Saturday, January 15, 2011

The 9/11 'Truth' Parlor Game

By Robert Parry
January 15, 2011

It seems that I have upset some folks on the Left again, this time by mentioning – deep inside a story about Sarah Palin’s proclaimed victimhood over the Tucson massacre fallout – that groups like the 9/11 “truthers” also have contributed to America’s crazed political environment.

Read on.

Can Individual Action Save the Planet?

By Don Monkerud
January 15, 2011

Recent figures indicate that 2010 tied 2005 as the hottest year on record. Indeed, nine of the ten warmest years occurred since 2001 as climate chaos creates havoc around the world.

Read on.

Friday, January 14, 2011

The Violence of Deformed Christianity

By the Rev. Howard Bess
January 14, 2011

What happened in Tucson is not new to American life. It happens every day across the country. Indeed, murders using guns are so common that little note is taken until a high-profile person is the target or the numbers of dead are shockingly high.

Read on.

Troubling Signs of Incipient Fascism

By Danny Schechter
January 14, 2011

Fascism is one of those words that sounds like it belongs in the past, conjuring up, as it does, marching jack boots in the streets, charismatic demagogues like Italy’s Mussolini or Spain’s Franco and armed crackdowns on dissent and freedom of expression.

Read on.

An American Suicide Terrorist?

By William John Cox
January 14, 2011

Jared Loughner acted as a domestic suicide terrorist in the political “battleground” of American politics. His YouTube postings and “good-bye” phone messages are ominously reminiscent of the traditional farewell videos of Islamist martyrs.

Read on.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Is Obama Right to Quiet Debate?

By Lawrence Davidson
January 13, 2011

There are two groups responsible for last Saturday’s tragedy in Tucson Arizona.

Read on.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Palin Depicts Herself as Tucson Victim

By Robert Parry
January 12, 2011

It didn’t take long after the Tucson massacre for the American Right to retreat to its favorite default position: victimhood.

Read on.

Finding a Path Out of Afghanistan

By Ivan Eland
January 12, 2011

If actions speak louder than words, the U.S. military has seemed to confirm the pessimistic findings of the National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) on the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which the military had recently pooh-poohed.

Read on.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Another Betrayal of Helen Thomas

By Danny Schechter
January 11, 2011

The Society of Professional Journalists [SPJ] is preparing to jump on the "kick Helen Thomas when she is down" campaign by retiring a lifetime achievement award that honors this great American journalist.

Read on.

The Lingering Stain of Guantanamo

By Ray McGovern
January 11, 2011

Today begins the tenth year of an abomination — the prison camp our country created at Guantanamo.

Read on.

How WikiLeaks Unhinged Washington

By Linda Lewis and Coleen Rowley
January 11, 2011

As Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano recently admitted, the notion of "fighting them over there so we don't have to fight them over here" is so totally passé.

Read on.

Rep. King's Show Trial for Muslims

By Lawrence Davidson
January 11, 2011

It is just about certain that the new Republican House will hold hearings on the "radicalization of the American Muslim Community." The hearings will be called by Peter King, the Republican representative from New York who is now the Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee.

Read on.

Monday, January 10, 2011

The Right's Talkers Shift the Blame

By Rory O'Connor
January 10, 2011

“It is our right and our duty to criticize the people who have put the fate of our country in peril,” Rush Limbaugh said this week on his syndicated radio show.

Read on.

How Hate Speech Shapes the Right

By Michael Winship
January 10, 2011

The Russian playwright Anton Chekhov had a rule: if you show a gun in the first act, by the time the curtain falls, it has to go off.

Read on.

Sarah Palin's Belated Remorse

By Dennis Bernstein
January 10, 2011

As far as we know, the often tearful, new House Speaker John Boehner hasn’t shed a tear over the near-fatal wounding of his Arizona colleague Gabrielle Giffords, but the folksy Sarah Palin sounded a solemn note as she went to her Facebook page to mourn the close-range shooting of the just-reelected Democratic congresswoman.

Read on.

Dangerous Right-Wing 'Victimhood'

By Robert Parry
January 10, 2011

The full story of the bloody Tucson, Arizona, rampage that killed six and grievously wounded a U.S. congresswoman has yet to be pieced together, but the tragedy reminds us of the risk to democracy from both violent political rhetoric and reckless exaggerations about “victimhood.”

Read on.