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Latest Articles: Opinions/Editorials
House GOP Might Want to Skip Over Some Parts of Constitution
Post Date: 2011-01-06 08:55:00 by go65
12 Comments
WASHINGTON -- It's Constitution Week on Capitol Hill. As the newly divided Congress files into town, incoming Speaker of the House John Boehner is making sure the tea party knows Republicans heard their message about the need to adhere to the nation's founding document. He has invited Chief Justice John Roberts to swear in his staff, an unprecedented ceremony in congressional history. Another justice, Antonin Scalia, is scheduled to teach Constitution 101 later this month to tea party freshmen and others in Rep. Michele Bachmann's constitutional conservative caucus. Tom Williams, Roll Call / Getty Images The U.S. Constitution is stored under glass in the rotunda of the ...
War Is a Drug
Post Date: 2011-01-04 12:29:29 by Brian S
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If, as 2011 begins, you want to peer into the future, enter my time machine, strap yourself in, and head for the past, that laboratory for all developments of our moment and beyond. Just as 2010 ended, the American military’s urge to surge resurfaced in a significant way. It seems that “leaders” in the Obama administration and “senior American military commanders” in Afghanistan were acting as a veritable WikiLeaks machine. They slipped information to New York Times reporters Mark Mazzetti and Dexter Filkins about secret planning to increase pressure in the Pakistani tribal borderlands, possibly on the tinderbox province ...
Most Israelis Approve Racist Rabbis
Post Date: 2011-01-03 19:01:18 by Brian S
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A recent poll in Israel showed a majority of Israelis (51%) support the racism of 50 top rabbis. Agreeing that "racism originates in the Torah," the rabbis signed a declaration banning Arabs from renting or buying real estate from Jews in Israel. A staggering 41% of secular Israelis, 64% of Orthodox, and 88% of Ultra-Orthodox agree with these rabbis (See, 50 Top Israeli Rabbis: Proud to be Racists). Most "Israel-first" evangelicals have argued that the people of Israel are remarkably peace-loving and generous constituents of the Mideast's only democracy, even if their former leaders may have done violence to the Palestinians. But past and current events contradict ...
Michele Bachmann, Neocon
Post Date: 2011-01-02 20:14:48 by Brian S
10 Comments
Who knew? Perhaps, though, I sensed it. After all, I’ve always been a Michele Bachmann fan. Still, even I didn’t expect to discover she’s an authentic neocon--the genuine article--a liberal mugged by reality back in the 1970s. Here’s her autobiographical account, speaking to Michigan Republicans Tuesday: “Michigan is a tough state, but I do believe that Democrats, independents, Republicans, all make up fair-minded, reasonable people. I say that because I grew up in a Democrat state, and I have to share a little secret with you: I was a Democrat when I grew up. Because in Minnesota, they stamp that on your birth certificate! You know that, ...
The "Family" - Who Really Is Behind This Secret Organization?
Post Date: 2010-12-30 19:36:58 by Brian S
1 Comments
What if someone were to tell you that your Congressman routinely bandies around phrases such as "Jesus plus nothing," used to mean the complete rule of Jesus, and compares the desired reach to that of Hitler or Ho Chi Minh? If this makes you at all apprehensive, then Jeff Sharlet's "C Street: The Fundamentalist Threat to American Democracy" is a must-read. "Jesus plus nothing" is the mantra of the Fellowship, also known as the Family, a secret, fundamentalist Christian organization peopled primarily by devout policy makers and high-ranking individuals. Though the nonbeliever's view of religion can often be dismissive when faced with such ...
Secession! What Would It Look Like If Red States Formed Their Own Country?
Post Date: 2010-12-29 11:48:39 by Brian S
2 Comments
With the recent fervor from the Right about states’ rights, particularly in relation to health care reform, and recurring noises throughout Obama’s presidency about Texas threatening to secede, a salient question is worth considering. What would it look like if all the conservatives formed a “utopia” in Texas, say, and broke away from the United States? The fascinating thing about conservatism is that many poor people subscribe to its principles thanks in large part to Fox News and talk radio, even though it calls for doing away with the safety net. This is crucial for forming a conservative utopia because the wealthy business interests who push for deregulation ...
Buchanan: Who Owns The Future?
Post Date: 2010-12-28 20:13:54 by Brian S
2 Comments
"That speaks about who is going to be leading tomorrow." So said Angel Gurria, secretary-general of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Every three years, the Paris-based OECD holds its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests of the reading, math and science skills of 15-year-olds in developing and developed countries. Gurria was talking of the results of the 2009 tests. Sixty-five nations competed. The Chinese swept the board. The schools of Shanghai-China finished first in math, reading and science. Hong Kong-China was third in math and science. Singapore, a city-state dominated by overseas Chinese, was second in math, fourth in ...
Opinion: Is Pollard Caspar Weinberger's Revenge on the Jews?
Post Date: 2010-12-23 16:28:24 by Brian S
8 Comments
Why is this man still in jail? Why was this man forced to spend seven years in solitary? Why is still confined, languishing, festering in jail for a total of twenty five years? Solitary confinement is the most barbaric of punishments. Few people can withstand this form of torture without becoming very ill, both physically and mentally. Am I talking about the Soviet Gulag? Or about some hell-hole in Afghanistan or Iran? Last year, The New Yorker ran a piece about solitary confinement. The article concludes that this punishment amounts to torture, that it can even induce “acute psychosis with hallucinations.” The article describes the cases of two political prisoners or ...
Why has the lame-duck session been so productive?
Post Date: 2010-12-23 11:10:43 by go65
2 Comments
So far, the lame-duck session has managed to pass an $850 billion tax-cuts-and-stimulus deal, the repeal of DADT, the Defense Authorization bill, a continuing resolution to keep funding the federal government, the START treaty, the food-safety bill, and probably a few more pieces of legislation I'm forgetting. This is vastly more than anyone expected, and even if I'm disappointed by the failure of the omnibus spending bill (for reasons explained here) and the DREAM act, I can see why Sen. Lindsey Graham summed up the session by saying, "When it's all going to be said and done, Harry Reid has eaten our lunch." But it wasn't really Harry Reid who ate their lunch ...
Wikileaks: Mossad Sells U.S. on Iran Regime Change Plan
Post Date: 2010-12-22 19:45:23 by Brian S
1 Comments
Consider this reverse scenario: four separate planes carrying hundreds of IDF soldiers crash in a single year all due to mysterious circumstances not traceable to mechanical or human failure. Israeli nuclear scientists die in bombings and under other violent circumstances. Retired Israeli generals and a deputy defense minister are kidnapped and spirited to Teheran. Mysterious explosions at Israeli missile bases leave scores dead. And a mysterious computer worm leaves the Dimona nuclear reactor virtually incapacitated. Whenever asked about any of these incidents Iranian politicians and military officers smile knowingly while Iranian media are filled with ...
Why Israel's Air Security Model Wouldn't Work In The USA
Post Date: 2010-12-22 11:35:10 by Brian S
14 Comments
For weary holiday travelers coping with the hassles of airport security, some politicians and TV pundits are peddling a simple solution: Just do what the Israelis do. Several members of Congress are praising "the Israeli model" as an alternative to the U.S. screening process. What the Israelis do "is the way it ought to be done," adds Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee. Fox News' Sean Hannity extols the Israelis because "they target, they profile, and they do not have these body checks." OPPOSING VIEW: Follow the Israeli model There's no question the Israeli system has been a success in a country beset by terrorist threats and suicide ...
Islam was Born Out of Child Abuse and Rape
Post Date: 2010-12-21 23:02:05 by WhiteSands
7 Comments
The Senate recently unanimously passed the awkwardly named "International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2010", which obligates the government to track child marriage rates globally and fund programs to reduce it in countries with a child marriage of over 40 percent. The act mentions only one Muslim country by name (Bangladesh), but it may be one of the most 'Islamophobic' pieces of legislation ever voted on by the United States Senate. Islam is the only major world religion where child marriage has the religious sanction of its prophet. Mohammed 'married' Aisha, his most notable wife, when she was six years old. The marriage was ...
The Visionary: Ron Paul
Post Date: 2010-12-20 23:57:43 by Brian S
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The visionary: Ron Paul Question:Considering all spheres of endeavor, who would you nominate as Leader of the Year in 2010? Why? Congressman Ron Paul should be named Leader for 2010. Congressman Paul is a man of character. He does not retreat from his opinion in the face of hostile opposition and corporate-controlled media's "ignore strategy," unlike the rest of the so-called leaders of both major parties. In April 2007, when Fox News hosted the Republican debate held in Florida, there was an effort to assemble an anti-Ron Paul crowd and twice he was booed for his non-interventionist foreign policy. This is a sharp contrast to the feelings of the majority of Americans, ...
NYT's Blow: 'Too Many Liberals Just Want to Whine'
Post Date: 2010-12-19 16:47:58 by WhiteSands
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Charles Blow made some political observations in his New York Times column Saturday that are destined to anger many of his left-leaning readers. Just imagine how the average New York Democrat is going to respond to being told the future of his Party is being jeopardized by the fact that "Too many liberals just want to whine": Now there are twice as many liberal Democrats as conservative ones. Long-term, that may be fine, as demographics work in the Democrats’ favor. But, near-term, this could prove problematic as Republicans and independents grow ever more conservative, and liberals remain by far the smallest ideological group. For one thing, liberalism remains a coastal ...
Oil Spill Hysteria, The Gulf of Mexico suffered remarkably little damage. Why were so many so willing to believe otherwise?
Post Date: 2010-12-18 15:54:18 by WhiteSands
3 Comments
The day after the midterm elections in November, panelists at the University of Maryland School of Public Policy discussed the various factors that had contributed to the Democrats’ losses—most surprisingly, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. One speaker with excellent Democratic connections in Washington noted that top White House staff were consumed by the spill and its political fallout for much of the spring of 2010. As staffers now lamented privately, this had diverted attention from other pressing issues—above all, the sputtering economy. The political fortunes of the Democratic party were not the only collateral damage from the spill. Gulf coast tourism plummeted, ...
Patrick J. Buchanan: Is This Our America Anymore?
Post Date: 2010-12-17 13:34:01 by Brian S
8 Comments
Buried in the Oct. 30 Washington Post was a bland headline: "Report Points to Faster Recovery in Jobs for Immigrants." The story, however, contained social dynamite that explains the rage of Americans who are smeared as nativists and xenophobes for demanding a timeout on immigration. In the April-May-June quarter, foreign-born workers in the U.S. gained 656,000 jobs. And native-born Americans lost 1.2 million. From July 1, 2009, to June 30, 2010, foreign-born Hispanics gained 98,000 construction jobs. Native-born Hispanics lost 133,000. Black and white U.S. construction workers lost 511,000 jobs. According to the Center for Immigration Studies, from Jan. 1, 2000, to Jan. 1, 20 ...
Exclusive: US Empire Could Collapse At Any Time
Post Date: 2010-12-17 12:36:03 by Brian S
2 Comments
America's military and economic empire could collapse at any time, but predicting the precise day, week or month of its potential demise is unattainable, according to a former New York Times war correspondent who spoke with Raw Story. "The when and how is very dangerous to predict because there's always some factor that blindsides you that you didn't expect," Pulitzer-winning journalist Chris Hedges said in an exclusive interview. "It doesn't look good. But exactly how it plays out and when it plays out, having covered disintegrating societies, it's impossible to tell." He explained that he learned this lesson as events unfolded around him in the ...
John Boehner's Crying: Is He Drinking Too Much?
Post Date: 2010-12-16 13:16:43 by Brian S
14 Comments
Incoming House Speaker John Boehner's recent interview on "60 Minutes" with Lesley Stahl, where he once again cried publicly, has created a minor controversy among pundits, with observers trying to figure out the cause of his unusual behavior. Is it depression? Or is Boehner simply in touch with his emotions? Does he wear his heart on his sleeve, or does he cry on a dime because he has a tender spot for all things American? While it's impossible to know, some are beginning to speculate that Boehner's penchant for turning on the waterworks might have some connection to his consumption of wine. Liberal MSNBC host Ed Shultz, half-jokingly, called Boehner a "cheap ...
Open Letter to Goldi: (Bill D Berger)
Post Date: 2010-12-14 18:47:43 by Murron
19 Comments
#107. To: Goldi-Lox (#79) Open letter to Goldi First off, I appreciate the fact that you re-instated my account, although on a probationary status only. Perhaps you actually read the exchanges between myself and Mad Dog that led up to my response, and decided that I was provoked to make my somewhat over-the-top comment to the sleaze-bag. You have been more than gracious by allowing me the privilege of posting again, and under normal circumstances, I would be happy to continue doing so. However, with all due respect, you have capitulated to evil by allowing this once great site to become infested with the likes of mentally disturbed, psychotic, juvenile delinquents like Mad Dog, yukon, ...
The Reemergence of the NeoCons
Post Date: 2010-12-14 13:39:35 by Brian S
3 Comments
Tuesday, December 14, 2010 "Our 'neoconservatives' are neither new nor conservative, but old as Bablyon and evil as Hell." --Edward Abbey If you believed that the NeoCons disappeared after the 2008 election, how soon do you forget? With the next round in the never-ending beltway two-step, the Republican leadership readies their hold of the House of Representatives agenda. The Tea Party freshmen promise to bring a breath of fresh air to a stuffy chamber. Time will tell if their pledge of hope will pan out. What is known with certainty is that the entrenched GOP leadership continues with their dedication to the policies that exemplify their NeoCon mindset. So what is ...
Exclusive: 'The Fourth Estate Is Dead,' Ex-CIA Analyst Declares
Post Date: 2010-12-11 19:21:14 by Brian S
0 Comments
Traditional lines of communication between the people and the press have fallen into such disrepair in America that a whole new approach is necessary to challenge the military-industrial-governmental complex, according to a former CIA analyst sympathetic to WikiLeaks. "The Fourth Estate is dead," Ray McGovern, of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity, told Raw Story in an exclusive interview. "The Fourth Estate in his country has been captured by government and corporations, the military-industrial complex, the intelligence apparatus. Captive! So, there is no Fourth Estate." McGovern explained that the term the "Fourth Estate," known today as the news ...
Swindle of the year (Stealth Stimulus)
Post Date: 2010-12-10 10:34:59 by go65
10 Comments
Barack Obama won the great tax-cut showdown of 2010 - and House Democrats don't have a clue that he did. In the deal struck this week, the president negotiated the biggest stimulus in American history, larger than his $814 billion 2009 stimulus package. It will pump a trillion borrowed Chinese dollars into the U.S. economy over the next two years - which just happen to be the two years of the run-up to the next presidential election. This is a defeat? If Obama had asked for a second stimulus directly, he would have been laughed out of town. Stimulus I was so reviled that the Democrats banished the word from their lexicon throughout the 2010 campaign. And yet, despite a very weak ...
Tea’d Off
Post Date: 2010-12-09 19:19:48 by Brian S
1 Comments
Forfeiting a both-houses Republican victory, rational conservatives ignored or excused the most hateful kind of populist claptrap (e.g., the fetid weirdness of Glenn Beck’s 9/12 Project). The poison they’ve helped disseminate will still be in the American bloodstream when the country needs it least. By Christopher Hitchens•Illustration by Ross MacDonald January 2011 PATRIOT GAMESThe author says of a Tea Party rally, ”I don’t remember ever ...
Why the Obama Tax Deal Confirms the Republican Worldview
Post Date: 2010-12-09 18:48:59 by Brian S
5 Comments
Apart from its extraordinary cost and regressive tilt, the tax deal negotiated between the president and the Republicans has another fatal flaw. It confirms the Republican worldview. Americans want to know what happened to the economy and how to fix it. At least Republicans have a story -- the same one they've been flogging for thirty years. The bad economy is big government's fault and the solution is to shrink government. Here's the real story. For three decades, an increasing share of the benefits of economic growth have gone to the top 1 percent. Thirty years ago, the top got 9 percent of total income. Now they take in almost a quarter. Meanwhile, the earnings of the ...
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