Obama's 'Seven Days in May' Moment

By Robert Parry
February 20, 2009

Only one month into his presidency, Barack Obama is finding himself confronting not only George W. Bush’s left-behind crises but an array of influential enemies in the military, financial circles, the political world and the media – determined to thwart Obama’s agenda for “change.”

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Prosecution for Bush War Crimes

By Marjorie Cohn
February 20, 2009

Since taking office, President Barack Obama has instituted many changes that break with the policies of the Bush administration. The new President has ordered that no government agency will be allowed to torture, that the U.S. prison at Guantánamo will be shuttered, and that the CIA’s secret black sites will be closed down.

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Gunplay, a Chimp & the Presidency

By William Loren Katz
February 19, 2009

On Feb. 18, New York Post published a cartoon of two policemen who have just slain the author of the economic stimulus package -- a chimpanzee who lies in a pool of blood. The paper's defense was that the cartoon was just good-hearted fun, no harm intended to the African-American President who devised and signed the package.

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The US Media & Democracy in Crisis

By Robert Parry
February 19, 2009

For those of us who have criticized the U.S. mainstream media for failing to resist right-wing pressure over the past three decades, there is a sad sense of vindication watching the downward spiral of so many once-venerable newspapers. But this trend carries with it a new threat to American democracy.

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'Bitter' Gore; 'Principled' McCain

By Robert Parry
February 18, 2009

When we started Consortiumnews.com back in 1995, it was already apparent that the mainstream U.S. press corps was beyond reform. The corporate media had, in effect, merged with the growing right-wing media in overplaying the “Clinton scandals.”

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Needed NBC Series: 'Catch a Cheney'

By Jeff Cohen
February 17. 2009

I have a plan to get NBC out of last place in the ratings. I’m promising blockbuster audience and international buzz. As a once disgruntled ex-employee, I now just want to be positive and help NBC, which needs all the free advice it can get.

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Obama Seeks Deal on Bush Privilege

By Jason Leopold
February 17, 2009

Hoping for a negotiated settlement, Barack Obama’s Justice Department has requested a two-week delay in a court deadline regarding enforcement of congressional subpoenas demanding the testimony of two Bush administration officials.

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The Price of America's Prison Gulags

By Anthony Gregory
February 17, 2009

A three-judge panel has tentatively ruled that “[t]he California prison system must reduce overcrowding by as many as 55,000 inmates within three years to provide a constitutional level of medical and mental health care,” according to the New York Times.

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Obama & the Media Dilemma

By Robert Parry
February 16, 2009

It was only a few years ago – when the Republicans controlled both Congress and the White House – that the U.S. news media offered up one-sided coverage of the Bush administration, relying on Republicans, right-wingers and pro-war military experts to shape what Americans got to see and read.

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Republicans Bet on America's Failure

By Brent Budowsky
February 16, 2009

The passage of the $787 billion jobs bill represents a great victory for President Obama, a huge triumph for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and a tremendous moment for the smart Republican senators: Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania and Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins of Maine.

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Torture Report Erodes Bush's Defense

By Jason Leopold
February 15, 2009

A key line in George W. Bush’s defense against war crimes charges has weakened with the disclosure that an internal Justice Department watchdog has concluded that the legal advice, which cleared the way for Bush’s policies on torture and other abuse of detainees, was tainted by political influence.

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