communities.</p>
<p>The unit was disbanded in 1959, amid great secrecy, after several agents married local Arab women, and in some cases had children with them, in order to maintain their cover.</p>
<p>But the mista’aravim are better known for their use by the Israeli army on short-term missions inside Arab countries or in the West Bank and Gaza, where they have often been sent to capture or kill local leaders.</p>
<p>Famously Ehud Barak, the current defence minister, was sent to Beirut in 1973 disguised as an Arab woman to assassinate three Palestinian leaders.</p>
<p>More recently, however, the army’s mista’aravim have come to notice because of allegations that they are being used as agents provocateurs, especially in breaking up peaceful protests by Palestinians in the West Bank against the separation wall.</p>
<p>In April 2005, during a demonstration at the village of Bilin, north of Jerusalem, Palestinians throwing stones at soldiers were revealed to be mista’aravim. They were filmed blowing their cover shortly afterwards by pulling our pistols to make arrests. The army later admitted it had used mista’aravim at the demonstration.</p>
<p>Palestinians claim that stone-throwing by mista’aravim is often used to disrupt or discredit peaceful demonstrations and justify the army’s use of rubber bullets and live ammunition against the protesters in retaliation.</p>
<p>Last week Jamal Zahalka, an Arab member of the parliament, warned other legislators of the danger that mista’aravim police officers would adopt similar tactics: “Such a unit will carry out provocations, in which the Arab public will be blamed for disorderly conduct.”</p>
<p>Mr Abdel Fattah said there were widespread suspicions that mista’avarim officers had been operating for years at legal demonstrations held by Israel’s Arab citizens, including at the protests against Israel’s winter attack on Gaza. He said they were often disguised as journalists so that they could photograph demonstrators.</p>
<p>He said a woman activist from his party had been called in by the police for interrogation after a demonstration last year in the Arab town of Arrabeh. “The officer told her, ‘I know what you were saying because I was standing right next to you’. And he then told her exactly what she had said.”</p>
<p>In his testimony to a government watchdog, the police commissioner, Insp Gen Cohen, said he had plans for the unit “to grow” and that it would solve a problem the police had in infiltrating Israel’s large Arab communities: “It’s very hard for us to work in Umm al-Fahm, it’s very hard for us to deal with crime in Juarish and Ramle.”</p>
<p>Several unnamed senior officers, however, defended their role in monitoring the Arab community, claiming the commissioner was wrong in stating that the use of mista’aravim inside Israel was new. One told Haaretz: “Existing units of mista’aravim have operated undercover among this population for about a decade.”</p>
<p>Orna Cohen, a lawyer with the Adalah legal group, said the accepted practice for police forces was to create specialised units according to the nature of the crime committed, not according to the ethnicity or nationality of the suspect.</p>
<p>She warned that the unit’s secretive nature, its working methods and the apparent lack of safeguards led to a strong suspicion that the Arab minority was being characterised as a “suspect group”. “Such a trend towards racial profiling and further discrimination against the minority is extremely dangerous,” she said.</p>
<p>Comments two years ago from Yuval Diskin, the head of the Shin Bet, have raised fears about the uses the police unit may be put to. He said the security services had the right to use any means to “thwart” action, even democratic activity, by the Arab minority to reform Israel’s political system. All the Arab parties are committed to changing Israel’s status from a Jewish state to “a state of all its citizens”.</p>
<p>Mr Abdel Fattah said: “This is about transferring the methods used in the West Bank and Gaza into Israeli to erode our rights as citizens. It raises questions about what future the state sees for us here.”</p>
<p>JONATHAN COOK is a writer and journalist based in Nazareth, Israel. His latest books are “ <a href="" type="internal">Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East”</a> (Pluto Press) and “ <a href="" type="internal">Disappearing Palestine: Israel’s Experiments in Human Despair</a>” (Zed Books). His website is <a href="http://www.jkcook.net" type="external">www.jkcook.net</a>.</p>
<p>A version of this article originally appeared in The National ( <a href="http://www.thenational.ae" type="external">www.thenational.ae</a>), published in Abu Dhabi.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | civil rights groups israel expressed outrage announcement last week special undercover unit police infiltrating collecting intelligence israels arab minority disguising officers arabs first public admission israeli police using methods countrys 13 million arab citizens adopted long ago occupied territories soldiers regularly sent missions disguised palestinians according david cohen national police commissioner unit established two years ago assessment intelligence infrastructure deal arab community said addition undercover agents operating east jerusalem several years track potential terrorists israels arab leaders denounced move confirmation arab minority still regarded police enemy criticism made state commission inquiry police shot dead 13 unarmed arab demonstrators inside israel wounded hundreds start second intifada 2000 letter protest israeli officials week adalah legal rights group warned units creation violated consitutional rights arab minority risked introducing racial profiling israeli policing although police claim arab criminals targeted arab leaders believe unit expansion police efforts collect information political activists escalating term climate fear fostered rightwing government benjamin netanyahu awad abdel fattah general secretary national democratic assembly party whose activists regularly interrogated police even though party represented national parliament said strong evidence undercover units operating arab communities many years question police revealing information suspect designed intimidate people making fear secretly watched dont participate demonstrations get involved politics harms democratic process secret agents disguised arabs known hebrew mistaaravim used israels founding jews usually recruited arab countries went undercover neighbouring states collect intelligence haaretz newspaper revealed 1998 secret police shin bet also operated number mistaaravim inside israel shortly states creation locating major arab communities unit disbanded 1959 amid great secrecy several agents married local arab women cases children order maintain cover mistaaravim better known use israeli army shortterm missions inside arab countries west bank gaza often sent capture kill local leaders famously ehud barak current defence minister sent beirut 1973 disguised arab woman assassinate three palestinian leaders recently however armys mistaaravim come notice allegations used agents provocateurs especially breaking peaceful protests palestinians west bank separation wall april 2005 demonstration village bilin north jerusalem palestinians throwing stones soldiers revealed mistaaravim filmed blowing cover shortly afterwards pulling pistols make arrests army later admitted used mistaaravim demonstration palestinians claim stonethrowing mistaaravim often used disrupt discredit peaceful demonstrations justify armys use rubber bullets live ammunition protesters retaliation last week jamal zahalka arab member parliament warned legislators danger mistaaravim police officers would adopt similar tactics unit carry provocations arab public blamed disorderly conduct mr abdel fattah said widespread suspicions mistaavarim officers operating years legal demonstrations held israels arab citizens including protests israels winter attack gaza said often disguised journalists could photograph demonstrators said woman activist party called police interrogation demonstration last year arab town arrabeh officer told know saying standing right next told exactly said testimony government watchdog police commissioner insp gen cohen said plans unit grow would solve problem police infiltrating israels large arab communities hard us work umm alfahm hard us deal crime juarish ramle several unnamed senior officers however defended role monitoring arab community claiming commissioner wrong stating use mistaaravim inside israel new one told haaretz existing units mistaaravim operated undercover among population decade orna cohen lawyer adalah legal group said accepted practice police forces create specialised units according nature crime committed according ethnicity nationality suspect warned units secretive nature working methods apparent lack safeguards led strong suspicion arab minority characterised suspect group trend towards racial profiling discrimination minority extremely dangerous said comments two years ago yuval diskin head shin bet raised fears uses police unit may put said security services right use means thwart action even democratic activity arab minority reform israels political system arab parties committed changing israels status jewish state state citizens mr abdel fattah said transferring methods used west bank gaza israeli erode rights citizens raises questions future state sees us jonathan cook writer journalist based nazareth israel latest books israel clash civilisations iraq iran plan remake middle east pluto press disappearing palestine israels experiments human despair zed books website wwwjkcooknet version article originally appeared national wwwthenationalae published abu dhabi 160 160 | 658 |
<p>Since history only hangs around these days for six months or so, it is easy not to notice that Republicans don’t act like Republicans anymore nor Democrats like Democrats.</p>
<p>Robert Taft, Dwight Eisenhower, or Margaret Chase Smith would be horrified at such political buffoons as Michelle Bachman or Herman Cain, not to mention the fact that Rick Perry has garnered $17 million for a presidential bid when he is actually qualified for little more than selling cleaning appliances on cable TV at $19.95 each. Further, they would find the desertion of the middle class on behalf of tax favoritism for billionaires thoroughly stunning.</p>
<p>As for the Democrats, FDR or LBJ would be pretty angry at what Clinton did to public welfare and bank regulation or what Obama has done to civil liberties, hasn’t done about the housing crisis, and threatens to do to Social Security and Medicare.</p>
<p>In fact, it has become increasingly difficult to tell the two parties apart. After all, liberals practically had a collective orgasm when they nominated a man for president who not too much earlier had said this of Donald Rumsfeld:</p>
<p>“I don’t think that soon-to-be-Secretary Rumsfeld is in any way out of the mainstream of American political life. And I would argue that the same would be true for the vast majority of the Bush nominees, and I give him credit for that.”</p>
<p>One of the few honest pieces in the mainstream media at the time was by NY Times reporter Jodi Kantor, who wrote of Obama:</p>
<p>“Friends say he did not want anyone to assume they knew his mind; and because of that, even those close to him did not always know exactly where he stood. . . Charles J. Ogletree Jr., another Harvard law professor and a mentor of Mr. Obama, said, ‘He can enter your space and organize your thoughts without necessarily revealing his own concerns and conflicts’. . .</p>
<p>“People had a way of hearing what they wanted in Mr. Obama’s words. . . Mr. Obama stayed away from the extremes of campus debate, often choosing safe topics for his speeches. . . In dozens of interviews, his friends said they could not remember his specific views from that era, beyond a general emphasis on diversity and social and economic justice.”</p>
<p>Fourteen years earlier, I had written of Bill Clinton:</p>
<p>“Of course, in the postmodern society that Clinton proposes — one that rises above the false teachings of ideology — we find ourselves with little to steer us save the opinions of whatever non-ideologue happens to be in power. In this case, we may really only have progressed from the ideology of the many to the ideology of the one or, some might say, from democracy to authoritarianism.</p>
<p>“Among equals, indifference to shared meaning might produce nothing worse than lengthy argument. But when the postmodernist is President of the United States, the impulse becomes a 500-pound gorilla to be fed, as they say, anything it wants.”</p>
<p>During the 2008 campaign, writing for Counterpunch, an anonymous political consultant explained America’s post-political culture: we were not choosing a politician but a product, one that made us feel good about ourselves – Obama was the iPod while Hillary Clinton was the cell phone. Wrote the consultant: “In the world of toys it is the one that stands out the most [that] is the most marketable,” which helps to explain why a black, inexperienced, atypical pol like Obama did so well against Clinton. And why McCain, who still, metaphorically at least, was using a dial phone, had such a hard time.</p>
<p>The author also noted:</p>
<p>“The two primary features of the post political age are a politics completely drained of all its contents and ability or willingness to be used as an agent of change in social or economic policy, and its full integration into the world of American popular, consumer and entertainment culture. To such an extent that there exists today a seamless web between our political, economic, media and consumer cultures wherein the modes and values of one are completely integrated and compatible with the others.”</p>
<p>One of the effects of this phenomenon is that apparently contradictory policies thrive. For example, with a political market being driven by upscale and comfortable middle class whites, “the forces that make it possible for the rapid acceptance of ideas such as gay marriage are the same which can create a society that will accept massive social inequalities.”</p>
<p>Which helps to explain why white liberals can talk so much about equality and pay so little attention to its economic factors.</p>
<p>Two years ago, politics received what may turn out to have been its final blow: the atrocious Citizens United ruling of the Supreme Court. Politicians were now finally products indistinguishable from items in a mail order catalog – or small firms awaiting a large corporate takeover.</p>
<p>Admittedly, the ability to purchase politicians was not new, nor was the exclusive market that could afford to do so. An analysis of the 2004 primaries found that over 50% of the donations to both Kerry and Bush came from zip codes with a median income of over $100,000 a year and less than 5% from zip codes with a high level of poverty.</p>
<p>But Citizens United brought political bribery largely out of the closet, although most corporate donations are still funneled through cover organizations. In September 2010, just a few months after the Citizens United decision,&#160;Mother Jones&#160;described how it was working:</p>
<p>“The 60 Plus Association’s] spending has skyrocketed to nearly $6 million so far this year, and when Dave Weigel asked them where this tidal wave of new cash was coming from, they declined to say. But that kind of money doesn’t come from five-dollar donations from tea partiers. It comes from deep pockets&#160; including, as Suzy Khimm reports, $400,000 from American Financial Group to Karl Rove’s new campaign spending group, American Crossroads, a contribution that wouldn’t have been possible before the Citizens United decision.</p>
<p>“Jonathan Martin of Politico reports that an internal Democratic spreadsheet has tallied up the spending so far, and the story is grim: as of this week, pro-Republican organizations had paid for a total of $23.6 million worth of ads compared to $4.8 million for Democratic-aligned groups…”</p>
<p>And more recently, writes Salon, “Deep-pocketed corporate interest are writing big checks to members of the super committee, the group of 12 senators and members of Congress who have been tasked with coming up with a plan to cut over $1 trillion from the budget in the next decade.</p>
<p>Ten members of the committee got $83,000 from some of the biggest corporate donors in the country in the three-week period in August that is covered in the latest federal election filings.”</p>
<p>The 2012 election has changed the post-political landscape even more. Barack Obama is the most reactionary Democratic president since Grover Cleveland. Even Woodrow Wilson got anti-trust laws passed and created the Federal Trade Commission.</p>
<p>The Republicans, meanwhile, are – and without an ounce of shame – publicly advocating huge public gifts for all those because of their wealth and greed least deserve it. The Eric Cantors and John Boehners are part of the most despicable and decadent crowd on the Hill since the days of the segregationist South.</p>
<p>What is most revealing, however, is the number of GOP politicians willing to openly advocate the subsidy of the smallest political class in America. There is no conventional political explanation for this; it’s never happened before; it should make no sense. No one, for example, has complained before that the middle class wants to take “someone else’s Cadillac” as Herman Cain claims.</p>
<p>The only reason this works is because conventional national politics is dead. The Boehners and the Cantors are not politicians but mercenaries for multi-millionaires and corporate hitmen. It is money that counts. With enough of the money, the votes take care of themselves. The votes you can buy through advertising and the lies you tell in it. If we had a fair and democratic political system every major party presidential candidate could be indicted for taking innumerable bribes.</p>
<p>Which is why the current demonstrations are so important. It is not that national politics does not still have a function in mitigating failure and oppression – will Obama take less of our civil liberties than Rick Perry is a fair question&#160; – but in matters of progress or even guaranteeing the benefits we still have, it offers us next to nothing.</p>
<p>We are left only with ourselves, our souls, our choices – and our allies. The protesters have stepped away from their computers – discovering that there is far more than just “click here” to activism – and in just a few days have started to change the nature of things.</p>
<p>It is with the sharing, joining, and cooperating with one another that we can continue the struggle. Its forms are numerous – and, strikingly, like the current protests, mostly non-national in origins. More like the congregational model of the 1960s civil rights movement.</p>
<p>Yes, there are more protests to be held. But there are also bank accounts to be shifted to community institutions or credit unions, cooperatives to join or start, local and state initiatives to launch, law suits to be filed, and unanticipated alliances to be formed. And, of course, a constitution to amend so corporations can no longer destroy our culture and our communities by pretending to be people, too.</p>
<p>The fact that much of this unfinished business is not national but rooted in personal, local and state alliances will be novel to some, but change has always started at the bottom.</p>
<p>The task in the months ahead is not to figure out how we react to some national politician but how we can make these politicians react to us and our communities. We must create a political ecology that even their money can’t destroy.</p>
<p>Sam Smith&#160;edits the&#160; <a href="http://www.prorev.com/" type="external">Progressive Review</a>. He is the author of&#160; <a href="" type="internal">The Great American Repair Manual</a>.</p> | true | 4 | since history hangs around days six months easy notice republicans dont act like republicans anymore democrats like democrats robert taft dwight eisenhower margaret chase smith would horrified political buffoons michelle bachman herman cain mention fact rick perry garnered 17 million presidential bid actually qualified little selling cleaning appliances cable tv 1995 would find desertion middle class behalf tax favoritism billionaires thoroughly stunning democrats fdr lbj would pretty angry clinton public welfare bank regulation obama done civil liberties hasnt done housing crisis threatens social security medicare fact become increasingly difficult tell two parties apart liberals practically collective orgasm nominated man president much earlier said donald rumsfeld dont think soontobesecretary rumsfeld way mainstream american political life would argue would true vast majority bush nominees give credit one honest pieces mainstream media time ny times reporter jodi kantor wrote obama friends say want anyone assume knew mind even close always know exactly stood charles j ogletree jr another harvard law professor mentor mr obama said enter space organize thoughts without necessarily revealing concerns conflicts people way hearing wanted mr obamas words mr obama stayed away extremes campus debate often choosing safe topics speeches dozens interviews friends said could remember specific views era beyond general emphasis diversity social economic justice fourteen years earlier written bill clinton course postmodern society clinton proposes one rises false teachings ideology find little steer us save opinions whatever nonideologue happens power case may really progressed ideology many ideology one might say democracy authoritarianism among equals indifference shared meaning might produce nothing worse lengthy argument postmodernist president united states impulse becomes 500pound gorilla fed say anything wants 2008 campaign writing counterpunch anonymous political consultant explained americas postpolitical culture choosing politician product one made us feel good obama ipod hillary clinton cell phone wrote consultant world toys one stands marketable helps explain black inexperienced atypical pol like obama well clinton mccain still metaphorically least using dial phone hard time author also noted two primary features post political age politics completely drained contents ability willingness used agent change social economic policy full integration world american popular consumer entertainment culture extent exists today seamless web political economic media consumer cultures wherein modes values one completely integrated compatible others one effects phenomenon apparently contradictory policies thrive example political market driven upscale comfortable middle class whites forces make possible rapid acceptance ideas gay marriage create society accept massive social inequalities helps explain white liberals talk much equality pay little attention economic factors two years ago politics received may turn final blow atrocious citizens united ruling supreme court politicians finally products indistinguishable items mail order catalog small firms awaiting large corporate takeover admittedly ability purchase politicians new exclusive market could afford analysis 2004 primaries found 50 donations kerry bush came zip codes median income 100000 year less 5 zip codes high level poverty citizens united brought political bribery largely closet although corporate donations still funneled cover organizations september 2010 months citizens united decision160mother jones160described working 60 plus associations spending skyrocketed nearly 6 million far year dave weigel asked tidal wave new cash coming declined say kind money doesnt come fivedollar donations tea partiers comes deep pockets160 including suzy khimm reports 400000 american financial group karl roves new campaign spending group american crossroads contribution wouldnt possible citizens united decision jonathan martin politico reports internal democratic spreadsheet tallied spending far story grim week prorepublican organizations paid total 236 million worth ads compared 48 million democraticaligned groups recently writes salon deeppocketed corporate interest writing big checks members super committee group 12 senators members congress tasked coming plan cut 1 trillion budget next decade ten members committee got 83000 biggest corporate donors country threeweek period august covered latest federal election filings 2012 election changed postpolitical landscape even barack obama reactionary democratic president since grover cleveland even woodrow wilson got antitrust laws passed created federal trade commission republicans meanwhile without ounce shame publicly advocating huge public gifts wealth greed least deserve eric cantors john boehners part despicable decadent crowd hill since days segregationist south revealing however number gop politicians willing openly advocate subsidy smallest political class america conventional political explanation never happened make sense one example complained middle class wants take someone elses cadillac herman cain claims reason works conventional national politics dead boehners cantors politicians mercenaries multimillionaires corporate hitmen money counts enough money votes take care votes buy advertising lies tell fair democratic political system every major party presidential candidate could indicted taking innumerable bribes current demonstrations important national politics still function mitigating failure oppression obama take less civil liberties rick perry fair question160 matters progress even guaranteeing benefits still offers us next nothing left souls choices allies protesters stepped away computers discovering far click activism days started change nature things sharing joining cooperating one another continue struggle forms numerous strikingly like current protests mostly nonnational origins like congregational model 1960s civil rights movement yes protests held also bank accounts shifted community institutions credit unions cooperatives join start local state initiatives launch law suits filed unanticipated alliances formed course constitution amend corporations longer destroy culture communities pretending people fact much unfinished business national rooted personal local state alliances novel change always started bottom task months ahead figure react national politician make politicians react us communities must create political ecology even money cant destroy sam smith160edits the160 progressive review author of160 great american repair manual | 884 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Board of Education voted Wednesday to close 50 schools and programs, an ambitious plan that has sparked protests and lawsuits and could help define — for better or worse — Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s term in office.</p>
<p>City officials say the closings are necessary because of falling school enrollment and as part of their efforts to improve the city’s struggling education system. Critics have blasted Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff, and schools chief Barbara Byrd-Bennett, saying the closings disproportionately affect minority neighborhoods and will endanger children who may have to cross gang boundaries to get to a new school.</p>
<p>They protested during a sometimes raucous board meeting Wednesday and sent busloads of parents, teachers and students to Springfield to lobby lawmakers to approve a moratorium on the closings. Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis called it “a day of mourning” for the children of Chicago, but Byrd-Bennett defended the decision.</p>
<p>“The only consideration for us today is to do exactly what is right for the children,” Byrd-Bennett said before the vote.</p>
<p>Chicago Public Schools said in a statement that the goal is to “consolidate underutilized schools and programs to provide students with the quality, 21st century education they need to succeed in the classroom” and create “higher-performing Welcoming Schools starting this fall.”</p>
<p>Many experts say it is the largest number of closings at any one time by any school district in recent memory, and it comes with political risk. The teacher’s union already has pledged to start a voter registration drive in an attempt to register 200,000 new voters before the 2015 municipal elections — when Emanuel will be up for re-election — and to raise funds to support candidates for mayor, city council and statewide office.</p>
<p>“We know that we may not win every seat we intend to target but with research, polling, money and people power we can win some of them,” Lewis said.</p>
<p>But the mayor said Tuesday he believes closing the schools is the right thing to do, and that possible blowback from voters wasn’t a factor in his decisions.</p>
<p>“I will absorb the political consequence so our children have a better future,” Emanuel said. “If I was to shrink from something the city has discussed for over a decade about what it needed to do … because it was politically too tough, but then watch another generation of children drop out or fail in their reading and math, I don’t want to hold this job.”</p>
<p>Chicago is among several major U.S. cities, including Philadelphia, Washington and Detroit to use mass school closures to reduce costs and offset declining enrollment. Detroit has closed more than 130 schools since 2005, including more than 40 in 2010 alone.</p>
<p>The issue of cutbacks and layoffs surfaced in Port Orchard, Wash. on Tuesday, as students at South Kitsap High School held a rally to let administrators know they’re concerned about their education and teachers.</p>
<p>In Chicago, the school closings are the second major issue pitting Emanuel against the Chicago Teachers Union. The group’s 26,000 members went on strike early in the school year, partly over the school district’s demand for longer school days, idling students for a week.</p>
<p>Emanuel and Byrd-Bennett say the district’s financial and educational struggles call for drastic action. They say Chicago Public Schools is facing a deficit of about $1 billion and that too many buildings are half-empty because of a population drop in some city neighborhoods. CPS says it has 403,000 students in a system that has seats for more than 500,000.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.chicagohomeless.org/" type="external">Chicago Coalition for the Homeless</a> reported Wednesday that <a href="http://www.chicagohomeless.org/cps-school-closures-impact-homeless-children/" type="external">8 percent of the affected students – and the group says there is a total of 31,438 pupils — are homeless</a>. The organization says that is “twice the share of homeless students citywide.”</p>
<p>Emanuel and Byrd-Bennett have said students will be moved to schools that are performing better academically and that CPS will work with Chicago police and community groups to ensure students can get to and from their new schools safely. They also have promised all of the schools that receive students from closed buildings will have air conditioning and a library, and that students in third through eighth grades will be given iPads.</p>
<p>In a statement, Chicago school officials said that “unprecedented feedback from more than 34,000 parents and school community members guided (the) process that will create quality schools for over 29,000 students.”</p>
<p>Byrd-Bennett pointed to a smooth transition for the fall. “We will continue to engage with the community and work in partnership with them to ensure a safe, smooth transition for students this fall,” she said.</p>
<p>Earlier this week, on Monday, protesters arrived at Chicago City Hall to stage a sit-in and express their displeasure with the school closings, according to the Chicago Teachers Union. The union reported that protesters were arrested.</p>
<p />
<p>Byrd-Bennett proposed in March that 54 schools and programs be closed. She revised her recommendation on Wednesday, asking the board to spare four schools. Three were left open because they have unique initiatives, such as a program for hearing impaired students and child/parent center. The other was saved because it is the only magnet school in one area of the city.</p>
<p>The board — whose members are appointed by Emanuel — agreed with her recommendations, ultimately voting to close one high school program and 49 elementary schools, which serve students up to eighth grade. One closing will be delayed by one year; the remaining schools are scheduled to close at the end of the current academic year.</p>
<p>Whether the closings impact Emanuel politically could depend greatly on how things play out over those next few months. If all goes smoothly, he could be the mayor who finally found a way to turnaround the nation’s third-largest school district. If they don’t, said political analyst Don Rose, “it’s going to be trouble.”</p>
<p>Alison Burke, whose 3-year-old son is in the pre-kindergarten program at Trumbull Elementary, which will be closed, predicted the vote will trigger an exodus from the city by parents.</p>
<p>“No question about it,” she said. “I’ve talked to hundreds of parents who all say if their kids can’t get into neighborhood schools they can’t stay.”</p>
<p>Nina Stoner’s four kids attend West Pullman Elementary on the city’s South Side, which the board also voted to close. She said she plans to “boycott” CPS rather than let her children go to their new school, which is located in rival gang territory.</p>
<p>“It’s a war. It’s not safe,” Stoner said.</p>
<p>Stoner said the gang members to the north of her neighborhood already have gotten “really aggressive.” She’s had one family member jumped by the gang, and another who was shot.</p>
<p>And she’s already made up her mind about the mayor in 2015.</p>
<p>“He won’t get no vote from me,” she said.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press reporter Don Babwin and Equal Voice News contributed to this report. The top photo is courtesy of the Chicago Teachers Union and that rally was held before the Wednesday, May 22 meeting.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Contact author</a></p>
<p>&#160;&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Barbara Byrd-Bennett</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Chicago</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Families</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Rahm Emanuel</a>, <a href="" type="internal">school closures</a>, <a href="" type="internal">school protests</a></p> | true | 4 | 160 chicago ap chicago board education voted wednesday close 50 schools programs ambitious plan sparked protests lawsuits could help define better worse mayor rahm emanuels term office city officials say closings necessary falling school enrollment part efforts improve citys struggling education system critics blasted emanuel former white house chief staff schools chief barbara byrdbennett saying closings disproportionately affect minority neighborhoods endanger children may cross gang boundaries get new school protested sometimes raucous board meeting wednesday sent busloads parents teachers students springfield lobby lawmakers approve moratorium closings chicago teachers union president karen lewis called day mourning children chicago byrdbennett defended decision consideration us today exactly right children byrdbennett said vote chicago public schools said statement goal consolidate underutilized schools programs provide students quality 21st century education need succeed classroom create higherperforming welcoming schools starting fall many experts say largest number closings one time school district recent memory comes political risk teachers union already pledged start voter registration drive attempt register 200000 new voters 2015 municipal elections emanuel reelection raise funds support candidates mayor city council statewide office know may win every seat intend target research polling money people power win lewis said mayor said tuesday believes closing schools right thing possible blowback voters wasnt factor decisions absorb political consequence children better future emanuel said shrink something city discussed decade needed politically tough watch another generation children drop fail reading math dont want hold job chicago among several major us cities including philadelphia washington detroit use mass school closures reduce costs offset declining enrollment detroit closed 130 schools since 2005 including 40 2010 alone issue cutbacks layoffs surfaced port orchard wash tuesday students south kitsap high school held rally let administrators know theyre concerned education teachers chicago school closings second major issue pitting emanuel chicago teachers union groups 26000 members went strike early school year partly school districts demand longer school days idling students week emanuel byrdbennett say districts financial educational struggles call drastic action say chicago public schools facing deficit 1 billion many buildings halfempty population drop city neighborhoods cps says 403000 students system seats 500000 chicago coalition homeless reported wednesday 8 percent affected students group says total 31438 pupils homeless organization says twice share homeless students citywide emanuel byrdbennett said students moved schools performing better academically cps work chicago police community groups ensure students get new schools safely also promised schools receive students closed buildings air conditioning library students third eighth grades given ipads statement chicago school officials said unprecedented feedback 34000 parents school community members guided process create quality schools 29000 students byrdbennett pointed smooth transition fall continue engage community work partnership ensure safe smooth transition students fall said earlier week monday protesters arrived chicago city hall stage sitin express displeasure school closings according chicago teachers union union reported protesters arrested byrdbennett proposed march 54 schools programs closed revised recommendation wednesday asking board spare four schools three left open unique initiatives program hearing impaired students childparent center saved magnet school one area city board whose members appointed emanuel agreed recommendations ultimately voting close one high school program 49 elementary schools serve students eighth grade one closing delayed one year remaining schools scheduled close end current academic year whether closings impact emanuel politically could depend greatly things play next months goes smoothly could mayor finally found way turnaround nations thirdlargest school district dont said political analyst rose going trouble alison burke whose 3yearold son prekindergarten program trumbull elementary closed predicted vote trigger exodus city parents question said ive talked hundreds parents say kids cant get neighborhood schools cant stay nina stoners four kids attend west pullman elementary citys south side board also voted close said plans boycott cps rather let children go new school located rival gang territory war safe stoner said stoner said gang members north neighborhood already gotten really aggressive shes one family member jumped gang another shot shes already made mind mayor 2015 wont get vote said ___ associated press reporter babwin equal voice news contributed report top photo courtesy chicago teachers union rally held wednesday may 22 meeting160 contact author 160160 barbara byrdbennett chicago families rahm emanuel school closures school protests | 685 |
<p>Like the country it governs, Washington is a city of extremes. In a car, you can zip in bare moments from northwest District of Columbia, its streets lined with million-dollar homes and palatial embassies, its inhabitants sporting one of the nation’s lowest jobless rates, to Anacostia, a mostly forgotten neighborhood in southeastern D.C. with one of the highest unemployment rates anywhere in America. Or, if you happen to be jobless, upset about it, and living in that neighborhood, on a crisp morning in March you could have joined an angry band of protesters marching on the nearby 11th Street Bridge.</p>
<p>They weren’t looking for trouble. They were looking for work.</p>
<p>Those protesters, most of them black, chanted and hoisted signs that read “D.C. JOBS FOR D.C. RESIDENTS” and “JOBS OR ELSE.” The target of their outrage: contractors hired to replace the very bridge under their feet, a $300 million project that will be one of the largest in District history. The problem: few D.C. citizens, which means few African Americans, had so far been hired. “It’s deplorable,” insisted civil rights attorney Donald Temple, “that… you can find men from West Virginia to work in D.C. You can find men from Maryland to work in D.C. And you can find men from Virginia to work in D.C. But you can’t find men and women in D.C. to work in D.C.”</p>
<p>The 11th Street Bridge arches over the slow-flowing Anacostia River, connecting the poverty-stricken, largely black Anacostia neighborhood with the rest of the District. By foot the distance is small; in opportunity and wealth, it couldn’t be larger. At one end of the bridge the economy is booming even amid a halting recovery and jobs crisis. At the other end, hard times, always present, are worse than ever.</p>
<p>Live in Washington long enough and you’ll hear someone mention “east of the river.” That’s D.C.’s version of “the other side of the tracks,” the place friends warn against visiting late at night or on your own. It’s home to District Wards 7 and 8, neighborhoods with a long, rich history. Once known as Uniontown, Anacostia was one of the District’s first suburbs; Frederick Douglass, nicknamed the “Sage of Anacostia,” once lived there, as did the poet Ezra Pound and singer Marvin Gaye. Today the area’s unemployment rate is officially nearly 20%. District-wide, it’s 9.8%, a figure that drops as low as 3.6% in the whiter, more affluent northwestern suburbs.</p>
<p>D.C.’s divide is America’s writ large. Nationwide, the unemployment rate for black workers at 16.2% is almost double the 9.1% rate for the rest of the population. And it’s twice the 8% white jobless rate.</p>
<p>The size of those numbers can, in part, be chalked up to the current jobs crisis in which black workers are being decimated. According to Duke University public policy expert William Darity, that means blacks are “the last to be hired in a good economy, and when there’s a downturn, they’re the first to be released.”</p>
<p>That may account for the soaring numbers of unemployed African Americans, but not the yawning chasm between the black and white employment rates, which is no artifact of the present moment. It’s a problem that spans generations, goes remarkably unnoticed, and condemns millions of black Americans to a life of scraping by. That unerring, unchanging gap between white and black employment figures goes back at least 60 years. It should be a scandal, but whether on Capitol Hill or in the media it gets remarkably little attention. Ever.</p>
<p>The 60-Year Scandal</p>
<p>The unemployment lines run through history like a pair of train tracks. Since the 1940s, the jobless rate for blacks in America has held remarkably, if grimly, steady at twice the rate for whites. The question of why has vexed and divided economists, historians, and sociologists for nearly as long.</p>
<p>For years the sharpest minds in academia pointed to upheaval in the American economy as the culprit. In his 1996 book When Work Disappears, the sociologist William Julius Wilson depicted the forces of globalization, a slumping manufacturing sector, and suburban flight at work in Chicago as the drivers of growing joblessness and poverty in America’s inner cities and among its black residents.</p>
<p>He pictured the process this way: as corporations outsourced jobs to China and India, American manufacturing began its slow fade, shedding jobs often held by black workers. What jobs remained were moved to sprawling offices and factories in outlying suburbs reachable only by freeway. Those jobs proved inaccessible to the mass of black workers who remained in the inner cities and relied on public transportation to get to work.</p>
<p>Time and research have, however, eaten away at the significance of Wilson’s work. The hollowing-out of America’s cities and the decline of domestic manufacturing no doubt played a part in black unemployment, but then chronic black joblessness existed long before the upheaval Wilson described. Even when employment in the manufacturing sector was at its height, black workers were still twice as likely to be out of work as their white counterparts.</p>
<p>Another commonly cited culprit for the tenaciousness of African-American unemployment has been education. Whites, so the argument goes, are generally better educated than blacks, and so more likely to land a job at a time when a college degree is ever more significant when it comes to jobs and higher earnings. In 2009, President Obama told reporters that education was the key to narrowing racial gaps in the US. “If we close the achievement gap, then a big chunk of economic inequality in this society is diminished,” he said.</p>
<p>Educational levels have, in fact, steadily climbed over the past 60 years for African Americans. In 1940, less than 1% of black men and less 2% of black women earned college degrees; jump to 2000, and the figures are 10% for black men and 15% for black women. Moreover, increased education has helped to narrow wage inequality between employed whites and blacks. What it hasn’t done is close the unemployment gap.</p>
<p>Algernon Austin, an economist for the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., crunched data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and found that blacks with the same level of education as whites have consistently lower employment levels. It doesn’t matter whether you compare high-school dropouts or workers with graduate degrees, whites are still more likely to have a job than blacks. Degrees be damned.</p>
<p>Academics have thrown plenty of other explanations at the problem: declining wages, the embrace of crime as a way of life, increased competition with immigrants. None of them have stuck. How could they? In recent decades, the wage gap has narrowed, crime rates have plummeted, and there’s scant evidence to suggest immigrants are stealing jobs that would otherwise be filled by African Americans.</p>
<p>Indeed, many top researchers in this field, including several I interviewed, are left scratching their heads when trying to explain why that staggering jobless gap between blacks and white won’t budge. “I don’t know if there’s anybody out there who can tell you why that ratio stays at two to one,” Darity says. “It’s a statistical regularity that we don’t have an explanation for.”</p>
<p>Behind Bars, the Invisible Unemployed</p>
<p>So what keeps blacks from cutting into those employment figures? Among the theories, one that deserves special attention points to the high incarceration rate among blacks — and especially black men.</p>
<p>In 2009, 7.2 million Americans — or 3.1% of all adults — were under the jurisdiction of the U.S. corrections system, including 1.6 million Americans incarcerated in a state or federal prison. Of that population, nearly 40% percent were black, even though blacks make up only 13% percent of the American population. Blacks were six times as likely to be in prison as whites, and three times as likely as Hispanics. For some perspective, consider what author of The New Jim Crow Michelle Alexander wrote last year: “There are more African Americans under correctional control today — in prison or jail, on probation or parole — than were enslaved in 1850, a decade before the Civil War began.”</p>
<p>Incarceration amounts to a double whammy when it comes to African-American unemployment. Rarely mentioned in the usual drumbeat of media reports on jobs is the fact that the Labor Department doesn’t include prison populations in its official unemployment statistics. This automatically shrinks the pool of blacks capable of working and in the process lowers the black jobless rate.</p>
<p>In the mid-1990s, academics Bruce Western and Becky Pettit discovered that the American prison population lowered the jobless rate for black men by five percentage points, and for young black men by eight percentage points. (Of course, this applies to whites, Asians, and Hispanics as well, but the figures are particularly striking given the overrepresentation of blacks in the prison population.)</p>
<p>Even that vast incarcerated population pales, however, in comparison to the number of ex-cons who have rejoined the world beyond the prison walls. In 2008, there were 12 million to 14 million ex-offenders in the U.S. old enough to work, according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR). So many ex-cons represent a serious drag on our economy, according to CEPR, sucking from it $57 billion to $65 billion in output.</p>
<p>Of course, such research tells us how much, not why — as in, why are ex-cons so much more likely to be out of work? For an answer, it’s necessary to turn to an eye-opening and, in some circles, controversial field of study that may offer the best explanation for the 60-year scandal of black unemployment.</p>
<p>Twice as Hard, Half as Far</p>
<p>In 2001, a pair of black men and a pair of white men went hunting for work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Each was 23 years old, a local college student, bright and articulate. They looked alike and dressed alike, had identical educational backgrounds and remarkably similar past work experience. From June to December, they combed the Sunday classified pages in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and searched a state-run job site called “Jobnet,” applying for the same entry-level jobs as waiters, delivery-truck drivers, cooks, and cashiers. There was one obvious difference in each pair: one man was a former criminal and the other was not.</p>
<p>If this sounds like an experiment, that’s because it was. Watching the explosive growth of the criminal justice system, fueled largely by ill-conceived “tough on crime” policies, sociologist Devah Pager took a novel approach to how prison affected ever growing numbers of Americans after they’d done their time — a process all but ignored by politicians and the judicial system.</p>
<p>So Pager sent those two young black men and two young white men out into the world to apply for perfectly real jobs. Then she recorded who got callbacks and who didn’t. She soon discovered that a criminal history caused a massive drop-off in employer responses — not entirely surprising. But when Pager started separating out black applicants from white ones, she stumbled across the real news in her study, a discovery that shook our understanding of racial inequality and jobs to the core.</p>
<p>Pager’s white applicant without a criminal record had a 34% callback rate. That promptly sunk to 17% for her white applicant with a criminal record. The figures for black applicants were 14% and 5%. And yes, you read that right: in Pager’s experiment, white job applicants with a criminal history got more callbacks than black applicants without one. “I expected to find an effect with a criminal record and some with race,” Pager says. “I certainly was not expecting that result, and it was quite a surprise.”</p>
<p>Pager ran a larger version of this experiment in New York City in 2004, sending teams of young, educated, and identically credentialed men out into the Big Apple’s sprawling market for entry-level jobs — once again, with one applicant posing as an ex-con, the other with a clean record. (As she did in Milwaukee, Pager had the teams alternate who posed as the ex-con.) The results? Again Pager’s African-American applicants received fewer callbacks and job offers than the whites. The disparity was particularly striking for ex-criminals: a drop off of 9 percentage points for whites, but 15 percentage points for blacks. “Employers already reluctant to hire blacks,” Pager wrote, “appear particularly wary of blacks with known criminal histories.”</p>
<p>Other research has supported her findings. A 2001-2002 field experiment by academics from the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, for example, uncovered a sizeable gap in employer callbacks for job applicants with white-sounding names (Emily and Greg) versus black-sounding names (Lakisha and Jamal). They also found that the benefits of a better resume were 30% greater for whites than blacks.</p>
<p>These findings proved a powerful antidote to the growing notion, mostly in conservative circles, that discrimination was an illusion and racism long eradicated. In The Content of Our Character (1991), Shelby Steele argued that racial discrimination no longer held black men or women back from the jobs they wanted; the problem was in their heads. Dinesh D’Souza, a first-generation immigrant of Indian descent, published The End of Racism in 1995, similarly claiming racial discrimination had little to do with the plight of black America.</p>
<p>Not so, insist Pager, Darity, Harvard’s Bruce Western, and other academics using real data with an unavoidable message: racism is alive and well. It leads to endemic, deeply embedded patterns of discrimination whose harmful impact has barely changed in 60 years. And it cannot be ignored. As the old African-American adage puts it, “You’ve got to work twice as hard to get half as far as a black person in white America.”</p>
<p>Is There a Solution for Black America?</p>
<p>Tracing black unemployment in America since World War II, there are two moments when, briefly, the gap between black and white joblessness narrowed ever so slightly — in the 1940s and again in the late 1960s and early 1970s. For example in 1970, unemployment was at 5.8% for blacks and 3.3% for whites, a sizeable gap but significantly better than what followed in the Reagan era. Those are moments worth revisiting, if only to understand what began to go right.</p>
<p>According to University of Chicago professors William Sites and Virginia Parks, those periods were marked by a flurry of civil rights and anti-discrimination activity on the federal level. A series of actions ranging from the creation of the Fair Employment Practice Committee in 1941 to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which mandated the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, write Sites and Parks, had “dramatic impacts on employment discrimination.”</p>
<p>But those gains of the 1970s were soon wiped out. The thinning of union membership and the dwindling power of organized labor didn’t help either, after decades of pressure on employers to end discrimination against workers of color.</p>
<p>Today, in terrible times, with the possibility of social legislation off the table in Washington, the question remains: What, if anything, can be done to close the jobless gap between blacks and whites? When I asked Devah Pager, she called this the “million-dollar question.” This form of discrimination, she pointed out, is especially difficult to deal with. As she noted in 2005, many employers who discriminate don’t even realize they’re doing so; they’re just going with “gut feelings.” “It’s not that these employers have decided that they are not going to hire workers from a particular group,” Pager told me.</p>
<p>What won’t work is relying on discrimination watchdogs to crack down more often. The way federal anti-discrimination law works, it’s up to the person who was discriminated against to raise an alarm. As Duke’s William Darity points out, that’s a near impossibility for a job applicant who must convincingly read the mind of a person he or she doesn’t know. Worse than that, the applicant who wants to lodge charges of discrimination also has to prove that the discrimination was intentional, which, as Pager’s experiments make clear, is no small feat. Under the circumstances, as Darity told me, perhaps no one should be surprised to discover that blacks “grossly underreport their exposure to discrimination and whites grossly overreport it.”</p>
<p>Of course, fixing a problem first requires acknowledging it — something the nation has yet to do, says the Economic Policy Institute’s Algernon Austin. To put blacks back to work, lawmakers should invest federal money directly in job creation, especially for black workers. Other avenues for putting people back to work, like a payroll tax credit won’t do the trick. “We’ve spent billions in trying to build jobs overseas” in war zones, Austin told me. “But if we invested that money here in our cities, we wouldn’t have this racial gap.”</p>
<p>But how likely is that at a moment when, in a Washington gripped by paralysis, any discussion of spending in Washington begins and ends at how much to cut? The painful reality of permanent crisis for black workers is here to stay. That’s how it seems to blacks in D.C., especially those who live east of the river. In April, another group of protesters took to the 11th Street Bridge to demand more D.C. hires, and the following month, the group D.C. Jobs or Else took their complaints to City Hall. But progress is slow. “We’re being pushed out economically,” said William Alston El, a 63-year-old unemployed resident who grew up in D.C. “They say it’s not racism, but the name of the game is they have the money. You can’t live [in] a place if you can’t pay the rent.”</p>
<p>Andy Kroll is a reporter in the D.C. bureau of Mother Jones magazine, and an associate editor at <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/" type="external">TomDispatch</a>, where this article originally appeared.</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | like country governs washington city extremes car zip bare moments northwest district columbia streets lined milliondollar homes palatial embassies inhabitants sporting one nations lowest jobless rates anacostia mostly forgotten neighborhood southeastern dc one highest unemployment rates anywhere america happen jobless upset living neighborhood crisp morning march could joined angry band protesters marching nearby 11th street bridge werent looking trouble looking work protesters black chanted hoisted signs read dc jobs dc residents jobs else target outrage contractors hired replace bridge feet 300 million project one largest district history problem dc citizens means african americans far hired deplorable insisted civil rights attorney donald temple find men west virginia work dc find men maryland work dc find men virginia work dc cant find men women dc work dc 11th street bridge arches slowflowing anacostia river connecting povertystricken largely black anacostia neighborhood rest district foot distance small opportunity wealth couldnt larger one end bridge economy booming even amid halting recovery jobs crisis end hard times always present worse ever live washington long enough youll hear someone mention east river thats dcs version side tracks place friends warn visiting late night home district wards 7 8 neighborhoods long rich history known uniontown anacostia one districts first suburbs frederick douglass nicknamed sage anacostia lived poet ezra pound singer marvin gaye today areas unemployment rate officially nearly 20 districtwide 98 figure drops low 36 whiter affluent northwestern suburbs dcs divide americas writ large nationwide unemployment rate black workers 162 almost double 91 rate rest population twice 8 white jobless rate size numbers part chalked current jobs crisis black workers decimated according duke university public policy expert william darity means blacks last hired good economy theres downturn theyre first released may account soaring numbers unemployed african americans yawning chasm black white employment rates artifact present moment problem spans generations goes remarkably unnoticed condemns millions black americans life scraping unerring unchanging gap white black employment figures goes back least 60 years scandal whether capitol hill media gets remarkably little attention ever 60year scandal unemployment lines run history like pair train tracks since 1940s jobless rate blacks america held remarkably grimly steady twice rate whites question vexed divided economists historians sociologists nearly long years sharpest minds academia pointed upheaval american economy culprit 1996 book work disappears sociologist william julius wilson depicted forces globalization slumping manufacturing sector suburban flight work chicago drivers growing joblessness poverty americas inner cities among black residents pictured process way corporations outsourced jobs china india american manufacturing began slow fade shedding jobs often held black workers jobs remained moved sprawling offices factories outlying suburbs reachable freeway jobs proved inaccessible mass black workers remained inner cities relied public transportation get work time research however eaten away significance wilsons work hollowingout americas cities decline domestic manufacturing doubt played part black unemployment chronic black joblessness existed long upheaval wilson described even employment manufacturing sector height black workers still twice likely work white counterparts another commonly cited culprit tenaciousness africanamerican unemployment education whites argument goes generally better educated blacks likely land job time college degree ever significant comes jobs higher earnings 2009 president obama told reporters education key narrowing racial gaps us close achievement gap big chunk economic inequality society diminished said educational levels fact steadily climbed past 60 years african americans 1940 less 1 black men less 2 black women earned college degrees jump 2000 figures 10 black men 15 black women moreover increased education helped narrow wage inequality employed whites blacks hasnt done close unemployment gap algernon austin economist economic policy institute washington dc crunched data bureau labor statistics found blacks level education whites consistently lower employment levels doesnt matter whether compare highschool dropouts workers graduate degrees whites still likely job blacks degrees damned academics thrown plenty explanations problem declining wages embrace crime way life increased competition immigrants none stuck could recent decades wage gap narrowed crime rates plummeted theres scant evidence suggest immigrants stealing jobs would otherwise filled african americans indeed many top researchers field including several interviewed left scratching heads trying explain staggering jobless gap blacks white wont budge dont know theres anybody tell ratio stays two one darity says statistical regularity dont explanation behind bars invisible unemployed keeps blacks cutting employment figures among theories one deserves special attention points high incarceration rate among blacks especially black men 2009 72 million americans 31 adults jurisdiction us corrections system including 16 million americans incarcerated state federal prison population nearly 40 percent black even though blacks make 13 percent american population blacks six times likely prison whites three times likely hispanics perspective consider author new jim crow michelle alexander wrote last year african americans correctional control today prison jail probation parole enslaved 1850 decade civil war began incarceration amounts double whammy comes africanamerican unemployment rarely mentioned usual drumbeat media reports jobs fact labor department doesnt include prison populations official unemployment statistics automatically shrinks pool blacks capable working process lowers black jobless rate mid1990s academics bruce western becky pettit discovered american prison population lowered jobless rate black men five percentage points young black men eight percentage points course applies whites asians hispanics well figures particularly striking given overrepresentation blacks prison population even vast incarcerated population pales however comparison number excons rejoined world beyond prison walls 2008 12 million 14 million exoffenders us old enough work according center economic policy research cepr many excons represent serious drag economy according cepr sucking 57 billion 65 billion output course research tells us much excons much likely work answer necessary turn eyeopening circles controversial field study may offer best explanation 60year scandal black unemployment twice hard half far 2001 pair black men pair white men went hunting work milwaukee wisconsin 23 years old local college student bright articulate looked alike dressed alike identical educational backgrounds remarkably similar past work experience june december combed sunday classified pages milwaukee journal sentinel searched staterun job site called jobnet applying entrylevel jobs waiters deliverytruck drivers cooks cashiers one obvious difference pair one man former criminal sounds like experiment thats watching explosive growth criminal justice system fueled largely illconceived tough crime policies sociologist devah pager took novel approach prison affected ever growing numbers americans theyd done time process ignored politicians judicial system pager sent two young black men two young white men world apply perfectly real jobs recorded got callbacks didnt soon discovered criminal history caused massive dropoff employer responses entirely surprising pager started separating black applicants white ones stumbled across real news study discovery shook understanding racial inequality jobs core pagers white applicant without criminal record 34 callback rate promptly sunk 17 white applicant criminal record figures black applicants 14 5 yes read right pagers experiment white job applicants criminal history got callbacks black applicants without one expected find effect criminal record race pager says certainly expecting result quite surprise pager ran larger version experiment new york city 2004 sending teams young educated identically credentialed men big apples sprawling market entrylevel jobs one applicant posing excon clean record milwaukee pager teams alternate posed excon results pagers africanamerican applicants received fewer callbacks job offers whites disparity particularly striking excriminals drop 9 percentage points whites 15 percentage points blacks employers already reluctant hire blacks pager wrote appear particularly wary blacks known criminal histories research supported findings 20012002 field experiment academics university chicago massachusetts institute technology example uncovered sizeable gap employer callbacks job applicants whitesounding names emily greg versus blacksounding names lakisha jamal also found benefits better resume 30 greater whites blacks findings proved powerful antidote growing notion mostly conservative circles discrimination illusion racism long eradicated content character 1991 shelby steele argued racial discrimination longer held black men women back jobs wanted problem heads dinesh dsouza firstgeneration immigrant indian descent published end racism 1995 similarly claiming racial discrimination little plight black america insist pager darity harvards bruce western academics using real data unavoidable message racism alive well leads endemic deeply embedded patterns discrimination whose harmful impact barely changed 60 years ignored old africanamerican adage puts youve got work twice hard get half far black person white america solution black america tracing black unemployment america since world war ii two moments briefly gap black white joblessness narrowed ever slightly 1940s late 1960s early 1970s example 1970 unemployment 58 blacks 33 whites sizeable gap significantly better followed reagan era moments worth revisiting understand began go right according university chicago professors william sites virginia parks periods marked flurry civil rights antidiscrimination activity federal level series actions ranging creation fair employment practice committee 1941 passage civil rights act 1964 mandated equal employment opportunity commission voting rights act 1965 equal employment opportunity act 1972 write sites parks dramatic impacts employment discrimination gains 1970s soon wiped thinning union membership dwindling power organized labor didnt help either decades pressure employers end discrimination workers color today terrible times possibility social legislation table washington question remains anything done close jobless gap blacks whites asked devah pager called milliondollar question form discrimination pointed especially difficult deal noted 2005 many employers discriminate dont even realize theyre theyre going gut feelings employers decided going hire workers particular group pager told wont work relying discrimination watchdogs crack often way federal antidiscrimination law works person discriminated raise alarm dukes william darity points thats near impossibility job applicant must convincingly read mind person doesnt know worse applicant wants lodge charges discrimination also prove discrimination intentional pagers experiments make clear small feat circumstances darity told perhaps one surprised discover blacks grossly underreport exposure discrimination whites grossly overreport course fixing problem first requires acknowledging something nation yet says economic policy institutes algernon austin put blacks back work lawmakers invest federal money directly job creation especially black workers avenues putting people back work like payroll tax credit wont trick weve spent billions trying build jobs overseas war zones austin told invested money cities wouldnt racial gap likely moment washington gripped paralysis discussion spending washington begins ends much cut painful reality permanent crisis black workers stay thats seems blacks dc especially live east river april another group protesters took 11th street bridge demand dc hires following month group dc jobs else took complaints city hall progress slow pushed economically said william alston el 63yearold unemployed resident grew dc say racism name game money cant live place cant pay rent andy kroll reporter dc bureau mother jones magazine associate editor tomdispatch article originally appeared 160 | 1,704 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal">Joseph Sohm</a>&#160;|&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Shutterstock.com</a></p>
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<p>Hillary Clinton may or may not be a crook. That remains to be proven, though the sheer magnitude of the wealth that she and husband Bill have amassed since leaving the White House, and while she was serving as Secretary of State — nearly a quarter of a billion dollars earned by two people with no known skills capable of producing that kind of income — should raise questions. What can be stated now as fact though, is that Hillary is a serial liar.</p>
<p>If this wasn’t clear already from her long history of distortion and prevarication — like her false claim that she had to “duck to avoid sniper fire” during a state visit to Bosnia — it is clear now from <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/statement-by-fbi-director-james-b.-comey-on-the-investigation-of-secretary-hillary-clintons-use-of-a-personal-e-mail-system" type="external">FBI Director James Comey’s 11-page public report</a> on his agency’s year-long investigation into her use of a private server for all her private and official emails during her term as Secretary of State.</p>
<p>That report has exposes her serial lying to both Congress and the public about that illegal use of private email service to handle her public business.</p>
<p>As the Associated Press reports, Clinton lied in March 2015 when she declared in one of her rare news conferences, “I did not email any classified material to anyone on my email. There is no classified material.”</p>
<p>But as Comey reports, she did. Quite often in fact. The FBI in its&#160; exhaustive investigation found at least 113 email chains –some of which had to be uncovered after they had been erased by Clinton’s private lawyers — contained material that was classified at the time of sending, including some that were classified Top Secret and that referred to a “highly classified special-access program.”</p>
<p>She lied again at that same press conference when she asserted, “I responded right away and provided all my emails that could possibly be work related” to the State Department.</p>
<p>Not true, according to the FBI, and also, of course, to the Inspector General of the State Department, with whose own investigation of her actions, Clinton simply refused to cooperate.</p>
<p>Clinton lied when she said earlier this month, in an NBC interview, “I never received nor sent any material that was market classified.”&#160; Comey says that in fact her system did handle emails that bore specific markings indicating they were classified.</p>
<p>Clinton lied when she tried, as she explained more than once, including in that same March 15 news conference addressing the issue, to claim that she had used her own Blackberry phone rather than a State Department secure phone, simply because she “thought it would be easier to carry just one device for my work and for personal emails instead of two.”&#160; In fact, Comey said his agents determined that Clinton had “used numerous mobil devices to view and send email,” all using her personal account. So much for wanting to use “just one device”! Comey said she also had used different non-government servers, all of them vulnerable to hacking.</p>
<p>Clinton lied again when she claimed that her private server was on “property guarded by the Secret Service and there were no security breaches.” She lied again when she added, “The use of that server, which started with my husband, certainly proved to be effective and secure.”&#160; Her campaign website adds the equally false assertion that “There is no evidence there was ever a breach.”</p>
<p>In fact, all Comey will say is that the FBI did not uncover a breach, but he adds that because of the sophisticated abilities of “hostile” forces (i.e foreign countries’ intelligence services) that would be engaging in any such hacking, “We assess it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clinton’s personal email account.”&#160; They would just not leave any “footprints,” he explains.</p>
<p>We also know Clinton was lying when she said, “I opted for convenience to use my personal email account, which was allowed by the State Department.”&#160; The falsity of that particular lie was exposed by the State Department Inspector General, who in his own report on her private server scandal, found that she had never “sought or received approval” to operate a private server for her State Department communications, and added that as Secretary of State, she “had an obligation to discuss using her personal email account to conduct official business with State Department offices.”</p>
<p>Some of these violations that Clinton has objectively lied about may not be crimes. Others clearly are. At a minimum, Clinton deliberately sought to violate the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act, which make all but classified documents public records that are supposed to be made available on request to journalists and the public on request (and even many secret documents upon appeal).&#160; By conducting her official business on a private server, Clinton was assuring that no FOIA requests could touch her.</p>
<p>The question of Clinton’s “trustworthiness” is a huge issue among the public, with all but her die-hard supporters — a minority within the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>Maybe some people don’t care in these cynical times when it’s simply assumed that “all politicians lie,”&#160; but one hopes that those lies will relate to personal foibles and sins, not official business. A nation that celebrates great leaders like George Washington, who at least according to the national mythology once said, “I cannot tell a lie,” and Abraham “Honest Abe” Lincoln, for their integrity and forthrightness, surely can demand at least a semblance of truthfulness in its top leader.</p>
<p>Clearly Hillary Clinton has failed that test of leadership, and in a big way.</p>
<p>I’m concerned that the FBI and the State Department’s own Office of Inspector General, as well as Republicans in Congress, have missed the real import of Clinton’s lying. It is not that she violated rules and standards that may have led to national security secrets being hacked, serious though that may be. For one thing, powerful intelligence agencies like those of the Russians and Chinese, just like the US’s own National Security Agency, have the capability to hack even the government’s most secure servers.</p>
<p>What should really be getting asked, by government investigators, political critics and by any real journalists left out there, is why Clinton, as Secretary of State, was so insistent — even to the point of violating laws and State Department policies — on avoiding the reach of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The answer to that has to take us back to the reality of the Clinton’s phenomenal success at vacuuming up vast sums of money from wealthy individuals, corporations, and even foreign potentates, both for their personal accounts as when either Clinton speaks at gatherings of bankers, pharmaceutical executives or military industry leaders, and for their Clinton Foundation, reportedly the recipient of over $2 billion in corporate and foreign government largesse.</p>
<p>Their success at raking in such piles of cash reeks of influence peddling, probably much of it conducted by phone and by email — and it’s the kind of thing that, if it were done by a Secretary of State on a government electronic device, would be vulnerable to a FOIA request.</p>
<p>On a private server, it’s the type of communications activity that Hillary Clinton’s private attorneys would have “wiped” from her hard drive to escape scrutiny when they erased thousands of emails they determined, with no official backstopping, to have been “private.”</p>
<p>Comey was wrong to recommend no prosecution of Clinton for her email practices, since some of her own State Department employees, as well as employees of the CIA and other agencies have been charged with and convicted of felonies for the same and even lesser infractions. But Clinton, as a Secretary of State and as the likely Democratic Party candidate for president, clearly lives on a higher plane that operates under a different set of rules. Only the “little people” get called to account for such crimes in the United States.</p>
<p>If the severely compromised US “Justice” Department cannot step up and issue an indictment based upon the findings of the FBI about Clinton’s email violations, it is up to the people of the United States to decide whether we want such a greedy woman — a confirmed serial liar ready to say anything necessary to obtain power — to be our next president.</p> | true | 4 | joseph sohm160160 shutterstockcom 160 hillary clinton may may crook remains proven though sheer magnitude wealth husband bill amassed since leaving white house serving secretary state nearly quarter billion dollars earned two people known skills capable producing kind income raise questions stated fact though hillary serial liar wasnt clear already long history distortion prevarication like false claim duck avoid sniper fire state visit bosnia clear fbi director james comeys 11page public report agencys yearlong investigation use private server private official emails term secretary state report exposes serial lying congress public illegal use private email service handle public business associated press reports clinton lied march 2015 declared one rare news conferences email classified material anyone email classified material comey reports quite often fact fbi its160 exhaustive investigation found least 113 email chains uncovered erased clintons private lawyers contained material classified time sending including classified top secret referred highly classified specialaccess program lied press conference asserted responded right away provided emails could possibly work related state department true according fbi also course inspector general state department whose investigation actions clinton simply refused cooperate clinton lied said earlier month nbc interview never received sent material market classified160 comey says fact system handle emails bore specific markings indicating classified clinton lied tried explained including march 15 news conference addressing issue claim used blackberry phone rather state department secure phone simply thought would easier carry one device work personal emails instead two160 fact comey said agents determined clinton used numerous mobil devices view send email using personal account much wanting use one device comey said also used different nongovernment servers vulnerable hacking clinton lied claimed private server property guarded secret service security breaches lied added use server started husband certainly proved effective secure160 campaign website adds equally false assertion evidence ever breach fact comey say fbi uncover breach adds sophisticated abilities hostile forces ie foreign countries intelligence services would engaging hacking assess possible hostile actors gained access secretary clintons personal email account160 would leave footprints explains also know clinton lying said opted convenience use personal email account allowed state department160 falsity particular lie exposed state department inspector general report private server scandal found never sought received approval operate private server state department communications added secretary state obligation discuss using personal email account conduct official business state department offices violations clinton objectively lied may crimes others clearly minimum clinton deliberately sought violate requirements freedom information act make classified documents public records supposed made available request journalists public request even many secret documents upon appeal160 conducting official business private server clinton assuring foia requests could touch question clintons trustworthiness huge issue among public diehard supporters minority within democratic party maybe people dont care cynical times simply assumed politicians lie160 one hopes lies relate personal foibles sins official business nation celebrates great leaders like george washington least according national mythology said tell lie abraham honest abe lincoln integrity forthrightness surely demand least semblance truthfulness top leader clearly hillary clinton failed test leadership big way im concerned fbi state departments office inspector general well republicans congress missed real import clintons lying violated rules standards may led national security secrets hacked serious though may one thing powerful intelligence agencies like russians chinese like uss national security agency capability hack even governments secure servers really getting asked government investigators political critics real journalists left clinton secretary state insistent even point violating laws state department policies avoiding reach freedom information act foia answer take us back reality clintons phenomenal success vacuuming vast sums money wealthy individuals corporations even foreign potentates personal accounts either clinton speaks gatherings bankers pharmaceutical executives military industry leaders clinton foundation reportedly recipient 2 billion corporate foreign government largesse success raking piles cash reeks influence peddling probably much conducted phone email kind thing done secretary state government electronic device would vulnerable foia request private server type communications activity hillary clintons private attorneys would wiped hard drive escape scrutiny erased thousands emails determined official backstopping private comey wrong recommend prosecution clinton email practices since state department employees well employees cia agencies charged convicted felonies even lesser infractions clinton secretary state likely democratic party candidate president clearly lives higher plane operates different set rules little people get called account crimes united states severely compromised us justice department step issue indictment based upon findings fbi clintons email violations people united states decide whether want greedy woman confirmed serial liar ready say anything necessary obtain power next president | 734 |
<p>A scene from “Fifty Shades of Grey.” ( <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfZWFDs0LxA" type="external">YouTube</a>)</p>
<p>BOSTON — “Fifty Shades of Grey,” the book and the movie, is a celebration of the sadism that dominates nearly every aspect of American culture and lies at the core of pornography and global capitalism. It glorifies our dehumanization of women. It champions a world devoid of compassion, empathy and love. It eroticizes hypermasculine power that carries out the abuse, degradation, humiliation and torture of women whose personalities have been removed, whose only desire is to debase themselves in the service of male lust. The film, like <a href="" type="internal">“American Sniper,”</a> unquestioningly accepts a predatory world where the weak and the vulnerable are objects to exploit while the powerful are narcissistic and violent demigods. It blesses this capitalist hell as natural and good.</p>
<p>“Pornography,” <a href="http://robertwjensen.org/" type="external">Robert Jensen</a> writes, “is what the end of the world looks like.”</p>
<p>We are blinded by self-destructive fantasy. An array of amusements and spectacles, including TV “reality” shows, huge sporting events, social media, porn (which earns at least twice what Hollywood movies generate), alluring luxury products, drugs, alcohol and magic Jesus, offers enticing exit doors from reality. We yearn to be rich, powerful and celebrities. And those we must trample to build our pathetic little empires are seen as deserving their fate. That nearly all of us will never attain these ambitions is emblematic of our collective self-delusion and the effectiveness of a culture awash in manipulation and lies.</p>
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<p>Porn seeks to eroticize this sadism. In porn women are paid to repeat the mantra “I am a cunt. I am a bitch. I am a whore. I am a slut. Fuck me hard with your big cock.” They plead to be physically abused. Porn caters to degrading racist stereotypes. Black men are sexually potent beasts stalking white women. Black women have a raw, primitive lust. Latin women are sultry and hotblooded. Asian women are meek, sexually submissive geishas. In porn, human imperfections do not exist. The oversized silicone breasts, the pouting, gel-inflated lips, the bodies sculpted by plastic surgeons, the drug-induced erections that never subside and the shaved pubic regions — which cater to porn’s pedophilia — turn performers into pieces of plastic. Smell, sweat, breath, heartbeats and touch are erased along with tenderness. Women in porn are packaged commodities. They are pleasure dolls and sexual puppets. They are stripped of true emotions. Porn is not about sex, if one defines sex as a mutual act between two partners, but about masturbation, a solitary auto-arousal devoid of intimacy and love. The cult of the self — that is the essence of porn — lies at the core of corporate culture. Porn, like global capitalism, is where human beings are sent to die.</p>
<p>There are few people on the left who grasp the immense danger of allowing pornography to replace intimacy, sex and love. Much of the left believes that pornography is about free speech, as if it is unacceptable to financially exploit and physically abuse a woman in a sweatshop in China but acceptable to do so on the set of a porn film, as if torture is wrong in Abu Ghraib, where prisoners were sexually humiliated and abused as if they were on a porn set, but permissible on commercial porn sites.</p>
<p>A new wave of feminists, who have betrayed the iconic work of radicals such as <a href="http://www.biography.com/people/andrea-dworkin-38425" type="external">Andrea Dworkin</a>, defends porn as a form of sexual liberation and self-empowerment. These “feminists,” grounded in <a href="http://www.iep.utm.edu/foucault/" type="external">Michel Foucault</a> and <a href="http://www.egs.edu/faculty/judith-butler/biography/" type="external">Judith Butler</a>, are stunted products of neoliberalism and postmodernism. Feminism, for them, is no longer about the liberation of women who are oppressed; it is defined by a handful of women who are successful, powerful and wealthy — or, as in the case of “Fifty Shades of Grey,” able to snag a rich and powerful man. A woman wrote the “Fifty Shades” book, as well as the screenplay. A woman directed the film. A woman studio head bought the movie. This collusion by women is part of the internalization of oppression and sexual violence that have their roots in porn. Dworkin understood. She wrote that “the new pornography is a vast graveyard where the Left has gone to die. The Left cannot have its whores and its politics too.”</p>
<p>I met <a href="http://gaildines.com/" type="external">Gail Dines</a>, one of the most important radicals in the country, in a small cafe in Boston on Tuesday. She is the author of <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780807001547-0" type="external">“Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality”</a> and a professor of sociology and women’s studies at Wheelock College. Dines, along with a handful of others including Jensen, fearlessly decry a culture that is as depraved as Caligula’s Rome.</p>
<p>“The porn industry has hijacked the sexuality of an entire culture and is laying waste to a whole generation of boys,” she warned. “And when you lay waste to a generation of boys, you lay waste to a generation of girls.”</p>
<p>“When you fight porn you fight global capitalism,” she said. “The venture capitalists, the banks, the credit card companies are all in this feeding chain. This is why you never see anti-porn stories. The media is implicated. It is financially in bed with these companies. Porn is part of this. Porn tells us we have nothing left as human beings — boundaries, integrity, desire, creativity and authenticity. Women are reduced to three orifices and two hands. Porn is woven into the corporate destruction of intimacy and connectedness, and this includes connectedness to the earth. If we were a society where we were whole, connected human beings in real communities, then we would not be able to look at porn. We would not be able to watch another human being tortured.”“If you are going to give a tiny percent of the world the vast majority of the goodies, you better make sure you have a good ideological system in place that legitimizes why everyone else is suffering economically,” she said. “This is what porn does. Porn tells you that material inequality between women and men is not the result of an economic system. It is biologically based. And women, being whores and bitches and only good for sex, don’t deserve full equality. Porn is the ideological mouthpiece that legitimizes our material system of inequality. Porn is to patriarchy what the media is to capitalism.”</p>
<p>To keep the legions of easily bored male viewers aroused, porn makers produce videos that are increasingly violent and debasing. Extreme Associates, which specializes in graphic rape scenes, along with JM Productions, promotes the very real pain endured by women on its sets. JM Productions pioneered “aggressive throat fucking” or “face fucking” videos such as the “Gag Factor” series, in which women gag and often vomit. It ushered in “swirlies,” in which the male performer dunks the woman’s head into a toilet after sex and then flushes. The company promises, “Every whore gets the swirlies treatment. Fuck her, then flush her.” Repeated and violent anal penetration triggers anal prolapse, a condition in which the inner walls of a woman’s rectum collapse and protrude from her anus. This is called “rosebudding.” Some women, penetrated repeatedly by numerous men on porn shoots, often after taking handfuls of painkillers, require anal and vaginal reconstructive surgery. Female performers may suffer from sexually transmitted diseases and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). And with porn mainstreamed — some porn video participants are treated like film celebrities by talk show hosts such as Oprah and Howard Stern — the behavior promoted by porn, including stripping, promiscuity, S&amp;M and exhibitionism, has become chic. Porn also sets the standard for female beauty and female comportment. And this has had terrifying consequences for girls.</p>
<p>“Women are told in our society they have two choices,” Dines said. “They are either fuckable or invisible. To be fuckable means to conform to the porn culture, to look hot, be submissive and do what the man wants. That’s the only way you get visibility. You cannot ask adolescent girls, who are dying for visibility, to choose invisibility.”</p>
<p>None of this, Dines pointed out, was by accident. Porn grew out of the commodity culture, the need by corporate capitalists to sell products.</p>
<p>“In post-Second-World-War America you have the emergence of a middle class with a disposable income,” she said. “The only trouble is that this group was born to parents who had been through a depression and a war. They did not know how to spend. They only knew how to save. What [the capitalists] needed to jump-start the economy was to get people to spend money on stuff they did not need. For women they brought in the television soaps. One of the reasons the ranch house was developed was because [families] only had one television. The television was in the living room and women spent a lot of time in the kitchen. You had to devise a house where she could watch television from the kitchen. She was being taught.”</p>
<p>“But who was teaching the men how to spend money?” she went on. “It was Playboy [Magazine]. This was the brilliance of Hugh Hefner. He understood that you don’t just commodify sexuality, you sexualize commodities. The promise that Playboy held out was not the girls or the women, it was that if you buy at this level, if you consume at the level Playboy tells you to, then you will get the prize, which is the women. The step that was crucial to getting the prize was the consumption of commodities. He wrapped porn, which sexualized and commoditized women’s bodies, in an upper-middle-class blanket. He gave it a veneer of respectability.”</p>
<p>The VCR, the DVD and, later, the Internet allowed porn to be pumped into individual homes. The glossy, still images of Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler became tame, even quaint. America, and much of the rest of the world, became pornified. The income of the global porn industry is estimated at $96 billion, with the United States market worth about $13 billion. There are, Dines writes, “420 million Internet porn pages, 4.2 million porn Web sites, and 68 million search engine requests for porn daily.” [To see excerpts from Dines’ book, <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=x9CMJ_zY4WUC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;dq=pornland&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=q__gVNCiGIW7ogSgk4LgDg&amp;ved=0CB8Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&amp;q=pornland&amp;f=false" type="external">click here</a>.]</p>
<p>Along with the rise of pornography there has been an explosion in sex-related violence, including domestic abuse, rape and gang rape. A rape is reported every 6.2 minutes in the United States, but the estimated total, taking into account unreported assaults, is perhaps five times higher, as Rebecca Solnit points out in her book <a href="http://www.powells.com/biblio/62-9781608464661-0" type="external">“Men Explain Things to Me.”</a></p>
<p>“So many men murder their partners and former partners that we have well over a thousand homicides of that kind a year — meaning that every three years the death toll tops 9/11’s casualties, though no one declares a war on this particular kind of terror,” Solnit writes.</p>
<p>Porn, meanwhile, is ever more accessible.“With a mobile phone you can deliver porn to men who live in highly concentrated neighborhoods in Brazil and India,” Dines said. “If you have one laptop in the family, the man can’t sit in the middle of the room and jerk off to it. With a phone, porn becomes portable. The average kid gets his porn through the mobile phone.”</p>
<p>The old porn industry, which found its profits in movies, is dead. The points of production no longer generate profits. The distributors of porn make the money. And one distributor, MindGeek, a global IT company, dominates porn distribution. Free porn is used on the Internet as bait by MindGeek to lure viewers to pay-per-view porn sites. Most users are adolescent boys. It is, Dines said, “like handing out cigarettes outside of a middle school. You get them addicted.”</p>
<p>“Around the ages of 12 to 15 you are developing your sexual template,” she said. “You get [the boys] when they are beginning to construct their sexual identity. You get them for life. If you begin by jerking off to cruel, hardcore, violent porn then you are not going to want intimacy and connection. Studies are showing that boys are losing interest in sex with real women. They can’t sustain erections with real women. In porn there is no making love. It is about making hate. He despises her. He is revolted and disgusted by her. If you bleed out the love you have to fill it with something to make it interesting. They fill it with violence, degradation, cruelty and hate. And that also gets boring. So you have to keep ratcheting it up. Men get off in porn from women being submissive. Who is more submissive than children? The inevitable route of all porn is child porn. And this is why organizations that fight child porn and do not fight adult porn are making a huge mistake.”</p>
<p>The abuse inherent in pornography goes unquestioned in large part by both men and women. Look at the movie ticket sales for “Fifty Shades of Grey,” which opened the day before Valentine’s Day and is expected to <a href="http://deadline.com/2015/02/fifty-shades-of-grey-kingsman-weekend-box-office-1201372952/" type="external">take in up to $90 million</a> over the four-day weekend (which includes Presidents Day on Monday).</p>
<p>“Pornography has socialized a generation of men into watching sexual torture,” Dines said. “You are not born with that capacity. You have to be trained into it. Just like you train soldiers to kill. If you are going to carry out violence against a group you have to dehumanize them. It is an old method. Jews become kikes. Blacks become niggers. Women become cunts. And no one turns women into cunts better than porn.”</p> | true | 4 | scene fifty shades grey youtube boston fifty shades grey book movie celebration sadism dominates nearly every aspect american culture lies core pornography global capitalism glorifies dehumanization women champions world devoid compassion empathy love eroticizes hypermasculine power carries abuse degradation humiliation torture women whose personalities removed whose desire debase service male lust film like american sniper unquestioningly accepts predatory world weak vulnerable objects exploit powerful narcissistic violent demigods blesses capitalist hell natural good pornography robert jensen writes end world looks like blinded selfdestructive fantasy array amusements spectacles including tv reality shows huge sporting events social media porn earns least twice hollywood movies generate alluring luxury products drugs alcohol magic jesus offers enticing exit doors reality yearn rich powerful celebrities must trample build pathetic little empires seen deserving fate nearly us never attain ambitions emblematic collective selfdelusion effectiveness culture awash manipulation lies porn seeks eroticize sadism porn women paid repeat mantra cunt bitch whore slut fuck hard big cock plead physically abused porn caters degrading racist stereotypes black men sexually potent beasts stalking white women black women raw primitive lust latin women sultry hotblooded asian women meek sexually submissive geishas porn human imperfections exist oversized silicone breasts pouting gelinflated lips bodies sculpted plastic surgeons druginduced erections never subside shaved pubic regions cater porns pedophilia turn performers pieces plastic smell sweat breath heartbeats touch erased along tenderness women porn packaged commodities pleasure dolls sexual puppets stripped true emotions porn sex one defines sex mutual act two partners masturbation solitary autoarousal devoid intimacy love cult self essence porn lies core corporate culture porn like global capitalism human beings sent die people left grasp immense danger allowing pornography replace intimacy sex love much left believes pornography free speech unacceptable financially exploit physically abuse woman sweatshop china acceptable set porn film torture wrong abu ghraib prisoners sexually humiliated abused porn set permissible commercial porn sites new wave feminists betrayed iconic work radicals andrea dworkin defends porn form sexual liberation selfempowerment feminists grounded michel foucault judith butler stunted products neoliberalism postmodernism feminism longer liberation women oppressed defined handful women successful powerful wealthy case fifty shades grey able snag rich powerful man woman wrote fifty shades book well screenplay woman directed film woman studio head bought movie collusion women part internalization oppression sexual violence roots porn dworkin understood wrote new pornography vast graveyard left gone die left whores politics met gail dines one important radicals country small cafe boston tuesday author pornland porn hijacked sexuality professor sociology womens studies wheelock college dines along handful others including jensen fearlessly decry culture depraved caligulas rome porn industry hijacked sexuality entire culture laying waste whole generation boys warned lay waste generation boys lay waste generation girls fight porn fight global capitalism said venture capitalists banks credit card companies feeding chain never see antiporn stories media implicated financially bed companies porn part porn tells us nothing left human beings boundaries integrity desire creativity authenticity women reduced three orifices two hands porn woven corporate destruction intimacy connectedness includes connectedness earth society whole connected human beings real communities would able look porn would able watch another human torturedif going give tiny percent world vast majority goodies better make sure good ideological system place legitimizes everyone else suffering economically said porn porn tells material inequality women men result economic system biologically based women whores bitches good sex dont deserve full equality porn ideological mouthpiece legitimizes material system inequality porn patriarchy media capitalism keep legions easily bored male viewers aroused porn makers produce videos increasingly violent debasing extreme associates specializes graphic rape scenes along jm productions promotes real pain endured women sets jm productions pioneered aggressive throat fucking face fucking videos gag factor series women gag often vomit ushered swirlies male performer dunks womans head toilet sex flushes company promises every whore gets swirlies treatment fuck flush repeated violent anal penetration triggers anal prolapse condition inner walls womans rectum collapse protrude anus called rosebudding women penetrated repeatedly numerous men porn shoots often taking handfuls painkillers require anal vaginal reconstructive surgery female performers may suffer sexually transmitted diseases posttraumatic stress disorder ptsd porn mainstreamed porn video participants treated like film celebrities talk show hosts oprah howard stern behavior promoted porn including stripping promiscuity sampm exhibitionism become chic porn also sets standard female beauty female comportment terrifying consequences girls women told society two choices dines said either fuckable invisible fuckable means conform porn culture look hot submissive man wants thats way get visibility ask adolescent girls dying visibility choose invisibility none dines pointed accident porn grew commodity culture need corporate capitalists sell products postsecondworldwar america emergence middle class disposable income said trouble group born parents depression war know spend knew save capitalists needed jumpstart economy get people spend money stuff need women brought television soaps one reasons ranch house developed families one television television living room women spent lot time kitchen devise house could watch television kitchen taught teaching men spend money went playboy magazine brilliance hugh hefner understood dont commodify sexuality sexualize commodities promise playboy held girls women buy level consume level playboy tells get prize women step crucial getting prize consumption commodities wrapped porn sexualized commoditized womens bodies uppermiddleclass blanket gave veneer respectability vcr dvd later internet allowed porn pumped individual homes glossy still images playboy penthouse hustler became tame even quaint america much rest world became pornified income global porn industry estimated 96 billion united states market worth 13 billion dines writes 420 million internet porn pages 42 million porn web sites 68 million search engine requests porn daily see excerpts dines book click along rise pornography explosion sexrelated violence including domestic abuse rape gang rape rape reported every 62 minutes united states estimated total taking account unreported assaults perhaps five times higher rebecca solnit points book men explain things many men murder partners former partners well thousand homicides kind year meaning every three years death toll tops 911s casualties though one declares war particular kind terror solnit writes porn meanwhile ever accessiblewith mobile phone deliver porn men live highly concentrated neighborhoods brazil india dines said one laptop family man cant sit middle room jerk phone porn becomes portable average kid gets porn mobile phone old porn industry found profits movies dead points production longer generate profits distributors porn make money one distributor mindgeek global company dominates porn distribution free porn used internet bait mindgeek lure viewers payperview porn sites users adolescent boys dines said like handing cigarettes outside middle school get addicted around ages 12 15 developing sexual template said get boys beginning construct sexual identity get life begin jerking cruel hardcore violent porn going want intimacy connection studies showing boys losing interest sex real women cant sustain erections real women porn making love making hate despises revolted disgusted bleed love fill something make interesting fill violence degradation cruelty hate also gets boring keep ratcheting men get porn women submissive submissive children inevitable route porn child porn organizations fight child porn fight adult porn making huge mistake abuse inherent pornography goes unquestioned large part men women look movie ticket sales fifty shades grey opened day valentines day expected take 90 million fourday weekend includes presidents day monday pornography socialized generation men watching sexual torture dines said born capacity trained like train soldiers kill going carry violence group dehumanize old method jews become kikes blacks become niggers women become cunts one turns women cunts better porn | 1,221 |
<p>Angie Rosser joined the West Virginia Rivers Coalition as the Executive Director in 2012, bringing a background of working in West Virginia on social justice issues in the non-profit sector. Her experience involves policy and advocacy, community organizing, coalition building and program administration. Angie holds a BA in Anthropology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MA in Organizational Communication from West Virginia University.</p>
<p>Russell Mokhiber is editor of the Washington, D.C.-based Corporate Crime Reporter. He is also founder of <a href="http://www.singlepayeraction.org/" type="external">singlepayeraction.org</a>, and editor of the website Morgan County USA.</p>
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<p /> ANTON WORONCZUK, TRNN PRODUCER: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Anton Woronczuk in Baltimore.
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<p />July 9 marks the six-month anniversary of the chemical spill in West Virginia caused by leaking tanks belonging to mining chemicals supply company Freedom Industries. The disaster affected 300,000 people and the story reached national and international news. Freedom Industries was also recently find $11,000 by the Labor Department's Occupation, Safety, and Health Administration for the spill.
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<p />Here to bring us up to date on the situation in the ground in West Virginia we have two guests.
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<p />Russell Mokhiber is the editor of the Washington, D.C., based Corporate Crime Reporter, and he's also the founder of SinglePayerAction.org. And he also lives in West Virginia.
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<p />We're also joined by Angie Rosser, the executive director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition.
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<p />Thank you both for joining us.
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<p />RUSSELL MOKHIBER, EDITOR, CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER: Thank you.
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<p />ANGIE ROSSER, EXEC. DIR., WEST VIRGINIA RIVERS COALITION: Thanks for having us, Anton.
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<p />WORONCZUK: So, Angie, let's start with you. On January 9, 2014, it was revealed that up to 7,500 gallons of a poisonous chemical used in the coal washing process spilled into West Virginia's Elk River, which is the sole water supply for the city of Charleston and population in parts of nine different counties. Bring us up to date. Is the water considered safe to drink now?
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<p />ROSSER: Well, we're being told it is safe, and we're also being told to use your own judgment and discretion on if the official word is enough to have you feel okay drinking it. I can tell you that most people are not drinking it. The last survey that was released from our local health department and the CDC shows that about 30, 36 percent, so about a third of the people are now starting to drink the water again. But I've talked to parents who are still bathing their children in bottled water six months after the fact. And the question is: how long will we continue to live this way?
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<p />WORONCZUK: Okay. And, Russell, part of the story that came out was that the last state inspection of Freedom Industries' processing plant was in 1991. Can you give us a bit of the background around deregulation of the mining and coal-related industries West Virginia? And what has happened to Freedom Industries since?
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<p />MOKHIBER: Well, just yesterday, as you mentioned, Anton, Freedom Industries was fined $11,000 by OSHA. There's an ongoing criminal investigation by the U.S. attorney. But the reality is--and income will be--my prediction is this company and/or executives, or both, will be criminally prosecuted. There will be a prosecution for what happened here, because this is a relatively small company, not well politically connected.
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<p />But the reality is it's a broader issue than that. Both--the whole political infrastructure in the state has been captured by the coal, chemical, fracking industries. For example, it's rare to find a politician who will stand up against mountaintop removal, which is destroying the mountains in southern West Virginia and making the people ill with birth defects and cancers and other illnesses. And I haven't heard--maybe Angie's heard--I don't hear any politician in the state speaking out against that.
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<p />So there was real anger when this happened, when the spill happened, but it's been subsiding. I mean, people were marching on the water company with their bills saying, you know, we don't owe you, you owe us, but that really has subsided.
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<p />There is a push in the political realm to put independents on the ballot to push back against both political parties, which are captured. One example is here in the 2nd Congressional District, which includes Charleston. People have been petitioning to put an independent, former CBS newsman Ed Rabel, on the ballot, who wants a moratorium on mountaintop removal, who wants to get money out of politics, who wants a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing in the state. Both of their candidates--the Democrat is a, you know, former lobbyist for the Chamber of Commerce; the Republican is a carpetbagger corporate candidate. Both are, you know, say nothing about the corporate power issues facing this state. So I think there's real hope in the political realm. There are independence running for the West Virginia House of Delegates who want to stand up to the industries. And I think that's where the hope lies.
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<p />There will be legal action. There are lawsuits against Freedom Industries and related companies. There is this ongoing--as we mentioned, ongoing criminal investigation, which probably will result in a prosecution, you know, these minor slap-on-the-wrist fines coming down. But that's not what's going to make a difference. We have to relieve ourselves of the power grip on the political structure that the corporations have. And the way to do that is through the political process. And that's what's happening.
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<p />WORONCZUK: And, Angie, what was the political response of the community to the spill? Did we see any organized grassroots campaigns or citizens groups come out of this crisis?
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<p />ROSSER: Absolutely. It was quite amazing, something we hadn't seen before. And I think the initial response of our political leaders was to place the blame totally on freedom industries as one, as a single bad actor. And what we knew is that this was more about a broader systemic issues of lax regulation in our state and favoring industry interests over the public interest and public health. And I think for the first time many people first of all started thinking about where their drinking water comes from and making the connection between environmental protection and regulation and their own public health. So there was that. And then there was the recognition that, you know, we have endured a lot in West Virginia and have suffered a lot as people in terms of public health, in terms of economic cost, [at the favor?] of big industry. And to see people organize organically and spontaneously and respond to this crisis--as Russell mentioned, there was a lot of outrage, and it was that anger at first that motivated people to get involved in the political process. And it paid off. We saw probably the most significant water protection bill--it passed our legislature unanimously just a few months ago. So we did see a shift in power, I think. The bigger and maybe more significant question is: how long will that last? Will we fall back into complacency as citizens? Or will we realize that this was the wakeup call that we actually have to take action in holding government and industry accountable and not just assume that everyone's doing the right thing?
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<p />WORONCZUK: Russell, have we seen any changes around the regulation of the coal industry since the spill in January?
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<p />MOKHIBER: Well, this was related to the coal industry. This chemical that was spilled was used to treat coal. But as for the coal industry, I don't think there's been--there hasn't been much progress. You know, pretty much, again, as I mentioned, you see very few politicians if any speaking out, except for the independents, speaking out for more regulation. What you hear mostly is this--Obama's wan on coal. So, no, I would say there has not been significant progress.
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<p />Let's take the U.S. Senate race for an example. You know, it's Capito, Congresswoman Capito, who's running for the Senate race, a Republican, against Natalie Tennant, the secretary of state. And, you know, Natalie Tennant's ten points behind. My view is the reason is because she refuses to stand with the people of West Virginia and with our natural resources against the coal industry, which is hurting them.
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<p />And so, you know, she was actually--came to Berkeley Springs a couple of weeks ago, and myself and some friends went to this event that she was having. We asked her about why doesn't she favor a moratorium on mountaintop removal, which is making the people of Southern West Virginia sick and which is destroying the streams that she worked so hard to protect? And she said, hold on one second, got her press person, and ran away. You know. And Elizabeth Warren is coming to the Eastern Panhandle next--Senator Elizabeth Warren is coming to support her candidacy next week, but little does Elizabeth Warren know--or maybe she does--that, you know, Natalie Tennant is trying to out-Capito Capito here on coal. And it's not working, because, you know, people are starting to get a clue about it.
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<p />And, you know, so that's why I think--like, in the Rabel campaign in the 2nd Congressional District, the first poll that came out road showed Rabel at 10 percent, and nobody knows who he is. It's only because he's an independent, and people say, we know our system is corrupt--a pox on both your houses. We need to do something new. And, you know, I think that's what's starting to happen. It's a result of the spilled. People are frustrated with the two-party system, with the gridlock here in West Virginia, and they want to break out. They just don't know how to do it.
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<p />WORONCZUK: Okay. And let me pose this final question to both of you: what would you say to those who would argue that more regulations hamper the growth of industry and much-needed jobs and that accidents are just a part of doing business? Angie, let's start with you.
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<p />ROSSER: Well, you know, what's been interesting in Charleston is that part of the outbrage has been among the small business community. So if you ask a small business owner about the cost of not regulating and not protecting our water, they will say it cost them business. I mean, it shut our whole capital city down for days. And still were repairing economically, and I don't know if we'll ever get back to restoring our reputation as a safe place to drink water and come visit and enjoy. So it's a matter of perspective.
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<p />And what I'm hearing from a--new rhetoric, among especially small business owners, is that they're tired of paying the cost for big business benefits. So it'll be interesting to see how this dynamic plays out as people are starting to realize that even though our politicians pretend that coal is the biggest issue, it really only supports 3 percent of our workforce in West Virginia. So we have to, I think, get a reality check not only about the current situation, but also the future of fossil fuel extraction, and we've got to start being more innovative if we're going to thrive as a state.
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<p />WORONCZUK: And, Russell, let's get your response to the same question.
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<p />MOKHIBER: Well, it's deregulation that's costing the state, not regulation, because, as Angie said, you know, people all around the country notice what happened here in West Virginia, and people don't want to live in an area where the water's polluted and when people are getting sick. We pledge of allegiance, and when we pledge of allegiance, it's with liberty--it's not just with liberty; it's with liberty and justice. And justice means law and order. It also means law and order and enforcement for corporate crime and wrongdoing. So with liberty and justice for all, not just liberty, and we have to bring justice back into the equation here in West Virginia.
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<p />WORONCZUK: Okay. Russell Mokhiber and Angie Rosser, thank you both for joining us.
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<p />MOKHIBER: Thank you, Anton.
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<p />ROSSER: Thank you, Anton.
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<p />WORONCZUK: And thank you for joining us on The Real News Network.
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<p />End
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<p />DISCLAIMER: Please note that transcripts for The Real News Network are typed from a recording of the program. TRNN cannot guarantee their complete accuracy. | true | 4 | angie rosser joined west virginia rivers coalition executive director 2012 bringing background working west virginia social justice issues nonprofit sector experience involves policy advocacy community organizing coalition building program administration angie holds ba anthropology university north carolina chapel hill organizational communication west virginia university russell mokhiber editor washington dcbased corporate crime reporter also founder singlepayeractionorg editor website morgan county usa anton woronczuk trnn producer welcome real news network im anton woronczuk baltimore july 9 marks sixmonth anniversary chemical spill west virginia caused leaking tanks belonging mining chemicals supply company freedom industries disaster affected 300000 people story reached national international news freedom industries also recently find 11000 labor departments occupation safety health administration spill bring us date situation ground west virginia two guests russell mokhiber editor washington dc based corporate crime reporter hes also founder singlepayeractionorg also lives west virginia also joined angie rosser executive director west virginia rivers coalition thank joining us russell mokhiber editor corporate crime reporter thank angie rosser exec dir west virginia rivers coalition thanks us anton woronczuk angie lets start january 9 2014 revealed 7500 gallons poisonous chemical used coal washing process spilled west virginias elk river sole water supply city charleston population parts nine different counties bring us date water considered safe drink rosser well told safe also told use judgment discretion official word enough feel okay drinking tell people drinking last survey released local health department cdc shows 30 36 percent third people starting drink water ive talked parents still bathing children bottled water six months fact question long continue live way woronczuk okay russell part story came last state inspection freedom industries processing plant 1991 give us bit background around deregulation mining coalrelated industries west virginia happened freedom industries since mokhiber well yesterday mentioned anton freedom industries fined 11000 osha theres ongoing criminal investigation us attorney reality isand income bemy prediction company andor executives criminally prosecuted prosecution happened relatively small company well politically connected reality broader issue boththe whole political infrastructure state captured coal chemical fracking industries example rare find politician stand mountaintop removal destroying mountains southern west virginia making people ill birth defects cancers illnesses havent heardmaybe angies heardi dont hear politician state speaking real anger happened spill happened subsiding mean people marching water company bills saying know dont owe owe us really subsided push political realm put independents ballot push back political parties captured one example 2nd congressional district includes charleston people petitioning put independent former cbs newsman ed rabel ballot wants moratorium mountaintop removal wants get money politics wants moratorium hydraulic fracturing state candidatesthe democrat know former lobbyist chamber commerce republican carpetbagger corporate candidate know say nothing corporate power issues facing state think theres real hope political realm independence running west virginia house delegates want stand industries think thats hope lies legal action lawsuits freedom industries related companies ongoingas mentioned ongoing criminal investigation probably result prosecution know minor slaponthewrist fines coming thats whats going make difference relieve power grip political structure corporations way political process thats whats happening woronczuk angie political response community spill see organized grassroots campaigns citizens groups come crisis rosser absolutely quite amazing something hadnt seen think initial response political leaders place blame totally freedom industries one single bad actor knew broader systemic issues lax regulation state favoring industry interests public interest public health think first time many people first started thinking drinking water comes making connection environmental protection regulation public health recognition know endured lot west virginia suffered lot people terms public health terms economic cost favor big industry see people organize organically spontaneously respond crisisas russell mentioned lot outrage anger first motivated people get involved political process paid saw probably significant water protection billit passed legislature unanimously months ago see shift power think bigger maybe significant question long last fall back complacency citizens realize wakeup call actually take action holding government industry accountable assume everyones right thing woronczuk russell seen changes around regulation coal industry since spill january mokhiber well related coal industry chemical spilled used treat coal coal industry dont think theres beenthere hasnt much progress know pretty much mentioned see politicians speaking except independents speaking regulation hear mostly thisobamas wan coal would say significant progress lets take us senate race example know capito congresswoman capito whos running senate race republican natalie tennant secretary state know natalie tennants ten points behind view reason refuses stand people west virginia natural resources coal industry hurting know actuallycame berkeley springs couple weeks ago friends went event asked doesnt favor moratorium mountaintop removal making people southern west virginia sick destroying streams worked hard protect said hold one second got press person ran away know elizabeth warren coming eastern panhandle nextsenator elizabeth warren coming support candidacy next week little elizabeth warren knowor maybe doesthat know natalie tennant trying outcapito capito coal working know people starting get clue know thats thinklike rabel campaign 2nd congressional district first poll came road showed rabel 10 percent nobody knows hes independent people say know system corrupta pox houses need something new know think thats whats starting happen result spilled people frustrated twoparty system gridlock west virginia want break dont know woronczuk okay let pose final question would say would argue regulations hamper growth industry muchneeded jobs accidents part business angie lets start rosser well know whats interesting charleston part outbrage among small business community ask small business owner cost regulating protecting water say cost business mean shut whole capital city days still repairing economically dont know well ever get back restoring reputation safe place drink water come visit enjoy matter perspective im hearing anew rhetoric among especially small business owners theyre tired paying cost big business benefits itll interesting see dynamic plays people starting realize even though politicians pretend coal biggest issue really supports 3 percent workforce west virginia think get reality check current situation also future fossil fuel extraction weve got start innovative going thrive state woronczuk russell lets get response question mokhiber well deregulation thats costing state regulation angie said know people around country notice happened west virginia people dont want live area waters polluted people getting sick pledge allegiance pledge allegiance libertyits liberty liberty justice justice means law order also means law order enforcement corporate crime wrongdoing liberty justice liberty bring justice back equation west virginia woronczuk okay russell mokhiber angie rosser thank joining us mokhiber thank anton rosser thank anton woronczuk thank joining us real news network end disclaimer please note transcripts real news network typed recording program trnn guarantee complete accuracy | 1,073 |
<p>Much of the discussion around the fate of General Motors has centered around its supposedly bloated cost structure. GM has a lot of problems, but cost is a relatively minor one, especially now. If GM's bankruptcy plan is accepted, it will cut its debt burden from $172 billion to $17 billion, freeing up a lot of cash that used to go to debt service.</p>
<p>GM's key problem is not costs—it’s price. Specifically, its cars sell for $2,000-$3,000 less than comparably equipped Japanese cars, and people still don’t want to buy them (GM has been losing market share at the rate of one percentage point per year for decades). Labor costs and most other intangibles that affect profitability are dwarfed by this lost amount of revenue.</p>
<p>GM’s cars sell for $2,000-$3,000 less than comparably equipped Japanese cars, and people still don’t want to buy them.</p>
<p>So how does GM boost the price of its cars? The company thinks that perception is part of the issue. They’re right—they are making better cars now—but larger leaps need to be made, and those can come from two areas: building capability with suppliers, and flexibility in manufacturing.</p>
<p>On the supplier side, the automakers don't need new capital; they need a new way of working. Car performance depends in large part on quality of the parts and how smoothly they fit. Automakers typically don’t own their suppliers, but have substantial power over them. (Even in their current desperate straits, the Big Three automakers are buying <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/03/business/03suppliers.html" type="external">$7 billion in parts per month</a>.)</p>
<p>In the past, they’ve tried to cut costs with suppliers by pitting them against each other. This technique is great for squeezing suppliers' margins—and GM has been really successful with this, to the point that many suppliers are in bankruptcy. But this method doesn't produce good cars—it doesn't even produce cheap cars, since the price per piece of the component is only a small part of the true cost associated with a part. The true cost also includes the cost of installing that part, of reengineering the part to fix production problems as they arise, and of repairing finished cars should the parts fail while still under warranty.</p>
<p>GM can learn a lot from Honda and Toyota in this regard. These automakers don’t use competitive bidding, yet still make very strenuous performance demands on suppliers. Often they start with an incredibly useful technique called “value analysis,” which involves a rigorous joint examination of each step in the design and production process: Is this step necessary? Could it be done more cheaply?</p>
<p>This process both saves money and increases quality <a href="http://wsomfaculty.cwru.edu/helper/papers/10-Heckscher-chap10%20(2).pdf" type="external">in the long run</a>. How can it do this? Here’s one example: Engineers usually go back to previous versions of a part to design the new one. It could be that some process steps are no longer necessary in the new version—a part that used to be visible to the customer is now hidden, so it doesn’t need a polished surface. Without value analysis, the supplier would not know that the step was not necessary, and the customer might not realize that the step was costly.</p>
<p>Another example comes from an area where consumers find U.S. cars particularly irritating: ride quality. Ride quality is a “systemic” feature of the car—it is determined by the way the parts interact with each other. For example, automakers are now introducing electric steering, replacing hydraulics. The new design is smaller overall, but now features a control module that is very sensitive to heat. Since the product is new, it’s not known exactly how sensitive. Can it be 50 millimeters away from the exhaust, or does it have to be 55 millimeters? Will the changed design cause parts to bump up against each other, causing unpleasant noise or vibration when the car is driven on a rough road? Collaboration with suppliers generates the knowledge needed to solve these problems quickly, saving money and headaches in the long run.</p>
<p>Flexibility in manufacturing is equally important. Until recently, GM was able to make only one car platform per plant, meaning it couldn’t shift production to make more of hot models, and ended up with lots of unpopular cars that it had to get rid of at fire-sale prices. More flexibility requires major capital investments in programmable equipment and sophisticated vehicle carrier systems (U.S. automakers have lagged Japanese firms in these investments for over 20 years)—and much more. Products need to be designed from the beginning to be manufactured on a single flexible assembly line, including such details as having common attachment points from the car’s frame to the carrier that moves it along the line. Finally, in the inflexible factories of the past, there was little incentive for GM to invest in preparing workers to handle a changing product mix. For foreign competitors, flexible technology and a flexible workforce go hand in hand; for GM, not investing in the former meant never seriously pursuing the latter.</p>
<p>The government-appointed directors on the “new GM” board could play a key role in freeing GM from the short-term financial thinking that has imprisoned its leaders for decades. A better suppler system and more flexibility will directly lead to better cars that command higher prices at relatively little marginal cost, once the investments are made. Then the government can sell its stake at a good price, producing a happy ending for taxpayers, workers, and car owners alike.</p>
<p>Susan Helper is professor of economics at Case Western Reserve University and a research associate of the International Motor Vehicle Program.</p>
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<p>John Paul MacDuffie is associate professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School and co-director of the International Motor Vehicle Program.</p> | true | 4 | much discussion around fate general motors centered around supposedly bloated cost structure gm lot problems cost relatively minor one especially gms bankruptcy plan accepted cut debt burden 172 billion 17 billion freeing lot cash used go debt service gms key problem costsits price specifically cars sell 20003000 less comparably equipped japanese cars people still dont want buy gm losing market share rate one percentage point per year decades labor costs intangibles affect profitability dwarfed lost amount revenue gms cars sell 20003000 less comparably equipped japanese cars people still dont want buy gm boost price cars company thinks perception part issue theyre rightthey making better cars nowbut larger leaps need made come two areas building capability suppliers flexibility manufacturing supplier side automakers dont need new capital need new way working car performance depends large part quality parts smoothly fit automakers typically dont suppliers substantial power even current desperate straits big three automakers buying 7 billion parts per month past theyve tried cut costs suppliers pitting technique great squeezing suppliers marginsand gm really successful point many suppliers bankruptcy method doesnt produce good carsit doesnt even produce cheap cars since price per piece component small part true cost associated part true cost also includes cost installing part reengineering part fix production problems arise repairing finished cars parts fail still warranty gm learn lot honda toyota regard automakers dont use competitive bidding yet still make strenuous performance demands suppliers often start incredibly useful technique called value analysis involves rigorous joint examination step design production process step necessary could done cheaply process saves money increases quality long run heres one example engineers usually go back previous versions part design new one could process steps longer necessary new versiona part used visible customer hidden doesnt need polished surface without value analysis supplier would know step necessary customer might realize step costly another example comes area consumers find us cars particularly irritating ride quality ride quality systemic feature carit determined way parts interact example automakers introducing electric steering replacing hydraulics new design smaller overall features control module sensitive heat since product new known exactly sensitive 50 millimeters away exhaust 55 millimeters changed design cause parts bump causing unpleasant noise vibration car driven rough road collaboration suppliers generates knowledge needed solve problems quickly saving money headaches long run flexibility manufacturing equally important recently gm able make one car platform per plant meaning couldnt shift production make hot models ended lots unpopular cars get rid firesale prices flexibility requires major capital investments programmable equipment sophisticated vehicle carrier systems us automakers lagged japanese firms investments 20 yearsand much products need designed beginning manufactured single flexible assembly line including details common attachment points cars frame carrier moves along line finally inflexible factories past little incentive gm invest preparing workers handle changing product mix foreign competitors flexible technology flexible workforce go hand hand gm investing former meant never seriously pursuing latter governmentappointed directors new gm board could play key role freeing gm shortterm financial thinking imprisoned leaders decades better suppler system flexibility directly lead better cars command higher prices relatively little marginal cost investments made government sell stake good price producing happy ending taxpayers workers car owners alike susan helper professor economics case western reserve university research associate international motor vehicle program start finish day top stories daily beast speedy smart summary news need know nothing dont john paul macduffie associate professor management university pennsylvanias wharton school codirector international motor vehicle program | 570 |
<p>The grossly misnamed Democratic Party has a brand new savior. Yes, with former Senator Hillary Clinton having been vanquished, and her ardent cheerleader, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, being ‘old news’, one Tulsi Gabbard, Representative from the state of Hawaii, has ridden in on her white stallion to save the day.</p>
<p>Ms. Gabbard gained the attention of the Democrats when she dared criticize President Donald Trump’s bombing of Syria, saying that without hard evidence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was, indeed, responsible for the alleged chemical attack that killed several Syrian citizens, there should be no retaliation. It is puzzling that Ms. Gabbard seemed to be almost alone in this assertion, since it would seem to be common sense that before punishing anyone for anything, it should be known that that person was responsible for whatever deed is being punished for. And why U.S. government officials feel the need to punish any international entity for anything is a topic for a different essay.</p>
<p>But this position has launched Ms. Gabbard’s new career in what passes for the progressive wing of the party, as a leader in the Democratic Party, and a potential contender for the White House.</p>
<p>Sadly, like many Democrats, Ms. Gabbard is ‘PEP’: Progressive except for Palestine. She has said that she believes Palestine and Israel must negotiate the terms of peace, and supports an independent, demitiliarized Palestine. A few quotations from her official website are instructive:</p>
<p>“I know how important our enduring alliance with Israel is.&#160;My vote upholds my commitment to maintaining and strengthening this alliance, as well as my long-held position that the most viable path to peace between Israel and Palestine can be found through both sides negotiating a two-state solution.</p>
<p>“Ultimately, a negotiated solution must come from Israelis and Palestinians themselves, and can only happen when both parties are committed to peace, where they alone determine the terms of the settlement.&#160; I co-sponsored&#160; <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-resolution/23?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22h.res.23%22%5D%7D&amp;r=1" type="external">H.Res.23</a>&#160;which reaffirms the U.S. commitment to Israel, and a negotiated settlement leading to a sustainable two-state solution that re-affirms Israel’s right to exist as a democratic, Jewish state and establishes a demilitarized democratic Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security.&#160;I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to support bilateral negotiations between Israel and Palestine in order to bring an end to this enduring conflict.”</p>
<p>As we dissect these few sentences, we must remember that between November, 2014 and November, 2016, the illustrious Ms. Gabbard received <a href="" type="internal">$21,975</a> from pro-Israeli lobbies. This is a mere pittance when compared to the contributions of some of her colleagues, with Illinois Representative <a href="http://maplight.org/us-congress/legislator/1758-bradley-scott-schneider" type="external">Bradley Scott Schneider</a> being the big winner, with a windfall of <a href="" type="internal">$300,932</a> during that same time period. But that grand prize is one that Ms. Gabbard, if she plays her Zionist cards right, can obtain, or even exceed.</p>
<p>+ “I know how important our enduring alliance with Israel is.” Ms. Gabbard may know it, but would someone, anyone, please enlighten this writer? Why should the U.S. have any alliance with an apartheid state, one that spits in its eye and then demands, and receives, billions of dollars in aid?</p>
<p>+ “…the most viable path to peace between Israel and Palestine can be found through both sides negotiating a two-state solution.” Again, this writer needs to be enlightened. If I am in ‘negotiations’ with another party, and I am able to take from that party whatever I want, whenever I want, and give nothing in return, what would be the advantage to me in negotiating?&#160;Oh, I might proclaim to whatever idiotic entity is encouraging negotiations that I am willing to sit down with the other party, without preconditions (meaning I can continue taking whatever I want as we ‘negotiate’), and then actually do so, but it will have no meaning. I will never honestly negotiate, since doing so won’t be in my best interest.</p>
<p>+ Gabbard reaffirms “Israel’s right to exist as a democratic, Jewish state.” That is a two-pronged sword, and we will try to prevent being stabbed by either one.</p>
<p>Like most Democrats, Ms. Gabbard does not seem to understand the root words from which the term originates. Basically, it means ‘citizen rule’, and implies equality. In a democracy, there are not separate rules for different ethnic and religious groups, as there are in Israel. Yet she is willing to spout the happy mantras that have served the party for so long, despite the fact that they have long since their luster among the populace.</p>
<p>She further affirms Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. Again, the meaning of that term is unclear. The only reasonable definition contradicts the idea of a democracy. If Israel is to be a Jewish state, than non-Jews living there will not have the same rights, as is true today.</p>
<p>The concept of a ‘Jewish, democratic state’ is a contradiction in terms. For generations, the U.S. was, in effect, a ‘White European, democratic state’, meaning that all laws favored the predominately white population, and everyone else was a second-class citizen. Democracy? This writer thinks not.</p>
<p>+ Gabbard further wants to “establish a demilitarized democratic Palestinian state”. How is it possible for anyone to utter those words with a straight face? Set aside for a moment the fact that an independent Palestine will have a mortal enemy at its border, one that has been actively working on its destruction for decades. Leave out for just a minute the fact that that enemy has an extremely powerful military, and is backed by the strongest and most violent nation on the planet. Even without those considerations, why should any country be prevented by any other country from having the means to defend its land and citizens?</p>
<p>All of this indicates that Ms. Gabbard is either ignorant of international law, or cares nothing for it. International law states clearly, and this has been reiterated by numerous United Nations resolutions, that the occupation of Palestine by Israel is illegal. This, apparently, means nothing to Ms. Gabbard.</p>
<p>It’s also worth noting, that the celebrated Representative from Hawaii also condemns the BDS (Boycott, Divest and Sanction) movement.</p>
<p>And this is the new savior; this is the ‘new breed’ of ‘progressive’ Democrat who will carry the mantle of the war-mongering former President Barack Obama; former standard-bearer, the war-mongering Hillary Clinton, and the rest of the war-mongering Democrats.</p>
<p>This is what ‘progressive’ has come to mean in Democratic Party circles. The party has long been nothing but a cosmetically-different version of the Republican Party, with opposition to Republican policies only on display when the GOP is in power; the same policies, with few exceptions, are promoted when the Democrats are in power, and one constant is the bowing at the Israeli altar and the accompanying complete disdain for the human rights struggles of the Palestinian people. And with that, of course, is an equal disregard for international law.</p>
<p>As long as the government and the corporate-owned media are able to maintain their stranglehold on what passes for the two-party system in the U.S., nothing will change. Politicians will do the bidding of the lobbies that support them, ignoring the will of the people. Suffering in the U.S. and globally will be ignored, as long as the U.S.’s elected officials are able to keep their low-challenging, high-paying jobs.</p>
<p>To say that a third party movement, a real one not beholden to any outside interests but with the good of the people in mind, is long overdue, is a classic understatement.</p> | true | 4 | grossly misnamed democratic party brand new savior yes former senator hillary clinton vanquished ardent cheerleader vermont senator bernie sanders old news one tulsi gabbard representative state hawaii ridden white stallion save day ms gabbard gained attention democrats dared criticize president donald trumps bombing syria saying without hard evidence syrian president bashar alassad indeed responsible alleged chemical attack killed several syrian citizens retaliation puzzling ms gabbard seemed almost alone assertion since would seem common sense punishing anyone anything known person responsible whatever deed punished us government officials feel need punish international entity anything topic different essay position launched ms gabbards new career passes progressive wing party leader democratic party potential contender white house sadly like many democrats ms gabbard pep progressive except palestine said believes palestine israel must negotiate terms peace supports independent demitiliarized palestine quotations official website instructive know important enduring alliance israel is160my vote upholds commitment maintaining strengthening alliance well longheld position viable path peace israel palestine found sides negotiating twostate solution ultimately negotiated solution must come israelis palestinians happen parties committed peace alone determine terms settlement160 cosponsored160 hres23160which reaffirms us commitment israel negotiated settlement leading sustainable twostate solution reaffirms israels right exist democratic jewish state establishes demilitarized democratic palestinian state living sidebyside peace security160i continue work colleagues congress support bilateral negotiations israel palestine order bring end enduring conflict dissect sentences must remember november 2014 november 2016 illustrious ms gabbard received 21975 proisraeli lobbies mere pittance compared contributions colleagues illinois representative bradley scott schneider big winner windfall 300932 time period grand prize one ms gabbard plays zionist cards right obtain even exceed know important enduring alliance israel ms gabbard may know would someone anyone please enlighten writer us alliance apartheid state one spits eye demands receives billions dollars aid viable path peace israel palestine found sides negotiating twostate solution writer needs enlightened negotiations another party able take party whatever want whenever want give nothing return would advantage negotiating160oh might proclaim whatever idiotic entity encouraging negotiations willing sit party without preconditions meaning continue taking whatever want negotiate actually meaning never honestly negotiate since wont best interest gabbard reaffirms israels right exist democratic jewish state twopronged sword try prevent stabbed either one like democrats ms gabbard seem understand root words term originates basically means citizen rule implies equality democracy separate rules different ethnic religious groups israel yet willing spout happy mantras served party long despite fact long since luster among populace affirms israels right exist jewish state meaning term unclear reasonable definition contradicts idea democracy israel jewish state nonjews living rights true today concept jewish democratic state contradiction terms generations us effect white european democratic state meaning laws favored predominately white population everyone else secondclass citizen democracy writer thinks gabbard wants establish demilitarized democratic palestinian state possible anyone utter words straight face set aside moment fact independent palestine mortal enemy border one actively working destruction decades leave minute fact enemy extremely powerful military backed strongest violent nation planet even without considerations country prevented country means defend land citizens indicates ms gabbard either ignorant international law cares nothing international law states clearly reiterated numerous united nations resolutions occupation palestine israel illegal apparently means nothing ms gabbard also worth noting celebrated representative hawaii also condemns bds boycott divest sanction movement new savior new breed progressive democrat carry mantle warmongering former president barack obama former standardbearer warmongering hillary clinton rest warmongering democrats progressive come mean democratic party circles party long nothing cosmeticallydifferent version republican party opposition republican policies display gop power policies exceptions promoted democrats power one constant bowing israeli altar accompanying complete disdain human rights struggles palestinian people course equal disregard international law long government corporateowned media able maintain stranglehold passes twoparty system us nothing change politicians bidding lobbies support ignoring people suffering us globally ignored long uss elected officials able keep lowchallenging highpaying jobs say third party movement real one beholden outside interests good people mind long overdue classic understatement | 648 |
<p>Could the diplomatic thaw between Venezuela and the United States be coming to an abrupt end?&#160; At the recent Summit of the Americas held in Port of Spain, Barack Obama shook Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez’s hand and declared that he would pursue a less arrogant foreign policy towards Latin America.&#160; Building on that good will, Venezuela and the United States agreed to restore their ambassadors late last week.&#160;Such diplomatic overtures provided a stark contrast to the miserable state of relations during the Bush years: just nine months ago Venezuela expelled the U.S. envoy in a diplomatic tussle.&#160; At the time, Chávez said he kicked the U.S. ambassador out to demonstrate solidarity with left ally Bolivia, which had also expelled a top American diplomat after accusing him of blatant political interference in the Andean nation’s internal affairs.</p>
<p>Whatever goodwill existed last week however could now be undone by turbulent political events in Honduras.&#160; Following the military coup d’etat there on Sunday, Chávez accused the U.S. of helping to orchestrate the overthrow of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya.&#160; “Behind these soldiers are the Honduran bourgeois, the rich who converted Honduras into a Banana Republic, into a political and military base for North American imperialism,” Chávez thundered. &#160;The Venezuelan leader urged the Honduran military to return Zelaya to power and even threatened military action against the coup regime if Venezuela’s ambassador was killed or local troops entered the Venezuelan Embassy.&#160; Reportedly, Honduran soldiers beat the ambassador and left him on the side of a road in the course of the military coup.&#160; Tensions have ratcheted up to such an extent that Chávez has now placed his armed forces on alert.</p>
<p>On the surface at least it seems unlikely that Obama would endorse an interventionist U.S. foreign policy in Central America.&#160; Over the past few months he has gone to great lengths to “re-brand” America in the eyes of the world as a reasonable power engaged in respectful diplomacy as opposed to reckless unilateralism.&#160; If it were ever proven that Obama sanctioned the overthrow of a democratically elected government this could completely undermine the U.S. President’s carefully crafted image.</p>
<p>Officially, the military removed Zelaya from power on the grounds that the Honduran President had abused his authority.&#160; On Sunday Zelaya hoped to hold a constitutional referendum which could have allowed him to run for reelection for another four year term, a move which Honduras’ Supreme Court and Congress declared illegal. But while the controversy over Zelaya’s constitutional referendum certainly provided the excuse for military intervention, it’s no secret that the President was at odds politically with the Honduran elite for the past few years and had become one of Washington’s fiercest critics in the region.</p>
<p>The Rise of Zelaya</p>
<p>Zelaya, who sports a thick black mustache, cowboy boots and large white Stetson hat, was elected in late 2005.&#160; At first blush he hardly seemed the type of politician to rock the boat.&#160; A landowner from a wealthy landowning family engaged in the lumber industry, Zelaya headed the Liberal Party, one of the two dominant political parties in Honduras.&#160; The President supported the Central American Free Trade Agreement which eliminated trade barriers with the United States.</p>
<p>Despite these initial conservative leanings, Zelaya began to criticize powerful, vested interests in the country such as the media and owners of maquiladora sweatshops which produced goods for export in industrial free zones.&#160; Gradually he started to adopt some socially progressive policies. &#160;For example, Zelaya instituted a 60 per cent minimum wage increase which angered the wealthy business community.&#160; The hike in the minimum wage, Zelaya declared, would “force the business oligarchy to start paying what is fair.”&#160; “This is a government of great social transformations, committed to the poor,” he added. &#160;Trade unions celebrated the decision, not surprising given that Honduras is the third poorest country in the hemisphere and 70 per cent of its people live in poverty.&#160; When private business associations announced that they would challenge the government’s wage decree in Honduras’ Supreme Court, Zelaya’s Labor Minister called the critics “greedy exploiters.”</p>
<p>In another move that must have raised eyebrows in Washington, Zelaya declared during a meeting of Latin American and Caribbean anti-drug officials that drug consumption should be legalized to halt violence related to smuggling.&#160; In recent years Honduras has been plagued by drug trafficking and so-called maras or street gangs which carry out gruesome beheadings, rapes and eye gouging.&#160; “Instead of pursuing drug traffickers, societies should invest resources in educating drug addicts and curbing their demand,” Zelaya said. &#160;Rodolfo Zelaya, the head of a Honduran congressional commission on drug trafficking, rejected Zelaya’s comments. He told participants at the meeting that he was “confused and stunned by what the Honduran leader said.”</p>
<p>Zelaya and ALBA</p>
<p>Not content to stop there, Zelaya started to conduct an increasingly more independent foreign policy.&#160; In late 2007 he traveled to Cuba, the first official trip by a Honduran president to the Communist island in 46 years. &#160;There, Zelaya met with Raul Castro to discuss bilateral relations and other topics of mutual interest.</p>
<p>But what really led Zelaya towards a political collision course with the Honduran elite was his decision to join the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (known by its Spanish acronym ALBA), an alliance of leftist Latin American and Caribbean nations headed by Chávez.&#160; The regional trade group including Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Dominica seeks to counteract corporate-friendly U.S-backed free trade schemes.&#160; Since its founding in 2004, ALBA countries have promoted joint factories and banks, an emergency food fund, and exchanges of cheap Venezuelan oil for food, housing, and educational investment.</p>
<p>In an emphatic departure from previous Honduran leaders who had been compliant vassals of the U.S., Zelaya stated “Honduras and the Honduran people do not have to ask permission of any imperialism to join the ALBA.”&#160; Speaking in the Honduran capital of Tegucigalpa before a crowd of 50,000 unionists, women’s groups, farmers and indigenous peoples, Chávez remarked that Venezuela would guarantee cheap oil to Honduras for “at least 100 years.” &#160;By signing onto ALBA, Zelaya was able to secure access to credit lines, energy and food benefits. &#160;As an act of good faith, Chávez agreed to forgive Honduran debt to Venezuela amounting to $30 million.</p>
<p>Infuriating the local elite, Chávez declared that Hondurans who opposed ALBA were “sellouts.”&#160; “I did not come here to meddle in internal affairs,” he continued, “but…I cannot explain how a Honduran could be against Honduras joining the ALBA, the path of development, the path of integration.” Chávez lambasted the Honduran press which he labeled pitiyanquis (little Yanqui imitators) and “abject hand-lickers of the Yanquis.”&#160; For his part, Zelaya said “we need no one’s permission to sign this commitment. Today we are taking a step towards becoming a government of the center-left, and if anyone dislikes this, well just remove the word ‘center’ and keep the second one.”</p>
<p>It wasn’t long before private business started to attack Zelaya bitterly for moving Honduras into Chávez’s orbit.&#160; By joining ALBA, business representatives argued, the President was endangering free enterprise and the Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States. &#160;Former President Ricardo Maduro even claimed that the United States might retaliate against Honduras by deporting Honduran migrants from the United States.&#160; “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you,” Maduro warned, alluding to Washington. &#160;Zelaya was piqued by the criticisms.&#160; “When I met with (U.S. President) George W. Bush,” he said, “no one called me an anti-imperialist and the business community applauded me. Now that I am meeting with the impoverished peoples of the world, they criticize me.”</p>
<p>Zelaya’s Letter to Obama</p>
<p>In September, 2008 Zelaya further strained U.S. relations by delaying accreditation of the new U.S. ambassador out of solidarity with Bolivia and Venezuela which had just gone through diplomatic dust ups with Washington.&#160; “We are not breaking relations with the United States,” Zelaya said. “We only are (doing this) in solidarity with [Bolivian President] Morales, who has denounced the meddling of the United States in Bolivia’s internal affairs.”&#160; Defending his decision, Zelaya said small nations needed to stick together. &#160;“The world powers must treat us fairly and with respect,” he stated.</p>
<p>In November, Zelaya hailed Obama’s election in the U.S. as “a hope for the world,” but just two months later tensions began to emerge.&#160; In an audacious letter sent personally to Obama, Zelaya accused the U.S. of “interventionism” and called on the new administration in Washington to respect the principle of non-interference in the political affairs of other nations.&#160; According to Spanish news agency EFE which saw a copy of the note, Zelaya told Obama that it wasn’t his intention to tell the U.S. President what he should or should not do.</p>
<p>He then however went on to do precisely that.&#160; First of all, Zelaya brought up the issue of U.S. visas and urged Obama to “revise the procedure by which visas are cancelled or denied to citizens of different parts of the world as a means of pressure against those people who hold different beliefs or ideologies which pose no threat to the U.S.”</p>
<p>As if that was not impudent enough, Zelaya then moved on to drug trafficking: “The legitimate struggle against drug trafficking…should not be used as an excuse to carry out interventionist policies in other countries.” &#160;The struggle against drug smuggling, Zelaya wrote, “should not be divorced from a vigorous policy of controlling distribution and consumer demand in all countries, as well as money laundering which operates through financial circuits and which involve networks within developed countries.”</p>
<p>Zelaya also argued “for the urgent necessity” of revising and transforming the structure of the United Nations and “to solve the Venezuela and Bolivia problems” through dialogue which “yields better fruit than confrontation.”&#160; The Cuban embargo, meanwhile, “was a useless instrument” and “a means of unjust pressure and violation of human rights.”</p>
<p>Run Up to June Coup</p>
<p>It’s unclear what Obama might have made of the audacious letter sent from the leader of a small Central American nation.&#160; It does seem however that Zelaya became somewhat disenchanted with the new administration in Washington.&#160; Just three months ago, the Honduran leader declined to attend a meeting of the System for Central American Integration (known by its Spanish acronym SICA) which would bring Central American Presidents together with U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in San José, Costa Rica.</p>
<p>Both Zelaya and President Daniel Ortega of Nicaragua boycotted the meeting, viewing it as a diplomatic affront.&#160; Nicaragua currently holds the presidency of SICA, and so the proper course of action should have been for Biden to have Ortega hold the meeting.&#160; Sandinista economist and former Nicaraguan Minister of Foreign Trade Alejandro Martínez Cuenca declared that the United States had missed a vital opportunity to encourage a new era of relations with Central America by “prioritizing personal relations with [Costa Rican President] Arias over respect for Central America’s institutional order.”</p>
<p>Could all of the contentious diplomatic back and forth between Tegucigalpa and Washington have turned the Obama administration against Zelaya?&#160; In the days ahead there will surely be a lot of attention and scrutiny paid to the role of Romeo Vasquez, a General who led the military coup against Zelaya.&#160; Vasquez is a graduate of the notorious U.S. School of the Americas, an institution which trained the Latin American military in torture.</p>
<p>Are we to believe that the United States had no role in coordinating with Vasquez and the coup plotters?&#160; The U.S. has had longstanding military ties to the Honduran armed forces, particularly during the Contra War in Nicaragua during the 1980s.&#160; The White House, needless to say, has rejected claims that the U.S. played a role.&#160; The New York Times has reported claims that the Obama administration knew that a coup was imminent and tried to persuade the military to back down.&#160; The paper writes that it was the Honduran military which broke off discussions with American officials.&#160; Obama himself has taken the high road, remarking “I call on all political and social actors in Honduras to respect democratic norms [and] the rule of law…Any existing tensions and disputes must be resolved peacefully through dialogue free from any outside interference.”</p>
<p>Even if the Obama administration did not play an underhanded role in this affair, the Honduran coup highlights growing geo-political tensions in the region.&#160; In recent years, Chávez has sought to extend his influence to smaller Central American and Caribbean nations.&#160; The Venezuelan leader shows no intention of backing down over the Honduran coup, remarking that ALBA nations “will not recognize any [Honduran] government that isn’t Zelaya’s.”</p>
<p>Chávez then derided Honduras’ interim president, Roberto Micheletti. &#160;“Mr. Roberto Micheletti will either wind up in prison or he’ll need to go into exile… If they swear him in we’ll overthrow him, mark my words. &#160;Thugetti–as I’m going to refer to him from now on–you better pack your bags, because you’re either going to jail or you’re going into exile. &#160;We’re not going to forgive your error, you’re going to get swept out of there. &#160;We’re not going to let it happen, we’re going to make life impossible for you. &#160;President Manuel Zelaya needs to retake his position as president.”</p>
<p>With tensions running high, heads of ALBA nations have vowed to meet in Managua to discuss the coup in Honduras. &#160;Zelaya, who was exiled to Costa Rica from Honduras, plans to fly to Nicaragua to speak with his colleagues.&#160; With such political unity amongst ALBA nations, Obama will have to decide what the public U.S. posture ought to be.</p>
<p>NIKOLAS KOZLOFF is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Revolution! South America and the Rise of the New Left</a> (Palgrave-Macmillan, 2008) Follow his blog at <a href="http://www.senorchichero.blogspot.com" type="external">senorchichero.blogspot.com</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | could diplomatic thaw venezuela united states coming abrupt end160 recent summit americas held port spain barack obama shook venezuelan president hugo chávezs hand declared would pursue less arrogant foreign policy towards latin america160 building good venezuela united states agreed restore ambassadors late last week160such diplomatic overtures provided stark contrast miserable state relations bush years nine months ago venezuela expelled us envoy diplomatic tussle160 time chávez said kicked us ambassador demonstrate solidarity left ally bolivia also expelled top american diplomat accusing blatant political interference andean nations internal affairs whatever goodwill existed last week however could undone turbulent political events honduras160 following military coup detat sunday chávez accused us helping orchestrate overthrow honduran president manuel zelaya160 behind soldiers honduran bourgeois rich converted honduras banana republic political military base north american imperialism chávez thundered 160the venezuelan leader urged honduran military return zelaya power even threatened military action coup regime venezuelas ambassador killed local troops entered venezuelan embassy160 reportedly honduran soldiers beat ambassador left side road course military coup160 tensions ratcheted extent chávez placed armed forces alert surface least seems unlikely obama would endorse interventionist us foreign policy central america160 past months gone great lengths rebrand america eyes world reasonable power engaged respectful diplomacy opposed reckless unilateralism160 ever proven obama sanctioned overthrow democratically elected government could completely undermine us presidents carefully crafted image officially military removed zelaya power grounds honduran president abused authority160 sunday zelaya hoped hold constitutional referendum could allowed run reelection another four year term move honduras supreme court congress declared illegal controversy zelayas constitutional referendum certainly provided excuse military intervention secret president odds politically honduran elite past years become one washingtons fiercest critics region rise zelaya zelaya sports thick black mustache cowboy boots large white stetson hat elected late 2005160 first blush hardly seemed type politician rock boat160 landowner wealthy landowning family engaged lumber industry zelaya headed liberal party one two dominant political parties honduras160 president supported central american free trade agreement eliminated trade barriers united states despite initial conservative leanings zelaya began criticize powerful vested interests country media owners maquiladora sweatshops produced goods export industrial free zones160 gradually started adopt socially progressive policies 160for example zelaya instituted 60 per cent minimum wage increase angered wealthy business community160 hike minimum wage zelaya declared would force business oligarchy start paying fair160 government great social transformations committed poor added 160trade unions celebrated decision surprising given honduras third poorest country hemisphere 70 per cent people live poverty160 private business associations announced would challenge governments wage decree honduras supreme court zelayas labor minister called critics greedy exploiters another move must raised eyebrows washington zelaya declared meeting latin american caribbean antidrug officials drug consumption legalized halt violence related smuggling160 recent years honduras plagued drug trafficking socalled maras street gangs carry gruesome beheadings rapes eye gouging160 instead pursuing drug traffickers societies invest resources educating drug addicts curbing demand zelaya said 160rodolfo zelaya head honduran congressional commission drug trafficking rejected zelayas comments told participants meeting confused stunned honduran leader said zelaya alba content stop zelaya started conduct increasingly independent foreign policy160 late 2007 traveled cuba first official trip honduran president communist island 46 years 160there zelaya met raul castro discuss bilateral relations topics mutual interest really led zelaya towards political collision course honduran elite decision join bolivarian alternative americas known spanish acronym alba alliance leftist latin american caribbean nations headed chávez160 regional trade group including venezuela cuba nicaragua bolivia dominica seeks counteract corporatefriendly usbacked free trade schemes160 since founding 2004 alba countries promoted joint factories banks emergency food fund exchanges cheap venezuelan oil food housing educational investment emphatic departure previous honduran leaders compliant vassals us zelaya stated honduras honduran people ask permission imperialism join alba160 speaking honduran capital tegucigalpa crowd 50000 unionists womens groups farmers indigenous peoples chávez remarked venezuela would guarantee cheap oil honduras least 100 years 160by signing onto alba zelaya able secure access credit lines energy food benefits 160as act good faith chávez agreed forgive honduran debt venezuela amounting 30 million infuriating local elite chávez declared hondurans opposed alba sellouts160 come meddle internal affairs continued buti explain honduran could honduras joining alba path development path integration chávez lambasted honduran press labeled pitiyanquis little yanqui imitators abject handlickers yanquis160 part zelaya said need ones permission sign commitment today taking step towards becoming government centerleft anyone dislikes well remove word center keep second one wasnt long private business started attack zelaya bitterly moving honduras chávezs orbit160 joining alba business representatives argued president endangering free enterprise central american free trade agreement united states 160former president ricardo maduro even claimed united states might retaliate honduras deporting honduran migrants united states160 dont bite hand feeds maduro warned alluding washington 160zelaya piqued criticisms160 met us president george w bush said one called antiimperialist business community applauded meeting impoverished peoples world criticize zelayas letter obama september 2008 zelaya strained us relations delaying accreditation new us ambassador solidarity bolivia venezuela gone diplomatic dust ups washington160 breaking relations united states zelaya said solidarity bolivian president morales denounced meddling united states bolivias internal affairs160 defending decision zelaya said small nations needed stick together 160the world powers must treat us fairly respect stated november zelaya hailed obamas election us hope world two months later tensions began emerge160 audacious letter sent personally obama zelaya accused us interventionism called new administration washington respect principle noninterference political affairs nations160 according spanish news agency efe saw copy note zelaya told obama wasnt intention tell us president however went precisely that160 first zelaya brought issue us visas urged obama revise procedure visas cancelled denied citizens different parts world means pressure people hold different beliefs ideologies pose threat us impudent enough zelaya moved drug trafficking legitimate struggle drug traffickingshould used excuse carry interventionist policies countries 160the struggle drug smuggling zelaya wrote divorced vigorous policy controlling distribution consumer demand countries well money laundering operates financial circuits involve networks within developed countries zelaya also argued urgent necessity revising transforming structure united nations solve venezuela bolivia problems dialogue yields better fruit confrontation160 cuban embargo meanwhile useless instrument means unjust pressure violation human rights run june coup unclear obama might made audacious letter sent leader small central american nation160 seem however zelaya became somewhat disenchanted new administration washington160 three months ago honduran leader declined attend meeting system central american integration known spanish acronym sica would bring central american presidents together us vice president joe biden san josé costa rica zelaya president daniel ortega nicaragua boycotted meeting viewing diplomatic affront160 nicaragua currently holds presidency sica proper course action biden ortega hold meeting160 sandinista economist former nicaraguan minister foreign trade alejandro martínez cuenca declared united states missed vital opportunity encourage new era relations central america prioritizing personal relations costa rican president arias respect central americas institutional order could contentious diplomatic back forth tegucigalpa washington turned obama administration zelaya160 days ahead surely lot attention scrutiny paid role romeo vasquez general led military coup zelaya160 vasquez graduate notorious us school americas institution trained latin american military torture believe united states role coordinating vasquez coup plotters160 us longstanding military ties honduran armed forces particularly contra war nicaragua 1980s160 white house needless say rejected claims us played role160 new york times reported claims obama administration knew coup imminent tried persuade military back down160 paper writes honduran military broke discussions american officials160 obama taken high road remarking call political social actors honduras respect democratic norms rule lawany existing tensions disputes must resolved peacefully dialogue free outside interference even obama administration play underhanded role affair honduran coup highlights growing geopolitical tensions region160 recent years chávez sought extend influence smaller central american caribbean nations160 venezuelan leader shows intention backing honduran coup remarking alba nations recognize honduran government isnt zelayas chávez derided honduras interim president roberto micheletti 160mr roberto micheletti either wind prison hell need go exile swear well overthrow mark words 160thugettias im going refer onyou better pack bags youre either going jail youre going exile 160were going forgive error youre going get swept 160were going let happen going make life impossible 160president manuel zelaya needs retake position president tensions running high heads alba nations vowed meet managua discuss coup honduras 160zelaya exiled costa rica honduras plans fly nicaragua speak colleagues160 political unity amongst alba nations obama decide public us posture ought nikolas kozloff author revolution south america rise new left palgravemacmillan 2008 follow blog senorchicheroblogspotcom 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 | 1,378 |
<p>January 16 — Beirut</p>
<p>Two years after the killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, America’s Cedar Revolution in Lebanon has gone “Citrus”. The chic Lebanese divas with maids in tow wagging protest signs on their employer’s behalf are absent. Riad El Sohl Square in downtown Beirut is now occupied by a working class tent city with “Citrus” supporters from the Opposition: Religious Shias-Hezbollah (yellow), secular Shias- Amal (green), and Christians of the Free Patriotic Movement (orange). But all are united under one banner “Clean Up the Government!”</p>
<p>In this exclusive part of the city, you’d scarcely notice Israel’s recent bombing. The luxury boutiques and designer gourmet shops are open for consumption, and the pastel reproductions of delicate French Mandate buildings have retained their Disneyland feel. But much of the neighborhood’s elite clientel has fled for Europe or points south like Dubai, Qatar or Riyadh.</p>
<p>What’s left are the lesser-haves, united against feared austerity measures. The protest encampment, surrounded by churches and mosques, defy traditional alliances. “This is not a religious jihad” or a sectarian squabble one 28 year old Christian man told me, “It’s getting Lebanon back from corruption.”</p>
<p>According to one taxi driver, costs of basic items like water, electricity and food have recently doubled, allegedly due to government mismanagement and sell-outs to international corporations. On Monday, the General Labor Confederation and the Opposition sponsored a sit-in against the Lebanese government’s new economic reform plan. Among other requirements demanded by the World Bank is the privatization of the national telecommunications industry.</p>
<p>The head of the Telecommunications Ministry, Marwan Hamade, stands to personally benefit from the billion dollar deals. At a Hezbollah rally outside Lebanon’s Parliament, a Lebanese celebrity Adel Mawla, 24, said this is typical of how the country’s interests are being siphoned to benefit greedy officials and foreign interests. “This government is fiscally corrupt” and even while these same foreign interests bombed Lebanon last summer, the Lebanese government welcomed the invaders “with coffee and tea.”</p>
<p>As for the natives- razor wire, armored personnel carriers and checkpoints have been erected to protect the government from them.</p>
<p>January 17</p>
<p>Beirut is a city on edge tonight, in a region tensely waiting.</p>
<p>To the north of Lebanon, the US is sending F-16 fighter jets and early warning systems to Incirlik, Turkey for the coming attack on Iran. To the east, American warships are taking up positions in the Persian Gulf, and Iran has recently shot down a US spy drone in its airspace.</p>
<p>At Lebanon’s airport south of Beirut, American C-17 cargo planes have begun delivering a billion dollar shipment of military aid “to assist the Lebanese police and army” concerning “Al Qaeda”- aka Hezbollah/civil war. In west Beirut, tanks are stationed on quiet, tree-lined street corners. Increasing numbers of army and police are on sidewalk patrol, with AK 47s at the ready. Helicopters fly over the city and port, in case.</p>
<p>In Beirut’s city center, I spoke to Christians from the Free Patriotic Movement about the situation. Insurance sales manager Henry Hamra 39, reflected on the brutal rule of the Syrians in his country, and America’s granting of democracy to Lebanon. “The US gave Lebanon to Syria as a gift twenty-nine years ago. The first thing the Syrian dictators did was to appoint their own puppet government officials and administrators to further their interests. Now the Americans are doing the same thing in Lebanon.” He said he felt America looked at Lebanon as a disposable asset to leverage their agenda in the Middle East. “We don’t care any more what all of you do outside this country. Just get the hell out of here and leave us alone. We want to live a normal life.”</p>
<p>Christian Lena Ghrayeb is a banker of 38 who disputed that the current government standoff is a sectarian struggle. “Only the Christians of Samir Geagea’s Lebanese Forces are with Bush. Even the Pope said Lebanon has a mission to live together with Muslims or it won’t be Lebanon. At Christmas we get gifts from the Muslims here and at Adha we give to them.”</p>
<p>But Ghrayeb has no love for the Syrians either. In the early 90’s she was thrown into prison and tortured by Syria’s Lebanese agents for distributing anti-Syria pamphlets in Beirut. Then how can she and Aoun’s Christian Free Patriotic Movement support US-designated terrorist group Hezbollah, who are sponsored by Syria? Isn’t their terrorism the problem here?</p>
<p>Ghrayeb claims Hezbollah only fought Israelis during the war- not Muslims or Christians. I asked Ghrayeb about the “full alert” recently declared by Hezbollah. “All political doors are completely closed, and there is no prospect for a settlement”, said Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV. “A major escalation is very possible.”</p>
<p>“Look- the 2005 elections showed 70 per cent of the Christians are with Aoun”, Ghrayeb said. “I have to tell you something- You are making the Christians here into a terrorist threat against you [America]. In a matter of time, we will strike back too.”</p>
<p>Later, at a near-empty cafe in the nightclub district, scared patrons ran from their tables at the sound of bombs exploding outside. It turned out to be fireworks set off by Hezbollah to celebrate Israeli General Dan Halutz’s resignation over the failure of the IDF’s summer invasion.</p>
<p>At the bull’s eye of this region on fire, Lebanon is in suspended turmoil. For now.</p>
<p>January 18</p>
<p>Dahiyeh–I came to this Hezbollah neighborhood of south Beirut to see my tax dollars at work. In this already crowded, destitute area, the results of American largesse were devastating. Smears of graffiti said “Made in America.”</p>
<p>Bomb craters now replaced entire city blocks and crunched glass glittered on the dirt roads. Singed office blocks, toppled like dominoes, still smelt of smoke from Israel’s summer attack. One apartment building near the Bir Al Abed Mosque had a massive wall nearly torn off, hanging like a concrete chad. One more vote for Arab democracy.</p>
<p>In the Hezbollah Information Office, I spoke with Sheikh Khoory Noor Ed Dine of the Hezbollah Political Council. He referred to his comments from a year back, in which he described Israel’s 1982 invasion. It sounded eerily like the bombing of 2006: “When the Israelis occupied our land and marched to Beirut, the UN and the whole world watched our cities burn, our farms and villages being destroyed, our children, old and young men killed. No one told Israel to leave or stop. We waited nearly one year. Then we saw they weren’t going to leave.”</p>
<p>Sheikh Ed Dine said Hezbollah had evolved out of necessity- not to challenge the government. “As Muslims, we believe life without dignity, life without freedom and independence doesn’t mean anything to us. So we struggled to live as we like and push the occupiers off our land. Our resistance started as military, and became political. Our people needed social and educational assistance. The Lebanese government was so weak and no one from outside came to help us. So we built social centers in Beirut, the Bekaa Valley and elsewhere. So now we have social, educational and medical services- not just military.”</p>
<p>But when the Israeli Army had first invaded Lebanon in 1982, the forerunners of present-day Hezbollah had greeted them as liberators from the PLO. “They were a relief from the prior occupiers, until they became occupiers themselves,” Sheikh Ed Dine said.</p>
<p>Later, on the street ouside, I spoke to a German-Lebanese father of three from Frankfurt who had his home in the hanging chad building blown up in the war. The Lebanese government reimbursed him for only a fraction of its value, so he turned to Hezbollah for help. “This home was to be for my sons someday. Now it is gone and we have nothing.”</p>
<p>I wondered if any of the billion-dollar US aid package for Lebanon would finance reparations. According to press reports, that money is “to fight the war on terror”: One third to train the Lebanese Army, one third for ammunition, and the other third for military spare parts, with little to spare for civilians.</p>
<p>American tax dollars at work, winning Arab hearts and minds.</p>
<p>January 21</p>
<p>Christians and Shias recently partied together at the Opposition tent city near Rafiq Hariri’s mosque, waiting for Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah’s interview on Al Manar TV. Nasrallah discussed the US plan for the Greater Middle East and the need to protect Lebanon from it. An escalation to overthrow the US-backed Lebanese government was planned for Tuesday. It would be ‘a big event’ but peaceful. “The resistance will go on!” he declared. Even the product ads that bracketed Nasrallah’s speech were edited to underscore a resistance theme. Animated soap, yogurt and other household items danced to a martial-sounding score. Rendering hand lotion militant is an Al Manar specialty.</p>
<p>I asked one Christian Aoun supporter if the Opposition was so sure of support and committed to democracy, why didn’t they just wait until the next elections and vote the March 14th movement out of office then?</p>
<p>Mary, who didn’t want to give her last name, claimed that government corruption was so bad the nation couldn’t survive three more years of it. “I hated Hariri. Many people here hated Hariri. Hariri brought us to this crisis. When he came to power in the early 1990’s Lebanon’s national debt was 1 billion USD. Now it will soon be $45 billion. When they tell you he was an enemy of Syria- don’t believe them. He worked with corrupt Syrians to exploit Lebanon. In 2001, he even gave the Golden Key of the city of Beirut to Syria’s agent in Lebanon, Ghazi Kenaan. They worked together. Now we have Saad Al Hariri…”</p>
<p>I also talked with a restaurant manager on posh Marad Street at the heart of Hariri country, Solidere. He said his shop was deserted because of the political situation in Beirut. I asked if what the IDF did not destroy militarily, Hezbollah/Aoun protests would end up destroying economically?</p>
<p>“No,” said Tawfiq, who claimed government Ministers’ infighting was the main problem. Each faction fought for their own benefit at the expense of the country. “We have a big, big problem with the government here,” he said. “But we know who is behind all this… We are 18 different religious groups and we have to get together or we are going down… ”</p>
<p>Tawfiq, who recently had hair to his waist but cut it after a drunk driving accident on his motorcycle, invited me for cocktails and bragged about frequenting the wildest nightclubs in town. He disputed that Hezbollah would, or even could, turn Lebanon into an Islamic Republic like Iran. “I like my scotch &amp; Pepsi too much, followed with rose’ wine.”</p>
<p>Tawfiq is a Shia himself, and was one of the first to welcome tourists into Khiam prison after Hezbollah freed Lebanese prisoners there and drove the IDF out. He said it was Hezbollah that had saved Lebanon from becoming part of an Israeli Republic.</p>
<p>“We want to live. But we want our own country first… we have to live in peace.” Just keep it nicely chilled.</p>
<p>TRISH SCHUH writes about Middle East politics. She can be reached at: <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | january 16 beirut two years killing former lebanese prime minister rafiq hariri americas cedar revolution lebanon gone citrus chic lebanese divas maids tow wagging protest signs employers behalf absent riad el sohl square downtown beirut occupied working class tent city citrus supporters opposition religious shiashezbollah yellow secular shias amal green christians free patriotic movement orange united one banner clean government exclusive part city youd scarcely notice israels recent bombing luxury boutiques designer gourmet shops open consumption pastel reproductions delicate french mandate buildings retained disneyland feel much neighborhoods elite clientel fled europe points south like dubai qatar riyadh whats left lesserhaves united feared austerity measures protest encampment surrounded churches mosques defy traditional alliances religious jihad sectarian squabble one 28 year old christian man told getting lebanon back corruption according one taxi driver costs basic items like water electricity food recently doubled allegedly due government mismanagement sellouts international corporations monday general labor confederation opposition sponsored sitin lebanese governments new economic reform plan among requirements demanded world bank privatization national telecommunications industry head telecommunications ministry marwan hamade stands personally benefit billion dollar deals hezbollah rally outside lebanons parliament lebanese celebrity adel mawla 24 said typical countrys interests siphoned benefit greedy officials foreign interests government fiscally corrupt even foreign interests bombed lebanon last summer lebanese government welcomed invaders coffee tea natives razor wire armored personnel carriers checkpoints erected protect government january 17 beirut city edge tonight region tensely waiting north lebanon us sending f16 fighter jets early warning systems incirlik turkey coming attack iran east american warships taking positions persian gulf iran recently shot us spy drone airspace lebanons airport south beirut american c17 cargo planes begun delivering billion dollar shipment military aid assist lebanese police army concerning al qaeda aka hezbollahcivil war west beirut tanks stationed quiet treelined street corners increasing numbers army police sidewalk patrol ak 47s ready helicopters fly city port case beiruts city center spoke christians free patriotic movement situation insurance sales manager henry hamra 39 reflected brutal rule syrians country americas granting democracy lebanon us gave lebanon syria gift twentynine years ago first thing syrian dictators appoint puppet government officials administrators interests americans thing lebanon said felt america looked lebanon disposable asset leverage agenda middle east dont care outside country get hell leave us alone want live normal life christian lena ghrayeb banker 38 disputed current government standoff sectarian struggle christians samir geageas lebanese forces bush even pope said lebanon mission live together muslims wont lebanon christmas get gifts muslims adha give ghrayeb love syrians either early 90s thrown prison tortured syrias lebanese agents distributing antisyria pamphlets beirut aouns christian free patriotic movement support usdesignated terrorist group hezbollah sponsored syria isnt terrorism problem ghrayeb claims hezbollah fought israelis war muslims christians asked ghrayeb full alert recently declared hezbollah political doors completely closed prospect settlement said hezbollahs al manar tv major escalation possible look 2005 elections showed 70 per cent christians aoun ghrayeb said tell something making christians terrorist threat america matter time strike back later nearempty cafe nightclub district scared patrons ran tables sound bombs exploding outside turned fireworks set hezbollah celebrate israeli general dan halutzs resignation failure idfs summer invasion bulls eye region fire lebanon suspended turmoil january 18 dahiyehi came hezbollah neighborhood south beirut see tax dollars work already crowded destitute area results american largesse devastating smears graffiti said made america bomb craters replaced entire city blocks crunched glass glittered dirt roads singed office blocks toppled like dominoes still smelt smoke israels summer attack one apartment building near bir al abed mosque massive wall nearly torn hanging like concrete chad one vote arab democracy hezbollah information office spoke sheikh khoory noor ed dine hezbollah political council referred comments year back described israels 1982 invasion sounded eerily like bombing 2006 israelis occupied land marched beirut un whole world watched cities burn farms villages destroyed children old young men killed one told israel leave stop waited nearly one year saw werent going leave sheikh ed dine said hezbollah evolved necessity challenge government muslims believe life without dignity life without freedom independence doesnt mean anything us struggled live like push occupiers land resistance started military became political people needed social educational assistance lebanese government weak one outside came help us built social centers beirut bekaa valley elsewhere social educational medical services military israeli army first invaded lebanon 1982 forerunners presentday hezbollah greeted liberators plo relief prior occupiers became occupiers sheikh ed dine said later street ouside spoke germanlebanese father three frankfurt home hanging chad building blown war lebanese government reimbursed fraction value turned hezbollah help home sons someday gone nothing wondered billiondollar us aid package lebanon would finance reparations according press reports money fight war terror one third train lebanese army one third ammunition third military spare parts little spare civilians american tax dollars work winning arab hearts minds january 21 christians shias recently partied together opposition tent city near rafiq hariris mosque waiting hezbollah secretary general hassan nasrallahs interview al manar tv nasrallah discussed us plan greater middle east need protect lebanon escalation overthrow usbacked lebanese government planned tuesday would big event peaceful resistance go declared even product ads bracketed nasrallahs speech edited underscore resistance theme animated soap yogurt household items danced martialsounding score rendering hand lotion militant al manar specialty asked one christian aoun supporter opposition sure support committed democracy didnt wait next elections vote march 14th movement office mary didnt want give last name claimed government corruption bad nation couldnt survive three years hated hariri many people hated hariri hariri brought us crisis came power early 1990s lebanons national debt 1 billion usd soon 45 billion tell enemy syria dont believe worked corrupt syrians exploit lebanon 2001 even gave golden key city beirut syrias agent lebanon ghazi kenaan worked together saad al hariri also talked restaurant manager posh marad street heart hariri country solidere said shop deserted political situation beirut asked idf destroy militarily hezbollahaoun protests would end destroying economically said tawfiq claimed government ministers infighting main problem faction fought benefit expense country big big problem government said know behind 18 different religious groups get together going tawfiq recently hair waist cut drunk driving accident motorcycle invited cocktails bragged frequenting wildest nightclubs town disputed hezbollah would even could turn lebanon islamic republic like iran like scotch amp pepsi much followed rose wine tawfiq shia one first welcome tourists khiam prison hezbollah freed lebanese prisoners drove idf said hezbollah saved lebanon becoming part israeli republic want live want country first live peace keep nicely chilled trish schuh writes middle east politics reached hsvarietyyahoocom 160 | 1,086 |
<p>By Nick Turse / <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176300/" type="external">TomDispatch</a></p>
<p>U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command during a training exercise in Yuma, Ariz. ( <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/marine_corps/34404978261/" type="external">Marine Corps / CC 2.0</a>)</p>
<p>The tabs on their shoulders <a href="https://www.dvidshub.net/image/3067901/colombian-army-counter-narcotics-brigade-honors-us-special-forces" type="external">read</a> “Special Forces,” “Ranger,” “Airborne.” And soon their guidon — the “colors” of Company B, 3rd Battalion of the U.S. Army’s 7th Special Forces Group — would be <a href="http://www.socom.mil/TipOfTheSpear/February%202017%20Tip%20of%20the%20Spear.pdf" type="external">adorned</a> with the “Bandera de Guerra,” a Colombian combat decoration.</p>
<p />
<p>“Today we commemorate sixteen years of a permanent fight against drugs in a ceremony where all Colombians can recognize the special counternarcotic brigade’s hard work against drug trafficking,” <a href="http://www.socom.mil/TipOfTheSpear/February%202017%20Tip%20of%20the%20Spear.pdf" type="external">said</a> Army Colonel Walther Jimenez, the commander of the Colombian military’s Special Anti-Drug Brigade, last December.&#160; America’s most elite troops, the Special Operations forces (SOF), have worked with that Colombian unit since its creation in December 2000.&#160; Since 2014, four teams of Special Forces soldiers have intensely monitored the brigade.&#160; Now, they were being honored for it.</p>
<p>Part of a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/plan-colombia-how-washington-learned-to-love-latin-american-intervention-again/2016/09/18/ddaeae1c-3199-4ea3-8d0f-69ee1cbda589_story.html?utm_term=.6c19c7240bdc" type="external">$10&#160;billion</a> counter-narcotics and counterterrorism program, conceived in the 1990s, special ops efforts in Colombia are a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2013/12/21/covert-action-in-colombia/?utm_term=.c7916a007b35" type="external">much</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/05/08/should-us-troops-fight-the-war-on-drugs/green-berets-value-is-proven-in-war-on-drugs" type="external">ballyhooed</a> American success story.&#160; A 2015 RAND Corporation study <a href="http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR700/RR713/RAND_RR713.pdf" type="external">found</a> that the program “represents an enduring SOF partnership effort that managed to help foster a relatively professional and capable special operations force.”&#160; And for a time, coca production in that country <a href="https://www.pri.org/stories/2014-06-26/why-less-coca-does-not-equal-less-cocaine" type="external">plummeted</a>.&#160; Indeed, this was the ultimate promise of America’s “Plan Colombia” and efforts that followed from it.&#160; “Over the longer haul, we can expect to see more effective drug eradication and increased interdiction of illicit drug shipments,” President Bill Clinton <a href="http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=58066" type="external">predicted</a> in January 2000.</p>
<p>Today, however, more than 460,000 acres of the Colombian countryside are <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/a-side-effect-of-peace-in-colombia-a-cocaine-boom-in-the-us/2017/05/07/6fb5d468-294a-11e7-9081-f5405f56d3e4_story.html?tid=sm_tw&amp;utm_term=.21c49372e49f" type="external">blanketed</a> with coca plants, more than during the 1980s heyday of the infamous cocaine kingpin <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1993/12/03/escobar-killed-in-medellin/36339ba2-8021-4942-8c7a-00604b95070a/?utm_term=.dc58a8823c0e" type="external">Pablo Escobar</a>.&#160; U.S. cocaine overdose deaths are also at a 10-year high and first-time cocaine use among young adults has <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/a-side-effect-of-peace-in-colombia-a-cocaine-boom-in-the-us/2017/05/07/6fb5d468-294a-11e7-9081-f5405f56d3e4_story.html?tid=sm_tw&amp;utm_term=.77072f39d9da" type="external">spiked</a> 61% since 2013.&#160; “Recent findings suggest that cocaine use may be reemerging as a public health concern in the United States,” wrote researchers from the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration in a study <a href="https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/report_2736/ShortReport-2736.html" type="external">published</a> in December 2016 — just after the Green Berets attended that ceremony in Colombia. &#160;Cocaine, the study’s authors write, “may be making a comeback.”</p>
<p>Colombia is hardly an anomaly when it comes to U.S. special ops deployments — or the results that flow from them.&#160; For all their abilities, tactical skills, training prowess, and battlefield accomplishments, the capacity of U.S. Special Operations forces to achieve decisive and enduring successes — strategic victories that serve U.S. national interests — have proved to be exceptionally limited, a reality laid bare from Afghanistan to Iraq, Yemen to the Philippines.&#160;</p>
<p>The fault for this lies not with the troops themselves, but with a political and military establishment that often appears bereft of strategic vision and hasn’t won a major war since the <a href="http://time.com/3839303/v-e-day-celebrations/" type="external">1940s</a>.&#160; Into this breach, elite U.S. forces are deployed again and again. While special ops commanders may raise concerns about the tempo of operations and strains on the force, they have failed to grapple with larger questions about the raison d’être of SOF, while Washington’s oversight establishment, notably the House and Senate Armed Services Committees, have consistently failed to so much as ask hard questions about the strategic utility of America’s Special Operations forces.</p>
<p>Special Ops at War</p>
<p>“We operate and fight in every corner of the world,” boasts <a href="http://www.defense.gov/About-DoD/Biographies/Biography-View/Article/709270/general-raymond-a-thomas-iii" type="external">General Raymond Thomas</a>, the chief of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM). &#160;“On a daily basis, we sustain a deployed or forward stationed force of approximately 8,000 across 80-plus countries.&#160; They are conducting the entire range of SOF missions in both combat and non-combat situations.”&#160; Those numbers, however, only hint at the true size and scope of this global special ops effort.&#160; Last year, America’s most elite forces conducted missions in 138 countries — roughly 70% of the nations on the planet, <a href="https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=1&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwj15tXV_r_UAhUDwWMKHXIxDt8QFggmMAA&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tomdispatch.com%2Fblog%2F176227%2Ftomgram%253A_nick_turse%2C_special_ops%2C_shadow_wars%2C_and_the_golden_age_of_the_gray_zone%2F&amp;usg=AFQjCNGAuT6AD0rUs3qs0oohCpoiHNTI1g" type="external">according</a> to figures supplied to TomDispatch by U.S. Special Operations Command.&#160; Halfway through 2017, U.S. commandos have already been deployed to an astonishing 137 countries, according to SOCOM spokesman Ken McGraw.&#160;</p>
<p>Special Operations Command is tasked with carrying out 12 core missions, ranging from counterinsurgency and unconventional warfare to hostage rescue and countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.&#160; Counterterrorism — fighting what the command calls violent extremist organizations (VEOs) — may, however, be what America’s elite forces have become best known for in the post-9/11 era.&#160; “The threat posed by VEOs remains the highest priority for USSOCOM in both focus and effort,” <a href="http://www.socom.mil/Pages/posture-statement-hasc.aspx" type="external">says</a> Thomas.</p>
<p>Special Operations Forces are the main effort, or major supporting effort for U.S. VEO-focused operations in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, across the Sahel of Africa, the Philippines, and Central/South America — essentially, everywhere Al Qaeda (AQ) and the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) are to be found…</p>
<p>More special operators are deployed to the Middle East than to any other region.&#160; Significant numbers of them are advising Iraqi government forces and Iraqi Kurdish soldiers as well as Kurdish YPG (Popular Protection Unit) fighters and various ethnic Arab forces in Syria, <a href="https://www.rand.org/blog/2017/05/sofs-evolving-role-warfare-by-with-and-through-local.html" type="external">according</a> to Linda Robinson, a senior international policy analyst with the RAND Corporation who spent seven weeks in Iraq, Syria, and neighboring countries earlier this year.&#160;</p>
<p>During a <a href="https://www.rand.org/blog/2017/05/sofs-evolving-role-warfare-by-with-and-through-local.html" type="external">visit</a> to Qayyarah, Iraq — a staging area for the campaign to free Mosul, formerly Iraq’s second largest city, from the control of Islamic State fighters — Robinson “saw a recently installed U.S. military medical unit and its ICU set up in tents on the base.”&#160; In a type of mission seldom reported on, special ops surgeons, nurses, and other specialists put their skills to work on far-flung battlefields not only to save American lives, but to prop up allied proxy forces that have limited medical capabilities.&#160; For example, an Air Force Special Operations Surgical Team recently spent eight weeks deployed at an undisclosed location in the Iraq-Syria theater, treating 750 war-injured patients.&#160; Operating out of an abandoned one-story home within earshot of a battlefield, the specially trained airmen worked through a total of 19 mass casualty incidents and more than 400 individual gunshot or blast injuries.</p>
<p>When not saving lives in Iraq and Syria, elite U.S. forces are frequently involved in efforts to take them.&#160; “U.S. SOF are… being thrust into a new role of coordinating fire support,” wrote Robinson. “This fire support is even more important to the Syrian Democratic Forces, a far more lightly armed irregular force which constitutes the major ground force fighting ISIS in Syria.”&#160; In fact, a video shot earlier this year, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2016/04/25/this-video-gives-a-glimpse-of-what-u-s-special-operations-forces-are-doing-in-syria/?utm_term=.85fec2f85713" type="external">analyzed</a> by the Washington Post, shows special operators “acting as an observation element for what appears to be U.S. airstrikes carried out by A-10 ground attack aircraft” to support Syrian Democratic Forces fighting for the town of Shadadi.</p>
<p>Africa now ranks second when it comes to the deployment of special operators thanks to the exponential growth in missions there in recent years.&#160; Just 3% of U.S. commandos deployed overseas were sent to Africa in 2010.&#160; Now that number stands at more than 17%, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/12/31/u-s-special-operations-numbers-surge-in-africas-shadow-wars/" type="external">according</a> to SOCOM data.&#160; Last year, U.S. Special Operations forces were deployed to 32 African nations, about 60% of the countries on the continent.&#160; As I recently <a href="https://news.vice.com/story/the-u-s-is-waging-a-massive-shadow-war-in-africa-exclusive-documents-reveal" type="external">reported</a> at VICE News, at any given time, Navy SEALs, Green Berets, and other special operators are now conducting nearly 100 missions across 20 African countries.</p>
<p>In May, for instance, Navy SEALs were engaged in an “advise and assist operation” alongside members of Somalia’s army and came under attack.&#160; SEAL Kyle Milliken was killed and two other U.S. personnel were injured during a firefight that also, according to AFRICOM spokesperson Robyn Mack, left three al-Shabaab militants dead.&#160; U.S. forces are also <a href="http://news.antiwar.com/2017/03/24/us-will-keep-ground-troops-in-libya/" type="external">deployed</a> in Libya to gather intelligence in order to carry out strikes of opportunity against Islamic State forces there.&#160; While operations in Central Africa against the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a brutal militia that has terrorized the region for decades, <a href="http://www.africom.mil/media-room/pressrelease/28776/u-s-forces-transition-counter-lra-mission-to-broader-security-and-stability-activities" type="external">wound down</a> recently, a U.S. commando reportedly&#160; <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/05/02/politics/us-military-quits-hunt-joseph-kony/" type="external">killed</a> a member of the LRA as recently as April.&#160;</p>
<p>Spring Training</p>
<p>What General Thomas calls “building partner nations’ capacity” forms the backbone of the global activities of his command. &#160;Day in, day out, America’s most elite troops carry out such training missions to sharpen their skills and those of their allies and of proxy forces across the planet.&#160;</p>
<p>This January, for example, Green Berets and Japanese paratroopers carried out airborne training near Chiba, Japan.&#160; February saw Green Berets at Sanaa Training Center in northwest Syria advising recruits for the Manbij Military Council, a female fighting force of Kurds, Arabs, Christians, Turkmen, and Yazidis.&#160; In March, snowmobiling Green Berets joined local forces for cold-weather military drills in Lapland, Finland.&#160; That same month, special operators and more than 3,000 troops from Canada, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Kosovo, Latvia, Macedonia, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom took part in tactical training in Germany.</p>
<p>In the waters off Kuwait, special operators joined elite forces from the Gulf Cooperation Council nations in conducting drills simulating a rapid response to the hijacking of an oil tanker.&#160; In April, special ops troops traveled to Serbia to train alongside a local special anti-terrorist unit.&#160; In May, members of Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Iraq carried out training exercises with Iraqi special operations forces near Baghdad. That same month, 7,200 military personnel, including U.S. Air Force Special Tactics airmen, Italian special operations forces, members of host nation Jordan’s Special Task Force, and troops from more than a dozen other nations took part in Exercise Eager Lion, practicing everything from assaulting compounds to cyber-defense.&#160; For their part, a group of SEALs conducted dive training alongside Greek special operations forces in Souda Bay, Greece, while others joined NATO troops in Germany as part of Exercise Saber Junction 17 for training in land operations, including mock “behind enemy lines missions” in a “simulated European village.”&#160;</p>
<p>Actions Have Foundered, Floundered or Failed</p>
<p>“We have been at the forefront of national security operations for the past three decades, to include continuous combat over the past 15-and-a-half years,” SOCOM’s Thomas <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/1170155/socom-commander-forces-at-forefront-of-national-security-operations/" type="external">told</a> the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities last month.&#160; “This historic period has been the backdrop for some of our greatest successes, as well as the source of our greatest challenge, which is the sustained readiness of this magnificent force.”&#160; Yet, for all their magnificence and all those successes, for all the celebratory ceremonies they’ve attended, the wars, interventions, and other actions for which they’ve served as the tip of the American spear have largely foundered, floundered, or failed.&#160;</p>
<p>After their initial tactical successes in Afghanistan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, America’s elite operators became victims of Washington’s <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175837/" type="external">failure</a> to declare victory and go home.&#160; As a result, for the last 15 years, U.S. commandos have been raiding homes, calling in air strikes, training local forces, and waging a relentless battle against a growing list of terror groups in that country.&#160; For all their efforts, as well as those of their conventional military brethren and local Afghan allies, the war is now, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/top-us-general-the-war-in-afghanistan-stalemate-2017-3" type="external">according</a> to the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, a “stalemate.”&#160; That’s a polite way of saying what a recent report to Congress by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction found: districts that are contested or under “insurgent control or influence” have <a href="https://sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2017-04-30qr-section3-security.pdf#page=8" type="external">risen</a> from an already remarkable 28% in 2015 to 40%.</p>
<p>The war in Afghanistan began with efforts to capture or kill al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.&#160; Having failed in this post-9/11 mission, America’s elite forces spun their wheels for the next decade when it came to his fate.&#160; Finally, in 2011, Navy SEALs cornered him in his long-time home in Pakistan and gunned him down.&#160; Ever since, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/20/us/bin-laden-book-seal-team-6.html" type="external">special operators</a> who <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/oneill-bin-laden-killing-2017-4" type="external">carried out</a> the mission and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/panetta-this-is-how-the-bin-laden-raid-went-down-2014-11" type="external">Washington</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/28/us/politics/critics-pounce-on-obamas-trumpeting-of-bin-laden-death.html" type="external">power-players</a> ( <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2475544/" type="external">not</a> to <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2095605/" type="external">mention</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790885/" type="external">Hollywood</a>) have been touting this single tactical success.</p>
<p>In an Esquire interview, Robert O’Neill, the SEAL who <a href="https://www.maxim.com/news/navy-seal-osama-bin-laden-new-memoir-2017-4" type="external">put</a> two bullets in bin Laden’s head, confessed that he joined the Navy due to frustration over an early crush, a puppy-love pique.&#160; “That’s the reason al-Qaeda has been decimated,” he <a href="http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a26351/man-who-shot-osama-bin-laden-0313/" type="external">joked</a>, “because she broke my fucking heart.”&#160; But al-Qaeda was not decimated — far from it according to Ali Soufan, a former F.B.I. special agent and the author of Anatomy of Terror: From the Death of Bin Laden to the Rise of the Islamic State.&#160; As he recently <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/05/07/al-qaeda-is-stronger-now-than-when-bin-laden-was-killed" type="external">observed</a>, “Whereas on 9/11 al-Qaeda had a few hundred members, almost all of them based in a single country, today it enjoys multiple safe havens across the world.”&#160; In fact, he points out, the terror group has gained strength since bin Laden’s death.</p>
<p>Year after year, U.S. special operators find themselves <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-directs-pentagon-to-target-al-qaeda-affiliate-in-syria-one-of-the-most-formidable-forces-fighting-assad/2016/11/10/cf69839a-a51b-11e6-8042-f4d111c862d1_story.html?utm_term=.aa410e001576" type="external">fighting</a> new waves of militants across multiple continents, including entire terror groups that didn’t exist on 9/11.&#160; All U.S. forces <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/11/world/asia/afghanistan-military-american-soldiers-deaths.html" type="external">killed</a> in Afghanistan in 2017 have reportedly died battling an Islamic State franchise, which <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/a-look-at-is-operation-in-afghanistan/3831169.html" type="external">began</a> operations there just two years ago.&#160;</p>
<p>The U.S. invasion of Iraq, to take another example, led to the meteoric rise of an al-Qaeda affiliate which, in turn, led the military’s secretive Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) — the elite of America’s special ops elite — to create a veritable manhunting machine <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/12/AR2009051203679.html" type="external">designed</a> to kill its leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and take down the organization.&#160; As with bin Laden, special operators finally did find and eliminate Zarqawi, battering his organization in the process, but it was never wiped out.&#160; Left behind were battle-hardened elements that later <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2016/08/12/middleeast/here-is-how-isis-began/index.html" type="external">formed</a> the Islamic State and did what al-Qaeda never could: take and hold huge swaths of territory in two nations.&#160; Meanwhile, al-Qaeda’s Syrian branch <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/05/07/al-qaeda-is-stronger-now-than-when-bin-laden-was-killed" type="external">grew</a> into a separate force of more than 20,000.&#160;</p>
<p>In Yemen, after more than a <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/drone-war/data/yemen-reported-us-covert-actions-2001-2011" type="external">decade</a> of low-profile special ops engagement, that country teeters on the brink of <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/world-watches-yemen-descends-total-collapse-un-165247516.html" type="external">collapse</a> in the face of a U.S.-backed Saudi war there.&#160; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/23/world/middleeast/navy-seals-yemen-raid.html?_r=0" type="external">Continued</a> U.S. special ops missions in that country, recently <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/04/politics/yemen-us-military-operations/" type="external">on the rise</a>, have seemingly done nothing to alter the situation.&#160; Similarly, in Somalia in the Horn of Africa, America’s elite forces remain embroiled in an <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/drone-war/data/somalia-reported-us-covert-actions-2001-2017" type="external">endless war</a> against militants.&#160;</p>
<p>In 2011, President Obama launched Operation Observant Compass, sending Special Operations forces to aid Central African proxies in an effort to capture or kill Joseph Kony and decimate his murderous Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), then <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2012/03/21/qa-joseph-kony-and-lords-resistance-army#3" type="external">estimated</a> to number 150 to 300 armed fighters.&#160; After the better part of a decade and nearly $800 million spent, 150 U.S. commandos were withdrawn this spring and U.S. officials <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/15/world/africa/joseph-kony-mission-ends.html?_r=1" type="external">attended</a> a ceremony to commemorate the end of the mission.&#160; Kony was, however, never captured or killed and the LRA is now <a href="https://news.vice.com/story/konys-lra-army-could-return-with-vengeance-after-us-and-ugandan-forces-withdraw" type="external">estimated</a> to number about 150 to <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201705230095.html" type="external">250</a> fighters, essentially the same size as when the operation began.</p>
<p>This string of futility extends to Asia as well.&#160; “U.S. Special Forces have been providing support and assistance in the southern Philippines for many years, at the request of several different Filipino administrations,” Emma Nagy, a spokesperson for the U.S. embassy in Manilla, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/10/world/asia/duterte-philippines-isis-marawi.html?_r=0" type="external">pointed out</a> earlier this month.&#160; Indeed, a decade-plus-long special ops effort there has been hailed as a major success.&#160; Operation Enduring Freedom-Philippines, <a href="http://cco.ndu.edu/PRISM-6-3/Article/1020239/the-sof-experience-in-the-philippines-and-the-implications-for-future-defense-s/" type="external">wrote</a> RAND analyst Linda Robinson late last year in the Pentagon journal Prism, “was aimed at enabling the Philippine security forces to combat transnational terrorist groups in the restive southern region of Mindanao.”&#160;</p>
<p>A 2016 RAND report co-authored by Robinson <a href="https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1236.readonline.html" type="external">concluded</a> that “the activities of the U.S. SOF enabled the Philippine government to substantially reduce the transnational terrorist threat in the southern Philippines.” This May, however, Islamist militants overran Marawi City, a major urban center on Mindanao.&#160; They have been holding on to parts of it for weeks <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-militants-idUSKBN19B09Z" type="external">despite</a> a determined <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2017/06/10/asia/philippines-battle-isis-linked-fighters/index.html" type="external">assault</a> by Filipino troops <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/world/asia/philippines-marawi-us-troops.html" type="external">backed</a> by U.S. Special Operations forces.&#160; In the process, large swaths of the city have been reduced to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/10/world/asia/philippines-marawi-isis.html" type="external">rubble</a>.</p>
<p>Running on Empty</p>
<p>America’s elite forces, General Thomas <a href="https://www.armed-services.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/Thomas_05-04-17.pdf" type="external">told</a> members of Congress last month, “are fully committed to winning the current and future fights.”&#160; In reality, though, from war to war, intervention to intervention, from the Anti-Drug Brigade ceremony in Florencia, Colombia, to the end-of-the-Kony-hunt observance in Obo in the Central African Republic, there is remarkably little evidence that even enduring efforts by Special Operations forces result in strategic victories or improved national security outcomes.&#160; And yet, despite such boots-on-the-ground realities, America’s special ops forces and their missions only grow.</p>
<p>“We are… grateful for the support of Congress for the required resourcing that, in turn, has produced a SOCOM which is relevant to all the current and enduring threats facing the nation,” Thomas told the Senate Armed Services Committee in May.&#160; Resourcing has, indeed, been readily <a href="http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/socom-at-30-has-evolved-into-a-small-command-with-a-big-global-impact" type="external">available</a>.&#160; SOCOM’s annual budget has jumped from $3 billion in 2001 to more than $10 billion today.&#160; Oversight, however, has been seriously lacking.&#160; Not a single member of the House or Senate Armed Services Committees has questioned why, after more than 15 years of constant warfare, winning the “current fight” has proven so elusive.&#160; None of them has suggested that “support” from Congress ought to be reconsidered in the face of setbacks from Afghanistan to Iraq, Colombia to Central Africa, Yemen to the southern Philippines. &#160;</p>
<p>In the waning days of George W. Bush’s administration, Special Operations forces were reportedly <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/03/AR2010060304965.html" type="external">deployed</a> to about 60 nations around the world.&#160; By 2011, under President Barack Obama, that number had <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175426/" type="external">swelled</a> to 120.&#160; During this first half-year of the Trump administration, U.S. commandos have already been sent to 137 countries, with elite troops now enmeshed in conflicts from Africa to Asia.&#160; “Most SOF units are employed to their sustainable limit,” Thomas <a href="http://docs.house.gov/meetings/AS/AS26/20170502/105926/HHRG-115-AS26-Wstate-ThomasR-20170502.PDF" type="external">told</a> members of the House Armed Services Committee last month.&#160; In fact, current and former members of the command have, for some time, been <a href="https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&amp;rct=j&amp;q=&amp;esrc=s&amp;source=web&amp;cd=8&amp;cad=rja&amp;uact=8&amp;ved=0ahUKEwiEzuO5-4LRAhVmw4MKHXPnDHkQFggxMAc&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cna.org%2FCNA_files%2FPDF%2FDOP-2016-U-014394-Final.pdf&amp;usg=AFQjCNHAL_Y6QPw2M-loIKL8k2j9z0LaQw&amp;bvm=bv.142059868,d.eWE" type="external">sounding the alarm</a> about the level of strain on the force.&#160;</p>
<p>These deployment levels and a lack of meaningful strategic results from them have not, however, led Washington to raise fundamental questions about the ways the U.S. employs its elite forces, much less about SOCOM’s raison d’être. &#160;“We are a command at war and will remain so for the foreseeable future,” SOCOM’s Thomas explained to the Senate Armed Services Committee.&#160; Not one member asked why or to what end.&#160;</p>
<p>Nick Turse is the managing editor of&#160; <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176214/tomgram%3A_nick_turse%2C_life%27s_no_picnic_in_trump%27s_secret_%28service%29_garden/" type="external">TomDispatch</a>,&#160;a fellow at the Nation Institute, and a contributing writer for the&#160;Intercept. His book&#160;Tomorrow’s Battlefield: U.S. Proxy Wars and Secret Ops in Africa&#160;received an&#160; <a href="https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/ru-n-faculty-and-alumni-win-prestigous-2016-american-book-award" type="external">American Book Award</a> in 2016. His latest book is&#160; <a href="https://www.newark.rutgers.edu/news/ru-n-faculty-and-alumni-win-prestigous-2016-american-book-award" type="external">Next Time They’ll Come to Count the Dead: War and Survival in South Sudan</a>.&#160;His website is <a href="http://www.nickturse.com/" type="external">NickTurse.com</a>.</p>
<p>Follow TomDispatch on <a href="https://twitter.com/TomDispatch" type="external">Twitter</a> and join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch" type="external">Facebook</a>. Check out the newest Dispatch Book, John Dower’s <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608467236/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">The Violent American Century: War and Terror Since World War II</a>, as well as John Feffer’s dystopian novel <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1608467244/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Splinterlands</a>, Nick Turse’s&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608466485/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Next Time They’ll Come to Count the Dead</a>, and Tom Engelhardt’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463656/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Shadow Government: Surveillance, Secret Wars, and a Global Security State in a Single-Superpower World</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 2017 Nick Turse</p> | true | 4 | nick turse tomdispatch us marine corps forces special operations command training exercise yuma ariz marine corps cc 20 tabs shoulders read special forces ranger airborne soon guidon colors company b 3rd battalion us armys 7th special forces group would adorned bandera de guerra colombian combat decoration today commemorate sixteen years permanent fight drugs ceremony colombians recognize special counternarcotic brigades hard work drug trafficking said army colonel walther jimenez commander colombian militarys special antidrug brigade last december160 americas elite troops special operations forces sof worked colombian unit since creation december 2000160 since 2014 four teams special forces soldiers intensely monitored brigade160 honored part 10160billion counternarcotics counterterrorism program conceived 1990s special ops efforts colombia much ballyhooed american success story160 2015 rand corporation study found program represents enduring sof partnership effort managed help foster relatively professional capable special operations force160 time coca production country plummeted160 indeed ultimate promise americas plan colombia efforts followed it160 longer haul expect see effective drug eradication increased interdiction illicit drug shipments president bill clinton predicted january 2000 today however 460000 acres colombian countryside blanketed coca plants 1980s heyday infamous cocaine kingpin pablo escobar160 us cocaine overdose deaths also 10year high firsttime cocaine use among young adults spiked 61 since 2013160 recent findings suggest cocaine use may reemerging public health concern united states wrote researchers us substance abuse mental health services administration study published december 2016 green berets attended ceremony colombia 160cocaine studys authors write may making comeback colombia hardly anomaly comes us special ops deployments results flow them160 abilities tactical skills training prowess battlefield accomplishments capacity us special operations forces achieve decisive enduring successes strategic victories serve us national interests proved exceptionally limited reality laid bare afghanistan iraq yemen philippines160 fault lies troops political military establishment often appears bereft strategic vision hasnt major war since 1940s160 breach elite us forces deployed special ops commanders may raise concerns tempo operations strains force failed grapple larger questions raison dêtre sof washingtons oversight establishment notably house senate armed services committees consistently failed much ask hard questions strategic utility americas special operations forces special ops war operate fight every corner world boasts general raymond thomas chief us special operations command ussocom socom 160on daily basis sustain deployed forward stationed force approximately 8000 across 80plus countries160 conducting entire range sof missions combat noncombat situations160 numbers however hint true size scope global special ops effort160 last year americas elite forces conducted missions 138 countries roughly 70 nations planet according figures supplied tomdispatch us special operations command160 halfway 2017 us commandos already deployed astonishing 137 countries according socom spokesman ken mcgraw160 special operations command tasked carrying 12 core missions ranging counterinsurgency unconventional warfare hostage rescue countering proliferation weapons mass destruction160 counterterrorism fighting command calls violent extremist organizations veos may however americas elite forces become best known post911 era160 threat posed veos remains highest priority ussocom focus effort says thomas special operations forces main effort major supporting effort us veofocused operations afghanistan syria iraq yemen somalia libya across sahel africa philippines centralsouth america essentially everywhere al qaeda aq islamic state iraq syria isis found special operators deployed middle east region160 significant numbers advising iraqi government forces iraqi kurdish soldiers well kurdish ypg popular protection unit fighters various ethnic arab forces syria according linda robinson senior international policy analyst rand corporation spent seven weeks iraq syria neighboring countries earlier year160 visit qayyarah iraq staging area campaign free mosul formerly iraqs second largest city control islamic state fighters robinson saw recently installed us military medical unit icu set tents base160 type mission seldom reported special ops surgeons nurses specialists put skills work farflung battlefields save american lives prop allied proxy forces limited medical capabilities160 example air force special operations surgical team recently spent eight weeks deployed undisclosed location iraqsyria theater treating 750 warinjured patients160 operating abandoned onestory home within earshot battlefield specially trained airmen worked total 19 mass casualty incidents 400 individual gunshot blast injuries saving lives iraq syria elite us forces frequently involved efforts take them160 us sof thrust new role coordinating fire support wrote robinson fire support even important syrian democratic forces far lightly armed irregular force constitutes major ground force fighting isis syria160 fact video shot earlier year analyzed washington post shows special operators acting observation element appears us airstrikes carried a10 ground attack aircraft support syrian democratic forces fighting town shadadi africa ranks second comes deployment special operators thanks exponential growth missions recent years160 3 us commandos deployed overseas sent africa 2010160 number stands 17 according socom data160 last year us special operations forces deployed 32 african nations 60 countries continent160 recently reported vice news given time navy seals green berets special operators conducting nearly 100 missions across 20 african countries may instance navy seals engaged advise assist operation alongside members somalias army came attack160 seal kyle milliken killed two us personnel injured firefight also according africom spokesperson robyn mack left three alshabaab militants dead160 us forces also deployed libya gather intelligence order carry strikes opportunity islamic state forces there160 operations central africa lords resistance army lra brutal militia terrorized region decades wound recently us commando reportedly160 killed member lra recently april160 spring training general thomas calls building partner nations capacity forms backbone global activities command 160day day americas elite troops carry training missions sharpen skills allies proxy forces across planet160 january example green berets japanese paratroopers carried airborne training near chiba japan160 february saw green berets sanaa training center northwest syria advising recruits manbij military council female fighting force kurds arabs christians turkmen yazidis160 march snowmobiling green berets joined local forces coldweather military drills lapland finland160 month special operators 3000 troops canada czech republic estonia finland france germany hungary italy kosovo latvia macedonia netherlands slovenia united kingdom took part tactical training germany waters kuwait special operators joined elite forces gulf cooperation council nations conducting drills simulating rapid response hijacking oil tanker160 april special ops troops traveled serbia train alongside local special antiterrorist unit160 may members combined joint special operations task forceiraq carried training exercises iraqi special operations forces near baghdad month 7200 military personnel including us air force special tactics airmen italian special operations forces members host nation jordans special task force troops dozen nations took part exercise eager lion practicing everything assaulting compounds cyberdefense160 part group seals conducted dive training alongside greek special operations forces souda bay greece others joined nato troops germany part exercise saber junction 17 training land operations including mock behind enemy lines missions simulated european village160 actions foundered floundered failed forefront national security operations past three decades include continuous combat past 15andahalf years socoms thomas told house armed services subcommittee emerging threats capabilities last month160 historic period backdrop greatest successes well source greatest challenge sustained readiness magnificent force160 yet magnificence successes celebratory ceremonies theyve attended wars interventions actions theyve served tip american spear largely foundered floundered failed160 initial tactical successes afghanistan wake 911 attacks americas elite operators became victims washingtons failure declare victory go home160 result last 15 years us commandos raiding homes calling air strikes training local forces waging relentless battle growing list terror groups country160 efforts well conventional military brethren local afghan allies war according top us commander middle east stalemate160 thats polite way saying recent report congress special inspector general afghanistan reconstruction found districts contested insurgent control influence risen already remarkable 28 2015 40 war afghanistan began efforts capture kill alqaeda leader osama bin laden160 failed post911 mission americas elite forces spun wheels next decade came fate160 finally 2011 navy seals cornered longtime home pakistan gunned down160 ever since special operators carried mission washington powerplayers mention hollywood touting single tactical success esquire interview robert oneill seal put two bullets bin ladens head confessed joined navy due frustration early crush puppylove pique160 thats reason alqaeda decimated joked broke fucking heart160 alqaeda decimated far according ali soufan former fbi special agent author anatomy terror death bin laden rise islamic state160 recently observed whereas 911 alqaeda hundred members almost based single country today enjoys multiple safe havens across world160 fact points terror group gained strength since bin ladens death year year us special operators find fighting new waves militants across multiple continents including entire terror groups didnt exist 911160 us forces killed afghanistan 2017 reportedly died battling islamic state franchise began operations two years ago160 us invasion iraq take another example led meteoric rise alqaeda affiliate turn led militarys secretive joint special operations command jsoc elite americas special ops elite create veritable manhunting machine designed kill leader abu musab alzarqawi take organization160 bin laden special operators finally find eliminate zarqawi battering organization process never wiped out160 left behind battlehardened elements later formed islamic state alqaeda never could take hold huge swaths territory two nations160 meanwhile alqaedas syrian branch grew separate force 20000160 yemen decade lowprofile special ops engagement country teeters brink collapse face usbacked saudi war there160 continued us special ops missions country recently rise seemingly done nothing alter situation160 similarly somalia horn africa americas elite forces remain embroiled endless war militants160 2011 president obama launched operation observant compass sending special operations forces aid central african proxies effort capture kill joseph kony decimate murderous lords resistance army lra estimated number 150 300 armed fighters160 better part decade nearly 800 million spent 150 us commandos withdrawn spring us officials attended ceremony commemorate end mission160 kony however never captured killed lra estimated number 150 250 fighters essentially size operation began string futility extends asia well160 us special forces providing support assistance southern philippines many years request several different filipino administrations emma nagy spokesperson us embassy manilla pointed earlier month160 indeed decadepluslong special ops effort hailed major success160 operation enduring freedomphilippines wrote rand analyst linda robinson late last year pentagon journal prism aimed enabling philippine security forces combat transnational terrorist groups restive southern region mindanao160 2016 rand report coauthored robinson concluded activities us sof enabled philippine government substantially reduce transnational terrorist threat southern philippines may however islamist militants overran marawi city major urban center mindanao160 holding parts weeks despite determined assault filipino troops backed us special operations forces160 process large swaths city reduced rubble running empty americas elite forces general thomas told members congress last month fully committed winning current future fights160 reality though war war intervention intervention antidrug brigade ceremony florencia colombia endofthekonyhunt observance obo central african republic remarkably little evidence even enduring efforts special operations forces result strategic victories improved national security outcomes160 yet despite bootsontheground realities americas special ops forces missions grow grateful support congress required resourcing turn produced socom relevant current enduring threats facing nation thomas told senate armed services committee may160 resourcing indeed readily available160 socoms annual budget jumped 3 billion 2001 10 billion today160 oversight however seriously lacking160 single member house senate armed services committees questioned 15 years constant warfare winning current fight proven elusive160 none suggested support congress ought reconsidered face setbacks afghanistan iraq colombia central africa yemen southern philippines 160 waning days george w bushs administration special operations forces reportedly deployed 60 nations around world160 2011 president barack obama number swelled 120160 first halfyear trump administration us commandos already sent 137 countries elite troops enmeshed conflicts africa asia160 sof units employed sustainable limit thomas told members house armed services committee last month160 fact current former members command time sounding alarm level strain force160 deployment levels lack meaningful strategic results however led washington raise fundamental questions ways us employs elite forces much less socoms raison dêtre 160we command war remain foreseeable future socoms thomas explained senate armed services committee160 one member asked end160 nick turse managing editor of160 tomdispatch160a fellow nation institute contributing writer the160intercept book160tomorrows battlefield us proxy wars secret ops africa160received an160 american book award 2016 latest book is160 next time theyll come count dead war survival south sudan160his website nicktursecom follow tomdispatch twitter join us facebook check newest dispatch book john dowers violent american century war terror since world war ii well john feffers dystopian novel splinterlands nick turses160 next time theyll come count dead tom engelhardts shadow government surveillance secret wars global security state singlesuperpower world copyright 2017 nick turse | 1,990 |
<p>Brandon Turbeville <a href="http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/the-prince-and-the-pedophile-charles-connections-to-pedophilia-networks/" type="external">Sleuth Journal</a></p>
<p>Fresh on the heels of the fallout from revelations regarding former BBC entertainer Jimmy Savile and his unbelievably sickening and innumerable instances of child molestation as well as the “look the other way” approach taken by the BBC…</p>
<p>More and more questions are now emerging in regards to the connection between Savile and British Royalty, most notably,&#160;Prince Charles.</p>
<p>At least, more questions should be emerging…</p>
<p>Sir Jim was a good friend of Charles, dubbed a ‘mentor’ to him, by Princess Diana.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, however, the British mainstream media is deeming Prince Charles and the rest of his ilk in positions of power and perceived genetic royalty as if they are beyond reproach. This approach is typical and to be expected, yet it is also highly ironic considering the fact that such is the same position the mainstream media took with the allegations against Jimmy Savile for so many years.</p>
<p>According to biographer <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/prince-charles/11385709/Prince-Charles-trusted-Jimmy-Savile-on-everything-from-marriage-guidance-to-checking-speeches-book-claims.html" type="external">Catherine Mayer</a>, Prince Charles ‘trusted Jimmy Savile on everything from marriage guidance to checking speeches.’</p>
<p>As a result of the Savile affair, mainstream outlets, particularly the BBC, now have a lot of egg on their faces in the areas of credibility and respect.</p>
<p>In short, any connections placing Prince Charles in an uncompromising position regarding his connections with Savile or his potential for sharing a penchant for unnatural relationships with children is being completely ignored if not officially covered up.</p>
<p>Although Prince Charles’ friendship with Jimmy Savile,&#160; <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2227941/Jimmy-Savile-advised-Prince-Charles-appointment-royal-aide.html" type="external">allegedly begun when the two met in the 1970s</a>&#160;during the course of working with children’s wheelchair sports charities, is now well-known, the extent to which the Prince and the Pedophile were connected appears to go much deeper than the mainstream media reports let on.</p>
<p>Of course, the two having come in contact at a “charity” event for the disabled is not too far-fetched, even if it is being reported by corporate outlets. After all, using children’s “charities” as a hunting ground and a cover for his true motives was a notorious method used by Savile who actually lived in&#160; <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2222728/Jimmy-Savile-scandal-Explosive-new-claims-Stoke-Mandeville-patients-nurse.html" type="external">children’s homes</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/oct/12/jimmy-savile-broadmoor-volunteer-role" type="external">hospitals</a>&#160;so as to be closer to his victims. This method is by no means specific to Savile, however, as many other sexual predators and pedophiles know exactly what areas of society to be involved in and what careers to pursue in order to gain access to their victims. Jerry Sandusky stands as a perfect example.</p>
<p>Clarence House, Prince Charles’ spokesman, declined comment on much of the relationship between Savile and Charles, only claiming that the relationship was mostly a result of their “shared interest in supporting disability charities.”</p>
<p>Supporting charities, indeed.</p>
<p>Of course, Savile was doing much more than “supporting disability charities.” That is, unless one places serial child rape in a much different category than the average person might. Indeed, one would not be judged out of place to question whether or not untold numbers of sexually assaulted children thoroughly cancels out any financial “support” that may have been given in the past. Apparently, in the view of British royalty, it does not.</p>
<p>In fact, child molester Savile has enjoyed an unbelievable level of access to the Royal Family for the past 40 years.</p>
<p>For instance, in the late 1980s, Savile was said to have&#160; <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/oct/29/jimmy-savile-behaviour-prince-charles" type="external">acted as a type of marriage counselor</a>&#160;between Charles and Diana, visiting their residence several times. At these visits, Dickie Arbiter, who took care of media relations for the Prince and Princess between 1988 and 2000 stated that, at these visits, Savile’s behavior was uncouth to say the very least.</p>
<p>Arbiter stated:</p>
<p>He would walk into the office and do the rounds of the young ladies taking their hands and rubbing his lips all the way up their arms if they were wearing short sleeves. If it was summer [and their arms were bare] his bottom lip would curl out and he would run it up their arms. This was at St James’s Palace. The women were in their mid to late 20s doing typing and secretarial work.</p>
<p>Not only that, but Savile was brought in to the private marital affairs of the Royals once again in order to help the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson, in matters which were not disclosed to the public. Savile later claimed he was brought in to help “Fergie” keep her profile down.</p>
<p>Obviously, the relationship forged between Charles and Savile went far beyond two men who merely performed charity work for the same organizations. This can be evidenced by the fact that, in 1990, Charles even&#160; <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/nov/07/jimmy-savile-party-prince-charles" type="external">consulted Savile for advice</a>&#160;on the appointment of a senior aide for himself and Princess Diana.</p>
<p>The relationship between Charles and Savile, particularly Savile’s access to the Royal Family’s affairs and the respect which was afforded Savile in this regard, has confused many onlookers. After all, Savile was nothing more than a BBC presenter and disc jockey who was well past his prime. Not to mention the fact that Savile was well known as an uncontrollable freak, although many were under the impression that Savile’s television persona was merely part of his schtick.</p>
<p>Yet the clues to the Prince’s friendship with the Pedophile might have more to do with similar interests in entertainment than a mere happenstance relationship. Although the evidence which connects Prince Charles to pedophilia is nowhere near as documented as that of Jimmy Savile, a trail of information certainly seems to be leading in that direction.</p>
<p>At this point, it should be mentioned that, although the official line is that Savile and Charles met in the 1970s as part of the coincidence of mutual charity work, Savile himself has stated that he was friends with the Royal family “for a million years.” In fact, it was reported that Savile actually stated he was introduced to the Royals in 1966 by Lord Mountbatten, a known&#160; <a href="http://www.whale.to/c/mountbatten.html" type="external">pedophile and sexual pervert</a>. In addition to Mountbatten, however, Greg Hallett, in his book&#160; <a href="http://www.whale.to/b/hallet_b.html" type="external">Hitler Was A British Agent</a>, also names Prince Philip as a pedophile. In reference to how he became introduced and ingratiated with the Royal family, Savile stated,</p>
<p>Coming from Lord Louis, who was the favourite uncle of Prince Philip, that was quite something. So obviously I hooked up with the Prince – what was good enough for Lord Louis was good enough for him.</p>
<p>So, already, we have Savile, a notorious pedophile linked to other individuals of the Royal Family named as pedophiles as well. Prince Philip, of course, is Prince Charles’ father. Lord Mountbatten is&#160; <a href="" type="internal">largely considered Charles’ mentor</a>.</p>
<p>Savile was indeed close to British Royals as well as other elites for many years. It seems his qualification for such high connections were mainly due to his ability to obtain children for the twisted appetites of those considered beyond reproach for the mainstream media and, unfortunately, the general public.</p>
<p>Savile himself seemed to hint at this possibility in an interview conducted with Esquire&#160; <a href="http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/73851-jimmy-savile-doorman-to-the-cesspit" type="external">where he stated</a>, “The thing about me is I get things done and I work deep cover.”</p>
<p>Savile’s ridiculous television show (created for the sole purpose of enhancing his access to children) was thus appropriately named,&#160;Jim’ll Fix It. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the public were&#160; <a href="http://wtfrly.com/2012/11/01/jimmy-savile-pedophile-network-story-encompasses-bbc-the-royal-family-parliament-jersey-netherlands-crickets-from-us-media/#.UKUDU2e8HTo" type="external">completely unaware</a>&#160;as to what he was fixing and who he was fixing it for.</p>
<p>Essentially, it is clear that Jimmy Savile was a procurer of children not only for himself but also for wealthy pedophiles all across the world, particularly in Britain. Even Savile’s own nephew has&#160; <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2213636/Uncle-Jimmy-took-sick-parties-Nephew-tells-childhood-stolen-13.html" type="external">recently gone public with information</a>&#160;tying Savile to a network of pedophiles and sick sexual parties where children were repeatedly raped. Guy Marsden, Savile’s nephew, also stated that the parties were attended by household names in show business.</p>
<p>However, as is being widely reported in the news, Savile’s escapades of pedophilia were by no means limited to parties with the elite of entertainment. Many of his attacks on children took place in the halls of the hospitals and charities he helped fund and operate, even residing in his own personal room at two of these institutions. At this point, it is worth noting that Savile and Prince Charles are open “supporters” of the same charities.</p>
<p>Savile’s Cottage in Glencoe, where he hosted Charles for private dining.</p>
<p>Apparently, Prince Charles and the Pedophile did have some similar tastes, some of which were even reported by the mainstream media. In 1999, after the Prince accepted Savile’s invitation to a private meal at Savile’s home in Glencoe, Scotland, Savile had arranged for three women to parade around dressed in pinafores, a type of dress without sleeves and an open back that is often worn over other dresses. Interestingly enough, pinafores were often worn by children.After the dinner, Charles wrote Savile a Christmas Card with a note that read, “Jimmy, with affectionate greetings from Charles. Give my love to your ladies in Scotland.”</p>
<p>Of course, the mainstream is certain that Charles is referring to the local women brought in for the Royal entertainment. However, unless the hired help made an exceptional impression upon the mind of Charles, one must wonder whether or not these particular ladies are the “ladies” to which Charles is referring in his Christmas note. After all,&#160; <a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4608212/Savile-lair-raided-amid-fears-20-abused-there.html" type="external">Savile’s Scottish cottage</a>&#160;was also the scene of much child abuse as well.</p>
<p>Later, Charles sent Savile a box of cigars and a pair of gold cufflinks on his 80th birthday along with another note that cryptically read, “Nobody will ever know what you have done for this country Jimmy. This is to go some way in thanking you for that.” Fortunately, many are now aware of what Jimmy has done for his country. Clearly, it would be best if they are given the full story along with it.</p>
<p>This is not likely to happen, however, as global pedophile rings are generally made up of some of&#160; <a href="http://www.activistpost.com/2012/11/child-sex-rings-reveal-worst-of-power.html" type="external">the most elite individuals</a>&#160;the world over. This is particularly relevant when it comes to any questions regarding the behavior of the Royal Prince. At any moment when there is a chance that information might be leaked that would be damaging to the reputation of genetic royalty, the documents are sealed, the whistleblowers are dealt with, and the controversy covered up.Some have even&#160; <a href="http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread893741/pg1" type="external">speculated</a>&#160;that Princess Diana sealed her own fate after threatening to reveal networks of pedophilia within the Royal family. Indeed, Diana did&#160; <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1574893/Diana-feared-being-bugged-by-dark-forces.html" type="external">speak of “dark forces”</a>&#160;and members of an “organization” that were monitoring her shortly before her death.For instance, when it appeared that the so-called&#160; <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/18/charles-letters-won-t-be-released.html" type="external">Black Spider Memos</a>, a series of letters written by Charles to government ministers, would damage the perception of Charles’ impartiality if he were to become king, then memos were immediately blocked by the British government. Indeed, it would be extremely interesting to see the contents of the letters, since, in reality, the impartiality of the king is truly irrelevant in the grand scheme of British society and government.What is particularly interesting is that the letters are being blocked from release now, as the biggest pedophilia scandal in British history is unfolding – specifically, at a time when one of the main focal points of the scandal, Jimmy Savile, was a close friend of the Prince. Even more so, it comes at a time when&#160; <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2224167/Former-Minister-says-Thatcher-aide-paedophile-preyed-boys-home--Hague-known.html#ixzz2Aa8u9Rw4" type="external">British government officials are also being implicated</a>&#160;in pedophilia networks.</p>
<p>For those who may still be under the impression that pedophilia is a crime beyond the capabilities of British politicians, take a look at this <a href="http://www.cuttingthroughthematrix.com/articles/Partial_List_of_Convicted_British_Paedo_Politicians.html" type="external">partial compilation of British politicians convicted of pedophilia</a>&#160;in recent years.But, while the connections between Prince Charles and the Pedophile Jimmy Savile are themselves enough to make one wonder, the fact is that Savile is not the only relationship with a potential pedophile that Charles has maintained.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/336775" type="external">As reported by the Digital Journal</a>, the Right Reverend Peter Ball is the most senior member of the Church of England to be arrested for offenses against children.&#160; <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/retired-bishop-peter-ball-held-in-child-sex-abuse-investigation-8312658.html" type="external">Ball was arrested</a>&#160;on eight suspected cases of abuse against boys and young men ranging from ages 12 to 20 during the 1980s to 1990s. Ball, who was the former Bishop of Gloucester, resigned in 1993 after he was served with a police caution for “committing an act of gross indecency against a teenager.”</p>
<p>Upon his resignation, Ball retired to Manor Lodge, “a wisteria-clad property owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.” Manor Lodge is a property of the Prince’s Duchy of Cornwall.In reference to his new living arrangements, Ball stated, “He (Prince Charles) has been wonderfully kind and allowed me to have a duchy house. The prince is a loyal friend. I have immense admiration for him, he has been through horrific times and is a great person.”Considering the connections and personal friendships maintained by Prince Charles, one must question whether or not Charles himself has had some experience in the underworld of pedophilia. At the very least, the Prince is the absolute worst judge of character who ever lived.</p>
<p>What is also very interesting regarding the people named in these child sex scandals and the scope of the scandals themselves, is that the individuals who have been trying their best to bring this information to light have been ignored and derided for years on end. This has been the case whether the individuals were whistleblowers, researchers, or even victims themselves.</p>
<p>For instance, while much of mainstream Britain has had quite a time laughing at David Icke, suddenly his claims do not seem so fantastic and funny after all. Indeed, it was Icke who mentioned the global cabal of pedophiles and even many of the participants in them by name many years ago. While his voice was scarcely heard above the laughter at the time, he is, at the very least, on the record as having exposed these networks early on.As for Icke’s remarks regarding the scandal today,&#160; <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLKue5KQI68" type="external">he had this to say on November 7, 2012</a>.</p>
<p>This guy, William Hague, the foreign Secretary, needs to be questioned on why that Welsh inquiry into the massive pedophilia in Welsh children’s homes was given the brief that it did and therefore stopped these kids from talking about what happened to them. And this is the big thing. If the police investigation does not knock on the door of Buckingham Palace over this whole Savile [case] and the wider implications that have followed then it’s a cover up. Because the British Royal family are fundamentally involved in this right to the top. Right up to the people like Prince Philip and all these other people . . . . . This man [Savile] was an aging sleazy disc jockey, right? And he had complete access to the British Royal family AND they used him as an official go-between [with] Prince Charles and Princess Diana when they were falling out in their marriage. And now it’s come out this week that he was advising Prince Charles on aids to employ. Why is this man so close or was so close to the British Royal Family? The answer to that will bring the British Royal family down.</p>
<p>Considering Icke’s accuracy in terms of information on this particular issue, perhaps it would be wise if those who heard him speak years ago might take him a little more serious the second time around.</p>
<p>Brandon Turbeville is an author out of Florence, South Carolina. He has a Bachelor’s Degree from Francis Marion University and is the author of three books,&#160; <a href="http://www.thebookpatch.com/BookStoreDetails.aspx?BookID=829&amp;ID=e78aa577-49b0-493b-aa44-c84db9d0c8cf" type="external">Codex Alimentarius — The End of Health Freedom</a>,&#160; <a href="http://www.thebookpatch.com/BookStoreDetails.aspx?BookID=2235&amp;ID=c3a655cd-5dc7-421a-8a8b-cf74c194ffc5" type="external">7 Real Conspiracies</a>, and&#160; <a href="http://www.thebookpatch.com/BookStoreDetails.aspx?BookID=2800&amp;ID=155692ca-65ff-418c-b267-5ea8549d93a7" type="external">Five Sense Solutions</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="http://www.activistpost.com/2012/05/dispatches-from-dissident-articles-from.html" type="external">Dispatches From a Dissident</a>. Turbeville has published over 175 articles dealing on a wide variety of subjects including health, economics, government corruption, and civil liberties. Brandon Turbeville’s podcast Truth on The Tracks can be found every Monday night 9 pm EST at&#160; <a href="http://ucy.tv/TT" type="external">UCYTV</a>. He is available for radio and TV interviews. Please contact activistpost (at) gmail.com. RELATED: <a href="" type="internal">JIMMY SAVILE – DOORMAN TO THE CESSPIT OF CHILD ABUSE</a></p>
<p>READ MORE ROYAL SCANDALS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Royal Files</a></p>
<p>SUPPORT OUR&#160;WORK BY SUBSCRIBING &amp; BECOMING A MEMBER&#160; <a href="https://21wire.tv/membership/plans/" type="external">@21WIRE.TV</a></p> | true | 4 | brandon turbeville sleuth journal fresh heels fallout revelations regarding former bbc entertainer jimmy savile unbelievably sickening innumerable instances child molestation well look way approach taken bbc questions emerging regards connection savile british royalty notably160prince charles least questions emerging sir jim good friend charles dubbed mentor princess diana unfortunately however british mainstream media deeming prince charles rest ilk positions power perceived genetic royalty beyond reproach approach typical expected yet also highly ironic considering fact position mainstream media took allegations jimmy savile many years according biographer catherine mayer prince charles trusted jimmy savile everything marriage guidance checking speeches result savile affair mainstream outlets particularly bbc lot egg faces areas credibility respect short connections placing prince charles uncompromising position regarding connections savile potential sharing penchant unnatural relationships children completely ignored officially covered although prince charles friendship jimmy savile160 allegedly begun two met 1970s160during course working childrens wheelchair sports charities wellknown extent prince pedophile connected appears go much deeper mainstream media reports let course two come contact charity event disabled farfetched even reported corporate outlets using childrens charities hunting ground cover true motives notorious method used savile actually lived in160 childrens homes160and160 hospitals160so closer victims method means specific savile however many sexual predators pedophiles know exactly areas society involved careers pursue order gain access victims jerry sandusky stands perfect example clarence house prince charles spokesman declined comment much relationship savile charles claiming relationship mostly result shared interest supporting disability charities supporting charities indeed course savile much supporting disability charities unless one places serial child rape much different category average person might indeed one would judged place question whether untold numbers sexually assaulted children thoroughly cancels financial support may given past apparently view british royalty fact child molester savile enjoyed unbelievable level access royal family past 40 years instance late 1980s savile said have160 acted type marriage counselor160between charles diana visiting residence several times visits dickie arbiter took care media relations prince princess 1988 2000 stated visits saviles behavior uncouth say least arbiter stated would walk office rounds young ladies taking hands rubbing lips way arms wearing short sleeves summer arms bare bottom lip would curl would run arms st jamess palace women mid late 20s typing secretarial work savile brought private marital affairs royals order help duchess york sarah ferguson matters disclosed public savile later claimed brought help fergie keep profile obviously relationship forged charles savile went far beyond two men merely performed charity work organizations evidenced fact 1990 charles even160 consulted savile advice160on appointment senior aide princess diana relationship charles savile particularly saviles access royal familys affairs respect afforded savile regard confused many onlookers savile nothing bbc presenter disc jockey well past prime mention fact savile well known uncontrollable freak although many impression saviles television persona merely part schtick yet clues princes friendship pedophile might similar interests entertainment mere happenstance relationship although evidence connects prince charles pedophilia nowhere near documented jimmy savile trail information certainly seems leading direction point mentioned although official line savile charles met 1970s part coincidence mutual charity work savile stated friends royal family million years fact reported savile actually stated introduced royals 1966 lord mountbatten known160 pedophile sexual pervert addition mountbatten however greg hallett book160 hitler british agent also names prince philip pedophile reference became introduced ingratiated royal family savile stated coming lord louis favourite uncle prince philip quite something obviously hooked prince good enough lord louis good enough already savile notorious pedophile linked individuals royal family named pedophiles well prince philip course prince charles father lord mountbatten is160 largely considered charles mentor savile indeed close british royals well elites many years seems qualification high connections mainly due ability obtain children twisted appetites considered beyond reproach mainstream media unfortunately general public savile seemed hint possibility interview conducted esquire160 stated thing get things done work deep cover saviles ridiculous television show created sole purpose enhancing access children thus appropriately named160jimll fix unfortunately vast majority public were160 completely unaware160as fixing fixing essentially clear jimmy savile procurer children also wealthy pedophiles across world particularly britain even saviles nephew has160 recently gone public information160tying savile network pedophiles sick sexual parties children repeatedly raped guy marsden saviles nephew also stated parties attended household names show business however widely reported news saviles escapades pedophilia means limited parties elite entertainment many attacks children took place halls hospitals charities helped fund operate even residing personal room two institutions point worth noting savile prince charles open supporters charities saviles cottage glencoe hosted charles private dining apparently prince charles pedophile similar tastes even reported mainstream media 1999 prince accepted saviles invitation private meal saviles home glencoe scotland savile arranged three women parade around dressed pinafores type dress without sleeves open back often worn dresses interestingly enough pinafores often worn childrenafter dinner charles wrote savile christmas card note read jimmy affectionate greetings charles give love ladies scotland course mainstream certain charles referring local women brought royal entertainment however unless hired help made exceptional impression upon mind charles one must wonder whether particular ladies ladies charles referring christmas note all160 saviles scottish cottage160was also scene much child abuse well later charles sent savile box cigars pair gold cufflinks 80th birthday along another note cryptically read nobody ever know done country jimmy go way thanking fortunately many aware jimmy done country clearly would best given full story along likely happen however global pedophile rings generally made of160 elite individuals160the world particularly relevant comes questions regarding behavior royal prince moment chance information might leaked would damaging reputation genetic royalty documents sealed whistleblowers dealt controversy covered upsome even160 speculated160that princess diana sealed fate threatening reveal networks pedophilia within royal family indeed diana did160 speak dark forces160and members organization monitoring shortly deathfor instance appeared socalled160 black spider memos series letters written charles government ministers would damage perception charles impartiality become king memos immediately blocked british government indeed would extremely interesting see contents letters since reality impartiality king truly irrelevant grand scheme british society governmentwhat particularly interesting letters blocked release biggest pedophilia scandal british history unfolding specifically time one main focal points scandal jimmy savile close friend prince even comes time when160 british government officials also implicated160in pedophilia networks may still impression pedophilia crime beyond capabilities british politicians take look partial compilation british politicians convicted pedophilia160in recent yearsbut connections prince charles pedophile jimmy savile enough make one wonder fact savile relationship potential pedophile charles maintained reported digital journal right reverend peter ball senior member church england arrested offenses children160 ball arrested160on eight suspected cases abuse boys young men ranging ages 12 20 1980s 1990s ball former bishop gloucester resigned 1993 served police caution committing act gross indecency teenager upon resignation ball retired manor lodge wisteriaclad property owned duchy cornwall manor lodge property princes duchy cornwallin reference new living arrangements ball stated prince charles wonderfully kind allowed duchy house prince loyal friend immense admiration horrific times great personconsidering connections personal friendships maintained prince charles one must question whether charles experience underworld pedophilia least prince absolute worst judge character ever lived also interesting regarding people named child sex scandals scope scandals individuals trying best bring information light ignored derided years end case whether individuals whistleblowers researchers even victims instance much mainstream britain quite time laughing david icke suddenly claims seem fantastic funny indeed icke mentioned global cabal pedophiles even many participants name many years ago voice scarcely heard laughter time least record exposed networks early onas ickes remarks regarding scandal today160 say november 7 2012 guy william hague foreign secretary needs questioned welsh inquiry massive pedophilia welsh childrens homes given brief therefore stopped kids talking happened big thing police investigation knock door buckingham palace whole savile case wider implications followed cover british royal family fundamentally involved right top right people like prince philip people man savile aging sleazy disc jockey right complete access british royal family used official gobetween prince charles princess diana falling marriage come week advising prince charles aids employ man close close british royal family answer bring british royal family considering ickes accuracy terms information particular issue perhaps would wise heard speak years ago might take little serious second time around brandon turbeville author florence south carolina bachelors degree francis marion university author three books160 codex alimentarius end health freedom160 7 real conspiracies and160 five sense solutions160and160 dispatches dissident turbeville published 175 articles dealing wide variety subjects including health economics government corruption civil liberties brandon turbevilles podcast truth tracks found every monday night 9 pm est at160 ucytv available radio tv interviews please contact activistpost gmailcom related jimmy savile doorman cesspit child abuse read royal scandals 21st century wire royal files support our160work subscribing amp becoming member160 21wiretv | 1,423 |
<p>Just a few weeks ago, <a href="" type="internal">Chick-Fil-A</a> was just another fast food joint, and certainly not one at the center of the marriage equality debate. Sure, activists in the know were well aware of the Christian identified company’s homophobic tendencies as their foundation pumped serious coinage into the coffers of some of the more notoriously and virulently anti-gay entities hell-bent on making people unhappy and actively seeking to deny them their rights (if not torture, bully them or drive them to suicide).</p>
<p>After being confronted about the ramifications of his company’ support for bigotry under the guise of traditional marriage, the company’s president, Dan Cathy — one of those deluded men who genuinely believes his heterosexual propensity for pussy makes him superior somehow, qualifying him to cherry-pick portions of the bible that nourish his hate and bigotry – rather than distance his company from his personally held hatred, declared Chick-Fil-A “guilty as charged.”</p>
<p>The New Civil Rights Movement editor, David Badash, who has been covering the increasingly polarizing issue from the outset, <a href="" type="internal">observes the mixed results</a> as “big city mayors from San Francisco to Boston to Chicago to New York have all weighed in on banning Chick-Fil-A from their cities.”</p>
<p>And we can debate whether it’s appropriate for mayors or politicians to get involved, just like we did when politicians decided that despite the American constitution, it was okay to violate the First Amendment rights of Muslim Americans from building a community center in downtown Manhattan because it might irrationally upset people. There’s no harm in them expressing their disgust. Denying Chick-Fil-A permits to do business in the absence of demonstrably prejudicial hiring practices or conduct, however, is an overreaction, and frankly, a big mistake.</p>
<p>Some (my own friends included), flummoxed by the boycott, have been asking questions such as: “Can I eat there without supporting their position?…. like you eating a pork chop doesn’t affect me as a Jew ….and does not make you anti-Semitic.”</p>
<p>You can’t separate the two. Eating a pork chop doesn’t affect anyone other than the eater and the pig (unless you bought the pork chop at Chick-Fil-A).</p>
<p>Christian beliefs — not all, but particularly those selectively applied as relating to sexual orientation, (since adultery and children born out of wedlock or eating shellfish are somehow more forgivable, despite the Bible spelling out equally dire consequences) — are about specifically and deliberately denying rights to a group of people for who they are.</p>
<p>Most believe that one’s sexual orientation is not a choice, and despite it being a legitimate social choice, let’s go with that for now – (think carefully — do you remember choosing to be straight?)</p>
<p>Eating at Chick-Fil-A — actively giving money to and supporting a company that in turn gives significant sums of money to groups that perpetrate ugly and unconscionable acts (like electrocute children showing signs of gender non-conformity, or spread vile and baseless rumors that are so hurtful and damaging to young people, the suicide rate among gay and lesbian teens is significantly higher than those of their straight counterparts), makes you complicit in that, even if that’s not how you feel or what you believe.</p>
<p>Imagine if instead of gay people, Chick-Fil-A decided to give money to organizations that sought to demonize Hispanics and deny them the same rights that everyone else enjoys on simply the way they were born.</p>
<p>Or if their foundation was giving money to anti-Semitic organizations that exported hatred in the form of books and programs to countries like Syria or Saudi Arabia, where they were used to enact legislation that criminalized Judaism and punished those even supporting Jews to long hard prison sentences and the death penalty. Because that’s exactly what the organizations that Chick-Fil-A is actively financing are doing.</p>
<p>So while the President of Chick-Fil-A is entitled to his personal beliefs, as ugly, judgmental and dangerous as they may be, and when confronted about the accusations — in the name of his company — deemed the company “guilty as charged,” he made a choice, and threw down a gauntlet.</p>
<p>And in so doing, he changed the conversation and dynamic from being about whether he is entitled to his own personal beliefs, to actively directing profits from his company to destroy and deny basic rights to a whole group of people, who like everyone else in the country, are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, many of whom in the service of their country, and protecting those ideals, are willing to put their lives on the line to ensure them.</p>
<p>And so even if you’re straight and love Chick-Fil-A, you have a choice, and ultimately it requires making a sacrifice. You can’t pretend that spending money there doesn’t support the dangerous organizations that the company actively funds and sponsors.</p>
<p>There’s no way to spin this other than to acknowledge that you’re choosing to support a hateful and dangerous agenda in every bite of a Chicken-Fil-A meal you choose to eat.</p>
<p>And unlike the sexual orientation of the millions Dan Cathy despises and deems himself superior to, the choice is yours.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Clinton Fein</a> is an internationally acclaimed author, artist, and First Amendment activist, best-known for his 1997 First Amendment Supreme Court victory against United States Attorney General Janet Reno. Fein has also gained international recognition for his <a href="http://www.annoy.com/" type="external">Annoy.com</a> site, and for his work as a political artist. Fein is on the Board of Directors of the <a href="http://www.thefirstamendment.org/" type="external">First Amendment Project</a>, “a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to protecting and promoting freedom of information, expression, and petition.” Fein’s political and privacy activism have been widely covered around the world. His work also led him to be nominated for a 2001 PEN/Newman’s Own First Amendment Award.</p>
<p>Tagged as: <a href="" type="internal">Bigotry</a>, <a href="" type="internal">chick fil a</a>, <a href="" type="internal">chicken</a>, <a href="" type="internal">dan cathy</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Gay</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Hate</a>, <a href="" type="internal">homophobia</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Marriage</a></p>
<p>Friends:</p>
<p>We invite you to <a href="http://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001whLQo73KzGhEjdskYG07rHNy_XoDDkSBBO4INZHx6oD9kfp2yeeQAJeMQUu9oTviZa0VEl5k0rNiLifxlZsOFScMz8rVGmIaN-FFOO3GTKc%3D" type="external">sign up for our new mailing list</a>, and&#160; <a href="http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailverify?uri=TheNewCivilRightsMovement&amp;amp;loc=en_US" type="external">subscribe to The New Civil Rights Movement via email</a> or <a href="http://feeds2.feedburner.com/thenewcivilrightsmovement" type="external">RSS</a>.</p>
<p>Also, please&#160; <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-New-Civil-Rights-Movement/358168880614" type="external">like us on Facebook</a>, and <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/gaycivilrights" type="external">follow us on Twitter</a>!</p> | true | 4 | weeks ago chickfila another fast food joint certainly one center marriage equality debate sure activists know well aware christian identified companys homophobic tendencies foundation pumped serious coinage coffers notoriously virulently antigay entities hellbent making people unhappy actively seeking deny rights torture bully drive suicide confronted ramifications company support bigotry guise traditional marriage companys president dan cathy one deluded men genuinely believes heterosexual propensity pussy makes superior somehow qualifying cherrypick portions bible nourish hate bigotry rather distance company personally held hatred declared chickfila guilty charged new civil rights movement editor david badash covering increasingly polarizing issue outset observes mixed results big city mayors san francisco boston chicago new york weighed banning chickfila cities debate whether appropriate mayors politicians get involved like politicians decided despite american constitution okay violate first amendment rights muslim americans building community center downtown manhattan might irrationally upset people theres harm expressing disgust denying chickfila permits business absence demonstrably prejudicial hiring practices conduct however overreaction frankly big mistake friends included flummoxed boycott asking questions eat without supporting position like eating pork chop doesnt affect jew make antisemitic cant separate two eating pork chop doesnt affect anyone eater pig unless bought pork chop chickfila christian beliefs particularly selectively applied relating sexual orientation since adultery children born wedlock eating shellfish somehow forgivable despite bible spelling equally dire consequences specifically deliberately denying rights group people believe ones sexual orientation choice despite legitimate social choice lets go think carefully remember choosing straight eating chickfila actively giving money supporting company turn gives significant sums money groups perpetrate ugly unconscionable acts like electrocute children showing signs gender nonconformity spread vile baseless rumors hurtful damaging young people suicide rate among gay lesbian teens significantly higher straight counterparts makes complicit even thats feel believe imagine instead gay people chickfila decided give money organizations sought demonize hispanics deny rights everyone else enjoys simply way born foundation giving money antisemitic organizations exported hatred form books programs countries like syria saudi arabia used enact legislation criminalized judaism punished even supporting jews long hard prison sentences death penalty thats exactly organizations chickfila actively financing president chickfila entitled personal beliefs ugly judgmental dangerous may confronted accusations name company deemed company guilty charged made choice threw gauntlet changed conversation dynamic whether entitled personal beliefs actively directing profits company destroy deny basic rights whole group people like everyone else country entitled life liberty pursuit happiness many service country protecting ideals willing put lives line ensure even youre straight love chickfila choice ultimately requires making sacrifice cant pretend spending money doesnt support dangerous organizations company actively funds sponsors theres way spin acknowledge youre choosing support hateful dangerous agenda every bite chickenfila meal choose eat unlike sexual orientation millions dan cathy despises deems superior choice 160 clinton fein internationally acclaimed author artist first amendment activist bestknown 1997 first amendment supreme court victory united states attorney general janet reno fein also gained international recognition annoycom site work political artist fein board directors first amendment project nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated protecting promoting freedom information expression petition feins political privacy activism widely covered around world work also led nominated 2001 pennewmans first amendment award tagged bigotry chick fil chicken dan cathy gay hate homophobia marriage friends invite sign new mailing list and160 subscribe new civil rights movement via email rss also please160 like us facebook follow us twitter | 550 |
<p />
<p>We, the Alliance of Middle Eastern Socialists, support the popular protests in Iran and call on progressives in the region and throughout the world to stand in solidarity with them as well. We believe it is an absolute necessity to build regional and global solidarity with anti-authoritarian struggles for democracy, social justice and equality, and to oppose patriarchy, racism, sectarian or homophobic discrimination and prejudice. We hope that the current protests in Iran will force the Iranian regime to withdraw its military and financial support for the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria, and to end its reactionary interventions in the region. We also hope that the efforts by some elements to inject anti-Arab chauvinism into the movement will be rejected in order to reach out to grassroots struggles across the region.</p>
<p />
<p>An Alternative to the Politics of “National Security” Emerges</p>
<p>Days of protests in Iran have caught statesmen, analysts and observers by surprise, even though the anti-austerity and anti-establishment sentiments behind this primarily working-class revolt have been brewing for years. All the same, surprise is not a common reaction across the media.</p>
<p />
<p>Many protests were about basic economics – unemployment or low pay, high prices for basic foodstuffs like eggs – but there have also been reports about political aspects to the protests.</p>
<p />
<p>Since Thursday December 28 the Iranian people have engaged in extensive protests against the government of religious despotism in Iran. These protests have continued in full force in tens of Iranian cities, from north to south and from east to west of the country. The protests started with slogans against poverty, rising prices and unemployment, and in no time attacked the entire Islamic Republic as the prime destroyer of people’s lives.</p>
<p />
<p>Below we print a summary of a longer article by two Iranian socialists who are opposed to Iran’s military intervention in Syria.&#160; Their article is followed by a response from Frieda Afary and Joseph Daher.</p>
<p />
<p>Five years after the beginning of the popular Syrian Revolution which demanded democracy and human rights, the Syrian revolutionaries have been decimated through the combined military force of the Assad Regime, the Iranian regime with its sectarian militias, Russian air strikes and military assistance on the one hand, and the ultra-terrorist ISIS and other Salafist – Jihadist organizations on the other hand. &#160; Nevertheless a partial reduction of airstrikes by Russia and the Assad regime in early March led to an immediate revival of mass protests of the democratic opposition across the country with banners such as the following in Idlib:&#160; “Our peaceful revolution is still in progress until toppling Assad and imposing justice all over Syria.”</p>
<p>Mahmoud Beheshti Langroodi has been on hunger strike in Evin prison since November 26, 2015. His health has severely been deteriorated but he has refused to stop his hunger strike.</p>
<p>In a statement from Evin Prison on December 2, 2015, Mr.&#160;Beheshti Langroodi announced: “I hereby declare: I, Mahmoud Beheshti Langroodi, who have spent 25 years of my life teaching children of this land, and have more than 15 years of trade union activities in support of our esteemed teachers, have been on hunger strike since Thursday, November 26, 2015 (Azar 5, 1394), to protest against an unjust verdict of “9 year imprisonment” by Judge Salavati in a trial that lasted a few minutes, hoping that authorities, especially judicial authorities, after hearing my cry for justice, take actions ‘to vacate the prison sentence until a judicial review by a competent court with a jury is conducted&#160;publically’.”</p>
<p>(NOTE: For some background, see my previous article: <a href="http://www.solidarity-us.org/node/4058" type="external">www.solidarity-us.org/node/4058</a> in Against the Current, January-February 2014.)</p>
<p>AUGUST 19 -- Even while the rhetoric around the P5+1 nuclear deal with Iran seems to be reaching reactor-grade “critical” level, signs are emerging that the fix just may be quietly in.</p>
<p>Of course Congress should endorse the Iran deal. The renunciation of the agreement by Congress would have disastrous consequences for the Middle East, empowering warmongers everywhere, but especially in Washington, Tel Aviv, and Tehran.</p>
<p>There are three motives driving opponents of the deal.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; In much of the global south, teachers are leaders of their communities.&#160; In Iran, <a href="http://www.teachersolidarity.com/blog/iranian-teachers-face-imminent-execution" type="external">two teachers are in mortal danger</a> because they have defended their community’s religious freedom.&#160; <a href="http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE13/053/2013/en/4a9edc82-4c09-40ad-8d03-4d817ceda6a1/mde130532013en.pdf" type="external">Amnesty International has sent an alert for urgent action</a> to defend them. I’ve sent an email message, reproduced below.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>They aim to bring recalcitrant tyrants to their senses, to put an end to their external as well as internal malefaction. With surgical precision, they pull the noose ever closer around the tyrant’s neck, so that in hopeless despair he is compelled to behave reasonably in foreign affairs while, enfeebled, he lifts his bloodied hands from the throat of the oppressed people. It is a morally justified decapitation of evil, the salutary removal of a swelling tumor.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; Havaar: Iranian Initiative Against War, Sanctions and State Repression is a grassroots group of Iranians, Iranian-Americans and allies who have joined together to categorically oppose any military action and the U.S.-led sanctions against Iran. They stand in solidarity with the Iranian people’s struggle against war and sanctions and against state repression; all of these forms of violence, they insist, hurt the lives and aspirations of ordinary Iranians.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160; &#160; &#160; &#160;According to the Israeli government, two Iranian warships plan to sail through the Suez canal en route to Syria. Israel's foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110216/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_iran" type="external">declared</a> that "this is a provocation that proves that Iranian audacity and insolence are increasing." The international community, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/16/us-israel-iran-warships-idUSTRE71F4NW20110216" type="external">warned</a> Lieberman, "must understand that Israel cannot forever ignore these provocations."</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>We, the undersigned, oppose the U.S.-led campaign to impose harsher sanctions on Iran, and the ongoing threat of war against that country. Despite Washington’s claims, its policy is clearly not animated by a genuine concern for protecting the world from the threat of nuclear war; otherwise how could Washington support such nuclear-armed states as India, Israel, and Pakistan, or maintain its own huge nuclear arsenal? Nor is U.S. policy driven by the goal of defending democracy.</p>
<p>New Politics readers and friends are invited to sign the Campaign for Peace and Democracy statement "End the War Threats and Sanctions Program Against Iran - Support the Struggle for Democracy Inside Iran." The statement is being circulated widely in the United States and internationally. To sign on or see the evolving list of signers go to <a href="http://www.cpdweb.org/stmts/1015/stmt.shtml" type="external">http://www.cpdweb.org/stmts/1015/stmt.shtml</a>.Joanne Landy and Thomas Harrison, Co-Directors, CPD, [email protected]. The statement along with a selected list of signers is below:</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | alliance middle eastern socialists support popular protests iran call progressives region throughout world stand solidarity well believe absolute necessity build regional global solidarity antiauthoritarian struggles democracy social justice equality oppose patriarchy racism sectarian homophobic discrimination prejudice hope current protests iran force iranian regime withdraw military financial support murderous regime bashar alassad syria end reactionary interventions region also hope efforts elements inject antiarab chauvinism movement rejected order reach grassroots struggles across region alternative politics national security emerges days protests iran caught statesmen analysts observers surprise even though antiausterity antiestablishment sentiments behind primarily workingclass revolt brewing years surprise common reaction across media many protests basic economics unemployment low pay high prices basic foodstuffs like eggs also reports political aspects protests since thursday december 28 iranian people engaged extensive protests government religious despotism iran protests continued full force tens iranian cities north south east west country protests started slogans poverty rising prices unemployment time attacked entire islamic republic prime destroyer peoples lives print summary longer article two iranian socialists opposed irans military intervention syria160 article followed response frieda afary joseph daher five years beginning popular syrian revolution demanded democracy human rights syrian revolutionaries decimated combined military force assad regime iranian regime sectarian militias russian air strikes military assistance one hand ultraterrorist isis salafist jihadist organizations hand 160 nevertheless partial reduction airstrikes russia assad regime early march led immediate revival mass protests democratic opposition across country banners following idlib160 peaceful revolution still progress toppling assad imposing justice syria mahmoud beheshti langroodi hunger strike evin prison since november 26 2015 health severely deteriorated refused stop hunger strike statement evin prison december 2 2015 mr160beheshti langroodi announced hereby declare mahmoud beheshti langroodi spent 25 years life teaching children land 15 years trade union activities support esteemed teachers hunger strike since thursday november 26 2015 azar 5 1394 protest unjust verdict 9 year imprisonment judge salavati trial lasted minutes hoping authorities especially judicial authorities hearing cry justice take actions vacate prison sentence judicial review competent court jury conducted160publically note background see previous article wwwsolidarityusorgnode4058 current januaryfebruary 2014 august 19 even rhetoric around p51 nuclear deal iran seems reaching reactorgrade critical level signs emerging fix may quietly course congress endorse iran deal renunciation agreement congress would disastrous consequences middle east empowering warmongers everywhere especially washington tel aviv tehran three motives driving opponents deal 160160160160160160160160 much global south teachers leaders communities160 iran two teachers mortal danger defended communitys religious freedom160 amnesty international sent alert urgent action defend ive sent email message reproduced 160 aim bring recalcitrant tyrants senses put end external well internal malefaction surgical precision pull noose ever closer around tyrants neck hopeless despair compelled behave reasonably foreign affairs enfeebled lifts bloodied hands throat oppressed people morally justified decapitation evil salutary removal swelling tumor 160160160160160 havaar iranian initiative war sanctions state repression grassroots group iranians iranianamericans allies joined together categorically oppose military action usled sanctions iran stand solidarity iranian peoples struggle war sanctions state repression forms violence insist hurt lives aspirations ordinary iranians 160 160 160 160 160according israeli government two iranian warships plan sail suez canal en route syria israels foreign minister avigdor lieberman declared provocation proves iranian audacity insolence increasing international community warned lieberman must understand israel forever ignore provocations 160 undersigned oppose usled campaign impose harsher sanctions iran ongoing threat war country despite washingtons claims policy clearly animated genuine concern protecting world threat nuclear war otherwise could washington support nucleararmed states india israel pakistan maintain huge nuclear arsenal us policy driven goal defending democracy new politics readers friends invited sign campaign peace democracy statement end war threats sanctions program iran support struggle democracy inside iran statement circulated widely united states internationally sign see evolving list signers go httpwwwcpdweborgstmts1015stmtshtmljoanne landy thomas harrison codirectors cpd cpdigcorg statement along selected list signers 160 | 625 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />The National Security Agency has been the source of major controversy, thanks to the journalists writing critical stories based on files shared by whistleblower Edward Snowden. But the agency got a very different media reception from CBS correspondent John Miller, whose lengthy <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/nsa-speaks-out-on-snowden-spying/" type="external">December 15</a> 60 Minutes report looked more like PR than journalism.</p>
<p>Miller explained at the top of the segment: “Full disclosure, I once worked in the office of the Director of National Intelligence, where I saw firsthand how secretly the NSA operates.” (As with most “full disclosures,” this is hardly full; <a href="https://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/john-miller-named-assistant-director-office-of-public-affairs" type="external">Miller</a> has spent much of his career inside government, with roles ranging from serving as a spokesperson for the NYPD to directing public relations for the FBI.)</p>
<p>The first part of the segment was based heavily on interviews with NSA director Keith Alexander–beginning with Alexander saying that the NSA is “not collecting everybody’s email, we’re not collecting everybody’s phone things.” This is at best questionable; the New York Times ( <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/08/us/broader-sifting-of-data-abroad-is-seen-by-nsa.html" type="external">8/8/13</a>) reported that the NSA copies and sifts through most emails sent into or out of the country.</p>
<p>Miller followed up by noting that “there is a perception out there that the NSA is widely collecting the content of the phone calls of Americans.” But that is not what anyone has been reporting about the NSA; what critics are actually criticizing is the collection of metadata on phone calls, information on who people called and when (Guardian, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/nsa-phone-records-verizon-court-order" type="external">6/5/13</a>). As posed, Miller’s question only gave Alexander a chance to look like he’s debunking an important myth about the agency.</p>
<p>Miller reported that Alexander “agreed to talk to us because he believes the NSA has not told its story well.” &#160;That feeling seemed to be shared by CBS as well–that the NSA’s real problem is ineffective public relations. In a <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-did-60-minutes-get-cameras-into-a-spy-agency/" type="external">Web-only video interview</a> with Miller and the show’s producers, he says: “We’ve heard plenty from the critics. We’ve heard a lot from Edward Snowden.” Miller explained there was a “distinctive shortage” in getting the NSA’s side. So the need to hear the NSA director and to profile young NSA geniuses was more pressing than interviewing any of the agency’s many critics on camera.</p>
<p>It’s odd to suggest that the NSA hasn’t been given opportunities to rebut its critics. In fact, current and former NSA officials have been interviewed widely in the press and have testified before Congress. In Alexander’s case, he used to claim that NSA bulk phone records collection thwarted 50 terrorist plots; then he shifted that answer, and admitted that perhaps it was “one or possibly two” (FAIR Blog, <a href="" type="internal">10/4/13</a>).</p>
<p>That record of misleading the public means that Alexander should face tough questions. But on 60 Minutes, Alexander was given time to allege that other people have gotten things wrong. Some of the earliest reports (Guardian, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jun/06/us-tech-giants-nsa-data" type="external">6/6/13</a>; Washington Post, <a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-06-06/news/39784046_1_prism-nsa-u-s-servers" type="external">6/6/13</a>) based on the Snowden documents concerned PRISM, a program to tap into data centers of major private companies like Google and Facebook. On CBS, those reports were presented as false:</p>
<p>MILLER: One of the Snowden leaks involved the concept that NSA had tunneled into the foreign data centers of major US Internet providers. Did the leak describe it the right way?</p>
<p>ALEXANDER: No, that’s not correct. We do target terrorist communications. And terrorists use communications from Google, from Yahoo, and from other service providers. So our objective is to collect those communications no matter where they are. But we’re not going into a facility or targeting Google as an entity, or Yahoo as an entity. But we will collect those communications of terrorists that flow on that network.</p>
<p>What Alexander offered here was a classic non-denial denial, suggesting the stories are incorrect but, as reporter Barton Gellman noted on Twitter ( <a href="https://twitter.com/bartongellman/status/412409693345046528" type="external">12/15/13</a>), essentially confirming them. (To say that the NSA is not “targeting Google as an entity” does not mean that the agency is not collecting information on Google users.)</p>
<p>It was clear throughout that the 60 Minutes segment was intended to bolster the image of the agency. Miller told viewers that one agency meeting “is called the stand-up because no one sits down, which is almost a metaphor for the pace of daily life in the NSA operations center.” Miller went on to explain that “while Edward Snowden’s leaks have been a disaster for the agency, the rest of the NSA’s mission has not slowed down.”</p>
<p>The agency was eager to share success stories–like a sketchy story about a supposedly devastating computer virus plot (likely from China) that the NSA claims to have thwarted before it wreaked havoc on the American economy. But computer security expert Robert Graham (Errata Security, <a href="http://blog.erratasec.com/2013/12/how-we-know-60-minutes-nsa-interview.html#.Uq872PRDtqW" type="external">12/15/13</a>) derided the CBS report as “gibberish.”.</p>
<p>If the CBS segment seemed like PR, maybe it’s because that’s how it started out. In that &#160; <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-did-60-minutes-get-cameras-into-a-spy-agency/" type="external">Web-only video</a>, CBS explained that NSA chief Alexander “made the call to invite us in. He’s fighting for his programs right now.” And the video went on to note that a team of minders followed the CBS team throughout, and that Alexander asked to take “time outs” if he wasn’t sure how to answer a given question.</p>
<p>In the video, Miller said that he wanted to give the agency “a chance to make their case.” He has a habit of doing this; just weeks ago, he got exclusive access to outgoing CIA deputy director Mike Morell, and his report was more boosterism than journalism (FAIR Blog, <a href="" type="internal">10/29/13</a>). Perhaps unsurprisingly, Miller is reportedly planning on going back through the revolving door and resuming government work, being eyed for a top intelligence or counterterrorism job with the NYPD (Huffington Post, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/12/john-miller-nypd-cbs-news_n_4432385.html" type="external">12/12/13</a>).</p>
<p>Of the NSA report, Miller said he didn’t “want this to be a puff piece.” &#160;But by conducting softball interviews with agency officials and excluding the responses of their critics, that is exactly what CBS gave its viewers.</p>
<p>ACTION: Please let 60 Minutes know that their December 15 report, based on exclusive access to National Security Agency officials and excluding critics of the agency, was more PR than journalism.</p>
<p>CONTACT: CBS 60 Minutes <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a> Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/60Minutes" type="external">@60Minutes</a></p> | true | 4 | national security agency source major controversy thanks journalists writing critical stories based files shared whistleblower edward snowden agency got different media reception cbs correspondent john miller whose lengthy december 15 60 minutes report looked like pr journalism miller explained top segment full disclosure worked office director national intelligence saw firsthand secretly nsa operates full disclosures hardly full miller spent much career inside government roles ranging serving spokesperson nypd directing public relations fbi first part segment based heavily interviews nsa director keith alexanderbeginning alexander saying nsa collecting everybodys email collecting everybodys phone things best questionable new york times 8813 reported nsa copies sifts emails sent country miller followed noting perception nsa widely collecting content phone calls americans anyone reporting nsa critics actually criticizing collection metadata phone calls information people called guardian 6513 posed millers question gave alexander chance look like hes debunking important myth agency miller reported alexander agreed talk us believes nsa told story well 160that feeling seemed shared cbs wellthat nsas real problem ineffective public relations webonly video interview miller shows producers says weve heard plenty critics weve heard lot edward snowden miller explained distinctive shortage getting nsas side need hear nsa director profile young nsa geniuses pressing interviewing agencys many critics camera odd suggest nsa hasnt given opportunities rebut critics fact current former nsa officials interviewed widely press testified congress alexanders case used claim nsa bulk phone records collection thwarted 50 terrorist plots shifted answer admitted perhaps one possibly two fair blog 10413 record misleading public means alexander face tough questions 60 minutes alexander given time allege people gotten things wrong earliest reports guardian 6613 washington post 6613 based snowden documents concerned prism program tap data centers major private companies like google facebook cbs reports presented false miller one snowden leaks involved concept nsa tunneled foreign data centers major us internet providers leak describe right way alexander thats correct target terrorist communications terrorists use communications google yahoo service providers objective collect communications matter going facility targeting google entity yahoo entity collect communications terrorists flow network alexander offered classic nondenial denial suggesting stories incorrect reporter barton gellman noted twitter 121513 essentially confirming say nsa targeting google entity mean agency collecting information google users clear throughout 60 minutes segment intended bolster image agency miller told viewers one agency meeting called standup one sits almost metaphor pace daily life nsa operations center miller went explain edward snowdens leaks disaster agency rest nsas mission slowed agency eager share success storieslike sketchy story supposedly devastating computer virus plot likely china nsa claims thwarted wreaked havoc american economy computer security expert robert graham errata security 121513 derided cbs report gibberish cbs segment seemed like pr maybe thats started 160 webonly video cbs explained nsa chief alexander made call invite us hes fighting programs right video went note team minders followed cbs team throughout alexander asked take time outs wasnt sure answer given question video miller said wanted give agency chance make case habit weeks ago got exclusive access outgoing cia deputy director mike morell report boosterism journalism fair blog 102913 perhaps unsurprisingly miller reportedly planning going back revolving door resuming government work eyed top intelligence counterterrorism job nypd huffington post 121213 nsa report miller said didnt want puff piece 160but conducting softball interviews agency officials excluding responses critics exactly cbs gave viewers action please let 60 minutes know december 15 report based exclusive access national security agency officials excluding critics agency pr journalism contact cbs 60 minutes 60mcbsnewscom twitter 60minutes | 576 |
<p>So who wants to take a stab at explaining why Barack Obama couldn’t adjust his schedule to attend a <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2015/01/12/obama-should-have-sent-someone-to-paris.html" type="external">massive march in Paris</a> dedicated to the values of the Enlightenment, but somehow did manage to find a way to make exactly such a schedule change to pay his respects to a regime that is one of the most implacable foes of Enlightenment to be found on our morally creaky little planet?</p>
<p>For the trip he did make, to Saudi Arabia yesterday, he not only managed a schedule change but miraculously enough, the last-minute schedules of roughly 30 very important people—James Baker, Condi Rice, Susan Rice, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, John Brennan, John McCain—who <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/28/world/middleeast/obama-leading-a-high-powered-delegation-to-saudi-arabia.html" type="external">accompanied the president</a> to Riyadh, were also changed.</p>
<p>Now to be sure, I <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2015/01/12/obama-should-have-sent-someone-to-paris.html" type="external">wrote</a> that Obama should not have gone to Paris for security reasons. But I did say he should have sent his whole Cabinet. It’s apparently not so much that that couldn’t have been put together as it is that no one bothered to think of it. But when a Saudi king dies, by God, the White House pulls out all the stops and thinks of everything.</p>
<p>It was just a bit stomach-turning, wasn’t it, to watch Obama drop everything and go genuflect to these superannuated reactionaries who refuse to <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/michelle-obama-navigates-limits-women-saudi-arabia-192549108.html" type="external">shake his wife’s hand</a>. Ditto the experience of hearing his rather flaccid rationale for evidently not raising with his new highness, King Salman, either human rights generally or the case of blogger Raif Badawi specifically, which <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2015/01/09/in-defense-of-blasphemy.html" type="external">I wrote about two weeks ago.</a> Such discussion, the president <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/27/politics/obama-saudi-arabia-zakaria/index.html" type="external">told Fareed Zakaria,</a> “makes some of our allies uncomfortable. It makes them frustrated. And you know, some of them listen and some don’t.” It’s pretty clear which category the Saudis fall in.</p>
<p>It’s an awful regime. And lots of Americans, especially people on the left, say we should have nothing to do with it. But the world of foreign-policy making, especially in the Middle East, doesn’t leave much room for choices based on morality. There are two sides in the Middle East when you get right down to it. One side is Iran, Russia, Syria, and Hezbollah (and also, although in a different way, the <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2014/09/19/turkey-takes-in-terrorists-from-the-muslim-brotherhood.html" type="external">Muslim Brotherhood</a>). The other consists of various Sunni regimes and movements, some really radical and some merely run-of-the-mill radical, led by Saudi Arabia. And there’s no way not to choose.</p>
<p>People think the Saudi relationship is all about oil, and of course, that’s the historical basis of it all. Oil is still a big factor, but these days our dependence on Saudi oil has lessened while the crises that demand our attention have increased. If the United States absents itself from the region, it simply leaves a vacuum that will be filled by far more malign actors than us.</p>
<p>So we have to choose. And we’re certainly not going to choose Iran. Or… are we? I confess to wondering why Obama seems so set on getting this nuclear deal with Iran. I’m confused about what it’s supposed to accomplish. To ensure that Iran will use nuclear power only for peaceful purposes? You don’t have to be an Obama-hater to be skeptical of that idea. To bring Iran into the family of respectable nations? It’s going to need a lot more than this deal for that to happen. The best explanation is that the negotiations are essentially defensive—that is, if we weren’t negotiating with the Iranians, they’d just go off and develop the capacity without any global input or oversight, and eventually they’d have a nice little arsenal on their hands; and someday they’d even smuggle one or two warheads over to Lebanon. Hezbollah and Israel staring each other down with nuclear weapons on their backs is pretty much the single last thing the world needs. So Obama and his people feel that a deal is the best chance for peace in our time.</p>
<p>All right, that makes sense. But in the meantime, Obama’s determination to consummate this deal has already been costly. It’s basically the reason the administration vacillated for so long on helping the Syrian rebels, and why it still gets all contorted on the question of whether Bashar al-Assad’s ouster is or is not U.S. policy. The Syria policy has cost the United States huge amounts of trust and good will among the kinds of people in the region we want to have good will with.</p>
<p>Beyond a deal that’s essentially defensive in nature, does Obama really aim more generally to tilt away from Saudi Arabia and toward Iran? Given that we’ve been allies with the Saudis for 70-plus years and that Iran has been calling us the Great Satan for 35, that seems a nearly impossible maneuver to pull off. Especially at a time when we’re asking Saudi Arabia to play a key, maybe the key, role in the fight (which one presumes is going to last for quite a while) against the Islamic State—providing the facilities for the training of the moderate Syrian rebel fighters.</p>
<p>There’s one more upcoming wildcard here, as my colleague Eleanor Clift <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2015/01/12/the-missing-pages-of-the-9-11-report.html" type="external">reported recently</a>. The next few months may see the release of the famously redacted 28 pages of the 9/11 commission report. What’s apparently in those pages is evidence that will show how the Saudi government or elements within it provided a “network of support” for the 9/11 hijackers. If those pages are as iron-clad and shocking as some people who’ve seen them say they are, then Iran is probably going to start looking pretty good to most Americans by comparison.</p>
<p>So… talk about lesser-evilism. It’s not every day I find myself on the same page as Max Boot, but he <a href="https://www.commentarymagazine.com/2015/01/23/u-s-saudi-relations-abdullah/" type="external">made a decent analogy</a> yesterday when he wrote that choosing between the Saudis and the Iranians is like choosing between Hitler and Stalin in the 1930s. Boot says Iran is still Hitler, and we need to choose Stalin. I agree. Obama hauling 30 dignitaries over to Riyadh seems to indicate that he does, too, at least until the June deadline for the Iran talks.</p>
<p>All the choices are bad—but we have to make them and hope for the best. Isolationists and moralists, whether on the right or the left, are fantasizing about a world that doesn’t exist. Choosing among competing extremisms is going to be our reality for a good 20 years, seemingly. That may seem immoral. But trying to pretend they aren’t there, and ceding the ground to others—that’s the real immoral choice.</p> | true | 4 | wants take stab explaining barack obama couldnt adjust schedule attend massive march paris dedicated values enlightenment somehow manage find way make exactly schedule change pay respects regime one implacable foes enlightenment found morally creaky little planet trip make saudi arabia yesterday managed schedule change miraculously enough lastminute schedules roughly 30 important peoplejames baker condi rice susan rice john kerry nancy pelosi john brennan john mccainwho accompanied president riyadh also changed sure wrote obama gone paris security reasons say sent whole cabinet apparently much couldnt put together one bothered think saudi king dies god white house pulls stops thinks everything bit stomachturning wasnt watch obama drop everything go genuflect superannuated reactionaries refuse shake wifes hand ditto experience hearing rather flaccid rationale evidently raising new highness king salman either human rights generally case blogger raif badawi specifically wrote two weeks ago discussion president told fareed zakaria makes allies uncomfortable makes frustrated know listen dont pretty clear category saudis fall awful regime lots americans especially people left say nothing world foreignpolicy making especially middle east doesnt leave much room choices based morality two sides middle east get right one side iran russia syria hezbollah also although different way muslim brotherhood consists various sunni regimes movements really radical merely runofthemill radical led saudi arabia theres way choose people think saudi relationship oil course thats historical basis oil still big factor days dependence saudi oil lessened crises demand attention increased united states absents region simply leaves vacuum filled far malign actors us choose certainly going choose iran confess wondering obama seems set getting nuclear deal iran im confused supposed accomplish ensure iran use nuclear power peaceful purposes dont obamahater skeptical idea bring iran family respectable nations going need lot deal happen best explanation negotiations essentially defensivethat werent negotiating iranians theyd go develop capacity without global input oversight eventually theyd nice little arsenal hands someday theyd even smuggle one two warheads lebanon hezbollah israel staring nuclear weapons backs pretty much single last thing world needs obama people feel deal best chance peace time right makes sense meantime obamas determination consummate deal already costly basically reason administration vacillated long helping syrian rebels still gets contorted question whether bashar alassads ouster us policy syria policy cost united states huge amounts trust good among kinds people region want good beyond deal thats essentially defensive nature obama really aim generally tilt away saudi arabia toward iran given weve allies saudis 70plus years iran calling us great satan 35 seems nearly impossible maneuver pull especially time asking saudi arabia play key maybe key role fight one presumes going last quite islamic stateproviding facilities training moderate syrian rebel fighters theres one upcoming wildcard colleague eleanor clift reported recently next months may see release famously redacted 28 pages 911 commission report whats apparently pages evidence show saudi government elements within provided network support 911 hijackers pages ironclad shocking people whove seen say iran probably going start looking pretty good americans comparison talk lesserevilism every day find page max boot made decent analogy yesterday wrote choosing saudis iranians like choosing hitler stalin 1930s boot says iran still hitler need choose stalin agree obama hauling 30 dignitaries riyadh seems indicate least june deadline iran talks choices badbut make hope best isolationists moralists whether right left fantasizing world doesnt exist choosing among competing extremisms going reality good 20 years seemingly may seem immoral trying pretend arent ceding ground othersthats real immoral choice | 566 |
<p>While still in high school I had the pleasure of flying across the country to Washington, D.C., for a weeklong youth workshop on leadership and democracy. I remember the excitement I had knowing I was about to meet both of my Montana senators. Back then I was a proud registered Democrat. Having joined the Party only two months earlier, the prospect of rubbing shoulders with a veteran of my Party, I thought, was sure to be the highlight of the trip.</p>
<p>The swank décor of the hallways on the Hill mesmerized me as I winded through the legislative chambers. The bright carpet and gorgeous, slightly older interns meandering around the foyers made me think that perhaps politics had its subtle rewards. My intrepid journey from wing to wing led me to the bustling office of Montana Senator Max Baucus.</p>
<p>Max wasn’t in, however, so a cheery office assistant led me to a committee meeting that the Senator was attending. “It will be just a few minutes,” she said, continuing to chat with me about the beauty and serenity of Montana. She had grown up in Great Falls or somewhere nearby, and missed the quiet open range and starry nights. I must have reminded her of what she was like before deciding to test the dirty waters of Washington politics.</p>
<p>A few minutes later, Max scurried out and shook my hand as if I were the elected official he had traveled a thousand miles to meet. “So glad to finally meet you,” he said. “How in the hell does he know who I am?” I thought. He didn’t, of course. He was just politicking.</p>
<p>Max wasn’t a good ol’ boy like Conrad Burns, his rival Republican from Montana at the time, who said during his first campaign in 1988 that he would help single mothers by “[telling] them to find a husband.”&#160; But Max was sleazy in his own right. His gaudy single-knot tie and wing-tip shoes caught my eye immediately. I remember wondering how long Mr. Baucus had been away from the Big Sky Country. I didn’t really care, though. He was the Democrat I had come to see.</p>
<p>I asked Max about Washington life, and we poked fun at Conrad Burns, whom I had met earlier in the day. Whereas Baucus’ busy over packed office was full of citizens who seemed to give a shit, Conrad’s quarters were filled with wide leather couches and trophy animals that hung on his plush papered walls. We joked about Burns’ assistants who were advising him on how he should vote on specific legislation even though they had never even traveled to Montana. I thought to myself, “Man, Democrats really are a lot cooler than Republicans.”</p>
<p>It didn’t hurt that Max knew my uncle who ran a little grocery store in Lockwood, a small town outside of the city where I grew up. It made me think Max was one of us, a regular guy who represented regular folks. I let the used car salesman attire slide; the guy was all right.</p>
<p>My trip ended soon thereafter. I had met some interesting people, seen a lot of monuments and museums, and was enthralled with how the system actually worked. Or at least I thought I understood how it all functioned. The runners, the lobbyists, the rookies, the senior congressional leaders, the reporters, and oh those interns. I thought I had it down. I couldn’t wait to get home to tell my family what I’d learned, whom I’d met, and how Senator Baucus knew my dad’s brother. I was even contemplating the best way for me to help his upcoming election campaign.</p>
<p>It wasn’t more than six months later that I was knocked to my senses. The fairytale had ended. I read in the newspaper that my buddy Max had supported the North America Free Trade Agreement a few years prior. By then, I was diving into local environmental issues and came across the effects of NAFTA and the senators who supported it. Baucus was at the top of the hit-list. I couldn’t’ t believe it.</p>
<p>Upon further exploration, I learned that Baucus sat on the influential congressional committees, including the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, Environment and Public Works, and Finance and Joint Taxation. I learned how this man whom I had come to admire — for no real reason other than his bashing of a Republican — had succumbed to the interests of campaign contributors time and again. I found out how his seat on the Finance committee scored him bundles of cash from the health care industry and some big corporations I had never even heard of, including JP Morgan, Brown &amp; Foreman, and Citigroup. I knew these guys weren’t from Montana.</p>
<p>I also learned how my hero supported welfare reform, Fast Track, and President Clinton’s Salvage Rider Act, all of which blatantly raped the Montana forests I loved so dearly. A year later in college I read an old article by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair in the Washington Post, which disclosed how actor Robert Redford had campaigned for Baucus by dropping letters in the mailboxes of elite Hollywood liberals, hoping to entice them to donate money to the Montanan for his astute convictions for environmental justice.</p>
<p>But as St. Clair and Cockburn put it so poignantly, “Across the length and breadth of Congress, it is impossible to uncover a more tenacious front-man for the mining, timber, and grazing industries … it was Baucus who crushed the Clinton administration’s timid effort to reform federal mining and grazing policies and terminate below-cost timber sales to big timber companies subsidized by the taxpayers.”</p>
<p>I was indignant. “How could he …?!” I pondered. “If the Democrats aren’t saving our natural resources, who the hell is?”</p>
<p>That anger has festered in me to this day. Max Baucus may still be the most corporate –entrenched, conniving Democrat in Washington, and now Americans are getting a health care bill written by the health care lobby for the health care industry.</p>
<p>The dangling tassels on Max’s fancy wing-tip shoes will forever irk me. Those tassels and his decorative silk tie should have been the first sign that this politician didn’t represent regular folks. He was, after all, literally clad in the interests of the out-of-state corporations that lined his thick campaign coffers. I have hated the pretentious Wall Street pin stripes ever since Baucus’ sobering eye-opener.</p>
<p>I doubt that Max has ever hiked or driven through Montana’s Yaak River basin, where a massive forest service sale has destroyed critical grizzly bear habitat. I’d bet he’s never seen what the massive clear cuts have done to the region’s ecosystem, as tributaries have turned a pale yellow from mud and debris. And I cannot imagine Baucus ever apologizing for the legislation he supported during the Clinton years that’s to blame for it all. Many groups have challenged the illegalities of the outright pillage but all of these suits have been defeated or dismissed because the Salvage law gives the forest service “discretion to disregard entirely the effect on the grizzly bear.” All this from the party I once belonged.</p>
<p>I can’t fathom that Baucus has sat down and spoken with the hundreds of poor single mothers in rural Montana who cannot afford to put their kids in daycare because they are forced to work at places like Wal-Mart where they earn little more than minimum wage. I am sure they’d love to tell him how grateful they are for their newfound careers and Clinton’s welfare reform that put them to work. Unlike many progressives who are preoccupied with the wars in the Middle East and U.S. foreign policy, these Montanans have more pressing concerns. They are turned off by politics because they have trouble keeping food in the fridge and buying holiday gifts for their kids. For someone most of us it’s a luxury to be politically active.</p>
<p>People continue to believe it’s only the Republicans who have undermined everything progressives have fought for. I once believed this to be the case. I hated conservatives for their outright disregard for the little guy. But my short voyage out east as a teenager turned into a life lesson, teaching me that political affiliation means little when talking about real life consequences of compromising ideals. I think this is a lesson we must all keep in mind as many look to the Democrats, naively hoping that they can save us from the strangle of Glenn Beck’s chock hold. Let’s not allow fancy rhetoric or party loyalty derail our need for real change or our push for single-payer health care.</p>
<p>Occasionally I wonder how my grandfather, who I am told was a staunch Democrat, would feel about all this.&#160; He wasn’t a flashy man, like the Democrats in Washington today, but a hard working North Dakotan farmer who, as the story is told, even detested his neighbor for being what he called “one of those damned Republicans.” Back then it was thought Democrats, although never progressive, stood for something genuine and were even elected into office because rural folk could discern the subtle difference between a donkey and an elephant.</p>
<p>I am convinced no such differences exist today, and I’m certain that my granddad would agree.</p>
<p>JOSHUA FRANK is co-editor of Dissident Voice and author of <a href="" type="internal">Left Out! How Liberals Helped Reelect George W. Bush</a> (Common Courage Press, 2005), and along with Jeffrey St. Clair, the editor of the brand new book <a href="" type="internal">Red State Rebels: Tales of Grassroots Resistance in the Heartland</a>, published by AK Press in July 2008.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | still high school pleasure flying across country washington dc weeklong youth workshop leadership democracy remember excitement knowing meet montana senators back proud registered democrat joined party two months earlier prospect rubbing shoulders veteran party thought sure highlight trip swank décor hallways hill mesmerized winded legislative chambers bright carpet gorgeous slightly older interns meandering around foyers made think perhaps politics subtle rewards intrepid journey wing wing led bustling office montana senator max baucus max wasnt however cheery office assistant led committee meeting senator attending minutes said continuing chat beauty serenity montana grown great falls somewhere nearby missed quiet open range starry nights must reminded like deciding test dirty waters washington politics minutes later max scurried shook hand elected official traveled thousand miles meet glad finally meet said hell know thought didnt course politicking max wasnt good ol boy like conrad burns rival republican montana time said first campaign 1988 would help single mothers telling find husband160 max sleazy right gaudy singleknot tie wingtip shoes caught eye immediately remember wondering long mr baucus away big sky country didnt really care though democrat come see asked max washington life poked fun conrad burns met earlier day whereas baucus busy packed office full citizens seemed give shit conrads quarters filled wide leather couches trophy animals hung plush papered walls joked burns assistants advising vote specific legislation even though never even traveled montana thought man democrats really lot cooler republicans didnt hurt max knew uncle ran little grocery store lockwood small town outside city grew made think max one us regular guy represented regular folks let used car salesman attire slide guy right trip ended soon thereafter met interesting people seen lot monuments museums enthralled system actually worked least thought understood functioned runners lobbyists rookies senior congressional leaders reporters oh interns thought couldnt wait get home tell family id learned id met senator baucus knew dads brother even contemplating best way help upcoming election campaign wasnt six months later knocked senses fairytale ended read newspaper buddy max supported north america free trade agreement years prior diving local environmental issues came across effects nafta senators supported baucus top hitlist couldnt believe upon exploration learned baucus sat influential congressional committees including agriculture nutrition forestry environment public works finance joint taxation learned man come admire real reason bashing republican succumbed interests campaign contributors time found seat finance committee scored bundles cash health care industry big corporations never even heard including jp morgan brown amp foreman citigroup knew guys werent montana also learned hero supported welfare reform fast track president clintons salvage rider act blatantly raped montana forests loved dearly year later college read old article alexander cockburn jeffrey st clair washington post disclosed actor robert redford campaigned baucus dropping letters mailboxes elite hollywood liberals hoping entice donate money montanan astute convictions environmental justice st clair cockburn put poignantly across length breadth congress impossible uncover tenacious frontman mining timber grazing industries baucus crushed clinton administrations timid effort reform federal mining grazing policies terminate belowcost timber sales big timber companies subsidized taxpayers indignant could pondered democrats arent saving natural resources hell anger festered day max baucus may still corporate entrenched conniving democrat washington americans getting health care bill written health care lobby health care industry dangling tassels maxs fancy wingtip shoes forever irk tassels decorative silk tie first sign politician didnt represent regular folks literally clad interests outofstate corporations lined thick campaign coffers hated pretentious wall street pin stripes ever since baucus sobering eyeopener doubt max ever hiked driven montanas yaak river basin massive forest service sale destroyed critical grizzly bear habitat id bet hes never seen massive clear cuts done regions ecosystem tributaries turned pale yellow mud debris imagine baucus ever apologizing legislation supported clinton years thats blame many groups challenged illegalities outright pillage suits defeated dismissed salvage law gives forest service discretion disregard entirely effect grizzly bear party belonged cant fathom baucus sat spoken hundreds poor single mothers rural montana afford put kids daycare forced work places like walmart earn little minimum wage sure theyd love tell grateful newfound careers clintons welfare reform put work unlike many progressives preoccupied wars middle east us foreign policy montanans pressing concerns turned politics trouble keeping food fridge buying holiday gifts kids someone us luxury politically active people continue believe republicans undermined everything progressives fought believed case hated conservatives outright disregard little guy short voyage east teenager turned life lesson teaching political affiliation means little talking real life consequences compromising ideals think lesson must keep mind many look democrats naively hoping save us strangle glenn becks chock hold lets allow fancy rhetoric party loyalty derail need real change push singlepayer health care occasionally wonder grandfather told staunch democrat would feel this160 wasnt flashy man like democrats washington today hard working north dakotan farmer story told even detested neighbor called one damned republicans back thought democrats although never progressive stood something genuine even elected office rural folk could discern subtle difference donkey elephant convinced differences exist today im certain granddad would agree joshua frank coeditor dissident voice author left liberals helped reelect george w bush common courage press 2005 along jeffrey st clair editor brand new book red state rebels tales grassroots resistance heartland published ak press july 2008 160 | 867 |
<p>Industrial wreckreation oligarch Yvon Chouinard of Patagucci recently <a href="" type="internal">penned</a>a neoliberal op-ed that lead to the Outdoor Industry Association “leaving” Utah to seek another venue for their conventions. I hear Calirado is the leading contender.</p>
<p>Chouinard’s editorial was all about business and money, who brings in more, who is more powerful, and a bluff of “if you don’t change your ways we’ll pack our bags and go” that was called by the Utah anti-public lands <a href="http://suindependent.com/theo-constitutional/" type="external">theo-constitutionalists</a>. What I find acidly enlightening is that the OIA move is being celebrated by the environmental community with Chouinard, who in his piece made no mention whatsoever of public lands preservation, is being celebrated as a hero.</p>
<p>Will OIA members move their businesses? Will Black Diamond’s founder Peter Metcalf and his friends sell their Park City and southern Utah wreckreation homes? Will the OIA – logically, courageously, with moral principle – call for recreationists who have planned their spring and summer trips to boycott Utah and go somewhere else? Would these consumers of products and places boycott anyway?</p>
<p>Of course not which indicates the feather weight of it all.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Chouinard gives it up from the very start:</p>
<p>“Every year, millions of people visit public lands in Utah to climb, hike, ski, hunt and a heck of a lot more. I’ve skied, climbed and fished the wild streams of wild Utah for years. The American people own these lands – and Utah reaps the rewards. Every year, outdoor recreation in Utah drives $12 million in consumer spending and supports 122,000 jobs across the state.&#160; Sure, we use these lands for energy and grazing and other things too. But access to the outdoors is the reason why so many of my friends consider Utah the ultimate place to live.”</p>
<p>He and Patagucci say, “We donate millions of dollars a year to environmental causes!” to which I reply it is donation-based, gimme-praise, marketing with the purpose of selling widgets to people who feel good buying them (stellar products I covet from the second hand store).&#160; I anticipated this editorial in December, chastising the <a href="" type="internal">Wreckreation Oligarchs</a> for their “spiritual rot” and implored recreationists to rethink their pursuits and to consider limiting them:</p>
<p>“When you shop at REI and buy North Face or Patagucci, contribute to the Sierra Club, NRDC or other Big Green, you are supporting industries that makes money off of the continued unlimited development and use federal lands. The Wreckreation Industry shares a social class with those who regulate our public lands, has captured the govt organizations and use them to their own benefit, akin to the traditional mining, mineral, timber extractive industries of the past and probable Trump future. It is an industry that unethically claims credit for solving a problem they created – and we sustain this symbiotic for them, parasitic for the planet, paradigm.”</p>
<p>What do they say about carrying capacities or quotas right now in Utah concerning management planning to address overcrowding in the hammered Zion and Arches National Parks? Not much.</p>
<p>Let’s put this into perspective.</p>
<p>OIA cohorts sell their natural resource consuming wares to a currently unlimited public lands based market, <a href="https://outdoorindustry.org/research-tools/outdoor-recreation-economy/" type="external">claiming credit</a> for $646 billion in annual consumer spending. Over <a href="" type="internal">15 million people visit Utah to recreate</a>, having access to most public lands everywhere. In comparison, <a href="http://www.cattlerange.com/cattle-graphs/all-cattle-numbers.html" type="external">850,000 resources damaging cattle roam in Utah</a>, most on Federal public lands permits.&#160; They are not found everywhere like humans, and some are present in “protected” places like Capitol Reef National Park, Grand Staircase / Escalante National Monument and, criminally, the culturally rich and under-dispute Bears Ears.</p>
<p>People want to say, “Cattle do more damage than a human!” to which I reply these figures. Surely one four legged beast is equal to the environmental damage of 17.4 carbon consuming, fossil fuel wearing, roadkill traveling, lithic tromping, blissfully traipsing, trespassing to the common cactus wren and uncommon winkler cactus, humans.</p>
<p>Consider the millions of dollars in public subsidies either promoting the industry or mitigating negative impacts of any public lands use regardless of user group – including those promoted by the OIA.</p>
<p>I see lots of trails, campgrounds and other visitor infrastructure of which OIA members (along with guides, outfitters with promo deals) take advantage and, certainly, there are more than enough people who buy and use their wares. Sounds like a fence sold to a rancher, sagebrush steppe converted by the government to crested wheatgrass or the installation of a fake waterhole guzzler, to me. Trail, meadow, lakeside, roadside rehabilitation projects are cheatgrass, wildland fire programs and riparian restoration/juniper “treatment” projects. Search and rescue is also subsidized, not unlike predator compensation programs. No matter human shit is as much a problem as cattle and sheep, pit-toilets, catholes, waterholes, cesspools, reservoirs, groovers, helicopters flying <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/human-waste-barrels-angels-landing-zion-65475772" type="external">barrels of it</a> from Zion’s Angels Landing and all.</p>
<p>Of course, the OIA and its industries get the usual development and property tax breaks like oil and gas, these days the Utah legislature poised to give the guides and outfitters of the oligarchs one.&#160; Hell, the OIA even wanted to expand the subsidized Utah conventions – that will still take place in Calirado – from two to five a year, adding how much more carbon to the atmosphere for their pleasure industry? No matter, a pittance compared to the very creation of their products that are then used by 15 million traveling, littering, loitering people annually to Utah, 370 million for the National Park Service, and untold numbers nationally, worldwide.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Foremost, I consider the rights of the flora, fauna, to exist beyond that of corporate or individual anthropocentric greed, whether that be from a miner, rancher, logger, mudder, LDS theo-con, mountain biker, hiker, climber, hunter, photographer, birdwatcher, ATVer, angler or the durable/transient industries that support them.</p>
<p>Most recreational users will say they and their activities have little harm or effect on the environment. This is untrue. Consider the meta analysis of Larson, Reed, et. al. <a href="" type="internal">Effects of Recreation on Animals Revealed as Widespread through a Global Systematic Review</a>, where they found, “the evidence was clear with over 93% of reviewed articles documenting at least one effect of recreation on animals, the majority of which (59%) were classified as negative effects”. They conclude, “Protecting biodiversity from potentially harmful effects of recreation is a primary concern for conservation planners and land managers who face increases in park visitation rates; accordingly, there is demand for science-based information to help solve these dilemmas.”</p>
<p>The real issue is mandating science based decision making, using sustainable flora/fauna as indicators, then establishing appropriate uses, carrying capacities, and quotas. Anything short is, well, placating, delusional, and Chouinard and the OIA are of course absent.</p>
<p>I wrote in <a href="" type="internal">Wreckreation</a>,</p>
<p>“No doubt Industrial Wreckreation still ranks high on Trump’s list regardless of political persuasion, as business is business and all will still make money as they collaborate to extract their profits from you with joint, slick, marketing campaigns in Outside Magazine.”</p>
<p>Substitute “Utah anti-public lands theo-constitutionalists” for Trump, as visitation to Utah will continue to climb. Like Chouinard and the OIA, Outside will never publish a piece regarding subsidies or negative impacts of their business model, nor ever propose limiting access to the public lands that generate the sales of and revenue from their products. All of them “leaving” Utah should only be viewed as marketing with a purpose.</p>
<p>That the OIA and its oligarchs only speak of business and not preservation speaks volumes of their economic blackmail without environmental conviction.</p>
<p>That recreationists overlook the cumulative environmental impacts of their individual pursuits and celebrate the ‘courage’ of Chouinard, Metcalf and the OIA’s unprincipled Utah boycott is telling of the hypocritical state of neoliberal environmentalism and its role in wrecking the planet.</p> | true | 4 | industrial wreckreation oligarch yvon chouinard patagucci recently penneda neoliberal oped lead outdoor industry association leaving utah seek another venue conventions hear calirado leading contender chouinards editorial business money brings powerful bluff dont change ways well pack bags go called utah antipublic lands theoconstitutionalists find acidly enlightening oia move celebrated environmental community chouinard piece made mention whatsoever public lands preservation celebrated hero oia members move businesses black diamonds founder peter metcalf friends sell park city southern utah wreckreation homes oia logically courageously moral principle call recreationists planned spring summer trips boycott utah go somewhere else would consumers products places boycott anyway course indicates feather weight chouinard gives start every year millions people visit public lands utah climb hike ski hunt heck lot ive skied climbed fished wild streams wild utah years american people lands utah reaps rewards every year outdoor recreation utah drives 12 million consumer spending supports 122000 jobs across state160 sure use lands energy grazing things access outdoors reason many friends consider utah ultimate place live patagucci say donate millions dollars year environmental causes reply donationbased gimmepraise marketing purpose selling widgets people feel good buying stellar products covet second hand store160 anticipated editorial december chastising wreckreation oligarchs spiritual rot implored recreationists rethink pursuits consider limiting shop rei buy north face patagucci contribute sierra club nrdc big green supporting industries makes money continued unlimited development use federal lands wreckreation industry shares social class regulate public lands captured govt organizations use benefit akin traditional mining mineral timber extractive industries past probable trump future industry unethically claims credit solving problem created sustain symbiotic parasitic planet paradigm say carrying capacities quotas right utah concerning management planning address overcrowding hammered zion arches national parks much lets put perspective oia cohorts sell natural resource consuming wares currently unlimited public lands based market claiming credit 646 billion annual consumer spending 15 million people visit utah recreate access public lands everywhere comparison 850000 resources damaging cattle roam utah federal public lands permits160 found everywhere like humans present protected places like capitol reef national park grand staircase escalante national monument criminally culturally rich underdispute bears ears people want say cattle damage human reply figures surely one four legged beast equal environmental damage 174 carbon consuming fossil fuel wearing roadkill traveling lithic tromping blissfully traipsing trespassing common cactus wren uncommon winkler cactus humans consider millions dollars public subsidies either promoting industry mitigating negative impacts public lands use regardless user group including promoted oia see lots trails campgrounds visitor infrastructure oia members along guides outfitters promo deals take advantage certainly enough people buy use wares sounds like fence sold rancher sagebrush steppe converted government crested wheatgrass installation fake waterhole guzzler trail meadow lakeside roadside rehabilitation projects cheatgrass wildland fire programs riparian restorationjuniper treatment projects search rescue also subsidized unlike predator compensation programs matter human shit much problem cattle sheep pittoilets catholes waterholes cesspools reservoirs groovers helicopters flying barrels zions angels landing course oia industries get usual development property tax breaks like oil gas days utah legislature poised give guides outfitters oligarchs one160 hell oia even wanted expand subsidized utah conventions still take place calirado two five year adding much carbon atmosphere pleasure industry matter pittance compared creation products used 15 million traveling littering loitering people annually utah 370 million national park service untold numbers nationally worldwide foremost consider rights flora fauna exist beyond corporate individual anthropocentric greed whether miner rancher logger mudder lds theocon mountain biker hiker climber hunter photographer birdwatcher atver angler durabletransient industries support recreational users say activities little harm effect environment untrue consider meta analysis larson reed et al effects recreation animals revealed widespread global systematic review found evidence clear 93 reviewed articles documenting least one effect recreation animals majority 59 classified negative effects conclude protecting biodiversity potentially harmful effects recreation primary concern conservation planners land managers face increases park visitation rates accordingly demand sciencebased information help solve dilemmas real issue mandating science based decision making using sustainable florafauna indicators establishing appropriate uses carrying capacities quotas anything short well placating delusional chouinard oia course absent wrote wreckreation doubt industrial wreckreation still ranks high trumps list regardless political persuasion business business still make money collaborate extract profits joint slick marketing campaigns outside magazine substitute utah antipublic lands theoconstitutionalists trump visitation utah continue climb like chouinard oia outside never publish piece regarding subsidies negative impacts business model ever propose limiting access public lands generate sales revenue products leaving utah viewed marketing purpose oia oligarchs speak business preservation speaks volumes economic blackmail without environmental conviction recreationists overlook cumulative environmental impacts individual pursuits celebrate courage chouinard metcalf oias unprincipled utah boycott telling hypocritical state neoliberal environmentalism role wrecking planet | 768 |
<p>It was not the typical Bernie Sanders crowd.</p>
<p>A dozen Iowans in their 60s, 70s and beyond, nearly all white-haired and wearing glasses, shuffled into the basement meeting room of the Estherville public library last Friday, to hear from a Sanders staffer about seniors issues. Estherville is in Emmet County, in deep-red northwestern Iowa, a county that Hillary Clinton tied for first with John Edwards in the 2008 caucus. You could barely find a demographic more skeptical of Sanders's "political revolution" (aside from Republicans, of course), but that's exactly why they were all here.</p>
<p>As caucus night in Iowa draws near, both campaigns are working hard to motivate their base, but also to shore up their weaknesses. With Clinton, that means blunting Sanders's advantage with young people on college campuses. To accomplish that, Clinton has already deployed Katy Perry and Lena Dunham to Iowa events, and is sending singer Demi Lovato this week. For Sanders, the goal is to improve his standing among older Iowans. He trailed Clinton 56 percent to 26 percent of likely caucus-goers over 65 in the latest Des Moines Register poll.</p>
<p>To help with this task, Sanders has Bruce Koeppl.</p>
<p>Bruce enters the Estherville library's meeting room on his motorized scooter with walking cane wedged between his knees, navigating his way around the table to set up at the front. Sporting a beard and ponytail, Bruce has the look of your typical Sanders outsider-type supporter, but he's actually an old pro at this.</p>
<p>Bruce has worked on caucus campaigns since his college days, serving in staffing roles on Ted Kennedy, Walter Mondale, Joe Biden, and Paul Simon's Iowa operations. For the past 23 years he's worked for AARP on their advocacy side, including as a state and regional director. He retired last March, but couldn't stay out of the policy and political world for long, joining the Sanders campaign as a senior adviser.</p>
<p>To start off the meeting Bruce plays a 9-minute video of Sanders's positions on these issues. Sanders himself narrates, speaking directly to the camera while slick graphics flash over the screen to explain Social Security's solvency and other topics.</p>
<p>"Hi, this is Senator Bernie Sanders," the video begins. "Much of the media often approaches politics as if it were a baseball game or a soap opera. Who's leading in the latest poll? How much money did a candidate raise? Did someone say something really dumb last night? That's what a lot of the media thinks modern politics should be about. I disagree. I'm old-fashioned, I guess."</p>
<p>Notably, Sanders begins and ends with a call to distribute the video to friends, family and neighbors. This was specifically designed, scripted, and shot for organizing work. Bruce often leaves a dozen or more extra DVDs behind.</p>
<p>This Iowa Caucus cycle has seen a wide mix of strategies old and new for winning the all-important lead-off state. Social media organizing and massive rallies from Sanders in towns large and small has many thinking his campaign has found the key to turning out first-time caucus-goers to score the upset against Clinton.</p>
<p>But they're also sticking with tried-and-true organizing tactics like these, well away from the media spotlight, to seal the deal.</p>
<p>Bruce begins his discussion by asking the attendees what they spent their Social Security cost of living increase on this last year. The room chuckles (there was no increase).</p>
<p>Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't).</p>
<p>"I don't remember being able to buy a cup of coffee with mine," one man says.</p>
<p>Several around the table share their stories on dealing with Medicare. One man's mother had an expensive knee operation that was covered by it. Another was amazed and frustrated with how much prescription drugs cost, despite being cheaper in other countries.</p>
<p>Bruce notices a framed picture on the wall of three horses pulling farm machinery and says it reminds him of Sanders: that he's a workhorse. He recounts the many battles Sanders has fought on these issues and argues that something special is happening in this campaign that could change Washington.</p>
<p>Some of the attendees are skeptical. This is Steve King country after all, where local Democrats have seen their candidates defeated at the federal, state and local level in many of the past election cycles. Single payer sounds nice to them, but they know the reality of the shortcomings of Democratic politics like few others.</p>
<p>They pepper Bruce with questions. How can Sanders really get it done? Wouldn't he need a Democratic Congress? What if he selected Elizabeth Warren as his vice president to hand the torch off to after some time?</p>
<p>The questions aren't hostile, just honest, and Bruce walks them through the possibilities in a calm and collected manner.</p>
<p>"We need a champion to take on Big Pharma," Bruce asserts, softly hitting the table with his hand. "Bernie hasn't taken their money ... On raising the cap [for Social Security income], it's not a complicated fix. It's having the will to go fight for it."</p>
<p>Despite the temptation to talk only political positioning, the group seems to enjoy the issue discussion.</p>
<p>"That's what Bernie's got to do, force the Republicans back to talking about the issues," says Dale Green, a 90-year-old retiree from Estherville. "I'm impressed because he talks about issues, not personality ... The parties used to be a lot more similar. I voted for Dewey, my wife voted for Truman, it wasn't a big deal. They weren't that different back then!"</p>
<p>Carol and Jerry Plouth of Estherville came to the meeting undecided, even though they both caucused for Clinton in 2008. The Plouths nodded along to many parts of the Sanders video and seemed engaged with the discussion. But they still had their doubts.</p>
<p>"I thought it was educational, lot of good points. I took a good, long look at his stand on Social Security, that's a big scare for people our age," Carol said afterward. "I don't know, those top two Democrats are a toss-up."</p>
<p>"I want the Democrats to get in so bad, but I don't know if he can quite cut the mustard," added Jerry. "I think he's got some good ideas. Maybe if he can get people interested in voting."</p>
<p>But Bruce has found plenty of new converts in these meetings before. Sometimes it just takes some prodding from the faithful.</p>
<p>At a meeting in Algona earlier in the day, a group of seven gathered in the library's kitchen (rental fee: $12), nearly all Sanders supporters already. They were there to get more information to disseminate to their friends.</p>
<p>"I belong to two social organizations in Fenton," Valerie Cole, a 60-year-old from Fenton, said after the meeting as she strategized how to win over her friends. "You get familiar with these ladies. You go up for coffee, I find out a lot more, that's where all the gossip is at. I can leave some packets up there."</p>
<p>Surprisingly, a lot of the outreach work with older Iowans in these rural communities is being done online. Everyone at the Algona meeting talked about how they would share the information on Facebook.</p>
<p>"When he first started saying things on Facebook, that's where I started paying attention to him," Cole said of how she first came to know about Sanders.</p>
<p>On the seniors front, Sanders himself has just recently switched up his famously focused economic inequality stump speech to a more Social Security-focused message near the top of his rally message.</p>
<p>Behind the scenes, however, this work has been going on for some time. Bruce will complete his 15th of these meetings soon, and won't even venture a guess at how many miles he's put on his van. Turnout for his small meetings only range in the dozens, but they're slowly moving a difficult constituency over to Sanders's side. It's an old-fashioned approach to an old-fashioned audience, and one that can be difficult to quantify. But if you read the recent polling in Iowa, something is clearly happening here. And if Sanders can win over just a few more older Iowans to his corner on caucus night, he might pull off that upset.</p>
<p>"I used to be a Hillary supporter, but I'm not anymore," Cole said. "When I got this stuff from Bernie on my computer, that's what changed my mind. He was just telling us what actually was going on in Congress."</p> | true | 4 | typical bernie sanders crowd dozen iowans 60s 70s beyond nearly whitehaired wearing glasses shuffled basement meeting room estherville public library last friday hear sanders staffer seniors issues estherville emmet county deepred northwestern iowa county hillary clinton tied first john edwards 2008 caucus could barely find demographic skeptical sanderss political revolution aside republicans course thats exactly caucus night iowa draws near campaigns working hard motivate base also shore weaknesses clinton means blunting sanderss advantage young people college campuses accomplish clinton already deployed katy perry lena dunham iowa events sending singer demi lovato week sanders goal improve standing among older iowans trailed clinton 56 percent 26 percent likely caucusgoers 65 latest des moines register poll help task sanders bruce koeppl bruce enters estherville librarys meeting room motorized scooter walking cane wedged knees navigating way around table set front sporting beard ponytail bruce look typical sanders outsidertype supporter hes actually old pro bruce worked caucus campaigns since college days serving staffing roles ted kennedy walter mondale joe biden paul simons iowa operations past 23 years hes worked aarp advocacy side including state regional director retired last march couldnt stay policy political world long joining sanders campaign senior adviser start meeting bruce plays 9minute video sanderss positions issues sanders narrates speaking directly camera slick graphics flash screen explain social securitys solvency topics hi senator bernie sanders video begins much media often approaches politics baseball game soap opera whos leading latest poll much money candidate raise someone say something really dumb last night thats lot media thinks modern politics disagree im oldfashioned guess notably sanders begins ends call distribute video friends family neighbors specifically designed scripted shot organizing work bruce often leaves dozen extra dvds behind iowa caucus cycle seen wide mix strategies old new winning allimportant leadoff state social media organizing massive rallies sanders towns large small many thinking campaign found key turning firsttime caucusgoers score upset clinton theyre also sticking triedandtrue organizing tactics like well away media spotlight seal deal bruce begins discussion asking attendees spent social security cost living increase last year room chuckles increase start finish day top stories daily beast speedy smart summary news need know nothing dont dont remember able buy cup coffee mine one man says several around table share stories dealing medicare one mans mother expensive knee operation covered another amazed frustrated much prescription drugs cost despite cheaper countries bruce notices framed picture wall three horses pulling farm machinery says reminds sanders hes workhorse recounts many battles sanders fought issues argues something special happening campaign could change washington attendees skeptical steve king country local democrats seen candidates defeated federal state local level many past election cycles single payer sounds nice know reality shortcomings democratic politics like others pepper bruce questions sanders really get done wouldnt need democratic congress selected elizabeth warren vice president hand torch time questions arent hostile honest bruce walks possibilities calm collected manner need champion take big pharma bruce asserts softly hitting table hand bernie hasnt taken money raising cap social security income complicated fix go fight despite temptation talk political positioning group seems enjoy issue discussion thats bernies got force republicans back talking issues says dale green 90yearold retiree estherville im impressed talks issues personality parties used lot similar voted dewey wife voted truman wasnt big deal werent different back carol jerry plouth estherville came meeting undecided even though caucused clinton 2008 plouths nodded along many parts sanders video seemed engaged discussion still doubts thought educational lot good points took good long look stand social security thats big scare people age carol said afterward dont know top two democrats tossup want democrats get bad dont know quite cut mustard added jerry think hes got good ideas maybe get people interested voting bruce found plenty new converts meetings sometimes takes prodding faithful meeting algona earlier day group seven gathered librarys kitchen rental fee 12 nearly sanders supporters already get information disseminate friends belong two social organizations fenton valerie cole 60yearold fenton said meeting strategized win friends get familiar ladies go coffee find lot thats gossip leave packets surprisingly lot outreach work older iowans rural communities done online everyone algona meeting talked would share information facebook first started saying things facebook thats started paying attention cole said first came know sanders seniors front sanders recently switched famously focused economic inequality stump speech social securityfocused message near top rally message behind scenes however work going time bruce complete 15th meetings soon wont even venture guess many miles hes put van turnout small meetings range dozens theyre slowly moving difficult constituency sanderss side oldfashioned approach oldfashioned audience one difficult quantify read recent polling iowa something clearly happening sanders win older iowans corner caucus night might pull upset used hillary supporter im anymore cole said got stuff bernie computer thats changed mind telling us actually going congress | 799 |
<p>In its proposal to strip protections from Yellowstone grizzly bears, the federal government relies on arguments that habitat protections are in place to sustain a healthy bear population after delisting. These claims made by Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) are gross exaggerations at best and bald-faced lies at worst.</p>
<p>The fact is that the delisting plan formulated by the FWS contains no habitat protections for over 3 million acres of currently occupied habitat – a landscape larger than the size of Yellowstone National Park — not to mention additional habitat that is needed to compensate for impacts from climate change and to connect the long-isolated Yellowstone grizzlies to more robust populations to the north. Much of this habitat is open to development in current National Forest Plans, and human pressures are mounting. Further, governmental agencies are under the gun to approve development regardless of the consequences.</p>
<p>At the heart of the problem lies a failure by the FWS to address recovery at the scale of the lands that bears use, not at a scale that is deemed to be politically convenient.&#160; The agency’s approach to grizzly bears stands in stark contrast to that taken by the government when managing every other wildlife species in the Northern Rockies—including deer, elk, moose, mountain lions, and black bears.</p>
<p>The Problem of the Primary Conservation Area</p>
<p>The FWS argues that the Primary Conservation Area (PCA), formerly known as the Recovery Area, is adequate to maintain a recovered grizzly bear population and is based on a legitimate scientific analysis. Nothing could be further from the truth. This area is the by-product of historical accident and political compromise.</p>
<p>Here is a brief history. The US Fish and Wildlife Service drew this 9,200 square mile area in 1979 and adopted it in the 1982 Grizzly Bear Recovery Plan, and then again in the 1992 revised plan, with only modest modifications. More on the changes later.</p>
<p>As the 1982 Plan admits, the original boundaries were based on a crude, inadequately informed, and disputed assessment of the current range of grizzly bears in 1979, with the desired goal of providing habitat for merely 229 bears.</p>
<p>Claiming that any mammal population could be considered recovered at 229 individuals would not pass the scientific laugh test today. Underscoring this point, the FWS recently bragged in the media how far they have come advancing recovery from a problematic low point of 200 or fewer grizzly bears in the late 1970s ( <a href="" type="internal">link</a>).</p>
<p>Ironically, the PCA boundaries were drawn just four years after the population was listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), when it was perhaps at its lowest ebb ever. Closure of Yellowstone Park garbage dumps just nine years before had precipitated the crisis. Officials killed hundreds of garbage-conditioned bears that sought food in campsites and residences throughout the ecosystem.</p>
<p>The line was also drawn so as to exclude private lands wherever possible, and avoid controversy, despite the fact that the ESA requires the use of the best available science and that grizzly bears cannot read maps.</p>
<p>What became the PCA boundary was sketched out at a 1979 workshop of grizzly bear scientists. But, importantly, the experts could not agree on a line. Nonetheless, the FWS used the draft area for the purposes of developing the 1982 Recovery Plan, with the idea it would be the starting point for further conversations and refinements. These never occurred in any meaningful or comprehensive way, despite enormous gains in knowledge over the intervening years about bear ecology, human-bear relations, and bear movements.</p>
<p>A Better Approach to Recovery than the PCA</p>
<p>As soon as the PCA was drafted, scientists began pointing out the problems ( <a href="" type="internal">link</a>). The biggest was that with grizzly bears, the FWS was trying to recover the species within an artificial boundary that did not, even then, reflect where bears lived or wilderness habitat that bears have increasingly come to rely on ( <a href="" type="internal">link</a>).</p>
<p>Over time, the call by endangered species and grizzly bears experts for protection of more bears in more areas has become ever louder. In response to mounting concern about the century-long isolation of Yellowstone bears, scientists began to emphasize the importance of expanding and re-connecting grizzly bear populations in the Northern Rockies.</p>
<p>By the 1990’s, models and maps were being published in the scientific literature that showed the connecting landscapes where this was still possible ( <a href="" type="internal">link</a>). Better science is available today and it all underscores the need to redefine recovery goals from a few hundred bears in isolation from each other, to a meta-population of a few thousand connected bears ( <a href="" type="internal">link</a>), ( <a href="" type="internal">link</a>),&#160; <a href="" type="internal">(link</a>), ( <a href="" type="internal">link</a>). It shows that we can achieve a connected, recovered bear population with existing suitable habitat in the region, in combination with better coexistence practices.</p>
<p>But in the face of still-increasing scientific evidence that bears need more, protected habitat, FWS clung with a death grip to the past. In 1995, the agency lost a lawsuit brought by environmentalists challenging the adequacy of its grizzly bear recovery plan, in part based on the FWS’s failure to provide the habitat protections needed to support numerical recovery goals in the 1992 recovery plan—notably, the only lawsuit of this nature to succeed. Then and since, FWS has had numerous opportunities to replace its obsolete and unjustified delineations of the recovery area, or PCA, with something far better. But it has not. Why?</p>
<p>FWS as Willing Hostage to the PCA line</p>
<p>Simply put, the FWS became hostage to the PCA line that it drew in 1979. More fundamentally, the agency became a willing prisoner of the state game agencies it was intended to regulate, and thus reluctant to follow its legal mandate to use the best available science. The states and industry bridled at prospects of expanding a line that they feared would be accompanied by limits on development, so the line hardly budged over the years, even though the distribution of grizzly bears expanded substantially. “We will not move the goalposts of recovery” became the FWS mantra.</p>
<p>But that did not stop the FWS from changing other goalposts to suit its purposes. It made some relatively small adjustments here and there over the years, in areas that were politically non-controversial, eventually adding 8% to the size of the PCA.</p>
<p>But then the agency more than doubled the numerical recovery goal in the 1992 Recovery Plan for the grizzly bear population from 229 to 500-600 bears, claiming these higher numbers could be maintained exclusively within the bounds of lines drawn in 1979 for a population of half this size. Huh? What kind of scientific hocus pocus is this? What happened here is that newer science prompted the FWS to support a higher numerical recovery target, but the agency refused to expand the PCA for fear of political resistance from the states and industry.&#160; And they thought that no one would notice its little math problem, that it was trying to justify doubling the number of bears on just about the same amount of land as they said could be supported a decade before.</p>
<p>The FWS has confused the issue of boundaries further with the recent creation of the Demographic Monitoring Area (DMA). The DMA is significantly larger than the PCA, and is meant to demark a larger boundary for counting bears, not protecting or monitoring habitat.&#160; One big reason for this change is to track bears that have moved far outside the PCA. This change further underscores the problem of the PCA itself…</p>
<p />
<p>Why not adopt one boundary for management and monitoring that reflects the reality of where bears are ranging and what they need for long-term viability? Because that would make everyone face the bear truth, which would, in turn, require FWS to upset today’s political status quo at the very moment when the FWS’s chief bureaucrats (mostly Safari Club bedfellows) are pushing for delisting.</p>
<p>The Bear Truth Has Changed, but the Recovery Line Has Not</p>
<p>Yellowstone grizzly bears occupy a landscape that is roughly 50% larger than the PCA.&#160; But, the delisting plan only protect lands (feebly so) inside the PCA and otherwise ignores additional habitat that is vital to maintaining a recovered population.</p>
<p>FWS is so desperate to appease the conservative politicians and CEOs of extractive industry (need we distinguish the two?) that is refuses to move the PCA line, require any additional habitat protections, or ensure federal oversight of decisions about development on public lands. More overtly, in the recent proposal to delist Yellowstone’s grizzly bears, the agency baldy asserts that the paltry plans recently fielded by the states are sufficient to protect bears that venture outside the PCA. But state wildlife management agencies not only lack authority over public lands, but also sport a culture that is hostile to any animal with canines. &#160;They can only advise land managers (assuming they would want to), and see the solution to most of their management problems in terms of killing carnivores—such as grizzly bears.</p>
<p>State plans provide no assurance that Wyoming, Montana, or Idaho have any intention of allowing grizzly bears to expand very far beyond the PCA into productive secure habitat, such as the Wind River and Wyoming Ranges. In the states’ comments on the delisting proposal, the states lobbied FWS to eliminate virtually ALL post-delisting management and oversight requirements ( <a href="http://media.wix.com/ugd/d2beb3_49877818ea2b4e93936cec8a1ffe1179.pdf" type="external">link</a>).</p>
<p>Furthermore, Idaho’s plan seems unlikely to welcome grizzly bears in the Snake River or Caribou Ranges, much less the south side of the Centennial Mountains, a key connecting landscape to other grizzly bear populations. &#160;The recent track record of state officials offing grizzly bears with few offenses (link) and promising to use hunting to purposefully reduce bear numbers in some areas, indicate a fundamental hostility towards grizzly bears that will be unleashed after delisting.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Forest Service has failed to step up to provide essential habitat protections.&#160; Which gets to a still-relevant report written by Jon Langer in 2004 on threats to grizzly bear habitat managed by the Forest Service in the Yellowstone ecosystem ( <a href="http://media.wix.com/ugd/d2beb3_dac765dbcf7d4d56be543555f1bc9841.pdf" type="external">link</a>).</p>
<p>The Langer Analysis of Vulnerable Forest Lands in Grizzly Bear Habitat</p>
<p>While working for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Jon exhaustively analyzed threats to grizzly bear habitat in Greater Yellowstone National Forests using raw data provided from the US Forest Service itself.</p>
<p>Langer used a map of grizzly bear distribution circa 2000 from the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team showing that grizzly bears then occupied 1.8 million acres outside of the PCA&#160; <a href="" type="internal">(link</a>). (Bears have moved further outside the PCA since then, as discussed below).</p>
<p>Of that 1.8-million acres, roughly 470,000 acres, or 26%, is federally protected Wilderness. &#160;In other words, only one quarter of the land occupied by bears outside the PCA circa 2000 has secure legal protections.</p>
<p>Langer examined all National Forest lands occupied by grizzlies (circa 2000) that, according to prescriptions in existing Forest Plans, had either been and developed, or were open to road-building, energy, logging or other development. &#160;The results do not bode well for the future of grizzly bears in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.</p>
<p>Approximately 1.2 million acres of occupied habitat outside of the PCA is available for development. &#160;Fully 65% of the fortuitously secure habitat that allowed grizzly numbers to reach their 2000 level could be lost under current Forest Plans.</p>
<p>The Forest Service did pick at some nits of the Langer report, but did not contest the basic facts. Interestingly, the recently retired FWS Grizzly Bear Recovery Coordinator, Chris Servheen, known for his mean streak, lashed out at the Forest Service employee who gave Jon the data, a predicable complaint from a man who fought for decades to keep all data related to grizzly bears out of public hands. But the&#160;report has held up as accurate and credible.</p>
<p>It should be noted that Forest Plans have hardly changed since 2004 when Langer did his analysis. Also, as grizzly bears have continued to expand since then, partly as a result of climate change and the collapse of key foods, the amount of occupied habitat that is vulnerable to development has also grown. Without doing the kind of detailed analysis that Langer did, it is clear from the most current and accurate map of grizzly bear distribution that over 3 million acres of occupied grizzly bear habitat on public lands are open to development.</p>
<p>Importantly, since forest planning rules are now “aspirational” rather than “prescriptive,” nothing in plans bind the agency to pursue even a modicum of protections. Under pressure from industry, any undeveloped habitat is vulnerable to exploitation. In other words, any lands that are not officially designated Wilderness are available for the kinds of development that are known to harm bears – roads, clearcutting, oil and gas drilling, industrial scale development, mining, off road vehicle use, and grazing.</p>
<p>And the problem does not stop here. In 2003, Dr. David Mattson and Troy Merrill conducted an analysis of habitat suitable for grizzly bears in the Yellowstone ecosystem and beyond ( <a href="" type="internal">link</a>). These lands are increasingly important to bears as they are forced to adapt to a changing climate and as historically critical foods collapse. Using this analysis, Langer went further to show that roughly 4 million acres of suitable habitat that was not occupied (as of 2000) are available to oil and gas and other development. Domestic sheep graze on over 1.3 million acres of suitable grizzly bear habitat, and over 3 million acres are open to timber harvest and roadbuilding.</p>
<p>And the FWS response to these threats is…</p>
<p>Sit Back and Watch the Ship Sink</p>
<p>At best, the FWS offers a corrective to these threats that entails nothing more than monitoring population size and mortality rates using biased and otherwise unreliable methods. Aside from intrinsic problems, such monitoring also debars any prospect of anticipating and reversing responses of the population to deteriorating habitat conditions, whether inside or outside of the PCA.</p>
<p>Further, scientists have shown that such responses are likely to be inherently lagged, by decades or more ( <a href="http://media.wix.com/ugd/d2beb3_9132e27ae89f4c9f9111728589dd66e7.pdf" type="external">link)</a>. So any response by the FWS are likely to be too little, too late —assuming the agency has the courage to intervene against states that would be undoubtedly hostile after federal authority has been turned over to the states post-delisting.</p>
<p>Moreover, the FWS’s underlying logic is fundamentally flawed. It presumes to monitor population size over the full extent of the DMA as a primary means of judging on-going recovery of Yellowstone’s grizzly bear population, while at the same time only explicitly providing for habitat protections within the much smaller PCA.</p>
<p>Removing Endangered Species protection for the Yellowstone’s grizzly bears without any assurance that a large portion of their habitat will remain protected for them is negligent, and risks putting grizzly bears back on track for extirpation.</p>
<p>An Alternative</p>
<p>And there is a better way. As scientists have long recommended, the government can start by protecting bears and their habitat where they are and where they can be expected to be. That means all occupied, suitable habitat and all lands within the DMA.</p>
<p>A few basics: protect every existing roadless area. Expand current programs that foster coexistence between bears and people. Increase law enforcement efforts, which the FWS itself has flagged as essential to reducing mortalities. Involve the tribes that own or have claims to critical habitat in efforts to co-manage and recover&#160;grizzly bears. Systematically squeeze the lessons from both successes and failures.</p>
<p>Stop deceiving the public – they are smarter than you think. Improve the decision-making process, and make democracy work for the broader public, not a hostile, loud minority of hunters who want to kill grizzlies for crass gratification of their frail egos.</p>
<p>The grizzly bear deserves our compassion and wisdom, not political games based on arbitrary lines.</p> | true | 4 | proposal strip protections yellowstone grizzly bears federal government relies arguments habitat protections place sustain healthy bear population delisting claims made fish wildlife service fws gross exaggerations best baldfaced lies worst fact delisting plan formulated fws contains habitat protections 3 million acres currently occupied habitat landscape larger size yellowstone national park mention additional habitat needed compensate impacts climate change connect longisolated yellowstone grizzlies robust populations north much habitat open development current national forest plans human pressures mounting governmental agencies gun approve development regardless consequences heart problem lies failure fws address recovery scale lands bears use scale deemed politically convenient160 agencys approach grizzly bears stands stark contrast taken government managing every wildlife species northern rockiesincluding deer elk moose mountain lions black bears problem primary conservation area fws argues primary conservation area pca formerly known recovery area adequate maintain recovered grizzly bear population based legitimate scientific analysis nothing could truth area byproduct historical accident political compromise brief history us fish wildlife service drew 9200 square mile area 1979 adopted 1982 grizzly bear recovery plan 1992 revised plan modest modifications changes later 1982 plan admits original boundaries based crude inadequately informed disputed assessment current range grizzly bears 1979 desired goal providing habitat merely 229 bears claiming mammal population could considered recovered 229 individuals would pass scientific laugh test today underscoring point fws recently bragged media far come advancing recovery problematic low point 200 fewer grizzly bears late 1970s link ironically pca boundaries drawn four years population listed endangered species act esa perhaps lowest ebb ever closure yellowstone park garbage dumps nine years precipitated crisis officials killed hundreds garbageconditioned bears sought food campsites residences throughout ecosystem line also drawn exclude private lands wherever possible avoid controversy despite fact esa requires use best available science grizzly bears read maps became pca boundary sketched 1979 workshop grizzly bear scientists importantly experts could agree line nonetheless fws used draft area purposes developing 1982 recovery plan idea would starting point conversations refinements never occurred meaningful comprehensive way despite enormous gains knowledge intervening years bear ecology humanbear relations bear movements better approach recovery pca soon pca drafted scientists began pointing problems link biggest grizzly bears fws trying recover species within artificial boundary even reflect bears lived wilderness habitat bears increasingly come rely link time call endangered species grizzly bears experts protection bears areas become ever louder response mounting concern centurylong isolation yellowstone bears scientists began emphasize importance expanding reconnecting grizzly bear populations northern rockies 1990s models maps published scientific literature showed connecting landscapes still possible link better science available today underscores need redefine recovery goals hundred bears isolation metapopulation thousand connected bears link link160 link link shows achieve connected recovered bear population existing suitable habitat region combination better coexistence practices face stillincreasing scientific evidence bears need protected habitat fws clung death grip past 1995 agency lost lawsuit brought environmentalists challenging adequacy grizzly bear recovery plan part based fwss failure provide habitat protections needed support numerical recovery goals 1992 recovery plannotably lawsuit nature succeed since fws numerous opportunities replace obsolete unjustified delineations recovery area pca something far better fws willing hostage pca line simply put fws became hostage pca line drew 1979 fundamentally agency became willing prisoner state game agencies intended regulate thus reluctant follow legal mandate use best available science states industry bridled prospects expanding line feared would accompanied limits development line hardly budged years even though distribution grizzly bears expanded substantially move goalposts recovery became fws mantra stop fws changing goalposts suit purposes made relatively small adjustments years areas politically noncontroversial eventually adding 8 size pca agency doubled numerical recovery goal 1992 recovery plan grizzly bear population 229 500600 bears claiming higher numbers could maintained exclusively within bounds lines drawn 1979 population half size huh kind scientific hocus pocus happened newer science prompted fws support higher numerical recovery target agency refused expand pca fear political resistance states industry160 thought one would notice little math problem trying justify doubling number bears amount land said could supported decade fws confused issue boundaries recent creation demographic monitoring area dma dma significantly larger pca meant demark larger boundary counting bears protecting monitoring habitat160 one big reason change track bears moved far outside pca change underscores problem pca adopt one boundary management monitoring reflects reality bears ranging need longterm viability would make everyone face bear truth would turn require fws upset todays political status quo moment fwss chief bureaucrats mostly safari club bedfellows pushing delisting bear truth changed recovery line yellowstone grizzly bears occupy landscape roughly 50 larger pca160 delisting plan protect lands feebly inside pca otherwise ignores additional habitat vital maintaining recovered population fws desperate appease conservative politicians ceos extractive industry need distinguish two refuses move pca line require additional habitat protections ensure federal oversight decisions development public lands overtly recent proposal delist yellowstones grizzly bears agency baldy asserts paltry plans recently fielded states sufficient protect bears venture outside pca state wildlife management agencies lack authority public lands also sport culture hostile animal canines 160they advise land managers assuming would want see solution management problems terms killing carnivoressuch grizzly bears state plans provide assurance wyoming montana idaho intention allowing grizzly bears expand far beyond pca productive secure habitat wind river wyoming ranges states comments delisting proposal states lobbied fws eliminate virtually postdelisting management oversight requirements link furthermore idahos plan seems unlikely welcome grizzly bears snake river caribou ranges much less south side centennial mountains key connecting landscape grizzly bear populations 160the recent track record state officials offing grizzly bears offenses link promising use hunting purposefully reduce bear numbers areas indicate fundamental hostility towards grizzly bears unleashed delisting meanwhile forest service failed step provide essential habitat protections160 gets stillrelevant report written jon langer 2004 threats grizzly bear habitat managed forest service yellowstone ecosystem link langer analysis vulnerable forest lands grizzly bear habitat working natural resources defense council nrdc jon exhaustively analyzed threats grizzly bear habitat greater yellowstone national forests using raw data provided us forest service langer used map grizzly bear distribution circa 2000 interagency grizzly bear study team showing grizzly bears occupied 18 million acres outside pca160 link bears moved outside pca since discussed 18million acres roughly 470000 acres 26 federally protected wilderness 160in words one quarter land occupied bears outside pca circa 2000 secure legal protections langer examined national forest lands occupied grizzlies circa 2000 according prescriptions existing forest plans either developed open roadbuilding energy logging development 160the results bode well future grizzly bears greater yellowstone ecosystem approximately 12 million acres occupied habitat outside pca available development 160fully 65 fortuitously secure habitat allowed grizzly numbers reach 2000 level could lost current forest plans forest service pick nits langer report contest basic facts interestingly recently retired fws grizzly bear recovery coordinator chris servheen known mean streak lashed forest service employee gave jon data predicable complaint man fought decades keep data related grizzly bears public hands the160report held accurate credible noted forest plans hardly changed since 2004 langer analysis also grizzly bears continued expand since partly result climate change collapse key foods amount occupied habitat vulnerable development also grown without kind detailed analysis langer clear current accurate map grizzly bear distribution 3 million acres occupied grizzly bear habitat public lands open development importantly since forest planning rules aspirational rather prescriptive nothing plans bind agency pursue even modicum protections pressure industry undeveloped habitat vulnerable exploitation words lands officially designated wilderness available kinds development known harm bears roads clearcutting oil gas drilling industrial scale development mining road vehicle use grazing problem stop 2003 dr david mattson troy merrill conducted analysis habitat suitable grizzly bears yellowstone ecosystem beyond link lands increasingly important bears forced adapt changing climate historically critical foods collapse using analysis langer went show roughly 4 million acres suitable habitat occupied 2000 available oil gas development domestic sheep graze 13 million acres suitable grizzly bear habitat 3 million acres open timber harvest roadbuilding fws response threats sit back watch ship sink best fws offers corrective threats entails nothing monitoring population size mortality rates using biased otherwise unreliable methods aside intrinsic problems monitoring also debars prospect anticipating reversing responses population deteriorating habitat conditions whether inside outside pca scientists shown responses likely inherently lagged decades link response fws likely little late assuming agency courage intervene states would undoubtedly hostile federal authority turned states postdelisting moreover fwss underlying logic fundamentally flawed presumes monitor population size full extent dma primary means judging ongoing recovery yellowstones grizzly bear population time explicitly providing habitat protections within much smaller pca removing endangered species protection yellowstones grizzly bears without assurance large portion habitat remain protected negligent risks putting grizzly bears back track extirpation alternative better way scientists long recommended government start protecting bears habitat expected means occupied suitable habitat lands within dma basics protect every existing roadless area expand current programs foster coexistence bears people increase law enforcement efforts fws flagged essential reducing mortalities involve tribes claims critical habitat efforts comanage recover160grizzly bears systematically squeeze lessons successes failures stop deceiving public smarter think improve decisionmaking process make democracy work broader public hostile loud minority hunters want kill grizzlies crass gratification frail egos grizzly bear deserves compassion wisdom political games based arbitrary lines | 1,509 |
<p>Walking down Avenida Figueroa Alcorta in Buenos Aires the other day, I came across a succession of posters advertising “la penetración iraní en América latina” and featuring Hugo Chávez and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clasping hands. When I then came across the Iranian embassy and a monument in a park labeled “Plaza Irán,” as well, I became momentarily convinced that the posters might have a point.</p>
<p>Some confusion arose from the date on the monument, May 12, 1965, which placed its origins in an archaeological period of penetración estadounidense in Iran. Things slowly began to make more sense, however, as I continued walking and noted that the Chávez-Ahmadinejad posters were interspersed with posters featuring an unoccupied bed with white sheets and the proclamation: “85 ‘HASTA LUEGO’ CONVERTIDOS EN ‘HASTA SIEMPRE” [“85 goodbyes to be remembered forever”].</p>
<p>It turned out that the 85 “Hasta luego” were in fact the victims of the 1994 attack on the AMIA, the Jewish cultural center in Buenos Aires, which was blamed with intermittent force on Iran in accordance with prevailing geostrategic interests of the United States. The fifteenth anniversary of the attack was to be commemorated on Friday, July 17, one day prior to the actual anniversary; passersby were invited to pursue further information at <a href="http://www.85vidasmenos.amia.org.ar" type="external">www.85vidasmenos.amia.org.ar</a>/, in which the “85 vidas menos” translates as “85 fewer lives.” Not explained on the posters was whether their designer could not think of a more suitable image to commemorate bombing victims, whether viewers were meant to infer that their own beds could be penetrated at any moment by Iranians, or why there were no commemorative websites for recent events in Gaza, such as 1300 vidasmenos.</p>
<p>I returned home to find that my own bed was still unmade, although it was presumably not the fault of terrorists, and that the AMIA link consisted of a black page with suggestions in white as to the variety of sentiments that might have been expressed by companions of the 85 victims had they known the 85 would never be seen again. Suggestions include “I love you,” “I hate you,” and “You have a nice smile.” To one side of the written suggestions is a YouTube video with additional suggestions of hypothetical situations tragically thwarted by the bombing, such as “un beso apasionado que nunca llegó” [“a passionate kiss that never took place”], juxtaposed with the sound of attack.</p>
<p>The AMIA website offers another less artistic page devoted to the anniversary, which explains that, given the present situación sanitaria in Argentina and the discouragement of congregations of human beings, a large physical reunion at the AMIA building on Friday is being postponed in respect of “el valor supremo del cuidado de la vida.” The contrasting lack of value placed on life by Iranians is underscored once again by the fact that they continue to visit Latin America with no regard for the swine flu epidemic.</p>
<p>Iranian visits are tracked in the July 2 article in Veintitrés Internacional magazine that corresponds to the Chávez-Ahmadinejad posters on Avenida Figueroa Alcorta. The article begins with an observation attributed to the Miami Herald, according to which Ahmadinejad must love the tropics based on the fact that he has spent more time in Latin America than did George Bush. Not established in the article is when the ex-US president became the standard against which travel frequency to places other than Crawford, Texas, should be measured; also not established is that the observation about Ahmadinejad actually hails from a Miami Herald column of September 2007 by Andres Oppenheimer, the journalist who once predicted that Castro’s Final Hour would fall in 1992, or 1993 at the latest. The column’s publication date might explain Oppenheimer’s failure to address the fact that there were no Iranian officials present at the June 2009 meeting of the Organization of American States, which was nonetheless attended by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon.</p>
<p>During his Latin American jaunt, Ayalon had regurgitated Oppenheimer’s warning about the possibility of air travel between Venezuela and Iran (AYALON: “We know that there are flights from Caracas via Damascus to Tehran”). He also regurgitated the fact that Iranian agents blew up the AMIA, although he got the year wrong, and neglected Oppenheimer’s alert regarding the opening of an Iranian embassy in Bolivia and the stationing of “about 20 Iranian officials” at the embassy in Nicaragua. The author of the Veintitrés Internacional article, on the other hand—a certain Ely Karmon, who is unsurprisingly “Investigador Académico Senior en el Instituto Internacional de Contraterrorismo (ICT) y en el Instituto de Política y Estrategia (IPS) del Centro Interdisciplinario (IDC)” in Herzliya, Israel—proves more adept at the art of regurgitation, partly because his senior academic investigatory techniques include plagiarism.</p>
<p>It became clear in the fourth paragraph of Karmon’s lengthy piece, before he had even begun reiterating the existence of the Caracas-Tehran flight, that my sense of déjà-vu was an effect of the fact that Karmon had almost exactly replicated an entire section of Oppenheimer’s column. Compare Oppenheimer’s English version with Karmon’s Spanish:</p>
<p>“What is Ahmadinejad looking for in Latin America?</p>
<p>First, he is seeking Latin American support to counter U.S. and European pressures to stop Iran from developing nuclear capabilities. Venezuela and Cuba were, alongside Syria, the only three countries that supported Iran’s nuclear program in a February 2006 vote at the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency.</p>
<p>Second, Ahmadinejad wants to strike back at the United States in its own hemisphere. Iran may want to be able to finance anti-American groups and possibly destabilize U.S.-friendly governments in order to negotiate with Washington from a position of greater strength. Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Iran seems to be saying: ‘You got into my neighborhood; now I’m getting into yours.’</p>
<p>Third, Ahmadinejad’s popularity at home is falling, and he may want to show his people that he is being welcomed as a hero abroad.”</p>
<p>VS.</p>
<p>“¿Qué busca Ahmadinejad en América Latina?</p>
<p>En primer lugar, busca el apoyo de América latina para contrarrestar las presiones de Estados Unidos y Europa y evitar que Irán desarrolle capacidades nucleares. Venezuela y Cuba fueron, junto con Siria, los tres únicos países que apoyaron el programa nuclear iraní en la votación de febrero de 2006 en la Agencia Internacional de Energía Atómica de Naciones Unidas. En segundo lugar, Ahmadinejad quiere contraatacar a Estados Unidos en su propio hemisferio y, tal vez, desestabilizar a los gobiernos amigos de Estados Unidos a fin de negociar, con Washington, desde una posición de mayor fortaleza. En tercer lugar, la popularidad en su propio país de Ahmadinejad está cayendo y quiere mostrar a su pueblo que, en el exterior, es recibido como un héroe.”</p>
<p>The only perceptible alteration of the text is Karmon’s exclusion of the sentence: “Following the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Iran seems to be saying: ‘You got into my neighborhood; now I’m getting into yours.’” The exclusion prevents readers from wrongly assuming that the practice of neighborhood penetration was not invented by the Islamic Republic.</p>
<p>Karmon proceeds to explore indicators of penetration such as that Farsi is now being taught at Venezuelan universities while a number of Iranian engineers have learned basic Spanish. The late Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci had also expressed dismay at curricular evolution, and at the fact that people named Mustafa or Muhammed were permitted to study chemistry and biology at US universities despite the threat of biochemical war. Fallaci’s proposed blueprint for counteracting the Islamic penetration of Europe was meanwhile to explode mosques on Italian territory; as for destruction wrought by less frequent Latin American visitors than Ahmadinejad, the White House archives provide a transcript of George Bush’s speech at a Miami celebration of Cuban independence day in 2002, the introduction to which was as follows:</p>
<p>“THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. Sientese. Voy a hablar en Espanol hoy — (applause) — pero no. No. (Laughter.) No quiero destruir un idioma que bonita, y por eso voy a hablar en Ingles. [I don’t want to destroy a beautiful language so I’m going to speak in English.] (Laughter.)</p>
<p>Bush would prove the following year that his concern for the preservation of Iraq was inferior to his concern for the preservation of the Spanish language, which was nonetheless called into question later in his speech when he translated “the entire world” as “the todos.” He did, however, accurately translate his secretary of state as “señorita Arroz”; the concern of White House transcribers for the English language was in the meantime evident via Bush’s transcribed proclamation that “I can’t — listen, every time I see and here [sic] Gloria Estefan sing, it makes my heart feel better.”</p>
<p>Further curious linguistic arrangements occurred during Bush’s glorification of Emilio, a Cuban-American college student who assisted mentally challenged Cuban-American children in addition to cleaning parks:</p>
<p>“The reason I bring up Emilio is I say oftentimes to Americans who want to — how best they can participate in our country, how best to fight evil is to do some good; is to love a neighbor like you’d like to be loved yourself. If you’re interested, if you’re interested in helping define our nation to the world, and if you’re interested in resisting evil, do some good. And that’s what Emilio does.”</p>
<p>Ely Karmon continues to manage the fight against evil in other arenas, contributing evidence of the Iranian origins of the attack on the AMIA and of Iranian-Venezuelan collaboration in the production of tractors. He at times speaks about Néstor Kirchner as though he is the current president of Argentina, with confusion possibly stemming from the fact that Karmon’s notes are from the Oppenheimer column of 2007 and that Cristina Fernández presumably collaborates with her husband.</p>
<p>As for confusion surrounding the AMIA bombing, one example is that only one out of 200 witnesses to the attack saw a white Renault van, the purchase of which Argentine intelligence attempted to pin on an Iranian cultural attaché who had then supposedly allowed it to be filled with explosives. The predilection for white vans in US efforts to isolate undesirable regimes had also been observed in the UN investigation of the Hariri assassination, which involved a white Mitsubishi van and a primary witness who was a convicted criminal.</p>
<p>Oppenheimer informs us that “the growing presence of obscure Iranian ‘diplomatic personnel’ in Venezuela, Nicaragua and other countries in the region raises questions over whether Iranian agents will soon start slipping into other countries to support terrorist or totalitarian groups.” Karmon updates the threat of slippage with the information that Evo Morales has ceased requiring visas from Iranian travelers to Bolivia and that a US intelligence official has revealed in the Los Angeles Times that Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps have decided to capture Jews in South America and smuggle them to Lebanon. Capture is supposedly being facilitated by Venezuelan airport workers who provide information on Jewish travelers; the ease of intercontinental slippage is confirmed by the LA Times article, which reminds us that there are weekly IranAir flights from Tehran to Caracas.</p>
<p>After dabbling in plagiarism of the LA Times, Karmon rambles on through the possibility that Hassan Nasrallah might decide, based on “la inmunidad práctica del pasado,” that Latin American terrain might be used to exact revenge for the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh. Karmon fails to address other past instances of practical immunity and adds to the credibility of Hezbollah’s designs by referencing recently thwarted vengeful attempts in Azerbaijan and “un país europeo no identificado.”</p>
<p>Karmon reviews the dangers posed by the “exportación de la enseñanza ideológica chiita radical y religiosa” and its potential influence on the social structure of Latin America, which will certainly be more difficult to maintain when the barrios of Caracas convert to Shiism. The article concludes with the question of what will happen if Iran, at the request of Chávez, decides to deploy long-range missiles in Venezuela; no mention is made of what sort of range Israeli weapons have.</p>
<p>Ely Karmon’s article in Veintitrés Internacional complies with AMIA’s stipulation that the fifteenth anniversary of the bombing be commemorated with minimal physical congregation of prospective swine flu transmitters. We are left to wonder why Karmon does not take it upon himself to extend his campaign against Iran to discredit the president of Honduras, as well, by exposing flight options from Tegucigalpa to Tehran via London—which are of course only feasible when the Honduran airport is open.</p>
<p>Belén Fernández can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | walking avenida figueroa alcorta buenos aires day came across succession posters advertising la penetración iraní en américa latina featuring hugo chávez mahmoud ahmadinejad clasping hands came across iranian embassy monument park labeled plaza irán well became momentarily convinced posters might point confusion arose date monument may 12 1965 placed origins archaeological period penetración estadounidense iran things slowly began make sense however continued walking noted chávezahmadinejad posters interspersed posters featuring unoccupied bed white sheets proclamation 85 hasta luego convertidos en hasta siempre 85 goodbyes remembered forever turned 85 hasta luego fact victims 1994 attack amia jewish cultural center buenos aires blamed intermittent force iran accordance prevailing geostrategic interests united states fifteenth anniversary attack commemorated friday july 17 one day prior actual anniversary passersby invited pursue information www85vidasmenosamiaorgar 85 vidas menos translates 85 fewer lives explained posters whether designer could think suitable image commemorate bombing victims whether viewers meant infer beds could penetrated moment iranians commemorative websites recent events gaza 1300 vidasmenos returned home find bed still unmade although presumably fault terrorists amia link consisted black page suggestions white variety sentiments might expressed companions 85 victims known 85 would never seen suggestions include love hate nice smile one side written suggestions youtube video additional suggestions hypothetical situations tragically thwarted bombing un beso apasionado que nunca llegó passionate kiss never took place juxtaposed sound attack amia website offers another less artistic page devoted anniversary explains given present situación sanitaria argentina discouragement congregations human beings large physical reunion amia building friday postponed respect el valor supremo del cuidado de la vida contrasting lack value placed life iranians underscored fact continue visit latin america regard swine flu epidemic iranian visits tracked july 2 article veintitrés internacional magazine corresponds chávezahmadinejad posters avenida figueroa alcorta article begins observation attributed miami herald according ahmadinejad must love tropics based fact spent time latin america george bush established article exus president became standard travel frequency places crawford texas measured also established observation ahmadinejad actually hails miami herald column september 2007 andres oppenheimer journalist predicted castros final hour would fall 1992 1993 latest columns publication date might explain oppenheimers failure address fact iranian officials present june 2009 meeting organization american states nonetheless attended israeli deputy foreign minister danny ayalon latin american jaunt ayalon regurgitated oppenheimers warning possibility air travel venezuela iran ayalon know flights caracas via damascus tehran also regurgitated fact iranian agents blew amia although got year wrong neglected oppenheimers alert regarding opening iranian embassy bolivia stationing 20 iranian officials embassy nicaragua author veintitrés internacional article handa certain ely karmon unsurprisingly investigador académico senior en el instituto internacional de contraterrorismo ict en el instituto de política estrategia ips del centro interdisciplinario idc herzliya israelproves adept art regurgitation partly senior academic investigatory techniques include plagiarism became clear fourth paragraph karmons lengthy piece even begun reiterating existence caracastehran flight sense déjàvu effect fact karmon almost exactly replicated entire section oppenheimers column compare oppenheimers english version karmons spanish ahmadinejad looking latin america first seeking latin american support counter us european pressures stop iran developing nuclear capabilities venezuela cuba alongside syria three countries supported irans nuclear program february 2006 vote united nations international atomic energy agency second ahmadinejad wants strike back united states hemisphere iran may want able finance antiamerican groups possibly destabilize usfriendly governments order negotiate washington position greater strength following us invasion iraq iran seems saying got neighborhood im getting third ahmadinejads popularity home falling may want show people welcomed hero abroad vs qué busca ahmadinejad en américa latina en primer lugar busca el apoyo de américa latina para contrarrestar las presiones de estados unidos europa evitar que irán desarrolle capacidades nucleares venezuela cuba fueron junto con siria los tres únicos países que apoyaron el programa nuclear iraní en la votación de febrero de 2006 en la agencia internacional de energía atómica de naciones unidas en segundo lugar ahmadinejad quiere contraatacar estados unidos en su propio hemisferio tal vez desestabilizar los gobiernos amigos de estados unidos fin de negociar con washington desde una posición de mayor fortaleza en tercer lugar la popularidad en su propio país de ahmadinejad está cayendo quiere mostrar su pueblo que en el exterior es recibido como un héroe perceptible alteration text karmons exclusion sentence following us invasion iraq iran seems saying got neighborhood im getting exclusion prevents readers wrongly assuming practice neighborhood penetration invented islamic republic karmon proceeds explore indicators penetration farsi taught venezuelan universities number iranian engineers learned basic spanish late italian journalist oriana fallaci also expressed dismay curricular evolution fact people named mustafa muhammed permitted study chemistry biology us universities despite threat biochemical war fallacis proposed blueprint counteracting islamic penetration europe meanwhile explode mosques italian territory destruction wrought less frequent latin american visitors ahmadinejad white house archives provide transcript george bushs speech miami celebration cuban independence day 2002 introduction follows president thank much sientese voy hablar en espanol hoy applause pero laughter quiero destruir un idioma que bonita por eso voy hablar en ingles dont want destroy beautiful language im going speak english laughter bush would prove following year concern preservation iraq inferior concern preservation spanish language nonetheless called question later speech translated entire world todos however accurately translate secretary state señorita arroz concern white house transcribers english language meantime evident via bushs transcribed proclamation cant listen every time see sic gloria estefan sing makes heart feel better curious linguistic arrangements occurred bushs glorification emilio cubanamerican college student assisted mentally challenged cubanamerican children addition cleaning parks reason bring emilio say oftentimes americans want best participate country best fight evil good love neighbor like youd like loved youre interested youre interested helping define nation world youre interested resisting evil good thats emilio ely karmon continues manage fight evil arenas contributing evidence iranian origins attack amia iranianvenezuelan collaboration production tractors times speaks néstor kirchner though current president argentina confusion possibly stemming fact karmons notes oppenheimer column 2007 cristina fernández presumably collaborates husband confusion surrounding amia bombing one example one 200 witnesses attack saw white renault van purchase argentine intelligence attempted pin iranian cultural attaché supposedly allowed filled explosives predilection white vans us efforts isolate undesirable regimes also observed un investigation hariri assassination involved white mitsubishi van primary witness convicted criminal oppenheimer informs us growing presence obscure iranian diplomatic personnel venezuela nicaragua countries region raises questions whether iranian agents soon start slipping countries support terrorist totalitarian groups karmon updates threat slippage information evo morales ceased requiring visas iranian travelers bolivia us intelligence official revealed los angeles times hezbollah iranian revolutionary guard corps decided capture jews south america smuggle lebanon capture supposedly facilitated venezuelan airport workers provide information jewish travelers ease intercontinental slippage confirmed la times article reminds us weekly iranair flights tehran caracas dabbling plagiarism la times karmon rambles possibility hassan nasrallah might decide based la inmunidad práctica del pasado latin american terrain might used exact revenge assassination imad mughniyeh karmon fails address past instances practical immunity adds credibility hezbollahs designs referencing recently thwarted vengeful attempts azerbaijan un país europeo identificado karmon reviews dangers posed exportación de la enseñanza ideológica chiita radical religiosa potential influence social structure latin america certainly difficult maintain barrios caracas convert shiism article concludes question happen iran request chávez decides deploy longrange missiles venezuela mention made sort range israeli weapons ely karmons article veintitrés internacional complies amias stipulation fifteenth anniversary bombing commemorated minimal physical congregation prospective swine flu transmitters left wonder karmon take upon extend campaign iran discredit president honduras well exposing flight options tegucigalpa tehran via londonwhich course feasible honduran airport open belén fernández reached belengarciabernalgmailcom 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 | 1,253 |
<p>Lyndon B Johnson signing the Medicare bill in Independence, Missouri on July 30, 1965.Lyndon B Johnson Library/National Archives</p>
<p>This&#160;story&#160;was first published on July 30 by&#160; <a href="http://billmoyers.com/story/lbj-launches-medicare-cant-treat-grandma-way/" type="external">Moyers and Company</a>.</p>
<p>Watching the craziness in the Senate this week, as Mitch McConnell and the GOP’s zealots drove their clown car into a brick wall and yet another effort to take away health care coverage from millions crashed and burned, I thought back to a different turn of events.</p>
<p>It was 52 years ago this Sunday—July 30, 1965. Two American presidents celebrated the birth of Medicare, the most significant advance toward national health insurance in America’s history. &#160;&#160;</p>
<p>I was a White House assistant at the time, working for President Lyndon B. Johnson as he coaxed, cajoled, badgered, buttonholed and maneuvered Congress into enacting Medicare for the aging and Medicaid to help low-income people. For all the public displays over the years of his outsized personae and powers of persuasion, this time he had kept a low profile, working behind the scenes as his legislative team and career health care experts practically lived on Capitol Hill, negotiating with members of Congress and their staffs.</p>
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<p>From the White House, LBJ worked the phones; invited senators and representatives singly and collectively in for coffee, drinks or dinner; listened attentively in private to opponents and proponents from interests as varied as business, labor, medicine and religion; and kept in his head a running tally of the fluctuating vote count.</p>
<p>As it had been for decades, it was a tough fight down to the wire. A look back is instructive, not only to show how long it can take to move a legislative dream to reality but also to illustrate how a president with a grasp of history and knowledge of how government works is crucial to making success possible.</p>
<p>In 1935, when President Franklin Roosevelt first tried and failed to get health insurance included as part of Social Security, I was 1 year old and my family was broke. The Great Depression had ended my father’s tenant farming. He took a job for a dollar a day as a laborer on the construction of a highway in southeast Oklahoma.</p>
<p>Earlier, my mother had lost twin girls—one at birth, the other some months later—because the nearest doctor was too far away to arrive in time to help. My parents moved into town. To pay the doctor who delivered me, my father lugged large stones by hand to the site the physician had bought to build his first office. It’s still there.</p>
<p>At about this time in Washington, Republicans, conservative Democrats and the American Medical Association (AMA) were winning their fight to sink President Roosevelt’s proposal for health insurance. Congress was intimidated, and in August 1935 FDR gave up, signing the Social Security Act without health coverage. &#160;&#160;</p>
<p>Eight years later, in the midst of World War II, he once again called for social insurance “that will extend from the cradle to the grave.” And again, his proposal went nowhere.</p>
<p>On FDR’s death, Harry Truman became president. In his 1948 Message to Congress on the State of the Union, he said: &#160;</p>
<p>“This great nation cannot afford to allow its citizens to suffer needlessly from the lack of proper medical care. Our ultimate aim must be a comprehensive insurance system to protect all our people equally against insecurity and ill health.”</p>
<p>Congress still refused to budge. Running for election in his own right that year, and way behind in the polls, Truman won an upset victory after demanding that health care insurance and civil rights be included in the Democratic Party platform. That same year, congressman Lyndon Johnson of Texas, whose home district was Democratic and liberal in a state turning increasingly Republican and conservative, was running for election to the US Senate. He opposed Truman’s health care plan as socialistic and was elected. &#160;</p>
<p>In 1952, Republicans won control of Congress for the first time since 1932 and hardened their stand against a national health care program. War hero Dwight Eisenhower won the presidency for the Republicans. He, too, opposed the plan that had been shelved by Congress before Truman left office.</p>
<p>Ike only was willing to support subsidizing private insurers to cover certain low-income groups and no more. With the continuing opposition of the nation’s doctors—amplified through their political lobby, the AMA, as well as the US Chamber of Commerce—the notion of Medicare appeared finished once and for all. &#160;&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>Yet when he yielded the presidency to Eisenhower, Truman lamented his failure but was prophetic when he said: “[It] has only delayed and cannot stop the adoption of an indispensable health insurance plan.”</p>
<p>He was right. The battle heated up. In 1957, the AFL-CIO brought its 14 million members to the fight. The American Hospital Association, which bore the brunt of the problems older people encountered as they aged, signed on, too.</p>
<p>Public opinion was swinging in favor of national health insurance. When John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson were nominated as the Democratic ticket in 1960, they made health care for Social Security retirees a major plank in the platform and endorsed a bill in the Senate that in time would become Medicare.</p>
<p>Though he was Kennedy’s running mate, Johnson was still the powerful Senate majority leader, that body’s top Democrat, and responsible for steering its legislative agenda. After a long day on the campaign road, or in the Senate, we would get to his home late and he would stay up until after midnight, making phone calls to one or another member of Congress urging passage of the Medicare bill.</p>
<p>Despite his efforts, it failed by four votes. LBJ had studied the polls and knew public opinion was building for national health insurance; he feared this defeat might cost Democrats the election. It didn’t, although the margin of victory was incredibly slim. As soon as they were inaugurated, now President Kennedy and Vice President Johnson championed yet another effort known as the Medical Care for the Aged bill. Still adamantly opposed by the Republicans and the AMA, it also failed—this time by two votes.</p>
<p>In early 1963, the bill was reintroduced in Congress, only to fail again. Some observers again pronounced it once and forever toast. But in November of that year, an assassin killed John Kennedy, tragically catapulting Lyndon Johnson into the White House. Just days later, in a dramatic speech to Congress and the nation, he slowly and deliberately drawled: “Let us continue!” With that challenge, LBJ set out to enact Kennedy’s legislative agenda—with a good chance, he thought, of passing the Medicare bill.</p>
<p>As before, the opposition fought back with everything they had, which&#160; <a href="http://billmoyers.com/content/deja-vu-all-over-a-look-back-at-some-of-the-tirades-against-social-security-and-medicare/4/" type="external">now included the AMA’s new pitchman, Ronald Reagan</a>. Not yet a candidate for public office, the actor was hired to warn the country against letting government get between doctors and their patients. He made a popular recording played at thousands of small meetings around the country in which attendees heard his pitch warning of “socialized medicine” and predicting “behind [Medicare] will come other federal programs that will invade every area of freedom as we have known it in this country.” Just think if he’d had Twitter.</p>
<p>Our strategy that year came to naught, producing in the early fall a stalemate. The Senate actually did pass a national health care bill for the elderly (despite the opposition of the Republican nominee for president, Barry Goldwater of Arizona, who interrupted his campaign and returned to Washington to vote no). But the powerful and conservative Democratic chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Wilbur Mills, would not agree to a medical care provision of any kind. A conference meeting to work out differences between the House and Senate ended in deadlock.</p>
<p>Johnson gritted his teeth and returned to the campaign, winning a four-year term in his own right.</p>
<p>Elections matter—surely no one doubts that fact anymore—and the ’64 election mattered dramatically. Not only did it deliver LBJ a landslide victory, but it brought Democrats their biggest majorities in the House and Senate since FDR. “If we can’t get Medicare through now,” the president told me after the election, “we don’t deserve what we just won.”</p>
<p>So as soon as he and Vice President Hubert Humphrey were inaugurated in January 1965, we started over. You can get a glimpse of the intensity of LBJ’s drive from a conversation I had with him around that time. With others, I had urged that the new bill include a provision for a retroactive increase in Social Security payments as an economic stimulus. He called me to say okay, but wanted me to understand it wasn’t because of the economy:</p>
<p>“…My inclination would be … that it ought to retroactive as far back as you can get… because none [of the elderly] ever get enough. They are entitled to it. That’s an obligation of ours. It’s just like your mother writing you and saying she wants $20, and I’d always sent mine a $100 when she did. I never did it because I thought it was going to be good for the economy of Austin. I always did it because I thought she was entitled to it. And I think that’s a much better reason and a much better cause and I think it can be defended on a hell of a better basis…. We do know that it affects the economy… it helps us in that respect. But that’s not the basis to go to the Hill, or the justification. We’ve just got to say that, by God, you can’t treat grandma this way. She’s entitled and we promised it to her.”</p>
<p>He understood the legislative process like no one I ever met. “Nothing given, nothing gotten—that’s the rule!” he told us in an Oval Office meeting on how to break yet another Capitol Hill deadlock. He sent his senior legislative aide to play sweet with a still-recalcitrant Wilbur Mills and warned, “I’ll tell you this, Wilbur Mills will take your pants off unless you’ve got something that he’s got to trade for.” When Mills still wouldn’t budge, the president let loose a string of invectives that would have made even Anthony Scaramucci blush. The next day he was courting Mills again, as if nothing had happened.</p>
<p>As the cherry blossoms bloomed that spring of ‘65, the president thought Congress was moving too slowly. The civil rights movement was under siege in the South, violence was continuing against blacks and we were working around the clock to pass legislation &#160;to end discrimination. Even so, he wouldn’t let us slow down on Medicare—or other pending priorities. When he thought we were lagging, he took us to the woodshed, as you can see in a telephone conversation with Vice President Humphrey and me:</p>
<p>“They [the House and Senate] are bogged down. The House had nothing this week—all goddamn week. You and Moyers and Larry O’Brien [his chief congressional expert] have got to get something for them. And the Senate had nothing… So we just wasted three weeks… Now we are here in the first week in March [1965], and we have just got to get these things passed… You’ve got to look each week and say, what is the Senate doing in committee this week and when will they be through, what is the House doing… You’ve got to be running into these guys [members of Congress] in the halls, and going over and having a drink with them in the evenings… I’ll put every Cabinet officer behind you, I’ll put every banker behind you, I’ll put every organization that I can deliver behind you… I’ll put the labor unions behind you.”</p>
<p>A few days later, breakthrough. LBJ’s now-gentler courting of Wilbur Mills paid off, and the House Ways and Means chairman pieced together a bill from several options championed by different interests. He got it past the committee’s conservative coalition with a straight party vote, 17-8. &#160;&#160;</p>
<p>Remembering our defeat the previous fall, our team fretted over how to make the final sale to the full House and Senate. The president had some more advice for us. As he told Larry O’Brien, the White House chief legislative honcho: Give bragging rights to anyone who voted on the final version of both Medicare—and the big education bill also in the pipeline: &#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>“[Tell them] that every guy that votes for Medicare and education, his grandchildren will say my grandpa was in the Congress that enacted these two… So it makes ‘em proud. And they can go back home and say I was one of the 54 [who voted yes], or my daddy was one of the 54… so all his children and grandchildren are bragging about being one of the 54.”</p>
<p>Medicare passed the House by a vote of 313-115. But in the Senate, liberal Democrats added $800 million to its cost, outraging conservatives (and vexing LBJ, who knew such overreach would give opponents more fuel to attack). &#160;</p>
<p>Back the bill went to a conference committee between the House and Senate. Then to the House floor again, where it survived more than 500 amendments before passing on July 27 by majority vote, 307-116. One day later the Senate passed it, 70-24. All that was needed now was the president’s signature and Medicare and Medicaid would become the nation’s first public health insurance programs. &#160;</p>
<p>And that’s how it came to pass that 52 years ago, on the morning of July 30, 1965. President Johnson loaded up two planeloads of dignitaries and headed toward Independence, Missouri, hometown of former President Harry Truman. He intended to sign the bill at the side of the man whose original proposal LBJ had dismissed as socialism. Now he revered Truman as “the real daddy of Medicare.” <a href="http://dy00k1db5oznd.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/GettyImages-515496936.jpg" type="external">Here’s the actual moment</a> Medicare became the law of the land.</p>
<p>After signing the bill, Lyndon Johnson turned to Harry Truman and signed him up as Medicare’s first beneficiary. It was high drama, touched with history, politics, sentimentality, showmanship and compromise.</p>
<p>The legislation was far from perfect. LBJ once told me never to watch hogs slaughtered before breakfast and never ever show young children how legislation gets enacted.</p>
<p>Too much secrecy surrounded the bill’s passage. Even as the president signed it into law, we weren’t sure of all that was in there. As some principled conservatives warned, there were too few cost controls. The experts feared copays and deductibles would become a burden. &#160;</p>
<p>“Those can be fixed,” LBJ said, “once it sinks in that Medicare is here to stay.”</p>
<p>Meanwhile, as historian Robert Dallek has written, although Medicare and Medicaid did not solve the problem of care at reasonable cost for all Americans, “the benefits to the elderly and the indigent…are indisputable.”</p>
<p>Perhaps the biggest mistake was one of imagination—our failure to anticipate the advent of new and expensive technology to treat the sick or the demand on the system that would rise from a burgeoning population. That spring President Johnson had warned, “We will face a new challenge and that will be what to do within our economy to adjust ourselves to a life span and a work span for the average man or woman of 100 years.”</p>
<p>That, and the cost, we reckon with today.</p>
<p>Now that the eight-year effort of conservatives to repeal the Affordable Care Act (itself a flawed but significant extension of the effort to help more people get decent coverage) is stalled, the next steps are crucial. Going back to the status quo—a system driven by the profit motive and rationed health care based on income—is unthinkable. At the website&#160;Common Dreams,&#160; <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/07/28/its-time-adults-nation-talk-seriously-about-medicare-all" type="external">Dr. Carol Paris, president of Physicians for a National Health Program, writes</a>:</p>
<p>“Clearly, the system is broken. Like a cracked pipe, money gushes into our health care system but steadily leaks out. Money is siphoned into the advertising budgets of insurance companies and the army of corporate bureaucrats working to deny claims. Even more dollars are soaked up by the pockets of insurance CEOs who have collectively earned $9.8 billion since the Affordable Care Act was passed in 2010. Nearly a third of our health care dollars go to something other than health care.”</p>
<p>Watching recent events, I thought of the long and arduous process I’ve just related, the many steps that brought Medicare into being, and how I was afforded a modest role in the supporting cast.</p>
<p>I came away from the experience with three lessons. First, whether health care is a right may be debatable, but it assuredly fulfills a basic human need—and without it, human beings without means will live and die suffering unduly.</p>
<p>Second, building that more perfect union which the founders of this republic defined as the mission of government has always been slow, hard, acrimonious, frustrating, tiring and elusive, because we as individuals are ourselves imperfect and because there are always among us those predators who regard democracy as an obstacle to their avarice.</p>
<p>Against such realities, the only way for democracy to succeed is for enough people to take up the cause where and when they can, as so many did for Medicare and are doing now for our eroding social covenant. That’s the third lesson I learned: It is harder to build something than to burn it down, but build we must.</p>
<p>Note: I am greatly indebted to Larry DeWitt, the historian of the US Social Security Administration, whose outstanding research and organizing talents have helped so many of us recollect with greater accuracy and context such experiences as I have recounted here. The author of numerous articles and essays—including “The Medicare Program as a Capstone to the Great Society—Recent Revelations in the LBJ White House Tapes,” on which &#160;I have often relied—Mr. DeWitt also created&#160; <a href="http://www.socialsecurity.gov/history" type="external">http://www.socialsecurity.gov/history</a>, one of the largest history-related web sites in the federal government. It’s a national treasure. &#160;Check it out.</p> | true | 4 | lyndon b johnson signing medicare bill independence missouri july 30 1965lyndon b johnson librarynational archives this160story160was first published july 30 by160 moyers company watching craziness senate week mitch mcconnell gops zealots drove clown car brick wall yet another effort take away health care coverage millions crashed burned thought back different turn events 52 years ago sundayjuly 30 1965 two american presidents celebrated birth medicare significant advance toward national health insurance americas history 160160 white house assistant time working president lyndon b johnson coaxed cajoled badgered buttonholed maneuvered congress enacting medicare aging medicaid help lowincome people public displays years outsized personae powers persuasion time kept low profile working behind scenes legislative team career health care experts practically lived capitol hill negotiating members congress staffs white house lbj worked phones invited senators representatives singly collectively coffee drinks dinner listened attentively private opponents proponents interests varied business labor medicine religion kept head running tally fluctuating vote count decades tough fight wire look back instructive show long take move legislative dream reality also illustrate president grasp history knowledge government works crucial making success possible 1935 president franklin roosevelt first tried failed get health insurance included part social security 1 year old family broke great depression ended fathers tenant farming took job dollar day laborer construction highway southeast oklahoma earlier mother lost twin girlsone birth months laterbecause nearest doctor far away arrive time help parents moved town pay doctor delivered father lugged large stones hand site physician bought build first office still time washington republicans conservative democrats american medical association ama winning fight sink president roosevelts proposal health insurance congress intimidated august 1935 fdr gave signing social security act without health coverage 160160 eight years later midst world war ii called social insurance extend cradle grave proposal went nowhere fdrs death harry truman became president 1948 message congress state union said 160 great nation afford allow citizens suffer needlessly lack proper medical care ultimate aim must comprehensive insurance system protect people equally insecurity ill health congress still refused budge running election right year way behind polls truman upset victory demanding health care insurance civil rights included democratic party platform year congressman lyndon johnson texas whose home district democratic liberal state turning increasingly republican conservative running election us senate opposed trumans health care plan socialistic elected 160 1952 republicans control congress first time since 1932 hardened stand national health care program war hero dwight eisenhower presidency republicans opposed plan shelved congress truman left office ike willing support subsidizing private insurers cover certain lowincome groups continuing opposition nations doctorsamplified political lobby ama well us chamber commercethe notion medicare appeared finished 160160160 yet yielded presidency eisenhower truman lamented failure prophetic said delayed stop adoption indispensable health insurance plan right battle heated 1957 aflcio brought 14 million members fight american hospital association bore brunt problems older people encountered aged signed public opinion swinging favor national health insurance john f kennedy lyndon johnson nominated democratic ticket 1960 made health care social security retirees major plank platform endorsed bill senate time would become medicare though kennedys running mate johnson still powerful senate majority leader bodys top democrat responsible steering legislative agenda long day campaign road senate would get home late would stay midnight making phone calls one another member congress urging passage medicare bill despite efforts failed four votes lbj studied polls knew public opinion building national health insurance feared defeat might cost democrats election didnt although margin victory incredibly slim soon inaugurated president kennedy vice president johnson championed yet another effort known medical care aged bill still adamantly opposed republicans ama also failedthis time two votes early 1963 bill reintroduced congress fail observers pronounced forever toast november year assassin killed john kennedy tragically catapulting lyndon johnson white house days later dramatic speech congress nation slowly deliberately drawled let us continue challenge lbj set enact kennedys legislative agendawith good chance thought passing medicare bill opposition fought back everything which160 included amas new pitchman ronald reagan yet candidate public office actor hired warn country letting government get doctors patients made popular recording played thousands small meetings around country attendees heard pitch warning socialized medicine predicting behind medicare come federal programs invade every area freedom known country think hed twitter strategy year came naught producing early fall stalemate senate actually pass national health care bill elderly despite opposition republican nominee president barry goldwater arizona interrupted campaign returned washington vote powerful conservative democratic chairman house ways means committee wilbur mills would agree medical care provision kind conference meeting work differences house senate ended deadlock johnson gritted teeth returned campaign winning fouryear term right elections mattersurely one doubts fact anymoreand 64 election mattered dramatically deliver lbj landslide victory brought democrats biggest majorities house senate since fdr cant get medicare president told election dont deserve soon vice president hubert humphrey inaugurated january 1965 started get glimpse intensity lbjs drive conversation around time others urged new bill include provision retroactive increase social security payments economic stimulus called say okay wanted understand wasnt economy inclination would ought retroactive far back get none elderly ever get enough entitled thats obligation like mother writing saying wants 20 id always sent mine 100 never thought going good economy austin always thought entitled think thats much better reason much better cause think defended hell better basis know affects economy helps us respect thats basis go hill justification weve got say god cant treat grandma way shes entitled promised understood legislative process like one ever met nothing given nothing gottenthats rule told us oval office meeting break yet another capitol hill deadlock sent senior legislative aide play sweet stillrecalcitrant wilbur mills warned ill tell wilbur mills take pants unless youve got something hes got trade mills still wouldnt budge president let loose string invectives would made even anthony scaramucci blush next day courting mills nothing happened cherry blossoms bloomed spring 65 president thought congress moving slowly civil rights movement siege south violence continuing blacks working around clock pass legislation 160to end discrimination even wouldnt let us slow medicareor pending priorities thought lagging took us woodshed see telephone conversation vice president humphrey house senate bogged house nothing weekall goddamn week moyers larry obrien chief congressional expert got get something senate nothing wasted three weeks first week march 1965 got get things passed youve got look week say senate committee week house youve got running guys members congress halls going drink evenings ill put every cabinet officer behind ill put every banker behind ill put every organization deliver behind ill put labor unions behind days later breakthrough lbjs nowgentler courting wilbur mills paid house ways means chairman pieced together bill several options championed different interests got past committees conservative coalition straight party vote 178 160160 remembering defeat previous fall team fretted make final sale full house senate president advice us told larry obrien white house chief legislative honcho give bragging rights anyone voted final version medicareand big education bill also pipeline 160160160160 tell every guy votes medicare education grandchildren say grandpa congress enacted two makes em proud go back home say one 54 voted yes daddy one 54 children grandchildren bragging one 54 medicare passed house vote 313115 senate liberal democrats added 800 million cost outraging conservatives vexing lbj knew overreach would give opponents fuel attack 160 back bill went conference committee house senate house floor survived 500 amendments passing july 27 majority vote 307116 one day later senate passed 7024 needed presidents signature medicare medicaid would become nations first public health insurance programs 160 thats came pass 52 years ago morning july 30 1965 president johnson loaded two planeloads dignitaries headed toward independence missouri hometown former president harry truman intended sign bill side man whose original proposal lbj dismissed socialism revered truman real daddy medicare heres actual moment medicare became law land signing bill lyndon johnson turned harry truman signed medicares first beneficiary high drama touched history politics sentimentality showmanship compromise legislation far perfect lbj told never watch hogs slaughtered breakfast never ever show young children legislation gets enacted much secrecy surrounded bills passage even president signed law werent sure principled conservatives warned cost controls experts feared copays deductibles would become burden 160 fixed lbj said sinks medicare stay meanwhile historian robert dallek written although medicare medicaid solve problem care reasonable cost americans benefits elderly indigentare indisputable perhaps biggest mistake one imaginationour failure anticipate advent new expensive technology treat sick demand system would rise burgeoning population spring president johnson warned face new challenge within economy adjust life span work span average man woman 100 years cost reckon today eightyear effort conservatives repeal affordable care act flawed significant extension effort help people get decent coverage stalled next steps crucial going back status quoa system driven profit motive rationed health care based incomeis unthinkable website160common dreams160 dr carol paris president physicians national health program writes clearly system broken like cracked pipe money gushes health care system steadily leaks money siphoned advertising budgets insurance companies army corporate bureaucrats working deny claims even dollars soaked pockets insurance ceos collectively earned 98 billion since affordable care act passed 2010 nearly third health care dollars go something health care watching recent events thought long arduous process ive related many steps brought medicare afforded modest role supporting cast came away experience three lessons first whether health care right may debatable assuredly fulfills basic human needand without human beings without means live die suffering unduly second building perfect union founders republic defined mission government always slow hard acrimonious frustrating tiring elusive individuals imperfect always among us predators regard democracy obstacle avarice realities way democracy succeed enough people take cause many medicare eroding social covenant thats third lesson learned harder build something burn build must note greatly indebted larry dewitt historian us social security administration whose outstanding research organizing talents helped many us recollect greater accuracy context experiences recounted author numerous articles essaysincluding medicare program capstone great societyrecent revelations lbj white house tapes 160i often reliedmr dewitt also created160 httpwwwsocialsecuritygovhistory one largest historyrelated web sites federal government national treasure 160check | 1,657 |
<p>Like racial profiling, the so-called Watch List hinges on a false premise that people commit crimes because of their racial, ethnic or religious background. &#160;This false premise caused huge suffering to African America, Japanese Americans and now Arab and American Muslims.</p>
<p>The worst part of this is the assumption that practicing Islam, never mind being an activist at that, gives one an appetite for terrorism. In the process, people who are in good standing who did not have a criminal record are treated as “posing a threat to civil aviation or national security” or as “potential enemies of the state”.</p>
<p>Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post reported last year that since 2003, a database that stores names of “individuals that the intelligence community believes might harm the United States” has quadrupled from 100,000 to 435,000. I am sure the numbers now are much higher. &#160;If the US has these many “terrorists” or “dangerous people,” then we have a real and huge problem that cannot be solved by a watch list that selectively targets people.</p>
<p>Watch lists only provide false sense of security by pacifying the public with the perception of added security.</p>
<p>Jim Harper, in his Congressional testimony “The Promise of Registered Traveler,” highlighted the folly of travel watch lists and identification-based policies intended to deter terrorists: “Checking identification for the purpose of comparing air travelers to lists of suspects or no-flyers is… deeply flawed and unlikely to interdict committed terrorist groups. Terrorists have ways to bypass these security checks.” In the meantime, people who are in the trenches of building the bridges of civilizational understanding and peace are alienated by humiliation.</p>
<p>On a recent trip back to Columbus, I was instructed to deboard the plane since my boarding pass was not “quad S’d,” [pronounced quad “esd”] In plain English, my boarding pass was not labeled for what is called secondary screening. &#160;In other words, I was not subjected to extra screening, something that I am routinely subjected to.</p>
<p>This time around, however, I was in fact “quad S’d.” &#160;And since my return flight was on the same day, I requested the return boarding pass just before I started my trip, and I got it. &#160;Interestingly, the boarding pass of my return trip was not “quad S’d.” &#160;So, the first leg was “quad S’d and the return flight was not. &#160;This is great, I thought. &#160;At last, I would not have to go through the routine of additional screening on the way back. &#160;I thought this particular airline has gotten enough background information about me that they opted to give me a break this time around.</p>
<p>Long story short, I was instructed to go back to the security checkpoint and to request a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent to conduct a “secondary screen” on me and then come back to board the plane. &#160;Needless to say, I missed my flight and ended up staying overnight before catching another flight to Columbus the next day. This meant an added cost of a hotel room and a second trip to the airport before the break of dawn. But that is not all.</p>
<p>You guessed it, when I tried to check in to get my boarding pass from the self-serve kiosk, I was denied and was instructed, by the kiosk, to see an agent. &#160;The agent had to call a “special number” to clear my name (at least temporarily) and declare me eligible to board the plane.</p>
<p>This part of my trip normally takes between 15 minutes and 2 hours and 15 minutes as was the case while flying back from a west coast trip a few months earlier. &#160;I usually do not take chances, so I try to be at the ticket counter at least one hour before departure time, just in case. &#160;I am lucky most of the time–I’ve only missed three or four flights because the security clearance took longer than my estimate.</p>
<p>I’ve often wondered if this kind of routine harassment that has been going for years now does not constitute an infringement on at least one of the most important principles enshrined in the US Constitution: the freedom of movement, and Article 13 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.</p>
<p>The notion of making society safer by subjecting people to extra screening is absurd. &#160;In his book, “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1416541713/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Overblown: How Politicians and the Terrorism Industry Inflate National Security Threats, and Why We Believe Them</a>,” John Mueller describes this “security Industry” as the only beneficiary of this culture of fear.</p>
<p>“The ‘war on terror’ has created a culture of fear in America,” opined Zbigniew Brzezinski in a Washington Post OpEd. &#160;“Such fear-mongering, reinforced by security entrepreneurs, the mass media and the entertainment industry, generates its own momentum…The atmosphere generated by the ‘war on terror’ has encouraged legal and political harassment of Arab Americans (generally loyal Americans) for conduct that has not been unique to them,” he added. A case in point is the fact that an astronomical number of Americans, mainly Muslims, who are placed on the government’s watch list and are subjected to unwarranted delays and detentions while traveling or crossing US borders.</p>
<p>While the proponents of the policy that led to the establishment of the watch list argue that it is in place to protect national security, facts indicate that it used as a tool to punish dissenters.</p>
<p>“I was denied a boarding pass because I was on the terrorist watch list,” said Walter Murphy, a renowned constitutional scholar, a lecturer at Princeton University, and decorated Marine veteran. &#160;Why? Because “in September 2006, (he had) given a lecture at Princeton, televised and put on the Web, highly critical of George Bush for his many violations of the Constitution.”</p>
<p>Thomas Jefferson once said: “The most sacred of the duties of a government is to do equal and impartial justice to all its citizens.”</p>
<p>AHMAD AL-AKHRAS has a collection of his boarding passes for the past four plus years. &#160;Most of these boarding passes were marked for “secondary screening.” &#160;Dr. Al-Akhras is the Vice Chairman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, CAIR. &#160;He can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | like racial profiling socalled watch list hinges false premise people commit crimes racial ethnic religious background 160this false premise caused huge suffering african america japanese americans arab american muslims worst part assumption practicing islam never mind activist gives one appetite terrorism process people good standing criminal record treated posing threat civil aviation national security potential enemies state karen deyoung washington post reported last year since 2003 database stores names individuals intelligence community believes might harm united states quadrupled 100000 435000 sure numbers much higher 160if us many terrorists dangerous people real huge problem solved watch list selectively targets people watch lists provide false sense security pacifying public perception added security jim harper congressional testimony promise registered traveler highlighted folly travel watch lists identificationbased policies intended deter terrorists checking identification purpose comparing air travelers lists suspects noflyers deeply flawed unlikely interdict committed terrorist groups terrorists ways bypass security checks meantime people trenches building bridges civilizational understanding peace alienated humiliation recent trip back columbus instructed deboard plane since boarding pass quad sd pronounced quad esd plain english boarding pass labeled called secondary screening 160in words subjected extra screening something routinely subjected time around however fact quad sd 160and since return flight day requested return boarding pass started trip got 160interestingly boarding pass return trip quad sd 160so first leg quad sd return flight 160this great thought 160at last would go routine additional screening way back 160i thought particular airline gotten enough background information opted give break time around long story short instructed go back security checkpoint request transportation security administration tsa agent conduct secondary screen come back board plane 160needless say missed flight ended staying overnight catching another flight columbus next day meant added cost hotel room second trip airport break dawn guessed tried check get boarding pass selfserve kiosk denied instructed kiosk see agent 160the agent call special number clear name least temporarily declare eligible board plane part trip normally takes 15 minutes 2 hours 15 minutes case flying back west coast trip months earlier 160i usually take chances try ticket counter least one hour departure time case 160i lucky timeive missed three four flights security clearance took longer estimate ive often wondered kind routine harassment going years constitute infringement least one important principles enshrined us constitution freedom movement article 13 universal declaration human rights notion making society safer subjecting people extra screening absurd 160in book overblown politicians terrorism industry inflate national security threats believe john mueller describes security industry beneficiary culture fear war terror created culture fear america opined zbigniew brzezinski washington post oped 160such fearmongering reinforced security entrepreneurs mass media entertainment industry generates momentumthe atmosphere generated war terror encouraged legal political harassment arab americans generally loyal americans conduct unique added case point fact astronomical number americans mainly muslims placed governments watch list subjected unwarranted delays detentions traveling crossing us borders proponents policy led establishment watch list argue place protect national security facts indicate used tool punish dissenters denied boarding pass terrorist watch list said walter murphy renowned constitutional scholar lecturer princeton university decorated marine veteran 160why september 2006 given lecture princeton televised put web highly critical george bush many violations constitution thomas jefferson said sacred duties government equal impartial justice citizens ahmad alakhras collection boarding passes past four plus years 160most boarding passes marked secondary screening 160dr alakhras vice chairman council americanislamic relations cair 160he reached ahmadalakhrasorg 160 | 559 |
<p>* I wrote this 2-20-2010</p>
<p>On October 31st 1517 Martin Luther trudged up a hill to the Castle Church in Wittenberg and nailed his 95 Theses to the door in the early morning light. The Theses amounted to a moral indictment of the Catholic Church, the controller of this world and gate keeper to the next. It was an act of supreme individual defiance, and an almost suicidal act. Martin Luther likely did not expect to see the sunset that day.</p>
<p>Yet Luther had reached a place in his psyche where he felt he had to say what he believed, that Rome, the Catholic Rome, had become a Babylon that represented all that Christ did not. Luther believed there need not be an arbiter between man and God. Salvation was granted by God alone, and not by some functionary of the “Church,” who was paid for this absolution.</p>
<p>Basically Luther called Rome out as an immoral, indeed anti-Christian, force in the world.</p>
<p>Many others had come to this conclusion in the years before Luther and many of these people had found their fate at the stake. But technology had changed Luther’s world. With the invention of the printing press 65 years before, the mass production of writings had become possible and so ideas were now much more easily spread. Even more vital was that the laity was becoming increasingly literate and so could download Luther’s ideas.</p>
<p>Many of the newly literate class had undoubtedly come to many of the same conclusions as Luther. For those who could read, the Church stood in stark contrast to the words of Jesus which they now had read first hand. The Church was a fist that extracted tribute and furthered corruption. The literate man could see this. Where before the average person had to rely on a priest to read the word of God to him, now he could read Jesus’ words himself. And the thing is Jesus was a revolutionary.</p>
<p>Luther had the guts to put this general inkling of the Christians of Germany onto paper and then to make these observations public. Others reading his analysis then took his work and sent it viral across Europe, thanks in large part to that new technology, the printing press. It was not long before The Reformation, essentially a spiritual, societal, economic, and political transformation was in full swing across Europe.</p>
<p>Flash forward half a millennia. Humanity and especially America finds itself in the midst of turmoil and tumult. In the past decade the barbarians have started knocking on the gate (September 11th, 2001.) The American “empire” is now being challenged on nearly all fronts, overseas, at home, morally, and politically. Factor in the emergence of a technology that is at least as revolutionary as the printing press, the internet, and it is easy to see why we live in such interesting times.</p>
<p />
<p>As these changes have transpired our leadership has been slow to react. Part of this is due to the inherent nature of leadership hierarchies, they always resist change. Change means the possibility of new leaders. Another part is that much of our political leadership still exists in a 20th Century mentality. And I’m not just talking about the old white guys in the Senate, I’m talking about our president Mr. Obama too. They all fail to see that the only way for this country to prosper as it can again is to embrace a decentralized form of the state that works better in an increasingly dynamic world.</p>
<p>Thankfully we have the blueprint for this new way of organizing our country, it’s called the Constitution.</p>
<p>Enter a modern day Luther, an understated and unassuming man of slight build and modest pedigree, Dr. Ron Paul. A Congressman from Texas who against all odds has remained in Congress despite efforts by both the Republican and Democratic Parties to unseat him, Ron Paul nailed his own 95 Treatises to the political establishment’s door in 2007/2008 when he ran for president.</p>
<p>Because he was technically a Republican Ron Paul was allowed to speak during the presidential debates. He had run years before as a Libertarian but had gotten little coverage. This time however he had a bigger platform and his message resonated, just like Luther’s, with the marginalized literate middle class.</p>
<p>Luther read the Bible and found that the establishment that based its legitimacy on the sacred text, did not in any way reflect the tenants of Christianity. Likewise Dr. Paul looks to America’s sacred text, the Constitution, and sees the same hypocrisy.</p>
<p>What Dr. Paul voiced on the different stages during the presidential debates was in the minds if not on the lips of many who were paying attention to what was going on in American society. Though by no means a majority, especially in those years, many of these Americans could see that their government was broken and increasingly unrepresentative and unresponsive. Ron Paul gave voice to their frustrations, and articulated a solution.</p>
<p>People who could put 2 and 2 together could see that their government was increasingly disconnected from them. It cared little for them yet expected everything from them if need be. This feeling was not new and had waxed and waned over the previous couple of decades. But with the power of the internet these malcontents- and I use the term lovingly – could connect with one another and share ideas.</p>
<p>They were also able to organize. Though much has been made of Obama’s use of cyberspace during the 2008 campaign, it was Ron Paul’s efforts, or more specifically the efforts of his supporters, that were far more remarkable and innovative. Obama had the power of the Democratic establishment behind him. Ron Paul had the establishment, even his own party, actively working against him. Yet Ron Paul was able to effectively “crowd source” an entire presidential campaign.</p>
<p>Just as Luther’s ideas were easily spread due to the printing press so to0 were Ron Paul’s ideas spread in a much shorter period of time via the internet. Millions of people who did not see Ron Paul on the televised debates were able to become familiar with him and his ideas via Youtube. His simple message of adhering to the Constitution, made sense. His call to the people was deeply American. It was both revolutionary and conservative at the same time. America is supposed to be the land of the free, he said, and we have been betrayed.</p>
<p>Like Luther, Ron Paul sparked a fire in hearts of many people who had lacked any kind of spark for a long time. His message of individual empowerment, of fairness under the law, and of accountable government gave, and continues to give, many who have lacked hope, hope. And its not Madison Avenue Obamaized hope. Its real hope-for this country- and for the restoration of the Constitution.</p>
<p>So maybe it’s a restoration and not a reformation that we are in the opening stages of. Whatever we call it Ron Paul started it. This should not be forgotten. Let’s hope that as this political wildfire spreads in the form of the Tea Parties and in other forms we continue to aspire to the ideals embodied in Ron Paul’s original call for smaller government, all forms of government, and strict adherence to that masterful document, the US Constitution.</p> | true | 4 | wrote 2202010 october 31st 1517 martin luther trudged hill castle church wittenberg nailed 95 theses door early morning light theses amounted moral indictment catholic church controller world gate keeper next act supreme individual defiance almost suicidal act martin luther likely expect see sunset day yet luther reached place psyche felt say believed rome catholic rome become babylon represented christ luther believed need arbiter man god salvation granted god alone functionary church paid absolution basically luther called rome immoral indeed antichristian force world many others come conclusion years luther many people found fate stake technology changed luthers world invention printing press 65 years mass production writings become possible ideas much easily spread even vital laity becoming increasingly literate could download luthers ideas many newly literate class undoubtedly come many conclusions luther could read church stood stark contrast words jesus read first hand church fist extracted tribute furthered corruption literate man could see average person rely priest read word god could read jesus words thing jesus revolutionary luther guts put general inkling christians germany onto paper make observations public others reading analysis took work sent viral across europe thanks large part new technology printing press long reformation essentially spiritual societal economic political transformation full swing across europe flash forward half millennia humanity especially america finds midst turmoil tumult past decade barbarians started knocking gate september 11th 2001 american empire challenged nearly fronts overseas home morally politically factor emergence technology least revolutionary printing press internet easy see live interesting times changes transpired leadership slow react part due inherent nature leadership hierarchies always resist change change means possibility new leaders another part much political leadership still exists 20th century mentality im talking old white guys senate im talking president mr obama fail see way country prosper embrace decentralized form state works better increasingly dynamic world thankfully blueprint new way organizing country called constitution enter modern day luther understated unassuming man slight build modest pedigree dr ron paul congressman texas odds remained congress despite efforts republican democratic parties unseat ron paul nailed 95 treatises political establishments door 20072008 ran president technically republican ron paul allowed speak presidential debates run years libertarian gotten little coverage time however bigger platform message resonated like luthers marginalized literate middle class luther read bible found establishment based legitimacy sacred text way reflect tenants christianity likewise dr paul looks americas sacred text constitution sees hypocrisy dr paul voiced different stages presidential debates minds lips many paying attention going american society though means majority especially years many americans could see government broken increasingly unrepresentative unresponsive ron paul gave voice frustrations articulated solution people could put 2 2 together could see government increasingly disconnected cared little yet expected everything need feeling new waxed waned previous couple decades power internet malcontents use term lovingly could connect one another share ideas also able organize though much made obamas use cyberspace 2008 campaign ron pauls efforts specifically efforts supporters far remarkable innovative obama power democratic establishment behind ron paul establishment even party actively working yet ron paul able effectively crowd source entire presidential campaign luthers ideas easily spread due printing press to0 ron pauls ideas spread much shorter period time via internet millions people see ron paul televised debates able become familiar ideas via youtube simple message adhering constitution made sense call people deeply american revolutionary conservative time america supposed land free said betrayed like luther ron paul sparked fire hearts many people lacked kind spark long time message individual empowerment fairness law accountable government gave continues give many lacked hope hope madison avenue obamaized hope real hopefor country restoration constitution maybe restoration reformation opening stages whatever call ron paul started forgotten lets hope political wildfire spreads form tea parties forms continue aspire ideals embodied ron pauls original call smaller government forms government strict adherence masterful document us constitution | 633 |
<p>Dr. Bob Rajcoomar is a 54-year old Florida doctor of Indian descent and former U.S. Army Major. Recently, Dr. Rajcoomar and his wife took a flight from Atlanta to Philadelphia, during which air marshals subdued and restrained an “unruly” passenger.</p>
<p>The marshals brought the passenger, who had been sitting in economy class, to first class, where Dr. Rajcoomar and his wife were seated. Then one of the air marshals brandished a gun and told all passengers not to leave their seats until the plane landed. (News reports indicate that the whole event had a Rambo-like feeling.)</p>
<p>When the plane landed, the unruly passenger was taken off the flight. So was Dr. Rajcoomar–who was yanked from his seat, handcuffed, and thrown into jail. The marshals did not tell his wife what was happening; she wandered around the airport for hours, not knowing what had become of her husband.</p>
<p>Later reports from the Department of Transportation Security–the agency that supervises marshals–said that Dr. Rajcoomar was jailed because he had “watched the event too closely” or “observed the event too closely.” But it seems hardly surprising that he–and indeed, any other passenger–would have paid close attention to what was occurring. After all, their lives seemed to be in danger.</p>
<p>In addition, Dr. Rajcoomar was ex-military, and gun-wielding marshals had dragged an unruly passenger into his section of the plane. In other circumstances, his close attention to what was happening, and his possible subsequent intervention to aid the marshals, might have led us to call him a hero–not to throw him in jail.</p>
<p>Why was Dr. Rajcoomar treated this way? Sadly, the answer appears to be racial profiling, pure and simple. Dr. Rajcoomar believes this to be the case–and so does the ACLU, which is representing him.</p>
<p>Worse, Dr. Rajcoomar’s is not an isolated incident. Since September 11, numerous cases have been filed against major airlines after pilots and other airline personnel have forced passengers with darker complexions and “foreign-sounding” names to disembark, or refused them entry to a plane.</p>
<p>In light of these events, Congress should press for more training for federal air marshals to ensure they do not engage in racial profiling. It should also mandate the creation of policies and procedures to guide not only marshals, but also pilots and other airplane personnel, with respect to their conduct towards passengers–particularly passengers with darker skin, “foreign-sounding” names, and/or Middle Eastern or South Asian appearance.</p>
<p>The History of the Air Marshal Program</p>
<p>Laws currently govern the conduct of air marshals, but they are dramatically insufficient under the circumstances.</p>
<p>The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) was originally responsible for the Federal Air Marshal Program–which began, in 1968, as the Sky Marshal Program. The FAMP continued through the 1970s and was designed to stop hijackings to and from Cuba.</p>
<p>Then in 1985, TWA Flight 847 was hijacked as it departed Athens. The hijackers–two Lebanese Shiite Moslems–diverted the plane, a Boeing 727, to Beirut, where additional hijackers joined them. During a two-week standoff, the hijackers demanded the release of the Shiite prisoners held by Israel. They murdered a U.S. Navy diver who was a passenger.</p>
<p>After the hijacking, President Ronald Reagan directed the Secretary of Transportation, in cooperation with the Secretary of State and the Attorney General, to consider an expansion of the FAMP program aboard international flights for U.S. air carriers. And on August 8, 1985, Congress enacted Public Law 99-83, the International Security and Development Cooperation Act, which provided the explicit statutory basis for the Federal Air Marshal program. Still, before September 11, there were as few as 50 air marshals in the skies.</p>
<p>In November 2001, President Bush signed a new transportation safety law. Among other features, it expanded funding for the air marshal program–which now may employ as many as 2000 marshals. It also created a new government agency–The Transportation Security Agency. The TSA now has oversight of the FAMP.</p>
<p>The Current Law Governing Air Marshals, and Why It Is Insufficient</p>
<p>Currently, then, the United States Department of Transportation has primary authority for airplane security and law enforcement, and, according to the law, “exclusive” responsibility for passenger safety. With the approval of the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Transportation may authorize a marshal or other government employee who carries out air transportation security to carry a gun.</p>
<p>A marshal is also empowered to make warrantless arrests. The only state of mind that is required, for such an arrest to be legal, is the marshal’s reasonable belief that the arrestee is committing, or has committed, a federal felony offense, including an offense against the United States.</p>
<p>What constitutes “reasonable belief”? That is root of the present controversy.</p>
<p>Apparently at least two air marshals think that a nonwhite passenger must be committing a crime if he closely observes another passenger’s air rage and subsequent arrest.</p>
<p>In sum, we now have a small army of air marshals in the skies, with little, if any, law to constrain them.</p>
<p>Problems with Air Marshals: Lack of Training and Too-Quick Hiring</p>
<p>Air marshals historically have been viewed as an elite corps of undercover officers, keeping the skies safe by preventing hijackings on commercial flights. Today, precipitous hiring and a lowering of training requirements may have rendered this image a thing of the past.</p>
<p>The FAA claims that it “sets a premium on the selection, training and discipline of this elite corps of employees.” But critics strongly disagree. For instance, the ACLU, in a letter to Congress, has urged lawmakers to immediately begin an investigation of the training and conduct of air marshals aboard civilian aircrafts.</p>
<p>The ACLU notes: “There is reason to believe that given the rapid expansion of the air marshal program, the [TSA] is hiring persons who are truly not qualified to fulfill such critical responsibilities. Moreover, once hired, it would appear that the future air marshals are not receiving appropriate or sufficient training.”</p>
<p>In May 2002, when the Senate held hearings on airline security, the skills of air marshals were the subject of debate and discussion. The TSA was accused, for instance, of lowering its standards in order to hire quickly, so it could increase the numbers of air marshals.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the TSA was also accused of cutting marshals’ training, and putting new hires on flights despite their lack of advanced marksmanship skills. And the TSA itself acknowledged that it no longer requires the more difficult shooting test as a condition of employment.</p>
<p>Criticism is coming from both inside and outside the program. In an August 2002 statement prepared by the Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, air marshals themselves confirmed their lack of training–reporting that, with thousands of new marshals hired, the program operates like “security guard training at a mall.”</p>
<p>Marshals have also mentioned “overworked marshals falling asleep on the job, a shortage of ammunition for training, incomplete background checks, 50-plus hour workweeks with no overtime, and marshals so poorly trained they have discharged their weapons by accident–one of them in a bathroom on a flight from Washington to Vegas.”</p>
<p>Obviously, there are serious problems with the existing air marshals program, and especially with marshals’ training. Leaving marshals wide discretion, under the law, as to their conduct and deportment only aggravates the problems: Not only do they have little training, they also have little legal guidance as to when a suspicion can become an arrest. No wonder some marshals have become loose cannons–and racial profilers, as well.</p>
<p>Airline Pilots and Personnel Have Also Been Charged with Racial Profiling</p>
<p>Air marshals are not the only persons to come under scrutiny. The conduct of pilots and airline personnel has also been criticized in the wake of September 11. The ACLU is currently involved in five federal court lawsuits (in L.A., San Francisco, Maryland and New Jersey) charging four airlines (American, United, Continental, and Northwest) with race discrimination.</p>
<p>Under a federal statute, airlines (meaning, in practice, the pilot and other personnel) have the authority to require a passenger to disembark from a flight if they believe him to be a safety risk. But another statute also prohibits airlines from discriminating based on race, ethnic origin or religion.</p>
<p>The plaintiffs in the ACLU suits alleged that they were either ordered off planes, or not allowed to board in the first place, despite clearing security checkpoints at airports between October and December 2001. Two are of Arab descent; four are U.S. citizens and the fifth is a permanent U.S. resident.</p>
<p>The plaintiffs ask for a declaration that the alleged airline practices are illegal. And the ACLU is also asking the airlines, the Department of Transportation and the pilots union to establish guidelines to prevent further discrimination.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the DOT is investigating at least 31 complaints from people who have been prevented from flying since Sept. 11, and 111 complaints from passengers who said they were singled out at security screenings because of their appearance. .</p>
<p>In sum, the fact that racial profiling is a problem–and a widespread problem–is more than evident at this point. So is the fact that the problem is not confined to air marshals alone, and nor can the solution be.</p>
<p>What’s at Stake: Unchecked Discretion to Racially Profile</p>
<p>At present, air marshals and airline personnel can force a person to leave a plane, or even arrest him, merely because a passenger or a crew member feels uncomfortable with his flying. Inevitably, the passengers affected are those with darker skin, and Middle Eastern or South Asian appearance. Like Dr. Rajcoomar, they may have done nothing at all objectionable, yet still may be punished as a result of racial profiling.</p>
<p>More specific standards and criteria need to be developed in order to temper the discretion currently afforded to airlines–and specifically to pilots, marshals, and others. Congress also needs to intensify its oversight of the air marshal program. Marshals need training that will enable them to distinguish between the acts of a potential terrorist and those of an Indian doctor merely sitting in his seat.</p>
<p>ANITA RAMASASTRY is an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle and the Associate Director of the Shidler Center for Law, Commerce &amp; Technology.</p>
<p>This article originally appeared in <a href="http://writ.news.findlaw.com/" type="external">FindLaw’s Writ/Commentary</a>.</p> | true | 4 | dr bob rajcoomar 54year old florida doctor indian descent former us army major recently dr rajcoomar wife took flight atlanta philadelphia air marshals subdued restrained unruly passenger marshals brought passenger sitting economy class first class dr rajcoomar wife seated one air marshals brandished gun told passengers leave seats plane landed news reports indicate whole event rambolike feeling plane landed unruly passenger taken flight dr rajcoomarwho yanked seat handcuffed thrown jail marshals tell wife happening wandered around airport hours knowing become husband later reports department transportation securitythe agency supervises marshalssaid dr rajcoomar jailed watched event closely observed event closely seems hardly surprising heand indeed passengerwould paid close attention occurring lives seemed danger addition dr rajcoomar exmilitary gunwielding marshals dragged unruly passenger section plane circumstances close attention happening possible subsequent intervention aid marshals might led us call heronot throw jail dr rajcoomar treated way sadly answer appears racial profiling pure simple dr rajcoomar believes caseand aclu representing worse dr rajcoomars isolated incident since september 11 numerous cases filed major airlines pilots airline personnel forced passengers darker complexions foreignsounding names disembark refused entry plane light events congress press training federal air marshals ensure engage racial profiling also mandate creation policies procedures guide marshals also pilots airplane personnel respect conduct towards passengersparticularly passengers darker skin foreignsounding names andor middle eastern south asian appearance history air marshal program laws currently govern conduct air marshals dramatically insufficient circumstances federal aviation administration faa originally responsible federal air marshal programwhich began 1968 sky marshal program famp continued 1970s designed stop hijackings cuba 1985 twa flight 847 hijacked departed athens hijackerstwo lebanese shiite moslemsdiverted plane boeing 727 beirut additional hijackers joined twoweek standoff hijackers demanded release shiite prisoners held israel murdered us navy diver passenger hijacking president ronald reagan directed secretary transportation cooperation secretary state attorney general consider expansion famp program aboard international flights us air carriers august 8 1985 congress enacted public law 9983 international security development cooperation act provided explicit statutory basis federal air marshal program still september 11 50 air marshals skies november 2001 president bush signed new transportation safety law among features expanded funding air marshal programwhich may employ many 2000 marshals also created new government agencythe transportation security agency tsa oversight famp current law governing air marshals insufficient currently united states department transportation primary authority airplane security law enforcement according law exclusive responsibility passenger safety approval attorney general secretary state secretary transportation may authorize marshal government employee carries air transportation security carry gun marshal also empowered make warrantless arrests state mind required arrest legal marshals reasonable belief arrestee committing committed federal felony offense including offense united states constitutes reasonable belief root present controversy apparently least two air marshals think nonwhite passenger must committing crime closely observes another passengers air rage subsequent arrest sum small army air marshals skies little law constrain problems air marshals lack training tooquick hiring air marshals historically viewed elite corps undercover officers keeping skies safe preventing hijackings commercial flights today precipitous hiring lowering training requirements may rendered image thing past faa claims sets premium selection training discipline elite corps employees critics strongly disagree instance aclu letter congress urged lawmakers immediately begin investigation training conduct air marshals aboard civilian aircrafts aclu notes reason believe given rapid expansion air marshal program tsa hiring persons truly qualified fulfill critical responsibilities moreover hired would appear future air marshals receiving appropriate sufficient training may 2002 senate held hearings airline security skills air marshals subject debate discussion tsa accused instance lowering standards order hire quickly could increase numbers air marshals meanwhile tsa also accused cutting marshals training putting new hires flights despite lack advanced marksmanship skills tsa acknowledged longer requires difficult shooting test condition employment criticism coming inside outside program august 2002 statement prepared federation government employees aflcio air marshals confirmed lack trainingreporting thousands new marshals hired program operates like security guard training mall marshals also mentioned overworked marshals falling asleep job shortage ammunition training incomplete background checks 50plus hour workweeks overtime marshals poorly trained discharged weapons accidentone bathroom flight washington vegas obviously serious problems existing air marshals program especially marshals training leaving marshals wide discretion law conduct deportment aggravates problems little training also little legal guidance suspicion become arrest wonder marshals become loose cannonsand racial profilers well airline pilots personnel also charged racial profiling air marshals persons come scrutiny conduct pilots airline personnel also criticized wake september 11 aclu currently involved five federal court lawsuits la san francisco maryland new jersey charging four airlines american united continental northwest race discrimination federal statute airlines meaning practice pilot personnel authority require passenger disembark flight believe safety risk another statute also prohibits airlines discriminating based race ethnic origin religion plaintiffs aclu suits alleged either ordered planes allowed board first place despite clearing security checkpoints airports october december 2001 two arab descent four us citizens fifth permanent us resident plaintiffs ask declaration alleged airline practices illegal aclu also asking airlines department transportation pilots union establish guidelines prevent discrimination meanwhile dot investigating least 31 complaints people prevented flying since sept 11 111 complaints passengers said singled security screenings appearance sum fact racial profiling problemand widespread problemis evident point fact problem confined air marshals alone solution whats stake unchecked discretion racially profile present air marshals airline personnel force person leave plane even arrest merely passenger crew member feels uncomfortable flying inevitably passengers affected darker skin middle eastern south asian appearance like dr rajcoomar may done nothing objectionable yet still may punished result racial profiling specific standards criteria need developed order temper discretion currently afforded airlinesand specifically pilots marshals others congress also needs intensify oversight air marshal program marshals need training enable distinguish acts potential terrorist indian doctor merely sitting seat anita ramasastry assistant professor law university washington school law seattle associate director shidler center law commerce amp technology article originally appeared findlaws writcommentary | 962 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" /></p>
<p><a href="http://johnpilger.com/articles/the-rising-of-britain-s-new-politics" type="external">John Pilger</a></p>
<p>Delegates to the recent Labour Party conference in the English seaside town of Brighton seemed not to notice a video playing in the main entrance. &#160;The world’s third biggest arms manufacturer, BAE Systems, supplier to Saudi Arabia, was promoting its guns, bombs, missiles, naval ships and fighter aircraft.</p>
<p>It seemed a perfidious symbol of a party in which millions of Britons now invest their political hopes. Once the preserve of Tony Blair, it is now led by Jeremy Corbyn, whose career has been very different and is rare in British establishment politics.</p>
<p>Addressing the Labour conference, the campaigner Naomi Klein described the rise of Corbyn as “part of a global phenomenon. We saw it in Bernie Sanders’ historic campaign in the US primaries, powered by millennials who know that safe centrist politics offers them no kind of safe future.”</p>
<p>In fact, at the end of the US primary elections last year, Sanders led his followers into the arms of Hillary Clinton, a liberal warmonger from a long tradition in the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>As President Obama’s Secretary of State, Clinton presided over the invasion of Libya in 2011, which led to a stampede of refugees to Europe. She gloated at the gruesome murder of Libya’s president. Two years earlier, Clinton signed off on a coup that overthrew the democratically elected president of Honduras. That she has been invited to Wales on 14 October to be given an honorary doctorate by the University of Swansea because she is “synonymous with human rights” is unfathomable.</p>
<p>Like Clinton, Sanders is a cold-warrior and “anti-communist” obsessive with a proprietorial view of the world beyond the United States. He supported Bill Clinton’s and Tony Blair’s illegal assault on Yugoslavia in 1998 and the invasions of Afghanistan, Syria and Libya, as well as Barack Obama’s campaign of terrorism by drone. He backs the provocation of Russia and agrees that the whistleblower Edward Snowden should stand trial. He has called the late Hugo Chavez – a social democrat who won multiple elections – “a dead communist dictator”.</p>
<p>While Sanders is a familiar liberal politician, Corbyn may be a phenomenon, with his indefatigable support for the victims of American and British imperial adventures and for popular resistance movements.</p>
<p>For example, in the 1960s and 70s, the Chagos islanders were expelled from their homeland, a British colony in the Indian Ocean, by a Labour government. An entire population was kidnapped. The aim was to make way for a US military base on the main island of Diego Garcia: a secret deal for which the British were “compensated” with a discount of $14 million off the price of a Polaris nuclear submarine.</p>
<p>I have had much to do with the Chagos islanders and have filmed them in exile in Mauritius and the Seychelles, where they suffered and some of them “died from sadness”, as I was told. They found a political champion in a Labour Member of Parliament, Jeremy Corbyn.</p>
<p>So did the Palestinians. So did Iraqis terrorised by a Labour prime minister’s invasion of their country in 2003. So did others struggling to break free from the designs of western power. Corbyn supported the likes of Hugo Chavez, who brought more than hope to societies subverted by the US behemoth.</p>
<p>And yet, now Corbyn is closer to power than he might have ever imagined, his foreign policy remains a secret.</p>
<p>By secret, I mean there has been rhetoric and little else. “We must put our values at the heart of our foreign policy,” said Corbyn at the Labour conference. But what are these “values”?</p>
<p>Since 1945, like the Tories, British Labour has been an imperial party, obsequious to Washington: a record exemplified by the crime in the Chagos islands.</p>
<p>What has changed? Is Corbyn saying Labour will uncouple itself from the US war machine, and the US spying apparatus and US economic blockades that scar humanity?</p>
<p>His shadow Foreign Secretary, Emily Thornberry, says a Corbyn government “will put human rights back at the heart of Britain’s foreign policy”. But human rights have never been at the heart of British foreign policy – only “interests”, as Lord Palmerston declared in the 19th century: the interests of those at the apex of British society.</p>
<p>Thornberry quoted the late Robin Cook who, as Tony Blair’s first Foreign Secretary in 1997, pledged an “ethical foreign policy” that would “make Britain once again a force for good in the world”.</p>
<p>History is not kind to imperial nostalgia. The recently commemorated division of India by a Labour government in 1947 – with a border hurriedly drawn up by a London barrister, Gordon Radcliffe, who had never been to India and never returned – led to blood-letting on a genocidal scale.</p>
<p>Shut up in a lonely mansion, with police night and day</p>
<p>Patrolling the gardens to keep the assassins away,</p>
<p>He got down to work, to the task of settling the fate</p>
<p>Of millions. The maps at his disposal were out of date</p>
<p>And the Census Returns almost certainly incorrect,</p>
<p>But there was no time to check them, no time to inspect</p>
<p>Contested areas. The weather was frightfully hot,</p>
<p>And a bout of dysentery kept him constantly on the trot,</p>
<p>But in seven weeks it was done, the frontiers decided,</p>
<p>A continent for better or worse divided.</p>
<p>W.H. Auden, ‘Partition’</p>
<p>It was the same Labour government (1945–51), led by Prime Minister Clement Attlee – “radical” by today’s standards – that dispatched General Douglas Gracey’s British imperial army to Saigon with orders to re-arm the defeated Japanese in order to prevent Vietnamese nationalists from liberating their own country. Thus, the longest war of the century was ignited.</p>
<p>It was a Labour Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, whose policy of “mutuality” and “partnership” with some of the world’s most vicious despots, especially in the Middle East, forged relationships that endure today, often sidelining and crushing the human rights of whole communities and societies. The cause was British “interests” – oil, power, wealth.</p>
<p>In the “radical” 1960s, Labour’s Defence Secretary, Denis Healey, set up the Defence Sales Organisation (DSO) specifically to boost the arms trade and make money from selling lethal weapons to the world. Healey told Parliament, “While we attach the highest importance to making progress in the field of arms control and disarmament, we must also take what practical steps we can to ensure that this country does not fail to secure its rightful share of this valuable market.”</p>
<p>The doublethink was quintessentially Labour. When I later asked Healey about this “valuable market”, he claimed his decision made no difference to the volume of military exports. In fact, it led to an almost doubling of Britain’s share of the arms market. Today, Britain is the second biggest arms dealer on earth, selling arms and fighter planes, machine guns and “riot control” vehicles, to 22 of the 30 countries on the British Government’s own list of human rights violators.</p>
<p>Will this cease under a Corbyn government? The preferred model – Robin Cook’s “ethical foreign policy” – is revealing. Like Jeremy Corbyn, Cook made his name as a backbencher and critic of the arms trade. “Wherever weapons are sold,” wrote Cook, “there is a tacit conspiracy to conceal the reality of war” and “it is a truism that every war for the past two decades has been fought by poor countries with weapons supplied by rich countries”.</p>
<p>Cook singled out the sale of British Hawk fighters to Indonesia as “particularly disturbing”. Indonesia “is not only repressive but actually at war on two fronts: in East Timor, where perhaps a sixth of the population has been slaughtered… and in West Papua, where it confronts an indigenous liberation movement”.</p>
<p>As Foreign Secretary, Cook promised “a thorough review of arms sales”. The then Nobel Peace Laureate, Bishop Carlos Belo of East Timor, appealed directly to Cook: “Please, I beg you, do not sustain any longer a conflict which without these arms sales could never have been pursued in the first place and not for so very long.” He was referring to Indonesia’s bombing of East Timor with British Hawks and the slaughter of his people with British machine guns. He received no reply.</p>
<p>The following week Cook called journalists to the Foreign Office to announce his “mission statement” for “human rights in a new century”. This PR event included the usual private briefings for selected journalists, including the BBC, in which Foreign Office officials lied that there was “no evidence” that British Hawk aircraft were deployed in East Timor.</p>
<p>A few days later, the Foreign Office issued the results of Cook’s “thorough review” of arms sales policy. “It was not realistic or practical,” wrote Cook, “to revoke licences which were valid and in force at the time of Labour’s election victory”. Suharto’s Minister for Defence, Edi Sudradjat, said that talks were already under way with Britain for the purchase of 18 more Hawk fighters. “The political change in Britain will not affect our negotiations,” he said. He was right.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" /> <a href="https://www.caat.org.uk/" type="external">CAAT</a>(Campaign Against Arms Trade) placard.&#160;</p>
<p>Today, replace Indonesia with Saudi Arabia and East Timor with Yemen. British military aircraft – sold with the approval of both Tory and Labour governments and built by the firm whose promotional video had pride of place at the Labour Party conference – are bombing the life out of Yemen, one of the most impoverished countries in the world, where half the children are malnourished and there is the greatest cholera epidemic in modern times.</p>
<p>Hospitals and schools, weddings and funerals have been attacked. In Riyadh, British military personnel are reported to be training the Saudis in selecting targets.</p>
<p>In Labour’s 2017 manifesto, Jeremy Corbyn and his party colleagues promised that “Labour will demand a comprehensive, independent, UN-led investigation into alleged violations… in Yemen, including air strikes on civilians by the Saudi-led coalition. We will immediately suspend any further arms sales for use in the conflict until that investigation is concluded.”</p>
<p>But the evidence of Saudi Arabia’s crimes in Yemen is already documented by Amnesty and others, notably by the courageous reporting of the British journalist Iona Craig. The dossier is voluminous.</p>
<p>Labour does not promise to stop arms exports to Saudi Arabia. It does not say Britain will withdraw its support for governments responsible for the export of Islamist jihadism. There is no commitment to dismantle the arms trade.</p>
<p>The manifesto describes a “special relationship [with the US] based on shared values… When the current Trump administration chooses to ignore them… we will not be afraid to disagree”.</p>
<p>As Jeremy Corbyn knows, dealing with the US is not about merely “disagreeing”. The US is a rapacious, rogue power that ought not to be regarded as a natural ally of any state championing human rights, irrespective of whether Trump or anyone else is President.</p>
<p>When Emily Thornberry linked Venezuela with the Philippines as “increasingly autocratic regimes” – slogans bereft of facts and ignoring the subversive US role in Venezuela – she was consciously playing to the enemy: a tactic with which Jeremy Corbyn will be familiar.</p>
<p>A Corbyn government will allow the Chagos islanders the right of return. But Labour says nothing about renegotiating the 50-year renewal agreement that Britain has just signed with the US allowing it to use the base on Diego Garcia from which it has bombed Afghanistan and Iraq.</p>
<p>A Corbyn government will “immediately recognise the state of Palestine”. But it is silent on whether Britain will continue to arm Israel, continue to acquiesce in the illegal trade in Israel’s illegal “settlements” and treat Israel merely as a warring party, rather than as an historic oppressor given immunity by Washington and London.</p>
<p>On Britain’s support for Nato’s current war preparations, Labour boasts that the “last Labour government spent above the benchmark of 2 per cent of GDP” on Nato. It says, “Conservative spending cuts have put Britain’s security at risk” and promises to boost Britain’s military “obligations”.</p>
<p>In fact, most of the £40 billion Britain currently spends on the military is not for territorial defence of the UK but for offensive purposes to enhance British “interests” as defined by those who have tried to smear Jeremy Corbyn as unpatriotic.</p>
<p>If the polls are reliable, most Britons are well ahead of their politicians, Tory and Labour. They would accept higher taxes to pay for public services; they want the National Health Service restored to full health. They want decent jobs and wages and housing and schools; they do not hate foreigners but resent exploitative labour. They have no fond memory of an empire on which the sun never set.</p>
<p>They oppose the invasion of other countries and regard Blair as a liar. &#160;The rise of Donald Trump has reminded them what a menace the United States can be, especially with their own country in tow.</p>
<p>The Labour Party is the beneficiary of this mood, but many of its pledges – certainly in foreign policy – are qualified and compromised, suggesting, for many Britons, more of the same.</p>
<p>Jeremy Corbyn is widely and properly recognised for his integrity; he opposes the renewal of Trident nuclear weapons; the Labour Party supports it. But he has given shadow cabinet positions to pro-war MPs who support Blairism, tried to get rid of him and abused him as “unelectable”.</p>
<p>“We are the political mainstream now,” says Corbyn. Yes, but at what price?</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>READ MORE UK NEWS AT:&#160;&#160; <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire UK Files</a></p>
<p>SUPPORT OUR&#160;WORK BY SUBSCRIBING &amp; BECOMING A MEMBER&#160; <a href="https://21wire.tv/membership/plans/" type="external">@21WIRE.TV</a></p> | true | 4 | john pilger delegates recent labour party conference english seaside town brighton seemed notice video playing main entrance 160the worlds third biggest arms manufacturer bae systems supplier saudi arabia promoting guns bombs missiles naval ships fighter aircraft seemed perfidious symbol party millions britons invest political hopes preserve tony blair led jeremy corbyn whose career different rare british establishment politics addressing labour conference campaigner naomi klein described rise corbyn part global phenomenon saw bernie sanders historic campaign us primaries powered millennials know safe centrist politics offers kind safe future fact end us primary elections last year sanders led followers arms hillary clinton liberal warmonger long tradition democratic party president obamas secretary state clinton presided invasion libya 2011 led stampede refugees europe gloated gruesome murder libyas president two years earlier clinton signed coup overthrew democratically elected president honduras invited wales 14 october given honorary doctorate university swansea synonymous human rights unfathomable like clinton sanders coldwarrior anticommunist obsessive proprietorial view world beyond united states supported bill clintons tony blairs illegal assault yugoslavia 1998 invasions afghanistan syria libya well barack obamas campaign terrorism drone backs provocation russia agrees whistleblower edward snowden stand trial called late hugo chavez social democrat multiple elections dead communist dictator sanders familiar liberal politician corbyn may phenomenon indefatigable support victims american british imperial adventures popular resistance movements example 1960s 70s chagos islanders expelled homeland british colony indian ocean labour government entire population kidnapped aim make way us military base main island diego garcia secret deal british compensated discount 14 million price polaris nuclear submarine much chagos islanders filmed exile mauritius seychelles suffered died sadness told found political champion labour member parliament jeremy corbyn palestinians iraqis terrorised labour prime ministers invasion country 2003 others struggling break free designs western power corbyn supported likes hugo chavez brought hope societies subverted us behemoth yet corbyn closer power might ever imagined foreign policy remains secret secret mean rhetoric little else must put values heart foreign policy said corbyn labour conference values since 1945 like tories british labour imperial party obsequious washington record exemplified crime chagos islands changed corbyn saying labour uncouple us war machine us spying apparatus us economic blockades scar humanity shadow foreign secretary emily thornberry says corbyn government put human rights back heart britains foreign policy human rights never heart british foreign policy interests lord palmerston declared 19th century interests apex british society thornberry quoted late robin cook tony blairs first foreign secretary 1997 pledged ethical foreign policy would make britain force good world history kind imperial nostalgia recently commemorated division india labour government 1947 border hurriedly drawn london barrister gordon radcliffe never india never returned led bloodletting genocidal scale shut lonely mansion police night day patrolling gardens keep assassins away got work task settling fate millions maps disposal date census returns almost certainly incorrect time check time inspect contested areas weather frightfully hot bout dysentery kept constantly trot seven weeks done frontiers decided continent better worse divided wh auden partition labour government 194551 led prime minister clement attlee radical todays standards dispatched general douglas graceys british imperial army saigon orders rearm defeated japanese order prevent vietnamese nationalists liberating country thus longest war century ignited labour foreign secretary ernest bevin whose policy mutuality partnership worlds vicious despots especially middle east forged relationships endure today often sidelining crushing human rights whole communities societies cause british interests oil power wealth radical 1960s labours defence secretary denis healey set defence sales organisation dso specifically boost arms trade make money selling lethal weapons world healey told parliament attach highest importance making progress field arms control disarmament must also take practical steps ensure country fail secure rightful share valuable market doublethink quintessentially labour later asked healey valuable market claimed decision made difference volume military exports fact led almost doubling britains share arms market today britain second biggest arms dealer earth selling arms fighter planes machine guns riot control vehicles 22 30 countries british governments list human rights violators cease corbyn government preferred model robin cooks ethical foreign policy revealing like jeremy corbyn cook made name backbencher critic arms trade wherever weapons sold wrote cook tacit conspiracy conceal reality war truism every war past two decades fought poor countries weapons supplied rich countries cook singled sale british hawk fighters indonesia particularly disturbing indonesia repressive actually war two fronts east timor perhaps sixth population slaughtered west papua confronts indigenous liberation movement foreign secretary cook promised thorough review arms sales nobel peace laureate bishop carlos belo east timor appealed directly cook please beg sustain longer conflict without arms sales could never pursued first place long referring indonesias bombing east timor british hawks slaughter people british machine guns received reply following week cook called journalists foreign office announce mission statement human rights new century pr event included usual private briefings selected journalists including bbc foreign office officials lied evidence british hawk aircraft deployed east timor days later foreign office issued results cooks thorough review arms sales policy realistic practical wrote cook revoke licences valid force time labours election victory suhartos minister defence edi sudradjat said talks already way britain purchase 18 hawk fighters political change britain affect negotiations said right caatcampaign arms trade placard160 today replace indonesia saudi arabia east timor yemen british military aircraft sold approval tory labour governments built firm whose promotional video pride place labour party conference bombing life yemen one impoverished countries world half children malnourished greatest cholera epidemic modern times hospitals schools weddings funerals attacked riyadh british military personnel reported training saudis selecting targets labours 2017 manifesto jeremy corbyn party colleagues promised labour demand comprehensive independent unled investigation alleged violations yemen including air strikes civilians saudiled coalition immediately suspend arms sales use conflict investigation concluded evidence saudi arabias crimes yemen already documented amnesty others notably courageous reporting british journalist iona craig dossier voluminous labour promise stop arms exports saudi arabia say britain withdraw support governments responsible export islamist jihadism commitment dismantle arms trade manifesto describes special relationship us based shared values current trump administration chooses ignore afraid disagree jeremy corbyn knows dealing us merely disagreeing us rapacious rogue power ought regarded natural ally state championing human rights irrespective whether trump anyone else president emily thornberry linked venezuela philippines increasingly autocratic regimes slogans bereft facts ignoring subversive us role venezuela consciously playing enemy tactic jeremy corbyn familiar corbyn government allow chagos islanders right return labour says nothing renegotiating 50year renewal agreement britain signed us allowing use base diego garcia bombed afghanistan iraq corbyn government immediately recognise state palestine silent whether britain continue arm israel continue acquiesce illegal trade israels illegal settlements treat israel merely warring party rather historic oppressor given immunity washington london britains support natos current war preparations labour boasts last labour government spent benchmark 2 per cent gdp nato says conservative spending cuts put britains security risk promises boost britains military obligations fact 40 billion britain currently spends military territorial defence uk offensive purposes enhance british interests defined tried smear jeremy corbyn unpatriotic polls reliable britons well ahead politicians tory labour would accept higher taxes pay public services want national health service restored full health want decent jobs wages housing schools hate foreigners resent exploitative labour fond memory empire sun never set oppose invasion countries regard blair liar 160the rise donald trump reminded menace united states especially country tow labour party beneficiary mood many pledges certainly foreign policy qualified compromised suggesting many britons jeremy corbyn widely properly recognised integrity opposes renewal trident nuclear weapons labour party supports given shadow cabinet positions prowar mps support blairism tried get rid abused unelectable political mainstream says corbyn yes price read uk news at160160 21st century wire uk files support our160work subscribing amp becoming member160 21wiretv | 1,266 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&amp;search_source=search_form&amp;version="&gt;Pavel Ignatov &lt;/a&gt;/Shutterstock</p>
<p />
<p>One of the hot jobs in the US government—chairman of the Federal Communications Commission—is about to become vacant, and President Barack Obama’s pick for this position will say much about his priorities and what it takes to win a job within his administration.</p>
<p>The current chairman, Julius Genachowski, was a Harvard Law classmate of Obama and longtime Washington denizen with several stints in the private sector, and last week he announced he’s splitting after four years in the post. Genachowski has had a rollicking tenure at the more-important-than-ever agency. His FCC approved the controversial NBC/Comcast merger, but it killed AT&amp;T’s $39 billion bid for T-Mobile. He developed a national broadband plan, while pushing for universal broadband access and contending with spectrum crunch. He’s had to navigate the knotty issue of <a href="" type="internal">net neutrality</a> (at one point angering both Verizon and public interest advocates). His tenure has vividly demonstrated that the FCC chairman’s office is a node for cutting-edge policy issues related to economic development, technology, education, and media.</p>
<p>For weeks, there’s been widespread speculation within certain Washington circles that Genachowski was going to leave—the rumor mill had him seeking an ambassadorship to Brazil or India—and much tea-leaf-reading about his replacement. As reports surfaced of possible successors, a basic choice appeared to emerge for Obama: a telecom industry vet or a public interest-minded policy expert.</p>
<p>A leading contender is industry insider Tom Wheeler, who was <a href="http://business.time.com/2013/02/21/as-fcc-chiefs-term-nears-end-speculation-mounts-over-possible-successor/" type="external">cited</a> as the front-runner by Time. He’s a managing director at a Washington, DC-based venture capital firm. But years before that, he was the chief lobbyist for the cable industry and then the head influence peddler for the cell phone industry. He is no consumer advocate, but he has this advantage: He has raised a lot of money as a campaign bundler for Obama. Wheeler is also a member in good standing with the Washington establishment; he sits on the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board and is a trustee of the John F. Kennedy Center. During 2009, he led the Obama-Biden transition’s working group overseeing science, technology, space, and arts agencies.</p>
<p>“He’s beloved in the telecom industry,” a former Obama administration official says of Wheeler. An <a href="http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/66365/wheeler-not-so-bad-for-a-cable-guy" type="external">industry newsletter</a> <a href="http://www.tvnewscheck.com/article/66365/wheeler-not-so-bad-for-a-cable-guy#.UUy8opXToYg.email" type="external">notes</a>, “having spent his entire career representing businesses, running businesses and investing in businesses, Wheeler undoubtedly will have a light regulatory touch in all matters. And that’s not something you can say about most Democrats.”</p>
<p>There has yet been no freak-out in the public interest community about Wheeler—who lobbied for the cable and cell phone industries when they were upstarts, not behemoths. But a number of women’s groups sent Obama a <a href="http://www.womensmediacenter.com/page/m/31051a8b/7ae0699d/6ec379c3/5b118959/3811861779/VEsE/" type="external">letter</a> requesting he choose a woman for the job. (No woman has ever served as FCC chief.) Sascha Meinrath, director of the New America Foundation’s Open Technology Institute, is one advocate who has slammed the prospective Wheeler pick, observing that Wheeler “was the top lobbyist for not one, but two different industry lobbying groups. I can’t comprehend why that isn’t a massive conflict of interest.” <a href="http://www.politico.com/morningtech/0313/morningtech10183.html" type="external">He told Politico</a> that Wheeler’s appointment would exemplify “a bad revolving door.”</p>
<p>On the other side of the private-public divide in the FCC chair contest are several possible appointees who possess policy expertise but who have not represented industry groups. The leader among these candidates apparently is Karen Kornbluh, who recently finished a stint as Obama’s ambassador to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, where she <a href="http://blogs.usembassy.gov/kornbluh/2011/07/06/hlminternet/" type="external">pushed</a> for an <a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2011-07-14/opinions/35237279_1_internet-global-consensus-foreign-policy" type="external">open internet policy</a>. She is a domestic policy maven who was a top aide to Obama when he was a senator. Years before that, she worked at the FCC in several roles and advanced policies related to children’s programming and e-rates for classrooms. She also founded the Work and Family program at the New America Foundation—which has focused on developing innovative policies that benefit stressed-out workers and families. (She coined the term “ <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/29/us/fighting-for-economic-equality.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=1&amp;" type="external">juggler families</a>.”) She oversaw the drafting of the Democratic Party platform for Obama in 2008. Kornbluh’s telecom experience exists within the context of wide-ranging expertise in social policy. (Connection disclosed: Kornbluh is a family friend.)</p>
<p>Also on the list of do-gooders under consideration for the job are Susan Crawford and Cathy Sandoval. Crawford, a Cardozo Law School professor who specializes in tech policy, is a favorite of public interest advocates. In her book, Captive Audience: The Telecom Industry and Monopoly in the New Gilded Age, Crawford, who served in the Obama White House as an adviser on science, technology, and innovation policy, contends that the telecom giants need to be downsized. She is, in a way, the <a href="" type="internal">Elizabeth Warren</a> of tech policy. Yet her confrontational approach toward the industry may render a Crawford appointment too tough for Obama to pull off. A <a href="" type="internal">White House petition drive</a> in favor of her appointment expired because it failed to meet the signature threshold. Sandoval is the first Latina to serve on the California Public Utilities Commission. (She also was the first Latina to be named a Rhodes scholar.) Like Kornbluh, she worked at the FCC during the Clinton years, and she has developed a reputation for being consumer-minded.</p>
<p>Other names floated in assorted media reports include Jason Furman, a senior economic adviser in the Obama White House. Long associated with <a href="" type="internal">Robert Rubin</a>, he’s well regarded within the administration for his smarts and savvy. &#160;And there’s Larry Strickling, the head of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. He oversaw the $4 billion broadband development program that was part of Obama’s stimulus package and worked at the FCC in the 1990s. He also was once a vice president of public policy at Ameritech, a regional Bell company. Also on the list of FCC might-be’s is Mignon Clyburn, who’s the daughter of Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the assistant House Democratic leader. She has been a FCC commissioner since 2009.</p>
<p>Obama does not lack good options for this important slot. With telecommunications a critical part of most aspects of modern American society, the FCC chairmanship is a key appointment. And the commission is one of those spots in government where industry desires can clash with public interest concerns. As it stands now, Obama can go the conventional route—and reward a money-raiser with deep roots in the industries the FCC regulates. Or he can show more daring and choose as chair one of several past or present public servants who have been more attuned to policy than profits. Only the future of the Internet and how we communicate with each other is at stake.</p>
<p>UPDATE: On March 27, the Wall Street Journal <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/03/27/senators-to-obama-tap-jessica-rosenworcel-to-head-fcc/?mod=WSJBlog&amp;utm_source=twitterfeed&amp;utm_medium=twitter" type="external">reported</a> that 37 senators had five days earlier written Obama urging that he appoint Jessica Rosenworcel, one of the current FCC commissioners, to be the “first chairwoman” of the commission. She previously worked for Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Rosenworcel had been seen by FCC-watchers as a mid-list candidate for the job. But this move—the Senate has to confirm Obama’s choice—put her in true contention.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | lta hrefhttpwwwshutterstockcomcatmhtmllangenampsearch_sourcesearch_formampversiongtpavel ignatov ltagtshutterstock one hot jobs us governmentchairman federal communications commissionis become vacant president barack obamas pick position say much priorities takes win job within administration current chairman julius genachowski harvard law classmate obama longtime washington denizen several stints private sector last week announced hes splitting four years post genachowski rollicking tenure moreimportantthanever agency fcc approved controversial nbccomcast merger killed atampts 39 billion bid tmobile developed national broadband plan pushing universal broadband access contending spectrum crunch hes navigate knotty issue net neutrality one point angering verizon public interest advocates tenure vividly demonstrated fcc chairmans office node cuttingedge policy issues related economic development technology education media weeks theres widespread speculation within certain washington circles genachowski going leavethe rumor mill seeking ambassadorship brazil indiaand much tealeafreading replacement reports surfaced possible successors basic choice appeared emerge obama telecom industry vet public interestminded policy expert leading contender industry insider tom wheeler cited frontrunner time hes managing director washington dcbased venture capital firm years chief lobbyist cable industry head influence peddler cell phone industry consumer advocate advantage raised lot money campaign bundler obama wheeler also member good standing washington establishment sits presidents intelligence advisory board trustee john f kennedy center 2009 led obamabiden transitions working group overseeing science technology space arts agencies hes beloved telecom industry former obama administration official says wheeler industry newsletter notes spent entire career representing businesses running businesses investing businesses wheeler undoubtedly light regulatory touch matters thats something say democrats yet freakout public interest community wheelerwho lobbied cable cell phone industries upstarts behemoths number womens groups sent obama letter requesting choose woman job woman ever served fcc chief sascha meinrath director new america foundations open technology institute one advocate slammed prospective wheeler pick observing wheeler top lobbyist one two different industry lobbying groups cant comprehend isnt massive conflict interest told politico wheelers appointment would exemplify bad revolving door side privatepublic divide fcc chair contest several possible appointees possess policy expertise represented industry groups leader among candidates apparently karen kornbluh recently finished stint obamas ambassador organization economic cooperation development pushed open internet policy domestic policy maven top aide obama senator years worked fcc several roles advanced policies related childrens programming erates classrooms also founded work family program new america foundationwhich focused developing innovative policies benefit stressedout workers families coined term juggler families oversaw drafting democratic party platform obama 2008 kornbluhs telecom experience exists within context wideranging expertise social policy connection disclosed kornbluh family friend also list dogooders consideration job susan crawford cathy sandoval crawford cardozo law school professor specializes tech policy favorite public interest advocates book captive audience telecom industry monopoly new gilded age crawford served obama white house adviser science technology innovation policy contends telecom giants need downsized way elizabeth warren tech policy yet confrontational approach toward industry may render crawford appointment tough obama pull white house petition drive favor appointment expired failed meet signature threshold sandoval first latina serve california public utilities commission also first latina named rhodes scholar like kornbluh worked fcc clinton years developed reputation consumerminded names floated assorted media reports include jason furman senior economic adviser obama white house long associated robert rubin hes well regarded within administration smarts savvy 160and theres larry strickling head national telecommunications information administration oversaw 4 billion broadband development program part obamas stimulus package worked fcc 1990s also vice president public policy ameritech regional bell company also list fcc mightbes mignon clyburn whos daughter rep james clyburn dsc assistant house democratic leader fcc commissioner since 2009 obama lack good options important slot telecommunications critical part aspects modern american society fcc chairmanship key appointment commission one spots government industry desires clash public interest concerns stands obama go conventional routeand reward moneyraiser deep roots industries fcc regulates show daring choose chair one several past present public servants attuned policy profits future internet communicate stake update march 27 wall street journal reported 37 senators five days earlier written obama urging appoint jessica rosenworcel one current fcc commissioners first chairwoman commission previously worked sen jay rockefeller dwv rosenworcel seen fccwatchers midlist candidate job movethe senate confirm obamas choiceput true contention | 675 |
<p>The forces of the universe sent us a corruption triple play the week of December 8th.&#160; Just in case there were any slumbering souls still doubting the multi headed monster we need to slay to avoid becoming Rome, those benevolent forces assaulted our senses with a politician, a lawyer, and a Wall Street icon in a three-day sweep of unimaginable crime.&#160; Unimaginable, at least, to those of us bereft of adequate imaginations to keep up with the criminals.</p>
<p>The trifecta began on Monday, December 8, with Marc Dreier charged by Federal prosecutors in Manhattan with selling bogus promissory notes to steal what currently adds up to over $380 million.&#160; Mr. Dreier, a graduate of Harvard Law and Yale College, is the owner and founder of Dreier LLP, a prominent law firm employing over 250 lawyers.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, December 9, the Feds arrested Democratic Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, revealing transcripts of taped phone calls where the governor was strategizing on how to sell the U.S. Senate seat of President-elect Barack Obama to the highest bidder or career enhancer and, separately, getting revenge on the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune whose writers were saying bad things about him (for some strange reason). We had a day off to allow our psyches to mend and then Thursday, December 11 arrives.</p>
<p>We are told that Wall Street icon, Bernie Madoff, a key player in self regulation of Wall Street, has stolen $50 billion from investors in a Ponzi scheme stretching over what is now emerging as a three-decade crime spree, or longer.&#160; Despite our sprawling Homeland Security apparatus that regularly catches Democratic governors, law enforcement did not catch Madoff; his two sons turned him in after he confessed.</p>
<p>As of December 19, Blagojevich had been released and was in the Governor’s Mansion issuing pardons; Madoff was in his $7 million penthouse in Manhattan after being allowed to post, as collateral for his bond, the East Coast mansions he likely bought with Ponzi money stolen from an eclectic group of charities, Florida pensioners and a well-heeled country club set.&#160; Dreier was still in jail even though he stole less than 1 percent of the Madoff take.&#160; Apparently, Mr. Dreier lacks the right friends in high places.</p>
<p>The major beneficiary of the week was Citigroup.&#160; The leaky piggy bank disappeared from the news along with the investor lawsuit charging it with running its own Ponzi scheme on a scale to dwarf Madoff to piker status.&#160; Had it not been for the Madoff media frenzy, folks might have started connecting the dots to a $300 billion taxpayer bailout of a bank serially charged with global misdeeds, market maneuvers internally named “Dr. Evil” and “Black Hole,” and recent press reports that Citigroup had stashed over $1.2 trillion off its balance sheet.</p>
<p>I seldom have the urge to give a comforting pat on the back to people profiled in the Wall Street Journal.&#160; But that was my reaction when I read the 21-page whistleblower document about Madoff that was written by Harry Markopolos to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 7, 2005. The Journal still has the document on its web site and Markopolos provides a step by step plan for the SEC to follow to nail Madoff as a Ponzi fraudster. The letter followed a five-year effort by Markopolos, who supplied documentation and made repeated requests to the SEC to investigate Madoff.</p>
<p>Here’s how the SEC characterized the letter from Markopolos&#160; in a January 4, 2006 memo: “The staff received a complaint alleging that Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, a registered broker-dealer in New York (“BLM”), operates an undisclosed multi-billion dollar investment advisory business, and that BLM operates this business as a Ponzi scheme.&#160; The complaint did not contain specific facts about the alleged Ponzi scheme…”</p>
<p>Here’s a tiny sampling of what Markopolos told the SEC in his 21-page November 7, 2005 letter.&#160; You decide if these are “specific facts.”</p>
<p>“I am a derivatives expert and have traded or assisted in the trading of several billion $US in options strategies for hedge funds and institutional clients…(Highly Likely) Madoff Securities is the world’s largest Ponzi Scheme…The [Madoff] family runs what is effectively the world’s largest hedge fund with estimated assets under management of at least $20 billion to perhaps $50 billion…The third parties organize the hedge funds and obtain investors but 100% of the money raised is actually managed by Madoff Investment Securities, LLC in a purported hedge fund strategy.&#160; The investors that pony up the money don’t know that BM [Bernie Madoff] is managing their money…Some prominent US based hedge fund, fund of funds, that “invest” in BM in this manner include: A. Fairfield Sentry Limited (Arden Asset Management) which had $5.2 billion invested in BM as of May 2005…Access International Advisors…which had $450 million invested with BM as of mid-2002…Tremont Capital Management, Inc…Tremont oversees on an advisory and fully discretionary basis over $10.5 billion in assets.&#160; Clients include institutional investors, public and private pension plans, ERISA plans, university endowments, foundations, and financial institutions, as well as high net worth individuals…Madoff does not allow outside performance audits.&#160; One London based hedge fund, fund of funds, representing Arab money, asked to send in a team of Big 4 accountants to conduct a performance audit during their planned due diligence.&#160; They were told ‘No, only Madoff’s brother-in-law who owns his own accounting firm is allowed to audit performance’…Only Madoff family members are privy to the investment strategy.&#160; Name one other prominent multi-billion dollar hedge fund that doesn’t have outside, non-family professionals involved in the investment process.&#160; You can’t because there aren’t any…There are too many red flags to ignore.&#160; REFCO, Wood River, the Manhattan Fun, Princeton Economics, and other hedge fund blow ups all had a lot fewer red flags than Madoff and look what happened at those places…”</p>
<p>Here is what the SEC’s memo of November 21, 2007 said following its investigation:</p>
<p>“The staff found no evidence of fraud…All files have been prepared for closing…Termination letters have been sent to Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, Bernard L. Madoff, and Fairfield Greenwich Group.&#160; The staff has no objection to the eventual destruction of the files and has no knowledge of any impediment to such a disposition.”</p>
<p>Let me run that by you again.&#160; Mr. Markopolos, a private citizen, uses his personal time and energy over a seven year period to document a fraud occurring under the nose of the SEC that could impact the international reputation of the United States along with the financial well being of pensioners, university endowments, foundations and private investors.&#160; After losing track of the case for five years, the SEC finally gets around to investigating using taxpayers’ monies.&#160; They come up with nothing despite being given a perfect path to follow to the fraud.&#160; And their final suggestion for dealing with the investigation is to destroy the files!&#160; With regulators like these, who needs Ponzi artists?</p>
<p>In 1992, eight years before Mr. Markopolos started hounding the SEC to take&#160; action against Madoff, the SEC was settling an investigation against two Florida accountants, Frank Avellino and Michael Bienes.&#160; The pair had started raising money for Bernie Madoff to manage in 1962, just two years after he came to Wall Street.&#160; Avellino and Bienes has sold over $440 million in unregistered notes to thousands of people over yet another three-decade period when the SEC was napping.&#160; Mr. Madoff was not charged.</p>
<p>Representing Avellino and Bienes in that matter was Ira Lee Sorkin, the former head of the SEC region in New York City.&#160; Mr. Sorkin represents Bernie Madoff today.&#160; Put in charge as trustee of the Avellino and Bienes funds and records was Lee Richards.&#160; The SEC has put Mr. Richards in place as a receiver and document custodian in the current matter, overseeing the London black hole operation known as Madoff Securities International Ltd.</p>
<p>Marc Mukasey, the son of the U.S. Attorney General, Michael Mukasey, is representing Frank DiPascali, a key Madoff employee.&#160; This has resulted in the highest law enforcement officer in the nation recusing himself from the investigation of the largest Ponzi scheme in history.</p>
<p>Naturally, the Madoff money trail of special favors and exceptions leads straight to Washington.&#160; From 1998 through 2008, Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities paid $590,000 lobbying Congress and the SEC, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.&#160; His lobby firm for most of those years was Lent, Scrivner &amp; Roth, with Norman F. Lent III signing the disclosure documents in the House and Senate.&#160; One of Madoff’s hot button issues during those years according to the disclosure documents was getting a single regulator.&#160; That meant, for starters, merging those prying eyes over at the New York Stock Exchange into the clubby pool of self-regulators at the National Association of Securities Dealers where the Madoff family held numerous seats of power.&#160; That wish came true when NASD Regulation merged with the enforcement and arbitration units of the New York Stock Exchange in July 2007 to create the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).&#160; CEO of the consolidated body is Mary Schapiro, who formerly headed up NASD Regulation, one of the most conflicted bodies in the history of finance.&#160; Ms. Schapiro has just been nominated by President-Elect Barack Obama to be the new SEC Chair.&#160; Expect to hear more about killing off the SEC (instead of giving it some teeth) and giving Madoff and his fellow miscreants their ultimate dream of just one compromised regulator instead of three.</p>
<p>The Madoff family almost uniformly gives to the same candidates.&#160; Cumulatively, since 1993, they have given more than $400,000 to political candidates, committees and PACS.</p>
<p>The Madoff family is also a uniquely telepathic group.&#160; When one member had an idea, invariably they all had the same idea.&#160; For example, in May 1998, June 1999 and June 2004, a total of seven members of the Madoff family (all living in New York) decided to enrich the coffers of the Ed Markey Committee to the tune of $30,000.&#160; Mr. Markey does not represent New York.&#160; He is a Democrat who has represented the 7th Congressional District of Massachusetts for more than 30 years.&#160; What could have been the motivation?</p>
<p>On February 24, 1997 I flew on US Air flight 6431 from New York to DC along with producer Dean Irwin and a film crew from ABC’s 20/20.&#160; We were all heading to Ed Markey’s Congressional office to talk about one of Wall Street’s dirtiest secrets: their denial of an employee’s right to sue the Wall Street firm in an open courtroom, mandating instead, as a condition of employment, that the workers contractually agree to usher all claims (even whistleblower claims) into a crony system of arbitration run by Wall Street firms where case law and legal precedent are not followed and discovery is limited.&#160; The system draws a dark curtain around the misdeeds of Wall Street and is an enabling agent for ever greater crimes sealed in secrecy.&#160; A dream come true for a Ponzi operator.</p>
<p>Congressman Markey was a threat to Wall Street because he continued to introduce legislation known as the Civil Rights Procedures Protection Act that would have outlawed mandatory arbitration for certain employee claims and allowed those claims to proceed to an open courtroom.</p>
<p>The 20/20 crew spent a good portion of the afternoon filming Congressman Markey and myself talking about arbitration.&#160; When the program aired, Congressman Markey was gone from the film and just a brief statement was inserted.&#160; For decades now, that legislation, or similar legislation, has been introduced and then died a quiet death; much like the SEC investigations of Madoff.</p>
<p>PAM MARTENS worked on Wall Street for 21 years; she has no security position, long or short, in any company mentioned in this article.&#160; She writes on public interest issues from New Hampshire.&#160; She can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | forces universe sent us corruption triple play week december 8th160 case slumbering souls still doubting multi headed monster need slay avoid becoming rome benevolent forces assaulted senses politician lawyer wall street icon threeday sweep unimaginable crime160 unimaginable least us bereft adequate imaginations keep criminals trifecta began monday december 8 marc dreier charged federal prosecutors manhattan selling bogus promissory notes steal currently adds 380 million160 mr dreier graduate harvard law yale college owner founder dreier llp prominent law firm employing 250 lawyers tuesday december 9 feds arrested democratic governor rod blagojevich illinois revealing transcripts taped phone calls governor strategizing sell us senate seat presidentelect barack obama highest bidder career enhancer separately getting revenge editorial board chicago tribune whose writers saying bad things strange reason day allow psyches mend thursday december 11 arrives told wall street icon bernie madoff key player self regulation wall street stolen 50 billion investors ponzi scheme stretching emerging threedecade crime spree longer160 despite sprawling homeland security apparatus regularly catches democratic governors law enforcement catch madoff two sons turned confessed december 19 blagojevich released governors mansion issuing pardons madoff 7 million penthouse manhattan allowed post collateral bond east coast mansions likely bought ponzi money stolen eclectic group charities florida pensioners wellheeled country club set160 dreier still jail even though stole less 1 percent madoff take160 apparently mr dreier lacks right friends high places major beneficiary week citigroup160 leaky piggy bank disappeared news along investor lawsuit charging running ponzi scheme scale dwarf madoff piker status160 madoff media frenzy folks might started connecting dots 300 billion taxpayer bailout bank serially charged global misdeeds market maneuvers internally named dr evil black hole recent press reports citigroup stashed 12 trillion balance sheet seldom urge give comforting pat back people profiled wall street journal160 reaction read 21page whistleblower document madoff written harry markopolos securities exchange commission sec november 7 2005 journal still document web site markopolos provides step step plan sec follow nail madoff ponzi fraudster letter followed fiveyear effort markopolos supplied documentation made repeated requests sec investigate madoff heres sec characterized letter markopolos160 january 4 2006 memo staff received complaint alleging bernard l madoff investment securities llc registered brokerdealer new york blm operates undisclosed multibillion dollar investment advisory business blm operates business ponzi scheme160 complaint contain specific facts alleged ponzi scheme heres tiny sampling markopolos told sec 21page november 7 2005 letter160 decide specific facts derivatives expert traded assisted trading several billion us options strategies hedge funds institutional clientshighly likely madoff securities worlds largest ponzi schemethe madoff family runs effectively worlds largest hedge fund estimated assets management least 20 billion perhaps 50 billionthe third parties organize hedge funds obtain investors 100 money raised actually managed madoff investment securities llc purported hedge fund strategy160 investors pony money dont know bm bernie madoff managing moneysome prominent us based hedge fund fund funds invest bm manner include fairfield sentry limited arden asset management 52 billion invested bm may 2005access international advisorswhich 450 million invested bm mid2002tremont capital management inctremont oversees advisory fully discretionary basis 105 billion assets160 clients include institutional investors public private pension plans erisa plans university endowments foundations financial institutions well high net worth individualsmadoff allow outside performance audits160 one london based hedge fund fund funds representing arab money asked send team big 4 accountants conduct performance audit planned due diligence160 told madoffs brotherinlaw owns accounting firm allowed audit performanceonly madoff family members privy investment strategy160 name one prominent multibillion dollar hedge fund doesnt outside nonfamily professionals involved investment process160 cant arent anythere many red flags ignore160 refco wood river manhattan fun princeton economics hedge fund blow ups lot fewer red flags madoff look happened places secs memo november 21 2007 said following investigation staff found evidence fraudall files prepared closingtermination letters sent bernard l madoff investment securities llc bernard l madoff fairfield greenwich group160 staff objection eventual destruction files knowledge impediment disposition let run again160 mr markopolos private citizen uses personal time energy seven year period document fraud occurring nose sec could impact international reputation united states along financial well pensioners university endowments foundations private investors160 losing track case five years sec finally gets around investigating using taxpayers monies160 come nothing despite given perfect path follow fraud160 final suggestion dealing investigation destroy files160 regulators like needs ponzi artists 1992 eight years mr markopolos started hounding sec take160 action madoff sec settling investigation two florida accountants frank avellino michael bienes160 pair started raising money bernie madoff manage 1962 two years came wall street160 avellino bienes sold 440 million unregistered notes thousands people yet another threedecade period sec napping160 mr madoff charged representing avellino bienes matter ira lee sorkin former head sec region new york city160 mr sorkin represents bernie madoff today160 put charge trustee avellino bienes funds records lee richards160 sec put mr richards place receiver document custodian current matter overseeing london black hole operation known madoff securities international ltd marc mukasey son us attorney general michael mukasey representing frank dipascali key madoff employee160 resulted highest law enforcement officer nation recusing investigation largest ponzi scheme history naturally madoff money trail special favors exceptions leads straight washington160 1998 2008 bernard l madoff investment securities paid 590000 lobbying congress sec according center responsive politics160 lobby firm years lent scrivner amp roth norman f lent iii signing disclosure documents house senate160 one madoffs hot button issues years according disclosure documents getting single regulator160 meant starters merging prying eyes new york stock exchange clubby pool selfregulators national association securities dealers madoff family held numerous seats power160 wish came true nasd regulation merged enforcement arbitration units new york stock exchange july 2007 create financial industry regulatory authority finra160 ceo consolidated body mary schapiro formerly headed nasd regulation one conflicted bodies history finance160 ms schapiro nominated presidentelect barack obama new sec chair160 expect hear killing sec instead giving teeth giving madoff fellow miscreants ultimate dream one compromised regulator instead three madoff family almost uniformly gives candidates160 cumulatively since 1993 given 400000 political candidates committees pacs madoff family also uniquely telepathic group160 one member idea invariably idea160 example may 1998 june 1999 june 2004 total seven members madoff family living new york decided enrich coffers ed markey committee tune 30000160 mr markey represent new york160 democrat represented 7th congressional district massachusetts 30 years160 could motivation february 24 1997 flew us air flight 6431 new york dc along producer dean irwin film crew abcs 2020160 heading ed markeys congressional office talk one wall streets dirtiest secrets denial employees right sue wall street firm open courtroom mandating instead condition employment workers contractually agree usher claims even whistleblower claims crony system arbitration run wall street firms case law legal precedent followed discovery limited160 system draws dark curtain around misdeeds wall street enabling agent ever greater crimes sealed secrecy160 dream come true ponzi operator congressman markey threat wall street continued introduce legislation known civil rights procedures protection act would outlawed mandatory arbitration certain employee claims allowed claims proceed open courtroom 2020 crew spent good portion afternoon filming congressman markey talking arbitration160 program aired congressman markey gone film brief statement inserted160 decades legislation similar legislation introduced died quiet death much like sec investigations madoff pam martens worked wall street 21 years security position long short company mentioned article160 writes public interest issues new hampshire160 reached pamk741aolcom 160 160 160 160 | 1,205 |
<p>Evan Vucci/AP</p>
<p />
<p>For decades, Donald Trump has operated his businesses on one fundamental premise: Use other people’s money.</p>
<p>“I do that all the time in business,” he said at a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/09/20/trump-brags-about-using-other-peoples-money/" type="external">rally in North Carolina</a> last month. “It’s called ‘other people’s money.’ There’s nothing like doing things with other people’s money.” It’s a phrase he <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/08/17/trump-university-curriculum-posed-legal-risks-to-students.html" type="external">taught students</a> at Trump University, and he put it into practice by building his first empire in the 1980s on massive loans that allowed him to erect towers in New York, acquire casinos in Atlantic City, and buy other businesses including the Plaza Hotel and the short-lived Trump Shuttle airline.</p>
<p>Then, when Trump’s debts spiraled out of control in the early 1990s and nearly destroyed him for good, he figured out how to use other people’s cash again to make millions for himself and dump his debt-ridden failures on investors. Here’s a timeline of how he did it.</p>
<p>Trump built the Trump Plaza, the largest casino in Atlantic City at the time, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/15/nyregion/10th-and-largest-casino-opens-in-atlantic-city.html" type="external">in partnership</a> with the casino chain Harrah’s, with Trump overseeing construction and Harrah’s parent company footing the $220 million bill. But Trump fought constantly with Harrah’s over the partnership and eventually <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/12/nyregion/donald-trump-atlantic-city.html" type="external">bought out its stake</a>. To do so, he saddled the casino with more than $300 million in debt from junk bonds.</p>
<p>Trump <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/28/nyregion/trump-buys-hilton-s-hotel-in-atlantic-city.html" type="external">purchased a nearly finished casino</a>, sight unseen, from Hilton Hotels when the chain was denied a gambling license. He turned it into the Trump Castle, his second Atlantic City property, and installed his then-wife, Ivana, as CEO. Trump claimed (while <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1985/04/28/nyregion/trump-buys-hilton-s-hotel-in-atlantic-city.html" type="external">posing</a> as fictional Trump Organization spokesman <a href="" type="internal">John Baron</a>) that he paid about $300 million in cash. In fact, he financed the purchase through more <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=3TinCwAAQBAJ&amp;pg=PT175&amp;lpg=PT175&amp;dq=trump+castle+bear+stearns+bonds&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=Glhc9NKEHl&amp;sig=tSVnd8ZjownM52PQfKV06uOU6vs&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ved=0ahUKEwjh-7ekmsfPAhVGXR4KHUMlDLEQ6AEIJjAD#v=onepage&amp;q=trump%20castle%20bear%20stearns%20bonds&amp;f=false" type="external">high-interest junk bonds</a> issued by investment bank Bear Stearns.</p>
<p>And not just any yacht, but an <a href="http://https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/set-an-open-course-for-the-virgin-sea?utm_term=.jdmneyPD7#.crgBkvnxV" type="external">ultraluxe</a>, helipad-toting, 282-foot behemoth. He purchased it for $29 million <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/set-an-open-course-for-the-virgin-sea?utm_term=.fv3JgnJep#.qxYNgMNZP" type="external">from the Sultan of Brunei</a>, renamed it Trump Princess, and used it as a perk for the high-rollers at Trump’s casinos and other Trump guests in need of impressing. To offset the cost, he leased it to the Trump Castle for $400,000 a month, an arrangement the Washington Post‘s Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher called “a major financial drain” on the casino—but a healthy boost for Trump himself.</p>
<p>By Trump’s own admission, he had long wanted to buy the iconic parkside hotel in New York that he could see from his Trump Tower office. So when it went on the market in 1988, Trump happily paid well over the odds for it—again using borrowed money, $125 million of which he’d personally guaranteed. The $407 million sale price was the most ever spent on a hotel in US history, according to Kranish and Fisher. “I can never justify the price I paid, no matter how successful the Plaza becomes,” Trump wrote in an open letter in the New York Times.</p>
<p>Trump was allowed by New Jersey law to open one more casino, and he set his sights on a 1,000-room behemoth that his competitor Resorts International started building <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/13/business/resorts-international-ups-the-ante.html" type="external">in late 1983</a>. In 1987, with the casino half built, he bought a controlling stake in Resorts International, sparking a battle with TV host and media mogul Merv Griffin for the company. He <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/28/business/rift-ended-by-trump-and-griffin.html" type="external">sold most of the company</a> to Griffin the next year but got what he wanted: ownership of the unfinished casino.</p>
<p>Trump had insisted to New Jersey casino regulators that he <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2016/07/05/trump-atlantic-city-usa-today-network-records-regulators/86717110/" type="external">wouldn’t fund the casino,</a> now called the Trump Taj Mahal, with high-interest junk bonds. Banks, he claimed, were clamoring to lend to him at low interest rates. But they weren’t. Trump instead <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/trumps-bad-bet-how-too-much-debt-drove-his-biggest-casino-aground/2016/01/18/f67cedc2-9ac8-11e5-8917-653b65c809eb_story.html" type="external">issued $675 million</a> of the same kind of junk bonds he’d promised to avoid. In its first three months after opening, according to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission, the Taj <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1990-08-20/business/fi-901_1_taj-mahal" type="external">lost $14 million</a>.</p>
<p>Trump soon bought another expensive business, <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1989-05-25/business/fi-808_1_eastern-shuttle-eastern-needs-cash-shuttle-jets" type="external">taking over</a> Eastern Airlines’ Boston-New York-Washington shuttle service and renaming it the Trump Shuttle. But he <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/10/04/the-crash-of-trump-air.html" type="external">bought more planes</a> from Eastern than he needed to run the shuttle service and dumped lots of money into upgrading the planes with plush interiors and faux-marble lavatories with gold-plated sinks. The shuttle quickly started losing money.</p>
<p>Just two months after the Taj opened, Trump said he couldn’t make a $43 million interest payment on the Trump Castle’s debt. There had been rumors for months that Trump was in trouble, but this was the first time he publicly acknowledged his massive debt crisis.</p>
<p>The missed payment sent Trump’s creditors scrambling into round-the-clock negotiations to forge a debt-restructuring plan. Banker Robert McSween <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-and-his-debts-a-narrow-escape-1451868915" type="external">told the Wall Street Journal</a> that Trump was “so down he was almost crying” one night as he prepared to call a bank that didn’t want to help bail the mogul out. Trump eventually got another $65 million loan to cover his short-term payments, and the banks gave him more time to deal with his debts. But they also put him on a <a href="" type="internal">$450,000-a-month allowance</a> and demanded that he install <a href="http://articles.philly.com/1990-06-25/news/25913329_1_trump-empire-donald-trump-trump-lifestyle" type="external">new managers and financial controls</a> for his businesses and sell off many of his assets.</p>
<p>When the Casino Control Commission examined Trump’s businesses, it revealed <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/trumps-bad-bet-how-too-much-debt-drove-his-biggest-casino-aground/2016/01/18/f67cedc2-9ac8-11e5-8917-653b65c809eb_story.html" type="external">how badly Trump was in trouble</a>. His casinos alone were $1.3 billion in debt. Trump was $3.4 billion in the hole overall, and he had personally guaranteed $833 million of that debt. Accountants who pored over his finances on behalf of his creditors found he was <a href="http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1990/08/16/page/1/article/trumps-net-worth-may-be-negative-papers-show/index.html" type="external">worth as little as</a> minus $295 million and would probably run out of cash sometime that year. Trump seemingly <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012401731.html" type="external">acknowledged as much</a> on a day in 1990 when he and his then-girlfriend, Marla Maples, passed a beggar on Fifth Avenue. “You see that man?” he wrote in his 1997 book, The Art of the Comeback. “Right now he’s worth $900 million more than me.”</p>
<p>Despite getting debt relief in the summer, Donald was about to miss another debt payment on the Trump Castle just a few months later. So his father, Fred Trump, sent one of his lawyers down to Atlantic City to buy $3.5 million in chips from the Trump Castle, with no intention of cashing them out. That amounted to <a href="" type="internal">an illegal loan</a> to the casino, and Donald used the money the very next day to make his debt payment. The Casino Control Commission investigated the move the next year and fined the Trump Castle $65,000—but allowed it to keep the illegally obtained cash.</p>
<p>That may not have been the only time Trump turned to his family to fund him during his debt crisis. The New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/04/nyregion/donald-trump-taxes-debt.html" type="external">reported</a> last week that Trump asked to borrow $10 million from his siblings’ portions of the Trump family trust in 1993, then requested another $20 million the next year. Trump denied borrowing from his siblings.</p>
<p>Trump missed a debt payment on the Taj in November 1990, less than a year after it opened. His creditors agreed to restructure the debt on the $675 million in junk bonds in return for ownership of half the casino. The deal was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1991/08/29/business/company-news-court-backs-trump-s-plan-to-shed-half-of-taj-mahal.html" type="external">approved in August 1991</a>, becoming the model for a string of Trump bankruptcies that would come the next year. In all these arrangements, <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/24/AR2007012401731.html" type="external">the Washington Post wrote</a>, “lenders were reluctant to confront Trump in bankruptcy court, where they would face years of delay and massive legal expenses,” so they cut deals that cost them hundreds of millions of dollars in the hopes of getting back anything meaningful at all. In this way, they were much like the contractors that Trump <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/" type="external">often underpaid</a> for their work: Trump could take advantage of his contracts with both big banks and small businesses, knowing neither had much leverage over him even if he failed.</p>
<p>Less than a year later, Trump struck two more deals with his creditors to save his remaining casinos. The Trump Castle had been financed by $338 million in bonds, much of them high-interest junk bonds, according to <a href="http://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/06/17/Trump-pulls-off-last-minute-deal/9831677131200/" type="external">United Press International</a>. As with the Taj, the bondholders agreed to take 50 percent of the Trump Castle in return for restructuring the debt and excusing Trump from a $41 million interest payment he would have missed. (Trump also got to earn yearly fees for managing the bondholders’ stake in the Trump Castle.)</p>
<p>The Trump Plaza got <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/09/business/trump-casinos-may-file-plan.html" type="external">a similar arrangement</a>, with its bondholders reducing the casino’s debt by $50 million. Crucially, Trump had not yet missed any interest payments on the Trump Plaza, allowing him to keep full ownership of the casino and setting up his future escape route out of debt.</p>
<p>Trump’s beloved trophy had been in trouble from the start. “To make interest payments, the Plaza needed to fill all of its 814 rooms every night of the year at a rate of $500—more than twice what the hotel was charging,” wrote the Post‘s Kranish and Fisher. It didn’t. The hotel <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/12/business/company-news-trump-s-plaza-hotel-bankruptcy-plan-approved.html" type="external">filed for bankruptcy,</a> and Citibank and other lenders took 49 percent of the hotel while installing new management and leaving Trump as a figurehead CEO. Trump got better terms on the hotel’s debt, which stood at more than <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/12/business/company-news-trump-s-plaza-hotel-bankruptcy-plan-approved.html" type="external">$550 million</a>, including the $125 million he’d personally guaranteed.</p>
<p>Together, these deals slashed Trump’s personal debt by <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/11/29/trump-went-broke-but-stayed-on-top/e1685555-1de7-400c-99a8-9cd9c0bca9fe/" type="external">about $750 million</a>, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1992/11/29/trump-went-broke-but-stayed-on-top/e1685555-1de7-400c-99a8-9cd9c0bca9fe/" type="external">the Washington Post</a>, but cost banks and bondholders hundreds of millions of dollars.</p>
<p>In 1995, Trump turned over ownership of the Trump Plaza to a new company called Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, which he then took public. The company raised $140 million from investors, but Trump maintained control of the company. It started out $494 million in debt, <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/03/10/trump-hotel-casinos-pay-failure/" type="external">according to Fortune</a>, but still did well at the outset. The stock price jumped <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/as-its-stock-collapsed-trumps-firm-gave-him-huge-bonuses-and-paid-for-his-jet/2016/06/12/58458918-2766-11e6-b989-4e5479715b54_story.html" type="external">from $14 to $35</a> in the first months of the company’s existence, making Trump’s stake in the company worth $400 million, according to Fortune.</p>
<p>Trump Hotels’ brief success came to a screeching halt when Trump used the company to buy his two other, heavily indebted Atlantic City casinos. In the case of the Trump Castle, Trump Hotels <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/as-its-stock-collapsed-trumps-firm-gave-him-huge-bonuses-and-paid-for-his-jet/2016/06/12/58458918-2766-11e6-b989-4e5479715b54_story.html" type="external">paid $100 million more</a> than market value for the casino. That gave Trump two huge financial lifts. First, he pocketed an <a href="" type="internal">$880,000 personal fee</a> for making the transaction. Second, and much more important, the $1.7 billion debt owed on the casinos suddenly no longer belonged to him, but to Trump Hotels. There may have even been a third benefit: David Cay Johnston, an investigative reporter who has covered Trump for decades, wrote for the Daily Beast earlier this month that Trump had likely earned <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/03/art-of-the-steal-this-is-how-trump-lost-916m-and-avoided-tax.html" type="external">a personal tax break</a> in 1995 by forgoing future depreciation benefits on his casinos. “That meant Trump got money for selling his casino hotels, while the investors got real estate with greatly diminished tax benefits,” he wrote.</p>
<p>The upshot was that Trump had finally dug himself out from the enormous hole he’d created in the 1980s, again by using other people’s money. And those people, rather than Trump, ended up suffering. Trump Hotels <a href="" type="internal">went bankrupt in 2004</a> and again in 2009. “During Trump’s 13 years as chairman, the company lost $1.1 billion,” Johnston explained. “Trump stock fell from a high of $35 to just 17 cents, wiping out investors. Trump did just fine, though. He was paid $82 million, Fortune magazine estimated. The publicly traded company even took out loans that were <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/03/10/trump-hotel-casinos-pay-failure/" type="external">used to pay off some of Trump’s remaining obligations</a> to the banks from when he owned his casinos outright.”</p>
<p>Trump has since rebuilt his career and image, largely through risk-free licensing deals and the publicity boom from starring on The Apprentice. He put the Trump name on buildings built around the world by other companies and was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/06/us/politics/donald-trump-soho-settlement.html" type="external">frequently accused</a> <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/22/politics/trump-properties-investigation/" type="external">of misleading buyers</a> <a href="http://archives.starbulletin.com/content/20090714_Trump_Tower_might_not_really_be_a_Trump" type="external">about his role</a> in the projects. He’s also slapped his name onto <a href="" type="internal">vodka</a>, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/hey-trump-wheres-the-beef-trump-steaks-are-so-rare-we-cant-even-find-one/2016/03/22/175b682a-ebc3-11e5-bc08-3e03a5b41910_story.html" type="external">steaks</a>, <a href="" type="internal">dietary supplements</a>, and <a href="http://www.trump.com/merchandise/trump-natural-spring-water/" type="external">bottled water</a> produced by other people—and, of course, <a href="" type="internal">Trump University</a>, which made him the subject of ongoing fraud lawsuits. Trump has <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/02/22/politics/trump-properties-investigation/" type="external">made money</a> on many of these deals without having to assume any responsibility for the businesses, even when they fail.</p>
<p>Other people’s money continues to pay dividends.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | evan vucciap decades donald trump operated businesses one fundamental premise use peoples money time business said rally north carolina last month called peoples money theres nothing like things peoples money phrase taught students trump university put practice building first empire 1980s massive loans allowed erect towers new york acquire casinos atlantic city buy businesses including plaza hotel shortlived trump shuttle airline trumps debts spiraled control early 1990s nearly destroyed good figured use peoples cash make millions dump debtridden failures investors heres timeline trump built trump plaza largest casino atlantic city time partnership casino chain harrahs trump overseeing construction harrahs parent company footing 220 million bill trump fought constantly harrahs partnership eventually bought stake saddled casino 300 million debt junk bonds trump purchased nearly finished casino sight unseen hilton hotels chain denied gambling license turned trump castle second atlantic city property installed thenwife ivana ceo trump claimed posing fictional trump organization spokesman john baron paid 300 million cash fact financed purchase highinterest junk bonds issued investment bank bear stearns yacht ultraluxe helipadtoting 282foot behemoth purchased 29 million sultan brunei renamed trump princess used perk highrollers trumps casinos trump guests need impressing offset cost leased trump castle 400000 month arrangement washington posts michael kranish marc fisher called major financial drain casinobut healthy boost trump trumps admission long wanted buy iconic parkside hotel new york could see trump tower office went market 1988 trump happily paid well odds itagain using borrowed money 125 million hed personally guaranteed 407 million sale price ever spent hotel us history according kranish fisher never justify price paid matter successful plaza becomes trump wrote open letter new york times trump allowed new jersey law open one casino set sights 1000room behemoth competitor resorts international started building late 1983 1987 casino half built bought controlling stake resorts international sparking battle tv host media mogul merv griffin company sold company griffin next year got wanted ownership unfinished casino trump insisted new jersey casino regulators wouldnt fund casino called trump taj mahal highinterest junk bonds banks claimed clamoring lend low interest rates werent trump instead issued 675 million kind junk bonds hed promised avoid first three months opening according new jersey casino control commission taj lost 14 million trump soon bought another expensive business taking eastern airlines bostonnew yorkwashington shuttle service renaming trump shuttle bought planes eastern needed run shuttle service dumped lots money upgrading planes plush interiors fauxmarble lavatories goldplated sinks shuttle quickly started losing money two months taj opened trump said couldnt make 43 million interest payment trump castles debt rumors months trump trouble first time publicly acknowledged massive debt crisis missed payment sent trumps creditors scrambling roundtheclock negotiations forge debtrestructuring plan banker robert mcsween told wall street journal trump almost crying one night prepared call bank didnt want help bail mogul trump eventually got another 65 million loan cover shortterm payments banks gave time deal debts also put 450000amonth allowance demanded install new managers financial controls businesses sell many assets casino control commission examined trumps businesses revealed badly trump trouble casinos alone 13 billion debt trump 34 billion hole overall personally guaranteed 833 million debt accountants pored finances behalf creditors found worth little minus 295 million would probably run cash sometime year trump seemingly acknowledged much day 1990 thengirlfriend marla maples passed beggar fifth avenue see man wrote 1997 book art comeback right hes worth 900 million despite getting debt relief summer donald miss another debt payment trump castle months later father fred trump sent one lawyers atlantic city buy 35 million chips trump castle intention cashing amounted illegal loan casino donald used money next day make debt payment casino control commission investigated move next year fined trump castle 65000but allowed keep illegally obtained cash may time trump turned family fund debt crisis new york times reported last week trump asked borrow 10 million siblings portions trump family trust 1993 requested another 20 million next year trump denied borrowing siblings trump missed debt payment taj november 1990 less year opened creditors agreed restructure debt 675 million junk bonds return ownership half casino deal approved august 1991 becoming model string trump bankruptcies would come next year arrangements washington post wrote lenders reluctant confront trump bankruptcy court would face years delay massive legal expenses cut deals cost hundreds millions dollars hopes getting back anything meaningful way much like contractors trump often underpaid work trump could take advantage contracts big banks small businesses knowing neither much leverage even failed less year later trump struck two deals creditors save remaining casinos trump castle financed 338 million bonds much highinterest junk bonds according united press international taj bondholders agreed take 50 percent trump castle return restructuring debt excusing trump 41 million interest payment would missed trump also got earn yearly fees managing bondholders stake trump castle trump plaza got similar arrangement bondholders reducing casinos debt 50 million crucially trump yet missed interest payments trump plaza allowing keep full ownership casino setting future escape route debt trumps beloved trophy trouble start make interest payments plaza needed fill 814 rooms every night year rate 500more twice hotel charging wrote posts kranish fisher didnt hotel filed bankruptcy citibank lenders took 49 percent hotel installing new management leaving trump figurehead ceo trump got better terms hotels debt stood 550 million including 125 million hed personally guaranteed together deals slashed trumps personal debt 750 million according washington post cost banks bondholders hundreds millions dollars 1995 trump turned ownership trump plaza new company called trump hotels casino resorts took public company raised 140 million investors trump maintained control company started 494 million debt according fortune still well outset stock price jumped 14 35 first months companys existence making trumps stake company worth 400 million according fortune trump hotels brief success came screeching halt trump used company buy two heavily indebted atlantic city casinos case trump castle trump hotels paid 100 million market value casino gave trump two huge financial lifts first pocketed 880000 personal fee making transaction second much important 17 billion debt owed casinos suddenly longer belonged trump hotels may even third benefit david cay johnston investigative reporter covered trump decades wrote daily beast earlier month trump likely earned personal tax break 1995 forgoing future depreciation benefits casinos meant trump got money selling casino hotels investors got real estate greatly diminished tax benefits wrote upshot trump finally dug enormous hole hed created 1980s using peoples money people rather trump ended suffering trump hotels went bankrupt 2004 2009 trumps 13 years chairman company lost 11 billion johnston explained trump stock fell high 35 17 cents wiping investors trump fine though paid 82 million fortune magazine estimated publicly traded company even took loans used pay trumps remaining obligations banks owned casinos outright trump since rebuilt career image largely riskfree licensing deals publicity boom starring apprentice put trump name buildings built around world companies frequently accused misleading buyers role projects hes also slapped name onto vodka steaks dietary supplements bottled water produced peopleand course trump university made subject ongoing fraud lawsuits trump made money many deals without assume responsibility businesses even fail peoples money continues pay dividends | 1,176 |
<p>By Bill McKibben, TomDispatchThis article first appeared at TomDispatch. Read Tom Engelhardt’s introduction <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175684/tomgram%3A_bill_mckibben%2C_how_do_you_solve_a_problem_like_the_democrats/#more" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>A few weeks ago, Time magazine <a href="http://swampland.time.com/2013/02/28/im-with-the-tree-huggers/" type="external">called</a> the fight over the Keystone XL pipeline that will bring some of the dirtiest energy on the planet from Alberta, Canada, to the U.S. Gulf Coast the “Selma and Stonewall” of the climate movement.</p>
<p>Which, if you think about it, may be both good news and bad news. Yes, those of us fighting the pipeline have mobilized record numbers of activists: the largest civil disobedience action <a href="http://action.sierraclub.org/site/PageServer?pagename=forwardonclimate" type="external">in 30 years</a> and 40,000 people on the mall in February for the biggest climate rally in American history. Right now, we’re aiming to get <a href="http://act.350.org/letter/a_million_strong_against_keystone/" type="external">a million people to send in public comments</a> about the “environmental review” the State Department is conducting on the feasibility and advisability of building the pipeline.&#160; And there’s good reason to put pressure on.&#160; After all, it’s the same State Department that, as on a previous round of reviews, <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/03/keystone-xl-contractor-ties-transcanada-state-department" type="external">hired</a> “experts” who had once worked as consultants for TransCanada, the pipeline’s builder.</p>
<p>Still, let’s put things in perspective: Stonewall took place in 1969, and as of last week the Supreme Court was still trying to decide if gay people should be allowed to marry each other. If the climate movement takes that long, we’ll be rallying in scuba masks. (I’m not kidding. The section of the Washington Mall where we rallied against the pipeline this winter already has a big construction project underway: a <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/15/AR2010111507471.html" type="external">flood barrier</a> to keep the rising Potomac River out of downtown DC.)</p>
<p />
<p>It was certainly joyful to see marriage equality being considered by our top judicial body.&#160; In some ways, however, the most depressing spectacle of the week was watching Democratic leaders decide that, in 2013, it was finally safe to proclaim gay people actual human beings. In one <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/03/25/1772471/mark-warner-marriage-equality-is-the-fair-and-right-thing-to-do/" type="external">weekend</a>, Democratic senators Mark Warner of Virginia, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, and Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia figured out that they had “evolved” on the issue. And Bill Clinton, the greatest weathervane who ever lived, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/26/us/politics/bill-clintons-decision-and-regret-on-defense-of-marriage-act.html" type="external">finally decided</a> that the Defense of Marriage Act he had signed into law, boasted about in ads on Christian radio, and urged candidate John Kerry to defend as constitutional in 2004, was, you know, wrong. He, too, had “evolved,” once the polls made it clear that such an evolution was a safe bet.</p>
<p>Why recite all this history? Because for me, the hardest part of the Keystone pipeline fight has been figuring out what in the world to do about the Democrats.</p>
<p>Fiddling While the Planet Burns</p>
<p>Let’s begin by stipulating that, taken as a whole, they’re better than the Republicans. About a year ago, in his <a href="http://freedomslighthouse.net/2012/05/18/mitt-romney-rolls-out-first-2012-general-election-campaign-ad-day-one-video-51712/" type="external">initial campaign ad</a> of the general election, Mitt Romney declared that his first act in office would be to approve Keystone and that, if necessary, he would “ <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/romney-ll-build-keystone-pipeline-even-myself-205917498.html" type="external">build it myself</a>.” (A charming image, it must be said). Every Republican in the Senate voted on a nonbinding resolution to approve the pipeline — every single one. In other words, their unity in subservience to the fossil fuel industry is complete, and almost compelling. At the least, you know exactly what you’re getting from them.</p>
<p>With the Democrats, not so much. Seventeen of their Senate caucus — about a third — joined the GOP in voting to approve Keystone XL. As the Washington insider website Politico proclaimed in a <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/obamas-achilles-heel-on-climate-senate-democrats-89295.html" type="external">headline</a> the next day, “Obama’s Achilles Heel on Climate: Senate Democrats.”</p>
<p>Which actually may have been generous to the president.&#160; It’s not at all clear that he wants to stop the Keystone pipeline (though he has the power to do so himself, no matter what the Senate may want), or for that matter do anything else very difficult when it comes to climate change.&#160; His new secretary of state, John Kerry, issued a preliminary environmental impact statement on the pipeline so fraught with errors that it took scientists and policy wonks about 20 minutes to <a href="http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/aswift/on_the_wrong_track_rail_is_not.html" type="external">shred its math</a>.</p>
<p>Administration insiders keep insisting, ominously enough, that the president doesn’t think Keystone is a very big deal. Indeed, despite his amped-up post-election rhetoric on climate change, he continues to insist on an “all-of-the-above” energy policy which, as renowned climate scientist James Hansen pointed out in his <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-james-hansen/doubling-down-on-our-faustian-bargain_b_2989535.html" type="external">valedictory</a> shortly before retiring from NASA last week, simply can’t be squared with basic climate-change math.</p>
<p>All these men and women have excuses for their climate conservatism.&#160; To name just two: the oil industry has endless resources and they’re scared about reelection losses. Such excuses are perfectly realistic and pragmatic, as far as they go: if you can’t get re-elected, you can’t do even marginal good and you certainly can’t block right-wing craziness. But they also hide a deep affection for oil industry <a href="http://priceofoil.org/2013/02/26/senators-send-pro-keystone-xl-letter-once-again-drenched-with-oil-money/" type="external">money</a>, which turns out to be an even better predictor of voting records than party affiliation.</p>
<p>Anyway, aren’t all those apologias wearing thin as Arctic sea ice <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/02/14/1594211/death-spiral-bombshell-cryosat-2-confirms-arctic-sea-ice-volume-has-collapsed/" type="external">melts</a> with startling, planet-changing speed? It was bad enough to take four decades simply to warm up to the idea of gay rights.&#160; Innumerable lives were blighted in those in-between years, and given long-lasting official unconcern about AIDS, innumerable lives were lost. &#160;At least, however, inaction didn’t make the problem harder to solve: if the Supreme Court decides gay people should be able to marry, then they’ll be able to marry.</p>
<p>Unlike gay rights or similar issues of basic human justice and fairness, climate change comes with a time limit.&#160; Go past a certain point, and we may no longer be able to affect the outcome in ways that will prevent long-term global catastrophe. We’re clearly nearing that limit and so the essential cowardice of too many Democrats is becoming an ever more fundamental problem that needs to be faced. We lack the decades needed for their positions to “evolve” along with the polling numbers.&#160; What we need, desperately, is for them to pitch in and help lead the transition in public opinion and public policy.</p>
<p>Instead, at best they insist on fiddling around the edges, while the planet prepares to burn. The newly formed Organizing for Action, for instance — an effort to turn Barack Obama’s fundraising list into a kind of quasi-official MoveOn.org — has <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/18/news/la-pn-obama-aides-organizing-for-action-20130118" type="external">taken up</a> climate change as one of its goals. Instead of joining with the actual movement around the Keystone pipeline or turning to other central organizing issues, however, it evidently plans to devote more energy to house parties to put solar panels on people’s roofs. That’s great, but there’s no way such a “movement” will profoundly alter the trajectory of climate math, a task that instead requires deep structural reform of exactly the kind that makes the administration and Congressional “moderates” nervous.</p>
<p>Energy Independence: Last Century’s Worry</p>
<p>So far, the Democrats are showing some willingness to face the issues that matter only when it comes to coal. After a decade of concentrated assault by activists led by the Sierra Club, the coal industry is now badly weakened: plans for more than 100 new coal-fired power plants have disappeared from anyone’s drawing board. So, post-election, the White House finally seems willing to take on the industry at least in modest ways, including possibly with new Environmental Protection Agency regulations that could start closing down existing coal-fired plants (though even that approach <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/epa-may-delay-climate-rules-for-new-power-plants/2013/03/15/28e9d37e-8cda-11e2-b63f-f53fb9f2fcb4_story.html" type="external">now seems delayed</a>).</p>
<p>Recently, I had a long talk with an administration insider who kept telling me that, for the next decade, we should focus all our energies on “killing coal.”&#160; Why? Because it was politically feasible.</p>
<p>And indeed we should, but climate-change science makes it clear that we need to put the same sort of thought and creative energy into killing oil and natural gas, too. I mean, the Arctic — from Greenland to its seas — essentially melted last summer in a way <a href="http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/USATODAY/GenericImages/2012/09/19/AP_Arctic_Sea_Ice-x-large.jpg&amp;imgrefurl=http://www.usatoday.com/weather/story/2012/09/20/arctic-sea-ice-melts-to-all-time-record-low/57808216/1&amp;h=368&amp;w=489&amp;sz=22&amp;tbnid=FGkBSlLzNORyNM:&amp;tbnh=114&amp;tbnw=152&amp;zoom=1&amp;usg=__0b7kGv-3IuWA0Oqw8w5b_SUrQjA=&amp;docid=elCB7rMGe7QyDM&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=fzNcUbSCPLHB4AOv_YC4Cw&amp;ved=0CDwQ9QEwAg&amp;dur=883" type="external">never before seen</a>. The frozen Arctic is like a large physical feature. It’s as if you woke up one morning and your left arm was missing. You’d panic.</p>
<p>There is, however, no panic in Washington.&#160; Instead, the administration and Democratic moderates are reveling in new oil finds in North Dakota and in the shale gas now flowing out of Appalachia, even though exploiting both of these energy supplies is likely to lock us into more decades of fossil fuel use. They’re pleased as punch that we’re getting nearer to “energy independence.” Unfortunately, energy independence was last century’s worry.&#160; It dates back to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1973_oil_crisis" type="external">the crises</a> set off by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in the early 1970s, not long after… Stonewall.</p>
<p>So what to do? The narrow window of opportunity that physics provides us makes me doubt that a third party will offer a fast enough answer to come to terms with our changing planet. The Green Party certainly offered the soundest platform in our last elections, and in Germany and Australia the Greens have been decisive in nudging coalition governments towards carbon commitments. But those are parliamentary systems. Here, so far, national third parties have been more likely to serve as spoilers than as wedges (though it’s been an enlightening pleasure to engage with New York’s Working Families Party, or the Progressives in Vermont).&#160; It’s not clear to me how that will effectively lead to changes during the few years we’ve got left to deal with carbon. Climate science enforces a certain brute realism.&#160; It makes it harder to follow one’s heart.</p>
<p>Along with some way to make a third party truly viable, we need a genuine movement for fundamental governmental reform — not just a change in the Senate’s filibuster rules, but publicly funded elections, an end to the idea that corporations are citizens, and genuine constraints on revolving-door lobbyists. These are crucial matters, and it is wonderful to see <a href="http://unitedrepublic.org/" type="external">broad new campaigns</a> underway around them.&#160; It’s entirely possible that there’s no way to do what needs doing about climate change in this country without them. But even their most optimistic proponents talk in terms of several election cycles, when the scientists tell us that we have no hope of holding the rise in the planetary temperature below two degrees unless global emissions peak by 2015.</p>
<p>Of course, climate-change activists can and should continue to work to make the Democrats better.&#160; At the moment, for instance, the 350.org action fund is <a href="http://www.votenokxl.org/" type="external">organizing</a> college students for the Massachusetts primary later this month. One senatorial candidate, Steven Lynch, voted to build the Keystone pipeline, and that’s not okay.&#160; Maybe electing his opponent, Ed Markey, will send at least a small signal. In fact, this strategy got considerably more promising in the last few days when California hedge fund manager and big-time Democratic donor Tom Steyer <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/291559-greens-get-billionaire-ally-money" type="external">announced</a> that he was not only going to go after Lynch, but any politician of any party who didn’t take climate change seriously. “The goal here is not to win. The goal here is to destroy these people,” he said, demonstrating precisely the level of rhetoric (and spending) that might actually start to shake things up.</p>
<p>It will take a while, though.&#160; According to press reports, Obama <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/04/04/1820951/obama-climate-hypocrisy-speak-truth-to-power-take-some-risks-politically/" type="external">explained</a> to the environmentalists at a fundraiser Steyer hosted that “the politics of this are tough,” because “if your house is still underwater,” then global warming is “probably not rising to your number one concern.”</p>
<p>By underwater, he meant: worth less than the mortgage.&#160; At this rate, however, it won’t be long before presidents who use that phrase actually mean “underwater.” Obama closed his remarks by saying something that perfectly summed up the problem of our moment. Dealing with climate change, he said, is “going to take people in Washington who are willing to speak truth to power, are willing to take some risks politically, are willing to get a little bit out ahead of the curve — not two miles ahead of the curve, but just a little bit ahead of it.”</p>
<p>That pretty much defines the Democrats: just a little bit ahead, not as bad as Bush, doing what we can.</p>
<p>And so, as I turn this problem over and over in my head, I keep coming to the same conclusion: we probably need to think, most of the time, about how to change the country, not the Democrats. If we build a movement strong enough to transform the national mood, then perhaps the trembling leaders of the Democrats will eventually follow. I mean, “evolve.” At which point we’ll get an end to things like the Keystone pipeline, and maybe even a price on carbon. That seems to be the lesson of Stonewall and of Selma. The movement is what matters; the Democrats are, at best, the eventual vehicle for closing the deal.</p>
<p>The closest thing I’ve got to a guru on American politics is my senator, Bernie Sanders. He deals with the Democrat problem all the time. He’s an independent, but he caucuses with them, which means he’s locked in the same weird dance as the rest of us working for real change.</p>
<p>A few weeks ago, I gave the keynote address at a global warming summit he convened in Vermont’s state capital, and afterwards I confessed to him my perplexity. “I can’t think of anything we can do except keep trying to build a big movement,” I said. “A movement vast enough to scare or hearten the weak-kneed.”</p>
<p>“There’s nothing else that’s ever going to do it,” he replied.</p>
<p>And so, down to work.</p>
<p>Bill McKibben is Schumann Distinguished Scholar at Middlebury College, founder of the global climate campaign <a href="http://www.350.org/" type="external">350.org</a>, a <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175634/bill_mckibben_time_is_not_on_our_side" type="external">TomDispatch regular</a>, and the author, most recently, of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0312541198/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet</a>.</p>
<p>Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch" type="external">Facebook</a>. Check out the newest Dispatch book, Nick Turse’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Changing-Face-Empire-Cyberwarfare/dp/1608463109/" type="external">The Changing Face of Empire: Special Ops, Drones, Proxy Fighters, Secret Bases, and Cyberwarfare.</a></p>
<p>Copyright 2013 Bill McKibben</p> | true | 4 | bill mckibben tomdispatchthis article first appeared tomdispatch read tom engelhardts introduction weeks ago time magazine called fight keystone xl pipeline bring dirtiest energy planet alberta canada us gulf coast selma stonewall climate movement think may good news bad news yes us fighting pipeline mobilized record numbers activists largest civil disobedience action 30 years 40000 people mall february biggest climate rally american history right aiming get million people send public comments environmental review state department conducting feasibility advisability building pipeline160 theres good reason put pressure on160 state department previous round reviews hired experts worked consultants transcanada pipelines builder still lets put things perspective stonewall took place 1969 last week supreme court still trying decide gay people allowed marry climate movement takes long well rallying scuba masks im kidding section washington mall rallied pipeline winter already big construction project underway flood barrier keep rising potomac river downtown dc certainly joyful see marriage equality considered top judicial body160 ways however depressing spectacle week watching democratic leaders decide 2013 finally safe proclaim gay people actual human beings one weekend democratic senators mark warner virginia claire mccaskill missouri tim johnson south dakota jay rockefeller west virginia figured evolved issue bill clinton greatest weathervane ever lived finally decided defense marriage act signed law boasted ads christian radio urged candidate john kerry defend constitutional 2004 know wrong evolved polls made clear evolution safe bet recite history hardest part keystone pipeline fight figuring world democrats fiddling planet burns lets begin stipulating taken whole theyre better republicans year ago initial campaign ad general election mitt romney declared first act office would approve keystone necessary would build charming image must said every republican senate voted nonbinding resolution approve pipeline every single one words unity subservience fossil fuel industry complete almost compelling least know exactly youre getting democrats much seventeen senate caucus third joined gop voting approve keystone xl washington insider website politico proclaimed headline next day obamas achilles heel climate senate democrats actually may generous president160 clear wants stop keystone pipeline though power matter senate may want matter anything else difficult comes climate change160 new secretary state john kerry issued preliminary environmental impact statement pipeline fraught errors took scientists policy wonks 20 minutes shred math administration insiders keep insisting ominously enough president doesnt think keystone big deal indeed despite ampedup postelection rhetoric climate change continues insist alloftheabove energy policy renowned climate scientist james hansen pointed valedictory shortly retiring nasa last week simply cant squared basic climatechange math men women excuses climate conservatism160 name two oil industry endless resources theyre scared reelection losses excuses perfectly realistic pragmatic far go cant get reelected cant even marginal good certainly cant block rightwing craziness also hide deep affection oil industry money turns even better predictor voting records party affiliation anyway arent apologias wearing thin arctic sea ice melts startling planetchanging speed bad enough take four decades simply warm idea gay rights160 innumerable lives blighted inbetween years given longlasting official unconcern aids innumerable lives lost 160at least however inaction didnt make problem harder solve supreme court decides gay people able marry theyll able marry unlike gay rights similar issues basic human justice fairness climate change comes time limit160 go past certain point may longer able affect outcome ways prevent longterm global catastrophe clearly nearing limit essential cowardice many democrats becoming ever fundamental problem needs faced lack decades needed positions evolve along polling numbers160 need desperately pitch help lead transition public opinion public policy instead best insist fiddling around edges planet prepares burn newly formed organizing action instance effort turn barack obamas fundraising list kind quasiofficial moveonorg taken climate change one goals instead joining actual movement around keystone pipeline turning central organizing issues however evidently plans devote energy house parties put solar panels peoples roofs thats great theres way movement profoundly alter trajectory climate math task instead requires deep structural reform exactly kind makes administration congressional moderates nervous energy independence last centurys worry far democrats showing willingness face issues matter comes coal decade concentrated assault activists led sierra club coal industry badly weakened plans 100 new coalfired power plants disappeared anyones drawing board postelection white house finally seems willing take industry least modest ways including possibly new environmental protection agency regulations could start closing existing coalfired plants though even approach seems delayed recently long talk administration insider kept telling next decade focus energies killing coal160 politically feasible indeed climatechange science makes clear need put sort thought creative energy killing oil natural gas mean arctic greenland seas essentially melted last summer way never seen frozen arctic like large physical feature woke one morning left arm missing youd panic however panic washington160 instead administration democratic moderates reveling new oil finds north dakota shale gas flowing appalachia even though exploiting energy supplies likely lock us decades fossil fuel use theyre pleased punch getting nearer energy independence unfortunately energy independence last centurys worry160 dates back crises set organization petroleum exporting countries early 1970s long stonewall narrow window opportunity physics provides us makes doubt third party offer fast enough answer come terms changing planet green party certainly offered soundest platform last elections germany australia greens decisive nudging coalition governments towards carbon commitments parliamentary systems far national third parties likely serve spoilers wedges though enlightening pleasure engage new yorks working families party progressives vermont160 clear effectively lead changes years weve got left deal carbon climate science enforces certain brute realism160 makes harder follow ones heart along way make third party truly viable need genuine movement fundamental governmental reform change senates filibuster rules publicly funded elections end idea corporations citizens genuine constraints revolvingdoor lobbyists crucial matters wonderful see broad new campaigns underway around them160 entirely possible theres way needs climate change country without even optimistic proponents talk terms several election cycles scientists tell us hope holding rise planetary temperature two degrees unless global emissions peak 2015 course climatechange activists continue work make democrats better160 moment instance 350org action fund organizing college students massachusetts primary later month one senatorial candidate steven lynch voted build keystone pipeline thats okay160 maybe electing opponent ed markey send least small signal fact strategy got considerably promising last days california hedge fund manager bigtime democratic donor tom steyer announced going go lynch politician party didnt take climate change seriously goal win goal destroy people said demonstrating precisely level rhetoric spending might actually start shake things take though160 according press reports obama explained environmentalists fundraiser steyer hosted politics tough house still underwater global warming probably rising number one concern underwater meant worth less mortgage160 rate however wont long presidents use phrase actually mean underwater obama closed remarks saying something perfectly summed problem moment dealing climate change said going take people washington willing speak truth power willing take risks politically willing get little bit ahead curve two miles ahead curve little bit ahead pretty much defines democrats little bit ahead bad bush turn problem head keep coming conclusion probably need think time change country democrats build movement strong enough transform national mood perhaps trembling leaders democrats eventually follow mean evolve point well get end things like keystone pipeline maybe even price carbon seems lesson stonewall selma movement matters democrats best eventual vehicle closing deal closest thing ive got guru american politics senator bernie sanders deals democrat problem time hes independent caucuses means hes locked weird dance rest us working real change weeks ago gave keynote address global warming summit convened vermonts state capital afterwards confessed perplexity cant think anything except keep trying build big movement said movement vast enough scare hearten weakkneed theres nothing else thats ever going replied work bill mckibben schumann distinguished scholar middlebury college founder global climate campaign 350org tomdispatch regular author recently eaarth making life tough new planet follow tomdispatch twitter join us facebook check newest dispatch book nick turses changing face empire special ops drones proxy fighters secret bases cyberwarfare copyright 2013 bill mckibben | 1,298 |
<p>This week the Baseball Hall-of-Fame broke new ground by accepting Barry Bonds’ 756th home run ball despite an imprinted asterisk tied to a corporate marketing ploy[1]. Last week they revised documented history by giving Jackie Robinson a brand new Baseball Hall-of-Fame plaque with an updated inscription. Meanwhile, the Hall-of-Fame plaque of Baseball’s first commissioner and ardent segregationist Kenesaw Mountain Landis contains no asterisk at all. Nor are there any formal plans to update the inscription which currently reads “His integrity and leadership established baseball in the respect, esteem, and affection of the American people.”. The irony, of course, is that it was only the death of Landis in 1944 that afforded Jackie Robinson the opportunity to integrate Major League Baseball in 1947. And if Landis were still commissioner today, there would be no “Home Run King” debate between Hank Aaron or Barry Bonds, because that record would still belong to Babe Ruth.</p>
<p>Honoring Jackie Robinson</p>
<p>Reflecting Robinson’s wishes to only be judged as any other&#160;baseball player prior to his Hall-of-Fame induction,&#160;the original plaque made no mention of Robinson’s social significance of breaking Major League Baseball’s color barrier. However, the new plaque&#160;reads “Displayed Tremendous Courage and Poise in 1947 When He Integrated the Modern Major Leagues in the Face of Intense Adversity.”&#160;In what the New York Times rightfully called <a href="" type="internal">“A Fine Piece of Editing”</a>, the&#160;change to&#160;Robinson’s plaque reflects the social significance. Historians often point to this moment to the precursor and influencer of the Supreme Courts 1955 Brown vs. Board of Education decision that overturned the “separate-but-equal” Jim Crow laws.</p>
<p>What about Kenesaw?</p>
<p>Robinson’s breaking&#160;baseball’s color line is directly-related to the historical legacy of Baseball’s first commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis. He is best known for his handling of the 1919 “Black Sox Scandal” and subsequent banning of eight players including Shoeless Joe Jackson. And while history has been overly kind to Landis about his legacy related to gambling on baseball [2], Landis’ most impactful legacy on the game is preventing baseball’s integration. If the plaque inscription flies in the face of American history, it is probably because Landis was inducted only one month after dying while still commissioner in 1944 — at a time where baseball was still segregated. In 1944, maintaining segregation was probably considered “integrity and leadership” by hall-of-fame voters in that day. But 60 years later, reality must be revisited:</p>
<p>Prior to his death, Landis was <a href="" type="internal">confronted by legendary athlete, artist, and activist&#160;Paul Robeson</a>&#160;about baseball’s integration. Robeson also&#160;challenged&#160;major league baseball owners:</p>
<p>‘”The time has come when you must change your attitude toward Negroes. . . . Because baseball is a national game, it is up to baseball to see that discrimination does not become an American pattern. And it should do this year.”</p>
<p>But while Landis disingenuously told Robeson “it was up to the owners”, the truth was that Landis was baseball’s single greatest impediment to integration.&#160;In the mid-1940s William Benswanger, owner of the Pittsburgh Pirates, tried to sign Josh Gibson,&#160;but&#160;Landis turned down the request. Bill Veeck[3]&#160;also claimed Landis prevented him from purchasing the Phillies when Landis learned of Veeck’s plan to integrate the team. It was only Landis death in 1944 that integration became possible. <a href="http://baseballreader.tripod.com/id33.htm" type="external">Happy Chandler</a>, Landis’ successor as baseball commissioner&#160;said:</p>
<p>“For 24 years Judge Landis wouldn’t let a black man play. I had his records, and I read them, and for&#160;24 years Landis consistently blocked any attempts to put blacks and whites together on a big league field …. Now, see, I had known Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard and Satchel Paige, and, of course, Josh died without having his chance, and I lamented that, because he was one of the greatest players I ever saw … and I thought that was an injustice.”</p>
<p>In retrospect, more than any other inductee — or perhaps non-inductee — Landis perpetuated the greatest stain on baseball history. No, he is not the only one. There are Hall-of-Famers such as Cap Anson and Ty Cobb who played ugly roles in maintaining baseball segregation. However, one could argue that players should ultimately be judged for their on-field record only. However, there is no such ambiguity about Baseball commissioners who are specifically hired to maintain “the integrity of the game”. And when judged by his actual job description — there has been no worse commissioner in baseball history than Kenesaw Mountain Landis.</p>
<p>If history got it right the first time, Landis would never have been inducted into the&#160;Hall-of-Fame. Short of correcting history and retracting the Landis plaque, the least that the Hall-of-Fame can do is update the inscription to reflect his true historical reality. By doing so, Kenesaw Mountain Landis could be a teachable moment for all youth who read his plaque… can be a lesson in baseball history… and can start a discussion in American history. But unlike the “Bonds Ball” or the “Robinson Revision”, any removal, inscription changes, or other modifications to the Landis plaque will not likely happen… And until that day occurs, the&#160;Baseball Hall of Fame will continue to prove that it doesn’t know its asterisk from its elbow.</p>
<p>CHARLES MODIANO writes for the socially-conscious sports website <a href="http://sportsonmymind.com/" type="external">Sports On My Mind</a> and can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>Notes</p>
<p>[1] This past week fashion designer Mark Ecko donated the 756th home run ball hit by Barry Bonds into the Baseball Hall-of-Fame. The ball was accepted despite the Ecko’s marketing ploy of imprinting an “asterisk” on the ball – the same logo his company uses.</p>
<p>[2] While history gives Landis high praise for addressing the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, it is not commonly known that baseball faced a potentially far greater gambling scandal in 1926. Future Hall-of-Famers Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker were accused by Dutch Leonard of betting on fixed games. While Landis in his day made NBA Commissioner David Stern seem like Bambi — there was absolutely no punishment for either from Landis. Cobb later claimed that the attorneys representing him and Speaker had brokered their reinstatement by threatening to expose further scandal in baseball if the two were not cleared. Recommend article: <a href="" type="internal">The Cobb-Speaker Scandal: Exonerated, But Probably Guilty</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | week baseball halloffame broke new ground accepting barry bonds 756th home run ball despite imprinted asterisk tied corporate marketing ploy1 last week revised documented history giving jackie robinson brand new baseball halloffame plaque updated inscription meanwhile halloffame plaque baseballs first commissioner ardent segregationist kenesaw mountain landis contains asterisk formal plans update inscription currently reads integrity leadership established baseball respect esteem affection american people irony course death landis 1944 afforded jackie robinson opportunity integrate major league baseball 1947 landis still commissioner today would home run king debate hank aaron barry bonds record would still belong babe ruth honoring jackie robinson reflecting robinsons wishes judged other160baseball player prior halloffame induction160the original plaque made mention robinsons social significance breaking major league baseballs color barrier however new plaque160reads displayed tremendous courage poise 1947 integrated modern major leagues face intense adversity160in new york times rightfully called fine piece editing the160change to160robinsons plaque reflects social significance historians often point moment precursor influencer supreme courts 1955 brown vs board education decision overturned separatebutequal jim crow laws kenesaw robinsons breaking160baseballs color line directlyrelated historical legacy baseballs first commissioner kenesaw mountain landis best known handling 1919 black sox scandal subsequent banning eight players including shoeless joe jackson history overly kind landis legacy related gambling baseball 2 landis impactful legacy game preventing baseballs integration plaque inscription flies face american history probably landis inducted one month dying still commissioner 1944 time baseball still segregated 1944 maintaining segregation probably considered integrity leadership halloffame voters day 60 years later reality must revisited prior death landis confronted legendary athlete artist activist160paul robeson160about baseballs integration robeson also160challenged160major league baseball owners time come must change attitude toward negroes baseball national game baseball see discrimination become american pattern year landis disingenuously told robeson owners truth landis baseballs single greatest impediment integration160in mid1940s william benswanger owner pittsburgh pirates tried sign josh gibson160but160landis turned request bill veeck3160also claimed landis prevented purchasing phillies landis learned veecks plan integrate team landis death 1944 integration became possible happy chandler landis successor baseball commissioner160said 24 years judge landis wouldnt let black man play records read for16024 years landis consistently blocked attempts put blacks whites together big league field see known josh gibson buck leonard satchel paige course josh died without chance lamented one greatest players ever saw thought injustice retrospect inductee perhaps noninductee landis perpetuated greatest stain baseball history one halloffamers cap anson ty cobb played ugly roles maintaining baseball segregation however one could argue players ultimately judged onfield record however ambiguity baseball commissioners specifically hired maintain integrity game judged actual job description worse commissioner baseball history kenesaw mountain landis history got right first time landis would never inducted the160halloffame short correcting history retracting landis plaque least halloffame update inscription reflect true historical reality kenesaw mountain landis could teachable moment youth read plaque lesson baseball history start discussion american history unlike bonds ball robinson revision removal inscription changes modifications landis plaque likely happen day occurs the160baseball hall fame continue prove doesnt know asterisk elbow charles modiano writes sociallyconscious sports website sports mind reached modicoselloutcom notes 1 past week fashion designer mark ecko donated 756th home run ball hit barry bonds baseball halloffame ball accepted despite eckos marketing ploy imprinting asterisk ball logo company uses 2 history gives landis high praise addressing 1919 black sox scandal commonly known baseball faced potentially far greater gambling scandal 1926 future halloffamers ty cobb tris speaker accused dutch leonard betting fixed games landis day made nba commissioner david stern seem like bambi absolutely punishment either landis cobb later claimed attorneys representing speaker brokered reinstatement threatening expose scandal baseball two cleared recommend article cobbspeaker scandal exonerated probably guilty 160 160 160 160 160 | 604 |
<p>Almost every morning we read about the scores of Iraqis tortured and slaughtered or blown up in the past 24 hours by other Iraqis. The civil war there escalates in violence with each passing tragic day. This is George Bush’s civil war, unleashed by his unprovoked invasion four years ago.</p>
<p>He is fomenting another one, here at home.</p>
<p>The invasions of both Afghanistan and Iraq were undertaken, respectively, to secure the pipeline route from the Caspian Basin and to guarantee access to the enormous inventories of Iraqi crude–in both cases to the colossal benefit of American and British oil companies–and the “Global War on Terror” is merely an elegant and fraudulent smokescreen.</p>
<p>This is not just another timeworn, trite, and impressionistic rant: it is now a matter of documented fact.</p>
<p>The attacks on the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon in September of 2001 provided the Bush Administration, either by design (the conspiracy theories) or default (the reality ), with the rationales for both invasions. But the planning for each of them was underway long before the 9/11: months in the case of Afghanistan, years in the case of Iraq.</p>
<p>This deception–this crime–is so outlandish and monstrous as to be scarcely credible. That is why, very likely, it isn’t front-and-center in public consciousness.</p>
<p>It is appalling to think a President could and would gamble the military might, the foreign policy, the public treasury, the lives of American service men and women, and the historic prestige of the United States for the commercial benefit of oil companies–our own and a few favored in Britain. Early in the war this was a vague, unsubstantiated suspicion, verbalized in protest rallies. But now the facts are inescapable–if you are willing to read widely: the records have been combed, the treatises written, and the case is closed.</p>
<p>The story is all there. Not in the newspapers, not on the nightly television news, not in magazines at the checkout counter. The story is found mostly in book-length treatments, and in the accumulation of topical pieces appearing on the Internet.</p>
<p>Those who want to read widely might start with an excellent book by a conservative journalist, Paul Sperry: <a href="" type="internal">Crude Politics: How Bush’s Oil Cronies Hijacked the War on Terrorism</a>. Mr. Sperry is the Washington Bureau Chief for WorldNetDaily.com, and in the polarized parlance of today’s politics his credentials are Hard Right. His book is a detailed expose of the “war on terror” for what it truly is: Crude Politics in every ambiguous sense of the term. Mr. Sperry is no doubt a Republican.</p>
<p>Those with Hard Left credentials are writing in parallel. Joshua Holland on the AlterNet website described in minute detail the administrative mechanisms for capturing Iraqi crude. His reporting, “Bush’s Petro-Cartel Almost Has Iraq’s Oil,” ran recently as a two part series. Mr. Holland is no doubt a Democrat.</p>
<p>The motivated reader might go next to Amazon.com and search for authors Kevin Phillips; Craig Unger; David Corn; Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber; Christopher Scheer, Robert Scheer, and Lakshmi Chaudhry; Chalmers Johnson; John Perkins; Greg Palast; David Bollier; David Korten; Ted Nace; James Risen; Robert Parry; Richard Clarke; Ron Suskind; and so on and on. The literature of the war is large and rich, and across the political spectrum, those who see with clarity agree the “war on terror” is simply a cover for dominating the hydrocarbon riches of the Middle East.</p>
<p>The case is closed. But not, perhaps, the military aggression: North Korea has exploded a nuclear device, but the Petropublicans seem intent, even anxious, to bomb Iran instead. Iran’s oil and gas resources are huge.</p>
<p>The Petropublicans–the Bush Administration, its oil industry clients, its savvy financial supporters, and its clenched-teeth sycophants in Congress–are not conservatives at all, or even traditional Republicans. The foreign, domestic, and fiscal policies of the last six years have been as radical as anything in our history, and the violations of decent political behavior at home and respected diplomacy abroad are insults to Americans–thinking Americans–of every political stripe.</p>
<p>The violations were made possible for two interlocking reasons. In the normal hubbub of public affairs, American people don’t (and didn’t) expect such radicalism. Public policy typically takes incremental steps, not quantum leaps. And the spin, the secrecy, the deception, and the lies of the Bush Administration were both unprecedented and initially successful. Polls now show, thankfully, the smoke is thinning and the Petropublicans are no longer trusted by a majority of Americans.</p>
<p>Indeed, traditional Republicans are turning against the Petropublicans with increasing rancor, and with good reason: no one has been more savagely victimized by George Bush than honest conservatives and decent, trusting Republicans. Evangelical Christians, sincerely worried about the ecological health of God’s Creation, are turning vigorously against the Bush Administration’s indifference to global warming. Other conservative groups are aghast at the Bush Administration’s breathtaking budget deficits. Many Republicans valuing individual liberty above all cannot abide the assault on the Bill of Rights by the Patriot Act or, more egregiously yet, by the recently signed War Commissions Act. Still others, Christians with unshakeable, fundamental faith, resent being called “nuts” by Whitehouse insiders.</p>
<p>All these Republicans are at least disenchanted.</p>
<p>There is, however, a sizeable block of Republican voters who have not yet seen the “war on terror” for what it is: an obscene, indefensible smokescreen killing American kids (and Iraqis) for the sake of Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, BP/Amoco, and Royal Dutch Shell. They have not yet seen the hypocrisy of George Bush, nor what his Administration has done to the wholesome and honorable heritage of the Republican party. They have an unshakeable, perhaps an unexamined faith in George Bush.</p>
<p>Should they prevail in the upcoming midterm elections, George Bush will continue to have a compliant, lapdog Congress.</p>
<p>That would be dangerous in the extreme. The Democrats, skeptical by definition and outraged by today’s circumstance, will be joined in bitter disappointment by many true, thinking Republicans who are outraged as well. Such a coalition of outrage is not likely to disappear, and it would certainly represent a majority of the American people.</p>
<p>Retaining the Petropublicans in power, some have argued, would cement a one-party system into place, encouraging (or ratifying) a fascist dictatorship.</p>
<p>The efforts to create a one-party state, at least, are well documented. The cabal of Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, Jack Abramoff, Rick Santorum, and Tom DeLay, and their “K Street Project” and other such hijinks, have been daylighted. A Petropublican victory in November, in spite of the exposed scandals, might sustain one-party dominance for a few more years.</p>
<p>But stable dictatorships require a complacent body politic, and the outraged coalition will render that impossible.</p>
<p>No, retaining the Petropublicans in power is more likely to spark a civil war.</p>
<p>You could say the war has already begun in Washington, D.C.</p>
<p>The Rove cabal’s early successes ignited a firestorm of acrimony in the nation’s capital. In the U.S. Congress, Republicans locked Democrats out of conference committee deliberations. Democrats retaliated, invoking obscure parliamentary gimmicks to obstruct Republicans. Partisan language and divisiveness became bitter and savage without precedent.</p>
<p>A fundamental loyalty to democracy, and to our country, has always conditioned and constrained Congressional debates, which might be lively, but were always civil and courteous. All this has been overridden and displaced by the unwavering bludgeoning of the Republicans and angry, vicious counterattacks by the Democrats.</p>
<p>In referring to Democrats President Bush speaks of the Cut and Run Party. Democrats use the term Party of Corruption to describe Republicans. These are vitriolic, not merely hyperbolic descriptions. And the vile smearing and negativity in campaign advertising demolishes the mutual respect and civility a healthy democracy demands.</p>
<p>The depth of animosity between partisan citizens throughout the country as well is sobering, troubling, even frightening. When the heated rhetoric of politics might escalate into physical actions, or even violence in the countryside, cannot be foretold, but the ingredients are in place and the trigger could take either of two forms.</p>
<p>If there is ANY evidence of voting fraud in the coming election, there will be protest demonstrations at the very least. There will be deafening calls for redress. There may well be violence. The bitter polarization apparent today will only intensify, and proceed in directions that are impossible to see.</p>
<p>If George Bush bombs Iran all bets are off.</p>
<p>RICHARD W. BEHAN’s last book was <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1559638486/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Plundered Promise: Capitalism, Politics, and the Fate of the Federal Lands</a> (Island Press, 2001). Behan is currently working on a more broadly rendered critique, ‘To Provide Against Invasions: Corporate Dominion and America’s Derelict Democracy.’ He can be reached by email at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>This essay is deliberately not copyrighted; permission to reproduce it is unnecessary.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | almost every morning read scores iraqis tortured slaughtered blown past 24 hours iraqis civil war escalates violence passing tragic day george bushs civil war unleashed unprovoked invasion four years ago fomenting another one home invasions afghanistan iraq undertaken respectively secure pipeline route caspian basin guarantee access enormous inventories iraqi crudein cases colossal benefit american british oil companiesand global war terror merely elegant fraudulent smokescreen another timeworn trite impressionistic rant matter documented fact attacks world trade towers pentagon september 2001 provided bush administration either design conspiracy theories default reality rationales invasions planning underway long 911 months case afghanistan years case iraq deceptionthis crimeis outlandish monstrous scarcely credible likely isnt frontandcenter public consciousness appalling think president could would gamble military might foreign policy public treasury lives american service men women historic prestige united states commercial benefit oil companiesour favored britain early war vague unsubstantiated suspicion verbalized protest rallies facts inescapableif willing read widely records combed treatises written case closed story newspapers nightly television news magazines checkout counter story found mostly booklength treatments accumulation topical pieces appearing internet want read widely might start excellent book conservative journalist paul sperry crude politics bushs oil cronies hijacked war terrorism mr sperry washington bureau chief worldnetdailycom polarized parlance todays politics credentials hard right book detailed expose war terror truly crude politics every ambiguous sense term mr sperry doubt republican hard left credentials writing parallel joshua holland alternet website described minute detail administrative mechanisms capturing iraqi crude reporting bushs petrocartel almost iraqs oil ran recently two part series mr holland doubt democrat motivated reader might go next amazoncom search authors kevin phillips craig unger david corn sheldon rampton john stauber christopher scheer robert scheer lakshmi chaudhry chalmers johnson john perkins greg palast david bollier david korten ted nace james risen robert parry richard clarke ron suskind literature war large rich across political spectrum see clarity agree war terror simply cover dominating hydrocarbon riches middle east case closed perhaps military aggression north korea exploded nuclear device petropublicans seem intent even anxious bomb iran instead irans oil gas resources huge petropublicansthe bush administration oil industry clients savvy financial supporters clenchedteeth sycophants congressare conservatives even traditional republicans foreign domestic fiscal policies last six years radical anything history violations decent political behavior home respected diplomacy abroad insults americansthinking americansof every political stripe violations made possible two interlocking reasons normal hubbub public affairs american people dont didnt expect radicalism public policy typically takes incremental steps quantum leaps spin secrecy deception lies bush administration unprecedented initially successful polls show thankfully smoke thinning petropublicans longer trusted majority americans indeed traditional republicans turning petropublicans increasing rancor good reason one savagely victimized george bush honest conservatives decent trusting republicans evangelical christians sincerely worried ecological health gods creation turning vigorously bush administrations indifference global warming conservative groups aghast bush administrations breathtaking budget deficits many republicans valuing individual liberty abide assault bill rights patriot act egregiously yet recently signed war commissions act still others christians unshakeable fundamental faith resent called nuts whitehouse insiders republicans least disenchanted however sizeable block republican voters yet seen war terror obscene indefensible smokescreen killing american kids iraqis sake exxonmobil chevron bpamoco royal dutch shell yet seen hypocrisy george bush administration done wholesome honorable heritage republican party unshakeable perhaps unexamined faith george bush prevail upcoming midterm elections george bush continue compliant lapdog congress would dangerous extreme democrats skeptical definition outraged todays circumstance joined bitter disappointment many true thinking republicans outraged well coalition outrage likely disappear would certainly represent majority american people retaining petropublicans power argued would cement oneparty system place encouraging ratifying fascist dictatorship efforts create oneparty state least well documented cabal karl rove grover norquist jack abramoff rick santorum tom delay k street project hijinks daylighted petropublican victory november spite exposed scandals might sustain oneparty dominance years stable dictatorships require complacent body politic outraged coalition render impossible retaining petropublicans power likely spark civil war could say war already begun washington dc rove cabals early successes ignited firestorm acrimony nations capital us congress republicans locked democrats conference committee deliberations democrats retaliated invoking obscure parliamentary gimmicks obstruct republicans partisan language divisiveness became bitter savage without precedent fundamental loyalty democracy country always conditioned constrained congressional debates might lively always civil courteous overridden displaced unwavering bludgeoning republicans angry vicious counterattacks democrats referring democrats president bush speaks cut run party democrats use term party corruption describe republicans vitriolic merely hyperbolic descriptions vile smearing negativity campaign advertising demolishes mutual respect civility healthy democracy demands depth animosity partisan citizens throughout country well sobering troubling even frightening heated rhetoric politics might escalate physical actions even violence countryside foretold ingredients place trigger could take either two forms evidence voting fraud coming election protest demonstrations least deafening calls redress may well violence bitter polarization apparent today intensify proceed directions impossible see george bush bombs iran bets richard w behans last book plundered promise capitalism politics fate federal lands island press 2001 behan currently working broadly rendered critique provide invasions corporate dominion americas derelict democracy reached email rwbehanrockislandcom essay deliberately copyrighted permission reproduce unnecessary 160 160 | 832 |
<p>CAMP MOREHEAD, Afghanistan—Signaling that the U.S. military expects its mission to continue, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Sunday hailed the launch of the Afghan Army’s new special operations corps, declaring that “we are with you and we will stay with you.”</p>
<p>Gen. John Nicholson’s exhortation of continued support for the Afghans suggested the Pentagon may have won its argument that America’s military must stay engaged in the conflict in order to ensure terrorists don’t once again threaten the U.S. from safe havens in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>The White House announced that President Donald Trump would address the nation’s troops and the American people Monday night to update the path forward in Afghanistan and South Asia.</p>
<p>Nicholson, speaking prior to the White House announcement, said the commandos and a plan to double the size of the Afghan’s special operations forces are critical to winning the war.</p>
<p />
<p>“I assure you we are with you in this fight. We are with you and we will stay with you,” he said during a ceremony at Camp Morehead, a training base for Afghan commandos southeast of Kabul.</p>
<p>The Pentagon was awaiting a final announcement by Trump on a proposal to send nearly 4,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan. The added forces would increase training and advising of the Afghan forces and bolster counterterrorism operations against the Taliban and an Islamic State group affiliate trying to gain a foothold in the country.</p>
<p>The administration has been at odds for months over how to craft a new strategy for the war in Afghanistan amid frustrations that 16 years after 9/11 the conflict is stalemated.</p>
<p>The Afghan government controls only half of the country and is beset by endemic corruption and infighting. The Islamic State group has been hit hard but continues to attempt major attacks, insurgents still find safe harbor in Pakistan, and Russia, Iran and others are increasingly trying to shape the outcome. At this point, everything the U.S. military has proposed points to keeping the Afghan government in place and struggling to turn around a conflict that has become a quagmire.</p>
<p>U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he is satisfied with how the administration formulated its new Afghanistan war strategy. But he refused to talk about the new policy until it was disclosed by Trump.</p>
<p>He said the deliberations, including talks at the Camp David presidential retreat on Friday, were done properly.</p>
<p>“I am very comfortable that the strategic process was sufficiently rigorous,” Mattis said, speaking aboard a military aircraft on an overnight flight from Washington to Amman, Jordan.</p>
<p>Months ago, Trump gave Mattis authority to set U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan, but Mattis said he has not yet sent significant additional forces to the fight. He has said he would wait for Trump to set the strategic direction first.</p>
<p>Trump wrote on Twitter on Saturday that he had made decisions at Camp David, “including on Afghanistan,” but he did not say more about it. The expectation had been that he would agree to a modest boost in the U.S. war effort, while also addressing broader political, economic and regional issues.</p>
<p>Mattis said Trump had been presented with multiple options. He did not name them, but others have said one option was to pull out of Afghanistan entirely. Another, which Mattis had mentioned recently in Washington, was to hire private contractors to perform some of the U.S. military’s duties.</p>
<p>At Camp Morehead, lines of Afghan commandos stood at attention as Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and a host of proud dignitaries sat under flag-draped canopies and welcomed the advancement in their nation’s long-struggling military.</p>
<p>In short remarks to the force, Nicholson said a defeat in Afghanistan would erode safety in the U.S. and “embolden jihadists around the world.”</p>
<p>That’s why, he said, the U.S. is helping to double the size of the Afghan commando force, adding that the ceremony “marks the beginning of the end of the Taliban.”</p>
<p>Maj. Gen. James Linder, the head of U.S. and NATO special operations forces in Afghanistan, said the nearly 4,000 troops requested by the Pentagon for Afghanistan includes about 460 trainers for his staff to help increase the size of the special operations forces.</p>
<p>He said he’d be able expand training locations and ensure they have advisers at all the right levels, including on the new Afghan special operations corps staff.</p>
<p>According to a senior U.S. military officer in Kabul, increasing the number of American troops would allow the military to quickly send additional advisers or airstrike support to two simultaneous operations. Right now, the official said, they can only do so for one.</p>
<p>The officer said it would allow the U.S. to send fighter aircraft, refueling aircraft and surveillance aircraft to multiple locations for missions.</p>
<p>The officer was not authorized to discuss the details publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity.</p>
<p>Afghan military commanders have been clear that they want and expect continued U.S. military help.</p>
<p>Pulling out American forces “would be a total failure,” Col. Abdul Mahfuz, the Afghan intelligence agency chief for Qarahbagh, north of Kabul, said Saturday. And he said that substituting paid contractors for U.S. troops would be a formula for continuing the war, rather than completing it.</p>
<p>Mahfuz and other Afghan commanders spoke at a shura council meeting at Bagram air base attended also by U.S. military officers and Afghan intelligence officials.</p>
<p>Col. Abdul Mobin, who commands an Afghan mechanized battalion in the 111th Division, said any reduction in the U.S. military presence “leads to total failure.”</p>
<p>Speaking through an interpreter, he added that operations by Afghan and U.S. special operations forces have been very effective, and that “the presence of U.S. military personnel is felt and considered a positive step for peace.”</p>
<p>He said he’d like to see an additional 10,000 American troops in the country.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | camp morehead afghanistansignaling us military expects mission continue top us commander afghanistan sunday hailed launch afghan armys new special operations corps declaring stay gen john nicholsons exhortation continued support afghans suggested pentagon may argument americas military must stay engaged conflict order ensure terrorists dont threaten us safe havens afghanistan white house announced president donald trump would address nations troops american people monday night update path forward afghanistan south asia nicholson speaking prior white house announcement said commandos plan double size afghans special operations forces critical winning war assure fight stay said ceremony camp morehead training base afghan commandos southeast kabul pentagon awaiting final announcement trump proposal send nearly 4000 us troops afghanistan added forces would increase training advising afghan forces bolster counterterrorism operations taliban islamic state group affiliate trying gain foothold country administration odds months craft new strategy war afghanistan amid frustrations 16 years 911 conflict stalemated afghan government controls half country beset endemic corruption infighting islamic state group hit hard continues attempt major attacks insurgents still find safe harbor pakistan russia iran others increasingly trying shape outcome point everything us military proposed points keeping afghan government place struggling turn around conflict become quagmire us defense secretary jim mattis said satisfied administration formulated new afghanistan war strategy refused talk new policy disclosed trump said deliberations including talks camp david presidential retreat friday done properly comfortable strategic process sufficiently rigorous mattis said speaking aboard military aircraft overnight flight washington amman jordan months ago trump gave mattis authority set us troop levels afghanistan mattis said yet sent significant additional forces fight said would wait trump set strategic direction first trump wrote twitter saturday made decisions camp david including afghanistan say expectation would agree modest boost us war effort also addressing broader political economic regional issues mattis said trump presented multiple options name others said one option pull afghanistan entirely another mattis mentioned recently washington hire private contractors perform us militarys duties camp morehead lines afghan commandos stood attention afghanistan president ashraf ghani host proud dignitaries sat flagdraped canopies welcomed advancement nations longstruggling military short remarks force nicholson said defeat afghanistan would erode safety us embolden jihadists around world thats said us helping double size afghan commando force adding ceremony marks beginning end taliban maj gen james linder head us nato special operations forces afghanistan said nearly 4000 troops requested pentagon afghanistan includes 460 trainers staff help increase size special operations forces said hed able expand training locations ensure advisers right levels including new afghan special operations corps staff according senior us military officer kabul increasing number american troops would allow military quickly send additional advisers airstrike support two simultaneous operations right official said one officer said would allow us send fighter aircraft refueling aircraft surveillance aircraft multiple locations missions officer authorized discuss details publicly spoke condition anonymity afghan military commanders clear want expect continued us military help pulling american forces would total failure col abdul mahfuz afghan intelligence agency chief qarahbagh north kabul said saturday said substituting paid contractors us troops would formula continuing war rather completing mahfuz afghan commanders spoke shura council meeting bagram air base attended also us military officers afghan intelligence officials col abdul mobin commands afghan mechanized battalion 111th division said reduction us military presence leads total failure speaking interpreter added operations afghan us special operations forces effective presence us military personnel felt considered positive step peace said hed like see additional 10000 american troops country 160 | 569 |
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<p>In the wake of the third Iraqi vote in less than a year, President Bush is once again arguing that the country’s US-sponsored political process epitomizes a new, democratic focus in American foreign policy towards the Muslim world. While persuasive, his argument is only two thirds correct. Without the missing third, the “complete victory” the President has defined as his desired outcome to America’s involvement in Iraq, and indeed in the larger war on terror, will remain elusive.</p>
<p>It is true that the rhetoric and tactics surrounding US foreign policy have changed dramatically in the four years since September 11. Yet at the much more important substantive level it remains grounded in the Cold War paradigm that supported — and often necessitated — the violence, authoritarianism and corruption that helped foster today’s terrorist menace. The most honest and straightforward expression of this paradigm was given in a 1948 State Department memorandum by Director of Planning George F. Kennan: “We have fifty percent of the world’s wealth, but only 6.3 percent of its population. Our real task in the coming period is to…maintain this position of disparity.”</p>
<p>The policies advocated by Kennan reflected the United States’ adoption of the strategic imperatives upon which decades (in some cases, more than a century) of European imperialism in the Muslim world were founded. The peripheralization of much of the region they reflected was cemented during the Cold War; today this condition is exacerbated by a set of policies, tellingly labeled the “Washington Consensus,” that have further marginalized the majority of Muslims from the world economy. As for the Middle East’s emerging globalized elite, their integration into the global ecumene is being paid for by increasing poverty, inequality and cultural violence across their societies.</p>
<p>In this context, President Bush’s December 18 speech to the nation celebrating the Iraqi elections betrayed both a disquieting ignorance of the history, time line and impact of American foreign policy in the Middle East. Perhaps more troubling, it reflected a weak grasp of the complex roots of the violence that has defined his presidency.</p>
<p>Specifically, the President argued that since September 11 occurred before the United States invaded Afghanistan and Iraq America bears no responsibility for the conditions that fomented the war on terrorism. Such a view is not just historically wrong — it assumes that the US was not deeply involved in the Muslim world before 2001 — it contradicts the President’s own oft-cited admission that “sixty years of excusing and accommodating the lack of freedom in the Middle East” helped create an environment that has nurtured the current generation of terrorists.</p>
<p>Yet such an ahistorical perspective is crucial to the President’s argument that terrorists emerge out of a deep and seemingly irrational (if admittedly minority) tendency within Islam to view the world as a “giant battlefield,” upon which, in the President’s account, radical Muslims are trying to “de-moralize free nations… to drive us out of the Middle East, to spread an empire of fear across that region and to wage a perpetual war against America and our friends.”</p>
<p>But it was the United States, not al-Qa’eda, that pioneered the tendency to view the whole world as a battlefield. And not just during the Cold War that was commencing when Kennan wrote his memo. This view equally defines the last decade’s push towards “full spectrum dominance” over all of the United States’ potential competitors. Indeed, in a 1992 ur-text of Bush administration policy-making, then Pentagon strategist (and today US Ambassador to Iraq) Zalmay Khalizad advised Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney to define the United States’ primary post-Cold War foreign policy objective as preventing any “return to a bipolar or multipolar system.”</p>
<p>Why? Because by this period US planners well understood that globalization was increasing poverty, inequality and even anarchy across the developing world (the “coming anarchy” had begun to trouble strategic planners like former Undersecretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz at the same moment). As George Kennan would have agreed, in such an environment the United States and the West more broadly could maintain its way of life only by maintaining the global disparities that made it possible.</p>
<p>American policy makers are not the only ones familiar with this equation. Muslims also have long understood what a post-Cold War system characterized by unfettered American power would mean for their societies. That is why it is not just terrorists who, in the President’s words, want to “drive us out of the Middle East.” Rather, most Muslims (and this includes most Iraqis) do not want an American military presence in the region, nor do they want to see American companies and culture become dominant forces in their societies — precisely because they understand that US power and policies make it harder, not easier, to create societies modeled on America’s highest ideals.</p>
<p>President Bush would no doubt counter this belief by arguing that his focus on democratizing the Middle East constitutes an unprecedented shift in US policy towards the region. But our continued political, economic and military support for a host of repressive governments from central Africa to central Asia belies this claim.</p>
<p>In Iraq, where disconnect between the reality and rhetoric of American policy has been especially great, this dynamic led two elderly academics (one of whose son was “mistakenly” killed by American soldiers) to sit me down, quote Jefferson and Franklin, and then ask me, “If these are your ideals, what are you doing here?” Such sentiments are regularly expressed by friends in the Muslim world, and can be summed up by one exasperated colleague’s question: “Why doesn’t the United States walk the talk of freedom and democracy?”</p>
<p>A new year and a new Iraqi government offers the United States a fresh opportunity to do just that. But first we must decide: Is our foreign policy going to continue to be characterized by lofty rhetoric that is rarely matched by substantive support for peace, democracy and sustainable development; or is the US finally going to live up to its highest ideals? How Americans answer this question this year will have a far greater impact on the war on terror than events in Iraq.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | wake third iraqi vote less year president bush arguing countrys ussponsored political process epitomizes new democratic focus american foreign policy towards muslim world persuasive argument two thirds correct without missing third complete victory president defined desired outcome americas involvement iraq indeed larger war terror remain elusive true rhetoric tactics surrounding us foreign policy changed dramatically four years since september 11 yet much important substantive level remains grounded cold war paradigm supported often necessitated violence authoritarianism corruption helped foster todays terrorist menace honest straightforward expression paradigm given 1948 state department memorandum director planning george f kennan fifty percent worlds wealth 63 percent population real task coming period tomaintain position disparity policies advocated kennan reflected united states adoption strategic imperatives upon decades cases century european imperialism muslim world founded peripheralization much region reflected cemented cold war today condition exacerbated set policies tellingly labeled washington consensus marginalized majority muslims world economy middle easts emerging globalized elite integration global ecumene paid increasing poverty inequality cultural violence across societies context president bushs december 18 speech nation celebrating iraqi elections betrayed disquieting ignorance history time line impact american foreign policy middle east perhaps troubling reflected weak grasp complex roots violence defined presidency specifically president argued since september 11 occurred united states invaded afghanistan iraq america bears responsibility conditions fomented war terrorism view historically wrong assumes us deeply involved muslim world 2001 contradicts presidents oftcited admission sixty years excusing accommodating lack freedom middle east helped create environment nurtured current generation terrorists yet ahistorical perspective crucial presidents argument terrorists emerge deep seemingly irrational admittedly minority tendency within islam view world giant battlefield upon presidents account radical muslims trying demoralize free nations drive us middle east spread empire fear across region wage perpetual war america friends united states alqaeda pioneered tendency view whole world battlefield cold war commencing kennan wrote memo view equally defines last decades push towards full spectrum dominance united states potential competitors indeed 1992 urtext bush administration policymaking pentagon strategist today us ambassador iraq zalmay khalizad advised secretary defense dick cheney define united states primary postcold war foreign policy objective preventing return bipolar multipolar system period us planners well understood globalization increasing poverty inequality even anarchy across developing world coming anarchy begun trouble strategic planners like former undersecretary defense paul wolfowitz moment george kennan would agreed environment united states west broadly could maintain way life maintaining global disparities made possible american policy makers ones familiar equation muslims also long understood postcold war system characterized unfettered american power would mean societies terrorists presidents words want drive us middle east rather muslims includes iraqis want american military presence region want see american companies culture become dominant forces societies precisely understand us power policies make harder easier create societies modeled americas highest ideals president bush would doubt counter belief arguing focus democratizing middle east constitutes unprecedented shift us policy towards region continued political economic military support host repressive governments central africa central asia belies claim iraq disconnect reality rhetoric american policy especially great dynamic led two elderly academics one whose son mistakenly killed american soldiers sit quote jefferson franklin ask ideals sentiments regularly expressed friends muslim world summed one exasperated colleagues question doesnt united states walk talk freedom democracy new year new iraqi government offers united states fresh opportunity first must decide foreign policy going continue characterized lofty rhetoric rarely matched substantive support peace democracy sustainable development us finally going live highest ideals americans answer question year far greater impact war terror events iraq | 575 |
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<p>I can’t believe how easy it all has been. We true-blue conservatives chose a candidate — thank you, Poppy! — shoehorned him into the White House, took our lumps as he demonstrated that he’s, how shall we say, a bit short on lunchmeat; survived the Jeffords debacle (damn you, Karl!), and got everything back on track again as a result of 9/11.</p>
<p>True, there have been some notable bumps in the road, with more to come, but on the whole, it’s been a cakewalk. Ladies and gentlemen, in accepting this award I need to thank a number of folks, without whom none of this would have been possible: Ralph Nader, Kathleen &amp; Jeb &amp; Jim &amp; Karen, our HighFivers on the Supreme Court, Daschle &amp; Gephardt for keeping their troops in line, Osama &amp; the Suicide Bombers (not a bad name for a rock band, dontcha think?), Afafat &amp; Sharon and India &amp; Pakistan (those bloodthirsty idiots kept our scandals off the front page, thank you very much), the anthrax dispenser, and so many more. Including Clinton; whenever our supporters need a political punching bag, Bubba is always usable for a few more jabs.</p>
<p>And last, but by no means least, the media. Who woulda thought they could be so easily bought, coerced, manipulated, fooled, comfortably in our pockets? Thank God for the multimedia mergers of the ’90s. Now our corporate friends own the largest papers and chains and TV networks. No more investigative reporting a la Watergate these days, thank God. And besides, and this is the best part, ordinary citizens are not the least bit interested!!!!! It can’t get better than this.</p>
<p>And whatever our side can’t control outright, we can control with one word. In the Cold War days, it was “communism.” Today, all we have to say is “terrorism.” In neither case were we making it up out of whole cloth; there were dastardly communists and there are maniacal terrorists. So we barely have to do anything, except keep reminding folks of how awful and dangerous these fanatics are. Once we do that, the media and the public just go into fright mode. (Rather looked positively ridiculous early on as he covered his liberal ass with patriotic fervor!). Ashcroft, despite his naked ambition and spotlight-hogging, makes a formidable bogeyman: Watch what you say and do and think or Big John will come getcha and lock you away in a black-hole detention camp. That guy scares even me; no wonder he lost his re-election race to a dead man.</p>
<p>This terrorist-fright thing is working like a charm. Everybody is so scared to come at us with a frontal attack — the Democrats are like confused pussycats confronting a giant rat, with no earthly idea how to proceed — and so they just chip away at the edges, which we can handle easily, since the public is taking no note of anything we say or do, no matter how outrageous. Like I say, it’s a cakewalk.</p>
<p>Want to know my favorite part, diary? I’ve virtually disappeared from sight, and nobody’s put two and two together; even comedians’ jokes about me have no relation to what I’m really doing. They make cracks about my being “hidden away in a bunker.” When you can avoid getting slammed frontally by Leno and Letterman and Maher and Stewart, things are going just fine. Either they (or their writers) are blind, or they’re frightened; either way, their horns get pulled in.</p>
<p>Lynne and Lieberman made sure the liberal professors got the message, and so the campuses are basically silent as well. And the lawyers. And the Nobel Prize winners. No full-page ads in the Times and Post denouncing our policies, or even the direction we’re going. We’re home free. All we have to do is to pick on one notorious lawyer or journalist or campus, and everyone then understands what the limits are on dissent. (And the same goes for our allies abroad; we can do whatever the hell we want to do. Oh sure, they grumble and complain, but who are they? We’re the only — can you hear that, Frenchies, the ONLY! — superpower and they’d better behave themselves. God, this is a wonderful time to be an American! And to be President, if you get my drift.)</p>
<p>Fright is a dynamic motivating force. We planned on its working for us, but had no idea how well it would work. Thanks to the bin Laden air force, of course. We thought he would hijack an airplane or two and crash them into something symbolic like the Statue of Liberty or Golden Gate Bridge or something, or maybe even into the top floors of the World Trade Center. In other words, a few hundred dead Americans and lots of damage. But they must have done their homework well; even they were surprised at how easy it was to collapse the Twin Towers once the steel got melted by the fireball. Suddenly, a few hundred turned into thousands of dead. That, and the Pentagon, were terrible tragedies, but, as it turned out, good for us. Upped the fright level considerably.</p>
<p>Bush could then declare a State of Emergency (which we’ve never rescinded, of course); Ashcroft could ram the PATRIOT act through the Congress in a few days — those fools didn’t even have the brains or guts to call for full hearings on how the Constitution would be affected! — and off we went. A few namby-pamby liberals and civil libertarians complained, of course, but nobody was listening. Everyone just wanted us to get the bastards.</p>
<p>Nobody seemed to notice that the plans for that war already had been drawn up, and, within a few weeks, bombs were raining down on Afghanistan. Get those bastards. A piece of cake.</p>
<p>Not that we’re out of the woods. There are hurdles to get through. Some Democrats and moderate, sell-out Republicans are starting to ask pointed questions. Usually, all we have to do is to remind them how it will look to be seen as “unpatriotic” or “pro-terrorism” come election day, and they back off.</p>
<p>Enron could still blow up in my face; the word is out that Libby sold energy stocks while I was formulating the policy with the energy companies, and there’s the Afghan pipeline deal, and so on. If we can keep them away from the documents, and the Halliburton stuff, we might bravado it out. So far, we’ve been able to keep the anthrax facts contained, but scientists are starting to point fingers at the culprit, and it isn’t good for our side. (Nor is the fact that my staff and I were given Cipro to take on September 11th…a week before the anthrax letters were even mailed. But our spin is that it was “precautionary” because of “the terrorists.”)</p>
<p>The big one, of course, is pre-9/11 knowledge. There’s too much out there, especially on the internet, revealing how much we really knew a huge attack was coming and how we prepared in advance for its impact so that we could get our program implemented once fear permeated the nation. It’s all so confusing to the general public, and our “it’s-the-fault-of-the-system” approach and our story-diversion program are working like gangbusters. (The “dirty bomb” story was a classic; we were off the hook again, as the media and Congress swallowed the bait. Didn’t matter that it was old news, and really no news — the guy hadn’t even done anything yet.)</p>
<p>America WANTS to be in denial, I tell you; talk about a Teflon effect: NOTHING sticks to us! I have a theory that if the public knew what we were really up to, they’d have to think about drastically shaking up the political system — I’ve even heard the “impeachment” word being used on the internet — and they just don’t want to deal with any more chaos right now. So we get a free ride — what a country!</p>
<p>I’m starting to understand how Clinton must have felt in the latter days, bouncing like a pinball from one potential disaster to another. But his scandal involved sex and everyone was riveted; ours is just the tired, old Republican profit motive, and nobody seems to give a good goddamn about constitutional niceties. Just give us some peace and quiet, get the terrorist bastards.</p>
<p>I think we’ll be OK, if we can get through the next few months. Then, sometime before the November elections, there probably will be — in fact, I’d say we can pretty much guarantee it — another terrorist attack on the U.S. mainland. (Along with our own attack on Iraq.) And, guess what? We’re the war party, going after the bastards, Bush looks good, the GOP candidates grab onto the coattails and we’re back in power in Congress, and those Democrats go back to their caves and have to figure out another way of getting us in 2004. But, guess what? The war on terrorism will still be playing, and we’ll still be the ones in charge. Hot damn, this is fun!</p>
<p>Bernard Weiner, who was the San Francisco Chronicle’s theater critic for nearly 20 years, is a playwright and poet. Holder of a Ph.D. in government &amp; international relations, he has taught at various universities, and published in The Nation, Village Voice and CounterPunch.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 160 cant believe easy trueblue conservatives chose candidate thank poppy shoehorned white house took lumps demonstrated hes shall say bit short lunchmeat survived jeffords debacle damn karl got everything back track result 911 true notable bumps road come whole cakewalk ladies gentlemen accepting award need thank number folks without none would possible ralph nader kathleen amp jeb amp jim amp karen highfivers supreme court daschle amp gephardt keeping troops line osama amp suicide bombers bad name rock band dontcha think afafat amp sharon india amp pakistan bloodthirsty idiots kept scandals front page thank much anthrax dispenser many including clinton whenever supporters need political punching bag bubba always usable jabs last means least media woulda thought could easily bought coerced manipulated fooled comfortably pockets thank god multimedia mergers 90s corporate friends largest papers chains tv networks investigative reporting la watergate days thank god besides best part ordinary citizens least bit interested cant get better whatever side cant control outright control one word cold war days communism today say terrorism neither case making whole cloth dastardly communists maniacal terrorists barely anything except keep reminding folks awful dangerous fanatics media public go fright mode rather looked positively ridiculous early covered liberal ass patriotic fervor ashcroft despite naked ambition spotlighthogging makes formidable bogeyman watch say think big john come getcha lock away blackhole detention camp guy scares even wonder lost reelection race dead man terroristfright thing working like charm everybody scared come us frontal attack democrats like confused pussycats confronting giant rat earthly idea proceed chip away edges handle easily since public taking note anything say matter outrageous like say cakewalk want know favorite part diary ive virtually disappeared sight nobodys put two two together even comedians jokes relation im really make cracks hidden away bunker avoid getting slammed frontally leno letterman maher stewart things going fine either writers blind theyre frightened either way horns get pulled lynne lieberman made sure liberal professors got message campuses basically silent well lawyers nobel prize winners fullpage ads times post denouncing policies even direction going home free pick one notorious lawyer journalist campus everyone understands limits dissent goes allies abroad whatever hell want oh sure grumble complain hear frenchies superpower theyd better behave god wonderful time american president get drift fright dynamic motivating force planned working us idea well would work thanks bin laden air force course thought would hijack airplane two crash something symbolic like statue liberty golden gate bridge something maybe even top floors world trade center words hundred dead americans lots damage must done homework well even surprised easy collapse twin towers steel got melted fireball suddenly hundred turned thousands dead pentagon terrible tragedies turned good us upped fright level considerably bush could declare state emergency weve never rescinded course ashcroft could ram patriot act congress days fools didnt even brains guts call full hearings constitution would affected went nambypamby liberals civil libertarians complained course nobody listening everyone wanted us get bastards nobody seemed notice plans war already drawn within weeks bombs raining afghanistan get bastards piece cake woods hurdles get democrats moderate sellout republicans starting ask pointed questions usually remind look seen unpatriotic proterrorism come election day back enron could still blow face word libby sold energy stocks formulating policy energy companies theres afghan pipeline deal keep away documents halliburton stuff might bravado far weve able keep anthrax facts contained scientists starting point fingers culprit isnt good side fact staff given cipro take september 11tha week anthrax letters even mailed spin precautionary terrorists big one course pre911 knowledge theres much especially internet revealing much really knew huge attack coming prepared advance impact could get program implemented fear permeated nation confusing general public itsthefaultofthesystem approach storydiversion program working like gangbusters dirty bomb story classic hook media congress swallowed bait didnt matter old news really news guy hadnt even done anything yet america wants denial tell talk teflon effect nothing sticks us theory public knew really theyd think drastically shaking political system ive even heard impeachment word used internet dont want deal chaos right get free ride country im starting understand clinton must felt latter days bouncing like pinball one potential disaster another scandal involved sex everyone riveted tired old republican profit motive nobody seems give good goddamn constitutional niceties give us peace quiet get terrorist bastards think well ok get next months sometime november elections probably fact id say pretty much guarantee another terrorist attack us mainland along attack iraq guess war party going bastards bush looks good gop candidates grab onto coattails back power congress democrats go back caves figure another way getting us 2004 guess war terrorism still playing well still ones charge hot damn fun bernard weiner san francisco chronicles theater critic nearly 20 years playwright poet holder phd government amp international relations taught various universities published nation village voice counterpunch 160 | 801 |
<p>Counter-terrorism has been a pop field for some decades. As vague as what it purports to counter, it has generated a pundocracy of sorts, guns and mouths for hire across the US imperium and its associate powers.</p>
<p>Much of this resembles the various fictions common during the Cold War: the notion that insurgencies could be defeated from the outside; the teeth chattering idea of a global Communist threat directed with intellectual clarity from Moscow or Beijing.&#160; Human minds were, like puttee, pliable before the doctrinaires and ideologues. If you were told how to think, you would behave accordingly.</p>
<p>False rationalism pervades this entire field.&#160; And there are few in this area more misguided on this point than Sebastian Gorka, President Donald Trump’s deputy assistant, former Breitbart editor and member of the White House Strategic Initiatives Group created by Stephen Bannon and the president’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner.</p>
<p>The Gorka recipe for defence, spiked with anti-Islam fervour and dislike for misguided eggheads, neatly fits the Trump view of the world, though he remains, unlike his boss, a true ideologue.&#160; Fake news, not to mention old-fashioned bias, is repeatedly alleged, and on that score, he is not always wrong.&#160; (The assertion that networks can be pristinely objective is a fantastic one that needs debunking.)</p>
<p>Where the world of make-believe impresses itself upon Gorka is any rational assessment of the presidency and its meagre achievements so far. Calling them “fabulous”, Gorka repeatedly makes remarks to the extent that reporting on the inner workings of the Trump world bear “almost no resemblance to reality.” <a href="#_ftn1" type="external">[1]</a></p>
<p>This enables us to then assess what resemblance to reality Gorka assesses when it comes to his pet subject: the Global Jihadi scourge. On several fronts, Gorka fails to supply his audience with any explanation as to whether there is such a global jihadi problem, let alone what form it is meant to take.&#160; To do so would naturally entail having to describe a fantasy, even a conceit.</p>
<p>A spate of murderous drive-down spectaculars in European cities instigated by assailants either inspired by Islamic State or some other group with apocalyptic credentials is hardly evidence of a globally coherent world strategy. Had there been a unified leader of Islam, a fact hardly tenable given its various sects and internal contradictions, then assertions of a global jihadi front might hold some water.</p>
<p>Gorka’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1621574571/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Defeating Jihad: The Winnable War</a> reads much like the screeds on modernisation theory churned out during the initial stages of postcolonialism.&#160; As long as money, bubble gum and US ideas of liberal capital were filling the nationalist void in the Third World, favour towards communism would be stemmed.&#160; Such an argument ignored the obvious point that nationalism was the driving force to begin with, with communism being conscripted to that end.</p>
<p>Similar errors in analysis are made in dealing with the “Global” Jihadi problem.&#160; Categories are conflated; entities reduced to a common denominator of world revolution.&#160; The attacks of 9/11 were acts of “jihadi terrorism… but, more importantly, that event was linked to communism.&#160; It was linked to fascism.” <a href="#_ftn2" type="external">[2]</a></p>
<p>This stunningly hollow reasoning would tend to neglect that US involvement in funding the mujahedeen in Afghanistan against the Soviets, not to mention propping regimes of such brutish reputation as Mubarak’s in Egypt, might also have had their share. Ideology, as ever, provides refined blinkers.</p>
<p>In Defeating Jihad, Gorka claims that the United States was caught unawares, and as chief defender of Freedom’s lands, “It is time for the America that vanquished the Third Reich and the Soviet Union to rise from its slumber.”</p>
<p>Tiresome moral references aspiring to clarity are made.&#160; “It is time for us to speak truthfully about those who wish to kill us or enslave us.&#160; It is time again to speak the words ‘evil’ and ‘enemy’.” The next error on equating threats follows.&#160; “And it is time to draw a plan for victory, calling on strategies that have proved themselves against other totalitarian foes.”</p>
<p>Fictional formulas sell well in this field. Jihadists are rendered monolithic miscreants of the global order, requiring expunging. They are like Soviet-styled politburos, posing “existential threats” to the American way of life.&#160; For Gorka, with his revamped neoconservative slant shaped by his own taste of Hungarian communism, it is all painfully clear. If only people were willing to listen to his revelation that Islam has a central motor, a vehicle for world domination that needs to be stopped in its tracks.</p>
<p>Essential, then, is a similar “Long Telegram” in the mould of former Soviet scholar, US diplomat and author of the doctrine of containment, George Kennan.&#160; “If George Kennan had been a senior diplomat in the US embassy in Baghdad during the rise of ISIS in 2013 and had been asked to explain what was happening in the Middle East, his reply would have been practically the same as the Long Telegram.” Or perhaps not, as Kennan subsequently saw his analysis hijacked, condensed and ironed out for ideological purposes during the Truman administration.</p>
<p>Gorka finds it easy to plot a timeline of Islamic violence, claiming that the Jihadism of the last 30 years can be squarely rooted in the anti-modernism of various writers that gained traction in the nineteenth century. But this is hardly remarkable.&#160; What is unfortunate is Gorka’s reading of history as having meaningful signs and parallels, showing the way for those bedazzled by faith.&#160; Having gazed at its movement, he finds true meaning. It is precisely why such zeal is not merely dangerous, but ultimately worn.</p>
<p>Notes.</p>
<p><a href="#_ftnref1" type="external">[1]</a> <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/319343-trump-aide-says-leaked-stories-bear-almost-no-resemblance-to-reality" type="external">http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/319343-trump-aide-says-leaked-stories-bear-almost-no-resemblance-to-reality</a></p>
<p><a href="#_ftnref2" type="external">[2]</a> <a href="" type="internal">http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/02/sebastian-gorka-donald-trump-white-house</a></p> | true | 4 | counterterrorism pop field decades vague purports counter generated pundocracy sorts guns mouths hire across us imperium associate powers much resembles various fictions common cold war notion insurgencies could defeated outside teeth chattering idea global communist threat directed intellectual clarity moscow beijing160 human minds like puttee pliable doctrinaires ideologues told think would behave accordingly false rationalism pervades entire field160 area misguided point sebastian gorka president donald trumps deputy assistant former breitbart editor member white house strategic initiatives group created stephen bannon presidents soninlaw jared kushner gorka recipe defence spiked antiislam fervour dislike misguided eggheads neatly fits trump view world though remains unlike boss true ideologue160 fake news mention oldfashioned bias repeatedly alleged score always wrong160 assertion networks pristinely objective fantastic one needs debunking world makebelieve impresses upon gorka rational assessment presidency meagre achievements far calling fabulous gorka repeatedly makes remarks extent reporting inner workings trump world bear almost resemblance reality 1 enables us assess resemblance reality gorka assesses comes pet subject global jihadi scourge several fronts gorka fails supply audience explanation whether global jihadi problem let alone form meant take160 would naturally entail describe fantasy even conceit spate murderous drivedown spectaculars european cities instigated assailants either inspired islamic state group apocalyptic credentials hardly evidence globally coherent world strategy unified leader islam fact hardly tenable given various sects internal contradictions assertions global jihadi front might hold water gorkas defeating jihad winnable war reads much like screeds modernisation theory churned initial stages postcolonialism160 long money bubble gum us ideas liberal capital filling nationalist void third world favour towards communism would stemmed160 argument ignored obvious point nationalism driving force begin communism conscripted end similar errors analysis made dealing global jihadi problem160 categories conflated entities reduced common denominator world revolution160 attacks 911 acts jihadi terrorism importantly event linked communism160 linked fascism 2 stunningly hollow reasoning would tend neglect us involvement funding mujahedeen afghanistan soviets mention propping regimes brutish reputation mubaraks egypt might also share ideology ever provides refined blinkers defeating jihad gorka claims united states caught unawares chief defender freedoms lands time america vanquished third reich soviet union rise slumber tiresome moral references aspiring clarity made160 time us speak truthfully wish kill us enslave us160 time speak words evil enemy next error equating threats follows160 time draw plan victory calling strategies proved totalitarian foes fictional formulas sell well field jihadists rendered monolithic miscreants global order requiring expunging like sovietstyled politburos posing existential threats american way life160 gorka revamped neoconservative slant shaped taste hungarian communism painfully clear people willing listen revelation islam central motor vehicle world domination needs stopped tracks essential similar long telegram mould former soviet scholar us diplomat author doctrine containment george kennan160 george kennan senior diplomat us embassy baghdad rise isis 2013 asked explain happening middle east reply would practically long telegram perhaps kennan subsequently saw analysis hijacked condensed ironed ideological purposes truman administration gorka finds easy plot timeline islamic violence claiming jihadism last 30 years squarely rooted antimodernism various writers gained traction nineteenth century hardly remarkable160 unfortunate gorkas reading history meaningful signs parallels showing way bedazzled faith160 gazed movement finds true meaning precisely zeal merely dangerous ultimately worn notes 1 httpthehillcomhomenewsadministration319343trumpaidesaysleakedstoriesbearalmostnoresemblancetoreality 2 httpwwwvanityfaircomnews201702sebastiangorkadonaldtrumpwhitehouse | 521 |
<p>In any circumstances President Obama’s speech would have been disturbing, but given in acceptance for the Nobel Peace prize it was deplorable. Full of internal inconsistencies, the speech was little more than a jingoistic defense of the institution of warfare.</p>
<p>We do face a War on Terror, but terrorism is not a country or an ideology, nor are human beings anywhere in this world born subject to it. Terrorism is the delusion that no one in the world is innocent, and it is trained by the injustice of a world that recognizes innocence only in its rhetoric.</p>
<p>President Obama is not an unintelligent man. Much of his rhetoric was thoughtful and reasoned, and demonstrates the failure of reason alone to address the crises our nation faces. Intellectualization is not enough to overcome the deep prejudices, lain down as ice across our hearts, by the tragedy of American triumphalism.</p>
<p>Obama correctly identified the obstacles to peace that are caused by violence when he said that “security does not exist where human beings do not have access to enough food, or clean water, or the medicine and shelter they need to survive. It does not exist where children can’t aspire to a decent education or a job that supports a family. The absence of hope can rot a society from within.”</p>
<p>But Obama did not take the next step, could not draw the connection, would not allow himself to feel the same distress as when American violence creates this very same destitution.</p>
<p>The President went on to state that “force can be justified on humanitarian grounds,” and that “[t]here will be times when nations — acting individually or in concert — will find the use of force not only necessary but morally justified.”</p>
<p>There are many decent women and men within the U.S. government and military. But that does not change the fact that American violence in Afghanistan and Iraq has both directly and indirectly denied human beings access to food, clean water, medicine, shelter, education, and jobs – as well as causing or contributing to deaths of hundreds-of-thousands of people in those countries. Does that make the Afghan or Iraqi insurgencies “morally justified?”</p>
<p>Through its military blockade, Israel is affirmatively denying Palestinians in Gaza access to food, clean water, medicine, shelter, and jobs. It’s been a year since the Cast Lead massacres – where 13 Israelis and over 1,400 Palestinians were killed – and thousands in Gaza are still forced to live in rubble. Does this make Palestinian armed resistance “morally justified?”</p>
<p>The unspoken answer is – of course not. They are not like us. Afghans, Iraqis, and Palestinians are the other.</p>
<p>This is a failure most clearly articulated when Obama further argued that “[w]hatever mistakes we have made, the plain fact is this: The United States of America has helped underwrite global security for more than six decades with the blood of our citizens and the strength of our arms.”</p>
<p>Barack Obama is personally humble and self-effacing – a refreshing change from the vanities of Bill Clinton and George Bush, Jr. But President Obama is a frighteningly arrogant nationalist, who cannot seem to even entertain the possibility that America’s violence is as immoral as any other. The dead do not concern themselves over the ideology used to slay them.</p>
<p>Obama said that he believes war is justified “if it is waged as a last resort or in self-defense; if the force used is proportional; and if, whenever possible, civilians are spared from violence.”</p>
<p>Casual platitudes about so-called ‘collateral damage’ are as infuriating coming from Presidents as they are coming from terrorists. We cannot bear the loss of even one more person. We must not bear it.</p>
<p>A majority of the victims of war are non-combatants: innocent men, women, and children brutalized and destroyed. Civilians are not collateral to modern warfare – they are its primary targets. This is a fact that Obama himself acknowledged in his speech, even while remaining emotionally detached from its consequences.</p>
<p>Obama rejected the possibility of an American non-violence, stating that “as a head of state sworn to protect and defend my nation, I cannot be guided by [Gandhi and King’s] examples alone. I face the world as it is, and cannot stand idle in the face of threats to the American people. For make no mistake: Evil does exist in the world.”</p>
<p>Were the men who murdered Emmett Till any less ‘evil’ than those who killed Daniel Pearl? What, exactly, does Obama believe Reginald Dyer can teach Osama bin Laden about morality?</p>
<p>The fact is, there are few genuinely ‘evil’ people in the world; very few actual sociopaths who both know that their actions are evil and don’t care. More often, we are only dimly conscious of the consequences of our actions (and that ignorance is quite willful – we don’t want to know). And, like President Obama, regardless of how intellectually aware we are of our violence, we actively find justifications and excuses for it so that we may remain emotionally disconnected from its effects. From pithy clichés about omelettes and eggs, to supposedly reasoned arguments about dominos, weapons of mass destruction, and waging war for peace.</p>
<p>War and oppression are social forces. This means that peace and liberty can only be nurtured and sustained communally. Peace and liberty are expressions of our relationships with one another, and as a consequence they cannot be created by anything other than the connections within and between human communities. They cannot be birthed through war. War does not construct community – it only destroys it.</p>
<p>War is catastrophe. It is terrorism on a truly, massive scale. It is the physical, political and spiritual devastation of entire peoples. War is the imposition of such massive, deadly violence so as to try and force the political solutions of one group upon another. As such, war is the antithesis of democracy and freedom. War’s underlying and insuperable difficulty is that as a means of politics it is the most bloody, undemocratic, and violently repressive of all human institutions.</p>
<p>Violence in Afghanistan and Iraq has destabilized vast populations of human beings who were already living inside of what were already unacceptable catastrophes. Violence has built walls between those peoples and ours, enflamed prejudices and injustice, enabled persecutions and corruptions, and created fears leading to hatred and depression and despair. This is the legacy of our wars. The anger we Americans feel over our innocent dead is reflected a hundred-fold across the world through all the ‘other’ innocent dead we leave in our wake.</p>
<p>President Obama does not seem to understand this, or care to understand it. He candidly and openly disregards the most fundamental, God-given right of all human beings: the right to live.</p>
<p>President Obama is painfully, wretchedly mistaken. All of the causes in this world combined do not equal the worth of a single human life. Further and increased violence is not the solution to our problems.</p>
<p>Peace is not only a goal, but must be the means toward that goal. If our goal is peace, then every action taken toward that goal must be rooted in peace, must in itself create space for peace rather than for violence, must nurture community and not destroy it.</p>
<p>Peace is not a noun. Peace is action, living actions. Pacifism does not entail ‘standing idle in the face of threats.’ We live in unmerciful times, and so we must inculcate and awaken love. This is the practice of nonviolence: the practice of redemptive love, the practice of beloved community.</p>
<p>It is worth reading Obama’s Nobel speech side-by-side with Martin Luther King’s ‘A Time to Break Silence’ speech, delivered at Riverside Church on April 4th, 1967. The disparity is both startling and heart-breaking.</p>
<p>By necessity, life is the struggle of human beings trying to solve human problems through human means. In Oslo, Obama spoke as an American president, advocating and trying to justify American violence as a solution to problems we have ourselves helped create. In contrast, Reverend King spoke as child of our common God, and as a true moral leader for all peoples:</p>
<p>“I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today — my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent. …As if the weight of such a commitment to the life and health of America were not enough, another burden of responsibility was placed upon me in 1964; and I cannot forget that the Nobel Prize for Peace was also a commission — a commission to work harder than I had ever worked before for “the brotherhood of man.” This is a calling that takes me beyond national allegiances … [for] we are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers.”</p>
<p>RAMZI KYSIA is an Arab-American essayist and an organizer with the Free Gaza Movement. If you would like to support these efforts, please visit <a href="http://www.FreeGaza.org" type="external">www.FreeGaza.org</a>, or email donations[at]freegaza.org. If you would like to volunteer with Free Gaza, please send an email to volunteer[at]freegaza.org</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | circumstances president obamas speech would disturbing given acceptance nobel peace prize deplorable full internal inconsistencies speech little jingoistic defense institution warfare face war terror terrorism country ideology human beings anywhere world born subject terrorism delusion one world innocent trained injustice world recognizes innocence rhetoric president obama unintelligent man much rhetoric thoughtful reasoned demonstrates failure reason alone address crises nation faces intellectualization enough overcome deep prejudices lain ice across hearts tragedy american triumphalism obama correctly identified obstacles peace caused violence said security exist human beings access enough food clean water medicine shelter need survive exist children cant aspire decent education job supports family absence hope rot society within obama take next step could draw connection would allow feel distress american violence creates destitution president went state force justified humanitarian grounds times nations acting individually concert find use force necessary morally justified many decent women men within us government military change fact american violence afghanistan iraq directly indirectly denied human beings access food clean water medicine shelter education jobs well causing contributing deaths hundredsofthousands people countries make afghan iraqi insurgencies morally justified military blockade israel affirmatively denying palestinians gaza access food clean water medicine shelter jobs year since cast lead massacres 13 israelis 1400 palestinians killed thousands gaza still forced live rubble make palestinian armed resistance morally justified unspoken answer course like us afghans iraqis palestinians failure clearly articulated obama argued whatever mistakes made plain fact united states america helped underwrite global security six decades blood citizens strength arms barack obama personally humble selfeffacing refreshing change vanities bill clinton george bush jr president obama frighteningly arrogant nationalist seem even entertain possibility americas violence immoral dead concern ideology used slay obama said believes war justified waged last resort selfdefense force used proportional whenever possible civilians spared violence casual platitudes socalled collateral damage infuriating coming presidents coming terrorists bear loss even one person must bear majority victims war noncombatants innocent men women children brutalized destroyed civilians collateral modern warfare primary targets fact obama acknowledged speech even remaining emotionally detached consequences obama rejected possibility american nonviolence stating head state sworn protect defend nation guided gandhi kings examples alone face world stand idle face threats american people make mistake evil exist world men murdered emmett till less evil killed daniel pearl exactly obama believe reginald dyer teach osama bin laden morality fact genuinely evil people world actual sociopaths know actions evil dont care often dimly conscious consequences actions ignorance quite willful dont want know like president obama regardless intellectually aware violence actively find justifications excuses may remain emotionally disconnected effects pithy clichés omelettes eggs supposedly reasoned arguments dominos weapons mass destruction waging war peace war oppression social forces means peace liberty nurtured sustained communally peace liberty expressions relationships one another consequence created anything connections within human communities birthed war war construct community destroys war catastrophe terrorism truly massive scale physical political spiritual devastation entire peoples war imposition massive deadly violence try force political solutions one group upon another war antithesis democracy freedom wars underlying insuperable difficulty means politics bloody undemocratic violently repressive human institutions violence afghanistan iraq destabilized vast populations human beings already living inside already unacceptable catastrophes violence built walls peoples enflamed prejudices injustice enabled persecutions corruptions created fears leading hatred depression despair legacy wars anger americans feel innocent dead reflected hundredfold across world innocent dead leave wake president obama seem understand care understand candidly openly disregards fundamental godgiven right human beings right live president obama painfully wretchedly mistaken causes world combined equal worth single human life increased violence solution problems peace goal must means toward goal goal peace every action taken toward goal must rooted peace must create space peace rather violence must nurture community destroy peace noun peace action living actions pacifism entail standing idle face threats live unmerciful times must inculcate awaken love practice nonviolence practice redemptive love practice beloved community worth reading obamas nobel speech sidebyside martin luther kings time break silence speech delivered riverside church april 4th 1967 disparity startling heartbreaking necessity life struggle human beings trying solve human problems human means oslo obama spoke american president advocating trying justify american violence solution problems helped create contrast reverend king spoke child common god true moral leader peoples knew could never raise voice violence oppressed ghettos without first spoken clearly greatest purveyor violence world today government sake boys sake government sake hundreds thousands trembling violence silent weight commitment life health america enough another burden responsibility placed upon 1964 forget nobel prize peace also commission commission work harder ever worked brotherhood man calling takes beyond national allegiances called speak weak voiceless victims nation calls enemy document human hands make humans less brothers ramzi kysia arabamerican essayist organizer free gaza movement would like support efforts please visit wwwfreegazaorg email donationsatfreegazaorg would like volunteer free gaza please send email volunteeratfreegazaorg | 796 |
<p>What a difference two years can make. Seems like only yesterday that Corrine was spearheading a legal effort to investigate Duval County’s 2000 Election Irregularities. But if her conduct at the 2003 State of the Union Address was any benchmark, the Representative seems to have made peace with the un-elected President. At more than a few points when television cameras found her, she was applauding the words of the man whose ascension to the Presidency she so bitterly opposed.</p>
<p>But Brown would know a thing or two about winning essentially rigged elections. The political cause closest to her heart is protecting the gerrymandering that allowed her election to Congress from Florida’s District 3 in 1992. Her district is drawn such that the Florida Times-Union was led to speculate that she is unbeatable by anyone but a “minority”, before concluding that she was a “good fit for her district.” The Florida GOP apparently agrees; thwarted Republican candidate Ishah Wright accused the Party of sabotaging her then-nascent campaign as part of a quid pro quo deal. Wright maintained that the Republicans protected Brown’s seat in exchange for the Democrats not seriously challenging Republican US Representative Ric Keller downstate.</p>
<p>“I was told the Republican Party is ‘the same concept as the mob,’ and I was asked if I want to end up like Chandra Levy, with my head severed from my body,” Wright wrote to President Bush. Soon after this letter went out to the greatest President of this century, the staunchly Republican Florida Times-Union began spotlighting various fabrications and inconsistencies in Candidate Wright’s personal record. Wright was — justly, perhaps — described as “crazy” by Duval County GOP head Tom Slade. Towson Frazier, spokesman for the state Republican Party, likewise commented that “”I don’t know how firm her grasp is on reality. The Republican Party would obviously never threaten anyone or make a deal like she’s talking about.”</p>
<p>Perhaps Ishah Wright’s worries of ending up like Chandra Levy were unfounded. By the time Wright dropped out of the District 3 race, the writing on her campaign website evidenced an unhinged mind:</p>
<p>“A few weeks ago I announced that I dropped out of the race for congress. I humbly realize that I have no training or experience for such a task. I would like to appologize to anyone whom I may have offended by running. I have always been a lover, not a fighter…a peacemaker. Running for congress helped me to be more openminded and more tolerant of other views. In fact one view that I have recently changed is my opinion of the Elian Gonzalez situation. Being part Hispanic, I used to disagree with Elian being sent back to Cuba. However, my Cuban father, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease (like Janet Reno) told me that Elian really did belong with his father. I stand corrected. I have a new respect for all of our political leaders, including a new respect and love for Janet Reno. It is easy for us to criticize our leaders, however we would have more mercy and understanding for them if we walked a day in their shoes. I stand corrected on many issues. I am becoming a democrat, but I have decided not to ever run for office again. My tender heart is not made for politics. I am not becoming a Democrat to anger my Republican friends, and I hope that the Republican Party will forgive me for all of my remarks which may have offended them. I publically take back any negative statements that I have made. I don’t want to offend anyone. I want to live in peace with my family. I want to be a better mom and wife.”</p>
<p>With candidates so linguistically gifted stepping to the fore, GOP officials might be forgiven for claiming Brown was unbeatable. Certainly, the five-term Congresswoman couldn’t have been seriously challenged by a neophyte politician as duplicitous as she was addled. But it seemed that no matter how attractive the candidate might be, the Florida GOP was unwilling to back her.</p>
<p>Consider the case of Jennifer Carroll, who decided in October 2002 that she wanted to take another crack at unseating Brown that November. On the surface, Carroll seemed like a standard-bearer for black Republican women straight out of central casting. Carroll spent twenty years in the Navy, and ran for office with every intention of rubberstamping the Bush agenda. Despite the candidate’s willingness to espouse and endorse all manner of Republican foolishness to get elected, Republican party officials greeted her intention to run coldly. “We’ve tried and failed to whip Corrine Brown on any number of occasions,” said Duval GOP Chairman Tom Slade. “But there’s an old saying in Southern politics that there ain’t no education in the third, fourth or fifth kick of a mule.”</p>
<p>And indeed there ain’t, Tom. Best to put all them black folks into one district and give them their uncontested Democratic representative, so y’all can keep that there vote suppressed. Best to let sleepin’ dawgs lie. She’s unbeatable, as your “opposition” party and its fair-n-balanced local paper never tire of saying. No big deal that Brown has lied to the IRS, filed false financial disclosure reports, received payoffs from African millionaires, and ran private businesses that stand as rank examples of embezzlement and embarrassment. Longtime Brown associate Oliver Roster described Brown to a tee when he said “she’s always pulling a scam on someone. Somebody, somewhere, got the money for her. What we don’t know yet is what she had to do or promise to get it.”</p>
<p>By current standards, those words read downright Presidential.</p>
<p>ANTHONY GANCARSKI, a frequent contributor to CounterPunch, is the author of 2001’s UNFORTUNATE INCIDENTS. Comments are welcome at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | difference two years make seems like yesterday corrine spearheading legal effort investigate duval countys 2000 election irregularities conduct 2003 state union address benchmark representative seems made peace unelected president points television cameras found applauding words man whose ascension presidency bitterly opposed brown would know thing two winning essentially rigged elections political cause closest heart protecting gerrymandering allowed election congress floridas district 3 1992 district drawn florida timesunion led speculate unbeatable anyone minority concluding good fit district florida gop apparently agrees thwarted republican candidate ishah wright accused party sabotaging thennascent campaign part quid pro quo deal wright maintained republicans protected browns seat exchange democrats seriously challenging republican us representative ric keller downstate told republican party concept mob asked want end like chandra levy head severed body wright wrote president bush soon letter went greatest president century staunchly republican florida timesunion began spotlighting various fabrications inconsistencies candidate wrights personal record wright justly perhaps described crazy duval county gop head tom slade towson frazier spokesman state republican party likewise commented dont know firm grasp reality republican party would obviously never threaten anyone make deal like shes talking perhaps ishah wrights worries ending like chandra levy unfounded time wright dropped district 3 race writing campaign website evidenced unhinged mind weeks ago announced dropped race congress humbly realize training experience task would like appologize anyone may offended running always lover fightera peacemaker running congress helped openminded tolerant views fact one view recently changed opinion elian gonzalez situation part hispanic used disagree elian sent back cuba however cuban father suffers parkinsons disease like janet reno told elian really belong father stand corrected new respect political leaders including new respect love janet reno easy us criticize leaders however would mercy understanding walked day shoes stand corrected many issues becoming democrat decided ever run office tender heart made politics becoming democrat anger republican friends hope republican party forgive remarks may offended publically take back negative statements made dont want offend anyone want live peace family want better mom wife candidates linguistically gifted stepping fore gop officials might forgiven claiming brown unbeatable certainly fiveterm congresswoman couldnt seriously challenged neophyte politician duplicitous addled seemed matter attractive candidate might florida gop unwilling back consider case jennifer carroll decided october 2002 wanted take another crack unseating brown november surface carroll seemed like standardbearer black republican women straight central casting carroll spent twenty years navy ran office every intention rubberstamping bush agenda despite candidates willingness espouse endorse manner republican foolishness get elected republican party officials greeted intention run coldly weve tried failed whip corrine brown number occasions said duval gop chairman tom slade theres old saying southern politics aint education third fourth fifth kick mule indeed aint tom best put black folks one district give uncontested democratic representative yall keep vote suppressed best let sleepin dawgs lie shes unbeatable opposition party fairnbalanced local paper never tire saying big deal brown lied irs filed false financial disclosure reports received payoffs african millionaires ran private businesses stand rank examples embezzlement embarrassment longtime brown associate oliver roster described brown tee said shes always pulling scam someone somebody somewhere got money dont know yet promise get current standards words read downright presidential anthony gancarski frequent contributor counterpunch author 2001s unfortunate incidents comments welcome anthonygancarskiattbicom 160 | 538 |
<p>Brothers and Sisters, Lovers and Sinners, come, let us play…</p>
<p>May is National Masturbation Month, having been so declared by the erotically aware jill-off gals at Good Vibrations and the Godmother of Masturbation herself, Dr. Betty Dodson. Why bother to have a National Masturbation Month? Since just about everybody plays sexual solitaire at least sometimes, it’s virtually the nation’s-and the world’s–preferred leisure past time.</p>
<p>Masturbation isn’t terribly controversial in these days of hotly debated sexual subjects. Why, it didn’t even make Senator Rick the Stick Santorum’s List of Naughty Sex Acts that the Government Should be Allowed to Break into Your Bedroom and Bust You For. Nor did Pope Rat mention it in his List of Reasons Good Catholic Americans Must Vote Republican. Still, what the Brits so adorably call “rubbing off” just doesn’t get the respect that it deserves. Thus, the M Month. Otherwise, far too few of us private Onanists would be willing to admit publicly that we indulge. Here in our Land of the Somewhat Free, we have plenty of Gay Pride and Leather Pride, even a bit of Libertine Pride out in the Blue States, but not much in the way of Wanker Pride. After all, “sex for one,” as harmless and healing as we now know it to be, is still condemned by many as an illicit, shameful act, forbidden even to lonely priests. Thus, most of us keep our single-handed pleasures under the covers and in the closet.</p>
<p>O, Brothers and Sisters, Liars and Fibbers, who will testify to the truth of masturbation?</p>
<p>Actually, that word “testify” tells us a little something about masturbation and truth, coming, as it does, from the same Latin root as the words “testament,” “testimony,” and “testicles.” See, way back in Old Testament times, when our forefathers swore an oath, they didn’t put their hands on the Bible, because these were Bible times, and the Bible hadn’t been written yet. When our forefathers testified, they put their hands on their testicles. That’s right, they swore by their family jewels! Telling the truth (for a man) was assured by the public act of squeezing, stroking or gently cupping one’s sac.</p>
<p>So do like your ancestors, do like your Old Father Abraham, grab your balls and testify! Grab ’em right now, Brother! Don’t grab ’em too hard. But don’t be too soft on yourself either. And Sister, you just grab your holy vulva right where it feels good. Feel the power, the glory and the truth of solo sexual revelation! Finger yourself with joy! Stroke yourself into rapture! Surrender to self-pleasure. Testify to the truth of autoerotic ecstasy. Testify and be healed of stress and frustration, sleeplessness and Desperate Housewife Syndrome…What’s the matter, Brother Jack? Are you embarrassed, Sister Jill? Feel silly? Guilty? Naughty? Baad? Don’t you know that if God had intended you not to masturbate, he would have made your arms shorter?</p>
<p>No, Jesus didn’t say that, and neither did Mohammed. George Carlin did. But it rings with more truth than most psalms.</p>
<p>Then why is such a natural, pleasurable, healthful, free, convenient, ecologically sound (population control, anyone?) and virtually harmless act as masturbation so embarrassing, so unmentionable, so vilified? Ball-fondling oaths aside, society’s prohibitions against “self-abuse” seem to have begun thousands of years ago as a moral code to sustain agrarian culture and tribal wars. Back again to those Bible times, when the infamous Onan was struck dead by God for “spilling his seed upon the ground” (which was, Biblically speaking, more of a case of coitus interruptus than masturbation). Tribal leaders assumed that if folks were masturbating–that is, having “sex for fun” instead of channeling their entire sex drive into reproducing the tribe–they wouldn’t “be fruitful and multiply.” They wouldn’t spawn enough children to work their harvests and go to war against opposing tribes. You could call this ancient tribal taboo against masturbation and other forms of nonreproductive sex the Mother of All Membership Drives.</p>
<p>Medieval Christians went on to further denigrate the joys of self-diddling by equating sexual pleasure with pure evil. Though Jesus himself, according to the Gospels, said remarkably little about sex, early Christian Fathers like Saint Paul and Saint Augustine were inflamed by what they saw as sexual degeneracy in themselves and others. They declared masturbation to be a gargantuan sin, one of the worst a human being could commit. Unlike a so-called “natural sin” such as fornication, bigamy or adultery, masturbation was a “sin against nature.” What made masturbation “unnatural” is anybody’s guess, since nature shows us many creatures–dogs, cats and bonobos, to name a few–having sex for one just for fun.</p>
<p>Of course, Medieval Christian Fathers were no bigger on fun than Rick the Stick or Pope Rat–at least not for the common folk. Around 1300, the Archbishop of Sens wrote regarding sins against nature that “the first branch is when man or woman by him or herself, alone and aware of the fact and awake, falls into the filth of sin.” This proclamation encouraged the already popular practice of feigning sleep whilst flogging the hog.</p>
<p>Though a natural sin like fornication was considered fairly minor, and could be absolved by a parish priest, masturbation, being “unnatural,” could be absolved only by bishops or their lieutenants. Thus, the Church Fathers shrewdly used the masturbation taboo to gain deep psychic power over an uneducated, frightened populace. In other words, they had ’em by the balls! Since everybody masturbated, everybody could be made to feel guilt, shame and the profound need for expiation, from whom else but the Church Fathers?</p>
<p>Over the centuries, frightening superstitions built up, e.g., that indulging in a little self-love caused warts, blindness, insanity and hair on the palms, not to mention, eternal damnation in hell (though if one could rub off in hell, that might make it bearable–beat your meat in the heat).</p>
<p>Then there’s the more “modern” notion that masturbation is wasteful. This humdinger, which reached its heights in Victorian times, has its roots in the widespread misconception that men have a limited amount of sperm, and that every ejaculation depletes a man’s finite allotment of precious semen, resulting in weakness and eventual impotence. Actually, the opposite is closer to the truth: use it or lose it. If a man doesn’t have sex or masturbate consistently throughout his life, as he gets older, he is more likely to lose his ability to get erections and ejaculate. Some experts say he may be more likely to have prostate problems.</p>
<p>Of course, Brother Jack, if you ejaculate five times a day, you will not shoot more than a gasp and a dribble by Ejaculation #5. So if you want to maximize your spunk output, keep your hands off your treasure for 72 hours. That’s enough time to build up your maximum load. Wait much longer than that, and you won’t be building up anything but an unholy case of blue balls.</p>
<p>Though women don’t produce semen, the myth that female masturbation is debilitating, unfeminine or just plain wrong, has also held sway. Both witch doctors and medical doctors, in their vain attempts to stop women from touching their clitorises, have gone so far as to chop them off, sometimes along with the labia too, performing horrific “female circumcisions” that sometimes kill their victims (usually young girls) and always deform them. Though Western doctors don’t perform these operations anymore, female circumcisers still practice their trade in various African and Asian villages.</p>
<p>Then there’s male circumcision, widely practiced all over the world, sometimes with elaborate religious ritual, but more often in hospitals where it is presented as “necessary” for “hygiene.” In this sex therapist’ view, it’s all a byzantine smokescreen for a massive, brutally child-abusive, and rather fruitless effort to control male masturbation.</p>
<p>Two of the biggest American anti-masturbation activists and super-capitalists of the 19th century, also big hygiene enthusiasts, were Sylvestor Graham, designer of the Graham Cracker, and John Kellogg, creator of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, the consumption of which was supposed to suppress the sex drive. Kellogg called self-love “the vilest, the basest and the most degrading act that a human being can commit.” Wonder what he’d say about all the semen fetishists who like to consume their cum with his cornflakes.</p>
<p>There are far too many anti-wanking superstitions that have proliferated though history to list here, and modern science has disproved them all. Experts consider masturbation to be a normal, safe sexual activity, not to mention a superb cardiovascular workout. Still, in many circles, self-pleasuring is unmentionable. American Surgeon General Dr. Joycelyn Elders was forced to resign when she mentioned masturbation in the context of safe sex education. Maybe if Bill Clinton had taken Dr. Elders’ advice instead of firing her, he’d have sidestepped being sideswiped by the Religious Right. Speaking of American presidents, as the whole world is all too aware, George Bush’s demonic twist on the touchy subject of solo sex involves getting leering American soldiers to force helpless, hooded prisoners to do it (sometimes on camera!). What this is supposed to accomplish is unclear. Is it a punishment? A reward? A bizarre, religiously inspired humiliation? A way to “blow off steam”? A very bad joke? Some kind of interrogational inducement to spill the beans along with the seed? Whatever its ostensible purpose, Bush’s Mandatory P.O.W. Jack-Off Policies cast yet another deeply sinister shadow on the innocent pleasures of masturbation.</p>
<p>Despite millennia of anti-masturbation mania, there does exist some positive folklore on the natural wonders of whacking off. According to the ancient Greeks, masturbation was a divine gift. Hermes revealed it to Pan, whose love for a nymph was unrequited, demonstrating how stroking off could be a superb rape prevention technique. (Stop Sex Crime! Masturbate!) Pan then taught the shepherds (for which the sheep must have been grateful), The Greek philosopher Diogenes praised the extraordinary physical efficiency of masturbation, “Would to heaven that it were enough to rub one’s stomach in order to allay one’s hunger.”</p>
<p>Mark Twain, in between penning literary masterpieces, spoke of masturbation with satiric yet compassionate, truthtelling eloquence: “to the lonely it is company; to the forsaken it is a friend; to the aged and impotent it is a benefactor; they that are penniless are yet rich, in that they still have this majestic diversion.”</p>
<p>Then there’s Truman Capote: “the nice thing about masturbation is you don’t have to dress up for it.” Come as you are.</p>
<p>But self-pleasuring taboos never die; they just mutate with the times. Now, instead of fearing masturbation will make us blind, we worry that it will brand us as lonely or desperate, or as a pathetic, oversexed “sex addict.”</p>
<p>Of course, you can become addicted to masturbation. Anything really good in life is addictive. Jerkin’ your own gherkin can be so damn convenient that you don’t want to bother with the rigors of dating, or communicating with your spouse, or whatever hurdle you’d have to jump in order to have partner sex. Physically speaking, you can get so accustomed to the rhythm of your own hand, or the megabuzz of your vibrator, that you prefer masturbation to making love.</p>
<p>Then again, self-love is a kind of love. And sometimes, especially after a bad break-up, or when you’re sick, or stressed, or physically separated from your lover, it’s the best kind of love.</p>
<p>So, shake that shame and shimmy, Brothers &amp; Sisters! Give yourselves a handCelebrate the Month of May!</p>
<p>If you can’t manage to shake your shame, you can always eroticize it. You probably do this anyway. Sex has “evolved” to be intrinsically perverse in our anti-sex society, and many of us need to feel bad to feel good. The naughtier we feel about masturbating, the better masturbation feels. Take it from a sex therapist: People that grow up tortured by religious dicta against “self-abuse” often become some of the world’s most avid masturbators.</p>
<p>So, how about you, Brother Jack and Sister Jill? Will you testify? How does it feel when you masturbate? Is it wild? Is it wonderful? Is it weird? Is it just a great relief? Do you get a mystical, spiritual sense of fulfillment? A primitive, animal sense of contentment? Does it give you energy – or put you to sleep? Does it make you feel alone? Or like an ecstatic link in the Great Chain of Sexual Being? Does it make you feel powerful? Peaceful? Beautiful? Bountiful? Biological? Do you masturbate to be safe, or do you do it for the danger? Do you enjoy an audience, or would you rather be the audience? Do you like to use props? Vibrators? Dildos? Erotica? Porn? Phone sex? Bondage gear? Aromatic oils? Special music? Fetish objects? How do you touch yourself? Quick strokes or long? One hand or two? Lube or natural juices? What do you think about when you masturbate? Do you fantasize, or do you just feel the sensations? Do you feel great right up until orgasm, then feel guilty, sinful, silly, lonely? Or do you feel even better after you’ve come, as you float down a stream of natural bliss?</p>
<p>Whatever our feelings about it, masturbation is almost always our first sexual activity. Even in utero, we touch ourselves for relaxation and pleasure. As babies, we play with all parts of ourselves, but our genitals are especially exciting, because of the intensity of sensation.</p>
<p>Thanks to my own Dr. Spock-influenced Mom, I didn’t grow up too inhibited about masturbation. Like most kids, I started playing with myself at around the time I started playing. Not that my mother approved of my masturbating. But she did, at least, put up with it. That is, she didn’t punish me for it, just warned me to cool it in public, like when she caught me holding the sprinkler under my crotch on the front lawn, or sliding my hand under my skirt during the duller portions of the Passover Seder.</p>
<p>At least, Mom’s pragmatic attitude didn’t denigrate my sexuality. “Suzy,” she said when she caught me petal pushing, “Stop that.. Your hands are dirty, and it’s clean down there.” She was right about my hands being dirty, sticky with peanut butter and jelly or something I’d pulled out of my nose. And I will always appreciate her designation of my netherparts as “clean.” She wasn’t Diogenes or Mark Twain, but at least Mom had a fairly sex-positive way of attempting to regulate my masturbatory activities.</p>
<p>Speaking of the positive…It may feel like playing hooky, but masturbation is educational. It teaches you about your body, what kinds of touch arouse you, what positions relax you, what fantasies stimulate you, what props get you hot. It helps you to find your mental and physical rhythm and style for maximum orgasmic pleasure.</p>
<p>Partner sex is more romantic, of course, and usually more meaningful, but it’s also more nerve-wracking. Unless you’re a total narcissist, you’re probably going to concentrate more on your lover’s pleasure than your own. During masturbation, you don’t have to worry about pleasing or impressing anybody but yourself. That way, you can relax and explore, learning all kinds of stuff about your erotic responses that you can use to become a better lover and a more orgasmic, sexually satisfied person.</p>
<p>If you’ve never done kegels or PC (pubococcygeus) muscle exercises, masturbation is the perfect time to try them. Like any kind of physical exercise, kegels take practice and concentration, tough to muster when you’re making love. Before or during masturbation, you can easily practice squeezing and releasing your PC muscles, making your orgasms longer and stronger, or multiple, and more under your control. Lots of quick-on-the-trigger guys learn to manage their tendency toward premature ejaculation this way. Many young women who can’t climax with their also-young, inexperienced lovers experience their first orgasms while petting their own sweet kitties.</p>
<p>That’s how I had my first orgasm – through the power and glory of masturbation! That’s right, Brothers and Sisters, Lovers and Sinners. It’s my turn to testify (those of you who have heard me tell some version of this story before can just skip down to the end, unless it’s one of your faves)…</p>
<p>I was 19, a sophomore at Yale, and I’d never had an orgasm. Oh, I’d had sex, mainly with my high school boyfriend, and he’d had plenty of orgasms. And I’d masturbated with those “dirty hands” of mine, but never to “completion.” I did have a few accidental orgasms when I went horseback riding, but no full-fledged voluntary climax. So, I was dating this gorgeous genius type, the only problem being that he was very shy, and since I was shy too, our evenings tended to be pretty dull. Nevertheless, I was infatuated with his dazzling beauty and dizzying brilliance. So we had sex. I don’t remember much about the sex. I think it wasn’t bad, but I know it wasn’t orgasmic. When he left for class, I stayed in bed, lazily stroking myself, picking up where he had left off, as I skimmed through a little booklet I’d picked up at one of my feminist circles, Betty Dodson’s Liberating Masturbation (now Sex for One). I washed my hands (no worries, Mom!), followed the instructions, squeezing and releasing my PC muscles, taking deep breathes like I’d learned in yoga, stroking and playing with myself like I’d played since I was a little girl, but this time I pushed farther, squeezing and releasing, wiggling and poking, licking my fingers and feeling the power, breathing deeper and deeper, rubbing faster, then slower, then faster again, squeezing and releasing, until, lo and behold, the squeezing released, and I had an orgasm. My first full-fledged, voluntary orgasm! I remember feeling awed and amazed, as if I’d been given a gift, a pure pleasure that I didn’t have to work for, didn’t cost any money, didn’t hurt anybody, didn’t pollute anything, didn’t have any calories or carcinogens, so simple and relaxing, so explosive, yet so gentle. And I remember knowing I was hooked, that at that point, after 19 years of my so-called life, I had become orgasmic, and no matter what else happened, the rest of my existence would include these explosions of pleasure pretty much whenever I damned well pleased.</p>
<p>And now here I am, a few million orgasms richer, Brothers and Sisters, Lovers and Sinners, wishing you a Merry Month of May! Make love to someone you love tonight, even if that someone is you…And don’t forget to wash your hands!</p>
<p>Dr. SUSAN BLOCK is a sex educator, host of The Dr. SUSAN BLOCK Show and author of The 10 Commandments of Pleasure. Visit her main website at <a href="http://www.drsusanblock.com/" type="external">http://www.drsusanblock.com</a>. Send all comments, love letters, hate mail, questions, confessions and testimonials to her at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a>.</p>
<p>Note: This piece was initially published in Dr Susan Block’s Journal on May 1, 2003, and was updated on May 5, 2005.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | brothers sisters lovers sinners come let us play may national masturbation month declared erotically aware jilloff gals good vibrations godmother masturbation dr betty dodson bother national masturbation month since everybody plays sexual solitaire least sometimes virtually nationsand worldspreferred leisure past time masturbation isnt terribly controversial days hotly debated sexual subjects didnt even make senator rick stick santorums list naughty sex acts government allowed break bedroom bust pope rat mention list reasons good catholic americans must vote republican still brits adorably call rubbing doesnt get respect deserves thus month otherwise far us private onanists would willing admit publicly indulge land somewhat free plenty gay pride leather pride even bit libertine pride blue states much way wanker pride sex one harmless healing know still condemned many illicit shameful act forbidden even lonely priests thus us keep singlehanded pleasures covers closet brothers sisters liars fibbers testify truth masturbation actually word testify tells us little something masturbation truth coming latin root words testament testimony testicles see way back old testament times forefathers swore oath didnt put hands bible bible times bible hadnt written yet forefathers testified put hands testicles thats right swore family jewels telling truth man assured public act squeezing stroking gently cupping ones sac like ancestors like old father abraham grab balls testify grab em right brother dont grab em hard dont soft either sister grab holy vulva right feels good feel power glory truth solo sexual revelation finger joy stroke rapture surrender selfpleasure testify truth autoerotic ecstasy testify healed stress frustration sleeplessness desperate housewife syndromewhats matter brother jack embarrassed sister jill feel silly guilty naughty baad dont know god intended masturbate would made arms shorter jesus didnt say neither mohammed george carlin rings truth psalms natural pleasurable healthful free convenient ecologically sound population control anyone virtually harmless act masturbation embarrassing unmentionable vilified ballfondling oaths aside societys prohibitions selfabuse seem begun thousands years ago moral code sustain agrarian culture tribal wars back bible times infamous onan struck dead god spilling seed upon ground biblically speaking case coitus interruptus masturbation tribal leaders assumed folks masturbatingthat sex fun instead channeling entire sex drive reproducing tribethey wouldnt fruitful multiply wouldnt spawn enough children work harvests go war opposing tribes could call ancient tribal taboo masturbation forms nonreproductive sex mother membership drives medieval christians went denigrate joys selfdiddling equating sexual pleasure pure evil though jesus according gospels said remarkably little sex early christian fathers like saint paul saint augustine inflamed saw sexual degeneracy others declared masturbation gargantuan sin one worst human could commit unlike socalled natural sin fornication bigamy adultery masturbation sin nature made masturbation unnatural anybodys guess since nature shows us many creaturesdogs cats bonobos name fewhaving sex one fun course medieval christian fathers bigger fun rick stick pope ratat least common folk around 1300 archbishop sens wrote regarding sins nature first branch man woman alone aware fact awake falls filth sin proclamation encouraged already popular practice feigning sleep whilst flogging hog though natural sin like fornication considered fairly minor could absolved parish priest masturbation unnatural could absolved bishops lieutenants thus church fathers shrewdly used masturbation taboo gain deep psychic power uneducated frightened populace words em balls since everybody masturbated everybody could made feel guilt shame profound need expiation else church fathers centuries frightening superstitions built eg indulging little selflove caused warts blindness insanity hair palms mention eternal damnation hell though one could rub hell might make bearablebeat meat heat theres modern notion masturbation wasteful humdinger reached heights victorian times roots widespread misconception men limited amount sperm every ejaculation depletes mans finite allotment precious semen resulting weakness eventual impotence actually opposite closer truth use lose man doesnt sex masturbate consistently throughout life gets older likely lose ability get erections ejaculate experts say may likely prostate problems course brother jack ejaculate five times day shoot gasp dribble ejaculation 5 want maximize spunk output keep hands treasure 72 hours thats enough time build maximum load wait much longer wont building anything unholy case blue balls though women dont produce semen myth female masturbation debilitating unfeminine plain wrong also held sway witch doctors medical doctors vain attempts stop women touching clitorises gone far chop sometimes along labia performing horrific female circumcisions sometimes kill victims usually young girls always deform though western doctors dont perform operations anymore female circumcisers still practice trade various african asian villages theres male circumcision widely practiced world sometimes elaborate religious ritual often hospitals presented necessary hygiene sex therapist view byzantine smokescreen massive brutally childabusive rather fruitless effort control male masturbation two biggest american antimasturbation activists supercapitalists 19th century also big hygiene enthusiasts sylvestor graham designer graham cracker john kellogg creator kelloggs corn flakes consumption supposed suppress sex drive kellogg called selflove vilest basest degrading act human commit wonder hed say semen fetishists like consume cum cornflakes far many antiwanking superstitions proliferated though history list modern science disproved experts consider masturbation normal safe sexual activity mention superb cardiovascular workout still many circles selfpleasuring unmentionable american surgeon general dr joycelyn elders forced resign mentioned masturbation context safe sex education maybe bill clinton taken dr elders advice instead firing hed sidestepped sideswiped religious right speaking american presidents whole world aware george bushs demonic twist touchy subject solo sex involves getting leering american soldiers force helpless hooded prisoners sometimes camera supposed accomplish unclear punishment reward bizarre religiously inspired humiliation way blow steam bad joke kind interrogational inducement spill beans along seed whatever ostensible purpose bushs mandatory pow jackoff policies cast yet another deeply sinister shadow innocent pleasures masturbation despite millennia antimasturbation mania exist positive folklore natural wonders whacking according ancient greeks masturbation divine gift hermes revealed pan whose love nymph unrequited demonstrating stroking could superb rape prevention technique stop sex crime masturbate pan taught shepherds sheep must grateful greek philosopher diogenes praised extraordinary physical efficiency masturbation would heaven enough rub ones stomach order allay ones hunger mark twain penning literary masterpieces spoke masturbation satiric yet compassionate truthtelling eloquence lonely company forsaken friend aged impotent benefactor penniless yet rich still majestic diversion theres truman capote nice thing masturbation dont dress come selfpleasuring taboos never die mutate times instead fearing masturbation make us blind worry brand us lonely desperate pathetic oversexed sex addict course become addicted masturbation anything really good life addictive jerkin gherkin damn convenient dont want bother rigors dating communicating spouse whatever hurdle youd jump order partner sex physically speaking get accustomed rhythm hand megabuzz vibrator prefer masturbation making love selflove kind love sometimes especially bad breakup youre sick stressed physically separated lover best kind love shake shame shimmy brothers amp sisters give handcelebrate month may cant manage shake shame always eroticize probably anyway sex evolved intrinsically perverse antisex society many us need feel bad feel good naughtier feel masturbating better masturbation feels take sex therapist people grow tortured religious dicta selfabuse often become worlds avid masturbators brother jack sister jill testify feel masturbate wild wonderful weird great relief get mystical spiritual sense fulfillment primitive animal sense contentment give energy put sleep make feel alone like ecstatic link great chain sexual make feel powerful peaceful beautiful bountiful biological masturbate safe danger enjoy audience would rather audience like use props vibrators dildos erotica porn phone sex bondage gear aromatic oils special music fetish objects touch quick strokes long one hand two lube natural juices think masturbate fantasize feel sensations feel great right orgasm feel guilty sinful silly lonely feel even better youve come float stream natural bliss whatever feelings masturbation almost always first sexual activity even utero touch relaxation pleasure babies play parts genitals especially exciting intensity sensation thanks dr spockinfluenced mom didnt grow inhibited masturbation like kids started playing around time started playing mother approved masturbating least put didnt punish warned cool public like caught holding sprinkler crotch front lawn sliding hand skirt duller portions passover seder least moms pragmatic attitude didnt denigrate sexuality suzy said caught petal pushing stop hands dirty clean right hands dirty sticky peanut butter jelly something id pulled nose always appreciate designation netherparts clean wasnt diogenes mark twain least mom fairly sexpositive way attempting regulate masturbatory activities speaking positiveit may feel like playing hooky masturbation educational teaches body kinds touch arouse positions relax fantasies stimulate props get hot helps find mental physical rhythm style maximum orgasmic pleasure partner sex romantic course usually meaningful also nervewracking unless youre total narcissist youre probably going concentrate lovers pleasure masturbation dont worry pleasing impressing anybody way relax explore learning kinds stuff erotic responses use become better lover orgasmic sexually satisfied person youve never done kegels pc pubococcygeus muscle exercises masturbation perfect time try like kind physical exercise kegels take practice concentration tough muster youre making love masturbation easily practice squeezing releasing pc muscles making orgasms longer stronger multiple control lots quickonthetrigger guys learn manage tendency toward premature ejaculation way many young women cant climax alsoyoung inexperienced lovers experience first orgasms petting sweet kitties thats first orgasm power glory masturbation thats right brothers sisters lovers sinners turn testify heard tell version story skip end unless one faves 19 sophomore yale id never orgasm oh id sex mainly high school boyfriend hed plenty orgasms id masturbated dirty hands mine never completion accidental orgasms went horseback riding fullfledged voluntary climax dating gorgeous genius type problem shy since shy evenings tended pretty dull nevertheless infatuated dazzling beauty dizzying brilliance sex dont remember much sex think wasnt bad know wasnt orgasmic left class stayed bed lazily stroking picking left skimmed little booklet id picked one feminist circles betty dodsons liberating masturbation sex one washed hands worries mom followed instructions squeezing releasing pc muscles taking deep breathes like id learned yoga stroking playing like id played since little girl time pushed farther squeezing releasing wiggling poking licking fingers feeling power breathing deeper deeper rubbing faster slower faster squeezing releasing lo behold squeezing released orgasm first fullfledged voluntary orgasm remember feeling awed amazed id given gift pure pleasure didnt work didnt cost money didnt hurt anybody didnt pollute anything didnt calories carcinogens simple relaxing explosive yet gentle remember knowing hooked point 19 years socalled life become orgasmic matter else happened rest existence would include explosions pleasure pretty much whenever damned well pleased million orgasms richer brothers sisters lovers sinners wishing merry month may make love someone love tonight even someone youand dont forget wash hands dr susan block sex educator host dr susan block show author 10 commandments pleasure visit main website httpwwwdrsusanblockcom send comments love letters hate mail questions confessions testimonials libertiesblockbookscom note piece initially published dr susan blocks journal may 1 2003 updated may 5 2005 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 | 1,757 |
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<p>Last Sunday, Bob Dylan <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/apr/11/bob-dylan-first-ever-vietnam-show" type="external">played</a> a show in Vietnam for the first time in his half-century long career. The tickets didn’t sell well. Only half of the venue’s 8,000 seats were filled when Dylan took the stage in his white cowboy hat and performed for two hours, ending the night with his 1974 hit “ <a href="http://vodpod.com/watch/480038-bob-dylan-forever-youngfrom-the-last-waltz" type="external">Forever Young</a>.” As with Dylan’s two previous shows in Beijing and Shanghai, his omission of protest songs like “ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrQ4saKGI5k" type="external">Blowin’ in the Wind</a>” and “ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCWdCKPtnYE&amp;feature=related" type="external">The Times They Are a-Changin’</a>” was met with anger from Human Rights Watch and columnists like <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/opinion/10dowd.html?_r=1" type="external">Maureen Dowd</a>.</p>
<p>“The idea that the raspy troubadour of ’60s freedom anthems would go to a dictatorship and not sing those anthems is a whole new kind of sellout,” she wrote of the China performances last week. “Sellout,” of course, implies that Dylan traded some measure of his artistic integrity for profit on his tour of Asia. While he may have consciously neglected his protest songs, it’s hard to imagine he did it to earn a few bucks.</p>
<p>The whole concept of selling out never had much play with Dylan. In the 1960s, he <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2098635/" type="external">told</a> a reporter he would sell out to do a ladies undergarment ad— and 40 years later he <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/money/advertising/adtrack/2004-05-16-victoria-secrets-dylan_x.htm" type="external">appeared</a> in a Victoria’s Secret commercial singing, “I’m sick of love, but I’m in the thick of it. This kind of love, I’m so sick of it.“</p>
<p>That joke has too long a wind-up to come from a man with no integrity. His choice not to perform the protest songs in China that he wrote during the American Civil Rights Movement reflects more than anything an honesty with himself about his place as an artist. Activism is a lifestyle. He doesn’t perform at marches and rallies anymore or write topical songs like “ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVSWc9KzqV0" type="external">The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll</a>.” He hasn’t been that Bob Dylan for a long time.</p>
<p>Nor has anyone thought otherwise: Much of what he has written since the mid-1980s has been called second-rate. Those who complain that Dylan should speak out against human rights violations in China mock his fading voice in the same breath. His songs these days are about being rich, lonely, love-sick, and near death. (In 2001, he <a href="http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/summer-days" type="external">sang</a>, “I’m driving in the flats in my Cadillac Car, the girls all say, ‘You’re a washed-up star.” But my pockets are loaded and I’m spending every dime.“) If he ever was a protest singer, he’s not so anymore. Not playing “Blowin’ in the Wind” isn’t selling out; it’s just Dylan’s way of reminding us of something we already know: China and Vietnam might need a Bob Dylan, but they <a href="http://www.mojvideo.com/video-it-ain-t-me-babe/36cb8416efd2ca44c4b6" type="external">don’t need</a> him.</p>
<p>Consider how other artists have reconciled their music with old age. When Neil Young was 30, staying up all night in a windowless recording studio writing Wild Turkey-fueled songs, he <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5-Uqj8TwZk" type="external">sang</a>, “I’m singing a borrowed tune, I took from the Rolling Stones. Alone in this empty room, too wasted to write my own.” When he was married, 55, and raising his kids, he <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2WNs1FAPeA" type="external">sang</a>, “Our kind of love never seems to get old. It’s better than silver and gold.“</p>
<p>Tom Waits started out writing about 3 a.m.s falling in <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5MXGGcIbkI" type="external">love</a> with the last girl at the bar. “I wanted to experience what it was like to be on the road the way I imagined it would be for all the old-timers that I loved, so I would stay in these down-joints because I was absorbing all the atmosphere in those places, the ghosts in the room,” he <a href="http://www.tomwaitslibrary.com/quotes-drugs.html" type="external">said</a> of his early days in Los Angeles. When the life got to be too much, he quit his hard drinking, got married, moved to New York and he abandoned his barroom sound. Dylan could no more be a protest singer forever than Young could stay a rock-and-roll kid or Waits an LA barfly. In 2004, in one of the few interviews Dylan has given since the 1960s, he <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/02/60minutes/main658799.shtml" type="external">told</a> the late Ed Bradley, “You feel like an impostor when people think you’re something and you’re not.”</p>
<p>It’s hard to know exactly when Dylan first realized he wasn’t going to be a protest singer like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaI5IRuS2aE" type="external">Woody Guthrie</a>. Perhaps it happened around the time he exchanged his work pants and collared shirts for leather shoes and dark sunglasses and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1TKUk9nXjk" type="external">plugged</a> in his electric guitar. In any case, Dylan explained his transformation to Bradley in this way: “Those early songs were almost magically written,” he said. “Try to sit down and write something like that. There’s a magic to that, and it’s not Siegfried and Roy kind of magic, you know? It’s a different kind of a penetrating magic. And, you know, I did it. I did it at one time…and I can do other things now. But, I can’t do that.”</p>
<p>Imagine our Minnesota poet cowboy—who first came down from the North Country to sing Woody Guthrie songs 50 years ago, who landed a record deal after less than a year performing in Greenwich Village, who played when Martin Luther King Jr. talked about his <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbUtL_0vAJk" type="external">dream</a>, who <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/opinion/10dowd.html" type="external">realized</a> folk singers were “a bunch of fat people” and then picked up an electric guitar at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1TKUk9nXjk" type="external">performed</a> what would later be <a href="http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/rstone.html#500Songs" type="external">named</a> the greatest rock-and-role song of all time, and who, in 2008, was <a href="http://www.pulitzer.org/citation/2008-Special-Awards-and-Citations" type="external">given</a> a special citation by the Pulitzer Prize committee for his “profound impact on popular music and American culture”—imagine him for the first time sitting on stage in Vietnam War-battered Ho Chi Minh City, almost 70 years old, grumbling his way through unrecognized new material and unrecognizable arrangements of old favorites to a half-empty room of 4,000 aging Vietnamese.</p>
<p>The scene of this tired singer reminds me of an <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0750299/" type="external">episode</a> of the television show “The Wonder Years.” Kevin, the adolescent main character, decides to quit playing the piano. As he stands outside his teacher’s house, a narration by his older self reflects on the moment: “When you’re a little kid, you’re a little bit of everything—artist, scientist, athlete, scholar. Sometimes it seems like growing up is a process of giving those things up.” Bob Dylan may have started out a protest singer and a folk artist. But he gave that up a long time ago. “Forever Young” was a more apt closing song than “Blowing in the Wind” would have been.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | last sunday bob dylan played show vietnam first time halfcentury long career tickets didnt sell well half venues 8000 seats filled dylan took stage white cowboy hat performed two hours ending night 1974 hit forever young dylans two previous shows beijing shanghai omission protest songs like blowin wind times achangin met anger human rights watch columnists like maureen dowd idea raspy troubadour 60s freedom anthems would go dictatorship sing anthems whole new kind sellout wrote china performances last week sellout course implies dylan traded measure artistic integrity profit tour asia may consciously neglected protest songs hard imagine earn bucks whole concept selling never much play dylan 1960s told reporter would sell ladies undergarment ad 40 years later appeared victorias secret commercial singing im sick love im thick kind love im sick joke long windup come man integrity choice perform protest songs china wrote american civil rights movement reflects anything honesty place artist activism lifestyle doesnt perform marches rallies anymore write topical songs like lonesome death hattie carroll hasnt bob dylan long time anyone thought otherwise much written since mid1980s called secondrate complain dylan speak human rights violations china mock fading voice breath songs days rich lonely lovesick near death 2001 sang im driving flats cadillac car girls say youre washedup star pockets loaded im spending every dime ever protest singer hes anymore playing blowin wind isnt selling dylans way reminding us something already know china vietnam might need bob dylan dont need consider artists reconciled music old age neil young 30 staying night windowless recording studio writing wild turkeyfueled songs sang im singing borrowed tune took rolling stones alone empty room wasted write married 55 raising kids sang kind love never seems get old better silver gold tom waits started writing 3 ams falling love last girl bar wanted experience like road way imagined would oldtimers loved would stay downjoints absorbing atmosphere places ghosts room said early days los angeles life got much quit hard drinking got married moved new york abandoned barroom sound dylan could protest singer forever young could stay rockandroll kid waits la barfly 2004 one interviews dylan given since 1960s told late ed bradley feel like impostor people think youre something youre hard know exactly dylan first realized wasnt going protest singer like woody guthrie perhaps happened around time exchanged work pants collared shirts leather shoes dark sunglasses plugged electric guitar case dylan explained transformation bradley way early songs almost magically written said try sit write something like theres magic siegfried roy kind magic know different kind penetrating magic know one timeand things cant imagine minnesota poet cowboywho first came north country sing woody guthrie songs 50 years ago landed record deal less year performing greenwich village played martin luther king jr talked dream realized folk singers bunch fat people picked electric guitar 1965 newport folk festival performed would later named greatest rockandrole song time 2008 given special citation pulitzer prize committee profound impact popular music american cultureimagine first time sitting stage vietnam warbattered ho chi minh city almost 70 years old grumbling way unrecognized new material unrecognizable arrangements old favorites halfempty room 4000 aging vietnamese scene tired singer reminds episode television show wonder years kevin adolescent main character decides quit playing piano stands outside teachers house narration older self reflects moment youre little kid youre little bit everythingartist scientist athlete scholar sometimes seems like growing process giving things bob dylan may started protest singer folk artist gave long time ago forever young apt closing song blowing wind would | 583 |
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<p>The <a href="http://www.nationaldomesticworkeralliance.org/" type="external">National Domestic Workers Alliance</a> was formed at the US Social Forum in 2007. &#160;</p>
<p>Nationwide, millions of domestic workers—largely immigrant women—labor long hours cleaning, cooking, taking care of other people’s children and otherwise performing necessary tasks for wealthier people whose own jobs or lifestyles don’t leave them time or energy for this work.</p>
<p>The work is frequently off-the-books and rarely covered by binding labor agreements or even individual contracts. They are not included under the National Labor Relations Act. There are ample horror stories of domestic workers being abused or even held captive by their employers.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, May 10, the AFL-CIO formally recognized domestic workers as members of organized labor, as an agreement was made between the AFL-CIO and the <a href="http://www.nationaldomesticworkeralliance.org/" type="external">National Domestic Workers Alliance</a>, which includes 33 groups representing about 2.5 million domestic workers in 11 states and 17 major cities.</p>
<p>The NDWA has long been pushing for the strengthening of labor rights nationally for domestic workers and domestic workers bills of rights in individual states, including <a href="http://www.nationaldomesticworkeralliance.org/ca-domestic-workers-bill-of-rights" type="external">California</a>. They claimed <a href="http://www.nationaldomesticworkeralliance.org/campaigns/ny-domestic-workers-bill-of-rights" type="external">an historic victory</a> last summer when New York passed a law granting domestic workers formal labor rights. The alliance is also calling for a convention on domestic workers' rights under the International Labor Organization, which is part of the United Nations.</p>
<p>The agreement between the AFL-CIO and the NDWA says:</p>
<p>Through explicit and implicit exclusion of domestic workers from most labor and employment laws, domestic workers’ contributions to our nation’s and individual families’ household economies have gone hidden, devalued, and little understood.</p>
<p>This history of exclusion can be traced to the specifics of the industry and race politics. Primarily working in isolation in private homes, domestic workers who were predominantly African-American women were subjected to discrimination, unsafe working conditions, stolen wages, intimidation, and a long list of other abuses.</p>
<p>Although the demographics of domestic workers have changed to a mostly immigrant women workforce, the working conditions in the industry have changed very little.</p>
<p>Some of the rights sought by the NDWA are things so seemingly basic that they are not even an issue for almost every other profession—for example, the right to five hours of uninterrupted sleep per night and the right to cook their own food. The Alliance’s website says:</p>
<p>Domestic workers often labor around the clock, placing themselves and the people they care for at risk of sickness and unintentional mistakes caused by exhaustion.</p>
<p>The alliance also seeks—and in New York has obtained—the same things that workers are either guaranteed or seeking in other fields: paid sick days and paid vacation days, overtime, workers compensation. The partnership could help further these goals on multiple levels, emphasizing that domestic workers are indeed “workers” entitled to the same rights as people in other jobs; and the aforementioned rights are things that all people should have access to. (People in other professions—including restaurant work, farm work and construction—are, of course, also typically denied paid sick days, vacation days and overtime.)The partnership’s goals, as spelled out in the agreement, are:</p>
<p>—Local City and county level campaigns to enact ordinances or laws to expand protections and promote the rights of domestic workers; —Statewide campaigns to establish labor standards for domestic workers; —Campaigns to create administrative and regulatory changes at state and federal Departments of Labor; National campaigns to establish labor standards, expand collective bargaining rights, create dignified jobs and support quality care for all, such as the Caring Across Generations campaign; —International collaboration to bring visibility and dignity to the global domestic workforce, including the Decent Work for Domestic Workers Convention at the International Labor Organization.</p>
<p>The AFL-CIO and the domestic workers groups plan to accomplish these goals and generally increase the diversity and strength of the labor movement by fostering cooperation between state federations and local labor councils and domestic workers’ groups, in furtherance of both specific campaigns and general labor rights. This is part of a larger move to widen the scope of “organized labor” to include workers not traditionally represented by unions. The agreement says:</p>
<p>Until these communities know each other, work with each other, and have an institutional connection to each other, it will be much more difficult to plan and strategize together, and to build a level of trust necessary to work effectively together in pursuit of our common goals and objectives.</p>
<p>The agreement also describes how domestic workers groups can affiliate with a local union, in keeping with the AFL-CIO’s National Worker Center program launched in 2006. The agreement also stipulates that the AFL-CIO and members of NDWA won’t compete with each other in situations where unions or domestic worker groups are organizing, and won’t undermine each other’s efforts. While the agreement could have great concrete and symbolic effects for millions of domestic workers, it is limited to workers who are connected with domestic workers organizations. That means scores of domestic workers won’t be part of the partnership, likely including the most vulnerable workers in rural areas and/or in situations where they are highly isolated or exploited by their employers.</p>
<p>Hence continued outreach and organizing among domestic workers, continued strengthening and enforcement of labor laws, and even basic human rights protections—plus comprehensive immigration reform, as Michelle Chen noted <a href="" type="internal">yesterday</a>—will be key to making sure domestic workers nationwide are truly empowered and protected.</p> | true | 4 | email name recipients email comma separated message captcha national domestic workers alliance formed us social forum 2007 160 nationwide millions domestic workerslargely immigrant womenlabor long hours cleaning cooking taking care peoples children otherwise performing necessary tasks wealthier people whose jobs lifestyles dont leave time energy work work frequently offthebooks rarely covered binding labor agreements even individual contracts included national labor relations act ample horror stories domestic workers abused even held captive employers tuesday may 10 aflcio formally recognized domestic workers members organized labor agreement made aflcio national domestic workers alliance includes 33 groups representing 25 million domestic workers 11 states 17 major cities ndwa long pushing strengthening labor rights nationally domestic workers domestic workers bills rights individual states including california claimed historic victory last summer new york passed law granting domestic workers formal labor rights alliance also calling convention domestic workers rights international labor organization part united nations agreement aflcio ndwa says explicit implicit exclusion domestic workers labor employment laws domestic workers contributions nations individual families household economies gone hidden devalued little understood history exclusion traced specifics industry race politics primarily working isolation private homes domestic workers predominantly africanamerican women subjected discrimination unsafe working conditions stolen wages intimidation long list abuses although demographics domestic workers changed mostly immigrant women workforce working conditions industry changed little rights sought ndwa things seemingly basic even issue almost every professionfor example right five hours uninterrupted sleep per night right cook food alliances website says domestic workers often labor around clock placing people care risk sickness unintentional mistakes caused exhaustion alliance also seeksand new york obtainedthe things workers either guaranteed seeking fields paid sick days paid vacation days overtime workers compensation partnership could help goals multiple levels emphasizing domestic workers indeed workers entitled rights people jobs aforementioned rights things people access people professionsincluding restaurant work farm work constructionare course also typically denied paid sick days vacation days overtimethe partnerships goals spelled agreement local city county level campaigns enact ordinances laws expand protections promote rights domestic workers statewide campaigns establish labor standards domestic workers campaigns create administrative regulatory changes state federal departments labor national campaigns establish labor standards expand collective bargaining rights create dignified jobs support quality care caring across generations campaign international collaboration bring visibility dignity global domestic workforce including decent work domestic workers convention international labor organization aflcio domestic workers groups plan accomplish goals generally increase diversity strength labor movement fostering cooperation state federations local labor councils domestic workers groups furtherance specific campaigns general labor rights part larger move widen scope organized labor include workers traditionally represented unions agreement says communities know work institutional connection much difficult plan strategize together build level trust necessary work effectively together pursuit common goals objectives agreement also describes domestic workers groups affiliate local union keeping aflcios national worker center program launched 2006 agreement also stipulates aflcio members ndwa wont compete situations unions domestic worker groups organizing wont undermine others efforts agreement could great concrete symbolic effects millions domestic workers limited workers connected domestic workers organizations means scores domestic workers wont part partnership likely including vulnerable workers rural areas andor situations highly isolated exploited employers hence continued outreach organizing among domestic workers continued strengthening enforcement labor laws even basic human rights protectionsplus comprehensive immigration reform michelle chen noted yesterdaywill key making sure domestic workers nationwide truly empowered protected | 549 |
<p>Photo by PunkToad | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>The December 2017 tax deform legislation, The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will cut taxes for the wealthy and corporations and their stockholders, will raise health care premiums, further endanger the Arctic National Wildlife Reserve and the environment, and it will lead to further cuts for flawed but still important social and public welfare programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, Pell grants, etc. unless we build active resistance to these cuts and movements that go beyond demanding that we maintain the status quo.</p>
<p>Recent History of Tax Reform</p>
<p>For forty years, income and wealth in the United States has been growing more unequal. The top 1% takes about 20% of all income, which is double their share from 40 year ago. The poorest 20% of the population earns about 3% of all income– 120 times less per household. Why is this the case? The growing power of capitalists, growth of global capitalism, weaker unions, automation, and the fall in real minimum wage have constituted a one-sided class war.</p>
<p>Federal income taxes have made incomes somewhat more equal, as those with higher incomes are taxed at higher effective rates than those with lower incomes. However, changes in federal tax laws under Reagan, George W. Bush and now Trump have made federal taxes less and less progressive by primarily cutting taxes on high-income people. The highest rate of taxation went from 90% before Kennedy to 70% before Reagan to below 40% today. WA State taxes also are among most regressive, meaning lower income people pay a higher proportion of income in taxes.</p>
<p>Key Aspects of Trump’s Tax Legislation</p>
<p>A. Reductions in Federal Income Tax Rates</p>
<p>In 2017, households with incomes paid a 39.6% rate in federal income taxes on incomes over $480,000. Under the new tax plan, all incomes over $600,000 will be taxed at a 37% rate and incomes from $480,00 to $600,000 will be taxed at 35%, 4.6 percentage points less than the old rate. While all income levels will experience slight reductions in tax rates those with the highest incomes will benefit the most. In addition, there will be no reduction in social security taxes, which are higher for the majority of families than the income taxes they pay.</p>
<p>Additionally, under the new tax plan, standard deductions— income that is exempted from taxation if expenses aren’t itemized—will be doubled. In terms of equity, this is a good thing because most who itemize their deductions have higher incomes. However, the TCJA will hurt larger families because larger families previously got an exemption of income for each family member and this was ended.</p>
<p>There will be limits on how much mortgage interest and taxes one can subtract if one itemizes expenses. Now one only deduct interest on up to $750,000 of one’s mortgage, rather than the interest payments on a million dollars. Also one is now limited to $10,000 in state, local and property taxes that one can deduct—this will slightly further equality as this deduction mainly benefits the top 10% or possibly the top 20% of the income distribution who live in places with high housing costs.</p>
<p>From 2018 to 2027, when the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is set to expire, the tax cuts in the Act are expected to reduce overall tax revenues by around $440 billion dollars only about 30% of the total loss in revenue of this legislation.</p>
<p>B. Changes to Affordable Care Act</p>
<p>In his State of the Union address on January 30th, Trump talked of “eliminating an especially cruel tax that fell mostly on Americans making less than $50,000 a year.” He was referring to Obamacare (officially the Affordable Care Act) under which people had to get health insurance or pay a penalty, the individual mandate. Now, beginning in 2019, health insurance no longer is required because the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated the individual mandate of the Affordable Care Act. With the elimination of the individual mandate, healthier people are more likely to opt out of getting health insurance until they need it, leaving the insured more likely to need expensive medical care thus raising insurance rates. This large increase in health insurance rates will lead to fewer and fewer people getting health insurance due to increasing premiums— a vicious spiral of higher premiums and fewer people covered. Rates are expected to rise more than 10% or more the first year, more than $1000 per year. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the number of uninsured Americans will rise from 37 million to 50 million people by 2027. The federal government is also expected to save $340 billion between 2019 and 2027 because fewer people will receive healthcare subsidies, as they no longer sign up for government healthcare. The human cost will be increased illness, suffering and more deaths.</p>
<p>C. Estate Tax</p>
<p>Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), estate tax exemptions will double, meaning that the first $11 million dollars an individual leaves in their will and the first $22 million dollars a couple leaves in their estate, will be exempt from estate taxes. Only 0.1% of all estates will now pay this tax. It will lead to $83 billion in savings for the super wealthy over the next ten years and $83 billion less in government revenue from the situation before this bill.</p>
<p>D. Corporate and Business Taxes</p>
<p>One of the most dramatic aspects of Trump’s new tax plan is the slashing of corporate income tax rates from 35% to 21%. The extra profits gained from this cut will mainly go to increased dividends and likely increase prices of stocks. Because the richest 1% of the population owns 40% of all stock and 80% of the population owns only 7% of all stock, this cut will make income and wealth even more unequal. Also, what Trump calls “small businesses”— corporations not traded on the stock exchange and businesses owned by a few people— called pass-through entities, will also see their tax rates decrease from 39.7% to 29.6%. 70% of this income goers to the 1%.</p>
<p>U.S. corporations will also have reduced taxes on income made abroad, which will further incentivize U.S. corporations to invest abroad, increasing the “capital flight” Trump promised to limit in his campaign.</p>
<p>The Hoax of Trickle-Down Economics</p>
<p>Trump and congressional Republicans claim that the new tax plan will “create jobs, raise wages, and help small businesses.” Their argument is that lower corporate taxes will increase after-tax profits of businesses, which will then lead to investments in plant, equipment and research that will increase productivity of workers and raise wages. Such ideas are often referred to as “trickle-down economics” because they argue that the benefits of tax cuts for the wealthiest businesses and individuals will eventually “trickle down” to the workers they employ. The philosophy of trickle-down economics ignores the fact that since 2011, business profits have increased but very few of these profits have been invested in new equipment, plants or in workers, and wages haven’t increased. Rather, increased profits have been used to award higher and higher salaries and bonuses to top executives.</p>
<p>Since the 1970’s, productivity and output per worker has increased steadily but very small increases in average wages after inflation have occurred. Trickle-down economics has historically proved to be nothing but a cruel hoax.</p>
<p>Starve the Beast!</p>
<p>President Ronald Reagan passed a similar tax cut in 1981 and again in 1986. He claimed publicly that, with these cuts, people would work more and earn more and those tax revenues therefore wouldn’t fall and the budget deficit wouldn’t increase even with lower tax rates, primarily lowered for the highest income households. David Stockman, Reagan’s budget director, later admitted in many interviews that these tax cuts were a Trojan Horse to gut social spending and social programs for poor and working-class people, to “starve the beast”. Such an agenda is less hidden under Trump and Paul Ryan. When tax cuts inevitably lead to a budget deficit, it will be easier to cut and/or privatize Social Security, Medicaid, Medicare, Food Stamps, Pell grants, Low Income Energy Assistance, Housing programs, the budget of the EPA, OSHA and other regulatory agencies. This is the primary reason for this tax cut, to use the increased government deficit to justify cutting government programs that further the public good.</p>
<p>Trump’s budget proposals of February 12, 2018, which bear the influence of House Speaker, Paul Ryan, Trump’s Budget Director, Mick Mulvaney, and the Koch Brothers, are a wish list for the right-wing. They have not been enacted and hopefully won’t be but are truly dangerous to the planet and everyone but the rich. Large increases are proposed for the military budget and Homeland Security. The Trump budget proposes to cut Food Stamps (SNAP) by 27%, the Section 8 housing assistance program for low-income people by 20%, end the low-income energy assistance program, and cut Medicare by $270 billion dollars with similar cuts to Medicaid. Trump proposes to cut the budget of the EPA by 34%. While cutting funds for education, it proposes increased funds for vouchers and other aid to private schools. In addition, it proposes to expand work requirements for most programs for low-income people such as Medicaid. This tax scam and proposed budget are truly Robin Hood in reverse, to take it from the needy and give it all to the greedy.</p>
<p>False Promises!</p>
<p>Trump, in his State of the Union Speech of January 30, 2018, claimed that this tax cut was already resulting in large bonuses and wage increases for workers—another lie. According to the research group, “Just Capital”, in an analysis of the 90 largest corporations, they estimated only 6% of the tax savings of these corporations of $45 billion this year would go as bonuses or increased wages for their employees, with over ½ of this going to one time bonuses. This huge corporate tax break is a projected bonus of over $900 billion to Corporate America over the next nine years. Unlike the individual tax cuts, the corporate tax cuts are permanent and do not have to be renewed although they could be overturned by a future Congress and President.</p>
<p>What will increase wages and benefits for working people is not this latest version of trickle-down economics but rather the organized power of workers and their increased bargaining power gained through strikes, rebuilding the labor movement, winning $15 or more an hour nationally, winning an above poverty level universal basic income, reducing capital flight and ending right-wing economic policies.</p>
<p>What Is To Be Done?</p>
<p>If we are to resist Trump’s tax plan, we mustn’t settle for the old status quo or a lesser evil. It doesn’t inspire people. Rather, we must organize for what we want. For example, we must think beyond protecting the Affordable Care Act and instead demand quality and accessible health care for all including all immigrants. On a local level, we can support organizing efforts for a progressive income tax and or a tax on wealth for Olympia, Thurston County and Washington State. Additionally, our organizing efforts must connect income and wealth equality with environmental and immigrant justice, racial and gender justice, anti-militarism and anti-imperialism. They are all closely linked. Let us connect the dots.</p>
<p>I suggest we consider developing from the bottom up and using popular education methods a campaign for 2018 and beyond for a People’s Budget. It should include a tax proposal that reduces taxes for low and middle-income people, and raises taxes substantially for high-income people. These real tax reforms could finance a People’s Budget that together with major cuts in military spending, in the national security state including Homeland Security, could finance major increases in public spending for alternate energy, and for social spending to end poverty and to improve the quality of life. It could be coordinated nationally and demand that any political candidate we consider supporting in 2018, publicly support this democratically developed People’s Budget. Similar to taxes, let us demand a government budget that goes beyond preserving the current one, and develop a program of progressive taxes and a people’s budget as a step towards a longer run transformation to a participatory socialist society.</p>
<p>Originally presented as a talk in Olympia, WA. Edited for publication by Kelly Miller.</p> | true | 4 | photo punktoad cc 20 december 2017 tax deform legislation tax cuts jobs act tcja cut taxes wealthy corporations stockholders raise health care premiums endanger arctic national wildlife reserve environment lead cuts flawed still important social public welfare programs medicaid medicare food stamps pell grants etc unless build active resistance cuts movements go beyond demanding maintain status quo recent history tax reform forty years income wealth united states growing unequal top 1 takes 20 income double share 40 year ago poorest 20 population earns 3 income 120 times less per household case growing power capitalists growth global capitalism weaker unions automation fall real minimum wage constituted onesided class war federal income taxes made incomes somewhat equal higher incomes taxed higher effective rates lower incomes however changes federal tax laws reagan george w bush trump made federal taxes less less progressive primarily cutting taxes highincome people highest rate taxation went 90 kennedy 70 reagan 40 today wa state taxes also among regressive meaning lower income people pay higher proportion income taxes key aspects trumps tax legislation reductions federal income tax rates 2017 households incomes paid 396 rate federal income taxes incomes 480000 new tax plan incomes 600000 taxed 37 rate incomes 48000 600000 taxed 35 46 percentage points less old rate income levels experience slight reductions tax rates highest incomes benefit addition reduction social security taxes higher majority families income taxes pay additionally new tax plan standard deductions income exempted taxation expenses arent itemizedwill doubled terms equity good thing itemize deductions higher incomes however tcja hurt larger families larger families previously got exemption income family member ended limits much mortgage interest taxes one subtract one itemizes expenses one deduct interest 750000 ones mortgage rather interest payments million dollars also one limited 10000 state local property taxes one deductthis slightly equality deduction mainly benefits top 10 possibly top 20 income distribution live places high housing costs 2018 2027 tax cuts jobs act set expire tax cuts act expected reduce overall tax revenues around 440 billion dollars 30 total loss revenue legislation b changes affordable care act state union address january 30th trump talked eliminating especially cruel tax fell mostly americans making less 50000 year referring obamacare officially affordable care act people get health insurance pay penalty individual mandate beginning 2019 health insurance longer required tax cuts jobs act eliminated individual mandate affordable care act elimination individual mandate healthier people likely opt getting health insurance need leaving insured likely need expensive medical care thus raising insurance rates large increase health insurance rates lead fewer fewer people getting health insurance due increasing premiums vicious spiral higher premiums fewer people covered rates expected rise 10 first year 1000 per year congressional budget office estimates number uninsured americans rise 37 million 50 million people 2027 federal government also expected save 340 billion 2019 2027 fewer people receive healthcare subsidies longer sign government healthcare human cost increased illness suffering deaths c estate tax tax cuts jobs act tcja estate tax exemptions double meaning first 11 million dollars individual leaves first 22 million dollars couple leaves estate exempt estate taxes 01 estates pay tax lead 83 billion savings super wealthy next ten years 83 billion less government revenue situation bill corporate business taxes one dramatic aspects trumps new tax plan slashing corporate income tax rates 35 21 extra profits gained cut mainly go increased dividends likely increase prices stocks richest 1 population owns 40 stock 80 population owns 7 stock cut make income wealth even unequal also trump calls small businesses corporations traded stock exchange businesses owned people called passthrough entities also see tax rates decrease 397 296 70 income goers 1 us corporations also reduced taxes income made abroad incentivize us corporations invest abroad increasing capital flight trump promised limit campaign hoax trickledown economics trump congressional republicans claim new tax plan create jobs raise wages help small businesses argument lower corporate taxes increase aftertax profits businesses lead investments plant equipment research increase productivity workers raise wages ideas often referred trickledown economics argue benefits tax cuts wealthiest businesses individuals eventually trickle workers employ philosophy trickledown economics ignores fact since 2011 business profits increased profits invested new equipment plants workers wages havent increased rather increased profits used award higher higher salaries bonuses top executives since 1970s productivity output per worker increased steadily small increases average wages inflation occurred trickledown economics historically proved nothing cruel hoax starve beast president ronald reagan passed similar tax cut 1981 1986 claimed publicly cuts people would work earn tax revenues therefore wouldnt fall budget deficit wouldnt increase even lower tax rates primarily lowered highest income households david stockman reagans budget director later admitted many interviews tax cuts trojan horse gut social spending social programs poor workingclass people starve beast agenda less hidden trump paul ryan tax cuts inevitably lead budget deficit easier cut andor privatize social security medicaid medicare food stamps pell grants low income energy assistance housing programs budget epa osha regulatory agencies primary reason tax cut use increased government deficit justify cutting government programs public good trumps budget proposals february 12 2018 bear influence house speaker paul ryan trumps budget director mick mulvaney koch brothers wish list rightwing enacted hopefully wont truly dangerous planet everyone rich large increases proposed military budget homeland security trump budget proposes cut food stamps snap 27 section 8 housing assistance program lowincome people 20 end lowincome energy assistance program cut medicare 270 billion dollars similar cuts medicaid trump proposes cut budget epa 34 cutting funds education proposes increased funds vouchers aid private schools addition proposes expand work requirements programs lowincome people medicaid tax scam proposed budget truly robin hood reverse take needy give greedy false promises trump state union speech january 30 2018 claimed tax cut already resulting large bonuses wage increases workersanother lie according research group capital analysis 90 largest corporations estimated 6 tax savings corporations 45 billion year would go bonuses increased wages employees ½ going one time bonuses huge corporate tax break projected bonus 900 billion corporate america next nine years unlike individual tax cuts corporate tax cuts permanent renewed although could overturned future congress president increase wages benefits working people latest version trickledown economics rather organized power workers increased bargaining power gained strikes rebuilding labor movement winning 15 hour nationally winning poverty level universal basic income reducing capital flight ending rightwing economic policies done resist trumps tax plan mustnt settle old status quo lesser evil doesnt inspire people rather must organize want example must think beyond protecting affordable care act instead demand quality accessible health care including immigrants local level support organizing efforts progressive income tax tax wealth olympia thurston county washington state additionally organizing efforts must connect income wealth equality environmental immigrant justice racial gender justice antimilitarism antiimperialism closely linked let us connect dots suggest consider developing bottom using popular education methods campaign 2018 beyond peoples budget include tax proposal reduces taxes low middleincome people raises taxes substantially highincome people real tax reforms could finance peoples budget together major cuts military spending national security state including homeland security could finance major increases public spending alternate energy social spending end poverty improve quality life could coordinated nationally demand political candidate consider supporting 2018 publicly support democratically developed peoples budget similar taxes let us demand government budget goes beyond preserving current one develop program progressive taxes peoples budget step towards longer run transformation participatory socialist society originally presented talk olympia wa edited publication kelly miller | 1,230 |
<p>MARIUPOL, Ukraine — Just an hour’s drive from this city under siege, at an old resort on the Azov Sea that’s now a military base, militants from Chechnya—veterans of the jihad in their own lands and, more recently, in <a href="/content/dailybeast/features/2013/09/syria-crisis.html" type="external">Syria</a>—now serve in what’s called the Sheikh Mansur Battalion. Some of them say they have trained, at least, in the Middle East with fighters for the so-called <a href="/content/dailybeast/features/isis.html" type="external">Islamic State, or ISIS</a>.</p>
<p>Among the irregular forces who’ve enlisted in the fight against the Russian-backed separatists in the <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2015/09/01/ukraine-s-anti-terrorist-terror.html" type="external">Donbas region of eastern Ukraine</a>, few are more controversial or more dangerous to the credibility of the cause they say they want to serve. Russian President Vladimir Putin would love to portray the fighters he supports as crusaders against wild-eyed jihadists rather than the government in Ukraine that wants to integrate the country more closely with Western Europe.</p>
<p>Yet many Ukrainian patriots, desperate to gain an edge in the fight against the Russian-backed forces, are willing to accept the Chechen militants on their side.</p>
<p>Over the past year, dozens of Chechen fighters have come across Ukraine’s border, some legally, some illegally, and connected in Donbas with the Right Sector, a far-right-wing militia. The two groups, with two battalions, have little in common, but they share an enemy and they share this base.</p>
<p>The Daily Beast spoke with the Chechen militants about their possible support for the Islamic State and its affiliate in the Northern Caucasus region of Russia, which is now called the Islamic State Caucasus Emirate and is labeled a terrorist organization by both Russia and the United States.</p>
<p>The Chechen fighters said they were motivated by a chance to fight in Ukraine against the Russians, whom they called “occupiers of our country, Ichkeriya,” another term for Chechnya.</p>
<p>Indeed, they were upset that Ukrainian authorities did not allow more Chechen militants to move to Ukraine from the Middle East and the mountains of the Caucasus. The Sheikh Mansur Battalion, founded in Ukraine in October 2014, “needs re-enforcement,” they said.</p>
<p>The man the Chechens defer to as their “emir,” or leader, is called “Muslim,” a common forename in the Caucasus. He talked about how he personally crossed the Ukrainian border last year: “It took me two days to walk across Ukraine’s border, and the Ukrainian border control shot at me,” he said. He lives on this military base here openly enough but is frustrated that more of his recruits can’t get through. “Three of our guys came here from Syria, 15 more are waiting in Turkey,” he told The Daily Beast. “They want to take my path, join our battalion here right now, but the Ukrainian border patrol is not letting them in.”</p>
<p>Muslim pulled out a piece of paper with a name of another Chechen heading to join the battalion. The handwritten note said that Amayev Khavadzhi was detained on September 4, 2014, in Greece and now could be deported to Russia. (Khayadzhi’s lawyer in Greece told The Daily Beast on the phone that there was a chance that his defendant would be transferred to his family in France instead.)</p>
<p>“Two more of our friends have been detained, and are threatened with deportation to Russia, where they get locked up for life or Kadyrov kills them,” Muslim told The Daily Beast, referring to the pro-Putin strongman of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov.</p>
<p>The commander pointed at a young bearded militant next to him: “Mansur came here from Syria,” Muslim said. “He used ISIS as a training base to improve his fighting skills.” Mansur stretched out his right hand, which was disfigured, he said, by a bullet wound. Two more bullets were still stuck in his back, he said.</p>
<p>“No photographs,” Mansur shook his head when a journalist tried to take his picture. Not even of his hand, not even from the back: “My religion does not allow that.”</p>
<p>Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't).</p>
<p>In fact, to demonstrate they were tough, armed, and that their numbers were growing these Chechens posted their photographs on the Russian social network <a href="https://vk.com/id277967365" type="external">Vkontakte</a>, which actually is controlled by the Russian government. But several had their faces blanked out, presumably to avoid prosecution, whether in Russia or the West.</p>
<p>“Kadyrovtsy [Kadyrov] knows my face and my hand too well,” Mansur explained to The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>Mansur said he did not have to run across the border under a hail of of bullets like Muslim. “We managed to reach an agreement with the Ukrainians,” he said.</p>
<p>The arrival of pro-Ukrainian Chechen fighters from abroad helped relieve some of the immigration problems of Chechens already living in Ukraine, the militants explained.</p>
<p>Kadyrov had sent some of his Chechens to fight on the Russian side of the conflict last year, said Muslim, and as a result “there was a temporary danger that Chechen families might be deported from Ukraine… But as soon as we started coming here last August, no Chechen in Ukraine had reasons to complain.”</p>
<p>Were former fighters coming to Ukraine from Syria because they were disappointed (or appalled) by the ideology of ISIS?</p>
<p>“We have been fighting against Russia for over 400 years; today they [the Russians] blow up and burn our brothers alive, together with children, so here in Ukraine we continue to fight our war,” the commander said. Many in Ukraine remembered the Chechen war of the mid-1990s as a war for independence, which briefly was given, then taken away.</p>
<p>Since then the war in the Caucasus has morphed into terrorism, killing about 1,000 civilians, many of them children, in a series of terror attacks. And whatever the common enemy, that poses a serious problem for Kiev if it embraces such fighters.</p>
<p>“The Ukrainian government should be aware that Islamic radicals fight against democracy,” says Varvara Pakhomenko, an expert at the International Crisis Group. “Today they unite with Ukrainian nationalists against Russians, tomorrow they will be fighting against liberals.”</p>
<p>Pakhomenko says something similar happened in Georgia in 2012 when the government there found itself accused of cooperation with Islamic radicals from Europe, Chechnya, and the Pankisi Gorge, an ethnic Chechen region of Georgia.</p>
<p>For international observers covering terrorism in Russia and Caucasus in the past 15 years, the presence of Islamic radicals in Ukraine sounds “disastrous,” monitors from the International Crisis Group told The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>But many ordinary Ukrainians and officials in Mariupol support the idea of retaining more Chechen militia fighters. “They are fearless fighters, ready to die for us, we love them, anybody who would protect us from death,” said Galina Odnorog, a volunteer supplying equipment, water, food, and other items to battalions told The Daily Beast. The previous night Ukrainian forces reported six dead Ukrainian soldiers and over a dozen wounded.</p>
<p>“ISIS, terrorists—anybody is better than our lame leaders,” says local legislative council deputy Alexander Yaroshenko. “I feel more comfortable around Muslim and his guys than with our mayor or governor.”</p>
<p>The Right Sector battalion that cooperates with the Chechen militants is a law unto itself, often out of control, and tending to incorporate anyone it wants into its ranks. In July two people were killed and eight wounded in a gun and grenade battle between police and Right Sector militia in western Ukraine. On Monday, Right Sector militants triggered street battles in the center of Kiev that left three policemen dead and over 130 wounded.</p>
<p>Yet the government in Kiev has been considering the transfer of the Right Sector into a special unit of the SBU, Ukraine’s security service, which has made many people wonder whether the Chechen militia will be joining the government units as well. So far, neither the Right Sector battalion nor the Chechen battalion have been registered with official forces.</p>
<p>In Ukraine, which is losing dozens of soldiers and civilians every week, many things could spin out of control but “it would be unimaginable to allow former or current ISIS fighters to join any government-controlled or -sponsored military unit,” says Paul Quinn-Judge, senior adviser for International Crisis Group in Russia and Ukraine. “It would be politically disastrous for the Poroshenko administration: No Western government in its right mind would accept this, and it would be an enormous propaganda gift for the Kremlin. The Ukrainian government would be better served by publicizing their decisions to turn ISIS vets back at the border.”</p> | true | 4 | mariupol ukraine hours drive city siege old resort azov sea thats military base militants chechnyaveterans jihad lands recently syrianow serve whats called sheikh mansur battalion say trained least middle east fighters socalled islamic state isis among irregular forces whove enlisted fight russianbacked separatists donbas region eastern ukraine controversial dangerous credibility cause say want serve russian president vladimir putin would love portray fighters supports crusaders wildeyed jihadists rather government ukraine wants integrate country closely western europe yet many ukrainian patriots desperate gain edge fight russianbacked forces willing accept chechen militants side past year dozens chechen fighters come across ukraines border legally illegally connected donbas right sector farrightwing militia two groups two battalions little common share enemy share base daily beast spoke chechen militants possible support islamic state affiliate northern caucasus region russia called islamic state caucasus emirate labeled terrorist organization russia united states chechen fighters said motivated chance fight ukraine russians called occupiers country ichkeriya another term chechnya indeed upset ukrainian authorities allow chechen militants move ukraine middle east mountains caucasus sheikh mansur battalion founded ukraine october 2014 needs reenforcement said man chechens defer emir leader called muslim common forename caucasus talked personally crossed ukrainian border last year took two days walk across ukraines border ukrainian border control shot said lives military base openly enough frustrated recruits cant get three guys came syria 15 waiting turkey told daily beast want take path join battalion right ukrainian border patrol letting muslim pulled piece paper name another chechen heading join battalion handwritten note said amayev khavadzhi detained september 4 2014 greece could deported russia khayadzhis lawyer greece told daily beast phone chance defendant would transferred family france instead two friends detained threatened deportation russia get locked life kadyrov kills muslim told daily beast referring proputin strongman chechnya ramzan kadyrov commander pointed young bearded militant next mansur came syria muslim said used isis training base improve fighting skills mansur stretched right hand disfigured said bullet wound two bullets still stuck back said photographs mansur shook head journalist tried take picture even hand even back religion allow start finish day top stories daily beast speedy smart summary news need know nothing dont fact demonstrate tough armed numbers growing chechens posted photographs russian social network vkontakte actually controlled russian government several faces blanked presumably avoid prosecution whether russia west kadyrovtsy kadyrov knows face hand well mansur explained daily beast mansur said run across border hail bullets like muslim managed reach agreement ukrainians said arrival proukrainian chechen fighters abroad helped relieve immigration problems chechens already living ukraine militants explained kadyrov sent chechens fight russian side conflict last year said muslim result temporary danger chechen families might deported ukraine soon started coming last august chechen ukraine reasons complain former fighters coming ukraine syria disappointed appalled ideology isis fighting russia 400 years today russians blow burn brothers alive together children ukraine continue fight war commander said many ukraine remembered chechen war mid1990s war independence briefly given taken away since war caucasus morphed terrorism killing 1000 civilians many children series terror attacks whatever common enemy poses serious problem kiev embraces fighters ukrainian government aware islamic radicals fight democracy says varvara pakhomenko expert international crisis group today unite ukrainian nationalists russians tomorrow fighting liberals pakhomenko says something similar happened georgia 2012 government found accused cooperation islamic radicals europe chechnya pankisi gorge ethnic chechen region georgia international observers covering terrorism russia caucasus past 15 years presence islamic radicals ukraine sounds disastrous monitors international crisis group told daily beast many ordinary ukrainians officials mariupol support idea retaining chechen militia fighters fearless fighters ready die us love anybody would protect us death said galina odnorog volunteer supplying equipment water food items battalions told daily beast previous night ukrainian forces reported six dead ukrainian soldiers dozen wounded isis terroristsanybody better lame leaders says local legislative council deputy alexander yaroshenko feel comfortable around muslim guys mayor governor right sector battalion cooperates chechen militants law unto often control tending incorporate anyone wants ranks july two people killed eight wounded gun grenade battle police right sector militia western ukraine monday right sector militants triggered street battles center kiev left three policemen dead 130 wounded yet government kiev considering transfer right sector special unit sbu ukraines security service made many people wonder whether chechen militia joining government units well far neither right sector battalion chechen battalion registered official forces ukraine losing dozens soldiers civilians every week many things could spin control would unimaginable allow former current isis fighters join governmentcontrolled sponsored military unit says paul quinnjudge senior adviser international crisis group russia ukraine would politically disastrous poroshenko administration western government right mind would accept would enormous propaganda gift kremlin ukrainian government would better served publicizing decisions turn isis vets back border | 782 |
<p>A French-language version of this article was published Monday in the newspaper Le Monde.</p>
<p>The intoxication of war, fueled by the euphoric nationalism that swept through the country like a plague following the attacks of 9/11, is a spent force in the United States. The high-blown rhetoric of patriotism and national destiny, of the sacred duty to reshape the world through violence, to liberate the enslaved and implant democracy in the Middle East, has finally been exposed as empty and meaningless. The war machine has tried all the old tricks. It trotted out the requisite footage of atrocities. It issued the histrionic warnings that the evil dictator will turn his weapons of mass destruction against us if we do not bomb and “degrade” his military. It appealed to the nation’s noble sacrifice in World War II, with the Secretary of State John Kerry calling the present situation a <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-24004687" type="external">“Munich moment.”</a> But none of it worked. It was only an <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/10/us-syria-crisis-analysis-idUSBRE98902D20130910%20" type="external">offhand remark</a> by Kerry that opened the door to a Russian initiative, providing the Obama administration a swift exit from its mindless bellicosity and what would have been a humiliating domestic defeat. Twelve long years of fruitless war in Afghanistan and another 10 in Iraq have left the public wary of the lies of politicians, sick of the endless violence of empire and unwilling to continue to pump trillions of dollars into a war machine that has made a small cabal of defense contractors and arms manufacturers such as Raytheon and Halliburton huge profits while we are economically and politically hollowed out from the inside. The party is over.</p>
<p>The myth of war, as each generation discovers over the corpses of its young and the looting of its national treasury by war profiteers, is a lie. War is no longer able to divert Americans from the economic and political decay that is rapidly turning the nation into a corporate oligarchy, a nation where “the consent of the governed” is a cruel joke. War cannot hide what we have become. War has made us a nation that openly tortures and holds people indefinitely in our archipelago of offshore penal colonies. War has unleashed death squads — known as special operations forces — to assassinate our enemies around the globe, even American citizens. War has seen us terrorize whole populations, including populations with which we are not officially at war, with armed drones that circle night and day above mud-walled villages in Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia as well as Iraq and Afghanistan. War has shredded, in the name of national security, our most basic civil liberties. War has turned us into the most spied-upon, monitored, eavesdropped and photographed population in human history. War has seen our most courageous dissidents and whistle-blowers — those who warned us of the crimes of war and empire, from Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning to Edward Snowden — become persecuted political prisoners or the hunted. War has made a few very rich, as it always does, as our schools, libraries and firehouses are closed in the name of fiscal austerity, basic social service programs for children and the elderly are shut down, cities such as Detroit declare bankruptcy, and chronic underemployment and unemployment hover at 15 percent, perhaps 20. No one knows the truth anymore about America. The vast Potemkin village we have become, the monstrous lie that is America, includes the willful manipulation of financial and official statistics from Wall Street and Washington.</p>
<p>We are slowly awakening, after years on a drunken bender, to the awful pain of sobriety and the unpleasant glare of daylight. We are being forced to face grim truths about ourselves and the war machine. We have understood that we cannot impart our “virtues” through violence, that all talk of human rights, once you employ the industrial weapons of the modern battlefield, is absurd. We see through the Orwellian assertions made by Barack Obama and John Kerry, who have assured the world that the United States is considering only an <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/syria-john-kerry-unbelievably-small-comment-96461.html" type="external">“unbelievably small, limited” strike</a> on Syria that is not a war. We know that the Pentagon’s plan to obliterate the command bunkers, airfields or the artillery batteries and rocket launchers used to fire chemical projectiles is indeed what the politicians insist it is not — a war. We know that the launching of several hundred Tomahawk missiles from destroyers and submarines in the Mediterranean Sea on Syrian military and command installations would be perceived by the Syrians — as we would should such missiles be launched against us — as an act of war. A Tomahawk carries a 1,000-pound bomb or 166 cluster bombs. One Tomahawk has appalling destructive power. Hundreds mean indiscriminate death from the sky. We have heard the careful parsing that does not preclude, should the Pandora’s box of war be opened and chaos envelope Syria, the possible deployment of troops on the ground. We have listened to Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, concede that “there is a probability for collateral damage.” We know this means civilians will be killed to prevent the regime of Bashar Assad from killing civilians. Only the circular logic of war makes such a proposition rational. And this circular logic, no longer obscured by the waving of flags, the bombast of “glory and honor,” the cant of politicians, the self-exaltation that comes with the disease of nationalism, means that Barack Obama and the war machine he serves are going to face a wave of popular revulsion if he starts another war.</p>
<p />
<p>Chris Hedges is a former Middle East bureau chief for The New York Times. He is the author, with Joe Sacco, of “Days of Destruction, Days of Revolt.”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | frenchlanguage version article published monday newspaper le monde intoxication war fueled euphoric nationalism swept country like plague following attacks 911 spent force united states highblown rhetoric patriotism national destiny sacred duty reshape world violence liberate enslaved implant democracy middle east finally exposed empty meaningless war machine tried old tricks trotted requisite footage atrocities issued histrionic warnings evil dictator turn weapons mass destruction us bomb degrade military appealed nations noble sacrifice world war ii secretary state john kerry calling present situation munich moment none worked offhand remark kerry opened door russian initiative providing obama administration swift exit mindless bellicosity would humiliating domestic defeat twelve long years fruitless war afghanistan another 10 iraq left public wary lies politicians sick endless violence empire unwilling continue pump trillions dollars war machine made small cabal defense contractors arms manufacturers raytheon halliburton huge profits economically politically hollowed inside party myth war generation discovers corpses young looting national treasury war profiteers lie war longer able divert americans economic political decay rapidly turning nation corporate oligarchy nation consent governed cruel joke war hide become war made us nation openly tortures holds people indefinitely archipelago offshore penal colonies war unleashed death squads known special operations forces assassinate enemies around globe even american citizens war seen us terrorize whole populations including populations officially war armed drones circle night day mudwalled villages pakistan yemen somalia well iraq afghanistan war shredded name national security basic civil liberties war turned us spiedupon monitored eavesdropped photographed population human history war seen courageous dissidents whistleblowers warned us crimes war empire chelsea formerly bradley manning edward snowden become persecuted political prisoners hunted war made rich always schools libraries firehouses closed name fiscal austerity basic social service programs children elderly shut cities detroit declare bankruptcy chronic underemployment unemployment hover 15 percent perhaps 20 one knows truth anymore america vast potemkin village become monstrous lie america includes willful manipulation financial official statistics wall street washington slowly awakening years drunken bender awful pain sobriety unpleasant glare daylight forced face grim truths war machine understood impart virtues violence talk human rights employ industrial weapons modern battlefield absurd see orwellian assertions made barack obama john kerry assured world united states considering unbelievably small limited strike syria war know pentagons plan obliterate command bunkers airfields artillery batteries rocket launchers used fire chemical projectiles indeed politicians insist war know launching several hundred tomahawk missiles destroyers submarines mediterranean sea syrian military command installations would perceived syrians would missiles launched us act war tomahawk carries 1000pound bomb 166 cluster bombs one tomahawk appalling destructive power hundreds mean indiscriminate death sky heard careful parsing preclude pandoras box war opened chaos envelope syria possible deployment troops ground listened gen martin dempsey chairman joint chiefs staff concede probability collateral damage know means civilians killed prevent regime bashar assad killing civilians circular logic war makes proposition rational circular logic longer obscured waving flags bombast glory honor cant politicians selfexaltation comes disease nationalism means barack obama war machine serves going face wave popular revulsion starts another war chris hedges former middle east bureau chief new york times author joe sacco days destruction days revolt | 514 |
<p>Emanuel's victory sheds light on how Chicago politics has—and has not—changed with regard to key issues: race, the fabled Democratic machine and the future of urban progressive politics.</p>
<p>In the first round of Chicago’s municipal elections on Tuesday, former Obama chief of staff and Chicago Congressman Rahm Emanuel handily defeated his three major opponents, avoiding a run-off with 55 percent of a low-turnout vote.</p>
<p>Emanuel won the race to succeed Richard M. Daley, the city’s longest-tenure mayor, in part because he raised so much more money than all of his opponents combined (most from big out-of-state donations). He then spent the money effectively on ads turning his notorious abrasiveness into the toughness needed for the job. And unlikely as it once seemed, he became a sympathetic victim figure as unclear opponents tried to knock him off the ballot. He had the implied but never openly expressed support from Daley (whose name Emanuel virtually never mentioned until his victory speech), open support of former president Bill Clinton, and the power of association with President Barack Obama, which was extraordinarily persuasive with voters–especially African-Americans–in Obama’s home town. And he faced a modest roster of opponents, who weakened themselves as they campaigned.</p>
<p>Emanuel’s victory sheds light on how Chicago politics has–and has not–changed with regard to key issues: race, the fabled Democratic machine and the future of urban progressive politics.</p>
<p>Race: Chicago remains a highly segregated city, but there’s been a decline in the raw racism that characterized much of post-World War II city politics and erupted in the 1980s in white Democrats’ rebellion against the city’s first black mayor–and first significant reform mayor in many decades, Harold Washington. The city has also undergone a demographic shift in the last decade with a large loss of black residents, an increase in Latinos, and maintenance of the white share, so that the population is now roughly evenly split among the three groups.</p>
<p>But since the “council wars” of the 1980s, white voters in the city and beyond have helped elect African-Americans to top political positions in the state and other jurisdictions, such as Carol Moseley Braun and Barack Obama as U.S. Senators and last fall Toni Preckwinkle as county board president. And black voters, long accustomed to voting for white politicians, have shown they will both pursue more black representation but not under any circumstances.</p>
<p>Emanuel won majorities in 40 of 50 city wards, including every black majority ward. He failed to get a majority or plurality in remaining wards, most with significant Latino constituencies, as well as working class whites. Braun, who was named the black consensus candidate late last year by a self-appointed group of political, business and community leaders, ran a disjointed campaign with little clarity of message and many gaffes. She ran fourth overall, behind two Latinos–lawyer and former Daley aide and appointee Gery Chico and City Clerk Miguel del Valle.</p>
<p>Schoolteacher Shirley Johnson may be representative of black supporters of Emanuel. She sees him as “dedicated, no-nonsense” and bringing with him “so many connections,” including Obama, which she hopes will bring more money to the city. But as a union activist she worries about his support for merit pay and ideas for education that “play to Republican talking points” about teachers and public employees as the problem. She rejects Braun as having “made too many poor decisions” in previous positions, and found the call to black unity “demeaning to black people. We’re not all of one mind. We’ve moved beyond that.”</p>
<p>The lesson to black leaders is that race politics does not work as well for black candidates or voters as coalition politics on behalf of progressive goals–a lesson that Washington’s victory demonstrated even at a time when race-conscious voting was more intense. Daley himself eventually won over many black leaders, then voters, by judiciously distributing favors and through the power of incumbency against flawed campaigns. But Daley did not have a lock on black support, since he failed to address adequately so many black community issues. And blacks are likely to measure Emanuel as well based on what he delivers.</p>
<p>The machine: Richard J. Daley, the boss of the last potent big city political machine, built his power on a blue-collar patronage army, but it was under assault in his last years. And despite the machine’s working class base, and his belief in government, Daley I always supported business interests in the city.</p>
<p>By the time his son took power, the old machine only persisted in some wards, and Daley II relied on “pin stripe” or contractor patronage to fund campaigns that were more like TV-oriented mayoral campaigns in other big cities. He still depended on and even helped create some of the ward machine-like operations, struck deals with the machine aldermen, and tolerated pandemic corruption in city contracting.</p>
<p>As budget problems grew, worsened by diversion of money into tax-increment finance districts that helped downtown business interests, he increased fees and taxes but never enough to cover all obligations, and instead shortchanged public employee pension funds and relied on one-time measures, especially selling off city assets, like its parking meters. He admired business and seemed to disdain government, even when he was in charge.</p>
<p>Emanuel as a campaigner was the more typical American mayoral politician, like New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg but with millions, not billions, in personal wealth. He relied heavily on advertising, rather than the northwest side machine aldermen or committeemen who supported him (and often fared worse with their candidacies in their own wards). He faced opposition from southwest side machine Democrats, like long-time council powerhouse Ed Burke (who supported Chico), and received few union endorsements. None of the big public employee unions endorsed him, because they expect him to demand concessions, try to cut pensions, to threaten more privatization of services (though he said both public opinion and current capital markets make privatizing more assets unlikely for now). AFSCME even encouraged members to vote for “anybody but Rahm.”</p>
<p>Nobody knows for sure how he will govern. Despite a formal division described as a weak mayor/strong city council, Emanuel has indicated he wants to re-organize the council, taking power from Burke. The council, which will have many new members and potentially a larger progressive bloc, could turn more independent (it would be hard to be more of a rubber stamp), but Emanuel could easily use his strong electoral showing and money thrown into remaining races to put together a bloc–maybe even a majority–loyal to him.</p>
<p>But the old machine is virtually dead. Emanuel is a more conventional urban politician than Daley II has been but not a self-conscious progressive reformer like Washington, willing to challenge business interests. Emanuel, more than even Daley II, represents both business interests and a business mentality. The suits are in control.</p>
<p>Progressive urban politics: Reformers in Chicago in the ’60s and ’70s called themselves “independents,” un-bought by and opposed to machine rule. With the Washington movement, progressives identified as fighting for the interests of neighborhoods and communities, a proxy for working class interests as well as geographical areas and non-white residents suffering neglect while the unraveling machine took care of downtown business.</p>
<p>But under Daley II the progressive forces–political reformers, community organizations, neighborhood development groups, civil rights organizations and others–weakened, more often soliciting modest help from Daley than posing real challenges. Unions increasingly became independent and critical of Daley, especially when he sided with Wal-Mart against them. Most did not endorse Daley (or anyone) in the last election, and some became deeply involved in cultivating aldermanic candidates, but the victors did not always turn out progressive in office. The weakness showed in this election.</p>
<p>Miguel del Valle, part of a progressive Latino leadership group that supported Washington, was initially the favored candidate of the left, but he ran a poorly financed, lackluster campaign, not even pushing progressive initiatives he had proposed, such as a financial transactions tax. Perhaps his most energetic speech of the campaign came as he conceded, vowing to lead a progressive movement. Building such a movement is possible, especially with many unions politically independent of Emanuel and likely to be seeking allies in confronting his demands. Partly the success depends on making race and ethnicity of candidates less important than clarity of vision, concreteness of plans, and a strategy to win.</p>
<p>David Moberg, a senior editor of In These Times, has been on the staff of the magazine since it began publishing in 1976. Before joining In These Times, he completed his work for a Ph.D. in anthropology at the University of Chicago and worked for Newsweek. He has received fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the Nation Institute for research on the new global economy. He can be reached at [email protected].</p> | true | 4 | emanuels victory sheds light chicago politics hasand notchanged regard key issues race fabled democratic machine future urban progressive politics first round chicagos municipal elections tuesday former obama chief staff chicago congressman rahm emanuel handily defeated three major opponents avoiding runoff 55 percent lowturnout vote emanuel race succeed richard daley citys longesttenure mayor part raised much money opponents combined big outofstate donations spent money effectively ads turning notorious abrasiveness toughness needed job unlikely seemed became sympathetic victim figure unclear opponents tried knock ballot implied never openly expressed support daley whose name emanuel virtually never mentioned victory speech open support former president bill clinton power association president barack obama extraordinarily persuasive votersespecially africanamericansin obamas home town faced modest roster opponents weakened campaigned emanuels victory sheds light chicago politics hasand notchanged regard key issues race fabled democratic machine future urban progressive politics race chicago remains highly segregated city theres decline raw racism characterized much postworld war ii city politics erupted 1980s white democrats rebellion citys first black mayorand first significant reform mayor many decades harold washington city also undergone demographic shift last decade large loss black residents increase latinos maintenance white share population roughly evenly split among three groups since council wars 1980s white voters city beyond helped elect africanamericans top political positions state jurisdictions carol moseley braun barack obama us senators last fall toni preckwinkle county board president black voters long accustomed voting white politicians shown pursue black representation circumstances emanuel majorities 40 50 city wards including every black majority ward failed get majority plurality remaining wards significant latino constituencies well working class whites braun named black consensus candidate late last year selfappointed group political business community leaders ran disjointed campaign little clarity message many gaffes ran fourth overall behind two latinoslawyer former daley aide appointee gery chico city clerk miguel del valle schoolteacher shirley johnson may representative black supporters emanuel sees dedicated nononsense bringing many connections including obama hopes bring money city union activist worries support merit pay ideas education play republican talking points teachers public employees problem rejects braun made many poor decisions previous positions found call black unity demeaning black people one mind weve moved beyond lesson black leaders race politics work well black candidates voters coalition politics behalf progressive goalsa lesson washingtons victory demonstrated even time raceconscious voting intense daley eventually many black leaders voters judiciously distributing favors power incumbency flawed campaigns daley lock black support since failed address adequately many black community issues blacks likely measure emanuel well based delivers machine richard j daley boss last potent big city political machine built power bluecollar patronage army assault last years despite machines working class base belief government daley always supported business interests city time son took power old machine persisted wards daley ii relied pin stripe contractor patronage fund campaigns like tvoriented mayoral campaigns big cities still depended even helped create ward machinelike operations struck deals machine aldermen tolerated pandemic corruption city contracting budget problems grew worsened diversion money taxincrement finance districts helped downtown business interests increased fees taxes never enough cover obligations instead shortchanged public employee pension funds relied onetime measures especially selling city assets like parking meters admired business seemed disdain government even charge emanuel campaigner typical american mayoral politician like new york mayor michael bloomberg millions billions personal wealth relied heavily advertising rather northwest side machine aldermen committeemen supported often fared worse candidacies wards faced opposition southwest side machine democrats like longtime council powerhouse ed burke supported chico received union endorsements none big public employee unions endorsed expect demand concessions try cut pensions threaten privatization services though said public opinion current capital markets make privatizing assets unlikely afscme even encouraged members vote anybody rahm nobody knows sure govern despite formal division described weak mayorstrong city council emanuel indicated wants reorganize council taking power burke council many new members potentially larger progressive bloc could turn independent would hard rubber stamp emanuel could easily use strong electoral showing money thrown remaining races put together blocmaybe even majorityloyal old machine virtually dead emanuel conventional urban politician daley ii selfconscious progressive reformer like washington willing challenge business interests emanuel even daley ii represents business interests business mentality suits control progressive urban politics reformers chicago 60s 70s called independents unbought opposed machine rule washington movement progressives identified fighting interests neighborhoods communities proxy working class interests well geographical areas nonwhite residents suffering neglect unraveling machine took care downtown business daley ii progressive forcespolitical reformers community organizations neighborhood development groups civil rights organizations othersweakened often soliciting modest help daley posing real challenges unions increasingly became independent critical daley especially sided walmart endorse daley anyone last election became deeply involved cultivating aldermanic candidates victors always turn progressive office weakness showed election miguel del valle part progressive latino leadership group supported washington initially favored candidate left ran poorly financed lackluster campaign even pushing progressive initiatives proposed financial transactions tax perhaps energetic speech campaign came conceded vowing lead progressive movement building movement possible especially many unions politically independent emanuel likely seeking allies confronting demands partly success depends making race ethnicity candidates less important clarity vision concreteness plans strategy win david moberg senior editor times staff magazine since began publishing 1976 joining times completed work phd anthropology university chicago worked newsweek received fellowships john catherine macarthur foundation nation institute research new global economy reached davidmoberginthesetimescom | 879 |
<p>By Lauren McCauley / <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news/2017/01/31/message-dems-block-neil-gorsuch-nomination-using-all-available-means" type="external">Common Dreams</a></p>
<p>Update, 8:10 pm EST:</p>
<p>President Donald Trump has nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill the empty seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.&#160;</p>
<p>In accepting the nomination at the podium in the White House, Colorado federal appeals court judge Gorsuch called the late Justice Antonin Scalia “a lion of the law.” Indeed, many have noted that Gorsuch follows in Scalia’s footsteps; of all the potential justices scored on the Washington Post‘s “Scalia scale,” Gorsuch <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2017/01/26/how-scalia-esque-will-donald-trumps-supreme-court-nominee-be/" type="external">scored highest</a>. &#160;</p>
<p />
<p>Democrats in Congress and progressive advocacy groups—incensed that the Republican-led Senate never acted on former President Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland—have vowed to fight Trump’s pick.&#160;</p>
<p>Once Gorsuch’s name emerged, those cries grew louder.&#160;</p>
<p>No senator who believes individual rights are reserved to the people, not the government, can support Gorsuch’s nomination.</p>
<p>— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) <a href="https://twitter.com/RonWyden/status/826599267506597888" type="external">February 1, 2017</a></p>
<p>BREAKING: Donald Trump just named Neil Gorsuch as his nominee for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash" type="external">#SCOTUS</a>.</p>
<p>He’s a disastrous choice for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUSnominee?src=hash" type="external">#SCOTUSnominee</a>. Here’s why: <a href="https://t.co/xppH5sIjIT" type="external">pic.twitter.com/xppH5sIjIT</a></p>
<p>— Feminist Majority (@FemMajority) <a href="https://twitter.com/FemMajority/status/826600078454484992" type="external">February 1, 2017</a></p>
<p>Neil Gorsuch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash" type="external">#SCOTUS</a> nominee has dismissed <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LGBTQ?src=hash" type="external">#LGBTQ</a> rights as “merely part of liberals’ social agenda.” NOT a Bipartisan judge</p>
<p>— The Task Force (@TheTaskForce) <a href="https://twitter.com/TheTaskForce/status/826599861667635202" type="external">February 1, 2017</a></p>
<p>Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court has an extreme record &amp; must be opposed. Take action: <a href="https://t.co/1SJAjrir5c" type="external">https://t.co/1SJAjrir5c</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/StopGorsuch?src=hash" type="external">#StopGorsuch</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash" type="external">#SCOTUS</a> <a href="https://t.co/jvJ0RHotAD" type="external">pic.twitter.com/jvJ0RHotAD</a></p>
<p>— PFAW (@peoplefor) <a href="https://twitter.com/peoplefor/status/826597494792605696" type="external">February 1, 2017</a></p>
<p>. <a href="https://twitter.com/NARAL" type="external">@NARAL</a> members call on Senator’s to not enshrine Trump agenda for lifetime &amp; block Gorsuch nom using all available means. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SCOTUS?src=hash" type="external">#SCOTUS</a></p>
<p>— ilyse hogue (@ilyseh) <a href="https://twitter.com/ilyseh/status/826598049812246530" type="external">February 1, 2017</a></p>
<p>Ohio Senator <a href="https://twitter.com/SherrodBrown" type="external">@SherrodBrown</a> will oppose Gorsuch. “I cannot support any nominee who does not recognize that corporations are not people.”</p>
<p>— Joe Perticone (@JoePerticone) <a href="https://twitter.com/JoePerticone/status/826600804740190215" type="external">February 1, 2017</a></p>
<p>César J. Blanco, political director of the Latino Victory Project, said&#160;“Gorsuch’s track record on women’s reproductive rights and issues of discrimination and police brutality suggests he doesn’t have all of our interests in mind nor that he could be independent of advancing Trump’s agenda and saying no to him once he goes too far.</p>
<p>“The radical actions taken so far by the president—including his discriminatory executive order on refugees and immigrants—make clear that the next justice to the Supreme Court must be willing to serve as a check on extremist and unconstitutional policies that undermine our system of self-governance and our justice system,” Blanco continued. “Republicans have been rewarded for their obstructionism and refusal to confirm Judge Garland. It is a sad day in our democracy, and Republicans celebrating the success of their obstructionism should be ashamed of themselves.”&#160;</p>
<p>Annie Leonard, executive director of Greenpeace, said the choice proved the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers have their “priorities backward” when it comes to serving the American people.</p>
<p>“Empowered by spineless Congressional Republicans and an incompetent and malicious Trump administration,” said Leonard, Gorsuch “could inflict serious damage to people in this country. Since the Trump administration has made it clear it will only make America great for corporate interests, everyday Americans must now work harder than ever with the growing resistance movements and their allies in Congress and the courts to actually make America great for all of us.”</p>
<p>Democrats in the Senate, added Leonard, “can rest assured that they will have the support of the people in filibustering this appointment.”</p>
<p>Earlier:</p>
<p>President Donald Trump is expected to announce his Supreme Court nominee at 8pm Tuesday evening, and the resistance is mobilizing.</p>
<p>Filmmaker Michael Moore and other <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1201252863303675/" type="external">progressive organizations</a> put out the call early Tuesday <a href="/views/2017/01/31/tonight-you-should-be-nearest-federal-courthouse-denouncing-trumps-supreme-court" type="external">encouraging</a> people to rally outside their <a href="http://www.uscourts.gov/court-locator" type="external">local federal courthouse</a>to make their opposition to Trump’s pick known.</p>
<p>“We need to go in large numbers to our local federal site at 7pm ET tonight to protest his pick whom he’s promised will make abortion illegal,” Moore <a href="https://www.facebook.com/mmflint/posts/10154139736986857" type="external">wrote</a>. “Call your local media to let them know you’re going to be there. Take pix and video and post them on social media. We must be loud and present on this most important issue on this most important night.”</p>
<p>At the same time, a coalition of groups—including MoveOn, NARAL Pro-Choice America, People For the American Way, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Alliance for Justice Action Campaign, and the Center for American Progress Action Fund—will be <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1636361440000133/?active_tab=about" type="external">protesting</a> on the steps of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. while in New York City the National Action Network is planning to <a href="https://twitter.com/Laura_Figueroa/status/826500882690879489" type="external">rally</a>outside Trump Tower.</p>
<p>Inside the corridors of power, Democrats are also gunning for a fight after Senate Republicans’ <a href="/news/2016/09/28/senators-give-gop-harsh-reminder-doyourjob-supreme-court-justice" type="external">historic obstruction</a> of President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee, <a href="/news/2016/03/16/challenging-gop-threats-obama-nominates-merrick-garland-supreme-court" type="external">Merrick Garland</a>.</p>
<p>“This is going to be a huge fight over the country, as it should be,” Marge Baker, executive vice-president People For the American Way, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/jan/31/supreme-court-donald-trump-nominee-democrats?CMP=twt_gu" type="external">told</a> the Guardian.</p>
<p>“The events of the last week demonstrate how important it is to have open and fair-minded courts,” Baker continued, referring to the confusion and opposing views that surround Trump’s Muslim ban. “Judging by the list of folks in the running for the nomination, that is not what we have.”</p>
<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-01-31/trump-expected-to-make-supreme-court-pick-from-two-finalists" type="external">According to</a> “people familiar with the president’s decision process,” Trump has summoned his two finalists—Neil Gorsuch of Denver or Thomas Hardiman of Pittsburgh—to Washington, D.C. for the announcement as to who will fill the seat of late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.</p>
<p>The Guardian <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/law/2017/jan/31/supreme-court-donald-trump-nominee-democrats?CMP=twt_gu" type="external">reports</a>:</p>
<p>A federal judge on the 10th circuit court of appeals in Denver, Gorsuch believes the constitution should be interpreted as the founding fathers intended, an approach Scalia championed. Gorsuch is a believer in religious freedom and sided with the Christian organizations in a case about whether the Affordable Care Act could compel them to provide contraceptives under insurance cover.</p>
<p>Hardiman, who sits on the third circuit court of appeals in Philadelphia, has advanced conservative interpretations of the law, particularly in “law and order” cases touching on issues such as sentencing guidelines and the death penalty. In a dissent, Hardiman argued that the first amendment <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/judge-thomas-hardiman-has-taken-an-unorthodox-road-to-the-federal-bench/2017/01/28/fb9f1878-e4a2-11e6-a453-19ec4b3d09ba_story.html?utm_term=.bfacbee9704f" type="external">did not grant the right</a>to film police officers.</p>
<p>Anticipating that Trump will follow through on his vow and “appoint anti-choice Supreme Court justices who will overturn Roe v. Wade,” NARAL Pro-Choice America is also circulating a <a href="http://actnow.prochoiceamerica.org/letter/170131_trumpscotus?source=twittertaf#.WJDf8Rw7p14" type="external">petition</a> calling on senators to “ensure that Trump’s Supreme Court nominee upholds the Constitution” and, “if not, commit to blocking the nominee by whatever means necessary.”</p>
<p>As Moore and others have noted, Scalia’s seat is only the first Supreme Court vacancy likely to be filled by Trump as Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Anthony Kennedy, and Stephen Breyer are all at least 78 years old.</p>
<p>What’s more, as Climate Central‘s John Upton <a href="http://www.climatecentral.org/news/record-judge-vacancies-trump-recast-courts-21124" type="external">pointed out</a>on Monday, “A broad refusal by Senate Republicans to approve judicial nominees during the last two years of Obama’s second term means Trump could move quickly to fill 114 vacant federal judge positions. U.S. Courts data shows that to be the most vacancies in at least 20 years.”</p>
<p>Glenn Sugameli, an attorney for the nonprofit Defenders of Wildlife, told Upton that this creates “more opportunities for bad judges to get confirmed, for bad decisions to be issued, and for courts to tilt.”</p>
<p>Or put more ominously, as Moore did: “This will damage the country for the rest of (many) of our lives.”</p>
<p>Lauren McCaule is a staff writer at Common Dreams.</p> | true | 4 | lauren mccauley common dreams update 810 pm est president donald trump nominated judge neil gorsuch fill empty seat us supreme court160 accepting nomination podium white house colorado federal appeals court judge gorsuch called late justice antonin scalia lion law indeed many noted gorsuch follows scalias footsteps potential justices scored washington posts scalia scale gorsuch scored highest 160 democrats congress progressive advocacy groupsincensed republicanled senate never acted former president barack obamas nominee merrick garlandhave vowed fight trumps pick160 gorsuchs name emerged cries grew louder160 senator believes individual rights reserved people government support gorsuchs nomination ron wyden ronwyden february 1 2017 breaking donald trump named neil gorsuch nominee scotus hes disastrous choice scotusnominee heres pictwittercomxpph5sijit feminist majority femmajority february 1 2017 neil gorsuch scotus nominee dismissed lgbtq rights merely part liberals social agenda bipartisan judge task force thetaskforce february 1 2017 trumps nominee supreme court extreme record amp must opposed take action httpstco1sjajrir5c stopgorsuch scotus pictwittercomjvj0rhotad pfaw peoplefor february 1 2017 naral members call senators enshrine trump agenda lifetime amp block gorsuch nom using available means scotus ilyse hogue ilyseh february 1 2017 ohio senator sherrodbrown oppose gorsuch support nominee recognize corporations people joe perticone joeperticone february 1 2017 césar j blanco political director latino victory project said160gorsuchs track record womens reproductive rights issues discrimination police brutality suggests doesnt interests mind could independent advancing trumps agenda saying goes far radical actions taken far presidentincluding discriminatory executive order refugees immigrantsmake clear next justice supreme court must willing serve check extremist unconstitutional policies undermine system selfgovernance justice system blanco continued republicans rewarded obstructionism refusal confirm judge garland sad day democracy republicans celebrating success obstructionism ashamed themselves160 annie leonard executive director greenpeace said choice proved trump administration republican lawmakers priorities backward comes serving american people empowered spineless congressional republicans incompetent malicious trump administration said leonard gorsuch could inflict serious damage people country since trump administration made clear make america great corporate interests everyday americans must work harder ever growing resistance movements allies congress courts actually make america great us democrats senate added leonard rest assured support people filibustering appointment earlier president donald trump expected announce supreme court nominee 8pm tuesday evening resistance mobilizing filmmaker michael moore progressive organizations put call early tuesday encouraging people rally outside local federal courthouseto make opposition trumps pick known need go large numbers local federal site 7pm et tonight protest pick hes promised make abortion illegal moore wrote call local media let know youre going take pix video post social media must loud present important issue important night time coalition groupsincluding moveon naral prochoice america people american way leadership conference civil human rights alliance justice action campaign center american progress action fundwill protesting steps supreme court washington dc new york city national action network planning rallyoutside trump tower inside corridors power democrats also gunning fight senate republicans historic obstruction president barack obamas supreme court nominee merrick garland going huge fight country marge baker executive vicepresident people american way told guardian events last week demonstrate important open fairminded courts baker continued referring confusion opposing views surround trumps muslim ban judging list folks running nomination according people familiar presidents decision process trump summoned two finalistsneil gorsuch denver thomas hardiman pittsburghto washington dc announcement fill seat late supreme court justice antonin scalia guardian reports federal judge 10th circuit court appeals denver gorsuch believes constitution interpreted founding fathers intended approach scalia championed gorsuch believer religious freedom sided christian organizations case whether affordable care act could compel provide contraceptives insurance cover hardiman sits third circuit court appeals philadelphia advanced conservative interpretations law particularly law order cases touching issues sentencing guidelines death penalty dissent hardiman argued first amendment grant rightto film police officers anticipating trump follow vow appoint antichoice supreme court justices overturn roe v wade naral prochoice america also circulating petition calling senators ensure trumps supreme court nominee upholds constitution commit blocking nominee whatever means necessary moore others noted scalias seat first supreme court vacancy likely filled trump justices ruth bader ginsburg anthony kennedy stephen breyer least 78 years old whats climate centrals john upton pointed outon monday broad refusal senate republicans approve judicial nominees last two years obamas second term means trump could move quickly fill 114 vacant federal judge positions us courts data shows vacancies least 20 years glenn sugameli attorney nonprofit defenders wildlife told upton creates opportunities bad judges get confirmed bad decisions issued courts tilt put ominously moore damage country rest many lives lauren mccaule staff writer common dreams | 738 |
<p>Tea Party economics help Fox News more than the Republican Party.Image via Wikipedia</p>
<p />
<p>Here’s something both liberals and conservatives can agree on: Obama just paved his way to a second term by focusing on taxing the rich and portraying his rival as a heartless businessman more interested in preserving tax cuts than helping ordinary working families. This was the same strategy many of Romney’s primary rivals utilized, but Obama’s arguments resonated with the general public more than the GOP base.</p>
<p>As Jonathan Chait <a href="http://nymag.com/news/features/obama-class-war-2012-11/index1.html" type="external">notes:</a></p>
<p>Obama ignored vast swaths of his agenda, barely mentioning climate change or education reform, but by God did he hammer home the fact that his winning would bring higher taxes on the rich. He raised it so relentlessly that at times it seemed out of proportion even to me, and I wrote a book on the topic. But polls consistently showed the public was on his side.</p>
<p>The old adage is as true as ever: It’s the economy, stupid. And Republicans have not been so out of touch with the American electorate on economic issues since the disastrous Goldwater campaign. Paul Ryan’s economic agenda may have made him the darling of Fox News pundits and the Tea Party, but a solid majority of Americans saw it as class warfare directed squarely at the poor, elderly, and the middle class.</p>
<p>&#160;And yet even that demographic problem can be boiled down to economics.&#160;Here’s Chait again:</p>
<p>Numerous Republicans pointed last week to the party’s restrictionist immigration agenda as the source of its dismal performance with the growing (and increasingly Democratic) Latino bloc. But the party’s Latino problem does not rest with immigration law. Polls show that Hispanics are just plain liberal on the main role-of-government questions dividing the parties. More than three fifths want to leave Obamacare in place rather than repeal it; a mere 12 percent agree with the Republican position of closing the deficit entirely through spending cuts. The harsh truth that fend-for-yourself economic libertarianism is a worldview mainly confined to the shrinking, aging white electorate is a reality Republicans prefer not to acknowledge.</p>
<p>Conservative writer Ramesh Ponnuru agrees.</p>
<p>“The root of the party’s electoral challenge isn’t demographics,” he&#160; <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-12/republican-failure-comes-down-to-economics.html" type="external">writes in Bloomberg</a>. “It’s economics.”</p>
<p>While Republicans score poorly with young people, women, and Hispanics for a variety of reasons, it’s the GOP’s economic stance that unites all three demographics against Republican policies:</p>
<p>The common theme here is that the current Republican economic message isn’t very compelling to any of these groups. If Republicans addressed that problem, they would find their numbers improving in all of these groups, and outside them too. White, working-class voters, who supported Romney for president but seem to have had low turnout, might have shown up in greater numbers if Republicans had retooled on economics.</p>
<p>Ponnuru’s more moderate economic vision for the Republican party has placed him on the outskirts of the conservative movement, along with other fiscal and economic moderates like David Brooks and David Frum. One begins to wonder why this is—why exactly have economic issues become so hard-line on the right? In practice, fiscal conservatism almost always takes a back seat to social issues and defense. This was on garrish display during the presidency of George W. Bush, whose spending outpaced his Democratic predecessor’s and whose administration focused almost entirely on culture war issues and nation-building.</p>
<p>In fact, the failure of Bush’s eight long years in office combined with the economic collapse that accompanied his departure have set the stage perfectly for men like Paul Ryan, men whose actual records on fiscal policy don’t match their Randian ideology very well, but who nevertheless flourish with tough talk on deficits and debt.</p>
<p>But we shouldn’t chalk it all up to a reaction over the Bush years or the crash. There’s another force at play here that’s enormously skilled at playing to our most pervasive fears, whether those fears are of terrorists during the Bush years, or a shaky economy during Obama’s presidency.</p>
<p>The conservative media is largely responsible for the rise of the Tea Party. Pundits on Fox and CNBC and throughout the conservative blogosphere and think-tank intelligensia turned the Grover Norquist anti-tax pledge into a movement. Republican politicians have little choice but to play along or face a primary challenge from the right. The GOP’s hard-right turn on economic issues is a creature of circumstance. If instead of an economic downturn, Americans had faced some repeat of 9/11, the public discussion would be all about defense and patriotism. The Tea Party as we know it would never have materialized. In it’s place we’d have seen support-the-troops rallies and a concerted effort to paint Obama as a terrorist sympathizer and soft on foreign affairs. (Of course, we saw plenty of that also, but compared to the issues in the 2004 election, foreign policy played a minor role.)</p>
<p>As Chait and Ponnuru both point out, the economic agenda of the Republican Party is a loser. It can’t hope to capture the minority vote, the support of women, or a number of moderate independents. But it’s a winner for Fox News. Hardline economics and a new, even-more-conservative Tea Party candidate to challenge any Republican that doesn’t uphold the gospel of True Conservativism? Well, let’s just say that this makes for constant controversy and great television.</p>
<p>I’ve <a href="" type="internal">written previously that the Republican Party needs to ditch Fox News</a> if they want to win. They’ll need to ditch Tea Party economics as well. The challenge for conservatives will be realizing that this economic agenda is simply fueling conservative media, not helping Republicans win back the voting public.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | tea party economics help fox news republican partyimage via wikipedia heres something liberals conservatives agree obama paved way second term focusing taxing rich portraying rival heartless businessman interested preserving tax cuts helping ordinary working families strategy many romneys primary rivals utilized obamas arguments resonated general public gop base jonathan chait notes obama ignored vast swaths agenda barely mentioning climate change education reform god hammer home fact winning would bring higher taxes rich raised relentlessly times seemed proportion even wrote book topic polls consistently showed public side old adage true ever economy stupid republicans touch american electorate economic issues since disastrous goldwater campaign paul ryans economic agenda may made darling fox news pundits tea party solid majority americans saw class warfare directed squarely poor elderly middle class 160and yet even demographic problem boiled economics160heres chait numerous republicans pointed last week partys restrictionist immigration agenda source dismal performance growing increasingly democratic latino bloc partys latino problem rest immigration law polls show hispanics plain liberal main roleofgovernment questions dividing parties three fifths want leave obamacare place rather repeal mere 12 percent agree republican position closing deficit entirely spending cuts harsh truth fendforyourself economic libertarianism worldview mainly confined shrinking aging white electorate reality republicans prefer acknowledge conservative writer ramesh ponnuru agrees root partys electoral challenge isnt demographics he160 writes bloomberg economics republicans score poorly young people women hispanics variety reasons gops economic stance unites three demographics republican policies common theme current republican economic message isnt compelling groups republicans addressed problem would find numbers improving groups outside white workingclass voters supported romney president seem low turnout might shown greater numbers republicans retooled economics ponnurus moderate economic vision republican party placed outskirts conservative movement along fiscal economic moderates like david brooks david frum one begins wonder iswhy exactly economic issues become hardline right practice fiscal conservatism almost always takes back seat social issues defense garrish display presidency george w bush whose spending outpaced democratic predecessors whose administration focused almost entirely culture war issues nationbuilding fact failure bushs eight long years office combined economic collapse accompanied departure set stage perfectly men like paul ryan men whose actual records fiscal policy dont match randian ideology well nevertheless flourish tough talk deficits debt shouldnt chalk reaction bush years crash theres another force play thats enormously skilled playing pervasive fears whether fears terrorists bush years shaky economy obamas presidency conservative media largely responsible rise tea party pundits fox cnbc throughout conservative blogosphere thinktank intelligensia turned grover norquist antitax pledge movement republican politicians little choice play along face primary challenge right gops hardright turn economic issues creature circumstance instead economic downturn americans faced repeat 911 public discussion would defense patriotism tea party know would never materialized place wed seen supportthetroops rallies concerted effort paint obama terrorist sympathizer soft foreign affairs course saw plenty also compared issues 2004 election foreign policy played minor role chait ponnuru point economic agenda republican party loser cant hope capture minority vote support women number moderate independents winner fox news hardline economics new evenmoreconservative tea party candidate challenge republican doesnt uphold gospel true conservativism well lets say makes constant controversy great television ive written previously republican party needs ditch fox news want win theyll need ditch tea party economics well challenge conservatives realizing economic agenda simply fueling conservative media helping republicans win back voting public 160 | 549 |
<p>On September 10, at the UN General Assembly, Serbia abruptly surrendered its claim to the breakaway province of Kosovo to the European Union.&#160; Serbian leaders described this surrender as a “compromise”. But for Serbia, it was all give and no take.</p>
<p>In its dealings with the Western powers, recent Serbian diplomacy has displayed all the perspicacity of a rabbit cornered by a rattlesnake.&#160; After some helpless spasms of movement, the poor creature lets itself be eaten.</p>
<p>The surrender has been implicit all along in President Boris Tadic’s two proclaimed foreign policy goals: deny Kosovo’s independence and join the European Union.&#160; These two were always mutually incompatible. Recognition of Kosovo’s independence is clearly one of the many conditions – and the most crucial – set by the Euroclub for Serbia to be considered for membership.&#160; Sacrificing Kosovo for “Europe” has always been the obvious outcome of this contradictory policy.</p>
<p>However, his government, and notably his foreign minister Vuk Jeremic, have tried to conceal this reality from the Serbian public by gestures meant to make it seem that they were doing everything possible to retain Kosovo.</p>
<p>Thus in October 2008, six months after U.S.-backed Kosovo leaders unilaterally declared that the province was an independent State, Serbia persuaded the UN General Assembly to submit the following question to the International Court of Justice for an (unbinding) advisory opinion: “Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law?’”</p>
<p>This was risky at best, because Serbia had more to lose by an unfavorable opinion than it had to gain by a favorable one.&#160; After all, most of the UN member states were already refusing to recognize Kosovo’s independence, for perfectly solid reasons of legality and self-interest.&#160; At best, a favorable ICJ opinion would merely confirm this, but would not in itself lead to any positive action.&#160; Serbia could only hope to use such a favorable opinion to ask to open genuine negotiations on the status of the province, but the Kosovo Albanian separatists and their United States backers could not be forced to do so.</p>
<p>One must stop here to point out that there are two major issues involved in all this: one is the status and future of Kosovo, and the other is the larger issue of national sovereignty and self-determination within the context of international law.&#160; If so many UN member states supported Serbia, it was certainly not because of Kosovo itself but because of the larger implications. Nobody objected to the splitting of Czechoslovakia, because the Czechs and the Slovaks negotiated the terms of separation. The issue is the method.&#160; There are literally hundreds, perhaps thousands, of potential ethnic secessionist movements within existing countries around the world.&#160; Kosovo sets an ominous precedent.&#160; An armed separatist movement, with heavy support from the United States, where an ethnic Albanian lobby had secured important political backing, notably from former Senator and Republican Presidential candidate Bob Dole, carried out a campaign of assassinations in 1998 in order to trigger a repression which it could then describe as “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” as a pretext for NATO intervention.</p>
<p>This worked, because US leaders saw “saving the Kosovars” as the easy way to save NATO from obsolescence by transforming it into a “humanitarian” global intervention force.&#160; Bombing Serbia for two and a half months to “stop genocide” was a spectacle for public opinion.&#160; The only people killed were Yugoslav citizens out of sight on the ground.&#160; It was the lovely little war designed to rehabilitate military aggression as the proper way to settle conflicts.</p>
<p>The reality of this cynical manipulation has been assiduously hidden from Americans and most Europeans, but elsewhere, and in certain European countries such as Spain, Greece, Cyprus and Slovakia, the point has not been missed.&#160; Separatist movements are dangerous, and whenever the United States wants to subvert an unfriendly government, it has only to incite mass media to portray the internal problems of the targeted government as potential “genocide” and all hell may break loose.</p>
<p>So Serbia did not really have to work very hard to convince other countries to support its position on Kosovo. They had their own motivations – which were perhaps stronger than those of the Serbian government&#160; itself.</p>
<p>What did Serb leaders want?</p>
<p>The question put to the ICJ did not spell out what Serb leaders wanted.&#160; But it had implications.&#160; If the Kosovo declaration of independence was illegal, what was challenged was not so much independence itself as the procedure, the unilateral declaration.&#160; And indeed, there is no reason to suppose that Serb leaders thought they could reintegrate the whole of Kosovo into Serbia.&#160; It is even unlikely that they wanted to do so.</p>
<p>There are very mixed feelings about Kosovo within the Serb population.&#160; It is hard to know how widespread is the sense of concern, or guilt, regarding the beleaguered Serb population still living there, vulnerable to attacks from racist Albanians eager to drive them out.&#160; The sentimental attachment to “the cradle of the Serb nation” is very strong, but few Serbs would choose to go live there, even if the province were returned to them.&#160; In former Yugoslavia, the province was a black hole that absorbed huge sums of development aid, and would certainly be a heavy economic burden to impoverished Serbia today.&#160; Economically, Serbia is probably better off without Kosovo.&#160; Nearly twenty years ago, the leading Serb author and patriot Dobrica Cosic was arguing in favor of dividing Kosovo along ethnic and historic lines with Albania.&#160; Otherwise, he foresaw that the attempt to live with a hostile Albanian population would destroy Serbia itself.</p>
<p>Few would admit this, but the proposals of Cosic, echoed by some others, at least suggest that in a world with benevolent mediators, a compromise might have been worked out acceptable to most of the people directly involved.&#160; But what made such a compromise impossible was precisely the US and NATO intervention on behalf of armed Albanian rebels.&#160; Once the Albanian nationalists knew they had such support, they had no reason to agree to any compromise. And for the Serbs, the brutal method by which Kosovo was stolen by NATO was adding insult to injury – a humiliation that could not be accepted.</p>
<p>By taking the question to the UN General Assembly and the ICJ, Serbia sought endorsement of a reopening of negotiations that could lead to the sort of compromise that might have settled the issue had it been taken up in a world with benevolent mediators.</p>
<p>International Court of No Justice</p>
<p>On July 22, the ICJ issued its advisory opinion, concluding that Kosovo’s “declaration of independence was not illegal”. In some 21,600 words it evaded the main issues, refusing to state that the declaration meant that Kosovo was in fact properly independent.&#160; The gist was simply that, well, anybody can declare anything, can’t they?</p>
<p>Of course, this was widely interpreted by Western governments and media, and most of all by the Kosovo Albanians, as endorsement of Kosovo’s independence, which it was not.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, it was a shameful cop-out on the part of the ICJ, which marked further deterioration of the post-World War II efforts to establish some sort of international legal order.&#160; Perhaps the most flagrant bit of sophistry in the lengthy opinion was the argument (in paragraphs 80 and 81) that the declaration was not a violation of the “territorial integrity” of Serbia, because “the illegality attached to [certain past] declarations of independence … stemmed not from the unilateral character of these declarations as such, but from the fact that they were, or would have been, connected with the unlawful use of force or other egregious violations of norms of general international law…”</p>
<p>In short, the ICJ pretended to believe that there has been no illegal international military force used to detach Kosovo from Serbia, although this is precisely what happened as a result of the totally illegal NATO bombing campaign against Serbia.&#160; Since then, the province has been occupied by foreign military forces, under NATO command, which both violated the international agreement under which they entered Kosovo and looked the other way as Albanian fanatics terrorized and drove out Serbs and Roma, occasionally murdering rival Albanians.</p>
<p>The ICJ judges who endorsed this scandalous opinion came from Japan, Jordan, the United States, Germany, France, New Zealand, Mexico, Brazil, Somalia and the United Kingdom.&#160; The dissenters came from Slovakia, Sierra Leone, Morocco and Russia.&#160; The lineup shows that the cards were stacked against Serbia from the start, unless one actually believes that the judges leave behind their national mind-set when they join the international court.</p>
<p>Digging Itself Deeper Into a Hole</p>
<p>Probably, the Tadic government had expected something better, and had planned to follow up a favorable ICJ opinion with an appeal to the General Assembly to endorse renewed negotiations over the status of Kosovo, perhaps enabling Serbia to recover at least the northern part of Kosovo whose population is solidly Serb.</p>
<p>Oddly, despite the bad omen of the ICJ opinion, the Tadic government went right ahead with plans to introduce a resolution before the UN General Assembly.&#160;&#160; The draft resolution asked the General Assembly to state the following:</p>
<p>Aware that an agreement has not been reached between the sides on the consequences of the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo from Serbia,</p>
<p>Taking into account the fact that one-sided secession cannot be an accepted way for resolving territorial issues,</p>
<p>1. Acknowledges the Advisory opinion of the ICJ passed on 22 July 2010 on whether the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo is in line with international law,</p>
<p>2. Calls on the sides to find a mutually acceptable solution for all disputed issues through peaceful dialogue, with the aim of achieving peace, security and cooperation in the region.</p>
<p>3. Decides to include in the interim agenda of the 66th session an item namely: “Further activities following the passing of the advisory opinion of the ICJ on whether the unilaterally proclaimed independence of Kosovo is in line with international law.”</p>
<p>The key statement here was “the fact that one-sided secession cannot be an accepted way for resolving territorial issues”. This was the point on which the greatest agreement could be attained. The United States made it known that it was totally unacceptable for the General Assembly to hold a debate on such a resolution.&#160; The main Belgrade daily Politika published an interview with Ted Carpenter of the Cato Institute in Washington saying that the Serbian draft resolution on Kosovo was “irritating America and the EU’s leading countries”.&#160; American diplomats were “working overtime” to thwart the resolution, he said.&#160; Carpenter said that the Serbian resolution was seen in Washington as an unfriendly act that would lead to a further deterioration in relations, and that as a result of its Kosovo policy, Serbia’s EU ambition could suffer setbacks that would have negative consequences for the Serbian government “and the Serb people”.</p>
<p>Carpenter conceded that this time around, the country would not be threatened militarily, but noted that the United States was influential enough to “make life very difficult” for any country that stood up against its policies. He concluded that Serbia would “have to accept the reality of an independent Kosovo”, and that Washington would thereupon leave it to Brussels to deal with the remaining problems.</p>
<p>The American stick was accompanied by a dangling EU carrot. Carpenter expressed his hope that the EU would consider various measures, “including adjustment of borders, regarding Kosovo, and the rest of Serbia”, but also, he noted, Bosnia-Herzegovina, suggesting that Serbs could be satisfied if a loss of Kosovo were compensated by a unification with Bosnia’s Serb entity, the Republika Srpska. Giving his own opinion, Carpenter said such a solution would at least be much better than the current U.S. and EU policy, “which seems to be that everyone in the region of the former Yugoslavia, except Serbs, has a right to secede”.</p>
<p>Carpenter, who was a sharp critic of the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia, and who warned that secessionist movements around the world could use the Kosovo precedent for their own purposes, said that such a solution was possible “in the coming decades”… a fairly distant prospect.</p>
<p>The decisive arm twisting was perhaps administered by German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle on a visit to Belgrade.&#160; Whatever threats or promises he made were not disclosed, but on the eve of the scheduled UN General Assembly debate, the Tadic government caved in entirely and allowed the EU to rewrite the resolution.</p>
<p>The resolution dictated by the EU made no mention of Kosovo other than to “take note” of the ICJ advisory opinion, and concluded by welcoming “the readiness of the EU to facilitate the process of dialogue between the parties.”</p>
<p>According to this text of the resolution, which UN General Assembly adopted by consensus; “The process of dialogue by itself would be a factor of peace, security and stability in the region. This dialogue would be aimed to promote cooperation, make progress on the path towards the EU and improve people’s lives.”</p>
<p>By accepting this text, the Serbian government abandoned all effort to gain international support from the many nations hostile to unilateral secession, and threw itself on the mercy of the European Union.</p>
<p>Still More to Lose</p>
<p>In a TV interview, I was asked by Russia Today, “What does Serbia stand to gain?”&#160; My immediate answer was, “nothing”.&#160; Serbia implicitly abandoned its claim to Kosovo in return for nothing but vague suggestions of “dialogue”.</p>
<p>A usual aim of all policy is to keep options open, but Serbia has now put all its eggs in the EU basket, in effect rebuffing all the member states of the UN General Assembly which were ready to support Belgrade as a matter of principle on the issue of unnegotiated unilateral secession.</p>
<p>Rather than gain anything, the Tadic government has apparently chosen to try to avoid losing still more than it has lost already.&#160; After the violent breakup of Yugoslavia along ethnic lines, Serbia remains the most multiethnic state in the region, which means that it includes minorities which can be incited to demand further secessions.&#160; There is a secession movement in the ethnically very mixed northern province of Voivodina, which could be more or less covertly encouraged by neighboring Hungary, an increasingly nationalist EU member attentive to the Hungarian minority in Voivodina.&#160; There is another, more rabid separatist movement in the southwestern region of Raska/Sanjak led by Muslims with links to Bosnian Islamists.&#160; Surrounded by NATO members and wide open to NATO agents, Serbia risks being destabilized by the rise of such secession movements, which Western media, firmly attached to the stereotypes established in the 1990s, could easily present as persecuted victims of potential Serb genocide.</p>
<p>Moreover, no matter how the Serbs vote, the US and UK embassies dictate the policies.&#160; This has been demonstrated several times.&#160; Little Serbia is actually in a position very like the Pétain government in 1940 to 1942, when it governed a part of France not yet occupied but totally surrounded by the conquering Nazis.</p>
<p>It would take political genius to steer little Serbia through this geopolitical swamp, infested with snakes and crocodiles, and political genius is rare these days, in Serbia as elsewhere.</p>
<p>EU to the rescue?</p>
<p>Under these grim circumstances, the Tadic government has in effect abandoned all attempt at independence and entrusted the future of Serbia to the European Union.&#160; Serb patriots quite naturally decry this as a sell-out.&#160; Indeed it is, but Russia and China are far away, and could not be counted on to do anything for Serbia that would seriously annoy Washington.&#160; The fact is that much of the younger generation of Serbs is alienated from the past and dreams only of being in the EU, which means being treated as “normal”.</p>
<p>How will the EU reward these expectations?</p>
<p>Up to now, the EU has responded to each new Serb concession by asking for more and giving very little in return.&#160; At a time when many in the core EU countries feel that accepting Rumania and Bulgaria has brought more trouble than it was worth, enlargement to include Serbia, with its unfairly bad reputation, looks remote indeed.</p>
<p>In reality, the most Belgrade can hope for from the EU is that it will muster the courage to take its own policy line on the Balkans, separate from that of the United States.</p>
<p>Given the subservience of current EU leaders to Washington, this is a long shot.&#160; But it has a certain basis in reality.</p>
<p>United States policy toward the region has been heavily influenced by ethnic lobbies that have pledged allegiance to Washington in return for unconditional support of their nationalist aims.&#160; This is particularly the case of the rag-tag Albanian lobby in the United States, an odd mixture of dull-witted politicians and gun-running pizza parlor owners who flattered the Clinton administration into promising them their own statelet carved out of historic Serbia.&#160; The result has been “independent” Kosovo, in reality occupied by a major US military base, Camp Bondsteel, NATO-commanded pacifiers and an EU mission theoretically trying to introduce a modicum of legal order into what amounts to a failing state run by clans and living off various criminal activities.&#160; Since Camp Bondsteel is untouchable, and the grateful hoodlums have erected a giant statue to their hero, Bill Clinton, in their capital, Pristina, Washington is content with this situation.</p>
<p>But many in Europe are not.&#160; It is Europe, not the United States, that has to deal with violent Kosovo gangsters peddling dope and women in its cities.&#160; It is Europe, not the United States, that has this mess on its doorstep.</p>
<p>The media continue to peddle the 1999 fairy tale in which heroic NATO rescued the defenseless “Kosovars” from a hypothetical “genocide” (which never took place and never would have taken place), but European governments are in a position to know better.</p>
<p>As evidence of this is a letter written to German Chancellor Angela Merkel on October 26, 2007 by Dietmar Hartwig, who had been head of the EU (then EC) mission in Kosovo just prior to the NATO bombing in March 1999, when the mission was withdrawn. In describing the situation in Kosovo at a time when the NATO aggression was being prepared on the pretext of “saving the Kosovars”, Hartwig wrote:</p>
<p>“Not a single report submitted in the period from late November 1998 up to the evacuation on the eve of the war mentioned that Serbs had committed any major or systematic crimes against Albanians, nor there was a single case referring to genocide or genocide-like incidents or crimes. Quite the opposite, in my reports I have repeatedly informed that, considering the increasingly more frequent KLA attacks against the Serbian executive, their law enforcement demonstrated remarkable restraint and discipline. The clear and often cited goal of the Serbian administration was to observe the Milosevic-Holbrooke Agreement to the letter so not to provide any excuse to the international community to intervene. … There were huge ‘discrepancies in perception’ between what the missions in Kosovo have been reporting to their respective governments and capitals, and what the latter thereafter released to the media and the public. This discrepancy can only be viewed as input to long-term preparation for war against Yugoslavia. Until the time I left Kosovo, there never happened what the media and, with no less intensity the politicians, were relentlessly claiming. Accordingly, until 20 March 1999 there was no reason for military intervention, which renders illegitimate measures undertaken thereafter by the international community. The collective behavior of EU Member States prior to, and after the war broke out, gives rise to serious concerns, because the truth was killed, and the EU lost reliability.”</p>
<p>Other official European observers said the same at the time, and in 2000, retired German general Heinz Loquai wrote a whole book, based especially on OSCE documents, showing that accusations against Serbia were false propaganda.&#160; While the public was fooled, government leaders have access to the truth.</p>
<p>In short, EU governments lied then, for the sake of NATO solidarity, and have been lying ever since.</p>
<p>Now as then, there are insiders who complain that the situation in reality is very different from the official version. Voices are raised pointing out that Republika Srpska is the only part of Bosnia that is succeeding, while the Muslim leadership in Sarajevo continues to count on largesse due to its proclaimed victim status.&#160; There seems to be a growing feeling in some leadership circles that in demonizing the Serbs, the EU has bet on the wrong horse.&#160; But that does not mean they will have the courage to confront the United States.&#160; In Kosovo itself, the most radical Albanian nationalists are ready to oppose the EU presence, by arms if necessary, while feeling confident of eternal support from their U.S. sponsors.</p>
<p>The Betrayal of Serbia</p>
<p>If the latest self-defeat at the UN General Assembly can be denounced as a betrayal, the betrayal began nearly ten years ago.&#160; On October 5, 2000, the regular presidential election process in Yugoslavia was boisterously interrupted by what the West described as a “democratic revolution” against the “dictator”, president Slobodan Milosevic.&#160; In reality, the “dictator” was about to enter the run-off round of the Yugoslav presidential election in which he seemed likely to lose to the main opposition candidate, Vojislav Kostunica.&#160; But the United States trained and incited the athletically inclined youth organization, Otpor (“resistance”), to take to the streets and set fire to the parliament in front of international television, to give the impression of a popular uprising.&#160; Probably, the scenarists modeled this show on the equally stage-managed overthrow of the Ceaucescu couple in Rumania at Christmas 1989, which ended in their murder following one of the shortest kangaroo court trials in history. For the generally ignorant world at large, being overthrown would be proof that Milosevic was really a “dictator” like Ceaucescu, whereas being defeated in an election would have tended to prove the opposite.</p>
<p>Proclaimed president, Kostunica intervened to save Milosevic, but not having been allowed to actually win the election, his position was undermined from the start, and all power was given to the Serbian prime minister, Zoran Djindjic, a favorite of the West who was too unpopular to have won an election in Serbia.&#160; Shortly thereafter, Djindjic violated the Serbian constitution by turning Milosevic over to the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague – for one of the longest kangaroo court trials in history.</p>
<p>Pro-Western politicians in Belgrade labored under the illusion that throwing Milosevic to the ICTY wolves would be enough to ensure the good graces of the “International Community”. But in reality, the prosecution of Milosevic was used to publicize the trumped up “joint criminal enterprise” theory which blamed every aspect of the breakup of Yugoslavia on an imaginary Serbian conspiracy.&#160; The scapegoat turned out to be not just Milosevic, but Serbia itself.&#160; Serbia’s guilt for everything that went wrong in the Balkans was the essential propaganda line used to justify the 1999 NATO aggression, and by going along with it, the “democratic” Serbian leaders undermined their own moral claim to Kosovo.</p>
<p>In June 1999, Milosevic gave in and allowed NATO to occupy Kosovo under threat of carpet bombing that would destroy Serbia entirely.&#160; His successors fled from a less perilous battle – the battle to inform world public opinion of the complex truth of the Balkans. &#160;Having abandoned all attempt to assert its moral advantage, Serbia is counting solely on the kindness of strangers.</p>
<p>DIANA JOHNSTONE is author of <a href="" type="internal">Fools’ Crusade: Yugoslavia, NATO and Western Delusions</a> (Monthly Review Press). She can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p> | true | 4 | september 10 un general assembly serbia abruptly surrendered claim breakaway province kosovo european union160 serbian leaders described surrender compromise serbia give take dealings western powers recent serbian diplomacy displayed perspicacity rabbit cornered rattlesnake160 helpless spasms movement poor creature lets eaten surrender implicit along president boris tadics two proclaimed foreign policy goals deny kosovos independence join european union160 two always mutually incompatible recognition kosovos independence clearly one many conditions crucial set euroclub serbia considered membership160 sacrificing kosovo europe always obvious outcome contradictory policy however government notably foreign minister vuk jeremic tried conceal reality serbian public gestures meant make seem everything possible retain kosovo thus october 2008 six months usbacked kosovo leaders unilaterally declared province independent state serbia persuaded un general assembly submit following question international court justice unbinding advisory opinion unilateral declaration independence provisional institutions selfgovernment kosovo accordance international law risky best serbia lose unfavorable opinion gain favorable one160 un member states already refusing recognize kosovos independence perfectly solid reasons legality selfinterest160 best favorable icj opinion would merely confirm would lead positive action160 serbia could hope use favorable opinion ask open genuine negotiations status province kosovo albanian separatists united states backers could forced one must stop point two major issues involved one status future kosovo larger issue national sovereignty selfdetermination within context international law160 many un member states supported serbia certainly kosovo larger implications nobody objected splitting czechoslovakia czechs slovaks negotiated terms separation issue method160 literally hundreds perhaps thousands potential ethnic secessionist movements within existing countries around world160 kosovo sets ominous precedent160 armed separatist movement heavy support united states ethnic albanian lobby secured important political backing notably former senator republican presidential candidate bob dole carried campaign assassinations 1998 order trigger repression could describe ethnic cleansing genocide pretext nato intervention worked us leaders saw saving kosovars easy way save nato obsolescence transforming humanitarian global intervention force160 bombing serbia two half months stop genocide spectacle public opinion160 people killed yugoslav citizens sight ground160 lovely little war designed rehabilitate military aggression proper way settle conflicts reality cynical manipulation assiduously hidden americans europeans elsewhere certain european countries spain greece cyprus slovakia point missed160 separatist movements dangerous whenever united states wants subvert unfriendly government incite mass media portray internal problems targeted government potential genocide hell may break loose serbia really work hard convince countries support position kosovo motivations perhaps stronger serbian government160 serb leaders want question put icj spell serb leaders wanted160 implications160 kosovo declaration independence illegal challenged much independence procedure unilateral declaration160 indeed reason suppose serb leaders thought could reintegrate whole kosovo serbia160 even unlikely wanted mixed feelings kosovo within serb population160 hard know widespread sense concern guilt regarding beleaguered serb population still living vulnerable attacks racist albanians eager drive out160 sentimental attachment cradle serb nation strong serbs would choose go live even province returned them160 former yugoslavia province black hole absorbed huge sums development aid would certainly heavy economic burden impoverished serbia today160 economically serbia probably better without kosovo160 nearly twenty years ago leading serb author patriot dobrica cosic arguing favor dividing kosovo along ethnic historic lines albania160 otherwise foresaw attempt live hostile albanian population would destroy serbia would admit proposals cosic echoed others least suggest world benevolent mediators compromise might worked acceptable people directly involved160 made compromise impossible precisely us nato intervention behalf armed albanian rebels160 albanian nationalists knew support reason agree compromise serbs brutal method kosovo stolen nato adding insult injury humiliation could accepted taking question un general assembly icj serbia sought endorsement reopening negotiations could lead sort compromise might settled issue taken world benevolent mediators international court justice july 22 icj issued advisory opinion concluding kosovos declaration independence illegal 21600 words evaded main issues refusing state declaration meant kosovo fact properly independent160 gist simply well anybody declare anything cant course widely interpreted western governments media kosovo albanians endorsement kosovos independence nevertheless shameful copout part icj marked deterioration postworld war ii efforts establish sort international legal order160 perhaps flagrant bit sophistry lengthy opinion argument paragraphs 80 81 declaration violation territorial integrity serbia illegality attached certain past declarations independence stemmed unilateral character declarations fact would connected unlawful use force egregious violations norms general international law short icj pretended believe illegal international military force used detach kosovo serbia although precisely happened result totally illegal nato bombing campaign serbia160 since province occupied foreign military forces nato command violated international agreement entered kosovo looked way albanian fanatics terrorized drove serbs roma occasionally murdering rival albanians icj judges endorsed scandalous opinion came japan jordan united states germany france new zealand mexico brazil somalia united kingdom160 dissenters came slovakia sierra leone morocco russia160 lineup shows cards stacked serbia start unless one actually believes judges leave behind national mindset join international court digging deeper hole probably tadic government expected something better planned follow favorable icj opinion appeal general assembly endorse renewed negotiations status kosovo perhaps enabling serbia recover least northern part kosovo whose population solidly serb oddly despite bad omen icj opinion tadic government went right ahead plans introduce resolution un general assembly160160 draft resolution asked general assembly state following aware agreement reached sides consequences unilaterally proclaimed independence kosovo serbia taking account fact onesided secession accepted way resolving territorial issues 1 acknowledges advisory opinion icj passed 22 july 2010 whether unilaterally proclaimed independence kosovo line international law 2 calls sides find mutually acceptable solution disputed issues peaceful dialogue aim achieving peace security cooperation region 3 decides include interim agenda 66th session item namely activities following passing advisory opinion icj whether unilaterally proclaimed independence kosovo line international law key statement fact onesided secession accepted way resolving territorial issues point greatest agreement could attained united states made known totally unacceptable general assembly hold debate resolution160 main belgrade daily politika published interview ted carpenter cato institute washington saying serbian draft resolution kosovo irritating america eus leading countries160 american diplomats working overtime thwart resolution said160 carpenter said serbian resolution seen washington unfriendly act would lead deterioration relations result kosovo policy serbias eu ambition could suffer setbacks would negative consequences serbian government serb people carpenter conceded time around country would threatened militarily noted united states influential enough make life difficult country stood policies concluded serbia would accept reality independent kosovo washington would thereupon leave brussels deal remaining problems american stick accompanied dangling eu carrot carpenter expressed hope eu would consider various measures including adjustment borders regarding kosovo rest serbia also noted bosniaherzegovina suggesting serbs could satisfied loss kosovo compensated unification bosnias serb entity republika srpska giving opinion carpenter said solution would least much better current us eu policy seems everyone region former yugoslavia except serbs right secede carpenter sharp critic 1999 nato bombing serbia warned secessionist movements around world could use kosovo precedent purposes said solution possible coming decades fairly distant prospect decisive arm twisting perhaps administered german foreign minister guido westerwelle visit belgrade160 whatever threats promises made disclosed eve scheduled un general assembly debate tadic government caved entirely allowed eu rewrite resolution resolution dictated eu made mention kosovo take note icj advisory opinion concluded welcoming readiness eu facilitate process dialogue parties according text resolution un general assembly adopted consensus process dialogue would factor peace security stability region dialogue would aimed promote cooperation make progress path towards eu improve peoples lives accepting text serbian government abandoned effort gain international support many nations hostile unilateral secession threw mercy european union still lose tv interview asked russia today serbia stand gain160 immediate answer nothing160 serbia implicitly abandoned claim kosovo return nothing vague suggestions dialogue usual aim policy keep options open serbia put eggs eu basket effect rebuffing member states un general assembly ready support belgrade matter principle issue unnegotiated unilateral secession rather gain anything tadic government apparently chosen try avoid losing still lost already160 violent breakup yugoslavia along ethnic lines serbia remains multiethnic state region means includes minorities incited demand secessions160 secession movement ethnically mixed northern province voivodina could less covertly encouraged neighboring hungary increasingly nationalist eu member attentive hungarian minority voivodina160 another rabid separatist movement southwestern region raskasanjak led muslims links bosnian islamists160 surrounded nato members wide open nato agents serbia risks destabilized rise secession movements western media firmly attached stereotypes established 1990s could easily present persecuted victims potential serb genocide moreover matter serbs vote us uk embassies dictate policies160 demonstrated several times160 little serbia actually position like pétain government 1940 1942 governed part france yet occupied totally surrounded conquering nazis would take political genius steer little serbia geopolitical swamp infested snakes crocodiles political genius rare days serbia elsewhere eu rescue grim circumstances tadic government effect abandoned attempt independence entrusted future serbia european union160 serb patriots quite naturally decry sellout160 indeed russia china far away could counted anything serbia would seriously annoy washington160 fact much younger generation serbs alienated past dreams eu means treated normal eu reward expectations eu responded new serb concession asking giving little return160 time many core eu countries feel accepting rumania bulgaria brought trouble worth enlargement include serbia unfairly bad reputation looks remote indeed reality belgrade hope eu muster courage take policy line balkans separate united states given subservience current eu leaders washington long shot160 certain basis reality united states policy toward region heavily influenced ethnic lobbies pledged allegiance washington return unconditional support nationalist aims160 particularly case ragtag albanian lobby united states odd mixture dullwitted politicians gunrunning pizza parlor owners flattered clinton administration promising statelet carved historic serbia160 result independent kosovo reality occupied major us military base camp bondsteel natocommanded pacifiers eu mission theoretically trying introduce modicum legal order amounts failing state run clans living various criminal activities160 since camp bondsteel untouchable grateful hoodlums erected giant statue hero bill clinton capital pristina washington content situation many europe not160 europe united states deal violent kosovo gangsters peddling dope women cities160 europe united states mess doorstep media continue peddle 1999 fairy tale heroic nato rescued defenseless kosovars hypothetical genocide never took place never would taken place european governments position know better evidence letter written german chancellor angela merkel october 26 2007 dietmar hartwig head eu ec mission kosovo prior nato bombing march 1999 mission withdrawn describing situation kosovo time nato aggression prepared pretext saving kosovars hartwig wrote single report submitted period late november 1998 evacuation eve war mentioned serbs committed major systematic crimes albanians single case referring genocide genocidelike incidents crimes quite opposite reports repeatedly informed considering increasingly frequent kla attacks serbian executive law enforcement demonstrated remarkable restraint discipline clear often cited goal serbian administration observe milosevicholbrooke agreement letter provide excuse international community intervene huge discrepancies perception missions kosovo reporting respective governments capitals latter thereafter released media public discrepancy viewed input longterm preparation war yugoslavia time left kosovo never happened media less intensity politicians relentlessly claiming accordingly 20 march 1999 reason military intervention renders illegitimate measures undertaken thereafter international community collective behavior eu member states prior war broke gives rise serious concerns truth killed eu lost reliability official european observers said time 2000 retired german general heinz loquai wrote whole book based especially osce documents showing accusations serbia false propaganda160 public fooled government leaders access truth short eu governments lied sake nato solidarity lying ever since insiders complain situation reality different official version voices raised pointing republika srpska part bosnia succeeding muslim leadership sarajevo continues count largesse due proclaimed victim status160 seems growing feeling leadership circles demonizing serbs eu bet wrong horse160 mean courage confront united states160 kosovo radical albanian nationalists ready oppose eu presence arms necessary feeling confident eternal support us sponsors betrayal serbia latest selfdefeat un general assembly denounced betrayal betrayal began nearly ten years ago160 october 5 2000 regular presidential election process yugoslavia boisterously interrupted west described democratic revolution dictator president slobodan milosevic160 reality dictator enter runoff round yugoslav presidential election seemed likely lose main opposition candidate vojislav kostunica160 united states trained incited athletically inclined youth organization otpor resistance take streets set fire parliament front international television give impression popular uprising160 probably scenarists modeled show equally stagemanaged overthrow ceaucescu couple rumania christmas 1989 ended murder following one shortest kangaroo court trials history generally ignorant world large overthrown would proof milosevic really dictator like ceaucescu whereas defeated election would tended prove opposite proclaimed president kostunica intervened save milosevic allowed actually win election position undermined start power given serbian prime minister zoran djindjic favorite west unpopular election serbia160 shortly thereafter djindjic violated serbian constitution turning milosevic international criminal tribunal former yugoslavia icty hague one longest kangaroo court trials history prowestern politicians belgrade labored illusion throwing milosevic icty wolves would enough ensure good graces international community reality prosecution milosevic used publicize trumped joint criminal enterprise theory blamed every aspect breakup yugoslavia imaginary serbian conspiracy160 scapegoat turned milosevic serbia itself160 serbias guilt everything went wrong balkans essential propaganda line used justify 1999 nato aggression going along democratic serbian leaders undermined moral claim kosovo june 1999 milosevic gave allowed nato occupy kosovo threat carpet bombing would destroy serbia entirely160 successors fled less perilous battle battle inform world public opinion complex truth balkans 160having abandoned attempt assert moral advantage serbia counting solely kindness strangers diana johnstone author fools crusade yugoslavia nato western delusions monthly review press reached dianajostoyahoofr | 2,152 |
<p>By David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz, TomDispatchThis article originally appeared on TomDispatch. Read Nick Turse’s introduction <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175693/tomgram%3A_rosner_and_markowitz%2C_your_body_is_a_corporate_test_tube/#more" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>A hidden epidemic is poisoning America.&#160; The toxins are in the air we breathe and the water we drink, in the walls of our homes and the furniture within them.&#160; We can’t escape it in our cars.&#160; It’s in cities and suburbs.&#160; It afflicts rich and poor, young and old.&#160; And there’s a reason why you’ve never read about it in the newspaper or seen a report on the nightly news: it has no name — and no antidote.&#160;&#160;&#160;</p>
<p>The culprit behind this silent killer is lead.&#160; And vinyl.&#160; And formaldehyde.&#160; And asbestos.&#160; And Bisphenol A.&#160; And <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22999707" type="external">polychlorinated biphenyls</a> (PCBs).&#160; And thousands more innovations brought to us by the industries that once promised “ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJtKkBYlHFw" type="external">better living through chemistry</a>,” but instead produced a toxic stew that has made every American a guinea pig and has turned the United States into one grand unnatural experiment.</p>
<p>Today, we are all unwitting subjects in the largest set of drug trials ever. Without our knowledge or consent, we are <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/pdf/FourthReport_UpdatedTables_Mar2013.pdf" type="external">testing thousands</a> of suspected toxic chemicals and compounds, as well as new substances whose safety is largely unproven and whose effects on human beings are all but unknown. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) itself has begun <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/pdf/FourthReport_UpdatedTables_Mar2013.pdf" type="external">monitoring our bodies</a> for 151 potentially dangerous chemicals, detailing the variety of pollutants we store in our bones, muscle, blood, and fat.&#160; None of the companies introducing these new chemicals has even bothered to tell us we’re part of their experiment.&#160; None of them has asked us to sign consent forms or explained that they have little idea what the long-term side effects of the chemicals they’ve put in our environment — and so our bodies — could be.&#160; Nor do they have any clue as to what the synergistic effects of combining so many novel chemicals inside a human body in unknown quantities might produce.</p>
<p />
<p>How Industrial Toxins Entered the American Home</p>
<p>The story of how Americans became unwitting test subjects began more than a century ago.&#160; The key figure was <a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_137.html" type="external">Alice Hamilton</a>, the “mother” of American occupational medicine, who began documenting the way workers in lead paint pigment factories, battery plants, and lead mines were suffering terrible palsies, tremors, convulsions, and deaths after being exposed to lead dust that floated in the air, coating their workbenches and clothes.</p>
<p>Soon thereafter, children exposed to lead paint and lead dust in their homes were also identified as victims of this deadly neurotoxin.&#160; Many went into convulsions and comas after crawling on floors where lead dust from paint had settled, or from touching lead-painted toys, or teething on lead-painted cribs, windowsills, furniture, and woodwork.</p>
<p>Instead of leveling with the public, the lead industry through its trade group, the <a href="http://defendingscience.org/sites/default/files/upload/Kimberly_1967.pdf" type="external">Lead Industries Association</a>, began a six-decade-long campaign to cover-up its product’s dire effects.&#160; It challenged doctors who reported lead-poisoned children to health departments, distracted the public through advertisements that claimed lead was “safe” to use, and fought regulation of the industry by local government, all in the service of profiting from putting a poison in paint, gasoline, plumbing fixtures, and even toys, baseballs, and fishing gear.&#160;</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=joe+camel&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;hs=lrW&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&amp;tbm=isch&amp;tbo=u&amp;source=univ&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=9dBuUcmHKMnh4AOaxYDgBA&amp;ved=0CDYQsAQ&amp;biw=1904&amp;bih=938" type="external">Joe Camel</a> would be for tobacco, so the little <a href="http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/Cater%20to%20the%20Children%20Markowitz%20Rosner.pdf" type="external">Dutch Boy</a> of the National Lead Company became an iconic marketing tool for Dutch Boy Lead Paint, priming Americans to invite a dangerous product into their children’s playrooms, nurseries, and lives. &#160;The company also launched a huge advertising campaign that linked lead to <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=Hff8N-noMckC&amp;pg=PA83&amp;lpg=PA83&amp;dq=lead+helps+to+guard+your+health&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=RrA_aPnCUX&amp;sig=zCWXmXHydXxb5ed_dsNngLnxyi4&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=h65uUdqjEcXD4AOd_oDQCw&amp;ved=0CDkQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=lead%20helps%20to%20guard%20your%20health&amp;f=false" type="external">health</a>, rather than danger. It even produced <a href="http://ci.columbia.edu/ci/tools/1161_tools.html" type="external">coloring books</a> for children, encouraging them to paint their rooms and furniture using lead-based paint.</p>
<p>Only after thousands of children were poisoned and, in the 1960s, activist groups like the <a href="http://www.hofstra.edu/pdf/community/culctr/culctr_events_healthcare0310_%20horvath_paper.pdf" type="external">Young Lords</a> and the <a href="http://www.itsabouttimebpp.com/chapter_history/bpp_pieces_of_history.html" type="external">Black Panthers</a> began to use lead poisoning as a symbol of racial and class oppression did public health professionals and the federal government begin to rein in companies like the Sherwin-Williams paint company and the Ethyl Corporation, which produced tetraethyl lead, the lead-additive in gasoline. In 1971, Congress passed the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/RegulatoryInformation/Legislation/ucm148755.htm" type="external">Lead Paint Poisoning Prevention Act</a> that limited lead in paint used for public housing.&#160; In 1978, the Consumer Products Safety Commission finally <a href="http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Recalls/1977/CPSC-Announces-Final-Ban-On-Lead-Containing-Paint/" type="external">banned</a> lead in all paints sold for consumer use.&#160; During the 1980s, the <a href="http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/airpage.nsf/webpage/Leaded+Gas+Phaseout" type="external">Environmental Protection Agency</a> issued rules that led to the elimination of leaded gasoline by 1995 (though it still remains in <a href="http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lead-in-aviation-fuel" type="external">aviation fuel</a>).</p>
<p>The CDC estimates that in at least <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/" type="external">4 million households</a> in the U.S. today children are still exposed to dangerous amounts of lead from old paint that produces dust every time a nail is driven into a wall to hang a picture, a new electric socket is installed, or a family renovates its kitchen. It estimates that more than <a href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/258706.php" type="external">500,000</a> children ages one to five have “elevated” levels of lead in their blood.&#160; ( <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6213a3.htm" type="external">No level</a> is considered safe for children.) &#160;Studies have linked lost <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8162884" type="external">IQ points</a>, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1764142/" type="external">attention deficit disorders</a>, <a href="http://www.sph.sc.edu/news/leadstudy.htm" type="external">behavioral problems</a>, dyslexia, and even possibly high <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2013/01/lead-and-crime-how-it-connects-race" type="external">incarceration rates</a> to tiny amounts of lead in children’s bodies.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, when it came to the creation of America’s chemical soup, the lead industry was hardly alone.&#160; Asbestos is another classic example of an industrial toxin that found its way into people’s homes and bodies.&#160; For decades, insulation workers, brake mechanics, construction workers, and a host of others in hundreds of trades fell victim to the disabling and deadly lung diseases of asbestosis or to lung cancer and the fatal cancer called mesothelioma when they breathed in dust produced during the installation of boilers, the insulation of pipes, the fixing of cars that used asbestos brake linings, or the spraying of asbestos on girders. Once again, the industry knew its product’s dangers early and worked assiduously to cover them up.</p>
<p>Despite growing medical knowledge about its effects (and increasing industry attempts to downplay or suppress that knowledge), asbestos was soon introduced to the American home and <a href="http://books.google.com/books?id=AuQDAAAAMBAJ&amp;pg=PA106&amp;dq=asbestos+products+in+homes&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=7bZuUZ_FIs6i4APT3IGwAw&amp;ved=0CFIQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&amp;q=asbestos%20products%20in%20homes&amp;f=false" type="external">incorporated into</a> products ranging from insulation for boilers and piping in basements to floor tiles and joint compounds.&#160; It was used to make sheetrock walls, roof shingles, ironing boards, oven gloves, and hot plates. Soon an occupational hazard was transformed into a threat to all consumers.</p>
<p>Today, however, these devastating industrial-turned-domestic toxins, which destroyed the health and sometimes took the lives of hundreds of thousands, seem almost quaint when compared to the brew of potential or actual toxins we’re regularly ingesting in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat.&#160;</p>
<p>Of special concern are a variety of chlorinated hydrocarbons, including DDT and other pesticides that were once spread freely nationwide, and despite being <a href="http://www.epa.gov/history/topics/ddt/01.html" type="external">banned</a> decades ago, have accumulated in the bones, brains, and fatty tissue of virtually all of us. Their close chemical carcinogenic cousins, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22999707" type="external">polychlorinated biphenyls</a> (PCBs), were found in innumerable household and consumer products&#160; — like carbonless copy paper, adhesives, paints, and electrical equipment – from the 1950s through the 1970s.&#160; We’re still paying the price for that industrial binge today, as these odorless, tasteless compounds have become permanent pollutants in the natural environment and, as a result, in all of us.</p>
<p>The Largest Uncontrolled Experiment in History</p>
<p>While old houses with lead paint and asbestos shingles pose risks, potentially more frightening chemicals are lurking in new construction going on in the latest <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2013/03/26/home-prices-growing-faster-than-in-the-build-up-to-the-housing-bubble-case-shiller/" type="external">mini-housing boom</a> across America.&#160; Our homes are now increasingly made out of lightweight fibers and reinforced synthetic materials whose effects on human health have never been adequately studied individually, let alone in the combinations we’re all subjected to today.&#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/formaldehyde" type="external">Formaldehyde</a>, a colorless chemical used in mortuaries as a preservative, can also be found as a fungicide, germicide, and disinfectant in, for example, plywood, particle board, hardwood paneling, and the “ <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/healthyhomes/manufactured_structures.pdf" type="external">medium density fiberboard</a>” commonly used for the fronts of drawers and cabinets or the tops of furniture. As the material ages, it evaporates into the home as a <a href="http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/formaldehyde" type="external">known cancer-producing vapor</a>, which slowly accumulates in our bodies. The National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health suggests that homeowners <a href="http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/formaldehyde" type="external">“purchasing pressed-wood products</a>, including building material, cabinetry, and furniture… should ask about the formaldehyde content of these products.”</p>
<p>What’s inside your new walls might be even more dangerous.&#160; While the <a href="http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2013-04-15/national/38550740_1_flame-retardants-pbdes-treated-products" type="external">flame retardants</a> commonly used in sofas, chairs, carpets, love seats, curtains, baby products, and even TVs, sounded like a good idea when <a href="http://www.bromine-info.org/en/are-brfs-safe/when-did-flame-retardants-start-to-be-used/" type="external">widely introduced</a> in the 1970s, they turn out to pose hidden dangers that we’re only now beginning to grasp.&#160; Researchers have, for instance, linked one of the most common flame retardants, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, to a wide variety of potentially undesirable health effects including <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2957927/" type="external">thyroid disruption</a>, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20947653" type="external">memory and learning problems</a>, delayed <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23154064" type="external">mental and physical development</a>, lower IQ, and the early onset of <a href="http://www.researchgrantdatabase.com/g/5R01ES017054-03/" type="external">puberty</a>.</p>
<p>Other flame retardants like Tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate have been linked to <a href="http://oehha.ca.gov/prop65/prop65_list/102811list.html" type="external">cancer</a>. As the CDC has <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/pdf/FourthReport_ExecutiveSummary.pdf" type="external">documented</a> in an ongoing study of the accumulation of hazardous materials in our bodies, flame retardants can now be found in the blood of “nearly all” of us.&#160;</p>
<p>Nor are these particular chemicals anomalies.&#160; Lurking in the cabinet under the kitchen sink, for instance, are <a href="http://www.ecos.com/press/Healthy%20Living%20articles%20/14-2_05_EFP.pdf" type="external">window cleaners</a> and <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/1990-07-12/business/fi-419_1_spot-remover" type="external">spot removers</a> that contain known or suspected cancer-causing agents.&#160; The same can be said of cosmetics in your makeup case or of your plastic water bottle or microwavable food containers.&#160; Most recently, Bisphenol A (BPA), the synthetic chemical used in a variety of plastic consumer products, including some baby bottles, epoxy cements, the lining of tuna fish cans, and even&#160; <a href="http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/48084/description/Concerned_about_BPA_Check_your_receipts" type="external">credit card receipts</a>, has been singled out as another everyday toxin increasingly found inside all of us.&#160;</p>
<p>Recent studies indicate that its effects are as varied as they are distressing. &#160;As <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Safe-Struggle-Define-Safety-Chemicals/dp/0520273583/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1366380488&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=sarah+vogel" type="external">Sarah Vogel</a> of the <a href="http://www.edf.org/" type="external">Environmental Defense Fund</a> has <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2774166/" type="external">written</a>, “New research on very-low-dose exposure to BPA suggests an association with adverse health effects, including breast and prostate cancer, obesity, neurobehavioral problems, and reproductive abnormalities.”&#160;</p>
<p>Teflon, or perfluorooctanoic acid, the heat-resistant, non-stick coating that has been sold to us as indispensable for pots and pans, is yet another in the list of substances that may be poisoning us, almost unnoticed.&#160; In addition to allowing fried eggs to slide right onto our plates, Teflon is in all of us, <a href="http://www.epa.gov/oppt/pfoa/pubs/pfoarisk.html" type="external">according to</a> the Science Advisory Board of the Environmental Protection Agency, and “likely to be carcinogenic in humans.”</p>
<p>These synthetic materials are just a few of the thousands now firmly embedded in our lives and our bodies.&#160; Most have been deployed in our world and put in our air, water, homes, and fields without being studied at all for potential health risks, nor has much attention been given to how they interact in the environments in which we live, let alone our bodies. The groups that produce these miracle substances — like the petrochemical, plastics, and rubber industries, including major companies like <a href="http://www.exxonmobil.com/Corporate/" type="external">Exxon</a>, <a href="http://www.dow.com/" type="external">Dow</a>, and <a href="http://www.monsanto.com/Pages/default.aspx" type="external">Monsanto</a> — argue that, until we can definitively prove the chemical products slowly leaching into our bodies are dangerous, we have no “right,” and they have no obligation, to remove them from our homes and workplaces. The idea that they should <a href="http://www.sehn.org/precaution.html" type="external">prove their products safe</a> before exposing the entire population to them seems to be a foreign concept.</p>
<p>In the 1920s, the oil industry made <a href="http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520275829" type="external">the same argument</a> about lead as an additive in gasoline, even though it was already known that it was a dangerous toxin for workers. Spokesman for companies like General Motors insisted that it was a “gift of God,” irreplaceable and essential for industrial progress and modern living, just as the lead industry argued for decades that lead was “essential” to produce good paint that would protect our homes.</p>
<p>Like the oil, lead, and tobacco industries of the twentieth century, the chemical industry, through the <a href="http://www.americanchemistry.com/" type="external">American Chemistry Council</a> and public relations firms like <a href="http://www.hkstrategies.com/" type="external">Hill &amp; Knowlton</a>, is fighting tooth and nail to stop regulation and inhibit legislation that would force it to test chemicals before putting them in the environment.&#160; In the meantime, Americans remain the human guinea pigs in advanced trials of hundreds if not thousands of commonly used, largely untested chemicals.&#160; There can be no doubt that this is the largest uncontrolled experiment in history.&#160;</p>
<p>To begin to bring it under control would undoubtedly involve major grassroots efforts to push back against the offending corporations, courageous politicians, billions of dollars, and top-flight researchers.&#160; But before any serious steps are likely to be taken, before we even name this epidemic, we need to wake up to its existence.&#160;</p>
<p>A toxic dump used to be a superfund site or a nuclear waste disposal site.&#160; Increasingly, however, we — each and every one of us — are toxic dumps and for us there’s no superfund around, no disposal plan in sight.&#160; In the meantime, we’re walking, talking biohazards and we don’t even know it.</p>
<p>David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz are co-authors and co-editors of seven books and 85 articles on a variety of industrial and occupational hazards, including Deceit and Denial: The Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution and, most recently, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0520273257/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Lead Wars: The Politics of Science and the Fate of America’s Children</a>, (University of California Press/Milbank, 2013).&#160; Rosner is a professor of history at Columbia University and co-director of the Center for the History of Public Health at Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health. Markowitz is a professor of history at John Jay College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York.</p>
<p>Follow TomDispatch on Twitter and join us on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/tomdispatch" type="external">Facebook</a> or <a href="http://tomdispatch.tumblr.com/" type="external">Tumblr</a>. Check out the newest Dispatch book, Nick Turse’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Changing-Face-Empire-Cyberwarfare/dp/1608463109/" type="external">The Changing Face of Empire: Special Ops, Drones, Proxy Fighters, Secret Bases, and Cyberwarfare.</a></p>
<p>Copyright 2013 David Rosner and Gerald Markowitz</p> | true | 4 | david rosner gerald markowitz tomdispatchthis article originally appeared tomdispatch read nick turses introduction hidden epidemic poisoning america160 toxins air breathe water drink walls homes furniture within them160 cant escape cars160 cities suburbs160 afflicts rich poor young old160 theres reason youve never read newspaper seen report nightly news name antidote160160160 culprit behind silent killer lead160 vinyl160 formaldehyde160 asbestos160 bisphenol a160 polychlorinated biphenyls pcbs160 thousands innovations brought us industries promised better living chemistry instead produced toxic stew made every american guinea pig turned united states one grand unnatural experiment today unwitting subjects largest set drug trials ever without knowledge consent testing thousands suspected toxic chemicals compounds well new substances whose safety largely unproven whose effects human beings unknown centers disease control cdc begun monitoring bodies 151 potentially dangerous chemicals detailing variety pollutants store bones muscle blood fat160 none companies introducing new chemicals even bothered tell us part experiment160 none asked us sign consent forms explained little idea longterm side effects chemicals theyve put environment bodies could be160 clue synergistic effects combining many novel chemicals inside human body unknown quantities might produce industrial toxins entered american home story americans became unwitting test subjects began century ago160 key figure alice hamilton mother american occupational medicine began documenting way workers lead paint pigment factories battery plants lead mines suffering terrible palsies tremors convulsions deaths exposed lead dust floated air coating workbenches clothes soon thereafter children exposed lead paint lead dust homes also identified victims deadly neurotoxin160 many went convulsions comas crawling floors lead dust paint settled touching leadpainted toys teething leadpainted cribs windowsills furniture woodwork instead leveling public lead industry trade group lead industries association began sixdecadelong campaign coverup products dire effects160 challenged doctors reported leadpoisoned children health departments distracted public advertisements claimed lead safe use fought regulation industry local government service profiting putting poison paint gasoline plumbing fixtures even toys baseballs fishing gear160 joe camel would tobacco little dutch boy national lead company became iconic marketing tool dutch boy lead paint priming americans invite dangerous product childrens playrooms nurseries lives 160the company also launched huge advertising campaign linked lead health rather danger even produced coloring books children encouraging paint rooms furniture using leadbased paint thousands children poisoned 1960s activist groups like young lords black panthers began use lead poisoning symbol racial class oppression public health professionals federal government begin rein companies like sherwinwilliams paint company ethyl corporation produced tetraethyl lead leadadditive gasoline 1971 congress passed lead paint poisoning prevention act limited lead paint used public housing160 1978 consumer products safety commission finally banned lead paints sold consumer use160 1980s environmental protection agency issued rules led elimination leaded gasoline 1995 though still remains aviation fuel cdc estimates least 4 million households us today children still exposed dangerous amounts lead old paint produces dust every time nail driven wall hang picture new electric socket installed family renovates kitchen estimates 500000 children ages one five elevated levels lead blood160 level considered safe children 160studies linked lost iq points attention deficit disorders behavioral problems dyslexia even possibly high incarceration rates tiny amounts lead childrens bodies unfortunately came creation americas chemical soup lead industry hardly alone160 asbestos another classic example industrial toxin found way peoples homes bodies160 decades insulation workers brake mechanics construction workers host others hundreds trades fell victim disabling deadly lung diseases asbestosis lung cancer fatal cancer called mesothelioma breathed dust produced installation boilers insulation pipes fixing cars used asbestos brake linings spraying asbestos girders industry knew products dangers early worked assiduously cover despite growing medical knowledge effects increasing industry attempts downplay suppress knowledge asbestos soon introduced american home incorporated products ranging insulation boilers piping basements floor tiles joint compounds160 used make sheetrock walls roof shingles ironing boards oven gloves hot plates soon occupational hazard transformed threat consumers today however devastating industrialturneddomestic toxins destroyed health sometimes took lives hundreds thousands seem almost quaint compared brew potential actual toxins regularly ingesting air breathe water drink food eat160 special concern variety chlorinated hydrocarbons including ddt pesticides spread freely nationwide despite banned decades ago accumulated bones brains fatty tissue virtually us close chemical carcinogenic cousins polychlorinated biphenyls pcbs found innumerable household consumer products160 like carbonless copy paper adhesives paints electrical equipment 1950s 1970s160 still paying price industrial binge today odorless tasteless compounds become permanent pollutants natural environment result us largest uncontrolled experiment history old houses lead paint asbestos shingles pose risks potentially frightening chemicals lurking new construction going latest minihousing boom across america160 homes increasingly made lightweight fibers reinforced synthetic materials whose effects human health never adequately studied individually let alone combinations subjected today160 formaldehyde colorless chemical used mortuaries preservative also found fungicide germicide disinfectant example plywood particle board hardwood paneling medium density fiberboard commonly used fronts drawers cabinets tops furniture material ages evaporates home known cancerproducing vapor slowly accumulates bodies national cancer institute national institutes health suggests homeowners purchasing pressedwood products including building material cabinetry furniture ask formaldehyde content products whats inside new walls might even dangerous160 flame retardants commonly used sofas chairs carpets love seats curtains baby products even tvs sounded like good idea widely introduced 1970s turn pose hidden dangers beginning grasp160 researchers instance linked one common flame retardants polybrominated diphenyl ethers wide variety potentially undesirable health effects including thyroid disruption memory learning problems delayed mental physical development lower iq early onset puberty flame retardants like tris 13dichloro2propyl phosphate linked cancer cdc documented ongoing study accumulation hazardous materials bodies flame retardants found blood nearly us160 particular chemicals anomalies160 lurking cabinet kitchen sink instance window cleaners spot removers contain known suspected cancercausing agents160 said cosmetics makeup case plastic water bottle microwavable food containers160 recently bisphenol bpa synthetic chemical used variety plastic consumer products including baby bottles epoxy cements lining tuna fish cans even160 credit card receipts singled another everyday toxin increasingly found inside us160 recent studies indicate effects varied distressing 160as sarah vogel environmental defense fund written new research verylowdose exposure bpa suggests association adverse health effects including breast prostate cancer obesity neurobehavioral problems reproductive abnormalities160 teflon perfluorooctanoic acid heatresistant nonstick coating sold us indispensable pots pans yet another list substances may poisoning us almost unnoticed160 addition allowing fried eggs slide right onto plates teflon us according science advisory board environmental protection agency likely carcinogenic humans synthetic materials thousands firmly embedded lives bodies160 deployed world put air water homes fields without studied potential health risks much attention given interact environments live let alone bodies groups produce miracle substances like petrochemical plastics rubber industries including major companies like exxon dow monsanto argue definitively prove chemical products slowly leaching bodies dangerous right obligation remove homes workplaces idea prove products safe exposing entire population seems foreign concept 1920s oil industry made argument lead additive gasoline even though already known dangerous toxin workers spokesman companies like general motors insisted gift god irreplaceable essential industrial progress modern living lead industry argued decades lead essential produce good paint would protect homes like oil lead tobacco industries twentieth century chemical industry american chemistry council public relations firms like hill amp knowlton fighting tooth nail stop regulation inhibit legislation would force test chemicals putting environment160 meantime americans remain human guinea pigs advanced trials hundreds thousands commonly used largely untested chemicals160 doubt largest uncontrolled experiment history160 begin bring control would undoubtedly involve major grassroots efforts push back offending corporations courageous politicians billions dollars topflight researchers160 serious steps likely taken even name epidemic need wake existence160 toxic dump used superfund site nuclear waste disposal site160 increasingly however every one us toxic dumps us theres superfund around disposal plan sight160 meantime walking talking biohazards dont even know david rosner gerald markowitz coauthors coeditors seven books 85 articles variety industrial occupational hazards including deceit denial deadly politics industrial pollution recently lead wars politics science fate americas children university california pressmilbank 2013160 rosner professor history columbia university codirector center history public health columbias mailman school public health markowitz professor history john jay college graduate center city university new york follow tomdispatch twitter join us facebook tumblr check newest dispatch book nick turses changing face empire special ops drones proxy fighters secret bases cyberwarfare copyright 2013 david rosner gerald markowitz | 1,338 |
<p>The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Western Regional Director told Jerry Collamer point blank, one month ago, after him peppering the guy with San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) post-reactor meltdown scenarios:</p>
<p>“That’s why they call it, Disaster.”</p>
<p>Disaster: the past-present tense of our here and now, when we’re not careful.</p>
<p>Disaster can be avoided, if you just don’t go there. Yet our human nature is to go, to build, to deny the omnipotent laws of nature, then suffer that all too familiar consequence – Disaster.</p>
<p>That’s what Mr. FEMA / Mr. Disaster was getting at.</p>
<p>FEMA and First-Responders, don’t prevent Disaster. They mop up after. But Disaster can be preempted, or avoided entirely just by doing the right thing: utilize good common sense.</p>
<p>It Can’t Happen Here?</p>
<p>Yesterday’s Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register published the reassuring words of Southern California Edison (SCE) officials and academic seismologists, claiming quake-meltdown-disaster could never happen here. The plant is designed for a 7.0 temblor and Japan’s 8.9 and the associated tsunami are “highly unlikely.”</p>
<p>Consider, however, a study from 2008 by the California Energy Commission called “An Assessment of California’s Nuclear Power Plants, AB 1632 Report.” It states that the region could experience larger and more frequent earthquakes than had been anticipated when the plant was designed, due to the late discovery of underground “blind thrust” faults. It goes on to recommend further study to characterize the seismic hazard, since less is known about the seismic setting than more fully studied Diablo Canyon in Central California.</p>
<p>The uncertainties are with regard to “continuity, structure and earthquake potential” of the nearby South Coast Offshore Fault Zone, and the faulting that connects to the Los Angeles (Newport-Inglewood Fault) and San Diego (Rose Canyon Fault) regions. There is also the potenial for as yet undiscovered blind thrust faults near the plant. A Long-Term Seismic Program is recommended to consider the as yet not-fully-considered.</p>
<p>At the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, they also claimed “It won’t happen here.” The latter plant was designed for only a 7.9 quake as the “worst case scenario.”</p>
<p>As well, a study from the Electric Power Research Institute admits: “The Richter scale alone does not capture the dangers or risks posed by specific quakes.” Multiple, unforeseen disasters, quake, tsunami, floods, loss of both primary and backup power, pose the real dangers to an undertaking as complicated and dangerous as nuclear fission.</p>
<p>The California Energy Commission study also mentioned submarine landslides could generate large local tsunamis, a fact not fully understood when SONGS was built. While some consider the 30-foot-high reinforced concrete “tsunami wall” as invincible, others have questioned its durability. Sadly, the walls protecting the Fukushima Daiichi facilities did not stop the backup generators from being flooded, causing the fail. What have the SCE engineers and academic seismologists not fully considered here, when the Big One hits?</p>
<p>San Onofre Earthquake – What If?</p>
<p>Consider SONGS’ precarious seating arrangement: on sand – over a fault – at water’s edge. Then consider its age.</p>
<p>A SONGS 7.5 earthquake scenario:</p>
<p>1) SONGS sinks into its suddenly liquified sand base / liquefaction</p>
<p>2) Tsunami like ocean occurrence overwhelms SONGS’ crumbling sea wall, swamping the cracking, steaming, radiating, eternally hot hell-hole that was moments before SONGS</p>
<p>3) Remains too hot to handle for 50,000 years, or longer. But who’s counting? Are we prepared for that?</p>
<p>Or something half that?</p>
<p>Or a third that?</p>
<p>Or a quarter that?</p>
<p>It Can Happen</p>
<p>Test Model: Japan – July 16, 2007.</p>
<p>Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Facility in Niigata Prefecture on the northwest coast of Japan falls victim to a 6.8 shaker. Built over a fault, in an earthquake prone region, at waters edge. Though damage to the facility was limited and “less than expected,” radioacive iodine did escape from a leaking pipe. Ground motion caused water to slosh in the spent nuclear fuel storage pool and spill into the nuclear plant’s reactor buildings. Contaminated water leaked into the Sea of Japan from damaged conduits. SCE uses both pools and dry cask storage. A loss of cooling event could be precipitated by an earthquake or terrorist event; SCE claims they are safe.</p>
<p>And now the ongoing post-quake-tsunami crisis at Fukushima.</p>
<p>Most asked question post Japanese disaster:</p>
<p>“Why’d you build it there?”</p>
<p>The engineers planned and built SONGS (before super seismic hazard mapping computer models, before they knew there was a fault sleeping beneath it) designed it to last until 2013. Not 2014 -15 – 16, or 2020 (as it has recently been approved for).</p>
<p>So who’ya gonna trust? The engineers who created SONGS? Building it to a 2013 end date – or SONGS owner-operator Edison, working to extend SONGS shaky, aged existence to 2020 or longer – on sand, over a fault, at waters edge?</p>
<p>Remember Mr. FEMA’s tutorial:</p>
<p>“That’s why they call it, Disaster.”</p>
<p>Using common sense is the antidote to a SONGS disaster: 2013-end-date, game over.</p>
<p>Jack Eidt and Jerry Collamer, founders of Wild Heritage Planners, an organization based in Southern California dedicated to sustainable environmental planning, collaborated on this piece. <a href="http://wildheritageplanners.com" type="external">http://wildheritageplanners.com</a></p>
<p />
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | federal emergency management agencys fema western regional director told jerry collamer point blank one month ago peppering guy san onofre nuclear generating station songs postreactor meltdown scenarios thats call disaster disaster pastpresent tense careful disaster avoided dont go yet human nature go build deny omnipotent laws nature suffer familiar consequence disaster thats mr fema mr disaster getting fema firstresponders dont prevent disaster mop disaster preempted avoided entirely right thing utilize good common sense cant happen yesterdays los angeles times orange county register published reassuring words southern california edison sce officials academic seismologists claiming quakemeltdowndisaster could never happen plant designed 70 temblor japans 89 associated tsunami highly unlikely consider however study 2008 california energy commission called assessment californias nuclear power plants ab 1632 report states region could experience larger frequent earthquakes anticipated plant designed due late discovery underground blind thrust faults goes recommend study characterize seismic hazard since less known seismic setting fully studied diablo canyon central california uncertainties regard continuity structure earthquake potential nearby south coast offshore fault zone faulting connects los angeles newportinglewood fault san diego rose canyon fault regions also potenial yet undiscovered blind thrust faults near plant longterm seismic program recommended consider yet notfullyconsidered fukushima daiichi nuclear plant also claimed wont happen latter plant designed 79 quake worst case scenario well study electric power research institute admits richter scale alone capture dangers risks posed specific quakes multiple unforeseen disasters quake tsunami floods loss primary backup power pose real dangers undertaking complicated dangerous nuclear fission california energy commission study also mentioned submarine landslides could generate large local tsunamis fact fully understood songs built consider 30foothigh reinforced concrete tsunami wall invincible others questioned durability sadly walls protecting fukushima daiichi facilities stop backup generators flooded causing fail sce engineers academic seismologists fully considered big one hits san onofre earthquake consider songs precarious seating arrangement sand fault waters edge consider age songs 75 earthquake scenario 1 songs sinks suddenly liquified sand base liquefaction 2 tsunami like ocean occurrence overwhelms songs crumbling sea wall swamping cracking steaming radiating eternally hot hellhole moments songs 3 remains hot handle 50000 years longer whos counting prepared something half third quarter happen test model japan july 16 2007 kashiwazakikariwa nuclear facility niigata prefecture northwest coast japan falls victim 68 shaker built fault earthquake prone region waters edge though damage facility limited less expected radioacive iodine escape leaking pipe ground motion caused water slosh spent nuclear fuel storage pool spill nuclear plants reactor buildings contaminated water leaked sea japan damaged conduits sce uses pools dry cask storage loss cooling event could precipitated earthquake terrorist event sce claims safe ongoing postquaketsunami crisis fukushima asked question post japanese disaster whyd build engineers planned built songs super seismic hazard mapping computer models knew fault sleeping beneath designed last 2013 2014 15 16 2020 recently approved whoya gon na trust engineers created songs building 2013 end date songs owneroperator edison working extend songs shaky aged existence 2020 longer sand fault waters edge remember mr femas tutorial thats call disaster using common sense antidote songs disaster 2013enddate game jack eidt jerry collamer founders wild heritage planners organization based southern california dedicated sustainable environmental planning collaborated piece httpwildheritageplannerscom 160 | 526 |
<p>Providence St. Joseph Health, the third largest not-for-profit healthcare conglomerate in the country, annual revenue $20 billion v. National Union of Healthcare Workers.</p>
<p>Here is the story of David v. Goliath, again; the story now commonplace as hospitals and health care providers consolidate and corporatize.</p>
<p>Queen of the Valley is typical of rural healthcare, it is relatively small, it serves a poor, aging population, financially it is weak, its employees struggle. Still, it is the hospital in Napa, the town, the largest employer in Napa, the county. Locals sometimes refer to it in loving terms.</p>
<p>The Queen was founded in 1958, as a link in the St. Joseph Health System; it has 211 beds and 420 service and tech workers (including nursing assistants, pharmacy technicians, and respiratory care practitioners). It treated 27,000 patients in 2016.</p>
<p>St. Joseph, then headquartered in Irvine in Southern California, wouldn’t have been considered union friendly, yet it accepted successful organizing by the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW) at four of five Northern California hospitals – Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Eureka and Fortuna.</p>
<p>In November 2016, Queen of the Valley workers followed suit, voting overwhelmingly to join. Few expected difficulties as bargaining began.</p>
<p>They were mistaken. The hospital’s management now reflected the objectives of the new owners, Providence, of Renton, Washington. Management withdrew recognition of the election and the union in March.</p>
<p>Providence merged with St Joseph Health in spring, 2016; this combined entity employs 110,000 people in seven western states. It manages 50 hospitals; its annual revenues are predicted to be more than $20 billion this year.</p>
<p>Providence CEO Rod Hochman boasts, “With the merger, there will be potential to take care of 22 million people,” he said. “We will have the scale to be able to make an impact on how healthcare is delivered in the United States.”</p>
<p>Hochman is an Ivy League grad, an empire builder, a liberal “mover and shaker.” For this his compensation is in the millions; he has multiple pensions; his world is the corporate world.</p>
<p>He wants to make an “impact,” yes, but what kind of impact? NUHW members at the Queen feel that they are on the receiving end of Providence’s business model of healthcare delivery – where the workforce is to be rationalized, the patient is a customer, and the bottom line rules – for-profit, not for-profit, it matters little. They’re becoming objects, not agents in healthcare provision.</p>
<p>Caregivers at the Queen insist that the hospital is pocketing big profits while understaffing units and making patients endure dangerously long waits for emergency care.</p>
<p>They work to help people, not to build empires, but they too must survive. They have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB); they assert that Providence has illegally withdrawn recognition of their union and is coercing workers into accepting this.</p>
<p>“From the moment we began organizing, Queen executives have tried to intimidate us out of forming a union,” says Ray Herrera, a radiology technician. “They clearly don’t want a workforce to shine a light on how they have compromised patient care to further increase their profits.”</p>
<p>Queen of the Valley CEO Larry Coomes claims that the hospital “does not believe the election held in November ensured all of our employees had a free and fair ability to vote in the election,” though this, of course, in a reversal of the hospital’s initial recognition of the results and the union.</p>
<p>The NLRB, responding to NUHW complaints, challenges this; in turn, it has issued a complaint against Queen of the Valley. Regional Director Jill Coffman has accused the hospital of violating federal labor law. She found that management “threatened employees with unspecified charges for engaging in union activities” and “denied an employee’s request for representation,” also that administrators “changed work schedules’’ to discourage employees from engaging in protected activities.</p>
<p>The workers are now waiting; another NLRB decision is expected within the month and they are hopeful. Still, many wonder why the hospital has gone to such lengths – and at such expense – to deny them their basic rights.</p>
<p>NUHW organizer Hilda Poulson has suspicions. “I think it’s simply a stall,” she says, “Providence St. Josephs knows full well we have a new administration in Washington, D.C. and they believe time is on their side. They are waiting to see what happens when Trump reshapes the labor board.”</p>
<p>In the meantime, the struggle continues. On August 28, 150 employees, friends and neighbors joined a vigil outside the hospital. Caretakers spoke of their love for the Queen and their fear that under the leadership of Providence St. Joseph Health things are changing – for the worse.</p>
<p>Kelly O’Neill, a respiratory therapist, questioned the hospital’s staffing levels considering recent data showing that it netted a $10 million profit last year. “Sacrificing patient care in the name of the bottom line goes against everything we stand for,” he says.</p>
<p>“How many of you have had to wait to be seen in the ER, when you or a loved one was having an emergency?” asked Gabbi Caro, a patient access representative. “Does that make you angry? Because it makes me angry.”</p>
<p>Supporters at the workers’ vigil included North Bay Jobs with Justice, Napa Valley Democrats, the Napa/Solano Central Labor Council, UNITE HERE! Local 2850 and the Napa Valley Educators Association.</p>
<p>Marty Bennett, Co-chair of Jobs with Justice, underscored the necessity of solidarity:</p>
<p>“We have to win here. This movement is typical of what’s happening in the North Bay. There are so many low-wage workers, immigrants, women, young people – and they’re under attack.” Bennett insisted it can be done, pointing to recent victories in neighboring Sonoma County where the Teamsters have won a big victory for waste haulers and Unite Here has won at Hyatt in Santa Rosa.</p>
<p>Napa County, best known of course for pseudo-Chateaux and grapes, is awash in wealth, as are neighboring Sonoma and Marin Counties. Yet, poverty persists, inequality glares.</p>
<p>At the vigil, John Riley, of the Napa/Solana Central Labor Council, pledged “We stand with our siblings at Queen of the Valley Medical Center in demanding our most basic values – being treated with respect and the right to bargain fairly.”</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The truth of the pudding, it’s said, is in the eating, and the truth is that for US workers victories have been few and far between lately, and, alas, defeats sometimes staggering – Volkswagen, Boeing, Nissan – can seem inevitable. There is much that needs saying about these, indeed much is being said.</p>
<p>But, then, the importance of this story; let’s not forget what can be won. True, Queen of the Valley is, as things go, small, but it is also a link in a corporate chain that is massive, its scale is industrial. This victory (so far) then is significant, even more so because it is just one of many being won by NUHW at workplaces up and down the state of California. NUHW membership now tops 13,000, up from zero in 2009 – no small achievement.</p>
<p>How? Here’s Jose Cantera, a cath lab tech with seventeen years at Queen of the Valley:</p>
<p>My coworkers&#160;and I unionized to gain a voice in patient care, once it became apparent new corporate leadership was more interested in profits than patients. The response by&#160;Providence St. Joseph corporate executives – to deny our rights, wage an expensive legal battle and threaten us with reprisals – has been truly sad and shameful. In spite of the intimidation tactics, I’m hopeful because we’re fighting for something we truly believe in: our patients and our families. They’re depending on us, and we won’t be giving up any time soon.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Two notes from the Health care front.</p>
<p>Readers – before rushing to Seattle’s Providence St Joseph’s Health’s Swedish Hospital for brain surgery – should check out the “apology” (a full-page advertisement in the Seattle Times) of CEO Dr. Rod Hochman.</p>
<p>“I apologize to the caregivers, physicians, patients and community for the pain the current situation has caused,” Hochman wrote. “You deserved better from us — and from me… [I am] ultimately accountable for the successes and mistakes of the hospitals in our system.”</p>
<p>This,” apology,” is in stark contrast to his initial response to criticism of Swedish– “This is not a democracy!” exclaimed the liberal Seattle billionaire. He was referring to, among other things, the practice surgeon of Dr. Johnny Delashaw -apparently one of celebrated surgeons Hochman had recruited to enhance the hospital’s climb to the top of the ranks.</p>
<p>Delashaw came to Swedish from California in 2013, despite investigations and allegations there, according to the Times (March 1, 2017), “that he may have performed unnecessary surgeries and that his patients had high rates of medical complications.</p>
<p>“After arriving at Swedish, Delashaw quickly emerged as the highest-volume brain or spine surgeon in the state, handling 661 inpatient cases totaling more than $86 million in billed charges for the hospital in his first 16 months. But in that time, he faced dozens of internal complaints from Swedish staffers, according to records.”</p>
<p>The Times investigated numerous internal concerns about patient care, and the frustrations of staffers that their concerns weren’t being addressed. — particularly when it came to Delashaw. “Swedish embraced contracts that incentivized doctors to pursue a high volume of procedures, and some doctors managed their workload by running multiple surgeries at the same time. The number of cases and overall billings grew dramatically over the past several years.</p>
<p>“Four current and former staffers who asked to remain anonymous expressed concern that the OR would have to pause to wait for Delashaw in the middle of the surgery, with the patient’s body opened up and under anesthesia.</p>
<p>“Three of the workers who asked to remain anonymous expressed concern that Delashaw would be off in a clinic while simultaneously having multiple cases in the OR.”</p>
<p>Stay tuned. The Attorney General has removed Delashaw’s license. Investigations continue.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>A Strike for Free Speech for Workers?</p>
<p>August 23, 2017. Nursing home workers picketed the San Rafael Health and Wellness Center in Marin County, CA, demanding that Brius Healthcare finalize negotiations with workers and their union, the National Union of Healthcare Workers (NUHW).</p>
<p>The strikers, employees of Brius, California’s largest nursing home chain, insist on maintaining their watchdog website, Brius Watch.org: “Keeping an Eye on California’s most Notorious Nursing Home Company” Brius wants it down. (See “ <a href="" type="internal">Life and Death in Health Care’s Trenches</a>,” CounterPunch, October 6, 2016).</p>
<p>Brius Watch keeps tabs on the (mal) practice of this chain of 81 nursing homes, as well as on its right-wing, Southern California billionaire owner, the high-flying Shlomo Rechnitz.</p>
<p>“We are the voice for our residents,” said Maria Martinez, a veteran nursing assistant in San Rafael. “It is time for us to show the company that they need to do the right thing. And that we are not going to be silent. And every single thing they do, we are going to bring it out to the community.”</p>
<p>NUHW reports that Brius workers “were close to agreeing on contracts at both its Marin facilities when Brius representatives illegally demanded that the union take BriusWatch off the internet.”</p>
<p>The striking caregivers have sometimes gone up to five years without raises, still they refuse to take down the website. “We’re letting the community know that we are here standing up for our patients,” Martinez said during a noontime rally in San Rafael. “This union doesn’t let this company get away with anything. We’re going to fight.”</p>
<p>Brius workers are demanding wage increases – few can afford to live in this richest of California’s counties (median family income, $120,000). They also want proper staffing and resources. State regulators have cited Brius for expired food and inadequate supplies.</p> | true | 4 | providence st joseph health third largest notforprofit healthcare conglomerate country annual revenue 20 billion v national union healthcare workers story david v goliath story commonplace hospitals health care providers consolidate corporatize queen valley typical rural healthcare relatively small serves poor aging population financially weak employees struggle still hospital napa town largest employer napa county locals sometimes refer loving terms queen founded 1958 link st joseph health system 211 beds 420 service tech workers including nursing assistants pharmacy technicians respiratory care practitioners treated 27000 patients 2016 st joseph headquartered irvine southern california wouldnt considered union friendly yet accepted successful organizing national union healthcare workers nuhw four five northern california hospitals santa rosa petaluma eureka fortuna november 2016 queen valley workers followed suit voting overwhelmingly join expected difficulties bargaining began mistaken hospitals management reflected objectives new owners providence renton washington management withdrew recognition election union march providence merged st joseph health spring 2016 combined entity employs 110000 people seven western states manages 50 hospitals annual revenues predicted 20 billion year providence ceo rod hochman boasts merger potential take care 22 million people said scale able make impact healthcare delivered united states hochman ivy league grad empire builder liberal mover shaker compensation millions multiple pensions world corporate world wants make impact yes kind impact nuhw members queen feel receiving end providences business model healthcare delivery workforce rationalized patient customer bottom line rules forprofit forprofit matters little theyre becoming objects agents healthcare provision caregivers queen insist hospital pocketing big profits understaffing units making patients endure dangerously long waits emergency care work help people build empires must survive filed charges national labor relations board nlrb assert providence illegally withdrawn recognition union coercing workers accepting moment began organizing queen executives tried intimidate us forming union says ray herrera radiology technician clearly dont want workforce shine light compromised patient care increase profits queen valley ceo larry coomes claims hospital believe election held november ensured employees free fair ability vote election though course reversal hospitals initial recognition results union nlrb responding nuhw complaints challenges turn issued complaint queen valley regional director jill coffman accused hospital violating federal labor law found management threatened employees unspecified charges engaging union activities denied employees request representation also administrators changed work schedules discourage employees engaging protected activities workers waiting another nlrb decision expected within month hopeful still many wonder hospital gone lengths expense deny basic rights nuhw organizer hilda poulson suspicions think simply stall says providence st josephs knows full well new administration washington dc believe time side waiting see happens trump reshapes labor board meantime struggle continues august 28 150 employees friends neighbors joined vigil outside hospital caretakers spoke love queen fear leadership providence st joseph health things changing worse kelly oneill respiratory therapist questioned hospitals staffing levels considering recent data showing netted 10 million profit last year sacrificing patient care name bottom line goes everything stand says many wait seen er loved one emergency asked gabbi caro patient access representative make angry makes angry supporters workers vigil included north bay jobs justice napa valley democrats napasolano central labor council unite local 2850 napa valley educators association marty bennett cochair jobs justice underscored necessity solidarity win movement typical whats happening north bay many lowwage workers immigrants women young people theyre attack bennett insisted done pointing recent victories neighboring sonoma county teamsters big victory waste haulers unite hyatt santa rosa napa county best known course pseudochateaux grapes awash wealth neighboring sonoma marin counties yet poverty persists inequality glares vigil john riley napasolana central labor council pledged stand siblings queen valley medical center demanding basic values treated respect right bargain fairly truth pudding said eating truth us workers victories far lately alas defeats sometimes staggering volkswagen boeing nissan seem inevitable much needs saying indeed much said importance story lets forget true queen valley things go small also link corporate chain massive scale industrial victory far significant even one many nuhw workplaces state california nuhw membership tops 13000 zero 2009 small achievement heres jose cantera cath lab tech seventeen years queen valley coworkers160and unionized gain voice patient care became apparent new corporate leadership interested profits patients response by160providence st joseph corporate executives deny rights wage expensive legal battle threaten us reprisals truly sad shameful spite intimidation tactics im hopeful fighting something truly believe patients families theyre depending us wont giving time soon two notes health care front readers rushing seattles providence st josephs healths swedish hospital brain surgery check apology fullpage advertisement seattle times ceo dr rod hochman apologize caregivers physicians patients community pain current situation caused hochman wrote deserved better us ultimately accountable successes mistakes hospitals system apology stark contrast initial response criticism swedish democracy exclaimed liberal seattle billionaire referring among things practice surgeon dr johnny delashaw apparently one celebrated surgeons hochman recruited enhance hospitals climb top ranks delashaw came swedish california 2013 despite investigations allegations according times march 1 2017 may performed unnecessary surgeries patients high rates medical complications arriving swedish delashaw quickly emerged highestvolume brain spine surgeon state handling 661 inpatient cases totaling 86 million billed charges hospital first 16 months time faced dozens internal complaints swedish staffers according records times investigated numerous internal concerns patient care frustrations staffers concerns werent addressed particularly came delashaw swedish embraced contracts incentivized doctors pursue high volume procedures doctors managed workload running multiple surgeries time number cases overall billings grew dramatically past several years four current former staffers asked remain anonymous expressed concern would pause wait delashaw middle surgery patients body opened anesthesia three workers asked remain anonymous expressed concern delashaw would clinic simultaneously multiple cases stay tuned attorney general removed delashaws license investigations continue strike free speech workers august 23 2017 nursing home workers picketed san rafael health wellness center marin county ca demanding brius healthcare finalize negotiations workers union national union healthcare workers nuhw strikers employees brius californias largest nursing home chain insist maintaining watchdog website brius watchorg keeping eye californias notorious nursing home company brius wants see life death health cares trenches counterpunch october 6 2016 brius watch keeps tabs mal practice chain 81 nursing homes well rightwing southern california billionaire owner highflying shlomo rechnitz voice residents said maria martinez veteran nursing assistant san rafael time us show company need right thing going silent every single thing going bring community nuhw reports brius workers close agreeing contracts marin facilities brius representatives illegally demanded union take briuswatch internet striking caregivers sometimes gone five years without raises still refuse take website letting community know standing patients martinez said noontime rally san rafael union doesnt let company get away anything going fight brius workers demanding wage increases afford live richest californias counties median family income 120000 also want proper staffing resources state regulators cited brius expired food inadequate supplies | 1,113 |
<p>Photo by BOMBMAN | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>This has been quite a week for the United States at the United Nations. First, the U.S. vetoed a Security Council resolution that basically sought to nullify the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Fourteen ‘yes’ votes and one ‘no’, being cast by the U.S. Like the cheese in the old nursery rhyme, the U.S. stands alone.</p>
<p>Then on December 21, the General Assembly voted on what was, in essence, the same resolution. But in the General Assembly, the U.S. has no veto power.</p>
<p>The outcome of this vote, however, wasn’t surprising: 128 nations voting in favor of justice, human rights and international law, nine voting against, and 35 abstaining. Canada is in the latter group, doing a precarious balancing act in trying not to displease Trump (Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may have now taken the role of the Yankee Poodle, which previously belonged to then British Prime Minister Tony Blair a decade ago), and also not alienating the heads of several Arab nations that could scuttle Canada’s quest to gain a seat on the Security Council. Unconditional support for Israel during the Stephen Harper years prevented Canada from gaining that coveted spot at that time.</p>
<p>But the lack of a veto didn’t mean that the mighty U.S. wouldn’t try everything in its power to prevent passage of the resolution. First, the embarrassing and incompetent U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., Nikki Haley, sent a letter to Assembly members, saying that the U.S. would be closely watching their vote, and any opposition would be taken personally by Trump.&#160; Then, to attempt to tighten the screws, Trump himself threatened to withhold financial assistance from any country that dared to oppose it at the U.N. Blackmail and intimidation are now the rule of the day in U.S. ‘diplomatic’ circles.</p>
<p>The vote doesn’t change anything on the ground, but it serves to highlight and emphasize the U.S.’s growing isolation from the global community, and the contempt that much of the world has for the U.S. and its extremely unpopular president. Only nine countries stood with the U.S., and these included such ‘powerhouses’ as Nauru (population 13, 049), Palau (population 21,503), and the Marshall Islands (population 53,066)</p>
<p>During her rant, Haley said that the U.S. is a major financial sponsor of the U.N. and expects a good return on its investment. She seems completely oblivious to such concepts as philanthropy, the giving to a good cause without any expectation of a return. The United Nations is such a cause. It’s website says this:</p>
<p>Due to the powers vested in its&#160; <a href="http://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/" type="external">Charter</a>&#160;and its unique international character, the United Nations can take action on the issues confronting humanity in the 21st century, such as peace and security, climate change, sustainable development, human rights, disarmament, terrorism, humanitarian and health emergencies, gender equality, governance, food production, and more.</p>
<p>These are all issues that the global community should address, and the U.N., despite its many imperfections, is a means by which to do so. One nation doesn’t ‘invest’ in it, looking for a ‘return’, as if finding a promising stock, purchasing shares and hoping to make a handsome profit. It is more akin to contributing to the American Cancer Society, Heart Association or Diabetes Foundation. Individuals give money to those organizations, with the hope and expectation that by doing so, some suffering will be alleviated. This writer contributes to the Heart Association. He, himself, does not have heart problems; his parents lived long lives without ever experiencing such problems; his siblings and son don’t have them. Yet he is aware that many people die of heart disease, and he hopes that his small contributions will help to reduce those numbers. The money he gives does not benefit him directly.</p>
<p>Similarly, nations are part of, and financially sustain, the United Nations, with the hope that it will assist in alleviating suffering around the world. Even those nations that are criticized by the U.N. and its various component parts should realize that they are contributing funds for the greater good of humanity.</p>
<p>But not the U.S., and certainly not Trump. Haley, like an investment counselor watching to assure that her client’s stocks are in an upward trajectory, demands an adequate return. The U.N. cannot criticize the U.S. when it violates international law, and supports other nations in such violations. What about all the money the U.S. gives it? The U.N., in return, should grant the U.S. a pass on such things as human rights violations and defying international law.</p>
<p>Trump upped the ante by actually threatening to stop financial aid to countries that voted for this resolution. Afghanistan is a nation to which the U.S. gives billions, as it systematically works to destroy it. This is one of the 128 countries that defied the U.S. on Thursday at the U.N. It is unlikely that the U.S. will reduce the amount of aid it gives Afghanistan.</p>
<p>Egypt is another such country. Its leaders support Israel, and assist in the brutal oppression of the Palestinians, so Trump’s threat seems empty there, too.</p>
<p>Let Haley take her list to her Big Orange Boss; he will rant and rave, and ‘Tweet’ out endless threats and criticisms, all to the effect of further alienating the U.S.</p>
<p>But what is any of that? His rabid, right-wing, racist base is eating this all up; its members hate the U.N., believe the U.S. is the infallible judge, jury and executioner of the entire planet, believe that all Muslims are terrorists and that God is a real estate agent who is apparently getting a fine commission on his sale of Palestine to Jews from New York. Who needs the rest of the world?</p>
<p>The mighty U.S. will take on any problem, overthrow any democratically-elected government if it appears to lean too far to the left, support the most unspeakable human rights violations if the lobbyists from the countries committing them continue signing campaign checks, all the while proclaiming that it is a beacon of peace and freedom around the world.</p>
<p>Domestically, the U.S. police force will continue to murder unarmed Blacks, as the judiciary slaps the wrists of corporate criminals. The very people who still, incredibly, support Trump, will see their taxes increase as their medical care opportunities evaporate.</p>
<p>But their hero can proclaim that he is a Washington outsider, not attending to the political correctness of the D.C. establishment, defying international law, fomenting racial difficulties, and further making the U.S. a global pariah.</p>
<p>This is the U.S. and the world, as 2017, the first year of the Trump presidency, draws to a close. What the new year will bring is anyone’s guess.</p> | true | 4 | photo bombman cc 20 quite week united states united nations first us vetoed security council resolution basically sought nullify us recognition jerusalem capital israel fourteen yes votes one cast us like cheese old nursery rhyme us stands alone december 21 general assembly voted essence resolution general assembly us veto power outcome vote however wasnt surprising 128 nations voting favor justice human rights international law nine voting 35 abstaining canada latter group precarious balancing act trying displease trump canadian prime minister justin trudeau may taken role yankee poodle previously belonged british prime minister tony blair decade ago also alienating heads several arab nations could scuttle canadas quest gain seat security council unconditional support israel stephen harper years prevented canada gaining coveted spot time lack veto didnt mean mighty us wouldnt try everything power prevent passage resolution first embarrassing incompetent us ambassador un nikki haley sent letter assembly members saying us would closely watching vote opposition would taken personally trump160 attempt tighten screws trump threatened withhold financial assistance country dared oppose un blackmail intimidation rule day us diplomatic circles vote doesnt change anything ground serves highlight emphasize uss growing isolation global community contempt much world us extremely unpopular president nine countries stood us included powerhouses nauru population 13 049 palau population 21503 marshall islands population 53066 rant haley said us major financial sponsor un expects good return investment seems completely oblivious concepts philanthropy giving good cause without expectation return united nations cause website says due powers vested its160 charter160and unique international character united nations take action issues confronting humanity 21st century peace security climate change sustainable development human rights disarmament terrorism humanitarian health emergencies gender equality governance food production issues global community address un despite many imperfections means one nation doesnt invest looking return finding promising stock purchasing shares hoping make handsome profit akin contributing american cancer society heart association diabetes foundation individuals give money organizations hope expectation suffering alleviated writer contributes heart association heart problems parents lived long lives without ever experiencing problems siblings son dont yet aware many people die heart disease hopes small contributions help reduce numbers money gives benefit directly similarly nations part financially sustain united nations hope assist alleviating suffering around world even nations criticized un various component parts realize contributing funds greater good humanity us certainly trump haley like investment counselor watching assure clients stocks upward trajectory demands adequate return un criticize us violates international law supports nations violations money us gives un return grant us pass things human rights violations defying international law trump upped ante actually threatening stop financial aid countries voted resolution afghanistan nation us gives billions systematically works destroy one 128 countries defied us thursday un unlikely us reduce amount aid gives afghanistan egypt another country leaders support israel assist brutal oppression palestinians trumps threat seems empty let haley take list big orange boss rant rave tweet endless threats criticisms effect alienating us rabid rightwing racist base eating members hate un believe us infallible judge jury executioner entire planet believe muslims terrorists god real estate agent apparently getting fine commission sale palestine jews new york needs rest world mighty us take problem overthrow democraticallyelected government appears lean far left support unspeakable human rights violations lobbyists countries committing continue signing campaign checks proclaiming beacon peace freedom around world domestically us police force continue murder unarmed blacks judiciary slaps wrists corporate criminals people still incredibly support trump see taxes increase medical care opportunities evaporate hero proclaim washington outsider attending political correctness dc establishment defying international law fomenting racial difficulties making us global pariah us world 2017 first year trump presidency draws close new year bring anyones guess | 603 |
<p>For more than a century, archaeologists and historians have attempted to confirm beliefs of both Christians and Jews about their common past using the Old Testament (OT) and New Testaments (NT) as starting points. Christians, while embracing the OT as a harmless precursor of the NT, insist that the combined texts prove the truth of Judaic monotheism, with its covenant with God, a covenant that was renewed with the resurrection of Jesus as the Christ. Jews, of course, stick with the basic OT texts, insisting they alone prove their role as God’s Chosen People and their right to create a Jewish state, Israel, in the Holy Land. This Jewish state was first grudgingly accepted by the Christian West, and now is enthusiastically embraced by some Christians based on their own misreading of the Bible. The Bible supposedly predicts that the Jews will return to their supposed promised land, and the messiah will (re)appear, signalling either the end of the Earth or the reign of God.</p>
<p>So what are the “facts”? What do modern archaeology and other sciences have to say about the Bible? Does it help us resolve the question of the validity of Jesus as a legitimate messiah, one who would end Judaism and found a truly universal religion for all mankind? Does it allow Judaism a new lease on life, providing proof of the existence of a Greater Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates, with a spectacular and ancient history? And are we fated to die in a fiery apocalypse as predicted in Revelations?</p>
<p>While archaeologists cannot help us answer the latter question, it can tell us something about the past. Biblical archaeology has expanded rapidly in the past half-century as a new academic field in search of both justification and funding. Unlike Muslims, for whom the Biblical legends are accepted as the legacy of all mankind and require no shards or inscriptions to prove this, both Christians and Zionists have tapped them to fuel their respective politico-religious agendas and have produced mountains of studies. But it is now clear to the most respected Christian, Jewish, Muslim and/or secular archaeologists that this supposedly scholarly, rigorous and objective discipline, with its methodology of taking biblical passages and digging and poking away in likely places, looking for proof of what they say, has been a big failure, if not a hoax. While the financial benefits of tying the Bible to archaeology have increased, historical and intellectual benefits have just as rapidly diminished.</p>
<p>Two egregious flaws lie behind this. Firstly, it is somehow overlooked that both the Old and New Testaments were first written down only in the fourth c BC (mostly from the third c BC) to the first c AD by Hellenised Jews, i.e., over a relatively short historical period of approximately four centuries, the culmination of Hellenism as it flourished in the Middle East up to and including its manifestation under the Roman empire. The references to “old Israel” of the distant past are directed at the enlightenment of people living at that time, and have much more to do with events at that time than some distant, mythical history which was never recorded in stone, so to speak, but was rather passed down from generation to generation much like other peoples have passed down the legends of their origins — orally, embellished by talented composers and poets. Furthermore, the OT and NT are closely integrated in structure, themes, and underlying philosophy, and to reject one part as heretical (as the Jews do the NT) or another part as a mere harmless introduction to the real text (as do the Christians concerning the OT) is not only unprofessional, but foolish and even subversive.</p>
<p>Secondly, the worldview of those recording the Biblical legends, stories, poems, philosophical essays, etc differs radically from ours. It was a product of Hellenism, where true reality is a Platonic ideal, recognising the ineffable quality of life, our overwhelming ignorance, and the fractured, shadowy nature of daily life as experienced by our senses. Our Aristotelian, materialist outlook, sees reality in hard, cold facts which we directly perceive and duly record, where the only truths are what can be physically demonstrated and/or refuted. This is quite alien to the mindset of the Biblical composers, writers and scribes. Taking the Bible literally, as a materialist recounting of “history” is a classic example of misplaced concreteness. To its credit, there is no word for history in ancient Hebrew, reflecting its origins in the pre- Aristotelian worldview.</p>
<p>To go a step further and assume that this bogus history is the “real” history of mankind, with the history of the thousands of other peoples taking a back seat, is just not on. The reality of the Bible is transcendent, universal, traditional, intuitive and emotional. To profit from it, we must rediscover this worldview, where myth is the “reality” and very essence of our lives, and the dunya is a lame, pale version of the sacred myths guiding us. Karen Armstrong, who has written widely on the monotheisms and the loss of myth as a vital part of our worldview, argues in The Bible: a biography (2007) that fundamentalist religion, be it Islamic, Christian or Jewish, is a response to and product of modern materialist culture, which undermines the role of myth as a vital element in the social matrix. Myth is reduced to its literal meaning, i.e., Jerusalem is a physical location at a fixed point in time, not a metaphor for the City of God, transcending the limitations of the physical world.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>This concurs with the conclusions of the so-called minimalist school of Middle East archaeology, especially the works of Thomas Thompson, Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, who argue that the OT and NT say much more about the politics of the third c BC to the first c AD than about any distant, ahistorical past. Think of the 19th c Parisian Jewish composer Jacques Offenbach penning his operetta La Belle Helene, which refashions the Iliad to poke fun at the 19th c authoritarian regime of Louis-Napoleon Boneparte. The political battles of the time during which Alexandrian Jewish scribes penned the OT/NT similarly inspired the versions of the Biblical legends we inherit today. References in the Bible to the destruction of “the temple” and stories about past tyrants really refer to ongoing struggles and current tyrants. This is in sharp contrast to the general view of the Bible, which sees the process of composition culminating in the sixth c BC, with many legends recalling real events dating from possibly as far back as the 10th c BC.</p>
<p>Whatever the true origin of the Jews, the Bible talks of an “old Israel” — a United Monarchy which supposedly flourished from 1000-600 BC in present-day Palestine, with Saul, David and Solomon as great kings of a magnificent empire, and a spectacular temple, built by Solomon, as the centre of worship of the Jewish god Yahweh. What do archaeologists tell us? A century of sifting, scrubbing, sorting and debate has produced no evidence of Jerusalem as a large city, let alone the centre of an empire. It was at most a minor trading and olive growing town. No doubt a small state existed in the ninth c BC, one of several — Moab, Edom, Ammon, even one we could call Israel, with Samaria as a likely “capital”, and with the revival of Phoenician shipping, Palestine indeed began to flourish for the first time, but on a modest scale, as an inter-empire outpost, the home of many Semitic and non-Semitic tribes.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, all of these tribes had similar religions. Adopting ancestral gods was an Assyrian imperial policy intended to create religious ties between societies around regional and local deities. They combined this policy with legends about the return of the old forgotten gods, which assisted the imperial policy of forced mass population transfers and unwittingly contributed to the development of monotheism, as all these gods were understood to be merely expressions of a single concept representing the divine. From the Bronze Age on, El became the father of gods and creator of heaven and earth, with his consort Asherah or Astarte, the queen of Heaven. Ba’al was his chief executive accompanied by the same generic Asherah (theoretically his mother), mother of all living things and goddess of fertility and mourning. Hints of these gods can be found in Genesis.</p>
<p>The flourishing of Palestine supposedly ended with God’s punishment of Israel and the destruction of Samaria. The goodness of the Judean kings, Hezekiah and Josiah, delayed Yahweh’s anger and Jerusalem’s destruction. But the day of wrath, so it goes, brought the Babylonian army to destroy Jerusalem, marking the end of old Israel in the sixth c BC. What do archaeologists tell us? Again, there is no historical evidence for this lovely story — Palestine was all the time just a backwater, subject to division between Assyria, Mesopotamia and Egypt as their empires ebbed and flowed.</p>
<p>Yes, Assyria annexed Jezreel valley and Samaria. But in the Bible, this waxing of the Assyrian empire was dressed up as the destruction of the false (old) Israel by an angry, vengeful god. This however is a theological, not a historical statement — even given likely population transfers, not everyone would have been deported, and Samaria continued to exist. Assyria slowly expanded its empire southward, yes, eventually taking Jerusalem, which it appears was a willing client city rather than a heroic, defiant remnant of some old Israel. Jerusalem actually began to grow and prosper as an economic and political centre under the Assyrians. It certainly was not destroyed. Eventually the Babylonian Nebuhadnezzar invades and (Assyrian) Jerusalem surrenders in 597 BC. But again, Jerusalem was not destroyed, as the prophet Jeremiah “states”.</p>
<p>Never was there an ethnically coherent Israel, and according to Thomson, neither Jerusalem nor Judah ever shared an identity with Israel before the rule of the Hasmoneans in the Hellenistic period of the 3rd-1st cc BC, coincidentally, when the legends were first written down. Ironically, the Samaritans, scorned by Ezra’s (and today’s) Jews, are the most likely Semitic ancestors of the historical Israel.</p>
<p>Palestine and Syria were first formed into a province under Alexander the Great in fourth c BC with Samaria as capital, and began to develop true cities for the first time. Alexander founded Alexandria as his intellectual and political centre of east Mediterranean territories. Continuing imperial policies of deportation, he transported a portion of Samaria’s population to form the nucleus of what later came to be known as an important Jewish centre of learning, whose scribes would soon begin their work of fashioning their legends into a politically motivated saga of exile and return.</p>
<p>After Alexander died, Palestine reverted to its old role of land- bridge between Egypt and Asia, disputed territory between the Egyptian Ptolemies and the Asian Seleucids. The Romans defeated the Seleucids in 190 BC, prompting the Maccabees to revolt against the harsh Seleucids to assert the political independence of Jerusalem (supported by the Ptolemies and Romans). This revolt came to be identified as the rebirth of Israel (celebrated today as Hanukah), though, again, there was no nation or Maccabean control of Palestine even then, since the Jews were dependent on Rome’s patronage, though this revolt against the Seleucids became the inspiration behind the legends being recorded.</p>
<p>Prior to this Maccabean revolt against the Seleucids in 167 BC, religious tolerance was widespread. The Jews were never persecuted because of their religion — rather because of their political aspirations, or because they were in the path of conflicting empires. Their periods of exile are typical of the experience of countless other populations, the fallout of imperial policies. Their traditions, even their monotheism, are derived from the great mix of cultures in the Middle East at the time, and are close to Egyptian, later Hellenised, traditions. Interestingly, the Jewish practices of circumcision and Sabbath derive from Egypt, and even Freud argues that Moses was Egyptian, giving added ammunition to the hypothesis that the Jews are actually the Hyksos.</p>
<p>This turbulent period of the 3rd-1st cc BC is the historical environment in which II Kings portrays Jeroboam and Ahab as evil kings, an allegory of the Seleucids’ rejection of the true successors of Alexander — Egypt’s Ptolemies (not surprisingly, since the texts are recorded by Jewish scribes in Alexandria). Antiochus IV of Syria is the model for Ahab, bringing false gods to Israel, redeemed by the rededication of Jerusalem’s temple in 164 BC. This is the turning point of Chronicles’ story of renewal via the ancient Persian king Cyrus. These national epics of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles were clearly inspired by the events swirling around the second c BC OT Jewish authors, dressed up in the literary tradition of national, ancient epos.</p>
<p>The Jews of Jerusalem, Alexandria, Antioch and Babylon were thoroughly Hellenised and were among the leaders of the intellectual life there. The Bible itself is recorded definitively in this Hellenised environment in Greek and Hebrew, systematically structured along the classical imperial form of a universal chronology, ordering tradition in the form of universal history from the beginning of time to the present, with systems of commentaries and discussion, achieving a moral and philosophical quality akin to Homer and Plato. The Jewish culture that had developed was an Asiatic form of Hellenism, a culture which ranged from Babylon to Rome and which had developed from the imperial world-views of the Babylonian and Persian periods.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>It is impossible in the confines of an article to trace the transformation of post-Christian Talmudic Judaism, which is very different than pre-Christian variant. Though Jews continued to live in Palestine, Diaspora became its defining feature along with the ritual prayer to “return”, though post-Christian Jews have no more right to immigrate and live there than anyone else. Christians also continued to live there happily until the Catholic pope decided they must be liberated in the 10th-12th cc and raised a European army to invade Palestine not once but four times. But after that fiasco, Christians learned their lesson and have left Palestine in relative peace, satisfying their spiritual urges by living quietly as monks in desolate caves, making pilgrimages, and collecting souvenir bones and bits of wood which they cherished as holy relics — again guilty of misplaced concreteness, but usually harmlessly so. This blessed peaceful period in Palestine only changed with the ascendancy of the Jews in the 19th c, who all this time had been nurturing their tribal Yahweh and their dream of concretising the metaphorical promises he supposedly made millennia ago, a misplaced concreteness far from harmless, as they set about invading and colonising a metaphor.</p>
<p>With the eclipse of the Socratic worldview and of myth as central to society, and the ascendancy of Judaism after the reformation, the myth of “returning to the promised land” took on a new concrete meaning. The actual prospect by a wealthy cosmopolitican Jewish elite of engineering a physical takeover of Palestine and populating it with Jews became an Aristotelian reality. Today, with Rome (the Catholic Church) now in disarray, a rebuilt Third Temple could become the chief shrine, not only for Jews but for Christians too, the icing on the Zionist victory cake, confirming irrevocably the cultural shift in the Western world as a whole from Hellenism to Hebraism, as argued by SGF Brandon in The Fall of Jerusalem and the Christian Church (1951). Pope John Paul II reconciled the Church with Judaism and Israel, and Christian Zionists welcome the Jewish colonisation of Palestine .</p>
<p>The Zionists reconvened the ancient Jewish supreme court, the Sanhedrin (which condemned Jesus), in 2005 for the first time since 425 AD, and have been plotting virtually since the creation of Israel to blow up the Al-Aqsa Mosque and rebuild a replica of Solomon’s temple there. Just recently, Israeli archaeologists “found” remains of a temple under the mosque, yet another astounding victory for this bogus science. Reconstruction plans are in place for the mythical and no doubt magnificent temple of Solomon, a temple that never existed except in the imaginations of dreamy-eyed Jewish scribes in third c BC Alexandria. Truly a breathtaking prospect, however mad. But nonetheless the logical culmination of the Zionist project, eagerly fuelled by the official Israeli archaeological establishment.</p>
<p>Then there’s the notorious Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which sets out just such a programme in albeit an overtly grotesque form and is solemnly disowned by Zionists as a forgery, though a forgery of what is never made clear.</p>
<p>What is behind the Bible is not simply a record of historical facts or of even doctrines, but ultimately, the presence of God. There is much self-reference of symbols within the Bible for which the only “proof” that, say, the gospel story is true is that it fulfils the prophecies of the OT, and the only “proof” that the prophecies of the OT are true is that they are fulfilled by the gospel. This has absolutely nothing to do with digging up shards to establish some self-referential “event” in one of the Bible’s many tales. There is no temple out there (or under there, where “there” happens to be the very real Al-Aqsa Mosque). The real temple exists in one’s heart, though it is very unlikely that one can find it in the scheming Zionist’s inflamed and secular heart. And by murdering and tormenting peaceful natives in order to scrounge some bits of a previous building and call it God’s temple is unspeakable in its evil. The Naturei Karta heart has the temple in it, but for such a Jew, physical Israel itself is an abomination, and should be dismantled forthwith, or to borrow a particularly colourful metaphor of recent vintage, wiped off the map.</p>
<p>It is not possible here to delve into the fascinating Biblical myths and metaphors themselves — the many rival siblings (Cain vs Abel, Isaac vs Ishmael, Jacob vs Esau), the tower of Babel (door of God), the trials of Job, the many miraculous births culminating in Jesus, which continue to inspire, even in our age of disbelief. The God of Job, Ecclesiastes, Jonah, Saul, the flood, etc is unknowable — he decrees both salvation and destruction for Israel, not for justice’s sake, but for his own good, for his own unknowable reasons, consistent with the philosophy of scepticism as propounded by Diogenes, popular at the time: we must recognise that our beliefs about reality are not necessarily valid to achieve peace of mind. The great epic of Job is inspired by Hellenistic stoicism: we achieve happiness by attuning our lives and character to the Logos or universal reason which orders all things. Freedom is to live in conformity with God’s will. Ironically, the minimalists end up maximising the power of these legends by liberating them from the here and now.</p>
<p>The overriding metaphor of the Bible is the contrast of the old Israel of angry rejection (i.e., the past) vs the new Israel of hope and renewal (i.e., the present and future), ahistorical concepts, relating to the ever-shifting present of the epic writer’s point of view. They are universally valid, whether sung or recited 5,000 or 2,000 years ago or today. We all must leave behind the mistakes of the past and greet tomorrow with hope. There is absolutely no need or justification for taking “old” and “new” literally to refer to some purportedly historical event. Every day is the first day of your life.</p>
<p>And if there is any doubt left at this point that the Bible is the “gospel truth”, to be taken literally, consider one of many such “instructions” from Yahweh to his “chosen people”:</p>
<p>When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess and drives out before you many nations and when the Lord your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the Lord’s anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you. In the cities of the nations the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them. (Deuteronomy 7 and 20).</p>
<p>Is this the God of mercy and compassion that Bishop Tutu referred to in his appeal in Boston? Or is this the template of an ideological monster dreamed up by a scribe sitting in the Alexandrian Library, and eagerly adopted by bigoted fanatics applying it verbatim to the land of Palestine today?</p>
<p>ERIC WALBERG writes for <a href="http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/" type="external">Al-Ahram Weekly</a> in Cairo. You can contact him at <a href="" type="internal">www.geocities.com/walberg2002</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | century archaeologists historians attempted confirm beliefs christians jews common past using old testament ot new testaments nt starting points christians embracing ot harmless precursor nt insist combined texts prove truth judaic monotheism covenant god covenant renewed resurrection jesus christ jews course stick basic ot texts insisting alone prove role gods chosen people right create jewish state israel holy land jewish state first grudgingly accepted christian west enthusiastically embraced christians based misreading bible bible supposedly predicts jews return supposed promised land messiah reappear signalling either end earth reign god facts modern archaeology sciences say bible help us resolve question validity jesus legitimate messiah one would end judaism found truly universal religion mankind allow judaism new lease life providing proof existence greater israel nile euphrates spectacular ancient history fated die fiery apocalypse predicted revelations archaeologists help us answer latter question tell us something past biblical archaeology expanded rapidly past halfcentury new academic field search justification funding unlike muslims biblical legends accepted legacy mankind require shards inscriptions prove christians zionists tapped fuel respective politicoreligious agendas produced mountains studies clear respected christian jewish muslim andor secular archaeologists supposedly scholarly rigorous objective discipline methodology taking biblical passages digging poking away likely places looking proof say big failure hoax financial benefits tying bible archaeology increased historical intellectual benefits rapidly diminished two egregious flaws lie behind firstly somehow overlooked old new testaments first written fourth c bc mostly third c bc first c ad hellenised jews ie relatively short historical period approximately four centuries culmination hellenism flourished middle east including manifestation roman empire references old israel distant past directed enlightenment people living time much events time distant mythical history never recorded stone speak rather passed generation generation much like peoples passed legends origins orally embellished talented composers poets furthermore ot nt closely integrated structure themes underlying philosophy reject one part heretical jews nt another part mere harmless introduction real text christians concerning ot unprofessional foolish even subversive secondly worldview recording biblical legends stories poems philosophical essays etc differs radically product hellenism true reality platonic ideal recognising ineffable quality life overwhelming ignorance fractured shadowy nature daily life experienced senses aristotelian materialist outlook sees reality hard cold facts directly perceive duly record truths physically demonstrated andor refuted quite alien mindset biblical composers writers scribes taking bible literally materialist recounting history classic example misplaced concreteness credit word history ancient hebrew reflecting origins pre aristotelian worldview go step assume bogus history real history mankind history thousands peoples taking back seat reality bible transcendent universal traditional intuitive emotional profit must rediscover worldview myth reality essence lives dunya lame pale version sacred myths guiding us karen armstrong written widely monotheisms loss myth vital part worldview argues bible biography 2007 fundamentalist religion islamic christian jewish response product modern materialist culture undermines role myth vital element social matrix myth reduced literal meaning ie jerusalem physical location fixed point time metaphor city god transcending limitations physical world concurs conclusions socalled minimalist school middle east archaeology especially works thomas thompson israel finkelstein neil asher silberman argue ot nt say much politics third c bc first c ad distant ahistorical past think 19th c parisian jewish composer jacques offenbach penning operetta la belle helene refashions iliad poke fun 19th c authoritarian regime louisnapoleon boneparte political battles time alexandrian jewish scribes penned otnt similarly inspired versions biblical legends inherit today references bible destruction temple stories past tyrants really refer ongoing struggles current tyrants sharp contrast general view bible sees process composition culminating sixth c bc many legends recalling real events dating possibly far back 10th c bc whatever true origin jews bible talks old israel united monarchy supposedly flourished 1000600 bc presentday palestine saul david solomon great kings magnificent empire spectacular temple built solomon centre worship jewish god yahweh archaeologists tell us century sifting scrubbing sorting debate produced evidence jerusalem large city let alone centre empire minor trading olive growing town doubt small state existed ninth c bc one several moab edom ammon even one could call israel samaria likely capital revival phoenician shipping palestine indeed began flourish first time modest scale interempire outpost home many semitic nonsemitic tribes surprisingly tribes similar religions adopting ancestral gods assyrian imperial policy intended create religious ties societies around regional local deities combined policy legends return old forgotten gods assisted imperial policy forced mass population transfers unwittingly contributed development monotheism gods understood merely expressions single concept representing divine bronze age el became father gods creator heaven earth consort asherah astarte queen heaven baal chief executive accompanied generic asherah theoretically mother mother living things goddess fertility mourning hints gods found genesis flourishing palestine supposedly ended gods punishment israel destruction samaria goodness judean kings hezekiah josiah delayed yahwehs anger jerusalems destruction day wrath goes brought babylonian army destroy jerusalem marking end old israel sixth c bc archaeologists tell us historical evidence lovely story palestine time backwater subject division assyria mesopotamia egypt empires ebbed flowed yes assyria annexed jezreel valley samaria bible waxing assyrian empire dressed destruction false old israel angry vengeful god however theological historical statement even given likely population transfers everyone would deported samaria continued exist assyria slowly expanded empire southward yes eventually taking jerusalem appears willing client city rather heroic defiant remnant old israel jerusalem actually began grow prosper economic political centre assyrians certainly destroyed eventually babylonian nebuhadnezzar invades assyrian jerusalem surrenders 597 bc jerusalem destroyed prophet jeremiah states never ethnically coherent israel according thomson neither jerusalem judah ever shared identity israel rule hasmoneans hellenistic period 3rd1st cc bc coincidentally legends first written ironically samaritans scorned ezras todays jews likely semitic ancestors historical israel palestine syria first formed province alexander great fourth c bc samaria capital began develop true cities first time alexander founded alexandria intellectual political centre east mediterranean territories continuing imperial policies deportation transported portion samarias population form nucleus later came known important jewish centre learning whose scribes would soon begin work fashioning legends politically motivated saga exile return alexander died palestine reverted old role land bridge egypt asia disputed territory egyptian ptolemies asian seleucids romans defeated seleucids 190 bc prompting maccabees revolt harsh seleucids assert political independence jerusalem supported ptolemies romans revolt came identified rebirth israel celebrated today hanukah though nation maccabean control palestine even since jews dependent romes patronage though revolt seleucids became inspiration behind legends recorded prior maccabean revolt seleucids 167 bc religious tolerance widespread jews never persecuted religion rather political aspirations path conflicting empires periods exile typical experience countless populations fallout imperial policies traditions even monotheism derived great mix cultures middle east time close egyptian later hellenised traditions interestingly jewish practices circumcision sabbath derive egypt even freud argues moses egyptian giving added ammunition hypothesis jews actually hyksos turbulent period 3rd1st cc bc historical environment ii kings portrays jeroboam ahab evil kings allegory seleucids rejection true successors alexander egypts ptolemies surprisingly since texts recorded jewish scribes alexandria antiochus iv syria model ahab bringing false gods israel redeemed rededication jerusalems temple 164 bc turning point chronicles story renewal via ancient persian king cyrus national epics samuel kings chronicles clearly inspired events swirling around second c bc ot jewish authors dressed literary tradition national ancient epos jews jerusalem alexandria antioch babylon thoroughly hellenised among leaders intellectual life bible recorded definitively hellenised environment greek hebrew systematically structured along classical imperial form universal chronology ordering tradition form universal history beginning time present systems commentaries discussion achieving moral philosophical quality akin homer plato jewish culture developed asiatic form hellenism culture ranged babylon rome developed imperial worldviews babylonian persian periods impossible confines article trace transformation postchristian talmudic judaism different prechristian variant though jews continued live palestine diaspora became defining feature along ritual prayer return though postchristian jews right immigrate live anyone else christians also continued live happily catholic pope decided must liberated 10th12th cc raised european army invade palestine four times fiasco christians learned lesson left palestine relative peace satisfying spiritual urges living quietly monks desolate caves making pilgrimages collecting souvenir bones bits wood cherished holy relics guilty misplaced concreteness usually harmlessly blessed peaceful period palestine changed ascendancy jews 19th c time nurturing tribal yahweh dream concretising metaphorical promises supposedly made millennia ago misplaced concreteness far harmless set invading colonising metaphor eclipse socratic worldview myth central society ascendancy judaism reformation myth returning promised land took new concrete meaning actual prospect wealthy cosmopolitican jewish elite engineering physical takeover palestine populating jews became aristotelian reality today rome catholic church disarray rebuilt third temple could become chief shrine jews christians icing zionist victory cake confirming irrevocably cultural shift western world whole hellenism hebraism argued sgf brandon fall jerusalem christian church 1951 pope john paul ii reconciled church judaism israel christian zionists welcome jewish colonisation palestine zionists reconvened ancient jewish supreme court sanhedrin condemned jesus 2005 first time since 425 ad plotting virtually since creation israel blow alaqsa mosque rebuild replica solomons temple recently israeli archaeologists found remains temple mosque yet another astounding victory bogus science reconstruction plans place mythical doubt magnificent temple solomon temple never existed except imaginations dreamyeyed jewish scribes third c bc alexandria truly breathtaking prospect however mad nonetheless logical culmination zionist project eagerly fuelled official israeli archaeological establishment theres notorious protocols elders zion sets programme albeit overtly grotesque form solemnly disowned zionists forgery though forgery never made clear behind bible simply record historical facts even doctrines ultimately presence god much selfreference symbols within bible proof say gospel story true fulfils prophecies ot proof prophecies ot true fulfilled gospel absolutely nothing digging shards establish selfreferential event one bibles many tales temple happens real alaqsa mosque real temple exists ones heart though unlikely one find scheming zionists inflamed secular heart murdering tormenting peaceful natives order scrounge bits previous building call gods temple unspeakable evil naturei karta heart temple jew physical israel abomination dismantled forthwith borrow particularly colourful metaphor recent vintage wiped map possible delve fascinating biblical myths metaphors many rival siblings cain vs abel isaac vs ishmael jacob vs esau tower babel door god trials job many miraculous births culminating jesus continue inspire even age disbelief god job ecclesiastes jonah saul flood etc unknowable decrees salvation destruction israel justices sake good unknowable reasons consistent philosophy scepticism propounded diogenes popular time must recognise beliefs reality necessarily valid achieve peace mind great epic job inspired hellenistic stoicism achieve happiness attuning lives character logos universal reason orders things freedom live conformity gods ironically minimalists end maximising power legends liberating overriding metaphor bible contrast old israel angry rejection ie past vs new israel hope renewal ie present future ahistorical concepts relating evershifting present epic writers point view universally valid whether sung recited 5000 2000 years ago today must leave behind mistakes past greet tomorrow hope absolutely need justification taking old new literally refer purportedly historical event every day first day life doubt left point bible gospel truth taken literally consider one many instructions yahweh chosen people lord god brings land entering possess drives many nations lord god delivered defeated must destroy totally make treaty show mercy intermarry give daughters sons take daughters sons turn sons away following serve gods lords anger burn quickly destroy cities nations lord god giving inheritance leave alive anything breathes completely destroy deuteronomy 7 20 god mercy compassion bishop tutu referred appeal boston template ideological monster dreamed scribe sitting alexandrian library eagerly adopted bigoted fanatics applying verbatim land palestine today eric walberg writes alahram weekly cairo contact wwwgeocitiescomwalberg2002 160 160 | 1,874 |
<p>“The compulsive hatred of Putin by many who have almost zero idea about Putin or Russian history is disproportionate to any rational analysis, but not surprising. Trump and Putin are like weird doppelgangers in the liberal imagination.”</p>
<p>– John Steppling, “Trump, Putin, and Nikolas Cruz Walk into a Bar”</p>
<p>The Trump and Netanyahu governments have a problem: How to start a greatly expanded Middle-Eastern war without having a justifiable reason for one.&#160; No doubt they are working hard to solve this urgent problem.&#160; If they can’t find a “justification” (which they can’t), they will have to create one (which they will).&#160; Or perhaps they will find what they have already created.&#160; Whatever the solution, we should feel confident that they are not sitting on their hands. History teaches those who care to learn that when aggressors place a gun on the wall in the first act of their play, it must go off in the final act.</p>
<p>These sinister players have signaled us quite clearly what they have in store.&#160; All signs point toward an upcoming large-scale Israeli/U.S. attack on Lebanon and Syria, and all the sycophantic mainstream media are in the kitchen prepping for the feast.&#160; Russia and Iran are the main course, with Lebanon and Syria, who will be devoured first, as the hors d’oeuvres.&#160; As always, the media play along as if they don’t yet know what’s coming.&#160; Everyone in the know knows what is, just not exactly when.&#160; And the media wait with baited breath as they count down to the dramatic moment when they can report the incident that will compel the “innocent” to attack the “guilty.”</p>
<p>Anyone with half a brain can see the greatly increased anti-Russian propaganda of the past few weeks.&#160; This has happened as the Russia-gate claims have fallen to pieces, as former CIA analyst Raymond McGovern, the late Robert Parry, Paul Craig Roberts, and others have documented so assiduously. &#160;All across the media spectrum, from the big name corporate stenographers like The New York Times, CNN, National Public Radio, The Washington Post to The Atlantic and Nation magazines and other “leftist” publications such as Mother Jones and Who What Why, the Russia and Putin bashing has become hysterical in tone, joined as it is with an anti-Trump obsession, as if Trump were a dear friend of Putin and Russia and wasn’t closely allied with the Netanyahu government in its plans for the Middle-East.&#160; As if Trump were in charge. “Russia Sees Midterm Elections as a Chance to Sow Fresh Discord ( <a href="" type="internal">NY Times</a>, 2/13), “Russia Strongman” (Putin) has “pulled off one of the greatest acts of political sabotage in modern history ( <a href="" type="internal">The Atlantic</a>, Jan. /Feb. 2018), “”Mueller’s Latest Indictment Shows Trump Has Helped Putin Cover Up a Crime” ( <a href="" type="internal">Mother Jones</a>, 2/16/18), “A Russian Sightseeing Tour For Realists” ( <a href="" type="internal">whowhatwhy.com</a>, 2/7/18), etc.</p>
<p>I am reminded of the turn to the right that so many “muckrakers” made during and after WW I.&#160; Afraid of a revolt from below, bewitched by their own vision to articulate the world’s future, heady over their own war propaganda, and wanting to be on the safe side of the government crackdown on dissent (The Espionage Act, the Palmer Raids, etc.), many progressives of the era embraced a jingoism similar to the anti-Russia mania of today.</p>
<p>Only someone totally lacking a sense of humor and blind to propaganda would not laugh uproariously at today’s media nonsense about Russia, but such laughter would be infused with a foreboding awareness that as the Middle East explodes and U.S./NATO backed Kiev forces prepare to attack the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, the world is entering a very dangerous period.&#160; And of course Trump has said, “The U.S. has great strength and patience but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.”&#160; Totally destroy 26 million human beings.&#160; While his bully buddy in Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, recently said at the Munich Security Conference that Iran is “the greatest threat to the world,” compared it to Nazi Germany, and claimed it was developing ballistic missiles to strike deep into the United States.&#160; “Iran seeks to dominate our region, the Middle East, and seeks to dominate the world through aggression and terror,” he said.&#160; And he vowed to act against Iran and anyone who supported it – i.e. Lebanon and Syria (Russia).</p>
<p>Putin also, like all the mythic bogeymen, is portrayed as the new Hitler intent on conquering the world.&#160; If the American public wasn’t so “sophisticated” and adept at seeing through lies – pause and laugh – we could expect some <a href="" type="internal">World War I posters</a> with Russian soldiers (like The Huns), sharp teeth glistening, gorilla strong and beastly, holding American women in preparation for the kill or rape.&#160; Last year, when Oliver Stone did the world the great service of releasing <a href="http://www.oliverstone.com/the-putin-interviews/" type="external">his four-part interview with Putin</a>, he was bashed, of course.&#160; Just as he was with his film JFK, the only movie in history to be reviewed and panned one year before its release by a Washington Post reviewer who didn’t see the movie but had a purloined preliminary script as his source.&#160; The Washington Post: the object of the latest film drivel, The Post, portraying it falsely as the savior of the nation through the publication of the Pentagon Papers (which is another story).&#160; The Washington Post – the CIA’s dear friend.</p>
<p>In his Putin interviews, Oliver Stone, a man of truth and honor, lets viewers catch a glimpse of the real Vladimir Putin.&#160; Of course Putin is a politician and the leader of a great and powerful nation, and one should receive his words skeptically. But watching Stone interview Putin for four hours, one comes away – but I doubt few have watched the four hours – with a reasonably good sense of the man.&#160; And putting aside one’s impressions of him, he makes factual points that should ring loud and clear to anyone conversant with facts.&#160; One: that the U.S. needs an external enemy (“I know that, I feel that.”). Two: the U.S.A. engineered the coup d’état in the Ukraine on Russia’s border.&#160; Three: the U.S. has surrounded Russia with US/NATO troops and bases armed with anti-ballistic missiles that can, as Putin rightly says to Stone, be converted in hours to regular offensive nuclear missile aimed at Russia.&#160; This is a factual and true statement that should make any fair-minded person stand up in horror.&#160; If Russia had such missiles encircling the United States from Cuba, Mexico, and Canada, what American would find it tolerable?&#160; What would CNN and The New York Times have to say?&#160; Yet these same people readily find it impossible to see the legitimacy in Russia’s position, resorting to name calling and illogical rhetoric. Russia is surrounded with U.S/NATO troops and missiles and yet Russia is the aggressor.&#160; So too Iran that is also surrounded. &#160;These media are propagandists, that’s why.&#160; They promote war, as they always have.&#160; They are pushing for war with Russia via Syria/Lebanon/Iran and Ukraine, and they are nihilistically demonizing North Korea (as part of Obama’s pivot toward Asia and the encircling of China, as John Pilger has brilliantly documented in his film <a href="http://johnpilger.com/" type="external">The Coming War on China</a>) in what can only be called a conspiracy to commit genocide, as Dr. Graeme MacQueen and Christopher Black make clear in their <a href="https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-genocide-conspiracy-against-north-korea-an-open-letter-to-the-international-criminal-court/5627351" type="external">Open Letter to the International Criminal Court.</a></p>
<p>We are moving toward a global war that will become nuclear if an international ant-war movement doesn’t quickly arise to stop it.&#160; Most people bemoan the thought of such a war to end all wars, but refuse to analyze the factors leading to it. It happens step-by-step, and many steps have already been taken with more coming soon.&#160;&#160;&#160; It’s so obvious that most can’t see it, or don’t want to.&#160; The corporate main stream media are enemies of the truth; are clearly part of the continuation of the CIA’s Operation Mockingbird, and those who still rely on them for the truth are beyond reach.&#160; Douglas Valentine, in The CIA as Organized Crime, says the CIA has long aimed to use and co-opt the “Compatible Left, which in America translates into liberals and pseudo-intellectual status seekers who are easily influenced.”&#160; And he adds that the propaganda is not just produced by the CIA but by the military, State Department, and red, white, and blue advertisements that are everywhere.&#160; Nothing has changed since the Church Committee hearings in the 1970s.&#160; Valentine adds:</p>
<p>All of that is ongoing, despite being exposed in the late 1960s.&#160; Various technological advances,&#160;including the internet, have spread the network around the world, and many people don’t even&#160;realize they are part of it, that they’re promoting the CIA line.&#160; “Assad’s a butcher,” they say, or&#160;“Putin kills journalists,” or “China is repressive.&#160; They have no idea what they’re talking aboutbut spout all this propaganda.</p>
<p>William Blake said it truly:</p>
<p>In every cry of every Man, In every Infants cry of fear, In every voice: in every ban, The mind-forg’d manacles I hear</p>
<p>How to break the chains – that is our task.</p> | true | 4 | compulsive hatred putin many almost zero idea putin russian history disproportionate rational analysis surprising trump putin like weird doppelgangers liberal imagination john steppling trump putin nikolas cruz walk bar trump netanyahu governments problem start greatly expanded middleeastern war without justifiable reason one160 doubt working hard solve urgent problem160 cant find justification cant create one will160 perhaps find already created160 whatever solution feel confident sitting hands history teaches care learn aggressors place gun wall first act play must go final act sinister players signaled us quite clearly store160 signs point toward upcoming largescale israelius attack lebanon syria sycophantic mainstream media kitchen prepping feast160 russia iran main course lebanon syria devoured first hors doeuvres160 always media play along dont yet know whats coming160 everyone know knows exactly when160 media wait baited breath count dramatic moment report incident compel innocent attack guilty anyone half brain see greatly increased antirussian propaganda past weeks160 happened russiagate claims fallen pieces former cia analyst raymond mcgovern late robert parry paul craig roberts others documented assiduously 160all across media spectrum big name corporate stenographers like new york times cnn national public radio washington post atlantic nation magazines leftist publications mother jones russia putin bashing become hysterical tone joined antitrump obsession trump dear friend putin russia wasnt closely allied netanyahu government plans middleeast160 trump charge russia sees midterm elections chance sow fresh discord ny times 213 russia strongman putin pulled one greatest acts political sabotage modern history atlantic jan feb 2018 muellers latest indictment shows trump helped putin cover crime mother jones 21618 russian sightseeing tour realists whowhatwhycom 2718 etc reminded turn right many muckrakers made ww i160 afraid revolt bewitched vision articulate worlds future heady war propaganda wanting safe side government crackdown dissent espionage act palmer raids etc many progressives era embraced jingoism similar antirussia mania today someone totally lacking sense humor blind propaganda would laugh uproariously todays media nonsense russia laughter would infused foreboding awareness middle east explodes usnato backed kiev forces prepare attack donbass region eastern ukraine world entering dangerous period160 course trump said us great strength patience forced defend allies choice totally destroy north korea160 totally destroy 26 million human beings160 bully buddy israel benjamin netanyahu recently said munich security conference iran greatest threat world compared nazi germany claimed developing ballistic missiles strike deep united states160 iran seeks dominate region middle east seeks dominate world aggression terror said160 vowed act iran anyone supported ie lebanon syria russia putin also like mythic bogeymen portrayed new hitler intent conquering world160 american public wasnt sophisticated adept seeing lies pause laugh could expect world war posters russian soldiers like huns sharp teeth glistening gorilla strong beastly holding american women preparation kill rape160 last year oliver stone world great service releasing fourpart interview putin bashed course160 film jfk movie history reviewed panned one year release washington post reviewer didnt see movie purloined preliminary script source160 washington post object latest film drivel post portraying falsely savior nation publication pentagon papers another story160 washington post cias dear friend putin interviews oliver stone man truth honor lets viewers catch glimpse real vladimir putin160 course putin politician leader great powerful nation one receive words skeptically watching stone interview putin four hours one comes away doubt watched four hours reasonably good sense man160 putting aside ones impressions makes factual points ring loud clear anyone conversant facts160 one us needs external enemy know feel two usa engineered coup détat ukraine russias border160 three us surrounded russia usnato troops bases armed antiballistic missiles putin rightly says stone converted hours regular offensive nuclear missile aimed russia160 factual true statement make fairminded person stand horror160 russia missiles encircling united states cuba mexico canada american would find tolerable160 would cnn new york times say160 yet people readily find impossible see legitimacy russias position resorting name calling illogical rhetoric russia surrounded usnato troops missiles yet russia aggressor160 iran also surrounded 160these media propagandists thats why160 promote war always have160 pushing war russia via syrialebanoniran ukraine nihilistically demonizing north korea part obamas pivot toward asia encircling china john pilger brilliantly documented film coming war china called conspiracy commit genocide dr graeme macqueen christopher black make clear open letter international criminal court moving toward global war become nuclear international antwar movement doesnt quickly arise stop it160 people bemoan thought war end wars refuse analyze factors leading happens stepbystep many steps already taken coming soon160160160 obvious cant see dont want to160 corporate main stream media enemies truth clearly part continuation cias operation mockingbird still rely truth beyond reach160 douglas valentine cia organized crime says cia long aimed use coopt compatible left america translates liberals pseudointellectual status seekers easily influenced160 adds propaganda produced cia military state department red white blue advertisements everywhere160 nothing changed since church committee hearings 1970s160 valentine adds ongoing despite exposed late 1960s160 various technological advances160including internet spread network around world many people dont even160realize part theyre promoting cia line160 assads butcher say or160putin kills journalists china repressive160 idea theyre talking aboutbut spout propaganda william blake said truly every cry every man every infants cry fear every voice every ban mindforgd manacles hear break chains task | 844 |
<p>After enduring a parade of humiliations, including having <a href="http://pagesix.com/2017/09/13/anthony-scaramucci-wants-paternity-test-for-newborn-son/" type="external">a potential guest on Maury</a> who likes to make autofellatio jokes about his colleagues installed above him, Sean Spicer resigned as press secretary in July (the aforementioned Anthony “The Mooch” Scaramucci followed 11 days later).</p>
<p>By the time he hung up his ill-fitting suit, Spicer had become a pop-culture phenomenon thanks to Melissa McCarthy’s dazzling, Emmy-winning <a href="" type="internal">sendup of him on Saturday Night Live</a>—a parody that <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/02/melissa-mccarthy-sean-spicer-234715" type="external">reportedly</a> got under President Donald Trump’s skin—“[it was] Spicer’s portrayal by a woman that was most problematic in the president’s eyes.” Given the president’s <a href="" type="internal">aversion to the all-female Ghostbusters</a> and his <a href="" type="internal">gross history of misogyny</a>, the stance wasn’t all that surprising.</p>
<p>Spicer also lied. Constantly. He lied about Trump’s inauguration size, stating it was “the largest audience to ever witness an inauguration, period.” He lied in backing Trump’s unsubstantiated claim that there were three million fraudulent votes in the 2016 presidential election. He lied when he defended Trump’s bogus claim that President Obama had wiretapped Trump Tower. He refused to answer whether President Trump believed in climate change or not. He once said of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, “You had someone as despicable as Hitler, who didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons.” Politifact <a href="http://www.politifact.com/personalities/sean-spicer/" type="external">concluded</a> that Spicer told the truth 9 percent of the time.</p>
<p>Well, “Spicey” is now back in the public eye and on Jimmy Kimmel’s couch.</p>
<p>The Jimmy Kimmel Live! host welcomed Spicer to his late-night program on Wednesday, where the two partook in an incredibly awkward 20-minute interview about Spicer’s fraught tenure as Trump’s White House press secretary.</p>
<p>Right off the bat, Kimmel grilled Spicer on the first lie he told as press secretary: that President Trump had the largest inauguration crowd size in history, despite photographic evidence (of Obama’s inauguration) to the contrary.</p>
<p>“If it was up to you, would this even have been a topic?” asked Kimmel.</p>
<p>“If it was up to me, I probably would have worn a different suit,” said Spicer. “The president wanted to make sure the record got set straight.”</p>
<p>“Why is he so concerned with size? Have you ever seen the president naked?” added Kimmel.</p>
<p>“I have not,” replied a red-faced Spicer.</p>
<p>At times throughout the interview, Spicer appeared to try and distance himself from President Trump, reiterating several times that it was “my job to speak on his behalf” and that Trump would correct him if he felt he’d spoken out of turn or articulated a point poorly. “Whether or not you agree isn’t your job. Your job is to give him advice,” Spicer explained of his post. He also claimed that he had a special alert on his phone for when the president tweeted, and, when asked if the president ever ran a tweet by him before pushing it out, he replied, “Uhhh…I don’t believe…maybe once or twice.”</p>
<p>Kimmel also pressed Spicer on his defense of “alternative facts,” with Spicer once claiming from the White House podium, “I think sometimes we can disagree with the facts.”</p>
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<p>“Can we though… disagree with the facts?!” asked an animated Kimmel.</p>
<p>“Well, look, I think the point is that you can look at a set of—an argument or a set of facts—and come out with one opinion, and someone else can say, well, the facts are the same here, I come out with a different conclusion. That’s what makes our country great.”</p>
<p>Spicer also took several shots at the press. When queried on whether he agreed that “the majority” of journalists were just hard-working people trying to seek the truth, Spicer said yes, but then complained about times where journalists often “created a story out of whole cloth that didn’t exist”—without providing any examples of said behavior. (A follow-up would have been nice here, Jimmy.) Spicer also accused the White House press corps of a code of silence, saying, “They need to understand that when they cross the line, when a member of the press corps crosses the line, that they have a responsibility to help pull that in. And I’ve never seen a group of individuals who protect themselves like the press corps does—especially the White House press corps. They’ve never once, during my tenure and at least to my recollection, ever called out someone who has crossed the line on a story.”</p>
<p>This is a particularly egregious statement, and one that appears to describe President Trump more than anyone else. Unlike, say, the police, who refuse to speak ill of their fellow cops—even when they kill an unarmed citizen—the press are very quick to criticize and dismiss colleagues who have committed journalistic wrongdoing as it’s viewed as a stain on the entire profession, especially when the president himself is using the standard authoritarian technique of eroding trust in the fourth estate in order to control the narrative.</p>
<p>Spicer sadly refused to spill any tea concerning The Mooch, offering, “I just didn’t feel as though he had the qualifications or the background to work in the communications office.” He said being parodied by a woman on SNL “may have been a contributing factor” to Trump being particularly annoyed by the portrayal, and he told Kimmel he wouldn’t be writing a tell-all book, calling that a potential “act of betrayal” (without mentioning, of course, that he can’t write a tell-all because Trump had everyone—save Reince Priebus, who reportedly refused—sign NDAs.)</p>
<p>Kimmel, however, refused to press Spicer on the biggest news of the week: how he’d potentially handle <a href="" type="internal">Ted Cruz’s porn “like,</a>” and his replacement Sarah Huckabee Sanders calling for the firing of a citizen—ESPN’s Jemele Hill—for criticizing the president. Then again, Kimmel isn’t exactly known as a tough late-night interviewer, which is presumably why he was chosen in the first place.</p> | true | 4 | enduring parade humiliations including potential guest maury likes make autofellatio jokes colleagues installed sean spicer resigned press secretary july aforementioned anthony mooch scaramucci followed 11 days later time hung illfitting suit spicer become popculture phenomenon thanks melissa mccarthys dazzling emmywinning sendup saturday night livea parody reportedly got president donald trumps skinit spicers portrayal woman problematic presidents eyes given presidents aversion allfemale ghostbusters gross history misogyny stance wasnt surprising spicer also lied constantly lied trumps inauguration size stating largest audience ever witness inauguration period lied backing trumps unsubstantiated claim three million fraudulent votes 2016 presidential election lied defended trumps bogus claim president obama wiretapped trump tower refused answer whether president trump believed climate change said syrian dictator bashar alassad someone despicable hitler didnt even sink using chemical weapons politifact concluded spicer told truth 9 percent time well spicey back public eye jimmy kimmels couch jimmy kimmel live host welcomed spicer latenight program wednesday two partook incredibly awkward 20minute interview spicers fraught tenure trumps white house press secretary right bat kimmel grilled spicer first lie told press secretary president trump largest inauguration crowd size history despite photographic evidence obamas inauguration contrary would even topic asked kimmel probably would worn different suit said spicer president wanted make sure record got set straight concerned size ever seen president naked added kimmel replied redfaced spicer times throughout interview spicer appeared try distance president trump reiterating several times job speak behalf trump would correct felt hed spoken turn articulated point poorly whether agree isnt job job give advice spicer explained post also claimed special alert phone president tweeted asked president ever ran tweet pushing replied uhhhi dont believemaybe twice kimmel also pressed spicer defense alternative facts spicer claiming white house podium think sometimes disagree facts start finish day top stories daily beast speedy smart summary news need know nothing dont though disagree facts asked animated kimmel well look think point look set ofan argument set factsand come one opinion someone else say well facts come different conclusion thats makes country great spicer also took several shots press queried whether agreed majority journalists hardworking people trying seek truth spicer said yes complained times journalists often created story whole cloth didnt existwithout providing examples said behavior followup would nice jimmy spicer also accused white house press corps code silence saying need understand cross line member press corps crosses line responsibility help pull ive never seen group individuals protect like press corps doesespecially white house press corps theyve never tenure least recollection ever called someone crossed line story particularly egregious statement one appears describe president trump anyone else unlike say police refuse speak ill fellow copseven kill unarmed citizenthe press quick criticize dismiss colleagues committed journalistic wrongdoing viewed stain entire profession especially president using standard authoritarian technique eroding trust fourth estate order control narrative spicer sadly refused spill tea concerning mooch offering didnt feel though qualifications background work communications office said parodied woman snl may contributing factor trump particularly annoyed portrayal told kimmel wouldnt writing tellall book calling potential act betrayal without mentioning course cant write tellall trump everyonesave reince priebus reportedly refusedsign ndas kimmel however refused press spicer biggest news week hed potentially handle ted cruzs porn like replacement sarah huckabee sanders calling firing citizenespns jemele hillfor criticizing president kimmel isnt exactly known tough latenight interviewer presumably chosen first place | 552 |
<p>A long and dangerous journey brings teenage Central American refugees to a community health center in South Los Angeles where pediatricians, psychologists and social workers treat them for post-traumatic stress disorder. In their native lands and during their treks to the United States, they have been victims of rapes, kidnapping, beatings and other horrors inflicted on them.</p>
<p>But this welcoming clinic could be just another stop in their travels. If President Barack Obama and the rest of official Washington does not grant them legal refugee status, they will probably be deported back to the countries from which they fled.</p>
<p>Hoping to find out what happens to the children once they arrive in the United States, I visited the health center, St. John’s Well Child &amp; Family Center, which runs a network of clinics serving the poor in a wide area of South Los Angeles.</p>
<p>Los Angeles, with a large population from the Central American nations of Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala, is a destination for many of the 57,500 unaccompanied young people seeking refuge in the United States who have been apprehended since October. St. John’s, with its physical and mental care programs, serves the Central American community among others in South L.A.’s predominantly Latino and African-American population.</p>
<p />
<p>Dr. Michelle Aguilar, a St. John’s pediatrician, said some of the youngsters arrive in this country “with a phone number or name” of a relative. Others “may have no idea of where they are going.” Hopefully, they connect with a relative or family friend. Then illness brings the family to St. John’s, where the child exhibits symptoms that often seem to have psychological roots. They add up, Aguilar said, to post-traumatic stress disorder.</p>
<p>“They have headaches, abdominal complaints, nightmares,” Aguilar said. “These are likely from the stress they have endured. It manifests itself in physical complaints.” In addition, she said, “They’re depressive. …”</p>
<p>Aguilar and the other pediatricians offer information on psychological help. Sometimes it’s hard to convince conservative Latino caregivers of its value, but once they agree the child is sent to a psychologist or social worker.</p>
<p>When I talked to Elena Fernandez, director of behavioral health services, and social worker Hypatia Ostojic, they told me about the destructive results of life in impoverished Central America and the journey northward.</p>
<p>Fernandez described the problems of a 17-year-old girl from Guatemala with post-traumatic stress disorder.</p>
<p>“She came from a loving family,” Fernandez said. “Last year, she was kidnapped and violently raped for a month. Her family raised the money to free her. She was threatened with violence if she stayed. She left her parents, everything she loved. She was brought here by a family friend, who was a coyote. Her parents call her every day.”</p>
<p>Ostojic is treating a 15-year-old girl who left Guatemala traumatized. “It took her 10 days to get to Texas. As they traveled through the hills and mountains, she (suffered additional) trauma as they moved from country to country.”</p>
<p>I thought of the determination of these two girls and the many others who have made the perilous journey north. These are the kind of people who would add strength to this country, as did previous generations of immigrants.</p>
<p>“She has a very strong will to live,” Fernandez said of the 17-year-old. “A very strong sense of self. She said ‘I want to go to college. I want to be a doctor.’&#160;”</p>
<p>But do she and the others fit the legal definition of refugee?</p>
<p>A refugee is, by the provisions of the U.N.’s 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a person “ … owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.”</p>
<p>President Obama takes a narrow, legalistic view. In language that might get an A on a law school exam, he said recently:</p>
<p>“[U]nder U.S. law, we admit a certain number of refugees from all around the world based on some fairly narrow criteria. And typically, refugee status is not granted just based on economic need or because a family lives in a bad neighborhood or poverty. It’s typically defined fairly narrowly — the state, for example, that was targeting political activists and they need to get out of the country for fear of prosecution or even death.</p>
<p>“There may be some narrow circumstances in which there is a humanitarian or a refugee status that a family might be eligible for. If that were the case, it would be better for them to be able to apply in-country rather than take a very dangerous journey all the way up to Texas to make those same claims. But I think it’s important to recognize that that would not necessarily accommodate a large number of additional migrants.”</p>
<p>But to St. John’s Fernandez, her 17-year-old patient, along with the others, fit the definition of a refugee. “She is a victim and having to return with an existing threat is a danger if she goes back to Guatemala.”</p>
<p>In other words, is an organized gang threatening to kill you and your family less a peril than a government targeting political activists?</p>
<p>Congress refuses to deal with the problem. Obama is proposing a pilot program in which children in gang-ridden countries would be able to apply in their own country to the U.S. government for refugee status. He also asked for funds for a limited number of defense lawyers and immigration judges to hear the cases of those applying for refugee status. But everything he proposed was stymied by House Republicans.</p>
<p>As a result, the 17-year-old St. John’s patient will have to go into immigration court herself, unable to speak English, unfamiliar with the proceedings she faces.</p>
<p>It’s inhuman for the child refugees to be put in that position. Obama and the rest of Washington should step back and heed the words of the governor of a state receiving a large number of the children, Jerry Brown of California. Here’s what he said in Mexico City recently, as reported by The Sacramento Bee:</p>
<p>“This is a human problem and it has been the religious call of all religions to welcome the stranger, and it’s in that spirit that I believe the clergy can call the United States, Mexico and all the players to perhaps a higher response than might otherwise happen.”</p>
<p>The health workers at St. John’s, whose lives are devoted to welcoming the stranger, would certainly agree with that.</p> | true | 4 | long dangerous journey brings teenage central american refugees community health center south los angeles pediatricians psychologists social workers treat posttraumatic stress disorder native lands treks united states victims rapes kidnapping beatings horrors inflicted welcoming clinic could another stop travels president barack obama rest official washington grant legal refugee status probably deported back countries fled hoping find happens children arrive united states visited health center st johns well child amp family center runs network clinics serving poor wide area south los angeles los angeles large population central american nations honduras el salvador guatemala destination many 57500 unaccompanied young people seeking refuge united states apprehended since october st johns physical mental care programs serves central american community among others south las predominantly latino africanamerican population dr michelle aguilar st johns pediatrician said youngsters arrive country phone number name relative others may idea going hopefully connect relative family friend illness brings family st johns child exhibits symptoms often seem psychological roots add aguilar said posttraumatic stress disorder headaches abdominal complaints nightmares aguilar said likely stress endured manifests physical complaints addition said theyre depressive aguilar pediatricians offer information psychological help sometimes hard convince conservative latino caregivers value agree child sent psychologist social worker talked elena fernandez director behavioral health services social worker hypatia ostojic told destructive results life impoverished central america journey northward fernandez described problems 17yearold girl guatemala posttraumatic stress disorder came loving family fernandez said last year kidnapped violently raped month family raised money free threatened violence stayed left parents everything loved brought family friend coyote parents call every day ostojic treating 15yearold girl left guatemala traumatized took 10 days get texas traveled hills mountains suffered additional trauma moved country country thought determination two girls many others made perilous journey north kind people would add strength country previous generations immigrants strong live fernandez said 17yearold strong sense self said want go college want doctor160 others fit legal definition refugee refugee provisions uns 1951 convention relating status refugees person owing wellfounded fear persecuted reasons race religion nationality membership particular social group political opinion outside country nationality unable owing fear unwilling avail protection country nationality outside country former habitual residence result events unable owing fear unwilling return president obama takes narrow legalistic view language might get law school exam said recently us law admit certain number refugees around world based fairly narrow criteria typically refugee status granted based economic need family lives bad neighborhood poverty typically defined fairly narrowly state example targeting political activists need get country fear prosecution even death may narrow circumstances humanitarian refugee status family might eligible case would better able apply incountry rather take dangerous journey way texas make claims think important recognize would necessarily accommodate large number additional migrants st johns fernandez 17yearold patient along others fit definition refugee victim return existing threat danger goes back guatemala words organized gang threatening kill family less peril government targeting political activists congress refuses deal problem obama proposing pilot program children gangridden countries would able apply country us government refugee status also asked funds limited number defense lawyers immigration judges hear cases applying refugee status everything proposed stymied house republicans result 17yearold st johns patient go immigration court unable speak english unfamiliar proceedings faces inhuman child refugees put position obama rest washington step back heed words governor state receiving large number children jerry brown california heres said mexico city recently reported sacramento bee human problem religious call religions welcome stranger spirit believe clergy call united states mexico players perhaps higher response might otherwise happen health workers st johns whose lives devoted welcoming stranger would certainly agree | 594 |
<p />
<p>The line forms early on Friday mornings at Foundry United Methodist Church, a nearly 200-year-old institution located a few blocks from the White House. Famous in some circles as Bill Clinton’s church, among the city’s down and out, Foundry is better known as one of the few places around that offers help securing a government-issued photo identification.</p>
<p>Two weeks ago, Deborah Killebrew, 58, was one of those queued up outside the church to pick up a copy of her birth certificate, which Foundry volunteers had helped her obtain. Six years ago, Killebrew was hit by a drunk driver. Her fiance was killed in the crash and she was left with cervical spine injuries that eventually put her in a wheelchair. After a string of bad luck, she wound up living in a D.C. homeless shelter. Somewhere along the way, she lost her expired Virginia driver’s license. Killebrew was unable to get a new one because she didn’t have an official copy of her birth certificate from the state of Indiana, where she was born. But to get her birth certificate, Killebrew had to send the state a copy of her driver’s license or a stack of other documents—like a car registration or mortgage document—she also didn’t have. Eventually, she just gave up, until recently when she was referred to Foundry.</p>
<p>Without a photo ID, Killebrew may not be able to drive or apply for food stamps, but here in D.C., one thing she can do is vote, which she does regularly. If she still lived in Indiana, though, she’d be out of luck. Two days before she arrived at Foundry to claim her birth certificate, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a lawsuit over a strict new Indiana law requiring all voters to show a government-issued photo ID before casting a ballot. The plaintiffs argued that the law was an unconstitutional burden on voters, particularly minority, poor, and elderly voters, who are the least likely to have the requisite ID. The law does allow people without an ID to cast a provisional ballot, but it won’t get counted until the voter turns up at a county clerks’ office to present identification.</p>
<p>If the justices rule against the plaintiffs, they will clear the way for other states to implement similar laws restricting voting rights for the less fortunate. Judging from the oral arguments in Crawford v. Marion County Elections Board, that’s just what the justices are poised to do. While John Roberts worked at a steel mill during college, and Clarence Thomas came up dirt-poor in Pin Point, Georgia, the Supreme Court of late hasn’t shown much interest in people like Killebrew who reside at the bottom of the economic food chain. The court’s docket is increasingly dominated by business litigation—patent challenges, anti-trust suits, and attempts by big businesses to insulate themselves from all sorts of legal liability and litigation brought by their employees, investors, or aggrieved customers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce recently bragged that it had its best year yet before the high court in 2007, racking up a string of impressive victories for big business that even surpassed the chamber’s record-breaking year in 2006.</p>
<p>Topped off by last week’s decision in Stoneridge Investment Partners v. Scientific Atlanta, which sharply restricted the ability of shareholders to sue entities that abet corporate fraud, recent winners before the Supreme Court have included Enron and the banks that facilitated its scam; payday lenders; investment banks that engage in price fixing; and tobacco companies, among others. Losers have been small investors, poor, black school children, working-class women paid less than men—and one kid who was paralyzed after a police officer rammed his car because he was speeding.</p>
<p>Not only are “the people” losing at a rapid clip when they come before the court, but it has gotten much, much harder for the average person to even get into court in the first place. Over the past two decades, Supreme Court decisions have quietly prevented a wide swath of the American population from even reaching the courthouse, much less prevailing there when they’ve challenged better-funded and more powerful interests. Lee Epstein, a professor at Northwestern law school, says that the court is “shutting down access to plaintiffs in all sorts of ways. The court seems to be saying ‘stay out.'”</p>
<p>In the last term, the court ruled, for instance, that taxpayers had no right to challenge the federal government’s use of tax dollars to pay for religious-based social services. The case overturned years of precedent giving people a say in how their money is spent if it seems to mix too much church with state business. In a complicated anti-trust case, the court basically rewrote the rules for filing a civil lawsuit, making it harder for plaintiffs to even get into a courtroom under the guise of protecting business from allegedly frivolous lawsuits.</p>
<p>Many civil rights lawsuits are brought by private individuals rather than the government through agencies like the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, making them the primary mode of enforcing anti-discrimination laws passed by Congress. Yet the Supreme Court has moved to sharply limit such lawsuits through decisions that, for instance, restrict the awarding of attorneys fees to plaintiffs so that lawyers can no longer afford to bring such cases.</p>
<p>Epstein says that while it’s true many of these decisions break down along ideological lines, some of rulings also may stem from the justices’ personal backgrounds. Never has the Supreme Court been more homogenous, she says, noting that race and gender aside, the range of professional experience of the current court is extremely limited. All of the current justices came straight from the federal appeals courts, she points out, and most spent the bulk of their careers in government service or academia. Today’s sitting justices are even geographically homogenous, having lived most of their adult lives in Washington or other nearby East Coast metro centers. Before they were appointed, Epstein says, “Most of these people could have taken the Metro or Amtrak to get to work.”</p>
<p>At least with Sandra Day O’Connor on the court, Epstein says, there was not just a female voice, but someone from the West who had a different background from the other justices. O’Connor had been an Arizona state legislator and served as an elected trial court judge in Maricopa County. Epstein suggests that some of the court’s rulings in recent years may have as much to do with the justices’ service on appellate courts as ideology. None of them has much experience as private-practice litigators or trial judges, where they would be forced to look the plaintiffs in the eye and hear their stories. Epstein believes that the current crop of justices is inclined to think that “the judges below them get it right.”</p>
<p>The insular experience of the Supreme Court justices seems to be spilling over into their decision making in a way that goes beyond partisan politics. Indeed, some of the more arcane business cases, which will nonetheless have a profound impact on such things as consumer protection, were decided by majorities that included Clinton appointees. All of the justices seem reluctant to do anything that might mess with business too much, even when those businesses could use some messing with.</p>
<p>In Watters v. Wachovia last year, for instance, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a former ACLU lawyer, wrote the opinion for a majority that also included liberal Steven Breyer in a case that declared that states have no right to regulate the operating subsidiaries of national banks. On its face, this might sound like no big deal, until you recognize that some of those operating subsidiaries were engaged in subprime and other shady mortgage lending that’s now wreaking havoc on the economy. The states had attempted to step in to combat some of the fraud at work long before the feds even noticed there was a problem.</p>
<p>But the court’s liberals deferred to the federal banking regulators in the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The decision was a huge victory for the banks, leaving their subsidiaries largely immune to regulation or lawsuits based on state consumer protection laws.</p>
<p>Ginsburg and Breyer also came down with the majority in a decision that upheld the use of mandatory-arbitration clauses in contracts for services that are themselves against the law. In Buckeye Check Cashing v. Cardegna, the court said a consumer could be forced to arbitrate a dispute with a payday lender rather than go to court even though payday lending is illegal in Florida, where the case originated.</p>
<p>During the oral arguments, Breyer expressed concern that if the court ruled for the consumer, businesses might suffer because so many of them now use mandatory arbitration to keep people out of court. He seemed to believe that letting people go to court would somehow lead to economic ruin, even when they were suing companies that had defrauded them. “I wouldn’t want to reach a decision…that would make a significant negative difference in the gross national product of the United States,” Breyer said. The case greatly expanded the number of people who can no longer bring their consumer disputes before a judge or jury.</p>
<p>Despite a few of these sorts of decisions, it is still the conservatives on the court who seem to be most out of touch with the people who will be affected by their rulings. The oral arguments during the Indiana voter ID case serve as a case in point. There was Chief Justice John Roberts Jr., with his movie-star good looks, and a smile and smoothness that seemed so reasonable and reassuring during his confirmation hearings. And yet, during the oral arguments, Roberts couldn’t have been more dismissive of the plight of poor and minority voters at the heart of the case. Like the other conservatives, Roberts, who earned $1 million a year in private practice, couldn’t seem to fathom that there are people in this country who don’t have a photo ID. When informed that a voter who didn’t have ID would have to travel to a county clerk’s office to provide addition documentation for her vote to be counted, Roberts quipped that in his home state of Indiana, county clerk’s offices weren’t too far apart.</p>
<p>The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Paul Smith, countered that for a poor person living in Gary, Indiana, the county clerk’s office was quite a schlep, 17 miles. (“Seventeen miles is 17 miles for the rich and the poor,” Antonin Scalia chimed in.) Smith gently reminded the justices that the people he was talking about didn’t have driver’s licenses. That’s why they couldn’t vote at their local polling places. For them, getting to the clerk’s office would require using public transportation, which, anyone who’s ever spent much time on public transit would surely know, gets less and less frequent and reliable the farther you have to travel.</p>
<p>What was striking about the exchange between Smith and Roberts, though, wasn’t just Roberts’ unfamiliarity with riding the bus, but his lack of any apparent understanding of the lives of people on the lower end of the economic spectrum. In this regard, Roberts is not alone on the court. It’s clear that many of the justices would rather not see these sorts of folks appearing on their docket at all. Simon Lazarus, public policy counsel at the National Senior Citizens Law Center, calls it the “arrogant abstractness” that predominates the court today.</p>
<p>The court’s overt hostility to average- or low-income people is in itself keeping people out of court. One possible reason the Supreme Court docket is so crowded with business cases is that liberal public interest lawyers are avoiding it, says John Bouman, the president of the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. “There’s very little empathy on the court,” he says, and as a result “people are showing restraint as to whether to take things up at all.”</p>
<p>The change in the docket may only reinforce the court’s ivory-tower qualities. The fewer everyday people who make their cases in court, the fewer opportunities the justices will have to let their perceptions evolve. One of the selling points of lifetime tenure for Supreme Court justices is that it can free them from politics and allow them to focus on the law and the facts of the cases before them. It is supposed to allow for evolution, which has been known to happen. Justice John Paul Stevens, now the last remaining reliable liberal on the court, is himself a Republican appointee, nominated by Gerald Ford. His views on such hot-button issues as affirmative action and obscenity have changed during his many years on the court. Even former Chief Justice Rehnquist, who as a law clerk once wrote that he thought Plessy v. Ferguson, the case upholding racial segregation, ought to be reaffirmed, eventually came to champion Brown v. Board of Education.</p>
<p>But you do have to wonder about the current crop of young conservatives like Roberts. Insulated from the real world through an adult life of privilege, insulated from actual people by years of conservative legal rulings, it’s hard to see where the opportunities for growth will come from. As Arthur Bryant, the executive director of Public Justice, a public-interest law firm, says, “Our system of justice cannot do justice if people cannot get into court.”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | line forms early friday mornings foundry united methodist church nearly 200yearold institution located blocks white house famous circles bill clintons church among citys foundry better known one places around offers help securing governmentissued photo identification two weeks ago deborah killebrew 58 one queued outside church pick copy birth certificate foundry volunteers helped obtain six years ago killebrew hit drunk driver fiance killed crash left cervical spine injuries eventually put wheelchair string bad luck wound living dc homeless shelter somewhere along way lost expired virginia drivers license killebrew unable get new one didnt official copy birth certificate state indiana born get birth certificate killebrew send state copy drivers license stack documentslike car registration mortgage documentshe also didnt eventually gave recently referred foundry without photo id killebrew may able drive apply food stamps dc one thing vote regularly still lived indiana though shed luck two days arrived foundry claim birth certificate us supreme court heard oral arguments lawsuit strict new indiana law requiring voters show governmentissued photo id casting ballot plaintiffs argued law unconstitutional burden voters particularly minority poor elderly voters least likely requisite id law allow people without id cast provisional ballot wont get counted voter turns county clerks office present identification justices rule plaintiffs clear way states implement similar laws restricting voting rights less fortunate judging oral arguments crawford v marion county elections board thats justices poised john roberts worked steel mill college clarence thomas came dirtpoor pin point georgia supreme court late hasnt shown much interest people like killebrew reside bottom economic food chain courts docket increasingly dominated business litigationpatent challenges antitrust suits attempts big businesses insulate sorts legal liability litigation brought employees investors aggrieved customers us chamber commerce recently bragged best year yet high court 2007 racking string impressive victories big business even surpassed chambers recordbreaking year 2006 topped last weeks decision stoneridge investment partners v scientific atlanta sharply restricted ability shareholders sue entities abet corporate fraud recent winners supreme court included enron banks facilitated scam payday lenders investment banks engage price fixing tobacco companies among others losers small investors poor black school children workingclass women paid less menand one kid paralyzed police officer rammed car speeding people losing rapid clip come court gotten much much harder average person even get court first place past two decades supreme court decisions quietly prevented wide swath american population even reaching courthouse much less prevailing theyve challenged betterfunded powerful interests lee epstein professor northwestern law school says court shutting access plaintiffs sorts ways court seems saying stay last term court ruled instance taxpayers right challenge federal governments use tax dollars pay religiousbased social services case overturned years precedent giving people say money spent seems mix much church state business complicated antitrust case court basically rewrote rules filing civil lawsuit making harder plaintiffs even get courtroom guise protecting business allegedly frivolous lawsuits many civil rights lawsuits brought private individuals rather government agencies like equal employment opportunity commission making primary mode enforcing antidiscrimination laws passed congress yet supreme court moved sharply limit lawsuits decisions instance restrict awarding attorneys fees plaintiffs lawyers longer afford bring cases epstein says true many decisions break along ideological lines rulings also may stem justices personal backgrounds never supreme court homogenous says noting race gender aside range professional experience current court extremely limited current justices came straight federal appeals courts points spent bulk careers government service academia todays sitting justices even geographically homogenous lived adult lives washington nearby east coast metro centers appointed epstein says people could taken metro amtrak get work least sandra day oconnor court epstein says female voice someone west different background justices oconnor arizona state legislator served elected trial court judge maricopa county epstein suggests courts rulings recent years may much justices service appellate courts ideology none much experience privatepractice litigators trial judges would forced look plaintiffs eye hear stories epstein believes current crop justices inclined think judges get right insular experience supreme court justices seems spilling decision making way goes beyond partisan politics indeed arcane business cases nonetheless profound impact things consumer protection decided majorities included clinton appointees justices seem reluctant anything might mess business much even businesses could use messing watters v wachovia last year instance ruth bader ginsburg former aclu lawyer wrote opinion majority also included liberal steven breyer case declared states right regulate operating subsidiaries national banks face might sound like big deal recognize operating subsidiaries engaged subprime shady mortgage lending thats wreaking havoc economy states attempted step combat fraud work long feds even noticed problem courts liberals deferred federal banking regulators office comptroller currency decision huge victory banks leaving subsidiaries largely immune regulation lawsuits based state consumer protection laws ginsburg breyer also came majority decision upheld use mandatoryarbitration clauses contracts services law buckeye check cashing v cardegna court said consumer could forced arbitrate dispute payday lender rather go court even though payday lending illegal florida case originated oral arguments breyer expressed concern court ruled consumer businesses might suffer many use mandatory arbitration keep people court seemed believe letting people go court would somehow lead economic ruin even suing companies defrauded wouldnt want reach decisionthat would make significant negative difference gross national product united states breyer said case greatly expanded number people longer bring consumer disputes judge jury despite sorts decisions still conservatives court seem touch people affected rulings oral arguments indiana voter id case serve case point chief justice john roberts jr moviestar good looks smile smoothness seemed reasonable reassuring confirmation hearings yet oral arguments roberts couldnt dismissive plight poor minority voters heart case like conservatives roberts earned 1 million year private practice couldnt seem fathom people country dont photo id informed voter didnt id would travel county clerks office provide addition documentation vote counted roberts quipped home state indiana county clerks offices werent far apart plaintiffs lawyer paul smith countered poor person living gary indiana county clerks office quite schlep 17 miles seventeen miles 17 miles rich poor antonin scalia chimed smith gently reminded justices people talking didnt drivers licenses thats couldnt vote local polling places getting clerks office would require using public transportation anyone whos ever spent much time public transit would surely know gets less less frequent reliable farther travel striking exchange smith roberts though wasnt roberts unfamiliarity riding bus lack apparent understanding lives people lower end economic spectrum regard roberts alone court clear many justices would rather see sorts folks appearing docket simon lazarus public policy counsel national senior citizens law center calls arrogant abstractness predominates court today courts overt hostility average lowincome people keeping people court one possible reason supreme court docket crowded business cases liberal public interest lawyers avoiding says john bouman president sargent shriver national center poverty law theres little empathy court says result people showing restraint whether take things change docket may reinforce courts ivorytower qualities fewer everyday people make cases court fewer opportunities justices let perceptions evolve one selling points lifetime tenure supreme court justices free politics allow focus law facts cases supposed allow evolution known happen justice john paul stevens last remaining reliable liberal court republican appointee nominated gerald ford views hotbutton issues affirmative action obscenity changed many years court even former chief justice rehnquist law clerk wrote thought plessy v ferguson case upholding racial segregation ought reaffirmed eventually came champion brown v board education wonder current crop young conservatives like roberts insulated real world adult life privilege insulated actual people years conservative legal rulings hard see opportunities growth come arthur bryant executive director public justice publicinterest law firm says system justice justice people get court | 1,246 |
<p>Beirut</p>
<p>“It is the right of the Lebanese people, Army and the (Hezbollah led—ed.)Resistance to liberate the Shebaa Farms, the Kfar Shuba Hills and the northern part of the village of Ghajar as well as to defend Lebanon and its territorial waters in the face of any enemy by all available and legal means.”</p>
<p>So reads the Policy Declaration of the new Government of the Republic of Lebanon, issued on November 26,2009, four days after the celebration of Lebanon’s 66 years of independence from the French colonial power, achieved in 1943.</p>
<p>Legally, constitutionally, and politically, Lebanon’s new National Unity Government policy legitimizes, embraces, and incorporates by reference, the National Lebanese Resistance.</p>
<p>For the US-Israel axis, the 52 words signal that Hezbollah – which since 2006 has enjoyed majority popular support – and the State of Lebanon are inseparable and indivisible with respect to defending this country from foreign interference and occupation. It affixes the governmental imprimatur for liberating Lebanese lands still occupied by Israeli forces.</p>
<p>According to some international lawyers, it also fulfills UN Security Council Resolution 1559 regarding disarming militias because Lebanon has in effect declared that the arms of the Hezbollah led Resistance are part of the defense of Lebanon itself and not a particular movement or political party.&#160; This Policy statement satisfies UNSCR 1701 for the same reason.</p>
<p>Apart from the Phalange (Kataeb) Party and the Lebanese forces, and their spokesmen Samir Geagea and Amin Gemayel, who will continue to condemn the policy declaration, the issue of Hezbollah’s arms has been essentially settled.</p>
<p>Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri stressed that “Hezbollah’s arms belong to all Lebanese and their existence is linked to Israel’s withdrawal from all Lebanese territory.”</p>
<p>Tawhid (Unifying) Party and Druze leader Wiam Wahhab went further and, following the Policy Statement approval, advised the media this was the same wording as was reached at the 2008 Doha conference:</p>
<p>“Hezbollah’s arms will remain as long as there is conflict between the Arabs and Israel. When the world tells us how the naturalization of Palestinians issue will be resolved, then we will give details on how to deal with the arms of our national resistance. They now belong to all of Lebanon.”</p>
<p>The message from Lebanon’s new government to the US administration is clear according to Lebanese Human Rights Ambassador Ali Khalil:</p>
<p>“You can have very friendly relations with Lebanon but that means dealing with Lebanon and our new government as a whole, not cherry picking certain ministries or parties in Parliament. Aid, defensive arms and equipment, economy, trade, should be negotiated with equality- not the US Embassy’s color coded push pin political affiliation map used previously. Hezbollah is Lebanon and Lebanon is Hezbollah. Try to understand and get used to it. You might be pleased if both the US and Lebanon work for our own interests but dialogue with mutual respect.”</p>
<p>Many people in Lebanon and the region who support Hezbollah do so not because they know all about or even very much care about the pillars of Shia Islam or the role of the Wali al Faque but because they have experienced six decades of Israeli aggression and six wars funded and armed by a US Congress that puts Israel before its own country and way before any Arab country including Lebanon. They realize that 18 years of a fake ‘peace process’ has brought nothing but misery to the Palestinians and Lebanon whereas 18 years of Resistance has freed most of Israel occupied Lebanese territory.</p>
<p>And they realize that there is more yet to be done.</p>
<p>UNIFIL sources reported this week that they expected Israel to withdraw from the Lebanese village of Ghajar before the 12-member Cabinet committee voted to legitimize Hezbollah’s arms, in order to upstage the Lebanese government decision. The Israeli government, under US and EU pressure agreed, knowing that its army could not hold the village during its next attack on Lebanon and realizing that holding Ghajar meanwhile is not worth the political and military price.</p>
<p>Actual Israeli troop withdrawal is expected at any moment against the backdrop of more “cry wolf” threats such as yesterdays from Israeli defense minister Ehud Barak that “all of Lebanon will pay the huge price for giving Hezbollah its Government.” &#160;More than ever Lebanon’s population believes that Israel will also pay a huge price if it launches a 7th war against Lebanon or attacks Iran or Syria.</p>
<p>A conference call</p>
<p>In Washington and Beirut the response to Lebanon’s legitimization of Hezbollah’s arms was publicly subdued. The US Embassy, for the second year in a row mistakenly sent Eid al Fitr greetings to Lebanon’s President Michel Suleiman, whereas this week’s holiday, which commemorates the annual &#160;Hajj Pilgrimage and the &#160;&#160;1,400 year old&#160; Muslim tradition of giving of meat to the poor, is called Eid al Adha. Eid al Fitr actually follows Ramadan which ended this year on September 19th.&#160; Anyhow, for sure it’s the thought that counts and the White House did promptly correct the Beirut’s Embassy error and sent President Obama’s and the American peoples Eid al Adha greetings yesterday at 2:15 p.m. Beirut time. Privately, the reaction to legitimizing Hezbollah’s deterrence to Israeli aggressions is causing a strong reaction on Capitol Hill. AIPAC has another Congressional Resolution ready to condemn Lebanon for capitulating to ‘terrorism’. Hard to believe as it is, some members of Congress are actually tiring of all the Israel Lobby’s resolutions and the pressure tactics AIPAC uses to get them passed irrespective of what they say or whether they are read.</p>
<p>Before the Thanksgiving break, AIPAC organized an urgent conference call among 11 Chairmen, of key US Congressional committees, including Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, Appropriations, Banking, Homeland Security, Environment, and Aging, and Rules held a conference call arranged by AIPAC.</p>
<p>Together, the group forms what AIPAC calls “Israel’s Firewall” which it and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations conceived of and formalized in late September 2001 &#160;“ to assure consultation and dialogue with respect to how best&#160; to launch Congressional initiatives that will&#160;preserve the special and unbreakable US-Israel relationship.”</p>
<p>In addition to &#160;the above members, others who have been approached to form the ‘firewall’ in the 111th Congress include all 13 Jewish members of the US Senate and the 28 Jewish House Members as well as &#160;a couple of dozen trusted evangelical Christian Zionist members.</p>
<p>According to a Zionist Organizations of America (ZOA) source, the group has not been very active until recently.&#160; Decisions, if any that were taken the past eight years by what is referred to by some on Capitol Hill as the “Israel Synod” is not currently known.</p>
<p>One recent decision that has been taken was revealed by ZOA.&#160; The ‘fire wall’ project is to ‘fast track’ a dramatic increase in US military aid to Israel to deal with supposed Hezbollah, Hamas, Syrian, and Iranian threats to Israel. “These people see an urgent need to clean house and restore Israel’s military dominance and credibility”, claimed the ZOA source.</p>
<p>According to a staff member of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, the ‘ fire wall’ group plans to expedite US Congressional approval for more subsidies for all or part of the funds needed by Israel to purchase U.S. weapons.&#160; This will be in addition to Israel receiving over the past 24 months $ 2,070.1 billion from US taxpayers earmarked for this purpose.</p>
<p>AIPAC’s new ‘fire wall’ group will work for &#160;the &#160;2010&#160; deployment&#160; of&#160; the&#160; &#160;so called “Iron Dome” that can unleash a metallic cloud to bring down incoming rockets in the skies over Gaza or Lebanon as well as funding for a new generation of&#160; Israel’s&#160; Arrow defense system designed to shoot down Iran’s long-range missiles at high altitudes.</p>
<p>In addition, Israel will receive US funding for more German-made Dolphin submarines that can be equipped with nuclear-tipped missiles for positioning off the coast of Iran.</p>
<p>AIPAC’s problem is to get Congress to overrule &#160;Pentagon skepticism of much of Israel’s ‘new weapons’ projects which some view as more psychological warfare than reliable or usable effectively in future conflicts. AIPAC appears confident and with good reason.</p>
<p>The Congressional Israel lobby has already achieved a commitment from the Obama administration to add Israeli systems and munitions to a new U.S.-built F-35 Joint Strike Fighter and deliver 25 to Israel by 2015 with another 50 delivered by 2018. &#160;The Obama administration will also integrate bombs that use an Israeli precision guidance kit called Spice along with Python 5 air-to-air missiles made by Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd.&#160; The ‘fire wall’ group is to assure that Israel will also get a relatively inexpensive path for hardware and software upgrades to add future weapons.</p>
<p>This season’s ‘mother of all bombs’</p>
<p>Another major Congressional weapons project for Israel is the Boeing Corporations new 30,000 pound Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP) bomb. The MOP carries more than 5,300 pounds of explosives and delivers more than 10 times the explosive power of its predecessor, the 2,000-pound BLU-109, according to the Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency, which has funded and managed the seed program. It is also about one-third heavier than the 21,000-pound GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast bomb – last season’s “mother of all bombs” — that was dropped twice in tests at a Florida range in 2003.</p>
<p>The 20-foot-long (6-metre) MOP is built to be dropped from either the B-52 or the B-2 “stealth” bomber and is designed to penetrate up to 200 feet underground before exploding, according to the U.S. Air Force. The Pentagons Central Command, which is preparing for war with Iran- just in case- is backing a acceleration request according to Kenneth Katzman, an expert on Iran at the Congressional Research Service, the research arm of Congress. Israel wants them to attack Hezbollah’s deep bunkers in South Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.</p>
<p>If AIPAC can get Congress to shift enough funds to the program, Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC.N)’s radar-evading B-2 bomber “would be capable of carrying the bomb by July 2010. This claim has been verified by Andy Bourland, an Air Force spokesman, who added, “There have been discussions with the four congressional committees with oversight responsibilities. Officially no final decision has been made.”</p>
<p>In fact the decision has been made according to AIPAC and Congressional sources and its “all systems go”.</p>
<p>FRANKLIN LAMB is doing research in Lebanon and can be reached at <a href="mailto:[email protected]" type="external">[email protected]</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | beirut right lebanese people army hezbollah lededresistance liberate shebaa farms kfar shuba hills northern part village ghajar well defend lebanon territorial waters face enemy available legal means reads policy declaration new government republic lebanon issued november 262009 four days celebration lebanons 66 years independence french colonial power achieved 1943 legally constitutionally politically lebanons new national unity government policy legitimizes embraces incorporates reference national lebanese resistance usisrael axis 52 words signal hezbollah since 2006 enjoyed majority popular support state lebanon inseparable indivisible respect defending country foreign interference occupation affixes governmental imprimatur liberating lebanese lands still occupied israeli forces according international lawyers also fulfills un security council resolution 1559 regarding disarming militias lebanon effect declared arms hezbollah led resistance part defense lebanon particular movement political party160 policy statement satisfies unscr 1701 reason apart phalange kataeb party lebanese forces spokesmen samir geagea amin gemayel continue condemn policy declaration issue hezbollahs arms essentially settled speaker parliament nabih berri stressed hezbollahs arms belong lebanese existence linked israels withdrawal lebanese territory tawhid unifying party druze leader wiam wahhab went following policy statement approval advised media wording reached 2008 doha conference hezbollahs arms remain long conflict arabs israel world tells us naturalization palestinians issue resolved give details deal arms national resistance belong lebanon message lebanons new government us administration clear according lebanese human rights ambassador ali khalil friendly relations lebanon means dealing lebanon new government whole cherry picking certain ministries parties parliament aid defensive arms equipment economy trade negotiated equality us embassys color coded push pin political affiliation map used previously hezbollah lebanon lebanon hezbollah try understand get used might pleased us lebanon work interests dialogue mutual respect many people lebanon region support hezbollah know even much care pillars shia islam role wali al faque experienced six decades israeli aggression six wars funded armed us congress puts israel country way arab country including lebanon realize 18 years fake peace process brought nothing misery palestinians lebanon whereas 18 years resistance freed israel occupied lebanese territory realize yet done unifil sources reported week expected israel withdraw lebanese village ghajar 12member cabinet committee voted legitimize hezbollahs arms order upstage lebanese government decision israeli government us eu pressure agreed knowing army could hold village next attack lebanon realizing holding ghajar meanwhile worth political military price actual israeli troop withdrawal expected moment backdrop cry wolf threats yesterdays israeli defense minister ehud barak lebanon pay huge price giving hezbollah government 160more ever lebanons population believes israel also pay huge price launches 7th war lebanon attacks iran syria conference call washington beirut response lebanons legitimization hezbollahs arms publicly subdued us embassy second year row mistakenly sent eid al fitr greetings lebanons president michel suleiman whereas weeks holiday commemorates annual 160hajj pilgrimage 1601601400 year old160 muslim tradition giving meat poor called eid al adha eid al fitr actually follows ramadan ended year september 19th160 anyhow sure thought counts white house promptly correct beiruts embassy error sent president obamas american peoples eid al adha greetings yesterday 215 pm beirut time privately reaction legitimizing hezbollahs deterrence israeli aggressions causing strong reaction capitol hill aipac another congressional resolution ready condemn lebanon capitulating terrorism hard believe members congress actually tiring israel lobbys resolutions pressure tactics aipac uses get passed irrespective say whether read thanksgiving break aipac organized urgent conference call among 11 chairmen key us congressional committees including foreign affairs intelligence appropriations banking homeland security environment aging rules held conference call arranged aipac together group forms aipac calls israels firewall conference presidents major american jewish organizations conceived formalized late september 2001 160 assure consultation dialogue respect best160 launch congressional initiatives will160preserve special unbreakable usisrael relationship addition 160the members others approached form firewall 111th congress include 13 jewish members us senate 28 jewish house members well 160a couple dozen trusted evangelical christian zionist members according zionist organizations america zoa source group active recently160 decisions taken past eight years referred capitol hill israel synod currently known one recent decision taken revealed zoa160 fire wall project fast track dramatic increase us military aid israel deal supposed hezbollah hamas syrian iranian threats israel people see urgent need clean house restore israels military dominance credibility claimed zoa source according staff member us senate armed services committee fire wall group plans expedite us congressional approval subsidies part funds needed israel purchase us weapons160 addition israel receiving past 24 months 20701 billion us taxpayers earmarked purpose aipacs new fire wall group work 160the 1602010160 deployment160 of160 the160 160so called iron dome unleash metallic cloud bring incoming rockets skies gaza lebanon well funding new generation of160 israels160 arrow defense system designed shoot irans longrange missiles high altitudes addition israel receive us funding germanmade dolphin submarines equipped nucleartipped missiles positioning coast iran aipacs problem get congress overrule 160pentagon skepticism much israels new weapons projects view psychological warfare reliable usable effectively future conflicts aipac appears confident good reason congressional israel lobby already achieved commitment obama administration add israeli systems munitions new usbuilt f35 joint strike fighter deliver 25 israel 2015 another 50 delivered 2018 160the obama administration also integrate bombs use israeli precision guidance kit called spice along python 5 airtoair missiles made israels rafael advanced defense systems ltd160 fire wall group assure israel also get relatively inexpensive path hardware software upgrades add future weapons seasons mother bombs another major congressional weapons project israel boeing corporations new 30000 pound massive ordnance penetrator mop bomb mop carries 5300 pounds explosives delivers 10 times explosive power predecessor 2000pound blu109 according pentagons defense threat reduction agency funded managed seed program also onethird heavier 21000pound gbu43b massive ordnance air blast bomb last seasons mother bombs dropped twice tests florida range 2003 20footlong 6metre mop built dropped either b52 b2 stealth bomber designed penetrate 200 feet underground exploding according us air force pentagons central command preparing war iran case backing acceleration request according kenneth katzman expert iran congressional research service research arm congress israel wants attack hezbollahs deep bunkers south lebanon bekaa valley aipac get congress shift enough funds program northrop grumman corp nocns radarevading b2 bomber would capable carrying bomb july 2010 claim verified andy bourland air force spokesman added discussions four congressional committees oversight responsibilities officially final decision made fact decision made according aipac congressional sources systems go franklin lamb research lebanon reached fplambgmailcom 160 | 1,033 |
<p />
<p>In the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=28817" type="external">first installment</a> of this series, I offered 42 names to begin what now seems an endless — and ever-growing — list of top officials as well as beleaguered administrators, managers, and career civil servants who quit their government posts in protest or were ridiculed, defamed, threatened, fired, forced out, demoted, or driven to retire by Bush administration strong-arm tactics, cronyism, and disastrous policies. In the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=39653" type="external">second installment</a>, I added what turned out to be a modest 175 further casualties to the rolls of “the Fallen.” With this latest installment, TomDispatch’s tally of the battling bureaucracy’s casualties stands at approximately 243 — and rising (so please continue to send your suggestions of deserving legionnaires to: [email protected]).</p>
<p>Despite this toll, now into the hundreds and counting, it seems that we’ve barely scratched the surface. In fact, since the last installment, other commentators have increased our knowledge of these folks by digging into what Tom Engelhardt has aptly called the Bush administration’s <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=48892" type="external">“war with the bureaucracy”</a> — a battle between the Bush administration and the career civil servants (sometimes even Bush’s own appointees), who constitute “the only significant check-and-balance in our system since September 11, 2001.”</p>
<p>In one such effort, Daniel Klaidman, Stuart Taylor Jr., and Evan Thomas, writing for Newsweek chronicled a <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11079547/site/newsweek/" type="external">Palace Revolt</a> — a secret war waged not by black-ops troops in the wilds of Waziristan, but behind closed doors in Washington where “loyal conservatives, and Bush appointees fought a quiet battle to rein in the President’s power in the war on terror.” They profiled a number of the unlikely rebels, including:</p>
<p>Jack Goldsmith: A former assistant attorney general who, after working in the general counsel’s office at the Pentagon, was tapped to head the Justice Department’s powerful Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) — known as the “mini Supreme Court” of the executive branch. There, his opinions against torture, among other principled stands, brought him into direct conflict with David Addington, formerly counsel (now chief of staff) to Vice President Dick Cheney. He became “a rallying point for Justice Department lawyers who had legal qualms about the administration’s stance” that the President had near-absolute power and “the central figure in a secret but intense rebellion of a small coterie of Bush administration lawyers.” All of this eventually led him to leave “his post in George W. Bush’s Washington to become a professor at Harvard Law School.” Resigned, Summer 2004.</p>
<p>James Comey: A former prosecutor and Bush nominee who served as deputy attorney general from 2003-2005. In December 2003, after then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft <a href="http://www.upi.com/inc/view.php?StoryID=20031230-020156-4881r" type="external">recused himself</a> from a probe into the leak of CIA officer Valerie Plame’s identity (meant to discredit her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, a former diplomat who challenged White House justifications for the Iraq war), Comey appointed dogged special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald. Then, during Ashcroft’s hospitalization in March 2004, as acting Attorney General — and on the advice of his national-security aide Patrick Philbin as well as Goldsmith — he further endeared himself to the administration by refusing to reauthorize the President’s illegal spying program, angering White House figures from Addington to President Bush (who began referring to Comey with various “put-down nicknames”). Resigned, Summer 2005.</p>
<p>Patrick Philbin: A former OLC lawyer who then became national-security aide to the deputy attorney general and was “the in-house favorite to become deputy solicitor general. Philbin saw his chances of securing any administration job derailed when Addington, who had come to see him as a turncoat on national-security issues, moved to block him from promotion, with Cheney’s blessing.” He declined comment to Newsweek but was reported to be “planning a move into the private sector.” Expected to resign soon.</p>
<p>Daniel Levin: A senior Justice Department lawyer who “fought pitched battles with the White House” over the definitions of torture — “battles” which “took their toll on his political future” and ultimately saw him leave to settle into private practice. Resigned, 2005.</p>
<p>Newsweek noted that these “rebels were not whistle-blowers in the traditional sense” nor were they “downtrodden career civil servants.” They were actually “conservative political appointees who had been friends and close colleagues of some of the true believers they were fighting against.” Despite their connections to the administration, these public servants, at least in some cases, demanded “that the White House stop using what they saw as farfetched rationales for riding rough-shod over the law” and “fought to bring government spying and interrogation methods within the law.”</p>
<p>Far from being atypical, these public servants, like their Fallen Legion sistren and brethren, rebelled “at their peril” and some found themselves “ostracized… were denied promotions, while others left for more comfortable climes in private law firms and academia.” Like others on (or soon to be added to) the Fallen Legion list, they represent perhaps, the last bastion of viable opposition to an almost totally unfettered administration. For years now, these bureaucrats have stepped into the near-check-and-balance-less breach becoming a crucial counterweight to an administration run amok — a counterweight of a sort the founders of this country couldn’t have imagined but surely would have applauded, given their support for an elaborate system of checks and balances meant to forestall the rise of tyranny and their antipathy to executive power, unnecessary warmaking, and standing armies.</p>
<p>Some Fallen Legionnaires have merely been attacked and smeared but remain in the fight, others have gone down swinging. Here are more for our ever-expanding roll of honor, starting with a couple of other casualties of David Addington, who “[e]ven in a White House known for its dedication to conservative philosophy,” wrote <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22665-2004Oct10.html" type="external">Dana Milbank in the Washington Post</a> back in 2004, “is known as an ideologue, an adherent of an obscure philosophy called the unitary executive theory that favors an extraordinarily powerful president.”</p>
<p>Matthew C. Waxman: The Pentagon’s former chief adviser on detainee issues was also set upon by Addington, who objected to his <a href="http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/001139.php" type="external">“insistence</a> that a new set of Pentagon standards for handling terror suspects adopt language from the Geneva Conventions barring cruel, humiliating and degrading treatment.” Waxman <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&amp;categ_id=5&amp;article_id=21292" type="external">“eventually quit”</a> and moved to the State Department where he now serves as principal deputy director of the department’s policy planning staff. Quit the Pentagon, 2005.</p>
<p>John B. Bellinger III: The chief legal adviser to then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and another Addington-generated refugee to the State Department. Bellinger was, during Bush’s first term in office, a <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&amp;categ_id=5&amp;article_%20%20id=21292" type="external">“special target</a> of Addington’s needling” and, according to one colleague, was assailed by him for espousing views that were “too liberal” or that gave “away executive power.” As a result, Bellinger left with Rice to be her legal adviser at the State Department. Defamed, 2001-2004.</p>
<p>Russell Tice: A former intelligence agent with the National Security Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), Tice worked at the NSA up until May of 2005 when, <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/03/1435201" type="external">he notes</a>, he was “given [his] walking papers and told [he] was no longer a federal employee.” Tice, who worked on “special access” programs, what he and other insiders called “black world programs and operations,” <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1491889" type="external">publicly blew the whistle</a> on illegal NSA spying on U.S. citizens that began in 2002. As he put it, “We need to clean up the intelligence community. We’ve had abuses, and they need to be addressed.” Tice also made charges about possible espionage within the Defense Intelligence Agency and incompetence by the FBI. As a result, he said, “retaliation came down on me like a ton of bricks.” Fired, May 2005.</p>
<p>James Robertson: Until recently one of eleven federal judges serving on the top secret the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Courts, Robertson <a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/122105J.shtml" type="external">submitted his resignation</a> — in protest of [President Bush’s illegal domestic spying program] according to two sources familiar with his decision.” As Carol D. Leonnig and Dafna Linzer of the Washington Post reported, “Robertson indicated privately to colleagues in recent conversations that he was concerned that information gained from warrantless NSA surveillance could have then been used to obtain FISA warrants.” Said “one source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the FISA warrants, ‘What I’ve heard some of the judges say is they feel they’ve participated in a Potemkin court.'” Resigned, December 2005.</p>
<p>Frederick A. Black: Named as the acting U.S. attorney for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands by President George H.W. Bush in 1991, Black later launched an investigation of top Republican <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-06-abramoff-bush_x.htm" type="external">fundraiser</a> and now infamous Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Back in 2002, a U.S. grand jury in Guam, in a move unrelated to the now far better known <a href="http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/37/11309" type="external">allegations</a> that Abramoff bilked millions of dollars from Indian tribes, issued a subpoena for records relating to a secret contract with “[Guam] Superior Court officials to lobby against a court reform bill [which would have put the Superior Court under the authority of the Guam Supreme court] then pending in Congress.” A day later, a <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/08/bush_removal_ended_guam_investigation/?p1=email_to_a_friend" type="external">“White House news release</a> announced that Bush was replacing Black” — the man who had launched the investigation. After 10 years on the job, he was demoted to a staff post. The inquiry into Abramoff’s activities soon ended. Demoted, November 19, 2002.</p>
<p>Noel L. Hillman: The former chief of the Justice Department’s public integrity division has the distinction of being the list’s first “Risen Legionnaire.” He served as the chief prosecutor in the case of the disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, an inquiry (wrote Philip Shenon and Elisabeth Bumiller of the New York Times )”that has reached into the administration as well as the top ranks of the Republican leadership on Capitol Hill.” In late January 2006, however, the Justice Department announced that he would step down because he had been nominated to a federal judgeship by President Bush. Democrats questioned the timing of the promotion, given that the <a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/012706J.shtml" type="external">“announcement came,”</a> noted Shenon and Bumiller, “as Mr. Bush faced a barrage of questions about why he would not make public ‘grip-and-grin’ photographs of him with Mr. Abramoff.” Promotion Announced, January, 2006.</p>
<p>Rick Piltz: A long-time federal employee, he worked on the government program researching global climate change for NASA, the EPA, the National Science Foundation, and other agencies, which became known, under George W. Bush, as the Climate Change Science Program (CCSP). Pilz resigned as a Senior Associate of the CCSP, <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2005/jun/policy/pt_piltz.html" type="external">stating that</a>:</p>
<p />
<p>“In 14 years, I have seen the program and its leadership go through a lot of changes. Each administration has a policy position on climate change. But I have not seen a situation like the one that has developed under this administration during the past four years, in which politicization by the White House has fed back directly into the science program in such a way as to undermine the credibility and integrity of the program in its relationship to the research community, to program managers, to policymakers, and to the public interest.”</p>
<p>Resigned, March 2, 2005.</p>
<p>James Hansen: After he gave a speech warning, “We’re getting very close to a tipping point in the climate system. If we don’t get off our ‘business as usual’ scenario and begin to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions, we’re going to get big climate changes,” NASA’s chief climate scientist reported that the Bush administration attempted to silence him. <a href="http://www.abcnews.go.com/WNT/story?id=1555183" type="external">“One threat</a> was relayed to me that there would be ‘dire consequences — not specified,'” said Hansen, who told ABC News that threats came only by phone from NASA officials careful to leave no paper trail. Threatened, 2006.</p>
<p>Col. Ted Westhusing: A military ethics scholar and full professor at West Point who — wrote <a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5029893" type="external">T. Christian Miller of the Los Angeles Times</a> — “volunteered to serve in Iraq to be able to better teach his students.” While in Iraq, Westhusing was tasked with overseeing USIS, a Virginia-based private security company with $79 million in contracts, to “train a corps of Iraqi police to conduct special operations.” In the course of his duties, he received a report detailing corruption and human rights violations by USIS and Iraqi police trainees. Wrote Miller, “In e-mails to his family, Westhusing seemed especially upset by one conclusion he had reached: that traditional military values such as duty, honor and country had been replaced by profit motives in Iraq, where the U.S. had come to rely heavily on contractors for jobs once done by the military.” Westhusing expressed feelings disillusionment and talked of resigning his command. Then, less than a month before his scheduled return home, Col. Ted Westhusing, according to the Army, committed suicide with his service revolver. A note in his room severely criticized his commanding officers and proclaimed, “I cannot support a msn [mission] that leads to corruption, human rights abuse and liars. I am sullied. I came to serve honorably and feel dishonored. Death before being dishonored any more.” Committed suicide, June 5, 2005.</p>
<p>lan L. Balaran: The government’s court-appointed Special Master overseeing a lawsuit involving the government’s management of an over 115 year-old trust fund for Native Americans, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, found <a href="http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0201/022601m1.htm" type="external">“sufficient evidence”</a> suggesting the Bureau of Indian Affairs had retaliated against a whistleblower — Mona Infield, a computer specialist in the BIA’s Office of Information Resource Management. Balaran eventually resigned from his job, wrote <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A55870-2004Apr6?language=printer" type="external">the Washington Post</a>, charging “that the Department of the Interior blocked his work in a bid to conceal its deals to enrich energy companies and cheat American Indians.” In his letter of resignation, Balaran wrote, “A full investigation into these matters might well result in energy companies being forced to repay significant sums to individual Indians. [The Department of] Interior could not let this happen. . . Billions of dollars are at stake.” Resigned, April 2004.</p>
<p>David Gunn: The President and Chief Executive of Amtrak, he headed the government-subsidized railroad from May 2002 until he was fired in November 2005. A former transit-systems chief for New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Toronto, Gunn repeatedly clashed with White House officials over their increasingly divergent views on the future of Amtrak’s passenger railway service. Back in 2003, Gunn noted that Amtrak <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&amp;sid=a7O0SxbxAgos&amp;refer=us" type="external">wasn’t even consulted</a> concerning the Bush Administration’s plan to “turn over rail service to private operators and let states decide routes.” He decried Bush-backed budget cuts and plans to <a href="http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051110/BUSINESS/511100367/1003" type="external">“privatize</a> [Amtrak’s] track in the Northeast and eliminate long-distance lines that serve rural America.” Even Republican Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi called Gunn’s firing <a href="http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051110/BUSINESS/511100367/1003" type="external">“a step backward”</a> for the railroad. When he was terminated, by an all-Bush appointed board of directors at Amtrak, Gunn noted of the administration: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/09/AR2005110900643_2.html" type="external">“They have a very different vision</a> for the place. Zero funding, bankruptcy and break it up. My efforts were not being helpful in what they were trying to accomplish.” Fired, November 2005.</p>
<p>Lawrence A. Greenfeld: He was a Bush-appointee and the head of the Bureau of Justice Statistics, a small agency of mostly <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/24/AR2005082401893_pf.html" type="external">“statisticians</a> who conduct studies and issue reports on law enforcement issues.” According to news stories, he was ordered by acting Assistant Attorney General Tracy A. Henke to delete references to “findings that police treated Hispanic and black drivers more aggressively than whites during traffic stops” in a news release prepared to announce a study on the treatment of different ethnic groups by the police. Greenfeld refused and <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/006/186zjffr.asp" type="external">was summoned</a> to be questioned by the third highest ranking official in the Justice Department. After continuing to fight the order he was, according to the Washington Post, “called to the White House and urged to resign six months before he was eligible for full pension benefits.” Although Greenfeld “was initially threatened with dismissal,” the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/24/politics/24profiling.html?ex=1282536000&amp;en=157817afd343a6b3&amp;ei=5090&amp;partner=rssuserland&amp;emc=rss" type="external">New York Times</a> reported in August 2005 that he was “expected to leave the agency soon for a lesser position at another agency.” Reassigned/Demoted, 2005.</p>
<p>David Kay: The head of the Iraq Survey Group — the organization the Bush administration tasked with locating Saddam Hussein’s nonexistent weapons of mass destruction in Iraq resigned from his position as chief weapons’ inspector citing a lack of resources to complete the task. According to <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/03/23/kay_implores_us_to_admit_mistakes_in_iraq?mode=PF" type="external">the Boston Globe</a>, he said “that he believed no such weapons existed and that the failure to find them raised serious questions about the quality of prewar intelligence.” He added, “We are in grave danger of having destroyed our credibility internationally and domestically with regard to warning about future events. The answer is to admit you were wrong, and what I find most disturbing around Washington… is the belief… you can never admit you’re wrong.” Resigned, January, 2004.</p>
<p>DeForest Soaries: A Republican, former New Jersey secretary of state, Baptist minister, and the White House’s choice for the “first chairman of the federal voting agency created after the 2000 election dispute,” he resigned, stating that the Republican-controlled congress and the federal government did not supply adequate support for the Election Assistance Commission. <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2005/04/22/national/w093233D23.DTL" type="external">“All four of us</a> [on the Election Assistance Commission] had to work without staff, without offices, without resources. I don’t think our sense of personal obligation has been matched by a corresponding sense of commitment to real reform from the federal government,” said Soaries. The White House’s only response was, “We appreciate his service and we are working to fill the vacancy promptly.” Resigned, April 2005.</p>
<p>Michael Scheuer: A 22-year veteran of the CIA, who worked in the Agency’s Counterterrorist Center and once headed its Osama bin Laden task force, he resigned his post, wrote the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/1112/p02s02-usfp.html" type="external">Christian Science Monitor</a>, publicly “criticizing the Bush administration for going to war in Iraq and for the way it has conducted the war on terror in general.” Scheuer, author of Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror, a book critical of the Bush administration’s counterterrorism policy (written under the pen name “Anonymous”), <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1353715,00.html" type="external">said</a> of the situation at the CIA at the time of his resignation:</p>
<p />
<p>“I’ve never experienced this much anxiety and controversy. Suddenly political affiliation matters to some degree. The talk is that they’re out to clean out Democrats and liberals. The administration doesn’t seem to be able to come to grips with the reality that it was a stupid thing to do to invade Iraq… If it goes too far like this into the political realm our fortunes overseas are going to be hurt.”</p>
<p>Resigned, November, 2004</p>
<p>Lt. Colonel Steve Butler: The vice chancellor for student affairs at the Defense Language Institute, he had a letter published in the May 26, 2002 <a href="http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/06.06E.butler.bush.htm" type="external">Monterey County Herald</a> in which he said, “Of course Bush knew about the impending attacks on America. He did nothing to warn the American people because he needed this war on terrorism. His daddy had Saddam and he needed Osama.” As a result, the PhD and former combat pilot was relieved of duties at the DLI and threatened with court-martial. In the end, an Air Force spokesperson intimated that Butler would most likely face <a href="http://billstclair.com/911timeline/2002/knightridder061402.html" type="external">“administrative</a> or nonjudicial disciplinary action.” Further details have never been made public. Suspended from his duties, May/June, 2002.</p>
<p>Clark Kent Ervin: The improbably-named Houston Republican with close ties to the Bush family, he served as associate director of policy for the White House Office of National Service from 1989 to 1991 under President George H.W. Bush, then, under President George W. Bush, as inspector general at the State Department. In December 2003, when Congress was out of session, he was appointed the Inspector General of the Department of Homeland Security. According to a report by ABC News, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=316582&amp;page=1" type="external">“Clark Ervin</a> made himself very unpopular by issuing a series of stinging reports on security programs that he said had failed, officials he called inept, and fraud that he suspected. He alleged that millions of dollars had been wasted or were unaccounted for by the department and exposed <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-12-27-homeland-usat_x.htm" type="external">lax airport security</a> (undercover investigators were able to sneak explosives and weapons past screeners); federal air marshals who were sleeping on the job and tested positive for alcohol or drugs while on duty; and lavish spending by the Transportation Security Administration (“executive bonuses of $16,477 to 88 of its 116 senior managers in 2003, an amount one-third higher than the bonuses given to executives at any other federal agency”; $1,500 paid for three cheese displays and $3.75 for each soft drink served at a TSA banquet). After reporting these findings, among other unwelcome information, Ervin failed to be renominated when his term as IG expired. Asked for comment, White House spokesman Scott McClellan, stated, “I don’t get into speculating about who might be nominated,” adding only the obligatory, “We appreciate the job he has done.” Failed to be reappointed, December, 2004.</p>
<p>James P. Hoffa: The President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters General, one of the largest U.S. labor unions, resigned from Bush’s President’s Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations (ACTPN). In <a href="http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/cafta/2105.html" type="external">his letter of resignation</a>, Hoffa stated that Bush had:</p>
<p />
<p>“pledged to bring a new level of respect and bipartisan comity to the nation’s capital. I took him at his word and endeavored to forge a mutually respectful, productive relationship with both the President and his administration. However, in recent months I have become increasingly uncomfortable with that association. The administration has clearly decided to wage a full-fledged attack on workers’ rights, social justice and economic common sense.”</p>
<p>Resigned, June 24, 2004.</p>
<p>Max H. Bazerman: A Harvard business professor as well as noted expert in the fields of corporate decision-making and, appropriately enough, the psychology of unethical behavior, Bazerman was slated to give expert testimony in the U.S. government’s case that the “tobacco industry engaged in a 50-year conspiracy to defraud the public about the dangers and addictiveness of smoking.” According to the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/19/AR2005061900691.html" type="external">Washington Post</a>, “A top Justice Department official threatened to remove [Bazerman] from its witness list if he did not water down his recommended penalties for the tobacco industry.” The Harvard professor responded: “I would have felt I was lying under oath, and I couldn’t do that.” Bazerman stated that the pressure on him was conveyed by Justice Department senior litigation counsel Frank J. Marine on behalf of Associate Attorney General Robert D. McCallum Jr. — a senior political appointee supervising the case, who is believed to have radically cut the government’s request for Tobacco industry penalties (from $130 billion to $10 billion). Oh yes, McCallum is a former partner in the law firm Alston and Bird, <a href="http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0620-25.htm" type="external">“which has represented</a> R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company, one of the defendants in the case.” Bazerman was eventually allowed to testify. Threatened, 2005.</p>
<p>Richard S. Foster: <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A6339-2004Mar18" type="external">“A longtime civil servant</a>… [and] the Medicare program’s chief actuary for nine years,” he reported that he was repeatedly “threatened with firing if he disclosed too much information to Congress [and] he believe[d] the White House participated in the decision to withhold analyses that Medicare legislation President Bush sought would be far more expensive than lawmakers knew.” Threatened, 2004.</p>
<p>Doug Parker: The pesticide coordinator and assistant director of forestry health for the U.S. Forest Service’s Southwestern region, he “voiced concerns about alleged pesticide misuse in forests” in New Mexico and Arizona, according to an Associated Press report. Parker also accused some agency officials of not preparing proper environmental-risk assessments. He was promptly fired. <a href="http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/33366.html" type="external">“They want to be pesticide cowboys</a> and go out there and do what they want to do without consideration of compliance with their own policies, regulations and environmental laws,” he said. Fired, October, 2005.</p>
<p>The final entry for this installment of the “Fallen Legion” comes from a Legionnaire kind enough to share his letter of resignation with TomDispatch.</p>
<p>Michael Kelly: A fishery biologist in the Arcata, California National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Field Office, he left his job in May 2004. In his letter of resignation to NOAA and the NOAA Fisheries Leadership, he wrote, in part:</p>
<p />
<p>“My particular case is just symptomatic of this agency’s failure to correctly apply science and caution to its decisions and public pronouncements. I speak for many of my fellow biologists who are embarrassed and disgusted by the agency’s apparent misuse of science…</p>
<p>“Properly conducted, objective science always describes the amount of uncertainly present in a conclusion. It appears that this agency, and others under the Bush administration, routinely abuse the science by giving equal credit to very small amounts of uncertainly when making decisions based on the available science. Depending on the desired outcome, this administration appears to select either the preponderance of evidence or the slightest uncertainty on which to base its conclusion. Not only does this lack of caution and misuse of science adversely impact natural resources, it misleads the American public about how science and the scientific method work. I can only conclude that, with NOAA Fisheries’ help, this administration has considerably set back the public’s understanding of science.</p>
<p>“My resignation is due to my futile efforts to contribute to NOAA Fisheries’ attaining what I believe to be its mission, and the cumulative effects of observing this agency’s performance over the last four years.</p>
<p>“Thank you for listening to my concerns. I just hope that my explanation will help you recognize, understand, and address the mood of your hard working and dedicated staff by paying proper attention to their well-informed opinions. And I sincerely hope my bad experiences will not discourage agency personnel from speaking up for what is right if they find themselves in similar situations.”</p>
<p>Resigned, May 18, 2004.</p>
<p>Nick Turse is the Associate Editor and Research Director of TomDispatch.com. He has written for the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the Nation, the Village Voice, Daily Ireland, and writes regularly for Tomdispatch. If you have further legionnaires to recommend for our series, please send them to the address below with the subject line: “fallen legion.” If you have whistles to blow yourself, or have confidential and unexposed muck you think Nick should rake, send your insider information with the subject line: “info” to [email protected].</p>
<p>Copyright 2006 Nick Turse</p>
<p>This article appeared first at <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external">Tomdispatch.com</a> with an introduction by Tom Engelhardt.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | first installment series offered 42 names begin seems endless evergrowing list top officials well beleaguered administrators managers career civil servants quit government posts protest ridiculed defamed threatened fired forced demoted driven retire bush administration strongarm tactics cronyism disastrous policies second installment added turned modest 175 casualties rolls fallen latest installment tomdispatchs tally battling bureaucracys casualties stands approximately 243 rising please continue send suggestions deserving legionnaires fallenlegionwallyahoocom despite toll hundreds counting seems weve barely scratched surface fact since last installment commentators increased knowledge folks digging tom engelhardt aptly called bush administrations war bureaucracy battle bush administration career civil servants sometimes even bushs appointees constitute significant checkandbalance system since september 11 2001 one effort daniel klaidman stuart taylor jr evan thomas writing newsweek chronicled palace revolt secret war waged blackops troops wilds waziristan behind closed doors washington loyal conservatives bush appointees fought quiet battle rein presidents power war terror profiled number unlikely rebels including jack goldsmith former assistant attorney general working general counsels office pentagon tapped head justice departments powerful office legal counsel olc known mini supreme court executive branch opinions torture among principled stands brought direct conflict david addington formerly counsel chief staff vice president dick cheney became rallying point justice department lawyers legal qualms administrations stance president nearabsolute power central figure secret intense rebellion small coterie bush administration lawyers eventually led leave post george w bushs washington become professor harvard law school resigned summer 2004 james comey former prosecutor bush nominee served deputy attorney general 20032005 december 2003 thenus attorney general john ashcroft recused probe leak cia officer valerie plames identity meant discredit husband joseph c wilson iv former diplomat challenged white house justifications iraq war comey appointed dogged special prosecutor patrick j fitzgerald ashcrofts hospitalization march 2004 acting attorney general advice nationalsecurity aide patrick philbin well goldsmith endeared administration refusing reauthorize presidents illegal spying program angering white house figures addington president bush began referring comey various putdown nicknames resigned summer 2005 patrick philbin former olc lawyer became nationalsecurity aide deputy attorney general inhouse favorite become deputy solicitor general philbin saw chances securing administration job derailed addington come see turncoat nationalsecurity issues moved block promotion cheneys blessing declined comment newsweek reported planning move private sector expected resign soon daniel levin senior justice department lawyer fought pitched battles white house definitions torture battles took toll political future ultimately saw leave settle private practice resigned 2005 newsweek noted rebels whistleblowers traditional sense downtrodden career civil servants actually conservative political appointees friends close colleagues true believers fighting despite connections administration public servants least cases demanded white house stop using saw farfetched rationales riding roughshod law fought bring government spying interrogation methods within law far atypical public servants like fallen legion sistren brethren rebelled peril found ostracized denied promotions others left comfortable climes private law firms academia like others soon added fallen legion list represent perhaps last bastion viable opposition almost totally unfettered administration years bureaucrats stepped nearcheckandbalanceless breach becoming crucial counterweight administration run amok counterweight sort founders country couldnt imagined surely would applauded given support elaborate system checks balances meant forestall rise tyranny antipathy executive power unnecessary warmaking standing armies fallen legionnaires merely attacked smeared remain fight others gone swinging everexpanding roll honor starting couple casualties david addington even white house known dedication conservative philosophy wrote dana milbank washington post back 2004 known ideologue adherent obscure philosophy called unitary executive theory favors extraordinarily powerful president matthew c waxman pentagons former chief adviser detainee issues also set upon addington objected insistence new set pentagon standards handling terror suspects adopt language geneva conventions barring cruel humiliating degrading treatment waxman eventually quit moved state department serves principal deputy director departments policy planning staff quit pentagon 2005 john b bellinger iii chief legal adviser thennational security adviser condoleezza rice another addingtongenerated refugee state department bellinger bushs first term office special target addingtons needling according one colleague assailed espousing views liberal gave away executive power result bellinger left rice legal adviser state department defamed 20012004 russell tice former intelligence agent national security agency defense intelligence agency dia tice worked nsa may 2005 notes given walking papers told longer federal employee tice worked special access programs insiders called black world programs operations publicly blew whistle illegal nsa spying us citizens began 2002 put need clean intelligence community weve abuses need addressed tice also made charges possible espionage within defense intelligence agency incompetence fbi result said retaliation came like ton bricks fired may 2005 james robertson recently one eleven federal judges serving top secret foreign intelligence surveillance courts robertson submitted resignation protest president bushs illegal domestic spying program according two sources familiar decision carol leonnig dafna linzer washington post reported robertson indicated privately colleagues recent conversations concerned information gained warrantless nsa surveillance could used obtain fisa warrants said one source spoke condition anonymity classified nature fisa warrants ive heard judges say feel theyve participated potemkin court resigned december 2005 frederick black named acting us attorney guam northern mariana islands president george hw bush 1991 black later launched investigation top republican fundraiser infamous washington lobbyist jack abramoff back 2002 us grand jury guam move unrelated far better known allegations abramoff bilked millions dollars indian tribes issued subpoena records relating secret contract guam superior court officials lobby court reform bill would put superior court authority guam supreme court pending congress day later white house news release announced bush replacing black man launched investigation 10 years job demoted staff post inquiry abramoffs activities soon ended demoted november 19 2002 noel l hillman former chief justice departments public integrity division distinction lists first risen legionnaire served chief prosecutor case disgraced republican lobbyist jack abramoff inquiry wrote philip shenon elisabeth bumiller new york times reached administration well top ranks republican leadership capitol hill late january 2006 however justice department announced would step nominated federal judgeship president bush democrats questioned timing promotion given announcement came noted shenon bumiller mr bush faced barrage questions would make public gripandgrin photographs mr abramoff promotion announced january 2006 rick piltz longtime federal employee worked government program researching global climate change nasa epa national science foundation agencies became known george w bush climate change science program ccsp pilz resigned senior associate ccsp stating 14 years seen program leadership go lot changes administration policy position climate change seen situation like one developed administration past four years politicization white house fed back directly science program way undermine credibility integrity program relationship research community program managers policymakers public interest resigned march 2 2005 james hansen gave speech warning getting close tipping point climate system dont get business usual scenario begin reduce greenhouse gas emissions going get big climate changes nasas chief climate scientist reported bush administration attempted silence one threat relayed would dire consequences specified said hansen told abc news threats came phone nasa officials careful leave paper trail threatened 2006 col ted westhusing military ethics scholar full professor west point wrote christian miller los angeles times volunteered serve iraq able better teach students iraq westhusing tasked overseeing usis virginiabased private security company 79 million contracts train corps iraqi police conduct special operations course duties received report detailing corruption human rights violations usis iraqi police trainees wrote miller emails family westhusing seemed especially upset one conclusion reached traditional military values duty honor country replaced profit motives iraq us come rely heavily contractors jobs done military westhusing expressed feelings disillusionment talked resigning command less month scheduled return home col ted westhusing according army committed suicide service revolver note room severely criticized commanding officers proclaimed support msn mission leads corruption human rights abuse liars sullied came serve honorably feel dishonored death dishonored committed suicide june 5 2005 lan l balaran governments courtappointed special master overseeing lawsuit involving governments management 115 yearold trust fund native americans worth hundreds millions dollars found sufficient evidence suggesting bureau indian affairs retaliated whistleblower mona infield computer specialist bias office information resource management balaran eventually resigned job wrote washington post charging department interior blocked work bid conceal deals enrich energy companies cheat american indians letter resignation balaran wrote full investigation matters might well result energy companies forced repay significant sums individual indians department interior could let happen billions dollars stake resigned april 2004 david gunn president chief executive amtrak headed governmentsubsidized railroad may 2002 fired november 2005 former transitsystems chief new york city boston philadelphia washington dc toronto gunn repeatedly clashed white house officials increasingly divergent views future amtraks passenger railway service back 2003 gunn noted amtrak wasnt even consulted concerning bush administrations plan turn rail service private operators let states decide routes decried bushbacked budget cuts plans privatize amtraks track northeast eliminate longdistance lines serve rural america even republican sen trent lott mississippi called gunns firing step backward railroad terminated allbush appointed board directors amtrak gunn noted administration different vision place zero funding bankruptcy break efforts helpful trying accomplish fired november 2005 lawrence greenfeld bushappointee head bureau justice statistics small agency mostly statisticians conduct studies issue reports law enforcement issues according news stories ordered acting assistant attorney general tracy henke delete references findings police treated hispanic black drivers aggressively whites traffic stops news release prepared announce study treatment different ethnic groups police greenfeld refused summoned questioned third highest ranking official justice department continuing fight order according washington post called white house urged resign six months eligible full pension benefits although greenfeld initially threatened dismissal new york times reported august 2005 expected leave agency soon lesser position another agency reassigneddemoted 2005 david kay head iraq survey group organization bush administration tasked locating saddam husseins nonexistent weapons mass destruction iraq resigned position chief weapons inspector citing lack resources complete task according boston globe said believed weapons existed failure find raised serious questions quality prewar intelligence added grave danger destroyed credibility internationally domestically regard warning future events answer admit wrong find disturbing around washington belief never admit youre wrong resigned january 2004 deforest soaries republican former new jersey secretary state baptist minister white houses choice first chairman federal voting agency created 2000 election dispute resigned stating republicancontrolled congress federal government supply adequate support election assistance commission four us election assistance commission work without staff without offices without resources dont think sense personal obligation matched corresponding sense commitment real reform federal government said soaries white houses response appreciate service working fill vacancy promptly resigned april 2005 michael scheuer 22year veteran cia worked agencys counterterrorist center headed osama bin laden task force resigned post wrote christian science monitor publicly criticizing bush administration going war iraq way conducted war terror general scheuer author imperial hubris west losing war terror book critical bush administrations counterterrorism policy written pen name anonymous said situation cia time resignation ive never experienced much anxiety controversy suddenly political affiliation matters degree talk theyre clean democrats liberals administration doesnt seem able come grips reality stupid thing invade iraq goes far like political realm fortunes overseas going hurt resigned november 2004 lt colonel steve butler vice chancellor student affairs defense language institute letter published may 26 2002 monterey county herald said course bush knew impending attacks america nothing warn american people needed war terrorism daddy saddam needed osama result phd former combat pilot relieved duties dli threatened courtmartial end air force spokesperson intimated butler would likely face administrative nonjudicial disciplinary action details never made public suspended duties mayjune 2002 clark kent ervin improbablynamed houston republican close ties bush family served associate director policy white house office national service 1989 1991 president george hw bush president george w bush inspector general state department december 2003 congress session appointed inspector general department homeland security according report abc news clark ervin made unpopular issuing series stinging reports security programs said failed officials called inept fraud suspected alleged millions dollars wasted unaccounted department exposed lax airport security undercover investigators able sneak explosives weapons past screeners federal air marshals sleeping job tested positive alcohol drugs duty lavish spending transportation security administration executive bonuses 16477 88 116 senior managers 2003 amount onethird higher bonuses given executives federal agency 1500 paid three cheese displays 375 soft drink served tsa banquet reporting findings among unwelcome information ervin failed renominated term ig expired asked comment white house spokesman scott mcclellan stated dont get speculating might nominated adding obligatory appreciate job done failed reappointed december 2004 james p hoffa president international brotherhood teamsters general one largest us labor unions resigned bushs presidents advisory committee trade policy negotiations actpn letter resignation hoffa stated bush pledged bring new level respect bipartisan comity nations capital took word endeavored forge mutually respectful productive relationship president administration however recent months become increasingly uncomfortable association administration clearly decided wage fullfledged attack workers rights social justice economic common sense resigned june 24 2004 max h bazerman harvard business professor well noted expert fields corporate decisionmaking appropriately enough psychology unethical behavior bazerman slated give expert testimony us governments case tobacco industry engaged 50year conspiracy defraud public dangers addictiveness smoking according washington post top justice department official threatened remove bazerman witness list water recommended penalties tobacco industry harvard professor responded would felt lying oath couldnt bazerman stated pressure conveyed justice department senior litigation counsel frank j marine behalf associate attorney general robert mccallum jr senior political appointee supervising case believed radically cut governments request tobacco industry penalties 130 billion 10 billion oh yes mccallum former partner law firm alston bird represented rj reynolds tobacco company one defendants case bazerman eventually allowed testify threatened 2005 richard foster longtime civil servant medicare programs chief actuary nine years reported repeatedly threatened firing disclosed much information congress believed white house participated decision withhold analyses medicare legislation president bush sought would far expensive lawmakers knew threatened 2004 doug parker pesticide coordinator assistant director forestry health us forest services southwestern region voiced concerns alleged pesticide misuse forests new mexico arizona according associated press report parker also accused agency officials preparing proper environmentalrisk assessments promptly fired want pesticide cowboys go want without consideration compliance policies regulations environmental laws said fired october 2005 final entry installment fallen legion comes legionnaire kind enough share letter resignation tomdispatch michael kelly fishery biologist arcata california national oceanic atmospheric administration noaa fisheries field office left job may 2004 letter resignation noaa noaa fisheries leadership wrote part particular case symptomatic agencys failure correctly apply science caution decisions public pronouncements speak many fellow biologists embarrassed disgusted agencys apparent misuse science properly conducted objective science always describes amount uncertainly present conclusion appears agency others bush administration routinely abuse science giving equal credit small amounts uncertainly making decisions based available science depending desired outcome administration appears select either preponderance evidence slightest uncertainty base conclusion lack caution misuse science adversely impact natural resources misleads american public science scientific method work conclude noaa fisheries help administration considerably set back publics understanding science resignation due futile efforts contribute noaa fisheries attaining believe mission cumulative effects observing agencys performance last four years thank listening concerns hope explanation help recognize understand address mood hard working dedicated staff paying proper attention wellinformed opinions sincerely hope bad experiences discourage agency personnel speaking right find similar situations resigned may 18 2004 nick turse associate editor research director tomdispatchcom written los angeles times san francisco chronicle nation village voice daily ireland writes regularly tomdispatch legionnaires recommend series please send address subject line fallen legion whistles blow confidential unexposed muck think nick rake send insider information subject line info fallenlegionwallyahoocom copyright 2006 nick turse article appeared first tomdispatchcom introduction tom engelhardt | 2,541 |
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<p>Tariq Ali is a veteran political activist since the 1960s. He is a filmmaker, novelist and author of numerous books, including <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/185984457X/counterpunchmaga" type="external">The Clash of Fundamentalisms</a> and, most recently, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1859845835/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Bush in Babylon: Recolonizing Iraq</a>. Tariq spoke to ANTHONY ARNOVE, editor of <a href="" type="internal">Iraq Under Seige: the Deadly Impact of Sanctions and War</a>, about the unraveling occupation in postwar Iraq–and what the future holds for Washington’s war on the world.</p>
<p>Arnove: Your new book Bush in Babylon makes the case that the war on Iraq was based on deception. If the invasion wasn’t about weapons of mass destruction or Iraq’s ties to terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda, what was it about?</p>
<p>Ali: If the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq had been real, rather than imaginary, the U.S. would never have invaded. And it’s worth repeating that outside the United States, nobody believes that there were any links between the Iraqis and al-Qaeda.</p>
<p>The state of ignorance within the U.S. population is, I guess, a tribute to the three information monkeys–the networks and Fox TV–whose motto appears to be: see no truth, hear no truth, speak no truth. How can there be a vigilant and alert citizenry (surely a key prerequisite even for capitalist democracy) in these conditions of officially inspired ignorance?</p>
<p>The main reason for the war, in my opinion, was to demonstrate imperial power–to show the region and the world that the American Empire was determined to preserve its hegemony by any means necessary. Where the economic war was ineffective, a military offensive could be unleashed.</p>
<p>This was a shot across the bows of the Far Eastern states and the West Europeans. The message was clear: we have the capacity and power to intervene military at will. A subsidiary reason was to satisfy the Israeli regime, which saw Iraq and Syria as the only regimes in the region that resisted the Pax Israeliana.</p>
<p>With a puppet regime in Iraq, the plan was to topple the Syrian Baathists. As [British Prime Minister] Tony Blair confided in an off-the-record briefing to three senior liberal journalists, Iraq was designed to make wars against Syria and Iran unnecessary. The success in Iraq meant that bullying, intimidation and threats would be enough. The Iraqi resistance has dispelled that particular illusion.</p>
<p>Arnove: What do you make of the claim that resistance to the occupation of Iraq comes from “foreign terrorists” and “Saddam Hussein loyalists”?</p>
<p>Ali: One of the more comical sights in recent months was Paul Wolfowitz telling a press conference in Baghdad that the “main problem was that there were too many foreigners in Iraq.” The fact that most of the Western journalists present did not burst out laughing is an indication of how embedded they have become.</p>
<p>The reality is that the people see the occupation armies as the real “foreign terrorists,” and once you occupy a country, you have to behave in colonial fashion. The model is a mixture of Gaza and Guantanamo.</p>
<p>There are over 40 different resistance organizations in Iraq, large and small. They consist of Baathists, dissident communists disgusted by the treachery of the Iraqi Communist Party in backing the occupation, nationalists, groups of Iraqi soldiers and officers disbanded by the occupation, and Sunni and Shia religious groups–though the latter are still very tiny.</p>
<p>In other words, the resistance is Iraqi–though I would not be surprised if other Arabs are crossing the borders to help. Why shouldn’t they? If there are Poles and Ukrainians in Najaf, why should Arabs not come to the defense of fellow Arabs in Iraq?</p>
<p>But the key fact of the resistance today is that it is decentralized–the classic first stage of guerrilla warfare against an occupying army. Whether these groups will move to the second stage and establish an Iraqi National Liberation Front remains to be seen.</p>
<p>I’m told that the Pentagon has been organizing special screenings of The Battle of Algiers. An anti-colonial classic, but Gillo Pontecorvo’s movie was designed to aid the other side.</p>
<p>Arnove: How do conditions in Iraq today compare with what Bush and Blair promised?</p>
<p>Ali: All my Iraqi contacts in the country bear out what is being reported in the European press. The country is a complete mess. The situation is much worse than it was under Saddam. There is no reconstruction. There is mass unemployment. The U.S. doesn’t trust Iraqis to even act as cleaners, and so South Asian and Filipino migrants are being used.</p>
<p>This is colonialism in the epoch of neo-liberal capitalism, and so U.S. and “friendly” companies are given precedence. Under the occupation, Iraq will become a crony oligarchy.</p>
<p>Daily life is a misery, and the occupation and its puppets cannot even provide the basic amenities of life. This fuels the resistance and encourages many young men to fight. Few are prepared to betray those who are fighting, and that is important, because without the passive support of the population, a resistance becomes very difficult.</p>
<p>Arnove: How do you see events unfolding? For example, Bush has gone to the United Nations (UN) to ask for support for the occupation. Is he trying to get a multilateral facade for U.S. control?</p>
<p>Ali: The UN Security Council has disgraced itself once again. It should be renamed the Satraps Council. Here they are on their knees before the Empire.</p>
<p>The Germans and French and Russians (like some U.S. liberals) who opposed the war are now saying that there is no option but to back the occupation. They won’t send troops or money, but give it “moral” support. The Japanese had earlier said that that they couldn’t send troops until their soldiers had learned Arabic (i.e., never), but if they cave in to the United Nations of America, one hopes an antiwar movement will emerge in that country.</p>
<p>The Turks are still negotiating as to which part of Iraq they will police. They want to occupy the Kurdish areas and settle some old accounts, while the U.S. wants them to take a few hits in the Baghdad region. If and when Turkish troops arrive, it could turn some of the Kurdish groups against the occupation.</p>
<p>UN multilateralism will be no different from what already exists. One should never forget how much the UN is hated in Iraq, as the administrator of the killer sanctions, and the backer of weekly Anglo-American bombing raids.</p>
<p>Arnove: What do you think the impact of this occupation will be for Palestinians? And do you think Syria and Iran next?</p>
<p>Ali: If initially the Palestinians were demoralized by the fall of Baghdad, the emergence of a resistance has encouraged them. After Baghdad fell, the Israeli war criminal Ariel Sharon told the Palestinians to “come to your senses now that your protector has gone.” As if the Palestinian struggle was dependent on Saddam! Well, he’s got his replies.</p>
<p>What people in the U.S. have to understand is that in the Arab world and elsewhere, the suicide bombings can’t be dissociated from the occupation. Even senior Zionists like Avraham Burg have said as much in recent weeks.</p>
<p>Nor is it the case that only Palestinians or Muslims are prepared to sacrifice their own lives. The Vietnamese employed similar tactics in cafes frequented by U.S. soldiers in Saigon.</p>
<p>There is now a dual occupation of the Middle East–the U.S.-Israeli occupation of Palestine and Iraq. If they’re crazy enough to go for Syria and Iran, they will overstretch themselves militarily and politically. My own view is that the Iraqi resistance has temporarily stopped all plans regarding Syria and Iran.</p>
<p>Arnove: What should opponents of war and occupation be doing today?</p>
<p>Ali: Build the widest, broadest possible antiwar movement.</p>
<p>Some of the statements from the soldiers and their families have been very moving. These U.S. soldiers are learning fast–and realizing that what they were told was a bunch of lies. The movement will only be successful if it wins over undecided citizens. This means that some of the leaders of the antiwar movement must break the habit of speaking to themselves and learn a new language.</p>
<p>This interview originally appeared in the <a href="http://www.socialistworker.org/" type="external">Socialist Worker.</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 160 tariq ali veteran political activist since 1960s filmmaker novelist author numerous books including clash fundamentalisms recently bush babylon recolonizing iraq tariq spoke anthony arnove editor iraq seige deadly impact sanctions war unraveling occupation postwar iraqand future holds washingtons war world arnove new book bush babylon makes case war iraq based deception invasion wasnt weapons mass destruction iraqs ties terrorist groups alqaeda ali weapons mass destruction iraq real rather imaginary us would never invaded worth repeating outside united states nobody believes links iraqis alqaeda state ignorance within us population guess tribute three information monkeysthe networks fox tvwhose motto appears see truth hear truth speak truth vigilant alert citizenry surely key prerequisite even capitalist democracy conditions officially inspired ignorance main reason war opinion demonstrate imperial powerto show region world american empire determined preserve hegemony means necessary economic war ineffective military offensive could unleashed shot across bows far eastern states west europeans message clear capacity power intervene military subsidiary reason satisfy israeli regime saw iraq syria regimes region resisted pax israeliana puppet regime iraq plan topple syrian baathists british prime minister tony blair confided offtherecord briefing three senior liberal journalists iraq designed make wars syria iran unnecessary success iraq meant bullying intimidation threats would enough iraqi resistance dispelled particular illusion arnove make claim resistance occupation iraq comes foreign terrorists saddam hussein loyalists ali one comical sights recent months paul wolfowitz telling press conference baghdad main problem many foreigners iraq fact western journalists present burst laughing indication embedded become reality people see occupation armies real foreign terrorists occupy country behave colonial fashion model mixture gaza guantanamo 40 different resistance organizations iraq large small consist baathists dissident communists disgusted treachery iraqi communist party backing occupation nationalists groups iraqi soldiers officers disbanded occupation sunni shia religious groupsthough latter still tiny words resistance iraqithough would surprised arabs crossing borders help shouldnt poles ukrainians najaf arabs come defense fellow arabs iraq key fact resistance today decentralizedthe classic first stage guerrilla warfare occupying army whether groups move second stage establish iraqi national liberation front remains seen im told pentagon organizing special screenings battle algiers anticolonial classic gillo pontecorvos movie designed aid side arnove conditions iraq today compare bush blair promised ali iraqi contacts country bear reported european press country complete mess situation much worse saddam reconstruction mass unemployment us doesnt trust iraqis even act cleaners south asian filipino migrants used colonialism epoch neoliberal capitalism us friendly companies given precedence occupation iraq become crony oligarchy daily life misery occupation puppets even provide basic amenities life fuels resistance encourages many young men fight prepared betray fighting important without passive support population resistance becomes difficult arnove see events unfolding example bush gone united nations un ask support occupation trying get multilateral facade us control ali un security council disgraced renamed satraps council knees empire germans french russians like us liberals opposed war saying option back occupation wont send troops money give moral support japanese earlier said couldnt send troops soldiers learned arabic ie never cave united nations america one hopes antiwar movement emerge country turks still negotiating part iraq police want occupy kurdish areas settle old accounts us wants take hits baghdad region turkish troops arrive could turn kurdish groups occupation un multilateralism different already exists one never forget much un hated iraq administrator killer sanctions backer weekly angloamerican bombing raids arnove think impact occupation palestinians think syria iran next ali initially palestinians demoralized fall baghdad emergence resistance encouraged baghdad fell israeli war criminal ariel sharon told palestinians come senses protector gone palestinian struggle dependent saddam well hes got replies people us understand arab world elsewhere suicide bombings cant dissociated occupation even senior zionists like avraham burg said much recent weeks case palestinians muslims prepared sacrifice lives vietnamese employed similar tactics cafes frequented us soldiers saigon dual occupation middle eastthe usisraeli occupation palestine iraq theyre crazy enough go syria iran overstretch militarily politically view iraqi resistance temporarily stopped plans regarding syria iran arnove opponents war occupation today ali build widest broadest possible antiwar movement statements soldiers families moving us soldiers learning fastand realizing told bunch lies movement successful wins undecided citizens means leaders antiwar movement must break habit speaking learn new language interview originally appeared socialist worker 160 | 697 |
<p>The religious right is wrong on many points, but perhaps its most outrageous distortion of truth is its use of the Bible in support of predatory capitalism. The Hebrew prophets’ bombastic indictments of the exploitation of the poor by the rich are fairly well known outside the boundaries of right-wing fundamentalism.[1] What I emphasize in this article is a broader point: the centrality of economic justice in ancient Israel’s self-understanding as a community in covenant with God and in the New Testament as well.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; As Richard Horsley observes, early Israel made a radical break with the imperial economies of the ancient Near East, in which the people basically served the rulers. Those in power took much of the people’s produce to maintain the military forces that engaged in conquests and kept the empires intact. They also used the people’s labor to build monuments symbolizing their rule and employed religion as a means of sacralizing their regimes. The Israelites, however, withdrew from this system to form "an alternative society in which the people no longer bowed down and served the Forces of civilization, but served a transcendent Force of freedom, who insisted upon justice in relations with other people, not hard labor."[2]</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; The ancient world knew nothing of our modern tendency to think of religion, politics, and economics as separate spheres of existence. The laws of ancient Israel embraced both sacred and secular matters, without distinction. And the people’s responsibility toward God embraced their responsibilities toward their neighbors. We therefore find in the Torah a remarkable set of provisions protecting the welfare of all members of the community.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; At the heart of ancient Israel’s view of economics was its attitude toward the land, classically expressed in Leviticus 25:23-24: "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants. Throughout the land that you hold, you shall provide for the redemption of the land." This means that all human ownership is relative: the land is God’s. As God’s tenants, however, human beings have a limited claim upon it. God has in a sense leased the land to families, and each family is entitled to its ancestral holdings. Any sale of the land is therefore temporary. If a family is forced to sell because of economic failure, it retains the right to buy it back when their fortunes are reversed (Lev 25:25-27). Leviticus 25:9-10 also provides for a Jubilee Year (every fiftieth year) in which the families who have lost their land can return to their property. We are unsure whether this was actually practiced or remained an ideal. Either way, it reveals the intention, also expressed in the promise in Deuteronomy 15:4-5, that if the people obey God’s commandments "there will be no one in need among" them.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; To achieve that goal, the Torah commanded both lending to needy neighbors (Deut 15:7-11), coupled with a prohibition of interest-taking (Exod 22:25), and the cancellation of all debts every seven years (Deut 15:1-2). It also forbade farmers to harvest to the edges of their fields, granting both the Israelite poor and resident aliens (!) the right to glean what was left. (Lev 19:9-10)</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; In withdrawing from the imperial economies, early Israel initially rejected monarchical rule. There are two strains of tradition in the books of Samuel, one favoring the establishment of a royal household and another that interprets the desire for a king as a rejection of God. We therefore find in 1 Samuel 8:11-17 a speech by Samuel that warns the people how a king would treat them. These excerpts capture the essence of the speech:</p>
<p>[H]e will appoint for himself commanders of thousands…and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots….He will take one tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers….He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; This description fits what actually happened when monarchical government was instituted. The harsh rule of Jerusalem kings led to the secession of the northern tribes, which split the Israelites into two nations. The pattern of exploitation was found in both; however, and in both cases the ruling class used religion to legitimate their power. Thus, as Horsley observes, "the monarchy stood in opposition to the Mosaic Covenant, in which Israel declared exclusive loyalty to God as their king precisely as a way of avoiding falling back into bondage to a human king."[3] Whereas the Mosaic Covenant made God’s protection of the nation contingent upon the people’s obedience to covenant law, the rulers in Judah (the southern monarchy) promoted a new version of the covenant that declared God’s unconditional support of the House of David in perpetuity. (2 Samuel 7:4-17)</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; It was against this background of exploitation by kings and their officers that the great Hebrew prophets spoke their powerful condemnations of economic injustice. Thus Isaiah indicted those "who add house to house, who add field to field, until there is room for no one but you" (Isaiah 5:8), and the book of Amos is a relentless attack on the rich, "who oppress the poor, who crush the needy" (Amos 4:1). Jeremiah, moreover, inspired by his loyalty to the Mosaic covenant, condemned the Jerusalem temple itself. Naming it a "den of robbers," he indicted those who appealed to the Davidic covenant as an assurance of God’s protection even as they committed gross abuses. (Jeremiah 7:8-15)</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; The heavy tax burden placed on the peasants by the monarchies was increased by the imposition of further taxes by the series of empires that consumed the societies of the ancient Near East. During periods under Roman Rule, the Israelites paid taxes to the Jerusalem Temple, the Herodian royal household, and Rome itself. The Herods used taxes to fund elaborate building programs, and the Romans exploited the subjects of their empire to feed their troops and the population of Rome itself. The Temple was the center not only of religious life but also of the Judean economy, and the tithes and offerings it demanded added to the burden. Although the religious authorities had no means of enforcement, those unable to pay "faced social ostracism, shunning, and vilification by Temple authorities."[4] Estimates of the percentage of peasants’ produce paid in the combined taxes range from 20 to 50 percent, "a significant and damaging amount for those living near subsistence levels."[5] Faced with financial failure, many people had to borrow from the aristocracy, which added to the latter’s wealth as the situation of the poor became ever more desperate.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; In light of these circumstances, it appears probable that Jesus’ demonstration in the Temple (Mark 11:15-19) was at least partly a protest against the exploitative practices of the Temple aristocracy. In any case, the gospels present economic justice as a central motif in Jesus’ preaching of God’s Rule. We see this particularly in the beatitudes in Luke and Matthew. Following a formula of blessings and curses familiar from covenantal contexts in the Hebrew Bible (Deuteronomy 28),[6] Luke’s version (6:20-23) is followed by a series of woes (6:24-26). Blessings on the poor (destitute), the hungry, and those who mourn are paralleled by woes upon the rich, those who are full, and those who laugh. The passage is not only an expression of solidarity with the poor but also a condemnation of the exploitative system that makes some poor and others rich. And the economic dimension is clear in Matthew’s version (5:1-11) also.[7] The shift from "poor" to "poor in spirit" does not, as many commentators claim, represent a "spiritualization" of the concept. The "poor in spirit" are those whose spirits have been crushed by oppression. Nor are the "meek" those who are mild-tempered. They will "inherit the earth" (land) precisely because they are the dispossessed—those who have lost their ancestral holdings to the rich and powerful. And in v. 10, we should translate the Greek word dikaiosyne not as "righteousness" but as "justice." The point is that those who are persecuted because they seek justice for the downtrodden will receive God’s Rule along with the poor themselves.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; At other points, Jesus criticizes the scribes as those who "devour widows’ houses" (Mark 12:40), proclaims the difficulty the rich will have of entering God’s Rule (Mark 10:25-27), and lambastes the Pharisees for neglecting "justice, mercy, and faith." (Matthew 23:23) Also, two lines in the Lord’s Prayer reveal the economic dimension of God’s Rule. "Give us this day our daily bread" is a request of people who live in daily fear of impoverishment. And the petition to "forgive us our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors" has a literal as well as a figurative meaning. Those who pray the prayer commit themselves to keep the covenantal responsibility to forgive the financial debts of those who cannot repay. Along similar lines, Jesus follows traditional covenantal guidelines when he urges his hearers to "lend, expecting nothing in return." (Luke 6:35)</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; The theme of economic justice continues in other parts of the New Testament. Acts twice describes the early Jerusalem church as having a communal economy (2:43-47; 4:32-37), and it was central to Paul’s ministry to take up a collection in all his churches for that impoverished community. (1 Cor 16:1-4; Gal 2:10) The book of Revelation, moreover, condemns Rome for its exploitative practices (see esp. Rev 18). And the letter of James echoes the Hebrew prophets in its indictment of the rich who oppress the poor: "Listen! The wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts." (5:4)</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; This last passage in particular should resonate with anyone familiar with the financial collapse in the United States in 2008, brought on by the rapacious practices of major financial institutions. But do the people and the leaders of the industrialized nations have the will and the courage to ask hard questions about our economy? Current economic theory assumes that there are actual "laws" of economics, ignoring the fact that all economic arrangements are human constructs. It also assumes that human beings act almost entirely out of self-interest, stifling all attempts to think creatively about how a new economy, focused on justice and ecological responsibility, might be possible. To that extent it stands as a major example of idolatry. The Bible, on the other hand, invites us to think and act differently.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; My concern, however, is less with specific remedies than with the criteria we use to evaluate them. And one would hope that persons of biblical faith would make their evaluations on the basis of biblical principles rather than a preconceived economic ideology. In our current arrangement, human beings are treated as cogs in a machine, servants of a system that has taken on the quality of an idolatrous religion. For many people throughout the world, this system resembles Pharaoh’s Egypt more than the covenantal economy enshrined in the Torah and retrieved as an ideal in the New Testament. That biblical vision is of an economy that serves the people—one that works not for the advantage of a favored few but for the common good and that enhances our humanity rather than diminishes it.</p>
<p>The biblical writers were well aware, however, that action on behalf of the common good inevitably runs into serious opposition from institutionalized forces. Although Paul declares that those in Christ manifest a "new creation," he envisions the faith community as living in an in-between time, when "the present evil age" (Gal 1:4) overlaps with the age to come. Forces that he identifies variously as "the rulers (of this age)," "authorities," and "powers"[8] are still active in the world. Scholars once debated whether these terms refer to demonic forces or earthly institutions such as governments. But Walter Wink has shown that "[t]hese powers are both heavenly and earthly,’ divine and human, spiritual and political, invisible and structural."[9] That is, earthly institutions are the tangible manifestations of cosmic forces.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; The New Testament view of these powers is complex, because Paul also says that God instituted governmental authorities (Rom 13:1-7); and the author of Colossians states that they were created through Christ (1:15-18). Also, Paul lists angels among the forces against which the faith community struggles (Rom 8:38-39). What are we to make of all this? Wink argues that "the powers" have a legitimate place in God’s creation but become corrupt when they are ignorant of God’s plan. And when human beings give them the unqualified allegiance that belongs only to God, the result is idolatry. Thus, in Wink’s words, "even then good, made absolute, becomes evil."[10] The biblical perspective thus demands discernment in dealing with these powers, encouraging cooperation with them when they serve God’s purposes but opposition to them when they demand idolatrous loyalty and stand in opposition to God. Often, however, popular readings of two biblical passages discourage confrontation of "the powers that be."</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; The first is Roman 13:1-7, where Paul counsels his readers to "be subject to the governing authorities." Some Christians think this means that they must obey the dictates of any government that might happen to rule over them. To "be subject," however, does not necessarily mean to "be obedient to." The nonviolent civil rights demonstrators of the 1950s and 1960s remained subject to the laws of the Southern states even when they broke the segregation laws. They acknowledged governmental authority by submitting to arrest even as they engaged in civil disobedience. It is clear, moreover, that Paul’s ultimate allegiance was to God alone, since he was willing to suffer frequent imprisonment for the sake of the gospel. Nor did he shrink from indicting "the rulers of this age" for the unjust crucifixion of Jesus or from proclaiming that they are "doomed to perish." (1 Cor 2:6-8) In Romans 13, Paul warned his readers against conflict with the Roman authorities; but he expected them, when faced with a choice between obeying God or human authorities, to obey God.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; The second passage is a saying of Jesus. Asked whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Rome, he replied, "Give to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s." (Mark 12:17; Matt 22:21; Luke 20:25). This saying has been used to support the notion that God instituted two realms—the religious and the secular—and human beings owe obedience to both. It is also the root of an attitude expressed in a letter to a major newspaper claiming that "Jesus was politically neutral." The intent of such a claim is to de-legitimate Christian social action, but it is based on a misunderstanding of the passage. Jesus’ statement is actually a clever way of making a "subversive" point without getting oneself in trouble—a well-known tactic among subjugated peoples.</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; All Jews knew that everything belongs to God, and the notion of separate political and religious spheres would have been unintelligible to Jesus’ listeners. The coin Jesus asked to see, moreover, was a denarius, which depicted the emperor and claimed divine status for him. As William Herzog comments, it was "a piece of political propaganda that staked Rome’s claim to rule the cosmos."[11] Jesus implies that the coin must be given back to the emperor "because it is blasphemous and idolatrous,"[12] not because the empire is worthy of loyalty. Jesus could not say this directly without being arrested, but his hearers would have understood the point: "Pay the tax if you have to, but withhold your loyalty."</p>
<p>&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; There are, of course, no simple guidelines for knowing when to resist "the powers" and when to join forces with them. Sometimes, however, the right choice is clear, even though many have found ways of distorting the biblical witness in order to avoid it. Some Christians in Nazi Germany joined the Confessing Church, which opposed the regime; others embraced German Christianity, which supported it. Some Christians have supported murderous, totalitarian regimes in Latin America that oppressed the poor. Others, notably Bishop Oscar Romero and a number of Roman Catholic priests and nuns, were murdered because they opposed these governments and stood in solidarity with the poor. Some persons of biblical faith joined or supported the civil rights movement, while others opposed or ignored it. If my reading of the Jewish and Christian scriptures is accurate, however, there should be no doubt as to which of these groups were faithful to the biblical witness and which were not. Contrary to the pronouncements of the religious right, the Bible clearly demands of those who profess to worship God that they challenge "the powers that be" whenever they "push aside the needy in the gate." (Amos 4:12)</p> | true | 4 | religious right wrong many points perhaps outrageous distortion truth use bible support predatory capitalism hebrew prophets bombastic indictments exploitation poor rich fairly well known outside boundaries rightwing fundamentalism1 emphasize article broader point centrality economic justice ancient israels selfunderstanding community covenant god new testament well 160160160160160 richard horsley observes early israel made radical break imperial economies ancient near east people basically served rulers power took much peoples produce maintain military forces engaged conquests kept empires intact also used peoples labor build monuments symbolizing rule employed religion means sacralizing regimes israelites however withdrew system form alternative society people longer bowed served forces civilization served transcendent force freedom insisted upon justice relations people hard labor2 160160160160160 ancient world knew nothing modern tendency think religion politics economics separate spheres existence laws ancient israel embraced sacred secular matters without distinction peoples responsibility toward god embraced responsibilities toward neighbors therefore find torah remarkable set provisions protecting welfare members community 160160160160160 heart ancient israels view economics attitude toward land classically expressed leviticus 252324 land shall sold perpetuity land mine aliens tenants throughout land hold shall provide redemption land means human ownership relative land gods gods tenants however human beings limited claim upon god sense leased land families family entitled ancestral holdings sale land therefore temporary family forced sell economic failure retains right buy back fortunes reversed lev 252527 leviticus 25910 also provides jubilee year every fiftieth year families lost land return property unsure whether actually practiced remained ideal either way reveals intention also expressed promise deuteronomy 1545 people obey gods commandments one need among 160160160160160 achieve goal torah commanded lending needy neighbors deut 15711 coupled prohibition interesttaking exod 2225 cancellation debts every seven years deut 1512 also forbade farmers harvest edges fields granting israelite poor resident aliens right glean left lev 19910 160160160160160 withdrawing imperial economies early israel initially rejected monarchical rule two strains tradition books samuel one favoring establishment royal household another interprets desire king rejection god therefore find 1 samuel 81117 speech samuel warns people king would treat excerpts capture essence speech appoint commanders thousandsand plow ground reap harvest make implements war equipment chariotshe take one tenth grain vineyards give officers courtiershe take onetenth flocks shall slaves 160160160160160 description fits actually happened monarchical government instituted harsh rule jerusalem kings led secession northern tribes split israelites two nations pattern exploitation found however cases ruling class used religion legitimate power thus horsley observes monarchy stood opposition mosaic covenant israel declared exclusive loyalty god king precisely way avoiding falling back bondage human king3 whereas mosaic covenant made gods protection nation contingent upon peoples obedience covenant law rulers judah southern monarchy promoted new version covenant declared gods unconditional support house david perpetuity 2 samuel 7417 160160160160160 background exploitation kings officers great hebrew prophets spoke powerful condemnations economic injustice thus isaiah indicted add house house add field field room one isaiah 58 book amos relentless attack rich oppress poor crush needy amos 41 jeremiah moreover inspired loyalty mosaic covenant condemned jerusalem temple naming den robbers indicted appealed davidic covenant assurance gods protection even committed gross abuses jeremiah 7815 160160160160160 heavy tax burden placed peasants monarchies increased imposition taxes series empires consumed societies ancient near east periods roman rule israelites paid taxes jerusalem temple herodian royal household rome herods used taxes fund elaborate building programs romans exploited subjects empire feed troops population rome temple center religious life also judean economy tithes offerings demanded added burden although religious authorities means enforcement unable pay faced social ostracism shunning vilification temple authorities4 estimates percentage peasants produce paid combined taxes range 20 50 percent significant damaging amount living near subsistence levels5 faced financial failure many people borrow aristocracy added latters wealth situation poor became ever desperate 160160160160160 light circumstances appears probable jesus demonstration temple mark 111519 least partly protest exploitative practices temple aristocracy case gospels present economic justice central motif jesus preaching gods rule see particularly beatitudes luke matthew following formula blessings curses familiar covenantal contexts hebrew bible deuteronomy 286 lukes version 62023 followed series woes 62426 blessings poor destitute hungry mourn paralleled woes upon rich full laugh passage expression solidarity poor also condemnation exploitative system makes poor others rich economic dimension clear matthews version 5111 also7 shift poor poor spirit many commentators claim represent spiritualization concept poor spirit whose spirits crushed oppression meek mildtempered inherit earth land precisely dispossessedthose lost ancestral holdings rich powerful v 10 translate greek word dikaiosyne righteousness justice point persecuted seek justice downtrodden receive gods rule along poor 160160160160160 points jesus criticizes scribes devour widows houses mark 1240 proclaims difficulty rich entering gods rule mark 102527 lambastes pharisees neglecting justice mercy faith matthew 2323 also two lines lords prayer reveal economic dimension gods rule give us day daily bread request people live daily fear impoverishment petition forgive us debts also forgiven debtors literal well figurative meaning pray prayer commit keep covenantal responsibility forgive financial debts repay along similar lines jesus follows traditional covenantal guidelines urges hearers lend expecting nothing return luke 635 160160160160160 theme economic justice continues parts new testament acts twice describes early jerusalem church communal economy 24347 43237 central pauls ministry take collection churches impoverished community 1 cor 1614 gal 210 book revelation moreover condemns rome exploitative practices see esp rev 18 letter james echoes hebrew prophets indictment rich oppress poor listen wages laborers mowed fields kept back fraud cry cries harvesters reached ears lord hosts 54 160160160160160 last passage particular resonate anyone familiar financial collapse united states 2008 brought rapacious practices major financial institutions people leaders industrialized nations courage ask hard questions economy current economic theory assumes actual laws economics ignoring fact economic arrangements human constructs also assumes human beings act almost entirely selfinterest stifling attempts think creatively new economy focused justice ecological responsibility might possible extent stands major example idolatry bible hand invites us think act differently 160160160160160 concern however less specific remedies criteria use evaluate one would hope persons biblical faith would make evaluations basis biblical principles rather preconceived economic ideology current arrangement human beings treated cogs machine servants system taken quality idolatrous religion many people throughout world system resembles pharaohs egypt covenantal economy enshrined torah retrieved ideal new testament biblical vision economy serves peopleone works advantage favored common good enhances humanity rather diminishes biblical writers well aware however action behalf common good inevitably runs serious opposition institutionalized forces although paul declares christ manifest new creation envisions faith community living inbetween time present evil age gal 14 overlaps age come forces identifies variously rulers age authorities powers8 still active world scholars debated whether terms refer demonic forces earthly institutions governments walter wink shown powers heavenly earthly divine human spiritual political invisible structural9 earthly institutions tangible manifestations cosmic forces 160160160160160 new testament view powers complex paul also says god instituted governmental authorities rom 1317 author colossians states created christ 11518 also paul lists angels among forces faith community struggles rom 83839 make wink argues powers legitimate place gods creation become corrupt ignorant gods plan human beings give unqualified allegiance belongs god result idolatry thus winks words even good made absolute becomes evil10 biblical perspective thus demands discernment dealing powers encouraging cooperation serve gods purposes opposition demand idolatrous loyalty stand opposition god often however popular readings two biblical passages discourage confrontation powers 160160160160160 first roman 1317 paul counsels readers subject governing authorities christians think means must obey dictates government might happen rule subject however necessarily mean obedient nonviolent civil rights demonstrators 1950s 1960s remained subject laws southern states even broke segregation laws acknowledged governmental authority submitting arrest even engaged civil disobedience clear moreover pauls ultimate allegiance god alone since willing suffer frequent imprisonment sake gospel shrink indicting rulers age unjust crucifixion jesus proclaiming doomed perish 1 cor 268 romans 13 paul warned readers conflict roman authorities expected faced choice obeying god human authorities obey god 160160160160160 second passage saying jesus asked whether lawful pay taxes rome replied give emperor things emperors god things gods mark 1217 matt 2221 luke 2025 saying used support notion god instituted two realmsthe religious secularand human beings owe obedience also root attitude expressed letter major newspaper claiming jesus politically neutral intent claim delegitimate christian social action based misunderstanding passage jesus statement actually clever way making subversive point without getting oneself troublea wellknown tactic among subjugated peoples 160160160160160 jews knew everything belongs god notion separate political religious spheres would unintelligible jesus listeners coin jesus asked see moreover denarius depicted emperor claimed divine status william herzog comments piece political propaganda staked romes claim rule cosmos11 jesus implies coin must given back emperor blasphemous idolatrous12 empire worthy loyalty jesus could say directly without arrested hearers would understood point pay tax withhold loyalty 160160160160160 course simple guidelines knowing resist powers join forces sometimes however right choice clear even though many found ways distorting biblical witness order avoid christians nazi germany joined confessing church opposed regime others embraced german christianity supported christians supported murderous totalitarian regimes latin america oppressed poor others notably bishop oscar romero number roman catholic priests nuns murdered opposed governments stood solidarity poor persons biblical faith joined supported civil rights movement others opposed ignored reading jewish christian scriptures accurate however doubt groups faithful biblical witness contrary pronouncements religious right bible clearly demands profess worship god challenge powers whenever push aside needy gate amos 412 | 1,530 |
<p><a href="http://www.foxbusiness.com/live-coverage/fox-business-network-gop-debates" type="external">Fox Business</a></p>
<p>9:04 p.m.: During the final stretch of the sixth GOP faceoff, the candidates on Thursday navigated the tricky task of talking about fiscal policy and big business in a way that didn’t alienate either corporatist supporters or Middle America. Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Donald Trump and Chris Christie tackled the issues of tax reform, entitlements (most candidates besides Christie dodged that topic, which Christie noted), how to keep corporations from moving their operations overseas and how to best negotiate with China.</p>
<p>Cruz made a bold and improbable suggestion that he would “abolish the IRS” in addition to instating his <a href="http://www.thestreet.com/story/13423067/1/which-republican-candidate-will-lower-your-tax-bill-the-most.html" type="external">flat-tax plan</a>.</p>
<p>Trump declared that he loved China and its people but suggested that the Chinese are laughing at the current administration’s leadership in its overseas dealings. Playing up his billionaire CEO persona, Trump, with Fox Business Network moderator Maria Bartiromo in agreement, declared, “Corporate inversion is one of the biggest problems we have. … Corporations by the thousands are thinking of leaving the country.” Later, when Bartiromo asked what he would do with his vaunted business if elected next November, Trump spoke to his three adult children seated in the audience, telling them, “Run it, kids.”</p>
<p />
<p>Ben Carson, who seemed bemused and participated more in the discussion than in the last debate, said his team had proposed “a flat tax for everyone—no exemptions, no deductions, no shelters.” He paid tribute to his mother, who he said “knew how to stretch a dollar,” in suggesting that Americans “stop spending so much money.”</p>
<p>Other noteworthy comments and moments in the debate’s last minutes included Marco Rubio’s sword-rattling statement about Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor-turned-whistleblower: “If I am president and we get our hands on him, he is going to stand trial.” Trump took another shot at his frequent target, Jeb Bush, calling him a “weak person.” Bush slammed Trump’s repeated vow to ban Muslims from entering the U.S., calling the plan “ <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/jeb-bush-trump-muslim-ban-debate" type="external">unhinged</a>.”</p>
<p>Also, the mention of South Carolina Gov. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2016/01/14/trump-conservative-pundits-hit-back-at-haley-for-state-union-response.html" type="external">Nikki Haley</a>, who is rumored to be high on the list of potential vice presidents, drew an enthusiastic response from a crowd given to spontaneous outbursts—an audience that booed Trump’s attacks on other candidates and at points chanted “We want Rand!” in reference to Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul’s absence from the debate.</p>
<p>The candidates came together on the subjects of supporting law enforcement. Trump called the police “the most mistreated people in this country” in a coded dismissal of the discussion about police violence foregrounded by groups like the Black Lives Matter movement. They rallied behind big corporations, agreed that the GOP is the true party of the people and collectively painted President Obama as an arrogant leader who has taken the country dangerously off course. They were united in making the country seem vulnerable to hostile forces—Islamic State, domestic tensions, gun control advocates, socialists and, last but not least, Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>On that note, the Benghazi-themed movie “13 Hours” was mentioned by more than one presidential candidate at Thursday night’s event, forging a rare alliance between Hollywood and the GOP. * * *</p>
<p>7:32 p.m.: Knowing their audience well, moderators next steered the conversation to the hot-trigger topic of gun control. Rubio was more than ready to come right out and claim that Obama is more than capable of personally wresting America’s firearms from their rightful owners. To wit: “I’m convinced that if this president could confiscate every gun, he would,” Rubio said.</p>
<p>The Florida junior senator’s argument apparently struck Bartiromo and co-moderator Neil Cavuto as a little extreme, but true to his home state, Rubio stood his ground, sketching out a scenario in which only firearms stood between American families and marauding terrorists.</p>
<p>Also throwing in to prove who was the most pro-gun candidate was Chris Christie, who pointed out that the U.S. Constitution contains a key clue about the importance of the Second Amendment to the nation’s Founding Fathers. “I don’t think the founders made it number two by accident,” he said. “I think they made it second because it’s that important.”</p>
<p>Next, Christie turned on Obama, calling the president “a petulant child” for using executive privilege on the gun control issue. Turning to the camera, Christie spoke directly to Obama: “The American people have rejected your agenda,” he announced, “and we are going to kick your rear end out of the White House this fall!”</p>
<p>Cruz pointed out that he has the National Rifle Association’s support before being asked to defend his recent derisive comment about Trump’s so-called “New York values.” Cruz responded, “I think most people know what New York values are.” When Bartiromo said she is a New Yorker and professed to not understand his meaning, Cruz was ready. “You’re from New York, so you might not,” he said, before associating New York with liberalism and pro-abortion politics. Apparently, Cruz’s camp has given up on the possibility of wooing New York’s GOP voters away from Trump.</p>
<p>Predictably, Trump invoked New Yorkers’ response to 9/11 in his defense of his home turf and declined to respond in kind by slamming Texas values. * * *</p>
<p>6:57 p.m.: The candidates were introduced according to their respective standing in the polls. That meant that Trump came first, followed by Cruz, Rubio, Carson, Christie, Bush and John Kasich. Starting with the opening questions, Bartiromo and Cavuto struck a chummy, we’re-in-this-together tone with the candidates they were tasked with grilling before millions of would-be voters.</p>
<p>For example, Cavuto framed his first query to Kasich in a way that cast Obama as the reason for the state the American economy was in when he assumed office. In another instance, Cavuto referred to the ongoing questions—which Trump was more than ready to further animate—over Cruz’s eligibility to assume the presidency, given that he was born in Canada. “Stop me if you’ve heard this before,” Cavuto joked, referencing a bit of Republican nostalgia from the 2008 election: the “birther” argument against Obama’s claims to U.S. citizenship.</p>
<p>The moderators, however, did mention to Cruz one of the more potentially impactful reports with regard to the Texas senator’s candidacy, this time from <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/us/politics/ted-cruz-wall-street-loan-senate-bid-2012.html?_r=0" type="external">The New York Times article</a> about Cruz’s failure to report the help Wall Street (and Goldman Sachs in particular) had given him in funding his Senate campaign in 2012.</p>
<p>Cruz, who had kicked off his performance by adopting a populist tone and declaring “We believe we should be fighting for the working men and women of this country,” admitted that he had made a single “paperwork error” in that situation but needed bigger money than he personally had available to back his bid for office. “Well, Neil, I’m glad we’re focusing on the important topics of the evening,” Cruz joked, before handily dismissing the Times report as insubstantial and after reminding the audience that the same paper had <a href="http://time.com/4181918/ted-cruz-horror-movie-it-follows-republican-debate/" type="external">compared him with a supernatural menace</a> in the horror film “It Follows.”</p>
<p>It soon became clear, despite Rubio’s attempts to bring the discussion around to the state of the country as seen from a Republican standpoint, that the first portion of the debate would be primarily devoted to internal battles among the seven contenders. Cruz and Trump battled over the new “birther” issue—which of them could legitimately claim eligibility to run for America’s highest office—as well as over which would become the other’s pick for vice president.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Time magazine declared Carly Fiorina the <a href="http://time.com/4181856/republican-debate-carly-fiorina-undercard/" type="external">winner</a> of the undercard debate. * * *</p>
<p>4:38 p.m.: Another year, another Republican debate. This time, Sen. Rand Paul was notably absent from the lineup during the undercard round Thursday, at the huddle of GOP presidential hopefuls in South Carolina.</p>
<p>Although being bumped from the main stage at the North Charleston Coliseum &amp; Performing Arts Center apparently didn’t work for Paul, the three other candidates — Fiorina, Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum — turned up for the occasion to woo voters with talk of reforming tax codes, immigration, income inequality, gun control, foreign policy and that perennial conservative favorite, family values.</p>
<p>Oh, and also how to train taxpayers using methods borrowed from child rearing and dog training. That last bit came courtesy of Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, who gave tax talk a down-home feel with an innovative approach involving “rewarding behavior you want more of and punishing behavior you want less of” when drawing up taxation schemes on the federal level.</p>
<p>Santorum was bombastic about the possibility of reversing Obama’s recent nuclear agreement with Iran, regaling viewers with fearful notions of attacks from Tehran on our “electric grid.” His delivery style became even more forceful when he denounced the scourge of political correctness, another popular right-wing theme played upon this election season. Santorum also made a pitch for restoring the ideal of the nuclear family as a way of solving societal problems and reminded Americans about that time he took Hillary Clinton on, and won, in a contest over partial-birth abortion.</p>
<p>Fiorina, for her part, clearly had given her writing team explicit orders to tailor her comments for Twitter, and she delivered several one-liners with obvious gusto. Right out of the gates, she had it in for Democratic heavyweight Clinton, zinging her left-leaning counterpart by remarking, “I actually enjoy spending time with my husband.”</p>
<p>Of Clinton’s sticky email scandal, Fiorina had this to say: “Mrs. Clinton, you actually cannot wipe a server with a towel.” The former Hewlett-Packard CEO also took a swipe at Republican front-runner Donald Trump, characterizing his vocal enthusiasm for Russian President Vladimir Putin as the stuff of “bromance.” In her closing remarks, she entreated the audience to help keep her in the race so she might one day face off with Clinton. “You would pay to see that fight — and that’s ’cause you know that I would win.”</p>
<p>Huckabee also wanted people to know he had fought the Clinton machine. (If any of the undercard group got the memo about Bernie Sanders gaining on Clinton in the polls, they didn’t show it.) He blasted President Obama’s recent moves on gun control, calling them “unconstitutional and completely insane.” “I promise you I’ve been to more gun shows than President Obama,” Huckabee began, encountering absolutely no argument there. “I’ve purchased guns, and I can assure you that it is much more difficult to purchase a firearm than it is to purchase the ingredients of a salad at the supermarket.” He also denounced the entire European Union while he was at it, calling the coalition an outright failure.</p>
<p>When it came to income inequality, the candidates reached for oblique connections to make the GOP look like the party of the common people. Fiorina deflected the conversation to focus on how Republicans are against big government, while Santorum also pulled another thread, in this case about immigration, into the conversation. “We need to be the party that stands for the American worker,” he said, calling up the economic argument that focuses on foreigners taking over American jobs.</p>
<p>The trio then made way for the main act, featuring seven debaters in this go-round: Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, John Kasich, Jeb Bush and Chris Christie.</p>
<p>–Posted by <a href="" type="internal">Kasia Anderson</a></p> | true | 4 | fox business 904 pm final stretch sixth gop faceoff candidates thursday navigated tricky task talking fiscal policy big business way didnt alienate either corporatist supporters middle america ted cruz marco rubio ben carson donald trump chris christie tackled issues tax reform entitlements candidates besides christie dodged topic christie noted keep corporations moving operations overseas best negotiate china cruz made bold improbable suggestion would abolish irs addition instating flattax plan trump declared loved china people suggested chinese laughing current administrations leadership overseas dealings playing billionaire ceo persona trump fox business network moderator maria bartiromo agreement declared corporate inversion one biggest problems corporations thousands thinking leaving country later bartiromo asked would vaunted business elected next november trump spoke three adult children seated audience telling run kids ben carson seemed bemused participated discussion last debate said team proposed flat tax everyoneno exemptions deductions shelters paid tribute mother said knew stretch dollar suggesting americans stop spending much money noteworthy comments moments debates last minutes included marco rubios swordrattling statement edward snowden former national security agency contractorturnedwhistleblower president get hands going stand trial trump took another shot frequent target jeb bush calling weak person bush slammed trumps repeated vow ban muslims entering us calling plan unhinged also mention south carolina gov nikki haley rumored high list potential vice presidents drew enthusiastic response crowd given spontaneous outburstsan audience booed trumps attacks candidates points chanted want rand reference kentucky sen rand pauls absence debate candidates came together subjects supporting law enforcement trump called police mistreated people country coded dismissal discussion police violence foregrounded groups like black lives matter movement rallied behind big corporations agreed gop true party people collectively painted president obama arrogant leader taken country dangerously course united making country seem vulnerable hostile forcesislamic state domestic tensions gun control advocates socialists last least hillary clinton note benghazithemed movie 13 hours mentioned one presidential candidate thursday nights event forging rare alliance hollywood gop 732 pm knowing audience well moderators next steered conversation hottrigger topic gun control rubio ready come right claim obama capable personally wresting americas firearms rightful owners wit im convinced president could confiscate every gun would rubio said florida junior senators argument apparently struck bartiromo comoderator neil cavuto little extreme true home state rubio stood ground sketching scenario firearms stood american families marauding terrorists also throwing prove progun candidate chris christie pointed us constitution contains key clue importance second amendment nations founding fathers dont think founders made number two accident said think made second important next christie turned obama calling president petulant child using executive privilege gun control issue turning camera christie spoke directly obama american people rejected agenda announced going kick rear end white house fall cruz pointed national rifle associations support asked defend recent derisive comment trumps socalled new york values cruz responded think people know new york values bartiromo said new yorker professed understand meaning cruz ready youre new york might said associating new york liberalism proabortion politics apparently cruzs camp given possibility wooing new yorks gop voters away trump predictably trump invoked new yorkers response 911 defense home turf declined respond kind slamming texas values 657 pm candidates introduced according respective standing polls meant trump came first followed cruz rubio carson christie bush john kasich starting opening questions bartiromo cavuto struck chummy wereinthistogether tone candidates tasked grilling millions wouldbe voters example cavuto framed first query kasich way cast obama reason state american economy assumed office another instance cavuto referred ongoing questionswhich trump ready animateover cruzs eligibility assume presidency given born canada stop youve heard cavuto joked referencing bit republican nostalgia 2008 election birther argument obamas claims us citizenship moderators however mention cruz one potentially impactful reports regard texas senators candidacy time new york times article cruzs failure report help wall street goldman sachs particular given funding senate campaign 2012 cruz kicked performance adopting populist tone declaring believe fighting working men women country admitted made single paperwork error situation needed bigger money personally available back bid office well neil im glad focusing important topics evening cruz joked handily dismissing times report insubstantial reminding audience paper compared supernatural menace horror film follows soon became clear despite rubios attempts bring discussion around state country seen republican standpoint first portion debate would primarily devoted internal battles among seven contenders cruz trump battled new birther issuewhich could legitimately claim eligibility run americas highest officeas well would become others pick vice president meanwhile time magazine declared carly fiorina winner undercard debate 438 pm another year another republican debate time sen rand paul notably absent lineup undercard round thursday huddle gop presidential hopefuls south carolina although bumped main stage north charleston coliseum amp performing arts center apparently didnt work paul three candidates fiorina mike huckabee rick santorum turned occasion woo voters talk reforming tax codes immigration income inequality gun control foreign policy perennial conservative favorite family values oh also train taxpayers using methods borrowed child rearing dog training last bit came courtesy huckabee former arkansas governor gave tax talk downhome feel innovative approach involving rewarding behavior want punishing behavior want less drawing taxation schemes federal level santorum bombastic possibility reversing obamas recent nuclear agreement iran regaling viewers fearful notions attacks tehran electric grid delivery style became even forceful denounced scourge political correctness another popular rightwing theme played upon election season santorum also made pitch restoring ideal nuclear family way solving societal problems reminded americans time took hillary clinton contest partialbirth abortion fiorina part clearly given writing team explicit orders tailor comments twitter delivered several oneliners obvious gusto right gates democratic heavyweight clinton zinging leftleaning counterpart remarking actually enjoy spending time husband clintons sticky email scandal fiorina say mrs clinton actually wipe server towel former hewlettpackard ceo also took swipe republican frontrunner donald trump characterizing vocal enthusiasm russian president vladimir putin stuff bromance closing remarks entreated audience help keep race might one day face clinton would pay see fight thats cause know would win huckabee also wanted people know fought clinton machine undercard group got memo bernie sanders gaining clinton polls didnt show blasted president obamas recent moves gun control calling unconstitutional completely insane promise ive gun shows president obama huckabee began encountering absolutely argument ive purchased guns assure much difficult purchase firearm purchase ingredients salad supermarket also denounced entire european union calling coalition outright failure came income inequality candidates reached oblique connections make gop look like party common people fiorina deflected conversation focus republicans big government santorum also pulled another thread case immigration conversation need party stands american worker said calling economic argument focuses foreigners taking american jobs trio made way main act featuring seven debaters goround donald trump ted cruz marco rubio ben carson john kasich jeb bush chris christie posted kasia anderson | 1,106 |
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