Saturday, February 16, 2008

Explaining Our View of Clinton-Obama

By Robert Parry
February 16, 2008

Over the past few months, as the Democratic presidential race has heated up, we have received a number of complaints about critical stories we have written about Barack Obama and, especially, Hillary Clinton.

A common theme in the complaints is that we should lighten up on the Democratic frontrunners and concentrate more on John McCain and the Republicans. Some readers have accused us of sounding like the MSM in our reporting on Sen. Clinton in particular.

Read on.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Twisting Health Language for Torture

By Jason Leopold
February 16, 2008

Yoo's legal opinion stated that unless the amount of pain administered to a detainee results in injury "such as death, organ failure, or serious impairment of body functions" than the interrogation technique could not be defined as torture.

Read on.

How Far Will the Clintons Go?

By Robert Parry
February 15, 2008

Hillary Clinton, who has built her case for the presidency on her superior “ready on Day One” management skills, burned through almost $130 million of campaign money, had to kick in $5 million from her own murky family funds, and is now pressing her chief financial backers to find creative ways to raise more money.

Some of those financial schemes appear to skirt the law – as some backers consider putting money into “independent” entities that can spend unlimited sums but aren’t supposed to coordinate with the campaign – while other ideas are more traditional, like appealing to wealthy donors involved with the pro-Israel AIPAC lobby.

Read on.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Bush Turns US Soldiers into Murderers

By Robert Parry
February 13, 2008

By forcing repeat combat assignments to Iraq and Afghanistan – and by winking at torture and indiscriminate killings – George W. Bush is degrading the reputation of the U.S. military, turning enlisted soldiers and intelligence officers into murderers and sadists.

For instance, on Feb. 10 at Camp Liberty in Iraq, Army Ranger Sgt. Evan Vela was sentenced by a U.S. military court to 10 years in prison for executing an unarmed Iraqi detainee who – along with his son – had stumbled into a U.S. sniper position last year.

Read on.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Stomping on Their Children's Dreams

By Robert Parry
February 11, 2008

One painful irony of the Obama-Clinton showdown is that it could end up with middle-aged women – who are determined to elect the first female president – stomping on the dreams of their own children, who have shaken off years of political apathy to rally behind Barack Obama.

What makes this dilemma particularly poignant is that many of these Hillary Clinton supporters themselves experienced the stomping on their dreams four decades ago in the pivotal election of 1968.

Read on.

In Case You Missed These Stories

By Consortiumnews.com's Editors
February 11, 2008

One shortcoming in our effort to publish more and more articles is that some special stories fly by without getting the attention they deserve. So, periodically, we’ll publish this “in case you missed it” feature with links to stories that we feel fall into this category.

Read on.

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Bush Family Chronicles: The Patriarchs

By Morgan Strong
February 10, 2008

James Madison wrote passionately in the Federalist Papers that in order for a democracy to function and not descend into a tyranny of the wealthy and the well-connected, the citizenry must stay well informed. In Madison’s view, a democratic society was wholly dependent on an informed citizenry.

Read on.