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<p>The Commerce Department reported the April deficit on trade in goods and services was $60.9 billion. This was up from $56.5 billion in March, substantially larger than the 59.5 billion consensus forecast.</p>
<p>The trade deficit was driven up by higher prices for imported oil and a dramatic surge in imports from China. At 5.1 percent of GDP, these pose a significant drag on the economy.</p>
<p>The trade deficit heightens the risk of recession and surging unemployment. Ben Bernanke’s recent comments about oil driven inflation only serve to distract attention from these issues and aggravate risks.</p>
<p>Simply, money spent on Middle East oil and Middle Kingdom consumer goods can’t be spent on U.S. made goods and services. The drag on aggregate demand is every bit as important as the credit crisis and housing adjustment in driving up unemployment. The combined effect of oil imports, the trade deficit and housing adjustment are pushing the economy into recession, and breaking inflation on non-energy products. That is why core inflation, prices less food and energy, stays in check.</p>
<p>Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke in recent comments has emphasized that western central banks stand ready to resist oil induced recession, when in fact oil price increases are far beyond the control of the Federal Reserve and other central banks to affect. This is causing markets to factor in Federal Reserve increases in the federal funds rate by the end of the year, just as the economy is sliding into recession.</p>
<p>China is subsidizing oil imports, without regard to spot prices in international markets, and controlling domestic gasoline prices with the dollars it purchases with yuan. It undertakes the latter purchases to keep the yuan undervalued against the dollar and boost exports. Hence, consumers in country contributing most to growing demand for oil, China, are wholly insulated from rising oil prices. As oil prices rises, the Chinese drive prices even higher with their subsidies. Bernanke should talk about that if he wants to do something about oil driven inflation.</p>
<p>Instead, Bernanke’s words cause markets to believe the Fed will raise interest rates as we travel into a recession and this drives equity prices down, compounding the panic created by rising oil prices.</p>
<p>Raising interest rates now would be the kind of policy the Federal Reserve pursued in 1929. Is that the kind of signal a central banker and student of the Great Depression wants to send to fragile markets?</p>
<p>If Bernanke wants to do something about both the recession and inflation, he should focus on Chinese purchases of dollars with yuan, which boost exports to the United States, and Chinese subsidies on oil imports with those dollars, which drive up global oil prices. Together, these are driving up the trade deficit, exacerbating the recession and driving up U.S. gas prices.</p>
<p>Were the Chinese yuan problem solved, the trade deficit could be cut by a third, and that would boost U.S. GDP by about $250 to $500 billion GDP.</p>
<p>Breaking down the Deficit</p>
<p>Together, petroleum, China and automotive products account for nearly the entire U.S. trade deficit, and no solution to the overall trade imbalance is possible without addressing these segments.</p>
<p>Petroleum products accounted for $34.5 billion of the monthly trade gap, on a seasonally adjusted basis, up from 30.2 in March. Since December 2001, net petroleum imports have increased $30.0 billion, as the average price of a barrel of imported oil has risen from $15.46 to $96.81, and monthly imports have increased from 353 million to 388 million barrels.</p>
<p>Retuning conventional gasoline engines and transmissions, hybrid systems, lighter weight vehicles, nuclear power, and other alternative energy sources could substantially reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil. These solutions require national leadership, but both Republican and Democratic Party leaders have failed to champion policies that would reduce dependence on Middle East oil.</p>
<p>In 2007, the Congress managed to push through the first increase in automobile mileage standards in 32 years but don’t cheer loudly. The 35 mile-per-gallon standard to be achieved by 2020 is far less than what is possible.</p>
<p>The bill also requires the production of about 2.4 million barrels a day of ethanol. Along with other conservation measures, the 2007 Energy Act could reduce U.S. petroleum consumption by 4 million barrels a day by 2030. Over the last 23 years, petroleum consumption has increased by about 5.5 million barrels a day, despite improvements in mileage standards, automobile and appliance technology, and conservation.</p>
<p>Being optimistic, in 2030 the United States will be just as dependent on imported oil as before without stronger conservation and alternative fuel policies. Factor in falling production from U.S. oil fields, the situation gets worse.</p>
<p>China accounted for $20.2 billion of the April trade deficit, up from $16.1 billion in March and $5.5 billion in December 2001. The bilateral deficit is rising, because China undervalues the yuan, and this makes Chinese exports artificially inexpensive and U.S. products too expensive in China. U.S. imports from China exceed exports to China by a ratio of 4.5 to 1.</p>
<p>China revalued the yuan from 8.28 to 8.11 in July 2005 and has permitted the yuan to rise less than 5 percent every twelve months. Modernization and productivity advances raise the implicit value of the yuan much more than 5 percent every 12 months, and the yuan remains undervalued against the dollar by at least 40 percent.</p>
<p>China’s huge trade surplus creates an excess demand for yuan on global currency markets; however, to limit appreciation of the yuan against the dollar and drive its value down against the euro, the Peoples Bank of China sells yuan and buys dollars, euros and other currencies on foreign exchange markets.</p>
<p>In 2007, the Chinese government purchased $462 billion in U.S. and other foreign currency and securities. This comes to about 14 percent of China’s GDP and about 35 percent of its exports of goods and services. These purchases provide foreign consumers with 3.5 trillion yuan to purchase Chinese exports, and create a 35 percent “off budget” subsidy on foreign sales of Chinese products, and an even larger implicit tariff on Chinese imports.</p>
<p>In addition, China provides numerous tax incentives and rebates, and low interest loans, to encourage exports and replace imports with domestic products. These practices clearly violate China’s obligations in the WTO, and it agreed to remove those when it joined the trade body.</p>
<p>Automotive products account for about 11 billion of the monthly trade deficit. Japanese and Korean manufacturers have captured a larger market and are expanding their U.S. production. However, Asian manufacturers tend to use more imported components than domestic companies, and GM and Ford are pushing their parts suppliers to move to China.</p>
<p>GM, Ford and Chrysler still carry a significant cost disadvantages against Toyota plants located in the United States, thanks to clumsy management and unrealistic wages, excessive fringe benefits and arcane work rules imposed by United Autoworker contracts. Recent negotiations have improved the Detroit Three’s cost position but did not wholly close the labor cost gap with Toyota and other Asian transplants.</p>
<p>Recently negotiated labor agreements should reduce, but not eliminate, these cost disadvantages. Even with retiree health care benefits moved off the books and a two tier wage structure, the cost disadvantage will remain at least $1000 per vehicle.</p>
<p>Also, the Bank of Japan has aggressively stepped up sales of yen and won for U.S. dollars and other securities to keep their currencies cheap against the dollar. This discourages Toyota and others from moving more auto assembly and sourcing more parts in the United States.</p>
<p>Deficits, Debt and Growth</p>
<p>Trade deficits must be financed by foreigners investing in the U.S. economy or Americans borrowing money abroad. Direct investments in the United States provide only about a tenth of the needed funds, and Americans borrow about $50 billion each month. The total debt is about $6.5 trillion, and at five percent interest, the debt service comes to about $2000 per U.S. worker each year.</p>
<p>High and rising trade deficits tax economic growth. Each dollar spent on imports, not matched by a dollar of exports, shifts workers into activities in non-trade competing industries like department stores and restaurants.</p>
<p>Manufacturers are particularly hard hit by this subsidized competition. Through recession and recovery, the manufacturing sector has lost 3.7 million jobs since 2000. Following the pattern of past economic recoveries, the manufacturing sector should have regained more than 2 million of those jobs, especially given the very strong productivity growth accomplished in technology-intensive durable goods industries.</p>
<p>Productivity is at least 50 percent higher in industries that export and compete with imports. By reducing the demand for high-skill and technology-intensive products, and U.S. made goods and services, the deficit reduces GDP by at least $250 billion a year or about $1750 for each worker.</p>
<p>Longer-term, persistent U.S. trade deficits are a substantial drag on growth. U.S. import-competing and export industries spend at least three-times the national average on industrial R&amp;D, and encourage more investments in skills and education than other sectors of the economy. By shifting employment away from trade-competing industries, the trade deficit reduces U.S. investments in new methods and products, and skilled labor.</p>
<p>Cutting the trade deficit in half would boost U.S. GDP growth by one percentage point a year, and the trade deficits of the last two decades have reduced U.S. growth by one percentage point a year.</p>
<p>Lost growth is cumulative. Thanks to the record trade deficits accumulated over the last 10 years, the U.S. economy is about $1.5 trillion smaller. This comes to about $10000 per worker.</p>
<p>The damage grows larger each month, as the Bush administration dallies and ignores the corrosive consequences of the trade deficit.</p>
<p>PETER MORICI is a professor at the University of Maryland School of Business and former Chief Economist at the U.S. International Trade Commission.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | commerce department reported april deficit trade goods services 609 billion 565 billion march substantially larger 595 billion consensus forecast trade deficit driven higher prices imported oil dramatic surge imports china 51 percent gdp pose significant drag economy trade deficit heightens risk recession surging unemployment ben bernankes recent comments oil driven inflation serve distract attention issues aggravate risks simply money spent middle east oil middle kingdom consumer goods cant spent us made goods services drag aggregate demand every bit important credit crisis housing adjustment driving unemployment combined effect oil imports trade deficit housing adjustment pushing economy recession breaking inflation nonenergy products core inflation prices less food energy stays check federal reserve chairman ben bernanke recent comments emphasized western central banks stand ready resist oil induced recession fact oil price increases far beyond control federal reserve central banks affect causing markets factor federal reserve increases federal funds rate end year economy sliding recession china subsidizing oil imports without regard spot prices international markets controlling domestic gasoline prices dollars purchases yuan undertakes latter purchases keep yuan undervalued dollar boost exports hence consumers country contributing growing demand oil china wholly insulated rising oil prices oil prices rises chinese drive prices even higher subsidies bernanke talk wants something oil driven inflation instead bernankes words cause markets believe fed raise interest rates travel recession drives equity prices compounding panic created rising oil prices raising interest rates would kind policy federal reserve pursued 1929 kind signal central banker student great depression wants send fragile markets bernanke wants something recession inflation focus chinese purchases dollars yuan boost exports united states chinese subsidies oil imports dollars drive global oil prices together driving trade deficit exacerbating recession driving us gas prices chinese yuan problem solved trade deficit could cut third would boost us gdp 250 500 billion gdp breaking deficit together petroleum china automotive products account nearly entire us trade deficit solution overall trade imbalance possible without addressing segments petroleum products accounted 345 billion monthly trade gap seasonally adjusted basis 302 march since december 2001 net petroleum imports increased 300 billion average price barrel imported oil risen 1546 9681 monthly imports increased 353 million 388 million barrels retuning conventional gasoline engines transmissions hybrid systems lighter weight vehicles nuclear power alternative energy sources could substantially reduce us dependence foreign oil solutions require national leadership republican democratic party leaders failed champion policies would reduce dependence middle east oil 2007 congress managed push first increase automobile mileage standards 32 years dont cheer loudly 35 milepergallon standard achieved 2020 far less possible bill also requires production 24 million barrels day ethanol along conservation measures 2007 energy act could reduce us petroleum consumption 4 million barrels day 2030 last 23 years petroleum consumption increased 55 million barrels day despite improvements mileage standards automobile appliance technology conservation optimistic 2030 united states dependent imported oil without stronger conservation alternative fuel policies factor falling production us oil fields situation gets worse china accounted 202 billion april trade deficit 161 billion march 55 billion december 2001 bilateral deficit rising china undervalues yuan makes chinese exports artificially inexpensive us products expensive china us imports china exceed exports china ratio 45 1 china revalued yuan 828 811 july 2005 permitted yuan rise less 5 percent every twelve months modernization productivity advances raise implicit value yuan much 5 percent every 12 months yuan remains undervalued dollar least 40 percent chinas huge trade surplus creates excess demand yuan global currency markets however limit appreciation yuan dollar drive value euro peoples bank china sells yuan buys dollars euros currencies foreign exchange markets 2007 chinese government purchased 462 billion us foreign currency securities comes 14 percent chinas gdp 35 percent exports goods services purchases provide foreign consumers 35 trillion yuan purchase chinese exports create 35 percent budget subsidy foreign sales chinese products even larger implicit tariff chinese imports addition china provides numerous tax incentives rebates low interest loans encourage exports replace imports domestic products practices clearly violate chinas obligations wto agreed remove joined trade body automotive products account 11 billion monthly trade deficit japanese korean manufacturers captured larger market expanding us production however asian manufacturers tend use imported components domestic companies gm ford pushing parts suppliers move china gm ford chrysler still carry significant cost disadvantages toyota plants located united states thanks clumsy management unrealistic wages excessive fringe benefits arcane work rules imposed united autoworker contracts recent negotiations improved detroit threes cost position wholly close labor cost gap toyota asian transplants recently negotiated labor agreements reduce eliminate cost disadvantages even retiree health care benefits moved books two tier wage structure cost disadvantage remain least 1000 per vehicle also bank japan aggressively stepped sales yen us dollars securities keep currencies cheap dollar discourages toyota others moving auto assembly sourcing parts united states deficits debt growth trade deficits must financed foreigners investing us economy americans borrowing money abroad direct investments united states provide tenth needed funds americans borrow 50 billion month total debt 65 trillion five percent interest debt service comes 2000 per us worker year high rising trade deficits tax economic growth dollar spent imports matched dollar exports shifts workers activities nontrade competing industries like department stores restaurants manufacturers particularly hard hit subsidized competition recession recovery manufacturing sector lost 37 million jobs since 2000 following pattern past economic recoveries manufacturing sector regained 2 million jobs especially given strong productivity growth accomplished technologyintensive durable goods industries productivity least 50 percent higher industries export compete imports reducing demand highskill technologyintensive products us made goods services deficit reduces gdp least 250 billion year 1750 worker longerterm persistent us trade deficits substantial drag growth us importcompeting export industries spend least threetimes national average industrial rampd encourage investments skills education sectors economy shifting employment away tradecompeting industries trade deficit reduces us investments new methods products skilled labor cutting trade deficit half would boost us gdp growth one percentage point year trade deficits last two decades reduced us growth one percentage point year lost growth cumulative thanks record trade deficits accumulated last 10 years us economy 15 trillion smaller comes 10000 per worker damage grows larger month bush administration dallies ignores corrosive consequences trade deficit peter morici professor university maryland school business former chief economist us international trade commission 160 ad 160 160 160 160 160 | 1,034 |
<p>Back in March of 2006, South Dakota State Senator Bill Napoli described the rare circumstances in which he felt an abortion might be permissible: “A real-life description to me would be a rape victim, brutally raped, savaged. The girl was a virgin. She was religious. She planned on saving her virginity until she was married. She was brutalized and raped, sodomized as bad as you can possibly make it.”</p>
<p>Earlier this month, Senator Sam Brownback, a prominent and “legitimate” contender for the Republican presidential nomination went even further, saying, “Rape is terrible. Rape is awful. Is it made any better by killing an innocent child? Does it solve the problem for the woman that’s been raped? … We need to protect innocent life. Period.”</p>
<p>Not That Exceptional</p>
<p>As shocking as these statements sound, the reality is that Brownback and Napoli’s comments are not that exceptional. Despite the fact that enough women in this country have been the victims of rape or attempted rape to more than fill the entire cities of New York and Los Angeles as well as the states of Minnesota, Alabama, Wyoming, and Utah, to this “pro-life” movement, a look at dozens of websites of the leading “pro-life” organizations, including the National Right to Life Coalition, Feminists for Life, Pro-Life America, Focus on the Family, and others, reveals that they all oppose abortion even for victims of rape.</p>
<p>At its core and from its inception, the “pro-life” movement has been driven forward by biblical values that insist on the domination of women by men and that women’s essential role is as breeders of children. This has been true from the days of major clinic blockades where Christian fascist groups like Operation Rescue would lead crowds to pray for god to “break the curse of independence” on women to the most recent Supreme Court ruling restricting late-term abortion that claims to be “protecting” the interests of women by forcing them to have children they may not want. These forces have been brought into the ruling structures of society on all levels–and have much initiative in implementing their program.</p>
<p>People need to ask themselves: what have things come to when a “legitimate” candidate for President of the US can seriously put forward such a program and it is not met with resounding outrage and opposition? And what does it mean when the debate over abortion can be framed by whether or not women who become pregnant through rape should be allowed to have an abortion? How did we get to this?</p>
<p>The real question in the battle around abortion is this: Will women be forced to bear children against their will? Without control over their own reproduction–without abortion on demand and without apology–women cannot be free. The movement that wants to ban abortion is not motivated by any concern for life. The fact that there is not a single “pro-life” organization in the country that upholds the right to birth control for women shows that what this movement is really all about is taking away a woman’s right to control her own reproduction.</p>
<p>The Deadly Path of Compromise and Ceding the Moral High Ground</p>
<p>This assault on women’s lives has been assisted at every point along the way by some in the “opposition” who have conceded to the moral and political terms advanced by those seeking to subjugate women and who have refused to take on the barbaric biblical literalist lunacy of the “pro-life” movement.</p>
<p>For years, the Democrats and way too much of the pro-choice movement have accepted the lie that there is something morally wrong with abortion. Bill Clinton implied this when he brought forward the slogan “safe, legal and rare” and Hillary Clinton took this even further when she said that abortion is a “tragic” choice. In a similar vein, many, like Planned Parenthood, have increasingly taken to defending birth control against growing attacks by arguing that it is the most effective way to prevent abortions.</p>
<p>Two things about this must be said. First, fetuses are NOT people. A fetus is a subordinate part of a woman’s body and has the potential to become a human being only by developing over the course of months as a subordinate part of her biological processes. Aborting a fetus is NOT murder and it is not something that should be apologized for. Abortion and birth control are absolutely necessary to women’s ability to control their own lives and destinies and as such they are liberating and very good things!</p>
<p>Second, too many abortions taking place is not the problem we face! 87% of counties in this country do not have any abortion access. Several states only have one abortion clinic and most of these isolated clinics are under constant siege, repeatedly bogged down in politically motivated legal reviews and restrictions. The women who seek their services confront countless legislative and financial obstacles. Due to the physical and legal threats against doctors who provide abortions and the lack of abortion training in most medical school curricula, the number of doctors trained and willing to provide abortions is shrinking. Far from needing to reduce the number of abortions, what is needed is a robust fight to dramatically extend safe and unstigmatized abortion access!</p>
<p>The conciliation by many in leadership of the pro-choice movement with the notion that there is something undesirable about terminating a pregnancy, and that abortion should be reduced, has had a disarming effect on this country’s pro-choice majority. It has had a devastating impact on the thinking of millions that pro-choice organizations have failed to wage an unrelenting and unapologetic battle against this ideological assault, and instead have continued to funnel their energies and resources into supporting what they insist is “the best we can hope for””Democrats who refuse to stand up against this Christian fascist juggernaut.</p>
<p>For example, a new documentary, Unborn in America, details many of the tactics of the anti-abortion movement (beginning, significantly, with a Focus on the Family training session discussing why abortion is wrong even in cases of rape). What was striking, and heartbreakingly frustrating, in watching this film was both the level of widespread rage among the people against the assaults on women’s reproductive freedom and the lack of any coherent ideological or political opposition to these assaults. Over and over again, pro-choice people were shown confronting the anti-abortion activists with tremendous anger and disgust, but over and over again they themselves acknowledged they think abortion is something that should be avoided and reduced.</p>
<p>The nightmarish impact of this conciliatory trajectory on people’s lives can be seen starkly in the Democrats’ refusal to filibuster the appointments of either Justices Roberts or Alito last year. The result has been a recent draconian ruling by the Supreme Court upholding a ban on a procedure dishonestly called “Partial Birth Abortion,” criminalizing a procedure that reduces pain, risk of complications, and even death for women having abortions. Justice Kennedy enshrined much of the logic that views women primarily as breeders into legal precedent when he wrote, for the majority, that the state has an interest in fostering a “respect for life,” and that “Respect for human life finds an ultimate expression in the bond the mother has for her child.” This decision will certainly cause some women to die for lack of the necessary medical procedure and lay the basis for sending the doctors who try to help them to jail. Even more ominously, it has laid the basis for further moves to elevate the “rights of the fetus” as equal to or above those of women. In a very real way, this decision is a big step towards bringing into being the kind of Bible-inspired future Brownback and Napoli are advocating.</p>
<p>What About What the Bible Says?</p>
<p>The Bible (and the Koran, the Torah, and other major religious works) present creation myths that reflect both people’s ignorance at the time of how humans evolved, and the interests of a rising exploitive class that embedded patriarchy (the domination of women and the family by men) into the structures and culture of society. In other words, what the Bible says is reactionary and oppressive, and it’s not true. The moral code in the Bible (and other major religious texts) reflects (and enforces) the way that society was organized at the time, with widespread slavery and extreme oppression of women.</p>
<p>The Bible blames women for the “fall of man,” claiming Eve lured Adam into biting the forbidden fruit and thus getting cast out of the mythical Garden of Eden. As punishment for this alleged wickedness, “god” decides to make child-birth excruciatingly painful and to insist that a woman’s “husbandwill rule over her.” (Genesis 3:16) Later, in 1 Timothy 2:14-15 the Bible explains the way for a woman to be redeemed for having committed the original sin is “through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.” In this way, the Bible insists that women’s particularly sinful nature necessitates their tight domination by men and enshrines child-bearing as the most essential and god-ordained role for women. Flowing from this, anything a woman does to control her own body, her own sexuality, or her own reproduction is a violation of god’s will.</p>
<p>On the other hand, all kinds of things done by men–including brutal and violent things–to control the lives, sexuality, and reproduction of women are not only upheld but insisted on in the Bible. (See Numbers 31:7-18 or Deuteronomy 20:10-14, for instance, for examples of rape being commanded as a tool of war.)</p>
<p>This view of women is at the core of the anti-abortion movement and this is why, for all their many faces and all their shifting angles of attack, the movement to end abortion has increasingly brought people like Brownback and Napoli into the mainstream.</p>
<p>Two Fundamentally Opposed Views on Women</p>
<p>There is absolutely no reason to seek any kind of compromise with anti-abortion forces or to accommodate in any way with their exaltation of traditional values. Instead, what is needed is an uncompromising and unapologetic repudiation and rejection of this framework</p>
<p>Either we will live in a society centered on the idea, and corresponding laws, that women’s fundamental role is that of breeders of children and the property of men, together with all the attendant brutality, degradation, shame and rape–OR–we will fight to create a society in which women are recognized as full and equal human beings in every regard, free to play a full role in engaging in all realms of life, and revolutionizing society–not being “mommies first.” This kind of society requires that women have complete control over their own reproduction and lays the basis for putting an end to the oppression of women, including the epidemic of rape.</p>
<p>Having children, when it is planned and wanted, can bring a lot of joy. But being forced, pressured or shamed into having a child is a form of forcible control over a woman’s body and life that is no less oppressive than rape.</p>
<p>In today’s situation, it is not enough to profess opposition to the most extreme wing of the anti-abortion movement. One must go on the political, ideological and practical offensive against the whole package of biblical-literalist and traditional values–together with waging an uncompromising struggle for abortion and birth control on demand.</p>
<p>And a whole different, liberating vision of a society where the chains that bind women are shattered, where women and men relate with equality and mutual respect, and where together we set out to put an end to all forms of injustice and exploitation must be brought forward and fought for.</p>
<p>SUNSARA TAYLOR writes for <a href="http://www.revcom.us/" type="external">Revolution Newspaper</a> and sits on the Advisory Board of <a href="http://www.worldcantwait.org/" type="external">The World Can’t Wait ­ Drive Out the Bush Regime</a>. She can be reached at: <a href="mailto:sunsarasworld@yahoo.com" type="external">sunsarasworld@yahoo.com</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | back march 2006 south dakota state senator bill napoli described rare circumstances felt abortion might permissible reallife description would rape victim brutally raped savaged girl virgin religious planned saving virginity married brutalized raped sodomized bad possibly make earlier month senator sam brownback prominent legitimate contender republican presidential nomination went even saying rape terrible rape awful made better killing innocent child solve problem woman thats raped need protect innocent life period exceptional shocking statements sound reality brownback napolis comments exceptional despite fact enough women country victims rape attempted rape fill entire cities new york los angeles well states minnesota alabama wyoming utah prolife movement look dozens websites leading prolife organizations including national right life coalition feminists life prolife america focus family others reveals oppose abortion even victims rape core inception prolife movement driven forward biblical values insist domination women men womens essential role breeders children true days major clinic blockades christian fascist groups like operation rescue would lead crowds pray god break curse independence women recent supreme court ruling restricting lateterm abortion claims protecting interests women forcing children may want forces brought ruling structures society levelsand much initiative implementing program people need ask things come legitimate candidate president us seriously put forward program met resounding outrage opposition mean debate abortion framed whether women become pregnant rape allowed abortion get real question battle around abortion women forced bear children without control reproductionwithout abortion demand without apologywomen free movement wants ban abortion motivated concern life fact single prolife organization country upholds right birth control women shows movement really taking away womans right control reproduction deadly path compromise ceding moral high ground assault womens lives assisted every point along way opposition conceded moral political terms advanced seeking subjugate women refused take barbaric biblical literalist lunacy prolife movement years democrats way much prochoice movement accepted lie something morally wrong abortion bill clinton implied brought forward slogan safe legal rare hillary clinton took even said abortion tragic choice similar vein many like planned parenthood increasingly taken defending birth control growing attacks arguing effective way prevent abortions two things must said first fetuses people fetus subordinate part womans body potential become human developing course months subordinate part biological processes aborting fetus murder something apologized abortion birth control absolutely necessary womens ability control lives destinies liberating good things second many abortions taking place problem face 87 counties country abortion access several states one abortion clinic isolated clinics constant siege repeatedly bogged politically motivated legal reviews restrictions women seek services confront countless legislative financial obstacles due physical legal threats doctors provide abortions lack abortion training medical school curricula number doctors trained willing provide abortions shrinking far needing reduce number abortions needed robust fight dramatically extend safe unstigmatized abortion access conciliation many leadership prochoice movement notion something undesirable terminating pregnancy abortion reduced disarming effect countrys prochoice majority devastating impact thinking millions prochoice organizations failed wage unrelenting unapologetic battle ideological assault instead continued funnel energies resources supporting insist best hope fordemocrats refuse stand christian fascist juggernaut example new documentary unborn america details many tactics antiabortion movement beginning significantly focus family training session discussing abortion wrong even cases rape striking heartbreakingly frustrating watching film level widespread rage among people assaults womens reproductive freedom lack coherent ideological political opposition assaults prochoice people shown confronting antiabortion activists tremendous anger disgust acknowledged think abortion something avoided reduced nightmarish impact conciliatory trajectory peoples lives seen starkly democrats refusal filibuster appointments either justices roberts alito last year result recent draconian ruling supreme court upholding ban procedure dishonestly called partial birth abortion criminalizing procedure reduces pain risk complications even death women abortions justice kennedy enshrined much logic views women primarily breeders legal precedent wrote majority state interest fostering respect life respect human life finds ultimate expression bond mother child decision certainly cause women die lack necessary medical procedure lay basis sending doctors try help jail even ominously laid basis moves elevate rights fetus equal women real way decision big step towards bringing kind bibleinspired future brownback napoli advocating bible says bible koran torah major religious works present creation myths reflect peoples ignorance time humans evolved interests rising exploitive class embedded patriarchy domination women family men structures culture society words bible says reactionary oppressive true moral code bible major religious texts reflects enforces way society organized time widespread slavery extreme oppression women bible blames women fall man claiming eve lured adam biting forbidden fruit thus getting cast mythical garden eden punishment alleged wickedness god decides make childbirth excruciatingly painful insist womans husbandwill rule genesis 316 later 1 timothy 21415 bible explains way woman redeemed committed original sin bearing children continue faith love sanctity selfrestraint way bible insists womens particularly sinful nature necessitates tight domination men enshrines childbearing essential godordained role women flowing anything woman control body sexuality reproduction violation gods hand kinds things done menincluding brutal violent thingsto control lives sexuality reproduction women upheld insisted bible see numbers 31718 deuteronomy 201014 instance examples rape commanded tool war view women core antiabortion movement many faces shifting angles attack movement end abortion increasingly brought people like brownback napoli mainstream two fundamentally opposed views women absolutely reason seek kind compromise antiabortion forces accommodate way exaltation traditional values instead needed uncompromising unapologetic repudiation rejection framework either live society centered idea corresponding laws womens fundamental role breeders children property men together attendant brutality degradation shame rapeorwe fight create society women recognized full equal human beings every regard free play full role engaging realms life revolutionizing societynot mommies first kind society requires women complete control reproduction lays basis putting end oppression women including epidemic rape children planned wanted bring lot joy forced pressured shamed child form forcible control womans body life less oppressive rape todays situation enough profess opposition extreme wing antiabortion movement one must go political ideological practical offensive whole package biblicalliteralist traditional valuestogether waging uncompromising struggle abortion birth control demand whole different liberating vision society chains bind women shattered women men relate equality mutual respect together set put end forms injustice exploitation must brought forward fought sunsara taylor writes revolution newspaper sits advisory board world cant wait drive bush regime reached sunsarasworldyahoocom 160 160 | 1,011 |
<p>By Laura Gottesdieners / TomDispatch</p>
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<p>&#160; &#160; An employee of Doctors Without Borders stands among the charred remains of a hospital hit by a U.S. airstrike in Kunduz, Afghanistan. (Najim Rahim / AP)</p>
<p>This piece first appeared at TomDispatch. Read Tom Engelhardt’s introduction <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/176069/tomgram%3A_laura_gottesdiener%2C_the_angel_of_death/#more" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>When people ask me what my new job is like, I tell them that I wake up very early and count the dead. When I say “very early,” I mean a few minutes after four a.m., as the sky is just softening to the color of faded purple corduroy.&#160; By “the dead,” I mostly mean people across the world that my government has killed or helped another nation’s government kill while I was sleeping.</p>
<p>Once I was a freelance reporter, spending weeks or months covering a single story. Today, I’m a news producer at Democracy Now! and, from the moment I arrive at the office, I’m scouring the wire services for the latest casualties from Washington’s war zones. It’s a disconcerting job for someone used to reporting stories on the ground. As I cull through the headlines — “ <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/5b0ea17e68784a19b60bb5832f632778/suspected-us-drone-strike-kills-4-militants-pakistan" type="external">Suspected U.S. drone strike kills 4 militants in Pakistan</a>”; “ <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/us-troops-dispatched-to-kunduz-to-help-afghan-forces/2015/09/30/ea7768f2-66e5-11e5-9223-70cb36460919_story.html" type="external">U.S. troops dispatched to Kunduz to help Afghan forces</a>” — I’ve never felt so close to this country’s various combat zones. And yet I’m thousands of miles away.</p>
<p>Usually, I try to avoid talking about our wars once I leave the office. After all, what do I know? I wasn’t there when the American gunship began firing on that hospital Doctors Without Borders ran in Kunduz, and I didn’t get there afterwards either.&#160; Nor was I in Yemen’s Saada province a few weeks later when a Doctors Without Borders health clinic was bombed.</p>
<p>If you live here and don’t listen to Democracy Now!, odds are you didn’t even know that second strike happened. How is it possible, I think to myself, that bombing medical facilities isn’t front-page news? On that gutted clinic in Yemen, however, I can’t tell you much more. I know that the strike was carried out by U.S.-backed, Saudi-led forces, and that it happened only a few days after the Obama administration <a href="file://localhost/reutershttp/::www.reuters.com:article:2015:10:20:us-lockheed-saudi-warships-idUSKCN0SE1FD20151020#2wMuVeOF6XXBPFGT.99" type="external">approved</a> an $11.25 billion arms deal with Saudi Arabia. But I don’t know what the air felt like that evening just before the missile hit the maternity ward.</p>
<p>Still, when your job is to chronicle these wars each morning, how can you not say something? How can you not start writing when our wars become all you think about, something you begin to dream about? How can you not respond when you realize, as I did recently, that the longest of them, the (second) U.S. war in Afghanistan, has stretched on for nearly half my life?</p>
<p>All this is my way of telling you that I need to talk to you about Kunduz.</p>
<p>A Calm Night in October</p>
<p>Like any good story, there’s what happened — and then there’s the version you’re asked to believe. Let’s start with the first one.</p>
<p>On Friday, October 2nd, staff members from the trauma center in Kunduz, Afghanistan, climbed to the roof of that hospital and laid out two large flags with the name of their organization: Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), the Nobel-Prize-winning medical-humanitarian aid organization best known by its French acronym MSF. This wasn’t something the workers could have done days earlier. The previous Monday, September 28th, Taliban fighters had unexpectedly seized control of the fifth largest city in Afghanistan, as up to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/29/world/asia/taliban-fighters-enter-city-of-kunduz-in-northern-afghanistan.html" type="external">7,000 government troops</a> and police fled. Over the next days, the Afghan government’s efforts to retake the city sparked intense fighting between the Taliban and government troops backed by U.S. Special Operations forces.</p>
<p>As that fighting grew closer to the hospital, stray bullets pierced the ceiling of the intensive care unit and MSF staff were instructed to sleep inside the hospital compound. If any of them left, it was feared, they might be unable to safely return to work the next day.</p>
<p>And there was plenty of work to be done. One hundred wounded patients arrived on Monday — 36 of them in critical condition. The staff added 18 extra beds. Over the next four days, another 250 patients cycled through the emergency room alone. The building was so overcapacity that staff members put mattresses and pillows in corridors and administrative offices.</p>
<p>Fighter jets could be heard roaring overhead as the U.S. began launching airstrikes in support of the Afghan army’s haphazard efforts to retake the city. Most of the hospital’s staff refrained from even stepping outside.</p>
<p>By Friday, however, the fighting began to recede from the area around the hospital, and staff members felt safer climbing to the roof to spread out the flags in order to ensure that the facility would be identifiable from the air. The organization had also sent the hospital’s GPS coordinates to the U.S. Department of Defense, the Afghan Ministries of Interior and Defense, and the U.S. Army in Kabul four days earlier. The markers were just considered one more level of protection.</p>
<p>The hospital itself couldn’t be missed. Its lights blazed throughout Friday night and into the early hours of Saturday morning as doctors tried to tackle a “ <a href="https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/sites/usa/files/msf_kunduz_review.pdf" type="external">backlog</a> of pending surgeries.” Outside the compound’s walls, the rest of the city, home to 270,000 inhabitants, was mostly dark. After a week of fighting, the hospital was one of the few buildings in the area that still had running generators and so the power to light itself. It was a relatively calm night, slightly overcast and unseasonably warm for early October. The sound of gunfire had receded, and some staff members even dared to step outside for the first time in days.</p>
<p>“The Single Deadliest Aircraft”</p>
<p>The explosions began just as staff members were putting patients under anesthesia in the operating room.</p>
<p>At 2:19 a.m., a representative of MSF in Kabul called the American-led NATO mission to Afghanistan to say that the hospital was being bombed. A minute later, an MSF representative called the Red Cross, then the United Nations. From New York, a member of MSF called the Pentagon.</p>
<p>We don’t know what was happening inside the Pentagon that night. We do know that, back in Kunduz, a U.S. AC-130 gunship was circling above the hospital’s main building.</p>
<p>The low-flying AC-130 is equipped with cannons and a 105-mm howitzer. It can fly at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour, but it’s designed, above all, to circle close to the ground while firing at targets below. As an article in the Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/10/05/afghan-forces-requested-airstrike-that-hit-hospital-in-kunduz/" type="external">explained</a>, “The AC-130 essentially loiters over a target at around 7,000 feet, flying in a circle and firing from weapons ports mounted on the aircraft’s left side.”</p>
<p>The gunship is specially designed for night missions. The plane is equipped with infrared sensors, while its crew of 12 (or so) sport night-vision goggles. Manufactured by Lockheed Martin and Boeing, the older version of the plane, the AC-130H Spectre, <a href="http://www.apple.com" type="external">cost</a> $110 million apiece, while the newer AC-130U Spooky version goes for $210 million. One Special Operations Air Force captain <a href="http://www.cannon.af.mil/News/ArticleDisplay/tabid/136/Article/589815/air-commandos-retire-final-ac-130h-spectre-gunship.aspx" type="external">described</a> the gunship as “the single deadliest aircraft and flying squadron in the war on terrorism.” In 2002, this same type of gunship <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2015/10/05/afghan-forces-requested-airstrike-that-hit-hospital-in-kunduz/" type="external">fired</a> on a wedding party in Afghanistan’s Helmand province, killing more than 40 people.</p>
<p>Versions of the gunship have been in use by the U.S. military since the Vietnam War. An older model, which flew in Operation Desert Storm, the first Gulf War, is now on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. It was dubbed <a href="http://www.456fis.org/AC-130A_SPECTRE.htm" type="external">Azrael</a>, which in both Hebrew and Arabic means the Angel of Death.</p>
<p>At 2:47 a.m., a representative from MSF in Kabul texted the American-led mission to Afghanistan that one of the Kunduz hospital’s staff members had just died, that many were missing, and that the trauma center was still under repeated fire.</p>
<p>Five minutes later, someone from the mission texted back: “I’m sorry to hear that. I still do not know what happened.”</p>
<p>At this point, the U.S. gunship above had been firing on the hospital’s main building on and off for more than 45 minutes. The strikes were, according to MSF Director of Operations Bart Janssens, very precise. “[The gunship] came four or five times over the hospital, and every time extremely precisely hit with a series of impacts on the main building of the hospital,” he told <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2015/10/5/war_crime_in_afghanistan_outrage_after" type="external">Reuters.</a></p>
<p>Surviving staff members recall that the first room to be attacked was the intensive care unit, which then held a number of patients, including two children. The strikes next hit the lab, the emergency room, the X-ray room, the mental health center, and the operating theaters, where two patients were lying on the operating tables. Both were killed.</p>
<p>Everyone capable of fleeing tried to do so: doctors, staff, patients.&#160; One man in a wheelchair was killed by flying shrapnel. Some people were on fire as they ran. One staff member was decapitated. As people fled the building, doctors and medical staff were hit by fire from the plane. Some who survived had the impression, from the sound of the plane, that it was following them as they ran.</p>
<p>“A Purpose to Kill and Destroy”</p>
<p>MSF’s hospital had been a fixture in Kunduz since August 2011, the only medical facility in the region. A photo snapped a few months after its opening showed a large sign affixed to the front gate of the compound: “The MSF Trauma Centre will prioritize treatment for war-wounded and other seriously injured persons, without regard to their ethnicity or political affiliations, and determined solely by their medical needs. No fee charged.” Above the text was an image of an automatic rifle surrounded by a red circle with two thick lines through it, indicating the hospital’s and the organization’s strict no-weapons policy in its facilities.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463710/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external" />Doctors Without Borders opened the facility two years after it returned to Afghanistan. In 2004, the organization had pulled out of the country after five of its workers were killed in a roadside ambush in Badghis Province. In 2009, the group returned and began supporting a hospital in Kabul. Upon its reentry, Michiel Hofman, then a director of the organization, <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/five-years-after-slayings-doctors-without-borders-returns-to-afghanistan-a-654702.html" type="external">told</a> the German magazine Der Spiegel that he had been “shocked” to discover normal wartime rules of hospital neutrality didn’t seem to apply in the ongoing conflict. “International forces and police,” he <a href="http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/five-years-after-slayings-doctors-without-borders-returns-to-afghanistan-a-654702.html" type="external">said</a>, “would regularly go into hospitals to harass patients. Hospitals would be attacked. There is a dire record of respecting the neutrality of health structures.”</p>
<p>That same year, a Swedish aid group running a hospital in Wardak Province accused the U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division of <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/germany-us-try-to-shift-blame-over-raid-1.733587" type="external">storming</a> the facility and tying up hospital guards as the troops searched for members of the Taliban.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, the Kunduz hospital operated in relative peace until July 2015, when armed members of a U.S.-backed Afghan Special Operations team raided it, forcing the facility to close temporarily. It soon reopened. By October 2015, the site was under increasingly close <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/5e20fcd92aee49e699149aef93595e49/apnewsbreak-us-spec-ops-knew-afghan-site-was-hospital" type="external">surveillance</a> by U.S. Special Operations analysts who, it was later reported, believed there might have been a Pakistani intelligence operative working out of the facility. (MSF officials <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/5e20fcd92aee49e699149aef93595e49/apnewsbreak-us-spec-ops-knew-afghan-site-was-hospital" type="external">insist</a> that there were only nine international staff members, none of whom were Pakistani, no less intelligence operatives.)</p>
<p>In the days before the attack, those analysts had put together a cache of information about the hospital — including maps with the facility circled.</p>
<p>At 2:56 a.m., on the morning of the attack, an MSF representative in Kabul again texted an official of the American-led mission, demanding an end to the strikes, which had lasted nearly an hour.&#160; By then, flames had overtaken the main building, with children still trapped inside. Abdul Manar, a caretaker at the hospital, recalled the sound of their cries. “I could hear them screaming for help inside the hospital while it was set ablaze by the bombing,” he <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/10/aid-workers-killed-air-strike-afghan-hospital-kunduz-151003043052500.html" type="external">told</a> Al Jazeera.</p>
<p>“I’ll do my best,” the official responded. “Praying for you all.”</p>
<p>The strikes nonetheless continued. At 3:10 and 3:14, MSF again called the Pentagon. Finally, sometime around 3:15 a.m., the gunship flew off and the strikes were over.</p>
<p>With the operating rooms destroyed, surviving staff members turned an office desk into a makeshift operating table and attempted to treat a doctor whose leg had been blown off. Lajos Zoltan Jecs, a nurse, helped with the surgery. The doctor, he <a href="http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/unspeakable-msf-nurse-recounts-attack-msfs-kunduz-hospital" type="external">recalled</a>, died atop that desk. “We did our best,” he wrote later, “but it wasn’t enough.”</p>
<p>The staff were in shock. Many were crying. Jecs and others <a href="http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/unspeakable-msf-nurse-recounts-attack-msfs-kunduz-hospital" type="external">went to check</a> on the damage in the intensive care unit only to find six patients burning in their beds.</p>
<p>In all, 30 people died: 13 staff members, 10 patients, and seven bodies so badly burned that, more than a month later, the remains have not yet been identified.</p>
<p>The hospital closed that same day. About two weeks later, a U.S. tank rammed into the shell of the charred building, possibly destroying evidence of what that AC-130 had done. All told, MSF General Director Christopher Stokes concluded: “The view from inside the hospital is that this attack was conducted with a purpose to kill and destroy. But we don’t know why.”</p>
<p>Another Version of the Story</p>
<p>That’s one version of the story, based on a Doctors Without Borders <a href="https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/sites/usa/files/msf_kunduz_review.pdf" type="external">preliminary report</a> on the destruction of their hospital, released on November 5th, as well as on articles published by Reuters, the Associated Press, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and Al Jazeera, the <a href="http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/article/unspeakable-msf-nurse-recounts-attack-msfs-kunduz-hospital" type="external">testimonies</a> of medical staff published by MSF, and a <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2015/11/9/rejecting_us_claims_msf_details_horrific" type="external">Democracy Now! interview</a> with the executive director of MSF USA.</p>
<p>Here’s the second version of the story, the one we in the United States are meant to believe. It’s far more confusing and lacking in details, but don’t worry, it’s much shorter.</p>
<p>On October 3rd, an American AC-130 gunship “ <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/06/doctors-without-borders-airstrike-afghanistan-us-account-changes-again" type="external">mistakenly struck</a>” a hospital run by Doctors Without Borders in Kunduz. The attack was ordered by U.S. Special Operations forces, possibly at the behest of the Afghan army (or <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/06/doctors-without-borders-airstrike-afghanistan-us-account-changes-again" type="external">maybe not</a>).</p>
<p>Earlier <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/oct/05/us-general-afghan-forces-called-in-doctors-without-borders-airstrike" type="external">contradictory accounts</a>, all issued within the span of four days, go as follows: (1) it may not have been an American air strike; (2) the U.S. launched airstrikes in the neighborhood of the hospital and the facility was hit by accident; (3) the hospital was hit because American Special Operations forces were under fire near the hospital and called in the strikes in their own defense; (4) the facility was hit because Afghan forces supported by that Special Ops unit “ <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/06/us-afghanistan-attack-usa-idUSKCN0RZ1FX20151006" type="external">advised</a> that they were taking fire from enemy positions and asked for air support from U.S. forces.”</p>
<p>As the story changed, culpability shifted back and forth. The Afghans, not the Americans, had called in the attack. No, the Afghans never directly called in the attack. The Americans called in the attack from within the U.S. chain of command.</p>
<p>In the end, the bottom line from Washington was: we’re conducting a full investigation and one of these days we’ll get back to you with the details.</p>
<p>This second version of the story (in its many iterations) came from commander of the U.S. mission in Afghanistan General John Campbell, White House spokesperson Josh Earnest, and Pentagon spokesperson Peter Cook. Unnamed sources added some colorful, although unsupported allegations about a Pakistani intelligence agent or armed Taliban fighters being inside the hospital — despite all evidence to the contrary.</p>
<p>Campbell <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/05/asia/afghanistan-doctors-without-borders-hospital/" type="external">offered</a> his “deepest condolences.” President Obama called the head of MSF and personally <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/world/asia/obama-apologizes-for-bombing-of-afghanistan-hospital.html" type="external">apologized</a> for the “tragic incident.” The Pentagon promised to <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/afghanistan-pakistan/la-fg-pentagon-to-make-condolence-payments-to-families-of-victims-in-kunduz-attack-20151010-story.html" type="external">make</a> “condolence payments” to the families of those killed.</p>
<p>Several investigations into the “incident” were launched by the Pentagon and a joint Afghan-NATO team. However, MSF’s repeated call for an independent investigation by the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission, established under the additional protocols to the Geneva Convention, have been ducked or ignored.</p>
<p>There is, at least, one aspect both accounts agree on: the timing.</p>
<p>It’s undisputed that the attack occurred on October 3, 2015 — just over nine months after President Obama <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/12/28/statement-president-end-combat-mission-afghanistan" type="external">officially declared</a> the ending of the U.S. combat mission in Afghanistan.</p>
<p>All the Unknown Deaths</p>
<p>In the mornings as I scan the news, I’m often overcome by the absurdity of writing about ongoing wars that have officially ended or a hospital that has been “mistakenly” struck with exceptional precision. The U.S. bombing of that trauma center in Kunduz was indisputably horrific, “one of the worst episodes of civilian casualties in the Afghan war,” as the New York Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/25/world/asia/general-named-to-investigate-us-attack-on-afghan-hospital.html" type="external">described</a> it. But its outrageousness comes, in part, because for once we have enough information to piece the story together since that AC-130 attacked a well-known, prize-winning, Western humanitarian organization.</p>
<p>To my mind, however, the truly disconcerting stories are the ones that arrive at my desk with so little information that it’s almost impossible to say or write anything with certainty. And so I can’t really tell you what happened on August 12th, when “a suspected U.S. drone strike in Yemen… killed five suspected al-Qaida militants,” as the Associated Press <a href="http://www.militarytimes.com/story/military/2015/08/12/suspected-us-drone-strike-kills-5-al-qaida-members-yemen/31538057/" type="external">reported</a> in the standard language used to obscure attacks for which we, in the United States, have essentially no real information whatsoever.</p>
<p>Who were these five people, I wonder, killed suddenly as they drove along a road somewhere to the east of the city of Mukalla? Statistically speaking, there’s a reasonable likelihood that they were innocent people.&#160; As the Intercept <a href="https://theintercept.com/drone-papers/the-assassination-complex/" type="external">recently reported</a>, based on leaked secret documents, 90% of those killed during one recent period in the U.S. drone campaign in Afghanistan were not the sought-after targets. Without being there, however, I can’t tell you who those five Yemeni “militants” were, or what lives they led, or how many children they had, or even whether they were <a href="https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/08/11/more-than-160-children-killed-in-us-strikes/" type="external">children</a> themselves — and the odds are that neither can the Pentagon.</p>
<p>Nor can I tell you what happened when the U.S. launched its first drone strike in Syria on August 4th. I remember scouring different news sources over the following mornings for the most basic piece of information: how many people — if any — had been killed. That was, after all, what I was doing: waking up early and counting the death toll from America’s endless wars.</p>
<p>But in the days and weeks that followed, the Pentagon’s spokesman refused to offer specifics of any sort on this strike. It’s possible he didn’t have any. And so, to this day, even the number of deaths remains <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33793356" type="external">unknown</a>.</p>
<p>Laura Gottesdiener is a freelance journalist and a news producer with Democracy Now! The author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1884519210/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">A Dream Foreclosed: Black America and the Fight for a Place to Call Home</a>, her writing has appeared in Mother Jones, Al Jazeera, Guernica, Playboy, Rolling Stone, and frequently at <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176040/tomgram%3A_laura_gottesdiener,_the_king_is_dead!/" type="external">TomDispatch</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, Nick Turse’s&#160; <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608464636/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Tomorrow’s Battlefield: U.S. Proxy Wars and Secret Ops in Africa</a>, and Tom Engelhardt’s latest book, <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 2015 Laura Gottesdiener</p> | true | 4 | laura gottesdieners tomdispatch 160 160 employee doctors without borders stands among charred remains hospital hit us airstrike kunduz afghanistan najim rahim ap piece first appeared tomdispatch read tom engelhardts introduction people ask new job like tell wake early count dead say early mean minutes four sky softening color faded purple corduroy160 dead mostly mean people across world government killed helped another nations government kill sleeping freelance reporter spending weeks months covering single story today im news producer democracy moment arrive office im scouring wire services latest casualties washingtons war zones disconcerting job someone used reporting stories ground cull headlines suspected us drone strike kills 4 militants pakistan us troops dispatched kunduz help afghan forces ive never felt close countrys various combat zones yet im thousands miles away usually try avoid talking wars leave office know wasnt american gunship began firing hospital doctors without borders ran kunduz didnt get afterwards either160 yemens saada province weeks later doctors without borders health clinic bombed live dont listen democracy odds didnt even know second strike happened possible think bombing medical facilities isnt frontpage news gutted clinic yemen however cant tell much know strike carried usbacked saudiled forces happened days obama administration approved 1125 billion arms deal saudi arabia dont know air felt like evening missile hit maternity ward still job chronicle wars morning say something start writing wars become think something begin dream respond realize recently longest second us war afghanistan stretched nearly half life way telling need talk kunduz calm night october like good story theres happened theres version youre asked believe lets start first one friday october 2nd staff members trauma center kunduz afghanistan climbed roof hospital laid two large flags name organization médecins sans frontières doctors without borders nobelprizewinning medicalhumanitarian aid organization best known french acronym msf wasnt something workers could done days earlier previous monday september 28th taliban fighters unexpectedly seized control fifth largest city afghanistan 7000 government troops police fled next days afghan governments efforts retake city sparked intense fighting taliban government troops backed us special operations forces fighting grew closer hospital stray bullets pierced ceiling intensive care unit msf staff instructed sleep inside hospital compound left feared might unable safely return work next day plenty work done one hundred wounded patients arrived monday 36 critical condition staff added 18 extra beds next four days another 250 patients cycled emergency room alone building overcapacity staff members put mattresses pillows corridors administrative offices fighter jets could heard roaring overhead us began launching airstrikes support afghan armys haphazard efforts retake city hospitals staff refrained even stepping outside friday however fighting began recede area around hospital staff members felt safer climbing roof spread flags order ensure facility would identifiable air organization also sent hospitals gps coordinates us department defense afghan ministries interior defense us army kabul four days earlier markers considered one level protection hospital couldnt missed lights blazed throughout friday night early hours saturday morning doctors tried tackle backlog pending surgeries outside compounds walls rest city home 270000 inhabitants mostly dark week fighting hospital one buildings area still running generators power light relatively calm night slightly overcast unseasonably warm early october sound gunfire receded staff members even dared step outside first time days single deadliest aircraft explosions began staff members putting patients anesthesia operating room 219 representative msf kabul called americanled nato mission afghanistan say hospital bombed minute later msf representative called red cross united nations new york member msf called pentagon dont know happening inside pentagon night know back kunduz us ac130 gunship circling hospitals main building lowflying ac130 equipped cannons 105mm howitzer fly speeds 300 miles per hour designed circle close ground firing targets article washington post explained ac130 essentially loiters target around 7000 feet flying circle firing weapons ports mounted aircrafts left side gunship specially designed night missions plane equipped infrared sensors crew 12 sport nightvision goggles manufactured lockheed martin boeing older version plane ac130h spectre cost 110 million apiece newer ac130u spooky version goes 210 million one special operations air force captain described gunship single deadliest aircraft flying squadron war terrorism 2002 type gunship fired wedding party afghanistans helmand province killing 40 people versions gunship use us military since vietnam war older model flew operation desert storm first gulf war display national museum united states air force wrightpatterson air force base ohio dubbed azrael hebrew arabic means angel death 247 representative msf kabul texted americanled mission afghanistan one kunduz hospitals staff members died many missing trauma center still repeated fire five minutes later someone mission texted back im sorry hear still know happened point us gunship firing hospitals main building 45 minutes strikes according msf director operations bart janssens precise gunship came four five times hospital every time extremely precisely hit series impacts main building hospital told reuters surviving staff members recall first room attacked intensive care unit held number patients including two children strikes next hit lab emergency room xray room mental health center operating theaters two patients lying operating tables killed everyone capable fleeing tried doctors staff patients160 one man wheelchair killed flying shrapnel people fire ran one staff member decapitated people fled building doctors medical staff hit fire plane survived impression sound plane following ran purpose kill destroy msfs hospital fixture kunduz since august 2011 medical facility region photo snapped months opening showed large sign affixed front gate compound msf trauma centre prioritize treatment warwounded seriously injured persons without regard ethnicity political affiliations determined solely medical needs fee charged text image automatic rifle surrounded red circle two thick lines indicating hospitals organizations strict noweapons policy facilities doctors without borders opened facility two years returned afghanistan 2004 organization pulled country five workers killed roadside ambush badghis province 2009 group returned began supporting hospital kabul upon reentry michiel hofman director organization told german magazine der spiegel shocked discover normal wartime rules hospital neutrality didnt seem apply ongoing conflict international forces police said would regularly go hospitals harass patients hospitals would attacked dire record respecting neutrality health structures year swedish aid group running hospital wardak province accused us armys 10th mountain division storming facility tying hospital guards troops searched members taliban nonetheless kunduz hospital operated relative peace july 2015 armed members usbacked afghan special operations team raided forcing facility close temporarily soon reopened october 2015 site increasingly close surveillance us special operations analysts later reported believed might pakistani intelligence operative working facility msf officials insist nine international staff members none pakistani less intelligence operatives days attack analysts put together cache information hospital including maps facility circled 256 morning attack msf representative kabul texted official americanled mission demanding end strikes lasted nearly hour160 flames overtaken main building children still trapped inside abdul manar caretaker hospital recalled sound cries could hear screaming help inside hospital set ablaze bombing told al jazeera ill best official responded praying strikes nonetheless continued 310 314 msf called pentagon finally sometime around 315 gunship flew strikes operating rooms destroyed surviving staff members turned office desk makeshift operating table attempted treat doctor whose leg blown lajos zoltan jecs nurse helped surgery doctor recalled died atop desk best wrote later wasnt enough staff shock many crying jecs others went check damage intensive care unit find six patients burning beds 30 people died 13 staff members 10 patients seven bodies badly burned month later remains yet identified hospital closed day two weeks later us tank rammed shell charred building possibly destroying evidence ac130 done told msf general director christopher stokes concluded view inside hospital attack conducted purpose kill destroy dont know another version story thats one version story based doctors without borders preliminary report destruction hospital released november 5th well articles published reuters associated press washington post new york times al jazeera testimonies medical staff published msf democracy interview executive director msf usa heres second version story one united states meant believe far confusing lacking details dont worry much shorter october 3rd american ac130 gunship mistakenly struck hospital run doctors without borders kunduz attack ordered us special operations forces possibly behest afghan army maybe earlier contradictory accounts issued within span four days go follows 1 may american air strike 2 us launched airstrikes neighborhood hospital facility hit accident 3 hospital hit american special operations forces fire near hospital called strikes defense 4 facility hit afghan forces supported special ops unit advised taking fire enemy positions asked air support us forces story changed culpability shifted back forth afghans americans called attack afghans never directly called attack americans called attack within us chain command end bottom line washington conducting full investigation one days well get back details second version story many iterations came commander us mission afghanistan general john campbell white house spokesperson josh earnest pentagon spokesperson peter cook unnamed sources added colorful although unsupported allegations pakistani intelligence agent armed taliban fighters inside hospital despite evidence contrary campbell offered deepest condolences president obama called head msf personally apologized tragic incident pentagon promised make condolence payments families killed several investigations incident launched pentagon joint afghannato team however msfs repeated call independent investigation international humanitarian factfinding commission established additional protocols geneva convention ducked ignored least one aspect accounts agree timing undisputed attack occurred october 3 2015 nine months president obama officially declared ending us combat mission afghanistan unknown deaths mornings scan news im often overcome absurdity writing ongoing wars officially ended hospital mistakenly struck exceptional precision us bombing trauma center kunduz indisputably horrific one worst episodes civilian casualties afghan war new york times described outrageousness comes part enough information piece story together since ac130 attacked wellknown prizewinning western humanitarian organization mind however truly disconcerting stories ones arrive desk little information almost impossible say write anything certainty cant really tell happened august 12th suspected us drone strike yemen killed five suspected alqaida militants associated press reported standard language used obscure attacks united states essentially real information whatsoever five people wonder killed suddenly drove along road somewhere east city mukalla statistically speaking theres reasonable likelihood innocent people160 intercept recently reported based leaked secret documents 90 killed one recent period us drone campaign afghanistan soughtafter targets without however cant tell five yemeni militants lives led many children even whether children odds neither pentagon tell happened us launched first drone strike syria august 4th remember scouring different news sources following mornings basic piece information many people killed waking early counting death toll americas endless wars days weeks followed pentagons spokesman refused offer specifics sort strike possible didnt day even number deaths remains unknown laura gottesdiener freelance journalist news producer democracy author dream foreclosed black america fight place call home writing appeared mother jones al jazeera guernica playboy rolling stone frequently tomdispatch follow tomdispatch twitter join us facebook check newest dispatch book nick turses160 tomorrows battlefield us proxy wars secret ops africa tom engelhardts latest book shadow government surveillance secret wars global security state singlesuperpower world copyright 2015 laura gottesdiener | 1,794 |
<p>On December 17th I met with Professor Noam Chomsky at his MIT office to get his thoughts on the ideological justifications and historical realities behind America’s “war on terror.” Professor Chomsky spent a half-hour taking apart the framework of “civilization” versus “barbarism,” pointing to Western and particularly US state-sponsored atrocities, laying out the grave nature of war crimes committed in Iraq, attacking the intellectual culture which sanctions massive suffering, and explaining the elite’s knowledge of the roots of terrorism. The transcript follows below.</p>
<p>Transcribed by the interviewer and slightly edited for clarification by Professor Chomsky</p>
<p>(double-hyphen “-“indicates a couple words not picked up)</p>
<p>Alam: Professor Chomsky, thank you for doing this interview with Left Hook.</p>
<p>In the time we have, I wanted to discuss with you the consequences and implications of America’s current war stance, how some of its programs or objectives might be interrelated.</p>
<p>The first thing I wanted to bring up is, it seems that the general ideological picture painted for us by the administration and conservative outlets is that the overall so-called war on terror is about the “civilized” world combating “barbarism,” a position Business Week recently voiced. In what ways do you think is ­ in what ways do you think this is historically or politically inaccurate, in terms of the scale and intensity of the crimes committed by ourselves versus the “barbarians,” presumably Islamists and nationalists in Iraq and Palestine?</p>
<p>Chomsky: Well, it doesn’t even come close. I mean, the level of destruction and terror and violence carried out by the powerful states far exceeds anything that can imaginably can be done by groups that are called terrorists and subnational groups.</p>
<p>I mean just take, say, Iraq. The best current estimate of deaths after the invasion is 100,000 maybe more, maybe less. Take a long time for Islamic terrorists to kill 100,000 people. Take say, the most extensive terrorist act attributed to Islamic terrorists, 9-11. About 3,000 people killed, which is a pretty horrible atrocity. But as atrocities go, it doesn’t rank very high.</p>
<p>Take for example, what south of the Rio Grande is often called the other 9-11. September 11th, 1973, in which the United States was very heavily involved — that’s the bombing of the presidential palace, the military coup, the death of the president, the destruction of the leading democracy, the oldest democracy, in Latin America. The official death toll for that 9-11 is ­ the official death toll is over 3,000, but that’s just the bodies they can actually count. The estimated toll is probably twice that. If you give that number in comparative terms, comparative population terms, that’d be the equivalent of about 50 to 100,000 people killed in the United States. We’ve just learned recently the detailed numbers of people tortured — it’s 30,000, that’s 700,000 in the United States, thousands of cases of rapes and other abuse, and many people just lost, disappeared, who knows what happened to them.</p>
<p>It also set up international terrorist operations, under the rubric of what was called Operation Condor, which brought together similar state terrorist organizations in neighboring countries which the US also had a major role in establishing…The US intelligence compared DINA, the Chilean state terror organization, compared them to the Gestapo and KGB. They didn’t fool around, and that’s the way they were viewed by the United States while the US was supporting them, and Britain was supporting them enthusiastically, and so on. In fact their international terror activities only stopped when they went one step too far. They murdered a well-known diplomat in Washington DC, and that’s not allowed, so they were sort of called off and stayed pretty brutal, but not that bad.</p>
<p>Well that’s one event ­ September 11th, 1973. Happens to be one in which the US was only indirectly involved. If we take those which the US carried out itself, then the scale isuncountable. I mean, take the one case where the US was indeed condemned for international terrorism and ordered to terminate the crime, namely the attack on Nicaragua, which went to the World Court. The World Court had to take a very narrow case, because the US had excluded itself from all international treaties. So the US cannot be brought to the World Court for major crimes, for example the supreme international crime, invasion, or violation of the UN Charter, or violation of the Genocide Convention, these are things the US is exempt from, because they exempted themselves from being subjected to international treaties in World Court proceedings.</p>
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<p>So the World Court had to deal with Nicaragua case on extremely narrow grounds, just bilateral Nicaragua-US treaties, and customary international law. Nevertheless the Court condemned the US for what it called unlawful use of force, gave a pretty broad judgment, well beyond the actual terms of the case, ordered the US to terminate the crimes, pay substantial reparations. The US ignored the ruling, vetoed two Security Council resolutions affirming it, and went on with the war.</p>
<p>The end result was, again in per capita terms, about the equivalent of 2.5 million people being killed in the United States. More than the number of deaths in all wars including the Civil War in US history, destroyed the country, it’s now the second poorest country in the hemisphere. After the US took it over again in 1990, it went downhill further — by now, it’s estimated that over half the children under 2 are suffering from severe malnutrition, I mean, probable brain damage.</p>
<p>In the early 80’s, when the US started the war, Nicaragua was being praised by international organizations, even international banks, for its substantial progress, won prizes for improvement, UNICEF prizes for ­ awards for improvement in child health and development. Now it’s quite the opposite.</p>
<p>I mean this is a single incident, so it totally outweighs all terrorist activities you can attribute to anyone else, but it’s not even worth discussing.</p>
<p>And that’s only one, I’m not even talking about the major wars like say, Vietnam, which was straight aggression, can’t call it terror, with, who knows, four million people or so killed, and people still dying from the effects of massive chemical warfare started by Kennedy. And that’s just the United States. Take a look at other states, they’re not as powerful as the US, but their violence is extraordinary ­ France in Africa, the British in Kenya and elsewhere, justfar beyond the scale of any terrorist activity.</p>
<p>Alam: So, so much for the framework of “civilization” versus “barbarism.”</p>
<p>Chomsky: No, it’s absurd, I mean look, let’s just take ­ what’s the worst atrocity since the Mongol invasions? You know, it’s what happened in Germanyin the late 30’s – 40’s primarily. Germany was the peak of Western civilization. It was the most advanced society in the Western world, in the sciences, in the arts, in literature, the stellar example of Western civilization. In fact up until the first World War, when people turned anti-German, Germany had been described by American political scientists as the model of democracy. That’s the peak of Western civilization ­ yeah, it’s the worst barbarism since the Mongol invasion. What kind of correlations can one make?</p>
<p>Alam: It’s interesting to note that ­ you mentioned a little bit the 100,000 casualties ­ it’s interesting to note that while much media attention here is focused on the sensationalistic and gruesome beheadings of perhaps a few dozen foreigners in Iraq, the same media is more or less silent about the Lancet report ­ Lancet being the British medical journal ­ that said about 100,000 Iraqi civilians were killed, mostly by US bombing, and also missing in the media is talk about the Iraqi children’s malnutrition rates which have apparently doubled.</p>
<p>Chomsky: They’re worse than – at the level of Burundi ­ they’re worse than Uganda and Haiti ­ and that’s since the war.</p>
<p>Alam: That actually reminded me of-</p>
<p>Chomsky: In fact the way the media treated this Lancet report is kind of interesting. I mean it was mentioned ­ it’s not that you couldn’t find it. But it was either ignored or downplayed. The standard reaction to it was well, that it was just a sample.</p>
<p>Alam: Exactly</p>
<p>Chomsky: How do you know it was accurate, and maybe the number was smaller ­ and they [Lancet] actually did give a spread, which was 8,000 to 200,000, which is ­</p>
<p>Alam: Excluding Fallujah, too.</p>
<p>Chomsky: Well, let’s look at how they did it. The highest probability estimate was around 100,000. The immediate reaction has been well, maybe it’s much lower. Yeah, maybe it’s much lower ­ maybe it’s much higher. In fact they did it very conservatively. They excluded Fallujah because that would have raised the estimate, the extrapolated estimate, they included the Kurdish areas, no fighting there, which would reduce the extrapolated estimate, and in general they did a careful and rather conservative analysis.</p>
<p>But it’s either been ignored or the silly claim has been made that, well it’s only an estimate, so maybe it’s too high ­ true, it’s only an estimate, so maybe it’s too low. In fact that’s the way every study is done of estimated casualties or health studies and so on. But whatever it is, whether it’s 50,000 or 150,000, or whatever the number might be, it’s obviously a major atrocity.</p>
<p>And in fact, it’s not exactly correct that the media haven’t reported the war crimes. They often report them and celebrate them. So take for example the invasion of Fallujah, which is one of the ­ it’s a major war crime, it’s very similar to the Russian destruction of Grozny 10 years earlier, a city of approximately the same size, bombed to rubble, people driven out.</p>
<p>Alam: They herded all the males, I think, they didn’t let them escape the corridor.</p>
<p>Chomsky: Which incidentally is very much like Srebrenica ­ which is universally condemned as genocide — Srebrenica was an enclave, lightly protected by UN forces, which was being used as a base for attacking nearby Serb villages. It was known that there’s going to be retaliation. When there was a retaliation, it was vicious. They trucked out all the women and children, they kept the men inside, and apparently slaughtered them. The estimates are thousands of people slaughtered.</p>
<p>Well, with Fallujah, the US didn’t truck out the women and children, it bombed them out. There was about a month of bombing, bombed out of the city, if they could get out somehow, a couple hundred thousand people fled, or somehow got out, and as you say men were kept in and we don’t know what happened after that, we don’t estimate [the casualties for which we are responsible].</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>But what was dramatic about Fallujah was that it was not kept secret. So you could see on the front page of the New York Times, a big picture of the first majorstep in the offensive, namely the capture of the Fallujah general hospital. And there’s a picture of people lying on the ground, soldier guarding them, and then there’s a story that tells that patients and doctors were taken from ­ patients were taken from their beds, patients and doctors were forced to lie on the floor and manacled, under guard, and the picture described it.</p>
<p>— The president of the United States is subject to death penalty under US law for that crime – alone. I mean that’s a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions, Geneva Conventions say explicitly and unambiguously that hospitals must be protected, hospitals and medical staff and patients must be protected by all combatants in any conflict. You couldn’t have a more grave breach of the Geneva Conventions than that.</p>
<p>There’s a War Crimes Act in the United States passed by a Republican Congress in 1996, which says that grave breaches of the Geneva Convention are subject to the death penalty. And that doesn’t mean the soldier that committed them, that means the commanders. They weren’t thinking about the United States of course, but take it literally, that’s what it means.</p>
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<p>And then they went onto explain why they carried out this war crime in the general hospital. New York Times explained calmly that it was done because the US command described the Fallujah general hospital as a propaganda outlet for the guerrillas because they were reporting casualties. I — don’t know if the Nazis produced things like that. Of course the Times said it was “inflated” casualties – how do we know it was inflated?</p>
<p>Alam: We don’t even count’em.</p>
<p>Chomsky: Well our Dear Leader said it was inflated, so that means that since we’re like North Korea, it has to be inflated. But suppose it was. I mean the idea of carrying out a major war crime, explicit, because the hospital was a propaganda weapon by distributing casualty figures, I mean you really have to work to find an analog to that.</p>
<p>And then it went on, destroying the whole city. Finally they end up saying well the Marines are going to face a serious challenge of regaining the confidence of the people of Fallujah after having destroyed their city. Yeah, it’s going to be a pretty serious challenge. It’s also described how they’re going to do it ­ by instituting a police state.</p>
<p>Alam: Right.</p>
<p>Chomsky: Nobody will be allowed into Fallujah until they undergo retinal scans and fingerprinting and they’re going to be marked and identified, do everything except put chips in them, maybe they’ll get to that next time, organize them into work gangs, in which they’ll be compelled under the order to rebuild what the US has destroyed. Try and find a counterpart to that. And that’s just &lt;i&gt;one&lt;/i&gt; war crime, one part of the general atrocities.</p>
<p>In fact, you could argue that it’s insignificant. By the principles of the Nuremberg Tribunal, which the US initiated and carried out, it concluded that the supreme international crime is invasion, aggression, and that supreme crime includes within it all the evil that follows. So therefore the doubling of malnutrition rates, the maybe 100,000 casualties, the grave war crimes in Fallujah, they’re all footnotes, they’re footnotes to the supreme international crime.</p>
<p>And that crime is taken pretty seriously. In Nuremberg they did not try soldiers, and they didn’t try company commanders, they tried the ­ the people who were on trial and hanged – were the top command. Like the German Foreign Minister was hanged. Because of participation in the supreme international crime which encompasses all the evil that follows. Do we hear anything about that?</p>
<p>Alam: Right.</p>
<p>Chomsky: But you can’t say it’s concealed. What I’ve just talked about is all quoted from the front pages. Which is even more astonishing. Actually, you know, that, however awful it is, it’s a big improvement over the past. I mean &lt;i&gt;much&lt;/i&gt; worse than this was happening in Vietnam and there wasn’t even any concern. It’s hard to say the words, but there’s been a lot of progress since then. I mean now at least many people find it appalling. It went on in Vietnam at a much higher level for &lt;i&gt;years&lt;/i&gt;, literally years, and there was no protest at all. I mean the war in Vietnam started in 1962, was really a war against South Vietnam. Kennedy launched it in 1962, was very brutal from the start. Bombing, chemical warfare, to destroy crops and cover to undercut support for indigenous guerrillas — driving millions of people into what amounted to concentration camps, or urban slums.</p>
<p>By the time protests developed, 1966 or 67, South Vietnam had virtually been destroyed. I mean the leading and most respected rather hawkish military analyst on Vietnam, [the Indochina] specialist Bernard Fall, by 1966 and 67, was writing he wondered whether Vietnam as a historic and cultural entity would escape extinction, under the heaviest attack that had ever been suffered by an area that size. Well, [for] years there was almost no protest. Bad now, but a lot of improvement in the last 33 years.</p>
<p>Alam: This brings to mind actually, for me anyway, a quote, from Mark Twain’s Connecticut Yankee, maybe you could find something in it to comment on, he wrote ­ of the French Revolution I think he was speaking of :</p>
<p>“There were two ‘Reigns of Terror’ if we would remember it and consider it; the one wrought in hot passion, the other in heartless cold bloodour shudders are all for the ‘horrors’ of the minor Terror, the momentary Terror, so to speak, whereas, what is the horror of swift death by the axe compared with lifelong death from hunger, cold, insult, cruelty, and heartbreak? A city cemetery could contain the coffins filled by that brief Terror which we have all been so diligently taught to shiver at and mourn over; but all France could hardly contain the coffins filled by that older and real Terror, that unspeakably bitter and awful Terror, which none of us have been taught to see in its vastness or pity as it deserves.”</p>
<p>Do you think one of the functions of the mainstream media in either not really allowing the ­ allowing for the vastness or the pity of the crimes that are deserved to be seen or really experienced ­ is that simply reflecting the prejudices and racism of American society, or is it actually creating the prejudices of American society?</p>
<p>Chomsky: The media are, in this respect, just part of the general intellectual culture, which includes all of us, including you and me. I mean, we don’t see, we prefer not to see the horrible crimes that are going on all the time, which we could do something about easily. So take say, we just passed the 10th anniversary of the Rwanda massacres, which were pretty horrible, maybe 8,000 people killed a day for a 100 days. Pretty awful massacre. And there’s a lot of wringing of hands and lamentations about how we didn’t do anything about it, we didn’t intervene, we didn’t send military forces, and so on, wasn’t that terrible. Well yeah, it was pretty terrible, but let’s take a look at today.</p>
<p>Right now, about the same number of people, about 8,000 people, about 8,000 children in fact, are dying in southern Africa every day from easily treatable diseases. We add hunger, it’s going to go way up, let’s keep to easily treatable diseases. That’s Rwanda-level killing among children only, in southern Africa, not for 100 days, but every day. There’s a very easy way to deal with it, namely bribe pharmaceutical corporations to provide them with drugs and the limited infrastructure that’s required. [But almost no one is] talking about it. I mean that’s far worse than Rwanda.</p>
<p>Furthermore if we go a step further and ask ourselves ­ speaking of barbarism ­ what kind of society do we live in where the only way we can think of preventing Rwanda-level killing among children everyday is by bribing private tyrannies to do something about it. I mean that itself is beyond barbarism.</p>
<p>But we accept that, we don’t think about it, we prefer not to think about it. It’s not that we worry about small crimes rather than big ones, it’s that attention is focused on anything that’s done against us. What we do to others just doesn’t matter. And it’s not specific to the United States, it’s quite general. It’s an unfortunate part of dominant cultures and powerful societies.</p>
<p>Alam: With all the grandiose rhetoric about “barbarism,” it’s also interesting to note that the Pentagon’s own Defense Science Board, composed of top military commanders and intelligence figures, issued a report about two months ago declaring that resentment in the Islamic world is mainly due to US support for Israel and US support for Arab dictatorships, and not about an inner hatred or hatred of Western values themselves. But if the top people in the Pentagon and the military understand this, then why is there such a large disconnect in what they themselves concede and what they say ­ I mean what are the strategic imperatives that are so great that they are willing to incur the wrath?</p>
<p>Chomsky: That was an interesting report [interruption, door is opened, background noise continues from here on] ­ this Pentagon report which was sort of interesting, is virtually a repetition, almost a verbatim repetition of a report by the NSC in 1958 when President Eisenhower raised the question with his staff, why there is a campaign of hatred against us in the Arab world, and not among governments but from the people. That’s Eisenhower, 1958, why is there a campaign of hatred against us in the Arab world. An answer was given in an analysis by the National Security Council in 1958: it’s because there’s a perception in the Arab that the United States supports brutal and repressive regimes and blocks democracy and development, and we do it because we want to get control of oil and resources ­ their oil. That’s 1958. And they went on to say, yes the perception’s accurate, and we’re going to continue doing it. That’s been perfectly well known for years that that was the case.</p>
<p>It’s exacerbated further by specific policies. Right after 9-11, as far as I know one newspaper in the United States had the integrity to investigate opinion in the Muslim world, the Wall Street Journal. They kept to the people they cared about, what they called moneyed Muslims, managers of multinational corporations, international lawyers, you know ­ their type of people ­ so there’s no concern about globalization or anything else, they’re part of the US-run system. But they had the same results they had as in 1958, as the Pentagon just reported. They hate and fear bin Laden, who’s trying to destroy them, but nevertheless they express understanding for the position that he articulates, and they hate US policy, because it supports brutal and oppressive regimes, blocks democracy and development, because of the support for Israeli aggression and atrocities at that time, because of the Iraq sanctions, which were killing hundreds of thousands of people, devastating society, and caused enormous anger.</p>
<p>The Pentagon report is just repeating what anybody knew who had their eyes open. The fact that it was regarded as a surprise in the United States just shows how much intellectuals prefer to keep their eyes closed. What they said is correct, furthermore you can read it – it’s articulated almost the same way in 1958, it’s found in every study since. Furthermore you can find it any book on terrorism ­ any serious book on terrorism, not just anyone ranting and screaming ­ but someone taking it seriously, say, Jason Burke’s study of al-Qaeda, which is the best one around, or just about anyone you pick.</p>
<p>They don’t hate our freedom, you know, what they hate is US policies, and for good reason, because those policies have been crushing them for years. So yeah, they hate the policies. Pentagon just discovered ­ re-discovered ­ what everybody with eyes open already knew, and these 1958 reports have been declassified for about 15 years, I was writing about them in 1990. Just better not to ­ it’s easier to just stand on a pedestal and scream about Islamic fascism and how it’s trying to destroy us. It doesn’t require thinking about the policies and doing something about them.</p>
<p>Furthermore that’s true of what’s called terrorism in general ­ I mean, it doesn’t come out of nowhere. Take say the IRA ­ which the US was pretty much supporting, it was being funded ­ IRA terrorism, which was pretty serious ­ was being funded from the United States including church collections, FBI knew about it, wouldn’t do anything about it. It was pretty awful, but it was not without reasons, it did draw on a reservoir of sympathy among the population, who understood the grievances that they were talking about were real…In fact when the British finally responded not by greater violence, but by paying some attention to the grievances, it led to significant improvements. In fact, big improvements. Of course, Belfast is not heaven, but it’s enormously improved over what it was ten years ago.</p>
<p>And that’s generally the case. And furthermore every serious specialist on terrorism knows it. You take a look at say, Israeli intelligence, I mean the former heads of this Shin Bet have spoken about this – the current ones can’t but the former ones have – the former heads of military intelligence, and they all said the same thing: until you treat the Palestinians with respect, until you grant them their elementary rights, you’re never going to stop terrorism. That’s the way to do it ­ they have grievances, the grievances are real, we’re treating them with contempt and humiliation and destruction, we’re stealing their land and resources. [There’s something like a] near-universal consensus on this, among people who care about the topic.</p>
<p>[Interruption, another interview beckons]</p>
<p>Alam: Thank you very much Professor, thank you for your time.</p>
<p>M. JUNAID ALAM is co-editor of the radical youth journal <a href="http://www.lefthook.org/" type="external">Left Hook</a>, where this interview originally appeared. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:alam@lefthook.org" type="external">alam@lefthook.org</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | december 17th met professor noam chomsky mit office get thoughts ideological justifications historical realities behind americas war terror professor chomsky spent halfhour taking apart framework civilization versus barbarism pointing western particularly us statesponsored atrocities laying grave nature war crimes committed iraq attacking intellectual culture sanctions massive suffering explaining elites knowledge roots terrorism transcript follows transcribed interviewer slightly edited clarification professor chomsky doublehyphen indicates couple words picked alam professor chomsky thank interview left hook time wanted discuss consequences implications americas current war stance programs objectives might interrelated first thing wanted bring seems general ideological picture painted us administration conservative outlets overall socalled war terror civilized world combating barbarism position business week recently voiced ways think ways think historically politically inaccurate terms scale intensity crimes committed versus barbarians presumably islamists nationalists iraq palestine chomsky well doesnt even come close mean level destruction terror violence carried powerful states far exceeds anything imaginably done groups called terrorists subnational groups mean take say iraq best current estimate deaths invasion 100000 maybe maybe less take long time islamic terrorists kill 100000 people take say extensive terrorist act attributed islamic terrorists 911 3000 people killed pretty horrible atrocity atrocities go doesnt rank high take example south rio grande often called 911 september 11th 1973 united states heavily involved thats bombing presidential palace military coup death president destruction leading democracy oldest democracy latin america official death toll 911 official death toll 3000 thats bodies actually count estimated toll probably twice give number comparative terms comparative population terms thatd equivalent 50 100000 people killed united states weve learned recently detailed numbers people tortured 30000 thats 700000 united states thousands cases rapes abuse many people lost disappeared knows happened also set international terrorist operations rubric called operation condor brought together similar state terrorist organizations neighboring countries us also major role establishingthe us intelligence compared dina chilean state terror organization compared gestapo kgb didnt fool around thats way viewed united states us supporting britain supporting enthusiastically fact international terror activities stopped went one step far murdered wellknown diplomat washington dc thats allowed sort called stayed pretty brutal bad well thats one event september 11th 1973 happens one us indirectly involved take us carried scale isuncountable mean take one case us indeed condemned international terrorism ordered terminate crime namely attack nicaragua went world court world court take narrow case us excluded international treaties us brought world court major crimes example supreme international crime invasion violation un charter violation genocide convention things us exempt exempted subjected international treaties world court proceedings 160 world court deal nicaragua case extremely narrow grounds bilateral nicaraguaus treaties customary international law nevertheless court condemned us called unlawful use force gave pretty broad judgment well beyond actual terms case ordered us terminate crimes pay substantial reparations us ignored ruling vetoed two security council resolutions affirming went war end result per capita terms equivalent 25 million people killed united states number deaths wars including civil war us history destroyed country second poorest country hemisphere us took 1990 went downhill estimated half children 2 suffering severe malnutrition mean probable brain damage early 80s us started war nicaragua praised international organizations even international banks substantial progress prizes improvement unicef prizes awards improvement child health development quite opposite mean single incident totally outweighs terrorist activities attribute anyone else even worth discussing thats one im even talking major wars like say vietnam straight aggression cant call terror knows four million people killed people still dying effects massive chemical warfare started kennedy thats united states take look states theyre powerful us violence extraordinary france africa british kenya elsewhere justfar beyond scale terrorist activity alam much framework civilization versus barbarism chomsky absurd mean look lets take whats worst atrocity since mongol invasions know happened germanyin late 30s 40s primarily germany peak western civilization advanced society western world sciences arts literature stellar example western civilization fact first world war people turned antigerman germany described american political scientists model democracy thats peak western civilization yeah worst barbarism since mongol invasion kind correlations one make alam interesting note mentioned little bit 100000 casualties interesting note much media attention focused sensationalistic gruesome beheadings perhaps dozen foreigners iraq media less silent lancet report lancet british medical journal said 100000 iraqi civilians killed mostly us bombing also missing media talk iraqi childrens malnutrition rates apparently doubled chomsky theyre worse level burundi theyre worse uganda haiti thats since war alam actually reminded chomsky fact way media treated lancet report kind interesting mean mentioned couldnt find either ignored downplayed standard reaction well sample alam exactly chomsky know accurate maybe number smaller lancet actually give spread 8000 200000 alam excluding fallujah chomsky well lets look highest probability estimate around 100000 immediate reaction well maybe much lower yeah maybe much lower maybe much higher fact conservatively excluded fallujah would raised estimate extrapolated estimate included kurdish areas fighting would reduce extrapolated estimate general careful rather conservative analysis either ignored silly claim made well estimate maybe high true estimate maybe low fact thats way every study done estimated casualties health studies whatever whether 50000 150000 whatever number might obviously major atrocity fact exactly correct media havent reported war crimes often report celebrate take example invasion fallujah one major war crime similar russian destruction grozny 10 years earlier city approximately size bombed rubble people driven alam herded males think didnt let escape corridor chomsky incidentally much like srebrenica universally condemned genocide srebrenica enclave lightly protected un forces used base attacking nearby serb villages known theres going retaliation retaliation vicious trucked women children kept men inside apparently slaughtered estimates thousands people slaughtered well fallujah us didnt truck women children bombed month bombing bombed city could get somehow couple hundred thousand people fled somehow got say men kept dont know happened dont estimate casualties responsible 160 dramatic fallujah kept secret could see front page new york times big picture first majorstep offensive namely capture fallujah general hospital theres picture people lying ground soldier guarding theres story tells patients doctors taken patients taken beds patients doctors forced lie floor manacled guard picture described president united states subject death penalty us law crime alone mean thats grave breach geneva conventions geneva conventions say explicitly unambiguously hospitals must protected hospitals medical staff patients must protected combatants conflict couldnt grave breach geneva conventions theres war crimes act united states passed republican congress 1996 says grave breaches geneva convention subject death penalty doesnt mean soldier committed means commanders werent thinking united states course take literally thats means 160 went onto explain carried war crime general hospital new york times explained calmly done us command described fallujah general hospital propaganda outlet guerrillas reporting casualties dont know nazis produced things like course times said inflated casualties know inflated alam dont even countem chomsky well dear leader said inflated means since like north korea inflated suppose mean idea carrying major war crime explicit hospital propaganda weapon distributing casualty figures mean really work find analog went destroying whole city finally end saying well marines going face serious challenge regaining confidence people fallujah destroyed city yeah going pretty serious challenge also described theyre going instituting police state alam right chomsky nobody allowed fallujah undergo retinal scans fingerprinting theyre going marked identified everything except put chips maybe theyll get next time organize work gangs theyll compelled order rebuild us destroyed try find counterpart thats ltigtoneltigt war crime one part general atrocities fact could argue insignificant principles nuremberg tribunal us initiated carried concluded supreme international crime invasion aggression supreme crime includes within evil follows therefore doubling malnutrition rates maybe 100000 casualties grave war crimes fallujah theyre footnotes theyre footnotes supreme international crime crime taken pretty seriously nuremberg try soldiers didnt try company commanders tried people trial hanged top command like german foreign minister hanged participation supreme international crime encompasses evil follows hear anything alam right chomsky cant say concealed ive talked quoted front pages even astonishing actually know however awful big improvement past mean ltigtmuchltigt worse happening vietnam wasnt even concern hard say words theres lot progress since mean least many people find appalling went vietnam much higher level ltigtyearsltigt literally years protest mean war vietnam started 1962 really war south vietnam kennedy launched 1962 brutal start bombing chemical warfare destroy crops cover undercut support indigenous guerrillas driving millions people amounted concentration camps urban slums time protests developed 1966 67 south vietnam virtually destroyed mean leading respected rather hawkish military analyst vietnam indochina specialist bernard fall 1966 67 writing wondered whether vietnam historic cultural entity would escape extinction heaviest attack ever suffered area size well years almost protest bad lot improvement last 33 years alam brings mind actually anyway quote mark twains connecticut yankee maybe could find something comment wrote french revolution think speaking two reigns terror would remember consider one wrought hot passion heartless cold bloodour shudders horrors minor terror momentary terror speak whereas horror swift death axe compared lifelong death hunger cold insult cruelty heartbreak city cemetery could contain coffins filled brief terror diligently taught shiver mourn france could hardly contain coffins filled older real terror unspeakably bitter awful terror none us taught see vastness pity deserves think one functions mainstream media either really allowing allowing vastness pity crimes deserved seen really experienced simply reflecting prejudices racism american society actually creating prejudices american society chomsky media respect part general intellectual culture includes us including mean dont see prefer see horrible crimes going time could something easily take say passed 10th anniversary rwanda massacres pretty horrible maybe 8000 people killed day 100 days pretty awful massacre theres lot wringing hands lamentations didnt anything didnt intervene didnt send military forces wasnt terrible well yeah pretty terrible lets take look today right number people 8000 people 8000 children fact dying southern africa every day easily treatable diseases add hunger going go way lets keep easily treatable diseases thats rwandalevel killing among children southern africa 100 days every day theres easy way deal namely bribe pharmaceutical corporations provide drugs limited infrastructure thats required almost one talking mean thats far worse rwanda furthermore go step ask speaking barbarism kind society live way think preventing rwandalevel killing among children everyday bribing private tyrannies something mean beyond barbarism accept dont think prefer think worry small crimes rather big ones attention focused anything thats done us others doesnt matter specific united states quite general unfortunate part dominant cultures powerful societies alam grandiose rhetoric barbarism also interesting note pentagons defense science board composed top military commanders intelligence figures issued report two months ago declaring resentment islamic world mainly due us support israel us support arab dictatorships inner hatred hatred western values top people pentagon military understand large disconnect concede say mean strategic imperatives great willing incur wrath chomsky interesting report interruption door opened background noise continues pentagon report sort interesting virtually repetition almost verbatim repetition report nsc 1958 president eisenhower raised question staff campaign hatred us arab world among governments people thats eisenhower 1958 campaign hatred us arab world answer given analysis national security council 1958 theres perception arab united states supports brutal repressive regimes blocks democracy development want get control oil resources oil thats 1958 went say yes perceptions accurate going continue thats perfectly well known years case exacerbated specific policies right 911 far know one newspaper united states integrity investigate opinion muslim world wall street journal kept people cared called moneyed muslims managers multinational corporations international lawyers know type people theres concern globalization anything else theyre part usrun system results 1958 pentagon reported hate fear bin laden whos trying destroy nevertheless express understanding position articulates hate us policy supports brutal oppressive regimes blocks democracy development support israeli aggression atrocities time iraq sanctions killing hundreds thousands people devastating society caused enormous anger pentagon report repeating anybody knew eyes open fact regarded surprise united states shows much intellectuals prefer keep eyes closed said correct furthermore read articulated almost way 1958 found every study since furthermore find book terrorism serious book terrorism anyone ranting screaming someone taking seriously say jason burkes study alqaeda best one around anyone pick dont hate freedom know hate us policies good reason policies crushing years yeah hate policies pentagon discovered rediscovered everybody eyes open already knew 1958 reports declassified 15 years writing 1990 better easier stand pedestal scream islamic fascism trying destroy us doesnt require thinking policies something furthermore thats true whats called terrorism general mean doesnt come nowhere take say ira us pretty much supporting funded ira terrorism pretty serious funded united states including church collections fbi knew wouldnt anything pretty awful without reasons draw reservoir sympathy among population understood grievances talking realin fact british finally responded greater violence paying attention grievances led significant improvements fact big improvements course belfast heaven enormously improved ten years ago thats generally case furthermore every serious specialist terrorism knows take look say israeli intelligence mean former heads shin bet spoken current ones cant former ones former heads military intelligence said thing treat palestinians respect grant elementary rights youre never going stop terrorism thats way grievances grievances real treating contempt humiliation destruction stealing land resources theres something like nearuniversal consensus among people care topic interruption another interview beckons alam thank much professor thank time junaid alam coeditor radical youth journal left hook interview originally appeared reached alamlefthookorg 160 160 | 2,189 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Andrew McKillop <a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-7Nk" type="external">21st Century Wire</a>&#160;</p>
<p>The latest <a href="" type="internal">‘ISIS Crisis”</a> has once again flung the Middle East into a period of chaos and flux, but pay close attention to how the narrative is pushed down the timeline…</p>
<p>When you press&#160;the talk button, will that very special crowd of American commentators (always&#160;poised to launch a new MSM conspiracy theory) ever tell you that the US State Department and the Pentagon want the fall of Iraq’s el-Maliki regime?</p>
<p>The general rule of thumb is that Washington can never be friendly with a Middle East democracy or non-Monarchy for very long. Today, Washington says it “wants to work with the gov’t in Baghdad”, but &#160;fast forward down the road a month or two and the narrative will change to: “The Maliki gov’t is puppet gov’t of Tehran and must go”.&#160;They want to divide Iraq into Shia and Sunni camps engaged in constant sectarian warfare.</p>
<p>America has worked hard to promote the Sunni vs Shia concept.</p>
<p>There are many side-bar conversations going on right now. The ‘conspiracy crowd’ (aka Alternative Media) – always reflecting credit on the devious all-knowing American elite that most of these commentators pretend to hate – are rushing to tell us that the ISIS onslaught in Iraq “was all planned by the State Department”. The reality may be more complex than this. There are multiple players, and many pieces in play: Iraq, Iran, Syria, Turkey, Kurdistan, Israel, US, UK,France, Russia et all –&#160;it’s&#160;Zbigniew&#160;Brzezinski’s&#160;the Grand Chessboard on Acid, and highly volatile.</p>
<p>Maybe it was to aid Israel, or to help the Kurds carve out and repossess their nation which the US, with Britain and France “derecognized” and tossed in the garbage can at the Lausanne Versailles-treaty series of conferences in January 1923? Or maybe it was to help oil exploration-development in the south of the former Iraq – with Iran and Russia? America’s two biggest buddies. Expect “Kurdish independence” to emerge from this latest campaign of destabilization in Iraq.</p>
<p>Or maybe it was from the pure pleasure of wasting US taxpayers’ money and doing harm, after spending an approximate $25 billion simply on weapons and training for the el-Maliki regime? Who knows. Who cares, but in any case it was certainly devious and superbly planned.</p>
<p>Planned For Decades Some prominent alternative &#160;media commentators will describe how&#160;the&#160;dividing Iraq along sectarian-ethnic lines has been on the drawing board of the Pentagon “for at least 10 years”. This argument &#160;says Washington wants the outright suppression of the el-Maliki Baghdad regime and all the institutions of the federal government, leading to a process of political fracturing, eliminating Iraq as a country. Of course, you can cite Israel’s very real&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Oded Yinon Plan</a>&#160;– a plan which appears to be in play right to today.</p>
<p>Regardless of what you think is driving this upheaval, you cannot deny that the religious element is very real now – especially when the economic gap becomes more pronounced. Some conspiracy commentators will still maintain that we&#160;should not, however, believe in the talk about the Grand Caliphate of ISIS, nor should we believe that somehow it was the US&#160;State Dept that organized the death of Ali, son of Abu Talib in AD 661, and stirred the Shia against the Sunni. Yes, the religious divide exists and western colonial rules recognize this early on and made it a key tool in their&#160;divide and rule blueprint. This is the new 21st century version, with a lethal religious zeal.</p>
<p>As for the reasons why the US gave the el-Maliki crowd those $25 billion of weapons and training, that is training how to abandon weapons and how to run, this was only to fool the crowd and to keep America’s military-industrial complex humming. If that doesn’t seem credible or logical to you, this is because you don’t understand the American elite is super-sophisticated, omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. If you didn’t know that you are dumb enough to think that ‘Plunge Protection’ stock market management by the same elite is going to come a cropper PDQ.</p>
<p>Orientalism on Steroids: Britain wrote the book on divide and rule, and the US provided the Hollywood touch (Photo credit:&#160;zebratigerfish.blogspot.com)</p>
<p>Direct rule, and indirect rule</p>
<p>The US State Dept and Pentagon have checked through all the history books – dating back to the times of Indiana Jones – and have found that Classic Imperialism always has ‘two-only’ operating modes. Direct rule, and indirect rule. The first means that the ‘Imperial power’ has to have boots on the ground, and civil servants in the administration, running the colonial party.</p>
<p>The second is supposedly more sophisticated – local co-opted elites and players are recruited and brainwashed. Sometimes, as in the el-Maliki case they go flaky and flunk their glove puppet role of running the show while their Imperial masters stay out of sight, but are there all the same. The indirect-rule method is however usually less expensive and dangerous for the Imperialists (and what’s $25 billion in US weapons and training for Baghdad?) but needs time to produce entirely predictable, east-to-please and obedient, zombie-type local elites. Africa is full of them. Why not the Middle East?</p>
<p>Cleans Whiter Than White The local elites pretty often operate ethnic cleansing, sectarian pogroms, and even full-blown civil wars but they will finally produce good business, for the Imperialists. Inch’allah! Conversely, direct-rule colonialism almost always generates local resistance, needing military intervention to destroy. Ho Chi Minh, for example, warned US President Woodrow Wilson about this very thing in the 1920s – and asked for US help to get rid of French direct-rule colonialism in Vietnam. Wilson ignored him. Later on, the US lost a lot of face – and over 50,000 US servicemen dead and a million Vietnamese – trying to save and replace French colonialism in Vietnam.</p>
<p>The colonial dividend of exploiting local resources and accumulated wealth may however be higher with direct-rule. One reason is this avoids having to share the booty with the local elites, who tend to breed, duplicate and replicate themselves quite fast, but the risks are usually higher.</p>
<p>Also, history of the real type (not Indiana Jones) tells us that Imperialism of the direct variety has shrunk to nothing since the 1960s with the post-World War II decolonization of Europe’s empires and Japan’s short-lived empire. It was upstaged by American indirect colonization – or “coca-colonization”. Today’s globalization can be seen as a shift from US coca-colonization to competition from emerging China and India, doing exactly the same thing. Call it Mercantile Colonialism.</p>
<p>The end of the USA’s indirect-empire and late-imperial model is, to be sure, less clear cut and fuzzier-edged than the end of the classic or direct colonization model, but it is happening. Maybe John Kerry doesn’t know this but its sure that ISIS does. Don’t be surprised if ethnic cleansing moves up to high gear in the Middle East.</p>
<p>The&#160;‘Iraqi-Irish Model’ Precedents even exist inside the western developed nations. One clear example is Ireland, where the end of English direct colonization with the 1918-1923 civil war, which killed about 7% – 10% of all Irish then living, firstly caused ethnic cleansing. England retreated to its directly-colonized northeast, called Ulster. The ethnic cleansing – as in Iraq today – is conducted&#160;along strict religious grounds.</p>
<p>Direct rule continued in Ulster, to this day, but the economic bang for the buck was never high, and soon dwindled into negative territory – the Ulster colony or province of the UK costs money for UK taxpayers and is a museum of outdated uneconomic sunset industries.</p>
<p>Ethnic Cleansing &#160;with Oil</p>
<p>The history lesson is that shifting from direct to indirect rule often causes ethnic cleansing and Ireland gives us a clear example. In the Middle East, firstly the creation of Israel in 1948 caused ethnic cleansing – as longstanding and traditional Jewish communities were rooted out from Morocco to the Gulf. The abandonment of US direct rule in the region – the last outposts being Afghanistan and Iraq – should logically produce the same result, probably on an accelerated basis.</p>
<p>The conspiracy theorists tell us the supposed State Dept-Pentagon gameplan for Iraq needs Shia-Sunni ethnic cleansing and the total elimination of remaining Christian and other non-Muslim minority groups or communities in Iraq. In this case, ethnic cleansing will mean civil war. Whether this could or might harm oil production, transport and refining assets and infrastructures – the only interest of the US and the other external powers – has to be judged as high or very high, especially when the Gulf Sunni-minority petromonrchies are also threatened.</p>
<p>In the Gulf states, the opposition will in no way be only and exclusively from the Shia majorities or large minorities, which are presently disenfranchised. The opposition to autocratic rule can be the Black Flag djihadists anxious to create their Grand Caliphate&#160;– a kind of European Union of believers and therefore not at all like the EU, right?</p>
<p>The mindboggling claim of the conspiracy theorists is that John Kerry and friends are using the break-up of Communist and Federal Yugoslavia as their model. This is a simplistic comparison, but not very accurate. Among the ethnic-cleansed wreckage, we have the Muslim majority micro-state of Kosovo with its 30% unemployment rate, for adults, 60% for young persons, and its huge net emigration rate – to parasite the social security systems of other EU states. A real victory for divide and rule, but not exactly an economic victory.</p>
<p>To be sure, Kosovo didn’t have oil – but is the largest exporter of trafficked children and young female prostitutes in Europe. Saudi Arabia stripped of its Shia-majority regions and without oil, could be good for the same thing as Kosovo, and not much else – apart from millions of religious tourists who head to Mecca and Medina every year.</p>
<p>Going further in their madness, the American Right-Wing and Pro-Israeli conspiracy theorists shrug off this likely outcome with claims that “Persophiles” or closet&#160;Iran-lovers have always existed, even as moles, inside the State Dept and Pentagon since the times of Jimmy Carter. Iran will now be dusted off and brought up to steam. Once the oil slows down, the new downsized all-Sunni Saudi Arabia, without much oil, would be a Hibat Allah, or Gift of God – to the d’jihadists. It will move on to only preaching, instead of pumping oil. US officials will no longer need to lick the Saudi boot – but they will need to do their boot licking in Tehran…</p>
<p>Hillary’s New Iran</p>
<p>Getting just a little nearer to the real world, some conspiracy theorists admit that what finally doomed Iraq was the Arab Spring. Which wasn’t planned by the State Dept, although Hillary Clinton with typical modesty, claims she organized it all in a single afternoon session in the White House Rose Garden.</p>
<p>Hillary’s new Iran (Image Credit: <a href="http://micheleroohani.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/hillary-clinton-in-black-chador-iran-hejab-michele-roohani.jpg" type="external">MicelRoohani</a>)</p>
<p>Taking credit for regime change in Iran – will be one of Hillary Clinton’s grand planks in her platform, and she will certainly be championing a new ‘Woman Leader’ in Iran, regardless of any PKK-terrorist pedigree.</p>
<p>After the 2011, revolutions began toppling Arab autocrats, the anxious Gulf monarchies fell back on old and bad tricks to shore up their rule, treating democratic aspirations as Shia-fomented treason. The Saudis, for example, backed Bahrain’s minority Sunni ruling family with an armored column using live ammunition to put down democracy demonstrators.</p>
<p>The most important new battlefield was Syria, long run by a dictatorship dominated by the Shia Alawites, who themselves are “heretical”, like the Druze and other sections of Syria’s ethnic patchwork. For the Saudis and its Gulf partners, the chance to rob Iran of its key Arab ally and get even for losing Iraq to the Shia was irresistible. The US and some European countries did what they could to turn Syria into a carnage-riddled ethnic cleansing war zone, by pouring in Saudi-paid weapons for supposed “handpicked non-extremist rebels”.</p>
<p>What can the US now do? With its oil-importing allies it will have to deal with the vast terrorist safe haven which was previously called Syria and Iraq. Most of all, the US has to admit it overreached in Afghanistan and then a lot more in Iraq. Its flaky attempt at running a direct colonial “experiment” was a disaster but there is hope.</p>
<p>The Middle East (and North Africa) runs a huge deficit on food trade with the rest of the world – meaning it has to export oil to eat. Therefore whatever new powers sit themselves in the shattered buildings of the former elite, after the ethnic cleansing, they will have to keep pumping oil – to eat – which is a need even more basic than killing your neighbor.</p>
<p>READ MORE ISIS NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire ISIS Files</a></p> | true | 4 | andrew mckillop 21st century wire160 latest isis crisis flung middle east period chaos flux pay close attention narrative pushed timeline press160the talk button special crowd american commentators always160poised launch new msm conspiracy theory ever tell us state department pentagon want fall iraqs elmaliki regime general rule thumb washington never friendly middle east democracy nonmonarchy long today washington says wants work govt baghdad 160fast forward road month two narrative change maliki govt puppet govt tehran must go160they want divide iraq shia sunni camps engaged constant sectarian warfare america worked hard promote sunni vs shia concept many sidebar conversations going right conspiracy crowd aka alternative media always reflecting credit devious allknowing american elite commentators pretend hate rushing tell us isis onslaught iraq planned state department reality may complex multiple players many pieces play iraq iran syria turkey kurdistan israel us ukfrance russia et 160its160zbigniew160brzezinskis160the grand chessboard acid highly volatile maybe aid israel help kurds carve repossess nation us britain france derecognized tossed garbage lausanne versaillestreaty series conferences january 1923 maybe help oil explorationdevelopment south former iraq iran russia americas two biggest buddies expect kurdish independence emerge latest campaign destabilization iraq maybe pure pleasure wasting us taxpayers money harm spending approximate 25 billion simply weapons training elmaliki regime knows cares case certainly devious superbly planned planned decades prominent alternative 160media commentators describe how160the160dividing iraq along sectarianethnic lines drawing board pentagon least 10 years argument 160says washington wants outright suppression elmaliki baghdad regime institutions federal government leading process political fracturing eliminating iraq country course cite israels real160 oded yinon plan160 plan appears play right today regardless think driving upheaval deny religious element real especially economic gap becomes pronounced conspiracy commentators still maintain we160should however believe talk grand caliphate isis believe somehow us160state dept organized death ali son abu talib ad 661 stirred shia sunni yes religious divide exists western colonial rules recognize early made key tool their160divide rule blueprint new 21st century version lethal religious zeal reasons us gave elmaliki crowd 25 billion weapons training training abandon weapons run fool crowd keep americas militaryindustrial complex humming doesnt seem credible logical dont understand american elite supersophisticated omniscient omnipresent omnipotent didnt know dumb enough think plunge protection stock market management elite going come cropper pdq orientalism steroids britain wrote book divide rule us provided hollywood touch photo credit160zebratigerfishblogspotcom direct rule indirect rule us state dept pentagon checked history books dating back times indiana jones found classic imperialism always twoonly operating modes direct rule indirect rule first means imperial power boots ground civil servants administration running colonial party second supposedly sophisticated local coopted elites players recruited brainwashed sometimes elmaliki case go flaky flunk glove puppet role running show imperial masters stay sight indirectrule method however usually less expensive dangerous imperialists whats 25 billion us weapons training baghdad needs time produce entirely predictable easttoplease obedient zombietype local elites africa full middle east cleans whiter white local elites pretty often operate ethnic cleansing sectarian pogroms even fullblown civil wars finally produce good business imperialists inchallah conversely directrule colonialism almost always generates local resistance needing military intervention destroy ho chi minh example warned us president woodrow wilson thing 1920s asked us help get rid french directrule colonialism vietnam wilson ignored later us lost lot face 50000 us servicemen dead million vietnamese trying save replace french colonialism vietnam colonial dividend exploiting local resources accumulated wealth may however higher directrule one reason avoids share booty local elites tend breed duplicate replicate quite fast risks usually higher also history real type indiana jones tells us imperialism direct variety shrunk nothing since 1960s postworld war ii decolonization europes empires japans shortlived empire upstaged american indirect colonization cocacolonization todays globalization seen shift us cocacolonization competition emerging china india exactly thing call mercantile colonialism end usas indirectempire lateimperial model sure less clear cut fuzzieredged end classic direct colonization model happening maybe john kerry doesnt know sure isis dont surprised ethnic cleansing moves high gear middle east the160iraqiirish model precedents even exist inside western developed nations one clear example ireland end english direct colonization 19181923 civil war killed 7 10 irish living firstly caused ethnic cleansing england retreated directlycolonized northeast called ulster ethnic cleansing iraq today conducted160along strict religious grounds direct rule continued ulster day economic bang buck never high soon dwindled negative territory ulster colony province uk costs money uk taxpayers museum outdated uneconomic sunset industries ethnic cleansing 160with oil history lesson shifting direct indirect rule often causes ethnic cleansing ireland gives us clear example middle east firstly creation israel 1948 caused ethnic cleansing longstanding traditional jewish communities rooted morocco gulf abandonment us direct rule region last outposts afghanistan iraq logically produce result probably accelerated basis conspiracy theorists tell us supposed state deptpentagon gameplan iraq needs shiasunni ethnic cleansing total elimination remaining christian nonmuslim minority groups communities iraq case ethnic cleansing mean civil war whether could might harm oil production transport refining assets infrastructures interest us external powers judged high high especially gulf sunniminority petromonrchies also threatened gulf states opposition way exclusively shia majorities large minorities presently disenfranchised opposition autocratic rule black flag djihadists anxious create grand caliphate160 kind european union believers therefore like eu right mindboggling claim conspiracy theorists john kerry friends using breakup communist federal yugoslavia model simplistic comparison accurate among ethniccleansed wreckage muslim majority microstate kosovo 30 unemployment rate adults 60 young persons huge net emigration rate parasite social security systems eu states real victory divide rule exactly economic victory sure kosovo didnt oil largest exporter trafficked children young female prostitutes europe saudi arabia stripped shiamajority regions without oil could good thing kosovo much else apart millions religious tourists head mecca medina every year going madness american rightwing proisraeli conspiracy theorists shrug likely outcome claims persophiles closet160iranlovers always existed even moles inside state dept pentagon since times jimmy carter iran dusted brought steam oil slows new downsized allsunni saudi arabia without much oil would hibat allah gift god djihadists move preaching instead pumping oil us officials longer need lick saudi boot need boot licking tehran hillarys new iran getting little nearer real world conspiracy theorists admit finally doomed iraq arab spring wasnt planned state dept although hillary clinton typical modesty claims organized single afternoon session white house rose garden hillarys new iran image credit micelroohani taking credit regime change iran one hillary clintons grand planks platform certainly championing new woman leader iran regardless pkkterrorist pedigree 2011 revolutions began toppling arab autocrats anxious gulf monarchies fell back old bad tricks shore rule treating democratic aspirations shiafomented treason saudis example backed bahrains minority sunni ruling family armored column using live ammunition put democracy demonstrators important new battlefield syria long run dictatorship dominated shia alawites heretical like druze sections syrias ethnic patchwork saudis gulf partners chance rob iran key arab ally get even losing iraq shia irresistible us european countries could turn syria carnageriddled ethnic cleansing war zone pouring saudipaid weapons supposed handpicked nonextremist rebels us oilimporting allies deal vast terrorist safe previously called syria iraq us admit overreached afghanistan lot iraq flaky attempt running direct colonial experiment disaster hope middle east north africa runs huge deficit food trade rest world meaning export oil eat therefore whatever new powers sit shattered buildings former elite ethnic cleansing keep pumping oil eat need even basic killing neighbor read isis news 21st century wire isis files | 1,207 |
<p>Gage Skidmore/Flickr</p>
<p />
<p>Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has a reputation for saying nutty things. Perhaps you’ve heard. To the congresswoman’s critics, her overheated accusations—suggesting, for instance, that President Obama would create “ <a href="" type="internal">re-education camps</a>” for American kids or that Census data might be used as a tool for <a href="" type="internal">mass incarceration</a>—are just the product of mindless conspiracy theorizing.</p>
<p>But that misses the point. There is a method to Bachmann’s madness (such as it is) that her critics don’t always understand. Long before she emerged as a bomb-throwing cable news fixture, Bachmann, who <a href="" type="internal">announced</a> on Monday that she’s running for president, cut her teeth in a different sort of campaign that mirrored the religious and constitutional arguments she uses today to attack President Obama’s policies. As a culture warrior working with a nonprofit education watchdog in the Twin Cities suburbs, she laid the foundation for her political career by railing against the Profile of Learning, a state curriculum standard that she and her allies argued was leading the nation toward a pantheistic, pro-abortion, one-world society.</p>
<p>Bachmann’s activism began in 1999, when she ran for a seat on the Stillwater school board. It may have seemed like an unusual move for a parent who home-schooled her children, but Bachmann was unequivocal: the Profile needed to go. Bachmann ultimately lost, but she was just getting started.</p>
<p>Shortly after the election, Mary Cecconi, a school board member who survived the anti-Profile challengers, traveled to a local church to see her opponent, joined by a self-styled education policy specialist named Michael Chapman, give a presentation on the Profile. The duo was traveling the state to discuss the ideology and constitutionality (or lack thereof, in their view) of the curriculum standards on behalf of the Maple River Education Coalition (MREC), one of a handful of groups of concerned parents and educators that popped up to battle the Profile.</p>
<p>“There were a lot of people calling out amens, and a tremendous amount of kind of a visceral love pouring out for her,” Cecconi recalls. “Chapman was supposed to be the headliner but there was no question that she was the star.”</p>
<p>The pair’s critique of the system, as outlined in <a href="http://www.edwatch.org/questions.html" type="external">a fact-sheet</a> they drafted for the MREC two years later, revolved around a fear that federal education policy (of which the Profile was an extension) was stealthily laying the groundwork for a “state-planned economy.” The Profile, which was initially created by former Republican Gov. Arne Carlson, established 10 basic “learning areas” that students were required to pass—things like reading, writing, and mathematics. But according to Bachmann and Chapman, this was merely a gateway; they argued that public schools, in collaboration with business interests, would then funnel children to specific careers through a program called School to Work. Officials in Washington, in that dystopian scenario, would form “workforce boards” to promote different sectors of the economy—green jobs, say—depending on their political whims.</p>
<p>“Government is implementing policies that will lead to poverty, not prosperity, by adopting the failed ideas of a state planned and managed economy similar to that of the former Soviet Union,” Bachmann and Chapman wrote. “The system is based upon a utilitarian worldview that measures human value only in terms of productive capability for the ‘best interests of the state.'”</p>
<p>“She had this very Brave New World kind of thing: ‘This is the federal government programming our kids,'” says Steve Kelley, a former Democratic state senator and gubernatorial candidate who served with Bachmann on the senate education committee.</p>
<p>The warnings about Big Brother irked even some Bachmann allies. “I attended one of their sessions recently in Edina in which a few people commented that the presenters seemed to use ‘scare tactics’ in their presentation,” one supporter wrote in a comment on the group’s website. “While I know that is not their intent in presenting the facts of the [School to Work] and Profile of Learning systems, I, too, felt the same discomfort… I would just encourage them to cut out even more of the details in future presentations in order to eliminate the sense of panic, emotion, and conspiracy that was felt at this session.”</p>
<p>For MREC’s members, fears of a state-planned economy were just the tip of the conspiracy. According to the group, the federal standards were actually part of a globalist plot. As they explained, the Profile was an extension of a Clinton-era program called Goals 2000, which made a preliminary attempt at a basic set of national curriculum standards. That initiative, meanwhile, marked the continuation of an effort endorsed by George H.W. Bush, called “Education for All,” which, in turn, adopted principles originally floated by the United Nations. “Promoting World Citizenship over National Sovereignty is now Official US government policy,” Chapman <a href="http://www.newswithviews.com/Chapman/michael.htm" type="external">later wrote</a>.</p>
<p>American Exceptionalism and Judeo-Christian principles, long a Bachmann sticking point, were being pushed to the back burner while environmentalist concepts like “sustainable development” emerged as a tool of the global agenda. Just what would this UN-based curriculum look like? The MREC identified 17 key planks of the global agenda—among them “pantheism,” “evolution,” “socialized medicine,” “one-world government,” and the “creation of ‘biosphere reserves.'” Even International Baccalaureate, the worldwide advanced placement system, drew the group’s scorn; a fact-sheet provided by MREC called it “ <a href="http://www.edwatch.org/updates07/021907-terror.htm" type="external">the foundation of tyranny</a>.”</p>
<p>Among the Evangelical Christians who formed Bachmann’s Minnesota base, the threat of global government is loaded with religious connotations. In the best-selling End Times series Left Behind, the Antichrist—in the form of a smooth-talking United Nations Secretary General—unites the world in a one-world state following the Rapture. Among many Evangelical Christians, globalism is a force for evil. (Bachmann has <a href="" type="internal">previously attended conferences</a> devoted to Biblical prophecy and credits Beverly LaHaye, the wife of the Left Behind co-creator, with inspiring her to enter politics.)</p>
<p>One MREC supporter told <a href="http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/199909/07_kastem_profile/" type="external">Minnesota Public Radio</a> in 1999 that the curriculum standard “fits very well with what the word of God tells us is happening, for we are living in the last days, and there will be a one-world government.” (He was not speaking for the group.)</p>
<p>Karen Effrem, a long-time board member of MREC, emphasizes that the group was not religious in nature, however. “Nothing that Maple River did was dealing with End Times anything or with religious discussions,” she says. It was, according to her, purely a constitutional question: Who should determine the content of local curricula?</p>
<p>Ultimately, through the efforts of Bachmann and her allies, the Profile was repealed. After facing fierce pressure from social conservatives during the state GOP’s nominating convention, Gov. Tim Pawlenty appointed an education commissioner who quickly set about developing a new set of standards, and invited MREC members to participate. The process <a href="" type="internal">was a mess</a>; during one meeting, a committee member struck a reference to sharing in the kindergarten curriculum because she considered it too “socialist.” After a fierce backlash, the state senate ultimately chose not to confirm Pawlenty’s education commissioner, Cheri Yecke.</p>
<p>Bachmann’s relationship with Maple River was for the most part mutually beneficial. She lent her energy and considerable rhetorical gifts to the cause; the group, meanwhile, provided an entry point into the social conservative grassroots networks that would launch her into office. In interviews at the time, she <a href="http://www.edwatch.org/updates/011003.htm" type="external">attributed</a> her surprising success at the polls to groups like MREC.</p>
<p>When the group, which by that point had rebranded itself as EdWatch and begun to expand its reach into other states, held its national convention in 2004, the charismatic state senator was a natural choice to deliver the keynote address. This time, the focus wasn’t on encroaching United Nations tyranny; it was on a threat of a different sort. In a <a href="http://dumpmichelebachmann.com/audio/MB_Edwatch_Nov2004.mp3" type="external">45-minute speech</a>, Bachmann tackled the specter of the gay agenda in public schools. She alleged that teachers were indoctrinating students in homosexuality and encouraging children to give it a try. Even the word itself—”gay”—was an issue. “It’s part of Satan, I think, to say that this is ‘gay,'” she warned. “It’s anything but ‘gay.'”</p>
<p>Even Pawlenty, then the state’s Republican governor and currently one of Bachmann’s top rivals for the 2012 nomination, wasn’t immune to the group’s scathing criticism: “Under Governor Pawlenty’s supervision, his administration is actively promoting the indoctrination of students into a homosexual worldview and value system,” it warned in <a href="http://www.edwatch.org/updates06/060606-GLBT.htm" type="external">an open letter</a> in 2006.</p>
<p>When Bachmann went to Washington, DC, she took Maple River/EdWatch with her. Julie Quist, a former MREC board member, went on to take a job as Bachmann’s district director; Renee Doyle, the former school board member who founded the organization, currently works in the congresswoman’s Washington office. The group closed up shop last December, but Effrem simultaneously launched a new organization, Education Liberty Watch, whose mission is more or less the same.</p>
<p>Bachmann’s war on the Profile of Learning is nearly a decade old at this point, but laid a foundation for her approach to politics that continues today. Her subsequent campaigns against “One World currency” and sustainable development (famously fretting that progressive policymakers wanted all Americans to live in urban “ <a href="" type="internal">tenements</a>“) reflect a latent and long-standing fear of globalism that stretches at least as far back as the debate over the standards. It’s the product of a coherent, if controversial worldview that’s been honed by her years as a grassroots activist. (Bachmann did not respond to an interview request.)</p>
<p>“The Michele Bachmann you see today is exactly the Michele Bachmann I met 12 years ago; she has not changed one iota,” says her former school board rival Cecconi. “Consistency is her middle name. That’s the quality that people read in her from the back of the room.”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | gage skidmoreflickr minnesota rep michele bachmann reputation saying nutty things perhaps youve heard congresswomans critics overheated accusationssuggesting instance president obama would create reeducation camps american kids census data might used tool mass incarcerationare product mindless conspiracy theorizing misses point method bachmanns madness critics dont always understand long emerged bombthrowing cable news fixture bachmann announced monday shes running president cut teeth different sort campaign mirrored religious constitutional arguments uses today attack president obamas policies culture warrior working nonprofit education watchdog twin cities suburbs laid foundation political career railing profile learning state curriculum standard allies argued leading nation toward pantheistic proabortion oneworld society bachmanns activism began 1999 ran seat stillwater school board may seemed like unusual move parent homeschooled children bachmann unequivocal profile needed go bachmann ultimately lost getting started shortly election mary cecconi school board member survived antiprofile challengers traveled local church see opponent joined selfstyled education policy specialist named michael chapman give presentation profile duo traveling state discuss ideology constitutionality lack thereof view curriculum standards behalf maple river education coalition mrec one handful groups concerned parents educators popped battle profile lot people calling amens tremendous amount kind visceral love pouring cecconi recalls chapman supposed headliner question star pairs critique system outlined factsheet drafted mrec two years later revolved around fear federal education policy profile extension stealthily laying groundwork stateplanned economy profile initially created former republican gov arne carlson established 10 basic learning areas students required passthings like reading writing mathematics according bachmann chapman merely gateway argued public schools collaboration business interests would funnel children specific careers program called school work officials washington dystopian scenario would form workforce boards promote different sectors economygreen jobs saydepending political whims government implementing policies lead poverty prosperity adopting failed ideas state planned managed economy similar former soviet union bachmann chapman wrote system based upon utilitarian worldview measures human value terms productive capability best interests state brave new world kind thing federal government programming kids says steve kelley former democratic state senator gubernatorial candidate served bachmann senate education committee warnings big brother irked even bachmann allies attended one sessions recently edina people commented presenters seemed use scare tactics presentation one supporter wrote comment groups website know intent presenting facts school work profile learning systems felt discomfort would encourage cut even details future presentations order eliminate sense panic emotion conspiracy felt session mrecs members fears stateplanned economy tip conspiracy according group federal standards actually part globalist plot explained profile extension clintonera program called goals 2000 made preliminary attempt basic set national curriculum standards initiative meanwhile marked continuation effort endorsed george hw bush called education turn adopted principles originally floated united nations promoting world citizenship national sovereignty official us government policy chapman later wrote american exceptionalism judeochristian principles long bachmann sticking point pushed back burner environmentalist concepts like sustainable development emerged tool global agenda would unbased curriculum look like mrec identified 17 key planks global agendaamong pantheism evolution socialized medicine oneworld government creation biosphere reserves even international baccalaureate worldwide advanced placement system drew groups scorn factsheet provided mrec called foundation tyranny among evangelical christians formed bachmanns minnesota base threat global government loaded religious connotations bestselling end times series left behind antichristin form smoothtalking united nations secretary generalunites world oneworld state following rapture among many evangelical christians globalism force evil bachmann previously attended conferences devoted biblical prophecy credits beverly lahaye wife left behind cocreator inspiring enter politics one mrec supporter told minnesota public radio 1999 curriculum standard fits well word god tells us happening living last days oneworld government speaking group karen effrem longtime board member mrec emphasizes group religious nature however nothing maple river dealing end times anything religious discussions says according purely constitutional question determine content local curricula ultimately efforts bachmann allies profile repealed facing fierce pressure social conservatives state gops nominating convention gov tim pawlenty appointed education commissioner quickly set developing new set standards invited mrec members participate process mess one meeting committee member struck reference sharing kindergarten curriculum considered socialist fierce backlash state senate ultimately chose confirm pawlentys education commissioner cheri yecke bachmanns relationship maple river part mutually beneficial lent energy considerable rhetorical gifts cause group meanwhile provided entry point social conservative grassroots networks would launch office interviews time attributed surprising success polls groups like mrec group point rebranded edwatch begun expand reach states held national convention 2004 charismatic state senator natural choice deliver keynote address time focus wasnt encroaching united nations tyranny threat different sort 45minute speech bachmann tackled specter gay agenda public schools alleged teachers indoctrinating students homosexuality encouraging children give try even word itselfgaywas issue part satan think say gay warned anything gay even pawlenty states republican governor currently one bachmanns top rivals 2012 nomination wasnt immune groups scathing criticism governor pawlentys supervision administration actively promoting indoctrination students homosexual worldview value system warned open letter 2006 bachmann went washington dc took maple riveredwatch julie quist former mrec board member went take job bachmanns district director renee doyle former school board member founded organization currently works congresswomans washington office group closed shop last december effrem simultaneously launched new organization education liberty watch whose mission less bachmanns war profile learning nearly decade old point laid foundation approach politics continues today subsequent campaigns one world currency sustainable development famously fretting progressive policymakers wanted americans live urban tenements reflect latent longstanding fear globalism stretches least far back debate standards product coherent controversial worldview thats honed years grassroots activist bachmann respond interview request michele bachmann see today exactly michele bachmann met 12 years ago changed one iota says former school board rival cecconi consistency middle name thats quality people read back room | 925 |
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<p>‘Tis the Holiday Season and a time congenial for reading books. Here are my recommendations of recent books that relate to the quest for understanding today’s events:</p>
<p>1. <a href="" type="internal">Jeno: The Power of the Peddler</a>, (Paulucci International) is the biography of 89 year old multiple entrepreneur, Jeno Paulucci, of Duluth, Minnesota and Sanford, Florida. One of a kind, this human dynamo, starting from the raw poverty of the Iron Range, built company after company and sold them when they became successful. Along the way, he championed labor unions for his large companies, workers rights, sued even bigger companies, heralded the need to use the courts, defended prisoners unlawfully imprisoned and launched many other counter-intuitive initiatives. He just started another company before his 90th birthday. You want to absorb human energy, read this book!</p>
<p>2. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1933392649/counterpunchmaga" type="external">The Man Who Hated Work and Loved Labor: The Life and Times of Tony Mazzocchi</a> by Les Leopold, (Chelsea Green) is the story of whom I consider to be the greatest labor leader of our generation. It was Mazzocchi who connected the labor movement with environmental group and scientists specializing in occupational diseases, with a broad humane agenda for working people so that they had a decent living standard and plenty of time for other pursuits. This World War II combat veteran probably traveled more miles, spoke with more blue collar workers and championed “just health care” more than any other American before his passing from cancer in 2002.</p>
<p>3. <a href="" type="internal">Corpocracy</a> by Robert A.G. Monks (Wiley Publishers) summarizes its main theme on the book’s cover-“How CEOs and the Business Roundtable Hijacked the World’s Greatest Wealth Machine-and How to Get it Back.” Corporate lawyer, venture capitalist and bold shareholder activist, Monks gives us his inside knowledge about how corporations seized control from any adequate government regulations and especially from their owners, their shareholders, and institutional shareholders like mutual funds and pension trusts. This is a very readable journey through the pits and peaks of corporate greed and power that shows the light at the end of the tunnel.</p>
<p>4. <a href="" type="internal">Building the Green Economy: Success Stories from the Grass Roots</a>, by Kevin Danaher, Shannon Biggs and Jason Mark (PoliPoint Press.) This is a practical book about on-the-ground, successful green businesses and neighborhood initiatives that live sustainability, not just talk it. There are also pages of crisp interviews with practitioners and thinkers including Rocky Anderson, Mayor of Salt Lake City and Lois Gibbs, the extraordinary organizer against toxics regarding this emerging sub-economy that challenges greed, concentrated power and destruction.</p>
<p>5. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1595581642/counterpunchmaga" type="external">You Have No Rights: Stories of America in an Age of Repression</a> (paperback, The New Press) by Matthew Rothschild. This book by the editor of The Progressive magazine aggregates accurate stories of the post-9/11 violations of the civil liberties and and civil right of the American people, including veterans, by the dictacrats in Washington, DC. Ordinary people exercising their rights of free speech and assembly found harassment, arrest, expulsion from public meetings, surveillance and malicious prosecution to be their rewards. Rothschild end on a hopeful note, describing the resistance by freedom advocates and the various individual and community ways that people are fighting back to defend their Bill of Rights.</p>
<p>6. <a href="" type="internal">The Bank Teller and Other Essays on the Politics of Meaning</a>, by Peter Gabel (Acada Books.) Law Professor, Law Dean and college President, Peter Gabel gets down to fundamentals about the “politics of meaning.” This is not a muckraking expose but rather a relentless push on readers to examine their isolation and alienation from one another, their neighborhood, workplace, and community without which a functioning democracy cannot evolve.</p>
<p>7. <a href="" type="internal">The Four Freedoms Under Siege</a>, by Marcus Raskin and Robert Spero (Praeger/Publishers.) Raskin and Spero take off from Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s proclamation of the Four Freedoms in his annual message to Congress, January 6, 1941 and apply them to present day America. These four freedoms are the freedom of speech, freedom to worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. It is not a pretty picture. It can be changed, and this book contains wise words for such liberations.</p>
<p>8. <a href="" type="internal">Medicare; Facts, Myths, Problems &amp; Promise</a> (in Canada!), edited by Bruce Campbell and Greg Marchildon (James Lorimer &amp; Company Ltd.) At last an authoritative answer by authorities on health care in Canada and the U.S. to the distortions, prevarications, smears and putdowns of the Canadian health care system by the Wall Street Journal, Rush Limbaugh and other servers of their corporate paymasters. In 39 concise chapters, 39 specialists cover the achievements of Canada’s way of guaranteeing everyone health care, how it happened, the pressure by the corporatist lobbies and their thoughtless think tanks to undermine Medicare piece by piece, and the future development of Medicare toward prevention and sustainability. A tour de force for anybody fed up with the “pay or die,” wasteful, profiteering corporate morass that blocks comparable progress in the United States.</p>
<p>9. <a href="" type="internal">Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of The New Global Economy</a> by John Bowe (Random House.) This book is an eye witness gripper of the conditions of the workers who harvest our fruits and vegetables and make our garments from Florida to Oklahoma to Saipan. Laws are weak, unenforced, and raw power takes over these defenseless workers’ lives. You’ll soon ask: where are the police, the prosecutors, the politicians? The real question is: “Where are the people to make the required changes on behalf of humanity?”</p>
<p>RALPH NADER is the author of <a href="" type="internal">The Seventeen Traditions</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 160 tis holiday season time congenial reading books recommendations recent books relate quest understanding todays events 1 jeno power peddler paulucci international biography 89 year old multiple entrepreneur jeno paulucci duluth minnesota sanford florida one kind human dynamo starting raw poverty iron range built company company sold became successful along way championed labor unions large companies workers rights sued even bigger companies heralded need use courts defended prisoners unlawfully imprisoned launched many counterintuitive initiatives started another company 90th birthday want absorb human energy read book 2 man hated work loved labor life times tony mazzocchi les leopold chelsea green story consider greatest labor leader generation mazzocchi connected labor movement environmental group scientists specializing occupational diseases broad humane agenda working people decent living standard plenty time pursuits world war ii combat veteran probably traveled miles spoke blue collar workers championed health care american passing cancer 2002 3 corpocracy robert ag monks wiley publishers summarizes main theme books coverhow ceos business roundtable hijacked worlds greatest wealth machineand get back corporate lawyer venture capitalist bold shareholder activist monks gives us inside knowledge corporations seized control adequate government regulations especially owners shareholders institutional shareholders like mutual funds pension trusts readable journey pits peaks corporate greed power shows light end tunnel 4 building green economy success stories grass roots kevin danaher shannon biggs jason mark polipoint press practical book ontheground successful green businesses neighborhood initiatives live sustainability talk also pages crisp interviews practitioners thinkers including rocky anderson mayor salt lake city lois gibbs extraordinary organizer toxics regarding emerging subeconomy challenges greed concentrated power destruction 5 rights stories america age repression paperback new press matthew rothschild book editor progressive magazine aggregates accurate stories post911 violations civil liberties civil right american people including veterans dictacrats washington dc ordinary people exercising rights free speech assembly found harassment arrest expulsion public meetings surveillance malicious prosecution rewards rothschild end hopeful note describing resistance freedom advocates various individual community ways people fighting back defend bill rights 6 bank teller essays politics meaning peter gabel acada books law professor law dean college president peter gabel gets fundamentals politics meaning muckraking expose rather relentless push readers examine isolation alienation one another neighborhood workplace community without functioning democracy evolve 7 four freedoms siege marcus raskin robert spero praegerpublishers raskin spero take franklin delano roosevelts proclamation four freedoms annual message congress january 6 1941 apply present day america four freedoms freedom speech freedom worship freedom want freedom fear pretty picture changed book contains wise words liberations 8 medicare facts myths problems amp promise canada edited bruce campbell greg marchildon james lorimer amp company ltd last authoritative answer authorities health care canada us distortions prevarications smears putdowns canadian health care system wall street journal rush limbaugh servers corporate paymasters 39 concise chapters 39 specialists cover achievements canadas way guaranteeing everyone health care happened pressure corporatist lobbies thoughtless think tanks undermine medicare piece piece future development medicare toward prevention sustainability tour de force anybody fed pay die wasteful profiteering corporate morass blocks comparable progress united states 9 nobodies modern american slave labor dark side new global economy john bowe random house book eye witness gripper conditions workers harvest fruits vegetables make garments florida oklahoma saipan laws weak unenforced raw power takes defenseless workers lives youll soon ask police prosecutors politicians real question people make required changes behalf humanity ralph nader author seventeen traditions 160 160 | 558 |
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<p>Just recently, I was accused by a writer for the ultra-Right <a href="http://washingtontimes.com/commentary/20060705-085726-1737r.htm" type="external">Washington Times</a> of being a “defeatist” when it comes to America’s expansionist military policy abroad. The giveaway, it seems, is that I penned a book for <a href="http://www.americanempireproject.com" type="external">the American Empire Project</a> — a series of critical volumes published by Metropolitan Books. Contributors to the series, the article claimed, want “a retreat from Iraq to be the prelude to a larger collapse of American preeminence worldwide.” My initial response on reading this was to insist — like so many anxious liberals — that no, I am not opposed to American preeminence in the world, only to continued U.S. involvement in Iraq. But then, considering the charge some more, I thought, well, yes, I am in favor of abandoning the U.S. imperial role worldwide. The United States, I’m convinced, would be a whole lot better off — and its military personnel a whole lot safer — if we repudiated the global-dominance project of the Bush administration and its neo-conservative boosters.</p>
<p>Supposedly, the U.S. military has expanded its presence and combat role around the world to foster democracy and prevail in the President’s War on Terror; and, without a doubt, many brave Americans have risked their lives — and some have died - in the pursuit of these noble objectives. But this is not, I believe, what has motivated Messrs. Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld in their pursuit of global supremacy. Rather, they appear driven by a messianic determination to impose American dominance on large swaths of the planet and to employ this hegemonic presence to gain control over global energy supplies. In attempting to do so, they are bankrupting the nation and exposing American citizens to a higher, not lower, risk of terrorist attack.</p>
<p>Take a look at U.S. policy in the greater Persian Gulf/Caspian Sea region - the main site of American military activism and home to seven-tenths of the world’s remaining petroleum reserves. Bush and Cheney have spoken eloquently of their determination to promote democracy in this troubled region, but what they have largely done, in practice, is to continue to prop up the kings, sheikhs, and dictators who rule the local petro-states.</p>
<p>Remember the President’s <a href="http://www.peteykins.com/sparklepony/BushAbdullah2.jpg" type="external">touching moment of hand-holding</a> with Saudi Prince Abdullah a year ago at his ranch in Texas? Abdullah (now King) may be a tad more moderate than his pro-jihadist brothers and cousins, but he is no advocate of democracy. More recently, Bush gave <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/04/images/20060428_p042806pm-0052jpg-515h.html" type="external">Ilham Aliyev</a>, the dictator of pipeline-cluttered Azerbaijan, a gala White House reception; while, at about the same time, Cheney <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/05/06/ap/politics/mainD8HDVQ000.shtml" type="external">lauded</a> the democratic aspirations of <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/05/images/20060505-4_v050506db-0096-515h.html" type="external">Nursultan Nazarbayev</a>, the dictator of Kazakhstan, during a visit to that energy-rich country. These moves are consistent with a neo-imperial strategy not even faintly aimed at “democracy,” but rather at the procurement of energy sources — or the control over the distribution of oil and natural gas to other energy-hungry nations.</p>
<p>What about the U.S. invasion Iraq? This was not about oil, we were assured at the time. We invaded to do away with weapons of mass destruction said to be controlled by Saddam Hussein, or because of Hussein’s alleged ties to Al Qaeda, or to spread democracy in Iraq and the surrounding region — in other words, for anything you can name, except oil. But there were no WMD stockpiles in Iraq, no ties to Al Qaeda, and few signs of an incipient democracy.</p>
<p>Why, then, are we squandering so many lives and so much treasure in a desperate effort to hold on in Iraq? Only one answer makes any sense from a Washington policymaker’s point of view — to remain the dominant military power in the Persian Gulf and thereby control the global flow of oil. This is the only interpretation that fits with the Pentagon’s admission that it plans <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=59774" type="external">to retain</a> at least some bases in Iraq indefinitely, no matter what sort of future government emerges in Baghdad (or whether such a government approves of our presence or not).</p>
<p>The striking expansion of <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20050425/klare" type="external">the U.S. military presence</a> in Central Asia, Southwest Asia, and Africa in recent months reveals a similar geopolitical impulse. All of these areas are becoming increasingly important to the United States as sources of oil and natural gas, and in none of them can it be said that we are setting up our bases to serve as beacons for the further advance of freedom and democracy, not given the nature of most of the governments we support in those places. Because many of our leading energy suppliers in these regions are subject to internal unrest and ethnic conflict — a reaction, in most cases, to despotic regimes that remain in power with Washington’s blessing — the United States is becoming ever more deeply involved in their defense, whether through the delivery of arms and military aid (as in Angola, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Nigeria) or via a direct U.S. military presence (as in Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates).</p>
<p>This is not likely to be a passing phenomenon. The United States is becoming ever more dependent on imported energy — most of which will have to come from what the neoconservatives of the Bush administration term the “arc of instability” — and our military strategy is being reshaped accordingly. At present, we obtain nearly 60% of our petroleum from foreign sources; before long, it will be 70% or more. To ensure that these imported supplies safely reach our shores, the Department of Defense is devoting an ever increasing share of its troops and resources to the defense of foreign pipelines, refineries, loading platforms, and tanker routes. Essentially, the U.S. military is being converted <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=1888" type="external">into a global oil-protection service</a> — at great risk to the lives of American servicemen and women.</p>
<p>In response to all this, I say: repudiate empire, overcome our oil addiction, and bring the troops back home. This will save lives, save money, and restore America’s democratic credentials. Even more significant, it will help us prevail in any long-term struggle with small, stateless groups that employ terror as their weapon of choice.</p>
<p>Let’s be very clear: the pursuit of empire and success in what the President calls “the global war on terrorism” are <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=47757" type="external">mutually incompatible</a>. The more we seek to dominate the Middle East, Central Asia, and Africa, the more we will provoke anti-American fury and the very violent extremism with which we claim to be at war.</p>
<p><a href="http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?ReportID=252" type="external">Recent polling data</a> suggests that hostility toward the United States is on the rise in all of these areas and that our hegemonic policies and hypocritical stance on the spread of democracy are largely responsible for this. Only by repudiating the unilateralist military doctrine of the Bush administration and withdrawing most of our forces from these areas can we hope to achieve a reduction in militant anti-Americanism. By rejecting unilateralism, moreover, we can secure the assistance of local officials whose help is desperately needed to identify and root out hidden terror cells.</p>
<p>Indeed, success in the global struggle against terrorist movements can only be achieved by a multilateral effort entailing the vigorous application of police-type investigative methods and a moral campaign designed to invalidate the legitimacy of indiscriminate violence against innocent people. The unilateralist, shoot-first-ask-questions-later approach of the Bush administration has demonstrably undermined such efforts. The upshot is bound to be but more terrorism and a greater risk to American lives. Only by cooperating with other countries on an equitable basis can we diminish this risk.</p>
<p>A retreat from empire would also force us to use oil more sparingly and this, in turn, would enable us to address another critical threat to American security: the danger of catastrophic environmental damage caused by global climate change. As Hurricane Katrina demonstrated, our shores are highly vulnerable to powerful hurricanes; and higher ocean temperatures, caused by global warming, are producing increasingly violent ones. Global warming is also contributing to the extreme drought and susceptibility to voracious forest fires in many areas of the American West. By reducing our petroleum consumption and relying more on ethanol, bio-diesel, wind power, solar, and other domestically-produced, alternative sources of energy — but especially by putting our money into the development of such alternatives rather than to imperial expansion around the globe — we can, in the long run, reduce our exposure to violence abroad and to environmental catastrophe at home.</p>
<p>So yes, I’m a “defeatist” when it comes to imperial expansion. But I’m a hawk when it comes to overcoming terrorism, saving American lives, averting environmental collapse, and promoting core American values. This is the only truly patriotic course that any of us can espouse.</p>
<p>Michael T. Klare is the Professor of Peace and World Security Studies at Hampshire College and the author, most recently, of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805079386/nationbooks08" type="external">Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America’s Growing Dependence on Imported Petroleum</a> (Owl Books) as well as <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0805055762/nationbooks08" type="external">Resource Wars, The New Landscape of Global Conflict</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 2006 Michael T. Klare</p>
<p>This article appeared first, with an introduction by Tom Engelhardt, at <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external">Tomdispatch.com</a>.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | recently accused writer ultraright washington times defeatist comes americas expansionist military policy abroad giveaway seems penned book american empire project series critical volumes published metropolitan books contributors series article claimed want retreat iraq prelude larger collapse american preeminence worldwide initial response reading insist like many anxious liberals opposed american preeminence world continued us involvement iraq considering charge thought well yes favor abandoning us imperial role worldwide united states im convinced would whole lot better military personnel whole lot safer repudiated globaldominance project bush administration neoconservative boosters supposedly us military expanded presence combat role around world foster democracy prevail presidents war terror without doubt many brave americans risked lives died pursuit noble objectives believe motivated messrs bush cheney rumsfeld pursuit global supremacy rather appear driven messianic determination impose american dominance large swaths planet employ hegemonic presence gain control global energy supplies attempting bankrupting nation exposing american citizens higher lower risk terrorist attack take look us policy greater persian gulfcaspian sea region main site american military activism home seventenths worlds remaining petroleum reserves bush cheney spoken eloquently determination promote democracy troubled region largely done practice continue prop kings sheikhs dictators rule local petrostates remember presidents touching moment handholding saudi prince abdullah year ago ranch texas abdullah king may tad moderate projihadist brothers cousins advocate democracy recently bush gave ilham aliyev dictator pipelinecluttered azerbaijan gala white house reception time cheney lauded democratic aspirations nursultan nazarbayev dictator kazakhstan visit energyrich country moves consistent neoimperial strategy even faintly aimed democracy rather procurement energy sources control distribution oil natural gas energyhungry nations us invasion iraq oil assured time invaded away weapons mass destruction said controlled saddam hussein husseins alleged ties al qaeda spread democracy iraq surrounding region words anything name except oil wmd stockpiles iraq ties al qaeda signs incipient democracy squandering many lives much treasure desperate effort hold iraq one answer makes sense washington policymakers point view remain dominant military power persian gulf thereby control global flow oil interpretation fits pentagons admission plans retain least bases iraq indefinitely matter sort future government emerges baghdad whether government approves presence striking expansion us military presence central asia southwest asia africa recent months reveals similar geopolitical impulse areas becoming increasingly important united states sources oil natural gas none said setting bases serve beacons advance freedom democracy given nature governments support places many leading energy suppliers regions subject internal unrest ethnic conflict reaction cases despotic regimes remain power washingtons blessing united states becoming ever deeply involved defense whether delivery arms military aid angola azerbaijan kazakhstan nigeria via direct us military presence iraq qatar saudi arabia united arab emirates likely passing phenomenon united states becoming ever dependent imported energy come neoconservatives bush administration term arc instability military strategy reshaped accordingly present obtain nearly 60 petroleum foreign sources long 70 ensure imported supplies safely reach shores department defense devoting ever increasing share troops resources defense foreign pipelines refineries loading platforms tanker routes essentially us military converted global oilprotection service great risk lives american servicemen women response say repudiate empire overcome oil addiction bring troops back home save lives save money restore americas democratic credentials even significant help us prevail longterm struggle small stateless groups employ terror weapon choice lets clear pursuit empire success president calls global war terrorism mutually incompatible seek dominate middle east central asia africa provoke antiamerican fury violent extremism claim war recent polling data suggests hostility toward united states rise areas hegemonic policies hypocritical stance spread democracy largely responsible repudiating unilateralist military doctrine bush administration withdrawing forces areas hope achieve reduction militant antiamericanism rejecting unilateralism moreover secure assistance local officials whose help desperately needed identify root hidden terror cells indeed success global struggle terrorist movements achieved multilateral effort entailing vigorous application policetype investigative methods moral campaign designed invalidate legitimacy indiscriminate violence innocent people unilateralist shootfirstaskquestionslater approach bush administration demonstrably undermined efforts upshot bound terrorism greater risk american lives cooperating countries equitable basis diminish risk retreat empire would also force us use oil sparingly turn would enable us address another critical threat american security danger catastrophic environmental damage caused global climate change hurricane katrina demonstrated shores highly vulnerable powerful hurricanes higher ocean temperatures caused global warming producing increasingly violent ones global warming also contributing extreme drought susceptibility voracious forest fires many areas american west reducing petroleum consumption relying ethanol biodiesel wind power solar domesticallyproduced alternative sources energy especially putting money development alternatives rather imperial expansion around globe long run reduce exposure violence abroad environmental catastrophe home yes im defeatist comes imperial expansion im hawk comes overcoming terrorism saving american lives averting environmental collapse promoting core american values truly patriotic course us espouse michael klare professor peace world security studies hampshire college author recently blood oil dangers consequences americas growing dependence imported petroleum owl books well resource wars new landscape global conflict copyright 2006 michael klare article appeared first introduction tom engelhardt tomdispatchcom | 803 |
<p>When George W. Bush’s first choice to head an “independent” probe into the Sept. 11 attacks–suspected war criminal Henry Kissinger–went down like a bad pretzel, he quickly plucked another warm body from the stagnant pool of Establishment worthies who are periodically called upon to roll out the whitewash when the big boys screw up.</p>
<p>Kissinger’s replacement, retired New Jersey Governor Thomas Kean, was a “safe pair of hands,” we were assured by the professional assurers in the mainstream media. The fact that he’d been out of public life for years–and that he hadn’t collaborated in the deaths of tens of thousands of Cambodians, Chileans and East Timorese–certainly made him less controversial than his predecessor, although to be fair, Kissinger’s expertise in mass murder surely would have given the panel some unique insights into the terrorist atrocity.</p>
<p>But now it seems that Kean might possess some unique insights of his own. Fortune Magazine reports this week that both Kean and Bush share an unusually well-placed business partner: one Khalid bin Mahfouz — perhaps better known as “Osama bin Laden’s bagman” or even “Osama bin Laden’s brother-in-law.”</p>
<p>Kean, like so many worthies, followed the revolving door out of public service into lucrative sweetheart deals and well-wadded sinecures on corporate boards. One of these, of course, is an oil company–pretty much a requirement for White House work these days. (Or as the sign says on the Oval Office door: “If your rigs ain’t rockin’, don’t come a-knockin’!”) Kean is a director of Amerada Hess, an oil giant married up to Saudi Arabia’s Delta Oil in a venture to pump black gold in Azerbaijan. (The partnership is incorporated in a secretive offshore “tax haven,” natch. You can’t expect a worthy like Kean to pay taxes like some grubby wage slave.)</p>
<p>One of Delta’s biggest backers is the aforesaid Mahfouz, a Saudi wheeler-dealer who has bankrolled some of most dubious players on the world scene: Abu Nidal, Manuel Noreiga, Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush. Mahfouz was also a front for the bin Laden family, funneling their vast wealth through American cut-outs in a bid to gain power and influence in the United States.</p>
<p>One of those cut-outs was Mahfouz factotum James Bath, a partner in George W.’s early oil venture, Arbusto. Bath has admitted serving as a pass-through for secret Saudi money. Years later, when Bush’s maladroit business skills were about to sink another of his companies, Harken Energy, the firm was saved by a $25 million investment from a Swiss bank–a subsidiary of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BBCI), partly owned by the beneficent Mahfouz.</p>
<p>What was BCCI? Only “one of the largest criminal enterprises in history,” according to the U.S. Senate. What did BCCI do? “It engaged in pandemic bribery of officials in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas,” says journalist Christopher Bryon, who first exposed the operation. “It laundered money on a global scale, intimidated witnesses and law officers, engaged in extortion and blackmail. It supplied the financing for illegal arms trafficking and global terrorism. It financed and facilitated income tax evasion, smuggling and prostitution.” Sort of an early version of the Bush Regime, then.</p>
<p>BCCI’s bipartisan corruption first permeated the Carter Administration, then came to full flower in the Reagan-Bush years. The CIA uncovered the bank’s criminal activities in 1981–no great feat, considering how many of its own foreign “associates” were involved, including the head of Saudi intelligence, Kamal Adham, brother-in-law of King Faisal. But instead of stopping the drug-runners and terrorists, the agency decided to join them, using BCCI’s secret channels to finance “black ops” all over the world.</p>
<p>When a few prosecutors finally began targeting BCCI’s operations in the late Eighties, President George Herbert Walker Bush boldly moved in with a federal probe directed by Justice Department investigator Robert Mueller. The U.S. Senate later found that the probe had been unaccountably “botched”–witnesses went missing, CIA records got “lost,” all sorts of bad luck. Lower-ranking prosecutors told of heavy pressure from on high to “lay off.” Most of the big BCCI players went unpunished or, like Mahfouz, got off with wrist-slap fines and sanctions. Mueller, of course, wound up as head of the FBI, appointed to the post in July 2001–by George W. Bush.</p>
<p>In the late 1990s, U.S. authorities identified Mahfouz as a major financier of his brother-in-law’s extracurricular activities. He denied it, but the spooked Saudis put him on ice, charging him with, of all things, bank fraud. He’s now under “house arrest”–or rather, “palatial mansion arrest”–but still wheeling and dealing with Kean and Delta and other worthies. Indeed, one of Mahfouz’s hirelings–the director of a Pakistani bank he owns–sits on the advisory board of our old friend the Carlyle Group, cheek by jowl with the firm’s most celebrated shill: George Herbert Walker Bush.</p>
<p>Somehow we doubt that worthy Kean will poke very hard at the nexus of intersections between his own business partner, Mahfouz, and the bin Ladens, the Bushes, the Saudi royals, Saddam, the CIA and BCCI. We’ve only scratched the surface here, but even this cursory glance makes the current world crisis look less like some grand geopolitical “clash of civilizations” and more like a nasty falling out among thieves, with rival mafias–who sometimes collude, sometimes collide–now duking it out for turf, cloaking their murderous criminality with pious rhetoric about freedom, security, jihad and God.</p>
<p>CHRIS FLOYD is a columnist for the Moscow Times and a regular contributor to CounterPunch. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:cfloyd72@hotmail.com" type="external">cfloyd72@hotmail.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | george w bushs first choice head independent probe sept 11 attackssuspected war criminal henry kissingerwent like bad pretzel quickly plucked another warm body stagnant pool establishment worthies periodically called upon roll whitewash big boys screw kissingers replacement retired new jersey governor thomas kean safe pair hands assured professional assurers mainstream media fact hed public life yearsand hadnt collaborated deaths tens thousands cambodians chileans east timoresecertainly made less controversial predecessor although fair kissingers expertise mass murder surely would given panel unique insights terrorist atrocity seems kean might possess unique insights fortune magazine reports week kean bush share unusually wellplaced business partner one khalid bin mahfouz perhaps better known osama bin ladens bagman even osama bin ladens brotherinlaw kean like many worthies followed revolving door public service lucrative sweetheart deals wellwadded sinecures corporate boards one course oil companypretty much requirement white house work days sign says oval office door rigs aint rockin dont come aknockin kean director amerada hess oil giant married saudi arabias delta oil venture pump black gold azerbaijan partnership incorporated secretive offshore tax natch cant expect worthy like kean pay taxes like grubby wage slave one deltas biggest backers aforesaid mahfouz saudi wheelerdealer bankrolled dubious players world scene abu nidal manuel noreiga saddam hussein george w bush mahfouz also front bin laden family funneling vast wealth american cutouts bid gain power influence united states one cutouts mahfouz factotum james bath partner george ws early oil venture arbusto bath admitted serving passthrough secret saudi money years later bushs maladroit business skills sink another companies harken energy firm saved 25 million investment swiss banka subsidiary bank credit commerce international bbci partly owned beneficent mahfouz bcci one largest criminal enterprises history according us senate bcci engaged pandemic bribery officials europe africa asia americas says journalist christopher bryon first exposed operation laundered money global scale intimidated witnesses law officers engaged extortion blackmail supplied financing illegal arms trafficking global terrorism financed facilitated income tax evasion smuggling prostitution sort early version bush regime bccis bipartisan corruption first permeated carter administration came full flower reaganbush years cia uncovered banks criminal activities 1981no great feat considering many foreign associates involved including head saudi intelligence kamal adham brotherinlaw king faisal instead stopping drugrunners terrorists agency decided join using bccis secret channels finance black ops world prosecutors finally began targeting bccis operations late eighties president george herbert walker bush boldly moved federal probe directed justice department investigator robert mueller us senate later found probe unaccountably botchedwitnesses went missing cia records got lost sorts bad luck lowerranking prosecutors told heavy pressure high lay big bcci players went unpunished like mahfouz got wristslap fines sanctions mueller course wound head fbi appointed post july 2001by george w bush late 1990s us authorities identified mahfouz major financier brotherinlaws extracurricular activities denied spooked saudis put ice charging things bank fraud hes house arrestor rather palatial mansion arrestbut still wheeling dealing kean delta worthies indeed one mahfouzs hirelingsthe director pakistani bank ownssits advisory board old friend carlyle group cheek jowl firms celebrated shill george herbert walker bush somehow doubt worthy kean poke hard nexus intersections business partner mahfouz bin ladens bushes saudi royals saddam cia bcci weve scratched surface even cursory glance makes current world crisis look less like grand geopolitical clash civilizations like nasty falling among thieves rival mafiaswho sometimes collude sometimes collidenow duking turf cloaking murderous criminality pious rhetoric freedom security jihad god chris floyd columnist moscow times regular contributor counterpunch reached cfloyd72hotmailcom 160 | 571 |
<p>Photo by SPACES Gallery | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>One of the authors of a recent study of U.S. children’s deaths told an interviewer that, “The U.S. is the most dangerous of wealthy, democratic countries in the <a href="" type="internal">world for children</a> … Across all ages and in both sexes, children have been dying more often in the U.S. than in similar countries since the 1980s.” The report was <a href="" type="internal">published online</a> January 8 in Health Affairs. <a href="" type="internal">Ninety percent</a> of the deaths analyzed there were of infants and older adolescents.</p>
<p>According to the authors, “we examined mortality trends for [20] nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for children ages&#160;0–19 from 1961 to 2010 using publicly available data.” They discovered that, “Over the fifty-year study period, the lagging US performance amounted to over 600,000 excess deaths.”</p>
<p>“While child mortality progressively declined across all countries, mortality in the US has been higher than in peer nations since the 1980s,” they indicate. “From 2001 to 2010 the risk of death in the US was 76&#160;percent greater for infants and 57&#160;percent greater for children ages&#160;1–19. During this decade, children ages&#160;15–19 were eighty-two times more likely to die from gun homicide in the US.”</p>
<p>In 2013, the United Nations Children’s Fund ranked the United States <a href="" type="internal">in 25th place</a> among 29 developed countries for success in assuring child health and safety. African-descended infants in the United States are most at risk for preventable deaths.&#160; The overall U.S. infant mortality rate (IMR) for <a href="" type="internal">all babies in 2015</a> was 5.9. (The IMR is the number of babies dying during their first year of life for every group of 1000 babies born alive.) The IMR for white babies was 4.8; that for black and Hispanic babies was 11.4 and 5.2, respectively.</p>
<p>U.S. mothers are experiencing similarly dreadful health outcomes. In the United States the maternal mortality rate (MMR) <a href="" type="internal">for 1990, 2000, and 2015</a> was 16.9, 17.5, and 26.4, respectively. (The MMR is the number of women per 100,000 births who die from causes related to childbirth during pregnancy, the birth process, and for 42 days thereafter.)The comparable Canadian figures were 6.0, 7.7, and 7.3, respectively.</p>
<p>Over those 25 years, the MMR decreased globally by an average of 1.5 percent per nation per year.&#160; Over the same period in the United States, the MMR increased at an average rate of 1.8 percent per year.&#160; The MMR for the United States in 2010 ranked <a href="" type="internal">48 places higher</a>&#160;than that of Estonia whose MMR was the world’s lowest. In Save the Children’s 2015 rankings for overall performance in delivering health care to mothers, the United States ended up <a href="" type="internal">in 61st place</a>. The MMR for black mothers in the United States 2012 was <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pmss.html" type="external">almost four times</a> that of white women.</p>
<p>Blame falls upon capitalism. In their recent <a href="" type="internal">Monthly Review article</a>, John Bellamy Foster and Brett Clark explain that capitalists arrived at a method for accumulating wealth at the expense of women. We think children are losers too.</p>
<p>They’ve relied on a process that Marx, Engels, and their followers have labeled “social reproduction, which refers to capitalists’ need for renewing their workforce. &#160;Children are the fodder for social reproduction, and women are the agents. Citing the investigations of others, the Monthly Review authors explain how women – and children – become sources of accumulation, a task for which capital would seem, superficially, to be ill-suited. &#160;After all, social reproduction differs from the production of commercially valuable commodities through which workers are exploited.</p>
<p>But capitalists are resourceful, and “those areas outside commodity production, including both the reproduction of labor power and what could be expropriated from nature, were considered ‘free gift[s] … to capital’” (Marx’s words). According to the authors, capital demonstrates a “necessary and continuing attempt to transcend or readjust its boundaries with respect to its external conditions of production.” Doing so, it “constantly seeks to expropriate what it can from its natural and social environment.”&#160; In both situations it’s a matter of “actual robbery – usurpation, expropriation, dependence, enslavement.”</p>
<p>Marilyn Waring, whom they cite, thinks that, “the treatment of Mother Earth and the treatment of women and children in the system of national accounts have many fundamental parallels.”</p>
<p>The vulnerability of U.S. children was on display recently. Congress in 1997 enacted legislation creating the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Children who benefited were those whose families earned too much to receive Medicaid benefits for them, but not enough to buy private health insurance. By 2015 the rate of uninsured children in the United States had fallen from&#160; <a href="" type="internal">13.9 percent to 4.5 percent</a>. CIP should have been reauthorized in September, 2017, but that didn’t happen.</p>
<p>Between then and January 22, 2108, it seemed that health insurance for millions of children might disappear. That day, however, an agreement emerged to renew CHIP, but only as part of a deal for temporarily funding the federal government.&#160; The idea that protection of children’s health depends on negotiations on unrelated issues suggests the precariousness of guarantees for children’s survival in the United States.</p>
<p>Clearly, prospects for the well-being of U.S. children, taken as a whole, fall short of expectations for a wealthy nation. Those in charge, it seems, are able to commandeer financial resources that in a just society would be readily available for saving children and mothers from preventable deaths. But how, one asks, did children and mothers living in other OECD nations, all capitalist, escape dangers weighing upon children and mothers in the United States?</p>
<p>Vicente Navarro, a veteran public health investigator and economist, suggests that working-class forces in the United States are weak, too weak to resist plunder. He points out that, “The United States, the <a href="" type="internal">only major capitalist country</a> without government-guaranteed universal health care coverage, is also the only nation without a social democratic of labor party that serves as the political instrument of the working class and other popular classes. These two facts are related.” Navarro notes the juxtaposition of strong labor movements in Europe and relatively small, timid unions in the United States.</p>
<p>In general, he observes, “ <a href="" type="internal">If you establish</a> a spectrum of capitalist countries, listing them from very “corporate friendly” (like the United States) to very “worker friendly” (like Sweden), you will find, where the capitalist class is very strong, very poor health benefits coverage (in the public as well as in the private sectors), highly unequal coverage, and very poor health indicators. This is, indeed, the U.S. case.”</p> | true | 4 | photo spaces gallery cc 20 one authors recent study us childrens deaths told interviewer us dangerous wealthy democratic countries world children across ages sexes children dying often us similar countries since 1980s report published online january 8 health affairs ninety percent deaths analyzed infants older adolescents according authors examined mortality trends 20 nations organization economic cooperation development oecd children ages160019 1961 2010 using publicly available data discovered fiftyyear study period lagging us performance amounted 600000 excess deaths child mortality progressively declined across countries mortality us higher peer nations since 1980s indicate 2001 2010 risk death us 76160percent greater infants 57160percent greater children ages160119 decade children ages1601519 eightytwo times likely die gun homicide us 2013 united nations childrens fund ranked united states 25th place among 29 developed countries success assuring child health safety africandescended infants united states risk preventable deaths160 overall us infant mortality rate imr babies 2015 59 imr number babies dying first year life every group 1000 babies born alive imr white babies 48 black hispanic babies 114 52 respectively us mothers experiencing similarly dreadful health outcomes united states maternal mortality rate mmr 1990 2000 2015 169 175 264 respectively mmr number women per 100000 births die causes related childbirth pregnancy birth process 42 days thereafterthe comparable canadian figures 60 77 73 respectively 25 years mmr decreased globally average 15 percent per nation per year160 period united states mmr increased average rate 18 percent per year160 mmr united states 2010 ranked 48 places higher160than estonia whose mmr worlds lowest save childrens 2015 rankings overall performance delivering health care mothers united states ended 61st place mmr black mothers united states 2012 almost four times white women blame falls upon capitalism recent monthly review article john bellamy foster brett clark explain capitalists arrived method accumulating wealth expense women think children losers theyve relied process marx engels followers labeled social reproduction refers capitalists need renewing workforce 160children fodder social reproduction women agents citing investigations others monthly review authors explain women children become sources accumulation task capital would seem superficially illsuited 160after social reproduction differs production commercially valuable commodities workers exploited capitalists resourceful areas outside commodity production including reproduction labor power could expropriated nature considered free gifts capital marxs words according authors capital demonstrates necessary continuing attempt transcend readjust boundaries respect external conditions production constantly seeks expropriate natural social environment160 situations matter actual robbery usurpation expropriation dependence enslavement marilyn waring cite thinks treatment mother earth treatment women children system national accounts many fundamental parallels vulnerability us children display recently congress 1997 enacted legislation creating childrens health insurance program chip children benefited whose families earned much receive medicaid benefits enough buy private health insurance 2015 rate uninsured children united states fallen from160 139 percent 45 percent cip reauthorized september 2017 didnt happen january 22 2108 seemed health insurance millions children might disappear day however agreement emerged renew chip part deal temporarily funding federal government160 idea protection childrens health depends negotiations unrelated issues suggests precariousness guarantees childrens survival united states clearly prospects wellbeing us children taken whole fall short expectations wealthy nation charge seems able commandeer financial resources society would readily available saving children mothers preventable deaths one asks children mothers living oecd nations capitalist escape dangers weighing upon children mothers united states vicente navarro veteran public health investigator economist suggests workingclass forces united states weak weak resist plunder points united states major capitalist country without governmentguaranteed universal health care coverage also nation without social democratic labor party serves political instrument working class popular classes two facts related navarro notes juxtaposition strong labor movements europe relatively small timid unions united states general observes establish spectrum capitalist countries listing corporate friendly like united states worker friendly like sweden find capitalist class strong poor health benefits coverage public well private sectors highly unequal coverage poor health indicators indeed us case | 633 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>With winter is approaching, it appears the White House may start feeling a bit drafty. It’s not a matter of poor insulation, but rather the result of mounting evidence that the Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld war plan in Iraq is not going well, and there may well need to be more U.S. troops sent to Iraq.</p>
<p>The shoot-down of a Chinook helicopter earlier this week, causing the death of 15 soldiers and the wounding of another 21, is a good example of the problem. It turns out this military disaster was, in large part, the direct result of a shortage of troops on the ground. With the military’s 134,000 troops in Iraq spread so thin, there was nobody available to secure the area around the helicopter landing zone in what is acknowledged to be a high-risk area. Because helicopters are particularly vulnerable to attack during their slow landings and ascents, it is standard procedure to secure the perimeter of landing areas, but in this instance, the military had to abandon standard practice and take a chance. There were no soldiers available to protect the area.</p>
<p>A New York Times column following the shoulder-fired missile attack notes, correctly, that because of the high numbers of personnel required for support, maintenance and high-tech “back-office” functions in Rumsfeld’s “lean and mean” military, actually only some 56,000 of the 134,000 U.S. troops in country are available to carry guns. Since these guys need to eat and sleep, at best there are then only 28,000 U.S. troops available to patrol all of Iraq, a hostile country the size of California, at any given time.</p>
<p>There were hopes at the White House and in the Pentagon that Turkey would ride to the rescue with an influx of armed troops, but, like India and Pakistan before it, Turkey has thought better of this incredibly bad idea, and now says it will not participate in the U.S. war and occupation. That announcement assures that the U.S. will at a minimum have to call up more reservists and National Guard soldiers for Iraq duty during this election year.</p>
<p>But besides the political problems of calling up more weekend soldiers for active duty, the reality is that there simply are not enough Americans in uniform to handle a bigger war in Iraq.</p>
<p>It should come as no surprise then, even as the president and his advisers continue to claim that everything is going well and according to plan, that saner heads at the Pentagon are taking steps to prepare for return to the draft.</p>
<p>As I reported on Monday in <a href="" type="internal">Salon magazine</a>, using a Defense Department news website called <a href="" type="internal">DefendAmerica</a> that provides Pentagon reports about the so-called “War on Terrorism” to “military communities,” the government put out a call for volunteers to help fill the hundreds of vacancies in over 2000 local draft boards and draft appeals boards. Current draft board members also report that last summer, they were urged to go out and recommend people to fill those vacancies, which currently run at about 16 percent nationwide.</p>
<p>The goal, according to a Selective Service spokesman, is to have the draft machinery ready to go “at the click of a finger.”</p>
<p>Of course, the time between that “click” and the delivery of the first cannon fodder to Army boot camps for training would not be such a smooth or quick process. First, Congress would have to pass a bill authorizing a draft. Then it would have to be signed by the president. At that point, the Selective Service law says the Selective Service System has 193 days to deliver the first draftees to the tender mercies of the military.</p>
<p>A draft would be a political disaster for the president, so most military experts say it is unlikely that a return to conscription would occur before the November 2004 presidential election, but if the guerrilla war in Iraq continues to get worse, the day after that election, the president could well be forced to decide on either a phased withdrawal or escalation–and a national call-up. Faced with the same choices in Southeast Asia, Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon both chose escalation over withdrawal. What Bush or a Democratic successor would do (other than Dennis Kucinich or Al Sharpton) faced with that choice is anybody’s guess.</p>
<p>Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) and the retiring Sen. Fritz Hollings (D-SC) have companion draft authorization bills in the House and Senate. Rangle, for his part argues that a universal draft based upon a lottery would be fairer than the present system, which he calls an “economic draft,” which forces low income people without job prospects into military service. So far their bills have languished for lack of Republican support, but as the rosy assumptions of the war advocates in the Bush administration continue to be disproven, Republican hawks in Congress and the White House could well begin pushing for more troops to “do the job right.”</p>
<p>According to Charles Peña, director of defense studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, the closest model to the current Iraq occupation is Northern Ireland. There, he says, British “pacification” efforts required a force ratio of 10 soldiers to every 1000 citizens, and at the height of the Northern Ireland conflict, a ratio of 20 soldiers to every 1000 people. “If you transfer that to Iraq, it would mean you’d need at least 240,000 troops and maybe as many as 480,000,, says Peña. The U.S. military, with a total of 1.4 million in uniform, would have to strip every fighting unit domestically and around the globe to come up with such numbers–an impossible move that would leave the U.S. and many of its overseas strategic interests, completely unguarded.</p>
<p>Recall that during the Vietnam War, when the U.S. had a military about twice as large as today, fielding a force of 500,000 soldiers required a major conscription program.</p>
<p>Clearly, if the war keeps getting worse, there is a draft in the forecast.</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>. A collection of Lindorff’s stories can be found here: <a href="http://www.nwuphilly.org/dave.html" type="external">http://www.nwuphilly.org/dave.html</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 160 winter approaching appears white house may start feeling bit drafty matter poor insulation rather result mounting evidence bushcheneyrumsfeld war plan iraq going well may well need us troops sent iraq shootdown chinook helicopter earlier week causing death 15 soldiers wounding another 21 good example problem turns military disaster large part direct result shortage troops ground militarys 134000 troops iraq spread thin nobody available secure area around helicopter landing zone acknowledged highrisk area helicopters particularly vulnerable attack slow landings ascents standard procedure secure perimeter landing areas instance military abandon standard practice take chance soldiers available protect area new york times column following shoulderfired missile attack notes correctly high numbers personnel required support maintenance hightech backoffice functions rumsfelds lean mean military actually 56000 134000 us troops country available carry guns since guys need eat sleep best 28000 us troops available patrol iraq hostile country size california given time hopes white house pentagon turkey would ride rescue influx armed troops like india pakistan turkey thought better incredibly bad idea says participate us war occupation announcement assures us minimum call reservists national guard soldiers iraq duty election year besides political problems calling weekend soldiers active duty reality simply enough americans uniform handle bigger war iraq come surprise even president advisers continue claim everything going well according plan saner heads pentagon taking steps prepare return draft reported monday salon magazine using defense department news website called defendamerica provides pentagon reports socalled war terrorism military communities government put call volunteers help fill hundreds vacancies 2000 local draft boards draft appeals boards current draft board members also report last summer urged go recommend people fill vacancies currently run 16 percent nationwide goal according selective service spokesman draft machinery ready go click finger course time click delivery first cannon fodder army boot camps training would smooth quick process first congress would pass bill authorizing draft would signed president point selective service law says selective service system 193 days deliver first draftees tender mercies military draft would political disaster president military experts say unlikely return conscription would occur november 2004 presidential election guerrilla war iraq continues get worse day election president could well forced decide either phased withdrawal escalationand national callup faced choices southeast asia presidents lyndon johnson richard nixon chose escalation withdrawal bush democratic successor would dennis kucinich al sharpton faced choice anybodys guess rep charles rangel dny retiring sen fritz hollings dsc companion draft authorization bills house senate rangle part argues universal draft based upon lottery would fairer present system calls economic draft forces low income people without job prospects military service far bills languished lack republican support rosy assumptions war advocates bush administration continue disproven republican hawks congress white house could well begin pushing troops job right according charles peña director defense studies libertarian cato institute closest model current iraq occupation northern ireland says british pacification efforts required force ratio 10 soldiers every 1000 citizens height northern ireland conflict ratio 20 soldiers every 1000 people transfer iraq would mean youd need least 240000 troops maybe many 480000 says peña us military total 14 million uniform would strip every fighting unit domestically around globe come numbersan impossible move would leave us many overseas strategic interests completely unguarded recall vietnam war us military twice large today fielding force 500000 soldiers required major conscription program clearly war keeps getting worse draft forecast dave lindorff author killing time investigation death row case mumia abujamal collection lindorffs stories found httpwwwnwuphillyorgdavehtml 160 | 571 |
<p>Editors’ note: NORMAN FINKELSTEIN is writing a political memoir, which will serve as the introduction to a new edition of his book, The Rise and Fall of Palestine, to be published by New Press next year. Below is an excerpt on the phenomenon of political apostasy, focusing primarily on Hitchens’ recent grab-bag of writings in support of the US attack on Iraq. The title refers to how ex-leftist Christopher Hitchens used to sign off his correspondence. CounterPunch’s forthcoming <a href="" type="internal">The Politics of Anti-Semitism</a>, has a fine essay by Finkelstein, on his bizarre experience of being attacked in Germany as an anti-Semite. AC/JSC</p>
<p>I’m occasionally asked whether I still consider myself a Marxist. Even if my “faith” had lapsed, I wouldn’t advertise it, not from shame at having been wrong (although admittedly this would be a factor) but rather from fear of arousing even a faint suspicion of opportunism. To borrow from the lingo of a former academic fad, if, in public life, the “signifier” is “I’m no longer a Marxist,” then the “signified” usually is, “I’m selling out.” No doubt one can, in light of further study and life experience, come to repudiate past convictions. One might also decide that youthful ideals, especially when the responsibilities of family kick in and the prospects for radical change dim while the certainty of one’s finitude sharpens, are too heavy a burden to bear; although it might be hoped that this accommodation, however understandable (if disappointing), were accomplished with candor and an appropriate degree of humility rather than, what’s usually the case, scorn for those who keep plugging away. It is when the phenomenon of political apostasy is accompanied by fanfare and fireworks that it becomes truly repellent.</p>
<p>Depending on where along the political spectrum power is situated, apostates almost always make their corrective leap in that direction, discovering the virtues of the status quo. “The last thing you can be accused of is having turned your coat,” Thomas Mann wrote a convert to National Socialism right after Hitler’s seizure of power. “You always wore it the ‘right’ way around.” If apostasy weren’t conditioned by power considerations, one would anticipate roughly equal movements in both directions. But that’s never been the case. The would-be apostate almost always pulls towards power’s magnetic field, rarely away. However elaborate the testimonials on how one came to “see the light,” the impetus behind political apostasy is–pardon my cynicism–a fairly straightforward, uncomplicated affair: to cash in, or keep cashing in, on earthly pleasures. Indeed, an apostate can even capitalize on the past to increase his or her current exchange value. Professional ex-radical Todd Gitlin never fails to mention, when denouncing those to his left, that he was a former head of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS). Never mind that this was four decades ago; although president of my sixth-grade class 40 years ago, I don’t keep bringing it up. Shouldn’t there be a statute of limitations on the exploitation of one’s political past? In any event, it’s hard to figure why an acknowledgment of former errors should enhance one’s current credibility. If, by a person’s own admission, he or she had got it all wrong, why should anyone pay heed to his or her new opinions? Doesn’t it make more sense attending to those who got there sooner rather than later? A member of the Flat-Earth Society who suddenly discovers the world is round doesn’t get to keynote an astronomers’ convention. Indeed, the prudent inference would seem to be, once an idiot, always an idiot. It’s child’s play to assemble a lengthy list–Roger Garaudy, Boris Yeltsin, David Horowitz, Bernard Henri-Levy–bearing out this commonsensical wisdom.</p>
<p>Yet, an apostate is usually astute enough to understand that, in order to catch the public eye and reap the attendant benefits, merely registering this or that doubt about one’s prior convictions, or nuanced disagreements with former comrades (which, after all, is how a reasoned change of heart would normally evolve), won’t suffice. For, incremental change, or fundamental change by accretion, doesn’t get the buzz going: there must be a dramatic rupture with one’s past. Conversion and zealotry, just like revelation and apostasy, are flip sides of the same coin, the currency of a political culture having more in common with religion than rational discourse. A rite of passage for apostates peculiar to U.S. political culture is bashing Noam Chomsky. It’s the political equivalent of a bar mitzvah, a ritual signaling that one has “grown up”–i.e., grown out of one’s “childish” past. It’s hard to pick up an article or book by ex-radicals–Gitlin’s Letters to a Young Activist, Paul Berman’s Terror and Liberalism–that doesn’t include a hysterical attack on him. Behind this venom there’s also a transparent psychological factor at play. Chomsky mirrors their idealistic past as well as sordid present, an obstinate reminder that they once had principles but no longer do, that they sold out but he didn’t. Hating to be reminded, they keep trying to shatter the glass. He’s the demon from the past that, after recantation, no amount of incantation can exorcise.</p>
<p>Two altogether opposed political stances can each draw an audience’s attention. One is to be politically consistent, but nonetheless original in one’s insights; the other, an inchoate form of apostasy, is to bank on the shock value of an occasional, wildly inconsistent outburst. The former approach, which Chomsky exemplifies, requires hard work, whereas the latter is a lazy substitute for it. Thus Nat Hentoff, the hip (he loves jazz) left-liberal writer, would jazz up his Village Voice columns by suddenly coming out against abortion or endorsing Clarence Thomas’s Supreme Court nomination. The master at this pose of maverick unpredictability used to be Christopher Hitchens. Amidst a fairly typical leftist politics, he would suddenly ambush unsuspecting readers with his opposition to abortion, admiration of the misogynist and juvenile lyrics of Two Live Crew (“I think that’s very funny”), or support for Columbus’s extermination of Native Americans (“deserving to be celebrated with great vim and gusto”). Immediately the talk of the town became, “Did you read Hitchens this week?”</p>
<p>Although a tacit assumption equates unpredictability with independence of mind, it might just as well signal lack of principle. As if to bear out this point, Hitchens has now repackaged himself a full-fledged apostate. For maximum pyrotechnical effect, he knew that the “awakening” had to be as abrupt as it was extreme: if yesterday he counted himself a Trotskyist and Chomsky a comrade, better now to announce that he supports Bush and counts Paul Wolfowitz a comrade. Their fates crossed when Wolfowitz and Hitchens both immediately glimpsed in September 11 the long-awaited opportunity: for Wolfowitz, to get into Iraq, for Hitchens, to get out of the left. While public display of angst doesn’t itself prove authenticity of feeling (sometimes it might prove the reverse), a sharp political break must, for one living a political life, be a wrenching emotional experience. The rejection of one’s core political beliefs can’t but entail a rejection of the person holding them: if the beliefs were wrong, then one’s whole being was wrong. Repudiating one’s comrades must also be a sorrowful burden. It is not by chance that “fraternity” is a prized value of the left: in the course of political struggle, one forges, if not always literally, then, at any rate, spiritually, blood bonds. Yet, the élan with which Hitchens has shed his past and, spewing venom, the brio with which he savages former comrades is a genuine wonder to behold. No doubt he imagines it is testament to the mettle of his conviction that past loyalties don’t in the slightest constrain him; in fact, it’s testament to the absence of any conviction at all.</p>
<p>Hitchens collects his essays during the months preceding the U.S. attack on Iraq in The Long Short War. He sneers that former comrades organizing the global anti-war demonstrations “do not think that Saddam Hussein is a bad guy at all” (emphasis in original), and the many millions marching in them consist of the “blithering ex-flower child or ranting neo-Stalinist.” Similarly, he ridicules activists pooling their meager resources for refreshments at a fundraiser–they are not among the chosen at a Vanity Fair soiree–as “potluck peaceniks” and “potluckistas.” Yet, he is at pains to inform readers that all his newly acquired friends are “friends for life.” As with the solicitude he keeps expressing for the rights of Arab women, it seems that Hitchens protests too much. The famous aphorism quoted by him that nations have no permanent allies, only permanent interests, might be said to apply, mutatis mutandis, to himself as well. Indeed, his description of a psychopath–“incapable of conceiving an interest other than his own and perhaps genuinely indifferent to the well-being of others”–comes perilously close to a self-portrait. To discover our true human nature, Freud once wrote, just reverse society’s moral exhortations: if the Commandment says not to commit adultery, it’s because we all want to. This simple game can be played with Hitchens as well: when he avows, “I attempt to write as if I did not care what reviewers said, what peers thought, or what prevailing opinion might be,” one should read, “My every word is calculated for its public effect.”</p>
<p>Hitchens has riotous fun heaping contempt on several of the volunteer “human shields” who left Iraq before the bombing began. They “obviously didn’t have the guts,” he jeers, hunkered down in his Washington foxhole. Bearing witness to his own bravery, Hitchens reports in March 2003 that, although even the wife of New York Times columnist Tom Friedman is having doubts about going to war, “I am fighting to keep my nerve”–truly a profile in courage, as he exiles himself in the political wilderness, alongside the Bush administration, Congress, a majority of U.S. public opinion, and his employers in the major media. Outraged at the taunt that he who preaches war should perhaps consider fighting it, Hitchens impatiently recalls that, since September 11, “civilians at home are no safer than soldiers abroad,” and that, in fact, he’s not just a target but the main target: “The whole point of the present phase of conflict is that we are faced with tactics that are directed primarily at civilians. It is amazing that this essential element of the crisis should have taken so long to sink into certain skulls” (emphasis in original). No doubt modesty and tact forbid Hitchens from drawing the obvious comparison: while cowardly American soldiers frantically covered themselves in protective gear and held their weapons at the ready, he patrolled his combat zone in Washington, D.C. unencumbered. Lest we forget, Hitchens recalls that ours is “an all-volunteer army” where soldiers willingly exchange “fairly good pay” for “obedience” to authority: “Who would have this any other way?” For sure, not those who will never have to “volunteer.”</p>
<p>It’s a standing question as to whether the power of words ultimately derives from their truth value or if a sufficiently nimble mind can endow words with comparable force regardless of whether they are bearers of truth or falsity. For those who want to believe that the truth content of words does matter, reading the new Hitchens comes as a signal relief. Although redoubtable as a left-wing polemicist, as a right-wing one he only produces doubt, not least about his own mental poise. Deriding Chomsky’s “very vulgar” harnessing of facts, Hitchens wants to go beyond this “empiricism of the crudest kind.” His own preferred epistemology is on full display, for all to judge, in Long Short War. To prove that, after supporting dictatorial regimes in the Middle East for 70 years, the U.S. has abruptly reversed itself and now wants to bring democracy there, he cites “conversations I have had on this subject in Washington.” To demonstrate the “glaringly apparent” fact that Saddam “infiltrated, or suborned, or both” the U.N. inspection teams in Iraq, he adduces the “incontrovertible case” of an inspector offered a bribe by an Iraqi official: “The man in question refused the money, but perhaps not everybody did.” Citing “the brilliant film called Nada,” Hitchens proposes this radical redefinition of terrorism: “the tactic of demanding the impossible, and demanding it at gunpoint.” Al-Qaida is accordingly terrorist because it posits an impossible world of “clerical absolutism” but, judging by this definition, the Nazi party wasn’t terrorist because it posited a possible world without Jews. Claiming that every country will resort to preemptive war, and that preemptive is indistinguishable from preventive war, Hitchens infers that all countries “will invariably decide that violence and first use are justified” and none can be faulted on this account–which makes you wonder why he’s so hot under the collar about Saddam’s invasion of Kuwait.</p>
<p>Hitchens maintains that that “there is a closefit between the democratically minded and the pro-American” in the Middle East–like “President for Life” Hosni Mubarak, King Abdullah of Jordan…; that Washington finally grasped that “there were ‘root causes’ behind the murder-attacks” (emphasis in original)–but didn’t Hitchens ridicule any allusion to “root causes” as totalitarian apologetics?; that “racism” is “anti-American as nearly as possible by definition”; that “evil” can be defined as “the surplus value of the psychopath”–is there a Bartlett’s for worst quotations?; that the U.S.’s rejoining of U.N.E.S.C.O. during the Iraq debate proved its commitment to the U.N.; that “empirical proofs have been unearthed” showing that Iraq didn’t comply with U.N. resolutions to disarm; that since the U.N. solicits U.S. support for multilateral missions, it’s “idle chatter” to accuse the U.S. of acting unilaterally in Iraq; that the likely killing of innocent civilians in “hospitals, schools, mosques and private homes” shouldn’t deter the U.S. from attacking Iraq because it is proof of Saddam’s iniquity that he put civilians in harm’s way; that those questioning billions of dollars in postwar contracts going to Bush administration cronies must prefer them going to “some windmill-power concern run by Naomi Klein”–is this dry or desiccated wit?</p>
<p>On one page Hitchens states that the world fundamentally changed after September 11 because “civilians are in the front line as never before,” but on another page he states that during the 1970s, “I was more than once within blast or shot range of the IRA and came to understand that the word ‘indiscriminate’ meant that I was as likely to be killed as any other bystander.” On one page he states that, even if the U.S. doesn’t attack or threaten to attack, “Saddam Hussein is not going to survive. His regime is on the verge of implosion” (emphasis in original), but on another page he states that “only the force of American arms, or the extremely credible threat of that force, can bring a fresh face to power.” On one page he states that the U.S. seems committed to completely overhauling Iraq’s political system, but on another page he states that replacing Saddam with “another friendly generalmight be ideal from Washington’s point of view.” On one page he states that “Of course it’s about oil, stupid” (emphasis in original), but on another page he states that “it was not for the sake of oil” that the U.S. went to war. In one paragraph he states that the U.S. must attack Iraq even if it swells the ranks of al-Qaida, but in the next paragraph he states that “the task of statecraft” is not to swell its ranks. In one sentence he claims to be persuaded by the “materialist conception of history,” but in the next sentence he states that “a theory that seems to explain everything is just as good at explaining nothing.” In the first half of one sentence he argues that, since “one cannot know the future,” policy can’t be based on likely consequences, but in the second half he concludes that policy should be based on “a reasoned judgment about the evident danger.”</p>
<p>Writing before the invasion, Hitchens argued that the U.S. must attack even if Saddam offers self-exile in order to capture and punish this heinous criminal. Shouldn’t he urge an attack on the U.S. to capture and punish Kissinger? And, it must attack because Saddam started colluding with al-Qaida after the horrific crimes of September 11. Should the U.S. have been attacked for colluding with Saddam’s horrific crimes, not after but while they unfolded, before September 11? France is the one “truly ‘unilateralist’ government on the Security Council,” according to Hitchens, a proof being that 20 years ago it sank a Greenpeace vessel–next to which the U.S. wars in Central America apparently pale by comparison. He assails French President Jacques Chirac, in a masterful turn of phrase, as a “balding Joan of Arc in drag,” and blasts France with the full arsenal of Berlitz’s “most commonly used French expressions.” For bowing to popular anti-war sentiment in Germany, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder stands accused of “cheaply” playing “this card,” while in the near-unanimous opposition of the Turkish people to war Hitchens detects evidence of “ugly egotism and selfishness.” He says that that Wolfowitz wants “democracy and emancipation”–which must be why Wolfowitz rebuked the Turkish military for not stepping in after the Turkish people vetoed participation in the war. A “principled policy cannot be measured,” Hitchens sniffs, “by the number of people who endorse it.” But for a principled democrat the number of people endorsing a policy does decide whether to implement it. Hitchens’s notion of democracy is his “comrade,” ex-Trotskyist but ever-opportunist Kanan Makiya, conjuring up a “complex and ambitious plan” to totally remake Iraq in Boston and presenting it for ratification at an émigré conference in London. The invective he hurls at French, German and Turkish leaders for heeding the popular will shows that Hitchens hasn’t, at any rate, completely broken faith with his past: contemptuous of “transient polls of opinion,” he’s still a Trotskyist at heart, guiding the benighted masses to the Promised Land, if through endless wars and safely from the rear.</p>
<p>Most of Long Short War is given over to parsing words. According to Hitchens, all the key terms of the debate on Iraq were meaningless. In his hands this is probably true. For many years Hitchens impressed some readers with his verbal facility. Now his ego delights in testing whether, through sheer manipulation of words, he can pass off flatulent emissions as bouquets. It perhaps would be funny watching fatuous readers fawn over gibberish–were not human life at stake. Hitchens can’t believe a word he’s saying. In contrast to bursting windbags like Vaclav Havel, Hitchens is too smart to take his vaporizings seriously. It’s almost an inside joke as he signals each ridiculous point with the assertion that it’s “obvious.” Hitchens resembles no one so much as the Polish émigré hoaxer, Jerzy Kosinski, who, shrewdly sizing up intellectual culture in America, used to give, before genuflecting Yale undergraduates, lectures on such topics as “The Art of the Self: the theory of ‘Le Moi Poetique’ (Binswanger).” Translation: for this wanger it’s all about moi. Kosinski no doubt had a good time of it until, outed as a fraud, he had enough good grace, which Hitchens plainly lacks, to commit suicide. And for Hitchens it’s also lucrative nonsense that he’s peddling. It’s not exactly a martyr’s fate defecting from The Nation, a frills-free liberal magazine, to Atlantic Monthly, the well-heeled house organ of Zionist crazies. Although Kissinger affected to be a “solitary, gaunt hero,” Hitchens says, in reality he was just a “corpulent opportunist.” It sounds familiar.</p>
<p>NORMAN FINKELSTEIN is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1859843239/counterpunchmaga" type="external">The Holocaust Industry</a>and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1859843395/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Image and Reality of the Palestinian Conflict</a>. He is also a contributor to Cockburn and St. Clair’s <a href="" type="internal">The Politics of Anti-Semitism</a>. Visit his website at: <a href="http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/" type="external">http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | editors note norman finkelstein writing political memoir serve introduction new edition book rise fall palestine published new press next year excerpt phenomenon political apostasy focusing primarily hitchens recent grabbag writings support us attack iraq title refers exleftist christopher hitchens used sign correspondence counterpunchs forthcoming politics antisemitism fine essay finkelstein bizarre experience attacked germany antisemite acjsc im occasionally asked whether still consider marxist even faith lapsed wouldnt advertise shame wrong although admittedly would factor rather fear arousing even faint suspicion opportunism borrow lingo former academic fad public life signifier im longer marxist signified usually im selling doubt one light study life experience come repudiate past convictions one might also decide youthful ideals especially responsibilities family kick prospects radical change dim certainty ones finitude sharpens heavy burden bear although might hoped accommodation however understandable disappointing accomplished candor appropriate degree humility rather whats usually case scorn keep plugging away phenomenon political apostasy accompanied fanfare fireworks becomes truly repellent depending along political spectrum power situated apostates almost always make corrective leap direction discovering virtues status quo last thing accused turned coat thomas mann wrote convert national socialism right hitlers seizure power always wore right way around apostasy werent conditioned power considerations one would anticipate roughly equal movements directions thats never case wouldbe apostate almost always pulls towards powers magnetic field rarely away however elaborate testimonials one came see light impetus behind political apostasy ispardon cynicisma fairly straightforward uncomplicated affair cash keep cashing earthly pleasures indeed apostate even capitalize past increase current exchange value professional exradical todd gitlin never fails mention denouncing left former head students democratic society sds never mind four decades ago although president sixthgrade class 40 years ago dont keep bringing shouldnt statute limitations exploitation ones political past event hard figure acknowledgment former errors enhance ones current credibility persons admission got wrong anyone pay heed new opinions doesnt make sense attending got sooner rather later member flatearth society suddenly discovers world round doesnt get keynote astronomers convention indeed prudent inference would seem idiot always idiot childs play assemble lengthy listroger garaudy boris yeltsin david horowitz bernard henrilevybearing commonsensical wisdom yet apostate usually astute enough understand order catch public eye reap attendant benefits merely registering doubt ones prior convictions nuanced disagreements former comrades reasoned change heart would normally evolve wont suffice incremental change fundamental change accretion doesnt get buzz going must dramatic rupture ones past conversion zealotry like revelation apostasy flip sides coin currency political culture common religion rational discourse rite passage apostates peculiar us political culture bashing noam chomsky political equivalent bar mitzvah ritual signaling one grown upie grown ones childish past hard pick article book exradicalsgitlins letters young activist paul bermans terror liberalismthat doesnt include hysterical attack behind venom theres also transparent psychological factor play chomsky mirrors idealistic past well sordid present obstinate reminder principles longer sold didnt hating reminded keep trying shatter glass hes demon past recantation amount incantation exorcise two altogether opposed political stances draw audiences attention one politically consistent nonetheless original ones insights inchoate form apostasy bank shock value occasional wildly inconsistent outburst former approach chomsky exemplifies requires hard work whereas latter lazy substitute thus nat hentoff hip loves jazz leftliberal writer would jazz village voice columns suddenly coming abortion endorsing clarence thomass supreme court nomination master pose maverick unpredictability used christopher hitchens amidst fairly typical leftist politics would suddenly ambush unsuspecting readers opposition abortion admiration misogynist juvenile lyrics two live crew think thats funny support columbuss extermination native americans deserving celebrated great vim gusto immediately talk town became read hitchens week although tacit assumption equates unpredictability independence mind might well signal lack principle bear point hitchens repackaged fullfledged apostate maximum pyrotechnical effect knew awakening abrupt extreme yesterday counted trotskyist chomsky comrade better announce supports bush counts paul wolfowitz comrade fates crossed wolfowitz hitchens immediately glimpsed september 11 longawaited opportunity wolfowitz get iraq hitchens get left public display angst doesnt prove authenticity feeling sometimes might prove reverse sharp political break must one living political life wrenching emotional experience rejection ones core political beliefs cant entail rejection person holding beliefs wrong ones whole wrong repudiating ones comrades must also sorrowful burden chance fraternity prized value left course political struggle one forges always literally rate spiritually blood bonds yet élan hitchens shed past spewing venom brio savages former comrades genuine wonder behold doubt imagines testament mettle conviction past loyalties dont slightest constrain fact testament absence conviction hitchens collects essays months preceding us attack iraq long short war sneers former comrades organizing global antiwar demonstrations think saddam hussein bad guy emphasis original many millions marching consist blithering exflower child ranting neostalinist similarly ridicules activists pooling meager resources refreshments fundraiserthey among chosen vanity fair soireeas potluck peaceniks potluckistas yet pains inform readers newly acquired friends friends life solicitude keeps expressing rights arab women seems hitchens protests much famous aphorism quoted nations permanent allies permanent interests might said apply mutatis mutandis well indeed description psychopathincapable conceiving interest perhaps genuinely indifferent wellbeing otherscomes perilously close selfportrait discover true human nature freud wrote reverse societys moral exhortations commandment says commit adultery want simple game played hitchens well avows attempt write care reviewers said peers thought prevailing opinion might one read every word calculated public effect hitchens riotous fun heaping contempt several volunteer human shields left iraq bombing began obviously didnt guts jeers hunkered washington foxhole bearing witness bravery hitchens reports march 2003 although even wife new york times columnist tom friedman doubts going war fighting keep nervetruly profile courage exiles political wilderness alongside bush administration congress majority us public opinion employers major media outraged taunt preaches war perhaps consider fighting hitchens impatiently recalls since september 11 civilians home safer soldiers abroad fact hes target main target whole point present phase conflict faced tactics directed primarily civilians amazing essential element crisis taken long sink certain skulls emphasis original doubt modesty tact forbid hitchens drawing obvious comparison cowardly american soldiers frantically covered protective gear held weapons ready patrolled combat zone washington dc unencumbered lest forget hitchens recalls allvolunteer army soldiers willingly exchange fairly good pay obedience authority would way sure never volunteer standing question whether power words ultimately derives truth value sufficiently nimble mind endow words comparable force regardless whether bearers truth falsity want believe truth content words matter reading new hitchens comes signal relief although redoubtable leftwing polemicist rightwing one produces doubt least mental poise deriding chomskys vulgar harnessing facts hitchens wants go beyond empiricism crudest kind preferred epistemology full display judge long short war prove supporting dictatorial regimes middle east 70 years us abruptly reversed wants bring democracy cites conversations subject washington demonstrate glaringly apparent fact saddam infiltrated suborned un inspection teams iraq adduces incontrovertible case inspector offered bribe iraqi official man question refused money perhaps everybody citing brilliant film called nada hitchens proposes radical redefinition terrorism tactic demanding impossible demanding gunpoint alqaida accordingly terrorist posits impossible world clerical absolutism judging definition nazi party wasnt terrorist posited possible world without jews claiming every country resort preemptive war preemptive indistinguishable preventive war hitchens infers countries invariably decide violence first use justified none faulted accountwhich makes wonder hes hot collar saddams invasion kuwait hitchens maintains closefit democratically minded proamerican middle eastlike president life hosni mubarak king abdullah jordan washington finally grasped root causes behind murderattacks emphasis originalbut didnt hitchens ridicule allusion root causes totalitarian apologetics racism antiamerican nearly possible definition evil defined surplus value psychopathis bartletts worst quotations uss rejoining unesco iraq debate proved commitment un empirical proofs unearthed showing iraq didnt comply un resolutions disarm since un solicits us support multilateral missions idle chatter accuse us acting unilaterally iraq likely killing innocent civilians hospitals schools mosques private homes shouldnt deter us attacking iraq proof saddams iniquity put civilians harms way questioning billions dollars postwar contracts going bush administration cronies must prefer going windmillpower concern run naomi kleinis dry desiccated wit one page hitchens states world fundamentally changed september 11 civilians front line never another page states 1970s within blast shot range ira came understand word indiscriminate meant likely killed bystander one page states even us doesnt attack threaten attack saddam hussein going survive regime verge implosion emphasis original another page states force american arms extremely credible threat force bring fresh face power one page states us seems committed completely overhauling iraqs political system another page states replacing saddam another friendly generalmight ideal washingtons point view one page states course oil stupid emphasis original another page states sake oil us went war one paragraph states us must attack iraq even swells ranks alqaida next paragraph states task statecraft swell ranks one sentence claims persuaded materialist conception history next sentence states theory seems explain everything good explaining nothing first half one sentence argues since one know future policy cant based likely consequences second half concludes policy based reasoned judgment evident danger writing invasion hitchens argued us must attack even saddam offers selfexile order capture punish heinous criminal shouldnt urge attack us capture punish kissinger must attack saddam started colluding alqaida horrific crimes september 11 us attacked colluding saddams horrific crimes unfolded september 11 france one truly unilateralist government security council according hitchens proof 20 years ago sank greenpeace vesselnext us wars central america apparently pale comparison assails french president jacques chirac masterful turn phrase balding joan arc drag blasts france full arsenal berlitzs commonly used french expressions bowing popular antiwar sentiment germany german chancellor gerhard schroeder stands accused cheaply playing card nearunanimous opposition turkish people war hitchens detects evidence ugly egotism selfishness says wolfowitz wants democracy emancipationwhich must wolfowitz rebuked turkish military stepping turkish people vetoed participation war principled policy measured hitchens sniffs number people endorse principled democrat number people endorsing policy decide whether implement hitchenss notion democracy comrade extrotskyist everopportunist kanan makiya conjuring complex ambitious plan totally remake iraq boston presenting ratification émigré conference london invective hurls french german turkish leaders heeding popular shows hitchens hasnt rate completely broken faith past contemptuous transient polls opinion hes still trotskyist heart guiding benighted masses promised land endless wars safely rear long short war given parsing words according hitchens key terms debate iraq meaningless hands probably true many years hitchens impressed readers verbal facility ego delights testing whether sheer manipulation words pass flatulent emissions bouquets perhaps would funny watching fatuous readers fawn gibberishwere human life stake hitchens cant believe word hes saying contrast bursting windbags like vaclav havel hitchens smart take vaporizings seriously almost inside joke signals ridiculous point assertion obvious hitchens resembles one much polish émigré hoaxer jerzy kosinski shrewdly sizing intellectual culture america used give genuflecting yale undergraduates lectures topics art self theory le moi poetique binswanger translation wanger moi kosinski doubt good time outed fraud enough good grace hitchens plainly lacks commit suicide hitchens also lucrative nonsense hes peddling exactly martyrs fate defecting nation frillsfree liberal magazine atlantic monthly wellheeled house organ zionist crazies although kissinger affected solitary gaunt hero hitchens says reality corpulent opportunist sounds familiar norman finkelstein author holocaust industryand image reality palestinian conflict also contributor cockburn st clairs politics antisemitism visit website httpwwwnormanfinkelsteincom 160 160 | 1,821 |
<p>With world eyes on Gaza, the horrific carnage on the ground, innocent civilians being slaughtered, Israel’s grievous crimes of war and against humanity, and its slow-motion genocide gaining speed, it’s easy to forget America’s war at home on Islam and its growing number of victims. This article highlights five recent ones – innocent young Muslim men called the “Fort Dix Five.”</p>
<p>On December 22, The New York Times headlined: “5 Are Convicted of Conspiring to Attack Fort Dix” in reporting that a federal jury “convicted five men of conspiring to kill American soldiers at (the base) last year, but acquitted them of attempted murder.”</p>
<p>After an eight-week trial, jurors deliberated for six days before returning a verdict. “The men, all Muslim immigrants (from) South Jersey or Philadelphia, face a maximum term of life in prison.”</p>
<p>Sentencing is scheduled for April 22 for three defendants and April 23 for the others. Even The New York Times admitted that the “five defendants seemed (more like) South Jersey than seething jihadists” – based on their backgrounds, employment, normal activities, and trial evidence showing nothing out of the ordinary.</p>
<p>It’s the latest example of post-9/11 witch-hunt justice against innocent Muslim victims – targeted for their faith, ethnicity, activism, prominence, benevolent charity, or whatever other motives the administration concocts for political advantage. As a result, growing numbers fill federal prisons for being Muslim at the wrong time in America. The “war on terror” is a jihad against them. Muslims everywhere are at risk. So are we all, and that won’t change under Obama.</p>
<p>Charges Against the “Fort Dix Five”</p>
<p>On May 7, 2007, the FBI arrested the five on charges of plotting to kill US soldiers at Fort Dix, New Jersey. A June 5 DOJ press release stated:</p>
<p>“The five defendants are charged with conspiracy and other charges related to their plans to kill as many soldiers at the Army base as possible. A sixth man was indicted for aiding and abetting the illegal possession of firearms by three members of the group.” The original Complaint was unsealed on May 8.</p>
<p>“One count against two of the defendants charges them with unlawful possession of machine guns – the AK-47s and M-16s they purchased and took possession of just before they were arrested by Special Agents of the FBI.”</p>
<p>Prosecutors called the men “radical Islamists,” and according to US Attorney Christopher J. Christie, “We intend to continue a vigorous prosecution of these defendants. Anyone who would plan such an attack should expect no less.”</p>
<p>The six and charges against them are as follows:</p>
<p>Mohamad Ibrahim Shnewer (an ethnic Jordanian) on “conspiracy to murder members of the uniformed services (maximum statutory penalty of up to life in federal prison);”</p>
<p>Dritan Duka (an ethnic Albanian like his two brothers below) on “conspiracy to murder members of the uniformed services; unlawful possession of machine guns (maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison), two counts of being an illegal alien in possession of firearms (maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison);”</p>
<p>— Shain Duka on “conspiracy to murder members of the uniformed services; unlawful possession of machine guns, two counts of being an illegal alien in possession of firearms;”</p>
<p>Eljvir Duka on “conspiracy to murder members of the uniformed services, one count of being an illegal alien in possession of firearms;”</p>
<p>Serdar Tatar (an ethnic Turk) on “conspiracy to murder members of the uniformed services;” and</p>
<p>Agron Abdullahu (an ethnic Kosovar) on “aiding and abetting the Duka brothers’ illegal possession of weapons (maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison).” Abdullahu confessed and was sentenced to 20 months in prison for supplying the guns and ammunition in question. He’d already served 11 months and was released in October, according to his lawyer, Richard Coughlin.</p>
<p>The weapons transaction was “at a residence in Cherry Hill,” New Jersey. “After the purchase from a cooperating witness,” arrests were made.</p>
<p>In October 2007, Abdullahu pled guilty to weapons possession. A superceding January 15, 2008 indictment charged the other five men with the attempted murder of military personnel and weapons possession. According to US Attorney Christie at the time, “there is abundant evidence that the defendants fully subscribed to al Qaeda’s jihadist ideology (and) were ready for martyrdom. We had a group that was forming a platoon to take on an army. They identified their target, they did their reconnaissance. They had maps. And they were in the process of buying weapons. This is a new brand of (homegrown) terrorism where a small cell of people can bring enormous devastation….They wanted to be jihadists.”</p>
<p>The DOJ, Dominant Media, and Islamophobes Respond to the Convictions</p>
<p>A December 22 DOJ press release stated: “Five Radical Islamists (were) Convicted of Conspiring to Kill Soldiers at Fort Dix….announced Patrick Rowan, Assistant Attorney General for National Security, and Acting US Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr….These men planned, trained and ceaselessly talked unambiguously about their intention to ambush and kill US soldiers.” Other “would-be terrorists of the homegrown variety (be alerted that we’ll spend millions of taxpayer dollars to) find you, infiltrate your group, prosecute you and send you to federal prison for a very long time” – whether or not you’re guilty.</p>
<p>The Washington Post highlighted the conviction of “five foreign-born Muslim men conspiring to kill US soldiers at Fort Dix and other military installations (never mentioned in the indictment) as part of what prosecutors charged was a plot to launch an Islamic “holy war” against the United States. Writer William Branigin emphasized their “plot” to use “automatic weapons (and) rocket-propelled grenades (also not mentioned) to kill as many US soldiers as possible.</p>
<p>Other comments included saying the “plot” began in January 2006, Osama bin Laden’s “terrorist network” inspired it, the “cell” viewed “terrorist training videos glorifying the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks and depicting the beheading of American military personnel…” When arrested in May 2007, “they were in the final stages of preparations….in addition to targeting Fort Dix, the cell discussed attacking other military installations, including Fort Monmouth, Lakehurst Naval Air Station, McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, the US Coast Guard building in Philadelphia, and Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Another potential target was the annual Army-Navy football game in Philadelphia….”</p>
<p>Branigin never questioned the legitimacy of clearly bogus charges on their face – that five young men with hand weapons (automatic or otherwise) would declare war on the US Army at any or perhaps all of the above locations. Instead he accepted the official explanation and reported it like in a straight press handout.</p>
<p>David Horowitz is a right wing ideologue, an opponent of the progressive left, and a prominent anti-Muslim hatemonger “spread(ing) fear, bigotry and misinformation,” about Islam according to the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). It calls him “the Islamophobia movement’s premier promoter….(as editor) via his website, FrontPage Magazine” and activities like his October 22 – 26, 2007 “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” that held “protests, teach-ins and sit-ins on more than 100 college campuses (to highlight) the threat posed by the Islamic crusade against the West.”</p>
<p>On December 23, Front Page writer and Jihad Watch director Robert Spencer wrote about the Fort Dix Five, referred to the men as “jihad plotters,” and said “They wanted to burst into Fort Dix and murder as many American soldiers as they could….” He commented on how Muslim community leaders “hurl(ed) reckless charges of entrapment (and should instead take) hard steps necessary to clean their own house.”</p>
<p>“While Muslim and non-Muslim spokesmen have spilled oceans of ink since 9/11 asserting that Islam condemns ‘terrorism’ and the killing of ‘innocents,’ without defining what is meant by either term, no one has ever produced any examples of authoritative and orthodox Islamic religious scholars rejecting, on Islamic grounds, jihad violence against non-Muslims.” It’s about time they “institute(d) comprehensive and inspectable programs teaching against the jihad ideology and Islamic supremacism.”</p>
<p>On December 23, Spencer’s Jihad Watch (with no byline) mocked the kangaroo justice victims in its headline: “Muslims on Fort Dix jihadists – They wuz framed….It was all a joke….Oh Shnewer (one of the five about his explanation), you kidder! It then added various demeaning comments to clearly show disrespect for Islam.</p>
<p>Pat Robertson preaches hate and intolerance and his CBNnews.com leaves no doubt where it stands in a December 22 article by its “Terrorism Analyst,” Erick Stakelbeck – titled “Fort Dix Jihadis Convicted.” He called the convictions “A nice ‘stockade stuffer’ for the US government, just in time for the holidays,” then added Islamophobic comments like this:</p>
<p>“….it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to walk into a shopping mall, yell ‘Allahu Akhbar,’ and start firing a rifle at shoppers. Granted, it obviously helps to have a larger force behind you (for funding, guidance and training) if you are scheming to carry out an attack like the one planned on Fort Dix. But deadly intent, a gun and some explosives can get a motivated, committed jihadist a long way as well.” Obviously for Stakelbeck, they’re guilty, case closed.</p>
<p>The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) was founded “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all. (It) fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all” – or so it says. How does it act under its national director, Abraham Foxman.</p>
<p>Using anti-Semitism and a high moral agenda for cover, Waxman backs racial discrimination and nationalism. While preaching universal equality, he’s for Jewish supremacy, the right of Israeli Jews to dominate Arabs, and to maintain a separate and unequal society.</p>
<p>On December 23, ADL “applauded the verdict convicting five would-be terrorists who conspired to kill American soldiers at New Jersey’s Fort Dix last summer.” ADL’s national chair, Glen Lewy and Foxman issued this statement:</p>
<p>“The successful prosecution of the five terrorists for conspiring to kill American soldiers….is a testament to the dedication and hard work of teams of FBI investigators and Justice Department prosecutors who devoted enormous time, energy and passion to making our nation safer….In this case, justice has been served and our national security protected.”</p>
<p>Imagine their comments if five Israeli Jews had been convicted on the same charges instead of Muslims.</p>
<p>No Plot, No Crime, So the FBI Invents Guilt with An Entrapment Sting Operation – Its Usual Modus Operandi to Ensnare the Innocent</p>
<p>At a Cherry Hill, NJ Circuit City store in January 2006, Mohamad Shnewer innocently wanted a home video transfered to DVD. It showed men shooting weapons at a Pocono Mountains firing range, playing paintball (an innocent game in which opposing teams try to eliminate opponents by marking them with water-soluble dye shot in capsules from air guns), and repeating Arabic phrases like Allah Akbar (meaning God is Greatest). The store clerk called the police. They notified the FBI. They began investigating and recruited two dubious informants to help.</p>
<p>Each knew nothing about the other. One was Besnik Bakalli, an ethnic Albanian, who falsely told defendants he was a Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) veteran – the US/Germany supported terrorist group recruited to destabilize Kosovo/Serbia in the 1990s. At trial, however, he testified that he fought for no group and knew nothing about Islam or extremists calling for jihad.</p>
<p>Mahmoud Omar was the other informant, an Egyptian-born used car salesman/mechanic on probation for bank fraud. He and Bakalli entered the US illegally and faced likely deportation or worse. They were easily recruited, so cooperated, and were well compensated for their efforts – thousands of dollars a month, and according to defense lawyers, Omar (from when recruited in March 2006) will have earned $238,000 for his efforts. NewJersey.com believes more – over $240,000 plus rent and other expenses, and, of course, leniency in handling their charges. Bakalli was used for a shorter period and reportedly was paid about $150,000. The FBI also relocated his parents to America as an added incentive to cooperate.</p>
<p>Its sting was to have both men befriend the defendants, wear a wire, egg them on with tough talk about their commitment to Islam, elicit negative views about the US military and war in Iraq and Afghanistan, incite a need for holy war in response, and suggest how to get weapons to “do something.”</p>
<p>Hundreds of conversations were recorded and selectively played back at the eight week trial. In addition, Shnewer’s house and car were bugged and rigged with hidden cameras for additional videotape accounts.</p>
<p>One conversation with defendant Tatar has Omar saying: “I want this country to pay the price for something they did to me” and then asked Tatar for help to get information about Fort Dix. He had no idea what he meant, yet Omar persisted and wanted Tatar to get him a map of Fort Dix. At one point, Tatar called the Philadelphia police about being pressured and voiced concern about something terror related.</p>
<p>Omar also organized so-called Fort Dix “reconnaissance missions” around the base’s perimeter. In addition, he got two of the Duka brothers to buy firearms but not to commit terrorism or attack the Army base. At that point, they were arrested in Omar’s apartment while buying inoperable rifles the FBI supplied for the sting.</p>
<p>What’s clear from trial evidence is that no plot existed, no conspiracy, no intended crime, explicit rejections of violence, and without informant provocation no planned weapons purchase for any purpose. All five are innocent, unfairly targeted, entrapped, prosecuted, convicted, and the latest administration “war on terror” trophies from its scheme to incite fear.</p>
<p>The only trial evidence was their freely expressed hostile views about America’s wars against Iraq and Afghanistan, sympathies for Islamic causes, and anger over how immigrants are treated in the US. None of this is illegal or incriminating, yet the defendants were convicted and face long incarcerations after sentencing, possibly for life.</p>
<p>Attorney Sam Schmidt represented one of the defendants accused in the 1998 US African embassy bombings. He explained how “The government (goes to extraordinary means) to find people (with) an antipathy to US policies (in the Middle East) and see which ones can get motivated, or angry enough (to be entrapped by the entreaties of an informant). Many of these cases appear to be the informant who is either working off a case to avoid going to jail or be deported or is seeking remuneration….”</p>
<p>They’re used to entrap defendants, get them angry, and create the impression that they’re willing to commit terrorism. To prove conspiracy, the government need only show that defendants appeared willing to commit a crime and did one thing (usually quite innocent) to use against them and convince a jury. No crime need be committed nor any detailed plans for one. In the Fort Dix case, prosecutors didn’t have to prove a planned attack – only that defendants appeared willing or approved of US soldiers being attacked somewhere at some time.</p>
<p>With informants taping hundreds of conversations and training them to egg on targets, prosecutors can selectively use comments to make their case and intimidate juries to convict. In closing arguments, Shnewer’s lawyer, Rocco Cipparone, said: “Omar led and led and pushed and pushed Mohamad as far as he could. But at the end of the day, all Mohamad did was talk and talk and talk. His actions – and inactions – speak more volumes than his words.”</p>
<p>Transcripts also revealed that conversations included a mixture of English, Arabic, and Albanian, were filled with miscommunications, bravado, ambiguity and at times nonsense. At some points, the defendants seemed too scared to do anything. Clearly their intentions were non-violent.</p>
<p>For example, when they were supposedly shopping for weapons, one defendant worried that if someone is caught with a machine gun, he’ll “be in deep s..t.” And if anyone gets killed, “As Muslims, if we get caught, we all get sent away to f…ing Guantanamo Bay for 10 years with no court date….they can come to you in the f…ing morning when you are sleeping. And they don’t f…ing play.”</p>
<p>Despite their convictions, the government’s indictment was vague on any intention to commit terrorism or that defendants’ comments meant they planned it. The informants did the pushing while they just talked and nothing else. However, under US conspiracy law, if prosecutors can convince juries that defendants words implied actions they can get convictions.</p>
<p>According to former federal prosecutor and now executive director of the Center on the Administration of Criminal Law at New York University School of Law, Anthony Barkow: “A person is entrapped when he has no previous intention to violate the law and is persuaded to commit the crime by government agents. But if he’s already willing to commit the crime (not applicable to the defendants), it’s not entrapment if government agents convince him to do it.”</p>
<p>Roger Williams University law professor Peter Margulies explains further that: “A virtue of American conspiracy law is it allows you to show conspiracy with relatively thin evidence. In Britain recently, they couldn’t convict people in an airport bombing plot because they had to show that action was imminent. American law is more expansive than most other democracies in that respect.”</p>
<p>Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson was the chief US prosecutor at the Nuremberg Nazi war criminal trials. In a subsequent 1949 case, he expressed concern that US conspiracy law “constitutes a serious threat to fairness in our administration of justice.” It lets prosecutors “target the people it doesn’t like,” according to Margulies, do it as deviously as they wish, and unjustly convict the innocent.</p>
<p>That’s Jim Sues’ view, executive director of the New Jersey Chapter of Council on American-Islamic Relations, on the Fort Dix Five case. “Many people in the Muslim community see this as (another) case of entrapment. The evidence showed no real honest-to-God planning for an attack on Fort Dix (or anywhere else). The defendants were never (even) all in a room at one time with a map of the (base), plotting what they were going to do.” They had no violent plans whatever. Nor did other unjustly convicted Muslim victims – persecuted to incite fear and justify America’s foreign aggression against Iraq, Afghanistan and all Islam.</p>
<p>Since 9/11, around 150 defendants were convicted through 2007 and many more this year. It shouldn’t surprise that perhaps all were innocent, unfairly targeted, unjustly convicted and sentenced to long punitive incarcerations in federal prisons. In some cases, (for the so-called “worst of the worst”) to harsh confinement in Supermax ones that crush the human spirit, mind and body through isolation, cruelty, and physical abuse for years or even life.</p>
<p>It’s the wrong time to be Muslim in America. Expect little change under the new administration. Foreign wars will continue. So will the “war on terror.” Innocent Muslims will be targeted. Others as well, so today we’re all as vulnerable as the “Fort Dix Five.”</p>
<p>STEPHEN LENDMAN is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at <a href="mailto:lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net" type="external">lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | world eyes gaza horrific carnage ground innocent civilians slaughtered israels grievous crimes war humanity slowmotion genocide gaining speed easy forget americas war home islam growing number victims article highlights five recent ones innocent young muslim men called fort dix five december 22 new york times headlined 5 convicted conspiring attack fort dix reporting federal jury convicted five men conspiring kill american soldiers base last year acquitted attempted murder eightweek trial jurors deliberated six days returning verdict men muslim immigrants south jersey philadelphia face maximum term life prison sentencing scheduled april 22 three defendants april 23 others even new york times admitted five defendants seemed like south jersey seething jihadists based backgrounds employment normal activities trial evidence showing nothing ordinary latest example post911 witchhunt justice innocent muslim victims targeted faith ethnicity activism prominence benevolent charity whatever motives administration concocts political advantage result growing numbers fill federal prisons muslim wrong time america war terror jihad muslims everywhere risk wont change obama charges fort dix five may 7 2007 fbi arrested five charges plotting kill us soldiers fort dix new jersey june 5 doj press release stated five defendants charged conspiracy charges related plans kill many soldiers army base possible sixth man indicted aiding abetting illegal possession firearms three members group original complaint unsealed may 8 one count two defendants charges unlawful possession machine guns ak47s m16s purchased took possession arrested special agents fbi prosecutors called men radical islamists according us attorney christopher j christie intend continue vigorous prosecution defendants anyone would plan attack expect less six charges follows mohamad ibrahim shnewer ethnic jordanian conspiracy murder members uniformed services maximum statutory penalty life federal prison dritan duka ethnic albanian like two brothers conspiracy murder members uniformed services unlawful possession machine guns maximum statutory penalty 10 years prison two counts illegal alien possession firearms maximum statutory penalty 10 years prison shain duka conspiracy murder members uniformed services unlawful possession machine guns two counts illegal alien possession firearms eljvir duka conspiracy murder members uniformed services one count illegal alien possession firearms serdar tatar ethnic turk conspiracy murder members uniformed services agron abdullahu ethnic kosovar aiding abetting duka brothers illegal possession weapons maximum statutory penalty 10 years prison abdullahu confessed sentenced 20 months prison supplying guns ammunition question hed already served 11 months released october according lawyer richard coughlin weapons transaction residence cherry hill new jersey purchase cooperating witness arrests made october 2007 abdullahu pled guilty weapons possession superceding january 15 2008 indictment charged five men attempted murder military personnel weapons possession according us attorney christie time abundant evidence defendants fully subscribed al qaedas jihadist ideology ready martyrdom group forming platoon take army identified target reconnaissance maps process buying weapons new brand homegrown terrorism small cell people bring enormous devastationthey wanted jihadists doj dominant media islamophobes respond convictions december 22 doj press release stated five radical islamists convicted conspiring kill soldiers fort dixannounced patrick rowan assistant attorney general national security acting us attorney ralph j marra jrthese men planned trained ceaselessly talked unambiguously intention ambush kill us soldiers wouldbe terrorists homegrown variety alerted well spend millions taxpayer dollars find infiltrate group prosecute send federal prison long time whether youre guilty washington post highlighted conviction five foreignborn muslim men conspiring kill us soldiers fort dix military installations never mentioned indictment part prosecutors charged plot launch islamic holy war united states writer william branigin emphasized plot use automatic weapons rocketpropelled grenades also mentioned kill many us soldiers possible comments included saying plot began january 2006 osama bin ladens terrorist network inspired cell viewed terrorist training videos glorifying sept 11 2001 attacks depicting beheading american military personnel arrested may 2007 final stages preparationsin addition targeting fort dix cell discussed attacking military installations including fort monmouth lakehurst naval air station mcguire air force base new jersey us coast guard building philadelphia dover air force base delaware another potential target annual armynavy football game philadelphia branigin never questioned legitimacy clearly bogus charges face five young men hand weapons automatic otherwise would declare war us army perhaps locations instead accepted official explanation reported like straight press handout david horowitz right wing ideologue opponent progressive left prominent antimuslim hatemonger spreading fear bigotry misinformation islam according media watchdog group fairness accuracy reporting fair calls islamophobia movements premier promoteras editor via website frontpage magazine activities like october 22 26 2007 islamofascism awareness week held protests teachins sitins 100 college campuses highlight threat posed islamic crusade west december 23 front page writer jihad watch director robert spencer wrote fort dix five referred men jihad plotters said wanted burst fort dix murder many american soldiers could commented muslim community leaders hurled reckless charges entrapment instead take hard steps necessary clean house muslim nonmuslim spokesmen spilled oceans ink since 911 asserting islam condemns terrorism killing innocents without defining meant either term one ever produced examples authoritative orthodox islamic religious scholars rejecting islamic grounds jihad violence nonmuslims time instituted comprehensive inspectable programs teaching jihad ideology islamic supremacism december 23 spencers jihad watch byline mocked kangaroo justice victims headline muslims fort dix jihadists wuz framedit jokeoh shnewer one five explanation kidder added various demeaning comments clearly show disrespect islam pat robertson preaches hate intolerance cbnnewscom leaves doubt stands december 22 article terrorism analyst erick stakelbeck titled fort dix jihadis convicted called convictions nice stockade stuffer us government time holidays added islamophobic comments like doesnt take brain surgeon walk shopping mall yell allahu akhbar start firing rifle shoppers granted obviously helps larger force behind funding guidance training scheming carry attack like one planned fort dix deadly intent gun explosives get motivated committed jihadist long way well obviously stakelbeck theyre guilty case closed antidefamation league adl founded stop defamation jewish people secure justice fair treatment fights antisemitism forms bigotry defends democratic ideals protects civil rights says act national director abraham foxman using antisemitism high moral agenda cover waxman backs racial discrimination nationalism preaching universal equality hes jewish supremacy right israeli jews dominate arabs maintain separate unequal society december 23 adl applauded verdict convicting five wouldbe terrorists conspired kill american soldiers new jerseys fort dix last summer adls national chair glen lewy foxman issued statement successful prosecution five terrorists conspiring kill american soldiersis testament dedication hard work teams fbi investigators justice department prosecutors devoted enormous time energy passion making nation saferin case justice served national security protected imagine comments five israeli jews convicted charges instead muslims plot crime fbi invents guilt entrapment sting operation usual modus operandi ensnare innocent cherry hill nj circuit city store january 2006 mohamad shnewer innocently wanted home video transfered dvd showed men shooting weapons pocono mountains firing range playing paintball innocent game opposing teams try eliminate opponents marking watersoluble dye shot capsules air guns repeating arabic phrases like allah akbar meaning god greatest store clerk called police notified fbi began investigating recruited two dubious informants help knew nothing one besnik bakalli ethnic albanian falsely told defendants kosovo liberation army kla veteran usgermany supported terrorist group recruited destabilize kosovoserbia 1990s trial however testified fought group knew nothing islam extremists calling jihad mahmoud omar informant egyptianborn used car salesmanmechanic probation bank fraud bakalli entered us illegally faced likely deportation worse easily recruited cooperated well compensated efforts thousands dollars month according defense lawyers omar recruited march 2006 earned 238000 efforts newjerseycom believes 240000 plus rent expenses course leniency handling charges bakalli used shorter period reportedly paid 150000 fbi also relocated parents america added incentive cooperate sting men befriend defendants wear wire egg tough talk commitment islam elicit negative views us military war iraq afghanistan incite need holy war response suggest get weapons something hundreds conversations recorded selectively played back eight week trial addition shnewers house car bugged rigged hidden cameras additional videotape accounts one conversation defendant tatar omar saying want country pay price something asked tatar help get information fort dix idea meant yet omar persisted wanted tatar get map fort dix one point tatar called philadelphia police pressured voiced concern something terror related omar also organized socalled fort dix reconnaissance missions around bases perimeter addition got two duka brothers buy firearms commit terrorism attack army base point arrested omars apartment buying inoperable rifles fbi supplied sting whats clear trial evidence plot existed conspiracy intended crime explicit rejections violence without informant provocation planned weapons purchase purpose five innocent unfairly targeted entrapped prosecuted convicted latest administration war terror trophies scheme incite fear trial evidence freely expressed hostile views americas wars iraq afghanistan sympathies islamic causes anger immigrants treated us none illegal incriminating yet defendants convicted face long incarcerations sentencing possibly life attorney sam schmidt represented one defendants accused 1998 us african embassy bombings explained government goes extraordinary means find people antipathy us policies middle east see ones get motivated angry enough entrapped entreaties informant many cases appear informant either working case avoid going jail deported seeking remuneration theyre used entrap defendants get angry create impression theyre willing commit terrorism prove conspiracy government need show defendants appeared willing commit crime one thing usually quite innocent use convince jury crime need committed detailed plans one fort dix case prosecutors didnt prove planned attack defendants appeared willing approved us soldiers attacked somewhere time informants taping hundreds conversations training egg targets prosecutors selectively use comments make case intimidate juries convict closing arguments shnewers lawyer rocco cipparone said omar led led pushed pushed mohamad far could end day mohamad talk talk talk actions inactions speak volumes words transcripts also revealed conversations included mixture english arabic albanian filled miscommunications bravado ambiguity times nonsense points defendants seemed scared anything clearly intentions nonviolent example supposedly shopping weapons one defendant worried someone caught machine gun hell deep st anyone gets killed muslims get caught get sent away fing guantanamo bay 10 years court datethey come fing morning sleeping dont fing play despite convictions governments indictment vague intention commit terrorism defendants comments meant planned informants pushing talked nothing else however us conspiracy law prosecutors convince juries defendants words implied actions get convictions according former federal prosecutor executive director center administration criminal law new york university school law anthony barkow person entrapped previous intention violate law persuaded commit crime government agents hes already willing commit crime applicable defendants entrapment government agents convince roger williams university law professor peter margulies explains virtue american conspiracy law allows show conspiracy relatively thin evidence britain recently couldnt convict people airport bombing plot show action imminent american law expansive democracies respect supreme court justice robert jackson chief us prosecutor nuremberg nazi war criminal trials subsequent 1949 case expressed concern us conspiracy law constitutes serious threat fairness administration justice lets prosecutors target people doesnt like according margulies deviously wish unjustly convict innocent thats jim sues view executive director new jersey chapter council americanislamic relations fort dix five case many people muslim community see another case entrapment evidence showed real honesttogod planning attack fort dix anywhere else defendants never even room one time map base plotting going violent plans whatever unjustly convicted muslim victims persecuted incite fear justify americas foreign aggression iraq afghanistan islam since 911 around 150 defendants convicted 2007 many year shouldnt surprise perhaps innocent unfairly targeted unjustly convicted sentenced long punitive incarcerations federal prisons cases socalled worst worst harsh confinement supermax ones crush human spirit mind body isolation cruelty physical abuse years even life wrong time muslim america expect little change new administration foreign wars continue war terror innocent muslims targeted others well today vulnerable fort dix five stephen lendman research associate centre research globalization lives chicago reached lendmanstephensbcglobalnet 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 | 1,900 |
<p>On Thursday, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb <a href="https://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm601039.htm" type="external">announced</a> a drastic new step in the fight to <a href="" type="internal">curb cigarette smoking</a> in the U.S.: <a href="" type="internal">lowering the amount of nicotine in cigarettes to “[minimal] or non-addictive levels”</a>:</p>
<p>With that in mind, we’re taking a pivotal step today that could ultimately bring us closer to our vision of a world where combustible cigarettes would no longer create or sustain addiction—making it harder for future generations to become addicted in the first place and allowing more currently addicted smokers to quit or switch to potentially less harmful products.&#160;</p>
<p>We’ve long known that what makes cigarettes so addictive is nicotine. But we’ve also had nicotine replacement products for decades: nicotine gum, patches, and more recently, <a href="" type="internal">e-cigarettes</a>.</p>
<p>Thursday’s statement was the latest in Gottlieb’s initiative against tobacco, who introduced a <a href="https://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/NewsEvents/ucm568425.htm" type="external">comprehensive plan</a> last July focused on tackling smoking. It’s one of a series of government-backed initiatives to curb tobacco use, dating back to the mid-’60s. In 1964, the U.S. surgeon general <a href="https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/NN/p-nid/60" type="external">released a report</a> that linked tobacco use to an increased risk of lung cancer and a 70 percent increase in mortality over nonsmokers. Since then, tobacco smoking rates have dropped from <a href="https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/ps/retrieve/Narrative/NN/p-nid/60" type="external">42.5 percent</a> to only <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/campaign/tips/resources/data/cigarette-smoking-in-united-states.html" type="external">15 percent today</a>. And although premature death from cancer has been one factor in the decline of smokers, experts also attribute the decline to <a href="https://smokefree.gov/tools-tips/medications-can-help-you-quit/using-nicotine-replacement-therapy" type="external">Nicotine Replacement Therapies</a>, or NRTs, like Nicorette.</p>
<p>NRTs help users quit by providing the <a href="" type="internal">addictive substance of cigarettes</a>— nicotine—without the toxic effects of a tobacco containing cigarette. First licensed in the 1980s, NRTs quickly became mainstream when Nicorette—a nicotine-containing chewing gum—exploded onto the U.S. market in 1996.</p>
<p>“There’s no magic bullet as far as quitting smoking, but I think the contribution of NRTs has been an important one,” Dr. <a href="https://www.medicine.wisc.edu/people-search/people/staff/83/FIORE_MICHAEL_C" type="external">Michael Fiore</a>, director of the Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, told The Daily Beast.</p>
<p>While there is no research as to how many people have been able to quit smoking due to Nicorette on the population level, research shows that using NRTs in conjunction with behavioral support can <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3602964/" type="external">double or triple an individual’s chances</a> of quitting. “Smoking is a very complex physical and social dependency, but nicotine replacement therapy has allowed people who want to quit to be able to do so,” Fiore said.</p>
<p>One of the most frequently asked questions about NRTs such as Nicorette is whether they ’ re safe. After all, consumers are trying to quit so they aren ’ t addicted to nicotine, yet Nicorette contains nicotine; the company ’ s <a href="https://www.nicorette.com/faq.html#accordion-content-0182792513-5" type="external">website says</a> using Nicorette to break a smoking addiction is helpful because the product contains “ a low dose of therapeutic nicotine that ’ s gradually absorbed by your body to help reduce nicotine withdrawal symptoms. ”</p>
<p>Fiore said that in general, NRTs like Nicorette are safe. “We already know that people tolerate nicotine because they’re getting it from cigarettes. They’re not having some new adverse reaction. Virtually all evidence on nicotine is that when used as directed, medicinally, it’s safe.”</p>
<p>However, Fiore warned, <a href="" type="internal">nicotine remains a powerful drug</a>, with the potential for accelerated heartbeat and higher blood pressure in very large quantities. A representative from Nicorette’s manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, told The Daily Beast over email that the gum should be used only as a temporary aid, for a maximum of 12 weeks. Users who chew Nicorette gum for longer than that <a href="https://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/features/addicted-to-nicorette#1" type="external">run the risk of getting addicted</a>, and might experience withdrawal symptoms like irritability and headaches when attempting to wean off.</p>
<p>But gum isn’t the only option available on the market, and some doctors are pushing a controversial new NRT that’s been shown to curb smoking rates in a big way: electronic cigarettes.</p>
<p>“When Chantix came out in 2008, the smoking rate on the population level didn’t change,” Dr. <a href="http://profiles.ucsd.edu/shu-hong.zhu" type="external">Shu-Hong Zhu</a>, professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, told The Daily Beast. “In 2009, we [the U.S.] had a huge federal tax increase in cigarettes, and we expected an increase in smoking cessation—but there wasn’t one.”</p>
<p>In fact, in 2014, the smoking cessation rate <a href="http://www.bmj.com/content/358/bmj.j3262" type="external">jumped for the first time in over a decade</a>, from 4.5 percent up to 5.6, coinciding with increasing e-cigarette usage rates.</p>
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<p>According to Zhu, it’s the flavor in e-cigarettes that makes all the difference. “An e-cigarette is vapor with nicotine and some flavor,” Zhu said. “The flavor may help adults use it more often, and it’s important to be consistent if you’re going to replace nicotine.” And unlike a patch, pill, or gum, e-cigarettes are also recreational.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">E-cigarettes aren’t without risk</a>, however. In the early 2000s, the same chemical flavoring that makes e-cigarettes so appealing—called diacetyl— <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/15-10185/" type="external">came under fire</a> when inhaling it was <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/flavorings/default.html" type="external">shown to cause lung disease</a>.</p>
<p>Despite the risks, Zhu still held that it’s safer than tobacco cigarettes and a fair alternative if someone wants to quit.</p>
<p>“When you burn tobacco leaves, you generate tar and you’re breathing in carbon monoxide, which robs your blood of oxygen and can lead to a heart attack,” Zhu said. “That’s what’s going to kill you—and those two things aren’t present in e-cigarettes.” It’s worth noting, however, that e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which creates the addiction element of smoking in the first place.</p>
<p>Whether the new directive from the FDA will change how we think about NRTs and e-cigarettes remains to be seen. Gottlieb’s statement didn’t outline a direct plan, and experts will probably be referred to figure out what it means for a product to have a “minimal” or “non-addictive” nicotine level. Experts might be trying to make cigarettes passe, but the industry for their replacements, whether it be for quitters or people looking to enjoy smoking without harmful tobacco aftereffects, looks to be thriving.</p> | true | 4 | thursday food drug administration commissioner scott gottlieb announced drastic new step fight curb cigarette smoking us lowering amount nicotine cigarettes minimal nonaddictive levels mind taking pivotal step today could ultimately bring us closer vision world combustible cigarettes would longer create sustain addictionmaking harder future generations become addicted first place allowing currently addicted smokers quit switch potentially less harmful products160 weve long known makes cigarettes addictive nicotine weve also nicotine replacement products decades nicotine gum patches recently ecigarettes thursdays statement latest gottliebs initiative tobacco introduced comprehensive plan last july focused tackling smoking one series governmentbacked initiatives curb tobacco use dating back mid60s 1964 us surgeon general released report linked tobacco use increased risk lung cancer 70 percent increase mortality nonsmokers since tobacco smoking rates dropped 425 percent 15 percent today although premature death cancer one factor decline smokers experts also attribute decline nicotine replacement therapies nrts like nicorette nrts help users quit providing addictive substance cigarettes nicotinewithout toxic effects tobacco containing cigarette first licensed 1980s nrts quickly became mainstream nicorettea nicotinecontaining chewing gumexploded onto us market 1996 theres magic bullet far quitting smoking think contribution nrts important one dr michael fiore director center tobacco research intervention university wisconsin school medicine public health told daily beast research many people able quit smoking due nicorette population level research shows using nrts conjunction behavioral support double triple individuals chances quitting smoking complex physical social dependency nicotine replacement therapy allowed people want quit able fiore said one frequently asked questions nrts nicorette whether safe consumers trying quit addicted nicotine yet nicorette contains nicotine company website says using nicorette break smoking addiction helpful product contains low dose therapeutic nicotine gradually absorbed body help reduce nicotine withdrawal symptoms fiore said general nrts like nicorette safe already know people tolerate nicotine theyre getting cigarettes theyre new adverse reaction virtually evidence nicotine used directed medicinally safe however fiore warned nicotine remains powerful drug potential accelerated heartbeat higher blood pressure large quantities representative nicorettes manufacturer glaxosmithkline told daily beast email gum used temporary aid maximum 12 weeks users chew nicorette gum longer run risk getting addicted might experience withdrawal symptoms like irritability headaches attempting wean gum isnt option available market doctors pushing controversial new nrt thats shown curb smoking rates big way electronic cigarettes chantix came 2008 smoking rate population level didnt change dr shuhong zhu professor family medicine public health university california san diego school medicine told daily beast 2009 us huge federal tax increase cigarettes expected increase smoking cessationbut wasnt one fact 2014 smoking cessation rate jumped first time decade 45 percent 56 coinciding increasing ecigarette usage rates start finish day top stories daily beast speedy smart summary news need know nothing dont according zhu flavor ecigarettes makes difference ecigarette vapor nicotine flavor zhu said flavor may help adults use often important consistent youre going replace nicotine unlike patch pill gum ecigarettes also recreational ecigarettes arent without risk however early 2000s chemical flavoring makes ecigarettes appealingcalled diacetyl came fire inhaling shown cause lung disease despite risks zhu still held safer tobacco cigarettes fair alternative someone wants quit burn tobacco leaves generate tar youre breathing carbon monoxide robs blood oxygen lead heart attack zhu said thats whats going kill youand two things arent present ecigarettes worth noting however ecigarettes contain nicotine creates addiction element smoking first place whether new directive fda change think nrts ecigarettes remains seen gottliebs statement didnt outline direct plan experts probably referred figure means product minimal nonaddictive nicotine level experts might trying make cigarettes passe industry replacements whether quitters people looking enjoy smoking without harmful tobacco aftereffects looks thriving | 594 |
<p><a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external" />This <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175322/" type="external">story</a> first appeared on the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/" type="external">TomDispatch</a> website. <a href="" type="internal">Read</a> Karen Greenberg on how the Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani verdict signals a return to sanity for America. Read her previous coverage of the trial <a href="/authors/karen-greenberg" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>Liberty versus security, that initial heated debate over the war on terror, is again rearing its head with much bravado, nowhere more so than in our nation’s courtrooms where American justice continues to pay the price.</p>
<p>Over the course of the past nine years, in the name of counterterrorism, there has been a notable and unappreciated development inside the criminal justice system that is cause for alarm: a growing, if often veiled, intolerance for basic guarantees of justice in cases where “national security” is invoked. This trend leaves the nation’s justice system at risk.</p>
<p>Last weekend, as the Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/12/AR2010111207508.html" type="external">reported</a>, Obama administration officials inadvertently called attention to this development in a non-decision over whether, where, and how to bring Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to trial. Usually referred to only by his initials, KSM was the operational mastermind behind the attacks of September 11, 2001. Captured in Pakistan in 2003, and transferred to the American prison at Guantanamo Bay in 2006, he is the highest ranking al-Qaeda member taken into US custody since 9/11.</p>
<p>At issue is whether the Obama administration will try this close associate of Osama bin Laden via a military commission at Guantanamo or a jury of civilians in federal court in lower Manhattan or elsewhere. In a recent news conference, Attorney General Eric Holder mentioned that the decision was close. The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/16/nyregion/16nyc.html" type="external">response</a> from New York’s politicians—Democratic Senator Charles Schumer, Republican Representative Peter King, and even Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo—was prompt. There would, they insisted, be no 9/11 trial in New York City. At week’s end, according to the Post, unidentified administration officials were backpedaling fast, saying that KSM would likely “remain in military detention without trial for the foreseeable future.”</p>
<p>Since the moment a year ago when Holder first announced the administration’s decision to try KSM in Manhattan (and four other Guantanamo detainees in federal courts), the fierce and growing opposition to such trials has focused mainly on issues of cost and security. It was claimed, in particular, that a trial of KSM would demand so much security that it would impede business in Manhattan, while putting a cost burden on New York City which could not be borne without federal aid. Behind such seemingly practical issues, though, lies a deeper current of opposition based on the fear of potential acquittal, the single unacceptable outcome for a trial in which terrorism is the charge.</p>
<p>This Wednesday’s stunning acquittal of Guantanamo detainee Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani on all but one of 284 counts by a jury in a federal courtroom in Manhattan was the first sign in years that jurors felt confident enough to utter the word “acquittal” inside an American courtroom in a terror trial. (He may still get a life sentence for the single charge on which he was found guilty.) It was also <a href="../../../../../../../politics/2010/11/ghailani-verdict-win-america" type="external">the first time</a> a jury had not been cowed by the notion that to be accused of terrorism is tantamount to being guilty. This verdict <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/19/nyregion/19detainees.html" type="external">probably ensures</a>that the Obama administration will never bring KSM before a jury of American civilians.</p>
<p>I’ve been following terrorism cases, both in civilian courts and at Guantanamo, for years and it would be easy enough for me to go off on a jag about the need to prove that civilian courts can try terrorists (without fear of a terrorist attack). Or I could write about how indefinite detention, a concept which lies outside the accepted norms of American civilian and military law, could take us down a path leading to the eradication of civil liberties on a far wider scale.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/019975411X/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external" />I could recite—yet again—all the ways in which transparency should be a key to such trials, and how healing it is for victims to be able to observe a trial in process. I could reassure you about how KSM’s guilt is remarkably well-documented and how he might get what so many seem to want for terrorists, and what, as he’s made completely clear, KSM wants for himself: execution.</p>
<p>All of that is important. But with the Ghailani verdict and the administration’s recent non-decision over what to do with KSM as our guide, we should really be looking at something even more basic to our system: the presumption of innocence. It’s clear that the Obama administration is now shying away from its earlier inclination to bring key terror suspects into civilian courts out of fear that the political backlash from a decision to try KSM in Manhattan will prove disastrous, and that the ongoing national hysteria over national security, easy to trigger and hard to calm, will be ratcheted up by the thought of acquittal, the 800-pound gorilla in the room when it comes to terrorism trials.</p>
<p>A Conviction Rate Approaching 100%</p>
<p>Some of us who study terrorism trials see in this a particular dilemma for American justice. The Department of Justice and those who have supported civilian trials for terrorism suspects repeatedly try to bolster their case by playing up the spotless conviction record of federal courts, with profligate use of the word “success.” In this context, success never refers to the system’s theoretical skill when it comes to weeding out wrongly charged individuals—or those who used to be called “the innocent”—only to convictions.</p>
<p>The political debate over closing Guantanamo has put special emphasis on this definition of success. After all, the military courts at that prison, which in all these years have barely gotten off the ground, have had few convictions and are therefore less successful, many argue, than the federal ones. There, on terrorism cases, a near-90% conviction rate is the norm, if you include the penny-ante stuff, and on high profile cases nearly 100%. In an effort to bring the Guantanamo trials to the United States, liberals and progressives, who might otherwise have questioned the use of “success” as a synonym for “conviction,” have signed on definitionally speaking.</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, then, when in November 2009 Attorney General Holder went before the Senate Judiciary Committee to defend his decision to try KSM in New York, he <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2009/1119/p02s13-usju.html" type="external">insisted</a> that “failure is not an option. These are cases that have to be won. I don’t expect that we will have a contrary result.” KSM’s guaranteed fate, he implied, would be death. As he emphasized when he <a href="http://www.justice.gov/ag/speeches/2009/ag-speech-091113.html" type="external">announced</a> his decision for the Manhattan trial, “I fully expect to direct prosecutors to seek the death penalty against each of the alleged 9/11 conspirators.”</p>
<p>Holder’s confidence a year ago was well-based in fact. Not only would KSM be found guilty in a federal trial, but those courts have a conviction rate in such cases that would be the envy of prosecutors anywhere. Nearly everyone accused of terrorism since 9/11 has, in fact, been convicted, even the weak cases, even when cases go to trial rather than ending in plea bargains.</p>
<p>A year later, Holder’s hand should have been strengthened, since the record remains remarkably unblemished when it comes to convictions. Since he announced his decision on KSM, the New York City federal courts have successfully tried a number of high-profile terrorism cases. They have gotten convictions in the jury trials of Aafia Siddiqui (an American-educated Pakistani scientist found guilty of intending to kill her American interrogators in Afghanistan and sentenced to 86 years in prison), the JFK airport plotters, and the Bronx synagogue plotters, all of whom are awaiting their sentencing hearings.</p>
<p>This is the context in which untold numbers of Americans are worrying that KSM or others will be set free in federal court. Foreigners and US citizens alike have been convicted in every terror case of any possible significance brought into a civilian court. With or without juries, via full trials or plea bargains, until the Ghailani case (as close to an acquittal as we are likely to see), the outcome has always been the same: guilty.</p>
<p>The Presumption of Guilt</p>
<p>Human rights groups, civil libertarians, and those of us who opposed the Bush Justice Department’s disdain for the role of the federal courts in trying individuals once labeled “enemy combatants” have championed the push to bring the Guantanamo detainees to federal court. As it happened, most Americans did not. Many evidently assume that federal court equals a higher shot at acquittal (and greater odds of terrorist acts to free the prisoner). Despite conviction after conviction, a storm of political and media criticism has played up the strange idea that the most significant terrorist the US has ever had in custody would somehow beat the rap against him. Although it is increasingly politically incorrect to insist on this point, in the American system of justice, a trial—even in the context of terrorism—should not, in fact, have a foreordained verdict. That verdict should not be known in advance, nor should it, in essence, need to be announced by the Attorney General before the trial begins. A jury should consider all the facts that the law allows to be presented to them in the context of the presumption of innocence; and those 12 jurors should come up with their own determination of guilt or innocence.</p>
<p>In the case of KSM, the courts would confront a figure whose role in terrorist attacks on US targets is known and recognized around the world. And yet, even with this, trust in the system is so broken that fear of acquittal trumps all else—despite the fact that, in case after case where, unlike 9/11, no attack came about, even where an FBI informant seemed to be doing <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175270/tomgram%3A_stephan_salisbury,_plotting_terrorism__/" type="external">much of the planning</a>, convictions have still been the rule.</p>
<p>Had there been a full-scale acquittal over the past nine years, especially in one of the terror cases that look suspiciously like cases of entrapment, the system would be stronger for it. A candidate for such a fate would certainly have been one or more of the minor defendants in the Bronx synagogue bomb plot case this past summer. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/19/nyregion/19plot.html?_r=1&amp;scp=1&amp;sq=4%20convicted%20of%20attempting%20to%20blow%20up%20two%20synagoges&amp;st=cse" type="external">There</a>, an FBI sting operation led four men to place what they thought were bombs at a synagogue and a Jewish community center in Riverdale, New York, and to purchase an inoperable surface-to-air Stinger missile to fire at airplanes at Stewart Air Base in Newburgh, New York.</p>
<p>Despite allegations of FBI entrapment, an entrapment defense failed, even though the predisposition of the lead defendant in the case, James Cromitie, was towards anti-Semitism rather than jihadist violence—a subject the FBI informant claimed to know about. However, even the most peripheral players in this hapless “plot,” one of whom seemed at best only dimly aware of what was going on, were convicted. Here was yet another recent moment when a chance to distinguish between guilt and innocence in a terrorism case was thrown away.</p>
<p>Since September 12, 2001, Americans have been <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/175206/tom_engelhardt_fear_inc" type="external">systematically cowed</a> to a degree that is hard to grasp, and the justice system in this country has in no way been inoculated from this virus. If you need a measure of which way the currents of politics are running today, start with the political calculation that the Obama administration has had to make when it comes to the trial of KSM, which has only grown that much more difficult in the wake of the Ghailani verdict.</p>
<p>So, too, for those of us who favor civilian trials. How do we really feel about having been put in a position where, to defend the merits of the system of justice, we feel compelled to equate certain conviction with the notion of success?</p>
<p>The deepest principle of American justice is being tested, right now in Washington, in lower Manhattan in the wake of the Ghailani verdict, and elsewhere. With terrorism trials, the more serious they get, the more the presumption of innocence seems to lie at the mercy of politics.</p> | true | 4 | story first appeared tomdispatch website read karen greenberg ahmed khalfan ghailani verdict signals return sanity america read previous coverage trial liberty versus security initial heated debate war terror rearing head much bravado nowhere nations courtrooms american justice continues pay price course past nine years name counterterrorism notable unappreciated development inside criminal justice system cause alarm growing often veiled intolerance basic guarantees justice cases national security invoked trend leaves nations justice system risk last weekend washington post reported obama administration officials inadvertently called attention development nondecision whether bring khalid sheikh mohammed trial usually referred initials ksm operational mastermind behind attacks september 11 2001 captured pakistan 2003 transferred american prison guantanamo bay 2006 highest ranking alqaeda member taken us custody since 911 issue whether obama administration try close associate osama bin laden via military commission guantanamo jury civilians federal court lower manhattan elsewhere recent news conference attorney general eric holder mentioned decision close response new yorks politiciansdemocratic senator charles schumer republican representative peter king even governorelect andrew cuomowas prompt would insisted 911 trial new york city weeks end according post unidentified administration officials backpedaling fast saying ksm would likely remain military detention without trial foreseeable future since moment year ago holder first announced administrations decision try ksm manhattan four guantanamo detainees federal courts fierce growing opposition trials focused mainly issues cost security claimed particular trial ksm would demand much security would impede business manhattan putting cost burden new york city could borne without federal aid behind seemingly practical issues though lies deeper current opposition based fear potential acquittal single unacceptable outcome trial terrorism charge wednesdays stunning acquittal guantanamo detainee ahmed khalfan ghailani one 284 counts jury federal courtroom manhattan first sign years jurors felt confident enough utter word acquittal inside american courtroom terror trial may still get life sentence single charge found guilty also first time jury cowed notion accused terrorism tantamount guilty verdict probably ensuresthat obama administration never bring ksm jury american civilians ive following terrorism cases civilian courts guantanamo years would easy enough go jag need prove civilian courts try terrorists without fear terrorist attack could write indefinite detention concept lies outside accepted norms american civilian military law could take us path leading eradication civil liberties far wider scale could reciteyet againall ways transparency key trials healing victims able observe trial process could reassure ksms guilt remarkably welldocumented might get many seem want terrorists hes made completely clear ksm wants execution important ghailani verdict administrations recent nondecision ksm guide really looking something even basic system presumption innocence clear obama administration shying away earlier inclination bring key terror suspects civilian courts fear political backlash decision try ksm manhattan prove disastrous ongoing national hysteria national security easy trigger hard calm ratcheted thought acquittal 800pound gorilla room comes terrorism trials conviction rate approaching 100 us study terrorism trials see particular dilemma american justice department justice supported civilian trials terrorism suspects repeatedly try bolster case playing spotless conviction record federal courts profligate use word success context success never refers systems theoretical skill comes weeding wrongly charged individualsor used called innocentonly convictions political debate closing guantanamo put special emphasis definition success military courts prison years barely gotten ground convictions therefore less successful many argue federal ones terrorism cases near90 conviction rate norm include pennyante stuff high profile cases nearly 100 effort bring guantanamo trials united states liberals progressives might otherwise questioned use success synonym conviction signed definitionally speaking surprisingly november 2009 attorney general holder went senate judiciary committee defend decision try ksm new york insisted failure option cases dont expect contrary result ksms guaranteed fate implied would death emphasized announced decision manhattan trial fully expect direct prosecutors seek death penalty alleged 911 conspirators holders confidence year ago wellbased fact would ksm found guilty federal trial courts conviction rate cases would envy prosecutors anywhere nearly everyone accused terrorism since 911 fact convicted even weak cases even cases go trial rather ending plea bargains year later holders hand strengthened since record remains remarkably unblemished comes convictions since announced decision ksm new york city federal courts successfully tried number highprofile terrorism cases gotten convictions jury trials aafia siddiqui americaneducated pakistani scientist found guilty intending kill american interrogators afghanistan sentenced 86 years prison jfk airport plotters bronx synagogue plotters awaiting sentencing hearings context untold numbers americans worrying ksm others set free federal court foreigners us citizens alike convicted every terror case possible significance brought civilian court without juries via full trials plea bargains ghailani case close acquittal likely see outcome always guilty presumption guilt human rights groups civil libertarians us opposed bush justice departments disdain role federal courts trying individuals labeled enemy combatants championed push bring guantanamo detainees federal court happened americans many evidently assume federal court equals higher shot acquittal greater odds terrorist acts free prisoner despite conviction conviction storm political media criticism played strange idea significant terrorist us ever custody would somehow beat rap although increasingly politically incorrect insist point american system justice trialeven context terrorismshould fact foreordained verdict verdict known advance essence need announced attorney general trial begins jury consider facts law allows presented context presumption innocence 12 jurors come determination guilt innocence case ksm courts would confront figure whose role terrorist attacks us targets known recognized around world yet even trust system broken fear acquittal trumps elsedespite fact case case unlike 911 attack came even fbi informant seemed much planning convictions still rule fullscale acquittal past nine years especially one terror cases look suspiciously like cases entrapment system would stronger candidate fate would certainly one minor defendants bronx synagogue bomb plot case past summer fbi sting operation led four men place thought bombs synagogue jewish community center riverdale new york purchase inoperable surfacetoair stinger missile fire airplanes stewart air base newburgh new york despite allegations fbi entrapment entrapment defense failed even though predisposition lead defendant case james cromitie towards antisemitism rather jihadist violencea subject fbi informant claimed know however even peripheral players hapless plot one seemed best dimly aware going convicted yet another recent moment chance distinguish guilt innocence terrorism case thrown away since september 12 2001 americans systematically cowed degree hard grasp justice system country way inoculated virus need measure way currents politics running today start political calculation obama administration make comes trial ksm grown much difficult wake ghailani verdict us favor civilian trials really feel put position defend merits system justice feel compelled equate certain conviction notion success deepest principle american justice tested right washington lower manhattan wake ghailani verdict elsewhere terrorism trials serious get presumption innocence seems lie mercy politics | 1,078 |
<p>Testifying in 1971 as part of the Winter Soldier Investigation, a war crimes hearing sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Against the War, psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton distinguished the American war in Vietnam from other conflicts:</p>
<p>There’s a quality of atrocity in this war that goes beyond that of other wars in that the war itself is fought as a series of atrocities. There is no distinction between an enemy whom one can justifiably fire at and people whom one murders in less than military situations.</p>
<p>Concluding this thought by reflecting on the experience of soldiers and veterans, Lifton observed, “Now if one carries this sense of atrocity with one, one carries the sense of descent into evil.”</p>
<p>Nick Turse’s book, <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/killanythingthatmoves/NickTurse" type="external">Kill Anything That Moves: The Real American War In Vietnam</a>, carries readers to the core of that evil. Forty years ago, Daniel Ellsberg <a href="http://www.mostdangerousman.org/" type="external">explained</a> to filmmaker Peter Davis, “We weren’t on the wrong side, we are the wrong side.” There would have been no war without the US arming, training, and fighting on the side of the various despotic governments of South Vietnam.</p>
<p>A conservative estimate of civilian deaths arising from the war is two million in South Vietnam alone, from a population of nineteen million. An analogous civilian casualty rate in the United States today would be nearly thirty-three million — in fact, looking at the dead and wounded in Vietnam as ratios of the general population puts the conflict on par with the horrendous bloodshed of World War&#160;II. As Kill Anything That Moves relives in graphic detail, the Vietnam War was horrendously brutal in its plans, execution and outcomes.</p>
<p>Like the author, I wasn’t old enough during the conflict itself to have any firsthand experience of the common sense of the era. But I grew up among veterans, in a liberal milieu, and heard dinner table conversation about Vietnam. Later, I came to learn about the war as an activist, and then as a student of the war and the movement that arose to confront it. My attitude has naturally always mirrored the majority of the war’s contemporaries, who continue to maintain that it was “fundamentally wrong and immoral.” Like many of them, and certainly like the millions who participated in the antiwar movement, I knew the broad outlines of Turse’s arguments and evidence before opening his book.</p>
<p>But my experience is unusual for Gen X’ers, and is even more so for the Millenials behind us who have had still less direct experience of war and its effects. Today’s thirty-year-olds were born in 1984. The Gulf War of 1991, which was to have finally laid the ghosts of Vietnam to rest, was their first experience of overt US warfare. That war was safely televised from a distance. Casualties were counted in the hundreds for the US and the low thousands for the Iraqis. Spin doctors got far ahead of stories of depleted uranium, sarin gas, and Gulf War Syndrome.</p>
<p>More recent wars, in Iraq and the ongoing war in Afghanistan, find little support in the polls from any age group. Yet the greatest active opposition to these conflicts occurred in their early years, before the particular kinds of atrocities created in these countries had barely gotten underway, or even occurred. There’s little urgency in the opposition to the “technowars” that continue to be waged, and little widespread knowledge of what warfare means to its victims and perpetrators.</p>
<p>Reading Kill Anything That Moves evokes a sense of visceral revulsion and sickened recoil, reactions toward war that are rarely experienced in the US today in our more sanitized, draft-free, drone-filled conflicts. It is like getting repeatedly punched and bracing oneself for more — an overwhelming experience, even for readers already familiar with detailed accounts of the varieties of savagery perpetrated in Vietnam, and knew already the pervasive, normal nature of the war’s brutality.</p>
<p>What makes Kill Anything That Moves different from other texts that cover the same material is the sheer compendium of evidence. Each of the not-quite-the-same stories — ranging from massacres to rapes to murder to torture to running people over and compensating deaths with a few dollars for the bereaved families — bears the imprint of a violent logic repeating itself again and again.</p>
<p>Like others writing about the war crimes committed by the United States in Vietnam, Turse sets up his own narrative pointing out that the massacre at My Lai in 1968 — in which over 500 civilians were brutalized and killed — was the “tip of the iceberg” of non-combatant murder. Turse began his own investigations when, while conducting related doctoral research, he “stumbled upon” papers from the War Crimes Working Group, a secret task force created at the Pentagon after My Lai that collected files for over 300 such criminal incidents that had been substantiated by military investigators — none individually at the scale of My Lai, but indicative of a pattern of brutality Turse traces with his book. Over the years this group regularly reported such incidents up the chains of command at the Pentagon as well as the White House — not for the purposes seeking justice, but as part of an operation of “image management .&#160;.&#160;. to be parried or buried as quickly as possible.”</p>
<p>Beyond these files, Turse found further official documentary evidence of war crimes in similar archives. He interviewed government officials and over 100 American veterans of the war. He visited Vietnam, speaking with the victims of US warfare. There, searching out a hamlet that had been the site of one of the many civilian massacres he was investigating, he began to see that, rather than finding the “needle in the haystack” of the small rural village in the Vietnamese countryside marked by this horror, he was instead discovering a “haystack of needles,” a whole social landscape overwhelmed by a history of criminal brutality and death.</p>
<p>The narrative frame of book, the analysis that links it all together, is the observation that such bloodiness, such wanton destruction, was in fact the plan. Vietnam was the technocratic set letting slip the dogs of war. From the very top, from the very beginning, the war in Vietnam was intended as a war of attrition that the US would win because it was able to bring down more lethal destruction than its enemy. General William Westmoreland, with the statistical support of Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara and his team, sought the elusive “crossover point” of carnage, “at which Vietcong and North Vietnamese casualties would be greater than they could sustain,” in McNamara’s description.</p>
<p>The logic of the war makers in the US was that the national liberation movement and their allies in the North would give up when they had too many of their fighters and supporters killed. Keeping track of the “body count” allowed trackers in Washington to measure with precision how close the US and their South Vietnamese allies were to this goal.</p>
<p>Turse makes much of the effect that this singular fixation on the body count had on the units and individual soldiers fighting the war. Working in tandem with the racist and dehumanizing “mere-gook rule,” the body count chase meant “if it’s dead and Vietnamese, it’s VC.”</p>
<p>As a medic told historian Christian Appy, the body count system created “a real incentivizing of death and it just fucked with our value system.” Like many other accounts of US soldiers in the Vietnam War, Turse shows how basic training to kill; the instilled obedience to authority; the absence of any meaningful war crimes education; the confounding and contradictory conditions of guerilla warfare; and the sleeplessness, fear, and everyday horrors of the front combined with the pursuit of high body created conditions ripe for individual and group brutality against civilians.</p>
<p>From the start, the dead Vietnamese counted towards Westmoreland’s crossover point included thousands of villagers swept up in the slaughter. Turse describes in great detail how the-only-good-Vietnamese-is-a-dead-Vietnamese logic informed the sadistic behavior of soldiers in all corners of the war throughout its tenure.</p>
<p>Given the scope of the murders committed, however, this individual brutality pales in the face of the “overkill” and “system of suffering” that structured the war as a whole. Which is to say, soldiers committed horrifying individual acts, but much more typically murderous was the systematic destruction embedded in the methods of the war as a whole.</p>
<p>Beyond the body count, “free fire zones” encouraged slaughtering first, asking questions never. Early in the war, the forced relocation of villagers to “strategic hamlets” controlled by the South Vietnamese caused widespread misery; such pacification efforts continued, generating hundreds of thousands of internal refugees fleeing villages destroyed by the US and its allies.</p>
<p>Most damning, and stomach churning, is the extent to which the US used every technological means at its disposal, short of its nuclear arsenal, to destroy the “VC” in the South Vietnamese countryside. Here is a point that readers unfamiliar with the war may not realize: The US devoted much of its energy to supporting the South Vietnamese government in its efforts to root out an internal challenge from liberation forces allied with the Communist North Vietnamese. So the US was “at war” with the North, allied with the South. Indeed, beginning with “Operation Rolling Thunder” in February 1965 continuing through 1968, an average of thirty-two tons of bombs were dropped each hour in the North.</p>
<p>But most of the war was fought in South Vietnam — the US was fighting an insurgency within its ally’s borders. South Vietnam received bore the bulk of the destruction, and the majority of the casualties were South Vietnamese. North Vietnam was the “enemy,” but the people of South Vietnam were the primary targets.</p>
<p>The numbers are staggering. Thirty&#160;billion pounds of munitions spent. Seventy&#160;million liters of herbicidal agents (like Agent Orange) sprayed. Twenty-one&#160;million bomb craters created in the South. Four hundred thousand&#160;tons of napalm dropped.</p>
<p>The evolution of napalm over the course of the war gives some sense of the terror that fell from the sky: a burn agent, it was “improved” with polystyrene, to help it stick better to skin, and phosphorus, to ensure that it would continue to work in water. Another anti-personnel weapon was the “pineapple,” a “bomblet” that released 250 steel pellets on detonation. “One B-52 could drop 1,000 pineapples across a 400-yard area. As they burst open, 250,000 lethal ball bearings would tear through everything in the blast radius.” Between these and the larger “guava” cluster bombs, over the course of the war the US bought 322&#160;million: seven for each man, woman, and child in the whole of the Southeast Asian theater (Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam).</p>
<p>It seems sociopathic on the part of the war-planners like Robert McNamara to have imagined (if they ever did) that such destruction could be controlled, but it’s clear from Turse’s story that there wasn’t much effort to do so. Mass killing was encouraged, and when lines were crossed, as they often were, most of the military brass averted their eyes, engaged in cover-ups and denials, or took small, secret steps to redress some of the most egregious actions.</p>
<p>The story of My Lai again becomes typical of a larger pattern: only one lieutenant, William Calley, was successfully prosecuted for war crimes, leaving many of his superiors and others who oversaw or committed the systematic murders uncharged or acquitted of charges brought against them. Calley himself was later pardoned by President Nixon.</p> | true | 4 | testifying 1971 part winter soldier investigation war crimes hearing sponsored vietnam veterans war psychiatrist robert jay lifton distinguished american war vietnam conflicts theres quality atrocity war goes beyond wars war fought series atrocities distinction enemy one justifiably fire people one murders less military situations concluding thought reflecting experience soldiers veterans lifton observed one carries sense atrocity one one carries sense descent evil nick turses book kill anything moves real american war vietnam carries readers core evil forty years ago daniel ellsberg explained filmmaker peter davis werent wrong side wrong side would war without us arming training fighting side various despotic governments south vietnam conservative estimate civilian deaths arising war two million south vietnam alone population nineteen million analogous civilian casualty rate united states today would nearly thirtythree million fact looking dead wounded vietnam ratios general population puts conflict par horrendous bloodshed world war160ii kill anything moves relives graphic detail vietnam war horrendously brutal plans execution outcomes like author wasnt old enough conflict firsthand experience common sense era grew among veterans liberal milieu heard dinner table conversation vietnam later came learn war activist student war movement arose confront attitude naturally always mirrored majority wars contemporaries continue maintain fundamentally wrong immoral like many certainly like millions participated antiwar movement knew broad outlines turses arguments evidence opening book experience unusual gen xers even millenials behind us still less direct experience war effects todays thirtyyearolds born 1984 gulf war 1991 finally laid ghosts vietnam rest first experience overt us warfare war safely televised distance casualties counted hundreds us low thousands iraqis spin doctors got far ahead stories depleted uranium sarin gas gulf war syndrome recent wars iraq ongoing war afghanistan find little support polls age group yet greatest active opposition conflicts occurred early years particular kinds atrocities created countries barely gotten underway even occurred theres little urgency opposition technowars continue waged little widespread knowledge warfare means victims perpetrators reading kill anything moves evokes sense visceral revulsion sickened recoil reactions toward war rarely experienced us today sanitized draftfree dronefilled conflicts like getting repeatedly punched bracing oneself overwhelming experience even readers already familiar detailed accounts varieties savagery perpetrated vietnam knew already pervasive normal nature wars brutality makes kill anything moves different texts cover material sheer compendium evidence notquitethesame stories ranging massacres rapes murder torture running people compensating deaths dollars bereaved families bears imprint violent logic repeating like others writing war crimes committed united states vietnam turse sets narrative pointing massacre lai 1968 500 civilians brutalized killed tip iceberg noncombatant murder turse began investigations conducting related doctoral research stumbled upon papers war crimes working group secret task force created pentagon lai collected files 300 criminal incidents substantiated military investigators none individually scale lai indicative pattern brutality turse traces book years group regularly reported incidents chains command pentagon well white house purposes seeking justice part operation image management 160160 parried buried quickly possible beyond files turse found official documentary evidence war crimes similar archives interviewed government officials 100 american veterans war visited vietnam speaking victims us warfare searching hamlet site one many civilian massacres investigating began see rather finding needle haystack small rural village vietnamese countryside marked horror instead discovering haystack needles whole social landscape overwhelmed history criminal brutality death narrative frame book analysis links together observation bloodiness wanton destruction fact plan vietnam technocratic set letting slip dogs war top beginning war vietnam intended war attrition us would win able bring lethal destruction enemy general william westmoreland statistical support secretary defense robert mcnamara team sought elusive crossover point carnage vietcong north vietnamese casualties would greater could sustain mcnamaras description logic war makers us national liberation movement allies north would give many fighters supporters killed keeping track body count allowed trackers washington measure precision close us south vietnamese allies goal turse makes much effect singular fixation body count units individual soldiers fighting war working tandem racist dehumanizing meregook rule body count chase meant dead vietnamese vc medic told historian christian appy body count system created real incentivizing death fucked value system like many accounts us soldiers vietnam war turse shows basic training kill instilled obedience authority absence meaningful war crimes education confounding contradictory conditions guerilla warfare sleeplessness fear everyday horrors front combined pursuit high body created conditions ripe individual group brutality civilians start dead vietnamese counted towards westmorelands crossover point included thousands villagers swept slaughter turse describes great detail theonlygoodvietnameseisadeadvietnamese logic informed sadistic behavior soldiers corners war throughout tenure given scope murders committed however individual brutality pales face overkill system suffering structured war whole say soldiers committed horrifying individual acts much typically murderous systematic destruction embedded methods war whole beyond body count free fire zones encouraged slaughtering first asking questions never early war forced relocation villagers strategic hamlets controlled south vietnamese caused widespread misery pacification efforts continued generating hundreds thousands internal refugees fleeing villages destroyed us allies damning stomach churning extent us used every technological means disposal short nuclear arsenal destroy vc south vietnamese countryside point readers unfamiliar war may realize us devoted much energy supporting south vietnamese government efforts root internal challenge liberation forces allied communist north vietnamese us war north allied south indeed beginning operation rolling thunder february 1965 continuing 1968 average thirtytwo tons bombs dropped hour north war fought south vietnam us fighting insurgency within allys borders south vietnam received bore bulk destruction majority casualties south vietnamese north vietnam enemy people south vietnam primary targets numbers staggering thirty160billion pounds munitions spent seventy160million liters herbicidal agents like agent orange sprayed twentyone160million bomb craters created south four hundred thousand160tons napalm dropped evolution napalm course war gives sense terror fell sky burn agent improved polystyrene help stick better skin phosphorus ensure would continue work water another antipersonnel weapon pineapple bomblet released 250 steel pellets detonation one b52 could drop 1000 pineapples across 400yard area burst open 250000 lethal ball bearings would tear everything blast radius larger guava cluster bombs course war us bought 322160million seven man woman child whole southeast asian theater cambodia laos vietnam seems sociopathic part warplanners like robert mcnamara imagined ever destruction could controlled clear turses story wasnt much effort mass killing encouraged lines crossed often military brass averted eyes engaged coverups denials took small secret steps redress egregious actions story lai becomes typical larger pattern one lieutenant william calley successfully prosecuted war crimes leaving many superiors others oversaw committed systematic murders uncharged acquitted charges brought calley later pardoned president nixon | 1,055 |
<p>Denied post mortem imagery of Osama bin Laden and Anwar al-Awlaki, the world now has at its disposal photographs of Muammar Qaddafi, dispatched with a bullet&#160; to the head after being wounded by NATO’s ground troops outside Sirte. Did the terminal command, Finish Him Off, come via cell phone from the US State Department whose Secretary, Hillary Clinton,&#160; had earlier called for his death, or by dint of local initiative?&#160; At all events, since Qaddafi was a prisoner at the time of his execution, it was a war crime and I trust that &#160;in the years of her retirement Mrs Clinton will be detained amid some foreign vacation and handed a subpoena.</p>
<p>My friend and neighbor in Petrolia,&#160; Joe Paff, wrote a response to a dreadful story about Qaddafi’s killing on Yahoo’s site, commenting “This kind of gloating is bound to come back and bite your butt. Imagine how many people in the world would like to see Netanyahu or Obama dragged from their hiding holes and tortured.&#160; It will take about six months for everyone to regret the ‘new’ Libyan ‘democrats.’”</p>
<p>Yahoo’s initial electronic response was to write to Joe,&#160; “Oops! Try again”. So he checked “post” a second time. Yahoo then rewrote his comment, complete with misspellings, stripped of any&#160; mention of Netanyahu or Obama, and “posted” it, as “This is the kind of gloating that comes back and bites you on the butt. Just imagine how many peopel in the world would like to see Americans dragged through the streets and tortured to death.” As Joe wrote me, “Just another small episode in artificial intelligence and the present taboos.”</p>
<p>I suppose the first triumphalist imperial post mortem photo of such an execution in my lifetime&#160; I can recall is that of Che Guevara, killed on the CIA’s orders at La Higuera in Bolivia on October 9, 1967. Perhaps Che’s finest hour came with his leadership of the Cuban anti-imperial forces deployed in Africa, defeating South African and white mercenary forces in one of the greatest acts of revolutionary solidarity the world has ever seen.</p>
<p>Qaddafi, even in his latterday accomodationist phase, was always a bitter affront to Empire – a “devil” figure in a tradition stretching back to the Mahdi, whose men killed General Gordon in the Sudan in 1885. I remember fondly the leftists and Republicans who trekked to Tripoli in the 1960s to appeal to Qaddafi for funds for their causes, some of them returning amply supplied with money and detailed counsel.</p>
<p>Dollar for dollar I doubt Qaddafi has a rival in any&#160;assessment of the amount of oil revenues in his domain actually distributed for benign social purposes. Derision is heaped on his Green Book, but in intention it can surely stand favorable comparison with kindred Western texts. Anyone labeled by Ronald Reagan&#160; “This mad dog of the Middle East” has an honored place in my personal pantheon.</p>
<p>Since we’re on the topic of imperial executions, let us not forget October 17, 1961. Last week saw the fiftieth anniversary of the massacre in Paris of hundreds of Algerians by the French riot police. Called by the FLN, the Algerians had mustered from their neighborhoods and bidonvilles to central Paris in support of the Algerian war of liberation, then six years old. Algeria, remember, was, in formal terms, a French department.</p>
<p>Centering on the Charonne metro station, the French riot police attacked with lethal savagery, battering and shooting&#160; peaceful demonstrators to death and throwing their bodies into the Seine. Corpses were later dragged from the river as far downstream as Le Havre. These days the death count is reckoned as at least 300, some of the victims murdered in detention centers around Paris.&#160; The French Interior minister of the time in De Gaulle’s government was Maurice Papon. In 1981 , the French weekly newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné published an article accusing&#160; Papon&#160; of having collaborated with the Germans during World War II. Papon was officially charged with crimes against humanity in 1983. His trial for overseeing the deportation of 1,690 Jews to a detention camp in the Paris suburb of Drancy did not take place until 1997. Papon’s role in the massacre of October 17, 1961, and indeed details of the massacre itself – long suppressed in French public memory — surfaced during his trial.</p>
<p>In February 1962 there was a huge protest demonstration about the October 17 massacre&#160; in Paris. Joe Paff and his wife Karen were recently in Paris, staying in the 20th at a hotel owned by French Algerians. The owner pointed to a photo of himself in the vanguard of the demo, remembering how he was astonished at the number of photographers eager to&#160; take his picture. Only years later did he realize that the man with whom had linked arms was Jean-Paul Sartre.</p>
<p>The massacre has now been reconstructed in a documentary by Yasmina Adi, Ici on noie les Algériens, “Here one drowns Algerians,” words painted in red on the parapet of one of the bridges over the Seine.</p>
<p>Time to Pony Up!</p>
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<p>Our Latest Newsletter</p>
<p>Let me give you &#160;some opening paragraphs from one of the greatest descriptions of farm work ever committed to paper:</p>
<p>Farm work is hard not only in the sense of being skilled but also in the sense of requiring toil, exertion, and extended physical effort. When arriving in the early morning to begin work, Pablo Camacho would often say, “Ya llegamos al campo de la batalla” – “Now we arrive at the field of battle.” Although intending to provoke a smile, Camacho was not being ironic. Most people who have worked in the fields say that it is the hardest work they have ever done. It is hard to put up with the inevitable pain and physical exhaustion, to last until the end of the row, the end of the day, the week, the season. “To last” is not quite the right word. The right word is a Spanish one, aguantar: to endure, to bear, to put up with.</p>
<p>Pablo Camacho was proud of his ability to aguantar, even arrogant about it, often claiming that he never felt pain while he was working. That is a pose that a lot of farmworkers assume, even among themselves. At work, no one complains about pain. Camacho believed that the ability to put up with pain was part of the Mexican national character, especially evident in sports. Like many farmworkers, he was an avid boxing fan. He could name all the boxing champions in the lighter divisions from the 1930s to the 1970s, as well as recount the ways Mexican fighters had been denied championship opportunities. Mexicans were the best boxers in the world, he argued, especially in their ability to withstand punishment. They were also good marathon runners and long-distance bicycle racers, he said, sports in which endurance and patience are the essential virtues.</p>
<p>But Mexicans do not have an exclusive franchise on the ability to tolerate hard work. Endurance is a trait of slaves and the oppressed in general, and also characteristic of peasants and other agricultural people – whether free or unfree. Agriculture by its very nature requires patience. Farmworkers have to wait for nature to do her work. They must plant, water, and wait. Weed and wait. And, finally, after enduring the wait, they may harvest.</p>
<p>Physical labor has received bad reviews since people began to write. It is Adam’s curse in the Old Testament. Aristotle contended that “occupations are … the most servile in which there is greatest use of the body.” The dynamic relationship between the brain and the hand was ripped asunder by early philosophers, leaving two separate activities: valued intellectual labor (suitable for free men) and devalued manual labor (suitable for women and slaves). This philosophical predisposition against the work of the body had its greatest worldly triumph in the development of capitalism and the factory system. As Marx so passionately chronicled, English factories destroyed English handicrafts. What he called “modern industry” – machines built by other machines strung together in a continuous process of production, where laborers are “mere appendages” to the machinery – replaced the earlier system of production that “owed its existence to personal strength and personal skill, and depended on the muscular development, the keenness of sight, and the cunning of the hand.”</p>
<p>The cunning of the hand, what farmworkers call maña, remains the basis of California farm work as surely as it is the basis of a major league pitcher’s job, or a skilled craftsman’s. Many farmworker jobs are not only hard to do but hard to learn, often requiring years to master, and skills typically are passed from one generation to the next. Farmworkers use hand tools: knives, hoes, clippers, pruners. They do not tend machines or have to keep up with an assembly line.</p>
<p>I’m quoting from Frank Bardacke’s brilliant, long-awaited <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Trampling-Out-Vintage-Ch%C3%A1vez-Workers/dp/1844677184/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1318619522&amp;sr=8-1" type="external">Trampling Out the Vintage: César Chávez and the Two Souls of the United Farm Workers</a> which will be published by Verso later this month. I read an earlier draft of Frank’s book in manuscript and the chapter, “The Work Itself” bowled me over with its marvelous descriptions and observation. Frank himself worked&#160; for three years in the fields around Salinas.</p>
<p>When Frank asked me for an endorsement of the book, I wrote “There’s so much marvelous stuff in Frank Bardacke’s book that’s simply not been done before. At the book’s core are the men and women who pick the crops in California’s fields and orchards. Bardacke gives those people, mostly seen only in distant fields, a huge presence, one crackling with political vitality: those surges the UFW had no idea were coming; those moments when a strike spread like wildfire across the fields. Here are the farm workers, their skill and endurance, the world&#160; they built among themselves, the ways they shaped the history of the UFW. It is their story—refreshingly, sympathetically, and beautifully told—that makes this book stand apart and will make it stand forever.”</p>
<p>In our current newsletter we run most of the chapter “The&#160;Work Itself.” I hope you get the book. If you want a taste of&#160;its qualities, read our exclusive excerpt.</p>
<p>Also in this newsletter we continue our series on the Obama Record. Linn Washington Jr. contributes a terrific piece, “Black Backlash Against Obama.”</p>
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<p>Alexander Cockburn can be reached at <a href="mailto:alexandercockburn@asis.com" type="external">alexandercockburn@asis.com</a></p> | true | 4 | denied post mortem imagery osama bin laden anwar alawlaki world disposal photographs muammar qaddafi dispatched bullet160 head wounded natos ground troops outside sirte terminal command finish come via cell phone us state department whose secretary hillary clinton160 earlier called death dint local initiative160 events since qaddafi prisoner time execution war crime trust 160in years retirement mrs clinton detained amid foreign vacation handed subpoena friend neighbor petrolia160 joe paff wrote response dreadful story qaddafis killing yahoos site commenting kind gloating bound come back bite butt imagine many people world would like see netanyahu obama dragged hiding holes tortured160 take six months everyone regret new libyan democrats yahoos initial electronic response write joe160 oops try checked post second time yahoo rewrote comment complete misspellings stripped any160 mention netanyahu obama posted kind gloating comes back bites butt imagine many peopel world would like see americans dragged streets tortured death joe wrote another small episode artificial intelligence present taboos suppose first triumphalist imperial post mortem photo execution lifetime160 recall che guevara killed cias orders la higuera bolivia october 9 1967 perhaps ches finest hour came leadership cuban antiimperial forces deployed africa defeating south african white mercenary forces one greatest acts revolutionary solidarity world ever seen qaddafi even latterday accomodationist phase always bitter affront empire devil figure tradition stretching back mahdi whose men killed general gordon sudan 1885 remember fondly leftists republicans trekked tripoli 1960s appeal qaddafi funds causes returning amply supplied money detailed counsel dollar dollar doubt qaddafi rival any160assessment amount oil revenues domain actually distributed benign social purposes derision heaped green book intention surely stand favorable comparison kindred western texts anyone labeled ronald reagan160 mad dog middle east honored place personal pantheon since topic imperial executions let us forget october 17 1961 last week saw fiftieth anniversary massacre paris hundreds algerians french riot police called fln algerians mustered neighborhoods bidonvilles central paris support algerian war liberation six years old algeria remember formal terms french department centering charonne metro station french riot police attacked lethal savagery battering shooting160 peaceful demonstrators death throwing bodies seine corpses later dragged river far downstream le havre days death count reckoned least 300 victims murdered detention centers around paris160 french interior minister time de gaulles government maurice papon 1981 french weekly newspaper le canard enchaîné published article accusing160 papon160 collaborated germans world war ii papon officially charged crimes humanity 1983 trial overseeing deportation 1690 jews detention camp paris suburb drancy take place 1997 papons role massacre october 17 1961 indeed details massacre long suppressed french public memory surfaced trial february 1962 huge protest demonstration october 17 massacre160 paris joe paff wife karen recently paris staying 20th hotel owned french algerians owner pointed photo vanguard demo remembering astonished number photographers eager to160 take picture years later realize man linked arms jeanpaul sartre massacre reconstructed documentary yasmina adi ici noie les algériens one drowns algerians words painted red parapet one bridges seine time pony yes hope youve noticed nearing end first week annual fundraiser okay thanks opening salvos donations loyal counterpunchers160 yet160 nearly well enough urge pass side first two travelers jericho road like good samaritan stopped minister wounded traveler counterpunch needs help without generous measure next three weeks 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<p>[This is the text of remarks delivered on the floor of the House on September 8, 2005]</p>
<p>While my remarks tonight in no way should be construed as encompassing all of my thoughts on the very important issues that I discuss tonight, just mark this down as a start.</p>
<p>First, let me say that I am especially proud of the way the people of my district and of this country have wrapped their arms around the victims of Hurricane Katrina. At this time, we have a healthy contingent of expert Georgians in the traumatized gulf States, and we have received thousands of Katrina’s victims into our cities, churches, and homes.</p>
<p>I have come to this floor on many occasions. People around the world have commented on how shocked they are to see such poverty in America. While cities and localities pass anti-panhandling measures that criminalize begging tourists and visitors in downtown areas asking for help, Hurricane Katrina washed away America’s veneer of populist opportunity, a country that has overcome its racist, slave-holding past, a country ready for world dominion because it has learned how to uplift the human spirit at home.</p>
<p>Katrina, in images as stark and undeniable as could be, has laid bare the Republican lie that its policies promote growth and prosperity for all Americans and leave no child behind, while Katrina put into our living rooms and the world’s living rooms the cruel hoax that has been played on America and those who love America by the ruthless sybaritic power player elites who are as responsible for the conditions endured by too many Americans as they are for the embarrassing and breathtaking incompetencies we all witnessed just before Labor Day.</p>
<p>Almost 30,000 New Orleans households live on less than $10,000 per year. More babies and young kids are going hungry in our country. Eleven percent of our families experienced hunger in 2003. One million more Americans are living in poverty today than there were 1 year ago. Income distribution has become obscenely skewed toward the rich during the Bush years. In Manhattan, the poor make two cents for each dollar that the rich make. This places Manhattan on par with Namibia for income disparity.</p>
<p>Interestingly, in the financial capital of the world, New York City, the Bronx is the poorest urban county in the country, and New York State is being depleted of its middle class.</p>
<p>America is being depleted of its middle class. Over 50 percent of America’s income goes to the top 20 percent of households. With even more tax cuts for the wealthy on the horizon, coupled with real budget cuts for the programs that are forced to take care of more and more Americans, the situation can only be expected to get worse, sadly.</p>
<p>Incomes for 95 percent of American households are flat or falling. Only the top 5 percent are experiencing the growth that we hear the Republicans talk about.</p>
<p>Now, I have got tons of documentation to offer for all of the statistics that we cite, but let me take a moment and reiterate where we are for all the people who are listening tonight.</p>
<p>Let me recall for just a moment the America they might not know but that more of us are coming all too well to know.</p>
<p>I will start with this poster, which depicts a black man hanging from a tree. The caption says “The body of Robert McNair is seen here as residents and schoolchildren in the Georgetown community saw it between about 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. last Thursday.” This was on the front page of the Jackson, Mississippi, Advocate the week of October 23 to 29 when I was in Mississippi for a speaking engagement. This was what I saw.</p>
<p>Sadly, it is what the children in the neighborhood saw, a black man hanging from a tree. A lynching. That is 2003. I am not talking about 1903. This is 2003. Sadly, in 2005, we have two lynchings being investigated in the State of Georgia, my home State, and both of them are supposed to have been suicides. In this story it was reported that this poor Mr. Robert McNair committed suicide, hanging from a tree.</p>
<p>When I come to the floor and do these monthly talks, some way or other we get around to the state of black America because it is important for us to understand that there are many Americans, and some of those Americans we do not see and we do not know. But we need to know how all Americans live so that we can make sure that no American is left behind.</p>
<p>On some indices, even today, it is true that the racial disparities are worse today than they were at the time of the murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. People would say it is not true, but, alas, it is true. And, of course, the statistics document that sad truth. United for a Fair Economy gives us these statistics in its State of the Dream report on imprisonment. To close the racial gap, it will take 190 years just so that black people are imprisoned for the same crime at the same rate as white people are imprisoned.</p>
<p>What about poverty? We saw a lot of that. Overall poverty, the racial disparity, 150 years to close the gap. Why does that have to be? At the slow rate that the black-white poverty gap has been narrowing since 1968, it would take 150 years to close the gap.</p>
<p>What about child poverty? Two hundred ten years to close the gap. Almost one-third of black children live in poverty. The child poverty gap would take 210 years to disappear, not reaching parity until 2212.</p>
<p>I would like to thank the National Council for La Raza that provided us with these statistics, the proportion of children without health insurance in the United States, home ownership rates. Look and you can see the proportion of children without health insurance in the United States. Look at the Hispanic figures. Look at that. Twenty-five percent of young Latino children do not have health insurance in this country.</p>
<p>What about home ownership rates, because we hear a lot of talk about the growth economy, and the Republicans and the President talk about promoting home ownership, home ownership, the first tier toward building wealth, okay? Well, if you are lucky enough to be able to own a home, sadly black and Hispanic home ownership rates are low. How low? To close the home ownership gap, the disparity between white home ownership and black home ownership, the first tier toward [Page: H7802] GPO’s PDF wealth building, it will take 1,664 years to close the home ownership gap.</p>
<p>This is something that so many Americans take for granted. Yet so many Americans still have a dream for home ownership.</p>
<p>Now, what about income? It will take 581 years for us to close the per capita income gap. Since 1968, we have only been able to close the gap 2 cents. Black people make 55 cents for every dollar. That was in 1968. In 2001, it was 57 cents. Two cents, so 581 years to close the gap.</p>
<p>When some people start talking about how we want to build, rebuild, and provide for folks, that is what this Congress is supposed to do. We should build lives, we should build communities, build neighborhoods, and protect our people.</p>
<p>When it comes to the economic conditions that are prevailing for so many Americans, it is almost a joke. Here is a cartoon from the Washington Post. This is the sybaritic power player who is pulling the strings behind the scene, calling the shots, dictating politics and policy; and he is saying, “It is not trickle down economics. We got the plumbing fixed.” Here is the poor little fella down here, little panhandler trying to wait to get some of the stuff that is trickling down, and it is not trickling down any more.</p>
<p>Poverty is up. Median income down. That is the result of the policies of the Bush administration since 2001.</p>
<p>What about all these tax cuts? New Orleans has got a lot of attention now because of what has happened, and we hear and we will hear some of our colleagues on the other side of the aisle suggesting that we need to do more tax cuts. Well, the faces of the people that came into our living rooms from Hurricane Katrina got this much from George Bush’s tax cuts. But if you happened to make over $200,000 a year, you got this much from George Bush’s tax cuts.</p>
<p>It is so clear that the administration wants to serve some of the people all of the time and fool the rest of us all of the time. The tax cuts, we should not hear another word uttered about the need for more of the kind of tax cuts that the Bush administration has given us thus far. This insensitive policymaking that ends up hurting real people leads to a kind of callousness within our society that we do not recognize sometimes, that we do not notice sometimes.</p>
<p>It is easy to pass an anti-panhandling ordinance in the city of Atlanta because we do not feel the pain of the people who do not eat at night. So it is also easy to demonize people. It is easy to demonize people that you do not know.</p>
<p>This made it around the Internet until Agence France-Presse pulled their photo off. But how is it that we can have a media in this country displaying one young man wading through that putrid water and the American press, the Associated Press, says that he is “looting.” Then you have two people who are obviously not black and they are “finding.” This young man, according to the Associated Press, walks through chest-deep floodwater after “looting” a grocery store. Two residents wade through chest-deep water after “finding” bread and soda.</p>
<p>This is the America of those statistics. This is the America that all Americans need to know and see. This is the America that too many of us have borne the brunt of generation after generation after generation after generation.</p>
<p>And then, they called them “refugees.” Some bright light in the media came up with that one to further dehumanize poor black people in New Orleans. I had some New Orleans residents in my congressional office in Georgia who said that they had never, ever thought that they would be called refugees in their own country. Other insensitive language just shows how totally out of touch the leadership of this country is with the American people.</p>
<p>While the city was still flooding, Speaker Hastert suggested that New Orleans should not be rebuilt.</p>
<p>As the mostly black people were herded into what looked like concentration camps, Barbara Bush suggested that they were really better off now than they were before. Well, maybe she has got something there, because it took losing an entire city for the “compassionate conservatives” in Washington, D.C., to finally get some compassion in the laws they pass, in the policies they enact, in what they do around here.</p>
<p>And you can imagine my surprise to hear the very people who chose not to adequately fund education, health care, affordable housing, now saying we have got to have Pell grants, Section 8 vouchers, schooling for children. It is what some of us have been saying all along.</p>
<p>Now, you can just about bet your bottom dollar that the Karl Rove spin machine is working overtime to whitewash the Bush administration preparations for the response to Katrina. Let us remember as we go through this that the State and local responders were victims too. That is why it is critical that the feds act. But they did not act, notwithstanding anything that comes out of the spin machine.</p>
<p>Kathleen Blanco, the governor of Louisiana said, “We wanted soldiers, helicopters, food and water. They wanted to negotiate an organizational chart.” This is from the New York Times. “Far from deferring to State or local officials, FEMA asserted its authority and made things worse,” according to Mr. Broussard, and I will talk about him a little bit later, who complained on Meet the Press.</p>
<p>Mayor Nagin said, “The root of the breakdown was the failure of the Federal Government to deliver relief supplies and personnel quickly. They kept promising and saying things would happen. I was getting excited and telling people that. They kept making promises and promises.”</p>
<p>MSNBC informs us that FEMA Director Michael Brown waited 5 hours after the storm’s landfall to get agency assistance, to get agency aid from the Department of Homeland Security.</p>
<p>Now, another thing that we need to know about, there are so many things that our government does in our name with our tax dollars, on our behalf supposedly, that we do not know about. The Bush administration has opened up these biodefense labs all over the country. In about 20, 25 universities around the country we have got biodefense labs studying I do not know what.</p>
<p>I can remember the Tuskegee Study. I remember MK-Ultra as an African American. I remember Paul Robeson. But Tulane University is under water, and Tulane University houses one of these biodefense labs. We need to know what the heck was in that lab, what was going on in that biodefense lab.</p>
<p>Some of the headlines. Notwithstanding what you may hear from the other side of the aisle or coming out of the White House about how everyone has to share the blame, these are some of the headlines.</p>
<p>“FEMA won’t accept Amtrak’s help in evacuations.”</p>
<p>“FEMA turns away experienced firefighters.”</p>
<p>“FEMA turns back Wal-Mart supply trucks.”</p>
<p>“FEMA prevents Coast Guard from delivering diesel fuel.”</p>
<p>“Homeland Security won’t let Red Cross deliver food.”</p>
<p>“FEMA bars morticians from entering New Orleans.”</p>
<p>“FEMA blocks 500-boat citizen flotilla from delivering aid.”</p>
<p>“FEMA fails to utilize Navy ship with 600-bed hospital on board.”</p>
<p>“FEMA to Chicago: Send just one truck.”</p>
<p>“FEMA turns away generators.”</p>
<p>“FEMA first responders urged not to respond.”</p>
<p>Those are just a few of the headlines. I have got all of the documentation, of course.</p>
<p>There is also a story about three U.S. Customs Blackhawk helicopter crews that are absolutely livid because they had been directed not to provide full-time support for the hurricane relief effort in the Gulf.</p>
<p>“Navy ship nearby underused.” This is from the Chicago Tribune. A craft with food, water, doctors. All it needed was the orders. It never got the orders.</p>
<p>“Federal agency slow to accept business help.” This is from the Financial Times, “Federal agency slow to accept business help. From Wal-Mart’s satellite-based communications system to FedEx’s aircraft, U.S. business has in some cases managed to provide a swifter response to the initial impacts of Hurricane Katrina than the Federal and State authorities.”</p>
<p>This is from the Salt Lake City Tribune: “Frustrated fire crews to hand out fliers for FEMA. Many of the firefighters assembled from Utah and throughout the United States by FEMA thought they were going to be deployed as emergency workers. Instead, they have learned they are going to be community relations officers for FEMA, shuffling throughout the gulf coast region to disseminate fliers and a phone number, 1-800-621-FEMA,” which does not work most of the time.</p>
<p>Now, I know that American children can do better in geography, but you would think that at least our emergency management people would get their geography right. CNN.com says, Well, they were supposed to go to Charleston. My colleague from Charleston, we were in a meeting on Tuesday night, and he said they had the shelter all set up with supplies, cots, blankets and everything, and nobody came. Now we find out that this is why they did not come. They were supposed to be in Charleston, South Carolina. Guess where FEMA took them? Charleston, West Virginia. What incompetence. Right city, wrong State. CNN.com.</p>
<p>I cannot even imagine. No one should imagine. It is ridiculous. But they are going to tell you everything is all right.</p>
<p>The New York Times tells us, “Navy pilots who rescued victims are reprimanded.” What? “Two Navy helicopter pilots and their crews returned from New Orleans on August 30 expecting to be greeted as lifesavers after ferrying more than 100 victims to safety. Instead, they were reprimanded.”</p>
<p>Well, we are working on this, since I serve on the Committee on Armed Services. But the sad thing about it is, when we had our briefing on Tuesday evening, the Secretary of Defense, Secretary of Homeland Security, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Treasury, Secretary of HUD were all there at the briefing, except that Defense kept going in and out, Homeland Security kept going in and out, could not stay long enough to brief the Members of Congress or to hear from the Members of Congress who are directly impacted by their failure, their incompetence.</p>
<p>Malik Rahin is a former Black Panther Party member. In a very compelling radio interview he said, “You want more morality from the poor than from the rich.” But he rejected the idea that New Orleans was a city divided by race. He said, “Whites took their boats and went into black neighborhoods. But it was the feds who forced people to leave their possessions. Once they got rescued, they had to leave their possessions. They could only take one bag.”</p>
<p>He says, “Over 70 percent of the people who were rescued were rescued by individuals.” Then he went on to say something very interesting. He said, “$90 million of HOPE VI construction, but the people who needed it the most in New Orleans got no training, no community service.”</p>
<p>Louisiana has the highest dropout rate in the country. He said, “Juvenile justice is a disgrace.” He said, “The only equal opportunity employer here is drugs.”</p>
<p>We heard a lot about shooting. He says, “White vigilante groups with shotguns and rifles rode around saying they were going to shoot the looters.” They were unchecked. There could have been a riot. He says, “There was about to be a race riot.”</p>
<p>He said, “Many whites took their own personal boats into the black community. Too many acts of heroism, sharing ice, sharing water.”</p>
<p>Then he mentions Jefferson Parish had to secede from the United States of America. So I want to mention the Jefferson Parish president.</p>
<p>But before that I am going to mention what Mayor Nagin in a wonderfully compelling interview with WWL said when he had the opportunity to speak directly with President Bush. He said, “I told him we had an incredible crisis here and that his flying over in Air Force One does not do it justice, and that I have been all around this city, and I am very frustrated because we are not able to marshal resources and we are outmanned in just about every respect.”</p>
<p>MSNBC informs us that FEMA Director Michael Brown waited 5 hours after the storm’s landfall to get agency assistance, to get agency aid from the Department of Homeland Security.</p>
<p>Now, another thing that we need to know about, there are so many things that our government does in our name with our tax dollars, on our behalf supposedly, that we do not know about. The Bush administration has opened up these biodefense labs all over the country. In about 20, 25 universities around the country we have got biodefense labs studying I do not know what.</p>
<p>I can remember the Tuskegee Study. I remember MK-Ultra as an African American. I remember Paul Robeson. But Tulane University is under water, and Tulane University houses one of these biodefense labs. We need to know what the heck was in that lab, what was going on in that biodefense lab.</p>
<p>But in perhaps the most compelling of all of the interviews that we have seen, and these are all available on the Internet, is Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, on Meet the Press. He said, “Sir, they were told, like me, every single day the cavalry is coming on the Federal level, the cavalry is coming, the cavalry is coming, the cavalry is coming. I have just begun to hear the hooves of the cavalry. The cavalry is still not out here yet, but I have begun to hear the hooves, and we are almost a week out.”</p>
<p>Then he gives three quick examples, one of the Wal-Mart delivery trucks, three trucks of water. FEMA turned them back. They had 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on a Coast Guard vessel. It was docked in Jefferson Parish. The Coast Guard said, “Come and get the fuel right away. When we got there with our trucks, they got the word. FEMA says, `Don’t give the fuel.’ Yesterday, yesterday FEMA comes in and cuts all our communication lines.” Why is FEMA cutting communications?</p>
<p>“The guy who runs the building I am in, Emergency Management,” this is Aaron Broussard on Meet the Press, “he is responsible for everything. His mother was trapped in St. Bernard Nursing Home, and every day she called him and said, `Are you coming, son? Is somebody coming?’ He said, `Yeah, mama, somebody is coming to get you.’ `Somebody is coming to get you on Tuesday.’ `Somebody is coming to get you on Wednesday.’ `Somebody is coming to get you on Thursday.’ `Somebody is coming to get you on Friday.’ And she drowned Friday night.”</p>
<p>And she drowned Friday night. “Nobody is coming to get us. Nobody is coming to get us. The Secretary has promised. Everybody has promised. They have had press conferences. I’m sick of the press conferences. For God’s sake, just shut up and send us somebody.” Aaron Broussard.</p>
<p>Want the facts? The FEMA chief waited 5 hours after Katrina made landfall on August 29. Five hours.</p>
<p>It is clear also that the administration would like to avoid a blame game. They want to do everything to not discuss the failures. What is Michael Brown’s reaction to all of this? Michael Brown, FEMA director, says in a CNN interview: “Considering the dire circumstances that we have in New Orleans, virtually a city that has been destroyed, things are going relatively well.” That is our FEMA director, Michael Brown. How out of touch could this man have been?</p>
<p>Those 9/11 activists know how critical it is to construct a timeline, because the timeline tells us who did what and when they did it. The timeline will tell us the truth. The timeline cuts through the spin. So, of course, I made a point to get in touch with the folks who were collecting the timelines, and there are a lot of timelines available on the Internet. Think Progress has a timeline, and WWL also has a timeline.</p>
<p>All the while this was going on, the news media reported that the Iraq war costs now exceed Vietnam’s. But I think it is pretty clear that the Iraq war is costing us more than money. Let us just look at where some of those assets were. Mississippi has 40 percent of its National Guard forces in Iraq. Louisiana has 35 percent of its National Guard forces in Iraq. Florida has 26 percent. Alabama has 23 percent of its National Guard forces in Iraq.</p>
<p>On June 8, 2004, in the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Walter Maestri, who is emergency management chief for Jefferson Parish, said, “It appears that the money has been moved in the President’s budget to handle homeland security and the war in Iraq. And I suppose that’s the price we pay. Nobody locally is happy that the levees can’t be finished, and we’re doing everything we can to make the case that this is a security issue for us.” Security, we are going to discuss that in a minute.</p>
<p>On April 24, 2004, the Times-Picayune said: “Less money is available to the Army Corps of Engineers to build levees and water projects in the Mississippi River Valley this year and next year.” Nobody can say they did not know, were not warned, whatever it is that the spin machine might come up with.</p>
<p>National Geographic Magazine, October 2004, came up with an article that reported on a simulation, I will not call it a game, but a simulation of what would happen should a hurricane hit New Orleans: “As the whirling maelstrom approached the coast, more than a million people evacuated to higher ground. Some 200,000 remained, however. The carless, the homeless, the aged, the infirm, and those die-hard [Page: H7804] GPO’s PDF New Orleanians who look for any excuse to throw a party.” It goes on to describe just exactly what happened during Hurricane Katrina, but that was in October 2004.</p>
<p>The Louisiana National Guard also knew that they were paying a price that was perhaps too high. On August 1 the Louisiana National Guard complained that they were taking critical equipment to Iraq that should have remained in Louisiana. But when the Bush administration does not like what one says, they just fire them. So there was a former Member of Congress that I had the pleasure to serve with, Mike Parker from Mississippi, who was with the Army Corps of Engineers. He complained that they were cutting the Army Corps of Engineers budget too much, and so he was forced out.</p>
<p>Now it turns out that Michael Brown was forced out too. He was forced out from the job he had before he became the FEMA assistant director and then director. Let me see if I can read this correctly. Michael Brown’s previous employment was with the International Arabian Horse Association, and he was fired from that job too. They said that he was asked to resign. And so, of course, eminently qualified to serve in the Bush administration; he gets one of the most important jobs in the country with the lives of the American people in his hands.</p>
<p>We know that this is what they do, hurting people whom they disagree with, because there is the case of another Army Corps of Engineers employee by the name of Bunnatine Greenhouse, who complained about the no-bid sweetheart deal private contracts going to Halliburton. Well, she was forced out of her job too because, even though Vice President Dick Cheney still gets his deferred compensation checks from Halliburton Corporation, I guess the Bush administration is not finished with Halliburton, because they have been hired to do the storm cleanup. Is there no other corporation in America? Why is it that it always has to be Halliburton?</p>
<p>Well, the Times-Picayune calls for the firing of Michael Brown; and I have signed my name to many letters that are floating around here calling for his firing, his resignation, Chertoff’s as well; and in a minute somebody on this House floor is going to mention impeachment.</p>
<p>But as if making sure that Halliburton got what they needed to get, I checked the FEMA Web site, and on the FEMA Web site it says: “Help the victims of Hurricane Katrina.” First on the list is American Red Cross. We remember that during 9/11, there were many complaints from the victims of 9/11, and I remember seeing one report of the symphony orchestra getting some of the 9/11 contributions. But there is Operation Blessing. Operation Blessing was founded by Pat Robertson. That is the same Pat Robertson who called for the assassination of a duly elected president, Hugo Chavez, of Venezuela. How can FEMA recommend that someone who calls for the murder of somebody else get hard-earned money from the American people? It is on the FEMA Web site, and it is outrageous.</p>
<p>But there is more. Sadly, there is more. I agree with the Tom Hartman article: “You Can’t Govern if You Don’t Believe in Government.” What we have witnessed here in utter stark relief is the culmination of all of that Republican ideology against government, against the people, against helping people who are in need. Ronald Reagan was elected President by saying: “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, `I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”’ Newt Gingrich in 1995 told us what he thought about government. He was speaking about Medicare. He said: “Now, we don’t want to get rid of it in round one because we don’t think that’s politically smart and we do not think that’s the right way to go through a transition. But we believe it is going to wither on the vine because we think people are going to voluntarily leave it.” Wither on the vine.</p>
<p>Grover Norquist in 2001 said this, and I think this encapsulates it all: “I don’t want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub.”</p>
<p>That is how these people feel about government. So I am not surprised that the Army Corps of Engineers budget is cut to the extent it is cut. I am not surprised.</p>
<p>Here, Bush’s agenda is to cut government services to the bone and make people rely on the private sector for the things they need. So he sliced $71 million from the budget of the New Orleans Corps of Engineers, a 44 percent reduction. In addition, the President cut $30 million in flood control. And then Bush took to the airwaves on “Good Morning America” on September 1 and said, “I don’t think anyone anticipated that breach of the levees.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>[Time: 19:00]</p>
<p>“I don’t think anyone anticipated that breach of the levees.”</p>
<p>Now, in stark contrast to the way the Department of Homeland Security mobilized to secure the people of the gulf States, within 48 hours of the notification of the death of Chief Justice Rehnquist, Bush nominated Roberts to serve as Chief Justice. They are real fast at doing some things.</p>
<p>Now, at some point, we have to talk about values and priorities and how it has become that our values and our priorities are so twisted and mangled now. We are focusing on other things, and some of those things are important. I am not going to say that everything is not so important that has become a priority. We had a resolution today that six people voted against to give Bush another blank check in the war on terrorism. I was one of the six.</p>
<p>No more blank checks, Mr. President, not for war, not for war.</p>
<p>I went to the Committee on Homeland Security’s Web site, and I just thought I would look and see which subcommittee has jurisdiction for natural disasters. Well, I could not believe it. I did not see any mention at all of natural disasters. So I went to one of our interns, whose eyes are a whole lot younger than mine, and I said, Would you please scour the entire website, because I have put in a search and it did not come up in a search; scour the entire website, and I want you to highlight the number of times you see the mention of the two words, “natural disaster.”</p>
<p>It is not mentioned. It is not mentioned. On the entire Committee on Homeland Security Web site “natural disaster” is not mentioned.</p>
<p>Now, a young man had a script before him, and he was supposed to read the script, but he took the opportunity to deviate from the script and speak his mind. His name is Kanye West. He has been on the cover of all these national magazines talking about how he is the most brilliant new hip-hop, rap artist, Kanye West. And now, he is being vilified because he dared to take a detour from what some people wanted him to say and say what he wanted to say, which is, quite frankly, the origins of hip-hop anyway, young people who have something to say and have found the means to say it.</p>
<p>Kanye West said, “I hate the way they portray us in the media. You see a black family; it says they are `looting.’ You see a white family; it says they are `looking for food.’ And, you know, it has been 5 days, because most of the people are black, and even for me to complain about it, I would be a hypocrite, because I have tried to turn away from the TV because it is too hard to watch. I have even been shopping before even giving a donation.</p>
<p>“So now I am calling my business manager right now to see what is the biggest amount I can give,” notice he said he is calling his business manager; I want you to pay attention to that. “And, just imagine if I was down there and those are my people down there. So anybody out there that wants to do anything that we can help with the way America is set up to help the poor, the black people, the less well off, as slow as possible.”</p>
<p>Now, NBC censored that. NBC has decided that they can determine what we hear from the smartest young man in hip-hop.</p>
<p>He also said, “George Bush doesn’t care about black people.” NBC censored it. They deleted his remarks. And MSNBC President Rick Kaplan, who produced the telethon at Rockefeller Plaza in New York, had the cameras cut to actor Chris Tucker who was on a different part of the stage and who appeared to be looking off at something else in the camera. So it was the MSNBC president, who was also the producer, who said, Well, you know, maybe the American people do not need to hear the smartest young man in hip-hop’s ideas about George Bush.</p>
<p>Thank goodness, I can come to the floor of the House and speak my piece. And as long as C-SPAN cameras are running, well, it will not be cut off, but I understand there is even an effort to try and limit C-SPAN’s access to American households.</p>
<p>But I have to tell my colleagues something. As I saw the African Americans, mostly African American families ripped apart, I could only think about slavery, families ripped apart, herded into what looked like concentration camps. So I was reminded of a Miami Herald article written on July 5, the day after Freedom Day, 1987.</p>
<p>The title of the article was “Reagan Aides and the Secret Government,” and here is a quote from that article: “A copy of the memo was obtained by the Herald. The scenario outlined in the Brinkerhoff memo resembles somewhat a paper Giufreda had written in 1970 at the Army War College in Carlyle, Pennsylvania, in which he advocated martial law in case of a national uprising by black militants.” In which he advocated martial law in case of a national uprising by black militants. The paper also advocated the roundup and transfer of two “assembly centers or relocation camps of at least 21 million American Negroes.”</p>
<p>Now, I did not write that; the U.S. Government wrote that. They were going to round up 21 million Negroes because they were afraid of freeing black people. A story of neglect? I am not surprised about any story of neglect of the people that comes from this body with this set of priorities, that passes these kinds of budgets on the backs of the American people, these kinds of tax cuts on the backs of the American people.</p>
<p>I want to commend my sister Congresswoman, the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee), who has said that it is time for us to get serious about poverty in this country. It is time for us to get serious. I am a proud cosponsor of legislation with the gentlewoman from California (Ms. Lee).</p>
<p>I will just conclude by saying that on the United States State Department Web site is “How to identify misinformation.” Does the story fit the pattern of a conspiracy theory?</p>
<p>Cynthia McKinney serves in congress from Georgia’s fourth congressional district.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | text remarks delivered floor house september 8 2005 remarks tonight way construed encompassing thoughts important issues discuss tonight mark start first let say especially proud way people district country wrapped arms around victims hurricane katrina time healthy contingent expert georgians traumatized gulf states received thousands katrinas victims cities churches homes come floor many occasions people around world commented shocked see poverty america cities localities pass antipanhandling measures criminalize begging tourists visitors downtown areas asking help hurricane katrina washed away americas veneer populist opportunity country overcome racist slaveholding past country ready world dominion learned uplift human spirit home katrina images stark undeniable could laid bare republican lie policies promote growth prosperity americans leave child behind katrina put living rooms worlds living rooms cruel hoax played america love america ruthless sybaritic power player elites responsible conditions endured many americans embarrassing breathtaking incompetencies witnessed labor day almost 30000 new orleans households live less 10000 per year babies young kids going hungry country eleven percent families experienced hunger 2003 one million americans living poverty today 1 year ago income distribution become obscenely skewed toward rich bush years manhattan poor make two cents dollar rich make places manhattan par namibia income disparity interestingly financial capital world new york city bronx poorest urban county country new york state depleted middle class america depleted middle class 50 percent americas income goes top 20 percent households even tax cuts wealthy horizon coupled real budget cuts programs forced take care americans situation expected get worse sadly incomes 95 percent american households flat falling top 5 percent experiencing growth hear republicans talk got tons documentation offer statistics cite let take moment reiterate people listening tonight let recall moment america might know us coming well know start poster depicts black man hanging tree caption says body robert mcnair seen residents schoolchildren georgetown community saw 7 9 last thursday front page jackson mississippi advocate week october 23 29 mississippi speaking engagement saw sadly children neighborhood saw black man hanging tree lynching 2003 talking 1903 2003 sadly 2005 two lynchings investigated state georgia home state supposed suicides story reported poor mr robert mcnair committed suicide hanging tree come floor monthly talks way get around state black america important us understand many americans americans see know need know americans live make sure american left behind indices even today true racial disparities worse today time murder dr martin luther king jr people would say true alas true course statistics document sad truth united fair economy gives us statistics state dream report imprisonment close racial gap take 190 years black people imprisoned crime rate white people imprisoned poverty saw lot overall poverty racial disparity 150 years close gap slow rate blackwhite poverty gap narrowing since 1968 would take 150 years close gap child poverty two hundred ten years close gap almost onethird black children live poverty child poverty gap would take 210 years disappear reaching parity 2212 would like thank national council la raza provided us statistics proportion children without health insurance united states home ownership rates look see proportion children without health insurance united states look hispanic figures look twentyfive percent young latino children health insurance country home ownership rates hear lot talk growth economy republicans president talk promoting home ownership home ownership first tier toward building wealth okay well lucky enough able home sadly black hispanic home ownership rates low low close home ownership gap disparity white home ownership black home ownership first tier toward page h7802 gpos pdf wealth building take 1664 years close home ownership gap something many americans take granted yet many americans still dream home ownership income take 581 years us close per capita income gap since 1968 able close gap 2 cents black people make 55 cents every dollar 1968 2001 57 cents two cents 581 years close gap people start talking want build rebuild provide folks congress supposed build lives build communities build neighborhoods protect people comes economic conditions prevailing many americans almost joke cartoon washington post sybaritic power player pulling strings behind scene calling shots dictating politics policy saying trickle economics got plumbing fixed poor little fella little panhandler trying wait get stuff trickling trickling poverty median income result policies bush administration since 2001 tax cuts new orleans got lot attention happened hear hear colleagues side aisle suggesting need tax cuts well faces people came living rooms hurricane katrina got much george bushs tax cuts happened make 200000 year got much george bushs tax cuts clear administration wants serve people time fool rest us time tax cuts hear another word uttered need kind tax cuts bush administration given us thus far insensitive policymaking ends hurting real people leads kind callousness within society recognize sometimes notice sometimes easy pass antipanhandling ordinance city atlanta feel pain people eat night also easy demonize people easy demonize people know made around internet agence francepresse pulled photo media country displaying one young man wading putrid water american press associated press says looting two people obviously black finding young man according associated press walks chestdeep floodwater looting grocery store two residents wade chestdeep water finding bread soda america statistics america americans need know see america many us borne brunt generation generation generation generation called refugees bright light media came one dehumanize poor black people new orleans new orleans residents congressional office georgia said never ever thought would called refugees country insensitive language shows totally touch leadership country american people city still flooding speaker hastert suggested new orleans rebuilt mostly black people herded looked like concentration camps barbara bush suggested really better well maybe got something took losing entire city compassionate conservatives washington dc finally get compassion laws pass policies enact around imagine surprise hear people chose adequately fund education health care affordable housing saying got pell grants section 8 vouchers schooling children us saying along bet bottom dollar karl rove spin machine working overtime whitewash bush administration preparations response katrina let us remember go state local responders victims critical feds act act notwithstanding anything comes spin machine kathleen blanco governor louisiana said wanted soldiers helicopters food water wanted negotiate organizational chart new york times far deferring state local officials fema asserted authority made things worse according mr broussard talk little bit later complained meet press mayor nagin said root breakdown failure federal government deliver relief supplies personnel quickly kept promising saying things would happen getting excited telling people kept making promises promises msnbc informs us fema director michael brown waited 5 hours storms landfall get agency assistance get agency aid department homeland security another thing need know many things government name tax dollars behalf supposedly know bush administration opened biodefense labs country 20 25 universities around country got biodefense labs studying know remember tuskegee study remember mkultra african american remember paul robeson tulane university water tulane university houses one biodefense labs need know heck lab going biodefense lab headlines notwithstanding may hear side aisle coming white house everyone share blame headlines fema wont accept amtraks help evacuations fema turns away experienced firefighters fema turns back walmart supply trucks fema prevents coast guard delivering diesel fuel homeland security wont let red cross deliver food fema bars morticians entering new orleans fema blocks 500boat citizen flotilla delivering aid fema fails utilize navy ship 600bed hospital board fema chicago send one truck fema turns away generators fema first responders urged respond headlines got documentation course also story three us customs blackhawk helicopter crews absolutely livid directed provide fulltime support hurricane relief effort gulf navy ship nearby underused chicago tribune craft food water doctors needed orders never got orders federal agency slow accept business help financial times federal agency slow accept business help walmarts satellitebased communications system fedexs aircraft us business cases managed provide swifter response initial impacts hurricane katrina federal state authorities salt lake city tribune frustrated fire crews hand fliers fema many firefighters assembled utah throughout united states fema thought going deployed emergency workers instead learned going community relations officers fema shuffling throughout gulf coast region disseminate fliers phone number 1800621fema work time know american children better geography would think least emergency management people would get geography right cnncom says well supposed go charleston colleague charleston meeting tuesday night said shelter set supplies cots blankets everything nobody came find come supposed charleston south carolina guess fema took charleston west virginia incompetence right city wrong state cnncom even imagine one imagine ridiculous going tell everything right new york times tells us navy pilots rescued victims reprimanded two navy helicopter pilots crews returned new orleans august 30 expecting greeted lifesavers ferrying 100 victims safety instead reprimanded well working since serve committee armed services sad thing briefing tuesday evening secretary defense secretary homeland security secretary labor secretary treasury secretary hud briefing except defense kept going homeland security kept going could stay long enough brief members congress hear members congress directly impacted failure incompetence malik rahin former black panther party member compelling radio interview said want morality poor rich rejected idea new orleans city divided race said whites took boats went black neighborhoods feds forced people leave possessions got rescued leave possessions could take one bag says 70 percent people rescued rescued individuals went say something interesting said 90 million hope vi construction people needed new orleans got training community service louisiana highest dropout rate country said juvenile justice disgrace said equal opportunity employer drugs heard lot shooting says white vigilante groups shotguns rifles rode around saying going shoot looters unchecked could riot says race riot said many whites took personal boats black community many acts heroism sharing ice sharing water mentions jefferson parish secede united states america want mention jefferson parish president going mention mayor nagin wonderfully compelling interview wwl said opportunity speak directly president bush said told incredible crisis flying air force one justice around city frustrated able marshal resources outmanned every respect msnbc informs us fema director michael brown waited 5 hours storms landfall get agency assistance get agency aid department homeland security another thing need know many things government name tax dollars behalf supposedly know bush administration opened biodefense labs country 20 25 universities around country got biodefense labs studying know remember tuskegee study remember mkultra african american remember paul robeson tulane university water tulane university houses one biodefense labs need know heck lab going biodefense lab perhaps compelling interviews seen available internet aaron broussard president jefferson parish meet press said sir told like every single day cavalry coming federal level cavalry coming cavalry coming cavalry coming begun hear hooves cavalry cavalry still yet begun hear hooves almost week gives three quick examples one walmart delivery trucks three trucks water fema turned back 1000 gallons diesel fuel coast guard vessel docked jefferson parish coast guard said come get fuel right away got trucks got word fema says dont give fuel yesterday yesterday fema comes cuts communication lines fema cutting communications guy runs building emergency management aaron broussard meet press responsible everything mother trapped st bernard nursing home every day called said coming son somebody coming said yeah mama somebody coming get somebody coming get tuesday somebody coming get wednesday somebody coming get thursday somebody coming get friday drowned friday night drowned friday night nobody coming get us nobody coming get us secretary promised everybody promised press conferences im sick press conferences gods sake shut send us somebody aaron broussard want facts fema chief waited 5 hours katrina made landfall august 29 five hours clear also administration would like avoid blame game want everything discuss failures michael browns reaction michael brown fema director says cnn interview considering dire circumstances new orleans virtually city destroyed things going relatively well fema director michael brown touch could man 911 activists know critical construct timeline timeline tells us timeline tell us truth timeline cuts spin course made point get touch folks collecting timelines lot timelines available internet think progress timeline wwl also timeline going news media reported iraq war costs exceed vietnams think pretty clear iraq war costing us money let us look assets mississippi 40 percent national guard forces iraq louisiana 35 percent national guard forces iraq florida 26 percent alabama 23 percent national guard forces iraq june 8 2004 new orleans timespicayune walter maestri emergency management chief jefferson parish said appears money moved presidents budget handle homeland security war iraq suppose thats price pay nobody locally happy levees cant finished everything make case security issue us security going discuss minute april 24 2004 timespicayune said less money available army corps engineers build levees water projects mississippi river valley year next year nobody say know warned whatever spin machine might come national geographic magazine october 2004 came article reported simulation call game simulation would happen hurricane hit new orleans whirling maelstrom approached coast million people evacuated higher ground 200000 remained however carless homeless aged infirm diehard page h7804 gpos pdf new orleanians look excuse throw party goes describe exactly happened hurricane katrina october 2004 louisiana national guard also knew paying price perhaps high august 1 louisiana national guard complained taking critical equipment iraq remained louisiana bush administration like one says fire former member congress pleasure serve mike parker mississippi army corps engineers complained cutting army corps engineers budget much forced turns michael brown forced forced job became fema assistant director director let see read correctly michael browns previous employment international arabian horse association fired job said asked resign course eminently qualified serve bush administration gets one important jobs country lives american people hands know hurting people disagree case another army corps engineers employee name bunnatine greenhouse complained nobid sweetheart deal private contracts going halliburton well forced job even though vice president dick cheney still gets deferred compensation checks halliburton corporation guess bush administration finished halliburton hired storm cleanup corporation america always halliburton well timespicayune calls firing michael brown signed name many letters floating around calling firing resignation chertoffs well minute somebody house floor going mention impeachment making sure halliburton got needed get checked fema web site fema web site says help victims hurricane katrina first list american red cross remember 911 many complaints victims 911 remember seeing one report symphony orchestra getting 911 contributions operation blessing operation blessing founded pat robertson pat robertson called assassination duly elected president hugo chavez venezuela fema recommend someone calls murder somebody else get hardearned money american people fema web site outrageous sadly agree tom hartman article cant govern dont believe government witnessed utter stark relief culmination republican ideology government people helping people need ronald reagan elected president saying nine terrifying words english language im government im help newt gingrich 1995 told us thought government speaking medicare said dont want get rid round one dont think thats politically smart think thats right way go transition believe going wither vine think people going voluntarily leave wither vine grover norquist 2001 said think encapsulates dont want abolish government simply want reduce size drag bathroom drown bathtub people feel government surprised army corps engineers budget cut extent cut surprised bushs agenda cut government services bone make people rely private sector things need sliced 71 million budget new orleans corps engineers 44 percent reduction addition president cut 30 million flood control bush took airwaves good morning america september 1 said dont think anyone anticipated breach levees 160 time 1900 dont think anyone anticipated breach levees stark contrast way department homeland security mobilized secure people gulf states within 48 hours notification death chief justice rehnquist bush nominated roberts serve chief justice real fast things point talk values priorities become values priorities twisted mangled focusing things things important going say everything important become priority resolution today six people voted give bush another blank check war terrorism one six blank checks mr president war war went committee homeland securitys web site thought would look see subcommittee jurisdiction natural disasters well could believe see mention natural disasters went one interns whose eyes whole lot younger mine said would please scour entire website put search come search scour entire website want highlight number times see mention two words natural disaster mentioned mentioned entire committee homeland security web site natural disaster mentioned young man script supposed read script took opportunity deviate script speak mind name kanye west cover national magazines talking brilliant new hiphop rap artist kanye west vilified dared take detour people wanted say say wanted say quite frankly origins hiphop anyway young people something say found means say kanye west said hate way portray us media see black family says looting see white family says looking food know 5 days people black even complain would hypocrite tried turn away tv hard watch even shopping even giving donation calling business manager right see biggest amount give notice said calling business manager want pay attention imagine people anybody wants anything help way america set help poor black people less well slow possible nbc censored nbc decided determine hear smartest young man hiphop also said george bush doesnt care black people nbc censored deleted remarks msnbc president rick kaplan produced telethon rockefeller plaza new york cameras cut actor chris tucker different part stage appeared looking something else camera msnbc president also producer said well know maybe american people need hear smartest young man hiphops ideas george bush thank goodness come floor house speak piece long cspan cameras running well cut understand even effort try limit cspans access american households tell colleagues something saw african americans mostly african american families ripped apart could think slavery families ripped apart herded looked like concentration camps reminded miami herald article written july 5 day freedom day 1987 title article reagan aides secret government quote article copy memo obtained herald scenario outlined brinkerhoff memo resembles somewhat paper giufreda written 1970 army war college carlyle pennsylvania advocated martial law case national uprising black militants advocated martial law case national uprising black militants paper also advocated roundup transfer two assembly centers relocation camps least 21 million american negroes write us government wrote going round 21 million negroes afraid freeing black people story neglect surprised story neglect people comes body set priorities passes kinds budgets backs american people kinds tax cuts backs american people want commend sister congresswoman gentlewoman california ms lee said time us get serious poverty country time us get serious proud cosponsor legislation gentlewoman california ms lee conclude saying united states state department web site identify misinformation story fit pattern conspiracy theory cynthia mckinney serves congress georgias fourth congressional district 160 160 160 160 | 3,044 |
<p>In possibly the least surprising news of the year, President Donald Trump would like to cut taxes for the rich. The Administration has yet to unveil anything that could legitimately be called a “tax reform plan”; what we got instead was a one-pager filled with bullet points, to which one <a href="https://twitter.com/CharlesFinch/status/857389917823008769" type="external">Twitter wag</a> reacted with, “I’ve worked harder on e-vites than this.” That being said, the President’s tax cheat sheet, such as it is, does reveal the Administration’s innermost desires for tax reform.</p>
<p>Some have said that a measure that cuts taxes cannot truthfully be called reform. This is wrong, even if you don’t think taxes should go down. How much revenue to collect and how to collect it are separate questions. Let’s start with how to collect, then move on to how much.</p>
<p>To address the first question, we would do well to harken back to Senator John Edwards’ distinction between taxing wealth and taxing work. Taxing wealth means taxing capital, a goal shared by socialists and populists. Capital in this context means ownership rights to financial assets: stock and bonds and the like. Capital income takes the form of dividends, interest, rent, capital gains, royalties, inheritances, and (very large) gifts. Taxing work or labor means taxing wages, salaries, fringe benefits, as well as the income of the self-employed and lower-income proprietors. (When proprietors have high incomes, it’s because they have capital.)</p>
<p>Trump would limit the tax rate on “business” (actually, capital) to 15 percent. Meanwhile, the rates on individuals would be set at 15, 25, and 35 percent. As New York University tax law professor <a href="https://danshaviro.blogspot.com/2017/04/preliminary-thoughts-on-trump.html" type="external">Dan Shaviro</a> has pointed out, this amounts to a surtax on labor. Not very populist! Shocking, right?</p>
<p>It is true that many small fry proprietors and the self-employed could escape the surtax by incorporating, albeit at some cost. But broadly speaking the preferential 15 percent rate on “business” constitutes a huge bias against labor.</p>
<p>When you discriminate against a particular type of income—in this case, wages and salaries—you create an incentive for tax avoidance. &#160;The Trump Tax would make a Disneyland for tax avoidance. Those with means could pay lawyers and accountants to devise ways of running income through personal corporations. Owners of corporate stock would reduce their taxes because the firms in which they have an ownership interest could retain profits and let them grow tax-free inside the firm. If they paid them out as dividends, they would be taxed immediately at both the firm and individual level. Taxes would be more complicated, but complexity of this type is like the briar patch to Br’er Rabbit. (Google it, kids.)</p>
<p>No self-respecting populist would tax labor at a higher rate than capital, quite the contrary. Currently, different types of capital income enjoy a variety of preferential treatments in the tax code. Anyone honestly seeking to simplify taxes would sweep away these loopholes.</p>
<p>The corporate income tax has been under fire for a while now, including from the unpopulist Obama Administration. Contrary to uninformed commentary, the corporate rate of 35 percent is not “the highest in the world” when one compares actual taxes paid to corporate income (what’s called the “average effective rate”).</p>
<p>In popular discussions, attention tends to gloss over what is or isn’t in the tax base and focus on tax rates. Of course, if something isn’t in the tax base, the tax rate applying to it is zero. Naturally a populist would favor graduated marginal rates. Recent research by Thomas Piketty, Emanuel Saez, and Stefanie Stantcheva indicates that the top marginal rate on most income <a href="http://equitablegrowth.org/research-analysis/determining-optimal-u-s-tax-rate-higher-earners/" type="external">could be higher than 80 percent</a> without harming the economy. The current rate under the individual income tax is 39.6, more if one includes the Obamacare tax and the payroll tax. In the 1950s, the period of greatest economic growth in U.S. history, the top income tax rate was 91 percent.</p>
<p>A much higher rate on capital gains is more problematic. Capital gains depend largely on stock market transactions, which can be volatile and are sensitive to tax rates. Previous rates of tax on capital gains in the high 20s and low 30s did not appear to do any damage to the U.S. economy.</p>
<p>Since there is no good rationale for dynastic accumulation of wealth, a populist would also tax inheritances and gifts as income. This would moderate the ability of the rich to reward their feckless offspring for winning the genetic Olympics.</p>
<p>Finally, the enlightened populist would acknowledge the historic success and political strength of social insurance, especially Social Security, Medicare, and Unemployment Insurance. To uphold the contributory feature at the root of their success, the payroll tax would be left untouched. It would still be possible to alleviate the payroll tax burden on low-wage workers through the <a href="http://www.epi.org/publication/briefingpapers_eitc/" type="external">expansion of refundable credits in the individual income tax</a>.</p>
<p>The upshot is that a great deal of new revenue could be available to the government by relieving the rich of at least some of the extraordinary increases in their share of the national income.</p>
<p>According to the Republican story being told these days, tax simplification is achieved by the elimination of some deductions. In their benevolence, the R’s have zeroed in on deductions that tend to mostly benefit residents of blue states, namely states with income and property taxes. For these Democratic states, slightly simpler taxes will mean higher taxes. It’s hard to see how any Republican member of Congress from states with income and property taxes could survive after supporting such a change.</p>
<p>Although deductions tend to benefit those with higher incomes, the impact of a tax change on equality depends on how the whole package differs from the existing system. It’s always, “Compared to what?” There aren’t enough details on Trump’s cheat sheet to gauge the fairness of eliminating any particular deduction.</p>
<p>The Administration is promising to retain deductions for charity and mortgage interest. It should be noted that the elimination of some deductions, combined with a higher standard deduction, diminishes or destroys the value of all the others. For many, it will no longer pay to itemize deductions. However, this will not necessarily simplify taxes, since, in order to know whether it pays to itemize, the taxpayer has to keep the same records and do the same calculations. Charitable organizations and other non-profits that live on tax-deductible donations will have some cause for concern here as well, since fewer opportunities to itemize means donations will become more expensive for many donors.</p>
<p>To summarize, a populist tax program would seek to include all capital income in the tax base and tax it no less than labor, if not more. In that context, it would be worth considering how to scale back deductions.</p>
<p>And I haven’t covered everything. The options of a financial transactions tax and a carbon merit discussion too.</p>
<p>Now, to the question of how much. How much revenue should the government collect? Since populists want to maximize employment, <a href="http://jaredbernsteinblog.com/april-jobs-report-have-we-reached-full-employment/" type="external">they should want higher deficits at present</a>. A revenue cut is not the only or best way to generate a higher deficit. More spending will do that too. From a populist standpoint, more spending is also the most effective way to raise employment and wages, and to provide valuable public services in the process. Spending has a higher “multiplier effect” on total GDP, and improved public services and facilities are urgently needed. There is a dual benefit here. Needless to say, the Trump budget is moving in the opposite direction, to the extent what he’s presented <a href="http://thebaffler.com/latest/budget-trump-sawicky" type="external">could be called a budget</a>.</p>
<p>So how high should the rates be? Well, actually that’s the wrong question here. The right starting point is how high spending should be, and then, depending on the state of national employment, how much of that spending should be offset by tax revenue. Given those parameters, as discussed above, the base should be broad and the rates should be graduated (rising with income).</p>
<p>When the real tax debate gets going, an exaggerated focus on the deficit, irrespective of the state of the economy, is predictable. Democrats have been running on Republicans’ same notion of fiscal irresponsibility since the mid-80s, a losing idea. As noted above, there is still room for employment growth, so deficit reduction should not be seized upon as an economic priority, let alone a political one.</p>
<p>Trump’s advocates are denying the deficit impact of the Trump tax cut, on the grounds of <a href="http://inthesetimes.com/article/20087/if-republicans-arent-stressing-about-deficit-spending-why-should-democrats" type="external">ye olde supply-side elixir</a>: The tax cut will “pay for itself.” Republican tax experts such as Greg Mankiw and Douglas Holtz-Eakin have already shot that down. Research showing that almost any tax cut would recoup more than, at the very most, a third of its revenue loss runs from scant to nonexistent. Most estimates are well south of a 33 percent revenue rebound.</p>
<p>Contrary to what some commentators have claimed, so-called “dynamic scoring”—factoring in the economic effects of a tax cut on revenue growth—is not going to save Trump’s tax cuts from criticism. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) are responsible for estimating the revenue impacts of tax changes. The CBO has not been very indulgent of Paul Ryan’s health-care legislation. It is not likely to roll over for tax cuts. They will do their own dynamic scoring voodoo, and it could end up making such a tax cut look worse, not better.</p>
<p>The other big laugh in this comes from Rep. Paul Ryan’s attempts to claim the Trump tax sheet has some relationship to Ryan’s so-called “border adjustment tax” that’s been flopping in the House of Representatives. There is zero overlap between those proposals.</p>
<p>Popular debates on taxes tend to focus on rates and related taxable income levels. Just as important, I’ve tried to show, is what goes into the tax base—how taxable income is defined. The malign trend in taxation is narrowing the tax base to wages, limiting tax breaks to those with relatively high salaries, and letting recipients of capital income escape tax. In other words, to paraphrase one of Trump’s colleagues in the New York real estate business from way back, the infamous Leona Helmsley, “Only the little people will pay taxes.” The newest iteration of the Trump Administration’s tax plan would make this statement truer than ever.</p> | true | 4 | possibly least surprising news year president donald trump would like cut taxes rich administration yet unveil anything could legitimately called tax reform plan got instead onepager filled bullet points one twitter wag reacted ive worked harder evites said presidents tax cheat sheet reveal administrations innermost desires tax reform said measure cuts taxes truthfully called reform wrong even dont think taxes go much revenue collect collect separate questions lets start collect move much address first question would well harken back senator john edwards distinction taxing wealth taxing work taxing wealth means taxing capital goal shared socialists populists capital context means ownership rights financial assets stock bonds like capital income takes form dividends interest rent capital gains royalties inheritances large gifts taxing work labor means taxing wages salaries fringe benefits well income selfemployed lowerincome proprietors proprietors high incomes capital trump would limit tax rate business actually capital 15 percent meanwhile rates individuals would set 15 25 35 percent new york university tax law professor dan shaviro pointed amounts surtax labor populist shocking right true many small fry proprietors selfemployed could escape surtax incorporating albeit cost broadly speaking preferential 15 percent rate business constitutes huge bias labor discriminate particular type incomein case wages salariesyou create incentive tax avoidance 160the trump tax would make disneyland tax avoidance means could pay lawyers accountants devise ways running income personal corporations owners corporate stock would reduce taxes firms ownership interest could retain profits let grow taxfree inside firm paid dividends would taxed immediately firm individual level taxes would complicated complexity type like briar patch brer rabbit google kids selfrespecting populist would tax labor higher rate capital quite contrary currently different types capital income enjoy variety preferential treatments tax code anyone honestly seeking simplify taxes would sweep away loopholes corporate income tax fire including unpopulist obama administration contrary uninformed commentary corporate rate 35 percent highest world one compares actual taxes paid corporate income whats called average effective rate popular discussions attention tends gloss isnt tax base focus tax rates course something isnt tax base tax rate applying zero naturally populist would favor graduated marginal rates recent research thomas piketty emanuel saez stefanie stantcheva indicates top marginal rate income could higher 80 percent without harming economy current rate individual income tax 396 one includes obamacare tax payroll tax 1950s period greatest economic growth us history top income tax rate 91 percent much higher rate capital gains problematic capital gains depend largely stock market transactions volatile sensitive tax rates previous rates tax capital gains high 20s low 30s appear damage us economy since good rationale dynastic accumulation wealth populist would also tax inheritances gifts income would moderate ability rich reward feckless offspring winning genetic olympics finally enlightened populist would acknowledge historic success political strength social insurance especially social security medicare unemployment insurance uphold contributory feature root success payroll tax would left untouched would still possible alleviate payroll tax burden lowwage workers expansion refundable credits individual income tax upshot great deal new revenue could available government relieving rich least extraordinary increases share national income according republican story told days tax simplification achieved elimination deductions benevolence rs zeroed deductions tend mostly benefit residents blue states namely states income property taxes democratic states slightly simpler taxes mean higher taxes hard see republican member congress states income property taxes could survive supporting change although deductions tend benefit higher incomes impact tax change equality depends whole package differs existing system always compared arent enough details trumps cheat sheet gauge fairness eliminating particular deduction administration promising retain deductions charity mortgage interest noted elimination deductions combined higher standard deduction diminishes destroys value others many longer pay itemize deductions however necessarily simplify taxes since order know whether pays itemize taxpayer keep records calculations charitable organizations nonprofits live taxdeductible donations cause concern well since fewer opportunities itemize means donations become expensive many donors summarize populist tax program would seek include capital income tax base tax less labor context would worth considering scale back deductions havent covered everything options financial transactions tax carbon merit discussion question much much revenue government collect since populists want maximize employment want higher deficits present revenue cut best way generate higher deficit spending populist standpoint spending also effective way raise employment wages provide valuable public services process spending higher multiplier effect total gdp improved public services facilities urgently needed dual benefit needless say trump budget moving opposite direction extent hes presented could called budget high rates well actually thats wrong question right starting point high spending depending state national employment much spending offset tax revenue given parameters discussed base broad rates graduated rising income real tax debate gets going exaggerated focus deficit irrespective state economy predictable democrats running republicans notion fiscal irresponsibility since mid80s losing idea noted still room employment growth deficit reduction seized upon economic priority let alone political one trumps advocates denying deficit impact trump tax cut grounds ye olde supplyside elixir tax cut pay republican tax experts greg mankiw douglas holtzeakin already shot research showing almost tax cut would recoup third revenue loss runs scant nonexistent estimates well south 33 percent revenue rebound contrary commentators claimed socalled dynamic scoringfactoring economic effects tax cut revenue growthis going save trumps tax cuts criticism congressional budget office cbo joint committee taxation jct responsible estimating revenue impacts tax changes cbo indulgent paul ryans healthcare legislation likely roll tax cuts dynamic scoring voodoo could end making tax cut look worse better big laugh comes rep paul ryans attempts claim trump tax sheet relationship ryans socalled border adjustment tax thats flopping house representatives zero overlap proposals popular debates taxes tend focus rates related taxable income levels important ive tried show goes tax basehow taxable income defined malign trend taxation narrowing tax base wages limiting tax breaks relatively high salaries letting recipients capital income escape tax words paraphrase one trumps colleagues new york real estate business way back infamous leona helmsley little people pay taxes newest iteration trump administrations tax plan would make statement truer ever | 987 |
<p />
<p>The enraged liberal reaction to the Brexit vote is in full flood. The anger is pathological – and helps to shed light on why a majority of Britons voted for leaving the European Union, just as earlier a majority of Labour party members voted for Jeremy Corbyn as leader.</p>
<p>A few years ago the American writer Chris Hedges wrote a book he titled the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1568586795/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Death of the Liberal Class.</a> His argument was not so much that liberals had disappeared, but that they had become so coopted by the right wing and its goals – from the subversion of progressive economic and social ideals by neoliberalism, to the enthusiastic embrace of neoconservative doctrine in prosecuting aggressive and expansionist wars overseas in the guise of “humanitarian intervention” – that liberalism had been hollowed out of all substance.</p>
<p>Liberal pundits sensitively agonise over, but invariably end up backing, policies designed to benefit the bankers and arms manufacturers, and ones that wreak havoc domestically and abroad. They are the “useful idiots” of modern western societies.</p>
<p>The liberal British media is current awash with articles by pundits on the Brexit vote I could select to illustrate my point, but&#160; <a href="" type="internal">this one</a>&#160;by Guardian columnist Zoe Williams, I think, isolates this liberal pathology in all its sordid glory.</p>
<p>Here is a revealing section, written by a mind so befuddled by decades of neoliberal orthodoxy that it has lost all sense of the values it claims to espouse:</p>
<p>“There is a reason why, when Marine le Pen and Donald Trump congratulated us on our decision, it was like being punched in the face – because they are racists, authoritarian, small-minded and backward-looking. They embody the energy of hatred. The principles that underpin internationalism – cooperation, solidarity, unity, empathy, openness – these are all just elements of love.”</p>
<p>A love-filled EU?</p>
<p>One wonders where in the corridors of the EU bureaucracy Williams identifies that “love” she so admires. Did she see it when the Greeks were being crushed into submission after they rebelled against austerity policies that were themselves a legacy of European economic policies that had required Greece to sell off the last of its family silver?</p>
<p>Is she enamoured of this internationalism when the World Bank and IMF go into Africa and force developing nations into debt-slavery, typically after a dictator has trashed the country decades after being installed and propped up with arms and military advisers from the US and European nations?</p>
<p>What about the love-filled internationalism of NATO, which has relied on the EU to help spread its military tentacles across Europe close to the throat of the Russian bear? Is that the kind of cooperation, solidarity and unity she was thinking of?</p>
<p>Williams then does what a lot of British liberals are doing at the moment. She subtly calls for subversion of the democratic will:</p>
<p>“The anger of the progressive remain side, however, has somewhere to go: always suckers for optimism, we now have the impetus to put aside ambiguity in the service of clarity, put aside differences in the service of creativity. Out of embarrassment or ironic detachment, we’ve backed away from this fight for too long.”</p>
<p>That includes seeking the ousting of Jeremy Corbyn, of course. “Progressive” Remainers, it seems, have had enough of him. His crime is that he hails from “leftwing aristocracy” – his parents were lefties too, apparently, and even had such strong internationalist principles that they first met in a committee on the Spanish civil war.</p>
<p>But Corbyn’s greater crime, according to Williams, is that “he is not in favour of the EU”. It would be too much trouble for her to try and untangle the knotty problem of how a supreme internationalist like Corbyn, or Tony Benn before him, could be so against the love-filled EU. So she doesn’t bother.</p>
<p>Reversing the democratic will</p>
<p>We will never know from Williams how a leader who supports oppressed and under-privileged people around the world is cut from the same cloth as racists like Le Pen and Trump. That would require the kind of “agile thinking” she accuses Corbyn of being incapable of. It might hint that there is a leftwing case quite separate from the racist one – even if Corbyn was not allowed by his party to advocate it – for abandoning the EU. (You can read my arguments for Brexit&#160; <a href="" type="internal">here</a>&#160;and&#160; <a href="" type="internal">here</a>.)</p>
<p>But no, Williams assures us, Labour needs someone with much more recent leftwing heritage, someone who can tailor his or her sails to the prevailing winds of orthodoxy. And what’s even better, there is a Labour party stuffed full of Blairites to choose from. After all, their international credentials have been proven repeatedly, including in the killing fields of Iraq and Libya.</p>
<p>And here, wrapped into a single paragraph, is a golden nugget of liberal pathology from Williams. Her furious liberal plea is to rip up the foundations of democracy: get rid of the democratically elected Corbyn and find a way, any way, to block the wrong referendum outcome. No love, solidarity, unity or empathy for those who betrayed her and her class.</p>
<p>“There hasn’t been a more fertile time for a Labour leader since the 1990s. The case for a snap general election, already strong, will only intensify over the coming weeks. As the sheer mendacity of the leave argument becomes clear – it never intended to curb immigration, there will be no extra money for the NHS, there was no plan for making up EU spending in deprived areas – there will be a powerful argument for framing the general election as a rematch. Not another referendum, but a brake on article 50 and the next move determined by the new government. If you still want to leave the EU, vote Conservative. If you’ve realised or knew already what an act of vandalism that was, vote Labour.”</p>
<p>A coup in the making</p>
<p>Williams and the rest of the media, of course, are not making these arguments in a vacuum. Much of the Labour shadow cabinet has just resigned and the rest of the parliamentary party are trying to defy the overwhelming democratic will of their membership and oust Corbyn. His crime is not that he supported Brexit (he didn’t dare, given the inevitable reaction of his MPs) but that he is not a true believer in the current neoliberal order, which very much includes the EU.</p>
<p>Here is what one of the organisers (probably a shadow cabinet minister) of this coup-in-the-making&#160; <a href="" type="internal">says</a>:</p>
<p>“The plan is to make Corbyn’s job as leader extremely difficult in the hope of pushing him to resign, with most MPs refusing to serve as shadow ministers, show up on the frontbench in the House of Commons, support him at PMQs or formulate policy under his leadership.”</p>
<p>This was presumably said with a straight face, as though Corbyn has not been undermined by these same Blairite MPs since day one of his leadership. This is not a new campaign – it has simply been forced to go more public by the Brexit vote.</p>
<p>Labour MPs do not just want to oust a leader with massive support among party members. They have hamstrung him from the outset so that he could not lead the political revolution members elected him to begin. And now he is being made to pay the price because he privately backs a position that, as the referendum has just shown, has majority support.</p>
<p>The neoliberal prison</p>
<p>The Brexit vote is a huge challenge to the left to face facts. We want to believe we are free but the truth is that we have long been in a prison called neoliberalism. The Conservative and Labour parties are tied umbilically to this neoliberal order. The EU is one key institution in a transnational neoliberal club. Our economy is structured to enforce neoliberalism whoever ostensibly runs the country.</p>
<p>That is why the debate about Brexit was never about values or principles – it was about money. It still is. The Remainers are talking only about the threat to their pensions. The Brexiters are talking only about the role of immigrants in driving down wages. And there is good reason: because the EU is part of the walls of the economic prison that has been constructed all around us. Our lives are now only about money, as the gargantuan bail-outs of the too-big-to-fail banks should have shown us.</p>
<p>There is a key difference between the two sides. Most Remainers want to pretend that the prison does not exist because they still get privileges to visit the living areas. The Brexiters cannot forget it exists because they are never allowed to leave their small cells.</p>
<p>The left cannot call itself a left and keep whingeing about its lost privileges while denouncing those trapped inside their cells as “racists”. Change requires that we first recognise our situation – and then have the will to struggle for something better.</p> | true | 4 | enraged liberal reaction brexit vote full flood anger pathological helps shed light majority britons voted leaving european union earlier majority labour party members voted jeremy corbyn leader years ago american writer chris hedges wrote book titled death liberal class argument much liberals disappeared become coopted right wing goals subversion progressive economic social ideals neoliberalism enthusiastic embrace neoconservative doctrine prosecuting aggressive expansionist wars overseas guise humanitarian intervention liberalism hollowed substance liberal pundits sensitively agonise invariably end backing policies designed benefit bankers arms manufacturers ones wreak havoc domestically abroad useful idiots modern western societies liberal british media current awash articles pundits brexit vote could select illustrate point but160 one160by guardian columnist zoe williams think isolates liberal pathology sordid glory revealing section written mind befuddled decades neoliberal orthodoxy lost sense values claims espouse reason marine le pen donald trump congratulated us decision like punched face racists authoritarian smallminded backwardlooking embody energy hatred principles underpin internationalism cooperation solidarity unity empathy openness elements love lovefilled eu one wonders corridors eu bureaucracy williams identifies love admires see greeks crushed submission rebelled austerity policies legacy european economic policies required greece sell last family silver enamoured internationalism world bank imf go africa force developing nations debtslavery typically dictator trashed country decades installed propped arms military advisers us european nations lovefilled internationalism nato relied eu help spread military tentacles across europe close throat russian bear kind cooperation solidarity unity thinking williams lot british liberals moment subtly calls subversion democratic anger progressive remain side however somewhere go always suckers optimism impetus put aside ambiguity service clarity put aside differences service creativity embarrassment ironic detachment weve backed away fight long includes seeking ousting jeremy corbyn course progressive remainers seems enough crime hails leftwing aristocracy parents lefties apparently even strong internationalist principles first met committee spanish civil war corbyns greater crime according williams favour eu would much trouble try untangle knotty problem supreme internationalist like corbyn tony benn could lovefilled eu doesnt bother reversing democratic never know williams leader supports oppressed underprivileged people around world cut cloth racists like le pen trump would require kind agile thinking accuses corbyn incapable might hint leftwing case quite separate racist one even corbyn allowed party advocate abandoning eu read arguments brexit160 here160and160 williams assures us labour needs someone much recent leftwing heritage someone tailor sails prevailing winds orthodoxy whats even better labour party stuffed full blairites choose international credentials proven repeatedly including killing fields iraq libya wrapped single paragraph golden nugget liberal pathology williams furious liberal plea rip foundations democracy get rid democratically elected corbyn find way way block wrong referendum outcome love solidarity unity empathy betrayed class hasnt fertile time labour leader since 1990s case snap general election already strong intensify coming weeks sheer mendacity leave argument becomes clear never intended curb immigration extra money nhs plan making eu spending deprived areas powerful argument framing general election rematch another referendum brake article 50 next move determined new government still want leave eu vote conservative youve realised knew already act vandalism vote labour coup making williams rest media course making arguments vacuum much labour shadow cabinet resigned rest parliamentary party trying defy overwhelming democratic membership oust corbyn crime supported brexit didnt dare given inevitable reaction mps true believer current neoliberal order much includes eu one organisers probably shadow cabinet minister coupinthemaking160 says plan make corbyns job leader extremely difficult hope pushing resign mps refusing serve shadow ministers show frontbench house commons support pmqs formulate policy leadership presumably said straight face though corbyn undermined blairite mps since day one leadership new campaign simply forced go public brexit vote labour mps want oust leader massive support among party members hamstrung outset could lead political revolution members elected begin made pay price privately backs position referendum shown majority support neoliberal prison brexit vote huge challenge left face facts want believe free truth long prison called neoliberalism conservative labour parties tied umbilically neoliberal order eu one key institution transnational neoliberal club economy structured enforce neoliberalism whoever ostensibly runs country debate brexit never values principles money still remainers talking threat pensions brexiters talking role immigrants driving wages good reason eu part walls economic prison constructed around us lives money gargantuan bailouts toobigtofail banks shown us key difference two sides remainers want pretend prison exist still get privileges visit living areas brexiters forget exists never allowed leave small cells left call left keep whingeing lost privileges denouncing trapped inside cells racists change requires first recognise situation struggle something better | 738 |
<p>The green Driscoll’s label on the organic berries that I buy each week are a comforting symbol of a family-owned company that got its start in California. Sometimes the berries are marked “Product of USA,” but more often than not, they are labeled as originating in Mexico. That is because Reiter Affiliated Cos., which sells berries through its affiliate BerryMex under the Driscoll’s label, grows much of its produce in Mexico. On its <a href="http://www.berry.net/company/" type="external">website</a> Reiter claims to be “the largest fresh, multi-berry producer in the world and the leading supplier of fresh strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries in all of North America.” Now, the farmworkers picking many of those berries are on strike, demanding a change to the brutally impoverished conditions under which they live.</p>
<p>The strike, taking place in San Quintín, in the Mexican state of Baja California, came just in time for <a href="http://saf-unite.org/farmworkerawareness" type="external">Farmworker Awareness Week</a>. As many as 50,000 mostly indigenous workers have stopped harvesting produce for more than a week in protest of labor law violations. They have carried out bold actions, including blocking traffic on a major highway. About 200 workers were reportedly arrested over such actions and have complained of mistreatment at the hands of police. <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexicos-baja-farmworkers-strike-conditions-29873956" type="external">What they want</a> is for their basic needs to be met, such as obtaining health care, getting overtime pay and vacation days, and being paid wages higher than the dismal $8 a day that most of them earn.</p>
<p><a href="http://dbacon.igc.org" type="external">David Bacon</a>, a longtime labor journalist and photographer and author of <a href="http://www.beacon.org/The-Right-to-Stay-Home-P1055.aspx" type="external">“The Right to Stay Home: How US Policy Drives Mexican Migration</a>,” has visited the fields of San Quintín. He told me in an <a href="http://uprisingradio.org/home/2015/03/24/mexicos-farmworkers-picking-produce-for-us-go-on-strike-for-labor-rights/" type="external">interview</a> on <a href="http://www.uprisingwithsonali.com" type="external">“Uprising”</a> that “all of the ranches … are producing for the U.S. market, they don’t produce for the Mexican market at all. In fact,” he added, “they were started to supply the U.S. market especially with tomatoes and strawberries at a time when the only place in the United States that was growing and harvesting them was Florida.”</p>
<p>Years ago the sparsely populated San Quintín area was converted into an industrial agricultural center by growers who imported indigenous workers from southern states such as Oaxaca. Bacon compared the dozen or so ranches in the area to the maquiladoras, or factories, that sprang up along the Mexican side of the U.S. border. He described the conditions of the labor camps where workers live as “really awful and terrible.”</p>
<p />
<p>Starting in the 1970s many of Baja California’s workers began to cross the U.S. border through California into the Central Valley, and even to states like Washington. “These are all connected communities,” maintained Bacon, which is why the San Quintín strike is big news among farmworker communities in the U.S. such as Washington’s Skagit County.</p>
<p>Sadly, it is not very big news elsewhere in the U.S. When the strike began last week, the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-fg-baja-farmworkers-20150318-story.html" type="external">Los Angeles Times</a> was the only English-language media outlet in the country to initially cover it. (Since then, a week later, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/mexicos-baja-farmworkers-strike-conditions-29873956" type="external">The Associated Press</a> and others have begun to report on the strike.) L.A. Times reporter Richard Marosi deserves great credit for being one of the few mainstream reporters focusing on this under-covered issue. His December 2014 multipart exposé <a href="http://graphics.latimes.com/product-of-mexico-camps/" type="external">“Product of Mexico</a>,” was the result of an in-depth investigation of the treatment of Mexican farmworkers at the hands of growers who distribute to U.S. markets. Marosi described “rat-infested camps,” some without functioning toilets. Workers routinely have their wages illegally withheld, and many face debt after being gouged by the overpricing of necessities sold at company stores. Pay is so low that it amounts to less than one-tenth of what <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/10/california-farm-workers-low-wages_n_923941.html?" type="external">U.S.-based farmworkers earn</a>.</p>
<p>“The contrast between the treatment of produce and of people is stark,” wrote Marosi. The lack of U.S. media attention is partly why the mistreatment of the workers who pick our produce continues, says Bacon, because mainstream media tend to have a blind spot when it comes to Mexico, as well as to the struggles of working-class people overall. “We eat the fruits and the vegetables that these workers are producing,” explained Bacon, “[but] the workers themselves are invisible.”</p>
<p>But San Quintín’s farmworkers are refusing to remain invisible any longer. Using their collective leverage, they have stopped picking produce — at the peak of the harvest season — until they can negotiate better conditions and wages for themselves. Already there are some shortages in the U.S. market being <a href="http://www.freshplaza.com/article/137115/Baja-farmworkers-strike-crimping-US-supplies" type="external">reported</a>. Time is of the essence for negotiations to be completed as strawberries, cucumbers and tomatoes start rotting unpicked in the fields.</p>
<p>After the mistreatment of San Quintin’s workers came to international light last December, growers pledged to fix the problems and created the <a href="http://www.latimes.com/world/mexico-americas/la-me-farm-labor-20141220-story.html" type="external">International Fresh Produce Social Responsibility Alliance</a>. But their promises for better housing, decent wages and health care have not yet materialized.</p>
<p>Bacon related that the workers “are negotiating with the state government,” rather than the growers directly, “because many of the conditions that they are complaining about are actual violations of Mexican law.” They want the government simply to enforce existing laws and force growers such as BerryMex, <a href="http://www.delcabo.com" type="external">Del Cabo</a>, <a href="http://www.reneproduce.com" type="external">Rene Produce</a> and others to improve working conditions. They also want charges against those protesters who were arrested to be dropped. Marosi, who is in Baja California reporting on the strike, <a href="http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/mar/19/baja-california-farmworkers-continue-strike/" type="external">told KPBS</a>, “They’re saying if there’s no progress, then they’re going to continue striking, and no one’s ruling out blocking the highways again.”</p>
<p>It is telling that the federal government in Mexico has completely ignored the strike. President Enrique Peña Nieto, according to Bacon, has “substantially weakened Mexican labor laws” through his major labor reforms after the last election. The reforms have helped employers hire temporary workers at lower wages and have been used as a “magnet to attract investment.”</p>
<p>Here in the U.S., the situation is not much better. Bacon clarified that “the workers in Baja California are part of a larger indigenous farmworker community that also exists in California.” The treatment of U.S.-based workers is only <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/10/california-farm-workers-low-wages_n_923941.html?" type="external">marginally better</a>.</p>
<p>Poor treatment of the workers who pick our produce is no accident. It is a predictable outcome of a system designed to have a bottleneck controlled by fewer and fewer corporations, in which production is moved to the cheapest and most convenient locations and then exported where needed. Food is no longer a necessity — it is a commodity. And farmworkers, whether in Mexico, the U.S. or elsewhere, are exploited like any other workforce producing high-tech gadgets, mining precious metals or sewing designer clothing.</p>
<p>Fortunately, it has now become trendy to “ <a href="http://knowwhereyourfoodcomesfrom.com" type="external">know where your food comes from</a>.” Ultimately it is the U.S. public eating the produce that Mexico’s striking farmworkers pick. We have to acknowledge that much of our food is harvested by the hands of people struggling just to survive. Bacon summed it up, saying, “we have to stop treating these workers as though they are invisible, as though their lives don’t count.”</p> | true | 4 | green driscolls label organic berries buy week comforting symbol familyowned company got start california sometimes berries marked product usa often labeled originating mexico reiter affiliated cos sells berries affiliate berrymex driscolls label grows much produce mexico website reiter claims largest fresh multiberry producer world leading supplier fresh strawberries raspberries blueberries blackberries north america farmworkers picking many berries strike demanding change brutally impoverished conditions live strike taking place san quintín mexican state baja california came time farmworker awareness week many 50000 mostly indigenous workers stopped harvesting produce week protest labor law violations carried bold actions including blocking traffic major highway 200 workers reportedly arrested actions complained mistreatment hands police want basic needs met obtaining health care getting overtime pay vacation days paid wages higher dismal 8 day earn david bacon longtime labor journalist photographer author right stay home us policy drives mexican migration visited fields san quintín told interview uprising ranches producing us market dont produce mexican market fact added started supply us market especially tomatoes strawberries time place united states growing harvesting florida years ago sparsely populated san quintín area converted industrial agricultural center growers imported indigenous workers southern states oaxaca bacon compared dozen ranches area maquiladoras factories sprang along mexican side us border described conditions labor camps workers live really awful terrible starting 1970s many baja californias workers began cross us border california central valley even states like washington connected communities maintained bacon san quintín strike big news among farmworker communities us washingtons skagit county sadly big news elsewhere us strike began last week los angeles times englishlanguage media outlet country initially cover since week later associated press others begun report strike la times reporter richard marosi deserves great credit one mainstream reporters focusing undercovered issue december 2014 multipart exposé product mexico result indepth investigation treatment mexican farmworkers hands growers distribute us markets marosi described ratinfested camps without functioning toilets workers routinely wages illegally withheld many face debt gouged overpricing necessities sold company stores pay low amounts less onetenth usbased farmworkers earn contrast treatment produce people stark wrote marosi lack us media attention partly mistreatment workers pick produce continues says bacon mainstream media tend blind spot comes mexico well struggles workingclass people overall eat fruits vegetables workers producing explained bacon workers invisible san quintíns farmworkers refusing remain invisible longer using collective leverage stopped picking produce peak harvest season negotiate better conditions wages already shortages us market reported time essence negotiations completed strawberries cucumbers tomatoes start rotting unpicked fields mistreatment san quintins workers came international light last december growers pledged fix problems created international fresh produce social responsibility alliance promises better housing decent wages health care yet materialized bacon related workers negotiating state government rather growers directly many conditions complaining actual violations mexican law want government simply enforce existing laws force growers berrymex del cabo rene produce others improve working conditions also want charges protesters arrested dropped marosi baja california reporting strike told kpbs theyre saying theres progress theyre going continue striking ones ruling blocking highways telling federal government mexico completely ignored strike president enrique peña nieto according bacon substantially weakened mexican labor laws major labor reforms last election reforms helped employers hire temporary workers lower wages used magnet attract investment us situation much better bacon clarified workers baja california part larger indigenous farmworker community also exists california treatment usbased workers marginally better poor treatment workers pick produce accident predictable outcome system designed bottleneck controlled fewer fewer corporations production moved cheapest convenient locations exported needed food longer necessity commodity farmworkers whether mexico us elsewhere exploited like workforce producing hightech gadgets mining precious metals sewing designer clothing fortunately become trendy know food comes ultimately us public eating produce mexicos striking farmworkers pick acknowledge much food harvested hands people struggling survive bacon summed saying stop treating workers though invisible though lives dont count | 631 |
<p>I think this is the third post I’ve started with some version of this incredulity. But I still cannot believe the Charleston Massacre has triggered quite this total a collapse of support, not just for flying the Confederate battle flag in places of honor at Southern state capitols, but for public display and honor for the Confederacy and the War of the Rebellion in almost any form. Whatever the precise cause or convergence of under-noticed trends, there now seems like no doubt that we are witnessing a watershed in the country’s long, wretched and denial-ridden wrestling with the public memory of the Civil War.</p>
<p />
<p>As a distinct but obviously related point, purely as a matter of incentives, can we get the message out to nutball racists and similar monsters that no, your horrific race massacre will not trigger a race war. We hear this line again and again and I know at some level it’s more a statement than an actual prediction. But no, your mass murder will not trigger a race war. We now sadly have enough examples to have statistically significant data to confirm that your race massacre will not trigger your race war. In fact, I think that Dylann Roof’s attack will likely be remembered, for better or worse, as much for this watershed as for the deaths of the innocents he killed.</p>
<p>But back to our main story.</p>
<p>Just today, Alabama Gov. <a href="" type="internal">Robert Bentley</a> (R) quietly ordered the removal of the Confederate flag from the state capitol. Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker (R), the successor to Trent Lott, whose public career was upended by Confederate nostalgia in 2002, <a href="" type="internal">said his state should ditch its current flag</a> (which incorporates the Confederate battle flag) and create an entirely new state flag.</p>
<p>The one that really jumped out at me though was Mitch McConnell <a href="" type="internal">coming out to say that Kentucky should remove</a> the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis from the state capitol.</p>
<p>Statue of Jefferson Davis overlooks statue of President Abraham Lincoln in Kentucky Capitol Rotunda. Standing in rock and metal for eternity, the shadows of both men are likely saying, WTF?</p>
<p>Let’s review a few things about this. Kentucky was not even part of the Confederacy, though it was a slave state and the Confederacy laid claim to parts of it. Davis is also one of the less objectionable members of the Confederate pantheon. He’s actually just a lackluster figure altogether. One of the reasons for the growth of the cult of Robert E. Lee was that Davis so obviously paled in comparison to Abraham Lincoln that another exemplar of the Southern cause had to be found. Someone like Nathan Bedford Forrest is both a fascinating historical figure and a true monster. So honoring him is a very different thing from honoring Davis.</p>
<p>Now, before getting further, I’m not shedding any tears for Davis disappearing from the pantheon of public honor in Kentucky or anywhere else. Far, far from it. Throughout the almost twenty years I’ve been a working journalist and writer, the valorization of the Confederacy and the Antebellum South has been a recurring focus of my work. And not just because the Confederacy is entirely bound up with white supremacy, which would be more than enough, but because the Confederacy was treason. You’ll note that yesterday I referred to the “pretended Confederate States of America.” This is an intentional and specific usage, one that was sometimes employed by the Union during the war and after, more often in the form of the “so-called Confederate States of America.” The point is simple. Secession is illegal and unconstitutional. The Confederate states never legally left the Union, though the CSA exercised de facto control over much of the South for four years. No foreign governments ever recognized the CSA either.</p>
<p>As I <a href="" type="internal">wrote two years ago</a>, the country was stitched back together with a “tacit compromise [which] was the decision to mollify Southern defeat by elevating Southern ‘valor’ above that of the North. It’s no surprise this was done in the South. But in the 1880s and 1890s this was increasingly done in the North as well. A tacit bargain: you lost, we won, and we’re all living in the USA. But we’ll let you win the battle of memory and valor and nostalgia. Both a cause and effect of this national reconciliation was the slackening Northern commitment to protecting the former slaves, now citizens in the South, and their eventual abandonment.” Tony Horwitz <a href="" type="internal">explores similar themes far better than I could</a> in this piece he wrote today, which I can’t tell you how proud we were to publish.</p>
<p>As we take stock of the cost the country paid – and especially the freedpeople and their descendants paid – for this act of historical amnesia, we should also remain cognizant of why it was done and what was gained. America could have become a country debilitated by endemic sectional violence and instability. But on balance it was not. Yet the simple fact is that today, men who were unambiguously and proudly guilty of treason hold a place of public honor throughout a large swath of the country. They did so explicitly for the preservation of slavery and their remembrance is extricably tied to the defense of white supremacy after the war.</p>
<p>So all of this is salutary but where does it stop exactly?</p>
<p>Let me note just two examples, in addition to the countless streets, parks, lakes, buildings, and schools that commemorate the Southern rebellion.</p>
<p>The United States Army <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/opinion/sunday/misplaced-honor.html?_r=1&amp;" type="external">maintains at least ten military bases</a> – including some of the largest – named in honor of Confederate generals. There is a unique irony in the United States Army, which lost hundreds of thousand of soldiers defeating the Confederacy, naming its biggest military compounds for generals who helped with the killing. I realize that this is a very big can of worms to open. But if it is inappropriate to have a statue of Jefferson Davis in the Kentucky capitol building can it really be appropriate for our largest Army bases to be named after Confederate generals? As of now, the Pentagon says there is “ <a href="http://thehill.com/policy/defense/245977-pentagon-no-discussions-to-rename-bases-named-after-confederate-officers#.VYrhZTQ5eEo.twitter" type="external">no discussion</a>” of renaming those bases.</p>
<p>The Robert E. Lee Monument on Richmond’s Monument Avenue</p>
<p>Here’s another: Monument Avenue in Richmond. A centerpiece of Richmond, Virginia is the architecturally beautiful, if rather stately and a bit archaic, Monument Avenue, a central boulevard with some of the city’s priciest real estate. It’s lined with monumental statutes of the great worthies of the Confederacy. The main statues are of Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and Matthew Fontaine Maury. In a bizarre if well-intentioned addition, in 1996 the city added a statue of the late tennis great, Arthur Ashe, creating a sort of Frankenstein’s monster of neo-Confederate nostalgia and black achievement. But again, if Jefferson Davis doesn’t belong anywhere in the Kentucky state capitol, does he really belong in a central place of honor in the Virginia capital? Jeb Stuart? Robert E. Lee?</p>
<p>Where does it end?</p>
<p>Again, this isn’t doleful coming from me. None of it should have existed in the first place in my mind. But the ghost of the Confederacy and the almost countless public honors inscribed on the land are close to inoperable. They run so deep. They are so numerous and pervasive.</p>
<p>Do we follow the righteous logic of recent days to its logical conclusion?</p> | true | 4 | think third post ive started version incredulity still believe charleston massacre triggered quite total collapse support flying confederate battle flag places honor southern state capitols public display honor confederacy war rebellion almost form whatever precise cause convergence undernoticed trends seems like doubt witnessing watershed countrys long wretched denialridden wrestling public memory civil war distinct obviously related point purely matter incentives get message nutball racists similar monsters horrific race massacre trigger race war hear line know level statement actual prediction mass murder trigger race war sadly enough examples statistically significant data confirm race massacre trigger race war fact think dylann roofs attack likely remembered better worse much watershed deaths innocents killed back main story today alabama gov robert bentley r quietly ordered removal confederate flag state capitol mississippi sen roger wicker r successor trent lott whose public career upended confederate nostalgia 2002 said state ditch current flag incorporates confederate battle flag create entirely new state flag one really jumped though mitch mcconnell coming say kentucky remove statue confederate president jefferson davis state capitol statue jefferson davis overlooks statue president abraham lincoln kentucky capitol rotunda standing rock metal eternity shadows men likely saying wtf lets review things kentucky even part confederacy though slave state confederacy laid claim parts davis also one less objectionable members confederate pantheon hes actually lackluster figure altogether one reasons growth cult robert e lee davis obviously paled comparison abraham lincoln another exemplar southern cause found someone like nathan bedford forrest fascinating historical figure true monster honoring different thing honoring davis getting im shedding tears davis disappearing pantheon public honor kentucky anywhere else far far throughout almost twenty years ive working journalist writer valorization confederacy antebellum south recurring focus work confederacy entirely bound white supremacy would enough confederacy treason youll note yesterday referred pretended confederate states america intentional specific usage one sometimes employed union war often form socalled confederate states america point simple secession illegal unconstitutional confederate states never legally left union though csa exercised de facto control much south four years foreign governments ever recognized csa either wrote two years ago country stitched back together tacit compromise decision mollify southern defeat elevating southern valor north surprise done south 1880s 1890s increasingly done north well tacit bargain lost living usa well let win battle memory valor nostalgia cause effect national reconciliation slackening northern commitment protecting former slaves citizens south eventual abandonment tony horwitz explores similar themes far better could piece wrote today cant tell proud publish take stock cost country paid especially freedpeople descendants paid act historical amnesia also remain cognizant done gained america could become country debilitated endemic sectional violence instability balance yet simple fact today men unambiguously proudly guilty treason hold place public honor throughout large swath country explicitly preservation slavery remembrance extricably tied defense white supremacy war salutary stop exactly let note two examples addition countless streets parks lakes buildings schools commemorate southern rebellion united states army maintains least ten military bases including largest named honor confederate generals unique irony united states army lost hundreds thousand soldiers defeating confederacy naming biggest military compounds generals helped killing realize big worms open inappropriate statue jefferson davis kentucky capitol building really appropriate largest army bases named confederate generals pentagon says discussion renaming bases robert e lee monument richmonds monument avenue heres another monument avenue richmond centerpiece richmond virginia architecturally beautiful rather stately bit archaic monument avenue central boulevard citys priciest real estate lined monumental statutes great worthies confederacy main statues robert e lee jeb stuart jefferson davis stonewall jackson matthew fontaine maury bizarre wellintentioned addition 1996 city added statue late tennis great arthur ashe creating sort frankensteins monster neoconfederate nostalgia black achievement jefferson davis doesnt belong anywhere kentucky state capitol really belong central place honor virginia capital jeb stuart robert e lee end isnt doleful coming none existed first place mind ghost confederacy almost countless public honors inscribed land close inoperable run deep numerous pervasive follow righteous logic recent days logical conclusion | 653 |
<p>Some genetically engineered chickens are coming home to roost for Major League Baseball. Grand Jury testimony from the Bay Area Lab Company (BALCO) investigation has been leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle, and the clucking has begun. We now know that former MVP and Yankee first baseman Jason Giambi admitted under oath to using all kinds of steroids. Reigning National League MVP Barry Bonds, in further transcripts, conceded to administering a “flackseed oil cream” that he found out was a steroid after the fact.</p>
<p>Giambi in particular took grand jurors down a harrowing rabbit hole of steroid use during his 2001-2003 seasons. He testified to injecting human growth hormones in his stomach and testosterone into his buttocks. Giambi in addition rubbed an undetectable steroid knows as “the cream” on his body and placed drops of another, called “the clear,” under his tongue. He also admitted ingesting a Female Fertility Drug called Clomid, which some medical experts say can exacerbate a pituitary tumor. Giambi suffers from such a tumor. His revelations occur in the wake of the drug related death of 1997 National League MVP Ken Caminiti who admitted to steroid use and a horror show of health problems in the months before he died.</p>
<p>Now baseball is suffering yet another PR debacle, as their biggest stars start to resemble self-contained chemistry sets. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig scurried to point fingers at the players and their union as the root cause of steroid abuse because they have the temerity to fight the strict unilateral testing Bud drools for. Selig said Thursday in Washington, D.C., “We’re going to leave no stone unturned until we have [a very tough program] in place by spring training 2005.” But as Selig attempts to use the scandal to turn the tables on the union he abhors, Big Bud and all MLB owners need to take a long, hard look in the mirror.</p>
<p>Steroids and their link to increased power numbers appear to be a fact of life in baseball’s recent history. Only 17 times has a player hit 56 or more home runs. Eleven of those seasons came between 1997 and 2001, including all six 63-plus campaigns. Adrian Beltre, in this first year of a marginal steroid testing program, led the NL in home runs with 48. That number would not have made the top five in 2001 when Bonds set the all time mark with 73 dingers. The moon-shots were epic, and Major League Baseball loved every minute of it. It was Major League Baseball that hyped the hypo using sluggers of the mid-late 90s. It was Major League Baseball that rode the 1998 home run battle between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa – commonly called “the home run race that saved the game” – to a returned popularity not seen since before the lockout/strike of 1994. It was Major League Baseball that approved Nike’s “Chicks Dig the Long Ball” ad campaign. It was Major League Baseball that spent the ’90s building ballparks the size of Dick Cheney’s hot tub to encourage high scoring and increased home run totals. It was Major League Baseball that advertised its Home Run Derby and All Star Game two years ago using cartoons of players with freakishly huge muscles, slamming the ball out of the park. And it was Major League Baseball that rewarded the big bashers with eye-popping contracts.</p>
<p>Fraying Bonds</p>
<p>Of course the Moby Dick of the BALCO investigation is Barry Bonds. The cloud of steroid use has followed Bonds since, at age 37, he hit those 73 homers and reeled off four consecutive MVP seasons. He is at the top of his game and threatening the hallowed home run marks of baseball’s great legend Babe Ruth, and Henry Aaron. This column, to much derision, has defended Bonds and made the case for his innocence. I stand by my most basic assertion that muscles cannot be equated with the ability to hit a ball (although they can make a great hitter hit for more power) or a potential all-star would be in every Gold’s Gym across the country. Bonds is more than a basher. He is a lifetime .300 hitter with more than 500 stolen bases. He is not a lumberjack taking hacks at the plate. I also still believe that if Bonds was a knowing habitual user, every bit of anecdotal evidence would have had his body breaking down, not gaining in strength.</p>
<p>Therefore until I hear otherwise, I will stand with the 15% of people in a recent National Poll who believe Bonds’ story that he did it once and without knowledge. As baseball columnist Tom Boswell put it, “Granted, the presumption of Bonds’s innocence now hangs by a thread. But Bonds is such an odd, extreme, gifted and alienated character that he might do almost anything. Or not do anything. Just out of perversity.” That is the most charitable commentary on Bonds I could find. More typically, pundits are brandishing torches and pitchforks, as if he was handing out condoms at Bob Jones University. Former pitcher Jack McDowell, in an unintentionally hilarious assertion suggests he would have made the Hall of Fame if not for juiced players…[yeah me too.] McDowell believes that Bonds, Giambi, and anyone caught with an illegal substance should be banned for life, their names erased from the record books. He then derides anyone who thinks this is a “witch hunt”. No, an actual “witch hunt” usually involves a trifle less sanctimony.</p>
<p>I’m Sticking With the Union</p>
<p>Yet the brunt of the attacks, as Selig has signaled, will be aimed directly at the players union. The union has been attacked, slandered, and even brought in front of Sen. John McCain’s Commerce Committee for not walking lock step with the Major League owners’ draconian testing proposal. The union believes quite correctly, that unless testing is done impartially, in other words not operated exclusively by Major League Baseball, the owners will use this power to request blood and urine samples on a whim to find ways to harass players and void burdensome contracts. If this sounds far fetched, it’s exactly what the Yankees are doing right now to Giambi in an attempt to save $80 million. The stakes are high and the union is rightly not signing off on anything that moves just because Selig and McCain are pressuring them to do so. [As an aside, there is Ruthian hypocrisy in McCain’s concern about the health of players when he cheerleads the use of chemical and biological agents, including depleted uranium in Iraq. Let him grandstand for “healthy living” in the barely funded cancer wards of Baghdad.]</p>
<p>It’s certainly true that steroids don’t belong in baseball. They can destroy your body and even kill you. But as long as baseball pays the big money to the big bashers and glorifies the long ball, drugs will be ingested and as long as players are pressured by agents and management to keep up with the guy in the locker next door, there will be more Giambis to come. That’s not the union’s problem, or even the player’s problem. That’s on owners who see players as pieces of equipment, easily disposed and easily replaced.</p>
<p>DAVE ZIRIN has a book coming out, What’s My Name, Fool: sports and resistance in the United States (Haymarket Books) comes out in spring 2005. To have his column sent to you every week, just e-mail <a href="mailto:edgeofsports-subscribe@zirin.com" type="external">edgeofsports-subscribe@zirin.com</a>.</p>
<p>Contact the author at <a href="mailto:editor@pgpost.com" type="external">editor@pgpost.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | genetically engineered chickens coming home roost major league baseball grand jury testimony bay area lab company balco investigation leaked san francisco chronicle clucking begun know former mvp yankee first baseman jason giambi admitted oath using kinds steroids reigning national league mvp barry bonds transcripts conceded administering flackseed oil cream found steroid fact giambi particular took grand jurors harrowing rabbit hole steroid use 20012003 seasons testified injecting human growth hormones stomach testosterone buttocks giambi addition rubbed undetectable steroid knows cream body placed drops another called clear tongue also admitted ingesting female fertility drug called clomid medical experts say exacerbate pituitary tumor giambi suffers tumor revelations occur wake drug related death 1997 national league mvp ken caminiti admitted steroid use horror show health problems months died baseball suffering yet another pr debacle biggest stars start resemble selfcontained chemistry sets mlb commissioner bud selig scurried point fingers players union root cause steroid abuse temerity fight strict unilateral testing bud drools selig said thursday washington dc going leave stone unturned tough program place spring training 2005 selig attempts use scandal turn tables union abhors big bud mlb owners need take long hard look mirror steroids link increased power numbers appear fact life baseballs recent history 17 times player hit 56 home runs eleven seasons came 1997 2001 including six 63plus campaigns adrian beltre first year marginal steroid testing program led nl home runs 48 number would made top five 2001 bonds set time mark 73 dingers moonshots epic major league baseball loved every minute major league baseball hyped hypo using sluggers midlate 90s major league baseball rode 1998 home run battle mark mcgwire sammy sosa commonly called home run race saved game returned popularity seen since lockoutstrike 1994 major league baseball approved nikes chicks dig long ball ad campaign major league baseball spent 90s building ballparks size dick cheneys hot tub encourage high scoring increased home run totals major league baseball advertised home run derby star game two years ago using cartoons players freakishly huge muscles slamming ball park major league baseball rewarded big bashers eyepopping contracts fraying bonds course moby dick balco investigation barry bonds cloud steroid use followed bonds since age 37 hit 73 homers reeled four consecutive mvp seasons top game threatening hallowed home run marks baseballs great legend babe ruth henry aaron column much derision defended bonds made case innocence stand basic assertion muscles equated ability hit ball although make great hitter hit power potential allstar would every golds gym across country bonds basher lifetime 300 hitter 500 stolen bases lumberjack taking hacks plate also still believe bonds knowing habitual user every bit anecdotal evidence would body breaking gaining strength therefore hear otherwise stand 15 people recent national poll believe bonds story without knowledge baseball columnist tom boswell put granted presumption bondss innocence hangs thread bonds odd extreme gifted alienated character might almost anything anything perversity charitable commentary bonds could find typically pundits brandishing torches pitchforks handing condoms bob jones university former pitcher jack mcdowell unintentionally hilarious assertion suggests would made hall fame juiced playersyeah mcdowell believes bonds giambi anyone caught illegal substance banned life names erased record books derides anyone thinks witch hunt actual witch hunt usually involves trifle less sanctimony im sticking union yet brunt attacks selig signaled aimed directly players union union attacked slandered even brought front sen john mccains commerce committee walking lock step major league owners draconian testing proposal union believes quite correctly unless testing done impartially words operated exclusively major league baseball owners use power request blood urine samples whim find ways harass players void burdensome contracts sounds far fetched exactly yankees right giambi attempt save 80 million stakes high union rightly signing anything moves selig mccain pressuring aside ruthian hypocrisy mccains concern health players cheerleads use chemical biological agents including depleted uranium iraq let grandstand healthy living barely funded cancer wards baghdad certainly true steroids dont belong baseball destroy body even kill long baseball pays big money big bashers glorifies long ball drugs ingested long players pressured agents management keep guy locker next door giambis come thats unions problem even players problem thats owners see players pieces equipment easily disposed easily replaced dave zirin book coming whats name fool sports resistance united states haymarket books comes spring 2005 column sent every week email edgeofsportssubscribezirincom contact author editorpgpostcom 160 | 715 |
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Jay Dyer <a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-94M" type="external">21st Century Wire</a></p>
<p>Snowpiercer stands out as a recent example of a trend fans of film are witnessing more of: philosophically-focused science fiction and fantasy. &#160;</p>
<p>While it could be argued that many science fiction classics deal with some philosophical themes, the trend has become far more common than in previous decades. &#160;In the last several years, films such as, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1928340/" type="external">After the Dark</a>, <a href="http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1825157/" type="external">The Double</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enemy_%282013_film%29" type="external">Enemy</a>, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1549572/" type="external">Another Earth</a>, as well as many others, ask audiences to grapple with complex conundrums such as globalism, meaning and the self, morality and death, and even deeper esoteric questions, like alternate worlds and mystical symbology. &#160;</p>
<p>While Hollywood is busy with found-footage horror, cynical raunchy comedies and comic book blockbusters (the latter of which do incorporate conspiriana), lesser-known independent films are touching on far more abtruse matters that extend beyond the realm of the political. &#160;Seeing new films clearly influenced by Terry Gilliam, for example, is a welcomed beacon of hope. &#160;A rebellion in the arts – towards asking meaningful questions that challenge social engineering and prepackaged think-tank paradigms is precisely what is needed, and that is partly my intention with my work at <a href="http://jaysanalysis.com/" type="external">Jay’s Analysis</a>.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal" />Le Transperceneige: The inspiration for cult Sci-Fi thriller Snowpiercer.</p>
<p>Based on the French graphic novel, <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/28/5335822/snowpiercer-english-debut" type="external">Le Transperceneige</a>, the film Snowpiercer is Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s first English release.</p>
<p>The plot involves a post-apocalyptic world that has entered a new ice age due to mankind’s failed geoengineering and climate-altering hubris. &#160;The amorphous chemical “CW7″ is sprayed globally to halt a supposed “global warming” catastrophe, while the ice age actually occurs as a result of the chemical spraying, and not anthropogenic global warming aka “climate change”.&#160;</p>
<p>To see a film present the very real threat of geoengineering and climate alteration through aerosol spraying, as well as questioning the “global warming” hoax (now morphed into “climate change” by public relations consultants) is startling to say the least. &#160;While there may be some film that has previously questioned these establishment orthodoxies, I am not aware of it. &#160;For unknowing skeptics and system hacks, I present two clear examples of the reality of aerosol chemical spraying (‘chemtrails’, as opposed to normal ice crystal ‘con-trails’) and geoengineering that are undeniable.</p>
<p>COMING OUT: Chemtrails and Geoengineering are central part of this Hollywood blockbuster.</p>
<p>The first is Bill Gates’ support for geoengineering, under the very auspices Snowpiercer questions – global warming. The Guardian&#160;reported in its 2012 article,&#160; <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/feb/06/bill-gates-climate-scientists-geoengineering" type="external">‘Bill Gates Backs Climate Scientists Lobbying for Large-Scale Geoengineering’:</a></p>
<p>“A small group of leading climate scientists, financially supported by billionaires including Bill Gates, are lobbying governments and international bodies to back experiments into manipulating the climate on a global scale to avoid catastrophic climate change. &#160;The scientists, who advocate geoengineering methods such as spraying millions of tonnes of reflective particles of sulphur dioxide 30 miles above earth, argue that a “Plan B” for climate change will be needed if the UN and politicians cannot agree to making the necessary cuts in greenhouse gases, and say the US government and others should pay for a major programme of international research.”</p>
<p>READ MORE ALTERNATIVE HOLLYWOOD NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Hollywood Files</a></p>
<p>Skeptics are likely to claim this is only theoretical, inasmuch as the article reports on scientists merely calling for this, as opposed to it actually being accomplished. &#160;Such naiveté is common on these matters, as so-called skeptics perpetually display their own ignorance of establishment tendencies. &#160;Like the taunting of psychopathic criminals, whatever is “called for” in the news is generally what’s actually been practiced for a long while, and aerosol geoengineering and atmospheric manipulation is no exception. &#160;The <a href="http://www.globalresearch.ca/atmospheric-geoengineering-weather-manipulation-contrails-and-chemtrails/20369" type="external">technology is decades old</a>, and began as weather warfare during World War II, where seasonal changes and storms could be harnessed to harm enemy resources through controlled droughts, floods, etc. &#160;</p>
<p><a href="http://www.defense.gov/transcripts/transcript.aspx?transcriptid=674" type="external">Earthquake weaponry also falls into this category, as well as biological waarfare, EMPs and HAARP</a>, all falling under the broad umbrella of the concept of weaponized nature. &#160;However, for hardened skeptics, I refer to the even stronger example of the Stanford VLF Group, which openly publishes dozens of <a href="http://vlf.stanford.edu/pubs" type="external">scientific papers on HAARP, atmospheric aerosol spraying, geoengineering, frequency manipulation</a>, and other advanced research projects.</p>
<p>Snowpiercer begins with planes spraying the sky, while news casts report the importance of CW7 as the last hope to save humanity. &#160;As a result, virtually all life on earth perishes, while a small number of “chosen” are whisked away aboard a high-speed perpetual motion-run, ‘Free Energy’ powered train that continuously circles the globe. &#160; <a href="http://jaysanalysis.com/2014/03/23/egyptian-mysteries-of-god-and-energy-in-relation-to-modern-geopolitics/" type="external">A perpetual motion machine is, in fact, a holy grail of technology</a>, as its desire grew from the mechanistic model of the universe that gained sway in the Enlightenment. &#160;From the ‘Enlightenment’ came the reign of quantity and rationalization of all reality into the collapsed, reductionist grand narrative of evolutionary materialism. &#160;Within this paradigm, man is viewed as a cog in the deterministic, naturalistic machine of the inanimate, eternal and universal ecosystem. &#160;In this view, the symbiotic ecosystem requires an inchoate metaphysical principle of “balance,” and thus the Malthusian presuppositions of eugenics come into play, removing man from his previous position of ordained steward of creation under God, to an impersonal artifact on a social Darwinian ladder, who must ever grapple to become the fittest. &#160;The “fittest” then rapaciously destroy one another to subjugate and dominate nature en toto, in order to transcend it. &#160;</p>
<p>The culmination of this worldview is, of course, transhumanism, and Snowpiercer&#160;will become, as I argue, a warning for this worldview.</p>
<p><a href="https://jaysanalysis.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/snowpiercer-610px.jpg" type="external" />Korean actress <a href="http://asianwiki.com/Ko_Ah-Sung" type="external">Ko Ah-Sung</a> in her role as Yo-Na in Snowpiercer.</p>
<p>Protagonist Curtis (Chris Evans) plays the revolutionary leader of the “back” of the train, who, under the tutelage of the aging former leader Gilliam (John Hurt), must organize the final rebellion against the tyrannical “front” of the train. &#160;Class warfare clearly comes to the fore, as the front of the train are all presented as decadent elite, wining and dining on the finest delicacies, enjoying every possible luxury a train can afford, while the workers at the back are forced by a brutal police state to produce for the parasitical front. &#160;Minister Mason (Tilda Swinton) heads up the front class’ security forces in a role reminiscent of something akin to Mao Tse Tung’s wife, Jiang Qing. &#160;Her communist dictator persona may seem out-of-place, given the monopolistic capitalism of the train’s&#160;demagogic inventor, Mr. Wilford (Ed Harris), yet regular readers will be familiar with the longtime argumentation presented here that communism and monopoly capitalism are flip sides of the same dialectical coin. &#160;</p>
<p>The corporate fascism of Wilford works hand in hand with the dictatorial militaristic police state polices of Minister Mason. &#160;It is also not accidental that her name is ‘Mason’, given the history of world freemasonry exhibits a clear proclivity for communism, from Robespierre and Marat to Salvador Allende. &#160;Communism and fascism are both political technologies designed to suit the same totalitarian ends.</p>
<p>Caboose revolutionaries stop and pause on their way to the front.</p>
<p>As the ‘Curtis Revolution’ progresses, car by car, each compartment gives a new revelation of the dark nature of the system. &#160;The train’s unbending regimented eugenics policies and schoolhouse indoctrination programs emerge are the most significant, as viewers witness a classroom propaganda video portraying Mr. Wilford as a literal god and savior. &#160;</p>
<p>Here the film’s symbolism used to describe the train exemplifies an important deeper message. &#160;The train is compared symbolically three ways in the narrative: to a machine, to the world, and to a human body. &#160;Early on, as an angry worker loses his arm as a punishment, Minister Mason curiously describes the train as a body with a “head” and a “foot.” &#160;“Everything must stay in its preordained place,” she exclaims, as the foot trying to become the head leads to chaos, and chaos means the dissolution of mankind and loss of the train’s balanced ecosystem. &#160;</p>
<p>As the insurrection seizes the car associated with water production, a captive Minister Mason informs Curtis that water comes “from the mouth of the train, not the bum,” and that a resource war will harm all the train’s inhabitants. &#160;When Curtis reaches the front of the train, Wilford gives the descriptive imagery of the train as “an eternal machine” and as “the world,” but its significance will be detailed below.</p>
<p>While the revolution progresses, Curtis gradually begins to make tough moral choices that reveal more about his pragmatic designs to the viewer, as well as to himself. &#160;Curtis is forced to sacrifice his friend’s life to apprehend Minister Mason, then shoot Mason in the head, as well as admitting to cannibalism in the past to survive. Curtis slowly grasps that his own nature is quite cruel, calculating and vicious, and the difficulty of holding everyone to his egalitarian and equalitarian moral standards becomes more challenging. &#160;By the time Curtis reaches the front car and the engine, Wilford divulges the entire regime change was staged and engineered. &#160;Gilliam, the old revolutionary leader, is actually Wilford’s old friend, with a special direct phone line that communicates front to back. &#160;Gilliam and the revolution are then sacrificed by Wilford to maintain the 74% eco-balance for “sustainability.”</p>
<p>Wilford’s monologue then paints the train as the world, revealing to Curtis that all along the plan was to offer him leadership of the train, replacing Wilford. &#160;Since Curtis was the first worker to make a successful coup and reach the front, he was in a unique position to have seen the entire “machine” and its full hierarchical order, as no one else had. &#160;Wilford explains that the train must be ruled by “anxiety, fear and horror” in a balance to psychologically manipulate and control the masses. &#160;Meanwhile, the Curtis Revolution explodes into full anarchy and Wilford whispers to Curtis that without a hero, the train won’t run. &#160;“The eternal engine. It is eternity itself,” Wilford sneers, waiting for Curtis to accept the implications of his failed mutiny. &#160;</p>
<p>The crucial point in all this is the principle of managed dialectics – iconized in the communist revolutionary as a controlled creation of the engineers of the system (Wilford), whose aspirations are already calculated to serve elites in First Class when anxiety, subversion, chaos or depopulation, or <a href="" type="internal">eugenics</a> – were needed. The phony left-right paradigm of Hegelian duality could not be better demonstrated. The train is a mini one world government built upon the industrial ingenuity of mass travel and global commerce, foreshadowing our own bleak dialectical future of a planetary regime.</p>
<p>Approaching the climax, Wilford hands Curtis a final secret message that reads “blood,” having previously sent “water,” which are basic elements of life and energy. &#160;They are also crucial components of the human body and its machinery, so we can make a connection here between the heart and the engine. &#160;</p>
<p>Curtis also discovers the ominous reality that the engine runs on the work of child slave labor, while Wilford sneers that the tail section supplies a steady stream of kids. &#160;The parasitical tyranny that is the train proves too much for Curtis, who opts to sabotage and derail it with the aid of the prophetic drug addict Nam and his daughter, Yona. &#160;However, Nam and Yona have discovered the great secret – the ice and snow are gradually melting, meaning there is the possibility of life outside the train. &#160;The real ecosystem is restoring its own balance, and man can be reconciled to it. &#160;As the train derails,. Nam and Curtis sacrifice themselves to shield Yona and a child from the explosion, and as a result, they become the last two survivors of humanity. &#160;Upon exiting the train, Yona spots a polar bear, meaning the existence of the train as the sole means for life and survival to be a farce. &#160;Whether intentional or not, we aren’t told, the myth of the impossibility of life outside the train was a farce. &#160;Although CW7 had brought an ice age, the principle of life triumphs over man’s technological dominance and alienation. &#160;</p>
<p>The great irony is that in Wilford’s doctrine of “everything in its place,” everything was out-of-place. &#160;Wilford had succumbed to the same irrational&#160;hubris that blinded pre-apocalypse humanity before the ice age.</p>
<p><a href="https://jaysanalysis.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/snowpiercerend.jpg" type="external" />Wilford’s Free Energy train engine.</p>
<p>On an esoteric level, there are elements of gnosticism throughout (and communism shares gnostic origins): Curtis is a kind of new man, destined to be the philosopher-king Wilford desired. &#160;Wilford’s revelation of the need for the “noble lie” of divine rulership to quell the masses echoes Plato’s Republic, which also curiously utilizes the symbology known as the “anthropic principle”. &#160;</p>
<p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthropic_principle" type="external">anthropic principle</a> is the notion that observations about the physical universe bear some fundamental correlation and connection to human consciousness as its observer. &#160;In esoteric tradition, the anthropic principle extends as far as the idea that the human body itself is the microcosmic (microprosopus) mirror to the macrocosmic (macroprosopus) universe as a whole. &#160;Thus, in Plato’s Republic, the ideal republic is compared the body of man, while in his creation account, the Timaeus,&#160;this tradition replicates on the cosmic scale, comparing the universe to the body of a man. &#160;Curtis’ journey from the tail to the front may also symbolize the ascent of the soul in many traditions, particularly traditions that describe the soul after death passing through <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerial_toll_house" type="external">several gates or planetary “toll houses” to reach God</a>, heaven or some blissful afterlife. &#160;Having forgotten his former life before the train, Curtis’ journey also echoes the Platonic doctrine of the soul’s migration from embodied particularity back to the One, from which all being flows. &#160;Curtis can be viewed on this level as the enlightened philosophic or religious soul seeking to escape the illusory reality the platonic demiurge has imposed upon the senses through the veil of materiality and flux.</p>
<p>In a world where <a href="http://jaysanalysis.com/2014/07/25/knowledge-without-wisdom-phaethon-and-technocracy/" type="external">man has acquiesced to allow his technological lust to outweigh his wisdom, the dangers of bare gnosis&#160;without wisdom become apparent</a>. &#160;Snowpiercer asks us to ponder this profound question, and consider scientism’s past mistakes and blunders that have not led to human apotheosis, but mass death and self-destruction. &#160;Is large-scale geoengineering, tampering with the ecosystem under phony Malthusian sustainability and eugenically-regimented population control not itself the cause for much of the misery, chaos and alienation man experiences in his modern technocratic, quantification-obsessed existence? &#160;</p>
<p>Snowpiercer answers in the affirmative, and the film displays this wise message in a skillful and sophisticated form that makes it stand out in its craft. &#160;Can we exit crazy-train before crazy-train suffers a train wreck?</p>
<p>21WIRE contributor and author Jay Dyer is commentator on media, art, philosophy and culture. <a href="http://jaysanalysis.com/2014/11/08/the-deeper-meaning-of-snowpiercer-2013/" type="external">This article</a> and many others, along with Jay’s podcast archive can be found on his blog <a href="http://www.jaysanalysis.com" type="external">Jay’s Analysis</a>.</p>
<p>READ MORE ALTERNATIVE HOLLYWOOD NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Hollywood Files</a></p>
<p>–</p> | true | 4 | jay dyer 21st century wire snowpiercer stands recent example trend fans film witnessing philosophicallyfocused science fiction fantasy 160 could argued many science fiction classics deal philosophical themes trend become far common previous decades 160in last several years films dark double enemy another earth well many others ask audiences grapple complex conundrums globalism meaning self morality death even deeper esoteric questions like alternate worlds mystical symbology 160 hollywood busy foundfootage horror cynical raunchy comedies comic book blockbusters latter incorporate conspiriana lesserknown independent films touching far abtruse matters extend beyond realm political 160seeing new films clearly influenced terry gilliam example welcomed beacon hope 160a rebellion arts towards asking meaningful questions challenge social engineering prepackaged thinktank paradigms precisely needed partly intention work jays analysis le transperceneige inspiration cult scifi thriller snowpiercer based french graphic novel le transperceneige film snowpiercer korean filmmaker bong joonhos first english release plot involves postapocalyptic world entered new ice age due mankinds failed geoengineering climatealtering hubris 160the amorphous chemical cw7 sprayed globally halt supposed global warming catastrophe ice age actually occurs result chemical spraying anthropogenic global warming aka climate change160 see film present real threat geoengineering climate alteration aerosol spraying well questioning global warming hoax morphed climate change public relations consultants startling say least 160while may film previously questioned establishment orthodoxies aware 160for unknowing skeptics system hacks present two clear examples reality aerosol chemical spraying chemtrails opposed normal ice crystal contrails geoengineering undeniable coming chemtrails geoengineering central part hollywood blockbuster first bill gates support geoengineering auspices snowpiercer questions global warming guardian160reported 2012 article160 bill gates backs climate scientists lobbying largescale geoengineering small group leading climate scientists financially supported billionaires including bill gates lobbying governments international bodies back experiments manipulating climate global scale avoid catastrophic climate change 160the scientists advocate geoengineering methods spraying millions tonnes reflective particles sulphur dioxide 30 miles earth argue plan b climate change needed un politicians agree making necessary cuts greenhouse gases say us government others pay major programme international research read alternative hollywood news 21st century wire hollywood files skeptics likely claim theoretical inasmuch article reports scientists merely calling opposed actually accomplished 160such naiveté common matters socalled skeptics perpetually display ignorance establishment tendencies 160like taunting psychopathic criminals whatever called news generally whats actually practiced long aerosol geoengineering atmospheric manipulation exception 160the technology decades old began weather warfare world war ii seasonal changes storms could harnessed harm enemy resources controlled droughts floods etc 160 earthquake weaponry also falls category well biological waarfare emps haarp falling broad umbrella concept weaponized nature 160however hardened skeptics refer even stronger example stanford vlf group openly publishes dozens scientific papers haarp atmospheric aerosol spraying geoengineering frequency manipulation advanced research projects snowpiercer begins planes spraying sky news casts report importance cw7 last hope save humanity 160as result virtually life earth perishes small number chosen whisked away aboard highspeed perpetual motionrun free energy powered train continuously circles globe 160 perpetual motion machine fact holy grail technology desire grew mechanistic model universe gained sway enlightenment 160from enlightenment came reign quantity rationalization reality collapsed reductionist grand narrative evolutionary materialism 160within paradigm man viewed cog deterministic naturalistic machine inanimate eternal universal ecosystem 160in view symbiotic ecosystem requires inchoate metaphysical principle balance thus malthusian presuppositions eugenics come play removing man previous position ordained steward creation god impersonal artifact social darwinian ladder must ever grapple become fittest 160the fittest rapaciously destroy one another subjugate dominate nature en toto order transcend 160 culmination worldview course transhumanism snowpiercer160will become argue warning worldview korean actress ko ahsung role yona snowpiercer protagonist curtis chris evans plays revolutionary leader back train tutelage aging former leader gilliam john hurt must organize final rebellion tyrannical front train 160class warfare clearly comes fore front train presented decadent elite wining dining finest delicacies enjoying every possible luxury train afford workers back forced brutal police state produce parasitical front 160minister mason tilda swinton heads front class security forces role reminiscent something akin mao tse tungs wife jiang qing 160her communist dictator persona may seem outofplace given monopolistic capitalism trains160demagogic inventor mr wilford ed harris yet regular readers familiar longtime argumentation presented communism monopoly capitalism flip sides dialectical coin 160 corporate fascism wilford works hand hand dictatorial militaristic police state polices minister mason 160it also accidental name mason given history world freemasonry exhibits clear proclivity communism robespierre marat salvador allende 160communism fascism political technologies designed suit totalitarian ends caboose revolutionaries stop pause way front curtis revolution progresses car car compartment gives new revelation dark nature system 160the trains unbending regimented eugenics policies schoolhouse indoctrination programs emerge significant viewers witness classroom propaganda video portraying mr wilford literal god savior 160 films symbolism used describe train exemplifies important deeper message 160the train compared symbolically three ways narrative machine world human body 160early angry worker loses arm punishment minister mason curiously describes train body head foot 160everything must stay preordained place exclaims foot trying become head leads chaos chaos means dissolution mankind loss trains balanced ecosystem 160 insurrection seizes car associated water production captive minister mason informs curtis water comes mouth train bum resource war harm trains inhabitants 160when curtis reaches front train wilford gives descriptive imagery train eternal machine world significance detailed revolution progresses curtis gradually begins make tough moral choices reveal pragmatic designs viewer well 160curtis forced sacrifice friends life apprehend minister mason shoot mason head well admitting cannibalism past survive curtis slowly grasps nature quite cruel calculating vicious difficulty holding everyone egalitarian equalitarian moral standards becomes challenging 160by time curtis reaches front car engine wilford divulges entire regime change staged engineered 160gilliam old revolutionary leader actually wilfords old friend special direct phone line communicates front back 160gilliam revolution sacrificed wilford maintain 74 ecobalance sustainability wilfords monologue paints train world revealing curtis along plan offer leadership train replacing wilford 160since curtis first worker make successful coup reach front unique position seen entire machine full hierarchical order one else 160wilford explains train must ruled anxiety fear horror balance psychologically manipulate control masses 160meanwhile curtis revolution explodes full anarchy wilford whispers curtis without hero train wont run 160the eternal engine eternity wilford sneers waiting curtis accept implications failed mutiny 160 crucial point principle managed dialectics iconized communist revolutionary controlled creation engineers system wilford whose aspirations already calculated serve elites first class anxiety subversion chaos depopulation eugenics needed phony leftright paradigm hegelian duality could better demonstrated train mini one world government built upon industrial ingenuity mass travel global commerce foreshadowing bleak dialectical future planetary regime approaching climax wilford hands curtis final secret message reads blood previously sent water basic elements life energy 160they also crucial components human body machinery make connection heart engine 160 curtis also discovers ominous reality engine runs work child slave labor wilford sneers tail section supplies steady stream kids 160the parasitical tyranny train proves much curtis opts sabotage derail aid prophetic drug addict nam daughter yona 160however nam yona discovered great secret ice snow gradually melting meaning possibility life outside train 160the real ecosystem restoring balance man reconciled 160as train derails nam curtis sacrifice shield yona child explosion result become last two survivors humanity 160upon exiting train yona spots polar bear meaning existence train sole means life survival farce 160whether intentional arent told myth impossibility life outside train farce 160although cw7 brought ice age principle life triumphs mans technological dominance alienation 160 great irony wilfords doctrine everything place everything outofplace 160wilford succumbed irrational160hubris blinded preapocalypse humanity ice age wilfords free energy train engine esoteric level elements gnosticism throughout communism shares gnostic origins curtis kind new man destined philosopherking wilford desired 160wilfords revelation need noble lie divine rulership quell masses echoes platos republic also curiously utilizes symbology known anthropic principle 160 anthropic principle notion observations physical universe bear fundamental correlation connection human consciousness observer 160in esoteric tradition anthropic principle extends far idea human body microcosmic microprosopus mirror macrocosmic macroprosopus universe whole 160thus platos republic ideal republic compared body man creation account timaeus160this tradition replicates cosmic scale comparing universe body man 160curtis journey tail front may also symbolize ascent soul many traditions particularly traditions describe soul death passing several gates planetary toll houses reach god heaven blissful afterlife 160having forgotten former life train curtis journey also echoes platonic doctrine souls migration embodied particularity back one flows 160curtis viewed level enlightened philosophic religious soul seeking escape illusory reality platonic demiurge imposed upon senses veil materiality flux world man acquiesced allow technological lust outweigh wisdom dangers bare gnosis160without wisdom become apparent 160snowpiercer asks us ponder profound question consider scientisms past mistakes blunders led human apotheosis mass death selfdestruction 160is largescale geoengineering tampering ecosystem phony malthusian sustainability eugenicallyregimented population control cause much misery chaos alienation man experiences modern technocratic quantificationobsessed existence 160 snowpiercer answers affirmative film displays wise message skillful sophisticated form makes stand craft 160can exit crazytrain crazytrain suffers train wreck 21wire contributor author jay dyer commentator media art philosophy culture article many others along jays podcast archive found blog jays analysis read alternative hollywood news 21st century wire hollywood files | 1,478 |
<p>By Ronald W. Pierce</p>
<p>Ronald Pierce, far right, meeting at Sen. Cory Booker’s office in New Jersey with other freed felons as part of the NJ-STEP re-entry program at Rutgers University. Booker is the tall man, wearing suit and tie, in the back row near the center. (Ronald W. Pierce)</p>
<p>Editor’s note: This is the seventh and final story in a seven-part series exclusive to Truthdig called “ <a href="" type="internal">Going Home</a>.” Read <a href="" type="internal">Part 1</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Part 2</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Part 3</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Part 4</a>, <a href="" type="internal">Part 5</a> and <a href="" type="internal">Part 6</a>.</p>
<p />
<p>It is the week before final exams. I have four classes for which I have to prepare a PowerPoint presentation, write essays and take exams. In two of the classes, I have to make oral presentations.</p>
<p>My sister calls me. My 75-year-old mother, struggling with congestive heart failure and pneumonia, is in the hospital.</p>
<p>The trailer park manager calls me. My application to reside in my fiancée’s double-wide — which she owns—has been denied. The manager says I have one day to vacate the premises. No warning. No reason given for the rejection, other than a credit report in the notice. I speak to the manager. He tells me to read the notice. I begin to panic. How will I find a place to live? How will I get the parole officer to approve it? How will I move in a single day? I do not have a job, money or a credit rating.</p>
<p>Karen, my fiancée, is livid. She informed the trailer park manager of our plans months in advance. I had been living with her for more than a month in the trailer without incident. The manager of the park had told Karen that because my crime took place more than 10 years ago, residency should not be an issue.</p>
<p>I call my brother. He tells me I can live with him. He says he will get his guns out of the house, since living with guns would be a parole violation. He lives in a different county. This could affect my parole. I call my sister to get an update on my mother, who is in the heart ward. I send my brother in upstate New York a text about my mother. I have not had contact with him in almost 10 years. I am not sure the number is correct. It seems strange. My mother gave me his number yesterday because she was worried about him and made me promise to call. I don’t want to lose my mother so soon after being freed.</p>
<p>My world is crashing down around me. I am overwhelmed.</p>
<p>I contact my former professor in prison, Chris Hedges. I have relied on his guidance more than I should, but he has never failed me. I feel a connection with him I do not quite understand. I am grateful for his presence in my life. Once again, he does not disappoint me. He writes a letter to the trailer park’s corporate office and asks for an appointment with the owner of the company. He and I know it may be futile, but I cannot accept defeat without a fight.</p>
<p>I contact the <a href="http://mountainview.rutgers.edu/" type="external">Mountainview Community</a> coordinator, Regina. She calms me down and explains I am not alone. Her understanding of what is going on inside of me is invaluable. She and the director of the Mountain program will try to see what they can do. Regina advises me to contact my professors in case I have difficulty with getting everything turned in on time and need extensions. I would not have thought of this on my own.</p>
<p>One of my school projects is designing a peer-mentoring program for those coming to college out of prison. This is a group project. You come out discombobulated. Life moves faster on the outside. Many issues confront you at the same time. The system is hostile to released felons and makes surviving difficult. Most, in desperation, revert to old habits, struggle with homelessness and unemployment, and are forced to carry without assistance the deep psychological trauma that comes with decades of being abused and locked in a cage. Most end up back in prison. I am not going to be one of those statistics.</p>
<p>Once when Sen. Cory Booker was mayor of Newark, N.J., he was the keynote speaker at the high school graduation in East Jersey State Prison (formerly Rahway State Prison). He talked about removing obstacles after people finish serving their time and return to the community. Years later, during a free period I had at Rutgers University, Booker and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka were speaking on a joint initiative on the issue of re-entry. Also part of the discussion panel was Todd Clear, former provost of the university, designer of my major (justice studies) and one of the co-designers of the New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons Consortium ( <a href="http://njstep.newark.rutgers.edu/" type="external">NJ-STEP</a>) program. Several of us attended the event. Afterward, we met with Booker to talk about the struggle of re-entry. He seemed genuinely interested.</p>
<p>A few days later, we received an invitation to Booker’s office for a discussion. Each member of the group focused on a specific topic for the meeting. Carmelo discussed with the senator the inability to get an apartment because we cannot get credit. Carmelo was having the same issue in Newark as I now appear to be having—except in my case, my fiancee owns the mobile home. UMH Properties only owns the land on which the manufactured home sits. The discussion focused on the need to get some form of bond, in place of a credit rating, to ensure the property owners’ protection. A federal bonding program already exists for employers of those formerly incarcerated. Employers also receive tax credits for hiring the formerly incarcerated.</p>
<p>Given the importance of this issue to my current situation, I contact Sen. Booker’s office. I get a call back within minutes from State Deputy Director Hanna Mori, wanting to clarify the issue and offer any assistance possible. She explains this is a gray area of federal regulations and Sen. Booker is interested in the issue. However, there may be little legal recourse at this time. Their office will look into the matter.</p>
<p />
<p>Ronald Pierce, right, shakes hands with New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and jokes about their haircuts. (Ronald W. Pierce)</p>
<p>As the days pass and I receive the expected letter, Karen is upset. She asks, “What if they try to take my home? They have threatened to take my home in the past. Can they evict me? I can’t afford to pay rent in two places while I try to sell this place. How can they have so much power over who lives in my home? I bought this home. I don’t rent it.”</p>
<p>Karen is inconsolable. I make an appointment with a lawyer who deals in owner/renter disputes. She explains the difficulty the park would have in enforcing any eviction notice and the requirements for doing so. She tells us not to worry. But none of the core concerns are discussed. We leave with as many questions as we had before.</p>
<p>I am tired of being a punching bag for bullies, tired of being passive. They are hurting the woman I love.</p>
<p>I google the law dealing with mobile home parks. I research the paper they sent me concerning the notice. The ZIP code has only three numbers. I google them as a prefix: The ZIP code 742 is “not in use.” I look up the phone number given: It is not legitimate. I have received a document that has no signature, no ZIP code and no viable phone number. I cannot respond to a fictitious address and phone number. I was honest about my record with the manager of the Southwinds Trailer Park. This is the response.</p>
<p>There is no proof that this document is from an official person within the corporate office. The envelope has no return address. My name and address were printed on a separate piece of paper and taped to the envelope. The lawyer’s name told to me by the park manager is not registered with the corporate office.</p>
<p>Nothing pans out. Karen has not received a notice. I suspect this may be a scam, simply harassment by the park manager and his secretary to drive me out. They have some personal issues with Karen.</p>
<p>But in this world, I cannot take chances. I am largely powerless to defend myself—a released felon without an income or a job. I know the odds are stacked against me. I wonder what will happen.</p>
<p>Editor’s note: Pierce earned an A in each of his four classes. He served 30 years, eight months and 14 days in New Jersey prisons for murder. Released in 2016, he now is living in Jackson, N.J., and completing his Bachelor of Arts study at Rutgers University. Pierce is an honors student, majoring in justice studies with a minor in sociology.</p> | true | 4 | ronald w pierce ronald pierce far right meeting sen cory bookers office new jersey freed felons part njstep reentry program rutgers university booker tall man wearing suit tie back row near center ronald w pierce editors note seventh final story sevenpart series exclusive truthdig called going home read part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 week final exams four classes prepare powerpoint presentation write essays take exams two classes make oral presentations sister calls 75yearold mother struggling congestive heart failure pneumonia hospital trailer park manager calls application reside fiancées doublewide ownshas denied manager says one day vacate premises warning reason given rejection credit report notice speak manager tells read notice begin panic find place live get parole officer approve move single day job money credit rating karen fiancée livid informed trailer park manager plans months advance living month trailer without incident manager park told karen crime took place 10 years ago residency issue call brother tells live says get guns house since living guns would parole violation lives different county could affect parole call sister get update mother heart ward send brother upstate new york text mother contact almost 10 years sure number correct seems strange mother gave number yesterday worried made promise call dont want lose mother soon freed world crashing around overwhelmed contact former professor prison chris hedges relied guidance never failed feel connection quite understand grateful presence life disappoint writes letter trailer parks corporate office asks appointment owner company know may futile accept defeat without fight contact mountainview community coordinator regina calms explains alone understanding going inside invaluable director mountain program try see regina advises contact professors case difficulty getting everything turned time need extensions would thought one school projects designing peermentoring program coming college prison group project come discombobulated life moves faster outside many issues confront time system hostile released felons makes surviving difficult desperation revert old habits struggle homelessness unemployment forced carry without assistance deep psychological trauma comes decades abused locked cage end back prison going one statistics sen cory booker mayor newark nj keynote speaker high school graduation east jersey state prison formerly rahway state prison talked removing obstacles people finish serving time return community years later free period rutgers university booker newark mayor ras baraka speaking joint initiative issue reentry also part discussion panel todd clear former provost university designer major justice studies one codesigners new jersey scholarship transformative education prisons consortium njstep program several us attended event afterward met booker talk struggle reentry seemed genuinely interested days later received invitation bookers office discussion member group focused specific topic meeting carmelo discussed senator inability get apartment get credit carmelo issue newark appear havingexcept case fiancee owns mobile home umh properties owns land manufactured home sits discussion focused need get form bond place credit rating ensure property owners protection federal bonding program already exists employers formerly incarcerated employers also receive tax credits hiring formerly incarcerated given importance issue current situation contact sen bookers office get call back within minutes state deputy director hanna mori wanting clarify issue offer assistance possible explains gray area federal regulations sen booker interested issue however may little legal recourse time office look matter ronald pierce right shakes hands new jersey sen cory booker jokes haircuts ronald w pierce days pass receive expected letter karen upset asks try take home threatened take home past evict cant afford pay rent two places try sell place much power lives home bought home dont rent karen inconsolable make appointment lawyer deals ownerrenter disputes explains difficulty park would enforcing eviction notice requirements tells us worry none core concerns discussed leave many questions tired punching bag bullies tired passive hurting woman love google law dealing mobile home parks research paper sent concerning notice zip code three numbers google prefix zip code 742 use look phone number given legitimate received document signature zip code viable phone number respond fictitious address phone number honest record manager southwinds trailer park response proof document official person within corporate office envelope return address name address printed separate piece paper taped envelope lawyers name told park manager registered corporate office nothing pans karen received notice suspect may scam simply harassment park manager secretary drive personal issues karen world take chances largely powerless defend myselfa released felon without income job know odds stacked wonder happen editors note pierce earned four classes served 30 years eight months 14 days new jersey prisons murder released 2016 living jackson nj completing bachelor arts study rutgers university pierce honors student majoring justice studies minor sociology | 754 |
<p>Why does an outback writer in Boonville, Mondocino county, California, &#160;have to write on a left-wing website about how a right-wing judge did the left — and the American public — a favor?</p>
<p>Why do I have to explain to local liberals that Obamacare, especially its “mandatory health insurance” provision, is unsupportable — even if the wonderful Barack Obama proposed it?</p>
<p>I had to turn my microscope way up to find any decent liberal, progressive, left-wing or single-payer-advocate commentary about Florida Federal Judge Roger Vinson’s recent ruling tossing the entire Obamacare sham out on Constitutional grounds because, Judge Vinson said: forcing people to buy crappy insurance is unAmerican. (Ok, Vinson didn’t call it “crappy.” I did.)</p>
<p>Let’s begin with former health insurance PR man Wendell Potter who <a href="" type="internal">wrote</a> last year that the key provision in Obamacare — that millions of Americans would be REQUIRED to buy health insurance — was the only way the Obama administration could get the bill past the insurance companies:</p>
<p>“Many insurance executives were wary of such a mandate because they don’t like the government mandating anything, especially those pesky state mandates that force them to include certain benefits in the policies they sell. Advocates of an individual mandate eventually brought the skeptics, including many of AHIP’s [American Health Insurance Plan’s] board members, around to their way thinking by persuading them that insurers could make billions MORE [my emphasis] in profits if every American had to buy an insurance policy from them. Now you know the real reason behind AHIP’s shift from neutrality on the issue to full-fledged support. It’s all about the money.”</p>
<p>After Judge Vinson’s ruling was issued last month, occasional CounterPunch contributor Marshall Auerback wrote that “If we had wanted incremental improvements to HEALTH CARE there are nearly infinite combinations of small policy changes we could have pursued — without involving insurers at all. And Dems celebrating this great victory by Wall Street were both laughable and hugely disingenuous.”</p>
<p>Joe Firestone of fiscalsustainability.org, who obviously read the bill — as opposed to Nancy Pelosi who famously said “We have to pass the health care bill so you can find out what is in it” — remarked:</p>
<p>“Folks, [Obamacare] was a bad bill. It should never have been passed. Its negative elements far outweigh its positive elements. Its claim that it will cover 32 million people is nonsense. The states are broke. They can’t serve the additional people on Medicaid envisioned by the bill. That’s 15 million of the 32 million projected covered. Of the other 17 million, many will not sign on because the very rapid price increases we’ve seen from the insurance companies will make it much more “rational” for people to accept the mandate penalties or seek waivers than to actually buy the bottom level of nearly useless insurance they’re being forced to buy.</p>
<p>“I know this bill is marginally improving the situation for some Americans now. It’s allowing some people, mostly middle class people to keep their kids on their insurance for a few more years. And some as yet miniscule number of people have been able to get insurance through the risk pool, where insurance is allowed to be way over-priced by the provisions of the new bill. I’ve outlined why this bill should have been defeated in December 2009. The final version of the bill was virtually the same as the version I criticized <a href="http://www.correntewire.com/kill_bill_nine_reasons" type="external">here</a>:” Then we looked at Judge Vinson’s <a href="" type="internal">actual ruling</a>.</p>
<p>Most of Vinson’s lengthy judgment is a pseudo-academic lecture on the Constitution, discoursing at length on the history of the “commerce clause” and the “necessary and proper clause” intermingled with a close legalistic reading of the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”</p>
<p>Vinson, a right-wing Reagan appointee whom some describe as a “Tea Partier,” first concludes that the insurance mandate part of Obamacare is unconstitutional. Then, citing the fact that Obamacare has no “severability clause,” Vinson tosses the tiny baby out with the swimming pool full of bathwater.</p>
<p>Some conventional critics (even including Mr. Auerback) have said that the Obama administration blundered (“sloppy drafting,” said Auerback) by not including a “severability” clause in the Obamacare legislation.</p>
<p>Not so, says Judge Vinson. The omission was intentional. “The defendants have asserted again and again that the individual mandate is absolutely ‘necessary’ and ‘essential’ for the Act to operate as it was intended by Congress,” said Vinson. “I accept that it is.” After some more detailed analysis, Vinson added, “In other words, the severability clause was intentionally left out of the Act.”</p>
<p>So Judge Vinson is agreeing with the health insurance companies that without the mandate, the health insurance business would be in trouble because they might have to provide slightly better insurance without getting millions of new customers. And we can’t have that.</p>
<p>Further on, Judge Vinson adds, “For the reasons stated, I must reluctantly conclude that Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the Act with the individual mandate. That is not to say, of course, that Congress is without power to address the problems and inequities in our health care system. The health care market is more than one sixth of the national economy, and without doubt Congress has the power to reform and regulate this market.”</p>
<p>By referring to the “health care market,” Judge Vinson is essentially ignoring single-payer style reformers and is trying to save the insurance companies from having to live with the minor reforms in Obamacare without getting billions in profits from millions of Americans who will be forced to buy (very bad) “health insurance.”</p>
<p>As Mr. Auerback concludes: “…a Medicare buy-in would bring the US health care system closer to the ‘ideal’ low-cost, universal (single-payer) insurance plan. Highly unlikely to occur, but if the Roberts court [i.e., the Supreme Court which most legal observers think will issue the final word on Obamacare] does force us back to square one, shouldn’t we try to get it right this time?”</p>
<p>Obamacare is a classic example of a bad law being worse than no law. And a judicial declaration saying that forcing people to buy bad-to-non-existent health insurance on penalty of fines is unconstitutional is good no matter what the politics of the judge are.</p>
<p>MARK SCARAMELLA is a regular contributor to counterpunch.org and the managing editor of the Anderson Valley Advertiser in Boonville, California ( <a href="http://www.theava.com" type="external">www.theava.com</a>). He can be reached at ( <a href="mailto:themaj@pacific.net" type="external">themaj@pacific.net</a>)</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | outback writer boonville mondocino county california 160have write leftwing website rightwing judge left american public favor explain local liberals obamacare especially mandatory health insurance provision unsupportable even wonderful barack obama proposed turn microscope way find decent liberal progressive leftwing singlepayeradvocate commentary florida federal judge roger vinsons recent ruling tossing entire obamacare sham constitutional grounds judge vinson said forcing people buy crappy insurance unamerican ok vinson didnt call crappy lets begin former health insurance pr man wendell potter wrote last year key provision obamacare millions americans would required buy health insurance way obama administration could get bill past insurance companies many insurance executives wary mandate dont like government mandating anything especially pesky state mandates force include certain benefits policies sell advocates individual mandate eventually brought skeptics including many ahips american health insurance plans board members around way thinking persuading insurers could make billions emphasis profits every american buy insurance policy know real reason behind ahips shift neutrality issue fullfledged support money judge vinsons ruling issued last month occasional counterpunch contributor marshall auerback wrote wanted incremental improvements health care nearly infinite combinations small policy changes could pursued without involving insurers dems celebrating great victory wall street laughable hugely disingenuous joe firestone fiscalsustainabilityorg obviously read bill opposed nancy pelosi famously said pass health care bill find remarked folks obamacare bad bill never passed negative elements far outweigh positive elements claim cover 32 million people nonsense states broke cant serve additional people medicaid envisioned bill thats 15 million 32 million projected covered 17 million many sign rapid price increases weve seen insurance companies make much rational people accept mandate penalties seek waivers actually buy bottom level nearly useless insurance theyre forced buy know bill marginally improving situation americans allowing people mostly middle class people keep kids insurance years yet miniscule number people able get insurance risk pool insurance allowed way overpriced provisions new bill ive outlined bill defeated december 2009 final version bill virtually version criticized looked judge vinsons actual ruling vinsons lengthy judgment pseudoacademic lecture constitution discoursing length history commerce clause necessary proper clause intermingled close legalistic reading patient protection affordable care act vinson rightwing reagan appointee describe tea partier first concludes insurance mandate part obamacare unconstitutional citing fact obamacare severability clause vinson tosses tiny baby swimming pool full bathwater conventional critics even including mr auerback said obama administration blundered sloppy drafting said auerback including severability clause obamacare legislation says judge vinson omission intentional defendants asserted individual mandate absolutely necessary essential act operate intended congress said vinson accept detailed analysis vinson added words severability clause intentionally left act judge vinson agreeing health insurance companies without mandate health insurance business would trouble might provide slightly better insurance without getting millions new customers cant judge vinson adds reasons stated must reluctantly conclude congress exceeded bounds authority passing act individual mandate say course congress without power address problems inequities health care system health care market one sixth national economy without doubt congress power reform regulate market referring health care market judge vinson essentially ignoring singlepayer style reformers trying save insurance companies live minor reforms obamacare without getting billions profits millions americans forced buy bad health insurance mr auerback concludes medicare buyin would bring us health care system closer ideal lowcost universal singlepayer insurance plan highly unlikely occur roberts court ie supreme court legal observers think issue final word obamacare force us back square one shouldnt try get right time obamacare classic example bad law worse law judicial declaration saying forcing people buy badtononexistent health insurance penalty fines unconstitutional good matter politics judge mark scaramella regular contributor counterpunchorg managing editor anderson valley advertiser boonville california wwwtheavacom reached themajpacificnet | 601 |
<p>Last May, West Virginia was Bernie territory. The Democratic primary-- which drew about 40,000 more voters than the Republican primary-- saw Bernie sweep every single county in the state. Statewide it was Bernie 123,860 (51.4%) to Hillary 86,354 (35.8%). Unfortunately for Hillary, many Bernie voters have told pollsters that they would vote for Trump rather than her. An exit poll by CBS News found that among the Bernie voters 44% said they'd vote for Trump, 23% said they'd vote for Hillary and 31% said they'd vote for neither. ABC'd exit poll didn't look as dismal, with Bernie voters going for Hillary with 48% and for Trump with 32%.</p>
<p>That said, more West Virginians voted in the Democratic gubernatorial primary than in their presidential primary-- 241,016 in the presidential race and 256,779 in the 3-way gubernatorial race, in which the state's only billionaire, Jim Justice, got 131,845 votes (51.3%). West Virginia was still voting Democratic in 1988 when it was one of only 10 states to go for Dukakis over George H.W. Bush. In 1992 West Virginia was Clinton country-- giving bill Clinton a double digit edge over Bush again-- and in 1996, the last time West Virginia voted for a Democrat, it gave Clinton a very comfortable 51.51% win over Dole (36.76%) and Perot (11.26%). Since then every election has seen West Virginia give bigger and bigger margins to the GOP in presidential elections. By Obama's reelection bid in 2012 Romney beat him 62.30% to a dismal 35.54%. Only Utah (24.75%), Wyoming (27.82%), Idaho (32.62%), and Oklahoma (33.23%) were redder.</p>
<p>The most recent poll I saw of West Virginia voters showed Trump wiping Clinton out 49-31%. The Republican gubernatorial candidate, state Senate President Bill Cole has attached himself to Trump, while Justice has done all he can do to distance himself from Hillary, even telling West Virginia voters that he won't vote for her. Justice has been "a Democrat" for about half a year. He and his wife contributed $100,000 to Kentuckians for String Leadership, a SuperPAC set up to destroy Democrat Alison Lundergan Grimes. It spent $6,409,610 on negative ads. The only presidential race he's ever donated in was for George W. Bush 3 times. Most of his contributions have been for Manchin and other far right Democrats.</p>
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<p>The most recent poll, 2 weeks ago, showed Justice beating Cole 46-32%. An actual Democrat, Charlotte Pritt, running on the Mountain Party line has 8% and Libertarian David Moran has 5%.</p>
<p>Wednesday Mason Adams profiled the race for Politico:</p>
<p>Justice's industry ties largely make him resistant to the GOP's otherwise effective "war on coal" messaging, which has proven to be Democrat kryptonite around Appalachia, even in districts beyond the coalfields.</p>
<p>"If you're going to win in West Virginia, you better be running against Hillary Clinton," says Dave "Mudcat" Saunders, a western Virginia political consultant known for his so-called Bubba Strategy, designed to help Democrats appeal to white working-class voters. Saunders, who has said he's voting for Trump, says voters don't trust Clinton or care about her support for funding going to help coalfield economies transition to something else. "She said she's going to put coal out of business. West Virginia coal miners don't want a handout. They want their dignity. They want their jobs."</p>
<p>But Saunders doesn't have kind words for Justice either: "He's screwed every coal operator in West Virginia at one time or another."</p>
<p>Cole sees that reputation as his big opening. His spokesman, Gates, says the Republican campaign will open up attacks on Justice's business record over the next several weeks. "Jim Justice is a coal operator, but he's not a coal operator acting in the best interest of West Virginia," Gates says. "His legacy of unpaid bills is documented across the land."</p>
<p>That record extends from unpaid federal fines to unpaid vendors to unpaid state and local taxes in multiple states. In a 2014 series on delinquent mines, NPR reported that Justice "stands out" among mining operators, owing nearly $2 million in unpaid fines at the time. That same year, a federal agency issued 39 cessation orders against three Justice companies for reclamation violations at Tennessee mines, including hiring a contractor who planted trees upside down.</p>
<p>The problems have persisted. This year in Kentucky, Justice's mines missed reclamation deadlines and owed nearly $2 million in delinquent property taxes. That's an improvement from last year, when he owed $3.5 million in unpaid Kentucky taxes. In southwest Virginia, Tazewell County officials seized machinery, tools and other equipment from a Justice-owned mine this spring to make up for $850,000 in unpaid property taxes. When 2015 West Virginia property taxes became delinquent in April, Justice owed more than $3.9 million.</p>
<p>The pattern apparently extends to Justice's other businesses, as well: Two companies sued the Greenbrier for unpaid work on its golf courses for the PGA tournament, eventually settling out of court.</p>
<p>Justice's mining record, which includes extensive use of mountaintop removal mining, as well as his issues with mine reclamation, has made him the target of many an Appalachian environmental activist. The Cole campaign going negative on Justice might not push those green voters to vote Republican, but it might tip them toward Pritt, who is running for governor as the candidate of the Mountain Party, the West Virginia affiliate of the Green Party. Pritt served eight years in the state Legislature and is making her third run for governor. The last time she ran, in 1996, she defeated Manchin in a primary on the way to a loss in the general election.</p>
<p>...Trump will easily win West Virginia, but the winner of the governor's race will be determined by how willing voters are to split their tickets, and whether Democrats remain loyal to their party or break for Pritt. That's why Cole's campaign is attacking Justice on his record as a coal businessman, even as they decry the federal "war on coal." Whether those voters go to Cole or to Pritt ultimately doesn't matter, so long as they're not voting for Justice.</p>
<p>In his attacks on Justice, Cole spokesman Gates repeated one line a couple of times: "At the end of the day, Jim Justice is going to do what's best for Jim Justice."</p>
<p>That line has been used about Donald Trump, too. The question for West Virginia voters on Election Day will be whether what's in Justice and Trump's best interests is in theirs, too.</p>
<p>Pritt served in the state House of Representatives from 1984 through 1988 and then in the state Senate from 1988-1992, at a time when West Virginia was still a blue state. She was the first woman to ever be nominated by a major party-- the Democratic Party-- for governor.</p>
<p>The Mountain Party is the West Virginia affiliate of the Green Party and was founded in 2000 as the state Democratic Party drifted further and further right. When Pritt decided to run for governor, the state Democratic Party, which is essentially a version of the GOP not as extreme as the actual GOP, freaked out. As the MetroNews put it back in July, "Pritt was once the darling of the liberal wing of the state Democratic Party. Her unyielding support of labor and environmental issues made her a counterbalance to the pro-business" conservatives like Manchin and Tomblin.</p>
<p>In 1996 Pritt beat Manchin for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in a 3-way primary-- 40% for her, 33% for Manchin and 20% for Jim Lees. Manchin was immediately out for revenge and like every conservative establishment Democrat always does-- as they're doing this year as well-- he refused to back Pritt and helped sabotage her election against GOP crackpot Cecil Underwood.</p>
<p>Mantis's allies formed a Democrats for Underwood committee which siphoned enough votes away from Pritt to throw the election to Underwood 52-46%.</p>
<p>Pitt joined the Mountain Party a few years ago, saying she had grown "disgusted" with what she said has been the rightward tilt of the state Democratic Party... Pritt's established liberal bona fides may help her cull support from progressive Democrats and Independents, particularly those who backed Bernie Sanders.</p>
<p>Dishonest and deranged, the state Democratic Party, run by some crooked cousin of Joe Manchin's, put out a statement this week falsely accusing Pritt of being financed by the Republican Party and Bill Cole.</p>
<p>Pritt's own statement was pretty inspiring:</p>
<p>For the record, I have NOT received one penny from Bill Cole, his campaign, or the GOP.</p>
<p>My candidacy is focused entirely on ISSUES that the Democratic Party once stood for. During the eight years that I served in the WV Legislature I maintained a 100% voting record on behalf of Senior Citizens, Labor, Small Businesses, West Virginians with Disabilities, women and children's health issues and protecting drinkable water. My legislative record of supporting people's interests over corporations earned me the titles of "The Defender of the People" and the "Mother Jones of the WV Legislature."</p>
<p>The Democratic Party's campaign of fear and misinformation concerning me is not becoming to a party that once represented the people.</p>
<p>I am heart sick over the WV Democratic Party's recent history of abandoning its progressive candidates. During my gubernatorial candidacy in 1996, Joe Manchin started Democrats for Underwood after I soundly defeated him in the Democratic primary. His Party has abandoned other progressive candidates since. Ask Sue Thorn about her First Congressional District run in 2012, or Virginia Graf about her Second Congressional District candidacy in 2010 or more recently, first Congressional Candidate Mike Manypenny or Mary Ann Claytor, the brilliant African American running for state Auditor. The Joe Manchin Democratic Party of today offers little support for candidates who put The People First!</p>
<p>Distracting registered Democrats from the fact that their own gubernatorial nominee only recently began calling himself a Democrat basically confirms that Joe Manchin's corporate-controlled ALEC still owns both of WV's mainstream Political Parties.</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | last may west virginia bernie territory democratic primary drew 40000 voters republican primary saw bernie sweep every single county state statewide bernie 123860 514 hillary 86354 358 unfortunately hillary many bernie voters told pollsters would vote trump rather exit poll cbs news found among bernie voters 44 said theyd vote trump 23 said theyd vote hillary 31 said theyd vote neither abcd exit poll didnt look dismal bernie voters going hillary 48 trump 32 said west virginians voted democratic gubernatorial primary presidential primary 241016 presidential race 256779 3way gubernatorial race states billionaire jim justice got 131845 votes 513 west virginia still voting democratic 1988 one 10 states go dukakis george hw bush 1992 west virginia clinton country giving bill clinton double digit edge bush 1996 last time west virginia voted democrat gave clinton comfortable 5151 win dole 3676 perot 1126 since every election seen west virginia give bigger bigger margins gop presidential elections obamas reelection bid 2012 romney beat 6230 dismal 3554 utah 2475 wyoming 2782 idaho 3262 oklahoma 3323 redder recent poll saw west virginia voters showed trump wiping clinton 4931 republican gubernatorial candidate state senate president bill cole attached trump justice done distance hillary even telling west virginia voters wont vote justice democrat half year wife contributed 100000 kentuckians string leadership superpac set destroy democrat alison lundergan grimes spent 6409610 negative ads presidential race hes ever donated george w bush 3 times contributions manchin far right democrats recent poll 2 weeks ago showed justice beating cole 4632 actual democrat charlotte pritt running mountain party line 8 libertarian david moran 5 wednesday mason adams profiled race politico justices industry ties largely make resistant gops otherwise effective war coal messaging proven democrat kryptonite around appalachia even districts beyond coalfields youre going win west virginia better running hillary clinton says dave mudcat saunders western virginia political consultant known socalled bubba strategy designed help democrats appeal white workingclass voters saunders said hes voting trump says voters dont trust clinton care support funding going help coalfield economies transition something else said shes going put coal business west virginia coal miners dont want handout want dignity want jobs saunders doesnt kind words justice either hes screwed every coal operator west virginia one time another cole sees reputation big opening spokesman gates says republican campaign open attacks justices business record next several weeks jim justice coal operator hes coal operator acting best interest west virginia gates says legacy unpaid bills documented across land record extends unpaid federal fines unpaid vendors unpaid state local taxes multiple states 2014 series delinquent mines npr reported justice stands among mining operators owing nearly 2 million unpaid fines time year federal agency issued 39 cessation orders three justice companies reclamation violations tennessee mines including hiring contractor planted trees upside problems persisted year kentucky justices mines missed reclamation deadlines owed nearly 2 million delinquent property taxes thats improvement last year owed 35 million unpaid kentucky taxes southwest virginia tazewell county officials seized machinery tools equipment justiceowned mine spring make 850000 unpaid property taxes 2015 west virginia property taxes became delinquent april justice owed 39 million pattern apparently extends justices businesses well two companies sued greenbrier unpaid work golf courses pga tournament eventually settling court justices mining record includes extensive use mountaintop removal mining well issues mine reclamation made target many appalachian environmental activist cole campaign going negative justice might push green voters vote republican might tip toward pritt running governor candidate mountain party west virginia affiliate green party pritt served eight years state legislature making third run governor last time ran 1996 defeated manchin primary way loss general election trump easily win west virginia winner governors race determined willing voters split tickets whether democrats remain loyal party break pritt thats coles campaign attacking justice record coal businessman even decry federal war coal whether voters go cole pritt ultimately doesnt matter long theyre voting justice attacks justice cole spokesman gates repeated one line couple times end day jim justice going whats best jim justice line used donald trump question west virginia voters election day whether whats justice trumps best interests pritt served state house representatives 1984 1988 state senate 19881992 time west virginia still blue state first woman ever nominated major party democratic party governor mountain party west virginia affiliate green party founded 2000 state democratic party drifted right pritt decided run governor state democratic party essentially version gop extreme actual gop freaked metronews put back july pritt darling liberal wing state democratic party unyielding support labor environmental issues made counterbalance probusiness conservatives like manchin tomblin 1996 pritt beat manchin democratic gubernatorial nomination 3way primary 40 33 manchin 20 jim lees manchin immediately revenge like every conservative establishment democrat always theyre year well refused back pritt helped sabotage election gop crackpot cecil underwood mantiss allies formed democrats underwood committee siphoned enough votes away pritt throw election underwood 5246 pitt joined mountain party years ago saying grown disgusted said rightward tilt state democratic party pritts established liberal bona fides may help cull support progressive democrats independents particularly backed bernie sanders dishonest deranged state democratic party run crooked cousin joe manchins put statement week falsely accusing pritt financed republican party bill cole pritts statement pretty inspiring record received one penny bill cole campaign gop candidacy focused entirely issues democratic party stood eight years served wv legislature maintained 100 voting record behalf senior citizens labor small businesses west virginians disabilities women childrens health issues protecting drinkable water legislative record supporting peoples interests corporations earned titles defender people mother jones wv legislature democratic partys campaign fear misinformation concerning becoming party represented people heart sick wv democratic partys recent history abandoning progressive candidates gubernatorial candidacy 1996 joe manchin started democrats underwood soundly defeated democratic primary party abandoned progressive candidates since ask sue thorn first congressional district run 2012 virginia graf second congressional district candidacy 2010 recently first congressional candidate mike manypenny mary ann claytor brilliant african american running state auditor joe manchin democratic party today offers little support candidates put people first distracting registered democrats fact gubernatorial nominee recently began calling democrat basically confirms joe manchins corporatecontrolled alec still owns wvs mainstream political parties | 1,017 |
<p>Photo by nayrb7 | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>Being president isn’t like hosting a talk show or running a media brand. Oprah’s success in her field is no more indicative of her potential to be a good president than Trump’s success in real estate was. You can’t criticize Trump for having no relevant experience or evident understanding of public policy, then say that the solution for Democrats is just to throw up their hands and find their own celebrity to promote.</p>
<p>— Paul Waldman, “Get a Grip, People. Oprah should not run for President”, Washington Post</p>
<p>Will she or won’t she?</p>
<p>No one knows for sure.&#160; Best friend, Gayle King, says Oprah Winfrey has no plans to run for president, but longtime Oprah partner, Stedman Graham, disagrees. Graham says bluntly, “She would absolutely do it. It’s up to the people.”</p>
<p>So who’s right and who’s wrong? And what’s up with the Golden Globes? Was the reaction to Winfrey’s emotionally-charged speech really as spontaneous as we’ve been led to believe or was the deluge of adulatory coverage in the media already in the works? I don’t know about you, but the ridiculous outpouring of praise –including more than 700 gushing articles in the MSM accompanied by a saturation campaign on social media— smells fishy to me. Was this supposed to be an inspirational speech to fans and well-wishers or a ‘product launch’ by Democratic party leaders who needed a glitzy venue to showcase their future presidential candidate, Ms. Talk TV herself, Oprah Winfrey?</p>
<p>If I was a gambling man, I’d bet that the whole Sunday night extravaganza, including Winfrey’s heart-wrenching oration, was a set-up from soup to nuts. My guess is that the DNC honchos have cynically decided that their best chance to beat Trump in 2020 is by following the blueprint that worked for the inexperienced, 2-year Senator from Illinois, Barack Obama.&#160; First, they start with the product launch to a target audience, then they create a positive buzz in the media and on the internet, then they magnify the size of the “groundswell” of support (remember the fainting ladies at O’s speeches?), then they transport their candidate from one soapbox to the next where he/she mutters the same stale chestnuts over and over again to the adoring throng.</p>
<p>Oh yeah, and one other thing: Real issues have to be avoided like the plague while promises should be made in the vaguest, but most uplifting terms possible. That was the key to Obama’s success and it looks like that Oprah is following his lead. &#160; Here’s a brief clip from her speech:</p>
<p>“I’ve interviewed and portrayed people who’ve withstood some of the ugliest things life can throw at you, but the one quality all of them seem to share is an ability to maintain hope for a brighter morning — even during our darkest nights.”</p>
<p>Ahh, another 8 years of hope and change. Who would’ve known?</p>
<p>Of course, Winfrey is enormously popular but her popularity does not necessarily translate into political support. Take a look at this excerpt from an article in the Washington Post and you’ll why her transition from TV celbrity to presidential candidate could be bumpier than many people expect:</p>
<p>&#160;“A March 2017 Quinnipiac University poll found Winfrey had a 52 percent favorable rating (and just a 23 percent unfavorable rating). She was most popular with Democrats (72 percent) and independents (51 percent). But that doesn’t mean those polled wanted her to throw her hat into the ring: Just over 1 in 5 said Winfrey should run in 2020, and 69 percent said she shouldn’t.” (Washington Post)</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean it’s a lost cause, it just means that her presidential bid is not a sure thing.&#160; It’s going to be a long, uphill slog with plenty of pitfalls and mudslinging.&#160;&#160;Even so,&#160; most analysts expect Winfrey to sail through the Democratic primaries without breaking a sweat. There’s simply no prospective candidate in the party who could compete with her charisma, her name recognition or her wide-ranging fan-base. But nabbing the nomination and becoming the party’s standard-bearer merely puts Oprah in a position where she can lock horns with big Don Trump in a no-holds-barred cage match that will decide whether the country is going to be governed by a flamboyant billionaire oligarch or by a flamboyant billionaire oligarch.&#160; Could things get any weirder?</p>
<p>I always thought the Dems would put Michelle Obama on the 2020 ticket, after all, for the ‘identity politics’-driven Dems, Michelle has it all; she’s black, she’s a woman, she’s bright, she has massive name recognition, she has stature, gravitas, charisma, she knows how to deliver a riveting speech, she knows how to handle herself among dignitaries, and she knows ‘the drill’, that is, she knows that the president is a meaningless figurehead who has very little power and follows a tight script that is written by his big money constituents. Michelle knows all of that which is what makes her the perfect candidate.</p>
<p>But Michelle probably didn’t want the job. And why would she? Hubby just cashed in on a $60 million book deal, so Michelle can afford to put her feet up and enjoy life. That’s why the Dems moved on to Door Number 2: Oprah Winfrey. If Trump can win with no political experience (the thinking goes), then why not Winfrey?</p>
<p>Why not, indeed? Here’s how Paul Waldman at the Washington Post sums it up:</p>
<p>“It’s true that Democrats have underappreciated the importance of charisma in presidential politics. But the answer to those electoral failures isn’t to stop caring about substance. It’s to find candidates who are both charismatic and serious, who would be able both to win and to do the job once they took office….”</p>
<p>(Paul Waldman, Washington Post)</p>
<p>Bingo. And what would it take to make Oprah Winfrey a “serious” candidate?</p>
<p>Well, she’d have to have a good grasp of the issues which means she’d have to take a crash course in policy, world affairs, negotiation and economics. She’d need to have an opinion about the nuclear standoff with North Korea, the confrontation in the South China Sea, the Saudi war and blockade of Yemen, the escalating conflict in Afghanistan, the US occupation of East Syria,&#160; frayed relations with Turkey, economic sanctions against Iran, Russia, Venezuela and Cuba. And she’d have to understand domestic issues, cuts to Medicaid, corporate tax cuts, burgeoning budget deficits, stagnant wages, the skyrocketing price of tuition,&#160; out-of-control health care costs, free trade, deregulation, Wall Street, the environment, transportation,&#160; law enforcement, national security and the steady evisceration of the American middle class. Whew.</p>
<p>The fact that Oprah really has no grasp of any of these things nor any understanding of how to negotiate with congress, staff an administration, or appoint judges to the bench, makes me think that Democratic honchos are merely using her as a stalking horse to shoehorn themselves back into power so they can–once again–enjoy the spoils of war.</p>
<p>Isn’t that what this whole ‘Oprah for Prez-thing’ is really all about?&#160; Aren’t the party fatcats and their behind-the-scenes constituents just looking for the right vehicle to tout their message and fly their banner without any intention of addressing the issues that ordinary working people really care about?</p>
<p>Of course they are. These people are cynics.</p> | true | 4 | photo nayrb7 cc 20 president isnt like hosting talk show running media brand oprahs success field indicative potential good president trumps success real estate cant criticize trump relevant experience evident understanding public policy say solution democrats throw hands find celebrity promote paul waldman get grip people oprah run president washington post wont one knows sure160 best friend gayle king says oprah winfrey plans run president longtime oprah partner stedman graham disagrees graham says bluntly would absolutely people whos right whos wrong whats golden globes reaction winfreys emotionallycharged speech really spontaneous weve led believe deluge adulatory coverage media already works dont know ridiculous outpouring praise including 700 gushing articles msm accompanied saturation campaign social media smells fishy supposed inspirational speech fans wellwishers product launch democratic party leaders needed glitzy venue showcase future presidential candidate ms talk tv oprah winfrey gambling man id bet whole sunday night extravaganza including winfreys heartwrenching oration setup soup nuts guess dnc honchos cynically decided best chance beat trump 2020 following blueprint worked inexperienced 2year senator illinois barack obama160 first start product launch target audience create positive buzz media internet magnify size groundswell support remember fainting ladies os speeches transport candidate one soapbox next heshe mutters stale chestnuts adoring throng oh yeah one thing real issues avoided like plague promises made vaguest uplifting terms possible key obamas success looks like oprah following lead 160 heres brief clip speech ive interviewed portrayed people whove withstood ugliest things life throw one quality seem share ability maintain hope brighter morning even darkest nights ahh another 8 years hope change wouldve known course winfrey enormously popular popularity necessarily translate political support take look excerpt article washington post youll transition tv celbrity presidential candidate could bumpier many people expect 160a march 2017 quinnipiac university poll found winfrey 52 percent favorable rating 23 percent unfavorable rating popular democrats 72 percent independents 51 percent doesnt mean polled wanted throw hat ring 1 5 said winfrey run 2020 69 percent said shouldnt washington post doesnt mean lost cause means presidential bid sure thing160 going long uphill slog plenty pitfalls mudslinging160160even so160 analysts expect winfrey sail democratic primaries without breaking sweat theres simply prospective candidate party could compete charisma name recognition wideranging fanbase nabbing nomination becoming partys standardbearer merely puts oprah position lock horns big trump noholdsbarred cage match decide whether country going governed flamboyant billionaire oligarch flamboyant billionaire oligarch160 could things get weirder always thought dems would put michelle obama 2020 ticket identity politicsdriven dems michelle shes black shes woman shes bright massive name recognition stature gravitas charisma knows deliver riveting speech knows handle among dignitaries knows drill knows president meaningless figurehead little power follows tight script written big money constituents michelle knows makes perfect candidate michelle probably didnt want job would hubby cashed 60 million book deal michelle afford put feet enjoy life thats dems moved door number 2 oprah winfrey trump win political experience thinking goes winfrey indeed heres paul waldman washington post sums true democrats underappreciated importance charisma presidential politics answer electoral failures isnt stop caring substance find candidates charismatic serious would able win job took office paul waldman washington post bingo would take make oprah winfrey serious candidate well shed good grasp issues means shed take crash course policy world affairs negotiation economics shed need opinion nuclear standoff north korea confrontation south china sea saudi war blockade yemen escalating conflict afghanistan us occupation east syria160 frayed relations turkey economic sanctions iran russia venezuela cuba shed understand domestic issues cuts medicaid corporate tax cuts burgeoning budget deficits stagnant wages skyrocketing price tuition160 outofcontrol health care costs free trade deregulation wall street environment transportation160 law enforcement national security steady evisceration american middle class whew fact oprah really grasp things understanding negotiate congress staff administration appoint judges bench makes think democratic honchos merely using stalking horse shoehorn back power canonce againenjoy spoils war isnt whole oprah prezthing really about160 arent party fatcats behindthescenes constituents looking right vehicle tout message fly banner without intention addressing issues ordinary working people really care course people cynics | 669 |
<p>On August 18, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that the Bureau of Prisons would begin phasing out its private prison contracts because, as Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates wrote, “time has shown that they compare poorly to our own Bureau facilities.”&#160;The ACLU, along with other advocates, had been <a href="https://www.aclu.org/warehoused-and-forgotten-immigrants-trapped-our-shadow-private-prison-system" type="external">pressuring</a> the Justice Department to make this move for years, but the final straw for the industry was a scathing <a href="https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2016/e1606.pdf" type="external">report</a> by the Department’s own Inspector General. In addition to finding that private prisons had more lockdowns, violence, and contraband than federally run prisons, the report identified dangerous practices stemming from the company’s constant drive toward profit maximization. For example, one private prison chose to operate without a full-time physician for eight months, apparently because it cost the company less to pay understaffing penalties than a doctor’s salary.</p>
<p>The Justice Department’s announcement is not, on its own, a death blow to the private prison industry. However, it has created the opportunity to strike such a blow—and, in doing so, end the obscene practice of profiting from the mass caging of human beings in a system that offers big shareholder payouts for overcrowding, neglect, and the denial of medical care.</p>
<p>In a <a href="http://www.inc.com/magazine/19880601/803.html" type="external">1988 interview</a>, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) co-founder Tom Beasley glibly described the company as being just like any other consumer business—“You just sell it like you were selling cars, or real estate, or hamburgers”—but, unlike demand for these consumer goods, the rise of this industry, beyond its questionable moral grounding, owes everything to government policy. In the mid-twentieth century, when U.S. incarceration rates were comparable to those of most Western European countries, private prisons did not exist. But as the War on Drugs and harsh new sentencing laws converted America into the <a href="http://www.sentencingproject.org/criminal-justice-facts/" type="external">world’s biggest jailer</a>, private prisons quickly took hold. When CCA’s first prison opened for business in 1983, it was the only private prison in the United States and held fewer than 100 people. By 1990, there were 7,000 people held in private prisons in the United States. By 2000, there were 87,000. And by 2014, there were more than 131,000.</p>
<p>For corrections officials, private prisons offered a convenient way to rapidly add new prison capacity. Instead of having to obtain voters’ approval for new construction bonds, they just needed an extra line item in their budgets—something easily secured from legislators who believed the magic of the free market would drive down costs and foster better management. Private prisons also offered a glittering deal to struggling rural towns with few other opportunities for economic growth: In exchange for financing the prison’s construction and providing other development subsidies, the town would receive new jobs and—they hoped—a secure economic future.</p>
<p>Neither promise was ever fully realized.</p>
<p>The new prisons often provided locals with fewer jobs than anticipated, and <a href="https://news.wsu.edu/2013/01/28/researchers-find-prison-privatization-can-impede-job-growth/" type="external">recent research</a> has confirmed that private prison construction is actually associated with negative job growth and depressed wages in host communities. Many towns went deeply into debt to finance these new prisons, only to be left with unpaid bills and ruined bond ratings after the company failed to secure a steady flow of prisoners. For example, the town of Hardin, Montana <a href="http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1894373,00.html" type="external">defaulted on a $27 million prison construction bond</a> after the private prison company they partnered with failed to obtain a state prisoner contract. The company eventually left town, and the city council, in desperation, offered to house Guantanamo detainees in the empty prison.</p>
<p>The evidence of cost savings has been mixed, at best, and introducing the profit motive into prison management has turned out to be a recipe for abuse, neglect, and misconduct. But once a private prison contract is signed, it is usually very hard to cancel. A <a href="https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2015/a1515.pdf" type="external">2015 audit</a> by the Justice Department’s Inspector General found that the Bureau of Prisons repeatedly renewed its contract with one particular private prison company even though the contractor struggled to meet baseline contractual standards, was repeatedly fined for failing to provide adequate medical staffing, and received “deficient” or “unsatisfactory” ratings in six of 12 award fee evaluation periods.</p>
<p>In fact, once government officials hand individuals in their custody over to a private prison, there are only four options for responding when issues arise there—including deaths, riots, and other failures. These are: imposing penalties while continuing to rely on the same private prison, transferring the prisoners to another private prison company, waiting while a new public prison is built to replace the private one, or hoping that prison populations will somehow fall low enough to render the contract unnecessary. The first and second options are both unsatisfactory; these companies have become too big to be seriously harmed by most penalties, and they inhabit a non-competitive market dominated by only three companies with very similar business models. The third option is problematic because new prison construction is slow, expensive, and ends up further entrenching mass incarceration. The fourth is ideal, but requires the legislature to first commit to criminal justice reform measures that will reduce the overall prison population.</p>
<p>Thus, state legislators and advocates should treat ending mass incarceration and shutting private prisons as two complementary goals. The Justice Department’s announcement is an example of this approach: Because the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 and the Sentencing Commission’s new drug sentencing guidelines contributed to a 25,000 person decline in the federal prison population between 2013 and 2016, the Bureau of Prisons can phase out private prison contracts without new prison construction.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, a mere drop in the prison population may no longer be enough. In response to recent sentencing reform intended to reduce state prison populations, the two biggest private prison companies—CCA and GEO Group—are <a href="https://www.thenation.com/article/private-prison-companies-are-embracing-alternatives-to-incarceration/" type="external">aggressively buying up</a> community corrections facilities: halfway houses, reporting centers for people on parole, and other probation-related services. CCA has acquired multiple smaller halfway house operators, and now controls nearly 5,000 halfway house beds. GEO has acquired some 3,000 halfway house beds, 64 day reporting centers, and a company that conducts GPS monitoring of probation supervisees. Their goal seems to be a vertically-integrated, privatized criminal justice system in which there is only one type of outcome that would not feed corporate revenue: people leaving the criminal justice system and not coming back.</p>
<p>But to shut the private prison industry out of our criminal justice system, state-level reforms will have to be ambitious. They cannot merely shift people from for-profit prisons to for-profit halfway houses and GPS supervision. Instead, legislators and local governments will need to adopt policies that limit people’s unnecessary or prolonged involvement in the criminal justice system, and take steps to address societal challenges such as poverty, substance abuse, and mental illness outside of, and beyond, the criminal justice system. One example is Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) programs, which are a successful and growing initiative.</p>
<p>That is a significant challenge. But the good news is that the Justice Department’s announcement (on which Donald Trump has been silent, and Hillary Clinton has&#160; <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/17df48d79b364cd8963b61307cd14d2f/obama-administration-phase-out-some-private-prison-use" type="external">voiced her support</a>) has left the private prison industry more vulnerable than at any other point in the past 15 years. As state governments follow the Justice Department’s lead and let private prison contracts expire, that vulnerability will increase. With each contract lost, companies must pay to maintain one more empty prison no longer filled with revenue-generating human bodies. If they lose enough major contracts over a short enough period of time, the companies will become trapped in a death spiral of rising debt and shrinking revenue—and will eventually be forced out of business. We might then be able to, finally, bring an end this unaccountable, profit-driven system that uses our taxpayer dollars to reward itself for its inhumane cruelty and neglect.</p> | true | 4 | august 18 us department justice announced bureau prisons would begin phasing private prison contracts deputy attorney general sally yates wrote time shown compare poorly bureau facilities160the aclu along advocates pressuring justice department make move years final straw industry scathing report departments inspector general addition finding private prisons lockdowns violence contraband federally run prisons report identified dangerous practices stemming companys constant drive toward profit maximization example one private prison chose operate without fulltime physician eight months apparently cost company less pay understaffing penalties doctors salary justice departments announcement death blow private prison industry however created opportunity strike blowand end obscene practice profiting mass caging human beings system offers big shareholder payouts overcrowding neglect denial medical care 1988 interview corrections corporation america cca cofounder tom beasley glibly described company like consumer businessyou sell like selling cars real estate hamburgersbut unlike demand consumer goods rise industry beyond questionable moral grounding owes everything government policy midtwentieth century us incarceration rates comparable western european countries private prisons exist war drugs harsh new sentencing laws converted america worlds biggest jailer private prisons quickly took hold ccas first prison opened business 1983 private prison united states held fewer 100 people 1990 7000 people held private prisons united states 2000 87000 2014 131000 corrections officials private prisons offered convenient way rapidly add new prison capacity instead obtain voters approval new construction bonds needed extra line item budgetssomething easily secured legislators believed magic free market would drive costs foster better management private prisons also offered glittering deal struggling rural towns opportunities economic growth exchange financing prisons construction providing development subsidies town would receive new jobs andthey hopeda secure economic future neither promise ever fully realized new prisons often provided locals fewer jobs anticipated recent research confirmed private prison construction actually associated negative job growth depressed wages host communities many towns went deeply debt finance new prisons left unpaid bills ruined bond ratings company failed secure steady flow prisoners example town hardin montana defaulted 27 million prison construction bond private prison company partnered failed obtain state prisoner contract company eventually left town city council desperation offered house guantanamo detainees empty prison evidence cost savings mixed best introducing profit motive prison management turned recipe abuse neglect misconduct private prison contract signed usually hard cancel 2015 audit justice departments inspector general found bureau prisons repeatedly renewed contract one particular private prison company even though contractor struggled meet baseline contractual standards repeatedly fined failing provide adequate medical staffing received deficient unsatisfactory ratings six 12 award fee evaluation periods fact government officials hand individuals custody private prison four options responding issues arise thereincluding deaths riots failures imposing penalties continuing rely private prison transferring prisoners another private prison company waiting new public prison built replace private one hoping prison populations somehow fall low enough render contract unnecessary first second options unsatisfactory companies become big seriously harmed penalties inhabit noncompetitive market dominated three companies similar business models third option problematic new prison construction slow expensive ends entrenching mass incarceration fourth ideal requires legislature first commit criminal justice reform measures reduce overall prison population thus state legislators advocates treat ending mass incarceration shutting private prisons two complementary goals justice departments announcement example approach fair sentencing act 2010 sentencing commissions new drug sentencing guidelines contributed 25000 person decline federal prison population 2013 2016 bureau prisons phase private prison contracts without new prison construction unfortunately mere drop prison population may longer enough response recent sentencing reform intended reduce state prison populations two biggest private prison companiescca geo groupare aggressively buying community corrections facilities halfway houses reporting centers people parole probationrelated services cca acquired multiple smaller halfway house operators controls nearly 5000 halfway house beds geo acquired 3000 halfway house beds 64 day reporting centers company conducts gps monitoring probation supervisees goal seems verticallyintegrated privatized criminal justice system one type outcome would feed corporate revenue people leaving criminal justice system coming back shut private prison industry criminal justice system statelevel reforms ambitious merely shift people forprofit prisons forprofit halfway houses gps supervision instead legislators local governments need adopt policies limit peoples unnecessary prolonged involvement criminal justice system take steps address societal challenges poverty substance abuse mental illness outside beyond criminal justice system one example law enforcement assisted diversion lead programs successful growing initiative significant challenge good news justice departments announcement donald trump silent hillary clinton has160 voiced support left private prison industry vulnerable point past 15 years state governments follow justice departments lead let private prison contracts expire vulnerability increase contract lost companies must pay maintain one empty prison longer filled revenuegenerating human bodies lose enough major contracts short enough period time companies become trapped death spiral rising debt shrinking revenueand eventually forced business might able finally bring end unaccountable profitdriven system uses taxpayer dollars reward inhumane cruelty neglect | 789 |
<p>Over the last two days hundreds of people have died in Mumbai and across Maharashtra as the South-West monsoon lashes the state. 37.1 inches fell in one day – the highest ever in the country. About 150,000 people were stranded in railway stations, tens of thousands of others on the road or in buses as commuter services were shut down. Electricity and phone links were cut in the city, some 76,000 farm animals have been killed and 1.7 million acres of crops have been destroyed. Tens of thousands of homes, along with roads, railway tracks, and bridges have been washed away.</p>
<p>It’s a story well-rehearsed in other parts of India, like Gujarat, also hit hard by the monsoons this summer. Just the familiar story of third-world countries too poor to defend themselves against Mother Nature’s psychotic abuse.</p>
<p>Or something else?</p>
<p>Mumbai’s commuter trains, which are considered its lifeline, pack over 700 people to a coach in rush hour though the international standard is 200. At least one or two passengers die or are injured every day.There are traffic jams a kilometer long on all major arteries, leaving people dangerously vulnerable in an emergency. Water easily floods badly paved roads without drainage. 55-60% of the population lives in the slums in flimsy huts that are easily washed away by heavy rains. Six million Mumbaiites without running water or sewage facilities and with inadequate health care easily fall prey to Mother Nature’s fits.</p>
<p>Place part of the blame for such disasters then on politicians who’ve repeatedly failed to do something about the massive inadequacy of public services in this teeming city.</p>
<p>Why that’s so and what’s to be done about it varies with who’s doing the telling. It turns out that Mumbai is a city of two tales.</p>
<p>TALE ONE:</p>
<p>For some Mumbaiwallahs, it’s a question of private investment needing to step in and stream-line the socialist public sector. According to McKinsey &amp; Co., a global management consultancy and Bombay First, ostensibly a citizen’s initiative, residents and businesses pay about $10 billion in taxes, 20% of India’s overall tax revenue, but the government annually reinvests only $220 million of that into improvements in city infrastructure. Mumbai, India’s business capital and a city of around 18 million people, is a congested megapolis of slums, pot-holed roads, inadequate transportation, and deteriorating buildings,the result of years of neglect combined with helter-skelter growth. Now for the last few years, the growth has declined but the rot continues.</p>
<p>“No new industry wants to come here, no one wants to live here,” moans Deepak Parekh, chairman of Housing Development Finance Corp., India’s leading housing-mortgage firm, who also sits on committees pledged to the city’s renewal.</p>
<p>The solution? Vision Mumbai, released September, 2003, the ambitious brainchild of Bombay First and McKinsey, which plans for Mumbai to grow at about 8-10% rather than its recent 2.4%. It’s not the first time Mumbai has worked with McKinsey, which has a high profile in such Asian cities as Bangkok, Shanghai, and Singapore. A decade ago, Bombay First hired it to advise Mumbaiites on “Positioning Maharashtra for leadership in the economic liberalisation era,. McKinsey’s recommendations for turning Mumbai into a “world -class city” by 2013 include scrapping the coastal regulation zone rules, developing new industries in Mumbai’s hinterland, reducing city taxes, and expanding public and private transportation.</p>
<p>That’s expected to lure investors and professionals back to the city.</p>
<p>TALE TWO:</p>
<p>Jockin Arputham, Mumbai slum-dweller, former urban guerilla and Magasaysay Award winner has a different take on things. “It’s the whole serving class that has made Mumbai a world-class city, not the middle class,” he says. For Jockin, it’s slum dwellers who do the building and cleaning of homes and offices, who look after the children, wash the clothes, drive the rickshaws and taxis, and work as coolies. They deserve the same chance as everyone else.</p>
<p>There’s plenty of land, he insists, pointing to the hundreds of acres of fallow land held by corporations like Godrej or given out generously to builders. He has a point.</p>
<p>Bombay First might be a citizen’s initiative but it includes representatives of multinationals. And behind Vision Mumbai’s rosy proposals lies a problematic reality skewered in favor of business and elites. The unrestricted development of the coast envisioned in the plan dangerously undermines natural defenses against floods and tides. Coastal development that destroyed mangroves was one of the reasons why the tsunami last year wreaked such devastation. Developing new industries in the hinterland on the back of high-tech skills does nothing for Mumbai’s illiterate slum dwellers who comprise half its population. In a city where motorized transport makes up only around 8% of traffic (but contributes 60% of pollution), reducing motor taxes while simultaneously planning on constructing enormously expensive expressways linking to the hinterland profits the car-driving elite at public expense. And with the state government in debt to the tune of some Rs.93,000-crore, dumping a quarter of the cost of this Rs. 200,000 plan on the public seems crass to say the least. Especially as public services have increasingly been cut back. In fact, any funding for public transport in the plan is from the World Bank.</p>
<p>It turns out that while the developer/city mafia is desperate trying to attract the investing class back to the city, migrant labor from the villages is being turned back. Or as Vijay Kalam-Patil, a demolitions officer proclaims, ” We want to put the fear of the consequences of migration into these people. We have to restrain them from coming to Mumbai.”</p>
<p>Consequently, part of the neoliberal Vision of Mumbai involves razing the slums and resettling the slum-dwellers. So far, the first part has been accomplished quite efficiently. Some 90,000 plus huts have been demolished and over 400,000 people made homeless in blunt violation of the U.N. Declaration on Human Rights. The monsoons have proved so disastrous precisely because a good part of the population, already forced to live in make-shift housing, has been deprived even of that.</p>
<p>It’s true that many slum-dwellers live illegally on public property, but it’s also true that the coalition Congress government whom they were instrumental in electing to power promised to regularize their huts and has reneged on that promise. And while foreign citizens – Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) and Persons of Indian Origin (PIOs) – are being breathlessly considered for dual citizenship and thus voting rights, the City Municipal Corporation, hand-in-glove with elites, is pressing to wipe dispossessed slum-dwellers off the voting rolls altogether. Send them back to the villages is the cry.</p>
<p>But there’s no going home for these urban poor. Agriculture in India is reeling everywhere from the dire impact of multinationals. Everywhere, commercialization has displaced small and marginal farmers while mechanization has displaced landless agricultural labourers. Industries all over India have been claiming enormous portions of scarce ground and surface water for their permanent use, leaving citizens and communities unable to enunciate or defend their rights to water, even drinking water. The result – millions flee to the cities and feed the metastasis of fragile, unsanitary tenements.</p>
<p>NOR ANY DROP TO DRINK…..</p>
<p>Death from excess of water it turns out is not unrelated to death from shortage of water. Only it’s not caused by the consumption of the slum dwellers, as the McKinsey Report and the pro-demolition crowd suggest. The state’s own report shows that only about 6% of the city’s land area is occupied by slums and that only little over 5% of slum-dwellers even have access to individual water taps. It’s not the benefits of the city that are pulling in the migrant workers but the drawbacks of the countryside that are pushing them out. Independent NGOs and enviromentalists point out that if the Rs. 10,000 crores targeted for Mumbai’s car-drivers were instead put into irrigation in the countryside, most of the migration to the cities would stop. But water, like every other public necessity in India, has been turned into a market commodity and a weapon in the corporate war on communities.</p>
<p>For instance, Maharashtra’s Water Resources Regulatory Authority Bill of May 2005, taking its cue from Vision Mumbai, puts into practice plans that the World Bank has had for Indian water ever since 1998. The Bill follows the Andhra Pradesh model in setting up`Water Users Associations’ with user fees. In Hyderabad, Andhra’s capital and the showcase of the neoliberal project, similar associations sold treated water to soft drinks companies at 25 paise a litre while most areas of the city were getting water for half an hour once every two days.</p>
<p>But the new Maharashtra Bill does the Hyderabad model one better. Not only does it plan to raise rates drastically and immediately, it premises access to irrigation on the adoption of drip or sprinkler irrigation, both of which add tens of thousands of rupees per acre to farmers’ costs. This in areas which have already seen countless suicides from bankrupted farmers. It takes no genius to figure out where the next raft of ruined farmers and their families will end up. In 1993 there was one bus a week taking migrant workers from a depot in Andhra Pradesh to Mumbai. Today there are 34.</p>
<p>So while Mother Nature must take a good deal of the blame for her excesses in Mumbai right now, let’s not forget what’s exacerbated the problem. Let’s remember that the part of the population that is suffering the most from the deluge today was put squarely in the way of harm by a completely unnecessary man-made shortage of water.</p>
<p>LILA RAJIVA is a free-lance journalist and author of “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1583671196/counterpunchmaga" type="external">The Language of Empire: Abu Ghraib and the American media</a>,” (Monthly Review Press). She can be reached at: <a href="mailto:lrajiva@hotmail.com" type="external">lrajiva@hotmail.com</a></p>
<p>NOTES:</p>
<p>1. “This Is What We Paid For,” George Monbiot, The Guardian, May 18, 2004.</p>
<p>2. “A Blueprint for Mumbai,” Anupama Katakam, Frontline, November-December, 2003.</p>
<p>3. “The bank and the big bang,” P. Sainath, Hindu, May 8, 2005.</p>
<p>4. “Maharashtra’s coming water wars,” P. Sainath, Hindu, May 8, 2005.</p>
<p>5. “Why Bombay Has the Blues,” Manjeet Kripalani, Business Week, November 1, 2004.</p>
<p>6. “McKinsey’s Mumbai,” Darryl D’Monte, InfoChange News, November, 2004.</p>
<p>7. “A Global Message,” Jagdish Rattanani, Asiaweek.com, August 4, 2000.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | last two days hundreds people died mumbai across maharashtra southwest monsoon lashes state 371 inches fell one day highest ever country 150000 people stranded railway stations tens thousands others road buses commuter services shut electricity phone links cut city 76000 farm animals killed 17 million acres crops destroyed tens thousands homes along roads railway tracks bridges washed away story wellrehearsed parts india like gujarat also hit hard monsoons summer familiar story thirdworld countries poor defend mother natures psychotic abuse something else mumbais commuter trains considered lifeline pack 700 people coach rush hour though international standard 200 least one two passengers die injured every daythere traffic jams kilometer long major arteries leaving people dangerously vulnerable emergency water easily floods badly paved roads without drainage 5560 population lives slums flimsy huts easily washed away heavy rains six million mumbaiites without running water sewage facilities inadequate health care easily fall prey mother natures fits place part blame disasters politicians whove repeatedly failed something massive inadequacy public services teeming city thats whats done varies whos telling turns mumbai city two tales tale one mumbaiwallahs question private investment needing step streamline socialist public sector according mckinsey amp co global management consultancy bombay first ostensibly citizens initiative residents businesses pay 10 billion taxes 20 indias overall tax revenue government annually reinvests 220 million improvements city infrastructure mumbai indias business capital city around 18 million people congested megapolis slums potholed roads inadequate transportation deteriorating buildingsthe result years neglect combined helterskelter growth last years growth declined rot continues new industry wants come one wants live moans deepak parekh chairman housing development finance corp indias leading housingmortgage firm also sits committees pledged citys renewal solution vision mumbai released september 2003 ambitious brainchild bombay first mckinsey plans mumbai grow 810 rather recent 24 first time mumbai worked mckinsey high profile asian cities bangkok shanghai singapore decade ago bombay first hired advise mumbaiites positioning maharashtra leadership economic liberalisation era mckinseys recommendations turning mumbai world class city 2013 include scrapping coastal regulation zone rules developing new industries mumbais hinterland reducing city taxes expanding public private transportation thats expected lure investors professionals back city tale two jockin arputham mumbai slumdweller former urban guerilla magasaysay award winner different take things whole serving class made mumbai worldclass city middle class says jockin slum dwellers building cleaning homes offices look children wash clothes drive rickshaws taxis work coolies deserve chance everyone else theres plenty land insists pointing hundreds acres fallow land held corporations like godrej given generously builders point bombay first might citizens initiative includes representatives multinationals behind vision mumbais rosy proposals lies problematic reality skewered favor business elites unrestricted development coast envisioned plan dangerously undermines natural defenses floods tides coastal development destroyed mangroves one reasons tsunami last year wreaked devastation developing new industries hinterland back hightech skills nothing mumbais illiterate slum dwellers comprise half population city motorized transport makes around 8 traffic contributes 60 pollution reducing motor taxes simultaneously planning constructing enormously expensive expressways linking hinterland profits cardriving elite public expense state government debt tune rs93000crore dumping quarter cost rs 200000 plan public seems crass say least especially public services increasingly cut back fact funding public transport plan world bank turns developercity mafia desperate trying attract investing class back city migrant labor villages turned back vijay kalampatil demolitions officer proclaims want put fear consequences migration people restrain coming mumbai consequently part neoliberal vision mumbai involves razing slums resettling slumdwellers far first part accomplished quite efficiently 90000 plus huts demolished 400000 people made homeless blunt violation un declaration human rights monsoons proved disastrous precisely good part population already forced live makeshift housing deprived even true many slumdwellers live illegally public property also true coalition congress government instrumental electing power promised regularize huts reneged promise foreign citizens nonresident indians nris persons indian origin pios breathlessly considered dual citizenship thus voting rights city municipal corporation handinglove elites pressing wipe dispossessed slumdwellers voting rolls altogether send back villages cry theres going home urban poor agriculture india reeling everywhere dire impact multinationals everywhere commercialization displaced small marginal farmers mechanization displaced landless agricultural labourers industries india claiming enormous portions scarce ground surface water permanent use leaving citizens communities unable enunciate defend rights water even drinking water result millions flee cities feed metastasis fragile unsanitary tenements drop drink death excess water turns unrelated death shortage water caused consumption slum dwellers mckinsey report prodemolition crowd suggest states report shows 6 citys land area occupied slums little 5 slumdwellers even access individual water taps benefits city pulling migrant workers drawbacks countryside pushing independent ngos enviromentalists point rs 10000 crores targeted mumbais cardrivers instead put irrigation countryside migration cities would stop water like every public necessity india turned market commodity weapon corporate war communities instance maharashtras water resources regulatory authority bill may 2005 taking cue vision mumbai puts practice plans world bank indian water ever since 1998 bill follows andhra pradesh model setting upwater users associations user fees hyderabad andhras capital showcase neoliberal project similar associations sold treated water soft drinks companies 25 paise litre areas city getting water half hour every two days new maharashtra bill hyderabad model one better plan raise rates drastically immediately premises access irrigation adoption drip sprinkler irrigation add tens thousands rupees per acre farmers costs areas already seen countless suicides bankrupted farmers takes genius figure next raft ruined farmers families end 1993 one bus week taking migrant workers depot andhra pradesh mumbai today 34 mother nature must take good deal blame excesses mumbai right lets forget whats exacerbated problem lets remember part population suffering deluge today put squarely way harm completely unnecessary manmade shortage water lila rajiva freelance journalist author language empire abu ghraib american media monthly review press reached lrajivahotmailcom notes 1 paid george monbiot guardian may 18 2004 2 blueprint mumbai anupama katakam frontline novemberdecember 2003 3 bank big bang p sainath hindu may 8 2005 4 maharashtras coming water wars p sainath hindu may 8 2005 5 bombay blues manjeet kripalani business week november 1 2004 6 mckinseys mumbai darryl dmonte infochange news november 2004 7 global message jagdish rattanani asiaweekcom august 4 2000 160 | 1,009 |
<p>As a dual national of Pakistan and Britain, it is the loss of British credibility I find hardest to stomach.</p>
<p>Even the moderates here in Pakistan are outraged. Across the board, young and old, poor and rich, fundamentalist and secularist are united in their hatred of the US and their contempt for Britain. Such unprecedented unanimity in a country renowned for its ethnic and sectarian divides is a huge achievement. Qazi Hussein Ahmed, the leader of the combined religious party Majlis Muttahida Amal (MMA), announced triumphantly: “The pro-West liberals have lost conviction. Islamic movements have come alive.”</p>
<p>This new-found unity, which includes for the first time the pro-West élites, the liberal middle classes and the mullahs, has been boosted by a fear that Pakistan may be on the US target list. We may not be seeing burning effigies of Bush and Blair daily (although there has been some of that), but many of those with Western connections are considering severing those links. Angry and fearful, expatriate Pakistanis are returning home, and property prices are soaring despite recession. The boycott against British and US goods is growing.</p>
<p>The same is happening throughout the Muslim world. A previously fractured ummah is finally uniting against a perceived common foe, leaving the fundamentalists jubilant and their pro-West leaders, despite their dependence on the US, with no choice but to join the anti-war chorus.</p>
<p>Bush and Blair have already shown that they care little about world opinion, but what about when those feelings of resentment towards the US and Britain in Muslim countries translate into votes for virulently anti-Western fundamentalist parties? Despite their disingenuous talk of freedom and democracy, Bush and Blair must know that bringing true democracies to the Middle East, and the Muslim world in general, will have the opposite effect to the one they hope for and will go against their own interests. It is unlikely that any democratic Muslim country today will ever elect a pro-Western government.</p>
<p>Pakistan is a good example. Popular anger at the government’s co-operation with America’s bombing of Afghanistan (its provision of bases and intelligence) led to an unprecedented victory of the religious parties in the October 2002 election. Having never won more than 10 seats in the past 30 years, the alliance of Islamic parties is now the second biggest party in Parliament with 70 seats, and forms two out of the four provincial governments. And with each bomb dropped on Baghdad, they are growing in popularity and strength.</p>
<p>America can continue to count on support from the unelected puppet governments of oil-rich countries, such as the Middle Eastern monarchies. The darlings of Western oil companies, they depend on the US to stay in power. Such is the popular outrage, however, that those leaders are looking increasingly vulnerable.</p>
<p>As a dual national of Pakistan and Britain, it is the loss of British credibility in the eyes of the world that I find hardest to stomach. Why has Blair chosen to overlook, and in some cases propagate, the lies, misinformation and discredited evidence used by the US to justify this indefensible war? Why does Blair perpetuate Bush’s mendacious claim that Iraq “has aided, trained and harboured terrorists, including operatives of al-Qai’da”, when no evidence has ever surfaced of a link, nor has any Iraqi been implicated in terrorist acts against the US?</p>
<p>Why the pretence of “making the world a safer place” when we all know an unjust war will incite such hatred that new recruits will be queuing up to join al-Qa’ida? Why the persistence in the lie that Saddam represents a military threat? Why no contrition over the exposure of flawed or faked evidence? Why the lectures on Saddam’s violation of 17 UN resolutions, when Bush gives military and economic aid to Israel, which has regularly flouted at least 64 of them?</p>
<p>Why the sudden concern for the Iraqi people, when there have been years of protest against sanctions responsible for hundreds of thousands of innocent Iraqi deaths? Why the lack of concern for Iraqi children dying of hitherto-unseen cancers linked to the use of uranium-tipped shells by the British and Americans? Why the convenient amnesia over the fact that the weapons of mass destruction Iraq does possess were supplied by the US and Britain, along with France, in the first place?</p>
<p>Is the condemnation for dictatorships with human rights records every bit as bad as Iraq’s and no democracies to speak of, restricted to those that are not West- friendly or controllable?</p>
<p>In short, why the double standards, moral hypocrisy and political expediency? Do they think it goes unnoticed, or do they just not care?</p>
<p>It is little wonder that Muslims around the world, pondering these questions while watching images of maimed Iraqi women and children as lucrative reconstruction contracts are doled out to US companies, are reacting with increasing incredulity, anger and trepidation.</p>
<p>The only thing that tempers my own rage and shame is the knowledge that there are millions like me who oppose war in Iraq not because they are Muslims or pacifists or appeasers or anti-West or anti-American or left wing, but simply because they remain utterly unconvinced by the arguments put forward for war. With British and US credibility in tatters, no one in the Muslim world now believes that this is really all about “making the world a safer place”, about al-Qa’ida and the War on Terror, about Saddam and his weapons of mass destruction, about the imminent threat to the “civilised world”, or the violation of UN resolutions; far less about the emancipation of the Iraqi people. Instead, many are asking the question: Which country is really in need of regime change and, in the words of the great statesman Nelson Mandela, is “the greatest threat to world peace”?</p>
<p>JEMIMA KHAN is a human rights activists and the daughter of Sir James Goldsmith.</p>
<p>Today’s Features</p>
<p>William S. Lind <a href="" type="internal">The Pitfalls of War Planning</a></p>
<p>Jorge Mariscal <a href="" type="internal">Latinos on the Frontlines, Again</a></p>
<p>Paul de Rooij <a href="" type="internal">Arrogant Propaganda</a></p>
<p>Jo Wilding <a href="" type="internal">From Baghdad: “I Am His Mother”</a></p>
<p>Tarif Abboushi <a href="" type="internal">Operation Embedded Folly</a></p>
<p>Lee Sustar <a href="" type="internal">Labor’s War at Home</a></p>
<p>Akiva Eldar <a href="" type="internal">Israeli Dreams of Iraqi Oil</a></p>
<p>Bernard Weiner <a href="" type="internal">The Vietnam Connection</a></p>
<p>Robert Fisk <a href="" type="internal">The Graveyard at Baghdad’s North Gate</a></p>
<p>Steve Perry <a href="" type="internal">War Web Log 04/01</a></p>
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<p><a href="https://www.counterpunch.org/" type="external">home</a> / <a href="http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Subscriptions.html" type="external">subscribe</a> / <a href="aboutus.html" type="external">about us</a> / <a href="books.html" type="external">books</a> / <a href="archive.html" type="external">archives</a> / <a href="search.html" type="external">search</a> / <a href="links.html" type="external">links</a> /</p> | true | 4 | dual national pakistan britain loss british credibility find hardest stomach even moderates pakistan outraged across board young old poor rich fundamentalist secularist united hatred us contempt britain unprecedented unanimity country renowned ethnic sectarian divides huge achievement qazi hussein ahmed leader combined religious party majlis muttahida amal mma announced triumphantly prowest liberals lost conviction islamic movements come alive newfound unity includes first time prowest élites liberal middle classes mullahs boosted fear pakistan may us target list may seeing burning effigies bush blair daily although many western connections considering severing links angry fearful expatriate pakistanis returning home property prices soaring despite recession boycott british us goods growing happening throughout muslim world previously fractured ummah finally uniting perceived common foe leaving fundamentalists jubilant prowest leaders despite dependence us choice join antiwar chorus bush blair already shown care little world opinion feelings resentment towards us britain muslim countries translate votes virulently antiwestern fundamentalist parties despite disingenuous talk freedom democracy bush blair must know bringing true democracies middle east muslim world general opposite effect one hope go interests unlikely democratic muslim country today ever elect prowestern government pakistan good example popular anger governments cooperation americas bombing afghanistan provision bases intelligence led unprecedented victory religious parties october 2002 election never 10 seats past 30 years alliance islamic parties second biggest party parliament 70 seats forms two four provincial governments bomb dropped baghdad growing popularity strength america continue count support unelected puppet governments oilrich countries middle eastern monarchies darlings western oil companies depend us stay power popular outrage however leaders looking increasingly vulnerable dual national pakistan britain loss british credibility eyes world find hardest stomach blair chosen overlook cases propagate lies misinformation discredited evidence used us justify indefensible war blair perpetuate bushs mendacious claim iraq aided trained harboured terrorists including operatives alqaida evidence ever surfaced link iraqi implicated terrorist acts us pretence making world safer place know unjust war incite hatred new recruits queuing join alqaida persistence lie saddam represents military threat contrition exposure flawed faked evidence lectures saddams violation 17 un resolutions bush gives military economic aid israel regularly flouted least 64 sudden concern iraqi people years protest sanctions responsible hundreds thousands innocent iraqi deaths lack concern iraqi children dying hithertounseen cancers linked use uraniumtipped shells british americans convenient amnesia fact weapons mass destruction iraq possess supplied us britain along france first place condemnation dictatorships human rights records every bit bad iraqs democracies speak restricted west friendly controllable short double standards moral hypocrisy political expediency think goes unnoticed care little wonder muslims around world pondering questions watching images maimed iraqi women children lucrative reconstruction contracts doled us companies reacting increasing incredulity anger trepidation thing tempers rage shame knowledge millions like oppose war iraq muslims pacifists appeasers antiwest antiamerican left wing simply remain utterly unconvinced arguments put forward war british us credibility tatters one muslim world believes really making world safer place alqaida war terror saddam weapons mass destruction imminent threat civilised world violation un resolutions far less emancipation iraqi people instead many asking question country really need regime change words great statesman nelson mandela greatest threat world peace jemima khan human rights activists daughter sir james goldsmith todays features william lind pitfalls war planning jorge mariscal latinos frontlines paul de rooij arrogant propaganda jo wilding baghdad mother tarif abboushi operation embedded folly lee sustar labors war home akiva eldar israeli dreams iraqi oil bernard weiner vietnam connection robert fisk graveyard baghdads north gate steve perry war web log 0401 keep counterpunch alive make taxdeductible donation today online home subscribe us books archives search links | 588 |
<p>Lima.</p>
<p>Once again the guardians of law and order fatten themselves on human suffering, assisted by their solicitous epigones of the press.&#160; They wanted to produce a spectacle for the bleachers; they wanted to demonstrate the sacrosanct principle of&#160; authority; they wanted to satisfy the thirst for vengeance of many.&#160; But what they did was make the biggest fools of themselves in the international media, leaving on the floor the prestige of the “state of law” in Peru. Lori Berenson returns to jail on a legal technicality, totally ridiculous, like the authorization of her residence, which everyone knew and which attracted attention when the “good neighbors” of Miraflores protested her presence.</p>
<p>It was not a matter of ripping off the clothes of a North American connected to terrorism. Nor of a pitiful plea by someone supposed to be guilty and whom the tenderness of the tribunals left at liberty.&#160; &#160;It is a case of disrespect for the judicial decisions, the result of due process.&#160; We have seen with disbelief how an order of parole was revoked by consent of the most reactionary and retrograde sectors of the Executive Power.&#160;&#160; It is a case of limited or non-existent independence of Judicial Power.</p>
<p>But in addition to violating the guaranties of the party to be judged, they are merciless with the person sentenced and her infant.&#160;&#160; The newspaper media have inherited from the Fujimori/Montesinos period a way of acting as if lynching by periodicals were one tool more in the service of the repressive authority of the State.&#160; This overload typical of the black shirt squadrons which surround the one interviewed to cut off his escape, make him stumble, cause him to despair and harass him without any consideration, pretends to be the expression of the rejection by the “good citizens” of everything they consider dangerous for the democratic system.</p>
<p>We saw it recently when indigenous leader Alberto Pizango returned to Peru and was arrested. &#160;We saw it when presidential candidate Ollanta Humala tried to set up a debate with Alan García in 2006. We saw it and suffered when at the end of the megatrial against the MRTA, far from the Naval Base prison of Callao, reporters threw themselves on the families, blinding them with their reflectors, sticking the cameras and tape recorders in their faces, assaulting them with questions and preventing them free movement.&#160; Whatever resistance there is to this massive aggression is interpreted as “an attack on the press.” &#160;&#160;This same thing happened to Lori Berenson. &#160;And the whole world has seen it.</p>
<p>They say there is no reason to make “any concession to terrorism which caused 69 thousand victims in the country.”&#160; And this resembles chewed gum or a slogan; it is the refrain repeated by automata which makes no difference between victims caused by the subversive groups and those caused by the terrorism of the State.&#160; Lieutenant Telmo Hurtado, assassin of 74 children and old people in Accomarca in 1985, when he was extradited from the United States in 2008, was not lynched by the press nor repudiated by the deceitful interpreters of public opinion.&#160;&#160; Nor is anything said about those who govern us, president Alan García and vice president Admiral Luis Giampietri, guilty of the biggest massacre of political prisoners in Latin America: over 200 Sendero Luminoso&#160; captives in 1986.</p>
<p>For white collar thieves, a luxury compartment in San Jorge!&#160; For state terrorists, impunity.&#160;&#160; For the corrupt and genocidal, re-election.&#160;&#160; The ex-paramilitary&#160; of the Comando Rodrigo Franco death squad (1985 to 1990), work today in government posts, some on the roll of Congress, and retire under law 20530, the superficial decentralization project of García.&#160;&#160; For Lori Berenson, accused of collaboration with terrorism, knowing that she killed nobody nor planted bombs, the exact contrary is applied.</p>
<p>It is not strange that bourgeois nationalism, that which welcomed militants like Congressmen Meckler and Torres Caro, and which paints itself as an alternative to raw capitalism, joins in the hysterical uproar of the middle class.&#160; Even the nationalist newspaper – which only the stupid consider leftist – said that there were shady deals under the table between García and &#160;Obama to free Berenson.&#160; (¡Thanks Don César!) &#160;But let’s remember that Ollanta Humala, in the elections of 2006, agreed with Alan García not to raise the issue of human rights.&#160; He even demonstrated in favor of the termination of trials for the military who fought subversion.&#160; And he, like his bishop Abugattás, spoke out against the parole of Lori Berenson in May 2010. Now Pedro Santos, nationalist congressman, says that “the Judicial Power is acting as it should. &#160;We are acting without pressure from international organizations.&#160; This is the most advantageous.”&#160; &#160;Very little can be expected of someone who has a brother abandoned to his fate behind bars for having commiteed the crime of rebellion.</p>
<p>The dangerousness of Lori Berenson or the risk of recidivism only occurs to the ignorant.&#160; The MRTA ceased to exist and there is no political situation favorable to the renewal of armed struggle.&#160;&#160; The ex-prisoners of the MRTA have reincorporated themselves into society and try to function politically by democratic means.&#160; None of the former Tupacamarist prisoners have suffered a Calvary like that of Lori Berenson. &#160;Therefore we must suppose that behind all this fanfare are other reasons which no one in the government dares confess.&#160;&#160; It is question of an exemplary case which meets the necessary conditions for global propaganda, demonstrating “inflexibility” towards foreign interference and the possible renunciation of international covenants, agreements, and treaties with regard to human rights. &#160;These are the means of indemnization of persons tried and convicted for terrorism by military tribunals during the Fujimori/Montesinos dictatorship, to whom the guaranties of due process were denied.</p>
<p>They have in their hands a cinematic victim to throw into the Roman circus: it is a woman and a foreigner.&#160; Concerning the bravery of Alan García with foreign women, his own wife Pilar Nores, who has chosen to be prudent, could offer good testimony.&#160;&#160; Brave subject, he who governs us!&#160; Very brave against helpless women, against worn-out prisoners (1986) and against defenseless village children.</p>
<p>Dante Castro is an ex-MRTA political prisoner who has won various prizes as a writer in Peru</p>
<p>Translated by Bill Nottingham</p> | true | 4 | lima guardians law order fatten human suffering assisted solicitous epigones press160 wanted produce spectacle bleachers wanted demonstrate sacrosanct principle of160 authority wanted satisfy thirst vengeance many160 make biggest fools international media leaving floor prestige state law peru lori berenson returns jail legal technicality totally ridiculous like authorization residence everyone knew attracted attention good neighbors miraflores protested presence matter ripping clothes north american connected terrorism pitiful plea someone supposed guilty tenderness tribunals left liberty160 160it case disrespect judicial decisions result due process160 seen disbelief order parole revoked consent reactionary retrograde sectors executive power160160 case limited nonexistent independence judicial power addition violating guaranties party judged merciless person sentenced infant160160 newspaper media inherited fujimorimontesinos period way acting lynching periodicals one tool service repressive authority state160 overload typical black shirt squadrons surround one interviewed cut escape make stumble cause despair harass without consideration pretends expression rejection good citizens everything consider dangerous democratic system saw recently indigenous leader alberto pizango returned peru arrested 160we saw presidential candidate ollanta humala tried set debate alan garcía 2006 saw suffered end megatrial mrta far naval base prison callao reporters threw families blinding reflectors sticking cameras tape recorders faces assaulting questions preventing free movement160 whatever resistance massive aggression interpreted attack press 160160this thing happened lori berenson 160and whole world seen say reason make concession terrorism caused 69 thousand victims country160 resembles chewed gum slogan refrain repeated automata makes difference victims caused subversive groups caused terrorism state160 lieutenant telmo hurtado assassin 74 children old people accomarca 1985 extradited united states 2008 lynched press repudiated deceitful interpreters public opinion160160 anything said govern us president alan garcía vice president admiral luis giampietri guilty biggest massacre political prisoners latin america 200 sendero luminoso160 captives 1986 white collar thieves luxury compartment san jorge160 state terrorists impunity160160 corrupt genocidal reelection160160 exparamilitary160 comando rodrigo franco death squad 1985 1990 work today government posts roll congress retire law 20530 superficial decentralization project garcía160160 lori berenson accused collaboration terrorism knowing killed nobody planted bombs exact contrary applied strange bourgeois nationalism welcomed militants like congressmen meckler torres caro paints alternative raw capitalism joins hysterical uproar middle class160 even nationalist newspaper stupid consider leftist said shady deals table garcía 160obama free berenson160 thanks césar 160but lets remember ollanta humala elections 2006 agreed alan garcía raise issue human rights160 even demonstrated favor termination trials military fought subversion160 like bishop abugattás spoke parole lori berenson may 2010 pedro santos nationalist congressman says judicial power acting 160we acting without pressure international organizations160 advantageous160 160very little expected someone brother abandoned fate behind bars commiteed crime rebellion dangerousness lori berenson risk recidivism occurs ignorant160 mrta ceased exist political situation favorable renewal armed struggle160160 exprisoners mrta reincorporated society try function politically democratic means160 none former tupacamarist prisoners suffered calvary like lori berenson 160therefore must suppose behind fanfare reasons one government dares confess160160 question exemplary case meets necessary conditions global propaganda demonstrating inflexibility towards foreign interference possible renunciation international covenants agreements treaties regard human rights 160these means indemnization persons tried convicted terrorism military tribunals fujimorimontesinos dictatorship guaranties due process denied hands cinematic victim throw roman circus woman foreigner160 concerning bravery alan garcía foreign women wife pilar nores chosen prudent could offer good testimony160160 brave subject governs us160 brave helpless women wornout prisoners 1986 defenseless village children dante castro exmrta political prisoner various prizes writer peru translated bill nottingham | 551 |
<p>Does the widespread public fury over AIG bonuses constitute a populist rebellion, and signal a major shift in American political culture? That’s what the mainstream media seems to be pondering this week.&#160;The Newsweek cover that hit the stands yesterday reads <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/id/190341" type="external">“The Thinking Man’s Guide to Populist Rage.”&#160;</a>Eye-catching hyperbole is&#160;the stuff&#160;of newsweekly covers. (Six weeks ago, Newsweek’s cover line was “We Are All Socialists Now.”) But the issue is filled with serious essays on the subject, by Michael Kazin, Eliot Spitzer, and others. And in yesterday’s <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/23/us/politics/23caucus.html?partner=rss&amp;emc=rss" type="external">New York Times</a>, John Harwood makes similar claims, painting people’s anger at Wall Street as part of a populist resurgence. Harwood’s most prominent source is, of all people, Ed Rollins, the Republican strategist whose credentials on the subject consist of working on the campaign of faux-populist Ross Perot.</p>
<p>One person not quoted in these pieces is the original, and still unequaled, historian of populism, Lawrence Goodwyn. He identified the first populist movement—the agrarian revolt of the 1890s—as the greatest mass movement in American history. It&#160;posed a genuine challenge to the dominant power structures, especially the banking system.&#160;It was also largely an&#160;unfulfilled dream. Goodwyn’s 1978 book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Populist-Moment-History-Agrarian-America/dp/0195024176/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1237828949&amp;sr=1-1" type="external">The Populist Moment</a>is still in print and well worth reading, both for its stirring history and its insights into what is going on today—and what isn’t going on.</p>
<p>Goodwyn traces the Populist Movement to its origins in the rural depression after the Civil War, when Southern and Western&#160;farmers formed clubs that fought the monopolistic railroad rates. By the 1870s these clubs had grown in number and size, forming themselves into Farmers Alliances, which engaged in all sorts of cooperative action, from catching horse thieves to buying supplies. By the 1890s, the alliances had a combined membership of more than one million people and were in the thick of politics. Georgia <a href="http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=157" type="external">populist leader Tom Watson</a>accused the Democrats of sacrificing “the liberty and prosperity of the country…to Plutocratic greed,” and the Republicans of serving the interests of “monopolists, gamblers, gigantic corporations, bondholders, [and] bankers.” He said that big business didn’t care about ordinary Americans “except as raw material served up for the twin gods of production and profit.”</p>
<p>Most significantly, in relation to today’s economic crisis, they demanded&#160;paper money and an end to the gold standard—changes they&#160;believed would help wrest control of credit, and of the money supply in general, from the hands of bankers and other blood-sucking plutocrats, and place it in the hands of the farmers and laborers who were the real producers of wealth. As an alternative, the populists proposed what they called the “sub-treasury plan,” under which a new monetary system would be created and operated “in the name of the whole people,” and credit would be freely extended to farmers, small producers, and other ordinary citizens.</p>
<p>In the election of 1890 the movement&#160;emerged with substantial blocs—52 congressmen, state legislatures, a handful of senators and governors—and by 1892, the alliance leaders had created the foundations of a new&#160;People’s Party. They got more than one million votes in the elections that year. Cleveland won, and in 1893, rural America fell into deep depression. The populists gained favor, and&#160;in 1896, the Democratic Party’s nomination of William Jennings Bryan (who also opposed the gold standard) represented an&#160;effort to pull in the People’s Party.&#160;</p>
<p />
<p>Kingfisher Reformer (Oklahoma), November 29, 1894</p>
<p>But the revolt&#160;collapsed, for a myriad of reasons: It failed in its efforts to build alliances with industrial labor unions and with black farmers in the South. And it was deprived of its driving force when economic conditions improved. Some rebellious farmers went home to the Republican Party; others splintered off into generally futile local movements. Certain populist ideas were gradually worked into the overall economy—railroad regulation, some banking reform, direct election of senators, postal savings banks, initiatives and referendums, and an expanded concept of currency.</p>
<p>But in fact, the movement’s co-optation into the mainstream politics of the Progressive Era was what cemented&#160;its demise. Goodwyn sees these reforms as “skin-deep parodies of the original ideals.” As&#160;he puts it, what happened was “a consolidation of our current political culture, framed by the narrow aspirations of ‘reform,’—falling within the labels of ‘progressive’ or `liberal.’ No one would ever again challenge the basic structures of the political economy.” As&#160;for the farmers,&#160;“the noose tightened, with smallholders being swallowed by big enterprises.” It marked the beginning of the movement toward agribusiness, as well as an affirmation of the power of the industrialists, the insurance companies, and above all the banks. The public would push back at that power structure in bad financial times such as the Great Depression, but would never again pose it any serious threat.</p>
<p>What’s going on today bears little resemblance to the great surge of political organizing that began in and spread through the South and West in the 1890s. To begin with, it isn’t now, nor is it likely to become, part of any larger mass movement. It’s directed at the worst excesses of the system, not at the system itself. And it doesn’t offer an alternative vision, beyond a few more progressive “reforms.” (Contrary to what Rush Limbaugh and Newsweek may say, we are definitely not all socialists now.)</p>
<p>Some&#160;reforms are being earnestly pursued by the Obama Administration and some members of Congress. But it is&#160;clear that they have&#160;no intention of taking&#160;the change&#160;any deeper. And even some of the less tepid reforms may fail. As <a href="http://robertreich.blogspot.com/2009/03/congresss-fair-weather-populism.html" type="external">Robert Reich wrote on his blog</a>&#160;last week: &#160;</p>
<p>When the public isn’t looking, Congress reverts to its old ways. The Obama-supported plan to allow distressed homeowners to renegotiate their mortgages under the protection of bankruptcy has run into a Wall Street wall….Obama’s plan to limit itemized deductions for the richest 1.2 percent of taxpayers (including the top 1.9 percent of small business owners) to 28 percent, starting in 2011, is also in trouble on the Hill. Wealthy contributors and friends of congressional leaders involved in setting tax policy have balked. So Congress is telling the White House to look elsewhere for the $320 billion it needs over ten years to finance half of the tab for health care reform. Congressional leaders have also informed the White House that they don’t have the votes to pass Obama’s proposal for treating the earnings of hedge-fund and private-equity managers as income rather than capital gains.</p>
<p>Angry populism thrives on stories about the rich and privileged who use their influence to get cushy deals for themselves at the expense of the rest of us….It’s too bad the same populist outrage doesn’t extend to issues involving far more money, affecting many more people, and entailing far more insidious abuses of power.</p>
<p>Even if its worst abuses are reined in,&#160;the system will survive largely intact and the society it dominates will remain wildly unequal—a far cry from the dreams of those farmers who gathered in barns and grange halls when the nation was much younger than it is today.</p>
<p />
<p>Anthony Weekly Bulletin (Kansas), May 4, 1894. Cartoons from <a href="http://history.missouristate.edu/wrmiller/default.htm" type="external">web site on Populism</a> created by Worth Robert Miller, Department of History, Missouri State University.</p> | true | 4 | widespread public fury aig bonuses constitute populist rebellion signal major shift american political culture thats mainstream media seems pondering week160the newsweek cover hit stands yesterday reads thinking mans guide populist rage160eyecatching hyperbole is160the stuff160of newsweekly covers six weeks ago newsweeks cover line socialists issue filled serious essays subject michael kazin eliot spitzer others yesterdays new york times john harwood makes similar claims painting peoples anger wall street part populist resurgence harwoods prominent source people ed rollins republican strategist whose credentials subject consist working campaign fauxpopulist ross perot one person quoted pieces original still unequaled historian populism lawrence goodwyn identified first populist movementthe agrarian revolt 1890sas greatest mass movement american history it160posed genuine challenge dominant power structures especially banking system160it also largely an160unfulfilled dream goodwyns 1978 book populist momentis still print well worth reading stirring history insights going todayand isnt going goodwyn traces populist movement origins rural depression civil war southern western160farmers formed clubs fought monopolistic railroad rates 1870s clubs grown number size forming farmers alliances engaged sorts cooperative action catching horse thieves buying supplies 1890s alliances combined membership one million people thick politics georgia populist leader tom watsonaccused democrats sacrificing liberty prosperity countryto plutocratic greed republicans serving interests monopolists gamblers gigantic corporations bondholders bankers said big business didnt care ordinary americans except raw material served twin gods production profit significantly relation todays economic crisis demanded160paper money end gold standardchanges they160believed would help wrest control credit money supply general hands bankers bloodsucking plutocrats place hands farmers laborers real producers wealth alternative populists proposed called subtreasury plan new monetary system would created operated name whole people credit would freely extended farmers small producers ordinary citizens election 1890 movement160emerged substantial blocs52 congressmen state legislatures handful senators governorsand 1892 alliance leaders created foundations new160peoples party got one million votes elections year cleveland 1893 rural america fell deep depression populists gained favor and160in 1896 democratic partys nomination william jennings bryan also opposed gold standard represented an160effort pull peoples party160 kingfisher reformer oklahoma november 29 1894 revolt160collapsed myriad reasons failed efforts build alliances industrial labor unions black farmers south deprived driving force economic conditions improved rebellious farmers went home republican party others splintered generally futile local movements certain populist ideas gradually worked overall economyrailroad regulation banking reform direct election senators postal savings banks initiatives referendums expanded concept currency fact movements cooptation mainstream politics progressive era cemented160its demise goodwyn sees reforms skindeep parodies original ideals as160he puts happened consolidation current political culture framed narrow aspirations reformfalling within labels progressive liberal one would ever challenge basic structures political economy as160for farmers160the noose tightened smallholders swallowed big enterprises marked beginning movement toward agribusiness well affirmation power industrialists insurance companies banks public would push back power structure bad financial times great depression would never pose serious threat whats going today bears little resemblance great surge political organizing began spread south west 1890s begin isnt likely become part larger mass movement directed worst excesses system system doesnt offer alternative vision beyond progressive reforms contrary rush limbaugh newsweek may say definitely socialists some160reforms earnestly pursued obama administration members congress is160clear have160no intention taking160the change160any deeper even less tepid reforms may fail robert reich wrote blog160last week 160 public isnt looking congress reverts old ways obamasupported plan allow distressed homeowners renegotiate mortgages protection bankruptcy run wall street wallobamas plan limit itemized deductions richest 12 percent taxpayers including top 19 percent small business owners 28 percent starting 2011 also trouble hill wealthy contributors friends congressional leaders involved setting tax policy balked congress telling white house look elsewhere 320 billion needs ten years finance half tab health care reform congressional leaders also informed white house dont votes pass obamas proposal treating earnings hedgefund privateequity managers income rather capital gains angry populism thrives stories rich privileged use influence get cushy deals expense rest usits bad populist outrage doesnt extend issues involving far money affecting many people entailing far insidious abuses power even worst abuses reined in160the system survive largely intact society dominates remain wildly unequala far cry dreams farmers gathered barns grange halls nation much younger today anthony weekly bulletin kansas may 4 1894 cartoons web site populism created worth robert miller department history missouri state university | 691 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25602028@N00/411004042/"&gt;Larry McCombs&lt;/a&gt;/Flickr</p>
<p />
<p>So you’re considering buying a hybrid car. Or maybe you already have. Good for you! You’re saving a bundle on gas and reducing your environmental footprint at the same time. But fuel isn’t the only natural resource that your car requires. Its motor also contains a small amount of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium" type="external">neodymium</a>, one of 17 elements listed at the very bottom of the periodic table. Known as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare_earth_element" type="external">rare earths</a>, these minerals are key to all kinds of green technology: Neodymium magnets turn wind turbines. Cerium helps reduce tailpipe emissions. Yttrium can form phosphors that make light in LED displays and compact fluorescent lightbulbs. Hybrid and electric cars often contain as many as eight different rare earths.</p>
<p>This hockey-puck-size hunk of the rare earth neodymium is currently worth about $350.And the stuff is good for more than just renewable energy technology.&#160;Walk down the aisles of your local Best Buy and you’ll be hard-pressed to find something that doesn’t contain at least one of the rare earths, from smartphones to laptop batteries to flat-screen TVs. They’re also crucial for defense technology—radar and sonar systems, tank engines, and the navigation systems in smart bombs.</p>
<p>Given all this, it’s not surprising that the rare-earths industry is booming. Demand for the elements has skyrocketed in the past few years, and a recent <a href="http://www.rechargenews.com/hardcopy/article286752.ece" type="external">report</a> predicted it to grow by 50 percent by 2017.</p>
<p>For the last few decades, China controlled the world’s market for rare earths, producing about 97 percent of the global supply. But in late 2010, China <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-28/china-cuts-first-round-rare-earth-export-quotas-by-11-correct-.html" type="external">cut its exports by 35 percent</a> in order to keep the valuable metals for its own manufacturers. The prices of rare earths rose almost immediately. Fearing a shortage, US legislators sprang into action. This past April, Rep. Mike Coffman (R-Colo.) introduced a <a href="http://coffman.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=436&amp;Itemid=10" type="external">bill</a> that would kick-start a domestic rare-earths renaissance in the United States.</p>
<p>A few rare-earths mines are slated to open in the United States in the next few years, the most hyped of which is a facility called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mountain_Pass_rare_earth_mine" type="external">Mountain Pass</a> in California’s Mojave Desert. (It’s actually been around off and on since the ’50s, but a company called <a href="http://www.molycorp.com/" type="external">Molycorp</a> has given it a major makeover.) When it’s running at full capacity, Mountain Pass will be the largest rare-earths mine in the world, producing upwards of 40,000 tons of the stuff every year.</p>
<p>Which means Molycorp will also have to deal with a whole lot of waste.&#160; Rare earths occur naturally with the radioactive elements thorium and uranium, which, if not stored securely, can leach into groundwater or escape into the air as dust. The refining process requires huge amounts of harsh acids, which also have to be disposed of safely. Molycorp claims that its new operations are leak-proof, but the company’s ambitious plans have raised a few eyebrows among environmentalists, since the site has a <a href="http://washingtonindependent.com/101462/california-mine-represents-hope-and-peril-for-u-s-rare-earth-industry" type="external">history of spills</a>.</p>
<p>But no matter how quickly new mines open, the United States won’t be able to produce enough rare earths on its own—it’s thought that North America contains only 15 percent of the world’s supply. A recent Congressional Research Service report ( <a href="" type="internal">PDF</a>) recommended that the US seek reliable sources in other countries.</p>
<p>And that’s where the real environmental problems begin. Mines in China have a particularly terrible record of contamination. Communities around a former rare-earths mining operation in Inner Mongolia, for example, blame hundreds of cases of cancer on leaked radioactive waste from the mine, and local people <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1350811/In-China-true-cost-Britains-clean-green-wind-power-experiment-Pollution-disastrous-scale.html" type="external">complain</a> that their hair has gone white and their teeth have fallen out.</p>
<p>Right now, our most likely nondomestic rare-earths source is an Australian company called <a href="http://www.lynascorp.com/" type="external">Lynas</a>. Although the company will mine its materials in Australia, it hopes to build its refinery in Malaysia. This idea is controversial among Malaysians, to say the least. Some suspect that Lynas is choosing to refine in Malaysia in order to sidestep more stringent environmental regulations. “If they had built the Australia, it would have been a lot more expensive and difficult to permit than in Malaysia,” says Jon Hykawy, an analyst with the Toronto-based brokerage <a href="http://www.byroncapitalmarkets.com/team/overview/" type="external">Byron Markets</a>, which specializes in rare earths.&#160;</p>
<p>It’s understandable that Malaysians would be wary of Lynas’ plans, given the nation’s history with rare earths. In the jungled interior of the country, a mine owned by Mitsubishi had a major spill in 1992. In the years since, nearby villagers have seen high rates of birth defects and eight cases of leukemia. And Mitsubishi is still dealing with the mess: The <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/business/energy-environment/09rareside.html" type="external">New York Times</a> recently called it “the largest radiation cleanup yet in the rare earth industry.”</p>
<p>This creates a real dilemma:&#160;What good is green technology if it’s based on minerals whose extraction is so, well, ungreen? Most of the experts that I&#160;talked to agreed that the elements are just too useful to give up on. “We need this stuff,” says <a href="http://wman-info.org/thenetwork/profiles/kuipersandassociates" type="external">Jim Kuipers</a>, an independent mining consultant in Montana. “It’s just a matter of figuring out how to do it right, and unfortunately, the mining industry doesn’t have a strong history of doing this.”</p>
<p>It’ll help if citizens pressure companies to build clean mines and refineries. To that end, Malaysians have formed a group called <a href="http://stoplynas.org/campaign/" type="external">Stop Lynas</a> to protest the construction of the refinery and the sweet <a href="http://stoplynas.org/huge-social-costs/" type="external">12-year tax break</a> that the Malaysian government plans to give it. Analyst Hykawy has recommended that his clients sell their stock in Lynas, in part because the controversy over the refinery means that the plant probably won’t be up and running for months, maybe years.</p>
<p>And US companies like Molycorp can help by keeping their promise to pioneer cleaner techniques, which, if they become cheap enough, could be adopted by international mines in the years to come. “There is no reason that if these folks are willing to make this change they couldn’t do it,” Kuipers says. “I just hope they’re really willing.”</p>
<p>So is Molycorp as green as it claims? I visited the site to see for myself. More soon.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | lta hrefhttpwwwflickrcomphotos25602028n00411004042gtlarry mccombsltagtflickr youre considering buying hybrid car maybe already good youre saving bundle gas reducing environmental footprint time fuel isnt natural resource car requires motor also contains small amount neodymium one 17 elements listed bottom periodic table known rare earths minerals key kinds green technology neodymium magnets turn wind turbines cerium helps reduce tailpipe emissions yttrium form phosphors make light led displays compact fluorescent lightbulbs hybrid electric cars often contain many eight different rare earths hockeypucksize hunk rare earth neodymium currently worth 350and stuff good renewable energy technology160walk aisles local best buy youll hardpressed find something doesnt contain least one rare earths smartphones laptop batteries flatscreen tvs theyre also crucial defense technologyradar sonar systems tank engines navigation systems smart bombs given surprising rareearths industry booming demand elements skyrocketed past years recent report predicted grow 50 percent 2017 last decades china controlled worlds market rare earths producing 97 percent global supply late 2010 china cut exports 35 percent order keep valuable metals manufacturers prices rare earths rose almost immediately fearing shortage us legislators sprang action past april rep mike coffman rcolo introduced bill would kickstart domestic rareearths renaissance united states rareearths mines slated open united states next years hyped facility called mountain pass californias mojave desert actually around since 50s company called molycorp given major makeover running full capacity mountain pass largest rareearths mine world producing upwards 40000 tons stuff every year means molycorp also deal whole lot waste160 rare earths occur naturally radioactive elements thorium uranium stored securely leach groundwater escape air dust refining process requires huge amounts harsh acids also disposed safely molycorp claims new operations leakproof companys ambitious plans raised eyebrows among environmentalists since site history spills matter quickly new mines open united states wont able produce enough rare earths ownits thought north america contains 15 percent worlds supply recent congressional research service report pdf recommended us seek reliable sources countries thats real environmental problems begin mines china particularly terrible record contamination communities around former rareearths mining operation inner mongolia example blame hundreds cases cancer leaked radioactive waste mine local people complain hair gone white teeth fallen right likely nondomestic rareearths source australian company called lynas although company mine materials australia hopes build refinery malaysia idea controversial among malaysians say least suspect lynas choosing refine malaysia order sidestep stringent environmental regulations built australia would lot expensive difficult permit malaysia says jon hykawy analyst torontobased brokerage byron markets specializes rare earths160 understandable malaysians would wary lynas plans given nations history rare earths jungled interior country mine owned mitsubishi major spill 1992 years since nearby villagers seen high rates birth defects eight cases leukemia mitsubishi still dealing mess new york times recently called largest radiation cleanup yet rare earth industry creates real dilemma160what good green technology based minerals whose extraction well ungreen experts i160talked agreed elements useful give need stuff says jim kuipers independent mining consultant montana matter figuring right unfortunately mining industry doesnt strong history itll help citizens pressure companies build clean mines refineries end malaysians formed group called stop lynas protest construction refinery sweet 12year tax break malaysian government plans give analyst hykawy recommended clients sell stock lynas part controversy refinery means plant probably wont running months maybe years us companies like molycorp help keeping promise pioneer cleaner techniques become cheap enough could adopted international mines years come reason folks willing make change couldnt kuipers says hope theyre really willing molycorp green claims visited site see soon | 570 |
<p>The morning was stormy, damp and cold. Strong winds were blowing and the sky was dark. This was no spring day, not warm.</p>
<p>Barbara wanted to visit the Latin American School of Medicine where 114 young Americans are dedicated to studying medicine.</p>
<p>The official plane that had brought them to Cuba had pushed forward their trip by 24 hours and it would be leaving at two in the afternoon of Tuesday, instead of on Wednesday.</p>
<p>I did not attempt to meet with all of them since I don´t have enough room for the seven of them, plus the translator and the minister accompanying them. I asked that she visit me with two other legislators, as assigned by the group. Thus I was able to meet with her again.</p>
<p>On this occasion, circumstances had changed considerably. The Legislative Black Caucus represents a sector that carries a lot of weight in the United States.</p>
<p>The long struggle for equality and justice was illuminated by the life and example of Martin Luther King whose thinking and work today enthrals millions of people in the world and who was the reason, in my view, why a black citizen, at a moment of deep crisis, reached the U.S. presidency.</p>
<p>As a result, a new meeting with the Black Caucus would take on, for me personally, a special significance. I learned about their stay in Cuba from the comrades who looked after them during their visit, the basic ideas of the congressional organization and the opinions held by its members.</p>
<p>Raul had also communicated to me the magnificent impression they had made on him during his meeting with them which had extended for almost four hours last night, on Monday.</p>
<p>When Barbara Lee arrived at the house, accompanied by Bobby Rush, Democratic Congressman for Illinois, and Laura Richardson, Congresswoman for California, together with José Miyar Barrueco, the Minister of CITMA, who for many years was secretary of the Council of State, it was 11:35 a.m.; the skies had cleared and radiant sunshine filled the courtyard. I was really happy to see Barbara once again and to have the possibility of personally greeting Bobby and Laura, two people whose names were by now familiar because of their words spoken at the meetings with Raul, Alarcón, Bruno, Miyar and the relatives of the Cuban Five.</p>
<p>Their meeting with me lasted 1 hour and forty-five minutes, by the clock; in reality, it took half a minute if I were to judge by the speed with which it took place and my desires to listen to them.</p>
<p>I briefly told them about my experiences during two years and seven months of medical care and the activities to which I now dedicate myself. I explained to them all I have learned in this period of enforced confinement, especially my great interest in all that is happening in the world and especially in the United States, collecting news and concentrating on study. I recalled that I had invited them so I could listen to them and I began to forget what most interested me: to hear their opinions. Their interest and the depth with which they were expressing their points of view, the sincerity and warmth of their simple and profound words were comforting. The three of them were reflecting transparency, pride in their work, their organization, their struggle and their country. It is clear that they know Obama and they radiate confidence, certitude and sympathy with him.</p>
<p>Barbara is proud of presiding over the Black Caucus, of participating actively in her country´s politics with new verve and optimism, of her son who had not yet been born at the time of the Cuban revolution, and of her five grandchildren. She had cast her sole vote against Bush´s genocidal war in Iraq. It was unbeatable proof of political courage. She deserves every honor.</p>
<p>She particularly remembers Ron Dellums who brought her to Cuba for the first time when she was his assistant and they spent many hours conversing with me on a cay. He is no longer a legislator, she tells me, but a mayor in Oakland, looking after a population of 400,000 inhabitants; she also tells me about the former congresswoman who visited Cuba with Dellums and who is now 98 years old and sends warm greetings.</p>
<p>Laura is California congresswoman for Long Beach and she speaks with special pride about the California port which, she says, “is the third in the world”. In truth I couldn´t hold back my desire to joke and bearing in mind that she is an active defender of the environment I told her: “Laura, if the Antarctic polar ice cap melts, your third-largest port in the world will be underwater”. In the ambience created there, she wasn´t upset in the least and she continued telling me interesting things.</p>
<p>Rush spoke next; he is the oldest and most experienced of the legislators and he was a radical activist in his youth. His life has been a never-ending crescendo of political and human knowledge. He is member of the Trade and Energy Committee and of the Communications and Internet Sub-Committee. I listened to him without interrupting for a period of 15 or 20 minutes. He explained that in his youth he read the works of important modern revolutionary thinkers who were the starting point for his later political maturity through observation and meditation about what was happening in his country and in the world. He mentioned Mandela, Che and other extraordinary persons by name, people who sacrificed themselves for others. As a general characteristic among the leaders of the Black Caucus, he quotes verses from the Bible like Martin Luther King used to do, backing up his points of view. “The word justice is mentioned in the Bible two thousand times, almost as many times as the word love”, he tells me. He spoke of his health, the battles he has waged to preserve it and to survive from cancer.</p>
<p>He personally knows Obama, having dealt with him closely for years, at times even as an adversary; he expressed a high and sincere concept of him; he describes him as an honest and good person who wants to help the American people.</p>
<p>He expressed admiration for the health services provided in Cuba for the people and for the research centers that are dedicated to the war against disease.</p>
<p>I could listen to him for hours as a never-ending fountain of knowledge and maturity.</p>
<p>I asked him about the meaning of his statement: “Obama can improve relations with Cuba, but Cuba should help Obama”. We have never been aggressors nor do we threaten the United States. Cuba would not have the possibility to take the initiative. From the beginning we had had the certainty that his words were sincere and we said it publicly before and after his election. At the same time we expressed the opinion that, in the United States, the objective realities were more powerful than Obama´s sincere intentions.</p>
<p>Finally, I asked him about which of the books published in English in the U.S. about Martin Luther King were the best and whether they were translated into Spanish. The three of them spoke to me about Taylor Branch’s trilogy, as the most interesting among them, and of: “Letters from Birmingham Jail”. They were not sure about their translation into Spanish and they promised to send me the pertinent material.</p>
<p>It was an excellent meeting.</p> | true | 4 | morning stormy damp cold strong winds blowing sky dark spring day warm barbara wanted visit latin american school medicine 114 young americans dedicated studying medicine official plane brought cuba pushed forward trip 24 hours would leaving two afternoon tuesday instead wednesday attempt meet since dont enough room seven plus translator minister accompanying asked visit two legislators assigned group thus able meet occasion circumstances changed considerably legislative black caucus represents sector carries lot weight united states long struggle equality justice illuminated life example martin luther king whose thinking work today enthrals millions people world reason view black citizen moment deep crisis reached us presidency result new meeting black caucus would take personally special significance learned stay cuba comrades looked visit basic ideas congressional organization opinions held members raul also communicated magnificent impression made meeting extended almost four hours last night monday barbara lee arrived house accompanied bobby rush democratic congressman illinois laura richardson congresswoman california together josé miyar barrueco minister citma many years secretary council state 1135 skies cleared radiant sunshine filled courtyard really happy see barbara possibility personally greeting bobby laura two people whose names familiar words spoken meetings raul alarcón bruno miyar relatives cuban five meeting lasted 1 hour fortyfive minutes clock reality took half minute judge speed took place desires listen briefly told experiences two years seven months medical care activities dedicate explained learned period enforced confinement especially great interest happening world especially united states collecting news concentrating study recalled invited could listen began forget interested hear opinions interest depth expressing points view sincerity warmth simple profound words comforting three reflecting transparency pride work organization struggle country clear know obama radiate confidence certitude sympathy barbara proud presiding black caucus participating actively countrys politics new verve optimism son yet born time cuban revolution five grandchildren cast sole vote bushs genocidal war iraq unbeatable proof political courage deserves every honor particularly remembers ron dellums brought cuba first time assistant spent many hours conversing cay longer legislator tells mayor oakland looking population 400000 inhabitants also tells former congresswoman visited cuba dellums 98 years old sends warm greetings laura california congresswoman long beach speaks special pride california port says third world truth couldnt hold back desire joke bearing mind active defender environment told laura antarctic polar ice cap melts thirdlargest port world underwater ambience created wasnt upset least continued telling interesting things rush spoke next oldest experienced legislators radical activist youth life neverending crescendo political human knowledge member trade energy committee communications internet subcommittee listened without interrupting period 15 20 minutes explained youth read works important modern revolutionary thinkers starting point later political maturity observation meditation happening country world mentioned mandela che extraordinary persons name people sacrificed others general characteristic among leaders black caucus quotes verses bible like martin luther king used backing points view word justice mentioned bible two thousand times almost many times word love tells spoke health battles waged preserve survive cancer personally knows obama dealt closely years times even adversary expressed high sincere concept describes honest good person wants help american people expressed admiration health services provided cuba people research centers dedicated war disease could listen hours neverending fountain knowledge maturity asked meaning statement obama improve relations cuba cuba help obama never aggressors threaten united states cuba would possibility take initiative beginning certainty words sincere said publicly election time expressed opinion united states objective realities powerful obamas sincere intentions finally asked books published english us martin luther king best whether translated spanish three spoke taylor branchs trilogy interesting among letters birmingham jail sure translation spanish promised send pertinent material excellent meeting | 593 |
<p>After producing only one column during his recent visit to Iraq, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman has already churned out two in Afghanistan, the next stop on his tour of areas affected by US diplomacy. The tour is occurring in the company of chairman Admiral Mike Mullen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and there is a pedagogical theme running through all three columns, starting with Friedman’s assertion that “[w]e are going to find out just what Iraqis have learned soon.”&#160;What they should have internalized from the US occupation is, Friedman implies, the value of cooperation between US troops of different backgrounds—“men, women, blacks, whites, Asians, Hispanics.”</p>
<p>Afghanistan meanwhile has not yet reached final exam time, as evidenced by the title of Friedman’s July 18 article: “Teacher, Can We Leave Now? No.” The article begins: “I confess, I find it hard to come to Afghanistan and not ask: Why are we here? Who cares about the Taliban? Al Qaeda is gone. And if its leaders come back, well, that’s why God created cruise missiles.”</p>
<p>I in turn must confess that I sometimes find it hard to read the New York Times without asking questions of a similarly existential nature, such as whether God intended for his arsenal to be used on Afghan wedding parties. Friedman recognizes that secularism may in fact be preferable to certain types of gods when he poses a question to a group of young girls in the village of Pushghar, who are being treated to a new school courtesy of humanitarian Greg Mortenson: “Where were they going to school before Mortenson’s Central Asia Institute and the U.S. State Department joined with the village elders to get this secular public school built? ‘The mosque,’ the girls said.”</p>
<p>The issue of religious zealotry versus modernity has already been addressed earlier in the article, where “Mortenson’s efforts remind us what the essence of the ‘war on terrorism’ is about. It’s about the war of ideas within Islam.” The US role in internal Islamic wars is illustrated when Friedman jovially informs us that Admiral Mike Mullen has been translated into Urdu as America’s “warrior chief,” and that “America’s invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan were, in part, an effort to create the space for the Muslim progressives to fight and win so that the real engine of change, something that takes nine months and 21 years to produce — a new generation — can be educated and raised differently.”</p>
<p>Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s calculation as to the time required for Muslim production was thus confirmed as falling short by approximately eight months and 21 years, as the 34-day Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006 had failed to produce the US State Department’s intended New Middle East. Mortenson himself provides an example of Friedman’s longer version:</p>
<p>“When a girl gets educated here and then becomes a mother, she will be much less likely to let her son become a militant or insurgent… And she will have fewer children. When a girl learns how to read and write, one of the first things she does is teach her own mother. The girls will bring home meat and veggies, wrapped in newspapers, and the mother will ask the girl to read the newspaper to her and the mothers will learn about politics and about women who are exploited.”</p>
<p>The simplicity of the process is of course endangered by Muslim militants, who “recruit among the illiterate and impoverished in society, so the more of them the better, said Mortenson.” Potential ramifications of the Israeli bombing of two UN schools in Gaza in January are therefore deeply concerning.</p>
<p>Despite being “originally critical of the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Mortenson has now decided that American armed forces have “gone through a huge learning curve. They really get it.” Friedman had experienced a similar appreciation for knowledge acquisition among the US military in his recent column on Iraq: “I am amazed in talking to U.S. Army officers here as to how much they’ve learned from and about Iraqis. It has taken way too long, but our soldiers understand this place. But what about Iraqis?”</p>
<p>Learning opportunities have meanwhile expanded in Pushghar for “two little Afghan girls crouched on the front steps of their new school, clutching tightly with both arms the notebooks handed to them by a U.S. admiral — as if they were their first dolls.” Such scenes convince Friedman that, though he may have his doubts about the war in Afghanistan, “it’s hard to say: ‘Let’s just walk away.’ Not yet”—which luckily conforms with the sedentary plans of US President Barack Obama.</p>
<p>Friedman continues the classroom motif in his July 21 column from Helmand province, entitled “The Class Too Dumb to Quit,” which refers to US officers who “know every mistake that has been made, been told every lie, saw their own soldiers killed by stupidity, figured out solutions and built relationships with insurgents, sheikhs and imams on the ground that have given the best of them a granular understanding of the ‘real’ Middle East that would rival any Middle East studies professor.” The officers have received the affectionate nickname “dumb” by refusing to abandon Iraq to insurgents, and Friedman is now relieved that “[a]t least The Class Too Dumb to Quit is in charge” of Afghanistan; further incongruities result from the fact that the class has managed to understand the region despite being in a place called Camp Leatherneck.</p>
<p>Friedman reviews the anti-insurgency strategy of these “out-of-the-box” thinkers, which now rests on the following principle: “‘We don’t count enemy killed in action anymore,’ one of [the] officers told me.” Friedman approves the evolution of strategy from Vietnam-era preoccupation with enemy KIAs, which are in fact less important than “R.B.’s (‘relationships built’)” with Iraqi and Afghan mayors, imams, and insurgents—a reasoning based on the following:</p>
<p>“Relationships bring intelligence; they bring cooperation. One good relationship can save the lives of dozens of soldiers and civilians. One reason torture and Abu Ghraib got out of control was because our soldiers had built so few relationships that they tried to beat information out of people instead. But relationship-building is painstaking.”</p>
<p>The process is presumably even more painstaking when Muslims require nine months and 21 years to understand things, which is perhaps why Friedman resurrects his “unease” at the fact that “America has just adopted Afghanistan as our new baby.” Also contributing to the painstaking task of relationship-building is that Muslims presumably count their own dead.</p>
<p>Friedman’s fluctuating uneasiness with Obama’s troop surge is compounded by the fact that current US relationships include the “Afghan police and government, [who] are so corrupt that more than a few Afghans prefer the Taliban.” His only consolation is the possibility that “The Class Too Dumb to Quit can take all that it learned in Iraq and help rebuild The Country That’s Been Too Broken to Work,” an optimistic spin on dumbness which also characterizes the New York Times’ choice of foreign affairs columnists.</p>
<p>BELÉN FERNÁNDEZ can be reached at <a href="mailto:belengarciabernal@gmail.com" type="external">belengarciabernal@gmail.com</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | producing one column recent visit iraq new york times columnist thomas friedman already churned two afghanistan next stop tour areas affected us diplomacy tour occurring company chairman admiral mike mullen joint chiefs staff pedagogical theme running three columns starting friedmans assertion going find iraqis learned soon160what internalized us occupation friedman implies value cooperation us troops different backgroundsmen women blacks whites asians hispanics afghanistan meanwhile yet reached final exam time evidenced title friedmans july 18 article teacher leave article begins confess find hard come afghanistan ask cares taliban al qaeda gone leaders come back well thats god created cruise missiles turn must confess sometimes find hard read new york times without asking questions similarly existential nature whether god intended arsenal used afghan wedding parties friedman recognizes secularism may fact preferable certain types gods poses question group young girls village pushghar treated new school courtesy humanitarian greg mortenson going school mortensons central asia institute us state department joined village elders get secular public school built mosque girls said issue religious zealotry versus modernity already addressed earlier article mortensons efforts remind us essence war terrorism war ideas within islam us role internal islamic wars illustrated friedman jovially informs us admiral mike mullen translated urdu americas warrior chief americas invasions iraq afghanistan part effort create space muslim progressives fight win real engine change something takes nine months 21 years produce new generation educated raised differently former secretary state condoleezza rices calculation time required muslim production thus confirmed falling short approximately eight months 21 years 34day israeli war lebanon 2006 failed produce us state departments intended new middle east mortenson provides example friedmans longer version girl gets educated becomes mother much less likely let son become militant insurgent fewer children girl learns read write one first things teach mother girls bring home meat veggies wrapped newspapers mother ask girl read newspaper mothers learn politics women exploited simplicity process course endangered muslim militants recruit among illiterate impoverished society better said mortenson potential ramifications israeli bombing two un schools gaza january therefore deeply concerning despite originally critical us military iraq afghanistan mortenson decided american armed forces gone huge learning curve really get friedman experienced similar appreciation knowledge acquisition among us military recent column iraq amazed talking us army officers much theyve learned iraqis taken way long soldiers understand place iraqis learning opportunities meanwhile expanded pushghar two little afghan girls crouched front steps new school clutching tightly arms notebooks handed us admiral first dolls scenes convince friedman though may doubts war afghanistan hard say lets walk away yetwhich luckily conforms sedentary plans us president barack obama friedman continues classroom motif july 21 column helmand province entitled class dumb quit refers us officers know every mistake made told every lie saw soldiers killed stupidity figured solutions built relationships insurgents sheikhs imams ground given best granular understanding real middle east would rival middle east studies professor officers received affectionate nickname dumb refusing abandon iraq insurgents friedman relieved least class dumb quit charge afghanistan incongruities result fact class managed understand region despite place called camp leatherneck friedman reviews antiinsurgency strategy outofthebox thinkers rests following principle dont count enemy killed action anymore one officers told friedman approves evolution strategy vietnamera preoccupation enemy kias fact less important rbs relationships built iraqi afghan mayors imams insurgentsa reasoning based following relationships bring intelligence bring cooperation one good relationship save lives dozens soldiers civilians one reason torture abu ghraib got control soldiers built relationships tried beat information people instead relationshipbuilding painstaking process presumably even painstaking muslims require nine months 21 years understand things perhaps friedman resurrects unease fact america adopted afghanistan new baby also contributing painstaking task relationshipbuilding muslims presumably count dead friedmans fluctuating uneasiness obamas troop surge compounded fact current us relationships include afghan police government corrupt afghans prefer taliban consolation possibility class dumb quit take learned iraq help rebuild country thats broken work optimistic spin dumbness also characterizes new york times choice foreign affairs columnists belÉn fernÁndez reached belengarciabernalgmailcom 160 160 160 160 160 160 | 661 |
<p>Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com</p>
<p>This story was supported by the journalism non-profit&#160; <a href="//www.economichardship.org/" type="external">The Economic Hardship Reporting Project.</a></p>
<p>Last September after a bout of unemployment, I was offered a part-time position through a recruiting agency as a copywriter at a publishing company. I immediately accepted. Yet, less than a week into my new position, I realized it paid too much. The salary would place my yearly earnings slightly above the allowable income limit for my affordable housing unit in Arlington, the Boston-area suburb where I live. If I kept the job, I risked losing my apartment, and there was no way I could afford to rent anything else in the area on that salary. So I quit.</p>
<p>With middle-class salaries no longer enough to afford the rising cost of living in many U.S. cities, middle-class people like me face a series of impossible-seeming choices: figure out how to make a lot more money, move away from the city and community you call home, or apply for housing assistance, which is a huge gamble. Affordable housing makes it possible to stay in the neighborhoods you know, but the “lucky winners” of housing lotteries can find themselves with a new problem—voluntary poverty. &#160;</p>
<p>The most recent income limit for affordable housing available through the Housing Corporation of Arlington for my household size of one is $39,500 and the rent on my one bedroom is $1,014. But I often make much less than that and can’t risk making any more. It’s a struggle to keep my earnings within the narrow window that allows me to pay my rent and the rest of my bills, yet doesn’t disqualify me from my affordable housing. I turn down work and forego applying to certain positions, because I can’t gamble that a leap forward in my professional life will translate into being able to afford a market rate one-bedroom in my neighborhood, which starts at $1,500.</p>
<p>How’d I get here?</p>
<p>After splitting up with my long-term partner in June 2012 at age 33, I moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Arlington. My neighborhood is the epitome of charming, so much so that the Boston Globe once likened it to a Norman Rockwell painting. It has a 110-acre kettle pond, a tree-lined bike path and an old-timey movie theater, as well as several pizzerias, bakeries and cafes. &#160;</p>
<p>I had lived in Boston for three years by then. It was the first time in the 12 years since leaving my childhood home in Brooklyn to attend college that I had lived in one place for more than a year or two. However, throwing down roots has become more important to me. I have several health conditions, including degenerative disc disease and spinal stenosis, that require regular care and I found quality health care providers as well as good friends in my adopted home. My neighbors bring me soup when I am sick and watch my cats when I need to travel. The librarians and local shopkeepers know my tastes in books, food and movies. I feel settled and safe here in a way I never have before. Boston has also been invaluable to me as a writer. Since moving here, I have met and collaborated with numerous writers and artists on a variety of projects and performances that have increased my visibility in the public eye locally and regionally.&#160;</p>
<p>When my lease was up for renewal in 2013, my landlord raised my monthly rent by $100 and informed me it would be raised again the following year by at least $150 for the 2014 renewal. That's a 20 percent increase in only two years' time.</p>
<p>As a freelance writer whose wages reflect the overall decline in the industry, my only option for staying in the Boston area was landing an affordable housing unit. A unit unexpectedly opened up in my very own neighborhood—a small miracle given that, according to estimates, there are only between 30 and 57 affordable units for every 100 people in the United States who qualify. &#160;In the Boston area those odds are even worse, with the Boston Housing Authority reporting a waitlist of 40,000 households for only 15,000 subsidized units in 2014. I jumped at the opportunity.&#160;</p>
<p>Across the nation, the number of people who are “rent burdened” is growing, with half of all renters paying more than a third of their income toward rent, while a quarter of renters pay half or more of their income, according to the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. Yet even as rents in the United States increased 6 percent between 2000-2012, wages for median income renters fell 13 percent. It’s worse in big cities such as Boston, with median rents rising by 50 percent since 2005. With workers paying a larger percentage of their incomes toward rent than ever before, there is less money to save or to pay off student loans or to afford health insurance and even food. &#160;</p>
<p>Increases in rent also make it harder for people to settle down and form the strong connections that lead to lively communities.</p>
<p>The alarm bells that began three years ago in New York City, with everyone from Patti Smith and David Byrne to Lena Dunham and Moby bemoaning the loss of its young creative class due to the high cost of living, have spread to Boston and other cities. Just last month, Boston Magazine ran a cover story declaring that Boston is too expensive for most people to live in unless they are wealthy. Creatives have been flocking out of the area, taking the city’s funkier side with it. &#160;</p>
<p>In 2014, Jeannine Thibodeau, a 45-year-old writer and editor, relocated back to Boston, fleeing gentrification in Brooklyn that brought a $600 rent hike on the apartment where she lived with her artist husband and two children. But she found she couldn't afford Boston either, until some friends offered to rent her family a condo they owned well below market rate. Other writers, artists and actors in New York, Chicago and San Francisco describe managing to stay in their respective cities by taking on multiple roommates, securing a below-market rent due to a personal connection like Thibodeau, being protected by rent control or having a benefactor in the form of an affluent parent or partner.</p>
<p>For the rest of us in the creative class, living in the cities that advance our aspirations means accepting a Faustian bargain, where we feed our dreams at the cost of our bank accounts. It means we have to think twice about starting a family, because in an age of skyrocketing rents— as well as massive student loan debt and escalating health care costs—having children is a luxury that artists can’t afford. Ironically, staying in these cities also disrupts our artmaking. Hours at low-paying service jobs or manual labor, trying to make ends meet, leave little time or energy for making art. Living on the edge of destitution stifles the urge altogether.</p>
<p>In this respect, I am one of the lucky ones. My affordable housing limits the amount of work I can accept, which frees up more time to devote to my art. However, I’m always toeing the line between poverty and self-sufficiency. Such a delicate balancing act is difficult in the short term and impossible to maintain over time. But I have no other choice. So, I continue to keep a close eye on my balance sheet and bide my time, wondering how much longer I can live like this.</p>
<p>Laura Kiesel is a Boston-based journalist and essayist whose writings have been featured in The Guardian, Salon, The Street, Narratively, Vox, Earth Island Journal and others.&#160;</p> | true | 4 | photo credit shutterstockcom story supported journalism nonprofit160 economic hardship reporting project last september bout unemployment offered parttime position recruiting agency copywriter publishing company immediately accepted yet less week new position realized paid much salary would place yearly earnings slightly allowable income limit affordable housing unit arlington bostonarea suburb live kept job risked losing apartment way could afford rent anything else area salary quit middleclass salaries longer enough afford rising cost living many us cities middleclass people like face series impossibleseeming choices figure make lot money move away city community call home apply housing assistance huge gamble affordable housing makes possible stay neighborhoods know lucky winners housing lotteries find new problemvoluntary poverty 160 recent income limit affordable housing available housing corporation arlington household size one 39500 rent one bedroom 1014 often make much less cant risk making struggle keep earnings within narrow window allows pay rent rest bills yet doesnt disqualify affordable housing turn work forego applying certain positions cant gamble leap forward professional life translate able afford market rate onebedroom neighborhood starts 1500 howd get splitting longterm partner june 2012 age 33 moved onebedroom apartment arlington neighborhood epitome charming much boston globe likened norman rockwell painting 110acre kettle pond treelined bike path oldtimey movie theater well several pizzerias bakeries cafes 160 lived boston three years first time 12 years since leaving childhood home brooklyn attend college lived one place year two however throwing roots become important several health conditions including degenerative disc disease spinal stenosis require regular care found quality health care providers well good friends adopted home neighbors bring soup sick watch cats need travel librarians local shopkeepers know tastes books food movies feel settled safe way never boston also invaluable writer since moving met collaborated numerous writers artists variety projects performances increased visibility public eye locally regionally160 lease renewal 2013 landlord raised monthly rent 100 informed would raised following year least 150 2014 renewal thats 20 percent increase two years time freelance writer whose wages reflect overall decline industry option staying boston area landing affordable housing unit unit unexpectedly opened neighborhooda small miracle given according estimates 30 57 affordable units every 100 people united states qualify 160in boston area odds even worse boston housing authority reporting waitlist 40000 households 15000 subsidized units 2014 jumped opportunity160 across nation number people rent burdened growing half renters paying third income toward rent quarter renters pay half income according joint center housing studies harvard university yet even rents united states increased 6 percent 20002012 wages median income renters fell 13 percent worse big cities boston median rents rising 50 percent since 2005 workers paying larger percentage incomes toward rent ever less money save pay student loans afford health insurance even food 160 increases rent also make harder people settle form strong connections lead lively communities alarm bells began three years ago new york city everyone patti smith david byrne lena dunham moby bemoaning loss young creative class due high cost living spread boston cities last month boston magazine ran cover story declaring boston expensive people live unless wealthy creatives flocking area taking citys funkier side 160 2014 jeannine thibodeau 45yearold writer editor relocated back boston fleeing gentrification brooklyn brought 600 rent hike apartment lived artist husband two children found couldnt afford boston either friends offered rent family condo owned well market rate writers artists actors new york chicago san francisco describe managing stay respective cities taking multiple roommates securing belowmarket rent due personal connection like thibodeau protected rent control benefactor form affluent parent partner rest us creative class living cities advance aspirations means accepting faustian bargain feed dreams cost bank accounts means think twice starting family age skyrocketing rents well massive student loan debt escalating health care costshaving children luxury artists cant afford ironically staying cities also disrupts artmaking hours lowpaying service jobs manual labor trying make ends meet leave little time energy making art living edge destitution stifles urge altogether respect one lucky ones affordable housing limits amount work accept frees time devote art however im always toeing line poverty selfsufficiency delicate balancing act difficult short term impossible maintain time choice continue keep close eye balance sheet bide time wondering much longer live like laura kiesel bostonbased journalist essayist whose writings featured guardian salon street narratively vox earth island journal others160 | 710 |
<p>A few days ago, the UK Conservative cabinet minister Sajid Javid, the son of Pakistani immigrants, proposed that every public office-holder (i.e. all elected officials, civil servants, and council workers) should swear an oath of allegiance to “British values”.</p>
<p>Javid said the oath could include phrases such as “tolerating the views of others even if you disagree with them”, as well as “believing in freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from abuse … a belief in equality, democracy, and the democratic process” and “respect for the law, even if you think the law is an ass”.</p>
<p>These are fine-sounding phrases, especially when one considers who they are coming from.&#160; Before he entered politics, Javid was a director and board member of Deutsche Bank from 2000 to 2009.</p>
<p>Phil Mattera’s excellent <a href="http://www.corp-research.org/deutsche-bank" type="external">Corporate Rap Sheet</a> has a long section on Deutsche Bank (DB).&#160;&#160; In the period when Javid was one of the people at its helm, DB had a long series on run-ins with financial sector regulators in the US and UK.&#160; These continue to this day, but our concern is with the period when Javid was a senior executive at DB.</p>
<p>In 2002 three US agencies—the SEC, the New York Stock Exchange and NASD (the U.S. industry regulator now known as FINRA)—fined&#160;DB Securities $1.65 million for failing to preserve e-mail archives that could be consulted in enforcement actions. &#160;To put it in plainer language:&#160; DB destroyed evidence that could be used against them in a legal case.</p>
<p>In 2003 the SEC&#160;penalized&#160;DB $750,000 for violating conflict of interest rules by not disclosing its role in advising Hewlett-Packard on the acquisition of Compaq Computer while its asset management wing was voting its clients’ proxies in favor of the deal.</p>
<p>In 2004 Britain’s Financial Services Authority&#160;fined&#160;DB’s Morgan Grenfell unit £190,000 for program trading violations.</p>
<p>In the same year, NASD&#160;fined&#160;DB $5.29 million for charging excessive commissions in the allocation of shares of initial public offerings.</p>
<p>Later in 2004, NASD&#160;fined&#160;DB $5 million for corporate high-yield bond trading violations.</p>
<p>Also in 2004, the SEC&#160;announced&#160;that DB would pay $87.5 million to settle charges of conflicts of interest between its investment banking and its research operations.</p>
<p>In 2005 the Federal Reserve and the New York State Banking Department&#160;announced&#160;that DB had agreed to take steps to improve its policies designed to prevent money laundering by customers.</p>
<p>In 2006 the UK Financial Services Authority&#160;fined&#160;DB £6.3 million for “failing to observe proper standards of market conduct” in transactions involving shares of Scania and Cytos Biotechnology.</p>
<p>Also in 2006, DB&#160;agreed&#160;to pay $208 million to US federal and state agencies to settle charges of market timing violations.</p>
<p>During this period, DB chief executive Jose Ackermann personally paid €3.2 million to&#160;settle&#160;criminal charges that he and other directors of the German telecommunications company Mannesmann awarded excessive bonuses to Mannesmann executives.</p>
<p>In 2007 DB&#160;agreed&#160;to pay $25 million (and give up $416 million in unsecured claims) as part of a legal settlement over its dealings with the Enron Corporation.</p>
<p>In 2009 the SEC&#160;announced&#160;that DB would provide $1.3 billion in liquidity to investors alleged by the SEC to have been misled by DB regarding the risks associated with auction rate securities.</p>
<p>In the same year, DB was sharply criticized for using a private detective to spy on activist investors as well as some DB employees. Several executives were&#160;fired&#160;as a result.</p>
<p>In September 2016, the US Department of Justice fined DB $14 billion for mis-selling mortgages dating back to 2005.</p>
<p>Javid was of course not personally responsible for any of the above, but since he was on the board of directors of a bank that was oozing malfeasance on so palpable a scale, the question of the character of the leadership he provided at DB is one that is bound to be raised (especially since it is estimated by the Guardian that he made up to £3m a year at DB, sufficient to pay for 2 London houses costing £4m and £2m).</p>
<p>Someone in this position may be well advised to refrain from holding forth on “respect for the law”, but hypocrisy and disingenuousness are a well-worn carapace for Conservative politicians.</p>
<p>At any rate, given the length of their bank’s rap sheet, DB’s executives must surely have believed the law deserved to be treated as an ass. &#160;&#160;So why purport to respect it, let alone have an oath which demands this respect?</p>
<p>Javid’s proposed oath of allegiance to “British values” is simply asinine.&#160; He’s acknowledged that identifying these “values” would not be easy, which is a complete understatement– any such attempt at identifying “British values” is going to be riddled with incoherence, arbitrariness, and bogus mythologizing.</p>
<p>A Tory like Javid wants to enshrine a commitment to “freedom of speech” in his proposed oath, at the very moment his party is seeking to prohibit public bodies from&#160;boycotting companies producing goods in the illegal Israeli settlements constructed on Palestinian land.&#160;&#160; “Freedom of speech”, like tolerance, can be highly selective when it comes to the scope given it by those who run the show.</p>
<p>And as for a pledged commitment to “democracy”, instead of sequestering himself in his banking-pal circles, Javid should speak to any Catholic in Belfast or Londonderry who was there during the Troubles of the 1970s and 80s.&#160; They would tell him it simply did not exist.&#160; People accused of being terrorists were routinely framed by the police, which led to years in prison, until the accused were freed when judicial reviews that had to be campaigned for year after year made it clear that a massive miscarriage of justice had occurred.</p>
<p>“Values” tied to nationalistic fantasies tend invariably to be confected and atavistic, serving as placeholders for sometimes pernicious mythemes nearly always tied to notions of blood and soil.&#160; The exemplars are many.&#160;&#160; Nazism’s das Volk, the Malay nationalist “bumiputra” (literally, “son of the soil”) but more or less loosely applied to anyone who happens to be a Muslim (in this way supplying a spurious biological-geological rationale for an Islamic theocracy), the various “chosen peoples” (the arch principle of the Zionist enterprise), and so forth.</p>
<p>The concomitant of such practices of naming and describing is the designation of those who somehow don’t qualify– the supposedly inferior races, the infidel, the deviant, the people deemed not to be “chosen”, any kind of outcast such as the leper of old.</p>
<p>The typical operation associated with these practices is that of distancing.&#160; Who, after all, happens to be remote in relation to “British values”?</p>
<p>Well, well, it’s the immigrant with broken English who can’t assimilate as well as—gasp! — our banker friend Javid.</p>
<p>It’s the colonized Irish, Scots, or Welsh person whose basic disposition is to flip a finger at all things English.</p>
<p>It’s those of us on the ultra-left who have zero-tolerance for Deutsche Bank (and by implication economic parasites such as Sajid Javid).</p>
<p>It’s those who adhere to anything “foreign” — those who love “smelly” curries, those who eat without a knife and fork, those who speak those confounded babbling languages, those whose religions involve going to a place of worship that is most definitely not a church, those with unacceptable ways of dressing (such as a hijab or turban).</p>
<p>The UK is a multi-ethnic society, with all the complexities that accompany this situation.&#160; The least productive way to deal with these complexities is to require its people to take an oath of allegiance to a set of risible fictions devised by the ruling order and its henchmen such as Sajid Javid.</p>
<p>But finding workable and democratically acceptable solutions to a complex and messy situation may not be what is intended by the Javids of this world.</p>
<p>Grabbing headlines from the UK’s notorious right-wing tabloids may be what this farcical proposal is all about.</p> | true | 4 | days ago uk conservative cabinet minister sajid javid son pakistani immigrants proposed every public officeholder ie elected officials civil servants council workers swear oath allegiance british values javid said oath could include phrases tolerating views others even disagree well believing freedom speech freedom religion freedom abuse belief equality democracy democratic process respect law even think law ass finesounding phrases especially one considers coming from160 entered politics javid director board member deutsche bank 2000 2009 phil matteras excellent corporate rap sheet long section deutsche bank db160160 period javid one people helm db long series runins financial sector regulators us uk160 continue day concern period javid senior executive db 2002 three us agenciesthe sec new york stock exchange nasd us industry regulator known finrafined160db securities 165 million failing preserve email archives could consulted enforcement actions 160to put plainer language160 db destroyed evidence could used legal case 2003 sec160penalized160db 750000 violating conflict interest rules disclosing role advising hewlettpackard acquisition compaq computer asset management wing voting clients proxies favor deal 2004 britains financial services authority160fined160dbs morgan grenfell unit 190000 program trading violations year nasd160fined160db 529 million charging excessive commissions allocation shares initial public offerings later 2004 nasd160fined160db 5 million corporate highyield bond trading violations also 2004 sec160announced160that db would pay 875 million settle charges conflicts interest investment banking research operations 2005 federal reserve new york state banking department160announced160that db agreed take steps improve policies designed prevent money laundering customers 2006 uk financial services authority160fined160db 63 million failing observe proper standards market conduct transactions involving shares scania cytos biotechnology also 2006 db160agreed160to pay 208 million us federal state agencies settle charges market timing violations period db chief executive jose ackermann personally paid 32 million to160settle160criminal charges directors german telecommunications company mannesmann awarded excessive bonuses mannesmann executives 2007 db160agreed160to pay 25 million give 416 million unsecured claims part legal settlement dealings enron corporation 2009 sec160announced160that db would provide 13 billion liquidity investors alleged sec misled db regarding risks associated auction rate securities year db sharply criticized using private detective spy activist investors well db employees several executives were160fired160as result september 2016 us department justice fined db 14 billion misselling mortgages dating back 2005 javid course personally responsible since board directors bank oozing malfeasance palpable scale question character leadership provided db one bound raised especially since estimated guardian made 3m year db sufficient pay 2 london houses costing 4m 2m someone position may well advised refrain holding forth respect law hypocrisy disingenuousness wellworn carapace conservative politicians rate given length banks rap sheet dbs executives must surely believed law deserved treated ass 160160so purport respect let alone oath demands respect javids proposed oath allegiance british values simply asinine160 hes acknowledged identifying values would easy complete understatement attempt identifying british values going riddled incoherence arbitrariness bogus mythologizing tory like javid wants enshrine commitment freedom speech proposed oath moment party seeking prohibit public bodies from160boycotting companies producing goods illegal israeli settlements constructed palestinian land160160 freedom speech like tolerance highly selective comes scope given run show pledged commitment democracy instead sequestering bankingpal circles javid speak catholic belfast londonderry troubles 1970s 80s160 would tell simply exist160 people accused terrorists routinely framed police led years prison accused freed judicial reviews campaigned year year made clear massive miscarriage justice occurred values tied nationalistic fantasies tend invariably confected atavistic serving placeholders sometimes pernicious mythemes nearly always tied notions blood soil160 exemplars many160160 nazisms das volk malay nationalist bumiputra literally son soil less loosely applied anyone happens muslim way supplying spurious biologicalgeological rationale islamic theocracy various chosen peoples arch principle zionist enterprise forth concomitant practices naming describing designation somehow dont qualify supposedly inferior races infidel deviant people deemed chosen kind outcast leper old typical operation associated practices distancing160 happens remote relation british values well well immigrant broken english cant assimilate well asgasp banker friend javid colonized irish scots welsh person whose basic disposition flip finger things english us ultraleft zerotolerance deutsche bank implication economic parasites sajid javid adhere anything foreign love smelly curries eat without knife fork speak confounded babbling languages whose religions involve going place worship definitely church unacceptable ways dressing hijab turban uk multiethnic society complexities accompany situation160 least productive way deal complexities require people take oath allegiance set risible fictions devised ruling order henchmen sajid javid finding workable democratically acceptable solutions complex messy situation may intended javids world grabbing headlines uks notorious rightwing tabloids may farcical proposal | 724 |
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<p><a href="" type="internal">Juli Hansen</a>&#160;|&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Shutterstock.com</a></p>
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<p>In his quasi-concession speech last Thursday, broadcast without a live audience (probably due to the fear of loud boos), Bernie Sanders began with the observation, “Election days come and go. But political and social revolutions that attempt to transform our society never end.”</p>
<p>In other words: Even if I concede, I want the movement I generated to continue.</p>
<p>Citing various ongoing mass movements, he declared, “And that’s what this campaign has been about over this past year. That’s what the political revolution is all about.”</p>
<p>Subtext: It’s all about bringing you kids into the Democratic Party—in order to change it.</p>
<p>Then comes the now-familiar self-congratulation about winning 22 state primaries and caucuses, and repetition of his wonted insistence that “our vision for the future” is not a “fringe idea” and not a “radical idea.” “It is mainstream.”</p>
<p>This tells us that what will follow will be very mainstream. It is followed by the observation that in all the primaries Sanders won among people under 45. “These are the people who ARE the future of our country.” He extensively praises the youth for all their phone calls and canvassing, and even youth burdened with student debt for making campaign contributions.</p>
<p>“This campaign has never been about any single candidate. It is always about transforming America.”</p>
<p>This is followed by about one-fifth of the speech devoted to enumerating the various “disgraces” of contemporary American reality without ever once using the word capitalism. He then segues into the Trump issue:</p>
<p>“The major political task that we face in the next five months is to make certain that Donald Trump is defeated and defeated badly.” Meaning, “we” will all have to—as our major task—back the Wall Street candidate Clinton versus the racist buffoon.</p>
<p>The meat of the presentation occurs not quite midway through, with depressing reference to the Wednesday meeting between Sanders and Clinton and their spouses, from which Sanders emerged beaming.</p>
<p>“I recently had the opportunity to meet with Secretary Clinton and discuss some of the very important issues facing our country and the Democratic Party.” In other words: capitulation.</p>
<p>This is where the boos would have started at a rally. Opportunity? Really, Uncle Bernie, you make it sound like an honor to chit-chat with Wall Street’s warmonger.</p>
<p>“It is no secret that Secretary Clinton and I have strong disagreements on some very important issues. It is also true that our views are quite close on others. I look forward, in the coming weeks, to continued discussions between the two campaigns to make certain that your voices are heard and that the Democratic Party passes the most progressive platform in its history and that Democrats actually fight for that agenda.”</p>
<p>In other words, she’s not so bad after all. I want you all to take a second look at Hillary and get ready to work with her.</p>
<p>Then follows a long litany of needed reforms in the Democratic Party and its platform—by all appearances a feisty demand for change—culminating in a call to young people to run for office and “engage on that level.”</p>
<p>Buried in this list is the following milquetoast statement: “We must take a hard look at the waste, cost overruns and inefficiencies in every branch of government–including the Department of Defense. And we must make certain our brave young men and women in the military are not thrown into perpetual warfare in the Middle East or other wars we should not be fighting.”</p>
<p>Just 55 words out of 2752, or under 2% of the speech dealt (elliptically) with Hillary’s forte: imperialist foreign policy, and her particularly bloody role since her days as First Lady, when she cheered on the U.S./NATO destruction of Yugoslavia to her support for the Iraq war as senator to her super-hawkish role as secretary of state always advocating more troops, more bombing, more war from Pakistan to Syria to Libya (and thus creating more hatred, blowback, terrorism and geographical expansion of al-Qaeda and ISIL).</p>
<p>In concluding, Bernie declares, “We have begun the long and arduous process of transforming America, a fight that will continue tomorrow, next week, next year and into the future.”</p>
<p>In other words, with sugarplum dreams in your heads, you will campaign for Hillary (doing it for me, kids!) and get her into office so she can help implement our long-term domestic reform agenda, while she expands the anti-Russian NATO military alliance, provokes Russia in Ukraine and Syria, and almost surely ratchets up the level of U.S. military action in several Middle Eastern countries.</p>
<p>That’s what I call disgraceful.</p>
<p>But the sheep need not allow themselves to be herded by the sheepdog. My two children, 26 and 30, are among the “Bernie or Bust”crowd. They’re the ones who inspired my own limited enthusiasm for the Sanders campaign. There is no way they will vote for Hillary, the virtual heroine of the military-industrial complex.</p>
<p>And if someone says, “Well, you have to! We have a two-party system, and there’s no other option!” they will reply with their own proper logic and explicatives.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>While Sanders prepares to throw in the towel, Chintonites in the State Department posture to get her attention as most useful allies in her Syrian “no fly zone” plans.</p>
<p>It’s unusual for 51 State Department employees to not only sign and submit to their department superiors, but to leak to the press, a petition urging another blatantly illegal and inevitably disastrous, illegal, murderous regime-change war, such as the U.S. has conducted in Iraq and Libya.</p>
<p>That it has occurred is doubtless (as former high-ranking CIA agent Ray McGovern has opined on RT TV) a bid by Hillary Clinton-appointed low-ranking State Department officials to curry favor with the past Goldwater Girl and future President Clinton (known to be a bloodthirsty soulless Kissinger in a pantsuit hell-bent to leave her mark on the Middle East—just like the way her husband left his mark on the butchered, still-bleeding Balkans that our press never mentions). Some promotions in store, no doubt.</p>
<p>Isn’t it obvious that they’re lining up support for a showdown with Russia? The Wall Street Journal reports: “Obama administration officials have expressed concern that attacking the Assad regime could lead to a direct conflict with Russia and Iran.” Well, duh.</p>
<p>My guess is that Hillary will risk that. The sad thing is that she’ll have some erstwhile Bernie supporters (firmly against the “billionaire class” but clueless about U.S imperialism in general) standing there behind her, and likely Bernie himself. Some “political revolution”—that channels its children into another imperialist war, maybe the biggest, most reckless one yet.</p>
<p>Maybe this time the war will occur under conditions of military conscription, targeting as always 18 to 25-year-olds, now including women, no college deferments applicable.</p>
<p>What a triumph for Hillary it will be,</p>
<p>should boys and girls both die in World War III.</p> | true | 4 | juli hansen160160 shutterstockcom 160 quasiconcession speech last thursday broadcast without live audience probably due fear loud boos bernie sanders began observation election days come go political social revolutions attempt transform society never end words even concede want movement generated continue citing various ongoing mass movements declared thats campaign past year thats political revolution subtext bringing kids democratic partyin order change comes nowfamiliar selfcongratulation winning 22 state primaries caucuses repetition wonted insistence vision future fringe idea radical idea mainstream tells us follow mainstream followed observation primaries sanders among people 45 people future country extensively praises youth phone calls canvassing even youth burdened student debt making campaign contributions campaign never single candidate always transforming america followed onefifth speech devoted enumerating various disgraces contemporary american reality without ever using word capitalism segues trump issue major political task face next five months make certain donald trump defeated defeated badly meaning toas major taskback wall street candidate clinton versus racist buffoon meat presentation occurs quite midway depressing reference wednesday meeting sanders clinton spouses sanders emerged beaming recently opportunity meet secretary clinton discuss important issues facing country democratic party words capitulation boos would started rally opportunity really uncle bernie make sound like honor chitchat wall streets warmonger secret secretary clinton strong disagreements important issues also true views quite close others look forward coming weeks continued discussions two campaigns make certain voices heard democratic party passes progressive platform history democrats actually fight agenda words shes bad want take second look hillary get ready work follows long litany needed reforms democratic party platformby appearances feisty demand changeculminating call young people run office engage level buried list following milquetoast statement must take hard look waste cost overruns inefficiencies every branch governmentincluding department defense must make certain brave young men women military thrown perpetual warfare middle east wars fighting 55 words 2752 2 speech dealt elliptically hillarys forte imperialist foreign policy particularly bloody role since days first lady cheered usnato destruction yugoslavia support iraq war senator superhawkish role secretary state always advocating troops bombing war pakistan syria libya thus creating hatred blowback terrorism geographical expansion alqaeda isil concluding bernie declares begun long arduous process transforming america fight continue tomorrow next week next year future words sugarplum dreams heads campaign hillary kids get office help implement longterm domestic reform agenda expands antirussian nato military alliance provokes russia ukraine syria almost surely ratchets level us military action several middle eastern countries thats call disgraceful sheep need allow herded sheepdog two children 26 30 among bernie bustcrowd theyre ones inspired limited enthusiasm sanders campaign way vote hillary virtual heroine militaryindustrial complex someone says well twoparty system theres option reply proper logic explicatives sanders prepares throw towel chintonites state department posture get attention useful allies syrian fly zone plans unusual 51 state department employees sign submit department superiors leak press petition urging another blatantly illegal inevitably disastrous illegal murderous regimechange war us conducted iraq libya occurred doubtless former highranking cia agent ray mcgovern opined rt tv bid hillary clintonappointed lowranking state department officials curry favor past goldwater girl future president clinton known bloodthirsty soulless kissinger pantsuit hellbent leave mark middle eastjust like way husband left mark butchered stillbleeding balkans press never mentions promotions store doubt isnt obvious theyre lining support showdown russia wall street journal reports obama administration officials expressed concern attacking assad regime could lead direct conflict russia iran well duh guess hillary risk sad thing shell erstwhile bernie supporters firmly billionaire class clueless us imperialism general standing behind likely bernie political revolutionthat channels children another imperialist war maybe biggest reckless one yet maybe time war occur conditions military conscription targeting always 18 25yearolds including women college deferments applicable triumph hillary boys girls die world war iii | 614 |
<p>Back in April, one of my favorite minor internet celebrities, Hennessy Youngman, announced his foray into deejaying. Excited, I downloaded the mix and put it on my iPod to enjoy on my commute. As I cued it up, Hennessy’s trademark “What up, Internet?” popped into my headphones amid an air raid siren, hyping me up for .&#160;.&#160;. a Foreigner power ballad? What was going on here? I should have been more prepared: after all, this was Hennessy, AKA Hen-rock Obama, a master of irreverence, and his mix was entitled CVS Bangers.</p>
<p>Hennessy’s work has long used hip-hop-style provocations to highlight the pretensions of the art world. His Art Thoughtz video lectures mix street slang with High Theory jargon, outfitted with blunt (and possibly blunted) detachment and cartoon-character baseball caps. A sample from one of my favorites, “Post-structuralism, what the fuck is that?” illustrates his technique nicely: “You be like, ‘This painting is truly transcendental,’ and poststructuralism be like, ‘Motherfucker, you can’t stand outside of history, the fuck you smoking on?’” I have to admit, it’s a better lecture on poststructuralism than I’ve ever managed to put together.</p>
<p>CVS Bangers extends Hennessy’s incisive detournement techniques into popular music. Hennessy draws from the eighties soft rock ubiquitous in checkout lines nationwide: the gentle synths, gated drums, and grim yet innocuous bleating that passed for singing during the Reagan years. Hennessy’s joke is to stuff the oversized shoulder pads of adult contemporary into the youthful structure of a hip-hop mixtape. Airhorns resound over the climactic key change in Steve Perry’s “Oh Sherrie”; hockey-hair-gone-comb-over fist-pumpers like Glass Tiger’s “Don’t Forget Me” are punched up with squelched samples of More Fire like we’re popping molly instead of stuffed jalapeños.</p>
<p>Hennessy’s first CVS Bangers mix hit the concept, but the sequel holds together much better in execution. I don’t know if Hennessey did his research, or if he merely relied, as many DJs do, on a carefully cultivated ear, but he’s nailed his object of inquiry here. Every song in CVS Bangers&#160;2, with a couple exceptions, came off the assembly line and into the checkout aisle in the period from 1984 to 1987, with the majority released in 1986. Adult Contemporary — a format that combined easy listening with gracelessly aging Boomer rockers and New Wavers moving into more lucrative slow-dance territory — came into its own as a format at exactly this time. What was it that made 1986 such a golden age for middle-of-the-road parental jams?</p>
<p>The economic restructuring of the 1980s was the business in front of Kenny Loggins’ party in the back. The music industries were undergoing dramatic changes that would continue for decades. Most importantly for our story, the deregulation of radio ownership, which would reach a crescendo in the 1996 Telecommunications Act, kicked off in 1981. According to a report by the Future of Music Coalition,</p>
<p>Until 1981, the FCC required stations to vary [their] programming each week, including establishing time for community affairs programs and opposing voices. After a rule change in 1981, however, diversity was defined merely by the number of stations.&#160;.&#160;.&#160;. True diversity, it was argued, was achieved through a multiplicity of sources, rather than within each source.</p>
<p>In other words, the FCC removed diversity requirements, presuming that if one company owned many different stations, market mechanisms would kick in. Station owners would naturally want to diversify their assets, giving listeners a range of options the way God and Reagan intended: through the pursuit of self-interest, not through state interference.</p>
<p>Of course, it didn’t work out that way, mostly because that was never really the intention. Local stations, a crucial part of any regional music scene, were gobbled up by large media conglomerates, and programming increasingly centered around big-budget major label stars. Pop scholar Will Straw characterizes the sea change in radio as reaching “unprecedented homogeneity by 1984.”</p>
<p>The consolidation of radio ownership accompanied other forms of restructuring. In 1982, Billboard, the company charged with tracking music popularity, altered the way they calculated the Adult Contemporary chart. Instead of using a formula derived from record sales and airplay, the AC charts would only factor airplay into popularity. This gave the record industry a much tighter grip over what charted: with only a handful of corporate radio station owners to influence (or bribe), executives could cultivate a carefully controlled niche, immune to the unpredictable tastes of the record-buying public. Severing record buyers from the Adult Contemporary charts had demographic implications as well. Record buyers were predominantly young and predominantly male. An airplay-only chart would, according to industry theory, reflect the tastes of an older demographic that skewed female.</p>
<p>Such an audience would be a marketing sweet spot. Since the early twentieth century, marketers understood that women were responsible for the vast majority of purchases of consumer goods. Adult Contemporary, which had already absorbed Easy Listening, was thus poised to take over the playlists of grocery stores and pharmacies everywhere. In doing so, it supplanted the long-reviled Muzak (originally conceived not only as part of the architecture of shopping but also as a balm for unhappy workers), imbuing the soundtrack of mass-market consumption with that bit of edge that baby boomers, now pushing shopping carts and strollers, had long been accustomed to associating with authentic emotion.</p>
<p>The idea that radio reflects audience taste is largely bullshit; instead, radio playlists are, like much of the music industry, a bunch of middle-aged men constructing an idealized fantasy listener whose tastes they then must appeal to. In this way, Adult Contemporary became the musical equivalent of the Silent Majority, those magical white middle-class millions whose supposed interests, though never vocalized, must always be appealed to. Echoing this, Billboard Magazine triumphantly claimed the mantle of “Vanilla” for the format, noting that ice cream’s least exciting flavor is also (according to industry research) the perennial favorite. At least they weren’t so obvious as to point to the popularity of white bread!</p>
<p>Hennessy makes this racial coding explicit in his mix: while he draws from instantly recognizable mid-eighties hits from white artists like The Moody Blues and Steve Winwood, he doesn’t include anything from the leading lights of Adult Contemporary, Whitney Houston and Lionel Ritchie, black artists whose successful crossovers to the mainstream (i.e. that Silent Majority of white listeners) were predicated on polishing off anything too recognizably black in their music. Instead, Hennessy, as he so often does, dramatizes the racism at the heart of the Adult Contemporary genre, which, just like whiteness itself, accepted members only to the extent that they could assimilate to its values — values, as the cult YouTube series “Yacht Rock” hammered home, like smoothness and inoffensiveness.</p> | true | 4 | back april one favorite minor internet celebrities hennessy youngman announced foray deejaying excited downloaded mix put ipod enjoy commute cued hennessys trademark internet popped headphones amid air raid siren hyping 160160 foreigner power ballad going prepared hennessy aka henrock obama master irreverence mix entitled cvs bangers hennessys work long used hiphopstyle provocations highlight pretensions art world art thoughtz video lectures mix street slang high theory jargon outfitted blunt possibly blunted detachment cartooncharacter baseball caps sample one favorites poststructuralism fuck illustrates technique nicely like painting truly transcendental poststructuralism like motherfucker cant stand outside history fuck smoking admit better lecture poststructuralism ive ever managed put together cvs bangers extends hennessys incisive detournement techniques popular music hennessy draws eighties soft rock ubiquitous checkout lines nationwide gentle synths gated drums grim yet innocuous bleating passed singing reagan years hennessys joke stuff oversized shoulder pads adult contemporary youthful structure hiphop mixtape airhorns resound climactic key change steve perrys oh sherrie hockeyhairgonecombover fistpumpers like glass tigers dont forget punched squelched samples fire like popping molly instead stuffed jalapeños hennessys first cvs bangers mix hit concept sequel holds together much better execution dont know hennessey research merely relied many djs carefully cultivated ear hes nailed object inquiry every song cvs bangers1602 couple exceptions came assembly line checkout aisle period 1984 1987 majority released 1986 adult contemporary format combined easy listening gracelessly aging boomer rockers new wavers moving lucrative slowdance territory came format exactly time made 1986 golden age middleoftheroad parental jams economic restructuring 1980s business front kenny loggins party back music industries undergoing dramatic changes would continue decades importantly story deregulation radio ownership would reach crescendo 1996 telecommunications act kicked 1981 according report future music coalition 1981 fcc required stations vary programming week including establishing time community affairs programs opposing voices rule change 1981 however diversity defined merely number stations160160160 true diversity argued achieved multiplicity sources rather within source words fcc removed diversity requirements presuming one company owned many different stations market mechanisms would kick station owners would naturally want diversify assets giving listeners range options way god reagan intended pursuit selfinterest state interference course didnt work way mostly never really intention local stations crucial part regional music scene gobbled large media conglomerates programming increasingly centered around bigbudget major label stars pop scholar straw characterizes sea change radio reaching unprecedented homogeneity 1984 consolidation radio ownership accompanied forms restructuring 1982 billboard company charged tracking music popularity altered way calculated adult contemporary chart instead using formula derived record sales airplay ac charts would factor airplay popularity gave record industry much tighter grip charted handful corporate radio station owners influence bribe executives could cultivate carefully controlled niche immune unpredictable tastes recordbuying public severing record buyers adult contemporary charts demographic implications well record buyers predominantly young predominantly male airplayonly chart would according industry theory reflect tastes older demographic skewed female audience would marketing sweet spot since early twentieth century marketers understood women responsible vast majority purchases consumer goods adult contemporary already absorbed easy listening thus poised take playlists grocery stores pharmacies everywhere supplanted longreviled muzak originally conceived part architecture shopping also balm unhappy workers imbuing soundtrack massmarket consumption bit edge baby boomers pushing shopping carts strollers long accustomed associating authentic emotion idea radio reflects audience taste largely bullshit instead radio playlists like much music industry bunch middleaged men constructing idealized fantasy listener whose tastes must appeal way adult contemporary became musical equivalent silent majority magical white middleclass millions whose supposed interests though never vocalized must always appealed echoing billboard magazine triumphantly claimed mantle vanilla format noting ice creams least exciting flavor also according industry research perennial favorite least werent obvious point popularity white bread hennessy makes racial coding explicit mix draws instantly recognizable mideighties hits white artists like moody blues steve winwood doesnt include anything leading lights adult contemporary whitney houston lionel ritchie black artists whose successful crossovers mainstream ie silent majority white listeners predicated polishing anything recognizably black music instead hennessy often dramatizes racism heart adult contemporary genre like whiteness accepted members extent could assimilate values values cult youtube series yacht rock hammered home like smoothness inoffensiveness | 677 |
<p>Photo by Karl-Ludwig Poggemann | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
<p>The authors of our Constitution were of many minds on many issues, slavery most of all.&#160; But they all agreed that the United States would be a republic, that there would be no king.</p>
<p>They got what they wanted.&#160; We have had an “imperial” presidency for quite a while, but we have never had a monarch – not in the literal sense.</p>
<p>Even so, our founders never quite dispatched the spirit of monarchy, the idea that the state and its laws must be shrouded in majesty.&#160; They could hardly have done that and also founded a modern state.</p>
<p>Even in the modern world, political legitimacy depends, to at least some extent, on what Max Weber (1864-1920) called “charisma,” an awareness, usually unconscious but psychologically real, of a connection to a transcendent power that confers authority upon political leaders or upon the offices they hold.</p>
<p>The general idea, in pre-modern times, was that authority was somehow divinely conferred.&#160; Modernity disenchants both the natural and social worlds, but not so much as to do away with charismatic authority claims altogether.</p>
<p>We are all naturalists now, and are therefore inclined to think of charismatic authority as a relic of a bygone past.&#160; However, at an experiential level, there is no denying that the phenomenon is real.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, nowadays, authority claims depend, for the most part, on factors that are less affectively compelling.&#160; Modern states are therefore always at risk of falling prey to legitimation crises.&#160; The more a sense of the majesty of state offices and functions declines, the greater the risk becomes.</p>
<p>In the United States, this is happening now, before our very eyes – thanks to Donald J. Trump.</p>
<p>There are many reasons why Trump’s occupancy of the Oval Office discomfits roughly two-thirds of the population.</p>
<p>Part of the problem is that he is unfit for the office he occupies; anyone chosen at random could do as well or better.</p>
<p>A greater problem is that not all is right in his head.&#160; There are few words in the political lexicon that are more carelessly overused than “existential threat,” but is there any more apt way to describe a bully with nuclear bombs who seems to be perpetually on the brink of losing control?</p>
<p>Some two-thirds of the American people already know this, and, with each new tweet, more are figuring it out.</p>
<p>If they kept book on such things, the odds that the Donald will make it through the four years of his term would probably already be less than fifty-fifty.&#160;&#160; The odds that the world could survive four or eight years of Trump would be no better.</p>
<p>But this does not entirely explain the sense of unease that Trump’s presence in the White House elicits.&#160; Much of the blame for that lies with the ways his comportment denigrates the majesty of the office he holds.</p>
<p>One would think that Trump-like characters could never rise to positions of great power in real world republics, especially ones that hold officials democratically accountable.&#160; Historical evidence generally bears out this expectation.</p>
<p>It is different in monarchies.</p>
<p>Thanks to rules of succession, heritable offices sometimes fall to children.&#160;&#160; When that happens, there are usually institutionally prescribed ways for dealing with the problem; regents, or their functional equivalents, do the monarch’s work until the child is sufficiently mature.</p>
<p>Adult monarchs who go berserk or who otherwise seem unable to exercise their duties are usually dealt with in other ways – typically out of sight, and outside the normal ken of laws and customs.</p>
<p>Republics are supposed to have better ways of dealing with problems like that.&#160; Our founders took this for granted.&#160;&#160; They imagined that, by imposing age requirements for holders of elective offices, they addressed all the problems of intellectual and moral immaturity that were likely to arise.</p>
<p>Already by the late eighteenth century, a democratic veneer was indispensible for winning over popular support, just as it is today.&#160; And at least some of the Constitution’s authors had genuinely democratic inclinations.</p>
<p>However, this didn’t stop them from restricting the franchise in ways that bolstered the power of the merchant and planter classes from which they came, or from guaranteeing white supremacy and patriarchal rule.&#160; Our “founding fathers” were a conflicted and disingenuous lot.</p>
<p>Thus when they sought to justify the restrictions on voting that they imposed, they argued that the main reason for restricting the franchise in the ways they did was to assure that the state would be wisely governed; in their view, only property-owning white men had the means and leisure required for cultivating the requisite rational capacities.</p>
<p>Views of this sort had been in circulation in England at least since the late seventeenth century.&#160; They were defended by some of England’s most august and influential thinkers, including John Locke (1632-1704), a philosophical hero in Enlightened colonial circles.</p>
<p>Needless to say, a lot has changed since the late eighteenth century, and it has been a long time since anyone has seriously tried to argue that differential levels of wealth and leisure give rise to differential levels of rationality or other skills useful in governance that justify restricting the franchise.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the Trump phenomenon sconcerts and terrifies two-thirds of Americans nowadays just as surely as it would have disconcerted and flabbergasted the authors of our Constitution to imagine that, in the regime they concocted, a man – a white, property-owning septuagenarian man, no less — with the mind and manners of an adolescent playground bully would someday be vested with the power to launch a nuclear Armageddon.</p>
<p>But this is what has come to pass, and we have no choice but to deal with it.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Thanks to Trump, we are now in the midst of a legitimation crisis of an unusual kind. &#160;For the time being, it is most manifest in a widespread feeling that the norms and expectations that constitute the political sphere we have always known no longer hold, and that while anything could happen at any time, what is most likely to happen will be both preposterous and deleterious, if not outright catastrophic.</p>
<p>It is a crisis that grows out of the absurdity that pervades the Trumpian universe.&#160; Even the fact that a legitimation crisis exists at all is absurd.</p>
<p>Like Trump, George W. Bush lost the popular vote in the 2000 election.&#160; Unlike him, though, he won in the Electoral College in a way that violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the law.</p>
<p>He won because Republican Supreme Court Justices like Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas saw to it.&#160;&#160; They were able to get their man, Bush, across the finish line because his people were more adept than Al Gore’s in dealing with the post-election recount in Florida.&#160; The Bush family fixers handled the situation there so well that, for good or ill, the country avoided a constitutional crisis.</p>
<p>Trump, on the other hand, won a majority of Electoral College votes without judicial finagling.&#160; He won according to the rules. &#160;The rules are undemocratic, indefensible, and stupid.&#160; But they are the rules of the game and according to them, Trump won — fair and square.</p>
<p>One would therefore expect that, of the two presidencies, Bush’s would be the one with the more tenuous hold on legitimacy.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, by the Fourth of July of Year One of the Bush era&#160; – months before 9/11 – the idea that Bush occupied the Oval Office rightfully was secure.</p>
<p>He seemed to be, and was, an overage frat boy, a poltroon, a spoiled rich kid incongruously sporting an exaggerated Texas accent and degrees from Harvard and Yale.&#160; &#160;&#160;It wasn’t yet clear that he would go on to become the worst President ever of the pre-Trump era, but it was plain that he had it in him.&#160; Nevertheless, once the post-election spectacle was over, his right to be President was uncontested; people had moved on.</p>
<p>In Trump’s case, no one has moved on – least of all Trump himself.&#160; The post-election spectacle rages on even more intensely in mid-summer 2017 than in the late winter and early spring.</p>
<p>According to the polls, barely a third of the electorate approves of Trump’s performance in office.&#160; The rest disapprove or “don’t know.” &#160;It is a good bet that many of them do know, but cannot bear to think about the situation at all.</p>
<p>The polls don’t quite get it, though; the words “approve” and “disapprove” hardly describe what is going on in respondents’ heads.</p>
<p>It is a safe bet that most of the people who say they approve don’t care much about Trump’s policies or how much or little he accomplishes; and there is certainly no “Trumpian” ideology that they favor.&#160; They like Trump because he is pugnacious, ignorant, and crude.</p>
<p>Or maybe it isn’t Trump’s personality that appeals, but the fact that he defeated Hillary Clinton, or that he gets under the skin of the kinds of people whom the late (unlamented) Spiro Agnew used to call “effete intellectual snobs.” &#160;Or maybe like Trump, they don’t have reasons, only grudges and animosities.</p>
<p>In marked contrast, the people who disapprove of Trump have plenty of reasons, but most of them, though compelling, are only barely relevant – because their sense of the illegitimacy of Trump’s hold over the office he occupies matters to them more.&#160; In comparison, the soundness or probity of what Trump and his minions have done or are likely to do is of only secondary importance.</p>
<p>Therefore those people are not moving on.&#160; Quite to the contrary, their feelings are intensifying and their ranks are growing.</p>
<p>With each passing day — indeed with each new tweet – Trump adds to the mound of evidence that long ago proved beyond a reasonable doubt that he is not just temperamentally and intellectually unfit for the office to which he was elected, but also, and perhaps of even greater significance, that he is putting the majesty of that office in jeopardy.</p>
<p>Trump is good at garnering media attention – in the tabloids, of course, but also now in “quality” media, and he is a good enough showman for reality TV and the broader political scene insofar as it mimics reality TV.&#160; He is also a past master at conspicuous, and tasteless, displays of obscene wealth.</p>
<p>But, when it comes to governance, he is a great big zero who flip-flops so shamelessly that his minions have a hard time keeping up.</p>
<p>Largely outside of public view – at the Environmental Protection Agency, for example – &#160;his appointees are doing all kinds of injurious “deconstructing.” &#160;It isn’t clear how much of it, if any, Trump understands or knows or even cares about.&#160; It is happening under his aegis, however; so the fault is ultimately his.</p>
<p>The administration he has cobbled together – or had cobbled together for him – famously speaks with many, often inconsistent, voices.&#160; Indeed, it often seems that there is no Trump administration except in a technical sense; that where an administration should be, there is only a hodge-podge of rightwing malefactors and nincompoops whom Trump empowered to do whatever they want without regard for anything except making him look good to his base.</p>
<p>Above them, there is the retinue surrounding the Sun King wannabe.&#160;&#160; It is a tiny circle, comprised of a few “alt-right” miscreants like the two Stephens, Bannon and Miller, and a handful of staff people whom the Donald trusts.&#160; And, at the pinnacle, there is Jared the airhead son-in-law whom Trump made Minister of Everything, and Ivanka, the fashionista daughter, who is supposed to be the token non-maniac of the group, but emphatically is not.</p>
<p>Where is the legitimacy in any of that?</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>There was once a Left that sought to change the world radically for the better.&#160; Thanks largely to neoliberal globalization, but also to the end of Communism and the general decline of socialist movements worldwide, the goals of a much diminished Left today are more modest, often amounting to little more than trying to secure relief for the victims of neoliberal austerity policies. &#160;This would include anywhere from eighty to ninety-nine percent of the population of particular countries.</p>
<p>In the United States, there is even less of a Left than in many other countries, and its goals are even more modest.&#160; Thus the vaunted Bernie Sanders campaign aimed only at establishing forms and levels of social provision that have been standard throughout the developed world since the end of the Second World War.</p>
<p>There were anarchists too who were not just extremely militant – so militant that they are often taken for agents provacateurs (or dupes of agents provacateurs) – but who also tried, often with some success, to organize non-coercive forms of social and economic cooperation.</p>
<p>For them especially, but for the broader, statist Left as well, legitimation crises could sometimes present strategic opportunities.</p>
<p>In those circumstances, attacks on the majesty of the state and its laws were more often welcomed than feared – not just because it feels good to dump on or mock the authorities, but because demythologizing them weakens them.</p>
<p>But those circumstances are not our circumstances.&#160; There are no forces out there now capable of putting this Trump-induced and Trump-sustained legitimation crisis to good use.</p>
<p>Trump himself can and probably will be brought low by it, but neither the conditions that made Trump possible, nor the consequences of what Trump and his minions have done or will do, are about to go away.</p>
<p>Contrary to what some hoodwinked Trump voters who should have known better thought, and to what some diehard Trump supporters evidently still believe, Trump’s election in no way undermines the neoliberal consensus that the Clintons have been promoting for decades.&#160;&#160; It reinforces it.</p>
<p>Thus voters who thought that they were voting against Clintonism could not have been more wrong.&#160; The error is proving difficult to expunge, but the scales have already fallen from the eyes of some of them, and, day-by-day, it is becoming harder for the rest of them to remain steadfast.</p>
<p>What they thought they were voting for when they voted for Trump was never clear, but they all believed that it would at least be different from what they had gotten under Barack Obama or would get with Hillary Clinton. &#160;In fact, what they got is Clinton 2.0.&#160; No matter what happens with Trump, this is not about to change any time soon.&#160;&#160; It serves them right.</p>
<p>If participants in the self-described anti-Trump “resistance” use the legitimation crisis brought on by Trump’s policies, politics and personality to support a less equivocal version of Clintonite (neoliberal, liberal imperialist, military first) politics, it will serve them right too.&#160; It would be better to let a good legitimation crisis go to waste than to use it for that.</p>
<p>The situation would be different, of course, if we had a real opposition party that did not have to rely solely on Trump to self-destruct, but that was instead capable of winning over hearts and minds through vigorous organizing around a sound progressive – and even radical — agenda.</p>
<p>It would be even more different, and much better, if we had non-coercive institutions in place or, failing that, well enough thought out to be capable of becoming operational in short order when the time is right, that would enable people freed the burdens of both the visible hand of the state and the invisible hand of capitalist markets to coordinate their behaviors freely and cooperatively.</p>
<p>Then like the anarchists of old, we could be grateful for anything – even Donald Trump — that undermines the all-too-human tendency to believe in the majesty of the state and its laws.</p>
<p>But we are a long way from that, just as we are a long way from radically transforming – or, better still, replacing — the Democratic Party.</p>
<p>This legitimation crisis is therefore on track for turning out poorly.&#160; Worry!</p> | true | 4 | photo karlludwig poggemann cc 20 authors constitution many minds many issues slavery all160 agreed united states would republic would king got wanted160 imperial presidency quite never monarch literal sense even founders never quite dispatched spirit monarchy idea state laws must shrouded majesty160 could hardly done also founded modern state even modern world political legitimacy depends least extent max weber 18641920 called charisma awareness usually unconscious psychologically real connection transcendent power confers authority upon political leaders upon offices hold general idea premodern times authority somehow divinely conferred160 modernity disenchants natural social worlds much away charismatic authority claims altogether naturalists therefore inclined think charismatic authority relic bygone past160 however experiential level denying phenomenon real nevertheless nowadays authority claims depend part factors less affectively compelling160 modern states therefore always risk falling prey legitimation crises160 sense majesty state offices functions declines greater risk becomes united states happening eyes thanks donald j trump many reasons trumps occupancy oval office discomfits roughly twothirds population part problem unfit office occupies anyone chosen random could well better greater problem right head160 words political lexicon carelessly overused existential threat apt way describe bully nuclear bombs seems perpetually brink losing control twothirds american people already know new tweet figuring kept book things odds donald make four years term would probably already less fiftyfifty160160 odds world could survive four eight years trump would better entirely explain sense unease trumps presence white house elicits160 much blame lies ways comportment denigrates majesty office holds one would think trumplike characters could never rise positions great power real world republics especially ones hold officials democratically accountable160 historical evidence generally bears expectation different monarchies thanks rules succession heritable offices sometimes fall children160160 happens usually institutionally prescribed ways dealing problem regents functional equivalents monarchs work child sufficiently mature adult monarchs go berserk otherwise seem unable exercise duties usually dealt ways typically sight outside normal ken laws customs republics supposed better ways dealing problems like that160 founders took granted160160 imagined imposing age requirements holders elective offices addressed problems intellectual moral immaturity likely arise already late eighteenth century democratic veneer indispensible winning popular support today160 least constitutions authors genuinely democratic inclinations however didnt stop restricting franchise ways bolstered power merchant planter classes came guaranteeing white supremacy patriarchal rule160 founding fathers conflicted disingenuous lot thus sought justify restrictions voting imposed argued main reason restricting franchise ways assure state would wisely governed view propertyowning white men means leisure required cultivating requisite rational capacities views sort circulation england least since late seventeenth century160 defended englands august influential thinkers including john locke 16321704 philosophical hero enlightened colonial circles needless say lot changed since late eighteenth century long time since anyone seriously tried argue differential levels wealth leisure give rise differential levels rationality skills useful governance justify restricting franchise nevertheless trump phenomenon sconcerts terrifies twothirds americans nowadays surely would disconcerted flabbergasted authors constitution imagine regime concocted man white propertyowning septuagenarian man less mind manners adolescent playground bully would someday vested power launch nuclear armageddon come pass choice deal thanks trump midst legitimation crisis unusual kind 160for time manifest widespread feeling norms expectations constitute political sphere always known longer hold anything could happen time likely happen preposterous deleterious outright catastrophic crisis grows absurdity pervades trumpian universe160 even fact legitimation crisis exists absurd like trump george w bush lost popular vote 2000 election160 unlike though electoral college way violated spirit letter law republican supreme court justices like antonin scalia clarence thomas saw it160160 able get man bush across finish line people adept al gores dealing postelection recount florida160 bush family fixers handled situation well good ill country avoided constitutional crisis trump hand majority electoral college votes without judicial finagling160 according rules 160the rules undemocratic indefensible stupid160 rules game according trump fair square one would therefore expect two presidencies bushs would one tenuous hold legitimacy nevertheless fourth july year one bush era160 months 911 idea bush occupied oval office rightfully secure seemed overage frat boy poltroon spoiled rich kid incongruously sporting exaggerated texas accent degrees harvard yale160 160160it wasnt yet clear would go become worst president ever pretrump era plain him160 nevertheless postelection spectacle right president uncontested people moved trumps case one moved least trump himself160 postelection spectacle rages even intensely midsummer 2017 late winter early spring according polls barely third electorate approves trumps performance office160 rest disapprove dont know 160it good bet many know bear think situation polls dont quite get though words approve disapprove hardly describe going respondents heads safe bet people say approve dont care much trumps policies much little accomplishes certainly trumpian ideology favor160 like trump pugnacious ignorant crude maybe isnt trumps personality appeals fact defeated hillary clinton gets skin kinds people late unlamented spiro agnew used call effete intellectual snobs 160or maybe like trump dont reasons grudges animosities marked contrast people disapprove trump plenty reasons though compelling barely relevant sense illegitimacy trumps hold office occupies matters more160 comparison soundness probity trump minions done likely secondary importance therefore people moving on160 quite contrary feelings intensifying ranks growing passing day indeed new tweet trump adds mound evidence long ago proved beyond reasonable doubt temperamentally intellectually unfit office elected also perhaps even greater significance putting majesty office jeopardy trump good garnering media attention tabloids course also quality media good enough showman reality tv broader political scene insofar mimics reality tv160 also past master conspicuous tasteless displays obscene wealth comes governance great big zero flipflops shamelessly minions hard time keeping largely outside public view environmental protection agency example 160his appointees kinds injurious deconstructing 160it isnt clear much trump understands knows even cares about160 happening aegis however fault ultimately administration cobbled together cobbled together famously speaks many often inconsistent voices160 indeed often seems trump administration except technical sense administration hodgepodge rightwing malefactors nincompoops trump empowered whatever want without regard anything except making look good base retinue surrounding sun king wannabe160160 tiny circle comprised altright miscreants like two stephens bannon miller handful staff people donald trusts160 pinnacle jared airhead soninlaw trump made minister everything ivanka fashionista daughter supposed token nonmaniac group emphatically legitimacy left sought change world radically better160 thanks largely neoliberal globalization also end communism general decline socialist movements worldwide goals much diminished left today modest often amounting little trying secure relief victims neoliberal austerity policies 160this would include anywhere eighty ninetynine percent population particular countries united states even less left many countries goals even modest160 thus vaunted bernie sanders campaign aimed establishing forms levels social provision standard throughout developed world since end second world war anarchists extremely militant militant often taken agents provacateurs dupes agents provacateurs also tried often success organize noncoercive forms social economic cooperation especially broader statist left well legitimation crises could sometimes present strategic opportunities circumstances attacks majesty state laws often welcomed feared feels good dump mock authorities demythologizing weakens circumstances circumstances160 forces capable putting trumpinduced trumpsustained legitimation crisis good use trump probably brought low neither conditions made trump possible consequences trump minions done go away contrary hoodwinked trump voters known better thought diehard trump supporters evidently still believe trumps election way undermines neoliberal consensus clintons promoting decades160160 reinforces thus voters thought voting clintonism could wrong160 error proving difficult expunge scales already fallen eyes daybyday becoming harder rest remain steadfast thought voting voted trump never clear believed would least different gotten barack obama would get hillary clinton 160in fact got clinton 20160 matter happens trump change time soon160160 serves right participants selfdescribed antitrump resistance use legitimation crisis brought trumps policies politics personality support less equivocal version clintonite neoliberal liberal imperialist military first politics serve right too160 would better let good legitimation crisis go waste use situation would different course real opposition party rely solely trump selfdestruct instead capable winning hearts minds vigorous organizing around sound progressive even radical agenda would even different much better noncoercive institutions place failing well enough thought capable becoming operational short order time right would enable people freed burdens visible hand state invisible hand capitalist markets coordinate behaviors freely cooperatively like anarchists old could grateful anything even donald trump undermines alltoohuman tendency believe majesty state laws long way long way radically transforming better still replacing democratic party legitimation crisis therefore track turning poorly160 worry | 1,345 |
<p>I recall the enthusiasm level of the current presidential race daily when I bike past a small, hand-painted sign that simply says “NO ONE 2016.” This mood is verified by the virtual absence of bumper stickers and yard signs in Madison, Wisconsin, neighborhood to neighborhood.&#160; Actually, there is a large scattering of Russ Feingold signs on both, my yard included. What’s odd, in the “Four More Years!” category, is the Obama bumper stickers (no yard signs) which remain, and remain, along with the fresher Bernie stickers (and yard signs).</p>
<p>Hundreds of humorists, mainly stand-ups, make a living from presidential candidates and presidents. The late, badly-missed Larry Wilmore show had a great Trump character—albeit too thin—acting out in the truly, painfully hilarious Trump manner. A feminist critic has reminded me that we must return to 2008 and SNL to get a strong satire of Hillary (although Tina Fey’s Sarah Palin was much, much funner).</p>
<p>It would have seemed we were stuck this year, unless I am missing something (now and then, Samantha Bee has been very funny, but rarely about Hillary). Until…..the campaign volume by&#160; Hillary and Tim Kaine appeared. I suspect these readers’ comments, hilarious in the extreme, are going to be removed shortly. I have removed only the names of the commentators. To protect the innocent.</p>
<p>1.0&#160;&#160; out of 5 starsThe Art of the Shakedown by Hill and Tim</p>
<p>September 16, 2016</p>
<p>Format: Kindle Edition</p>
<p>I bought this thinking it would be a how-to book. I wanted “How to set up your own Foundation for fun and profit.” Also, would like to have seen a chapter on “Ten easy steps to setting up your own secure server in a bathroom.”

I do hear there’s going to be a sequel, tentatively called “The Art of the Shakedown.” Should be interesting.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">3 comments</a>| 1,273 people found this helpful.</p>
<p>1.0 out of 5 starsHealth Warning!chjhorses September 16, 2016</p>
<p>Format: Paperback</p>
<p>Pre-ordered an autographed copy but had to return it after this week’s announcement as I was worried it was contaminated with pneumonia bacteria. I didn’t want to end up exposed to the illness like her grandkids in Chelsea’s apartment she was playing with on 9/11 after she collapsed, or the little girl she was hugging in the street afterwards. Thought about ordering the Kindle version but I thought it might open my device up to being hacked by communist countries. I wasn’t too surprised to see Tim Kaine on the front cover giving the traditional National Socialist salute, I felt it fitting. Strongly recommended for those who believe the USA isn’t anything special and should be more like the peaceful utopias of North Korea, Iran, or Cuba.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">8 comments</a>| 1,341 people found this helpful.</p>
<p>1.0&#160;&#160; <a href="" type="internal">out of 5 starsSadly had to one star it for lack of content</a>~</p>
<p>2.0&#160;&#160; &#160;September 17, 2016</p>
<p>Format: Paperback</p>
<p>Imagine my dismay when key parts of her life were omitted, would have made for far better reading if she had included all of the below starting with flunking the D.C. Bar Exam to:
• Was removed from her House Judiciary Committee staffer job because of incompetence and lying.
• The Whitewater scandal.
• Married a serial liar and cheater, who occasionally had sexual encounters with nonconsenting partners.
• Lied about “sniper fire” in an attempt to simulate exposure to danger in a war zone.
The subject of a “vast right-wing conspiracy” that led to the impeachment and disbarment of her husband
• Took crockery, furniture, artwork and other items from the White House — had to return and/or pay for them.
• Said “what difference, at this point, does it make” about four brave people killed in Libya as a direct result of her failure to protect them on the anniversary of 9/11.
• Totally ignored the structure and rules for the handling of sensitive national security information.
• Amassed a personal fortune with “speaking fees” and payments from private sector political donors and foreign governments into transparent “foundations”</p>
<p>on September 18, 2016</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Format: Paperback</a></p>
<p>This is easily the greatest book ever written! I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me. I’m going to buy a couple cases so that this book can be in every pew at my church! It’s almost holy in what it contains!
 The book lays out a vision for our country and all its people. It’s a blueprint for building a nation that flows with milk and honey.
Hillary is our deliverer!

(OK, Brazile. I wrote what you told me to write. Will you now release my child unharmed?)</p>
<p>Comment| 32 people found this helpful.</p>
<p>1.0&#160;&#160; <a href="" type="internal">out of 5 stars</a></p>
<p>2.0&#160;&#160; &#160;September 18, 2016</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Format: Paperback</a></p>
<p>Unfortunately I had to read the original script, was not around for it to be published. All and all, I would have to say she had much bigger secrets to sell, and could have increased her sales. Instead she just gave away the secrets when her private server was hacked and made no money at all. Clinton is not making the most of her vast pay-to-play experience.</p>
<p>Comment| 15 people found this helpful.</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">1.0 out of 5 stars&#160;Cruel and Unusual</a></p>
<p>By <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A22YSXVL8WGPQR/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_pdp?ie=UTF8" type="external">Amazon Customer</a>on September 18, 2016</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Format: Paperback</a></p>
<p>Sent to local inmates, sent back as it was deemed cruel and unusual.</p>
<p>Comment| 17 people found this</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">5.0 out of 5 stars&#160;BETTER THAN AMBIEN!</a></p>
<p>September 18, 2016</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Format: Paperback</a></p>
<p>I’ve tried to come off Ambien for years without success. Every time I’d skip a night I’d lie awake for hours tossing and turning and watching the room light up. My doctor tried other things but nothing worked. Yoga, biofeedback, Benadryl, you name it. I tried it. I was given Stronger Together as a gift and right from the start I knew this was the answer. The usual insincere, self serving, Clinton blandness with a lot of blaming and words like “investing” instead of spending worked their magic. The brain shut down in minutes.
Because it works so quickly it only takes a page or so to initiate sleep so it has already paid for itself in Ambien co-pays and I plan to save up for a down payment on a lakefront house with the money I’m saving. Highly recommended.</p>
<p>Comment| 33 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? <a href="" type="internal">Yes</a> <a href="" type="internal">No</a> <a href="" type="internal">Report abuse</a></p>
<p>1.0&#160;&#160; <a href="" type="internal">out of 5 starsGreen is the New Blue</a></p>
<p>on September 18, 2016</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Format: Paperback</a></p>
<p>I was disappointed to learn there is not a chapter on “How I stole the election from Bernie Sanders, and stupidly expected the victims to then vote for me so I could further destroy this country for my profit as my final wish before I die”.</p>
<p>Comment| 33 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you? <a href="" type="internal">Yes</a> <a href="" type="internal">No</a> <a href="" type="internal">Report abuse</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">5.0 out of 5 stars</a></p>
<p>Though I Haven’t Read It, I’m With Her!September 18, 2016</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Format: Paperback</a></p>
<p>I haven’t read this book, but I already LOVE it, because “I’m With Her!” I already know the beautiful vision she has for America: defeating Trump! Once that is done, there’s nothing more to worry about!

I also know, even though I have not read her book yet, that she and Tim (or even just Tim alone, if she needs to rest at Chelsea’s apartment for 4 years), DO have plans for America! I know this based on her past experience and actions! (She’s the most experienced candidate EVER!) I’m With Her because I know she will…

1. Bring America Energy Independence by Fracking it. She will liberate the methane in the North American continent and let it float freely in the atmosphere where it belongs, bringing a warm, fuzzy feeling to us all!

2. Improve the Economy by greenlighting valuable projects (like Pipeline construction from Canada to export ports in Louisiana and refineries in Texas). Even though the XL Pipeline will only create 50 permanent jobs, think of all the temporary clean-up jobs it will create as it sprouts leaks and problems in the years to come!

3. Boost the Economy by putting the Soviet Union back in their place where they really belong: as our long time antagonist! Hillary will show Comrade Putin of the Soviet Union who is boss! She will encourage all nations around the Soviet Union to purchase more weapons from the US (think of the jobs!) and maybe even inspire thousands of jobs cleaning up after a limited nuclear exchange with the Soviet Union!

4. Help the International Economy Go Green! She will encourage places like Honduras to drown local rainforests in order to put in huge multi-national corporations’ hydroelectric projects. Furthermore, she will aid the local governments by supplying them and their coup leaders with arms so they can eliminate pesky opponents like Berta Caceres who oppose Progress. Hillary wants Progress! That’s why she is a Progressive!

5. Continue the Tradition of Godliness and Peace in the Middle East! Hillary supports our friend and ally in Israel and will be sure to encourage their settlement program in which they eliminate pesky little brown people from the West Bank so that the Biblical borders of King David’s Kingdom will once again be restored, bringing Everlasting Peace to the region!

6. Support Main Street by Helping Wall Street! Even though she does not talk about “job creators”, she knows who they are. She knows the best way to make jobs for America is to give tax breaks and bailouts to Goldman Sachs – and she is the one to do this! I’m with Her on this all the way!

7. Carry on Proud American Traditions! She will continue to carry on the tradition of having African-Americans vote for Democrats (no matter what!)! She will continue the proud American tradition of pitting men and women in minimum wage jobs against each other by talking about the gender wage gap (which brutally affects our movie Stars, sports teams, and CEO’s and upper level management) – in other words, she will continue the proud American tradition of identity politics which masks socio-economic divisions: she will UNITE us in fighting each other instead of fighting the 1%! Unity!

In summation, even though I have not read this book yet, I give it a 5 star rating because:

I’M WITH HER! (and you should be too! Start by buying this book at the highest price you can find it being offered for. That’s how you show you LOVE America!)</p>
<p>Comment| 15 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">1.0 out of 5 stars&#160;Very Disappointed</a> September 18, 2016</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Format: Paperback</a></p>
<p>Worst book ever written. I expected it to be a “how to” on deception and backstabbery, but not one word about how to convincingly lie or shakedown Wall St. bankers for millions. Very disappointed. I hear my suicide has been scheduled for next weekend. I will mysteriously put two in the back of my head. It will be ruled a “mugging” although my wallet, watch, laptop, and briefcase will all be found intact at the scene.</p>
<p>Comment| 29 people found this helpful.</p>
<p>Your anonymous</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">3.0 out of 5 starsI meant to read this but I had to ████████████████████████████ and that is why I couldn’t</a></p>
<p>By <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A2IK776FY6MEMG/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_pdp?ie=UTF8" type="external">Obi Wan</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=cm_cr_dp_bdg_help?ie=UTF8&amp;nodeId=14279681&amp;pop-up=1#tr" type="external">TOP 500 REVIEWER</a>on September 15, 2016</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Format: Paperback</a></p>
<p>This review is of ██████ which was made available to ████████████ by means of ████████████ is considered ██████. No part of ████████████ including ██████ or ████████████████████████ is to be shared outside of ████████████. FOIA requests do not apply to this message because……..well because I don’t want them to. It includes █████████████████████████ which can be considered politically embarrassing so I’ve taken it upon myself to decide you aren’t allowed to see it. ████████████ should never be shared because ████████████████████████. But it’s all totally innocent and you should just trust me.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Anyway I had full intentions of reading this book. But then I had this horrible allergy attack so I couldn’t get through it. Wait, did I say allergy attack? I meant I was just a little overheated. I sat down to read this on a day when it was a whopping 78 degrees and low humidity with a gentle breeze but who can tolerate those oppressive conditions? No wait…I was dehydrated! That’s it…yeah I was dehydrated! I couldn’t read this book because I was dehydrated.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>So I really meant to read this book but….oh hang on I forgot that I have pneumonia. THAT is the REAL reason why I didn’t read this book! I was bedridden with pneumonia for an hour and a half, the exact time I had set aside to read this book.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>[C] Forget all those other reasons. I just……uh……mispoke. I simply forgot I had a life threatening illness like pneumonia. See, I forget things sometimes because I had this horrible concussion a few years back. It makes me forget really important things, even things I know I must have done because I signed legal documents stating that I’d done them. I can’t event remember why I keep putting that [C] in front of these paragraphs. Wacky!</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>But great news, now I can read this because I drank some water or something and suddenly I’m feeling like a million bucks! Oh wait…saying ‘a million bucks’ reminds me….I can’t read this book today. I forgot I was hired to give a speech today to a bunch of Wall Street executives about….well quite frankly what I’m giving a speech about is none of your business. But just know that I hate those Wall Street executives, no matter how many millions of dollars they pay me to give speeches!</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>So tomorrow…tomorrow I’ll read this book! I was going to go take a tour of the flood damage in Louisiana tomorrow, but instead I’m going to read this book. Trust me!</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>The only reason I won’t read this book tomorrow is if I’m suddenly no longer alive. But I’m not suicidal, I want to be very clear about that. The brakes in my car are in perfect operating condition. And I purposely avoid affluent Washington neighborhoods where I’d likely be shot but not robbed of any of my valuables. So the odds that I will be alive tomorrow so I can read this book are decent!!!</p> | true | 4 | recall enthusiasm level current presidential race daily bike past small handpainted sign simply says one 2016 mood verified virtual absence bumper stickers yard signs madison wisconsin neighborhood neighborhood160 actually large scattering russ feingold signs yard included whats odd four years category obama bumper stickers yard signs remain remain along fresher bernie stickers yard signs hundreds humorists mainly standups make living presidential candidates presidents late badlymissed larry wilmore show great trump characteralbeit thinacting truly painfully hilarious trump manner feminist critic reminded must return 2008 snl get strong satire hillary although tina feys sarah palin much much funner would seemed stuck year unless missing something samantha bee funny rarely hillary untilthe campaign volume by160 hillary tim kaine appeared suspect readers comments hilarious extreme going removed shortly removed names commentators protect innocent 10160160 5 starsthe art shakedown hill tim september 16 2016 format kindle edition bought thinking would howto book wanted set foundation fun profit also would like seen chapter ten easy steps setting secure server bathroom hear theres going sequel tentatively called art shakedown interesting 3 comments 1273 people found helpful 10 5 starshealth warningchjhorses september 16 2016 format paperback preordered autographed copy return weeks announcement worried contaminated pneumonia bacteria didnt want end exposed illness like grandkids chelseas apartment playing 911 collapsed little girl hugging street afterwards thought ordering kindle version thought might open device hacked communist countries wasnt surprised see tim kaine front cover giving traditional national socialist salute felt fitting strongly recommended believe usa isnt anything special like peaceful utopias north korea iran cuba 8 comments 1341 people found helpful 10160160 5 starssadly one star lack content 20160160 160september 17 2016 format paperback imagine dismay key parts life omitted would made far better reading included starting flunking dc bar exam removed house judiciary committee staffer job incompetence lying whitewater scandal married serial liar cheater occasionally sexual encounters nonconsenting partners lied sniper fire attempt simulate exposure danger war zone subject vast rightwing conspiracy led impeachment disbarment husband took crockery furniture artwork items white house return andor pay said difference point make four brave people killed libya direct result failure protect anniversary 911 totally ignored structure rules handling sensitive national security information amassed personal fortune speaking fees payments private sector political donors foreign governments transparent foundations september 18 2016 format paperback easily greatest book ever written laughed cried became part im going buy couple cases book every pew church almost holy contains book lays vision country people blueprint building nation flows milk honey hillary deliverer ok brazile wrote told write release child unharmed comment 32 people found helpful 10160160 5 stars 20160160 160september 18 2016 format paperback unfortunately read original script around published would say much bigger secrets sell could increased sales instead gave away secrets private server hacked made money clinton making vast paytoplay experience comment 15 people found helpful 10 5 stars160cruel unusual amazon customeron september 18 2016 format paperback sent local inmates sent back deemed cruel unusual comment 17 people found 50 5 stars160better ambien september 18 2016 format paperback ive tried come ambien years without success every time id skip night id lie awake hours tossing turning watching room light doctor tried things nothing worked yoga biofeedback benadryl name tried given stronger together gift right start knew answer usual insincere self serving clinton blandness lot blaming words like investing instead spending worked magic brain shut minutes works quickly takes page initiate sleep already paid ambien copays plan save payment lakefront house money im saving highly recommended comment 33 people found helpful review helpful yes report abuse 10160160 5 starsgreen new blue september 18 2016 format paperback disappointed learn chapter stole election bernie sanders stupidly expected victims vote could destroy country profit final wish die comment 33 people found helpful review helpful yes report abuse 50 5 stars though havent read im herseptember 18 2016 format paperback havent read book already love im already know beautiful vision america defeating trump done theres nothing worry also know even though read book yet tim even tim alone needs rest chelseas apartment 4 years plans america know based past experience actions shes experienced candidate ever im know 1 bring america energy independence fracking liberate methane north american continent let float freely atmosphere belongs bringing warm fuzzy feeling us 2 improve economy greenlighting valuable projects like pipeline construction canada export ports louisiana refineries texas even though xl pipeline create 50 permanent jobs think temporary cleanup jobs create sprouts leaks problems years come 3 boost economy putting soviet union back place really belong long time antagonist hillary show comrade putin soviet union boss encourage nations around soviet union purchase weapons us think jobs maybe even inspire thousands jobs cleaning limited nuclear exchange soviet union 4 help international economy go green encourage places like honduras drown local rainforests order put huge multinational corporations hydroelectric projects furthermore aid local governments supplying coup leaders arms eliminate pesky opponents like berta caceres oppose progress hillary wants progress thats progressive 5 continue tradition godliness peace middle east hillary supports friend ally israel sure encourage settlement program eliminate pesky little brown people west bank biblical borders king davids kingdom restored bringing everlasting peace region 6 support main street helping wall street even though talk job creators knows knows best way make jobs america give tax breaks bailouts goldman sachs one im way 7 carry proud american traditions continue carry tradition africanamericans vote democrats matter continue proud american tradition pitting men women minimum wage jobs talking gender wage gap brutally affects movie stars sports teams ceos upper level management words continue proud american tradition identity politics masks socioeconomic divisions unite us fighting instead fighting 1 unity summation even though read book yet give 5 star rating im start buying book highest price find offered thats show love america comment 15 people found helpful review helpful 10 5 stars160very disappointed september 18 2016 format paperback worst book ever written expected deception backstabbery one word convincingly lie shakedown wall st bankers millions disappointed hear suicide scheduled next weekend mysteriously put two back head ruled mugging although wallet watch laptop briefcase found intact scene comment 29 people found helpful anonymous 30 5 starsi meant read couldnt obi wan top 500 revieweron september 15 2016 format paperback review made available means considered part including shared outside foia requests apply message becausewell dont want includes considered politically embarrassing ive taken upon decide arent allowed see never shared totally innocent trust 160 anyway full intentions reading book horrible allergy attack couldnt get wait say allergy attack meant little overheated sat read day whopping 78 degrees low humidity gentle breeze tolerate oppressive conditions waiti dehydrated thats ityeah dehydrated couldnt read book dehydrated 160 really meant read book butoh hang forgot pneumonia real reason didnt read book bedridden pneumonia hour half exact time set aside read book 160 c forget reasons justuhmispoke simply forgot life threatening illness like pneumonia see forget things sometimes horrible concussion years back makes forget really important things even things know must done signed legal documents stating id done cant event remember keep putting c front paragraphs wacky 160 great news read drank water something suddenly im feeling like million bucks oh waitsaying million bucks reminds mei cant read book today forgot hired give speech today bunch wall street executives aboutwell quite frankly im giving speech none business know hate wall street executives matter many millions dollars pay give speeches 160 tomorrowtomorrow ill read book going go take tour flood damage louisiana tomorrow instead im going read book trust 160 reason wont read book tomorrow im suddenly longer alive im suicidal want clear brakes car perfect operating condition purposely avoid affluent washington neighborhoods id likely shot robbed valuables odds alive tomorrow read book decent | 1,279 |
<p>The International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its biannual “World Economic Outlook” (WEO) today, presenting a 300-page overview of the world economy and where it might be going. The Fund is one of the most powerful and influential financial institutions in the world. Despite the fact that this flagship publication, and the Fund’s hundreds of PhD economists, missed the two biggest asset bubbles in US and world history (the stock market bubble in the late 1990s and the housing bubble that triggered the Great Recession), the WEO is taken very seriously and contains much valuable data and analysis.</p>
<p>The fall WEO is relatively upbeat for the world economy in the short run but is more worried about downside risks in the medium term. It lists a number of concerns that anyone who cares about social or economic justice, or progress, would be concerned with, such as:</p>
<p>the recent surprisingly slow growth of nominal wages, which reinforces a longer trend of stagnant median wages, rising income inequality, and job polarization such that middle-skill but well-paying jobs have become increasingly scarce.</p>
<p>And the Fund argues that “governments should also consider correcting distortions that may have reduced workers’ bargaining power excessively” and “promote an environment conducive to sustainable real wage growth” as well as</p>
<p>further improving financial regulation, enhancing the global financial safety net, reducing international tax avoidance, fighting famine and infectious diseases, mitigating greenhouse gas emissions before they create more irreversible damage, and helping poorer countries, which are not themselves substantial emitters, adapt to climate change.</p>
<p>This is all very good but how are governments to accomplish most of these things, even in the high-income countries like the United States and in Europe? The two main policies that governments have at their disposal are monetary policy (control over interest rates and the money supply) and fiscal policy (taxing and spending).</p>
<p>On monetary policy, the IMF recognizes that inflation in many high-income countries (currently averaging 1.7 percent) is persistently below target and that this is a problem; and that monetary policy should remain “accommodative” for now. This should include the US, where the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation was 1.4 percent for the year in August, well below its target of 2 percent.</p>
<p>But the IMF appears to support the US Federal Reserve’s “normalization” of interest rates, i.e., continuing to raise short-term interest rates, with a forecast increase of 0.75 percent over the next year. But when the Fed raises interest rates it slows the rate of job creation, thus leaving more people out of work. This&#160; <a href="http://cepr.net/publications/reports/getting-back-to-full-employment" type="external">also</a>&#160;reduces the rate of wage growth, and increases inequality as lower-income workers are harder hit (including African-Americans who have about&#160; <a href="https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpsee_e16.htm" type="external">twice</a>&#160;the unemployment rate of whites). What is the excuse for raising interest rates in the US when inflation is below target? The IMF doesn’t tell us.</p>
<p>In its report, the Fund also details the risks to developing countries from the Fed raising interest rates, as this can cause crises when capital moves away from them to the US and high-income countries. But low- and middle-income countries have&#160; <a href="" type="internal">very little</a>&#160;voice in the 189-country organization; it is run by the US and its high-income country allies. This is the biggest problem with the IMF, since many developing countries have been&#160; <a href="http://cepr.net/publications/reports/imf-supported-macroeconomic-policies-and-the-world-recession" type="external">subject</a>&#160;to harmful policy conditions when they borrow from the IMF.</p>
<p>The Fund’s progress on monetary policy over the past decade has been substantial, especially since the Federal Reserve broke new ground in December of 2008 with quantitative easing, or using money creation to lower long-term interest rates; not to mention lowering short-term rates to about zero in December of 2007 and keeping them there for seven years. The European Central Bank followed with quantitative easing in March of 2015.</p>
<p>The IMF’s biggest weakness is on fiscal policy, where new spending is needed to reduce mass unemployment in Europe, make the investments needed to reduce climate change, and fix most of the other problems that the IMF professes to care about in this document. Currently, in the US and Europe, governments can borrow for 10 years at a real (inflation-adjusted) interest rate that is zero or negative, so now is a very good time to do that. But the IMF doesn’t see it that way.</p>
<p>“Fiscal policy should be aligned with structural reform efforts, taking advantage of favorable cyclical conditions to place public debt on a sustainable path while supporting demand where still needed and feasible.” Translation: most governments should cut spending and tighten budgets so as to reduce public debt; there may be some who can afford to not do this but they will be rare. And the “ <a href="" type="internal">structural reforms”</a>&#160;that the IMF is supporting&#160; <a href="http://cepr.net/publications/failed-what-the-experts-got-wrong-about-the-global-economy" type="external">in practice</a>&#160;include changing labor laws to reduce the bargaining power of workers, cutting health care and pension spending, and reducing government employment.</p>
<p>The IMF expresses concerns about an “anti-globalization backlash” but in Europe, for example, the rise of the far right and anti-immigrant political movements is clearly related to the policies that it has supported there since the world financial crisis and recession. In Spain, for example, the IMF&#160; <a href="" type="internal">now</a>&#160;defines 16 percent unemployment ― which Spain is projected to reach in 2019 (it’s now at 18 percent) as basically full employment, since their projections show that the economy will be operating at its potential output. In France, the IMF currently&#160; <a href="" type="internal">supports</a>&#160;more budget tightening despite 9.5 percent unemployment, as well as unpopular legal&#160; <a href="" type="internal">changes</a>&#160;that will weaken organized labor.</p>
<p>The changes in the IMF’s research department that have led to its statements and empirical work on inequality, wage stagnation, climate change, and other important economic and social problems have been significant in recent years. But the Fund’s recommended policies ― which have much more impact ― have lagged far behind.</p>
<p>This article originally appeared on <a href="" type="internal">Huffington Post</a>.</p> | true | 4 | international monetary fund imf released biannual world economic outlook weo today presenting 300page overview world economy might going fund one powerful influential financial institutions world despite fact flagship publication funds hundreds phd economists missed two biggest asset bubbles us world history stock market bubble late 1990s housing bubble triggered great recession weo taken seriously contains much valuable data analysis fall weo relatively upbeat world economy short run worried downside risks medium term lists number concerns anyone cares social economic justice progress would concerned recent surprisingly slow growth nominal wages reinforces longer trend stagnant median wages rising income inequality job polarization middleskill wellpaying jobs become increasingly scarce fund argues governments also consider correcting distortions may reduced workers bargaining power excessively promote environment conducive sustainable real wage growth well improving financial regulation enhancing global financial safety net reducing international tax avoidance fighting famine infectious diseases mitigating greenhouse gas emissions create irreversible damage helping poorer countries substantial emitters adapt climate change good governments accomplish things even highincome countries like united states europe two main policies governments disposal monetary policy control interest rates money supply fiscal policy taxing spending monetary policy imf recognizes inflation many highincome countries currently averaging 17 percent persistently target problem monetary policy remain accommodative include us feds preferred measure inflation 14 percent year august well target 2 percent imf appears support us federal reserves normalization interest rates ie continuing raise shortterm interest rates forecast increase 075 percent next year fed raises interest rates slows rate job creation thus leaving people work this160 also160reduces rate wage growth increases inequality lowerincome workers harder hit including africanamericans about160 twice160the unemployment rate whites excuse raising interest rates us inflation target imf doesnt tell us report fund also details risks developing countries fed raising interest rates cause crises capital moves away us highincome countries low middleincome countries have160 little160voice 189country organization run us highincome country allies biggest problem imf since many developing countries been160 subject160to harmful policy conditions borrow imf funds progress monetary policy past decade substantial especially since federal reserve broke new ground december 2008 quantitative easing using money creation lower longterm interest rates mention lowering shortterm rates zero december 2007 keeping seven years european central bank followed quantitative easing march 2015 imfs biggest weakness fiscal policy new spending needed reduce mass unemployment europe make investments needed reduce climate change fix problems imf professes care document currently us europe governments borrow 10 years real inflationadjusted interest rate zero negative good time imf doesnt see way fiscal policy aligned structural reform efforts taking advantage favorable cyclical conditions place public debt sustainable path supporting demand still needed feasible translation governments cut spending tighten budgets reduce public debt may afford rare structural reforms160that imf supporting160 practice160include changing labor laws reduce bargaining power workers cutting health care pension spending reducing government employment imf expresses concerns antiglobalization backlash europe example rise far right antiimmigrant political movements clearly related policies supported since world financial crisis recession spain example imf160 now160defines 16 percent unemployment spain projected reach 2019 18 percent basically full employment since projections show economy operating potential output france imf currently160 supports160more budget tightening despite 95 percent unemployment well unpopular legal160 changes160that weaken organized labor changes imfs research department led statements empirical work inequality wage stagnation climate change important economic social problems significant recent years funds recommended policies much impact lagged far behind article originally appeared huffington post | 559 |
<p>As the overall economic picture in the United States continues to brighten, the job market remains a contentious issue. Yes, the headline official unemployment rate has fallen sharply in recent months to just over 8 percent. But most Americans, judging from polls, remain pessimistic about jobs and see a challenging landscape of high unemployment and stagnant wages. The fall elections promise to hinge on whether people believe that the employment picture is bright or dark. The entire issue, however, remains trapped in a broken framework, harkening back to a past that was never quite so good and is not going to return.</p>
<p>Policymakers and politicians, however, continue to promise, assuring the American people that the future will be a replay of that past of high, safe, and secure employment. Said Chairman of the Federal Reserve <a href="/content/dailybeast/cheats/2012/02/29/bernanke-warns-of-slow-recovery.html" type="external">Ben Bernanke</a> in his testimony to Congress mid-week: “Notwithstanding the better recent data, the job market remains far from normal: the unemployment rate remains elevated, long-term unemployment is still near record levels, and the number of persons working part-time for economic reasons is very high.” There is nothing inaccurate per se in these words, and to his credit, Bernanke did not gloss over the very real structural problems despite recent improvements. He does, however, see the current situation as not normal. And there’s the rub: it is normal. A new normal, a hard normal, and one that we collectively are strenuously trying to deny.</p>
<p>That new normal is one of deep divides in the American labor landscape. The world of men doing physical labor as a primary occupation is passing away, being replaced by high levels of robotics and ever more services ranging from technology to nursing to entertainment. Conservative commentators like Charles Murray have started to focus on that, as have economists such as Joseph Stiglitz and Eric Brynjolfsson, who has been arguing that the current transformation of the American job market is as dramatic as the changes that occurred when farming became more mechanized and displaced millions leading up to the Great Depression.</p>
<p>But these are marginal, elite voices. In politics and in culture, the discussion is basically who is to blame for the high unemployment for recent years—government, regulators, Wall Street, housing speculators—and what can be done to right the economic ship so that once again, wages and jobs are plentiful. President Obama on the stump in Michigan this week <a href="/content/dailybeast/cheats/2012/02/28/obama-delivers-barnburner-to-uaw.html" type="external">celebrated</a> that “the American auto industry is back.” That was a direct jibe at the Republicans and <a href="/content/dailybeast/articles/2012/02/27/when-you-ve-lost-the-auto-executives.html" type="external">Mitt Romney</a> for decrying the auto bailout. And it is true that GM as well as Chrysler (not to mention Ford, which did not go through bankruptcy) are once again profitable. But they are not engines of job creation. In fact, their recovery is partly due to shedding workers and pension costs. There are more than a half million fewer auto industry workers than there were at the beginning of the millennium. Those trends are similar throughout manufacturing.</p>
<p>Every month, a new jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics demonstrates the relentless trend of fewer and fewer heavy labor jobs and more and more self-employment and service jobs. It also demonstrates that tens of millions of people have a job but don’t earn enough to stay above the official—and rather low—poverty line. And every quarter, corporate earnings show just how potent ever-evolving and emerging industries such as technology and high-end retail and global industrial companies are and how much those who generate the ideas and execute those strategies get paid.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the election campaign proceeds as though Washington is the axis around which the job market revolves. Mitt Romney campaigns on a promise of “more jobs, less debt, and smaller government,” presumably in the belief that government policies and Obama’s stimulus of 2009 destroyed jobs or prevented hiring. The Democrats in turn take credit for a reviving economy and a declining unemployment rate, conveniently soft-pedaling just how poorly paid many of those jobs are.</p>
<p>It has long been said that Americans deal forthrightly though contentiously with race, sex, and social issues. But aside from brief protest movements, we remain stubbornly immune from honest discussions about class, about economic divides, and about how there can be forces beyond the easy control of any one nation, one country, and one government. The morphing employment landscape is a force greater than Washington and more long-term than the past four years of financial crisis and weak recovery. We have evidence of that, powerful evidence, in multiple reports every month from government and from industry, yet we cast those aside because admitting those realities would force longer-term thinking and an acceptance that the remembered America of the mid-20th century is gone forever.</p>
<p>The new normal for employment is a vast and thriving class of knowledge and service workers, who are unlikely to be at any one job for more than a decade, if that. It is one of tens of millions of women with some college education staffing the health-care industry or professions ranging from doctors to lawyers. It is one of tens of millions of men young and middle-aged with needed skills in construction and labor that command low and stagnant wages. And it is one of a few million connected to global expansion making massive amounts of money in relative terms. How government policies aid all of those elements and balance conflicting needs, not to mention different parts of the country with very different employment patterns, will matter greatly, but none of it will be effective until we say goodbye to Bernanke’s fabled normal and start to grapple with the world as it is rather than the world as we wish it to be.</p> | true | 4 | overall economic picture united states continues brighten job market remains contentious issue yes headline official unemployment rate fallen sharply recent months 8 percent americans judging polls remain pessimistic jobs see challenging landscape high unemployment stagnant wages fall elections promise hinge whether people believe employment picture bright dark entire issue however remains trapped broken framework harkening back past never quite good going return policymakers politicians however continue promise assuring american people future replay past high safe secure employment said chairman federal reserve ben bernanke testimony congress midweek notwithstanding better recent data job market remains far normal unemployment rate remains elevated longterm unemployment still near record levels number persons working parttime economic reasons high nothing inaccurate per se words credit bernanke gloss real structural problems despite recent improvements however see current situation normal theres rub normal new normal hard normal one collectively strenuously trying deny new normal one deep divides american labor landscape world men physical labor primary occupation passing away replaced high levels robotics ever services ranging technology nursing entertainment conservative commentators like charles murray started focus economists joseph stiglitz eric brynjolfsson arguing current transformation american job market dramatic changes occurred farming became mechanized displaced millions leading great depression marginal elite voices politics culture discussion basically blame high unemployment recent yearsgovernment regulators wall street housing speculatorsand done right economic ship wages jobs plentiful president obama stump michigan week celebrated american auto industry back direct jibe republicans mitt romney decrying auto bailout true gm well chrysler mention ford go bankruptcy profitable engines job creation fact recovery partly due shedding workers pension costs half million fewer auto industry workers beginning millennium trends similar throughout manufacturing every month new jobs report bureau labor statistics demonstrates relentless trend fewer fewer heavy labor jobs selfemployment service jobs also demonstrates tens millions people job dont earn enough stay officialand rather lowpoverty line every quarter corporate earnings show potent everevolving emerging industries technology highend retail global industrial companies much generate ideas execute strategies get paid meanwhile election campaign proceeds though washington axis around job market revolves mitt romney campaigns promise jobs less debt smaller government presumably belief government policies obamas stimulus 2009 destroyed jobs prevented hiring democrats turn take credit reviving economy declining unemployment rate conveniently softpedaling poorly paid many jobs long said americans deal forthrightly though contentiously race sex social issues aside brief protest movements remain stubbornly immune honest discussions class economic divides forces beyond easy control one nation one country one government morphing employment landscape force greater washington longterm past four years financial crisis weak recovery evidence powerful evidence multiple reports every month government industry yet cast aside admitting realities would force longerterm thinking acceptance remembered america mid20th century gone forever new normal employment vast thriving class knowledge service workers unlikely one job decade one tens millions women college education staffing healthcare industry professions ranging doctors lawyers one tens millions men young middleaged needed skills construction labor command low stagnant wages one million connected global expansion making massive amounts money relative terms government policies aid elements balance conflicting needs mention different parts country different employment patterns matter greatly none effective say goodbye bernankes fabled normal start grapple world rather world wish | 525 |
<p>New York Times (6/14/17) suggests Bernie Sanders incited violence with words like “demagogue” and “corporate media.”</p>
<p>New York Times reporter <a href="" type="internal">Yamiche Alcindor</a> ( <a href="https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/us/politics/bernie-sanders-supporters.html?hpw&amp;rref=politics&amp;action=click&amp;pgtype=Homepage&amp;module=well-region&amp;region=bottom-well&amp;WT.nav=bottom-well" type="external">6/14/17</a>) started with a false premise and patched together a dodgy piece of innuendo and guilt-by-association in order to place the blame for a shooting in Virginia on “the most ardent supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders.”</p>
<p>We learned in the wake of an attack on Monday that left five injured, including Republican House Whip Steve Scalise, that the shooter, James T. Hodgkinson (who was subsequently killed by police), had been a Sanders campaign volunteer, and that his social media featured pictures of the Vermont senator and his brand of progressive, anti-Republican language. This was enough for Alcindor to build a piece based on the premise that Sanders’ “movement” had been somehow responsible for the attacks, and was thus “tested” by them.</p>
<p>From the beginning, Alcindor framed the shooting as essentially tied to the Sanders campaign by virtue of Hodgkinson’s political sensibilities:</p>
<p>The most ardent supporters of Senator Bernie Sanders have long been outspoken about their anger toward Republicans—and in some cases toward Democrats. Their idol, the senator from Vermont, has called President Trump a “demagogue” and said recently that he was “perhaps the worst and most dangerous president in the history of our country.”</p>
<p>Now, in Mr. Sanders’ world, his fans have something concrete to grapple with: James T. Hodgkinson, a former volunteer for Mr. Sanders’ presidential campaign, is suspected of opening fire on Republican lawmakers practicing baseball in Alexandria, Va.</p>
<p>Sanders’ supporters are positioned as crazed religious adherents, with an “idol” rather than a political leader. These “fans,” the article continues, “now…have something concrete to grapple with”—apparently in contrast to the non-concrete claims of Sanders that Trump is a dangerous demagogue.</p>
<p>The sleaziest section, and one that solicited the most <a href="https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/875176196237127680" type="external">online outrage</a>, uncritically echoed the conventional wisdom that Sanders fans were uniquely menacing and aggressive:</p>
<p>To be sure, supporters of Mr. Trump, as well as Mr. Trump himself, have assailed opponents and the news media.</p>
<p>But long before the shooting on Wednesday, some of Mr. Sanders’ supporters had earned a belligerent reputation for their criticism of Hillary Clinton, the Democratic Party and others who they believed disagreed with their ideas. Sanders fans, sometimes referred to derogatorily as “Bernie Bros” or “Bernie Bots,” at times harassed reporters covering Mr. Sanders and flooded social media with angry posts directed at the “corporate media,” a term often used by the senator.</p>
<p>The suspect in the shooting in Virginia put a new spotlight on the rage buried in some corners of the progressive left.</p>
<p>Alcindor insists Sanders supporters had “earned a belligerent reputation” without examining whether or not this claim was supported by any empirical data whatsoever. ( <a href="https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/online-incivility-study-bernie-bro/" type="external">One study found</a>Clinton and Trump fans to be far more aggressive than Sanders backers online, but let’s not let facts get in the way of a good narrative.)</p>
<p>Who’s pushing the term “Bernie Bros”? Is the image being presented of a seething cauldron of leftist hate at all fair—especially relative to the other candidates? It’s not examined. They are “sometimes referred” to that way—and that’s enough to prop up collective responsibility for the actions of one disturbed man among Sanders’ tens of millions of followers and partisans.</p>
<p>The literal “to be sure” paragraph, ostensibly acknowledging that Trump and his supporters have “assailed opponents and the news media,” actually serves to equate those assaults—which are <a href="" type="internal">quite literal</a>—with the “belligerent reputation” of Sanders supporters. Never mind that you’ll never find Sanders urging supporters to “kick the crap out of” protesters, as Trump has (Slate, <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2016/03/is_donald_trump_inciting_violence_he_might_be.html" type="external">3/15/16</a>), or reminiscing about how “I love the old days” when “they’d be carried out on a stretcher, folks.”</p>
<p>The first Sanders supporter to be heard from in the Times piece is former Ohio state senator Nina Turner, who agrees with the article’s premise that “both sides need to look in the mirror,” and warns that “we have to decide what kind of language we are going to use in our political discourse.” (One gets the sense that “corporate media,” cited as a sign of “Bernie Bro” belligerence, is the kind of phrase Alcindor wants to see stricken from the discourse.)</p>
<p>Alcindor does quote Daily News columnist and Black Lives Matter supporter Shaun King saying it “doesn’t make sense” to blame all Sanders supporters for one individual’s actions, though he’s not given a chance to develop the idea.</p>
<p>It’s not until paragraph 22 of the article that a meaningful rebuke of its premise is presented. National Nurses United union head RoseAnn DeMoro ends the article, telling Alcindor that it’s a “‘boldface lie’ to connect the shooting to Mr. Sanders’s push for opposing Mr. Trump’s proposals.” The New York Times here plays the “both sides” game to perfection, promoting the premise that Sanders laid the ground for radical leftist violence in the headline and lede, while tossing in a counter-argument at the very end.</p>
<p>Considering only 41 percent of people <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/03/19/americans-read-headlines-and-not-much-else/?utm_term=.f772a59ff1ef" type="external">read past the headline</a>, and <a href="https://dyske.com/paper/1072" type="external">only 11 percent of Americans are likely to finish an article</a>, it’s still reassuring to know some readers will stick around long enough to see meaningful pushback.</p>
<p>Well before then, Fox News contributor and pro-Trump flack Harlan Hill would offer up some of the more cynical comments of the piece:</p>
<p>Harlan Hill, a political consultant based in New York who supports Mr. Trump, said people should not blame Mr. Sanders personally, but he said the senator’s description of the president as “dangerous” illustrated the “apocalyptic terms” and “melodrama” that have created a combustible political atmosphere.</p>
<p>“It is a passive justification for the kind of violence we saw,” Mr. Hill said. “If you don’t believe that, and you’re just casually using these words, then you should accept the consequence of those words because you are empowering the people that follow you to take whatever sort of action that they deem necessary to avert what is being described to them as a potential genocidal leader.”</p>
<p>So calling the president “dangerous”—when he’s actively tried to <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/12/07/politics/donald-trump-muslim-ban-immigration/index.html" type="external">ban Muslims</a> from the US, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/05/03/this-is-how-trumps-deportations-differ-from-obamas/?utm_term=.0d12c8d53908" type="external">deported immigrants</a> at record rates, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/climate/trump-paris-climate-agreement.html?_r=0" type="external">pulled the US out</a> of the world’s only meaningful anti-climate change agreement, <a href="http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-updates-everything-president-trump-says-obamacare-is-dead-1496017824-htmlstory.html" type="external">worked to take health care</a> from millions, &#160;and ratcheted up tensions with <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-saudi-arabia-speech-iran-911-terrorism-islam-sunni-shia-613038" type="external">Iran</a> and <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/north-korea-postpones-nuclear-showdown-with-us/3811269.html" type="external">North Korea</a>—is “passive justification for the kind of violence” carried out on Monday? Alcindor allows this self-serving and patently absurd premise to go unchallenged, as a paid advocate for Trump eagerly uses the tragedy to paint his side as the real victim of political extremism, rather than its No. 1 champion.</p>
<p>The innuendo and guilt-by-association only got worse from there:</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Mr. Hodgkinson posted a cartoon on Facebook explaining “How does a bill work?” “That’s an easy one, Billy,” the cartoon reads. “Corporations write the bill and then bribe Congress until it becomes law.”</p>
<p>“That’s Exactly How It Works….” Mr. Hodgkinson wrote.</p>
<p>That is not far from Mr. Sanders’ own message. On Saturday, during a conference in Chicago filled with Sanders supporters, he thundered, “Today in the White House, we have perhaps the worst and most dangerous president in the history of our country,” to cheers from thousands. “And we also have, not to be forgotten, extreme right-wing leadership in the US House and the US Senate.”</p>
<p>See, the killer vaguely acknowledged the obvious reality that corporations influence legislation, and on Saturday Senator Sanders said something mean about Trump. It’s all connected.</p>
<p>Left unmentioned in the piece were two entirely relevant pieces of context that would mitigate the burden of responsibility for Sen. Sanders and provide alternative theories of the crime. The first is Hodgkinson’s history of domestic violence—a <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/sections/news/the-link-between-domestic-violence-and-mass-shootings-james-hodgkinson-steve-scalise" type="external">common factor</a> in most mass shootings (CounterSpin, <a href="" type="internal">6/17/16</a>).</p>
<p>“Mass shooting experts say past violent conduct and access to weapons, not specific ideology, are biggest risk factors,” <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexYablon/status/875044457909018633" type="external">said</a> Alex Yablon of The Trace, a website dedicated to gun violence in the United States.</p>
<p>The second—and perhaps most salient, given the tone of the piece—was Hodgkinson’s obsession with President Trump as a pro-Russian “traitor.” His Facebook was filled with content calling Trump a “traitor,” <a href="http://www.9news.com/news/nation-now/its-time-to-destroy-trump-co-scalise-shooting-suspect-raged-on-facebook/448960249" type="external">including a petition</a> insisting “Trump Has Destroyed Our Democracy” and “It’s Time to Destroy Trump &amp; Co.”</p>
<p>Since Hodgkinson’s political leanings are being probed as somehow responsible for the shootings, it’s curious why the New York Times decided to highlight his pro-Sanders stance and not his obsession with Trump as treasonous pro-Russian agent—an accusation that Sanders has not aggressively pressed and, indeed, has sometimes been on the <a href="http://observer.com/2017/04/conspiracy-theorist-louise-mensch-bernie-sanders/" type="external">receiving end</a> of. Why “Attack Tests Movement Sanders Founded” and not “Attack Test Democrats’ Trump-as-Russian-Agent Inquiry”? Why note Hodgkinson’s support for Sanders but <a href="http://www.bnd.com/news/local/article156092134.html" type="external">not his love for Rachel Maddow</a>, more than half of whose show, <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/04/12/msnbcs-rachel-maddow-sees-a-russia-connection-lurking-around-every-corner/" type="external">one study</a> found, is dedicated to the Russia/Trump story?</p>
<p>The answer is that the former is easy—and convenient—to smear, whereas the latter implicates a whole host of powerful institutions: the Democratic leadership, most major media and, above all, the New York Times itself, which has <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/17/opinion/what-to-ask-about-russian-hacking.html" type="external">published</a>, and thus legitimized, the most extreme and irresponsible fringe of the Russia/Trump dot-connectors in the form of Louise Mensch (FAIR.org, <a href="" type="internal">3/31/17</a>).</p>
<p>Of course, neither Sanders nor Trump-as-Russian-agent media personalities are responsible for what Hodgkinson did Monday, but it’s notable that only one is being blamed. Sanders unleashing crazed “Bernie Bros” is a simple narrative that reinforces existing, media-flattering narratives, whereas the latter is far messier, and would require the New York Times to examine its own role. Guess which one we’ll be getting nonstop coverage of in the coming days?</p>
<p>ACTION: Please contact the New York Times and ask for more responsible coverage of the Virginia shooting incident.</p>
<p>CONTACT:</p>
<p>Email:&#160; <a href="mailto:letters@nytimes.com" type="external">letters@nytimes.com</a></p>
<p>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes" type="external">@NYTimes</a></p>
<p>Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective. Feel free to leave a copy of your messages to the New York Times in the comments for this post.</p> | true | 4 | new york times 61417 suggests bernie sanders incited violence words like demagogue corporate media new york times reporter yamiche alcindor 61417 started false premise patched together dodgy piece innuendo guiltbyassociation order place blame shooting virginia ardent supporters sen bernie sanders learned wake attack monday left five injured including republican house whip steve scalise shooter james hodgkinson subsequently killed police sanders campaign volunteer social media featured pictures vermont senator brand progressive antirepublican language enough alcindor build piece based premise sanders movement somehow responsible attacks thus tested beginning alcindor framed shooting essentially tied sanders campaign virtue hodgkinsons political sensibilities ardent supporters senator bernie sanders long outspoken anger toward republicansand cases toward democrats idol senator vermont called president trump demagogue said recently perhaps worst dangerous president history country mr sanders world fans something concrete grapple james hodgkinson former volunteer mr sanders presidential campaign suspected opening fire republican lawmakers practicing baseball alexandria va sanders supporters positioned crazed religious adherents idol rather political leader fans article continues nowhave something concrete grapple withapparently contrast nonconcrete claims sanders trump dangerous demagogue sleaziest section one solicited online outrage uncritically echoed conventional wisdom sanders fans uniquely menacing aggressive sure supporters mr trump well mr trump assailed opponents news media long shooting wednesday mr sanders supporters earned belligerent reputation criticism hillary clinton democratic party others believed disagreed ideas sanders fans sometimes referred derogatorily bernie bros bernie bots times harassed reporters covering mr sanders flooded social media angry posts directed corporate media term often used senator suspect shooting virginia put new spotlight rage buried corners progressive left alcindor insists sanders supporters earned belligerent reputation without examining whether claim supported empirical data whatsoever one study foundclinton trump fans far aggressive sanders backers online lets let facts get way good narrative whos pushing term bernie bros image presented seething cauldron leftist hate fairespecially relative candidates examined sometimes referred wayand thats enough prop collective responsibility actions one disturbed man among sanders tens millions followers partisans literal sure paragraph ostensibly acknowledging trump supporters assailed opponents news media actually serves equate assaultswhich quite literalwith belligerent reputation sanders supporters never mind youll never find sanders urging supporters kick crap protesters trump slate 31516 reminiscing love old days theyd carried stretcher folks first sanders supporter heard times piece former ohio state senator nina turner agrees articles premise sides need look mirror warns decide kind language going use political discourse one gets sense corporate media cited sign bernie bro belligerence kind phrase alcindor wants see stricken discourse alcindor quote daily news columnist black lives matter supporter shaun king saying doesnt make sense blame sanders supporters one individuals actions though hes given chance develop idea paragraph 22 article meaningful rebuke premise presented national nurses united union head roseann demoro ends article telling alcindor boldface lie connect shooting mr sanderss push opposing mr trumps proposals new york times plays sides game perfection promoting premise sanders laid ground radical leftist violence headline lede tossing counterargument end considering 41 percent people read past headline 11 percent americans likely finish article still reassuring know readers stick around long enough see meaningful pushback well fox news contributor protrump flack harlan hill would offer cynical comments piece harlan hill political consultant based new york supports mr trump said people blame mr sanders personally said senators description president dangerous illustrated apocalyptic terms melodrama created combustible political atmosphere passive justification kind violence saw mr hill said dont believe youre casually using words accept consequence words empowering people follow take whatever sort action deem necessary avert described potential genocidal leader calling president dangerouswhen hes actively tried ban muslims us deported immigrants record rates pulled us worlds meaningful anticlimate change agreement worked take health care millions 160and ratcheted tensions iran north koreais passive justification kind violence carried monday alcindor allows selfserving patently absurd premise go unchallenged paid advocate trump eagerly uses tragedy paint side real victim political extremism rather 1 champion innuendo guiltbyassociation got worse tuesday mr hodgkinson posted cartoon facebook explaining bill work thats easy one billy cartoon reads corporations write bill bribe congress becomes law thats exactly works mr hodgkinson wrote far mr sanders message saturday conference chicago filled sanders supporters thundered today white house perhaps worst dangerous president history country cheers thousands also forgotten extreme rightwing leadership us house us senate see killer vaguely acknowledged obvious reality corporations influence legislation saturday senator sanders said something mean trump connected left unmentioned piece two entirely relevant pieces context would mitigate burden responsibility sen sanders provide alternative theories crime first hodgkinsons history domestic violencea common factor mass shootings counterspin 61716 mass shooting experts say past violent conduct access weapons specific ideology biggest risk factors said alex yablon trace website dedicated gun violence united states secondand perhaps salient given tone piecewas hodgkinsons obsession president trump prorussian traitor facebook filled content calling trump traitor including petition insisting trump destroyed democracy time destroy trump amp co since hodgkinsons political leanings probed somehow responsible shootings curious new york times decided highlight prosanders stance obsession trump treasonous prorussian agentan accusation sanders aggressively pressed indeed sometimes receiving end attack tests movement sanders founded attack test democrats trumpasrussianagent inquiry note hodgkinsons support sanders love rachel maddow half whose show one study found dedicated russiatrump story answer former easyand convenientto smear whereas latter implicates whole host powerful institutions democratic leadership major media new york times published thus legitimized extreme irresponsible fringe russiatrump dotconnectors form louise mensch fairorg 33117 course neither sanders trumpasrussianagent media personalities responsible hodgkinson monday notable one blamed sanders unleashing crazed bernie bros simple narrative reinforces existing mediaflattering narratives whereas latter far messier would require new york times examine role guess one well getting nonstop coverage coming days action please contact new york times ask responsible coverage virginia shooting incident contact email160 lettersnytimescom twitter nytimes please remember respectful communication effective feel free leave copy messages new york times comments post | 964 |
<p>BOGOTA, COLOMBIA. The streets were strangely empty in Bogota after the mortars went off on inauguration day. Soldiers, police, beggars, and vendors remained on the streets, but anyone who had the choice stayed locked up inside. The eerie silence was punctuated by the sound of army helicopters and U.S. fighter jets flying low over the city.</p>
<p>Bogota that afternoon felt like a city under siege–and it was hard to tell which side was responsible–the leftist guerillas with their mortar attacks, or the new government with its heavy handed show of military force throughout a capital city that has been spared the worst of this country’s forty year civil war, but threatens to become a new battleground as the war escalates. President Alvaro Uribe Velez had campaigned on the slogan “Mano Firme, Coraznon Grande,” The firm hand clearly had its grip in Bogota, the big heart was nowhere to be found.</p>
<p>Legalizing Repression</p>
<p>That same morning, in Barrancabermeja, an oil refining city on the Magdelana River north of Bogota, an activist with the Organizacion Femina Popular, a brave and dedicated group of women working for peace, sustainable development, and women’s rights in a city completely under the control of right wing paramilitaries, told our delegation of human rights activists from the U.S., that with the inauguration of President Uribe, “We expect to see the realization of a totalitarian model blessed by the U.S.”</p>
<p>In the days that have followed, Uribe has moved quickly to expand state power and escalate the war against the Marxist guerillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and the Army of National Liberation (ELN.) The guerillas have fought for four decades against the Colombian military and illegal right wing paramilitaries aligned with the government.</p>
<p>On his first day in office, Uribe announced a pilot project to recruit 600 “civilian informants” for the military in the northern department of Cesar. If the program is successful, Uribe hopes to recruit one million such informants nationwide.</p>
<p>The program has chilling echoes of the East German secret police’s network of citizen spies and President Bush’s proposed TIPS program, which would have recruited one out of every twenty-four people in the U.S. to spy on their neighbors. (The U.S. TIPS program was scuttled when federal employees refused to participate.)</p>
<p>The reality of Uribe’s program may be even more frightening. He told reporters that he wouldn’t rule out arming the informants: “Initially, (they) will not have guns because people will kill them to take the weapons, but the defense minister and the high commanders will study under what circumstances the use of arms could be authorized,” he said. Uribe oversaw a similar program when he was governor of the Antioquia department. The CONVIVIR armed civilian patrols Uribe’s gubernatorial administration created ended up working closely with the outlawed right wing paramilitaries that are responsible for many of the worst atrocities in Colombia. Human rights groups fear that arming volunteer civilian informants could be a way of legitimizing and legalizing paramilitary groups. They also point out that the program will dangerously blur the line between civilians and combatants in a war where all sides already commit gross violations of international humanitarian law, targeting civilians that are suspected of collaborating with their opponents. Indeed Irish journalist, Ana Carrigan reports that, partially in response to the civilian informants program:</p>
<p>“The FARC is planning the next stage of their strategy to impose an alternative local government, based on the formation of “revolutionary civilian councils”_which would function under the direction of community leaders, forced to carry out FARC “laws’ at gunpoint.”</p>
<p>Fernando Londono, Uribe’s Justice and Interior Minister, has suggested that the new government will push for a constitutional amendment that would reestablish some of the provisions of the dreaded Security Statute that stripped citizens of their civil liberties and enabled the military to murder, torture, and disappear dissidents with impunity in the late 1970’s. Recently, when a reporter asked Londono which rights Colombians should be prepared to sacrifice for greater security, he replied “All of them. There are no absolute rights.”</p>
<p>The following Monday, Uribe declared a “State of Internal Commotion,” giving his administration emergency power to establish a $800 million emergency war tax and to suspend some of the freedoms guaranteed in Colombia’s 1991 constitution. The Washington Post reports that:</p>
<p>“The decree, which will last from three to nine months, allows the government to impose extended curfews and prevent access to areas without prior court approval; restrict information reported by the news media; commandeer land, equipment and professional expertise from private citizens; and suspend elected officials contributing to public unrest.”</p>
<p>It also allows the President to authorize the military to conduct searches and make arrests without judicial warrants.</p>
<p>Visiting U.S. Undersecretary of State Marc Grossman endorsed the moves, saying “Colombians have sacrificed a lot over the years, but Uribe is calling on them to sacrifice more to protect their democracy. We support this call,”</p>
<p>The decree in essence gives the government new legal tools to silence dissent in the name of fighting terrorism..</p>
<p>Barrancabermeja: The Face Of Things To Come?</p>
<p>There are those who believe that Barrancabermeja under paramilitary control offers a rough image of the Colombia President Uribe would like to create through his strengthened national security state. The paramilitaries are right wing militias, funded by wealthy landowners, cocaine traffickers, and multinational corporations, that have carried out a “dirty war” of massacres and political assassinations against Colombian dissidents for decades. While they are officially outlawed, they operate in close cooperation with the military.</p>
<p>Barrancabermeja is a unique place. This working class city has a strong history of union activism–it was here that the oil workers’ union, USO forced the Colombian government to form the state oil company, ECOPETROL, in the early part of the century, in order to insure that some of Colombia’s oil wealth would stay in the country rather than being stripped completely by foreign companies.. Barranca (as its residents call it) was long a stronghold for the ELN guerillas, until the military drove them out of the city in “Operacion Feliz Navidad” in December, 2000. With the guerillas gone, the paramilitaries seized control and began assassinating their perceived opponents in the labor unions, the OFP, and peace and human rights groups in order to show that they now had absolute power. They also imposed a strict social code, and began a campaign of “social cleansing” killing gays, lesbians, bisexuals, drug addicts, prostitutes, women with tattoos, men with dreadlocks, and anyone else who didn’t fit their vision of what Barrancabermeja should be. In their first year of control, the paramilitaries killed an average of three to five people in Barranca every day. These killings were carried out with complete impunity in a city that boasts a large military and police presence. Paramilitary roadblocks are routinely set-up within plain sight of military roadblocks on the roads and rivers outside the city. This year, killings are down–having established a reignof terror, the paramilitaries only have to kill an average of one person per week in Barranca to maintain the credibility of their threats.</p>
<p>Officials from the city’s Chamber of Commerce officially condemn the paramilitaries, but note that the city is more peaceful now. The guerillas and the military used to fight pitched battles in the streets. But the military and the paramilitaries don’t fight with each other at all, and the guerillas are gone now. They also noted that unions have become “more reasonable” in recent years.</p>
<p>The weakening of the unions has meant increased poverty for the people of the region. In the past, USO was strong enough to ensure that ECOPETROL would keep 50% of the profits made from any oil contract with a foreign company. But in recent years, USO has had to fight hard to keep even 30% of the profits from most oil deals in Colombia, with most foreign corporations taking 90% of the profits from their joint projects with ECOPETROL.</p>
<p>Activists from the regional human rights group, CREDHOS, had told us that the government is experimenting now with subjecting dissidents to prosecuting and imprisoning dissidents on false charges, because it creates less international outrage than having paramilitaries carry out political assassinations (which certainly continue at a horrific rate.) Last October, police arrested six leaders of the oil worker’s union, USO, and charged them with rebellion. The workers remain under house arrest.</p>
<p>Legal repression seems to go hand in hand with political assassinations–representing that state’s way of maintaining the order the paramilitaries have established. Amnesty International wrote in a report on the arrest of the oil workers that:</p>
<p>“These latest detentions occurred in the context of a work stoppage at ECOPETROL (the state run oil company) to demand that the national government provide guarantees for union activity, which is being impeded by the continuous threats of killings and persecution by paramilitary groups. The Colombian government has not only failed to take action against the paramilitaries who continue bleeding the Colombian social movement, but also now the judicial authorities have charged these [union] leaders with activities outside the law, seeking to de facto criminalize the rights of association and of protest of Colombian citizens.”</p>
<p>Strong words from a cautious and moderate organization like Amnesty.</p>
<p>The attempt to criminalize dissent became even clearer during our meeting with Col. Andres Rodriguez Fernandez, a former human rights instructor at the infamous U.S. Army School of the Americas at Fort Benning in Georgia, who now commands Special Energy and Infrastructure Protection Battalion Number 7 of the Colombian army based in Barrancabermeja He insinuated that the USO had been heavily infiltrated by guerillas, and showed us slides of alleged acts of terrorism union workers had carried out against the ECOPETROL factory (minor sabotage of gates and fences that took place during a strike.) He told us that the human rights groups in the area are “people coming in from some place or another to issue press releases and denunciations.” He suggested that the FARC was behind these groups–that it sought to have officers removed from duty by having the Attorney General bring them up on false charges of human rights abuses. In Colombia, labeling activists as guerilla sympathizers is commonly understood as a way of telling the paramilitaries that the activists in question are legitimate targets for assassination. The Colonel repeatedly lumped his opponents together under the common category of “terrorists”–clearly understanding that if he wanted U.S. military aid for his battalion, he needed to convince people in the U.S. that his work was part of the war on terrorism. Col. Rodriguez’s attitude toward human rights groups raises disturbing questions about what exactly the U.S. military is teaching Latin American soldiers in its human rights courses at the School of the Americas (which was recently renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation.)</p>
<p>The next morning, an activist from the OFP explained to us what the “war on terrorism” Col. Rodriguez speaks of means to social justice activists in Barranca:</p>
<p>“This idea of terrorism is very dangerous. In the past Communism was seen as the great demon. Later, drug trafficking became that demon to justify violence and intervention and to destroy entire worlds and peoples. Today terrorism is being used to justify killing people who think differently. Some of our best men and women are being assassinated because they think differently.</p>
<p>“So right now the government strategy around terrorism is being built around eliminating anyone who thinks differently, to make us uniform in our ideas and lives. As leaders we are blacklisted and criminalized. Those of us who do think differently will be labeled as terrorists and rounded up and arrested.”</p>
<p>The Looming Economic Crisis</p>
<p>The violence in Colombia obscures another looming and related problem: Colombia is on the verge of an economic crisis.</p>
<p>The leader of one of the country’s major unions told our delegation that Colombia is $48 billion in debt to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and is in danger of defaulting on its loans. Colombia may soon face a financial collapse on the level of the recent collapses in Argentina and Uruguay.</p>
<p>Uribe’s answer to the economic crisis is a kind of economic shock therapy that will force accelerated development on a country that has been devastated by decades of war and displacement.</p>
<p>He wants to privatize and sell off public services and utilities–a move that will lead to massive layoffs in a country already dealing with double digit unemployment.</p>
<p>He wants to promote massive energy projects such as new oil fields, new coal mines, and new hydro-electric dams. These projects will bring an infusion of foreign capital into the country, but most of the profits will go to the multinational corporations that take the initial financial risk. Worse yet, they will force people off their land, adding to the existing humanitarian crisis in a country that already has over 2 million internal refugees, and increasing the concentration of land ownership in a country where the 5000 largest landowners own 48%of the land.</p>
<p>He wants large-scale commercial agriculture to replace small-scale subsistence farming. But growing cash crops for export has failed Colombia in the past–crashes in wheat prices and coffee prices devastated the Colombian economy in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Now business leaders, like the members of Barrancabermeja’s Chamber of Commerce are touting the African Palm as the source of Colombia’s economic salvation. Large food conglomerates like Nabisco, General Foods, and Unilever are buying up palm oil as a cheap base ingredient for junk food products. But as one economist pointed out to us, these corporations and the international lenders they are closely related to are encouraging poor countries around the world to increase their palm oil production. Soon the market will be flooded and prices will crash again.</p>
<p>The only Colombian crops that reliably fetch a good price are coca and opium poppies.</p>
<p>To make matters worse, in order to fund his military build up, Uribe will be forced to either cut back on social services or borrow more money from international lenders.</p>
<p>All of this points to increased poverty and increased social unrest in a country where over half the population already lives on less then $2 a day.</p>
<p>Its hard to imagine things getting worse in Colombia than they already are, but Uribe’s political, economic, and military policies could combine to push Colombia over the edge into an absolute bloodbath. One Jesuit priest, himself a pacifist, told us:</p>
<p>“The majority of the people in Colombia now understand that war is not the solution to any problem. We don’t like the FARC war. We don’t like the ELN war. We don’t like the paramilitary war. But if you start again introducing arms, introducing again the state of siege, if you eliminate the rights people got in the 1991 Constitution . . . If you do this people will feel they are attacked. Our people are a very noble people. If you attack them they will say someone has to take up arms again.”</p>
<p>Uribe is depending on more weapons, funding, and military training from the United States to give his government the military strength to impose its political and economic will on the United States. These policies will only plunge the country deeper into war. As one OFP activist told us:</p>
<p>“The conflict in Colombia arose out of social inequalities, and as this war intensifies, we are losing our rights, and seeing our lives become more uniform. This war can’t end through fighting it can only end through structural changes in our society.”</p>
<p>Echoing her sentiments, a labor leader told us that Colombians want to be free to build a country “the size of their hearts and the shape of their dreams.” War, violence, and repression stand in their way. We in the U.S. need to work to end U.S. military aid to Colombia, to get our government and the repressive forces it supports to step out of the way and allow the Colombian people to take control of their own country, their own economy, their own lives.</p>
<p>Sean Donahue is Co-Director of New Hampshire Peace Action. He recently returned from a trip to Bogota and Barrancabermeja with a delegation organized by School of the Americas and Witness for Peace.</p>
<p>He can be reached at <a href="mailto:wrldhealer@yahoo.com" type="external">wrldhealer@yahoo.com</a>.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | bogota colombia streets strangely empty bogota mortars went inauguration day soldiers police beggars vendors remained streets anyone choice stayed locked inside eerie silence punctuated sound army helicopters us fighter jets flying low city bogota afternoon felt like city siegeand hard tell side responsiblethe leftist guerillas mortar attacks new government heavy handed show military force throughout capital city spared worst countrys forty year civil war threatens become new battleground war escalates president alvaro uribe velez campaigned slogan mano firme coraznon grande firm hand clearly grip bogota big heart nowhere found legalizing repression morning barrancabermeja oil refining city magdelana river north bogota activist organizacion femina popular brave dedicated group women working peace sustainable development womens rights city completely control right wing paramilitaries told delegation human rights activists us inauguration president uribe expect see realization totalitarian model blessed us days followed uribe moved quickly expand state power escalate war marxist guerillas revolutionary armed forces colombia farc army national liberation eln guerillas fought four decades colombian military illegal right wing paramilitaries aligned government first day office uribe announced pilot project recruit 600 civilian informants military northern department cesar program successful uribe hopes recruit one million informants nationwide program chilling echoes east german secret polices network citizen spies president bushs proposed tips program would recruited one every twentyfour people us spy neighbors us tips program scuttled federal employees refused participate reality uribes program may even frightening told reporters wouldnt rule arming informants initially guns people kill take weapons defense minister high commanders study circumstances use arms could authorized said uribe oversaw similar program governor antioquia department convivir armed civilian patrols uribes gubernatorial administration created ended working closely outlawed right wing paramilitaries responsible many worst atrocities colombia human rights groups fear arming volunteer civilian informants could way legitimizing legalizing paramilitary groups also point program dangerously blur line civilians combatants war sides already commit gross violations international humanitarian law targeting civilians suspected collaborating opponents indeed irish journalist ana carrigan reports partially response civilian informants program farc planning next stage strategy impose alternative local government based formation revolutionary civilian councils_which would function direction community leaders forced carry farc laws gunpoint fernando londono uribes justice interior minister suggested new government push constitutional amendment would reestablish provisions dreaded security statute stripped citizens civil liberties enabled military murder torture disappear dissidents impunity late 1970s recently reporter asked londono rights colombians prepared sacrifice greater security replied absolute rights following monday uribe declared state internal commotion giving administration emergency power establish 800 million emergency war tax suspend freedoms guaranteed colombias 1991 constitution washington post reports decree last three nine months allows government impose extended curfews prevent access areas without prior court approval restrict information reported news media commandeer land equipment professional expertise private citizens suspend elected officials contributing public unrest also allows president authorize military conduct searches make arrests without judicial warrants visiting us undersecretary state marc grossman endorsed moves saying colombians sacrificed lot years uribe calling sacrifice protect democracy support call decree essence gives government new legal tools silence dissent name fighting terrorism barrancabermeja face things come believe barrancabermeja paramilitary control offers rough image colombia president uribe would like create strengthened national security state paramilitaries right wing militias funded wealthy landowners cocaine traffickers multinational corporations carried dirty war massacres political assassinations colombian dissidents decades officially outlawed operate close cooperation military barrancabermeja unique place working class city strong history union activismit oil workers union uso forced colombian government form state oil company ecopetrol early part century order insure colombias oil wealth would stay country rather stripped completely foreign companies barranca residents call long stronghold eln guerillas military drove city operacion feliz navidad december 2000 guerillas gone paramilitaries seized control began assassinating perceived opponents labor unions ofp peace human rights groups order show absolute power also imposed strict social code began campaign social cleansing killing gays lesbians bisexuals drug addicts prostitutes women tattoos men dreadlocks anyone else didnt fit vision barrancabermeja first year control paramilitaries killed average three five people barranca every day killings carried complete impunity city boasts large military police presence paramilitary roadblocks routinely setup within plain sight military roadblocks roads rivers outside city year killings downhaving established reignof terror paramilitaries kill average one person per week barranca maintain credibility threats officials citys chamber commerce officially condemn paramilitaries note city peaceful guerillas military used fight pitched battles streets military paramilitaries dont fight guerillas gone also noted unions become reasonable recent years weakening unions meant increased poverty people region past uso strong enough ensure ecopetrol would keep 50 profits made oil contract foreign company recent years uso fight hard keep even 30 profits oil deals colombia foreign corporations taking 90 profits joint projects ecopetrol activists regional human rights group credhos told us government experimenting subjecting dissidents prosecuting imprisoning dissidents false charges creates less international outrage paramilitaries carry political assassinations certainly continue horrific rate last october police arrested six leaders oil workers union uso charged rebellion workers remain house arrest legal repression seems go hand hand political assassinationsrepresenting states way maintaining order paramilitaries established amnesty international wrote report arrest oil workers latest detentions occurred context work stoppage ecopetrol state run oil company demand national government provide guarantees union activity impeded continuous threats killings persecution paramilitary groups colombian government failed take action paramilitaries continue bleeding colombian social movement also judicial authorities charged union leaders activities outside law seeking de facto criminalize rights association protest colombian citizens strong words cautious moderate organization like amnesty attempt criminalize dissent became even clearer meeting col andres rodriguez fernandez former human rights instructor infamous us army school americas fort benning georgia commands special energy infrastructure protection battalion number 7 colombian army based barrancabermeja insinuated uso heavily infiltrated guerillas showed us slides alleged acts terrorism union workers carried ecopetrol factory minor sabotage gates fences took place strike told us human rights groups area people coming place another issue press releases denunciations suggested farc behind groupsthat sought officers removed duty attorney general bring false charges human rights abuses colombia labeling activists guerilla sympathizers commonly understood way telling paramilitaries activists question legitimate targets assassination colonel repeatedly lumped opponents together common category terroristsclearly understanding wanted us military aid battalion needed convince people us work part war terrorism col rodriguezs attitude toward human rights groups raises disturbing questions exactly us military teaching latin american soldiers human rights courses school americas recently renamed western hemisphere institute security cooperation next morning activist ofp explained us war terrorism col rodriguez speaks means social justice activists barranca idea terrorism dangerous past communism seen great demon later drug trafficking became demon justify violence intervention destroy entire worlds peoples today terrorism used justify killing people think differently best men women assassinated think differently right government strategy around terrorism built around eliminating anyone thinks differently make us uniform ideas lives leaders blacklisted criminalized us think differently labeled terrorists rounded arrested looming economic crisis violence colombia obscures another looming related problem colombia verge economic crisis leader one countrys major unions told delegation colombia 48 billion debt international monetary fund world bank danger defaulting loans colombia may soon face financial collapse level recent collapses argentina uruguay uribes answer economic crisis kind economic shock therapy force accelerated development country devastated decades war displacement wants privatize sell public services utilitiesa move lead massive layoffs country already dealing double digit unemployment wants promote massive energy projects new oil fields new coal mines new hydroelectric dams projects bring infusion foreign capital country profits go multinational corporations take initial financial risk worse yet force people land adding existing humanitarian crisis country already 2 million internal refugees increasing concentration land ownership country 5000 largest landowners 48of land wants largescale commercial agriculture replace smallscale subsistence farming growing cash crops export failed colombia pastcrashes wheat prices coffee prices devastated colombian economy 1980s 1990s business leaders like members barrancabermejas chamber commerce touting african palm source colombias economic salvation large food conglomerates like nabisco general foods unilever buying palm oil cheap base ingredient junk food products one economist pointed us corporations international lenders closely related encouraging poor countries around world increase palm oil production soon market flooded prices crash colombian crops reliably fetch good price coca opium poppies make matters worse order fund military build uribe forced either cut back social services borrow money international lenders points increased poverty increased social unrest country half population already lives less 2 day hard imagine things getting worse colombia already uribes political economic military policies could combine push colombia edge absolute bloodbath one jesuit priest pacifist told us majority people colombia understand war solution problem dont like farc war dont like eln war dont like paramilitary war start introducing arms introducing state siege eliminate rights people got 1991 constitution people feel attacked people noble people attack say someone take arms uribe depending weapons funding military training united states give government military strength impose political economic united states policies plunge country deeper war one ofp activist told us conflict colombia arose social inequalities war intensifies losing rights seeing lives become uniform war cant end fighting end structural changes society echoing sentiments labor leader told us colombians want free build country size hearts shape dreams war violence repression stand way us need work end us military aid colombia get government repressive forces supports step way allow colombian people take control country economy lives sean donahue codirector new hampshire peace action recently returned trip bogota barrancabermeja delegation organized school americas witness peace reached wrldhealeryahoocom 160 | 1,555 |
<p />
<p>Introduction by Tom Engelhardt</p>
<p>May 2003. It was the best of moments for the neocons and the Bush administration, the worst of times for most of the rest of us. In an unprecedented period of antiwar activism preceding a war, tens of millions of people around the world had marched and protested against our onrushing invasion of Iraq, a decision firmly set in stone, as we now know (as many of us guessed even then), by — <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=2486" type="external">at the latest</a> — July of 2002 at the latest. By mid-May 2003, the war had already been declared all but over; the antiwar movement had packed up and gone home in despair; and just then — talk about hope in the dark! — an “unexpected stranger” (as I then wrote) wandered into Tomdispatch. Quite out of the blue, Rebecca Solnit sent me her essay, “Acts of Hope” — her argument, perhaps with herself, certainly with all those despairing bag-packers, and ultimately with the atmosphere of gloom and doom descending on us. I posted the essay on May 19, 2003 and, in my lesser moments, it’s cheered me ever since.</p>
<p>Its very fate, or unexpected ongoing life, speaks to the surprises — some lovely — that await us all. Solnit developed her arguments into a small but potent book, retitled <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1560255773/nationbooks08" type="external">Hope in the Dark</a>, which has slowly begun to spread around the world in various editions — and if you don’t have your own copy by now, after all these days/weeks/months/years reading Tomdispatch, well, shame on you. That May, when I posted Solnit’s piece, I introduced it this way. (If you want a slightly fuller sense of how Rebecca Solnit and I e-met for the first time, <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=1415" type="external">click here</a>.):</p>
<p />
<p>You know how, out of the blue, someone can walk into your life? Sometimes, for a book editor, a manuscript walks in the same way. Sometimes, for a reader, a voice drifts in.</p>
<p>It happened to me recently, and it was the voice of Rebecca Solnit, arriving enfolded in an essay about hope. Hope and consequences, you might say. It seemed to have everything in it I’ve been wanting to say (but, for whatever reason, couldn’t) – or rather everything I’ve been feeling all of us needed to hear and hadn’t.</p>
<p>“Activism,” Solnit writes, “is not a journey to the corner store; it is a plunge into the dark.” Exactly. And history, she adds, “is like weather, not like checkers. A game of checkers ends. The weather never does.” At the end of a game, she might have added, it’s so simple. You tote up the score, sort out the winners and losers, close up the board, and go on to something else. At a pause in history, as at present, if you tote up the score, close up the board, and go home, you’re making a disastrous mistake.</p>
<p>A lot of the antiwar movement has done that in the wake of our second Iraq war. And I don’t blame them. All those people marching. All that opposition. And still a war — and look at the opinion polls now! But what’s so beautiful about Solnit’s piece, the gorgeous writing aside, is that she wants us to stop adding up the score in that game-like way. She wants us to acknowledge the darkness of our moment and our world, but also realize that the score isn’t in, that it can’t be known. Not ever. Not really. And then she wants us to make a wager, to take that leap into the dark, and bet on hope. She wants that because we simply can’t know the consequences of our acts, a point she makes with particular grace.</p>
<p>Looking back, Solnit, who resists her all-American, media-rolodex fate as a pundit of hope, writes the following:</p>
<p />
<p>When Hope in the Dark went out on Tomdispatch, I discovered the viral charms of the Internet: the piece took on a life of its own, passed along by e-mail, reposted at many other sites, pirated by alternative weeklies, printed out as a brochure distributed by one activist. Though I’d been reading much of my news online, at Tomdispatch, Common Dreams, Truthout, Z-Net, Alternet, Narco News &amp;etc., I hadn’t quite realized how potent a medium it could be for those who write for it. I became a convert to the power of this medium (and a Tomdispatch regular).</p>
<p>Soon after, I found that I had also inadvertently become hope’s official spokesperson, and so I have been publicly disagreeing with comfortably situated media persons about the subject ever since. Their ability to come up with new and creative ways of hanging onto defeatism remains dynamic as they demand hope be nothing less than a lottery you win every time. They point to the reelection of Bush and Blair and the ongoing war in Iraq to suggest that we should surrender, as though only sure, quick victories were worth living for, or all defeats were final. I wonder, now, if surrender and despair as I encounter them in the US and UK are, in part, luxury goods, for those for whom loss means the blues, not starvation, enslavement, or violent death.</p>
<p>The most powerful spokespeople for hope remain those most in need of it — Subcommandante Marcos speaking for the Zapatistas; the Coalition of Imokalee Workers, a bunch of farmworker immigrants who won a huge victory against Taco Bell this spring; a Cambodian woman among a group of blue-collar night-school students I spoke to, who told me she was for hope, “because without hope I would not have struggled, and without struggle I would not have survived the Khmer Rouge.”</p>
<p>Believe me, this essay is an evergreen. If you haven’t ever read it, don’t miss it. If you have, read it again and imagine what can’t ever be imagined — the surprises in store for all of us.</p>
<p />
<p>Challenging Empire on the World Stage By Rebecca Solnit</p>
<p>What We Hope For</p>
<p>On January 18, 1915, eighteen months into the first world war, the first terrible war in the modern sense — slaughter by the hundreds of thousands, poison gas, men living and dying in the open graves of trench warfare, tanks, barbed wire, machine guns, airplanes — Virginia Woolf wrote in her journal, “The future is dark, which is on the whole, the best thing the future can be, I think.” Dark, she seems to say, as in inscrutable, not as in terrible. We often mistake the one for the other. People imagine the end of the world is nigh because the future is unimaginable. Who twenty years ago would have pictured a world without the USSR and with the Internet? We talk about “what we hope for” in terms of what we hope will come to pass but we could think of it another way, as why we hope. We hope on principle, we hope tactically and strategically, we hope because the future is dark, we hope because it’s a more powerful and more joyful way to live. Despair presumes it knows what will happen next. But who, two decades ago, would have imagined that the Canadian government would give a huge swathe of the north back to its indigenous people, or that the imprisoned Nelson Mandela would become president of a free South Africa?</p>
<p>Twenty-one years ago this June, a million people gathered in Central Park to demand a nuclear freeze. They didn’t get it. The movement was full of people who believed they’d realize their goal in a few years and then go home. Many went home disappointed or burned out. But in less than a decade, major nuclear arms reductions were negotiated, helped along by European antinuclear movements and the impetus they gave Gorbachev. Since then, the issue has fallen off the map and we have lost much of what was gained. The US never ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and the Bush administration is planning to resume the full-fledged nuclear testing halted in 1991, to resume manufacture, to expand the arsenal, and perhaps even to use it in once-proscribed ways.</p>
<p>It’s always too soon to go home. And it’s always too soon to calculate effect. I once read an anecdote by someone in Women Strike for Peace, the first great antinuclear movement in the United States in 1963, the one that did contribute to a major victory: the end of aboveground nuclear testing with its radioactive fallout that was showing up in mother’s milk and baby teeth. She told of how foolish and futile she felt standing in the rain one morning protesting at the Kennedy White House. Years later she heard Dr. Benjamin Spock — one of the most high-profile activists on the issue then — say that the turning point for him was seeing a small group of women standing in the rain, protesting at the White House. If they were so passionately committed, he thought, he should give the issue more consideration himself.</p>
<p>Unending Change</p>
<p>A lot of activists expect that for every action there is an equal and opposite and punctual reaction, and regard the lack of one as failure. After all, activism is often a reaction: Bush decides to invade Iraq, we create a global peace movement in which 10 to 30 million people march on seven continents on the same weekend. But history is shaped by the groundswells and common dreams that single acts and moments only represent. It’s a landscape more complicated than commensurate cause and effect. Politics is a surface in which transformation comes about as much because of pervasive changes in the depths of the collective imagination as because of visible acts, though both are necessary. And though huge causes sometimes have little effect, tiny ones occasionally have huge consequences.</p>
<p>Some years ago, scientists attempted to create a long-range weather forecasting program, assuming that the same initial conditions would generate the same weather down the road. It turned out that the minutest variations, even the undetectable things, things they could perhaps not yet even imagine as data, could cause entirely different weather to emerge from almost identical initial conditions. This was famously summed up as the saying about the flap of a butterfly’s wings on one continent that can change the weather on another.</p>
<p>History is like weather, not like checkers. A game of checkers ends. The weather never does. That’s why you can’t save anything. Saving is the wrong word. Jesus saves and so do banks: they set things aside from the flux of earthly change. We never did save the whales, though we might’ve prevented them from becoming extinct. We will have to continue to prevent that as long as they continue not to be extinct. Saving suggests a laying up where neither moth nor dust doth corrupt, and this model of salvation is perhaps why Americans are so good at crisis response and then going home to let another crisis brew. Problems seldom go home. Most nations agree to a ban on hunting endangered species of whale, but their oceans are compromised in other ways. DDT is banned in the US, but exported to the third world, and Monsanto moves on to the next atrocity.</p>
<p>The world gets better. It also gets worse. The time it will take you to address this is exactly equal to your lifetime, and if you’re lucky you don’t know how long that is. The future is dark. Like night. There are probabilities and likelihoods, but there are no guarantees.</p>
<p>As Adam Hochschild points out, from the time the English Quakers first took on the issue of slavery, three quarters of a century passed before it was abolished it in Europe and America. Few if any working on the issue at the beginning lived to see its conclusion, when what had once seemed impossible suddenly began to look, in retrospect, inevitable. And as the law of unintended consequences might lead you to expect, the abolition movement also sparked the first widespread women’s rights movement, which took about the same amount of time to secure the right to vote for American women, has achieved far more in the subsequent 83 years, and is by no means done. Activism is not a journey to the corner store; it is a plunge into the dark.</p>
<p>Writers understand that action is seldom direct. You write your books. You scatter your seeds. Rats might eat them, or they might just rot. In California, some seeds lie dormant for decades because they only germinate after fire. Sharon Salzberg, in her book Faith, recounts how she put together a book of teachings by the Buddhist monk U Pandita and consigned the project to the “minor-good-deed category.” Long afterward, she found out that when Burmese democracy movement’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, was kept isolated under house arrest by that country’s dictators, the book and its instructions in meditation “became her main source of spiritual support during those intensely difficult years.” Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, Walter Benjamin and Arthur Rimbaud, like Henry David Thoreau, achieved their greatest impact long after their deaths, long after weeds had grown over the graves of the bestsellers of their times. Gandhi’s Thoreau-influenced nonviolence was as important in the American South as it was in India, and what transpired with Martin Luther King’s sophisticated version of it has influenced civil disobedience movements around the world. Decades after their assassinations they are still with us.</p>
<p>At the port of Oakland, California, on April 7, several hundred peace activists came out at dawn to picket the gates of a company shipping arms to Iraq. The longshoreman’s union had vowed not to cross our picket. The police arrived in riot gear and, unprovoked and unthreatened, began shooting wooden bullets and beanbags of shot at the activists. Three members of the media, nine longshoremen, and fifty activists were injured. I saw the bloody welts the size of half grapefruits on the backs of some of the young men–they had been shot in the back — and a swelling the size of an egg on the jaw of a delicate yoga instructor. Told that way, violence won. But the violence inspired the union dock workers to form closer alliances with antiwar activists and underscored the connections between local and global issues. On May 12 we picketed again, with no violence. This time, the longshoremen acted in solidarity with the picketers and — for the first time in anyone’s memory — the shipping companies cancelled the work shift rather than face the protesters. Told that way, the story continues to unfold, and we have grown stronger. And there’s a third way to tell it. The picket stalled a lot of semi trucks. Some of the drivers were annoyed. Some sincerely believed that the war was a humanitarian effort. Some of them — notably a group of South Asian drivers standing around in the morning sun looking radiant — thought we were great. After the picket was broken up, one immigrant driver honked in support and pulled over to ask for a peace sign for his rig. I stepped forward to pierce holes into it so he could bungee-cord it to the chrome grille. We talked briefly, shook hands, and he stepped up into the cab. He was turned back at the gates –they weren’t accepting deliveries from antiwar truckers. When I saw him next he was sitting on a curb all alone behind police lines, looking cheerful and fearless. Who knows what will ultimately come of the spontaneous courage of this man with a job on the line?</p>
<p>Victories of the New Peace Movement</p>
<p>It was a setup for disappointment to expect that there would be an acknowledged cause and effect relationship between the antiwar actions and the Bush administration. On the other hand… We will likely never know, but it seems that the Bush administration decided against the “Shock and Awe” saturation bombing of Baghdad because we made it clear that the cost in world opinion and civil unrest would be too high. We millions may have saved a few thousand or a few hundred thousand lives.</p>
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<p>The Angel of Alternate History</p>
<p>American history is dialectical. What is best about it is called forth by what is worst. The abolitionists and the underground railroad, the feminist movement and the civil rights movement, the environmental and human rights movements were all called into being by threats and atrocities. There’s plenty of what’s worst afoot nowadays. But we need a progressive activism that is not one of reaction but of initiation, one in which people of good will everywhere set the agenda. We need to extend the passion the war brought forth into preventing the next one, and toward addressing all the forms of violence besides bombs. We need a movement that doesn’t just respond to the evils of the present but calls forth the possibilities of the future. We need a revolution of hope. And for that we need to understand how change works and how to count our victories.</p>
<p>While serving on the board of Citizen Alert, a Nevada nonprofit environmental and antinuclear group, I once wrote a fundraising letter modeled after “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Frank Capra’s movie is a model for radical history, because what the angel Clarence shows the suicidal George Bailey is what the town would look like if he hadn’t done his best for his neighbors. This angel of alternate history shows not what happened but what didn’t, and that’s what’s hardest to weigh. Citizen Alert’s victories were largely those of what hadn’t happened to the air, the water, the land, and the people of Nevada. And the history of what the larger movements have achieved is largely one of careers undestroyed, ideas uncensored, violence and intimidation uncommitted, injustices unperpetrated, rivers unpoisoned and undammed, bombs undropped, radiation unleaked, poisons unsprayed, wildernesses unviolated, countryside undeveloped, resources unextracted, species unexterminated.</p>
<p>I was born during the summer the Berlin Wall went up, into a country in which there weren’t even words, let alone redress, for many of the practices that kept women and people of color from free and equal citizenship, in which homosexuality was diagnosed as a disease and treated as a crime, in which the ecosystem was hardly even a concept, in which extinction and pollution were issues only a tiny minority heeded, in which “better living through chemistry” didn’t yet sound like black humor, in which the US and USSR were on hair-trigger alert for a nuclear Armageddon, in which most of the big questions about the culture had yet to be asked. It was a world with more rainforest, more wild habitat, more ozone layer, and more species; but few were defending those things then. An ecological imagination was born and became part of the common culture only in the past few decades, as did a broader and deeper understanding of human diversity and human rights.</p>
<p>The world gets worse. It also gets better. And the future stays dark.</p>
<p>Nobody knows the consequences of their actions, and history is full of small acts that changed the world in surprising ways. I was one of thousands of activists at the Nevada Test Site in the late 1980s, an important, forgotten history still unfolding out there where the US and UK have exploded more than a thousand nuclear bombs, with disastrous effects on the environment and human health, (and where the Bush Administration would like to resume testing, thereby sabotaging the unratified Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty). We didn’t shut down our test site, but our acts inspired the Kazakh poet Olzhas Suleimenov, on February 27, 1989, to read a manifesto instead of poetry on live Kazakh TV — a manifesto demanding a shutdown of the Soviet nuclear test site in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, and calling a meeting. Five thousand Kazakhs gathered at the Writer’s Union the next day and formed a movement to shut down the site. They named themselves the Nevada-Semipalatinsk Antinuclear Movement.</p>
<p>The Soviet Test Site was indeed shut down. Suleimenov was the catalyst, and though we in Nevada were his inspiration, what gave him his platform was his poetry in a country that loved poets. Perhaps Suleimenov wrote all his poems so that one day he could stand up in front of a TV camera and deliver not a poem but a manifesto. And perhaps Arundhati Roy wrote a ravishing novel that catapulted her to stardom so that when she stood up to oppose dams and destruction of the local for the benefit of the transnational, people would notice. Or perhaps these writers opposed the ravaging of the earth so that poetry too — poetry in the broadest sense — would survive in the world.</p>
<p>American poets became an antiwar movement themselves when Sam Hamill declined an invitation to Laura Bush’s “Poetry and the American Voice” symposium shortly after her husband’s administration announced their “Shock and Awe” plan, and he circulated his letter of outrage. His e-mail box filled up, he started <a href="http://www.poetsagainstthewar.org" type="external">www.poetsagainstthewar.org</a>, to which about 11,000 poets have submitted poems to date. Hamill became a major spokesperson against the war and his website has become an organizing tool for the peace movement.</p>
<p>Not Left But Forward</p>
<p>The glum traditional left often seems intent upon finding the cloud around every silver lining. This January, when Governor Ryan of Illinois overturned a hundred and sixty-seven death sentences, there were left-wing commentators who found fault with the details, carped when we should have been pouring champagne over our heads like football champs. And joy is one of our weapons and one of our victories. Non-activists sometimes chide us for being joyous at demonstrations, for having fun while taking on the serious business of the world, but in a time when alienation, isolation, and powerlessness are among our principal afflictions, just being out in the streets en masse is not a demand for victory: it is a victory.</p>
<p>But there’s an increasing gap between this new movement with its capacity for joy and the old figureheads. Their grumpiness is often the grumpiness of perfectionists who hold that anything less than total victory is failure, a premise that makes it easy to give up at the start or to disparage the victories that are possible. This is earth. It will never be heaven. There will always be cruelty, always be violence, always be destruction. There is tremendous devastation now. In the time it takes you to read this, acres of rainforest will vanish, a species will go extinct, women will be raped, men shot, and far too many children will die of easily preventable causes. We cannot eliminate all devastation for all time, but we can reduce it, outlaw it, undermine its source and foundation: these are victories.</p>
<p>Nearly everyone felt, after September 11, 2001, along with grief and fear, a huge upwelling of idealism, of openness, of a readiness to question and to learn, a sense of being connected and a desire to live our lives for something more, even if it wasn’t familiar, safe, or easy. Nothing could have been more threatening to the current administration, and they have done everything they can to repress it.</p>
<p>But that desire is still out there. It’s the force behind a huge new movement we don’t even have a name for yet, a movement that’s not a left opposed to a right, but perhaps a below against above, little against big, local and decentralized against consolidated. If we could throw out the old definitions, we could recognize where the new alliances lie; and those alliances — of small farmers, of factory workers, of environmentalists, of the poor, of the indigenous, of the just, of the farseeing — could be extraordinarily powerful against the forces of corporate profit and institutional violence. Left and right are terms for where the radicals and conservatives sat in the French National Assembly after the French Revolution. We’re not in that world anymore, let alone that seating arrangement. We’re in one that for all its ruins and poisons and legacies is utterly new. Anti-globalization activists say, “Another world is possible.” It is not only possible, it is inevitable; and we need to participate in shaping it.</p>
<p>I’m hopeful, partly because we don’t know what is going to happen in that dark future and we might as well live according to our principles as long as we’re here. Hope, the opposite of fear, lets us do that. Imagine the world as a lifeboat: the corporations and the current administration are smashing holes in it as fast (or faster) than the rest of us can bail or patch the leaks. But it’s important to take account of the bailers as well as the smashers and to write epics in the present tense rather than elegies in the past tense. That’s part of what floats this boat. And if it sinks, we all sink, so why not bail? Why not row? The reckless Bush Administration seems to be generating what US administrations have so long held back: a world in which the old order is shattered and anything is possible.</p>
<p>Zapatista spokesman Subcommandante Marcos adds, “History written by Power taught us that we had lost…. We did not believe what Power taught us. We skipped class when they taught conformity and idiocy. We failed modernity. We are united by the imagination, by creativity, by tomorrow. In the past we not only met defeat but also found a desire for justice and the dream of being better. We left skepticism hanging from the hook of big capital and discovered that we could believe, that it was worth believing, that we should believe — in ourselves. Health to you, and don’t forget that flowers, like hope, are harvested.”</p>
<p>And they grow in the dark. “I believe,” adds Thoreau, “in the forest, and the meadow, and the night in which the corn grows.”</p>
<p>Rebecca Solnit is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1560255773/nationbooks08" type="external">Hope in the Dark: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities</a> (which developed from this piece) and seven other books. She lives in San Francisco.</p>
<p>Copyright 2003 Rebecca Solnit</p>
<p>This piece first appeared at <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com" type="external">Tomdispatch.com</a>.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | introduction tom engelhardt may 2003 best moments neocons bush administration worst times rest us unprecedented period antiwar activism preceding war tens millions people around world marched protested onrushing invasion iraq decision firmly set stone know many us guessed even latest july 2002 latest midmay 2003 war already declared antiwar movement packed gone home despair talk hope dark unexpected stranger wrote wandered tomdispatch quite blue rebecca solnit sent essay acts hope argument perhaps certainly despairing bagpackers ultimately atmosphere gloom doom descending us posted essay may 19 2003 lesser moments cheered ever since fate unexpected ongoing life speaks surprises lovely await us solnit developed arguments small potent book retitled hope dark slowly begun spread around world various editions dont copy daysweeksmonthsyears reading tomdispatch well shame may posted solnits piece introduced way want slightly fuller sense rebecca solnit emet first time click know blue someone walk life sometimes book editor manuscript walks way sometimes reader voice drifts happened recently voice rebecca solnit arriving enfolded essay hope hope consequences might say seemed everything ive wanting say whatever reason couldnt rather everything ive feeling us needed hear hadnt activism solnit writes journey corner store plunge dark exactly history adds like weather like checkers game checkers ends weather never end game might added simple tote score sort winners losers close board go something else pause history present tote score close board go home youre making disastrous mistake lot antiwar movement done wake second iraq war dont blame people marching opposition still war look opinion polls whats beautiful solnits piece gorgeous writing aside wants us stop adding score gamelike way wants us acknowledge darkness moment world also realize score isnt cant known ever really wants us make wager take leap dark bet hope wants simply cant know consequences acts point makes particular grace looking back solnit resists allamerican mediarolodex fate pundit hope writes following hope dark went tomdispatch discovered viral charms internet piece took life passed along email reposted many sites pirated alternative weeklies printed brochure distributed one activist though id reading much news online tomdispatch common dreams truthout znet alternet narco news ampetc hadnt quite realized potent medium could write became convert power medium tomdispatch regular soon found also inadvertently become hopes official spokesperson publicly disagreeing comfortably situated media persons subject ever since ability come new creative ways hanging onto defeatism remains dynamic demand hope nothing less lottery win every time point reelection bush blair ongoing war iraq suggest surrender though sure quick victories worth living defeats final wonder surrender despair encounter us uk part luxury goods loss means blues starvation enslavement violent death powerful spokespeople hope remain need subcommandante marcos speaking zapatistas coalition imokalee workers bunch farmworker immigrants huge victory taco bell spring cambodian woman among group bluecollar nightschool students spoke told hope without hope would struggled without struggle would survived khmer rouge believe essay evergreen havent ever read dont miss read imagine cant ever imagined surprises store us challenging empire world stage rebecca solnit hope january 18 1915 eighteen months first world war first terrible war modern sense slaughter hundreds thousands poison gas men living dying open graves trench warfare tanks barbed wire machine guns airplanes virginia woolf wrote journal future dark whole best thing future think dark seems say inscrutable terrible often mistake one people imagine end world nigh future unimaginable twenty years ago would pictured world without ussr internet talk hope terms hope come pass could think another way hope hope principle hope tactically strategically hope future dark hope powerful joyful way live despair presumes knows happen next two decades ago would imagined canadian government would give huge swathe north back indigenous people imprisoned nelson mandela would become president free south africa twentyone years ago june million people gathered central park demand nuclear freeze didnt get movement full people believed theyd realize goal years go home many went home disappointed burned less decade major nuclear arms reductions negotiated helped along european antinuclear movements impetus gave gorbachev since issue fallen map lost much gained us never ratified comprehensive test ban treaty bush administration planning resume fullfledged nuclear testing halted 1991 resume manufacture expand arsenal perhaps even use onceproscribed ways always soon go home always soon calculate effect read anecdote someone women strike peace first great antinuclear movement united states 1963 one contribute major victory end aboveground nuclear testing radioactive fallout showing mothers milk baby teeth told foolish futile felt standing rain one morning protesting kennedy white house years later heard dr benjamin spock one highprofile activists issue say turning point seeing small group women standing rain protesting white house passionately committed thought give issue consideration unending change lot activists expect every action equal opposite punctual reaction regard lack one failure activism often reaction bush decides invade iraq create global peace movement 10 30 million people march seven continents weekend history shaped groundswells common dreams single acts moments represent landscape complicated commensurate cause effect politics surface transformation comes much pervasive changes depths collective imagination visible acts though necessary though huge causes sometimes little effect tiny ones occasionally huge consequences years ago scientists attempted create longrange weather forecasting program assuming initial conditions would generate weather road turned minutest variations even undetectable things things could perhaps yet even imagine data could cause entirely different weather emerge almost identical initial conditions famously summed saying flap butterflys wings one continent change weather another history like weather like checkers game checkers ends weather never thats cant save anything saving wrong word jesus saves banks set things aside flux earthly change never save whales though mightve prevented becoming extinct continue prevent long continue extinct saving suggests laying neither moth dust doth corrupt model salvation perhaps americans good crisis response going home let another crisis brew problems seldom go home nations agree ban hunting endangered species whale oceans compromised ways ddt banned us exported third world monsanto moves next atrocity world gets better also gets worse time take address exactly equal lifetime youre lucky dont know long future dark like night probabilities likelihoods guarantees adam hochschild points time english quakers first took issue slavery three quarters century passed abolished europe america working issue beginning lived see conclusion seemed impossible suddenly began look retrospect inevitable law unintended consequences might lead expect abolition movement also sparked first widespread womens rights movement took amount time secure right vote american women achieved far subsequent 83 years means done activism journey corner store plunge dark writers understand action seldom direct write books scatter seeds rats might eat might rot california seeds lie dormant decades germinate fire sharon salzberg book faith recounts put together book teachings buddhist monk u pandita consigned project minorgooddeed category long afterward found burmese democracy movements leader aung san suu kyi kept isolated house arrest countrys dictators book instructions meditation became main source spiritual support intensely difficult years emily dickinson walt whitman walter benjamin arthur rimbaud like henry david thoreau achieved greatest impact long deaths long weeds grown graves bestsellers times gandhis thoreauinfluenced nonviolence important american south india transpired martin luther kings sophisticated version influenced civil disobedience movements around world decades assassinations still us port oakland california april 7 several hundred peace activists came dawn picket gates company shipping arms iraq longshoremans union vowed cross picket police arrived riot gear unprovoked unthreatened began shooting wooden bullets beanbags shot activists three members media nine longshoremen fifty activists injured saw bloody welts size half grapefruits backs young menthey shot back swelling size egg jaw delicate yoga instructor told way violence violence inspired union dock workers form closer alliances antiwar activists underscored connections local global issues may 12 picketed violence time longshoremen acted solidarity picketers first time anyones memory shipping companies cancelled work shift rather face protesters told way story continues unfold grown stronger theres third way tell picket stalled lot semi trucks drivers annoyed sincerely believed war humanitarian effort notably group south asian drivers standing around morning sun looking radiant thought great picket broken one immigrant driver honked support pulled ask peace sign rig stepped forward pierce holes could bungeecord chrome grille talked briefly shook hands stepped cab turned back gates werent accepting deliveries antiwar truckers saw next sitting curb alone behind police lines looking cheerful fearless knows ultimately come spontaneous courage man job line victories new peace movement setup disappointment expect would acknowledged cause effect relationship antiwar actions bush administration hand likely never know seems bush administration decided shock awe saturation bombing baghdad made clear cost world opinion civil unrest would high millions may saved thousand hundred thousand lives angel alternate history american history dialectical best called forth worst abolitionists underground railroad feminist movement civil rights movement environmental human rights movements called threats atrocities theres plenty whats worst afoot nowadays need progressive activism one reaction initiation one people good everywhere set agenda need extend passion war brought forth preventing next one toward addressing forms violence besides bombs need movement doesnt respond evils present calls forth possibilities future need revolution hope need understand change works count victories serving board citizen alert nevada nonprofit environmental antinuclear group wrote fundraising letter modeled wonderful life frank capras movie model radical history angel clarence shows suicidal george bailey town would look like hadnt done best neighbors angel alternate history shows happened didnt thats whats hardest weigh citizen alerts victories largely hadnt happened air water land people nevada history larger movements achieved largely one careers undestroyed ideas uncensored violence intimidation uncommitted injustices unperpetrated rivers unpoisoned undammed bombs undropped radiation unleaked poisons unsprayed wildernesses unviolated countryside undeveloped resources unextracted species unexterminated born summer berlin wall went country werent even words let alone redress many practices kept women people color free equal citizenship homosexuality diagnosed disease treated crime ecosystem hardly even concept extinction pollution issues tiny minority heeded better living chemistry didnt yet sound like black humor us ussr hairtrigger alert nuclear armageddon big questions culture yet asked world rainforest wild habitat ozone layer species defending things ecological imagination born became part common culture past decades broader deeper understanding human diversity human rights world gets worse also gets better future stays dark nobody knows consequences actions history full small acts changed world surprising ways one thousands activists nevada test site late 1980s important forgotten history still unfolding us uk exploded thousand nuclear bombs disastrous effects environment human health bush administration would like resume testing thereby sabotaging unratified comprehensive test ban treaty didnt shut test site acts inspired kazakh poet olzhas suleimenov february 27 1989 read manifesto instead poetry live kazakh tv manifesto demanding shutdown soviet nuclear test site semipalatinsk kazakhstan calling meeting five thousand kazakhs gathered writers union next day formed movement shut site named nevadasemipalatinsk antinuclear movement soviet test site indeed shut suleimenov catalyst though nevada inspiration gave platform poetry country loved poets perhaps suleimenov wrote poems one day could stand front tv camera deliver poem manifesto perhaps arundhati roy wrote ravishing novel catapulted stardom stood oppose dams destruction local benefit transnational people would notice perhaps writers opposed ravaging earth poetry poetry broadest sense would survive world american poets became antiwar movement sam hamill declined invitation laura bushs poetry american voice symposium shortly husbands administration announced shock awe plan circulated letter outrage email box filled started wwwpoetsagainstthewarorg 11000 poets submitted poems date hamill became major spokesperson war website become organizing tool peace movement left forward glum traditional left often seems intent upon finding cloud around every silver lining january governor ryan illinois overturned hundred sixtyseven death sentences leftwing commentators found fault details carped pouring champagne heads like football champs joy one weapons one victories nonactivists sometimes chide us joyous demonstrations fun taking serious business world time alienation isolation powerlessness among principal afflictions streets en masse demand victory victory theres increasing gap new movement capacity joy old figureheads grumpiness often grumpiness perfectionists hold anything less total victory failure premise makes easy give start disparage victories possible earth never heaven always cruelty always violence always destruction tremendous devastation time takes read acres rainforest vanish species go extinct women raped men shot far many children die easily preventable causes eliminate devastation time reduce outlaw undermine source foundation victories nearly everyone felt september 11 2001 along grief fear huge upwelling idealism openness readiness question learn sense connected desire live lives something even wasnt familiar safe easy nothing could threatening current administration done everything repress desire still force behind huge new movement dont even name yet movement thats left opposed right perhaps little big local decentralized consolidated could throw old definitions could recognize new alliances lie alliances small farmers factory workers environmentalists poor indigenous farseeing could extraordinarily powerful forces corporate profit institutional violence left right terms radicals conservatives sat french national assembly french revolution world anymore let alone seating arrangement one ruins poisons legacies utterly new antiglobalization activists say another world possible possible inevitable need participate shaping im hopeful partly dont know going happen dark future might well live according principles long hope opposite fear lets us imagine world lifeboat corporations current administration smashing holes fast faster rest us bail patch leaks important take account bailers well smashers write epics present tense rather elegies past tense thats part floats boat sinks sink bail row reckless bush administration seems generating us administrations long held back world old order shattered anything possible zapatista spokesman subcommandante marcos adds history written power taught us lost believe power taught us skipped class taught conformity idiocy failed modernity united imagination creativity tomorrow past met defeat also found desire justice dream better left skepticism hanging hook big capital discovered could believe worth believing believe health dont forget flowers like hope harvested grow dark believe adds thoreau forest meadow night corn grows rebecca solnit author hope dark untold histories wild possibilities developed piece seven books lives san francisco copyright 2003 rebecca solnit piece first appeared tomdispatchcom | 2,272 |
<p>In upmarket restaurants one wouldn’t know the world is suffering from a food crisis. As I observed young executives and professionals slurping oysters and chasing them with martinis at a downtown San Francisco watering house last month without glancing at the prices of such items, less affluent mortals around the world had to overreach their budgets to buy bread, tortillas and oil to cook their food. But those who routinely pay $25.95 for seared ahi tuna hardly blink when the menu lists the same dish for $28.95 — certainly not after three martinis.</p>
<p>Masters of the Universe celebrate their success, (large salaries and bonuses) by using OPM – other people’s money. Nostalgia for Ronald Reagan among older members of this set runs rampant –days of no taxes when sleeping with the President meant attending a cabinet meeting and environmental problems came from trees. (“Trees cause more pollution than automobiles do,” Reagan said in 1981 and “A tree is a tree. How many more do you have to look at?” the California Governor snorted in 1966, opposing expansion of Redwood National Park.)</p>
<p>Food prices continued rising through 2010, and residents of Tunis and Cairo had no Reagan to beguile them; nor did their brethren in Amman, La Paz, Lagos and Bangkok. Rightist US politicians accused Fed Chair Ben Bernanke of printing too much money, thus causing the rise in food prices. Some conservative French politicos, like Le Presidente himself, blamed speculators for taking over the food-pricing controls; therefore Parisians paid more for their pain.</p>
<p>Indeed, in 2007, Fidel Castro criticized President Bush’s “unhealthy enthusiasm for ethanol.” (Economist, April 4, 2007). Fidel referred to the “sinister idea of converting food into fuel.” US companies had begun making ethanol from corn, supposedly to reduce US dependency on foreign oil. This drove up corn prices. Corn then occupied more land space than other food crops, like soy. So, soy prices rose as well. Because animals also got fattened on corn, the price of meat also rose. In short, corn got diverted to feed America’s hungry cars.</p>
<p>Fidel’s January 31 reflection re-enforced this idea. In 2009, he wrote, more than one quarter of US grain “went to ethanol distilleries to produce fuel for cars. That’s enough to feed 350 million people for a year. The massive U.S. investment in ethanol distilleries sets the stage for direct competition between cars and people for the world grain harvest.”</p>
<p>When entrepreneurs discovered new use for grains, the demand rocketed up – and the supply side could not meet it. More intensive farming led to soil erosion – loss of topsoil and thus land productivity. Fidel also mentioned the formation of dust bowls larger than the Oklahoma-Texas one of the 1920-s-30 in northwest China and central Africa.</p>
<p>Ethanol, a supposedly alternative-energy source, begot optimism: now the United States can finally lose its dependency on Arab oil, make cars into a green symbol (phony), and spur new investments as well.</p>
<p>Politicians avoid mentioning the reality that people viscerally understand and fear: how to deal with the fact that the world’s weather has become a major factor preventing farming.</p>
<p>Last summer, Russia and other former Soviet Republics suffered super heat, which meant they produced less wheat. Between droughts and floods – Australia is the latest victim – farmers could not harvest what the world’s people needed.</p>
<p>In his State of the Union – or re-election – address, Obama offered peripheral hints about understanding climate change — the need for rapid rail and energy conservation, but he didn’t say: “this country, this planet, faces a challenge not seen since the Ice Age.”</p>
<p>Nor have leaders of other powers stated the obvious: climate change threatens to wipe out human life if we continue to produce and consume in the same patterns and with the same care-free methods. The 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks 163 countries on environmental public health and ecosystem vitality: how close countries are to established environmental policy goals.</p>
<p>The United States ranked 61st (out of 163 countries) behind such environmental stars as Paraguay, Sri Lanka and Georgia – and far behind all other advanced industrial nations.</p>
<p>Big deal! The stock market is booming, corporate profits are high, and banks are thriving. Why bother with ugly thoughts of 4 million Americans whose unemployment benefits will end during 2011? (White House estimate). Average unemployment now lasts 37 weeks.&#160; But as of last October, unemployment had endured for almost two years for almost 1.5 million people. )“The Trend in Long-Term Unemployment and Characteristics of Workers Unemployed for More than 99 Weeks,” Congressional Research Service. December 20, 2010)</p>
<p>Last year, 3.9 million Americans ran out of unemployment insurance benefits. (National Employment Law Project in HuffPost, February 10). Almost 15 million are officially unemployed – some of those experience routine hunger.</p>
<p>Does this bother you? Slurp oysters, wash ‘em down with martinis and adjust your reality antenna. Oh, you’ve been laid off? Just beg for a day,&#160; then use the money you obtain for your big eating hurrah and think fondly of Reagan!</p>
<p>SAUL LANDAU’s WILL THE REAL TERRORIST PLEASE STAND UP will soon be released in English. His <a href="http://www.easycartsecure.com/CounterPunch/CounterPunch_Books.html" type="external">BUSH AND BOTOX WORLD</a> was published by CounterPunch.</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | upmarket restaurants one wouldnt know world suffering food crisis observed young executives professionals slurping oysters chasing martinis downtown san francisco watering house last month without glancing prices items less affluent mortals around world overreach budgets buy bread tortillas oil cook food routinely pay 2595 seared ahi tuna hardly blink menu lists dish 2895 certainly three martinis masters universe celebrate success large salaries bonuses using opm peoples money nostalgia ronald reagan among older members set runs rampant days taxes sleeping president meant attending cabinet meeting environmental problems came trees trees cause pollution automobiles reagan said 1981 tree tree many look california governor snorted 1966 opposing expansion redwood national park food prices continued rising 2010 residents tunis cairo reagan beguile brethren amman la paz lagos bangkok rightist us politicians accused fed chair ben bernanke printing much money thus causing rise food prices conservative french politicos like le presidente blamed speculators taking foodpricing controls therefore parisians paid pain indeed 2007 fidel castro criticized president bushs unhealthy enthusiasm ethanol economist april 4 2007 fidel referred sinister idea converting food fuel us companies begun making ethanol corn supposedly reduce us dependency foreign oil drove corn prices corn occupied land space food crops like soy soy prices rose well animals also got fattened corn price meat also rose short corn got diverted feed americas hungry cars fidels january 31 reflection reenforced idea 2009 wrote one quarter us grain went ethanol distilleries produce fuel cars thats enough feed 350 million people year massive us investment ethanol distilleries sets stage direct competition cars people world grain harvest entrepreneurs discovered new use grains demand rocketed supply side could meet intensive farming led soil erosion loss topsoil thus land productivity fidel also mentioned formation dust bowls larger oklahomatexas one 1920s30 northwest china central africa ethanol supposedly alternativeenergy source begot optimism united states finally lose dependency arab oil make cars green symbol phony spur new investments well politicians avoid mentioning reality people viscerally understand fear deal fact worlds weather become major factor preventing farming last summer russia former soviet republics suffered super heat meant produced less wheat droughts floods australia latest victim farmers could harvest worlds people needed state union reelection address obama offered peripheral hints understanding climate change need rapid rail energy conservation didnt say country planet faces challenge seen since ice age leaders powers stated obvious climate change threatens wipe human life continue produce consume patterns carefree methods 2010 environmental performance index epi ranks 163 countries environmental public health ecosystem vitality close countries established environmental policy goals united states ranked 61st 163 countries behind environmental stars paraguay sri lanka georgia far behind advanced industrial nations big deal stock market booming corporate profits high banks thriving bother ugly thoughts 4 million americans whose unemployment benefits end 2011 white house estimate average unemployment lasts 37 weeks160 last october unemployment endured almost two years almost 15 million people trend longterm unemployment characteristics workers unemployed 99 weeks congressional research service december 20 2010 last year 39 million americans ran unemployment insurance benefits national employment law project huffpost february 10 almost 15 million officially unemployed experience routine hunger bother slurp oysters wash em martinis adjust reality antenna oh youve laid beg day160 use money obtain big eating hurrah think fondly reagan saul landaus real terrorist please stand soon released english bush botox world published counterpunch | 551 |
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<p>One of more than 750 crosses carried in a Chicago rally commemorating homicide victims on New Years Eve. Photo by&#160;Ed Juillard.</p>
<p>This New Year’s Eve, 750 heavy wooden crosses were distributed to a gathering of Chicagoans commemorating the victims of gun violence killed in 2016. Rev. Michael Pfleger and the Faith Community of St. Sabina Parish had issued a call to carry crosses constructed by Greg Zanis. The crosses, uniform in size, presented the name and age and, in many cases, a facial photo of the person killed. Some who carried the crosses were relatives of the people killed. As the group assembled, several sobbed upon finding the crosses that bore the names and photos of their loved ones.</p>
<p>Those carrying the heavy crosses along Chicago’s “Magnificent Mile” of high end shops and restaurants knew that other arms than theirs were aching…aching with longing for loved ones who would never return. In 2016, more people were killed in Chicago by gun violence than in New York City and Los Angeles combined. The number killed represented a 58% increase over the number killed in 2015.&#160; “How could this happen?” – was the question asked on the front page of the Chicago Tribune.</p>
<p>It was a year of social service program shutdowns driven by the Governor’s office in Springfield.&#160; The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King’s description of a triplet of giant evils, each insoluble in isolation from the others, helps us identify an answer to the Tribune’s question.&#160; King spoke of the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism and militarism.&#160; Training for, and the diversion of money to, wars overseas was a crisis inextricable from the race crisis at home, as were policies promoting radical wealth inequality. Representative <a href="" type="internal">Danny Davis</a>, of Chicago, whose grandson was killed by gun violence in 2016, insists that “poverty was fueling the city’s bloodshed, and that Chicago needed to make investments ‘to revamp whole communities.’”</p>
<p>Poverty and racism clearly interact: Blacks and Latinos comprise <a href="http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/black-lives-matter-eliminating-racial-inequity-in-the-criminal-justice-system/" type="external">56% of the incarcerated population</a>, yet only 30% of the U.S. population. A report documenting the rates of incarceration for whites, African Americans, and Hispanics in the Illinois state prison system notes that over half of this prison population is black. For every 100,000 people in the state, 1,533 black people are imprisoned as compared to 174 white people and 282 Hispanic people. The consequences of incarceration affect entire communities: former prisoners are restricted in terms of employment, their families are disrupted, housing becomes unstable, they become disenfranchised, and stigmas persist.</p>
<p>Yet we ignore the militaristic triplet at our peril.&#160; Gun violence in Chicago is condemned, as it should be, and yet a message to every one of the 9,000 Chicago Public School children participating in U.S. military junior ROTC programs is that killing is acceptable if you are following orders, or avenging the honor or advancing the goals of a loyal group. Killing of civilians by the U.S. military is considered regrettable but acceptable “collateral damage.” These killings eliminate “high value targets”. The mere suspicion of harboring a targeted person in a home, restaurant, or mosque becomes an excuse for an airborne drone attack to execute whole families or communities. Ironically, this policy enacts an airborne version of a drive-by shooting.</p>
<p>Soldiers who have seen combat are less likely to praise the virtues of military life. “The myth is that the military teaches discipline,” say the <a href="" type="internal">Chicago area Veterans for Peace</a>, in their ‘education not militarization’ campaign. “The reality is that the military teaches children to follow orders without question and to use the military solution to conflict resolution – that is, death and destruction.”</p>
<p>President Obama had tears in his eyes in January, 2016, calling for relief from record breaking shootings and killings in the U.S. Yet 2016 became a record breaking year for U.S. export of weapons to other countries.&#160; The U.S. is responsible for nearly 33% of worldwide weapon exports—by far the top arms exporter on the planet.</p>
<p>“Arms deals are a way of life in Washington,” writes <a href="" type="internal">William Hartung</a>. “From the president on down, significant parts of the government are intent on ensuring that American arms will flood the global market and companies like Lockheed and Boeing will live the good life. …American officials regularly act as salespeople for the arms firms. And the Pentagon is their enabler… In its first six years, team Obama entered into agreements to sell more weaponry than any administration since World War II.”</p>
<p>Carrying a cross along Michigan Avenue yesterday, I thought of the terrible slaughter in World War I <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I_casualties" type="external">that killed 38 million people</a>. Elites, weapon makers, and war profiteers drove millions of men into the trenches to fight and die in the war that was to end all wars. In 1914, mired in mud, war-weary and miserable, troops on both sides took matters into their own hands. For a brief, yet magnificent time, they enabled the “Christmas truce.” One account relates how some German troops began singing one of their carols, and British and other troops then sang a carol from their side. As voices wafted across the no-man’s land, troops began calling out to one another.</p>
<p>“Time and again during the <a href="" type="internal">course of that day</a>, the Eve of Christmas, there were wafted towards us from the trenches opposite the sounds of singing and merry-making, and occasionally the guttural tones of a German were to be heard shouting out lustily, ‘A happy Christmas to you Englishmen!’ Only too glad to show that the sentiments were reciprocated, back would go the response from a thick-set Clydesider, ‘Same to you, Fritz, but dinna o’er eat yourself wi’ they sausages!’”</p>
<p>“The high command on both sides took a dim view of the activities and orders were issued to stop the fraternizing with varying results. In some areas, the truce ended Christmas Day in others the following day and in others it extended into January.”</p>
<p>Dr. King said, “Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit, and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism.”&#160;&#160; The soldiers in those trenches went out into their no-man’s land and showed the world one way to end wars.&#160;&#160; They should never have had to.&#160; It was left to them to venture into the no-man’s land, risking exposure to the others’ fire and their generals’ punishment for disobeying orders.</p>
<p>No matter what gang is issuing the orders to kill, whether a massive military power or a smaller group that has acquired weapons, we can all claim our right not to develop, store, sell or use weapons. We can claim our right not to kill and not to live with the memory of having killed. “Declaring eternal hostility” to the fear, greed and hate which are our real enemies seems to be our true hope. We can lay aside forever the futility of killing. We can be hopeful and determined that our resources and ingenuity are directed toward meeting human needs.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | one 750 crosses carried chicago rally commemorating homicide victims new years eve photo by160ed juillard new years eve 750 heavy wooden crosses distributed gathering chicagoans commemorating victims gun violence killed 2016 rev michael pfleger faith community st sabina parish issued call carry crosses constructed greg zanis crosses uniform size presented name age many cases facial photo person killed carried crosses relatives people killed group assembled several sobbed upon finding crosses bore names photos loved ones carrying heavy crosses along chicagos magnificent mile high end shops restaurants knew arms achingaching longing loved ones would never return 2016 people killed chicago gun violence new york city los angeles combined number killed represented 58 increase number killed 2015160 could happen question asked front page chicago tribune year social service program shutdowns driven governors office springfield160 rev dr martin luther kings description triplet giant evils insoluble isolation others helps us identify answer tribunes question160 king spoke giant triplets racism extreme materialism militarism160 training diversion money wars overseas crisis inextricable race crisis home policies promoting radical wealth inequality representative danny davis chicago whose grandson killed gun violence 2016 insists poverty fueling citys bloodshed chicago needed make investments revamp whole communities poverty racism clearly interact blacks latinos comprise 56 incarcerated population yet 30 us population report documenting rates incarceration whites african americans hispanics illinois state prison system notes half prison population black every 100000 people state 1533 black people imprisoned compared 174 white people 282 hispanic people consequences incarceration affect entire communities former prisoners restricted terms employment families disrupted housing becomes unstable become disenfranchised stigmas persist yet ignore militaristic triplet peril160 gun violence chicago condemned yet message every one 9000 chicago public school children participating us military junior rotc programs killing acceptable following orders avenging honor advancing goals loyal group killing civilians us military considered regrettable acceptable collateral damage killings eliminate high value targets mere suspicion harboring targeted person home restaurant mosque becomes excuse airborne drone attack execute whole families communities ironically policy enacts airborne version driveby shooting soldiers seen combat less likely praise virtues military life myth military teaches discipline say chicago area veterans peace education militarization campaign reality military teaches children follow orders without question use military solution conflict resolution death destruction president obama tears eyes january 2016 calling relief record breaking shootings killings us yet 2016 became record breaking year us export weapons countries160 us responsible nearly 33 worldwide weapon exportsby far top arms exporter planet arms deals way life washington writes william hartung president significant parts government intent ensuring american arms flood global market companies like lockheed boeing live good life american officials regularly act salespeople arms firms pentagon enabler first six years team obama entered agreements sell weaponry administration since world war ii carrying cross along michigan avenue yesterday thought terrible slaughter world war killed 38 million people elites weapon makers war profiteers drove millions men trenches fight die war end wars 1914 mired mud warweary miserable troops sides took matters hands brief yet magnificent time enabled christmas truce one account relates german troops began singing one carols british troops sang carol side voices wafted across nomans land troops began calling one another time course day eve christmas wafted towards us trenches opposite sounds singing merrymaking occasionally guttural tones german heard shouting lustily happy christmas englishmen glad show sentiments reciprocated back would go response thickset clydesider fritz dinna oer eat wi sausages high command sides took dim view activities orders issued stop fraternizing varying results areas truce ended christmas day others following day others extended january dr king said hope today lies ability recapture revolutionary spirit go sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility poverty racism militarism160160 soldiers trenches went nomans land showed world one way end wars160160 never to160 left venture nomans land risking exposure others fire generals punishment disobeying orders matter gang issuing orders kill whether massive military power smaller group acquired weapons claim right develop store sell use weapons claim right kill live memory killed declaring eternal hostility fear greed hate real enemies seems true hope lay aside forever futility killing hopeful determined resources ingenuity directed toward meeting human needs 160 | 682 |
<p>Gerald Herbert/AP</p>
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<p>The GOP wave didn’t just crash into the US Senate. It flooded state legislatures, as well. By Wednesday evening, Republicans were in control of 67 of the nation’s 99 state legislative chambers—up from 57 before the election. It’s still unclear which party will control two other chambers.</p>
<p>Already, anti-abortion advocates are <a href="https://twitter.com/LifeNewsHQ/status/530023212340346880" type="external">calling</a> it a big win. Hundreds of the country’s <a href="" type="internal">most extreme anti-abortion bills</a> pop up in these statehouses every year, and Tuesday’s results won’t do anything to put a stop to that. But reproductive rights advocates also suffered big setbacks Tuesday in places where they had actually been playing offense. Now, Democratic losses in states like Colorado, Nevada, New York, and Washington could torpedo their efforts to expand reproductive rights.</p>
<p>New York Republicans won a tiny majority in the state Senate, a development that could kill the proposed Women’s Equality Act—an omnibus bill that includes an equal pay measure, protections against pregnancy discrimination, and stronger domestic-violence and sexual-harassment laws. The bill had previously stalled in the Democratic Senate because of <a href="http://feminist.org/blog/index.php/2014/06/27/new-york-womens-equality-act-stalled-for-a-second-time/" type="external">a provision</a> that would give New York women an affirmative right to abortion. But in the waning days of the campaign, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, had <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/nyregion/cuomo-presses-legislative-candidates-to-back-womens-equality-act.html?_r=0" type="external">pressured</a> legislators to agree to pass the bill in the next session, and the state’s Planned Parenthood affiliates were confident that the election would produce a friendlier Senate.</p>
<p>“We were really hopeful,” says Christina Chang, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood NYC Votes. “But a lot of the folks who won seats have not expressed support for the Women’s Equality Act…After last night’s elections, we have a harder road ahead of us.”</p>
<p>In both Colorado and Washington state, Democrats held majorities in both legislative houses and controlled governor’s mansions going into Tuesday night’s election. By Wednesday night, Republicans appeared on their way to <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/election2014/ci_26863220/election-2014-colorado-senate-control-line-democrats" type="external">controlling the Colorado Senate</a> and they had <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/statevote-2014-interactive-map-before-election.aspx" type="external">captured and outright majority in the Washington Senate</a>.</p>
<p>In recent years, Colorado Democrats have helped reproductive rights advocates check a number of items off their wish list. They increased Medicaid reimbursement rates for family planning services—a move that encourages more providers to offer that type of care—and they passed funding for comprehensive sex education. In 2012, Democrats blocked an effort by anti-abortion forces to pass religious freedom exemptions for health care providers, which abortion rights groups said would jeopardize access to contraception. Last year, Democrats repealed the remnants of a law that criminalized abortion. And this year, Democrats pushed for the Reproductive Health Freedom Act, which would have blocked new abortion restrictions, before <a href="http://rhrealitycheck.org/article/2014/04/22/colorado-lawmakers-withdraw-reproductive-health-freedom-act/" type="external">backing down</a> in the face of conservative opposition.</p>
<p>That kind of progress will likely come to a halt if Republicans take over the Senate—although reproductive rights advocates again remain hopeful.</p>
<p>“So many of the Republicans in Colorado sent messages to voters about being advocates of women’s health and not wanting to insert government into private decisions,” says Cathy Alderman, a spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. “We’re hoping they weren’t just using those issues as political ploys.”</p>
<p>In Washington state, Democrats had been <a href="http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2022845818_rpapassesxml.html" type="external">fighting for a bill</a> that would require abortion coverage in most insurance plans sold on the state’s Obamacare exchange. It was a bold measure at a time when many conservative states were <a href="" type="internal">banning abortion coverage</a>. The bill stalled in the Senate, where a few renegade Democrats frequently sided with the powerful Republican minority. But additional GOP gains in the Senate would “derail any hope” that the bill will pass, says Elizabeth Nash, a researcher with the Guttmacher Institute, a pro-abortion-rights think tank.</p>
<p>In Nevada, Democrats—who controlled the statehouse before Tuesday— <a href="http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/77th2013/Reports/history.cfm?billname=AB230" type="external">supported a bill</a> to establish <a href="http://www.aclunv.org/legislature/2013/ab-230" type="external">comprehensive sex education</a>. The state has <a href="http://www.aclunv.org/legislature/2013/ab-230" type="external">some of the highest sexually transmitted infection and teen pregnancy rates</a> in the country, yet schools rarely teach condom use or encourage STI testing. On Tuesday, <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/statevote-2014-interactive-map-before-election.aspx" type="external">Republicans won control</a> of the Legislature. Republicans roundly opposed the bill the last time it was introduced, and there is little chance that they’ll allow it to pass this year.</p>
<p>“I can’t say that the Republican Party has ever been behind Planned Parenthood issues in Nevada, but we do know Nevada is a very pro-choice state,” Alderman says. “We’re optimistic and hopeful that they’ll see comprehensive sex education as smart policy, but we haven’t had their support in the past because of abortion opponents who come out and say that somehow this legislation is about pushing abortion.”</p>
<p>But while turnover in those states is a blow to reproductive rights groups, the 2014 elections didn’t change change the map for abortion rights quite like the 2010 election, when Republicans took over an even larger number of statehouses.</p>
<p>Nash argues that in some other states where Democrats suffered big losses, abortion rights will likely be protected by divided government. In Iowa, Democrats—who, this session, just barely held back an onslaught of anti-abortion bills— <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/statevote-2014-interactive-map-before-election.aspx" type="external">hung onto the state Senate</a>. In New Mexico, where Republican Gov. Susana Martinez won reelection, Democrats lost the House but <a href="http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/statevote-2014-interactive-map-before-election.aspx" type="external">held the Senate</a>. Republicans now control the New Hampshire statehouse, but they <a href="http://www.wmur.com/politics/hassan-havenstein-square-off-in-tightening-race-for-governor/29530220" type="external">failed to unseat</a> Gov. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat who supports abortion rights and will veto most anti-abortion legislation.</p>
<p>In West Virginia, Republicans took control of the House <a href="http://wvmetronews.com/2014/11/04/gop-makes-historic-gains-in-state-legislature/" type="external">for the first time since 1931</a> <a href="#correction" type="external">*</a>. The state Senate, meanwhile, is evenly divided between the parties. But the state was already hostile to abortion rights: Many West Virginia Democrats, including Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, supported harsh anti-abortion bills when their party controlled the Legislature.</p>
<p>So in West Virginia—and many other red states—Republicans didn’t need a wave year for abortion rights to be in jeopardy. The outlook was pretty bleak already.</p>
<p>Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that the West Virginia governor was up for reelection during this year’s midterms.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | gerald herbertap gop wave didnt crash us senate flooded state legislatures well wednesday evening republicans control 67 nations 99 state legislative chambersup 57 election still unclear party control two chambers already antiabortion advocates calling big win hundreds countrys extreme antiabortion bills pop statehouses every year tuesdays results wont anything put stop reproductive rights advocates also suffered big setbacks tuesday places actually playing offense democratic losses states like colorado nevada new york washington could torpedo efforts expand reproductive rights new york republicans tiny majority state senate development could kill proposed womens equality actan omnibus bill includes equal pay measure protections pregnancy discrimination stronger domesticviolence sexualharassment laws bill previously stalled democratic senate provision would give new york women affirmative right abortion waning days campaign gov andrew cuomo democrat pressured legislators agree pass bill next session states planned parenthood affiliates confident election would produce friendlier senate really hopeful says christina chang spokeswoman planned parenthood nyc votes lot folks seats expressed support womens equality actafter last nights elections harder road ahead us colorado washington state democrats held majorities legislative houses controlled governors mansions going tuesday nights election wednesday night republicans appeared way controlling colorado senate captured outright majority washington senate recent years colorado democrats helped reproductive rights advocates check number items wish list increased medicaid reimbursement rates family planning servicesa move encourages providers offer type careand passed funding comprehensive sex education 2012 democrats blocked effort antiabortion forces pass religious freedom exemptions health care providers abortion rights groups said would jeopardize access contraception last year democrats repealed remnants law criminalized abortion year democrats pushed reproductive health freedom act would blocked new abortion restrictions backing face conservative opposition kind progress likely come halt republicans take senatealthough reproductive rights advocates remain hopeful many republicans colorado sent messages voters advocates womens health wanting insert government private decisions says cathy alderman spokeswoman planned parenthood rocky mountains hoping werent using issues political ploys washington state democrats fighting bill would require abortion coverage insurance plans sold states obamacare exchange bold measure time many conservative states banning abortion coverage bill stalled senate renegade democrats frequently sided powerful republican minority additional gop gains senate would derail hope bill pass says elizabeth nash researcher guttmacher institute proabortionrights think tank nevada democratswho controlled statehouse tuesday supported bill establish comprehensive sex education state highest sexually transmitted infection teen pregnancy rates country yet schools rarely teach condom use encourage sti testing tuesday republicans control legislature republicans roundly opposed bill last time introduced little chance theyll allow pass year cant say republican party ever behind planned parenthood issues nevada know nevada prochoice state alderman says optimistic hopeful theyll see comprehensive sex education smart policy havent support past abortion opponents come say somehow legislation pushing abortion turnover states blow reproductive rights groups 2014 elections didnt change change map abortion rights quite like 2010 election republicans took even larger number statehouses nash argues states democrats suffered big losses abortion rights likely protected divided government iowa democratswho session barely held back onslaught antiabortion bills hung onto state senate new mexico republican gov susana martinez reelection democrats lost house held senate republicans control new hampshire statehouse failed unseat gov maggie hassan democrat supports abortion rights veto antiabortion legislation west virginia republicans took control house first time since 1931 state senate meanwhile evenly divided parties state already hostile abortion rights many west virginia democrats including gov earl ray tomblin supported harsh antiabortion bills party controlled legislature west virginiaand many red statesrepublicans didnt need wave year abortion rights jeopardy outlook pretty bleak already correction original version article incorrectly stated west virginia governor reelection years midterms | 591 |
<p>Neil Hall/Reuters/ZUMA</p>
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<p>When a <a href="" type="internal">video</a> of Donald Trump boasting about grabbing women “by the pussy” leaked a month before the 2016 presidential election and his party seemed on the cusp of <a href="" type="internal">rejecting him</a>, onlookers wondered whether his apparent admission of sexual assault might have finally crossed a line with voters. But conservatives who were reassured by his promises to roll back reproductive rights turned a blind eye to the sexual-assault claims.</p>
<p>With those concerns about his electability far behind him, as president Trump has made good on his assurances. He may have <a href="http://www.cosmopolitan.com/politics/a3356886/ivanka-trump-child-care-maternity-leave-policy/" type="external">discussed</a> child care and other so-called family-friendly policies, but in the first 100 days of the Trump administration, the country has seen an unprecedented rollback of many hard-won reproductive rights. Trump has pushed to defund Planned Parenthood, appointed a Supreme Court justice who he promised would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, and <a href="" type="internal">cut off</a> US aide for family-planning services globally. States have also ridden the Trump wave: 1,053 measures—both restrictive and proactive—have been introduced in state legislatures in 2017 alone.</p>
<p>Women have not been passive in the face of these setbacks. They came out in <a href="" type="internal">droves</a> to protest Trump’s inauguration during the Women’s March the day after his inauguration. Eleven-thousand women have <a href="http://www.glamour.com/story/emilys-list-more-than-11000-democratic-women-are-interested-in-running-for-office" type="external">told</a> Emily’s List, an organization that gets pro-choice women elected to office, that they want to run for something next year, compared with 900 last year. And <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2017/01/four_female_judges_were_the_heroes_of_the_fight_against_trump_s_executive.html" type="external">women</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/30/us/politics/trump-immigration-ban-memo.html?_r=0" type="external">already</a> <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/03/whos-voting-for-donald-trumps-nominees/515943/" type="external">in positions</a> <a href="http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2017/01/12/oakland-congresswoman-barbara-lee-to-boycott-trump-inauguration" type="external">of power</a> have taken Trump to task on his Cabinet nominees, his travel ban, and his environmental policies.</p>
<p>But if his first 100 days as president are any indication, the three-plus years ahead will be grueling for women in the United States and abroad. Here’s what’s happened so far.</p>
<p>In the weeks following Trump’s January 2017 inauguration, his daughter Ivanka took the unexpected step of <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/ivanka-trump-planned-parenthood-outreach-236940" type="external">reaching out</a> to Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards to <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2017/04/ivanka-trump-planned-parenthood-outreach-236940" type="external">request a meeting</a>. On the campaign trail, her father had promised to “defund” the women’s health care provider by prohibiting low-income patients from using their Medicaid coverage for care at Planned Parenthood clinics because the group also performs abortions.</p>
<p>Richards sought to explain to Ivanka Trump that Medicaid reimbursements to Planned Parenthood don’t fund abortions, but instead go to other forms of reproductive health care—cancer screenings, pap smears, contraception, and more—because of the Hyde Amendment, which has prohibited the use of federal funds for almost all abortions for more than 40 years.</p>
<p>But in the months following the meeting, the Trump administration and the GOP-controlled Congress launched an offensive against Planned Parenthood. Bills proposing to prohibit the use of Medicaid by patients at Planned Parenthood were introduced in both the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/354" type="external">House</a> and the <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/241/text" type="external">Senate</a> and are still awaiting a vote. A week after Trump’s inauguration, audio <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/behind-closed-doors-republican-lawmakers-fret-about-how-to-repeal-obamacare/2017/01/27/deabdafa-e491-11e6-a547-5fb9411d332c_story.html?utm_term=.3b7d37b81d14" type="external">was leaked</a> of a closed-door meeting where Republicans voiced concerns about the political repercussions of defunding a women’s health organization that’s popular <a href="https://twitter.com/teemoneyusa/status/844581661618659329" type="external">even among Trump voters</a>. A month later, Trump tried to <a href="" type="internal">cut an informal deal</a> with Planned Parenthood: keep your funding, maybe even increase it, if you stop providing abortions. The women’s health organization rejected the idea. Soon after, the Trump administration’s <a href="" type="internal">Obamacare repeal bill</a> was introduced, including a provision to defund Planned Parenthood. That bill failed, but the revised version of the repeal bill, introduced by Republicans this week, contains the same provision and is still awaiting a vote.</p>
<p>Another administration effort to kneecap Planned Parenthood’s funding, however, was more successful. <a href="" type="internal">A bill</a> allowing states to withhold Title X family-planning funds from health care providers that offer abortion, like Planned Parenthood, passed both chambers of Congress in February and March. Title X grants help fund nonabortion services such as contraception for low-income women, and <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/planned-parenthood-abortion-defunding-title-x-medicaid-583832" type="external">more than one-third</a> of the 4 million patients who use Title X each year receive care at Planned Parenthood.</p>
<p>Vice President Mike Pence was essential to that bill’s passage. After two GOP senators voted against the bill, Republicans were forced <a href="" type="internal">to whisk in</a> the vice president to cast a tie-breaking Senate vote to advance the legislation. In April, Trump <a href="" type="internal">signed the bill</a> into law in a private ceremony, an uncharacteristically publicity-shy moment for a president who has seemed to relish in the public spectacle of his other signings.</p>
<p>Trump’s election greatly emboldened anti-abortion state legislatures to propose measures that restrict women’s access to the medical procedure. His win came months after the Supreme Court ruled last June on the biggest abortion rights case since Planned Parenthood v. Casey. Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt reaffirmed a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion, a ruling that made restricting access through TRAP laws—or Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers—a violation of a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion.</p>
<p>It was hailed <a href="" type="internal">as a massive win</a> for reproductive rights advocates, but Trump’s victory and Republican-dominated statehouses reinvigorated both abortion opponents and abortion rights advocates who collectively <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2017/04/laws-affecting-reproductive-health-and-rights-state-policy-trends-first-quarter-2017" type="external">have proposed</a> 1,053 state-level provisions regarding women’s reproductive health in 2017. Thus far, 18 abortion restrictions have been enacted at the state level, according to the <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/state-policy-resources" type="external">Guttmacher Institute</a>, a reproductive rights think tank. Twenty-two states have potential legislation on deck to ban abortion in most cases outright—four of these are bans known as <a href="" type="internal">“trigger laws,”</a> meaning they would automatically become state law should Roe v. Wade be overturned in the Supreme Court. And despite the Supreme Court ruling just last year, 30 states have introduced TRAP legislation in the hopes that a new justice would tip the scales should another challenge to the constitutionality of those laws arise.</p>
<p>Also trending in anti-abortion state legislatures this year are fetal burial laws, which require tissue extracted from the uterus after an abortion to be buried rather than disposed of as medical waste, creating additional costs and burdens for providers; religious liberty protections for crisis pregnancy centers—in Oklahoma; counseling that relies on anti-scientific information to persuade women that medication abortion can be reversed—in Indiana; personhood bills that endow a fetus or an embryo as a person with full rights under the Constitution—in Iowa and North Carolina; and waiting periods between the initial medical evaluation and the actual abortion procedure—in Colorado. Ohio and Kentucky passed laws banning abortions after 20 weeks, and Pennsylvania and Montana are considering similar bills, as are others.</p>
<p>Years before running for president, Trump said that, despite his personal dislike of abortion, he was “ <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsOlXidHXRE" type="external">pro-choice in every respect</a>” and that abortion “is <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/05/politics/evangelicals-donald-trump-questions/" type="external">a personal decision that</a> should be left to women and their doctors.” But in recent years, the reality TV star turned politician has said he no longer supports abortion access. During his presidential campaign, Trump’s stance remained anti-abortion with the then-candidate saying that the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that women had a constitutional right to an abortion under the 14th Amendment, “ <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2016/10/19/trump-ill-appoint-supreme-court-justices-to-overturn-roe-v-wade-abortion-case.html" type="external">will happen, automatically</a>,” should he be elected and have the chance to appoint justices to the nation’s highest court. In the months after his election, anti-abortion advocates have argued that he will make good on that promise. &#160;</p>
<p>But overturning Roe will be a complicated task and is likely <a href="" type="internal">one of the hardest goals</a> for Trump to actually achieve. The Supreme Court recently affirmed women’s constitutional right to abortion without undue burden in its Whole Women’s Health v. Hellerstedt decision last June, and it will likely take years before another challenge makes its way to the Supreme Court. For the court to decide to completely overturn Roe, it would need to reject more than four decades of settled precedent.</p>
<p>Still, there are ways that Trump can begin laying the groundwork for overturning the landmark ruling. He has consistently <a href="https://www.sba-list.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Trump-Letter-on-ProLife-Coalition.pdf" type="external">promised</a> to place “pro-life justices on the US Supreme Court,” and while some anti-abortion advocates argued that his pool of potential picks <a href="" type="internal">weren’t sufficiently conservative</a>, there is <a href="" type="internal">still plenty for them to like</a> about Trump’s first Supreme Court appointment, Neil Gorsuch. Since being appointed to the circuit court by George W. Bush in 2006, Gorsuch has taken <a href="" type="internal">conservative stances</a>on reproductive issues—recently he wrote the dissenting opinion in a ruling that blocked Utah from defunding Planned Parenthood.</p>
<p>During his time on the appellate court, Gorsuch ruled in favor of Hobby Lobby’s effort to fight against the Obamacare rule requiring companies to include contraception coverage in their health insurance plans. While Gorsuch is likely to be a strong voice in favor of pro-life advocates, as a successor to Antonin Scalia, he will not drastically shift the balance of the court. But if Anthony Kennedy, a frequent swing vote, or a more liberal justice like Ruth Bader Ginsburg vacates their seat in the next few years, Trump would have an opportunity to move the Supreme Court in a decidedly anti-Roe direction.</p>
<p>States also play a large role in determining what will happen. While the Supreme Court’s newest member adjusts to being on the bench, conservative-led legislatures have remained undaunted in their efforts to get another abortion rights case before the courts. Abortion restrictions, particularly the emergence of bans before fetal viability, have become some of the biggest sources of a potential court challenge. As Elizabeth Nash, senior state issues manager at the Guttmacher Institute, said in a <a href="" type="internal">recent interview</a> with Mother Jones, some states “are thinking about being the state that overturns Roe v. Wade, and the way to do that is to adopt something like a 6-week abortion ban or a 20-week abortion ban and then send that up through the courts.”</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | neil hallreuterszuma video donald trump boasting grabbing women pussy leaked month 2016 presidential election party seemed cusp rejecting onlookers wondered whether apparent admission sexual assault might finally crossed line voters conservatives reassured promises roll back reproductive rights turned blind eye sexualassault claims concerns electability far behind president trump made good assurances may discussed child care socalled familyfriendly policies first 100 days trump administration country seen unprecedented rollback many hardwon reproductive rights trump pushed defund planned parenthood appointed supreme court justice promised would vote overturn roe v wade cut us aide familyplanning services globally states also ridden trump wave 1053 measuresboth restrictive proactivehave introduced state legislatures 2017 alone women passive face setbacks came droves protest trumps inauguration womens march day inauguration eleventhousand women told emilys list organization gets prochoice women elected office want run something next year compared 900 last year women already positions power taken trump task cabinet nominees travel ban environmental policies first 100 days president indication threeplus years ahead grueling women united states abroad heres whats happened far weeks following trumps january 2017 inauguration daughter ivanka took unexpected step reaching planned parenthood president cecile richards request meeting campaign trail father promised defund womens health care provider prohibiting lowincome patients using medicaid coverage care planned parenthood clinics group also performs abortions richards sought explain ivanka trump medicaid reimbursements planned parenthood dont fund abortions instead go forms reproductive health carecancer screenings pap smears contraception morebecause hyde amendment prohibited use federal funds almost abortions 40 years months following meeting trump administration gopcontrolled congress launched offensive planned parenthood bills proposing prohibit use medicaid patients planned parenthood introduced house senate still awaiting vote week trumps inauguration audio leaked closeddoor meeting republicans voiced concerns political repercussions defunding womens health organization thats popular even among trump voters month later trump tried cut informal deal planned parenthood keep funding maybe even increase stop providing abortions womens health organization rejected idea soon trump administrations obamacare repeal bill introduced including provision defund planned parenthood bill failed revised version repeal bill introduced republicans week contains provision still awaiting vote another administration effort kneecap planned parenthoods funding however successful bill allowing states withhold title x familyplanning funds health care providers offer abortion like planned parenthood passed chambers congress february march title x grants help fund nonabortion services contraception lowincome women onethird 4 million patients use title x year receive care planned parenthood vice president mike pence essential bills passage two gop senators voted bill republicans forced whisk vice president cast tiebreaking senate vote advance legislation april trump signed bill law private ceremony uncharacteristically publicityshy moment president seemed relish public spectacle signings trumps election greatly emboldened antiabortion state legislatures propose measures restrict womens access medical procedure win came months supreme court ruled last june biggest abortion rights case since planned parenthood v casey whole womans health v hellerstedt reaffirmed womans constitutional right abortion ruling made restricting access trap lawsor targeted regulation abortion providersa violation womans constitutional right abortion hailed massive win reproductive rights advocates trumps victory republicandominated statehouses reinvigorated abortion opponents abortion rights advocates collectively proposed 1053 statelevel provisions regarding womens reproductive health 2017 thus far 18 abortion restrictions enacted state level according guttmacher institute reproductive rights think tank twentytwo states potential legislation deck ban abortion cases outrightfour bans known trigger laws meaning would automatically become state law roe v wade overturned supreme court despite supreme court ruling last year 30 states introduced trap legislation hopes new justice would tip scales another challenge constitutionality laws arise also trending antiabortion state legislatures year fetal burial laws require tissue extracted uterus abortion buried rather disposed medical waste creating additional costs burdens providers religious liberty protections crisis pregnancy centersin oklahoma counseling relies antiscientific information persuade women medication abortion reversedin indiana personhood bills endow fetus embryo person full rights constitutionin iowa north carolina waiting periods initial medical evaluation actual abortion procedurein colorado ohio kentucky passed laws banning abortions 20 weeks pennsylvania montana considering similar bills others years running president trump said despite personal dislike abortion prochoice every respect abortion personal decision left women doctors recent years reality tv star turned politician said longer supports abortion access presidential campaign trumps stance remained antiabortion thencandidate saying overturning roe v wade 1973 supreme court decision women constitutional right abortion 14th amendment happen automatically elected chance appoint justices nations highest court months election antiabortion advocates argued make good promise 160 overturning roe complicated task likely one hardest goals trump actually achieve supreme court recently affirmed womens constitutional right abortion without undue burden whole womens health v hellerstedt decision last june likely take years another challenge makes way supreme court court decide completely overturn roe would need reject four decades settled precedent still ways trump begin laying groundwork overturning landmark ruling consistently promised place prolife justices us supreme court antiabortion advocates argued pool potential picks werent sufficiently conservative still plenty like trumps first supreme court appointment neil gorsuch since appointed circuit court george w bush 2006 gorsuch taken conservative stanceson reproductive issuesrecently wrote dissenting opinion ruling blocked utah defunding planned parenthood time appellate court gorsuch ruled favor hobby lobbys effort fight obamacare rule requiring companies include contraception coverage health insurance plans gorsuch likely strong voice favor prolife advocates successor antonin scalia drastically shift balance court anthony kennedy frequent swing vote liberal justice like ruth bader ginsburg vacates seat next years trump would opportunity move supreme court decidedly antiroe direction states also play large role determining happen supreme courts newest member adjusts bench conservativeled legislatures remained undaunted efforts get another abortion rights case courts abortion restrictions particularly emergence bans fetal viability become biggest sources potential court challenge elizabeth nash senior state issues manager guttmacher institute said recent interview mother jones states thinking state overturns roe v wade way adopt something like 6week abortion ban 20week abortion ban send courts | 958 |
<p>If it feels to you a bit reminiscent of 1968 these days, that’s because it is.</p>
<p>And that’s a good thing.</p>
<p>It’s starting to look like 2011 was the year of Basta!, when people finally woke up and found the voice with which to say Enough!&#160; To say that it comes in the nick of time is like saying that Rick Perry could afford to study a bit harder.&#160; In fact, this development is long overdue.</p>
<p>I don’t see much evidence to suggest extensive linkage between the various national uprisings we’re witnessing, or even much of a contagion effect – except perhaps in the Middle East – but nevertheless a host of countries have produced unprecedented popular dissent movements over the last year.&#160; In fairness, it’s probably accurate to say that 2011 actually started in 2009 in Iran, but this year alone has seen major uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Syria, Libya, Bahrain, Greece, the UK, the US, and Israel, among others.&#160; Now, even Mother Russia has been added to the club, while China appears to continue along on something of a slow boil.</p>
<p>Such developments often come in generational waves.&#160; The events of 1989 might be an example, though they were more regional in nature, and were the product of a singular cause, the collapse of Soviet hegemony in its neighborhood.&#160; 1968 provides the better exemplar, when France and Mexico and the US and Czechoslovakia and other countries rather spontaneously and rather separately experienced highly significant near-revolutions.&#160; Though the direct relationship between these respective events was rather tenuous, they shared a common ethos of a young generation rejecting the inheritance they were being offered by an older one whose core value system – rooted in materialism, war, prejudice, hypocrisy and multifarious forms of planetary destruction – was, oddly enough, increasingly found wanting.</p>
<p>It strikes me that we’re seeing some of the very same sort of behavior today.&#160; That’s no surprise.&#160; Indeed, the only shocker to me is that the response has taken so long, and that it continues to be so tame.&#160; The foolishness of our day’s ruling class day is epic in its proportions.&#160; As if that isn’t bad enough, foolishness is actually a far too generous diagnosis.&#160; Like, say, a Newt Gingrich or a Barack Obama, these are not stupid people, and therefore the malady which besets us is far worse than some product of world class bumbling.&#160; More than anything, ours is time characterized by greed, on a scale which can only be compared to a Hitler or a Genghis Kahn, or other great historical predators.&#160; That may seem like a ridiculous stretch, but one look at the political mechanics behind our policy indifference (on a good day) to the threat of global warming alone produces an indictment few figures in history can match.&#160; Add in the wars based on lies, the absence or dismantling of social programs in order to feed the greed of untaxed billionaires, the mortgaging of our children’s futures to pay for the same, and more, and you’ve got a pretty grim bar tab the oligarchy has run up there.</p>
<p>Lucky for these agents of destruction that heaven and hell is just a myth to feed the little people they exploit so adroitly.&#160; It sure would be funny to watch what would happen if one of them actually started believing in that crap and felt compelled to do some serious truth telling, a la Bullworth.&#160; Well, funny, that is, for about five minutes, until that individual inevitably came to experience a rather inexplicable but nevertheless quite sudden and quite enduring absence of consciousness.&#160; Must have been something he ate.&#160; The Lobster Cyanide, perhaps.</p>
<p>I’d feel a lot better (which is far from saying good) about what they’re doing to the rest of us if I thought they were mere idiots.&#160; It’s just unbearable to me to know that our demise is instead the product of a combined greed and cynicism that is all but unfathomable in its scale.&#160; These sociopathic Masters of the Universe have learned just how easy it is to animate and motivate the pathetic army of clones amongst the hoi polloi to do their bidding and hand over all manner of riches to a one-tenth of one-percent who have long ago exceeded even the capacity to spend the additional sums.&#160; What mutant DNA or childhood trauma causes a billionaire to rabidly pursue further billions at the cost of millions of people’s basic livelihood and dignity?&#160; And what missing CPU chips make it so easy for those millions to exchange their modest perch in the middle class for a nice war or two against a brown-skinned dictator who only yesterday was on the CIA payroll, or the warm feelings that come from some tasty racist, sexist or homophobic discrimination closer to home?&#160; The mind fairly reels.</p>
<p>Ah, but here we are, nonetheless.&#160; It’s quite amazing when you think about it.&#160; Just at the same moment when particle physicists are on the verge of unlocking the secrets of the Higgs Boson, you can still get tens of millions of slobbering American rednecks to dance in the streets over the prospects of murdering some poor mentally retarded SOB on death-row in Texas whose drunken lawyer slept through the trial, and whose appellate court ‘justices’ didn’t see any harm in any of that.&#160; Did I mention that the individual in question was not part of the one percent?</p>
<p>At the same time, however, there is some good news, which is that such idiocy seems to fast be going the way of, say, the novelty of Paris Hilton.&#160; It’s yesterday’s titillation, today’s embarrassment.&#160; Part of that, at the risk of being crass, is owing to pure generational replacement.&#160; Older people in America – as a generation, certainly not always as individuals – are simply more ignorant, malevolent and backward compared to their grandchildren, which would be more problematic than it is except for the fact that they are at least decent enough to be dying off.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, though, what makes 2011 2011 is the growing sense that waiting for Grandpa Bucephelus to do the right thing and help heal the planet a bit by departing from it is no longer enough.&#160; Young people are staring down the business end of both barrels of a wholly bleak future right now, and – go figure – they’re not happy about it.&#160; And, no, thank you very much, Mr. Perry, Ms. Bachmann and friends, they’re not very interested in trading their quality of life for a blivet full of prejudices, phony wars, or some laughably contrary but far less laughably pernicious shuckster’s moral lessons derived from the tribal skirmishes among certain Jordan river valley nomads thousands of years ago.</p>
<p>Yeah, imagine that.&#160; You take a bunch of twenty year-olds, load them up with debt from all the misadventures and crimes that you (adding special circumstances to your original felony) refused to even pay for, show them a future of living at home with mom and dad while fighting amongst themselves for the honor of toiling away in an unpaid internship at some soul-numbing corporate palace of predation, and – surprise, surprise – they get a bit rowdy in response.&#160; Like I said, the only questions are why it’s taken so long and why is the response so tame?</p>
<p>That latter question may grow moot over time, as it did, for example in Libya.&#160; Meanwhile, though, despite the seeming spontaneous and indigenous quality of each of these various national uprisings, it seems to me that they share three things in common.</p>
<p>First, the participants recognize an absence of real democracy in their governing structures.&#160; In some cases, such as Egypt’s thirty year dictatorship complete with sham elections where HMFIC Mubarak would win over 90 percent of the vote, this is more obvious than in others.&#160; Like, say, for example, the American system, where sham elections instead consistently give more than 90 percent of the vote to the two wings of the same Corporate Party.&#160; Regardless of whether you have the choice between Tweedledee and Tweedledum, or are merely confined to voting for Tweedle D. Dumb alone, people everywhere seem to be recognizing that they in fact have no choice, and thus no democracy, at all.&#160; If Americans, for example, ever had a one-person-one-vote system, they sure don’t anymore.&#160; Now it’s strictly one-dollar-one-vote.&#160; Heads, corporate America gets subsidies, deregulation and externalized production costs;&#160; tails, you pay their taxes for them.&#160; Usually, though, it’s heads and tails, at the same time.</p>
<p>Which brings us to the second characteristic that these cases have in common.&#160; It’s not an accident that real democracy is off for an extended holiday in each of these countries.&#160; It must be, in order that the kleptocracies these nations have actually become can continue to function, largely unimpeded and uninterrupted.&#160; Turn your nose up in haughty disgust at Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe if you want (and you definitely should), but I’ve got some bad news for you.&#160; Bad Bob’s ugly regime is only different in scale and overtness from those of Egypt, Russia or the United States.&#160; To choose what is merely the most prominent example, right now the United States spends more on its military than all the other countries of the world combined – that’s nearly 200 nations, for those of you keeping score at home – and yet has no serious enemies anywhere on the horizon.&#160; Gee, I wonder why that is.&#160; Then there’s the case of global warming, which appears to merely be the greatest threat to imperil the planet since the last massive meteor hit and wiped out most life on Earth.&#160; No biggie, though.&#160; I’m sure it’s all just a massive coincidence that we’re doing nothing about the collective future of ten billion people and the fact that filthy rich, well-connected fossil fuel peddling corporations would lose money if we did.</p>
<p>All of which leads to a third commonality in each of these cases, which is that of young people surveying the landscape of their future and being a whole lot less than excited about the wreckage they see already strewn thereupon.&#160; And what’s not to like?&#160; Corporate loyalty to employees and lifetime tenure in good career jobs went out with the transistor radio.&#160; Public commitment to inexpensive quality education got real quaint real fast when investor bots like Mitt Romney figured out there was money to be made there.&#160; Thirty years of tax cuts for the wealthy have to be paid for, and those folks sure as hell not going to be doing it, leaving the tab to you and me instead.&#160; The one environment on the one planet we have has been knowingly pissed away by corporate Strangeloves who have absolutely set the all-time world record for sociopathy.&#160; But, hey, so what if it’s hot and stormy outside?&#160; These kids will be hunkered down in their parents’ basements for the rest of their lives, anyhow, at least when they’re not serving up double mocha lattes.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>I am amazed at how long people stood by and watched these conditions develop, especially outside of thuggish dictatorships like Russia or Egypt, where dissent came with real and permanent risks to one’s health.&#160; Shame on Americans, in particular, for being so stupid and lazy as to buy into the transparent lies and distractions of the Age of Reagan, and sacrifice their futures and those of their children in exchange for the occasional infantile satiation of their worst tendencies toward violence and bigotry.&#160; Aren’t you glad we got Noriega, now, Billy Bob?!?!&#160; Isn’t that satisfying, even though you don’t have a job or a house anymore?&#160; And thank god the queers can’t get married, eh?!&#160; Building a wall to keep Mexicans out sure is satisfying, isn’t it?&#160; Yeah.&#160; Too bad, though, that we had to trade away the middle class for those seedy little thrills, and drive the country so far into the ditch that we actually solved our illegal immigration problem.&#160; Mexicans have literally stopped coming to the US because they can get as much jobless poverty as they want just by staying home, without the nasty demonization crap from drunken gringos trying to paper over their insecurities.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>A recent piece in the New York Times summarizes our condition well:&#160; “In a Bertelsmann Foundation study on social justice released this fall, the United States came in dead last among the rich countries, with only Greece, Chile, Mexico and Turkey faring worse.&#160; Whether in poverty prevention, child poverty, income inequality or health ratings, the United States ranked below countries like Spain and South Korea, not to mention Japan, Germany or France. … No nation has ever lost an existing middle class, and the United States is not in danger of that yet.&#160; But the percentage of national income held by the top 1 percent of Americans went from about 10 percent in 1980 to 24 percent in 2007, and that is a worrisome signal.”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>But America’s short-term future looks even more dismal than the present, if that is imaginable.&#160; The Republican presidential field this year could have stepped off the set of any B-rate Hollywood horror film.&#160; Or maybe “The Sting”.&#160; True to form, a good half the candidates are straight-ahead shucksters, pure and simple, who have borrowed directly from the pioneering Sarah Palin’s playbook.&#160; It turns out that you can make a boatload of money in Republican politics without actually having to do anything remotely onerous, like, say, knowing something about the issues (China has nukes?) or actually serving a full term in office.&#160; Two of these confidence men have actually been the GOP flavor of the month at some point this year (four, if you count Palin and Trump, who were so skilled at the game that they never even got in before getting out), and one of those two now looks like he’s going to win the nomination.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Somebody (I wish it had been me) recently described Newt Gingrich as “a dumb person’s idea of what a smart person sounds like”, and boy is that ever the truth.&#160; He might also be understood as an amoral sociopath’s idea of what a good person sounds like.&#160; You can get just about everything you need to know about Gingrich from this one exchange between him and Wife Number Two (of three, and counting) in an Esquire feature published last year:</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“He asked her to just tolerate the affair, an offer she refused.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“He’d just returned from Erie, Pennsylvania, where he’d given a speech full of high sentiments about compassion and family values.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“The next night, they sat talking out on their back patio in Georgia.&#160; She said, ‘How do you give that speech and do what you’re doing?’</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>“‘It doesn’t matter what I do,’ he answered.&#160; ‘People need to hear what I have to say.&#160; There’s no one else who can say what I can say.&#160; It doesn’t matter what I live.’”</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>It’s worth noting, by the way, that Gingrich had asked his third wife to marry him before telling his second wife that he was having an affair and wanted a divorce, and that this repeated the pattern of how he left his first wife.&#160; But now he’s Mr. Faithful, Mr. Pious and Mr. Moral, lecturing the rest of us on proper codes of ethical behavior.&#160; This from a guy who proposes scrapping child labor laws.&#160; This from a guy who would deny the Palestinian people even the essence of their identity in order to pander yet further to the Likud Lobby and its stranglehold over American politics.&#160; This from a guy who – as Barney Frank rightly notes – is more or less singlehandedly responsible for the poisoning of the well of American political discourse these last two decades.&#160; This from a guy who ditched his first wife on her hospital bed as she was recovering from cancer surgery, so that he could marry the woman with whom he had been having an affair.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>What kills me is that tens of millions of Americans could want to put this obviously tortured soul in the White House, drooling, chanting and hollering in response every invocation of violence and hatred he casually tosses out like so many rhetorical hand grenades.&#160; But then this is the nature of our politics.&#160; There is this incredibly sick segment of the country – people who look to politics as a chance to vindicate their resentments, justify their hatreds and exonerate their stupidity – and the contest among the GOP candidates is to find the individual who can throw them the most red meat.&#160; If you’ve watched the crowd response at any of the debates these lot have been conducting the last few months, you know exactly what I’m talking about.&#160; But it’s been there a good long while.&#160; Reagan got elected, in part, because he promised to kill more foreigners than Carter would.&#160; No joke.&#160; Lil’ Bush ‘won’ his first term (as did Clinton, in part) pretty much on his record as a proud and overt serial murderer of Texas death-row inmates.&#160; Then, this dress-up-macho Vietnam coward ‘won’ his second term by out tough-guying a dude who actually did fight in a real war, or at least Bush did so in the minds of these very unwell Republican voters, whose capacity to grapple with the cognitive dissonance driven by avalanches of pesky factual data makes Lindsay Lohan look like a paragon of mental health by comparison.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>So there is every chance that Brute Thing-Itch might be the next American president.&#160; I thought for sure it would be Tough Guy Rick Perry, instead, but GOP voters surprised me by demonstrating that they actually do have a stupidity threshold of some sorts.&#160; It’s perfectly fine to tell them the most obscene lies (like where Palin says she reads “all” them journal thingies, or when Mutt emphatically changes his position on everything imaginable).&#160; You just can’t reveal that you’re as dumb as a Texas governor (even if you are one) on national TV by doing that deer in the headlights thing.&#160; If you’re gonna list three things, well godammit, you need to come up with more than two.&#160; (Christ, Fool, just make them up if you need to!&#160; Like that would be so out of character for a GOP politician or voter.)&#160; Anyhow, call it tough love if you want, but Republican voters appear to have their standards, and Oh-Shit-I-Left-My-Brain-Back-At-The-Ranch-(Again) Perry doesn’t seem to meet them.&#160; I guess when national politics is part of your personal mechanism for avoiding embarrassment, it’s important that your candidate not play the drunken fool in front of millions…</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Anyhow, it now looks like Fig Newton could well be standing on the inaugural platform in January of 2013, and I’m not even sure that’s a bad thing in the short term or the long term.&#160; I’ll be delighted to see Obama humiliated and destroyed, for one thing.&#160; My antipathy toward him (and Bill Clinton) in many ways surpasses that for the GOP line-up of thugs and bugs. &#160;All of the above have the same fundamental commitments to the same cadre of ruling plutocrats, but Obama and Clinton have also managed to destroy the New Deal Democratic Party and the reputation of progressivism in the bargain.&#160; And their deceits have been all the more treasonous because of the millions of progressives (including loads of young people, politically mobilized for the first and possibly last time in 2008) whose idealism, compassion and genuine love of country they’ve so callously trampled upon.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>On the other hand, now that Obama is ramping up the Big Lie machine once again, many of those people will get just what they deserve.&#160; What was that line Bush mumbled about fooling me twice?&#160; I’m astonished to see progressives gearing up to be abused a second time by Obama – who is all of a sudden sounding like a progressive again – like they’ve walked right out of a Stockholm Syndrome field manual or something.&#160; Are we talking about the same guy here?&#160; The one who put the actual bandits who wrecked the economy in his cabinet?&#160; The one who has not prosecuted a single Wall Street bankster?&#160; The one who bailed those thieves out, but has done nothing remotely serious for the unemployed and homeowners?&#160; The one who pretends to fold in every negotiation with Republicans?&#160; The one whose staff regularly disses progressives?</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>That guy?&#160; Hey, liberal idiots.&#160; I have a question for you.&#160; Do you really think this bastard is going to become FDR in his second term?&#160; Do you really think he’s going to seriously slash military funding in order to save Medicare?&#160; Do you really think he’s going to rescind his deal with the insurance industry in order to provide genuine public health care access?&#160; Do you really think he’s going to replace Timothy Geithner with Paul Krugman or Joseph Stiglitz?&#160; I mean, this is a guy so beholden to Wall Street that he pretended not to have the courage to nominate Elizabeth Warren to the new consumer affairs position she invented.&#160; Are you really going to be wooed by him again?&#160; If so, if you’re so easily abused by your political class, you might as well line up to be Newt’s fourth wife for all the street smarts you’re displaying.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>This country – and likely this global economy – are going to have to go through a shit storm over the next two or three years, and in many ways I’d much rather have some GOP jerk in the White House to make things worse and get the blame than another four years of Half-a-Bama, carrying water for Wall Street while dissipating the anger of stupid liberals who cannot recognize their own enemy just because he puts ‘D’ after his name, and especially if he does so while being black.&#160; We have to get to the point of utter rejection of kleptocratic politics in this country, and the way I see it, a second Obama term drowns that process in molasses, while the sure to be utterly egregious Gingrich could instead be the perfect lightening rod to fully energize the street.&#160; The guy is a disaster in every way imaginable, and is a plague I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy (that would probably be Gingrich, anyhow), but right now he might be just the chemotherapy needed for a very, very sick country.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Yes, we’ll lose our hair and vomit continuously.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>But perhaps we’ll finally destroy the cancer of greed which has metastasized in the American body politic.</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>David Michael Green is a professor of political science at Hofstra University in New York.&#160; He is delighted to receive readers’ reactions to his articles ( <a href="mailto:dmg@regressiveantidote.net" type="external">dmg@regressiveantidote.net</a>), but regrets that time constraints do not always allow him to respond.&#160; More of his work can be found at his website, <a href="http://www.regressiveantidote.net" type="external">www.regressiveantidote.net</a>.</p> | true | 4 | feels bit reminiscent 1968 days thats thats good thing starting look like 2011 year basta people finally woke found voice say enough160 say comes nick time like saying rick perry could afford study bit harder160 fact development long overdue dont see much evidence suggest extensive linkage various national uprisings witnessing even much contagion effect except perhaps middle east nevertheless host countries produced unprecedented popular dissent movements last year160 fairness probably accurate say 2011 actually started 2009 iran year alone seen major uprisings tunisia egypt syria libya bahrain greece uk us israel among others160 even mother russia added club china appears continue along something slow boil developments often come generational waves160 events 1989 might example though regional nature product singular cause collapse soviet hegemony neighborhood160 1968 provides better exemplar france mexico us czechoslovakia countries rather spontaneously rather separately experienced highly significant nearrevolutions160 though direct relationship respective events rather tenuous shared common ethos young generation rejecting inheritance offered older one whose core value system rooted materialism war prejudice hypocrisy multifarious forms planetary destruction oddly enough increasingly found wanting strikes seeing sort behavior today160 thats surprise160 indeed shocker response taken long continues tame160 foolishness days ruling class day epic proportions160 isnt bad enough foolishness actually far generous diagnosis160 like say newt gingrich barack obama stupid people therefore malady besets us far worse product world class bumbling160 anything time characterized greed scale compared hitler genghis kahn great historical predators160 may seem like ridiculous stretch one look political mechanics behind policy indifference good day threat global warming alone produces indictment figures history match160 add wars based lies absence dismantling social programs order feed greed untaxed billionaires mortgaging childrens futures pay youve got pretty grim bar tab oligarchy run lucky agents destruction heaven hell myth feed little people exploit adroitly160 sure would funny watch would happen one actually started believing crap felt compelled serious truth telling la bullworth160 well funny five minutes individual inevitably came experience rather inexplicable nevertheless quite sudden quite enduring absence consciousness160 must something ate160 lobster cyanide perhaps id feel lot better far saying good theyre rest us thought mere idiots160 unbearable know demise instead product combined greed cynicism unfathomable scale160 sociopathic masters universe learned easy animate motivate pathetic army clones amongst hoi polloi bidding hand manner riches onetenth onepercent long ago exceeded even capacity spend additional sums160 mutant dna childhood trauma causes billionaire rabidly pursue billions cost millions peoples basic livelihood dignity160 missing cpu chips make easy millions exchange modest perch middle class nice war two brownskinned dictator yesterday cia payroll warm feelings come tasty racist sexist homophobic discrimination closer home160 mind fairly reels ah nonetheless160 quite amazing think it160 moment particle physicists verge unlocking secrets higgs boson still get tens millions slobbering american rednecks dance streets prospects murdering poor mentally retarded sob deathrow texas whose drunken lawyer slept trial whose appellate court justices didnt see harm that160 mention individual question part one percent time however good news idiocy seems fast going way say novelty paris hilton160 yesterdays titillation todays embarrassment160 part risk crass owing pure generational replacement160 older people america generation certainly always individuals simply ignorant malevolent backward compared grandchildren would problematic except fact least decent enough dying meanwhile though makes 2011 2011 growing sense waiting grandpa bucephelus right thing help heal planet bit departing longer enough160 young people staring business end barrels wholly bleak future right go figure theyre happy it160 thank much mr perry ms bachmann friends theyre interested trading quality life blivet full prejudices phony wars laughably contrary far less laughably pernicious shucksters moral lessons derived tribal skirmishes among certain jordan river valley nomads thousands years ago yeah imagine that160 take bunch twenty yearolds load debt misadventures crimes adding special circumstances original felony refused even pay show future living home mom dad fighting amongst honor toiling away unpaid internship soulnumbing corporate palace predation surprise surprise get bit rowdy response160 like said questions taken long response tame latter question may grow moot time example libya160 meanwhile though despite seeming spontaneous indigenous quality various national uprisings seems share three things common first participants recognize absence real democracy governing structures160 cases egypts thirty year dictatorship complete sham elections hmfic mubarak would win 90 percent vote obvious others160 like say example american system sham elections instead consistently give 90 percent vote two wings corporate party160 regardless whether choice tweedledee tweedledum merely confined voting tweedle dumb alone people everywhere seem recognizing fact choice thus democracy all160 americans example ever onepersononevote system sure dont anymore160 strictly onedollaronevote160 heads corporate america gets subsidies deregulation externalized production costs160 tails pay taxes them160 usually though heads tails time brings us second characteristic cases common160 accident real democracy extended holiday countries160 must order kleptocracies nations actually become continue function largely unimpeded uninterrupted160 turn nose haughty disgust robert mugabes zimbabwe want definitely ive got bad news you160 bad bobs ugly regime different scale overtness egypt russia united states160 choose merely prominent example right united states spends military countries world combined thats nearly 200 nations keeping score home yet serious enemies anywhere horizon160 gee wonder is160 theres case global warming appears merely greatest threat imperil planet since last massive meteor hit wiped life earth160 biggie though160 im sure massive coincidence nothing collective future ten billion people fact filthy rich wellconnected fossil fuel peddling corporations would lose money leads third commonality cases young people surveying landscape future whole lot less excited wreckage see already strewn thereupon160 whats like160 corporate loyalty employees lifetime tenure good career jobs went transistor radio160 public commitment inexpensive quality education got real quaint real fast investor bots like mitt romney figured money made there160 thirty years tax cuts wealthy paid folks sure hell going leaving tab instead160 one environment one planet knowingly pissed away corporate strangeloves absolutely set alltime world record sociopathy160 hey hot stormy outside160 kids hunkered parents basements rest lives anyhow least theyre serving double mocha lattes 160 amazed long people stood watched conditions develop especially outside thuggish dictatorships like russia egypt dissent came real permanent risks ones health160 shame americans particular stupid lazy buy transparent lies distractions age reagan sacrifice futures children exchange occasional infantile satiation worst tendencies toward violence bigotry160 arent glad got noriega billy bob160 isnt satisfying even though dont job house anymore160 thank god queers cant get married eh160 building wall keep mexicans sure satisfying isnt it160 yeah160 bad though trade away middle class seedy little thrills drive country far ditch actually solved illegal immigration problem160 mexicans literally stopped coming us get much jobless poverty want staying home without nasty demonization crap drunken gringos trying paper insecurities 160 recent piece new york times summarizes condition well160 bertelsmann foundation study social justice released fall united states came dead last among rich countries greece chile mexico turkey faring worse160 whether poverty prevention child poverty income inequality health ratings united states ranked countries like spain south korea mention japan germany france nation ever lost existing middle class united states danger yet160 percentage national income held top 1 percent americans went 10 percent 1980 24 percent 2007 worrisome signal 160 americas shortterm future looks even dismal present imaginable160 republican presidential field year could stepped set brate hollywood horror film160 maybe sting160 true form good half candidates straightahead shucksters pure simple borrowed directly pioneering sarah palins playbook160 turns make boatload money republican politics without actually anything remotely onerous like say knowing something issues china nukes actually serving full term office160 two confidence men actually gop flavor month point year four count palin trump skilled game never even got getting one two looks like hes going win nomination 160 somebody wish recently described newt gingrich dumb persons idea smart person sounds like boy ever truth160 might also understood amoral sociopaths idea good person sounds like160 get everything need know gingrich one exchange wife number two three counting esquire feature published last year 160 asked tolerate affair offer refused 160 hed returned erie pennsylvania hed given speech full high sentiments compassion family values 160 next night sat talking back patio georgia160 said give speech youre 160 doesnt matter answered160 people need hear say160 theres one else say say160 doesnt matter live 160 worth noting way gingrich asked third wife marry telling second wife affair wanted divorce repeated pattern left first wife160 hes mr faithful mr pious mr moral lecturing rest us proper codes ethical behavior160 guy proposes scrapping child labor laws160 guy would deny palestinian people even essence identity order pander yet likud lobby stranglehold american politics160 guy barney frank rightly notes less singlehandedly responsible poisoning well american political discourse last two decades160 guy ditched first wife hospital bed recovering cancer surgery could marry woman affair 160 kills tens millions americans could want put obviously tortured soul white house drooling chanting hollering response every invocation violence hatred casually tosses like many rhetorical hand grenades160 nature politics160 incredibly sick segment country people look politics chance vindicate resentments justify hatreds exonerate stupidity contest among gop candidates find individual throw red meat160 youve watched crowd response debates lot conducting last months know exactly im talking about160 good long while160 reagan got elected part promised kill foreigners carter would160 joke160 lil bush first term clinton part pretty much record proud overt serial murderer texas deathrow inmates160 dressupmacho vietnam coward second term toughguying dude actually fight real war least bush minds unwell republican voters whose capacity grapple cognitive dissonance driven avalanches pesky factual data makes lindsay lohan look like paragon mental health comparison 160 every chance brute thingitch might next american president160 thought sure would tough guy rick perry instead gop voters surprised demonstrating actually stupidity threshold sorts160 perfectly fine tell obscene lies like palin says reads journal thingies mutt emphatically changes position everything imaginable160 cant reveal youre dumb texas governor even one national tv deer headlights thing160 youre gon na list three things well godammit need come two160 christ fool make need to160 like would character gop politician voter160 anyhow call tough love want republican voters appear standards ohshitileftmybrainbackattheranchagain perry doesnt seem meet them160 guess national politics part personal mechanism avoiding embarrassment important candidate play drunken fool front millions 160 anyhow looks like fig newton could well standing inaugural platform january 2013 im even sure thats bad thing short term long term160 ill delighted see obama humiliated destroyed one thing160 antipathy toward bill clinton many ways surpasses gop lineup thugs bugs 160all fundamental commitments cadre ruling plutocrats obama clinton also managed destroy new deal democratic party reputation progressivism bargain160 deceits treasonous millions progressives including loads young people politically mobilized first possibly last time 2008 whose idealism compassion genuine love country theyve callously trampled upon 160 hand obama ramping big lie machine many people get deserve160 line bush mumbled fooling twice160 im astonished see progressives gearing abused second time obama sudden sounding like progressive like theyve walked right stockholm syndrome field manual something160 talking guy here160 one put actual bandits wrecked economy cabinet160 one prosecuted single wall street bankster160 one bailed thieves done nothing remotely serious unemployed homeowners160 one pretends fold every negotiation republicans160 one whose staff regularly disses progressives 160 guy160 hey liberal idiots160 question you160 really think bastard going become fdr second term160 really think hes going seriously slash military funding order save medicare160 really think hes going rescind deal insurance industry order provide genuine public health care access160 really think hes going replace timothy geithner paul krugman joseph stiglitz160 mean guy beholden wall street pretended courage nominate elizabeth warren new consumer affairs position invented160 really going wooed again160 youre easily abused political class might well line newts fourth wife street smarts youre displaying 160 country likely global economy going go shit storm next two three years many ways id much rather gop jerk white house make things worse get blame another four years halfabama carrying water wall street dissipating anger stupid liberals recognize enemy puts name especially black160 get point utter rejection kleptocratic politics country way see second obama term drowns process molasses sure utterly egregious gingrich could instead perfect lightening rod fully energize street160 guy disaster every way imaginable plague wouldnt wish worst enemy would probably gingrich anyhow right might chemotherapy needed sick country 160 yes well lose hair vomit continuously 160 perhaps well finally destroy cancer greed metastasized american body politic 160 160 160 160 160 david michael green professor political science hofstra university new york160 delighted receive readers reactions articles dmgregressiveantidotenet regrets time constraints always allow respond160 work found website wwwregressiveantidotenet | 2,054 |
<p>Blood trails at Abu Ghraib.</p>
<p>National Public Radio, following the lead of the Washington Post (FAIR Blog, <a href="" type="internal">12/9/14</a>) (and in contrast to the New York Times—FAIR Blog, <a href="" type="internal">8/8/14</a>), tries to avoid applying the word “torture” in its own voice to the tortures described in the recent Senate Intelligence Committee report. Here’s host Robert Siegel (All Things Considered, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/12/09/369667267/reaction-to-torture-report-shows-a-nation-divided" type="external">12/9/14</a>):</p>
<p>In the years after 9/11, the CIA conducted harsh interrogations, more brutal and widespread than many realized. And worse, those interrogations did not produce any intelligence that we could use in any significant way to fight terrorism. Those are the conclusions of a report partially released today by the Democratic chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Reactions to what’s known as the torture report show a country divided.</p>
<p>NPR correspondent <a href="" type="internal">Tamara Keith</a> went on to refer to Sen. Dianne Feinstein discussing “a CIA program that used techniques she says amounted to torture.” In her own words, Keith reports that “the CIA program of secret overseas detentions and so-called enhanced interrogation methods began shortly after the September 11 attacks.”</p>
<p>Soon enough, “so-called” becomes just what they’re called. Says Keith: “The key finding: These enhanced interrogation methods didn’t make America safer.” When a critic of the report, CIA director John Brennan, is introduced, NPR describes the torture whose benefits he touts as “these interrogations.”</p>
<p>Alicia Shepard</p>
<p>This is a longstanding practice of NPR‘s. The network’s then-ombud <a href="" type="internal">Alicia Shepard</a> made it clear back in 2009 ( <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2009/06/harsh_interrogation_techniques.html" type="external">6/21/09</a>): “NPR decided to not use the term ‘torture’ to describe techniques such as waterboarding but instead uses ‘harsh interrogation tactics,'” she reported:</p>
<p>The problem is that the word torture is loaded with political and social implications for several reasons, including the fact that torture is illegal under US law and international treaties the United States has signed.</p>
<p>Yes–that’s why whether or not what the US did to prisoners was torture or not is a vitally important question for journalists to answer. But NPR thinks it can find a way not to answer it. Said Shepard:</p>
<p>I recognize that it’s frustrating for some listeners to have NPR not use the word torture to describe certain practices that seem barbaric. But the role of a news organization is not to choose sides in this or any debate. People have different definitions of torture and different feelings about what constitutes torture.</p>
<p>Now, if there’s a debate between people who think that waterboarding, forcing people to stand on broken legs, sleep deprivation for up to 180 hours, being shackled to a wall for 17 days, hypothermia to the point of death, “rectal rehydration and feeding,” <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/09/cia-torture-report-worst-findings-waterboard-rectal" type="external">etc.</a> are what are generally and traditionally referred to as torture, and people who don’t think those things should be called torture, and you choose not to call them torture–you haven’t avoided taking a side. It’s pretty obvious which side you’ve taken, isn’t it?</p>
<p>Shepard recognized that some people will be unhappy regardless of how NPR talks about torture:</p>
<p>It’s a no-win case for journalists. If journalists use the words “harsh interrogation techniques,” they can be seen as siding with the White House and the language that some US officials, particularly in the Bush administration, prefer. If journalists use the word “torture,” then they can be accused of siding with those who are particularly and visibly still angry at the previous administration.</p>
<p>If that’s the way they look at it, it’s interesting that they chose to side with the Bush administration rather than those “particularly and visibly still angry” at the Bush administration, i.e. dirty hippies.</p>
<p>NPR News‘ managing editor David Sweeney saw things similarly; Shepard quoted him:</p>
<p>“We understand that no matter what language we use, we risk taking one side or another in this debate,” said Sweeney. “To label techniques as ‘enhanced’ risks minimizing what was done. To call them torture suggests we’ve taken sides in the debate.”</p>
<p>It’s something of a word puzzle to figure out what Sweeney means, exactly: No matter what we say, we&#160; risk taking sides, but we’re going to accept the risk of minimizing what was done, because otherwise it would suggest we’ve taken sides?</p>
<p>This notion that the goal of journalism is to avoid “taking sides” is troubling; that’s how you get reporting that <a href="" type="internal">pretends</a> it’s an open question whether or not humans are raising the temperature of the planet by putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. What torture is is not a physical fact like the greenhouse effect, but that doesn’t mean it’s unknowable; you can talk to historians of torture, specialists in international law, experts on human rights and medicine, and find out whether, say, <a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/12/10/rectal-feeding-has-nothing-to-do-with-nutrition-everything-to-do-with-torture.html" type="external">inserting a plate of pureed food</a> into a prisoner’s rectum would typically qualify.</p>
<p>Was John McCain subjected to “harsh interrogations” in Vietnam? (photo: US Army/Jim Greenhill)</p>
<p>Or you can use common sense, which is what NPR does when introducing a supporter of the Senate report: Sen. John McCain is described as “a Republican from Arizona who was tortured during the Vietnam War.”</p>
<p>Does the government of Vietnam agree that McCain was tortured? Are there factions in that government that insist he was subjected to legitimate “stress positions,” and furthermore his interrogation produced valuable intelligence about the bombing campaign against their country (which, lest we forget, was <a href="http://faculty.washington.edu/charles/pubs/VietnameseCasualtiesDuringAmerican.pdf" type="external">hundreds of times</a> more deadly than 9/11)? By using the word “tortured” in regards to McCain, isn’t NPR taking sides with the US prisoners and against Vietnam?</p>
<p>Or is it simply using the accurate word to describe what is patently torture–the practice it should follow whether it is reporting on the government that helps fund it or not?</p>
<p>In the report, NPR quotes Feinstein, “History will judge us by our commitment to a just society governed by law and the willingness to face an ugly truth.” If that’s true, history will judge NPR very harshly indeed.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>P.S. Here are excerpts from a piece that NPR‘s Morning Edition ( <a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/12/11/370022493/what-is-torture-our-beliefs-depend-in-part-on-whos-doing-it" type="external">12/11/14</a>) ran about social science research into perceptions of torture, which was mainly a discussion between NPR host Steve Inskeep and correspondent Shankar Vedantam:</p>
<p>INSKEEP: Americans have talked about torture in different ways, including debating whether to call it torture at all…. Some research suggests this debate is difficult because it affects our sense of our own national identity….</p>
<p>VEDANTAM: …The first response people have when they’re told about their own groups carrying out torture is the first response we often have to traumatic situations or situations involving grief, which is we deny the bad thing is actually happened. In the case of torture, this often involves changing the criteria for what’s considered torture….</p>
<p>INSKEEP: …The Bush administration years ago argued for calling it enhanced interrogation. Maybe it wasn’t quite torture. It was something a little off to the side of torture.</p>
<p>VEDANTAM: That’s exactly right. We’ve had these semantic wrestling matches for several years now–is this technique torture, or is it a stress position?…</p>
<p>The interesting thing here, Steve, is that we do this selectively, we employ these strategies only when it’s our group that’s responsible.</p>
<p>Clearly, they’re talking about NPR. What’s not clear to me is whether they quite realized it.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>UPDATE: As Romenesko ( <a href="http://jimromenesko.com/2014/12/12/evening-report-for-december-12-2014/" type="external">12/12/14</a>) points out, NPR‘s ethics department has been issuing <a href="http://ethics.npr.org/?s=torture" type="external">guidance</a> on the use of the word “torture.” The first memo, issued August 8, cites a message from then-NPR vice president for news Ellen Weiss, written in November 2009:</p>
<p>Contrary to some commentaries, NPR did not ban the word “torture.” Rather, we gave our journalists guidance about how to avoid loaded language about interrogation techniques, realizing that no matter what words are chosen, we risk the appearance of taking one side or another. We asked our staff to avoid using imprecise descriptions that lump all techniques together, and to evaluate the use of the following descriptions, depending on context, including: “harsh” or “extreme” techniques; “enhanced interrogation techniques”; and specific descriptions, such as “controlled drowning.” We specifically advised them that they may use the word “torture” when it makes sense in the context of the piece.</p>
<p>Of course NPR did not ban the word “torture”–but it did, according to ombud Alicia Shepard ( <a href="http://www.npr.org/blogs/ombudsman/2009/06/harsh_interrogation_techniques.html" type="external">6/21/09</a>) a few months earlier, decide “to not use the term ‘torture’ to describe techniques such as waterboarding but instead [use] ‘harsh interrogation tactics,'” because “the role of a news organization is not to choose sides in this or any debate.”</p>
<p>It’s not clear that Weiss was intending to contradict Shepard–whom she echoes with her point about “risk[ing] the appearance of taking one side or another.” Weiss’s offering of euphemisms like “enhanced interrogation techniques” to use in place of “torture” suggests that she thought situations where referring to “torture” in one’s own voice “makes sense in the context of the piece” may be quite limited.</p>
<p>The August 8 memo cites a couple of examples: One is Robert Siegel (All Things Considered, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/04/03/298779799/senate-torture-report-takes-a-step-closer-to-becoming-public" type="external">4/3/14</a>) referring to “a report about the torture of terrorism suspects after 9/11”; another is Tom Gjelten (Weekend Edition, <a href="http://www.npr.org/2013/05/25/186559896/obama-keeps-distance-from-torture-debate-at-least-for-now" type="external">5/25/14</a>) talking about “the debate over whether torture in some cases has produced valuable information.” In both cases the references are meta–not describing government actions directly as “torture,” but referring to the subject of a report and a topic of debate, respectively. Still, these indirect references open the way for more explicit labeling of torture as “torture.”</p>
<p>A more recent ethics memo headed “Guidance: Effective References to ‘Torture'” (12/10/14) includes “examples of how our guidance on use of the word ‘torture’ has been implemented” that “may be helpful.” These include:</p>
<p>None of these examples involve NPR journalists describing torture as torture in their own voice; they’re all consistent with Shepard’s position that to do so would be “to choose sides in this…debate.”</p>
<p>The latest memo from ethics (12/11/14) again encourages euphemisms–“brutal interrogation techniques/brutal interrogations,” “interrogation techniques” or simply “interrogations”–though it withdraws “enhanced interrogation techniques,” which Weiss had OKed, “unless you’re explaining that is the term the CIA uses for the practices it believes were legal.” On torture, it says that “the word can be used,” but offers specific examples of how this should be done: “saying that ‘torture and other harsh [or brutal] methods’ were used,” or “that detainees were ‘in some cases tortured.'” In these formulations, it’s acceptable to say that there was torture–so long as you at the same time suggest that other forms of “brutal” interrogations were not torture.</p>
<p>This seems to mesh with the answer Renee Montagne got from her source, former CIA lawyer John Rizzo, who said that “Justice Department legal opinions established the legal lines and legal limits,” and that “anything that went beyond those techniques, especially the gruesome ones that you described there, sure they would probably constitute torture.” So by referring to “torture and other harsh [or brutal] techniques,” you are taking the position of the lawyer who oversaw the CIA’s torture program. So much for not choosing sides.</p>
<p>The ethics memos twice refer to the&#160;Merriam-Webster <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/torture" type="external">definition</a> of&#160; “torture” as “the act of causing severe physical pain as a form of punishment or as a way to force someone to do or say something.” If NPR on air would use the word “torture” to refer to acts that meet that definition–regardless of who committed the acts–that would be a huge step forward.</p> | true | 4 | blood trails abu ghraib national public radio following lead washington post fair blog 12914 contrast new york timesfair blog 8814 tries avoid applying word torture voice tortures described recent senate intelligence committee report heres host robert siegel things considered 12914 years 911 cia conducted harsh interrogations brutal widespread many realized worse interrogations produce intelligence could use significant way fight terrorism conclusions report partially released today democratic chair senate intelligence committee reactions whats known torture report show country divided npr correspondent tamara keith went refer sen dianne feinstein discussing cia program used techniques says amounted torture words keith reports cia program secret overseas detentions socalled enhanced interrogation methods began shortly september 11 attacks soon enough socalled becomes theyre called says keith key finding enhanced interrogation methods didnt make america safer critic report cia director john brennan introduced npr describes torture whose benefits touts interrogations alicia shepard longstanding practice nprs networks thenombud alicia shepard made clear back 2009 62109 npr decided use term torture describe techniques waterboarding instead uses harsh interrogation tactics reported problem word torture loaded political social implications several reasons including fact torture illegal us law international treaties united states signed yesthats whether us prisoners torture vitally important question journalists answer npr thinks find way answer said shepard recognize frustrating listeners npr use word torture describe certain practices seem barbaric role news organization choose sides debate people different definitions torture different feelings constitutes torture theres debate people think waterboarding forcing people stand broken legs sleep deprivation 180 hours shackled wall 17 days hypothermia point death rectal rehydration feeding etc generally traditionally referred torture people dont think things called torture choose call tortureyou havent avoided taking side pretty obvious side youve taken isnt shepard recognized people unhappy regardless npr talks torture nowin case journalists journalists use words harsh interrogation techniques seen siding white house language us officials particularly bush administration prefer journalists use word torture accused siding particularly visibly still angry previous administration thats way look interesting chose side bush administration rather particularly visibly still angry bush administration ie dirty hippies npr news managing editor david sweeney saw things similarly shepard quoted understand matter language use risk taking one side another debate said sweeney label techniques enhanced risks minimizing done call torture suggests weve taken sides debate something word puzzle figure sweeney means exactly matter say we160 risk taking sides going accept risk minimizing done otherwise would suggest weve taken sides notion goal journalism avoid taking sides troubling thats get reporting pretends open question whether humans raising temperature planet putting greenhouse gases atmosphere torture physical fact like greenhouse effect doesnt mean unknowable talk historians torture specialists international law experts human rights medicine find whether say inserting plate pureed food prisoners rectum would typically qualify john mccain subjected harsh interrogations vietnam photo us armyjim greenhill use common sense npr introducing supporter senate report sen john mccain described republican arizona tortured vietnam war government vietnam agree mccain tortured factions government insist subjected legitimate stress positions furthermore interrogation produced valuable intelligence bombing campaign country lest forget hundreds times deadly 911 using word tortured regards mccain isnt npr taking sides us prisoners vietnam simply using accurate word describe patently torturethe practice follow whether reporting government helps fund report npr quotes feinstein history judge us commitment society governed law willingness face ugly truth thats true history judge npr harshly indeed ps excerpts piece nprs morning edition 121114 ran social science research perceptions torture mainly discussion npr host steve inskeep correspondent shankar vedantam inskeep americans talked torture different ways including debating whether call torture research suggests debate difficult affects sense national identity vedantam first response people theyre told groups carrying torture first response often traumatic situations situations involving grief deny bad thing actually happened case torture often involves changing criteria whats considered torture inskeep bush administration years ago argued calling enhanced interrogation maybe wasnt quite torture something little side torture vedantam thats exactly right weve semantic wrestling matches several years nowis technique torture stress position interesting thing steve selectively employ strategies group thats responsible clearly theyre talking npr whats clear whether quite realized update romenesko 121214 points nprs ethics department issuing guidance use word torture first memo issued august 8 cites message thennpr vice president news ellen weiss written november 2009 contrary commentaries npr ban word torture rather gave journalists guidance avoid loaded language interrogation techniques realizing matter words chosen risk appearance taking one side another asked staff avoid using imprecise descriptions lump techniques together evaluate use following descriptions depending context including harsh extreme techniques enhanced interrogation techniques specific descriptions controlled drowning specifically advised may use word torture makes sense context piece course npr ban word torturebut according ombud alicia shepard 62109 months earlier decide use term torture describe techniques waterboarding instead use harsh interrogation tactics role news organization choose sides debate clear weiss intending contradict shepardwhom echoes point risking appearance taking one side another weisss offering euphemisms like enhanced interrogation techniques use place torture suggests thought situations referring torture ones voice makes sense context piece may quite limited august 8 memo cites couple examples one robert siegel things considered 4314 referring report torture terrorism suspects 911 another tom gjelten weekend edition 52514 talking debate whether torture cases produced valuable information cases references metanot describing government actions directly torture referring subject report topic debate respectively still indirect references open way explicit labeling torture torture recent ethics memo headed guidance effective references torture 121014 includes examples guidance use word torture implemented may helpful include none examples involve npr journalists describing torture torture voice theyre consistent shepards position would choose sides thisdebate latest memo ethics 121114 encourages euphemismsbrutal interrogation techniquesbrutal interrogations interrogation techniques simply interrogationsthough withdraws enhanced interrogation techniques weiss oked unless youre explaining term cia uses practices believes legal torture says word used offers specific examples done saying torture harsh brutal methods used detainees cases tortured formulations acceptable say tortureso long time suggest forms brutal interrogations torture seems mesh answer renee montagne got source former cia lawyer john rizzo said justice department legal opinions established legal lines legal limits anything went beyond techniques especially gruesome ones described sure would probably constitute torture referring torture harsh brutal techniques taking position lawyer oversaw cias torture program much choosing sides ethics memos twice refer the160merriamwebster definition of160 torture act causing severe physical pain form punishment way force someone say something npr air would use word torture refer acts meet definitionregardless committed actsthat would huge step forward | 1,065 |
<p>Seventy miles north of Seattle, the Tesoro Anacortes rail facility—which daily offloads some 50,000 barrels of Bakken crude from tanker cars—was releasing a highly flammable oil byproduct into a stormwater system that lacked “required controls” for at least a year before state regulators were made aware of the potential hazard.</p>
<p>A faulty pipe connection was the source of the problem, according to a Northwest Clean Air Agency enforcement report obtained via an open-records request. As a result of the flaw, hydrocarbon vapors were being produced in the rail facility’s stormwater system that could have ignited under the right conditions, experts say.</p>
<p>Tesoro officials insist there was no risk of fire.</p>
<p>Yet state regulators never inspected the rail facility to assess the fire risk because it appears those charged with ensuring public safety were caught up in a maze of Catch-22 rules that work against timely assessment of potential worker-safety and fire hazards.</p>
<p>NWCAA inspectors did not visit the rail facility until five months after Tesoro had disconnected the problematic pipe. Still, the agency’s enforcement report indicates that vapors containing “volatile organic compounds” were still being released from numerous points in the company’s stormwater system, parts of which are located a stone’s throw from the crude-oil railcar staging area.</p>
<p>“At the time of inspection, there was one unit train [which can haul some 65,000 barrels of crude] unloading while another unit train had recently arrived full and was idling on the holding track,” the NWCAA enforcement report states.</p>
<p>The NWCAA is an air-quality control agency established under the Washington State Clean Air Act.</p>
<p>“Any vapor is a concern. It’s the vapor that burns, not the liquid,” says Kelly Blaine, the fire marshal for Skagit County, where the rail facility is based. “But it has to be the perfect conditions to ignite within the right thresholds, and you need an ignition source. So it can ignite, but it’s rare.”</p>
<p>Blaine stresses that he was not called to inspect the rail site. “The people that regulate it are not us [the fire marshal’s office],” he says. “That would be the state’s job.”</p>
<p>Tesoro Corp.’s corporate headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, says “there was no fire risk” from the Bakken crude liquid and vapor in the stormwater system.</p>
<p>“The [notice of violation from the NWCAA] involved a very small amount of oily water released due to an open valve on a small-diameter line,” Tesoro spokesperson Megan Write says. “Corrective action was taken to address this issue swiftly.”</p>
<p>Still, the notice of violation [NOV] was deemed serious enough for Tesoro to report it to its shareholders in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing.</p>
<p>Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast.</p>
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<p>“On March 12, 2014 the Northwest Clean Air Agency issued a NOV… alleging a violation of air-quality regulations at [the] Anacortes Crude Rail Offloading facility,” an August filing by Tesoro with the SEC states. “The allegation concerns hydrocarbon releases from the wastewater system at the unloading facility.”</p>
<p>Tesoro ships the crude oil used to feed its refinery in Anacortes, which is adjacent to the rail facility, via mile-long trains that are loaded in the Bakken Shale Play that spreads across parts of North Dakota, Montana, and Canada. En route to Anacortes, those trains travel through downtown Seattle—the site of a derailment this summer that damaged several tanker cars heading to the refinery.</p>
<p>A material-safety data report produced by Tesoro describes the Bakken crude as being highly flammable with a variable flash point below 100 degrees—meaning it’s capable of igniting on a hot summer’s day at pavement level in Seattle. Tesoro’s report on its crude product also states that vapors produced by the oil “are heavier than air and may travel long distances to a point of ignition and flash back.”</p>
<p>“Do not allow liquid runoff to enter sewers or public waters,” the report states. “Gas may form explosive mixture with air."</p>
<p>Toby Mahar, the NWCAA engineer who conducted the inspection of the Tesoro rail facility, said she did not assess the chemical components or explosive attributes of the crude-oil vapors being emitted from the rail-facility’s stormwater system, nor did she measure vapor levels inside the company’s system.</p>
<p>Though the vapors emitting were in relatively high concentrations at one point in the system, she says the volume of gas being released was low.</p>
<p>“I’m using a pretty sensitive instrument” to measure the vapor release, Mahar added.</p>
<p>When asked if she would feel comfortable holding a match over the locations emitting the vapors, Mahar replied:</p>
<p>“I would never feel comfortable dropping a match in any refinery, anywhere. There’s safety procedures that require non-sparking equipment. I turn off my cellphone and I leave my keys in my car.”</p>
<p>Volatile vapors form, Mahar explained, as the crude oil is transferred from the railcars into the rail facility’s pipeline system. Those vapors condense into a liquid later in the process and that “condensate” is collected in a storage area, called a sump. The condensate is then supposed to be routed into the pipeline system that delivers the crude to the nearby refinery. Instead, due to a plant construction flaw, it was being sent into a stormwater system not permitted to handle that material, resulting in the vapor venting from that system.</p>
<p>Mahar’s inspection of the Tesoro facility occurred after the company disconnected the errant line, which—prior to her site visit in February 2014—had been conveying crude-oil condensate into the sewer system for some 12 months, from Sept. 4, 2012, when the facility opened, to Sept. 5, 2013. A new line was then installed and routed to the facility’s oil-pipeline system. As a result, the vapor measurements Mahar obtained are likely the best-case scenario.</p>
<p>Mahar stressed that her enforcement report dealt only with regulations related to air-quality standards, adding that she was not qualified to assess worker-safety or fire-hazard conditions at the rail facility.</p>
<p>“The reality is… we [NWCAA] don’t implement safety procedures,” Mahar said. “The reason [Tesoro] got a violation is because they had an equipment violation. … I don’t know OSHA [U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration] rules, nor does it matter to me.”</p>
<p>As it turns out, the OSHA-certified state agency responsible for inspecting refinery sites for potential worker-safety and fire hazards, Washington’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, has no record of any inspection being conducted at the Tesoro rail facility related to the NWCAA enforcement action, as a public-records request reveals. NWCAA Communication Director Katie Skipper confirmed that her agency “would only be required to report the violation to the U.S. EPA [the Environmental Protection Agency] if it was considered a high-priority violation, as EPA defines it.”</p>
<p>EPA spokesman Mark MacIntyre said that NWCAA was, in fact, “not required by law” to notify his agency of the Tesoro rail-facility violation.</p>
<p>“With that said, had we been notified about the air violations, we would probably not have conducted any air inspections or other follow-up regarding potential fire risk,” he added. “Our focus would have been on air releases under the Clean Air Act requirements for protection of air quality, not for prevention of fire or explosion.”</p>
<p>The end result is that in the case of the Tesoro rail facility, the public simply doesn’t know the extent of the danger because regulators never conducted fire-hazard tests, and consequently we have to rely on the assurances of Tesoro.</p>
<p>It’s worth noting that the company’s refinery in Anacortes was the scene of a major explosion in April 2010 that killed seven workers. That incident was due to an “equipment” problem (a steel tube ruptured)—resulting in explosive vapors being released and ignited.</p>
<p>In the wake of that incident, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazardous Investigation Board issued a report critical of the state of Washington’s DOSH—part of the Department of Labor &amp; Industries—indicating that the agency has “significant weaknesses in… staffing.”</p>
<p>“Washington L&amp;I has only four inspectors, and only one with a technical background, for more than 270 [regulated] facilities, including five petroleum refineries,” the May 2014 CSB report states.</p>
<p>CSB also took a hard shot at Tesoro.</p>
<p>“The CSB found several indications of process-safety culture deficiencies at Tesoro Anacortes Refinery,” the board’s report states. “Refinery management had normalized the occurrences of hazardous conditions.”</p>
<p>Mahar, who was recently promoted to compliance manager for NWCAA, said that Tesoro has its own set of safety requirements for the rail facility, “and the guys there want to be safe.”</p>
<p>Yet she also conceded that there is some crude residue still inside the Tesoro rail-facility stormwater system. She compared it to a car leaking oil onto cement: “It’s just hard to clean that up.”</p>
<p>As far as the enforcement action itself, the notice of violation issued against the Tesoro affiliates that operate the railcar facility is still pending settlement.</p>
<p>“We’re still talking about long-term resolution… and how going forward what compliance is going to look like,” Mahar said. “There’s lawyers involved, so it takes a little time.” <a href="http://billconroy.pressfolios.com" type="external">Bill Conroy</a> is a Seattle-based freelance writer.</p> | true | 4 | seventy miles north seattle tesoro anacortes rail facilitywhich daily offloads 50000 barrels bakken crude tanker carswas releasing highly flammable oil byproduct stormwater system lacked required controls least year state regulators made aware potential hazard faulty pipe connection source problem according northwest clean air agency enforcement report obtained via openrecords request result flaw hydrocarbon vapors produced rail facilitys stormwater system could ignited right conditions experts say tesoro officials insist risk fire yet state regulators never inspected rail facility assess fire risk appears charged ensuring public safety caught maze catch22 rules work timely assessment potential workersafety fire hazards nwcaa inspectors visit rail facility five months tesoro disconnected problematic pipe still agencys enforcement report indicates vapors containing volatile organic compounds still released numerous points companys stormwater system parts located stones throw crudeoil railcar staging area time inspection one unit train haul 65000 barrels crude unloading another unit train recently arrived full idling holding track nwcaa enforcement report states nwcaa airquality control agency established washington state clean air act vapor concern vapor burns liquid says kelly blaine fire marshal skagit county rail facility based perfect conditions ignite within right thresholds need ignition source ignite rare blaine stresses called inspect rail site people regulate us fire marshals office says would states job tesoro corps corporate headquarters san antonio texas says fire risk bakken crude liquid vapor stormwater system notice violation nwcaa involved small amount oily water released due open valve smalldiameter line tesoro spokesperson megan write says corrective action taken address issue swiftly still notice violation nov deemed serious enough tesoro report shareholders recent securities exchange commission filing start finish day top stories daily beast speedy smart summary news need know nothing dont march 12 2014 northwest clean air agency issued nov alleging violation airquality regulations anacortes crude rail offloading facility august filing tesoro sec states allegation concerns hydrocarbon releases wastewater system unloading facility tesoro ships crude oil used feed refinery anacortes adjacent rail facility via milelong trains loaded bakken shale play spreads across parts north dakota montana canada en route anacortes trains travel downtown seattlethe site derailment summer damaged several tanker cars heading refinery materialsafety data report produced tesoro describes bakken crude highly flammable variable flash point 100 degreesmeaning capable igniting hot summers day pavement level seattle tesoros report crude product also states vapors produced oil heavier air may travel long distances point ignition flash back allow liquid runoff enter sewers public waters report states gas may form explosive mixture air toby mahar nwcaa engineer conducted inspection tesoro rail facility said assess chemical components explosive attributes crudeoil vapors emitted railfacilitys stormwater system measure vapor levels inside companys system though vapors emitting relatively high concentrations one point system says volume gas released low im using pretty sensitive instrument measure vapor release mahar added asked would feel comfortable holding match locations emitting vapors mahar replied would never feel comfortable dropping match refinery anywhere theres safety procedures require nonsparking equipment turn cellphone leave keys car volatile vapors form mahar explained crude oil transferred railcars rail facilitys pipeline system vapors condense liquid later process condensate collected storage area called sump condensate supposed routed pipeline system delivers crude nearby refinery instead due plant construction flaw sent stormwater system permitted handle material resulting vapor venting system mahars inspection tesoro facility occurred company disconnected errant line whichprior site visit february 2014had conveying crudeoil condensate sewer system 12 months sept 4 2012 facility opened sept 5 2013 new line installed routed facilitys oilpipeline system result vapor measurements mahar obtained likely bestcase scenario mahar stressed enforcement report dealt regulations related airquality standards adding qualified assess workersafety firehazard conditions rail facility reality nwcaa dont implement safety procedures mahar said reason tesoro got violation equipment violation dont know osha us occupational safety health administration rules matter turns oshacertified state agency responsible inspecting refinery sites potential workersafety fire hazards washingtons division occupational safety health record inspection conducted tesoro rail facility related nwcaa enforcement action publicrecords request reveals nwcaa communication director katie skipper confirmed agency would required report violation us epa environmental protection agency considered highpriority violation epa defines epa spokesman mark macintyre said nwcaa fact required law notify agency tesoro railfacility violation said notified air violations would probably conducted air inspections followup regarding potential fire risk added focus would air releases clean air act requirements protection air quality prevention fire explosion end result case tesoro rail facility public simply doesnt know extent danger regulators never conducted firehazard tests consequently rely assurances tesoro worth noting companys refinery anacortes scene major explosion april 2010 killed seven workers incident due equipment problem steel tube rupturedresulting explosive vapors released ignited wake incident us chemical safety hazardous investigation board issued report critical state washingtons doshpart department labor amp industriesindicating agency significant weaknesses staffing washington lampi four inspectors one technical background 270 regulated facilities including five petroleum refineries may 2014 csb report states csb also took hard shot tesoro csb found several indications processsafety culture deficiencies tesoro anacortes refinery boards report states refinery management normalized occurrences hazardous conditions mahar recently promoted compliance manager nwcaa said tesoro set safety requirements rail facility guys want safe yet also conceded crude residue still inside tesoro railfacility stormwater system compared car leaking oil onto cement hard clean far enforcement action notice violation issued tesoro affiliates operate railcar facility still pending settlement still talking longterm resolution going forward compliance going look like mahar said theres lawyers involved takes little time bill conroy seattlebased freelance writer | 898 |
<p>Berlin</p>
<p>Perhaps the best test of whether something is a classic is not whether it maintains cultural currency over decades, or even centuries, but whether it can captivate all ages of children at any given historical moment. If a book, play, movie, or piece of music can manage that, then it is already nine-tenths of the way to immortality. The distance between twenty-one and retirement age may be bigger in chronological terms than that between toddler and teenager, but nothing is greater than the chasm of taste that yawns between the latter pair of unruly human animals.</p>
<p>With unforced artistry Die Salzprinzessin (The Salt Princess), an hour-long musical that since 2003 has been in the repertoire of the Descendants of Hans Wurst Puppet Theater (Hans Wurst Nachfahren) in Berlin’s Schöneberg District, dazzles and warms all ages with its radiance.</p>
<p>The story was freely adapted from a Brothers Grimm fairytale by Barbara Kilian, who with fellow actor and puppeteer Siegfried Heinzmann founded the theater in 1981, and moved to its present home in Schöneberg in 1993. That makes 2011 the group’s thirtieth anniversary, a long enough stretch for at least two generations of school children to have grown up with the theater’s diverse offerings. If my own inclinations provide any evidence, then parents are just as eager to return. Although nominally geared for children, these plays operate simultaneously on many levels, engaging the nominally more sophisticated adults not through winking innuendo, but through pure ingenuity.</p>
<p>The theater itself is a two-story building housing two intimate performing spaces, one larger than other. Low compared to the surrounding apartment blocks and nearby chestnut trees, the theater’s cheery yellow facade gives onto a terrace where drinks are served—cold ones in the summer, and warm ones into the autumn and even into winter. A couple of steps lead down to a semi-enclosed square where boule is sometimes played. Adjacent to this is a park with a fantastical play structure that, with its Escher-like collection of wobbling black PVC steps, bridges, platforms, and a steep slide flanked by an almost sadistic cross between a swing and a teeter-totter. The assemblage would cause many an Upper-West-Side mom to make sure that the numbers of both the family lawyer and doctor are stored in her cell phone and at the ready before unleashing the tots on an apparatus of such delight and danger. Kids, and a few brave adults, can run down some of their energy on this folly before and after the theater, while their elders monitor their own caffeine levels at the terrace and ponder the puppetry of parenthood.</p>
<p>Across the street from both park and theater is the spacious Winterfeldtplatz where one of Berlin’s most vibrant Saturday markets takes place. In this corner of Berlin there are many stages: kids clowning atop the PVC playground summit; the barkers of the market flogging the weekend’s last bouquets; and the Hans Wurst actors and their meter-long puppets making sense and nonsense of the world.</p>
<p>The unchanging faces of these puppets seem paradoxically capable of continual change. This expressivity derives partly from the handwork lavished on the figures, but even more from the skill of the puppeteers who stand behind the puppets and bring them to life, and who utter their lines without any attempt at ventriloquizing. This counterpoint between the actors’ own faces and that of their puppets creates a multi-layered dialog between wooden figure and human master, and often leads to humorous and touching juxtapositions of gesture and meaning.</p>
<p>The puppeteer’s art is both more obscure and more transparent than that of the human actor whose puppet is his own body; it’s as if one sees behind the shell of the stage persona and into an interior space usually off-limits to the spectator.&#160; In the Paradox of the Actor of 1773, Denis Diderot described the actor’s profession as “shutting himself up in a great basket-work figure in which he is the soul.” At Hans Wurst, where serious and comic plays for adults are also performed in the evenings after the kids have been entertained and uplifted during the morning and afternoon, it is as if the wicker frame has been thrown off and the soul laid bare. What then of the soul within this soul? It is precisely this Russian doll-like aesthetic regression that makes the whole thing so endlessly fascinating and surprising.</p>
<p>Kilian populates her Salt Princess with both puppet and non-puppet characters.&#160; From within the packed theater a human master of ceremonies, played with gruff and endearing disorder by Stephan Hellmann, stumbles hurriedly to the stage in search of his jacket, three-cornered hat and the story itself.&#160; With help from the kids he finds all three. He then summons the Hans Wurst actors, who, after some obfuscations, agree to undertake the telling of the tale.</p>
<p>Necessary for such a story are of course the fairytale characters themselves, roles given to the puppets. First there’s the bored and unwittingly malevolent king, whom Kilian dubs Egomir—a name combining “Ego” with the German for “me”—and who is played by Hellmann. Egomir has three daughters. Two are bored back-biters, the one played with clipped vanity by Kilian, the other with self-serving relish by the bright and energetic Elena Raquet. The third, Philippa (played by Kilian yet again), is more honest and wiser than anyone else. The only character who approaches her humanity is the aged servant Johann, whose frayed but intact patience over a lifetime of servility to the king’s outsized ego is carved into the underling’s long-suffering face. The excellent Frank Sommer, an expressive and accurate singer and an actor capable of many tonalities and modulations of character, finds the comic sweet-spot between Johann’s unctuousness and his sighing antipathy towards arbitrary power.</p>
<p>Egomir tries to liven up his day by demanding that each of his daughters say how she loves him more than the other sisters. The mean-spirited sisters claim to harbor a love “bigger than all the world” and worth “more than the most precious jewels.” When Philippa’s turn comes she says simply that she loves her father “more than salt.” The king takes this as an insult and banishes the girl to the dark forest. From here, with the help of a band of friendly mice, Philippa finds her way into the service of the neighboring King Franz (Sommer again).</p>
<p>Kilian also introduces characters played without puppets: the courtiers, who gossip enviously about the growing friendship between King Franz and Philippa, masquerading as Philip. This palace coffee klatsch draws much of its humor from the fact that the human characters are far less sympathetic—less humane—than the wooden ones. To bring this self-referential touch to life, however, demands a cast whose members can shift gears instantly: from pampered princess to busybody chambermaid to slapstick mouse provocateuse. Only four talented actors bring more than a dozen, hilarious and deftly profiled characters, to the stage.</p>
<p>Among the many marvels of Kilian’s script is the economy of her plotting, which is itself driven by the imperatives of character. King Franz’s oft-repeated response to what he sees as positive developments, like being taught how to read by Philip/Philippa or being made to take a much-needed bath is: “That pleases me!” When the meddlings of the courtiers risk blowing the Salt Princess’s masculine cover, she throws off her manly clothes and admits that she is indeed Princess Philippa and not Philip. The astonished King Franz gathers his wits, and after a beat proclaims: “That pleases me!” And they kiss.</p>
<p>It is a fun, and wittily disentangling moment, even while it inevitably recalls the gender-bending scene in the country inn from Garbo’s King Christina, not to mention job lots of Shakespsearian double and triple cross-dressing.</p>
<p>Franz gets the girl as soon as she becomes one again, and from here its only a hop, skip, and jump to the denouement. A feast is planned and the visiting gourmand King Egomir is fed no-salt fare that doesn’t meet his kingly tastes, though such a diet would probably be better for his high-blood pressure.</p>
<p>The final bit of brilliance on Kilian’s part was to write extremely clever song lyrics and then turn to the Berlin composer Rainer Rubbert for the music. Rubbert has provided the incidental music for at least a dozen Hans Wurst Theater productions, as well as the score for another of the group’s musicals, The Bremen Town Musicians. It was for a performance of this piece , that I was last in the Hans Wurst Theatre in 2008.</p>
<p>2008 was also the year that Rubbert’s opera about the visionary writer Heinrich von Kleist, was premiered. The two hundredth anniversary of Kleist’s suicide in a Berlin lake comes this Monday, November 21st; a profile of Rubbert’s opera can be heard this Sunday at 10:00pm German time (4:00pm EST) on DeutschlandRadio . Like Kleist’s own work, Rubbert’s music for this gripping opera&#160; can be both beautiful and unsettling.</p>
<p>That Rubbert’s creative breadth can extend from the hijinx and graspable moral lessons of a fairytale all the way to Kleist’s Romantic leap into eternity speaks to the range and ability of this extraordinary composer, who is as at home writing for the opera stage as he is for Berlin’s cabaret scene or for Hans Wurst. In both the “high” and the “low” his distinctive authorial voice—something beyond mere style—rings out. His music is often complex yet never pedantic or snobbish; it elevates without demeaning.</p>
<p>It is not easy music, but it more than rewards the efforts of getting it right. While difficult, Rainer’s score welcomes the Hans Wurst ensemble, whose members bring the music to crisp, characterful life. The augmented triads of the opening fanfare, a condensed overture of maybe a dozen seconds, capture both the pointless pomp of the egomaniacal king’s routine. Egomir’s opening song, of self-praise “I am toothsome / I am magnificent” (Ich bin köstlich/ich bin prächtig) turns cleverly on a culinary metaphor, but is set with curt diction and tromping harmonies perfectly attuned to monarchic rule by feckless fiat. Stranded in the woods, Philippa’s injunction to the faithful Johann to bring her a “Man’s Garment”&#160; (Männer Gewand) yields a song in which librettist and composer involve the servant as soloist, the human choir, and a falsetto mouse; the ostinato minor bass-line of the refrain evokes the wanderings of the heroine amidst the gloomy forest, and projects an affect both baroque and bluesy, uncannily matching the historic setting and Kilian’s sly updatings. King Franz’s “Taking a Bath is Wonderful” (Baden ist wunderbar) carries along a hygienic message on the music’s evanescent whimsy.&#160; With staggered contrapuntal skeins Rubbert captures the solipsistic chattering of the courtiers; here musical difficulty becomes an ingenious means for the expression of mean-spirited frivolity and a chance for the singing-actors to enjoy and challenge themselves.</p>
<p>In Rubbert’s wonderful songs to Kilian’s pithy texts and in his vivid instrumental interludes, melodies are convincing and memorable precisely because they defeat expectation; harmonies fulfill their goals through devious and delightful feints; counterpoint is made to represent machination and distrust of convention rather than a subservience to it. That these musical qualities captivate the oldest and youngest in the audience is testament to Rubbert’s musical talent and theatrical sense, and to a happy collaboration between lyricist and composer.</p>
<p>Last Sunday’s performance came on one of the first brisk autumnal days in Berlin and was packed with people of all ages, even a goodly number of adults who were unattached to kids and had come for a rare performance of the piece by a bewigged and virtuosic five-piece orchestra, instead of the recording that usually accompanies the singers. According to the theater The Salt Princess is appropriate for four-years-old and up. I’m not sure if all the young ones had been made to show their driver’s licenses. I think some three year olds got in, but I’m not planning to inform the authorities.&#160; In the event, there was plenty of laughter and full-throated observation during the show, not to mention a frenzied kiddy cougher two rows up from the stage.&#160; These realities were taken by the actors not as obstacles but as reasons for theater-making in the first place: that this unsurpassed ensemble cannot be derailed by scratchy throats, runny noses and off-topic utterances, but instead thrives on them, only confirms that this is art for a lifetime.</p>
<p>DAVID YEARSLEY&#160;teaches at Cornell University. He is author of&#160; <a href="" type="internal">Bach and the Meanings of Counterpoint&#160;</a>His latest CD, “All Your Cares Beguile: Songs and Sonatas from Baroque London”, has just been released by&#160; <a href="http://www.musicaomnia.org/index2.htm" type="external">Musica Omnia</a>. He can be reached at&#160; <a href="mailto:dgy2@cornell.edu" type="external">dgy2@cornell.edu</a>
 &#160;</p> | true | 4 | berlin perhaps best test whether something classic whether maintains cultural currency decades even centuries whether captivate ages children given historical moment book play movie piece music manage already ninetenths way immortality distance twentyone retirement age may bigger chronological terms toddler teenager nothing greater chasm taste yawns latter pair unruly human animals unforced artistry die salzprinzessin salt princess hourlong musical since 2003 repertoire descendants hans wurst puppet theater hans wurst nachfahren berlins schöneberg district dazzles warms ages radiance story freely adapted brothers grimm fairytale barbara kilian fellow actor puppeteer siegfried heinzmann founded theater 1981 moved present home schöneberg 1993 makes 2011 groups thirtieth anniversary long enough stretch least two generations school children grown theaters diverse offerings inclinations provide evidence parents eager return although nominally geared children plays operate simultaneously many levels engaging nominally sophisticated adults winking innuendo pure ingenuity theater twostory building housing two intimate performing spaces one larger low compared surrounding apartment blocks nearby chestnut trees theaters cheery yellow facade gives onto terrace drinks servedcold ones summer warm ones autumn even winter couple steps lead semienclosed square boule sometimes played adjacent park fantastical play structure escherlike collection wobbling black pvc steps bridges platforms steep slide flanked almost sadistic cross swing teetertotter assemblage would cause many upperwestside mom make sure numbers family lawyer doctor stored cell phone ready unleashing tots apparatus delight danger kids brave adults run energy folly theater elders monitor caffeine levels terrace ponder puppetry parenthood across street park theater spacious winterfeldtplatz one berlins vibrant saturday markets takes place corner berlin many stages kids clowning atop pvc playground summit barkers market flogging weekends last bouquets hans wurst actors meterlong puppets making sense nonsense world unchanging faces puppets seem paradoxically capable continual change expressivity derives partly handwork lavished figures even skill puppeteers stand behind puppets bring life utter lines without attempt ventriloquizing counterpoint actors faces puppets creates multilayered dialog wooden figure human master often leads humorous touching juxtapositions gesture meaning puppeteers art obscure transparent human actor whose puppet body one sees behind shell stage persona interior space usually offlimits spectator160 paradox actor 1773 denis diderot described actors profession shutting great basketwork figure soul hans wurst serious comic plays adults also performed evenings kids entertained uplifted morning afternoon wicker frame thrown soul laid bare soul within soul precisely russian dolllike aesthetic regression makes whole thing endlessly fascinating surprising kilian populates salt princess puppet nonpuppet characters160 within packed theater human master ceremonies played gruff endearing disorder stephan hellmann stumbles hurriedly stage search jacket threecornered hat story itself160 help kids finds three summons hans wurst actors obfuscations agree undertake telling tale necessary story course fairytale characters roles given puppets first theres bored unwittingly malevolent king kilian dubs egomira name combining ego german meand played hellmann egomir three daughters two bored backbiters one played clipped vanity kilian selfserving relish bright energetic elena raquet third philippa played kilian yet honest wiser anyone else character approaches humanity aged servant johann whose frayed intact patience lifetime servility kings outsized ego carved underlings longsuffering face excellent frank sommer expressive accurate singer actor capable many tonalities modulations character finds comic sweetspot johanns unctuousness sighing antipathy towards arbitrary power egomir tries liven day demanding daughters say loves sisters meanspirited sisters claim harbor love bigger world worth precious jewels philippas turn comes says simply loves father salt king takes insult banishes girl dark forest help band friendly mice philippa finds way service neighboring king franz sommer kilian also introduces characters played without puppets courtiers gossip enviously growing friendship king franz philippa masquerading philip palace coffee klatsch draws much humor fact human characters far less sympatheticless humanethan wooden ones bring selfreferential touch life however demands cast whose members shift gears instantly pampered princess busybody chambermaid slapstick mouse provocateuse four talented actors bring dozen hilarious deftly profiled characters stage among many marvels kilians script economy plotting driven imperatives character king franzs oftrepeated response sees positive developments like taught read philipphilippa made take muchneeded bath pleases meddlings courtiers risk blowing salt princesss masculine cover throws manly clothes admits indeed princess philippa philip astonished king franz gathers wits beat proclaims pleases kiss fun wittily disentangling moment even inevitably recalls genderbending scene country inn garbos king christina mention job lots shakespsearian double triple crossdressing franz gets girl soon becomes one hop skip jump denouement feast planned visiting gourmand king egomir fed nosalt fare doesnt meet kingly tastes though diet would probably better highblood pressure final bit brilliance kilians part write extremely clever song lyrics turn berlin composer rainer rubbert music rubbert provided incidental music least dozen hans wurst theater productions well score another groups musicals bremen town musicians performance piece last hans wurst theatre 2008 2008 also year rubberts opera visionary writer heinrich von kleist premiered two hundredth anniversary kleists suicide berlin lake comes monday november 21st profile rubberts opera heard sunday 1000pm german time 400pm est deutschlandradio like kleists work rubberts music gripping opera160 beautiful unsettling rubberts creative breadth extend hijinx graspable moral lessons fairytale way kleists romantic leap eternity speaks range ability extraordinary composer home writing opera stage berlins cabaret scene hans wurst high low distinctive authorial voicesomething beyond mere stylerings music often complex yet never pedantic snobbish elevates without demeaning easy music rewards efforts getting right difficult rainers score welcomes hans wurst ensemble whose members bring music crisp characterful life augmented triads opening fanfare condensed overture maybe dozen seconds capture pointless pomp egomaniacal kings routine egomirs opening song selfpraise toothsome magnificent ich bin köstlichich bin prächtig turns cleverly culinary metaphor set curt diction tromping harmonies perfectly attuned monarchic rule feckless fiat stranded woods philippas injunction faithful johann bring mans garment160 männer gewand yields song librettist composer involve servant soloist human choir falsetto mouse ostinato minor bassline refrain evokes wanderings heroine amidst gloomy forest projects affect baroque bluesy uncannily matching historic setting kilians sly updatings king franzs taking bath wonderful baden ist wunderbar carries along hygienic message musics evanescent whimsy160 staggered contrapuntal skeins rubbert captures solipsistic chattering courtiers musical difficulty becomes ingenious means expression meanspirited frivolity chance singingactors enjoy challenge rubberts wonderful songs kilians pithy texts vivid instrumental interludes melodies convincing memorable precisely defeat expectation harmonies fulfill goals devious delightful feints counterpoint made represent machination distrust convention rather subservience musical qualities captivate oldest youngest audience testament rubberts musical talent theatrical sense happy collaboration lyricist composer last sundays performance came one first brisk autumnal days berlin packed people ages even goodly number adults unattached kids come rare performance piece bewigged virtuosic fivepiece orchestra instead recording usually accompanies singers according theater salt princess appropriate fouryearsold im sure young ones made show drivers licenses think three year olds got im planning inform authorities160 event plenty laughter fullthroated observation show mention frenzied kiddy cougher two rows stage160 realities taken actors obstacles reasons theatermaking first place unsurpassed ensemble derailed scratchy throats runny noses offtopic utterances instead thrives confirms art lifetime david yearsley160teaches cornell university author of160 bach meanings counterpoint160his latest cd cares beguile songs sonatas baroque london released by160 musica omnia reached at160 dgy2cornelledu 160 | 1,156 |
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<p /> QUESTION: What are the African origins of what is often now considered to be the "Christmas" or "holiday" season?
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<p />ANTHONY BROWDER: Generally what we consider to be holidays were in fact holy days in Africa, specifically in [ ] Egypt, [ ] culture and civilization. And these holy days were timed to coincide with the relationship between specific celestial phenomenon. The heavens, stars, constellations, the sun and planet earth. And that relationship literally affects everything on the planet. And because there was a specific impact on the way that the earth's relationship to the sun, as it revolves around the sun, affects everything on the earth, there's specific times for certain holy celebrations were, were organized.
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<p />So this season, this winter season, is a time where we're approaching the winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year. And we have celebrations now, Hanukkah, festival of lights. We have Christmas, with Christmas lights. These lights refer to the fact that on the winter solstice, which is the shortest day of the year, day in which in the Northern hemisphere we have 19 hours of night. And then the winter solstice expands from four days, December 21-24. And then after that four-day period of time, then the sun is born on December 25. That is, the length of the day begins to increase by approximately one minute per day.
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<p />And that time frame was viewed in ancient Africa as the birth of the sun, the S-U-N. In other cultures or traditions, that tradition came down to us as the birth of a savior, who is viewed as the son, the son of God. But many of the traditions that we now find in Christianity, for example, the birth of Jesus on December 25, the birth of Jesus in a stable, all refer to specific phenomena that were happening in the heavens, and were acknowledged by Africans in Kemet, in the Nile valley, over 6,000 years ago.
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<p />QUESTION: How is any of this known?
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<p />BROWDER: We know this because we can look up in the sky at night and we can see specifically the constellation of Orion dominates the nighttime sky. And the constellation of Orion was known to the ancient Egyptians as Sahu. That was the constellation associated with a primary deity by the name of Asar or Osiris. He was the lord of resurrection. And according to the story, Asar was murdered by his brother. And after his death, his spirit came and impregnated his virgin wife, Auset, who then nine months later gave birth to their son Heru on December 25.
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<p />Now, this story sounds familiar because it's a story, it's an African story, that's over 6,000 years old. Haru was born on December 25, the same birthday as his father. He was born to avenge the murder of his father and restore his father's kingdom. So this is a story, this is a myth that was a metaphor to help explain specific phenomena that were happening in heaven. So the priests in ancient Kemet were aware of this phenomenon, and they in turn created rituals that will allow the people to maintain a certain system of order.
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<p />After foreigners came in to Kemet, they adopted many of the traditions of the Nile valley, and they adopted many of the personalities and changed their names. So Asar was renamed Osiris, Auset was renamed Isis, Heru was renamed Horus. And then that story is a story that is later modified after the Romans conquer Egypt in 30 BCE, took Egypt away from the Greeks. And they then took these same personalities and they were known to their people as the Madonna and child, the black Madonna and child. And ultimately when Rome began to establish Christianity as the state religion, they then took this story of Asar, who is known as the lord of resurrection, and his son Heru, and morphed them into the religion that we now know as Christianity, with the birth of Jesus on December 25.
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<p />So we can break this, this phenomena down to precise detail. Because December 25 is the birth of the sun, S-U-N, when the length of the day begins to increase by approximately one minute per day. At the moment of the birth of the sun, the constellation of Orion is in the constellation known as Sagittarius, or which was known in ancient times as the stable of Aegeus. So it was said that the sun was born in a stable. There are three stars in the belt of Orion, which makes this constellation so readily identifiable. And those three stars point to the Eastern star, which we now know today is Sirius. Sirius is the star system that was associated with Auset, the wife of Asar and the mother of Heru.
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<p />So in ancient times in Kemet, those three stars in the belt of Orion, or Sahu, were known as the three wise men, or the three kings. The Eastern star, or Auset, rises in the east around the time of the birth of the sun on December 25. And at the same time that Eastern star is rising, it is rising in the constellation of Virgo, the virgin. And so it was said then that the son is born of a virgin because the constellation Virgo is halfway above the horizon, literally being bisected by the horizon. So the son was said to have been born of a virgin.
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<p />So this was a metaphor, if you will, for a celestial phenomenon that determined specific things that were happening on earth. Others appropriated this knowledge and then incorporated it into their religious system, and changed the names of these original mythological personalities. So now know beyond the shadow of a doubt that the celebration of December 25 as the birth of Jesus was a celebration that did not come into existence until at least 350 years after the birth of Christ. It was a result of conferences and meetings that were held by Constantine and Theodosius in order to hammer out the basic traditions of what would be the official state religion of the Holy Roman Empire. And no minister, no theologian today worth their salt can tell you with honesty that Jesus was born on December 25. Nobody knows the date that Jesus was born. The date was appropriated because for thousands of years prior to the birth of Jesus that date, December 25, had been celebrated as the birth of the sun, S-U-N.
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<p />QUESTION: Please clarify your seemingly interchangeable use of terms like "Egypt", "Kemet", and "Africa".
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<p />BROWDER: Let's be clear, Egypt is in Africa. There's no such thing as the Middle East. That was a term that came into common use during the early 20th century, and it was a term that was used to geographically and historically remove Egypt from the continent of Africa, thus removing the history of African people from the continent, as well. Egypt is a Greek word, as are many of the terms that are used to describe the accomplishments of African people. Egypt is a Greek word. Sphinx is a Greek word. Pyramid is a Greek word. So one of the things that I'm always stressing is the importance of identifying African people, places, and things, by their original names.
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<p />The original name for Egypt is Kemet. Kemet is a word that means the nation of the black people. Kemet is the oldest documented civilization known to mankind. And I've been traveling to Egypt over 51 times in the last 35 years, studying this history inside and out. And I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that that culture, the ancient culture, the oldest documented civilization known to mankind, was established by indigenous African people, and all of the major accomplishments which we now associate with Egypt were developed by indigenous Africans. And it wasn't until after Kemet was conquered by the Greeks, Alexander of Macedonia in 332 BC, that Kemet became Egypt.
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<p />So most of the stories, images that we see of the ancient Egyptians are false images. And it has to do with the continued distortion of African history, culture, and the people associated with African history and culture.
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<p />QUESTION: Why is understanding this history important? What value to everyday life can be derived from an understanding from an understanding of the politics of mythology, symbol and image?
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<p />BROWDER: Myths are important because myths transcend time and space. They transcend personalities. And they are ways of incorporating the essence of a people into a, a phenomena. Myths are not true, but they contain truth. Every culture has their foundational myths, which serves as the foundation for their culture. And what we have found as African people living here in the West is that our memory has been erased and the erasure has been forgotten. And others have been telling our story, and have, as Dr. John Henrik Clarke said, written us out of the respectable commentary of human history.
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<p />And so we look, for example, at ancient Kemetic or ancient Egyptian symbols that have been taken all over the world. But most people don't know that they're African, and they don't know what they mean. For example, the Washington monument is a structure 555 feet tall. The tallest structure in Washington, DC. And it's a structure that actually represents the resurrection of an ancient African king by the name of Asar. That symbol is the oldest symbol of resurrection known to mankind. It represents the resurrection of an African man. So why don't people know that information? It certainly is available to anyone who's willing to do the research. But we have to ask the question of what else don't we know?
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<p />So one of the things that prompted me to begin an in-depth study of African history, and more specifically Nile valley history and culture, is that most of what we know about that culture has been falsified by the people who are responsible for enslaving our ancestors. And I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that truth is a means of restoring a people's consciousness. So our people, people of African ancestry in Baltimore and my hometown of Chicago, and New York, behave the way that we behave because we have been socialized to believe that our history began in slavery. We don't know our true story, and that there have been concerted efforts over the centuries to deny us the opportunity to tell our story.
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<p />My daughter wrote her first book when she was eight years old, My First Trip To Africa. And a young man in Maryland had written a book report on my daughter's book. And the book detailed her trip to Egypt. The trip that she made when she was seven years old. This young man was reprimanded by his teacher because his book report was entitled My First Trip to Africa, and the book report was about Egypt, and everyone knows that Egypt is not in Africa. Now, that happened 20 years ago.
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<p />So this disconnect of African history, people, and culture from the continent is still occurring, and that's why it's so critically important that we document our story and that we share it with anyone who has a mind and heart to listen and learn.
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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 | question african origins often considered christmas holiday season anthony browder generally consider holidays fact holy days africa specifically egypt culture civilization holy days timed coincide relationship specific celestial phenomenon heavens stars constellations sun planet earth relationship literally affects everything planet specific impact way earths relationship sun revolves around sun affects everything earth theres specific times certain holy celebrations organized season winter season time approaching winter solstice shortest day year celebrations hanukkah festival lights christmas christmas lights lights refer fact winter solstice shortest day year day northern hemisphere 19 hours night winter solstice expands four days december 2124 fourday period time sun born december 25 length day begins increase approximately one minute per day time frame viewed ancient africa birth sun sun cultures traditions tradition came us birth savior viewed son son god many traditions find christianity example birth jesus december 25 birth jesus stable refer specific phenomena happening heavens acknowledged africans kemet nile valley 6000 years ago question known browder know look sky night see specifically constellation orion dominates nighttime sky constellation orion known ancient egyptians sahu constellation associated primary deity name asar osiris lord resurrection according story asar murdered brother death spirit came impregnated virgin wife auset nine months later gave birth son heru december 25 story sounds familiar story african story thats 6000 years old haru born december 25 birthday father born avenge murder father restore fathers kingdom story myth metaphor help explain specific phenomena happening heaven priests ancient kemet aware phenomenon turn created rituals allow people maintain certain system order foreigners came kemet adopted many traditions nile valley adopted many personalities changed names asar renamed osiris auset renamed isis heru renamed horus story story later modified romans conquer egypt 30 bce took egypt away greeks took personalities known people madonna child black madonna child ultimately rome began establish christianity state religion took story asar known lord resurrection son heru morphed religion know christianity birth jesus december 25 break phenomena precise detail december 25 birth sun sun length day begins increase approximately one minute per day moment birth sun constellation orion constellation known sagittarius known ancient times stable aegeus said sun born stable three stars belt orion makes constellation readily identifiable three stars point eastern star know today sirius sirius star system associated auset wife asar mother heru ancient times kemet three stars belt orion sahu known three wise men three kings eastern star auset rises east around time birth sun december 25 time eastern star rising rising constellation virgo virgin said son born virgin constellation virgo halfway horizon literally bisected horizon son said born virgin metaphor celestial phenomenon determined specific things happening earth others appropriated knowledge incorporated religious system changed names original mythological personalities know beyond shadow doubt celebration december 25 birth jesus celebration come existence least 350 years birth christ result conferences meetings held constantine theodosius order hammer basic traditions would official state religion holy roman empire minister theologian today worth salt tell honesty jesus born december 25 nobody knows date jesus born date appropriated thousands years prior birth jesus date december 25 celebrated birth sun sun question please clarify seemingly interchangeable use terms like egypt kemet africa browder lets clear egypt africa theres thing middle east term came common use early 20th century term used geographically historically remove egypt continent africa thus removing history african people continent well egypt greek word many terms used describe accomplishments african people egypt greek word sphinx greek word pyramid greek word one things im always stressing importance identifying african people places things original names original name egypt kemet kemet word means nation black people kemet oldest documented civilization known mankind ive traveling egypt 51 times last 35 years studying history inside say beyond shadow doubt culture ancient culture oldest documented civilization known mankind established indigenous african people major accomplishments associate egypt developed indigenous africans wasnt kemet conquered greeks alexander macedonia 332 bc kemet became egypt stories images see ancient egyptians false images continued distortion african history culture people associated african history culture question understanding history important value everyday life derived understanding understanding politics mythology symbol image browder myths important myths transcend time space transcend personalities ways incorporating essence people phenomena myths true contain truth every culture foundational myths serves foundation culture found african people living west memory erased erasure forgotten others telling story dr john henrik clarke said written us respectable commentary human history look example ancient kemetic ancient egyptian symbols taken world people dont know theyre african dont know mean example washington monument structure 555 feet tall tallest structure washington dc structure actually represents resurrection ancient african king name asar symbol oldest symbol resurrection known mankind represents resurrection african man dont people know information certainly available anyone whos willing research ask question else dont know one things prompted begin indepth study african history specifically nile valley history culture know culture falsified people responsible enslaving ancestors know beyond shadow doubt truth means restoring peoples consciousness people people african ancestry baltimore hometown chicago new york behave way behave socialized believe history began slavery dont know true story concerted efforts centuries deny us opportunity tell story daughter wrote first book eight years old first trip africa young man maryland written book report daughters book book detailed trip egypt trip made seven years old young man reprimanded teacher book report entitled first trip africa book report egypt everyone knows egypt africa happened 20 years ago disconnect african history people culture continent still occurring thats critically important document story share anyone mind heart listen learn end disclaimer please note transcripts real news network typed recording program trnn guarantee complete accuracy | 927 |
<p>In May, JPMorgan Chase was listed as the&#160; <a href="//www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-13/it-s-official-sort-of-jpmorgan-is-world-s-biggest-bank.html" type="external">largest bank in the world</a>&#160;with assets at roughly $4 trillion -- some $1.53 trillion of it in derivatives. This was reported a month after the announcement that the bank had posted a record&#160; <a href="//www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22126115" type="external">first-quarter profit</a>&#160;of $6.5 billion.</p>
<p>Jamie Dimon, the bank's CEO and Chairman, has faced a host of scandals in relation to his management of the megabank, including the loss of roughly $6 billion through the London branch of the bank -- losses that Dimon was accused of hiding. A&#160; <a href="//www.news.com.au/world-news/ceo-jamie-dimon-hid-billions-in-losses/story-fndir2ev-12265986846120" type="external">300-page report</a>&#160;by the U.S. Senate, investigating the “creative accounting” of JPMorgan, noted that the bank “hid losses, did not share information with its regulators, and misled the public” in what one banking regulator&#160; <a href="//www.guardian.co.uk/business/2013/mar/14/jpmorgan-senate-investigation-london-whale" type="external">referred to as</a>&#160;“make believe voodoo magic.” Stated bluntly&#160; <a href="//www.nytimes.com/2013/03/17/business/jpmorgans-follies-for-all-to-see-in-a-senate-report.html?pagewanted=all&amp;_r=0" type="external">in The New York Times</a>, JPMorgan Chase, the largest derivatives dealer in the world, “is too big to regulate."</p>
<p>In the midst of the scandal, the bank faced&#160; <a href="//www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2013/05/07/the-revolt-against-jamie-dimon/" type="external">a potential “revolt</a>” of its shareholders in a bid to strip Dimon of his dual role as CEO and Chairman. In confidential government reports which were leaked to The New York Times, the bank was accused of “manipulative schemes” which transformed “money-losing power plants into powerful profit centers” while executives made “ <a href="//dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/05/02/jpmorgan-caught-in-swirl-of-regulatory-woes/" type="external">false and misleading statements</a>” under oath.</p>
<p>Yet even in the midst of scandal, Jamie Dimon was praised in a storm of support by billionaires, corporate kingpins and media barons. Calling JPMorgan Chase “as good a bank as there is,” New York City mayor and billionaire media baron Michael Bloomberg went on&#160; <a href="//blogs.wsj.com/deals/2012/05/31/mayor-bloomberg-likes-jamie-dimon-a-lot-more-than-big-sodas/" type="external">to call Dimon</a>&#160;“a very smart, honest, great executive.” News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch&#160; <a href="//blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/05/10/rupert-murdoch-defends-jamie-dimons-dual-role-at-j-p-morgan/" type="external">praised Dimon</a>&#160;as “one of the smartest, toughest guys around,” while Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric, referred to him as a “great leader” and said he had&#160; <a href="//blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/05/08/jamie-dimon-fan-club-welcomes-jack-welch/" type="external">earned</a>&#160;the “right to hold both Chairman and CEO titles.” To top it off, billionaire investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet,&#160; <a href="//nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2011/07/warren_buffett_didnt_want_jami.html" type="external">dubbed Dimon</a>&#160;“a fabulous banker.”</p>
<p>And the adoration goes all the way to the top rung. In 2009, The New York Times&#160; <a href="//www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/business/19dimon.html?pagewanted=all" type="external">referred to</a>&#160;Jamie Dimon as “President Obama’s favorite banker.” In 2010, Obama told Bloomberg BusinessWeek that he didn’t “begrudge” bank CEOs like Jamie Dimon and Lloyd Blankfein of Goldman Sachs for their massive bonuses of $17 and $9 million, respectively. Obama explained: "I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free-market system.”&#160; <a href="//www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&amp;sid=aKGZkktzkAlA" type="external">The president added</a>, “I know both those guys; they are very savvy businessmen.”</p>
<p>In May of 2012, Obama rushed to Jamie Dimon’s defense in light of the financial scandals,&#160; <a href="//www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/15/obama-has-up-to-1-million-in-jpmorgan-account/" type="external">stating that</a>&#160;Dimon was “one of the smartest bankers we got.” The Financial Times&#160; <a href="//www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/d1890714-bd6f-11e2-890a-00144feab7de.html#axzz2UoVMGbl4" type="external">referred to Dimon</a>&#160;as “the last king of Wall Street.” And when finally faced with the decision to strip Dimon of his dual role as chairman and CEO, Obama’s "favorite banker"&#160; <a href="//www.ft.com/cms/s/0/51ce0cb2-c21b-11e2-ab66-00144feab7de.html#axzz2UoVMGbl4" type="external">ended up winning</a>&#160;“a decisive victory" by maintaining both his roles.</p>
<p>But this is just the surface of JPMorgan Chase’s financial manipulations. The bank, in fact, was at the forefront of creating Credit Default Swaps (CDS), a key aspect of the derivatives market that led to the inflation and subsequent blowout of the housing bubble. JPMorgan developed these “financial instruments” as a type of insurance policy in 1994, allowing the bank to trade its debt (in the form of loans to corporations and governments) to third parties, thus handing off the risk and removing the debts from its accounts, which allowed it to make further loans. JPMorgan opened up the first CDS desk in New York in 1997, “a division that would eventually earn the name&#160; <a href="//www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2008/09/26/the-monster-that-ate-wall-street.html" type="external">the Morgan Mafia</a>&#160;for the number of former members who went on to senior positions at global banks and hedge funds.” Back in 2003, the same Warren Buffet who would later praise Dimon&#160; <a href="//news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/2817995.stm" type="external">referred to</a>&#160;credit default swaps as “financial weapons of mass destruction.”</p>
<p>JPMorgan was also at the forefront in the United States pushing for financial deregulation, particularly the slow-motion dismantling of the Glass-Steagall Act that had been put in place in 1933 in response to the financial speculation which had helped spark the Great Depression. After hearing proposals from banks such as Citicorp, JP Morgan and Bankers Trust, which advocated the loosening of “restrictions” put in place by Glass-Steagall, the Federal Reserve Board in 1987 voted to ease many of the regulations. That same year, Alan Greenspan, who had previously been a director of JP Morgan, became the chairman of the Fed. In 1989, the Fed approved an application submitted by JP Morgan, Chase Manhattan, Citicorp and Bankers Trust to further reduce the regulations imposed by Glass-Steagall. In 1990, JP Morgan&#160; <a href="//www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/wallstreet/weill/demise.html" type="external">became</a>&#160;“the first bank to receive permission from the Federal Reserve to underwrite securities.”</p>
<p>Financial deregulation accelerated under President Clinton, much to the delight of Wall Street banks, which were then permitted to merge into megabanks, with JPMorgan merging with Chase Manhattan to form JPMorgan Chase. As early as 2006 and 2007, multiple megabanks were beginning&#160; <a href="//www.npr.org/2011/05/02/135846486/how-some-made-millions-betting-against-the-market" type="external">to bet against</a>&#160;the housing market through various hedge funds, allowing them to make profits on the housing collapse they created. JPMorgan continued to sell mortgages as it bet against the mortgage market, passing on the risk while it hedged its bets to profit from the failure and losses of others. In 2011, the bank paid a $153 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)&#160; <a href="//dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/06/21/jpmorgan-pays-153-million-to-settle-mortgage-case/" type="external">to settle allegations</a>&#160;of “securities fraud.”</p>
<p>In the midst of the financial crisis in 2008, JPMorgan Chase became not only a major criminal, but also a prime beneficiary. In 2007, the global investment bank Bear Stearns was named&#160; <a href="//money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/mostadmired/2007/industries/industry_52.html" type="external">by Fortune magazine</a>&#160;as the second “most admired” financial securities company in the United States, while Lehman Brothers was put in first place. As the financial crisis erupted, Bear Stearns executives “discovered” that they were “nearly out of cash” in March of 2008. The CEO of Bear Stearns, Alan Schwartz, made a phone call to Jamie Dimon -- JPMorgan Chase was the clearing agent for Bear Stearns -- asking for an overnight loan. Dimon, who also sat on the board of directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, turned there instead of providing the loan through his own bank. The president of the New York Fed – who was elected by the banks that own the New York Fed – was Timothy Geithner. Geithner began discussions with Bear Stearns, and the following morning he held a meeting with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, where they agreed to an emergency loan for Bear Stearns,&#160; <a href="//online.wsj.com/article/SB124182740622102431.html" type="external">providing the funds</a>&#160;through JPMorgan Chase.</p>
<p>Over the following day, Geithner and Paulson informed Bear Stearns that it must sell the bank within days, and a deal was negotiated in which JPMorgan Chase would purchase Bear Stearns at $2 per share. Though Dimon had first refused to purchase the failed bank, he now engaged in negotiations with Geithner who&#160; <a href="//www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&amp;sid=aDNaFtVZV4ws" type="external">won over Dimon</a>&#160;by guaranteeing $30 billion for JPMorgan to purchase the sunken bank. Long story short: through the New York Fed, the U.S. government purchased billions of dollars in bad debts made by Bear Stearns, including $16 billion in credit default swaps that were downgraded to “junk” assets, while JPMorgan Chase acquired $360 billion&#160; <a href="//www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-01/fed-s-maiden-lane-made-taxpayers-junk-bond-buyers-without-congress-knowing.html" type="external">in Bear Stearns assets</a>&#160;with little or no risk.</p>
<p>With the purchase of Bear Stearns facilitated by the New York Fed, and for the benefit of JPMorgan, Geithner continued in his role as willing servant to the banks who had elected him as president. Then, in September of 2008 when the insurance conglomerate American International Group (AIG) plunged into crisis and sought support from the government, the Fed and Treasury initially refused. AIG turned to JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, who went to the government to pressure for state support. The New York Fed, with Geithner at the helm, again organized a secret bailout of the institution,&#160; <a href="//www.nytimes.com/2008/09/17/business/17insure.html?hp" type="external">valued at $85 billion</a>. In October, the government added an extra $38 billion to the AIG bailout, and the New York Fed provided a further $40 billion in November. Overall, U.S. taxpayers&#160; <a href="//www.nytimes.com/2008/11/11/business/economy/11aig.html" type="external">bailed out</a>&#160;the insurance giant with $150 billion.</p>
<p>Because many banks kept junk assets with AIG which didn’t affect its balance sheets, the insurance giant was allowed to continue making risky loans. Meanwhile, the New York Fed, noted Bloomberg journalist David Reilly, acted as “a black-ops outfit for the nation’s central bank,” and as a “quasi-governmental institution [which] isn’t subject to citizen intrusions such as freedom of information requests.” The AIG bailout, wrote Reilly, revealed what could be described as a “ <a href="//www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-01-28/secret-banking-cabal-emerges-from-aig-shadows-david-reilly.html" type="external">secret banking cabal</a>.” Through AIG, bailout funds went to American, French, German, British, Swiss, Dutch and even Canadian banks. Goldman Sachs received over $12 billion, and billions&#160; <a href="//www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2009/03/german_and_fren.html" type="external">also went</a>&#160;to Merrill Lynch, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wachovia, Morgan Stanley, and JPMorgan Chase.</p>
<p>JPMorgan Chase was using bailout money from the government to purchase other banks and companies. As one executive at the bank <a href="//www.nytimes.com/2008/10/25/business/25nocera.html?_r=3&amp;oref=slogin&amp;oref=slogin&amp;oref=slogin" type="external">commented</a>&#160;in regards to a $25 billion bailout from the government, “I think there are going to be some great opportunities for us to grow in this environment.” The banks repaid the bailout loans from other bailout funds they got from government, siphoning off taxpayer money <a href="//www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/09/bank-tarp_n_1335006.html" type="external">back and forth</a>&#160;and rewarding them for their risky behavior. One university study noted that banks with political access – whether through lobbying efforts or board membership on the Fed – were more likely to get bailout funds, and in bigger numbers, than other banks. Notably among the&#160; <a href="//www.reuters.com/article/2009/12/21/banks-study-idUSN2124009320091221" type="external">most politically connected</a>&#160;banks were Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.</p>
<p>According to a 2012 study by the International Monetary Fund and Bloomberg magazine, JPMorgan Chase continues to receive government support far beyond the bailouts, as it is a major recipient of corporate welfare and state subsidies. In fact, according to the study, the biggest bank in the world gets roughly&#160; <a href="//www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-18/dear-mr-dimon-is-your-bank-getting-corporate-welfare-.html" type="external">$14 billion per year</a>&#160;in state subsidies and welfare, largely helping “the bank pay big salaries and bonuses.”</p>
<p>The Biggest and Most Connected Bank</p>
<p>Not only is JPMorgan Chase the biggest bank in the world with over $4 trillion in assets, but its power and influence extends far beyond financial matters. It is a major political force in the world, highly integrated within the network of global elites who make up the plutocratic ruling class. As the subject of study for the Global Power Project, I examined 55 people at JPMorgan Chase, including all members of the executive committee, the board of directors and the international advisory council.</p>
<p>Of the 55 individuals examined at the bank, a total of 13 (or roughly 24%) of the individuals were either members or held leadership positions (previously or presently) with the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). The CFR has been at the heart of the foreign-policy elite of the United States since it was created in 1921. Further, a total of eight JPMorgan officials held leadership positions in the World Economic Forum, the second most represented institutional affiliation of the bank. Holding yearly conferences that bring together thousands of participants from elite financial, corporate, political, cultural, media and other institutions, the WEF is one of the principal forums for the global elite, with JPMorgan operating right there at the center.</p>
<p>The next most represented institution is the Trilateral Commission, with 5 individuals at JPMorgan Chase holding membership in the international think tank – or “global policy group” – uniting elites from North America, Western Europe and Japan (and now also including China, India, and other Pacific-rim nations). The Trilateral Commission itself was founded in 1973 by the CEO of Chase Manhattan Bank – which later merged into JPMorgan Chase – David Rockefeller.</p>
<p>In descending order, the other most highly represented institutions having cross membership between leadership positions with JPMorgan Chase are: the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (4), the Business Council (4), Citigroup (4), Bilderberg (4), the Group of Thirty (4), Sara Lee Corporation (3), Harvard (3), American Express (3), American International Group (3), the Business Roundtable (3), Rolls Royce (3), the Center for Strategic and International Studies – CSIS (3), the European Round Table of Industrialists (3), the Peterson Institute for International Economics (2), the U.S.-China Business Council (2), and the National Petroleum Council (2).</p>
<p>Institutions which hold two individual cross leadership positions with JPMorgan Chase include: the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the University of Chicago, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts &amp; Co., General Electric, Asia Business Council, the U.S. President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), the Coca-Cola Company, National Bank of Kuwait Advisory Board, INSEAD, China-United States Exchange Foundation, Mitsubishi, the Carlyle Group, and the IMF.</p>
<p>Meet the Elites at JPMorgan Chase</p>
<p>It’s worth taking a look at some specific individuals who serve in a leadership and/or advisory capacity to JPMorgan Chase to get an idea of the composition of some of these global plutocrats.</p>
<p>Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, sits on the boards of directors of: the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Harvard Business School, and Catalyst. He is a Trustee of the New York University School of Medicine, a member of the Executive Committee of the Business Council, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum, a member of the Financial Services Forum, and a member of the International Advisory Panel of the Monetary Authority of Singapore.</p>
<p>Members of the board of JPMorgan Chase include James A. Bell, former President of Boeing and a current member of the board of Dow Chemical; Crandall C. Bowles, a director of Deere &amp; Company and the Sara Lee Corporation, a former director of Wachovia, a Trustee of the Brookings Institution, on the Governing Board of the Wilderness Society, and a member of the Business Council and the Economic Club of New York. Other JPM board members include Stephen B. Burke, CEO of NBC Universal and Executive Vice President of Comcast Corporation; David M. Cote, the Chairman and CEO of Honeywell International who sits on President Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform, on the advisory panel to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts &amp; Co. (KKR), and is a member of the Trilateral Commission; and Lee Raymond, director of the Business Council for International Understanding, who sits on the advisory panel to KKR, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and former Chairman of the National Petroleum Council as well as former Chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil, from which he retired in 2006 with&#160; <a href="//www.nytimes.com/2006/04/13/business/13exxon.html" type="external">a compensation package</a>&#160;of $398 million.</p>
<p>JPMorgan Chase has an International Council which provides advice to the bank’s leadership on economic, political and social trends across various regions and around the world. The International Council is chaired by Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the UK, who also sits as an adviser to Zurich Financial. The Council includes Khalid A. Al-Falih, the President and CEO of Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabian Oil Company), the world’s largest oil company, who also sits on the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is also on JPMorgan’s International Council, and sits as Chairman of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a partnership between the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Annan is also on the boards of the United Nations Foundation, the World Economic Forum, and he is a member of the Global Board of Advisors of the Council on Foreign Relations.</p>
<p>The Council includes the third richest man in Mexico, Alberto Bailléres, as well as the Chairman and CEO of Telecom Italia, Franco Bernabé, who was the former CEO of Eni, one of the world’s largest oil companies (and Italy’s largest corporation), as well as the former Vice Chairman of Rothschild Europe. Bernabé sits on the board of PetroChina, China’s largest oil company. Bernabé is also a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists (a group of roughly 50 major European CEOs who directly advocate and work with EU political leaders in designing and implementing policy), he was a former Advisory Board member of the Council on Foreign Relations, a member of the board of FIAT, and is actively a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Meetings.</p>
<p>Martin Feldstein, a prominent Economics professor at Harvard and the President Emeritus of the National Bureau of Economic Research, is another member of the International Council. Feldstein was the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to President Ronald Reagan and sat on the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (an “independent” group that advises the president on intelligence matters) under President George W. Bush (from 2007-2009). President Obama appointed Feldstein to the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, and he also sits on the board of the Council on Foreign Relations, is a member of the Trilateral Commission, a participant in Bilderberg Meetings, and is a member of the International Advisory Board of the National Bank of Kuwait.</p>
<p>Gao Xi-Qing is the Vice Chairman, President and Chief Investment Officer of the China Investment Corporation (CIC), China’s sovereign investment fund. He was referred to&#160; <a href="//www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/12/be-nice-to-the-countries-that-lend-you-money/307148/" type="external">by the Atlantic</a>&#160;as “the man who oversees $200 billion of China’s $2 trillion in dollar holdings.” Another notable Chinese member of the International Council is Tung Chee Hwa, the former Chief Executive and President of the Executive Council of Hong Kong, a core policy-making institution in the government of Hong Kong. Tung Chee Hwa is also the Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a major political advisory group in the People’s Republic of China, once chaired by Mao Zedong. Tung Chee Hwa as well is the founder and Chairman of the China-United States Exchange Foundation, and a former member of the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations.</p>
<p>Carla A. Hills is the only woman on the JPMorgan International Council, and is Chairman and CEO of Hills &amp; Company International, a global consulting firm. She was the former United States Trade Representative in the George H.W. Bush administration, where she was the primary negotiator for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). She is also the Co-Chair of the Council on Foreign Relations, and sits on the International Boards of Rolls Royce and the Coca-Cola Company, as well as sitting on the board of directors of Gilead Sciences. Hills is a Counselor and Trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a major American think tank where she also sits as Co-Chair of the Advisory Board (alongside Zbigniew Brzezinski, co-founder of the Trilateral Commission). In addition, Hills is a member of the Executive Committee of both the Trilateral Commission and the Peterson Institute for International Economics, as well as sitting on the boards of the International Crisis Group and the US-China Business Council, as Chair of the National Committee on US-China Relations, and Chair of the Inter-American Dialogue.</p>
<p>Henry Kissinger – former U.S. Secretary of State, National Security Adviser to President Richard Nixon, and Secretary of State to President Ford – also sits on the International Council of JPMorgan. Kissinger was a former adviser to Nelson Rockefeller, who recruited Kissinger as director of the Special Studies Project of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in the 1950s. Kissinger was a director of the Council on Foreign Relations from 1977-1981, is a member of the Trilateral Commission, a former member of the Steering Committee and continuous participant in the Bilderberg Meetings, and is founder and chair of Kissinger Associates, an international consulting and advisory firm. Kissinger Chaired the National Bipartisan Commission on Central America during the Reagan administration, which provided justification for Reagan’s wars in Central America, and he was also a member of the Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 1984-1990, advising both Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Alongside Zbigniew Brzezinski, Kissinger was a member of the Commission on Integrated Long-Term Strategy of the National Security Council and Defense Department, established in the late 1980s to develop a long-term strategy for the United States in the world. Kissinger has also been a member of the Defense Policy Board, providing “independent” advice to the Pentagon leadership on matters of foreign policy, from 2001 to the present, for both the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations. Kissinger is also a Counselor and Trustee of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Honorary Governor of the Foreign Policy Association, an Honorary Member of the International Olympic Committee, an adviser to the board of directors of American Express, and is a Trustee Emeritus of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition, Kissinger is a director of the International Rescue Committee, the Atlantic Institute, and is on the advisory board of the RAND Center for Global Risk and Security, as well as Honorary Chairman of the China-United States Exchange Foundation.</p>
<p>Mustafa V. Koc is also a member of the International Council, and is Chairman of Koc Holding AS, Turkey’s largest multinational corporation. He also sits on the International Advisory Board of Rolls Royce, the Global Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations, is a member of the Steering Committee of the Bilderberg Meetings, a former member of the International Advisory Board of the National Bank of Kuwait, and is Honorary Chairman of the Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen’s High Advisory Council.</p>
<p>Gérard Mestrallet is the Chairman and CEO of GDF Suez, one of the largest energy conglomerates in the world, and is on the board of Suez Environment (one of the major water privatization companies in the world), and also sits on the supervisory board of AXA, a major global French financial conglomerate. He is also an advisory board member of Siemens, and is a member of the European Round Table of Industrialists and the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum.</p>
<p>John S. Watson is the Chairman and CEO of Chevron Corporation. He is on the board of the American Petroleum Institute and is a member of the National Petroleum Council, the Business Roundtable, the Business Council, the American Society of Corporate Executives, and the Chancellor’s Board of Advisors of the University of California Davis. He is also a member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum.</p>
<p>The Chairman of JPMorgan Chase International, Jacob A. Frenkel, is Chairman and CEO of the Group of Thirty, and a member of the International Council. He is also a former Vice Chairman of American International Group (from 2004 to 2009, when it was rescued with the massive government bailout); the former Chairman of Merrill Lynch International (from 2000 to 2004), and the former Governor of the Bank of Israel (from 1991 to 2000). Frenkel was an Economic Counselor and Director of Research at the International Monetary Fund (from 1987 to 1991) and prior to that he was the David Rockefeller Professor of International Economics at the University of Chicago (from 1973 to 1987). In addition, Frenkel is the former Editor of the Journal of Political Economy, former Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Inter-American Development Bank, and a former member of the International Advisory Board of the Council on Foreign Relations. Frenkel is currently a member of the board of directors of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a member of the Trilateral Commission, member of the International Advisory Council of the China Development Bank, member of the board of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, member of the Economic Advisory panel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, member of the Council for the United States and Italy, member of the Investment Advisory Council of the Prime Minister of Turkey, and sits on the board of Loews Corporation.</p>
<p>To sum: it should be clear, from the evidence, that the leadership of JPMorgan Chase is not an isolated group of individuals involved in finance and exclusively relegated to the banking world, but a highly networked and influential group consisting of central figures in the global plutocracy – referred to as the "Transnational Capitalist Class" – with significant economic, social and political power. To refer to JPMorgan Chase simply as "a bank" is like referring to the United States as just "a country." A geopolitical force unto itself, and a conglomerate embedded within a transnational network of elite institutions and individuals, JPMorgan Chase goes beyond the financial indicators. Put simply, it is one of the most powerful banks in the world.</p>
<p>An earlier version of this article first appeared on <a href="//occupy.com" type="external">Occupy.com</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.andrewgavinmarshall.com/" type="external">Andrew Gavin Marshall&#160;</a>is an independent researcher and writer based in Montreal, Canada. He is project manager of&#160; <a href="http://www.thepeoplesbookproject.com/" type="external">The People’s Book Project</a>, and he hosts a weekly podcast, “Empire, Power, and People,” on&#160; <a href="http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/" type="external">BoilingFrogsPost.com</a>.</p> | true | 4 | may jpmorgan chase listed the160 largest bank world160with assets roughly 4 trillion 153 trillion derivatives reported month announcement bank posted record160 firstquarter profit160of 65 billion jamie dimon banks ceo chairman faced host scandals relation management megabank including loss roughly 6 billion london branch bank losses dimon accused hiding a160 300page report160by us senate investigating creative accounting jpmorgan noted bank hid losses share information regulators misled public one banking regulator160 referred as160make believe voodoo magic stated bluntly160 new york times jpmorgan chase largest derivatives dealer world big regulate midst scandal bank faced160 potential revolt shareholders bid strip dimon dual role ceo chairman confidential government reports leaked new york times bank accused manipulative schemes transformed moneylosing power plants powerful profit centers executives made false misleading statements oath yet even midst scandal jamie dimon praised storm support billionaires corporate kingpins media barons calling jpmorgan chase good bank new york city mayor billionaire media baron michael bloomberg went on160 call dimon160a smart honest great executive news corporation chairman rupert murdoch160 praised dimon160as one smartest toughest guys around jack welch former chairman ceo general electric referred great leader said had160 earned160the right hold chairman ceo titles top billionaire investor ceo berkshire hathaway warren buffet160 dubbed dimon160a fabulous banker adoration goes way top rung 2009 new york times160 referred to160jamie dimon president obamas favorite banker 2010 obama told bloomberg businessweek didnt begrudge bank ceos like jamie dimon lloyd blankfein goldman sachs massive bonuses 17 9 million respectively obama explained like american people dont begrudge people success wealth part freemarket system160 president added know guys savvy businessmen may 2012 obama rushed jamie dimons defense light financial scandals160 stating that160dimon one smartest bankers got financial times160 referred dimon160as last king wall street finally faced decision strip dimon dual role chairman ceo obamas favorite banker160 ended winning160a decisive victory maintaining roles surface jpmorgan chases financial manipulations bank fact forefront creating credit default swaps cds key aspect derivatives market led inflation subsequent blowout housing bubble jpmorgan developed financial instruments type insurance policy 1994 allowing bank trade debt form loans corporations governments third parties thus handing risk removing debts accounts allowed make loans jpmorgan opened first cds desk new york 1997 division would eventually earn name160 morgan mafia160for number former members went senior positions global banks hedge funds back 2003 warren buffet would later praise dimon160 referred to160credit default swaps financial weapons mass destruction jpmorgan also forefront united states pushing financial deregulation particularly slowmotion dismantling glasssteagall act put place 1933 response financial speculation helped spark great depression hearing proposals banks citicorp jp morgan bankers trust advocated loosening restrictions put place glasssteagall federal reserve board 1987 voted ease many regulations year alan greenspan previously director jp morgan became chairman fed 1989 fed approved application submitted jp morgan chase manhattan citicorp bankers trust reduce regulations imposed glasssteagall 1990 jp morgan160 became160the first bank receive permission federal reserve underwrite securities financial deregulation accelerated president clinton much delight wall street banks permitted merge megabanks jpmorgan merging chase manhattan form jpmorgan chase early 2006 2007 multiple megabanks beginning160 bet against160the housing market various hedge funds allowing make profits housing collapse created jpmorgan continued sell mortgages bet mortgage market passing risk hedged bets profit failure losses others 2011 bank paid 153 million fine securities exchange commission sec160 settle allegations160of securities fraud midst financial crisis 2008 jpmorgan chase became major criminal also prime beneficiary 2007 global investment bank bear stearns named160 fortune magazine160as second admired financial securities company united states lehman brothers put first place financial crisis erupted bear stearns executives discovered nearly cash march 2008 ceo bear stearns alan schwartz made phone call jamie dimon jpmorgan chase clearing agent bear stearns asking overnight loan dimon also sat board directors federal reserve bank new york turned instead providing loan bank president new york fed elected banks new york fed timothy geithner geithner began discussions bear stearns following morning held meeting federal reserve chairman ben bernanke treasury secretary henry paulson former ceo goldman sachs agreed emergency loan bear stearns160 providing funds160through jpmorgan chase following day geithner paulson informed bear stearns must sell bank within days deal negotiated jpmorgan chase would purchase bear stearns 2 per share though dimon first refused purchase failed bank engaged negotiations geithner who160 dimon160by guaranteeing 30 billion jpmorgan purchase sunken bank long story short new york fed us government purchased billions dollars bad debts made bear stearns including 16 billion credit default swaps downgraded junk assets jpmorgan chase acquired 360 billion160 bear stearns assets160with little risk purchase bear stearns facilitated new york fed benefit jpmorgan geithner continued role willing servant banks elected president september 2008 insurance conglomerate american international group aig plunged crisis sought support government fed treasury initially refused aig turned jpmorgan chase goldman sachs went government pressure state support new york fed geithner helm organized secret bailout institution160 valued 85 billion october government added extra 38 billion aig bailout new york fed provided 40 billion november overall us taxpayers160 bailed out160the insurance giant 150 billion many banks kept junk assets aig didnt affect balance sheets insurance giant allowed continue making risky loans meanwhile new york fed noted bloomberg journalist david reilly acted blackops outfit nations central bank quasigovernmental institution isnt subject citizen intrusions freedom information requests aig bailout wrote reilly revealed could described secret banking cabal aig bailout funds went american french german british swiss dutch even canadian banks goldman sachs received 12 billion billions160 also went160to merrill lynch bank america citigroup wachovia morgan stanley jpmorgan chase jpmorgan chase using bailout money government purchase banks companies one executive bank commented160in regards 25 billion bailout government think going great opportunities us grow environment banks repaid bailout loans bailout funds got government siphoning taxpayer money back forth160and rewarding risky behavior one university study noted banks political access whether lobbying efforts board membership fed likely get bailout funds bigger numbers banks notably among the160 politically connected160banks goldman sachs jpmorgan chase morgan stanley according 2012 study international monetary fund bloomberg magazine jpmorgan chase continues receive government support far beyond bailouts major recipient corporate welfare state subsidies fact according study biggest bank world gets roughly160 14 billion per year160in state subsidies welfare largely helping bank pay big salaries bonuses biggest connected bank jpmorgan chase biggest bank world 4 trillion assets power influence extends far beyond financial matters major political force world highly integrated within network global elites make plutocratic ruling class subject study global power project examined 55 people jpmorgan chase including members executive committee board directors international advisory council 55 individuals examined bank total 13 roughly 24 individuals either members held leadership positions previously presently council foreign relations cfr cfr heart foreignpolicy elite united states since created 1921 total eight jpmorgan officials held leadership positions world economic forum second represented institutional affiliation bank holding yearly conferences bring together thousands participants elite financial corporate political cultural media institutions wef one principal forums global elite jpmorgan operating right center next represented institution trilateral commission 5 individuals jpmorgan chase holding membership international think tank global policy group uniting elites north america western europe japan also including china india pacificrim nations trilateral commission founded 1973 ceo chase manhattan bank later merged jpmorgan chase david rockefeller descending order highly represented institutions cross membership leadership positions jpmorgan chase federal reserve bank new york 4 business council 4 citigroup 4 bilderberg 4 group thirty 4 sara lee corporation 3 harvard 3 american express 3 american international group 3 business roundtable 3 rolls royce 3 center strategic international studies csis 3 european round table industrialists 3 peterson institute international economics 2 uschina business council 2 national petroleum council 2 institutions hold two individual cross leadership positions jpmorgan chase include monetary authority singapore university chicago kohlberg kravis roberts amp co general electric asia business council us presidents foreign intelligence advisory board national bureau economic research nber cocacola company national bank kuwait advisory board insead chinaunited states exchange foundation mitsubishi carlyle group imf meet elites jpmorgan chase worth taking look specific individuals serve leadership andor advisory capacity jpmorgan chase get idea composition global plutocrats jamie dimon ceo jpmorgan chase sits boards directors federal reserve bank new york harvard business school catalyst trustee new york university school medicine member executive committee business council member council foreign relations member international business council world economic forum member financial services forum member international advisory panel monetary authority singapore members board jpmorgan chase include james bell former president boeing current member board dow chemical crandall c bowles director deere amp company sara lee corporation former director wachovia trustee brookings institution governing board wilderness society member business council economic club new york jpm board members include stephen b burke ceo nbc universal executive vice president comcast corporation david cote chairman ceo honeywell international sits president obamas national commission fiscal responsibility reform advisory panel kohlberg kravis roberts amp co kkr member trilateral commission lee raymond director business council international understanding sits advisory panel kkr member council foreign relations former chairman national petroleum council well former chairman ceo exxonmobil retired 2006 with160 compensation package160of 398 million jpmorgan chase international council provides advice banks leadership economic political social trends across various regions around world international council chaired tony blair former prime minister uk also sits adviser zurich financial council includes khalid alfalih president ceo saudi aramco saudi arabian oil company worlds largest oil company also sits international business council world economic forum former un secretary general kofi annan also jpmorgans international council sits chairman alliance green revolution africa agra partnership bill amp melinda gates foundation rockefeller foundation annan also boards united nations foundation world economic forum member global board advisors council foreign relations council includes third richest man mexico alberto bailléres well chairman ceo telecom italia franco bernabé former ceo eni one worlds largest oil companies italys largest corporation well former vice chairman rothschild europe bernabé sits board petrochina chinas largest oil company bernabé also member european round table industrialists group roughly 50 major european ceos directly advocate work eu political leaders designing implementing policy former advisory board member council foreign relations member board fiat actively member steering committee bilderberg meetings martin feldstein prominent economics professor harvard president emeritus national bureau economic research another member international council feldstein chairman council economic advisers president ronald reagan sat foreign intelligence advisory board independent group advises president intelligence matters president george w bush 20072009 president obama appointed feldstein economic recovery advisory board also sits board council foreign relations member trilateral commission participant bilderberg meetings member international advisory board national bank kuwait gao xiqing vice chairman president chief investment officer china investment corporation cic chinas sovereign investment fund referred to160 atlantic160as man oversees 200 billion chinas 2 trillion dollar holdings another notable chinese member international council tung chee hwa former chief executive president executive council hong kong core policymaking institution government hong kong tung chee hwa also vice chairman national committee chinese peoples political consultative conference cppcc major political advisory group peoples republic china chaired mao zedong tung chee hwa well founder chairman chinaunited states exchange foundation former member international advisory board council foreign relations carla hills woman jpmorgan international council chairman ceo hills amp company international global consulting firm former united states trade representative george hw bush administration primary negotiator north american free trade agreement nafta also cochair council foreign relations sits international boards rolls royce cocacola company well sitting board directors gilead sciences hills counselor trustee center strategic international studies csis major american think tank also sits cochair advisory board alongside zbigniew brzezinski cofounder trilateral commission addition hills member executive committee trilateral commission peterson institute international economics well sitting boards international crisis group uschina business council chair national committee uschina relations chair interamerican dialogue henry kissinger former us secretary state national security adviser president richard nixon secretary state president ford also sits international council jpmorgan kissinger former adviser nelson rockefeller recruited kissinger director special studies project rockefeller brothers fund 1950s kissinger director council foreign relations 19771981 member trilateral commission former member steering committee continuous participant bilderberg meetings founder chair kissinger associates international consulting advisory firm kissinger chaired national bipartisan commission central america reagan administration provided justification reagans wars central america also member foreign intelligence advisory board 19841990 advising presidents reagan george hw bush alongside zbigniew brzezinski kissinger member commission integrated longterm strategy national security council defense department established late 1980s develop longterm strategy united states world kissinger also member defense policy board providing independent advice pentagon leadership matters foreign policy 2001 present george w bush barack obama administrations kissinger also counselor trustee center strategic international studies csis honorary governor foreign policy association honorary member international olympic committee adviser board directors american express trustee emeritus metropolitan museum art addition kissinger director international rescue committee atlantic institute advisory board rand center global risk security well honorary chairman chinaunited states exchange foundation mustafa v koc also member international council chairman koc holding turkeys largest multinational corporation also sits international advisory board rolls royce global advisory board council foreign relations member steering committee bilderberg meetings former member international advisory board national bank kuwait honorary chairman turkish industrialists businessmens high advisory council gérard mestrallet chairman ceo gdf suez one largest energy conglomerates world board suez environment one major water privatization companies world also sits supervisory board axa major global french financial conglomerate also advisory board member siemens member european round table industrialists international business council world economic forum john watson chairman ceo chevron corporation board american petroleum institute member national petroleum council business roundtable business council american society corporate executives chancellors board advisors university california davis also member international business council world economic forum chairman jpmorgan chase international jacob frenkel chairman ceo group thirty member international council also former vice chairman american international group 2004 2009 rescued massive government bailout former chairman merrill lynch international 2000 2004 former governor bank israel 1991 2000 frenkel economic counselor director research international monetary fund 1987 1991 prior david rockefeller professor international economics university chicago 1973 1987 addition frenkel former editor journal political economy former vice chairman board governors european bank reconstruction development former chairman board governors interamerican development bank former member international advisory board council foreign relations frenkel currently member board directors national bureau economic research nber member trilateral commission member international advisory council china development bank member board peterson institute international economics member economic advisory panel federal reserve bank new york member council united states italy member investment advisory council prime minister turkey sits board loews corporation sum clear evidence leadership jpmorgan chase isolated group individuals involved finance exclusively relegated banking world highly networked influential group consisting central figures global plutocracy referred transnational capitalist class significant economic social political power refer jpmorgan chase simply bank like referring united states country geopolitical force unto conglomerate embedded within transnational network elite institutions individuals jpmorgan chase goes beyond financial indicators put simply one powerful banks world earlier version article first appeared occupycom andrew gavin marshall160is independent researcher writer based montreal canada project manager of160 peoples book project hosts weekly podcast empire power people on160 boilingfrogspostcom | 2,477 |
<p>Mike Greenberg (“Greenie”) of Mike and Mike in the Morning leads the new wave of the negative reaction thought and talk in relation to Barry Bonds. Managing this thought requires a false sense of empathy with Henry Aaron and a false projection of today’s society. Greenberg says he understands why Aaron doesn’t want to be in attendance when Bonds hits number 756. Greenberg thinks of “all Aaron went through” to break Babe Ruth’s record and how it must be difficult to watch his record broken by the villainous Bonds.</p>
<p>Greenie–an apropos baseball nickname if I’ve ever heard one–remembers what his father told him about Aaron’s pursuit of Ruth and how he was treated by a large segment of America. The stories must have included Aaron reviving bag filled with hate mail and perhaps daily death threats. They must have included the fear of seeing the two young male fans running onto the field as Aaron rounded second base and the thought of most black and many white Americans holding their collective breath, fearing Aaron might be physically assaulted. Greenberg knows Bowie Kuhn refused to consider showing up to witness a black man breaking the sacrosanct Ruth’s mark.</p>
<p>Make no mistake, the climate of hate over Henry Aaron in 1974 hung like humidity just before a Georgia thunderstorm.</p>
<p>But.</p>
<p>This attempt at empathy for Aaron and “the times” of 1974 omits a very real truth: nothing has changed. This, poor Henry Aaron talk omits the stark and simple fact that Barry Bonds has received hate mail and death threats for about 17 years.</p>
<p>That’s right, folks–17 years.</p>
<p>Remember when the words, “Barry Bonds” and “slump” seemed to exclusively coincide with the baseball postseason? The public response to those slumps was hate mail and death threats. Remember when it was clear that Bonds was going to leave Pittsburgh, when the Pirates organization was not going to pony up the money to keep their superstar? The public response was hate mail and death threats.</p>
<p>On April 10 I wrote a commentary, “Hank Aaron Makes hating Barry Bonds Real.” The gist of the commentary is that Bud Selig and Aaron’s sporadic biting, low-brow remarks mixed with intermittent silence and refusal to–in Selig’s case, indecision–attend any game in which Bonds might break his record contributes to the hateful sentiment surrounding Bonds’ pursuit of the hallowed homerun mark. On April 23 I wrote, “Barry Bonds: A Step closer to Aaron, A Step Farther from America’s Hearts.” Selig and Aaron have, wittingly, heightened the anti-Bonds talk.</p>
<p>Think there’s not hate mail coming to Bonds now?</p>
<p>The times have changed, people–but not necessarily for the better. Aaron never had to deal with 24-hour sports programming and the Internet. Not only is there hate mail from the public, there are open hate letters and what amounts to hate speech about Bonds from the press. For a solid three years columnist Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury-News and the infamous San Francisco Chronicle duo of Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams did their level best to nail Bonds to a cross, turn it upside-down and crucify him old school Roman style.</p>
<p>Those three “newsmen” opened the floodgates for other journalists to express their hate for all things Bonds. And they in turn acted as mentors for the hordes on the Internet to mimic rabid dogs biting a cornered Bonds to assuage the pain their culturally-poisoned brains.</p>
<p>So, who really has it worse, Bonds or Aaron? Forget the “self-inflicted” excuse with Bonds; the, ‘he’s always been surly with the press’ excuse, the ‘performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) innuendo’ excuse, the, ‘his teammates don’t like him (all 10 or 12 of them)’ lies. Aaron was never known as a nice guy to the press during his playing days. He was wary of the press and largely uncommunicative with the image makers from the sports writing world.</p>
<p>Today, there are new and improved methods of anti-Bond hate speech acting to add pressure to Bonds’ pursuit. They are: silence, the question of whether or not Aaron’s homerun mark can actually be viewed as a hallowed record, and the juxtaposition of the racism of 1974 and today’s world where, if you listen to the like of Greenberg, racism doesn’t seem to exist. Many writers and fans are in the, “just turn your back” camp. You see spectators wearing tee-shirts with asterisks at San Francisco Giants away games. You hear the reporters on television shows like Mike Wise of the Washington Post saying he just doesn’t care about Bonds or what he does in relation to Aaron’s record.</p>
<p>The “hallowed mark” question was raised in huge bold print on the front of today’s San Diego Union-Tribune’s sports page. The thought here is that if we must pay attention to Bonds, we will diminish the record and therefore render Bonds’ efforts inconsequential.</p>
<p>Finally, there’s the Greenberg tack. It’s the false comparison that makes Henry Aaron forever a hero and civil right freedom fighter in the face of tens of thousands of hood-wearing fans in seats at every game in which the “Hammer” played.</p>
<p>And if you believe Greenberg and those other journalists and Internet scribes like him, Bonds comes from privilege and riches where racism doesn’t exist. If you believe Greenberg and his ilk, black men don’t get pulled over by the police just because they drive a nice car and the police aren’t alleged to brag to their peers that they’ll pull over a certain athlete the first chance they get.</p>
<p>This is not the today where today the Supreme Court has the temerity to use the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education anti-segregation ruling to, in essence, once again allow segregation in public schools. This is not the today where the “trouble rate” of NFL players is but 2%, but 39 black faces are splashed across the front page of USA Today as if they are representative the entire American sports universe.</p>
<p>This is an environment so bizarre that the vast majority of black–and some white ­professional athletes live in such fear of recrimination by league commissioners, the press, the Internet hounds, and fans in general, that they too are asking for crackdowns on that 2%–just so the pressure can be eased on the majority 98%. That, is racism in sports at its finest.</p>
<p>Oh, what a wonderful world in which Greenie and Barry live.</p>
<p>D. K. WILSON writes for the dynamic sports site <a href="http://thestartingfive.wordpress.com/" type="external">The Starting Five</a>. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:mesoanarchy@gmail.com" type="external">mesoanarchy@gmail.com</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | mike greenberg greenie mike mike morning leads new wave negative reaction thought talk relation barry bonds managing thought requires false sense empathy henry aaron false projection todays society greenberg says understands aaron doesnt want attendance bonds hits number 756 greenberg thinks aaron went break babe ruths record must difficult watch record broken villainous bonds greeniean apropos baseball nickname ive ever heard oneremembers father told aarons pursuit ruth treated large segment america stories must included aaron reviving bag filled hate mail perhaps daily death threats must included fear seeing two young male fans running onto field aaron rounded second base thought black many white americans holding collective breath fearing aaron might physically assaulted greenberg knows bowie kuhn refused consider showing witness black man breaking sacrosanct ruths mark make mistake climate hate henry aaron 1974 hung like humidity georgia thunderstorm attempt empathy aaron times 1974 omits real truth nothing changed poor henry aaron talk omits stark simple fact barry bonds received hate mail death threats 17 years thats right folks17 years remember words barry bonds slump seemed exclusively coincide baseball postseason public response slumps hate mail death threats remember clear bonds going leave pittsburgh pirates organization going pony money keep superstar public response hate mail death threats april 10 wrote commentary hank aaron makes hating barry bonds real gist commentary bud selig aarons sporadic biting lowbrow remarks mixed intermittent silence refusal toin seligs case indecisionattend game bonds might break record contributes hateful sentiment surrounding bonds pursuit hallowed homerun mark april 23 wrote barry bonds step closer aaron step farther americas hearts selig aaron wittingly heightened antibonds talk think theres hate mail coming bonds times changed peoplebut necessarily better aaron never deal 24hour sports programming internet hate mail public open hate letters amounts hate speech bonds press solid three years columnist tim kawakami san jose mercurynews infamous san francisco chronicle duo mark fainaruwada lance williams level best nail bonds cross turn upsidedown crucify old school roman style three newsmen opened floodgates journalists express hate things bonds turn acted mentors hordes internet mimic rabid dogs biting cornered bonds assuage pain culturallypoisoned brains really worse bonds aaron forget selfinflicted excuse bonds hes always surly press excuse performanceenhancing drugs peds innuendo excuse teammates dont like 10 12 lies aaron never known nice guy press playing days wary press largely uncommunicative image makers sports writing world today new improved methods antibond hate speech acting add pressure bonds pursuit silence question whether aarons homerun mark actually viewed hallowed record juxtaposition racism 1974 todays world listen like greenberg racism doesnt seem exist many writers fans turn back camp see spectators wearing teeshirts asterisks san francisco giants away games hear reporters television shows like mike wise washington post saying doesnt care bonds relation aarons record hallowed mark question raised huge bold print front todays san diego uniontribunes sports page thought must pay attention bonds diminish record therefore render bonds efforts inconsequential finally theres greenberg tack false comparison makes henry aaron forever hero civil right freedom fighter face tens thousands hoodwearing fans seats every game hammer played believe greenberg journalists internet scribes like bonds comes privilege riches racism doesnt exist believe greenberg ilk black men dont get pulled police drive nice car police arent alleged brag peers theyll pull certain athlete first chance get today today supreme court temerity use 1954 brown v board education antisegregation ruling essence allow segregation public schools today trouble rate nfl players 2 39 black faces splashed across front page usa today representative entire american sports universe environment bizarre vast majority blackand white professional athletes live fear recrimination league commissioners press internet hounds fans general asking crackdowns 2just pressure eased majority 98 racism sports finest oh wonderful world greenie barry live k wilson writes dynamic sports site starting five reached mesoanarchygmailcom 160 160 160 | 628 |
<p>“Freedom isn’t free!”–so we are reminded by the ubiquitous yellow ribbon stickers on gas-guzzling SUVs. An online poll asks if the war in Iraq has been worth the loss of American lives, and the only options for response are: 1) A future of freedom and peace is worth fighting for; 2) It’s too high of a price to pay; and 3) Yes, but it’s time for the troops to come home. A newspaper story reports a mother’s consolation in another sad story about a soldier’s death in Iraq –“at least he died for freedom.” The sacrifice of our troops, we are told again and again, is simply the price of freedom.</p>
<p>We are told this and yet it is more and more obvious that the Bush Administration, rather than doing everything in their power to avoid war and find a peaceful solution, did in fact everything in their power to avoid a peaceful solution and manufacture a reason for war.</p>
<p>The United States went to war with Iraq as a result of the constant drumbeat from Bush Administration officials about the danger the nation faced from the evil Saddam Hussein. Though the regime of Saddam Hussein was easily toppled, the occupation of Iraq has bogged down in an intractable quagmire which has so far cost the country the lives of over 2000 soldiers, another 15,000 or so wounded, and over 200 billion dollars. The worst of it all is that, despite the turnover of the government to Iraqis, the elections, and attempts to draft a constitution, it appears that there is no end in sight. We are told that there is no exit, that Iraq will only slide further into the chaos of civil war if we pull out. The President says we must stay the course, though the course may take ten years or more, and may yet lead beyond Iraq, into Syria or Iran.</p>
<p>All of this and one undeniable fact is that no weapons of mass destruction were ever found. There weren’t really any mobile biological weapons labs, the aluminum tubes we were told about were not really for nuclear weapons production, and those sixteen words about Saddam’s attempts to procure nuclear material from Niger turned out to be based on forged documents. It also turned out, according to the 9/11 Commission Report, that there was no “operational” link between Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda, as Middle East experts had long asserted, and that there really was no credible evidence that Iraq cooperated in any way in the terrorist attacks against the United States.</p>
<p>It should be clear by now that it was not at all a matter of faulty intelligence that led the Bush Administration to be so wrong about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. The Downing Street Memos revealed that the Bush Administration was intent on “fixing the facts” in order to make the case for war; and now the Fitzgerald investigation into the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame has drawn attention to the White House Iraq Group, a secret cabal within the White House, whose mission was to fix the facts in order to make the way for war with Iraq.</p>
<p>Despite all this some still think that the sacrifice of our troops is the price of freedom. What they don’t understand is that, first of all, the war was never about freedom in the first place; and second, that the real price of freedom is not something that only a few must pay, but something that is required of all of us.</p>
<p>Bloody Purple Fingers</p>
<p>Is the war in Iraq really about freedom? Before addressing this question, it first of all must be noted that there is considerable confusion about what is really meant when it is claimed that the war is justified in the cause of freedom. Is it really about our freedom or their freedom? Of course, before the war the Bush Administration’s case for war was built on persuading the American people that it was our freedom that was threatened by Saddam Hussein and his stockpile and pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. After the war was launched and Saddam was deposed and no weapons of mass destruction were found, the Bush Administration began to put forth the idea that the war was really about their freedom –about liberating the Iraqi people from a despotic dictator. All the steps forward in the attempt to “democratize” Iraq –the turnover of the government, the elections, the attempts to draft a Constitution –are presented as evidence justifying the war. On our campus the College Republicans wave purple fingers (the mark indicating a vote in the Iraqi elections) in the air taunting those who opposed the war –“see those purple fingers are proof positive the war is about freedom, if you don’t support the war then you must be against freedom and democracy.”</p>
<p>This notion is so preposterous that it wouldn’t even merit being taken seriously except for the fact that so many Americans have fallen for it. To begin with, its ludicrous to imagine President Bush, the one who had ridiculed Al Gore’s attempts at “nation-building,”delivering a State of the Union address in January of 2003 in which he made no mention of the weapons of mass destruction, the attempts to procure nuclear weapons material, the ties to Al Qaeda and so on, and said instead that the American people must sacrifice a few thousand of their sons and daughters and spend a few hundred billion dollars in order to bring freedom and democracy to Iraq.</p>
<p>Bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq was clearly not the intention motivating the war against Iraq, and it certainly would not have persuaded the American people to make such a sacrifice. If the American people had not been subjected to a constant message of fear, warnings that they were in the “gravest danger” from catastrophic attacks from Saddam Hussein, there is simply no way American troops would be dying in Iraq today. The idea that the war is justified in the cause of bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq is nothing more than a pathetic after the fact justification when the original case for war proved to be so completely baseless.</p>
<p>Even if the liberation of the Iraqi people was not the reason for the war, could it serve as something of an ex post facto justification of the war? A case might sometimes be made for the use of force in a humanitarian intervention when a state turns against its own people, but can this really be said to be the case with Iraq in 2003? Although there were atrocities in the past, and sometimes with the full support of the government of the United States, the Iraqi people were not facing anything in March of 2003 that would justify the barbarity that has been inflicted upon them as a result of this war.</p>
<p>According to the Lancet report in November of 2004, as many as 100,000 civilians, most of whom were women and children, died as a result of coalition air strikes since the 2003 invasion.1 A case might have been made for armed humanitarian intervention in Uganda in the 1970s, or Rwanda in 1994, or even today in Sudan/Darfur; but Iraq in 2003 was not like any of those places. Peaceful means of dealing with the threat posed by Saddam to his own people were still available. Rather than being a legitimate response to a humanitarian crisis, the invasion of Iraq has only precipitated a humanitarian crisis. Now a year after the Lancet report and still no end in sight to the death and misery inflicted upon the Iraqi people, the idea that the war might be justified as a humanitarian intervention is nothing but a sick, a very sick joke.</p>
<p>What does it really come down to in waving those purple fingers and claiming that the war is justified in bringing freedom and democracy to Iraq? If there really was no case for war as a response to aggression or the imminent threat of aggression, and no case for armed humanitarian intervention –if the war was not truly a last resort –then the war was not really necessary, and an unnecessary war is a war of aggression. To wave those purple fingers is thus an attempt to justify a war of aggression, and a war of aggression was condemned as the supreme crime at the Nuremberg Tribunal. The attempt to justify such a crime in the name of freedom and democracy is absurd on its face and does nothing but discredit the very ideals of freedom and democracy.</p>
<p>The cruel irony of course is that the elections in Iraq are only going to lead to something close to an Islamic theocracy and are likely to lead only to further bloodshed for the Iraqi people. As Riverbend, the Iraqi woman blogger recently put it,” American and British sons and daughters and husbands and wives are dying so that this coming December, Iraqis can go out and vote for Iran influenced clerics to knock us back a good four hundred years.”2 The war in Iraq is simply not about their freedom, and the atrocity of this war is certainly not justified in enabling the Iraqis to hold elections –their bloody purple fingers justify nothing.</p>
<p>Beware The War on Terrorism</p>
<p>Can the war in Iraq really be about defending our freedom? Obviously if there never was any real imminent threat from Iraq, the war cannot be seen as defensive. Since Iraq had no weapons to pose a threat, the only way the war can be about our freedom is if it is in some way tied to the broader War on Terrorism. Even though there was never any connection established between Iraq and 9/11, and even though numerous authorities on the Middle-East as well as Intelligence analysts had long pointed out the deep antipathy between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, in statement after carefully crafted statement in the run-up to the war, the Bush Administration strove to conjure up in the minds of the American people a link that wasn’t there between Iraq and al Qaeda.</p>
<p>Despite the fact that the 9/11 Commission Report concluded that there was no connection between Iraq and 9/11, the Bush Administration still persists in maintaining that the war in Iraq is a part of the War on Terrorism –that somehow bringing freedom to Iraq would stop terrorism. The revelations, however, by Bush’s former Treasury Secretary, Paul O’Neill, that the administration was intent on attacking Iraq long before 9/11, before there was a War on Terrorism, in fact from the very first meeting of the National Security Council when the administration first took office, expose this notion to be simply another blatant deception.3</p>
<p>There are also the revelations by Richard Clarke, the former Chair of the Counter-terrorism Security Group, that the Bush Administration ignored warnings throughout the summer of 2001 about potential terrorist attacks from al Qaeda and then diverted attention away from the real problem of terrorism in order to focus upon the invasion of Iraq.4</p>
<p>It is certainly beyond question, as Bush’s 2003 State of the Union Address makes clear, that the march to war was a well-orchestrated campaign to play on the fears generated by the terrorists attacks of 9/11. Whereas the Bush Administration contends that the war in Iraq was necessary in the broader War on Terrorism, the revelations of O’Neill and Clarke together suggest that it was really the other way around, and that the War on Terrorism was necessary in order to have war with Iraq. One might indeed draw some quite sinister implications from this.</p>
<p>Philosopher David Luban suggests another disturbing aspect of the War on Terrorism. In conflating the rule of law with the rule of war, the whole War on Terrorism has undermined human rights.5 Some of the crucial differences between the model of law and the model of war, as Luban points out, are that in war, but not in law, it is permissible to use lethal force on enemy troops regardless of their degree of personal involvement, and that in war, but not in law, “collateral damage” is permissible. Another crucial difference is that the requirements of evidence and proof are drastically weaker in war than in law.</p>
<p>Luban argues that the Bush Administration has selectively combined elements of the war model and the law model in the War on Terrorism in order to maximize its ability to use lethal force against terrorists, with the result that most traditional rights of a military adversary are eliminated as well as the rights of innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire. The War on Terrorism has thus suspended human rights for the duration of the war.</p>
<p>The War on Terrorism is not going to bring an end to the problem of terrorism. No amount of force is likely to deter people from becoming terrorists as long as we continue to give them reasons to become terrorists. As is written in the Tao Te Ching: “If men are not afraid to die, it is of no avail to threaten them with death.”6 The War on Terrorism threatens thus to be an endless war and effectively means the end of human rights.</p>
<p>The only way to bring an end to the problem of terrorism is to stop adding fuel to the fire of terrorism. This, of course, would involve actually coming to terms with the underlying causes of terrorism. The short answer to the problem of terrorism is, first, to treat acts of terrorism as criminal acts to be dealt with under the framework of law, and secondly, not to exacerbate the problem of terrorism by committing acts of terrorism ourselves. Once it really sinks in just how unnecessary and unjustified the Iraq war is, it is hard not to see the slaughter of up to 100,000 innocents civilians an act of terror that dwarfs the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Rather than bringing and end to the problem of terrorism, bringing democracy to Iraq through an act of terrorism will only further fan the flames of terrorism.</p>
<p>America’s Moment of Truth</p>
<p>Of course, most Americans like to think of their country as a just country, a shining beacon of the light of freedom to the world, signified by that grey lady of New York harbor. Though they would have to close their eyes to a good deal of the history of the United States, they would certainly like to think that their country, being a shining beacon of light, would never go to war without justification, and that when the nation does go to war it is in defense of that dearly cherished freedom. This, of course, is why the Bush Administration was forced to go to such lengths in exaggerating the threat posed by Saddam Hussein, and why it must insist to the end that our troops are dying for freedom.</p>
<p>The architects of the war within the Bush Administration, however, were never for a moment the least bit concerned with whether or not the war is justified. Their view might be summed up as the view that “wars are not properly classified as just or unjust, they are only won or lost, won with overwhelming force, and lost with timidity.” This is the view known as “war realism,” a favorite of political scientists, scholars and practitioners within the field of international relations, the military establishment, and, of course, the neo-con puppet masters in the White House.</p>
<p>War realism is part of the legacy of 17th century political philosopher Thomas Hobbes, a figure who was deeply influential in developing the whole concept of government by social contract. For Hobbes, the state of nature, which is merely a hypothetical construct about human society without government, is a state of war. The state of nature is a state of war because there is no law to govern it, everyone is free to get away with whatever they can get away with; it is a state of never ending fear and danger of violent death, and the life of man in the state of nature, as Hobbes famously puts it, is thus “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short.”7 Hobbes is quite explicit that in this state of nature the question of justice and injustice cannot even arise: “To this war of every man against every man, this is also consequent; that nothing can be unjust. The notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice have there no place. Where there is no common power, there is no law: where there is no law, no injustice.”8</p>
<p>It is to escape this state of war, according to Hobbes, that men enter into a social contract, lay down their unbounded right to everything, and agree to be governed by laws. War realism proceeds from the notion that, while there are laws that govern individuals within a nation-state, nation-states are in a Hobbesian state of nature with respect to one another. Wars are thus not properly classified as just or unjust because the notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice, have no place in the international arena.</p>
<p>War realists think it is simply naive to talk about the justice and injustice of war. All that matters in global politics is cunning and strength in securing the vital interests of the state. In a gross caricature of Nietzsche, war realists, like the architects of war in the Bush Administration, view the international arena as an anarchic state of nature where only a ruthless will to power should rule. Their view is well outlined in The Project for the New American Century, a document which advocates that the United States should take full advantage of its status as the lone superpower in the wake of the end of the cold war and boldly pursue its strategic interests.9 The Iraq War is a demonstration of the war realist doctrine in The Project for the New American Century put into practice.</p>
<p>A recent analysis of the Iraq War by George Friedman of the Stratfor intelligence agency also reveals this war realist point of view.10 In Friedman’s analysis the three reasons for the war trotted out by the Bush Administration –that there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, that Iraq was complicit with al Qaeda, and that a democratic Iraq would help stop terrorism –were untenable on their face. The underlying reason for the war was simply the “need to demonstrate to the world in general and the Muslim world in particular that the United States not only has the stomach for war, but also can be decisively victorious.” More specifically, Friedman lists the following three reasons:</p>
<p>1. To bring pressure on the Saudi government, which was allowing Saudis to funnel money to al Qaeda, to halt this enablement and to cooperate with U.S. intelligence. The presence of U.S. troops to the north of Saudi Arabia was intended to drive home the seriousness of the situation. 2. To take control of the most strategic country in the Middle East –Iraq borders seven critical countries –and to use it as a base of operations against other countries that were cooperating with al Qaeda. 3. To demonstrate in the Muslim world that the American reputation for weakness and indecisiveness –well-earned in the two decades prior to the Sept. 11 attacks –was no longer valid. The United States was aware that the invasion of Iraq would enrage the Muslim world, but banked on it also frightening them.</p>
<p>So there we have it, according to this analysis the war had nothing to do with responding to an act of aggression or any threat of aggression from Saddam Hussein. There is nothing Hussein could have done in terms of compliance with UN resolutions. No matter how completely he would disarm, Iraq was going to be invaded and occupied simply because it served strategic interests. Of course the war was all along a war of aggression, but Bush could not admit to this, and he was counting on the swell of patriotic fervor in the afterglow of victory to silence any dissent. As Freidman puts it “[t]he key to understanding the situation was that Bush wanted to blackmail the Saudis, use Iraq as a military base and terrify Muslims. He wanted to do this, but he did not want to admit this was what he was doing. He therefore provided implausible justifications, operating under the theory that a rapid victory brushes aside troubling questions.”</p>
<p>There is no doubt that if there had been a quick and decisive victory, and the occupation of Iraq had not bogged down in the intractable quagmire that it is today, they would have completely gotten away with it. Cindy Sheehan and any other voices of dissent would have been drowned out by the din of patriotic celebration. Whether Fitzgerald’s investigation produced any indictments or not, no one in the mainstream media would be paying any attention to the question of whether or not the Bush Administration lied to the American people in order to lead the nation to war. From the realist standpoint the mistake was not in going to war, and not even in lying to the people in order to go to war, but in not preparing properly for the occupation and thus securing a decisive victory.</p>
<p>Sometimes, as Nietzsche had noted with regard to Germany’s victory in the Franco-Prussian war, victory in war can be more dangerous than defeat.11 As the prospects for victory in Iraq become more and more remote, and troubling questions about the war begin at last to surface in the mainstream consciousness, the American people face a decisive moment of truth. The curtain is finally being pulled back from behind the puppet masters. As a result of the Fitzgerald investigation, the Downing Street Memos, the Dalfour Report, and the sad state of affairs in Iraq, the American people finally have the chance to see how they were deceived and manipulated by their government in order to send their sons and daughters to die in an unnecessary war.</p>
<p>Those moments are extremely rare when a people are forced to confront the disparity between their ideals and a painful truth about themselves. Such a moment occurred at Gettysburg when Lincoln forced the nation to face up to the disparity between the ideal of a nation founded on the proposition that all men are created equal and the truth about slavery. America today faces such a moment of truth when we as a nation are going to have to decide whether or not this nation is going to live up to its ideal of being a just nation.</p>
<p>If we as a nation accept the view that wars are not properly classified as just or unjust, but only won or lost, then we have forsaken justice and will have placed ourselves amongst the most despicable nations in history. This is exactly how the Nazis thought. They were so convinced of their superiority and the rightness of their cause that they had no hesitation in launching wars of aggression.</p>
<p>The international arena does not have to be conceived in terms of a Hobbesian state of nature. Hobbes thought the state of nature to be so dangerous and insecure that men would be impelled to abandon it and enter into the social contract. Kant draws out the implications of this view for the relations between nations:</p>
<p>Each nation, for the sake of its own security, can and ought to demand of the others that they should enter along with it into a constitution, similar to the civil one, within which the rights of each could be secured. This would mean establishing a federation of peoples.12</p>
<p>Kant argued that any nation that refused to enter into this federation and chose to remain in a state of nature was deserving of profound contempt. Such a federation of peoples would seek to end all wars and, Kant reasoned, was the only hope for real peace in the world. Kant’s idea eventually manifested in the 20th century, first in the League of Nations, and then finally in the United Nations.</p>
<p>The UN Charter, to which the United States is a signatory, authorizes the use of force only in response to aggression or otherwise only when authorized by the UN Security Council. Any other use of force is a war of aggression explicitly condemned as a crime against peace at the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials. US Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, the chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg Tribunal, had this to say about the crimes of war: “If certain acts in violation of treaties are crimes they are crimes whether the United States does them or whether Germany does them, and we are not prepared to lay down a rule of criminal conduct against others which we would not be willing to have invoked against us.”13</p>
<p>The neo-con architects of the war in Iraq choose to regard the international arena as a Hobbesian state of nature. The Bush Administration thus looks upon the United Nations with utter disdain. The recently appointed ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, has contemptuously said the UN shouldn’t even exist. To the puppet masters in the White House, the United Nations and international law shouldn’t exist –they are merely obstacles to work around or set aside in achieving what they conceive to be the nation’s vital interests.</p>
<p>John Locke, to whom we owe the proposition that all men are created equal, found Hobbes’ social contract to be just another form of tyranny. The principle difference between their conceptions of government arises from a different conception of the state of nature. For Locke, the state of nature, though inconvenient, is not a state of war. It is not a state of war because “[t]he state of nature has a law of nature to govern it, which obliges every one: And reason, which is that law, teaches all mankind, who will but consult it, that being all equal and independent, no one ought to harm another in his life, health, liberty, or possessions.”14</p>
<p>From a Lockean position, the notions of justice and injustice do have a place in the relations between states because the international arena is not a lawless state of nature. Locke’s conception of the state of nature is grounded in an older conception of natural law, a view that can be traced back to Aquinas, which holds that nature is governed by a divine moral law that reason can discover. We are skeptical of this notion today in our post-Enlightenment, post-modern world –skeptical of our ability to discover what the moral law is, or skeptical of the view that there is a moral law at all to nature. War realism is grounded in this moral skepticism.</p>
<p>There are good reasons for this skepticism. However, perhaps morality simply comes down to the choices that we make; and it is through those choices that we define ourselves. A nation, too, perhaps defines itself by its moral choices. Now with the curtain pulled back on the war in Iraq, the American people have a choice. We can continue to be blinded by the Bush Administration’s campaign of deception and manipulation of our fear, and thus allow the neo-con power play to turn the United States into a rogue nation and the world into a lawless Hobbesian state of nature. If we do, however, the future promises to be plagued by constant wars and a never ending problem of terrorism –and the life of mankind will be nasty, brutish, and short. We can, on the other hand, rededicate ourselves to striving to become a just nation, a responsible member of a federation of nations truly committed to peace and respect for human rights. When we have truly renounced wars of aggression perhaps one day we may once again by a light to all nations.</p>
<p>In a perhaps surprising passage, Nietzsche perhaps gives us an even higher ideal to think about. He finds it questionable whether a commitment to using force only in self-defense will really lead to peace. Underlying the need for a military force even in self-defense is a distrust and ill-will toward the neighbor that is founded upon the presupposition of one’s own morality and the neighbor’s immorality. This good versus evil mentality is as bad as war and worse for it is the cause of wars. The only means to real peace is to abandon the justification of war in self-defense just as completely as the thirst for conquest. Of course, this notion will seem completely far-fetched and unrealistic to most –it presupposes an entirely higher order of will to power than is evident in humankind today:</p>
<p>And perhaps there will come a great day on which a nation distinguished for wars and victories and for the highest development of military discipline and thinking, and accustomed to making the heaviest sacrifices on behalf of these things, will cry of its own free will: ‘we shall shatter the sword’ –and demolish its entire military machine down to its last foundations. To disarm while being the best armed, out of an elevation of sensibility –that is the means to real peace, which must always rest on a disposition for peace: whereas the so-called armed peace such as now parades about in every country is a disposition to fractiousness which trusts neither itself nor its neighbor and fails to lay down its arms half out of hatred, half out of fear. Better to perish than to hate and fear, and twofold better to perish than to make oneself hated and feared –this must one day become the supreme maxim of every individual state!15</p>
<p>The Real Price of Freedom</p>
<p>A frightening BBC documentary The Power of Nightmares directed by Adam Curtis, which Peter Bergen referred to in The Nation as “arguably the most important film about the ‘war on terrorism’ since the events of September 11,” presents the provocative thesis that the entire problem of terrorism is exaggerated and that al Qaeda is “largely a phantom of the imagination of the US national security apparatus.”16 Against Curtis, Bergen argues that there really is a serious problem of terrorism, but that Curtis’ documentary is still valuable in raising questions about the political manipulation of fear.</p>
<p>From his prison cell during the time of the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, Herman Goering left us much to consider about the political power of the manipulation of fear in this infamous exchange with an intelligence official:</p>
<p>“Of course the people don’t want war: Neither in Russia, nor in England, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship.”</p>
<p>“There is one difference,” I pointed out. “In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.”</p>
<p>“Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.”17</p>
<p>Bergen is surely right that the problem of terrorism is real; nevertheless, The Power of Nightmares is on to something, and unfortunately Goering would have the last laugh today at the way our democracy has been undone through the slickest manipulation of the fear resulting from terrorism. The Bush Administration has used the problem of terrorism in order to pursue its strategic interests, and it is indeed a dark, very dark, but legitimate question to consider what lengths they have gone to do so. Whose interests are really being served in the War on Terrorism and the war in Iraq? Certainly not that of the American people, for the war in Iraq and the whole War on Terrorism will only lead to an ever increasing danger from terrorism and only promise a bleak future of endless wars.</p>
<p>Plato warned about the dangers of democracy in the Republic. He thought democracy would turn into tyranny, and freedom turn into its opposite, when the leader “is always stirring up some war so that the people may be in need of a leader.”18 Plato did not have much faith in democracy to begin with, of course, rooted as he was in the ancient world view which did not hold any expectation that the masses could be wise.</p>
<p>Our modern democracy is founded upon the Enlightenment optimism which holds that all of us have the natural light of reason and are capable of wisdom. Our founding fathers were aware, however, of the fundamental problem of democracy, the problem Plato pointed to, that the majority might not be wise, and thus that the freedom to vote, as is perhaps being demonstrated in Iraq as well as here in the United States, is no guarantee against tyranny.</p>
<p>James Madison addresses this problem of the tyranny of the majority in The Federalist Papers. The problem as he understood it arises with the development of factions, which he defines as “a number of citizens, whether amounting to a majority or minority of the whole, who are united and actuated by some common impulse of passion, or of interest, adverse to the rights of other citizens, or to the permanent and aggregate interests of the community.”19 There is no problem when a faction is in the minority as it will always be overruled by the majority. However, as Madison recognizes, “[w]hen a majority is included in a faction, the form of popular government, on the other hand, enables it to sacrifice to its ruling passion or interest both the public good and the rights of other citizens.”20</p>
<p>It is this problem of the potential tyranny of the majority which led Madison to recommend that our form of democracy be a republic. In a pure democracy there would be nothing to check the danger that arises when the majority lack wisdom and endanger the public good and the rights of other citizens. Madison hoped that a system of elected representatives, and a separation of powers between different branches of government, could provide this check. For one thing, it would take longer, and thus allow more time for reflection and debate, for legislation to pass through the separate houses of representatives. Madison also thought that a republic would enable the growth of a larger nation, with respect to both territory and population, and with this wider sphere “you take in a greater variety of parties and interests; you make it less probable that a majority of the whole will have a common motive to invade the rights of other citizens.”21</p>
<p>There is reason for considerable skepticism today whether this representative system is enough to check the danger of the tyranny of the majority. The power of a corporately controlled media in shaping popular opinion is certainly one of the greatest dangers facing our democracy. It has led to the near total domination of the political landscape in at least the last quarter century by a political party that almost from its inception has been more concerned with protecting corporate interests rather than the public good. The almost complete dissolution of any real difference between the political parties, and the success in the suppression of any real dissent, as demonstrated in the run-up to the Iraq war, are also signs of this danger.</p>
<p>Henry David Thoreau addressed the problem of democracy in the influential essay “Civil Disobedience.” Thoreau recognized two dangers facing democracy. One is when the will of the majority is subverted by the influence of a few, as Thoreau thought was the case with “the present Mexican war, the work of comparatively a few individuals using the standing government as their tool.”22 The other danger, the problem of the tyranny of the majority, was illustrated by the problem of slavery, as Thoreau was quite sure that the majority of the people in 1848 were not wise enough to vote for its abolishment. Thoreau offered the idea of non-violent civil disobedience as an instrument by which the few, who serve their country with their conscience, can perhaps awaken the majority from their ignorance. The Civil Rights Movement certainly proved that Thoreau’s theory can work, though it also proved just how difficult it is to put into practice.</p>
<p>Though perhaps sometimes the price of freedom may require the blood of patriots in defending a country from attack, Thoreau did not think that military service is the highest way that one can serve one’s country. As soldiers marched off to an unjust war of aggression against Mexico, Thoreau’s assessment of those who serve their country only with their bodies, as instruments of war, is rather harsh, and it is hard to imagine these words being heard today in America: “they put themselves on a level with wood and earth and stones; and wooden men can perhaps be manufactured that will serve the purpose as well. Such command no more respect than men of straw of a lump of dirt. They have the same sort of worth only as horses and dogs.”23</p>
<p>Perhaps this is indeed too harsh for maybe it’s too much to ask the young men and women we send to die in wars to be wise enough to understand what they are really being asked to do. This is why it must be the absolutely the very worst thing a President could ever do, to lie to the nation and send soldiers to die in an unjust war. In sending them to die in a war that was unnecessary and thus unjust, the President has treated these brave sons and daughters worse than horses and dogs. The fact that George W. Bush is even President at all is demonstration enough that the freedom to vote is no guarantee against tyranny. It is certainly about time to bring an end to the tyranny of George II.</p>
<p>Freedom isn’t free, but the real price of freedom is not something that only the few who serve in the military must pay, but is rather something that is required of every citizen in a democracy. The price of freedom is an examined life. This requires the courage to question, the effort to become informed, and capacity to critically think about the important issues of the day. Unfortunately, too few today seem to really understand the price of freedom. As Kierkegaard once quipped: “People rarely make use of the freedom they have, for example, freedom of thought, instead they demand freedom of speech as compensation.”24</p>
<p>America is only an experiment in democracy, and it must always remain thus. We can never take for granted that it has already been a mission accomplished. If the people do not have the capacity or the courage for the examined life, then there will always be the problem of the tyranny of the majority. Those who have taken our freedom for granted and have not dared to question authority and think for themselves, those who allowed this nation to be led blindly over the cliff and into the abyss of this unnecessary and unjust war, have not paid the price of freedom.</p>
<p>TIMOTHY J. FREEMAN teaches philosophy at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:freeman@hawaii.edu" type="external">freeman@hawaii.edu</a>.</p>
<p>Notes</p>
<p>1. Les Roberts, et al, “Mortality before and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq: cluster sample survey,” Lancet 2004; 364: 1857-64. Published online Ocotber 29, 2004 ().</p>
<p>2. Baghdad Burning, November 6, 2005. ().</p>
<p>3. Ron Suskind, The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House, and the Education of Paul O’Neill (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004).</p>
<p>4. Richard Clarke, Against All Enemies : Inside America’s War on Terror (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2004).</p>
<p>5. David Luban, “The War on Terrorism and the End of Human Rights,” Philosophy and Public Policy Quarterly, Vol. 22, No.3 (Summer 2002).</p>
<p>6. Gia-Fu Feng &amp; Jane English, trans. Tao Te Ching (New York: Vintage Books, 1989), §74.</p>
<p>7. Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, ed. Michael Oakeshott (New York: Macmillan, 1946), ch. 13, p. 82.</p>
<p>8. Leviathan, ch. 13, p. 83.</p>
<p>9. Project for the New American Century ().</p>
<p>10. George Friedman, “Four Years On: Who is Winning the War, and How Can Anyone Tell?” Stratfor.com (September 13, 2005).</p>
<p>11. Friedrich Nietzsche, Untimely Meditations, David Strauss: the Confessor and the Writer, ed. Daniel Breazeale, trans. R.J. Hollingdale, Cambridge Texts in the History of Philosophy (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997), §1.</p>
<p>12. Immanuel Kant, “Toward Perpetual Peace,” in Steven M. Cahn, ed. Political Philosophy: The Essential Texts (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 384.</p>
<p>13. Robert Jackson, International Conference on Military Trials : London, 1945, Minutes of Conference Session of July 23, 1945. ().</p>
<p>14. John Locke, Second Treatise of Government, from Two Treatises of Government, 2nd ed, Peter Laslett, ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1967), ch II, §6.</p>
<p>15. Friedrich Nietzsche, “The Wanderer and His Shadow,” Human, All Too Human, trans. R.J. Hollingdale (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), §284.</p>
<p>16. Peter Bergen, “Beware the Holy War,” The Nation, 20 June 2005, 25.</p>
<p>17. G.M. Gilbert, Nuremberg Diary (New York: Farrar, Straus and Company, 1947), pp. 278-279.</p>
<p>18. Plato, Republic in The Collected Dialogues of Plato, Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns, eds. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1961), 566e.</p>
<p>19. James Madison, “Federalist No. 10” in The Federalist, Jacob E. Cooke, ed. (Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 1961), p. 57.</p>
<p>20. “Federalist No. 10,” pp. 60-61.</p>
<p>21. “Federalist No. 10,” p. 64.</p>
<p>22. Henry David Thoreau, “Civil Disobedience,” in Henry David Thoreau: Collected Essays and Poems (New York: Library of America, 2001), p. 203.</p>
<p>23. “Civil Disobedience,” p. 205.</p>
<p>24. Soren Kierkegaard, The Journals, trans. Clancy Martin, in Existentialism, 2nd. Ed., Robert C. Solomon, ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005), p. 6.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | freedom isnt freeso reminded ubiquitous yellow ribbon stickers gasguzzling suvs online poll asks war iraq worth loss american lives options response 1 future freedom peace worth fighting 2 high price pay 3 yes time troops come home newspaper story reports mothers consolation another sad story soldiers death iraq least died freedom sacrifice troops told simply price freedom told yet obvious bush administration rather everything power avoid war find peaceful solution fact everything power avoid peaceful solution manufacture reason war united states went war iraq result constant drumbeat bush administration officials danger nation faced evil saddam hussein though regime saddam hussein easily toppled occupation iraq bogged intractable quagmire far cost country lives 2000 soldiers another 15000 wounded 200 billion dollars worst despite turnover government iraqis elections attempts draft constitution appears end sight told exit iraq slide chaos civil war pull president says must stay course though course may take ten years may yet lead beyond iraq syria iran one undeniable fact weapons mass destruction ever found werent really mobile biological weapons labs aluminum tubes told really nuclear weapons production sixteen words saddams attempts procure nuclear material niger turned based forged documents also turned according 911 commission report operational link saddam hussein al qaeda middle east experts long asserted really credible evidence iraq cooperated way terrorist attacks united states clear matter faulty intelligence led bush administration wrong threat posed saddam hussein downing street memos revealed bush administration intent fixing facts order make case war fitzgerald investigation outing cia agent valerie plame drawn attention white house iraq group secret cabal within white house whose mission fix facts order make way war iraq despite still think sacrifice troops price freedom dont understand first war never freedom first place second real price freedom something must pay something required us bloody purple fingers war iraq really freedom addressing question first must noted considerable confusion really meant claimed war justified cause freedom really freedom freedom course war bush administrations case war built persuading american people freedom threatened saddam hussein stockpile pursuit weapons mass destruction war launched saddam deposed weapons mass destruction found bush administration began put forth idea war really freedom liberating iraqi people despotic dictator steps forward attempt democratize iraq turnover government elections attempts draft constitution presented evidence justifying war campus college republicans wave purple fingers mark indicating vote iraqi elections air taunting opposed war see purple fingers proof positive war freedom dont support war must freedom democracy notion preposterous wouldnt even merit taken seriously except fact many americans fallen begin ludicrous imagine president bush one ridiculed al gores attempts nationbuildingdelivering state union address january 2003 made mention weapons mass destruction attempts procure nuclear weapons material ties al qaeda said instead american people must sacrifice thousand sons daughters spend hundred billion dollars order bring freedom democracy iraq bringing freedom democracy iraq clearly intention motivating war iraq certainly would persuaded american people make sacrifice american people subjected constant message fear warnings gravest danger catastrophic attacks saddam hussein simply way american troops would dying iraq today idea war justified cause bringing freedom democracy iraq nothing pathetic fact justification original case war proved completely baseless even liberation iraqi people reason war could serve something ex post facto justification war case might sometimes made use force humanitarian intervention state turns people really said case iraq 2003 although atrocities past sometimes full support government united states iraqi people facing anything march 2003 would justify barbarity inflicted upon result war according lancet report november 2004 many 100000 civilians women children died result coalition air strikes since 2003 invasion1 case might made armed humanitarian intervention uganda 1970s rwanda 1994 even today sudandarfur iraq 2003 like places peaceful means dealing threat posed saddam people still available rather legitimate response humanitarian crisis invasion iraq precipitated humanitarian crisis year lancet report still end sight death misery inflicted upon iraqi people idea war might justified humanitarian intervention nothing sick sick joke really come waving purple fingers claiming war justified bringing freedom democracy iraq really case war response aggression imminent threat aggression case armed humanitarian intervention war truly last resort war really necessary unnecessary war war aggression wave purple fingers thus attempt justify war aggression war aggression condemned supreme crime nuremberg tribunal attempt justify crime name freedom democracy absurd face nothing discredit ideals freedom democracy cruel irony course elections iraq going lead something close islamic theocracy likely lead bloodshed iraqi people riverbend iraqi woman blogger recently put american british sons daughters husbands wives dying coming december iraqis go vote iran influenced clerics knock us back good four hundred years2 war iraq simply freedom atrocity war certainly justified enabling iraqis hold elections bloody purple fingers justify nothing beware war terrorism war iraq really defending freedom obviously never real imminent threat iraq war seen defensive since iraq weapons pose threat way war freedom way tied broader war terrorism even though never connection established iraq 911 even though numerous authorities middleeast well intelligence analysts long pointed deep antipathy saddam hussein osama bin laden statement carefully crafted statement runup war bush administration strove conjure minds american people link wasnt iraq al qaeda despite fact 911 commission report concluded connection iraq 911 bush administration still persists maintaining war iraq part war terrorism somehow bringing freedom iraq would stop terrorism revelations however bushs former treasury secretary paul oneill administration intent attacking iraq long 911 war terrorism fact first meeting national security council administration first took office expose notion simply another blatant deception3 also revelations richard clarke former chair counterterrorism security group bush administration ignored warnings throughout summer 2001 potential terrorist attacks al qaeda diverted attention away real problem terrorism order focus upon invasion iraq4 certainly beyond question bushs 2003 state union address makes clear march war wellorchestrated campaign play fears generated terrorists attacks 911 whereas bush administration contends war iraq necessary broader war terrorism revelations oneill clarke together suggest really way around war terrorism necessary order war iraq one might indeed draw quite sinister implications philosopher david luban suggests another disturbing aspect war terrorism conflating rule law rule war whole war terrorism undermined human rights5 crucial differences model law model war luban points war law permissible use lethal force enemy troops regardless degree personal involvement war law collateral damage permissible another crucial difference requirements evidence proof drastically weaker war law luban argues bush administration selectively combined elements war model law model war terrorism order maximize ability use lethal force terrorists result traditional rights military adversary eliminated well rights innocent bystanders caught crossfire war terrorism thus suspended human rights duration war war terrorism going bring end problem terrorism amount force likely deter people becoming terrorists long continue give reasons become terrorists written tao te ching men afraid die avail threaten death6 war terrorism threatens thus endless war effectively means end human rights way bring end problem terrorism stop adding fuel fire terrorism course would involve actually coming terms underlying causes terrorism short answer problem terrorism first treat acts terrorism criminal acts dealt framework law secondly exacerbate problem terrorism committing acts terrorism really sinks unnecessary unjustified iraq war hard see slaughter 100000 innocents civilians act terror dwarfs terrorist attacks 911 rather bringing end problem terrorism bringing democracy iraq act terrorism fan flames terrorism americas moment truth course americans like think country country shining beacon light freedom world signified grey lady new york harbor though would close eyes good deal history united states would certainly like think country shining beacon light would never go war without justification nation go war defense dearly cherished freedom course bush administration forced go lengths exaggerating threat posed saddam hussein must insist end troops dying freedom architects war within bush administration however never moment least bit concerned whether war justified view might summed view wars properly classified unjust lost overwhelming force lost timidity view known war realism favorite political scientists scholars practitioners within field international relations military establishment course neocon puppet masters white house war realism part legacy 17th century political philosopher thomas hobbes figure deeply influential developing whole concept government social contract hobbes state nature merely hypothetical construct human society without government state war state nature state war law govern everyone free get away whatever get away state never ending fear danger violent death life man state nature hobbes famously puts thus solitary poor nasty brutish short7 hobbes quite explicit state nature question justice injustice even arise war every man every man also consequent nothing unjust notions right wrong justice injustice place common power law law injustice8 escape state war according hobbes men enter social contract lay unbounded right everything agree governed laws war realism proceeds notion laws govern individuals within nationstate nationstates hobbesian state nature respect one another wars thus properly classified unjust notions right wrong justice injustice place international arena war realists think simply naive talk justice injustice war matters global politics cunning strength securing vital interests state gross caricature nietzsche war realists like architects war bush administration view international arena anarchic state nature ruthless power rule view well outlined project new american century document advocates united states take full advantage status lone superpower wake end cold war boldly pursue strategic interests9 iraq war demonstration war realist doctrine project new american century put practice recent analysis iraq war george friedman stratfor intelligence agency also reveals war realist point view10 friedmans analysis three reasons war trotted bush administration weapons mass destruction iraq iraq complicit al qaeda democratic iraq would help stop terrorism untenable face underlying reason war simply need demonstrate world general muslim world particular united states stomach war also decisively victorious specifically friedman lists following three reasons 1 bring pressure saudi government allowing saudis funnel money al qaeda halt enablement cooperate us intelligence presence us troops north saudi arabia intended drive home seriousness situation 2 take control strategic country middle east iraq borders seven critical countries use base operations countries cooperating al qaeda 3 demonstrate muslim world american reputation weakness indecisiveness wellearned two decades prior sept 11 attacks longer valid united states aware invasion iraq would enrage muslim world banked also frightening according analysis war nothing responding act aggression threat aggression saddam hussein nothing hussein could done terms compliance un resolutions matter completely would disarm iraq going invaded occupied simply served strategic interests course war along war aggression bush could admit counting swell patriotic fervor afterglow victory silence dissent freidman puts key understanding situation bush wanted blackmail saudis use iraq military base terrify muslims wanted want admit therefore provided implausible justifications operating theory rapid victory brushes aside troubling questions doubt quick decisive victory occupation iraq bogged intractable quagmire today would completely gotten away cindy sheehan voices dissent would drowned din patriotic celebration whether fitzgeralds investigation produced indictments one mainstream media would paying attention question whether bush administration lied american people order lead nation war realist standpoint mistake going war even lying people order go war preparing properly occupation thus securing decisive victory sometimes nietzsche noted regard germanys victory francoprussian war victory war dangerous defeat11 prospects victory iraq become remote troubling questions war begin last surface mainstream consciousness american people face decisive moment truth curtain finally pulled back behind puppet masters result fitzgerald investigation downing street memos dalfour report sad state affairs iraq american people finally chance see deceived manipulated government order send sons daughters die unnecessary war moments extremely rare people forced confront disparity ideals painful truth moment occurred gettysburg lincoln forced nation face disparity ideal nation founded proposition men created equal truth slavery america today faces moment truth nation going decide whether nation going live ideal nation nation accept view wars properly classified unjust lost forsaken justice placed amongst despicable nations history exactly nazis thought convinced superiority rightness cause hesitation launching wars aggression international arena conceived terms hobbesian state nature hobbes thought state nature dangerous insecure men would impelled abandon enter social contract kant draws implications view relations nations nation sake security ought demand others enter along constitution similar civil one within rights could secured would mean establishing federation peoples12 kant argued nation refused enter federation chose remain state nature deserving profound contempt federation peoples would seek end wars kant reasoned hope real peace world kants idea eventually manifested 20th century first league nations finally united nations un charter united states signatory authorizes use force response aggression otherwise authorized un security council use force war aggression explicitly condemned crime peace nuremberg war crimes trials us supreme court justice robert jackson chief prosecutor nuremberg tribunal say crimes war certain acts violation treaties crimes crimes whether united states whether germany prepared lay rule criminal conduct others would willing invoked us13 neocon architects war iraq choose regard international arena hobbesian state nature bush administration thus looks upon united nations utter disdain recently appointed ambassador un john bolton contemptuously said un shouldnt even exist puppet masters white house united nations international law shouldnt exist merely obstacles work around set aside achieving conceive nations vital interests john locke owe proposition men created equal found hobbes social contract another form tyranny principle difference conceptions government arises different conception state nature locke state nature though inconvenient state war state war state nature law nature govern obliges every one reason law teaches mankind consult equal independent one ought harm another life health liberty possessions14 lockean position notions justice injustice place relations states international arena lawless state nature lockes conception state nature grounded older conception natural law view traced back aquinas holds nature governed divine moral law reason discover skeptical notion today postenlightenment postmodern world skeptical ability discover moral law skeptical view moral law nature war realism grounded moral skepticism good reasons skepticism however perhaps morality simply comes choices make choices define nation perhaps defines moral choices curtain pulled back war iraq american people choice continue blinded bush administrations campaign deception manipulation fear thus allow neocon power play turn united states rogue nation world lawless hobbesian state nature however future promises plagued constant wars never ending problem terrorism life mankind nasty brutish short hand rededicate striving become nation responsible member federation nations truly committed peace respect human rights truly renounced wars aggression perhaps one day may light nations perhaps surprising passage nietzsche perhaps gives us even higher ideal think finds questionable whether commitment using force selfdefense really lead peace underlying need military force even selfdefense distrust illwill toward neighbor founded upon presupposition ones morality neighbors immorality good versus evil mentality bad war worse cause wars means real peace abandon justification war selfdefense completely thirst conquest course notion seem completely farfetched unrealistic presupposes entirely higher order power evident humankind today perhaps come great day nation distinguished wars victories highest development military discipline thinking accustomed making heaviest sacrifices behalf things cry free shall shatter sword demolish entire military machine last foundations disarm best armed elevation sensibility means real peace must always rest disposition peace whereas socalled armed peace parades every country disposition fractiousness trusts neither neighbor fails lay arms half hatred half fear better perish hate fear twofold better perish make oneself hated feared must one day become supreme maxim every individual state15 real price freedom frightening bbc documentary power nightmares directed adam curtis peter bergen referred nation arguably important film war terrorism since events september 11 presents provocative thesis entire problem terrorism exaggerated al qaeda largely phantom imagination us national security apparatus16 curtis bergen argues really serious problem terrorism curtis documentary still valuable raising questions political manipulation fear prison cell time nuremberg war crimes trials herman goering left us much consider political power manipulation fear infamous exchange intelligence official course people dont want war neither russia england matter germany understood leaders country determine policy always simple matter drag people along whether democracy fascist dictatorship parliament communist dictatorship one difference pointed democracy people say matter elected representatives united states congress declare wars oh well good voice voice people always brought bidding leaders easy tell attacked denounce pacifists lack patriotism exposing country danger works country17 bergen surely right problem terrorism real nevertheless power nightmares something unfortunately goering would last laugh today way democracy undone slickest manipulation fear resulting terrorism bush administration used problem terrorism order pursue strategic interests indeed dark dark legitimate question consider lengths gone whose interests really served war terrorism war iraq certainly american people war iraq whole war terrorism lead ever increasing danger terrorism promise bleak future endless wars plato warned dangers democracy republic thought democracy would turn tyranny freedom turn opposite leader always stirring war people may need leader18 plato much faith democracy begin course rooted ancient world view hold expectation masses could wise modern democracy founded upon enlightenment optimism holds us natural light reason capable wisdom founding fathers aware however fundamental problem democracy problem plato pointed majority might wise thus freedom vote perhaps demonstrated iraq well united states guarantee tyranny james madison addresses problem tyranny majority federalist papers problem understood arises development factions defines number citizens whether amounting majority minority whole united actuated common impulse passion interest adverse rights citizens permanent aggregate interests community19 problem faction minority always overruled majority however madison recognizes majority included faction form popular government hand enables sacrifice ruling passion interest public good rights citizens20 problem potential tyranny majority led madison recommend form democracy republic pure democracy would nothing check danger arises majority lack wisdom endanger public good rights citizens madison hoped system elected representatives separation powers different branches government could provide check one thing would take longer thus allow time reflection debate legislation pass separate houses representatives madison also thought republic would enable growth larger nation respect territory population wider sphere take greater variety parties interests make less probable majority whole common motive invade rights citizens21 reason considerable skepticism today whether representative system enough check danger tyranny majority power corporately controlled media shaping popular opinion certainly one greatest dangers facing democracy led near total domination political landscape least last quarter century political party almost inception concerned protecting corporate interests rather public good almost complete dissolution real difference political parties success suppression real dissent demonstrated runup iraq war also signs danger henry david thoreau addressed problem democracy influential essay civil disobedience thoreau recognized two dangers facing democracy one majority subverted influence thoreau thought case present mexican war work comparatively individuals using standing government tool22 danger problem tyranny majority illustrated problem slavery thoreau quite sure majority people 1848 wise enough vote abolishment thoreau offered idea nonviolent civil disobedience instrument serve country conscience perhaps awaken majority ignorance civil rights movement certainly proved thoreaus theory work though also proved difficult put practice though perhaps sometimes price freedom may require blood patriots defending country attack thoreau think military service highest way one serve ones country soldiers marched unjust war aggression mexico thoreaus assessment serve country bodies instruments war rather harsh hard imagine words heard today america put level wood earth stones wooden men perhaps manufactured serve purpose well command respect men straw lump dirt sort worth horses dogs23 perhaps indeed harsh maybe much ask young men women send die wars wise enough understand really asked must absolutely worst thing president could ever lie nation send soldiers die unjust war sending die war unnecessary thus unjust president treated brave sons daughters worse horses dogs fact george w bush even president demonstration enough freedom vote guarantee tyranny certainly time bring end tyranny george ii freedom isnt free real price freedom something serve military must pay rather something required every citizen democracy price freedom examined life requires courage question effort become informed capacity critically think important issues day unfortunately today seem really understand price freedom kierkegaard quipped people rarely make use freedom example freedom thought instead demand freedom speech compensation24 america experiment democracy must always remain thus never take granted already mission accomplished people capacity courage examined life always problem tyranny majority taken freedom granted dared question authority think allowed nation led blindly cliff abyss unnecessary unjust war paid price freedom timothy j freeman teaches philosophy university hawaii hilo reached freemanhawaiiedu notes 1 les roberts et al mortality 2003 invasion iraq cluster sample survey lancet 2004 364 185764 published online ocotber 29 2004 2 baghdad burning november 6 2005 3 ron suskind price loyalty george w bush white house education paul oneill new york simon schuster 2004 4 richard clarke enemies inside americas war terror new york simon schuster 2004 5 david luban war terrorism end human rights philosophy public policy quarterly vol 22 no3 summer 2002 6 giafu feng amp jane english trans tao te ching new york vintage books 1989 74 7 thomas hobbes leviathan ed michael oakeshott new york macmillan 1946 ch 13 p 82 8 leviathan ch 13 p 83 9 project new american century 10 george friedman four years winning war anyone tell stratforcom september 13 2005 11 friedrich nietzsche untimely meditations david strauss confessor writer ed daniel breazeale trans rj hollingdale cambridge texts history philosophy cambridge cambridge university press 1997 1 12 immanuel kant toward perpetual peace steven cahn ed political philosophy essential texts oxford oxford university press 2005 p 384 13 robert jackson international conference military trials london 1945 minutes conference session july 23 1945 14 john locke second treatise government two treatises government 2nd ed peter laslett ed cambridge cambridge university press 1967 ch ii 6 15 friedrich nietzsche wanderer shadow human human trans rj hollingdale cambridge cambridge university press 1986 284 16 peter bergen beware holy war nation 20 june 2005 25 17 gm gilbert nuremberg diary new york farrar straus company 1947 pp 278279 18 plato republic collected dialogues plato edith hamilton huntington cairns eds princeton princeton university press 1961 566e 19 james madison federalist 10 federalist jacob e cooke ed middletown ct wesleyan university press 1961 p 57 20 federalist 10 pp 6061 21 federalist 10 p 64 22 henry david thoreau civil disobedience henry david thoreau collected essays poems new york library america 2001 p 203 23 civil disobedience p 205 24 soren kierkegaard journals trans clancy martin existentialism 2nd ed robert c solomon ed oxford oxford university press 2005 p 6 160 160 160 | 3,619 |
<p>A year ago I wrote a CounterPunch column asking rhetorically if <a href="" type="internal">hunters were stupid</a>. In that article I wondered if hunters were aware of the fact that shooting wolves is unpopular with most Americans and if hunting of wolves continued, it might create a backlash against hunting.</p>
<p>To answer my own question I have to say that hunters are not stupid—but most are clueless. Hunters don’t seem to have a inkling about how non-hunters perceive them. Public support for hunting is only luke-warm—the majority of Americans grudgingly accept hunting, but they are not enthusiastic about people killing animals.</p>
<p>Only 10% or so of Americans hunt. Hunters are in the minority and they are largely older white males. In America older white males are in their twilight years. Demographically the country is changing to a more diverse racial, religious and age structure. The majority of Americans who do not hunt only accept hunting if they believe the hunter is killing an animal to eat it. Public support for hunting declines rapidly if hunters kill animals for trophy mounts. When it comes to shooting an animal just to kill it as would be the case for hunters shooting wolves—and/or worse as a matter of vindication as in predator control, public support turns to public opposition.</p>
<p>Both the ESA and wolves are extremely popular with the country as a whole. I suggest that if hunters succeed in this end run around the ESA, and there is the perception of a widespread slaughter of wolves, they are the ones that risk long term public opposition.</p>
<p>This was brought home to me last week. I asked my 13 year old son if he wanted to go hunting with me this fall. He said “Dad, I don’t want to hunt. Hunters are redneck wolf killers. I don’t want to be like them.” Another friend in Montana told me his 14 year old son had the same negative reaction about hunting and hunters and doesn’t want to hunt this year.</p>
<p>Ironically hunters are all worried about their shrinking numbers and how to get kids to become the next generation of hunters. Today’s kids are better informed ecologically than their parents, and most of them have sympathies for animals like wolves. They don’t want to have anything to do with people who kill predators. If hunters want to ensure they won’t have a younger generation following in their footsteps, they could probably not find a better way than advocating wolf killing.</p>
<p>The actions of hunters today and their Congressional allies remind me of the segregationists in the South. I can still see in my mind’s eye the image of George Wallace and the Alabama state police standing on the steps of the University resolutely defying a court order to admit blacks into the University of Alabama. Wallace was immensely popular for his act of defiance against the hated “feds”. Yet Wallace seemed unaware that he was part of the last hurrah of the segregated South. What he did was immensely popular at home, but it was out of step with where America was on race. In the end, thankfully George Wallace and his ilk lost the war—and today we have a black President.</p>
<p>The passion, the anger, and the frustration exhibited by hunters (and ranchers ) is not so much about wolf predation itself. It’s really about control. For decades hunters and ranchers have enjoyed a predator free environment. Hunters have always been the ones who controlled wildlife and state wildlife agencies. The outrage expressed by many hunters and ranchers is a reaction to what is perceived as the audacity of other people in society to assume, much less assert, they should have a voice in wildlife management issues. For decades hunters have considered elk and deer their “property”. You can see this attitude displayed in their angry comments. “We paid for managing wildlife and by gosh, we are the only ones who should have a say in how all wildlife is managed.” The overriding attitude is one of possession. Wolves are killing “our” elk and deer. The deer and elk by all rights exist for us.</p>
<p>The debate over wolf management challenges those assumptions. Just as judges who ordered an end to segregation in the South, shaking up and eventually tumbling a hundred years of racism, hunters (and ranchers) are fearful they are losing their control over wildlife. That’s the context which the wolf debate is framed, and if one doesn’t understand this, the passion, anger, and outrage doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>Even if with thousands of wolves, the number of cattle and sheep killed by wolves is and would continue to be tiny compared to the number lost to diseases, poison plants, and even domestic dogs. Wolves are not really a threat to the livestock industry. And neither are they a threat to hunting. There will always be plenty of places where hunters can find elk and deer to shoot–hunting isn’t going to disappear because of wolves. So the passions expressed are not based on just the perceived impact of wolves on hunters and ranchers, rather it is the idea that wolves and wolf management challenges the old guard and their position of power. Wolf restoration is more than bringing back a valued predator to the landscape—it is a challenge to the hegemony of the West’s old guard.</p>
<p>Hunters are much like George Wallace standing up in front of the halls of the University. They are standing up to change in the established order of things—and that is scary to anyone. I predict that if hunters succeed in obtaining an exemption to the ESA that permits killing of wolves, it will only swell the ranks of animal rights groups, and anti hunting support around the country. And that, in the end, is a far worse threat to hunting than wolves.</p>
<p>In California after hunters repeatedly countered non-hunters efforts to have a say in cougar hunting, the voters finally outlawed all hunting of cougars. I suspect if hunters push too far, they may well see a similar outcome about wolves. They may be win the first battles, but they are going to lose control of the issue in the end. Not only could this result in a ban on all hunting of predators, but it could well lead to an acceleration of the decline in hunter ranks as more and more moderate and ecologically informed hunters and/or potential young hunters are turned off by hunter attitudes. In the end, hunters have to recognize that there is now a wider public who are demanding a voice in wildlife management.</p> | true | 4 | year ago wrote counterpunch column asking rhetorically hunters stupid article wondered hunters aware fact shooting wolves unpopular americans hunting wolves continued might create backlash hunting answer question say hunters stupidbut clueless hunters dont seem inkling nonhunters perceive public support hunting lukewarmthe majority americans grudgingly accept hunting enthusiastic people killing animals 10 americans hunt hunters minority largely older white males america older white males twilight years demographically country changing diverse racial religious age structure majority americans hunt accept hunting believe hunter killing animal eat public support hunting declines rapidly hunters kill animals trophy mounts comes shooting animal kill would case hunters shooting wolvesandor worse matter vindication predator control public support turns public opposition esa wolves extremely popular country whole suggest hunters succeed end run around esa perception widespread slaughter wolves ones risk long term public opposition brought home last week asked 13 year old son wanted go hunting fall said dad dont want hunt hunters redneck wolf killers dont want like another friend montana told 14 year old son negative reaction hunting hunters doesnt want hunt year ironically hunters worried shrinking numbers get kids become next generation hunters todays kids better informed ecologically parents sympathies animals like wolves dont want anything people kill predators hunters want ensure wont younger generation following footsteps could probably find better way advocating wolf killing actions hunters today congressional allies remind segregationists south still see minds eye image george wallace alabama state police standing steps university resolutely defying court order admit blacks university alabama wallace immensely popular act defiance hated feds yet wallace seemed unaware part last hurrah segregated south immensely popular home step america race end thankfully george wallace ilk lost warand today black president passion anger frustration exhibited hunters ranchers much wolf predation really control decades hunters ranchers enjoyed predator free environment hunters always ones controlled wildlife state wildlife agencies outrage expressed many hunters ranchers reaction perceived audacity people society assume much less assert voice wildlife management issues decades hunters considered elk deer property see attitude displayed angry comments paid managing wildlife gosh ones say wildlife managed overriding attitude one possession wolves killing elk deer deer elk rights exist us debate wolf management challenges assumptions judges ordered end segregation south shaking eventually tumbling hundred years racism hunters ranchers fearful losing control wildlife thats context wolf debate framed one doesnt understand passion anger outrage doesnt make sense even thousands wolves number cattle sheep killed wolves would continue tiny compared number lost diseases poison plants even domestic dogs wolves really threat livestock industry neither threat hunting always plenty places hunters find elk deer shoothunting isnt going disappear wolves passions expressed based perceived impact wolves hunters ranchers rather idea wolves wolf management challenges old guard position power wolf restoration bringing back valued predator landscapeit challenge hegemony wests old guard hunters much like george wallace standing front halls university standing change established order thingsand scary anyone predict hunters succeed obtaining exemption esa permits killing wolves swell ranks animal rights groups anti hunting support around country end far worse threat hunting wolves california hunters repeatedly countered nonhunters efforts say cougar hunting voters finally outlawed hunting cougars suspect hunters push far may well see similar outcome wolves may win first battles going lose control issue end could result ban hunting predators could well lead acceleration decline hunter ranks moderate ecologically informed hunters andor potential young hunters turned hunter attitudes end hunters recognize wider public demanding voice wildlife management | 568 |
<p>“We are all naturally xenophobic.”</p>
<p>— Jim Harrison</p>
<p>“[E]very person now must, and can, ask: Where do I as an individual fit into the global competition and opportunities of the day, and how can I, on my own, collaborate with others globally?”</p>
<p>— Thomas Friedman</p>
<p>The ground upon which greed rests is hard and fast while the ground upon which our moral discriminations rest is soft and fuzzy, mostly so because moral fronts serve the interests of greed. Greed works both sides of our party duopoly, both Democrat and Republican. They join in ignoring the anxieties and fears of both the working-class and the middle class, thus becoming, either openly or by silent concession, supporters of neoliberalism and über-globalization.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, the disillusionment of the Many has found its leaders, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, who though far different in their diagnosis and treatment equally ride the powerful wave of anger and discontent. That wave is now breaking against not only neoliberalism and über-globalization but against the Third Way/New Democrat collaboration advocated by Bill Clinton and one assumes to be continued by Hillary Clinton.</p>
<p>A mixture of greed and hypocrisy, of Uriah Heep fronted by Seth Pecksniff, of real intent and alibi cover up surround all matters attending a bedrock force that has had much to do with the U.S.’s transformation from democracy to plutarchy, namely globalization and its many camouflages.</p>
<p>Revolt against this now remains with Trump and his supporters, its manifesto being what I call über-xenophobia, xenophobia being the mildest preamble to the ugliness of the whole. Sanders’ own manifesto of revolt remained, like moral discriminations, soft and fuzzy, cerebral and un-visceral, while Trump’s continues to drum a message that like all percussion is felt not cogitated. Trump’s own distortions of sentences, of argument and exposition, of language and meaning testify to the fact that his appeal does not lie in conceptual understanding but elsewhere, lower, deeper, darker.</p>
<p>For all that, an angry wave of revolt can be traced to über-globalization and we are left with that in this coming election. Such globalization detaches and seeks to extinguish almost everything historically created and established as distinct identities, whether societal, personal, cultural, historical, or imaginative. The goal of creating a multicultural, multiracial society is a front for the play of globalized, financialized capitalism, which works best without the differing barriers and regulations of different nation states.</p>
<p>Über-globalization is a front for über-imperialism. Wolves weaponized with money and the kind of leverage money buys have been given a free and open range to feast on the many opportunities that lack of money and power offers. The wolves of Wall Street indeed have pounced on what a lowering of the national gates of guardianship has brought to them. We would not now be facing the chasm between Haves and Have Nots if such a ravaging had not taken place.</p>
<p>How a nation imagines itself into community, as Benedict Anderson has described, is not a result of Game Theory, systems analysis or manifesto so we cannot expect a multi-culturalizing of any nation to be a simple matter.</p>
<p>What we can expect is friction, resistance and a deep reluctance to imagine differently. We also can expect that racial identification will not be in this imaginary mix. The declaration that we are all equally human does not, unfortunately, make every race equal in the eyes of any imagined community. Indeed, a fear of difference, whether of skin color, religion, language, culinary passion, dress code or shocking idiosyncrasy, is woven into the cloth of our cultural imaginaries.</p>
<p>Giving well-financed hedge funds carte blanche in their dealing throughout the world is by no means a way to move us toward the Edenic beneficence of the Golden Rule.</p>
<p>A diversity that dissolves the identity of a historically created imagined community has incendiary effects in that community, effects which do not alter the disinterested accounting of profit and loss. Regardless of this disinterest, we see the global play of finance assuming a moral high ground against racism, ethnic bigotry and religious discrimination, achieved not for moral reasons but purely market driven.</p>
<p>Both Liberals and Neoliberals stand together on this moral high ground, Liberals because these, and not issues that indict the workings of unbridled financialized capitalism, are its core concerns, and Neoliberals because these issues take our attention away from the disastrously uneven results of über-globalization’s free play.</p>
<p>There is wrongness, amorality, meanness, and stupidity that we attach to those who object to a multiculturalism praised as creaing an environment of unity and not divisiveness, to a multiracism praised as nurturing our acceptance of the equal worth of all humanity. However, a wrongness that we trace to a Golden Rule of treating others as you wished to be treated is rebutted or countered first by the axiomatic winner take all of capitalism and the über-globalization that has given it wings. It is also countered by the instinctual human inclinations to fear the stranger, to be wary of your neighbor and seek your own self-preservation above all things.</p>
<p>We are all naturally xenophobic, perhaps because the stranger is the unknown and the unknown is a threat, and we arm ourselves against all threats. Thus, the Golden Rule of reciprocity has the weight of gold because it needs to offset the foundational inclinations of, in the words of Locke, the “crooked timber of our humanity.” It is arguable whether we are all inclined by nature toward goodness or toward the dark side, whether some, all, or no imagined community includes or excludes totally one or the other. A mixture of Rousseau and Hobbes seems to be the case, which reason cannot express but thrives within cultural imaginaries.</p>
<p>What seems to be a common element in cultural imaginaries is a need to form societies that keep the abyss of the appetites and driving forces of our own selfhoods in check. Americans, Tocqueville mused, sweetened the fulfillment of self-interest with a regard for the interests of others. This fronting rationalization has found its way into über-globalization and the financialized capitalism that champions it.</p>
<p>Ironically, however, the play of capitalism conceals its Dark Rule in a zero-sum game of Winners and Losers, its creed of self aggrandizement, under the camouflage of multiculturalism, multiracialism, diversity, political correctness, as well as the deep mystifications of enlightened self-interest.</p>
<p>Here the charge of crazy applies. Follow the path: market rule confounds the Golden rule of displacing your identity and with the difference of others, discriminates most viciously against economic Losers, reinstitutes an economic imperialism under the name of globalization, accepts awards and acclaim for enlightened self-interest, and is triumphant in its support of an anti-discriminatory world in which we all get along, in which LGBTQ and Black lives matter, gentrification, political correctness, are civilizing forces. The promised blessings as well as the many seductions and achievements of globalized cyber-communication become entwined with the Wehrmacht of über-globalization, the former enabling the existence of the latter.</p>
<p>So, in answer to Thomas Friedman’s question as to how I might collaborate with others globally, I believe the answer is I will be ready for such collaboration when a structural change is made in our Monopoly game like economics which shuts down opportunities for wage earners without global investments and which mocks and insults us with the hypocrisy of a level playing field of competition, mocks and insults us with the pretenses of expanding freedoms and individual autonomy when we are surrounded by clear evidence that the wealthy are eating up the world while everyone else is retreating to the soma beguilements of cyberspace.</p>
<p>On the side opposing über-globalization, we are supposed to see the uncivilized forces, the intolerant and prejudiced, the bigoted, xenophobic racists who support Donald Trump, who stand against globalization and its fronts. They surely have had the visceral buttons of the worst devils of our nature pushed by Trump but not first by him. If it is the stupidity of a wage class scheduled for extinction that financialized capitalism plays to its own benefit, history abounds with similar charges against those not born to an elite class, or to wealth, or to an emancipating education.</p>
<p>The kind of education in civics and government that might have given the followers of Trump some defense against his demagoguery of hate and absurdity was suspended in the U.S. because students had previously done so poorly on assessment exams in these areas. John Dewey may have wanted an informed public but when a politics and an economics preserve their dispensations of wealth and power through seductions, distractions and repressions, political education is not a goal but a threat.</p>
<p>To those who argue that freedom to choose and assuming personal responsibility as well as choosing to be self-empowered exonerate the present inequities of money, power and education, I say it is crazy to assume that the powerless can at will choose to be empowered and so determine the conditions of their own lives.</p>
<p>This illusion of self-empowerment is a first obstacle to confronting real conditions on the ground and developing contesting strategies to both über-globalization and über-xenophobia. A political consciousness ruled by a barbarous, uncivil unconscious feeds on the hate that Trump spews.</p>
<p>All manner of discriminations are instilled within the conditions that surround the powerless, and these are conditions that benefit the play of plutarchy. Whatever the level of our xenophobic inheritance may be, and it is at this moment at the über-xenophobic level, plutarchy has maxed it to its own benefit.</p>
<p>There is also vehemence in the American mass psyche perhaps grounded in paranoiac fear emerging from guilt.</p>
<p>Even before 9/11, we can observe a vulnerability to recriminations and retaliations, the latent power of which is revealed in a national directive never to apologize. The anger of globalization’s dismissal of occupations and ways of life is an anger that couples with this paranoiac fear, all easily observable in the vitriolic discourse that goes on in cyberspace.</p>
<p>Terrorism expands to paranoia in the American mass psyche because our best hope in regard to others is that they leave us alone. Less wishful is the reality of our suspicions regarding others, a wariness that swells to distrust and dislike. Fear and hatred are ready to ignite. The more we aspire to a love of the other, the more our disappointment leaves us susceptible to both the hate demagoguery of Trump and the hypocrisy of capitalism’s façade of global fellowship.</p>
<p>Trump cannot fulfill his promise of bringing a kind of revenge and retaliation to the disaffected nor can market rule dispel with its globalism every sort of antagonism that keeps cultures, races, religions, ethnicities, and societies apart. It is neither crazy nor stupid, however, to think either one or both can happen. The conditions under which both thrive are deep and profound and we cannot extract ourselves from the present furor to see clearly how, where, and why we are entangled. And yet some things become transparent.</p>
<p>The reality of a legacy of leaning into über-globalization by Liberals seems to have escaped Bernie Sanders. His “revolution” never had a place among Democrats so oriented as they are toward easing the conscience of upper middle class Liberals who do not want their nannies deported or their stock portfolios endangered.</p>
<p>Although the “Our Revolution” continuance of Bernie’s campaign may dissolve into the bickering of what is not leftist enough, Trump’s supporters will surely descend into an elect chosen for abuse, invisibility and extinction. That does not mean they will go away.</p>
<p>We can thus expect that über-globalization will not end as Trump promised but rather continue. The wave of über-xenophobia he rides may roll back, but incited by the continuing drive of über-globalization, it is sure to roll in again. Republicans, once free of Trump, can be expected to stir the same fires in the wage earner’s breast that Trump did, not openly of course, while at the same time mouthing the benefits of globalization to that other segment of the Republican Party, the investor/dividend class.</p>
<p>Perhaps only the media has given these Trump supporters an appearance of electoral strength, and therefore there will be no need for our party duopoly to accommodate them in any way. However, Trump’s troops cannot be dissolved the way Paul Bremer, coalition authority jackass, disbanded the Iraqi army. Xenophobia and worse, fear and hatred continue to rush head on into the mockeries and hypocrisies of an economic imperialism at work, like the Wizard of Oz, behind the curtain of globalization, a directive with the allure of a Beatitude. Which will crush the other are odds the bookies have not yet set.</p>
<p>Perhaps with a Hillary presidency we can expect an attenuation of the über dimension of both xenophobia and globalization. But I expect that any efforts on Hillary’s part will be greeted the way many Americans without health care greeted the Affordable Care Act. It was Obama’s and Obama was the very devil. Hillary’s presence will face the same.</p>
<p>It seems almost certain that a Hillary presidency will remain affiliated with identity politics and cultural warfare, a leaning into a plutocracy that does not need the assist. While Obama’s first gesture, the Affordable Care Act, was not to lean into but transcend the partisan order of things, his belated efforts to triangulate met with an already hostile reception. Hillary will make it clear at the start that she will lean into über-globalization and in doing so intensify the grounding conditions that have fueled Trump’s success. And this will happen in spite of whatever minority groups’ rights and freedoms are extended.</p>
<p>Einstein defined crazy as doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting a different result. We cannot expect any attenuation in our über-xenophobia if the conditions created by über-globalization prevail. We cannot expect a reining in of the forces of globalization if the focus on social and cultural issues, the safe ground a dominating capitalism allows Liberals, continues. These issues cannot be resolved as long as the inequities of globalized financialized capitalism are not faced. And as long as they are not faced, xenophobia and spawn will augment, giving the wealthy Liberals in power a cause that will not upset their stock portfolios and Neoliberals free reign to carry on their economic global imperialism, which does wonders for their stock portfolios.</p> | true | 4 | naturally xenophobic jim harrison every person must ask individual fit global competition opportunities day collaborate others globally thomas friedman ground upon greed rests hard fast ground upon moral discriminations rest soft fuzzy mostly moral fronts serve interests greed greed works sides party duopoly democrat republican join ignoring anxieties fears workingclass middle class thus becoming either openly silent concession supporters neoliberalism überglobalization nevertheless disillusionment many found leaders bernie sanders donald trump though far different diagnosis treatment equally ride powerful wave anger discontent wave breaking neoliberalism überglobalization third waynew democrat collaboration advocated bill clinton one assumes continued hillary clinton mixture greed hypocrisy uriah heep fronted seth pecksniff real intent alibi cover surround matters attending bedrock force much uss transformation democracy plutarchy namely globalization many camouflages revolt remains trump supporters manifesto call überxenophobia xenophobia mildest preamble ugliness whole sanders manifesto revolt remained like moral discriminations soft fuzzy cerebral unvisceral trumps continues drum message like percussion felt cogitated trumps distortions sentences argument exposition language meaning testify fact appeal lie conceptual understanding elsewhere lower deeper darker angry wave revolt traced überglobalization left coming election globalization detaches seeks extinguish almost everything historically created established distinct identities whether societal personal cultural historical imaginative goal creating multicultural multiracial society front play globalized financialized capitalism works best without differing barriers regulations different nation states Überglobalization front überimperialism wolves weaponized money kind leverage money buys given free open range feast many opportunities lack money power offers wolves wall street indeed pounced lowering national gates guardianship brought would facing chasm haves nots ravaging taken place nation imagines community benedict anderson described result game theory systems analysis manifesto expect multiculturalizing nation simple matter expect friction resistance deep reluctance imagine differently also expect racial identification imaginary mix declaration equally human unfortunately make every race equal eyes imagined community indeed fear difference whether skin color religion language culinary passion dress code shocking idiosyncrasy woven cloth cultural imaginaries giving wellfinanced hedge funds carte blanche dealing throughout world means way move us toward edenic beneficence golden rule diversity dissolves identity historically created imagined community incendiary effects community effects alter disinterested accounting profit loss regardless disinterest see global play finance assuming moral high ground racism ethnic bigotry religious discrimination achieved moral reasons purely market driven liberals neoliberals stand together moral high ground liberals issues indict workings unbridled financialized capitalism core concerns neoliberals issues take attention away disastrously uneven results überglobalizations free play wrongness amorality meanness stupidity attach object multiculturalism praised creaing environment unity divisiveness multiracism praised nurturing acceptance equal worth humanity however wrongness trace golden rule treating others wished treated rebutted countered first axiomatic winner take capitalism überglobalization given wings also countered instinctual human inclinations fear stranger wary neighbor seek selfpreservation things naturally xenophobic perhaps stranger unknown unknown threat arm threats thus golden rule reciprocity weight gold needs offset foundational inclinations words locke crooked timber humanity arguable whether inclined nature toward goodness toward dark side whether imagined community includes excludes totally one mixture rousseau hobbes seems case reason express thrives within cultural imaginaries seems common element cultural imaginaries need form societies keep abyss appetites driving forces selfhoods check americans tocqueville mused sweetened fulfillment selfinterest regard interests others fronting rationalization found way überglobalization financialized capitalism champions ironically however play capitalism conceals dark rule zerosum game winners losers creed self aggrandizement camouflage multiculturalism multiracialism diversity political correctness well deep mystifications enlightened selfinterest charge crazy applies follow path market rule confounds golden rule displacing identity difference others discriminates viciously economic losers reinstitutes economic imperialism name globalization accepts awards acclaim enlightened selfinterest triumphant support antidiscriminatory world get along lgbtq black lives matter gentrification political correctness civilizing forces promised blessings well many seductions achievements globalized cybercommunication become entwined wehrmacht überglobalization former enabling existence latter answer thomas friedmans question might collaborate others globally believe answer ready collaboration structural change made monopoly game like economics shuts opportunities wage earners without global investments mocks insults us hypocrisy level playing field competition mocks insults us pretenses expanding freedoms individual autonomy surrounded clear evidence wealthy eating world everyone else retreating soma beguilements cyberspace side opposing überglobalization supposed see uncivilized forces intolerant prejudiced bigoted xenophobic racists support donald trump stand globalization fronts surely visceral buttons worst devils nature pushed trump first stupidity wage class scheduled extinction financialized capitalism plays benefit history abounds similar charges born elite class wealth emancipating education kind education civics government might given followers trump defense demagoguery hate absurdity suspended us students previously done poorly assessment exams areas john dewey may wanted informed public politics economics preserve dispensations wealth power seductions distractions repressions political education goal threat argue freedom choose assuming personal responsibility well choosing selfempowered exonerate present inequities money power education say crazy assume powerless choose empowered determine conditions lives illusion selfempowerment first obstacle confronting real conditions ground developing contesting strategies überglobalization überxenophobia political consciousness ruled barbarous uncivil unconscious feeds hate trump spews manner discriminations instilled within conditions surround powerless conditions benefit play plutarchy whatever level xenophobic inheritance may moment überxenophobic level plutarchy maxed benefit also vehemence american mass psyche perhaps grounded paranoiac fear emerging guilt even 911 observe vulnerability recriminations retaliations latent power revealed national directive never apologize anger globalizations dismissal occupations ways life anger couples paranoiac fear easily observable vitriolic discourse goes cyberspace terrorism expands paranoia american mass psyche best hope regard others leave us alone less wishful reality suspicions regarding others wariness swells distrust dislike fear hatred ready ignite aspire love disappointment leaves us susceptible hate demagoguery trump hypocrisy capitalisms façade global fellowship trump fulfill promise bringing kind revenge retaliation disaffected market rule dispel globalism every sort antagonism keeps cultures races religions ethnicities societies apart neither crazy stupid however think either one happen conditions thrive deep profound extract present furor see clearly entangled yet things become transparent reality legacy leaning überglobalization liberals seems escaped bernie sanders revolution never place among democrats oriented toward easing conscience upper middle class liberals want nannies deported stock portfolios endangered although revolution continuance bernies campaign may dissolve bickering leftist enough trumps supporters surely descend elect chosen abuse invisibility extinction mean go away thus expect überglobalization end trump promised rather continue wave überxenophobia rides may roll back incited continuing drive überglobalization sure roll republicans free trump expected stir fires wage earners breast trump openly course time mouthing benefits globalization segment republican party investordividend class perhaps media given trump supporters appearance electoral strength therefore need party duopoly accommodate way however trumps troops dissolved way paul bremer coalition authority jackass disbanded iraqi army xenophobia worse fear hatred continue rush head mockeries hypocrisies economic imperialism work like wizard oz behind curtain globalization directive allure beatitude crush odds bookies yet set perhaps hillary presidency expect attenuation über dimension xenophobia globalization expect efforts hillarys part greeted way many americans without health care greeted affordable care act obamas obama devil hillarys presence face seems almost certain hillary presidency remain affiliated identity politics cultural warfare leaning plutocracy need assist obamas first gesture affordable care act lean transcend partisan order things belated efforts triangulate met already hostile reception hillary make clear start lean überglobalization intensify grounding conditions fueled trumps success happen spite whatever minority groups rights freedoms extended einstein defined crazy thing repeatedly expecting different result expect attenuation überxenophobia conditions created überglobalization prevail expect reining forces globalization focus social cultural issues safe ground dominating capitalism allows liberals continues issues resolved long inequities globalized financialized capitalism faced long faced xenophobia spawn augment giving wealthy liberals power cause upset stock portfolios neoliberals free reign carry economic global imperialism wonders stock portfolios | 1,234 |
<p>Josefina Reyes began her career as a human rights organizer the way thousands of women across the globe do: defending her family and her community.</p>
<p>The middle-aged mother staged a hunger strike to demand the safe return of her son after Mexican soldiers abducted him from their home. She lost another son to the violence that has characterized the Valle de Juarez, where the Reyes family lives, since the drug war started. Josefina became a strong voice against the violence and in particular against abuses committed by the army and police.</p>
<p>In August of 2009 she participated in the first regional Forum against Militarization and Repression. On Jan. 5, 2010, Josefina Reyes was shot to death.</p>
<p>The Valle de Juarez has been occupied by Mexican Army troops since 2008 when the federal government launched the country’s most intensive military operation there in the country to counter organized crime. To date, Josefina’s son, two brothers, a sister and a sister-in-law have been assassinated. None of the crimes have been solved.</p>
<p>Josefina’s case is one of many, and human rights organizations fear that if something isn’t done soon it will be one of many more. This year has seen a marked rise in violence against women and harassment of women human rights defenders. In Latin America, death threats and assassinations by unknown assailants tend to be the modus operandi, with undercover state actors, paramilitaries and members of organized crime widely believed to be the main culprits.</p>
<p>But since most of the crimes are never fully investigated or prosecuted, this form of politically motivated violence remains unnamed and unpunished. The widespread impunity creates a breeding ground for more violence.</p>
<p>Special Risks to Women Human Rights Defenders</p>
<p>Throughout the year, reports from women’s non-governmental organizations, grassroots movements and the press warned that women who dared to speak out against violence were falling prey to it at an alarming rate. Recent reports from the United Nations and national human rights organizations confirm the impression.</p>
<p>They point out that both men and women who defend human rights are often targetted. However, the situation for women human rights defenders must be analyzed separately for several reasons.</p>
<p>Women often lead community organizations and movements that are on the frontline of battles against human rights violations and militarism. These brave women, usually compelled to act by personal experience, take on the most powerful forces in society with little support or publicity and few alliances and resources.</p>
<p>They often face ostracism from their families, stigmatization and slander, and the active hostility of government officials that are either the subject of their complaints or complicit in protecting the interests of the perpetrators. Neither high-profile nor well-connected, these women activists face threats and harassment alone and unprotected, yet their work is critical to describing, denouncing and punishing violations that threaten basic freedoms throughout the world.</p>
<p>On Mar. 10, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders will present the first report to look exclusively at women human rights defenders.</p>
<p>The report shows that “Women human rights defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues in the Americas appear to be most at risk of being killed or having an attempt made on their lives.” Not surprisingly, the drug war capitols of the hemisphere–Colombia and Mexico–received by far the largest number of communications regarding documented instances of death threats against women human rights defenders.</p>
<p>Women defenders confront the risk of gender-based violence, including rape and sexual abuse in their work. The threats and violence they face often spread to their families and friends. Precisely because it is these ties to loved ones that so often motivate their organizing and protest activities, this form of repression is perhaps the cruelest of all.</p>
<p>Cases of attacks on women human rights defenders are not well documented and often remain invisible except to the immediate community. This and the lack of government recognition of their work and the risks it entails, make them particularly vulnerable. The UN report notes, “In most cases there are no mechanisms for protection and where they do exist, there is a lack of implementation, political will or gender-sensitivity.” It states that Mexico is working toward a protection program and mechanism, but that it seems to lack a gender perspective. Moreover, protection efforts receive very little funding even when mandated by a national or international body, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars given by both the U.S. and Mexico governments to security forces in the fight against organized crime</p>
<p>Women and men who protest femicides (the systematic murder of women as documented in Ciudad Juarez), LGBT activists, defenders of sexual and reproductive rights, labor movement leaders, women leaders of displaced communities and anti-militarization organizers report the most threats and cases of violence in the Americas. These women have suffered attacks against themselves, their family members and homes, the forced closure of their human rights organizations, and– as in the case of the remaining members of the Reyes Salazar—forced exile due to the threat of violence against them.</p>
<p>A special report on women human rights defenders in Mesoamerica presented in Geneva on Mar. 8 concludes that police and military presence have been counterproductive in protecting public safety and that of women in particular:</p>
<p>“The militarization and massive influx of federal agents to combat insecurity has not successfully reversed this violent situation. On the contrary, violations of human rights on the part of security forces, particularly against youth and women, is on the rise. In this context, human rights defenders face greater risks in carrying out their work while also lacking the necessary resources to protect themselves. Far from diminishing, we are able to affirm that violence against human rights workers, their families, and related organizations is intensifying and spreading.”</p>
<p>In places where fear has been actively promoted to justify military responses, women not only lack the support they need, but are frequently vilified for ‘rocking the boat’. As violence and fear become the norms in areas where they live and work, non-violent activism is seen as destabilizing. Women activists are frequently punished socially and physically both for their protests against State security forces and corrupt officials as well as for their transgressions against patriarchal norms that women should not be playing leadership roles in community organizing and politics.</p>
<p>The UN report makes the claim that a lack of political will is at the core of why women human rights defenders encounter such high risks. “Government or police officials may themselves share the prevailing conservative and patriarchal views of the community in general towards women defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues, and thus may have little or no enthusiasm to intervene effectively for their protection in spite of their obligation to do so,” it states.</p>
<p>Despite the risks, women continue to organize and lead human rights movements. Some of the recommendations for their protection include the following: creating autonomous campaigns with grassroots support, achieving more visibility in the press and public, filing and documenting public complaints, mobilizing family and friends and like-minded organizations, seeking NGO accompaniment, carrying out informal security trainings and holding psychological workshops to cope with the pressure.</p>
<p>National and international protective measures are a way of formally recognizing when women are at risk and sometimes, but not always, they provide physical protection. Precautionary measures, particularly those from the Inter-America Commission on Human Rights, provide some measure of protection and visibility.</p>
<p>But women human rights defenders should never have to resort to the long bureaucratic procedure of requesting precautionary measures; that they do is a testament to State impunity and government negligence in their home countries.</p>
<p>Defending the Defenders</p>
<p>This week’s UN report concludes that women’s security is linked to the security of their communities. This requires “a holistic approach that includes the deepening of democracy, the fight against impunity, the reduction of economic inequalities, and striving for social and environmental justice, among others.” Unfortunately, in Mexico and other countries where the drug war model has been applied, these strategies have been displaced by strategies of enforcement and confrontation that necessitate the presence of security forces.</p>
<p>To protect women human rights defenders, society must view their work as valuable and, according to the UN Special Rapporteur “publicly acknowledge the significant role played by women defenders and those working on women’s rights or gender issues in the consolidation and advancement of plural and inclusive societies.” Women defending their rights and those of their communities frequently face smear campaigns that link them with organized crime, as in the case of the Reyes family, or disparage their personal integrity. This is a common way for the State to deflect responsibility and avoid tainting its image with accusations of persecution of human rights defenders.</p>
<p>Women human rights defenders have been threatened, tortured, raped, exiled and assassinated, but they have not been silenced. They fight for the rights of all of us at tremendous personal risk. They must not be left alone.</p>
<p>LAURA CARLSEN is director of the Americas Program of the Center for International Policy in Mexico City at <a href="http://www.cipamericas.org" type="external">www.cipamericas.org</a>.</p>
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<p /> | true | 4 | josefina reyes began career human rights organizer way thousands women across globe defending family community middleaged mother staged hunger strike demand safe return son mexican soldiers abducted home lost another son violence characterized valle de juarez reyes family lives since drug war started josefina became strong voice violence particular abuses committed army police august 2009 participated first regional forum militarization repression jan 5 2010 josefina reyes shot death valle de juarez occupied mexican army troops since 2008 federal government launched countrys intensive military operation country counter organized crime date josefinas son two brothers sister sisterinlaw assassinated none crimes solved josefinas case one many human rights organizations fear something isnt done soon one many year seen marked rise violence women harassment women human rights defenders latin america death threats assassinations unknown assailants tend modus operandi undercover state actors paramilitaries members organized crime widely believed main culprits since crimes never fully investigated prosecuted form politically motivated violence remains unnamed unpunished widespread impunity creates breeding ground violence special risks women human rights defenders throughout year reports womens nongovernmental organizations grassroots movements press warned women dared speak violence falling prey alarming rate recent reports united nations national human rights organizations confirm impression point men women defend human rights often targetted however situation women human rights defenders must analyzed separately several reasons women often lead community organizations movements frontline battles human rights violations militarism brave women usually compelled act personal experience take powerful forces society little support publicity alliances resources often face ostracism families stigmatization slander active hostility government officials either subject complaints complicit protecting interests perpetrators neither highprofile wellconnected women activists face threats harassment alone unprotected yet work critical describing denouncing punishing violations threaten basic freedoms throughout world mar 10 un special rapporteur situation human rights defenders present first report look exclusively women human rights defenders report shows women human rights defenders working womens rights gender issues americas appear risk killed attempt made lives surprisingly drug war capitols hemispherecolombia mexicoreceived far largest number communications regarding documented instances death threats women human rights defenders women defenders confront risk genderbased violence including rape sexual abuse work threats violence face often spread families friends precisely ties loved ones often motivate organizing protest activities form repression perhaps cruelest cases attacks women human rights defenders well documented often remain invisible except immediate community lack government recognition work risks entails make particularly vulnerable un report notes cases mechanisms protection exist lack implementation political gendersensitivity states mexico working toward protection program mechanism seems lack gender perspective moreover protection efforts receive little funding even mandated national international body despite hundreds millions dollars given us mexico governments security forces fight organized crime women men protest femicides systematic murder women documented ciudad juarez lgbt activists defenders sexual reproductive rights labor movement leaders women leaders displaced communities antimilitarization organizers report threats cases violence americas women suffered attacks family members homes forced closure human rights organizations case remaining members reyes salazarforced exile due threat violence special report women human rights defenders mesoamerica presented geneva mar 8 concludes police military presence counterproductive protecting public safety women particular militarization massive influx federal agents combat insecurity successfully reversed violent situation contrary violations human rights part security forces particularly youth women rise context human rights defenders face greater risks carrying work also lacking necessary resources protect far diminishing able affirm violence human rights workers families related organizations intensifying spreading places fear actively promoted justify military responses women lack support need frequently vilified rocking boat violence fear become norms areas live work nonviolent activism seen destabilizing women activists frequently punished socially physically protests state security forces corrupt officials well transgressions patriarchal norms women playing leadership roles community organizing politics un report makes claim lack political core women human rights defenders encounter high risks government police officials may share prevailing conservative patriarchal views community general towards women defenders working womens rights gender issues thus may little enthusiasm intervene effectively protection spite obligation states despite risks women continue organize lead human rights movements recommendations protection include following creating autonomous campaigns grassroots support achieving visibility press public filing documenting public complaints mobilizing family friends likeminded organizations seeking ngo accompaniment carrying informal security trainings holding psychological workshops cope pressure national international protective measures way formally recognizing women risk sometimes always provide physical protection precautionary measures particularly interamerica commission human rights provide measure protection visibility women human rights defenders never resort long bureaucratic procedure requesting precautionary measures testament state impunity government negligence home countries defending defenders weeks un report concludes womens security linked security communities requires holistic approach includes deepening democracy fight impunity reduction economic inequalities striving social environmental justice among others unfortunately mexico countries drug war model applied strategies displaced strategies enforcement confrontation necessitate presence security forces protect women human rights defenders society must view work valuable according un special rapporteur publicly acknowledge significant role played women defenders working womens rights gender issues consolidation advancement plural inclusive societies women defending rights communities frequently face smear campaigns link organized crime case reyes family disparage personal integrity common way state deflect responsibility avoid tainting image accusations persecution human rights defenders women human rights defenders threatened tortured raped exiled assassinated silenced fight rights us tremendous personal risk must left alone laura carlsen director americas program center international policy mexico city wwwcipamericasorg 160 160 160 | 876 |
<p>The 2014 film <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3110960/" type="external">Jimmy’s Hall</a>, directed by the British socialist Ken Loach, tells the story of Jimmy Gralton, who in the 1930s led the precursor to the Communist Party of Ireland. Gralton and others gave lectures and held dances at the&#160;hall&#160;in a poor rural townland — until, at the behest of the local Catholic Church, it&#160;was violently shut down and Gralton was deported to the United States.</p>
<p>The movie&#160;highlights a longstanding feature of Irish society: the country’s citizens are more progressive than the country’s Church hierarchy would like to admit or portray to the outside world.</p>
<p>A similar dynamic was on display last week, when the Irish people voted in droves and by wide margins to legalize gay marriage&#160;— the first country to do so by popular referendum. While&#160;all four major political parties supported the measure, the 62 percent&#160;“yes” vote demonstrates a rejection of the fundamentally conservative structures that have shaped Irish lives for centuries.</p>
<p>The vote should also be seen&#160;in the context of the&#160;protest&#160;politics that have swept Ireland and Europe. In Ireland, a groundswell <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/27/world/europe/many-in-ireland-vow-not-to-pay-a-new-water-tax.html?_r=0" type="external">has emerged</a> to fight a water tax, as well as austerity more broadly. The press outside these countries has&#160; <a href="http:///h" type="external">repeatedly</a> <a href="http:///h" type="external">described</a>&#160;such developments as “shocking.” But what these events demonstrate is that the political and economic institutions across Europe have wholly failed in addressing the needs and desires of their people. On the ground in Ireland, this has been obvious for some time.</p>
<p>While the extent to which Ireland is traditionally Catholic at the level of the individual has often been <a href="http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/republic-of-ireland/republic-of-ireland-abandoning-religion-faster-than-almost-every-other-country-28778850.html" type="external">overstated</a>, it is difficult to exaggerate&#160;the level of control the Church has exerted over Irish society.&#160;For much of the twentieth century, it&#160;was a more powerful institution than the young Irish state. In many parts of the country, the parish priest was&#160;a more important figure than the local political representative.</p>
<p>And any party who wanted to win political office had to curry favor with the&#160;Church and adopt&#160;its attitudes regarding sexuality, contraception, reproductive rights, and so on.&#160;While loopholes existed, it was illegal to buy condoms without a prescription until 1985. Abortion is still banned under the republic’s constitution, with an exception only for when the mother’s life is threatened.</p>
<p>But this has been coming apart. In the 1990s, a number of high-profile cases revealed the systemic extent of child abuse within the Irish Catholic Church, as well as the protection offending priests were accorded by the&#160;Church hierarchy. By the time an inquiry report <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/nov/26/ireland-church-sex-abuse" type="external">was published</a> in 2009, the Church had lost much of its credibility. In endorsing a “yes” vote in last week’s referendum, the four major political parties acknowledged the changes that are taking place in Irish society.</p>
<p>The Catholic Church that today regards the referendum as an “ <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/same-sex-marriage-vote-an-unmitigated-disaster-for-church-1.2225680" type="external">unmitigated disaster</a>”&#160;is the same church that <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Brigade_(Spanish_Civil_War)" type="external">supported</a>&#160;the fascists&#160;during the Spanish Civil War, that has <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/06/ireland-abortion-legislation-catholic-excommunication_n_3224433.html" type="external">threatened</a> politicians with excommunication should they support abortion reforms. Many have said that long before the British colonization of Ireland, it was colonized by the Catholic Church. Friday’s vote was&#160;a rejection of&#160;that colonialism.</p>
<p>When the European troika — the European Union, International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank — provided the Irish government with a <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/business/ireland-business-blog-with-lisa-ocarroll/2010/nov/28/ireland-bailout-full-government-statement" type="external">bailout</a>in 2010 to shore up the banking sector, the strings attached effectively transferred economic sovereignty from Dublin to its European creditors. The Irish, like the Greeks and Spaniards, have had little <a href="http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/the-week-ireland-gave-up-its-sovereignty-29796376.html" type="external">say</a> over the austerity policies that have ravaged their countries. Last week’s marriage equality vote was an assertion of sovereignty, of the right of Irish people to govern their own lives, in a country where the idea has been under attack by European finance capital.</p>
<p>The two social groups that came out&#160; <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/monkey-cage/wp/2015/05/23/how-equality-campaigners-got-same-sex-marriage-in-ireland/" type="external">strongest</a> for marriage equality are the same that have been hardest hit in recent years: the young and the working class. Some of the strongest “yes” vote tallies were in the most working-class areas of Dublin and Limerick, with margins as high as 90 percent. Yes campaigner Gráinne Healy <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/working-class-areas-embracing-change-faster-campaigners-claim-1.2224352" type="external">told</a> the Irish Times that “when we were out canvassing in areas like Finglas, there was an overwhelming Yes on the doorsteps. Once we moved into Glasnevin, there would be more resistance. It seemed the houses with two cars and plenty of money were just less open to Yes.”</p>
<p>The collapse of the Irish housing and lending markets in 2008, and the subsequent creation of a sovereign debt crisis, austerity policies, and widespread unemployment drove&#160;people to <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/ireland-has-highest-net-emigration-level-in-europe-1.1601685" type="external">leave</a> the country en masse. One of the most poignant images last week was the sight of those same young people — whose economic and political system had utterly failed them — boarding planes, trains, and boats <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/generation-emigration/emigrants-take-planes-trains-and-automobiles-hometovote-1.2222151#.VV9Vie1IDsg.twitter" type="external">to come home to vote</a>. It is unclear just how many young people made the trip back, but the hashtag #hometovote caught fire across Twitter and Facebook, adding to the feeling that there was something truly special about what was happening.</p>
<p>And the&#160;speed at which LGBTQ people in Ireland have won marriage equality is truly astonishing. Consider that there are people in their forties having state-sanctioned marriage this week who in their twenties could have been prosecuted — homosexuality was only decriminalized in 1993.</p>
<p>Still, lost in all the headlines about “Ireland voting for marriage equality” is the reality that there are many gay people living north of the border, in Northern Ireland, that still cannot wed. Northern Ireland is now the last place in Ireland or the United Kingdom where LGBTQ people cannot have a state-sanctioned marriage.</p>
<p>In the Belfast-based Stormont government, where power is shared between the predominantly Catholic (and more left-leaning) Sinn Fein government and the hard-right (and predominantly Protestant) Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), the conservative Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster still wields considerable influence. The DUP recently tabled Indiana-style <a href="http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/northern-irelands-anti-gay-amendment-branded-licence-discriminate-1489188" type="external">legislation</a>that would protect those who discriminate against LGBTQ people in private businesses. It will be a challenge for Sinn Fein, which&#160;has supported LGBTQ rights on both sides of the border, to bridge this&#160;southern-northern&#160;gap.</p>
<p>In the coming year, Irish left will need to pivot from victory in the marriage equality referendum to&#160;other struggles, like the fight for reproductive and transgender rights. As Paul Murphy — a teachta dála (member of parliament) for the Anti-Austerity Alliance party — <a href="https://www.facebook.com/paulmurphytd/videos/vb.719890584766018/834116506676758/?type=2&amp;theater" type="external">put it on Monday</a>, “The traditional hiding place of the establishment behind a supposedly conservative silent majority no longer exists.”</p>
<p>The marriage referendum and the movement against water charges have tapped into anger about the conservative control of water, of love, of the most basic aspects of people’s lives. Traditionally marginalized social classes are now mobilized in a way that few could have predicted at the last election. The challenge for the Irish left will be to build on this, expanding and deepening that popular mobilization.</p> | true | 4 | 2014 film jimmys hall directed british socialist ken loach tells story jimmy gralton 1930s led precursor communist party ireland gralton others gave lectures held dances the160hall160in poor rural townland behest local catholic church it160was violently shut gralton deported united states movie160highlights longstanding feature irish society countrys citizens progressive countrys church hierarchy would like admit portray outside world similar dynamic display last week irish people voted droves wide margins legalize gay marriage160 first country popular referendum while160all four major political parties supported measure 62 percent160yes vote demonstrates rejection fundamentally conservative structures shaped irish lives centuries vote also seen160in context the160protest160politics swept ireland europe ireland groundswell emerged fight water tax well austerity broadly press outside countries has160 repeatedly described160such developments shocking events demonstrate political economic institutions across europe wholly failed addressing needs desires people ground ireland obvious time extent ireland traditionally catholic level individual often overstated difficult exaggerate160the level control church exerted irish society160for much twentieth century it160was powerful institution young irish state many parts country parish priest was160a important figure local political representative party wanted win political office curry favor the160church adopt160its attitudes regarding sexuality contraception reproductive rights on160while loopholes existed illegal buy condoms without prescription 1985 abortion still banned republics constitution exception mothers life threatened coming apart 1990s number highprofile cases revealed systemic extent child abuse within irish catholic church well protection offending priests accorded the160church hierarchy time inquiry report published 2009 church lost much credibility endorsing yes vote last weeks referendum four major political parties acknowledged changes taking place irish society catholic church today regards referendum unmitigated disaster160is church supported160the fascists160during spanish civil war threatened politicians excommunication support abortion reforms many said long british colonization ireland colonized catholic church fridays vote was160a rejection of160that colonialism european troika european union international monetary fund european central bank provided irish government bailoutin 2010 shore banking sector strings attached effectively transferred economic sovereignty dublin european creditors irish like greeks spaniards little say austerity policies ravaged countries last weeks marriage equality vote assertion sovereignty right irish people govern lives country idea attack european finance capital two social groups came out160 strongest marriage equality hardest hit recent years young working class strongest yes vote tallies workingclass areas dublin limerick margins high 90 percent yes campaigner gráinne healy told irish times canvassing areas like finglas overwhelming yes doorsteps moved glasnevin would resistance seemed houses two cars plenty money less open yes collapse irish housing lending markets 2008 subsequent creation sovereign debt crisis austerity policies widespread unemployment drove160people leave country en masse one poignant images last week sight young people whose economic political system utterly failed boarding planes trains boats come home vote unclear many young people made trip back hashtag hometovote caught fire across twitter facebook adding feeling something truly special happening the160speed lgbtq people ireland marriage equality truly astonishing consider people forties statesanctioned marriage week twenties could prosecuted homosexuality decriminalized 1993 still lost headlines ireland voting marriage equality reality many gay people living north border northern ireland still wed northern ireland last place ireland united kingdom lgbtq people statesanctioned marriage belfastbased stormont government power shared predominantly catholic leftleaning sinn fein government hardright predominantly protestant democratic unionist party dup conservative free presbyterian church ulster still wields considerable influence dup recently tabled indianastyle legislationthat would protect discriminate lgbtq people private businesses challenge sinn fein which160has supported lgbtq rights sides border bridge this160southernnorthern160gap coming year irish left need pivot victory marriage equality referendum to160other struggles like fight reproductive transgender rights paul murphy teachta dála member parliament antiausterity alliance party put monday traditional hiding place establishment behind supposedly conservative silent majority longer exists marriage referendum movement water charges tapped anger conservative control water love basic aspects peoples lives traditionally marginalized social classes mobilized way could predicted last election challenge irish left build expanding deepening popular mobilization | 627 |
<p>On 5 and 7 September, the House of Lords concluded into the <a href="" type="internal">committee stage</a> of the Investigatory Powers Bill with discussions lasting well into the night and an extension to this exchange slated for 7 September.&#160; To items are germane to what is taking place this week: the second reading of the bill from July and David Anderson’s Review of Bulk Powers which was just published on 7 August.</p>
<p>During the second reading of the bill in July, the government’s approach towards encryption was addressed with Earl Howe, Minister of State for Defence and Deputy Leader in the House of Lords, maintaining that, “Law enforcement and the intelligence agencies must retain the ability to require telecommunications operators to remove encryption in limited circumstances.”&#160; On the other side of this debate, Lord Paddick and Baroness Hamwee requested the removal of the Internet Connection Records (ICRs), arguing they fail to meet the basic test of necessity also making excellent points to justify this position stating that Internet connection records do not do what the Government claim they do: Internet connection records only provide the details of which communications platforms have been used, most of which are based in the United States.&#160; Lord Paddick also referred to earlier statements made by MI5, MI6 and GCHQ which demonstrate that these agencies do not have explicit necessity for ICRs because they already possess other means of securing the data they might need.&#160; The unique position of the UK government insisting upon ICRs was also questioned by Lord Oates who underscored that none of the Five Eyes countries, or any western democracy, collects ICRs.</p>
<p>The “ <a href="" type="internal">Report of the Bulk Powers Review</a>” by David Anderson supports the operational case for the current practices of the agencies.&#160; The review makes only one recommendation for reform: the creation of a new Technical Advisory Panel of independent security cleared experts to support the Investigatory Powers Commissioner.</p>
<p>As it stands the Government&#160; maintains that ICRs are necessary to combat crime even though it can offer no compelling evidence for this contention. Under the agreed amendments on ICRs, they can only be obtained by UK authorities if they are to be used to help prevent or detect crime. <a href="" type="internal">Lord Keen of Elie</a> added that ICRs would only “be able to be acquired only for offences that are sufficiently serious that an offender can be sentenced to at least six months’ imprisonment.“ Nonetheless, the amendments were still criticised because of their vague phrasing. Last week, however, Lord Paddick switched gears slightly and moved towards a critique of the transparency of the process that the Investigatory Powers Bill would effect upon citizens, their privacy, and human rights law:</p>
<p>Citizens are entitled to the protection of the law but, as the Bill is drafted, it is impossible to challenge the Government and the use of state instruments of interference in people’s private lives if they have no idea that they have been the subject of surveillance. To quote the briefing provided by Liberty, if a person’s Article 8 rights—to a private and family life—and other Human Rights Act rights have been engaged and potentially violated,“in order to have access to an effective remedy, as required under human rights law, the person must first be made aware of a possible breach”.</p>
<p>What is clear in the discussions during the committee stage is that this bill presents ambiguous language which can, left in the hands of the intelligence services or the police, be applied differently depending on who the subject of investigation might be.</p>
<p>Still, there was great contention with two of the amendments which address <a href="" type="internal">bulk acquisition warrants</a> and broad nature of this sort of warrant:</p>
<p>Amendments 210ZF and 204B would add to the current list of reasons for which it may be necessary to disclose or copy communications data obtained under a bulk acquisition warrant. Such disclosure and copying must, of course, be kept to the minimum necessary for a limited number of purposes. The amendment adds, in the case of internet connection records, a requirement of necessity in respect of an individual having committed an offence.</p>
<p>Lord Paddick’s response was to continue to contest vehemently one of the amendments stating, “As far as Amendment 204B and the potential for bulk acquisition of internet connection records are concerned, it is, to us, a rather alarming prospect which I do not think has yet been raised in the public consciousness. It is absolutely certain that we will return to this issue on Report. At this stage, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment.”</p>
<p>In response, the Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, Earl Howe expressed his disagreement with Lord Paddick stating that such notifications would necessarily foil terrorist investigations, employing the word terrorist repeatedly, “It is not innocent, ordinary, law-abiding people who would be notified, because the agencies do not seek or obtain warrants against such people; it is suspected criminals and terrorist suspects. They would then change their behaviour, and we would have less chance of bringing them to justice.”&#160; Lord Beith’s response to Earl Howe, however, put to right the assertion that to be investigated signifies that the individual is guilty of anything since, “[i]f an investigation has not been successful in identifying who is involved in a radicalisation ring or in planning a kidnapping, that may well be because some of those people genuinely were not involved in any way, and some other factor—a mistaken number, for example—had drawn them into the net of the inquiry.”</p>
<p>The focus of the talks in committee are directed at the issues of fallibility of investigations and the responsibility to public notification, the misuse of the bill’s tenants to uncover private data, and the importance of safeguards to protect privacy.&#160; The next step for this bill is the Reports stage in the House of Lords.</p> | true | 4 | 5 7 september house lords concluded committee stage investigatory powers bill discussions lasting well night extension exchange slated 7 september160 items germane taking place week second reading bill july david andersons review bulk powers published 7 august second reading bill july governments approach towards encryption addressed earl howe minister state defence deputy leader house lords maintaining law enforcement intelligence agencies must retain ability require telecommunications operators remove encryption limited circumstances160 side debate lord paddick baroness hamwee requested removal internet connection records icrs arguing fail meet basic test necessity also making excellent points justify position stating internet connection records government claim internet connection records provide details communications platforms used based united states160 lord paddick also referred earlier statements made mi5 mi6 gchq demonstrate agencies explicit necessity icrs already possess means securing data might need160 unique position uk government insisting upon icrs also questioned lord oates underscored none five eyes countries western democracy collects icrs report bulk powers review david anderson supports operational case current practices agencies160 review makes one recommendation reform creation new technical advisory panel independent security cleared experts support investigatory powers commissioner stands government160 maintains icrs necessary combat crime even though offer compelling evidence contention agreed amendments icrs obtained uk authorities used help prevent detect crime lord keen elie added icrs would able acquired offences sufficiently serious offender sentenced least six months imprisonment nonetheless amendments still criticised vague phrasing last week however lord paddick switched gears slightly moved towards critique transparency process investigatory powers bill would effect upon citizens privacy human rights law citizens entitled protection law bill drafted impossible challenge government use state instruments interference peoples private lives idea subject surveillance quote briefing provided liberty persons article 8 rightsto private family lifeand human rights act rights engaged potentially violatedin order access effective remedy required human rights law person must first made aware possible breach clear discussions committee stage bill presents ambiguous language left hands intelligence services police applied differently depending subject investigation might still great contention two amendments address bulk acquisition warrants broad nature sort warrant amendments 210zf 204b would add current list reasons may necessary disclose copy communications data obtained bulk acquisition warrant disclosure copying must course kept minimum necessary limited number purposes amendment adds case internet connection records requirement necessity respect individual committed offence lord paddicks response continue contest vehemently one amendments stating far amendment 204b potential bulk acquisition internet connection records concerned us rather alarming prospect think yet raised public consciousness absolutely certain return issue report stage beg leave withdraw amendment response minister state ministry defence earl howe expressed disagreement lord paddick stating notifications would necessarily foil terrorist investigations employing word terrorist repeatedly innocent ordinary lawabiding people would notified agencies seek obtain warrants people suspected criminals terrorist suspects would change behaviour would less chance bringing justice160 lord beiths response earl howe however put right assertion investigated signifies individual guilty anything since investigation successful identifying involved radicalisation ring planning kidnapping may well people genuinely involved way factora mistaken number examplehad drawn net inquiry focus talks committee directed issues fallibility investigations responsibility public notification misuse bills tenants uncover private data importance safeguards protect privacy160 next step bill reports stage house lords | 524 |
<p>Oscar León is an experienced international press correspondent and documentary filmmaker based in Arizona. His work has reached continental TV broadcast in many occasions on Telesur, ECTV, Ecuavisa, Radio Canada, Canal Uno and even Fox Sports Latin America and El Garaje TV; he has been a TRNN correspondent since 2010. Oscar has reported from as many as 9 countries and more than 12 cities in US; his coverage includes TV reports, special reports and TV specials, not only covering social movements, politics and economics but environmental issues, culture and sports as well. This includes the series "Reportero del Sur", "Occupy USA - El Otoño Americano", "Habia una vez en Arizona", "Motor X" all TV mini series broadcasted to all Americas and "Once upon a time in Arizona" finalist in Radio Canada's "Migration" 2010 contest.</p>
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<p /> OSCAR LEÓN, TRNN PRODUCER: In Michoacán, Mexico, local community militias called autodefensas, or self defenses, have been liberating towns and cleaning from the powerful drug cartels that for four years also extorted the citizens and took a cut of every aspect of the economy. On January&#160;27, they accepted a deal with the Mexican federal government to work together controlling the powerful local criminal rings.
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<p />However, there is little trust in the Mexican government, and mainly in the integrity of their elected officials. Many still wonder why. The governor Fernando Vallejo sent the army to disarm the autodefensas, causing four civilian deaths and preventing the seizing of the city of Apatzingan by the Militias. Vallejo has been accused of being elected under threats to the population made by the local cartels' bosses to vote for PRI, the ruling party.
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<p />This explosive announce of official corruption was made by both the autodefensas as well as the narco bosses, who posted a video talking about the deal with PRI.
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<p />After the governor Fernando Vallejo called for federal help, Enrique Peña Nieto implemented by presidential decree an initiative creating a czar for security and development in Michoacán, a post for which he invested his close ally Alfredo Castillo Cervantes, who will now be in charge of both federal forces and civil servants.
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<p />In all the cities that the militias have liberated, one of the main steps taken so far is to capture the local policeman, and in some cases even elected officials, and expel them out of the city. Father Javier Cortez confirmed that in Apatzingan the federal troops also sent the municipal police away in an effort to reach a settlement with the autodefensas.
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<p />The Mexican government announced that 1,209 police agents have been disarmed and demobilized.
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<p />The autodefensa militias are skeptical of the federal effort and have declared they will not disarm until all the criminal gangs, and especially their main leaders, are captured or killed. Initially they consulted their ranks and rejected a petition from the government to disarm, and this represented a political embarrassment to the Peña Nieto administration, which in a very tactical move eventually accepted this and went a step further, not only accepting the militias' will to stay mobilized, but incorporating them in the fight against the Caballeros Templarios.
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<p />ESTANISLAO BELTRAN, BUENAVISTA, TOMATLAN'S MILITIA SPOKESPERSON (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): We will disarm only when Michoacán State is cleaned of the Templar Knights and their main bosses, Nazario Moreno (aka El Chayo), La Tuta, Enrique Plancarte, El Tibo, and all of their lieutenants are captured, setting our state free of fear. Then we will disarm. Not before.
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<p />LEÓN: People like Estanislao Beltran make a daring bet not only by embarrassing the Mexican authorities, but also by defying the powerful international cartels, for which Michoacán plays a small but important part in the international criminal trade.
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<p />Evidence exists that implicates large international banks, like Wachovia and Wells Fargo, in laundering billions of dollars from cartels back into the economy. How can you challenge such power?
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<p />In the past there have been documented ties between federal government officials and narco cartels, like General Jesús Gutiérrez Rebollo, who, while being Mexico's antidrug czar, was actively protecting the Juárez Cartel until 1997, when he was detained; also, more recently, the ties between Genaro García Luna, former main boss in the federal police in the payroll of El Golfo, Los Zetas, and Beltran Leiva cartels, as DEA and even La Barbie, a narco boss himself, had recently revealed.
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<p />BELTRAN: Initially the people wouldn't respond because they knew that the criminals had threatened to not only kill us, but all of our families and even the house dogs—they had said so.
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<p />LEÓN: But who are these militias? Who finances them? Do they have political view? For an informed social and political analysis of this social conflict, we contacted Salvador Diaz Sanchez, an experienced journalist and professor of social and political sciences in Chapingo University.
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<p />Diaz is well acquainted with the Mexican social movements over the last decades. He even worked documenting the Zapatista rebellion in Chiapas from the inside 20 years ago. He has produced since many other documentary films about the Mexican social struggle.
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<p />SALVADOR DIAZ SANCHEZ, JOURNALIST AND PROFESSOR OF SOCIAL AND POLITICAL SCIENCES (SUBTITLED TRANSL.): The autodefensas are inspired by what happened in Cherán. This is the first town that while under attack like everyone else, had the audacity to organize, and eventually overcame their fear by organizing themselves.
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<p />They not only cleared the area of criminals and gave everyone else an example that you can fight and win. They went a step beyond that. They called the local and international [human rights institutions and international courts] and said that in popular and neighborhood assemblies, "we have identified our enemies and we will expel the political parties from our towns, because they divide our people and are colluding with the criminals".
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<p />LEÓN: Diaz refers to the local community uprising that started on April&#160;15, 2011, when illegal loggers where arrested by the community. They then instituted a popular assembly and "community police rounds" to keep its forest safe from illegal loggers.
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<p />In Cherán, the communities also decided to expel the political parties.
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<p />Cherán immediately began a judicial and political fight to not recognize the municipal and state's elections. After litigating in many instances, Michoacán State Congress granted the community council municipal authority. They had effectively defeated the Mexican political system and started their own traditional governance process based on their indigenous roots, which is now recognized by the Mexican government.
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<p />DIAZ: [In Cherán] they defeated the main structure of the political system. This is such a remarkable triumph, one that has not been widely promoted in the news.
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<p />LEÓN: Contrasting with Cherán's "Community Rounds" and its primitive weapons, it is clear that in the last year it has been the wealthy owners of the lemon, avocado, and cattle farms of Michoacán who helped initiate the militias. They drive expensive trucks and use advanced communication systems and weapons. There have been reports that many people who have been deported or have even come back voluntarily from the U.S. are now involved with the autodefensas.
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<p />The autodefensas' leaders have so far indicated that their only objective is not a political one but the safety and security of the citizenry. However, Diaz warns there could be more to it.
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<p />DIAZ: We must differentiate and not believe that this is a civil war. However, this [social conflict] can explode and become [a civil war], because new actors are being dragged in as time goes by, like more educated people and even leftists, liberal, and progressive people.
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<p />So that is the reason why the government wants to disarm them, and that is why they are losing control. It is because they remember that in Chiapas, the farmers were the ones [that fought the government], and now in Michoacán, there are not only farmers but also other groups of citizenry up in arms.
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<p />LEÓN: While Diaz recognizes that the rich owners of the farms are behind the autodefensas, he also points out that there are tens of thousands, or perhaps hundreds of thousands of people in arms in the militia ranks, some of which could eventually promote their own self-interested agenda.
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<p />Diaz: Obviously not all of them are rich. I think that the great majority of them are poor. In their ranks you can even find that the workers of the cattle, lemon, and avocado farms are fighting alongside their employers. So it is complicated to predict where this movement is going. But have no doubt that this is a social movement.
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<p />LEÓN: Diaz also points out that the government has twice changed its approach. Initially, a year ago, the federal authorities had supported the disarming of the militias, but after realizing that they cannot control the criminal gangs, they looked away and let the militias carry on with their intended purpose of cleaning up the towns of criminal gangs, all this, of course, until January&#160;13, when the federal army impeded the seizing of Apatzingan by the autodefensas and ordered them to disarm before changing its mind again to save face and avoid a wider conflict after the autodefensas refused to lay down their arms.
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<p />Diaz believes that the militias have now twice proven its strength while the government looks weak. This puts the Mexican government in a predicament, which according to him is based on real political concerns.
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<p />DIAZ: What if Mireles [the militia leader] says that the fight is no longer only about security? What if the militia leaders gather and decide to claim other issues? What if they eventually install real community assemblies to reign over the prices of food and other issues like wages and a real improvement in their lives?
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<p />LEÓN: Now we must wait to see if the Mexican federal government is capable of reining in the violence of the criminal gangs and if it can disarm and demobilize a large group of people that have had a taste of armed popular resistance and community power.
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<p />Reporting for The Real News, this is Oscar León.
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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 | oscar león experienced international press correspondent documentary filmmaker based arizona work reached continental tv broadcast many occasions telesur ectv ecuavisa radio canada canal uno even fox sports latin america el garaje tv trnn correspondent since 2010 oscar reported many 9 countries 12 cities us coverage includes tv reports special reports tv specials covering social movements politics economics environmental issues culture sports well includes series reportero del sur occupy usa el otoño americano habia una vez en arizona motor x tv mini series broadcasted americas upon time arizona finalist radio canadas migration 2010 contest oscar leÓn trnn producer michoacán mexico local community militias called autodefensas self defenses liberating towns cleaning powerful drug cartels four years also extorted citizens took cut every aspect economy january16027 accepted deal mexican federal government work together controlling powerful local criminal rings however little trust mexican government mainly integrity elected officials many still wonder governor fernando vallejo sent army disarm autodefensas causing four civilian deaths preventing seizing city apatzingan militias vallejo accused elected threats population made local cartels bosses vote pri ruling party explosive announce official corruption made autodefensas well narco bosses posted video talking deal pri governor fernando vallejo called federal help enrique peña nieto implemented presidential decree initiative creating czar security development michoacán post invested close ally alfredo castillo cervantes charge federal forces civil servants cities militias liberated one main steps taken far capture local policeman cases even elected officials expel city father javier cortez confirmed apatzingan federal troops also sent municipal police away effort reach settlement autodefensas mexican government announced 1209 police agents disarmed demobilized autodefensa militias skeptical federal effort declared disarm criminal gangs especially main leaders captured killed initially consulted ranks rejected petition government disarm represented political embarrassment peña nieto administration tactical move eventually accepted went step accepting militias stay mobilized incorporating fight caballeros templarios estanislao beltran buenavista tomatlans militia spokesperson subtitled transl disarm michoacán state cleaned templar knights main bosses nazario moreno aka el chayo la tuta enrique plancarte el tibo lieutenants captured setting state free fear disarm leÓn people like estanislao beltran make daring bet embarrassing mexican authorities also defying powerful international cartels michoacán plays small important part international criminal trade evidence exists implicates large international banks like wachovia wells fargo laundering billions dollars cartels back economy challenge power past documented ties federal government officials narco cartels like general jesús gutiérrez rebollo mexicos antidrug czar actively protecting juárez cartel 1997 detained also recently ties genaro garcía luna former main boss federal police payroll el golfo los zetas beltran leiva cartels dea even la barbie narco boss recently revealed beltran initially people wouldnt respond knew criminals threatened kill us families even house dogsthey said leÓn militias finances political view informed social political analysis social conflict contacted salvador diaz sanchez experienced journalist professor social political sciences chapingo university diaz well acquainted mexican social movements last decades even worked documenting zapatista rebellion chiapas inside 20 years ago produced since many documentary films mexican social struggle salvador diaz sanchez journalist professor social political sciences subtitled transl autodefensas inspired happened cherán first town attack like everyone else audacity organize eventually overcame fear organizing cleared area criminals gave everyone else example fight win went step beyond called local international human rights institutions international courts said popular neighborhood assemblies identified enemies expel political parties towns divide people colluding criminals leÓn diaz refers local community uprising started april16015 2011 illegal loggers arrested community instituted popular assembly community police rounds keep forest safe illegal loggers cherán communities also decided expel political parties cherán immediately began judicial political fight recognize municipal states elections litigating many instances michoacán state congress granted community council municipal authority effectively defeated mexican political system started traditional governance process based indigenous roots recognized mexican government diaz cherán defeated main structure political system remarkable triumph one widely promoted news leÓn contrasting cheráns community rounds primitive weapons clear last year wealthy owners lemon avocado cattle farms michoacán helped initiate militias drive expensive trucks use advanced communication systems weapons reports many people deported even come back voluntarily us involved autodefensas autodefensas leaders far indicated objective political one safety security citizenry however diaz warns could diaz must differentiate believe civil war however social conflict explode become civil war new actors dragged time goes like educated people even leftists liberal progressive people reason government wants disarm losing control remember chiapas farmers ones fought government michoacán farmers also groups citizenry arms leÓn diaz recognizes rich owners farms behind autodefensas also points tens thousands perhaps hundreds thousands people arms militia ranks could eventually promote selfinterested agenda diaz obviously rich think great majority poor ranks even find workers cattle lemon avocado farms fighting alongside employers complicated predict movement going doubt social movement leÓn diaz also points government twice changed approach initially year ago federal authorities supported disarming militias realizing control criminal gangs looked away let militias carry intended purpose cleaning towns criminal gangs course january16013 federal army impeded seizing apatzingan autodefensas ordered disarm changing mind save face avoid wider conflict autodefensas refused lay arms diaz believes militias twice proven strength government looks weak puts mexican government predicament according based real political concerns diaz mireles militia leader says fight longer security militia leaders gather decide claim issues eventually install real community assemblies reign prices food issues like wages real improvement lives leÓn must wait see mexican federal government capable reining violence criminal gangs disarm demobilize large group people taste armed popular resistance community power reporting real news oscar león end disclaimer please note transcripts real news network typed recording program trnn guarantee complete accuracy | 918 |
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<p>As her husband gradually succumbed to Alzheimer’s disease in the last years of his life, Nancy Reagan became a vocal <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A12862-2004May9.html" type="external">advocate</a> for embryonic <a href="http://www.clearlyexplained.com/nature/life/cells/stemcells.html#why" type="external">stem-cell</a> research, a stance that put her squarely at odds with the Bush administration and the Christian right on the issue. Conservatives argue that the research, which necessarily involves the destruction of human embryos, is equivalent to abortion, but the scientific consensus si that, as stem cells might hold the key to fighting diseases such as Parkinson’s, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s, the research is not only morally justified, but imperative.</p>
<p>In a speech barely a month before her husband’s death, Mrs. Reagan made her most public appeal yet for research:</p>
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<p>“I’m determined to do whatever I can to save other families from this pain. I just don’t see how we can turn our backs on this.”</p>
<p>To find out how, she should refer her question to George W. Bush. The president has been at pains to <a href="http://www.georgebush.com" type="external">draw parallels</a> between himself and Ronald Reagan. But he still refuses to answer the Reagan family’s request to modify the limitations on stem-cell research he <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/08/09/stem.cell.bush/" type="external">created</a> by executive order in the early days of his administration. In August 2001, Bush restricted research to 78 existing stem-cell lines — the majority of which, researchers say, are damaged and unusable.</p>
<p>The debate over embryonic stem-cells — which are considered more valuable to research than other stem cells because they are less developed and can still grow into other cells — drew substantial news coverage in the summer of 2001, making it one of the first major controversies of Bush’s term. By announcing his decision in a rare televised address, and by borrowing his emotive rhetoric from the abortion debate — Bush underscored the issue’s importance to his party’s right flank:</p>
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<p>“I also believe human life is a sacred gift from our creator. I worry about a culture that devalues life, and believe as your president I have an important obligation to foster and encourage respect for life in America and throughout the world. And while we’re all hopeful about the potential of this research, no one can be certain that the science will live up to the hope it has generated.”</p>
<p>But Nancy Reagan’s public appeal for more research places Bush in a difficult position. Sympathy following her husband’s death, combined with his popularity among Republicans, gives Mrs. Reagan a powerful voice on the subject. To counteract that advantage, the White House sent Laura Bush – whose father died of Alzheimer’s in 1997 – on the <a href="http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LAURA_BUSH_STEM_CELLS?SITE=APWEB&amp;SECTION=HOME&amp;TEMPLATE=DEFAULT" type="external">talk show</a>circuit Wednesday: “We have to be really careful between what we want to do for science and what we should do ethically and the stem cell issue is certainly one of those issues that we need to treat very carefully.”</p>
<p>But Bush might need to be equally careful with a planned tribute to Ronald Reagan at the August GOP Convention in New York, where Nancy Reagan would logically feature as a prominent speaker (though her precise role, if any, has not yet been announced). The <a href="http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/news/politics/8865327.htm?1c" type="external">New York Daily News</a> speculates that Mrs. Reagan’s presence would elicit further debate about stem cells. That could potentially drive a wedge between the party’s moderates and its far right – as the gay marriage debate recently threatened to do – instead of creating party unity at the convention. “This could be a serious headache for Bush,” American Enterprise Institute analyst Norm Ornstein told the paper. “Bush would prefer not to have this issue highlighted.”</p>
<p>In the meantime, the issue is being highlighted by <a href="http://us.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/07/stem.cell.ap/" type="external">members of Congress</a>. After Reagan’s death, 58 senators and 206 House members wrote the president to request expansion of stem-cell research. The majority of senators signed the request, including 43 Democrats, independent Jim Jeffords, and 14 Republicans. The petitioners include staunch anti-abortionists like Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn), Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah):</p>
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<p>“Maybe one of the small blessings that will come from [Reagan’s] passing will be a greater opportunity for Nancy to work on this issue, which of course means so much to her,” Hatch said. “I believe that it’s going to be pretty tough for anybody not to have empathy for her feelings on this issue.”</p>
<p>As the <a href="http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/8874339.htm" type="external">Philadelphia Inquirer</a> suggested in its Wednesday editorial, encouraging stem-cell research would allow Bush to honor Reagan properly.</p>
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<p>While others talk about putting his visage on dimes or $10 bills, a more significant legacy would be this: President Bush should ease the damaging limits he put on human embyronic stem-cell research, which could someday lead to a cure for Alzheimer’s and other dire diseases. It’s what Reagan’s widow Nancy wants; it’s what numerous scientists and a growing number of elected officials want.</p>
<p>Writing in the Chicago Tribune, columnist <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/oped/chi-0406090105jun09,1,1797008.story?coll=chi-newsopinioncommentary-hed" type="external">Carol Marin</a> pointed out that if Bush was willing to sacrifice some embryonic stem cells in 2001 – and many of the frozen embryos not used for research are destroyed regardless – he should be willing to allow further research in the interest of saving lives:</p>
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<p>“He should approve broader federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. And he should do it right now. Leadership means looking your political base straight in the eye and telling the truth. In this case, the president needs to sit down with members of the religious right and talk to them about stem cells in “sanctity-of-life” terms. He needs to tell them that the number of lives waiting to be saved really does matter. Abortion, the lightning rod and the litmus test of all things conservative, is being used and abused in this debate.”</p>
<p>…The extraction kills the embryo. Bush believes that is immoral and federal funds should not be used in this kind of research. It is, in essence, the abortion argument. Here’s where I get confused. If the president really believes that the use of embryos is unethical and immoral, how could he in Solomon-like fashion have made the compromise he made in 2001? … What if some new treatment option results from the use of the “approved” embryonic material, if a life is someday saved because, in the president’s view, another life has been lost? Is the use of that federally funded discovery immoral too?</p>
<p>Thanks in large part to Nancy Reagan, the stem-cell debate has been reopened in a bipartisan spirit. Now we’ll see how Bush truly honors Ronald Reagan, his self-proclaimed hero.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | husband gradually succumbed alzheimers disease last years life nancy reagan became vocal advocate embryonic stemcell research stance put squarely odds bush administration christian right issue conservatives argue research necessarily involves destruction human embryos equivalent abortion scientific consensus si stem cells might hold key fighting diseases parkinsons diabetes alzheimers research morally justified imperative speech barely month husbands death mrs reagan made public appeal yet research im determined whatever save families pain dont see turn backs find refer question george w bush president pains draw parallels ronald reagan still refuses answer reagan familys request modify limitations stemcell research created executive order early days administration august 2001 bush restricted research 78 existing stemcell lines majority researchers say damaged unusable debate embryonic stemcells considered valuable research stem cells less developed still grow cells drew substantial news coverage summer 2001 making one first major controversies bushs term announcing decision rare televised address borrowing emotive rhetoric abortion debate bush underscored issues importance partys right flank also believe human life sacred gift creator worry culture devalues life believe president important obligation foster encourage respect life america throughout world hopeful potential research one certain science live hope generated nancy reagans public appeal research places bush difficult position sympathy following husbands death combined popularity among republicans gives mrs reagan powerful voice subject counteract advantage white house sent laura bush whose father died alzheimers 1997 talk showcircuit wednesday really careful want science ethically stem cell issue certainly one issues need treat carefully bush might need equally careful planned tribute ronald reagan august gop convention new york nancy reagan would logically feature prominent speaker though precise role yet announced new york daily news speculates mrs reagans presence would elicit debate stem cells could potentially drive wedge partys moderates far right gay marriage debate recently threatened instead creating party unity convention could serious headache bush american enterprise institute analyst norm ornstein told paper bush would prefer issue highlighted meantime issue highlighted members congress reagans death 58 senators 206 house members wrote president request expansion stemcell research majority senators signed request including 43 democrats independent jim jeffords 14 republicans petitioners include staunch antiabortionists like lamar alexander rtenn majority leader bill frist rtenn orrin hatch rutah maybe one small blessings come reagans passing greater opportunity nancy work issue course means much hatch said believe going pretty tough anybody empathy feelings issue philadelphia inquirer suggested wednesday editorial encouraging stemcell research would allow bush honor reagan properly others talk putting visage dimes 10 bills significant legacy would president bush ease damaging limits put human embyronic stemcell research could someday lead cure alzheimers dire diseases reagans widow nancy wants numerous scientists growing number elected officials want writing chicago tribune columnist carol marin pointed bush willing sacrifice embryonic stem cells 2001 many frozen embryos used research destroyed regardless willing allow research interest saving lives approve broader federal funding embryonic stemcell research right leadership means looking political base straight eye telling truth case president needs sit members religious right talk stem cells sanctityoflife terms needs tell number lives waiting saved really matter abortion lightning rod litmus test things conservative used abused debate extraction kills embryo bush believes immoral federal funds used kind research essence abortion argument heres get confused president really believes use embryos unethical immoral could solomonlike fashion made compromise made 2001 new treatment option results use approved embryonic material life someday saved presidents view another life lost use federally funded discovery immoral thanks large part nancy reagan stemcell debate reopened bipartisan spirit well see bush truly honors ronald reagan selfproclaimed hero | 584 |
<p>Cairo</p>
<p>Egypt opened its border with the Gaza Strip last week in a radical move that upends the 30-year-old alliance between the US, Israel and Egypt under the rule of President Hosni Mubarak. The Egyptian foreign minister described the blockade of 1.6 million Palestinians in Gaza as “disgusting”. Soon Egypt will reopen diplomatic links with Iran.</p>
<p>Unprecedented changes are also happening at home. Last week the Egyptian prosecutor charged former President &#160;Mubarak with the premeditated killing of protestors, corruptly accepting as a gift a palace and four villas at Sharm el-Sheikh ,and involvement in promoting a corrupt deal supplying gas to Israel. The once all-powerful&#160; Mubarak has become such a pariah that businessmen in Sharm el-Sheikh, where he once hosted world leaders, are demanding that he be moved from a hospital there because his presence is deterring tourists from visiting the resort.</p>
<p>But for hundreds of thousands of Egyptians who demonstrated in Cairo, Alexandria yesterday these developments, inconceivable at the start year, are not radical enough. Many saw the rallies and marches as the moment to launch a “Second Egyptian Revolution” to shatter the status quo. Frustrated protestors say that Egypt was a military dictatorship before the January 25 revolution and so it largely still is. Orders are handed down by the shadowy Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) without consultation or explanation. Many leading protagonists and cronies of the old regime are still in place. By contrast hundreds of pro-democracy protestors have been sentenced to five years in prison after a 30-minute trial by military tribunals. Torture continues with some female political detainees subjected to humiliating “virginity tests”. Radicals ask why they have been judged so swiftly when the prosecution is slow and subject to such long delays for members of “the Club”, the collective nickname for officials, politicians and businessmen at the heart of the Mubarak regime.</p>
<p>The Egyptian revolution is suffering an identity crisis. Many Egyptians wonder if there was a revolution at all or simply a military coup whereby Mubarak and his cronies were sacrificed so the rest of the Egyptian ruling class could stay in power. But, at the same time, dramatic changes are going on even if part of the reason for them is to head off a more far-reaching revolution. There is also a general recognition that the old system was rotten and dysfunctional to its core.</p>
<p>Egypt today is full of contradictions. Protestors in Cairo’s notorious Tora prison, after being sentenced to heavy terms for continuing street protests demanding prosecution of the Mubarak family, were pleased to find that Gamel and Alaa,&#160; Mubarak’s sons, had joined them in jail. They were less pleased to find that, although one of their main demands had been met, they were not being freed.</p>
<p>In theory the balance of forces is heavily in favor of SCAF, but it is very sensitive to public opinion. It wants to draw a somewhat artificial distinction between the patriotic Egyptian army that refused to fire at the people in Tahrir Square, and the corrupt racketeers who ran the Mubarak police state. So far, polls show, Egyptians, particularly in the countryside, take the army at its word.</p>
<p>While keeping power in its hands, the military have been quick to give in to popular demands. To prevent the rallies yesterday becoming the starting pistol for a second revolution,&#160; Mubarak and his sons are to be prosecuted; many pro-democracy prisoners have been released; the Rafah border crossing has been reopened and several ministers have been jailed.</p>
<p>Life for most Egyptians has changed very little. For some, like the two million people involved in tourism, it has got worse because the tourists have seen scenes of violence on their televisions and are going elsewhere. Guides at Cairo’s Egyptian Museum and at the tombs and pyramids of Saqqara dolefully sit around with nothing to do or have gone home to sleep. In fact, there could hardly be a better time to visit Egypt, aside from the summer heat, because its greatest monuments can be seen without hordes of tourists getting in the way.</p>
<p>Corruption remains high and inescapable at all levels. One company successfully exporting marble had to go out of business because, although its trading profits were going up rapidly, they were not rising as fast as the demand for bribes by officials who sign essential permits. At a more lowly level an Italian-Egyptian tried to pass his driving test without paying a bribe. He was failed six times. At the seventh attempt his resolve failed and he let a 100 Egyptian pound note (about $20) flutter to the ground. “I think you dropped 100 pounds,” he said to the examiner who promptly replied “No, I think it was 200 pounds.” Soon after he obtained his driving license along with an appreciation as to why Egypt has a worst record for traffic accidents compared to almost anywhere in the world.</p>
<p>Cairo today is full of rumors because nobody knows where real power lies. A dubious newspaper article claiming that&#160; Mubarak was about to be amnestied in return for apologizing to the Egyptian provoked a howl of rage. Coptic clerics say the government has to do something about Muslim clerics claiming that Christian churches are full of weapons or, alternatively, with girls who converted from Christianity to Islam and have now been kidnapped by Copts to force them to recant.</p>
<p>Rumors have a political impact. For instance, heavily subsidized bottled gas for cooking has become difficult to get, &#160;leading to popular anger over stories that Israel is receiving cheap Egyptian gas thanks to a sweetheart deal corruptly arranged by&#160; Mubarak’s associates. The real explanation seems to be that businessmen find it profitable to buy up bottles of subsidized gas, most of which come from Saudi Arabia, and smuggle them to Libya and Gaza where prices are higher and they can make large profits.</p>
<p>Fear of violence has increased. Many households have purchased weapons. The 1.4 million police are demoralized and say they are frightened of exercising their authority because they might not be supported by their superiors. Reformers say members of the old regime are deliberately stoking violence to create nostalgia for Mubarak’s brutal police state.</p>
<p>“The explanation,” said one Cairene, “that anything which goes wrong in Egypt is the result of sabotage or deliberate neglect by Mubarak supporters has been used so often that it has become something of a standing joke.”</p>
<p>A difficulty is that nobody quite knows the extent of problems that were being covered up by the government over the last 30 years. Even something as simple as the number of road deaths is uncertain with the Interior Ministry saying they were 7,000 in one recent year, while international organizations suspect the real figure is 13,000. National statistics say that 21 per cent of the 80 million Egyptians live in poverty but economists believe the true figure may be much worse.</p>
<p>The military have so far been surprisingly effective in reassuring those with a stake in the status quo that nothing much will change, while insisting to the pro-democracy protestors that a new era is dawning. It is not a balancing act that can go on for ever.</p>
<p>Patrick Cockburn is the author of “ <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>
<p>&#160;</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | cairo egypt opened border gaza strip last week radical move upends 30yearold alliance us israel egypt rule president hosni mubarak egyptian foreign minister described blockade 16 million palestinians gaza disgusting soon egypt reopen diplomatic links iran unprecedented changes also happening home last week egyptian prosecutor charged former president 160mubarak premeditated killing protestors corruptly accepting gift palace four villas sharm elsheikh involvement promoting corrupt deal supplying gas israel allpowerful160 mubarak become pariah businessmen sharm elsheikh hosted world leaders demanding moved hospital presence deterring tourists visiting resort hundreds thousands egyptians demonstrated cairo alexandria yesterday developments inconceivable start year radical enough many saw rallies marches moment launch second egyptian revolution shatter status quo frustrated protestors say egypt military dictatorship january 25 revolution largely still orders handed shadowy supreme council armed forces scaf without consultation explanation many leading protagonists cronies old regime still place contrast hundreds prodemocracy protestors sentenced five years prison 30minute trial military tribunals torture continues female political detainees subjected humiliating virginity tests radicals ask judged swiftly prosecution slow subject long delays members club collective nickname officials politicians businessmen heart mubarak regime egyptian revolution suffering identity crisis many egyptians wonder revolution simply military coup whereby mubarak cronies sacrificed rest egyptian ruling class could stay power time dramatic changes going even part reason head farreaching revolution also general recognition old system rotten dysfunctional core egypt today full contradictions protestors cairos notorious tora prison sentenced heavy terms continuing street protests demanding prosecution mubarak family pleased find gamel alaa160 mubaraks sons joined jail less pleased find although one main demands met freed theory balance forces heavily favor scaf sensitive public opinion wants draw somewhat artificial distinction patriotic egyptian army refused fire people tahrir square corrupt racketeers ran mubarak police state far polls show egyptians particularly countryside take army word keeping power hands military quick give popular demands prevent rallies yesterday becoming starting pistol second revolution160 mubarak sons prosecuted many prodemocracy prisoners released rafah border crossing reopened several ministers jailed life egyptians changed little like two million people involved tourism got worse tourists seen scenes violence televisions going elsewhere guides cairos egyptian museum tombs pyramids saqqara dolefully sit around nothing gone home sleep fact could hardly better time visit egypt aside summer heat greatest monuments seen without hordes tourists getting way corruption remains high inescapable levels one company successfully exporting marble go business although trading profits going rapidly rising fast demand bribes officials sign essential permits lowly level italianegyptian tried pass driving test without paying bribe failed six times seventh attempt resolve failed let 100 egyptian pound note 20 flutter ground think dropped 100 pounds said examiner promptly replied think 200 pounds soon obtained driving license along appreciation egypt worst record traffic accidents compared almost anywhere world cairo today full rumors nobody knows real power lies dubious newspaper article claiming that160 mubarak amnestied return apologizing egyptian provoked howl rage coptic clerics say government something muslim clerics claiming christian churches full weapons alternatively girls converted christianity islam kidnapped copts force recant rumors political impact instance heavily subsidized bottled gas cooking become difficult get 160leading popular anger stories israel receiving cheap egyptian gas thanks sweetheart deal corruptly arranged by160 mubaraks associates real explanation seems businessmen find profitable buy bottles subsidized gas come saudi arabia smuggle libya gaza prices higher make large profits fear violence increased many households purchased weapons 14 million police demoralized say frightened exercising authority might supported superiors reformers say members old regime deliberately stoking violence create nostalgia mubaraks brutal police state explanation said one cairene anything goes wrong egypt result sabotage deliberate neglect mubarak supporters used often become something standing joke difficulty nobody quite knows extent problems covered government last 30 years even something simple number road deaths uncertain interior ministry saying 7000 one recent year international organizations suspect real figure 13000 national statistics say 21 per cent 80 million egyptians live poverty economists believe true figure may much worse military far surprisingly effective reassuring stake status quo nothing much change insisting prodemocracy protestors new era dawning balancing act go ever patrick cockburn author muqtada muqtada alsadr shia revival struggle iraq 160 | 677 |
<p>In his January State of the Union address, President Trump called for $1.5 trillion in infrastructure spending over the next decade. If that amount materialized, it could go a long way toward meeting the nation’s infrastructure needs. But the release on February 12 of his detailed plan for raising and allocating those funds dashed any hope that this administration would address the nation’s acute need for infrastructure investment.</p>
<p>The meagerness of the federal contribution — just $200 billion over ten years, or less than 0.1 percent of GDP over that period — was already clear from the State of the Union. Half of those funds are allocated to an Incentive Program intended to support surface transportation and airports, passenger rail, ports and waterways, flood control, water supply, hydropower, water resources, drinking water facilities, wastewater facilities, storm water facilities, and brownfield and Superfund sites. Just listing everything the President’s plan claims to address for a federal expenditure of just $100 billion makes the inadequacy of the plan obvious. But there’s more.</p>
<p>The Incentive Program requires states and localities to put up 80 percent of the cost of any project in order to get a federal match of 20 percent. This turns the traditional approach to infrastructure investment on its head. The federal government typically provides 80 percent of the funding for such projects. It is wishful thinking to imagine how cash-strapped states and cities — already on the hook for extensive local infrastructure spending — will be able to find new public sources of financing, especially now that the recent Republican-passed tax law has severely limited their ability to raise taxes to pay for such undertakings.</p>
<p>Trump’s plan turns infrastructure investment on its head in another way as well. Traditionally, the selection of projects to be funded by the federal government emphasized benefits to the public. The administration’s plan weighs the ability to attract sources of funding outside the federal government at 70 percent when considering whether to support it; economic and social returns from the project count for just 5 percent. Federal funding will go to projects that are most attractive to private investors, rather than to those, like clean water, that meet the needs of communities.</p>
<p>President Trump’s plans for the nation’s infrastructure are, unbelievably, even worse than they appear. In the President’s budget, released on the same day as the infrastructure plan, Democrats in Congress <a href="" type="internal">identified more than $240 billion</a> over the next decade in proposed cuts to ongoing infrastructure. This includes a cut of $122 billion to the Highway Trust Fund as well as reductions in programs that fund rail, aviation, and wastewater projects. Net federal spending on infrastructure may actually fall over the next decade if the President’s plans are approved by Congress, potentially leaving the nation’s infrastructure in a more dire condition than when he took office.</p>
<p>Public-Private Partnerships and the Role of Private Equity</p>
<p>With states and localities sidelined by budget realities, the administration appears to be counting on private investors to step-up and propose public-private partnerships. No doubt some projects will attract private financing. The infrastructure plan sweetens such deals by:</p>
<p>+ Allowing private investors to recoup their costs and earn profits by placing tolls on existing interstate highways where they are currently restricted;</p>
<p>+ Making it easier for large- and mid-sized airports to charge higher passenger fees and extend these fees to small airports;</p>
<p>+ Turning rest stops on interstates into commercial areas that can charge for anything except drinking water and toilets; and</p>
<p>+ Allowing fees for the use of public recreational water facilities.</p>
<p>+ Increased tolls and fees paid by the public would go to private investors that engage in partnerships with public agencies.</p>
<p>Private equity (PE) firms increased fundraising for infrastructure investment following Trump’s election. As an advisor to the Trump campaign, private equity mogul (now Commerce Secretary) Wilbur Ross promulgated a no-lose, high-return plan for private equity investment in infrastructure. Shortly after Trump’s inauguration, Joe Baratta, global head of private equity at Blackstone Group, the largest private equity firm in the world, announced <a href="" type="internal">plans to raise an infrastructure fund</a> of as much as $40 billion in equity. This would be Blackstone’s largest fund ever. Global Infrastructure Partners did raise $15.8 billion for what is currently the largest infrastructure fund. Brookfield Asset Management Inc. raised $14 billion for its third infrastructure fund. In 2017, PE firms <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/blackstone-other-private-equity-firms-may-sit-out-trump-infrastructure-push-1518557542https:/www.wsj.com/articles/blackstone-other-private-equity-firms-may-sit-out-trump-infrastructure-push-1518557542https:/www.wsj.com/articles/blackstone-other-private-equity-firms-may-sit-out-trump-infrastructure-push-1518557542https:/www.wsj.com/articles/blackstone-other-private-equity-firms-may-sit-out-trump-infrastructure-push-1518557542" type="external">raised a record amount of money</a> — nearly $40 billion, not counting the Blackstone fund that is still in process — for infrastructure investment; PE funds now hold $70 billion for this purpose.</p>
<p>Little of Ross’ proposal, that would have secured high returns for private equity investors, has survived in the plan put forward by President Trump. In spite of two years of fundraising, it’s unclear how much PE will contribute to the 80 percent mix of state, local and private funds needed to qualify for federal funds. Adding to the murky role PE will play in infrastructure investment, the <a href="https://www.pehub.com/buyouts/pe-flush-with-cash-eyes-infrastructure-market-poised-for-explosive-growth/" type="external">return expectations for infrastructure investment have actually come down</a>, and experienced PE investors generally expect a 10 to 11 percent return on investment for core infrastructure strategies.</p>
<p>Moreover, absent strong guarantees of outsized earnings, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/blackstone-other-private-equity-firms-may-sit-out-trump-infrastructure-push-1518557542" type="external">PE infrastructure funds prefer to buy existing public assets</a>, rather than invest in developing new infrastructure. This may explain the bizarre and unexpected proposals in President Trump’s budget to sell Dulles and Reagan National airports, the Baltimore–Washington and George Washington Parkways, the Tennessee Valley electric power assets, and so much more government-owned infrastructure.</p>
<p>What is clear is that the public will pay for local infrastructure projects carried out under the $100 billion Incentive Program, whether financed by state and local governments alone, or via public-private partnerships, through fees, tolls, and possibly higher gasoline taxes. The needs of poorer communities unable to raise much money will largely go unmet.</p>
<p>Other Provisions in the Infrastructure Plan</p>
<p>In addition to the $100 billion Incentive Program, another $50 billion would be allocated to the Rural Infrastructure Program, 80 percent of it in the form of block grants to states to be used in rural areas with populations of less than 50,000 and for Tribal and territorial infrastructure. This is just $5 billion a year spread across the entire United States. Another $20 billion would be made available for Transformative Projects. These grants would be administered by Ross’ Department of Commerce and would cover 30 to 80 percent of the costs of these projects, depending on whether the funds were requested for a demonstration project, project planning, or capital construction.</p>
<p>One element of the infrastructure plan has survived since it was first proposed during Trump’s presidential campaign: the plan will gut environmental protection requirements that date back to the 1970s. Under rubrics such as “streamlining the application process” or “getting projects completed more quickly,” roads, bridges, and pipelines will be constructed without the necessary protections for clean air, clean water, and the environment. Some projects would be allowed to proceed before completion of a review by the National Environmental Protection Act. Local communities would not know the environmental impacts they will face and will have little opportunity for input during project planning.</p>
<p>This essay was originally published by <a href="http://cepr.net/blogs/cepr-blog/trump-s-plan-won-t-solve-the-problems-of-america-s-crumbling-infrastructure" type="external">CERP</a>.</p> | true | 4 | january state union address president trump called 15 trillion infrastructure spending next decade amount materialized could go long way toward meeting nations infrastructure needs release february 12 detailed plan raising allocating funds dashed hope administration would address nations acute need infrastructure investment meagerness federal contribution 200 billion ten years less 01 percent gdp period already clear state union half funds allocated incentive program intended support surface transportation airports passenger rail ports waterways flood control water supply hydropower water resources drinking water facilities wastewater facilities storm water facilities brownfield superfund sites listing everything presidents plan claims address federal expenditure 100 billion makes inadequacy plan obvious theres incentive program requires states localities put 80 percent cost project order get federal match 20 percent turns traditional approach infrastructure investment head federal government typically provides 80 percent funding projects wishful thinking imagine cashstrapped states cities already hook extensive local infrastructure spending able find new public sources financing especially recent republicanpassed tax law severely limited ability raise taxes pay undertakings trumps plan turns infrastructure investment head another way well traditionally selection projects funded federal government emphasized benefits public administrations plan weighs ability attract sources funding outside federal government 70 percent considering whether support economic social returns project count 5 percent federal funding go projects attractive private investors rather like clean water meet needs communities president trumps plans nations infrastructure unbelievably even worse appear presidents budget released day infrastructure plan democrats congress identified 240 billion next decade proposed cuts ongoing infrastructure includes cut 122 billion highway trust fund well reductions programs fund rail aviation wastewater projects net federal spending infrastructure may actually fall next decade presidents plans approved congress potentially leaving nations infrastructure dire condition took office publicprivate partnerships role private equity states localities sidelined budget realities administration appears counting private investors stepup propose publicprivate partnerships doubt projects attract private financing infrastructure plan sweetens deals allowing private investors recoup costs earn profits placing tolls existing interstate highways currently restricted making easier large midsized airports charge higher passenger fees extend fees small airports turning rest stops interstates commercial areas charge anything except drinking water toilets allowing fees use public recreational water facilities increased tolls fees paid public would go private investors engage partnerships public agencies private equity pe firms increased fundraising infrastructure investment following trumps election advisor trump campaign private equity mogul commerce secretary wilbur ross promulgated nolose highreturn plan private equity investment infrastructure shortly trumps inauguration joe baratta global head private equity blackstone group largest private equity firm world announced plans raise infrastructure fund much 40 billion equity would blackstones largest fund ever global infrastructure partners raise 158 billion currently largest infrastructure fund brookfield asset management inc raised 14 billion third infrastructure fund 2017 pe firms raised record amount money nearly 40 billion counting blackstone fund still process infrastructure investment pe funds hold 70 billion purpose little ross proposal would secured high returns private equity investors survived plan put forward president trump spite two years fundraising unclear much pe contribute 80 percent mix state local private funds needed qualify federal funds adding murky role pe play infrastructure investment return expectations infrastructure investment actually come experienced pe investors generally expect 10 11 percent return investment core infrastructure strategies moreover absent strong guarantees outsized earnings pe infrastructure funds prefer buy existing public assets rather invest developing new infrastructure may explain bizarre unexpected proposals president trumps budget sell dulles reagan national airports baltimorewashington george washington parkways tennessee valley electric power assets much governmentowned infrastructure clear public pay local infrastructure projects carried 100 billion incentive program whether financed state local governments alone via publicprivate partnerships fees tolls possibly higher gasoline taxes needs poorer communities unable raise much money largely go unmet provisions infrastructure plan addition 100 billion incentive program another 50 billion would allocated rural infrastructure program 80 percent form block grants states used rural areas populations less 50000 tribal territorial infrastructure 5 billion year spread across entire united states another 20 billion would made available transformative projects grants would administered ross department commerce would cover 30 80 percent costs projects depending whether funds requested demonstration project project planning capital construction one element infrastructure plan survived since first proposed trumps presidential campaign plan gut environmental protection requirements date back 1970s rubrics streamlining application process getting projects completed quickly roads bridges pipelines constructed without necessary protections clean air clean water environment projects would allowed proceed completion review national environmental protection act local communities would know environmental impacts face little opportunity input project planning essay originally published cerp | 746 |
<p>Prof. William Black submitted a 24-page report on the Lehman bankruptcy to the House Committee on Financial Services on Tuesday. It is the best analysis of the underlying causes of the financial crisis to date. Black, who is a former government regulator and white-collar criminologist, shows that the crisis was not an unavoidable disaster, as Wall Street apologists suggest, but the result of large-scale fraud perpetrated by financial institutions like Lehman Brothers. The incidents of fraud were numerous, blatant, extreme and premeditated. In making his case against Lehman, Black exposes the omissions, failures and negligence of the primary regulators, particularly the Fed. Had the Fed not been derelict in its duties, the cyclical downturn would not have turned into a near-Depression.</p>
<p>“Lehman’s failure is a story in large part of fraud,” Black said in his testimony before the House. “Lehman was the leading purveyor of liars’ loans in the world. For most of this decade, studies of liars’ loans show incidence of fraud of 90per cent. … If you want to know why we have a global crisis, in large part it is before you.”</p>
<p>&#160;As the Litigation Director of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board during the S&amp;L crisis, Black knows what he’s talking about. He was so dogged in his investigation that Charles Keating&#160; “directed his chief political fixer that his ‘Highest Priority’ was to ‘Get Black … Kill him Dead.’” But Black didn’t buckle or give ground. He shrugged off the threats and continued to expose unsound practices and illegal activity. His team faced the same challenges that regulators face today, “elite frauds”&#160; by powerful institutions that wield tremendous political power.</p>
<p>Black’s statement cuts through much of the ideological claptrap surrounding the crisis and shows that deregulation is really the decriminalization of fraud.&#160; The notion that the market can “regulate itself”&#160; has been jettisoned altogether and public support for reform is&#160; gaining momentum.</p>
<p>“It is insane to withdraw accountability for negligence,” says Black. “Doing so encourages negligence.”</p>
<p>Financial institutions have used “laisser faire” dogma for their own aims. It’s&#160;the mask behind which the voracity and predations remain hidden. To a large extent, that’s the story of Lehman, an institution that paid no attention to rules and regulations. Anything went. It’s a philosophy that was embraced by the nation’s chief regulator, Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the Federal Reserve.</p>
<p>“Lehman’s nominal corporate governance structure was a sham,” says Black. “Lehman was deliberately out of control with regard to “risk” in its dominant operation – making “liar’s loans.” Lehman did not “manage” the risk of making liar’s loans. It engaged in massive, fraudulent transactions that were “sure things”.</p>
<p>Black notes that sleight-of-hand accounting&#160; assures that institutions will&#160; “report superb (fictional) income in the short-term and catastrophic losses in the long-term,” which is exactly what happened. The head honchos skimmed off billions in fat bonuses and stock options, while their companies were fed to the dogs.</p>
<p>Black again:</p>
<p>“Lehman’s principal source of (fictional) income and real losses was making (and selling) what the trade accurately called ‘liar’s loans’ through its subsidiary, Aurora… Liar’s loans are ‘criminogenic’ (they create epidemics of mortgage fraud) because they create strong incentives to provide false information on loan applications. The FBI began warning publicly about the epidemic of mortgage fraud in 2004.” (CNN)</p>
<p>The proof of criminal intent could not be clearer. The FBI reported what they’d found to the regulators, but nothing was done. Bush had filled all the supervisory posts with Wall Street loyalists who simply looked the other way.&#160; Thus, lending standards were relaxed, profits exploded, housing prices soared, the bubble mushroomed, and Lehman raked in record profits, knowing full-well that the eventual implosion would inflict massive damage on the system and severe hardship on everyone else.</p>
<p>Black again:</p>
<p>“Lehman’s underlying problem that doomed it was that it was insolvent because it made so many bad loans and investments. It hid its insolvency through the traditional means – it refused to recognize its losses honestly. It could not resolve its liquidity crisis because it was insolvent and its primary source of fictional accounting income collapsed with the collapse of the secondary market in nonprime loans. If Lehman sold its assets to get cash it would have to recognize these massive losses and report that it was insolvent.”</p>
<p>This requires some explanation. Prior to the meltdown, the depository “regulated” banks were mainly funded through repurchase agreements (repo) with institutional investors. (aka—“shadow banks”; investment banks, hedge funds, insurers) The banks would post collateral, in the form of bundled “securitized”&#160; bonds, and use the short-term loans to maintain operations.&#160; When the banks collateral became suspect — because no one knew which&#160; bundles held the subprime mortgages — then intermediaries (primary dealers) demanded more collateral for the loans. Suddenly the banks were losing money hand-over-fist as the value of their assets tumbled. Lehman got trapped in this revolving door and couldn’t roll-over its debt using its shabby collateral, which, by now, everyone knew was garbage. There was a bank-run on the shadow system; the secondary market collapsed. In truth, the market was traumatized by a radical repricing event, where asset prices were revalued overnight. Lehman could not survive in this new tight-credit environment.</p>
<p>Black continues:</p>
<p>“There is no way to ‘manage’ the ‘risk’ of making massive amounts of liar’s loans. Lehman was the world leader in making liar’s loans………If Lehman admitted that its liar’s loans were often fraudulent it could not sell them – cutting off one of its largest sources of income.”</p>
<p>Low-documentation “liar’s loans” were Lehman’s bread and butter.&#160; Ironically, its own auditors discovered that up to half of them “contained material misrepresentations”.&#160; It didn’t matter; everyone was making gobs of money&#160;and the bonus packages continued to shower wealth on the front office.&#160;&#160; Lehman responded to the auditors’ findings as expected, by boosting the volume of liar’s loans. “Damn the torpedoes”. This increased the likelihood of contagion and systemic risk. Lehman’s activities now threatened the whole system.</p>
<p>The SEC didn’t have the manpower to supervise Lehman, but the same can’t be said of the Fed.</p>
<p>Black again:</p>
<p>“The Fed had unique authority under the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act of 1994 (HOEPA) to regulate all mortgage lenders and had unprecedented practical leverage during the crisis because of its ability to lend and convert investment banks to commercial bank holding companies. The Fed is supposed to be an experienced ‘safety and soundness’ regulator.”</p>
<p>But the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (FRBNY) had no intention of overseeing Lehman or of assisting the SEC in carrying out its mission. In fact, Geithner’s Fed “stood by while Lehman deceived the public through a scheme that FRBNY officials likened to a ‘three card monte routine.’”</p>
<p>Black blasts Geithner and the FRBNY:</p>
<p>“The FRBNY knew that Lehman was engaged in fraud designed to overstate its liquidity and, therefore, was unwilling to loan as much money to Lehman. The FRBNY did not, however, inform the SEC, the public, or the OTS … of the fraud. The Fed official doesn’t even make a pretense that the Fed believes it is supposed to protect the public. The FRBNY remained willing to lend to a fraudulent systemically dangerous institution (SDI). This is an egregious violation of the public trust, and the regulatory perpetrators must be held accountable.”</p>
<p>Geithner (apparently) did everything in his power to assist Lehman in hiding its true financial condition and may have deliberately misled investors by facilitating repo 105 transactions which concealed up to $50 billion off-balance sheet liabilities. In his testimony this week before the House Committee on Financial Services, Lehman CEO Richard Fuld said that the Fed was aware of everything that was going on at the bank. If that’s true, than the case against Geithner should be airtight.</p>
<p>Geithner and Fed chairman Ben Bernanke had good reason to mask Lehman’s financial situation. If Lehman’s mortgage-backed assets were “marked to market”, it would have forced a systemwide repricing which would have triggered huge firesales of financial assets and severe deflation.&#160; So, instead of demanding fair-value disclosures, Geithner and Bernanke assisted in the ongoing&#160; accounting cover-up. The debt-instruments and toxic assets are now hidden in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Fed’s balance sheet, and&#160; financial institutions that use “mark to fantasy” accounting trickery. The debts have not gone away; they’ve merely been removed from public view.</p>
<p>Black again:</p>
<p>“The FBI warned in Congressional testimony in 2004 of an “epidemic” of mortgage fraud…..The Fed deserves special criticism for its failure to respond to these warnings by taking any effective action to stop liar’s loans. The Fed had unique authority under HOEPA to ban liar’s….loans, which would have prevented the bubble from hyper-inflating and contained the rapidly growing epidemic of mortgage fraud.”</p>
<p>As early as&#160; 2000, consumer groups were urging the Fed to use its authority under HOEPA to address&#160; predatory lending. But the Fed refused to respond.</p>
<p>According to Elizabeth MacDonald, the Fed also brushed off “One of the nation’s biggest mortgage industry players”. In an article titled “Housing Red flags Ignored” MacDonald states:</p>
<p>“One of the nation’s biggest mortgage industry players repeatedly warned the Federal Reserve…..that the U.S. faced an imminent housing crash….But bank regulators not only ignored the group’s warnings, top Fed officials also went on the airwaves to say the economy was ‘building on a sturdy foundation’ and a housing crash was ‘unlikely’…”</p>
<p>As it pleaded with bank regulators to stop subprime lending abuses, the Mortgage Insurance Companies of America [MICA] pointed out the red flags in analysis from the bank regulators’ own staffers as well as the likes of Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers, three years before these two Wall Street giants collapsed under the weight of bad mortgage bets.”</p>
<p>Mortgage insurers are “deeply concerned about increased mortgage market fragility, which, combined with growing bank portfolios in high-risk products, pose serious potential problems that could occur with dramatic suddenness.”… Failure to adjust bank underwriting, reserves and capital to account for this growing risk “means that downturns from credit and/or interest rate events–let alone shocks–will be far more severe than” if precautions are taken.” (Elizabeth MacDonald, “Housing Red flags Ignored”, FOX Business News)</p>
<p>There were others, too, like former New York governor Eliot Spitzer who warned of a “predatory lending crisis” and lambasted the Bush administration for blocking the prosecution of mortgage fraudsters. Spitzer’s article appeared in the Washington Post in 2003. Here’s an excerpt:</p>
<p>“But the unanimous opposition of the 50 states (Attorneys General) did not deter, or even slow, the Bush administration in its goal of protecting the banks. In fact, when my office opened an investigation of possible discrimination in mortgage lending by a number of banks, the OCC filed a federal lawsuit to stop the investigation.”(Washington Post)</p>
<p>These incidents show that the problem wasn’t “deregulation”&#160; as much as “refusal to regulate”. But, why?&#160; Why did the Fed refuse to respond to the many warnings it had gotten from reliable professionals? And, why did Bush take such a hostile approach to consumer protection? Was it a conspiracy or was there merely a tacit understanding between high-ranking members of the political and financial establishment, that predatory lending and mortgage fraud were an acceptable way to fatten the bottom line, with a wink and a nod.</p>
<p>Either way, it’s clear that the crisis was not “natural disaster” or even a “system malfunction”, but the result of widespread corporate larceny engineered and executed by the nation’s largest financial institutions.</p>
<p>Black again: “Criminologists refer to entities that spread fraud epidemics as “vectors”…Lehman was one of the largest vectors that spread the fraud epidemic.&#160; ….The Fed, due to its unique HOEPA authority, and the SEC, because it has jurisdiction over every publicly traded company, were the only entities that could have shut down the vectors spreading the fraud epidemic… yet the Fed and the SEC took no effective action until after virtually every major originator of liar’s loans had failed.”</p>
<p>Indeed. The Fed and SEC knew exactly what needed to be done and they refused to do their jobs. The S&amp;L crisis&#160; established the precedents for dealing with&#160; “low doc” loans back in the 1990s. So there was a blueprint for acting preemptively to protect the public from the economic fallout. But nothing was done because all the “right people” were getting rich gaming the system, selling garbage loans to vulnerable applicants, and inflating a enormous credit bubble that would leave the economy in a shambles.</p>
<p>Black’s statement leaves no doubt that the hanky-panky at Lehman was deliberate and that the fraud was abetted by friends in high places. Now it’s up to Congress to appoint an Independent Counsel to follow the evidence and make sure that the criminals are brought to justice.</p>
<p>William Black’s full “must read” statement can be seen here: <a href="" type="internal">http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/black_4.20.10.pdf</a></p>
<p>MIKE WHITNEY lives in Washington state. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:fergiewhitney@msn.com" type="external">fergiewhitney@msn.com</a></p>
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<p><a href="http://greentags.bigcartel.com/" type="external">WORDS THAT STICK</a></p>
<p /> | true | 4 | prof william black submitted 24page report lehman bankruptcy house committee financial services tuesday best analysis underlying causes financial crisis date black former government regulator whitecollar criminologist shows crisis unavoidable disaster wall street apologists suggest result largescale fraud perpetrated financial institutions like lehman brothers incidents fraud numerous blatant extreme premeditated making case lehman black exposes omissions failures negligence primary regulators particularly fed fed derelict duties cyclical downturn would turned neardepression lehmans failure story large part fraud black said testimony house lehman leading purveyor liars loans world decade studies liars loans show incidence fraud 90per cent want know global crisis large part 160as litigation director federal home loan bank board sampl crisis black knows hes talking dogged investigation charles keating160 directed chief political fixer highest priority get black kill dead black didnt buckle give ground shrugged threats continued expose unsound practices illegal activity team faced challenges regulators face today elite frauds160 powerful institutions wield tremendous political power blacks statement cuts much ideological claptrap surrounding crisis shows deregulation really decriminalization fraud160 notion market regulate itself160 jettisoned altogether public support reform is160 gaining momentum insane withdraw accountability negligence says black encourages negligence financial institutions used laisser faire dogma aims its160the mask behind voracity predations remain hidden large extent thats story lehman institution paid attention rules regulations anything went philosophy embraced nations chief regulator alan greenspan former chairman federal reserve lehmans nominal corporate governance structure sham says black lehman deliberately control regard risk dominant operation making liars loans lehman manage risk making liars loans engaged massive fraudulent transactions sure things black notes sleightofhand accounting160 assures institutions will160 report superb fictional income shortterm catastrophic losses longterm exactly happened head honchos skimmed billions fat bonuses stock options companies fed dogs black lehmans principal source fictional income real losses making selling trade accurately called liars loans subsidiary aurora liars loans criminogenic create epidemics mortgage fraud create strong incentives provide false information loan applications fbi began warning publicly epidemic mortgage fraud 2004 cnn proof criminal intent could clearer fbi reported theyd found regulators nothing done bush filled supervisory posts wall street loyalists simply looked way160 thus lending standards relaxed profits exploded housing prices soared bubble mushroomed lehman raked record profits knowing fullwell eventual implosion would inflict massive damage system severe hardship everyone else black lehmans underlying problem doomed insolvent made many bad loans investments hid insolvency traditional means refused recognize losses honestly could resolve liquidity crisis insolvent primary source fictional accounting income collapsed collapse secondary market nonprime loans lehman sold assets get cash would recognize massive losses report insolvent requires explanation prior meltdown depository regulated banks mainly funded repurchase agreements repo institutional investors akashadow banks investment banks hedge funds insurers banks would post collateral form bundled securitized160 bonds use shortterm loans maintain operations160 banks collateral became suspect one knew which160 bundles held subprime mortgages intermediaries primary dealers demanded collateral loans suddenly banks losing money handoverfist value assets tumbled lehman got trapped revolving door couldnt rollover debt using shabby collateral everyone knew garbage bankrun shadow system secondary market collapsed truth market traumatized radical repricing event asset prices revalued overnight lehman could survive new tightcredit environment black continues way manage risk making massive amounts liars loans lehman world leader making liars loansif lehman admitted liars loans often fraudulent could sell cutting one largest sources income lowdocumentation liars loans lehmans bread butter160 ironically auditors discovered half contained material misrepresentations160 didnt matter everyone making gobs money160and bonus packages continued shower wealth front office160160 lehman responded auditors findings expected boosting volume liars loans damn torpedoes increased likelihood contagion systemic risk lehmans activities threatened whole system sec didnt manpower supervise lehman cant said fed black fed unique authority home ownership equity protection act 1994 hoepa regulate mortgage lenders unprecedented practical leverage crisis ability lend convert investment banks commercial bank holding companies fed supposed experienced safety soundness regulator federal reserve bank new york frbny intention overseeing lehman assisting sec carrying mission fact geithners fed stood lehman deceived public scheme frbny officials likened three card monte routine black blasts geithner frbny frbny knew lehman engaged fraud designed overstate liquidity therefore unwilling loan much money lehman frbny however inform sec public ots fraud fed official doesnt even make pretense fed believes supposed protect public frbny remained willing lend fraudulent systemically dangerous institution sdi egregious violation public trust regulatory perpetrators must held accountable geithner apparently everything power assist lehman hiding true financial condition may deliberately misled investors facilitating repo 105 transactions concealed 50 billion offbalance sheet liabilities testimony week house committee financial services lehman ceo richard fuld said fed aware everything going bank thats true case geithner airtight geithner fed chairman ben bernanke good reason mask lehmans financial situation lehmans mortgagebacked assets marked market would forced systemwide repricing would triggered huge firesales financial assets severe deflation160 instead demanding fairvalue disclosures geithner bernanke assisted ongoing160 accounting coverup debtinstruments toxic assets hidden fannie mae freddie mac feds balance sheet and160 financial institutions use mark fantasy accounting trickery debts gone away theyve merely removed public view black fbi warned congressional testimony 2004 epidemic mortgage fraudthe fed deserves special criticism failure respond warnings taking effective action stop liars loans fed unique authority hoepa ban liarsloans would prevented bubble hyperinflating contained rapidly growing epidemic mortgage fraud early as160 2000 consumer groups urging fed use authority hoepa address160 predatory lending fed refused respond according elizabeth macdonald fed also brushed one nations biggest mortgage industry players article titled housing red flags ignored macdonald states one nations biggest mortgage industry players repeatedly warned federal reservethat us faced imminent housing crashbut bank regulators ignored groups warnings top fed officials also went airwaves say economy building sturdy foundation housing crash unlikely pleaded bank regulators stop subprime lending abuses mortgage insurance companies america mica pointed red flags analysis bank regulators staffers well likes bear stearns lehman brothers three years two wall street giants collapsed weight bad mortgage bets mortgage insurers deeply concerned increased mortgage market fragility combined growing bank portfolios highrisk products pose serious potential problems could occur dramatic suddenness failure adjust bank underwriting reserves capital account growing risk means downturns credit andor interest rate eventslet alone shockswill far severe precautions taken elizabeth macdonald housing red flags ignored fox business news others like former new york governor eliot spitzer warned predatory lending crisis lambasted bush administration blocking prosecution mortgage fraudsters spitzers article appeared washington post 2003 heres excerpt unanimous opposition 50 states attorneys general deter even slow bush administration goal protecting banks fact office opened investigation possible discrimination mortgage lending number banks occ filed federal lawsuit stop investigationwashington post incidents show problem wasnt deregulation160 much refusal regulate why160 fed refuse respond many warnings gotten reliable professionals bush take hostile approach consumer protection conspiracy merely tacit understanding highranking members political financial establishment predatory lending mortgage fraud acceptable way fatten bottom line wink nod either way clear crisis natural disaster even system malfunction result widespread corporate larceny engineered executed nations largest financial institutions black criminologists refer entities spread fraud epidemics vectorslehman one largest vectors spread fraud epidemic160 fed due unique hoepa authority sec jurisdiction every publicly traded company entities could shut vectors spreading fraud epidemic yet fed sec took effective action virtually every major originator liars loans failed indeed fed sec knew exactly needed done refused jobs sampl crisis160 established precedents dealing with160 low doc loans back 1990s blueprint acting preemptively protect public economic fallout nothing done right people getting rich gaming system selling garbage loans vulnerable applicants inflating enormous credit bubble would leave economy shambles blacks statement leaves doubt hankypanky lehman deliberate fraud abetted friends high places congress appoint independent counsel follow evidence make sure criminals brought justice william blacks full must read statement seen httpwwwhousegovappslisthearingfinancialsvcs_demblack_42010pdf mike whitney lives washington state reached fergiewhitneymsncom 160 words stick | 1,275 |
<p>WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump endorsed stricter gun-control measures Thursday, including raising the minimum age to 21 for possessing a broader range of weapons than at present. He tweeted his strongest stance as president one day after an emotional White House session where students and parents poured out wrenching tales of lost lives and pleaded for action.</p>
<p>Trump said on Twitter, “I will be strongly pushing Comprehensive Background Checks with an emphasis on Mental Health. Raise age to 21 and end sale of Bump Stocks!”</p>
<p>He did not immediately offer more details.</p>
<p>The current federal minimum age for buying or possessing handguns is 21, but the limit is 18 for rifles including assault-type weapons such as the AR-15 used by a former student in last week’s attack on a Florida high school that killed 17 students and staff members.</p>
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<p>A White House official said the president was not endorsing or ruling out any specific policy.</p>
<p>In another tweet, Trump repeated his urgent call for trained teachers or others in schools to carry guns as a deterrent to attacks.</p>
<p>“If a potential ‘sicko shooter’ knows that a school has a large number of very weapons talented teachers (and others) who will be instantly shooting, the sicko will NEVER attack that school. Cowards won’t go there…problem solved. Must be offensive, defense alone won’t work!” Trump tweeted.</p>
<p>He has previously expressed an interest in efforts to strengthen the federal background check system. It was not clear if he would back closing loopholes that permit loose private sales on the internet and at gun shows.</p>
<p>The National Rifle Associated on Wednesday quickly rejected any talk of raising the age for buying long guns to 21.</p>
<p>“Legislative proposals that prevent law-abiding adults aged 18-20 years old from acquiring rifles and shotguns effectively prohibits them for purchasing any firearm, thus depriving them of their constitutional right to self-protection,” the group said in a statement.</p>
<p>Trump, despite his new push for at least some gun-control changes, stressed his backing for the NRA on Thursday, tweeting that “the folks who work so hard at the @NRA are Great People and Great American Patriots. They love our Country and will do the right thing. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”</p>
<p>On Wednesday, Trump listened intently at the White House as students described the horror of the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida. The students and their parents appealed to him to press for stricter gun controls.</p>
<p>“I turned 18 the day after” the shooting, said tearful student Samuel Zeif. “Woke up to the news that my best friend was gone. And I don’t understand why I can still go in a store and buy a weapon of war. An AR. How is it that easy to buy this type of weapon? How do we not stop this after Columbine? After Sandy Hook?”</p>
<p>Trump promised to be “very strong on background checks.” And he indicated he supported allowing some teachers and other school employees to carry concealed weapons to be ready for intruders.</p>
<p>The president had invited the teen survivors of school violence and parents of murdered children in a show of his resolve against gun violence in the wake of last week’s shootings in Florida and in past years at schools in Connecticut and Colorado.</p>
<p>Trump asked his guests to suggest solutions and solicited feedback. He did not fully endorse any specific policy solution, but pledged to take action and expressed interest in widely differing approaches.</p>
<p>He largely listened, holding handwritten notes bearing his message to the families. “I hear you” was written in black marker.</p>
<p>Besides considering concealed carrying of weapons by trained school employees, a concept he has endorsed in the past, he said he planned to go “very strongly into age, age of purchase.” And he said he was committed to improving background checks and working on mental health.</p>
<p>Most in the group Wednesday were emotional but quiet and polite.</p>
<p>But Andrew Pollack, whose daughter Meadow was killed last week, noted the previous school massacres and raged over his loss, saying this moment isn’t about gun laws but about fixing the schools.</p>
<p>“It should have been one school shooting and we should have fixed it and I’m pissed. Because my daughter, I’m not going to see again,” said Pollack. “King David Cemetery, that is where I go to see my kid now.”</p>
<p>A strong supporter of gun rights, Trump has nonetheless indicated in recent days that he is willing to consider ideas not in keeping with National Rifle Association orthodoxy, including age restrictions for buying assault-type weapons. Still, gun owners are a key part of his base of supporters.</p>
<p>The NRA quickly rejected any talk of raising the age for buying long guns to 21.</p>
<p>“Legislative proposals that prevent law-abiding adults aged 18-20 years old from acquiring rifles and shotguns effectively prohibits them for purchasing any firearm, thus depriving them of their constitutional right to self-protection,” the group said in a statement.</p>
<p>The people assembled for the White House meeting on Wednesday included parents of students killed in massacres at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, and Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut. Students and parents from the Washington area also were present.</p>
<p>Trump later tweeted that he would “always remember” the meeting. “So much love in the midst of so much pain. We must not let them down. We must keep our children safe!!”</p>
<p>Throughout the day Wednesday, television news showed footage of student survivors of the violence marching on the Florida state Capitol, calling for tougher laws. The protests came closer to Trump, too, with hundreds of students from suburban Maryland attending a rally at the Capitol and then marching to the White House.</p>
<p>Trump embraced gun rights during his presidential campaign, though he supported some gun control before he became a candidate.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, Trump directed the Justice Department to move to ban devices like the rapid-fire bump stocks used in last year’s Las Vegas massacre. The White House has also said Trump was looking at a bill that would strengthen federal gun background checks.</p>
<p>But those moves have drawn criticism as being inadequate, with Democrats questioning whether the Justice Department even has authority to regulate bump stocks and arguing that the background check legislation would not go far enough.</p>
<p>An effort to pass bump stock legislation last year fizzled out.</p>
<p>___</p>
<p>Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Sadie Gurman contributed from Washington. Marc Levy contributed from Harrisburg and Alina Hartounian from Phoenix.</p> | true | 4 | washington president donald trump endorsed stricter guncontrol measures thursday including raising minimum age 21 possessing broader range weapons present tweeted strongest stance president one day emotional white house session students parents poured wrenching tales lost lives pleaded action trump said twitter strongly pushing comprehensive background checks emphasis mental health raise age 21 end sale bump stocks immediately offer details current federal minimum age buying possessing handguns 21 limit 18 rifles including assaulttype weapons ar15 used former student last weeks attack florida high school killed 17 students staff members white house official said president endorsing ruling specific policy another tweet trump repeated urgent call trained teachers others schools carry guns deterrent attacks potential sicko shooter knows school large number weapons talented teachers others instantly shooting sicko never attack school cowards wont go thereproblem solved must offensive defense alone wont work trump tweeted previously expressed interest efforts strengthen federal background check system clear would back closing loopholes permit loose private sales internet gun shows national rifle associated wednesday quickly rejected talk raising age buying long guns 21 legislative proposals prevent lawabiding adults aged 1820 years old acquiring rifles shotguns effectively prohibits purchasing firearm thus depriving constitutional right selfprotection group said statement trump despite new push least guncontrol changes stressed backing nra thursday tweeting folks work hard nra great people great american patriots love country right thing make america great wednesday trump listened intently white house students described horror shootings marjory stoneman douglas high school parkland florida students parents appealed press stricter gun controls turned 18 day shooting said tearful student samuel zeif woke news best friend gone dont understand still go store buy weapon war ar easy buy type weapon stop columbine sandy hook trump promised strong background checks indicated supported allowing teachers school employees carry concealed weapons ready intruders president invited teen survivors school violence parents murdered children show resolve gun violence wake last weeks shootings florida past years schools connecticut colorado trump asked guests suggest solutions solicited feedback fully endorse specific policy solution pledged take action expressed interest widely differing approaches largely listened holding handwritten notes bearing message families hear written black marker besides considering concealed carrying weapons trained school employees concept endorsed past said planned go strongly age age purchase said committed improving background checks working mental health group wednesday emotional quiet polite andrew pollack whose daughter meadow killed last week noted previous school massacres raged loss saying moment isnt gun laws fixing schools one school shooting fixed im pissed daughter im going see said pollack king david cemetery go see kid strong supporter gun rights trump nonetheless indicated recent days willing consider ideas keeping national rifle association orthodoxy including age restrictions buying assaulttype weapons still gun owners key part base supporters nra quickly rejected talk raising age buying long guns 21 legislative proposals prevent lawabiding adults aged 1820 years old acquiring rifles shotguns effectively prohibits purchasing firearm thus depriving constitutional right selfprotection group said statement people assembled white house meeting wednesday included parents students killed massacres columbine high school littleton colorado sandy hook elementary newtown connecticut students parents washington area also present trump later tweeted would always remember meeting much love midst much pain must let must keep children safe throughout day wednesday television news showed footage student survivors violence marching florida state capitol calling tougher laws protests came closer trump hundreds students suburban maryland attending rally capitol marching white house trump embraced gun rights presidential campaign though supported gun control became candidate tuesday trump directed justice department move ban devices like rapidfire bump stocks used last years las vegas massacre white house also said trump looking bill would strengthen federal gun background checks moves drawn criticism inadequate democrats questioning whether justice department even authority regulate bump stocks arguing background check legislation would go far enough effort pass bump stock legislation last year fizzled ___ associated press writers jill colvin sadie gurman contributed washington marc levy contributed harrisburg alina hartounian phoenix | 653 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-81341887/stock-photo-two-young-doctors-sitting-in-corridor-tired-after-operation.html?src=2-Tkr8hIAuD11BBB5z9GiA-1-51"&gt;Tyler Olson&lt;/a&gt;/Shutterstock</p>
<p />
<p>Politicians occasionally get death threats. Authors of state ballot measures usually don’t. Yet that’s what happened to Bob Pack, the coauthor of Proposition 46, a medical-regulation initiative on the California ballot this fall. Recently, Pack got a call at home from a menacing stranger who <a href="http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/Death-Threat-Made-to-8-Year-Old-Daughter-of-Prop-46-Co-Author-279871522.html" type="external">demanded he withdraw his support</a> for Prop. 46 or else harm would come to Pack’s eight-year-old daughter. Prop. 46 deals with doctor drug testing and lawsuit caps. So why is it making people so riled up?</p>
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<p>Prop. 46, or the Medical Malpractice Lawsuits Cap and Drug Testing of Doctors Initiative, is marketed as a safeguard against medical malpractice. It would require mandatory drug tests of doctors, making California the first state to adopt such a system. But parts of the proposition make some people queasy—for instance, its provision to raise the cap on damages in malpractice suits to over $1 million. As signaled by Pack’s threatening phone caller, Prop. 46 is quickly turning into the most controversial initiative on California’s ballot this fall.</p>
<p>Where did Prop. 46 come from? Prop 46 has roots in a tragic accident: 10 years ago, Pack <a href="http://blogs.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2014/09/30/prop-46-was-inspired-by-tragic-accident-pits-doctors-against-lawyers/" type="external">lost two of his children</a> when they were struck by a car while walking to get ice cream. The driver was high on prescription painkillers. Pack tried to sue the doctors who supplied the driver with what he said were “thousands” of pills. No lawyer picked up his case, which Pack blamed on the state’s low damages cap.</p>
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<p>In the years since, he’s made it his mission to harness his tragedy and strike back at prescription drug abuse, starting with the development of the <a href="http://oag.ca.gov/cures-pdmp" type="external">CURES database</a> in 2009. CURES is a statewide database that contains patient prescription records that doctors can check before doling out meds. By authoring Prop. 46, Pack hopes to make it even harder for patients to take advantage of doctors to get high, and to stop doctors from doing so themselves.</p>
<p>What will it do, exactly? The first of Prop. 46’s three broadly related provisions requires hospitals to conduct random tests of doctors, much like how airlines are required by the Federal Aviation Administration to drug-test pilots. If a doctor commits a medical error, he’d have to submit himself to a drug test within 12 hours or face immediate suspension.</p>
<p>Prop. 46’s second provision seeks to curb overprescription of drugs by requiring that doctors check CURES. The database has been around for years to monitor how much and how often doctors prescribe to individual patients. But docs have never been made to consult CURES beforehand to check for potential prescription drug abusers.</p>
<p>The last provision—which seems like it should be its own bill—would raise the cap on noneconomic “pain and suffering” damages in medical malpractice suits from $250,000 to $1.1 million and allow it to continue to increase according to inflation. California set the cap in 1975, but hasn’t raised it since then. (The state places no cap on economic or punitive damages in malpractice suits.) California has the lowest noneconomic damages cap in the country: <a href="http://www.atra.org/issues/noneconomic-damages-reform" type="external">Most are in the range</a> of $300,000 to $600,000, but states like New Hampshire have set it as high as $875,000. Fifteen states and the District of Columbia have no cap at all.</p>
<p>Who stands to gain? Activists like Pack constitute the public face of Prop. 46, but without a doubt, California’s trial lawyers stand to gain most if it passes. It’s no surprise, then, that the lawyers—led by their <a href="http://camajorityreport.com/trial-lawyer-money-continues-to-pour-into-yes-on-prop-45-campaign/" type="external">“nonprofit ally” group</a>, Consumer Watchdog—have been the lead cheerleaders for the initiative. (Sen. Barbara Boxer, who has long enjoyed support from the legal profession, is one of the few high-profile politicians endorsing 46.)&#160;Trial lawyers say that the current cap discourages them to pick up cases like Pack’s. And since lawyers generally take home one-third of court payouts, they’re especially keen on raising the cap. Consumer Watchdog has led the fundraising effort in favor of Prop. 46, raising more than $2 million out of a <a href="http://ballotpedia.org/California_Proposition_46,_Medical_Malpractice_Lawsuits_Cap_and_Drug_Testing_of_Doctors_(2014)#cite_ref-donor_19-1" type="external">total $9 million</a> to support the initiative.</p>
<p>Those in favor of Prop. 46 argue that doctor drug abuse in California is at <a href="https://www.yeson46.org/facts/" type="external">“epidemic levels”</a>—leading to devastating medical malpractice that kills millions per year. That claim doesn’t quite hold up to scrutiny: Backers cite a <a href="https://www.yeson46.org/document/18-of-california-physicians-will-abuse-drugs-or-alcohol-during-their-careers/" type="external">14-year-old report</a> stating that 18 percent of California doctors abused drugs or alcohol. But from 2003 to 2013, <a href="http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/the-poison-pill-of-proposition-46/Content?oid=4079871" type="external">only 62 doctors</a> had their licenses revoked for that reason. <a href="http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/total-active-physicians/" type="external">Estimates</a> put the total number of practicing California physicians at about 100,000. It’s worth noting that the majority of Californians support testing—making this provision the “sweetener” to the other provision: raising the $250,000 award cap.</p>
<p>Some <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/politics/la-me-cap-prop46-20141002-column.html" type="external">argue the cap raise is needed</a> to redress socioeconomic injustice. Los Angeles Times‘ George Skelton argues that in California, pain and suffering awards tend to help children, the elderly, and the poor.</p>
<p>But raising the cap steeply, and all at once, could lead to some nasty side-effects. T <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/endorsements/la-ed-end-proposition-46-20141006-story.html" type="external">he Los Angeles Times noted</a> that with a higher cap, insurance for doctors and health care providers could skyrocket overnight, meaning higher premiums for consumers and reduced (or eliminated) care for low-income Californians who rely on free clinics. Dr. Michael Rodriguez, a physician and UCLA professor, says it’s clear that a higher cap will lead to more lawsuits, and higher costs for providers as a result. “When you’re sued, you have to get lawyers yourself, whether you’re an individual or public official or public entity,” he says. “All of a sudden, that’s going to be money being spent to address lawsuits as opposed to money being spent to help people.”</p>
<p>Who’s opposed to Prop. 46? To no one’s surprise, nearly every group representing doctors in California—from the California Medical Association to the California Academy of Cosmetic Surgery—has lined up to oppose 46. Together, the doctors’ and health industry’s lobbies have kicked in over $57 million to fight the ballot initiative, dwarfing the amount supporters have raised. And opposition to Prop. 46 has been the rare cause in California that’s united Democrats, Republicans, labor, business, Planned Parenthood, and the NAACP under one banner.</p>
<p>Medical professionals unleashed tens of millions of dollars worth of advertisements against the measure. “Prop. 46 would quadruple the payout in medical lawsuits,” a concerned looking doctor says in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyxrDdfryi0" type="external">one anti-Prop. 46 ad</a>. “It will cost your family $1,000 more a year in health care costs,” adds another. “If 46 passes, it may cause doctors to leave California.”</p>
<p>No one loves random drug testing, but in most doctors’ eyes, the system Prop. 46 proposes is fundamentally flawed. They would be required to submit to drug testing 12 hours after a medical error or risk suspension. But complications from malpractice can take weeks, even years, to appear. Theoretically, <a href="http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/the-poison-pill-of-proposition-46/Content?oid=4079871" type="external">the East Bay Express notes</a>, doctors could get suspended for not getting a drug test after an error they didn’t know they committed. Beyond that, the <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/health/ci_26623872/prop-46-familys-tragedy-sparks-clash-special-interest" type="external">ACLU has argued</a> that random drug tests would be an “unconstitutional violation of due process.”</p>
<p>But one of the biggest talking points coming out of the “No on 46” camp is suspect. The following ad, for instance, argues that the CURES database—and thus peoples’ medical information—is vulnerable to hackers:</p>
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<p>In explaining what a danger CURES could be, the figure “4.5 million records stolen” flashes on the screen. That refers <a href="http://www.sacbee.com/2014/10/02/6756739/ad-watch-prop-46-foes-distort.html" type="external">to a breach of a nationwide database run by a private company</a>, not CURES. In fact, the ad completely ignores that CURES has already been around for several years, with no security breaches to speak of.</p>
<p>What should we expect? While it’s hard to say now, it seems unlikely that Prop. 46 will pass. Every major newspaper in the state, from the generally liberal <a href="http://www.latimes.com/opinion/endorsements/la-ed-end-proposition-46-20141006-story.html" type="external">Los Angeles Times</a> to the generally conservative <a href="http://www.ocregister.com/articles/malpractice-637702-prop-alcohol.html" type="external">Orange County Register</a>, has lined up against 46. A September <a href="https://pressroom.usc.edu/usc-dornsifela-times-poll-support-for-prop-46-drops-steeply-as-voters-hear-initiative-details/" type="external">University of Southern California/LA Times poll</a> found 39 percent of voters support it and 50 percent oppose it <a href="#correction" type="external">*</a>. As they near the end of a long campaign, many observers of California politics are eager to say good riddance to a flawed law. Prop. 46 proposes mending a relatively uncommon problem (doctor drug abuse) and it quietly slips voters a quick fix to a problem worth considering more carefully (the low damages cap). It’s symptomatic of California’s problematic ballot initiative politics: When special interests get to write and debate laws, the results aren’t pretty. While other initiatives have <a href="http://www.sixcalifornias.com/" type="external">proposed physically tearing California apart</a>, Prop. 46 might actually be doing so.</p>
<p>Clarification: The “Yes on 46” campaign contacted us after this story was published to point out that the USC/LA Times poll results were based in part on a misleading question. As the LA Times explained in <a href="http://www.latimes.com/local/corrections/la-a4-correx-20140919-story.html" type="external">this follow-up post</a>, one of the questions on the USC/LA Times survey said that “Proposition 46 ‘establishes a massive new database filled with Californians’ personal medical prescription information run by the government.'” That is incorrect, as the CURES database was already in existence. It is possible that the error skewed survey results.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | lta hrefhttpwwwshutterstockcompic81341887stockphototwoyoungdoctorssittingincorridortiredafteroperationhtmlsrc2tkr8hiaud11bbb5z9gia151gttyler olsonltagtshutterstock politicians occasionally get death threats authors state ballot measures usually dont yet thats happened bob pack coauthor proposition 46 medicalregulation initiative california ballot fall recently pack got call home menacing stranger demanded withdraw support prop 46 else harm would come packs eightyearold daughter prop 46 deals doctor drug testing lawsuit caps making people riled prop 46 medical malpractice lawsuits cap drug testing doctors initiative marketed safeguard medical malpractice would require mandatory drug tests doctors making california first state adopt system parts proposition make people queasyfor instance provision raise cap damages malpractice suits 1 million signaled packs threatening phone caller prop 46 quickly turning controversial initiative californias ballot fall prop 46 come prop 46 roots tragic accident 10 years ago pack lost two children struck car walking get ice cream driver high prescription painkillers pack tried sue doctors supplied driver said thousands pills lawyer picked case pack blamed states low damages cap years since hes made mission harness tragedy strike back prescription drug abuse starting development cures database 2009 cures statewide database contains patient prescription records doctors check doling meds authoring prop 46 pack hopes make even harder patients take advantage doctors get high stop doctors exactly first prop 46s three broadly related provisions requires hospitals conduct random tests doctors much like airlines required federal aviation administration drugtest pilots doctor commits medical error hed submit drug test within 12 hours face immediate suspension prop 46s second provision seeks curb overprescription drugs requiring doctors check cures database around years monitor much often doctors prescribe individual patients docs never made consult cures beforehand check potential prescription drug abusers last provisionwhich seems like billwould raise cap noneconomic pain suffering damages medical malpractice suits 250000 11 million allow continue increase according inflation california set cap 1975 hasnt raised since state places cap economic punitive damages malpractice suits california lowest noneconomic damages cap country range 300000 600000 states like new hampshire set high 875000 fifteen states district columbia cap stands gain activists like pack constitute public face prop 46 without doubt californias trial lawyers stand gain passes surprise lawyersled nonprofit ally group consumer watchdoghave lead cheerleaders initiative sen barbara boxer long enjoyed support legal profession one highprofile politicians endorsing 46160trial lawyers say current cap discourages pick cases like packs since lawyers generally take home onethird court payouts theyre especially keen raising cap consumer watchdog led fundraising effort favor prop 46 raising 2 million total 9 million support initiative favor prop 46 argue doctor drug abuse california epidemic levelsleading devastating medical malpractice kills millions per year claim doesnt quite hold scrutiny backers cite 14yearold report stating 18 percent california doctors abused drugs alcohol 2003 2013 62 doctors licenses revoked reason estimates put total number practicing california physicians 100000 worth noting majority californians support testingmaking provision sweetener provision raising 250000 award cap argue cap raise needed redress socioeconomic injustice los angeles times george skelton argues california pain suffering awards tend help children elderly poor raising cap steeply could lead nasty sideeffects los angeles times noted higher cap insurance doctors health care providers could skyrocket overnight meaning higher premiums consumers reduced eliminated care lowincome californians rely free clinics dr michael rodriguez physician ucla professor says clear higher cap lead lawsuits higher costs providers result youre sued get lawyers whether youre individual public official public entity says sudden thats going money spent address lawsuits opposed money spent help people whos opposed prop 46 ones surprise nearly every group representing doctors californiafrom california medical association california academy cosmetic surgeryhas lined oppose 46 together doctors health industrys lobbies kicked 57 million fight ballot initiative dwarfing amount supporters raised opposition prop 46 rare cause california thats united democrats republicans labor business planned parenthood naacp one banner medical professionals unleashed tens millions dollars worth advertisements measure prop 46 would quadruple payout medical lawsuits concerned looking doctor says one antiprop 46 ad cost family 1000 year health care costs adds another 46 passes may cause doctors leave california one loves random drug testing doctors eyes system prop 46 proposes fundamentally flawed would required submit drug testing 12 hours medical error risk suspension complications malpractice take weeks even years appear theoretically east bay express notes doctors could get suspended getting drug test error didnt know committed beyond aclu argued random drug tests would unconstitutional violation due process one biggest talking points coming 46 camp suspect following ad instance argues cures databaseand thus peoples medical informationis vulnerable hackers explaining danger cures could figure 45 million records stolen flashes screen refers breach nationwide database run private company cures fact ad completely ignores cures already around several years security breaches speak expect hard say seems unlikely prop 46 pass every major newspaper state generally liberal los angeles times generally conservative orange county register lined 46 september university southern californiala times poll found 39 percent voters support 50 percent oppose near end long campaign many observers california politics eager say good riddance flawed law prop 46 proposes mending relatively uncommon problem doctor drug abuse quietly slips voters quick fix problem worth considering carefully low damages cap symptomatic californias problematic ballot initiative politics special interests get write debate laws results arent pretty initiatives proposed physically tearing california apart prop 46 might actually clarification yes 46 campaign contacted us story published point uscla times poll results based part misleading question la times explained followup post one questions uscla times survey said proposition 46 establishes massive new database filled californians personal medical prescription information run government incorrect cures database already existence possible error skewed survey results | 916 |
<p>&lt;a href="http://www.billnye.com/media/photos-of-bill-nye/"&gt;BillNye.com&lt;/a&gt;</p>
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<p>William Sanford Nye (his friends call him “ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzRrLyXCGKI" type="external">Bill</a>“) made his first mark on history while sitting in a college classroom in 1976.</p>
<p>It was just another day at Cornell University for Nye as an energetic, Ultimate Frisbee-playing undergraduate student. He was chatting with fellow students when in walked their professor—the legendary astronomer and author <a href="" type="internal">Carl Sagan</a>—with an unexpected request. Sagan asked the class which Chuck Berry song should be included on the <a href="http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/goldenrec.html" type="external">Voyager Golden Record</a>, the collection of songs and images placed aboard the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977. (If extraterrestrial life forms ever encounter the Voyager spacecraft, the Record is intended to reflect the culture and diversity of Planet Earth.) Sagan was chairing the committee responsible for selecting the music for NASA, and he told his class that he thought Berry’s 1956 hit “ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgQJHyLLTHU" type="external">Roll Over Beethoven</a>” was the song the aliens should hear. This was when Nye and his classmates led a much-needed revolt.</p>
<p>“We all said, ‘No, professor!'” Nye recalls. “‘It has to be ‘ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFo8-JqzSCM" type="external">Johnny B. Goode</a>! That’s the definitive Chuck Berry song!’…Berry was the guy who took blues and turned it into rock n’ roll, after all. So we thought we needed to send a message on that spacecraft.”</p>
<p>Sagan took his students’ advice, and to this day, “Johnny B. Goode” is aboard the Voyager spacecraft, <a href="http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/spacecraft/music.html" type="external">alongside the work of</a> Bach and gospel blues artist Blind Willie Johnson.</p>
<p>Sagan left an indelible mark on Nye, but his his love for science and engineering was inspired much earlier. “The spark was before kindergarten,” Nye says. His mother, Jacqueline, was a codebreaker during the Second World War, fighting fascism with math and science. You can see evidence of some of her work, declassified in 1992, at the NSA-affiliated National Cryptologic Museum in Maryland. The Smithsonian in Washington, DC, had an exhibit dedicated to enigma machines, and it included a photo of Jacqueline. “She worked in a bunker, waiting for Nazi bombs to drop or something,” Nye jokes. Meanwhile, his father, Ned, was held in a Japanese prisoner of war camp. “Now that sounds like it sucked,” Nye says. “If you ever have the chance, I wouldn’t recommend it. Not one bit.”</p>
<p>Nye’s fascination with the natural world started at the tender age of 3, and only intensified from there on. “I grew up with the space program,” he says. Throughout childhood and his adolescence, he consumed what he could in physics, rocket science, zoology, and so forth. “Physics was really my thing, man.” As a teen, Nye built a Heathkit Sine-Square Wave Generator, which still sits in his former classroom at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, DC. (The Smithsonian actually contacted Nye about the gadget, expressing interest in inducting the 40-year-old piece of lab equipment into its vast collection.)</p>
<p>In the years since high school and college, his career trajectory was a blend of hard science and big laughs. After Cornell, he worked as an engineer at Boeing. Unfortunately, he could never make the grade to achieve his dream of becoming a NASA astronaut. In 1999, Nye told the <a href="http://www.sptimes.com/News/101199/news_pf/Floridian/Bill_Nye__the_success.shtml" type="external">St. Petersburg Times</a> that every few years he’d apply to be an astronaut and went in for the physical. He’d get rejected every time. Instead, Nye went into the entertainment industry, ditching the engineering world for stand-up comedy.</p>
<p>In 1986, he became a writer and actor on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6-SJLlneLc" type="external">Almost Live!</a>, a Seattle sketch comedy show that ran from 1984 to 1999. Here’s Nye in one of their sketches:</p>
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<p>“Steve Martin was another guy who changed my life,” Nye says. “He was an enormous influence on me; he changed everything for American comedy.” Nye has never met Martin, but he’ll have a good story to tell him if he ever does: In 1978, he won a Steve Martin look-alike contest in Seattle. In 1993, Seattle’s PBS affiliate started making <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHivnBsuMJA" type="external">Bill Nye the Science Guy</a>, which made the comedian/engineer a household name. For nearly half a decade, Nye used his show to teach science to children, while infusing his program with parodies of pop songs and modern culture.</p>
<p>“A TV show has to be entertainment first, education second,” Nye instructs. “I spend a lot of time with Nobel laureates and a lot of rocket scientists. Being a good teacher is a completely different skill from being a good scientist.”</p>
<p>In recent years, Nye has undergone something of a career and image renaissance. He is the CEO of the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI-FJW5-NsU" type="external">Planetary Society</a>, the world’s largest nongovernmental space interest group. He has a YouTube series <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/10/4823030/bill-nye-the-science-guy-youtube-miniseries" type="external">with NASA</a>. He was on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGrZKQL2FBg" type="external">Dancing with the Stars</a> this year, his highest profile foray into dance since he finished fourth at a Cornell talent show where he did a jitterbug routine choreographed to “ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDsjdoOQ70s" type="external">Runaround Sue</a>.” He organized the “ <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-oGgD5bsrs" type="external">Save Our Science</a>” campaign, which has pushed Congress and the White House to provide at least $1.5 billion annually for planetary science and exploration.</p>
<p>“He’s been instrumental in helping advance some of the president’s key initiatives to make sure we can out-educate, out-innovate, and out-compete the world,” an Obama administration official tells me. “The president lights up when he sees Bill,” another official says. (That’s not to say Nye is never at odds with the president; in early December, he issued an <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkWetbQHWlk" type="external">open letter on YouTube</a> to Obama asking him ensure more funding for planetary exploration—something that has&#160; <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/12/08/planetary_exploration_bill_nye_s_open_letter_to_president_obama.html" type="external">endured some rough budgetary hits</a> during the Obama years.)</p>
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<p>But of his new endeavors, he’s likely best known for his <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/18/science/bill-nye-firebrand-for-science-is-a-big-man-on-campus.html?pagewanted=all&amp;gwh=B056DA0F2B3CFE4A1911526B3E75EB39&amp;gwt=pay" type="external">politically tinged, no-bullshit talk</a> about science education in America. Over the past few years, he’s gained wide attention on <a href="https://twitter.com/TheScienceGuy" type="external">social media</a>, the lecture circuit, and television (he’s appeared on CNN’s <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/bill-nye-piers-morgan-and-climate-skeptic-clash-over-global-warming-on-cnn/" type="external">Piers Morgan Live</a> and HBO’s <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSt9dYsQMi0" type="external">Real Time with Bill Maher</a>, among others) for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHbYJfwFgOU" type="external">countering</a> creationist drivel, conservative politicians’ claims, and climate change denial.</p>
<p>“I fight this fight out of patriotism,” Nye says.</p>
<p>“We have a problem,” he continues. “We can’t have economic growth without basic investment in science and research. And we can’t have <a href="" type="internal">irresponsible school board</a> <a href="" type="internal">members in Texas</a> teaching that the earth is 10,000 years old. We can’t have us embracing scientific illiteracy.”</p>
<p>When I ask Nye about what he considers his current top-three political passions, he responds: “Climate change, raise the standard of women around the world through education, <a href="https://twitter.com/TheScienceGuy/status/408632149898985472" type="external">asteroids</a>.”</p>
<p>Yes, Nye is really into <a href="https://twitter.com/TheScienceGuy/status/407923434622947328" type="external">asteroids</a>—specifically, fighting the ones that may imperil human civilization.</p>
<p>“Sooner or later we’re going to have to <a href="" type="internal">deflect an asteroid</a>,” Nye says. “And we’re the first generation that can do something about it.” As the head of the Planetary Society, Nye and his team published a plan for using solar-paneled-fitted “ <a href="http://www.planetary.org/explore/projects/laser-bees/" type="external">Laser Bee</a>” spacecraft to evaporate or volatize parts of an asteroid threatening earth. The parts that burn off have momentum, and that momentum is hopefully enough to “ <a href="http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2421862,00.asp" type="external">nudge</a>” the asteroid. “It’s a matter of life or death for people…It’s ironic that people are running around worried about <a href="" type="internal">Obamacare</a> while this other troubling thing looms.”</p>
<p>The Planetary Society’s proposal has intrigued NASA employees enough that some of them show up at the Society’s asteroid meetings. “I mean, zapping rocks with lasers, what could be more fun than that?” Nye says. Additionally, he has reviewed the Obama administration’s own $ <a href="" type="internal">2.6-billion</a> <a href="" type="internal">asteroid-lasso initiative</a>—and he’s not impressed. “I don’t think it’s a good value,” Nye laments. “I don’t think it will happen.”</p>
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<p>But what is Nye’s dream project—for whatever spare time he has when he’s not battling asteroid doom or combating the proliferation of pseudo-science in America. It turns out that he has a script in his desk that he hopes Hollywood will find compelling.</p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.greenerlivingtoday.com/bill-nye-interview-with-greener-living-today/" type="external">2009</a>, Nye finished his screenplay for a biopic on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Bowditch" type="external">Nathaniel Bowditch</a>, an American mathematician and the father of modern ocean navigation. (Bowditch’s 1802 book The American Practical Navigator is <a href="http://msi.nga.mil/NGAPortal/MSI.portal?_nfpb=true&amp;_pageLabel=msi_portal_page_62&amp;pubCode=0002" type="external">still carried aboard US Naval ships</a>.)</p>
<p>“He was born in Salem, Mass., sold as an indentured servant, taught himself Latin, and found a new way to compute longitude,” Nye gushes. “I would very much like to make this guy’s life story into a major movie.” The film would be filled with adventure, triumph over adversity, and even have a plot twist regarding a supposed death at sea.</p>
<p>“I’d want <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0103804/" type="external">Brannon Braga</a> to direct it,” Nye says. Braga was an executive producer on Fox dramatic series 24, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0103804/" type="external">Star Trek</a> series, and the upcoming <a href="" type="internal">Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey</a>, a 2014 documentary series hosted by Nye’s friend <a href="http://sploid.gizmodo.com/astrostud-neil-degrasse-tyson-explains-how-to-blow-up-a-1456788295" type="external">Neil deGrasse Tyson</a> and co-executive-produced by Family Guy‘s <a href="" type="internal">Seth MacFarlane</a>.</p>
<p>“Who’d star in it?” Nye says. “Maybe <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=dougherty+dancing+with+the+stars&amp;ie=utf-8&amp;oe=utf-8&amp;aq=t&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&amp;client=firefox-a&amp;channel=fflb#channel=fflb&amp;q=brant+daugherty&amp;rls=org.mozilla:en-US%3Aofficial" type="external">Brant Daugherty</a>, [who was on the same season of] Dancing with the Stars…But we’d actually need a skinnier guy—maybe <a href="" type="internal">Shia LaBeouf</a>.”</p>
<p>As for the leading lady?</p>
<p>“I’d say… <a href="https://twitter.com/TyneStecklein" type="external">Tyne Stecklein</a>, my dance partner on Dancing with the Star,” Nye endorses. “I tell ya, that gal is striking. She will turn anybody’s head—and she’s quite the actress, too.”</p>
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<p>This article was adapted, with permission, from a version that appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of the <a href="http://www.sidwell.edu/alumni/app/index.aspx" type="external">Sidwell Friends Alumni Magazine</a>. (Full disclosure: I also attended the school.)</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | lta hrefhttpwwwbillnyecommediaphotosofbillnyegtbillnyecomltagt william sanford nye friends call bill made first mark history sitting college classroom 1976 another day cornell university nye energetic ultimate frisbeeplaying undergraduate student chatting fellow students walked professorthe legendary astronomer author carl saganwith unexpected request sagan asked class chuck berry song included voyager golden record collection songs images placed aboard two voyager spacecraft launched 1977 extraterrestrial life forms ever encounter voyager spacecraft record intended reflect culture diversity planet earth sagan chairing committee responsible selecting music nasa told class thought berrys 1956 hit roll beethoven song aliens hear nye classmates led muchneeded revolt said professor nye recalls johnny b goode thats definitive chuck berry songberry guy took blues turned rock n roll thought needed send message spacecraft sagan took students advice day johnny b goode aboard voyager spacecraft alongside work bach gospel blues artist blind willie johnson sagan left indelible mark nye love science engineering inspired much earlier spark kindergarten nye says mother jacqueline codebreaker second world war fighting fascism math science see evidence work declassified 1992 nsaaffiliated national cryptologic museum maryland smithsonian washington dc exhibit dedicated enigma machines included photo jacqueline worked bunker waiting nazi bombs drop something nye jokes meanwhile father ned held japanese prisoner war camp sounds like sucked nye says ever chance wouldnt recommend one bit nyes fascination natural world started tender age 3 intensified grew space program says throughout childhood adolescence consumed could physics rocket science zoology forth physics really thing man teen nye built heathkit sinesquare wave generator still sits former classroom sidwell friends school washington dc smithsonian actually contacted nye gadget expressing interest inducting 40yearold piece lab equipment vast collection years since high school college career trajectory blend hard science big laughs cornell worked engineer boeing unfortunately could never make grade achieve dream becoming nasa astronaut 1999 nye told st petersburg times every years hed apply astronaut went physical hed get rejected every time instead nye went entertainment industry ditching engineering world standup comedy 1986 became writer actor almost live seattle sketch comedy show ran 1984 1999 heres nye one sketches steve martin another guy changed life nye says enormous influence changed everything american comedy nye never met martin hell good story tell ever 1978 steve martin lookalike contest seattle 1993 seattles pbs affiliate started making bill nye science guy made comedianengineer household name nearly half decade nye used show teach science children infusing program parodies pop songs modern culture tv show entertainment first education second nye instructs spend lot time nobel laureates lot rocket scientists good teacher completely different skill good scientist recent years nye undergone something career image renaissance ceo planetary society worlds largest nongovernmental space interest group youtube series nasa dancing stars year highest profile foray dance since finished fourth cornell talent show jitterbug routine choreographed runaround sue organized save science campaign pushed congress white house provide least 15 billion annually planetary science exploration hes instrumental helping advance presidents key initiatives make sure outeducate outinnovate outcompete world obama administration official tells president lights sees bill another official says thats say nye never odds president early december issued open letter youtube obama asking ensure funding planetary explorationsomething has160 endured rough budgetary hits obama years new endeavors hes likely best known politically tinged nobullshit talk science education america past years hes gained wide attention social media lecture circuit television hes appeared cnns piers morgan live hbos real time bill maher among others countering creationist drivel conservative politicians claims climate change denial fight fight patriotism nye says problem continues cant economic growth without basic investment science research cant irresponsible school board members texas teaching earth 10000 years old cant us embracing scientific illiteracy ask nye considers current topthree political passions responds climate change raise standard women around world education asteroids yes nye really asteroidsspecifically fighting ones may imperil human civilization sooner later going deflect asteroid nye says first generation something head planetary society nye team published plan using solarpaneledfitted laser bee spacecraft evaporate volatize parts asteroid threatening earth parts burn momentum momentum hopefully enough nudge asteroid matter life death peopleits ironic people running around worried obamacare troubling thing looms planetary societys proposal intrigued nasa employees enough show societys asteroid meetings mean zapping rocks lasers could fun nye says additionally reviewed obama administrations 26billion asteroidlasso initiativeand hes impressed dont think good value nye laments dont think happen nyes dream projectfor whatever spare time hes battling asteroid doom combating proliferation pseudoscience america turns script desk hopes hollywood find compelling 2009 nye finished screenplay biopic nathaniel bowditch american mathematician father modern ocean navigation bowditchs 1802 book american practical navigator still carried aboard us naval ships born salem mass sold indentured servant taught latin found new way compute longitude nye gushes would much like make guys life story major movie film would filled adventure triumph adversity even plot twist regarding supposed death sea id want brannon braga direct nye says braga executive producer fox dramatic series 24 star trek series upcoming cosmos spacetime odyssey 2014 documentary series hosted nyes friend neil degrasse tyson coexecutiveproduced family guys seth macfarlane whod star nye says maybe brant daugherty season dancing starsbut wed actually need skinnier guymaybe shia labeouf leading lady id say tyne stecklein dance partner dancing star nye endorses tell ya gal striking turn anybodys headand shes quite actress 160 article adapted permission version appeared fall 2013 issue sidwell friends alumni magazine full disclosure also attended school | 890 |
<p>What shall the people injured by Bernard Madoff’s massive fraud do now?</p>
<p>Let me start with a cursory statement of what already is happening. There are already numerous lawsuits: there are suits against feeder funds, putative custodians, insurance companies, the SEC, SIPC, and/or the Trustee. I recently read that the number of suits already is 130. There also will be more suits in the future: suits against FINRA, suits against the IRS, more cases against the SEC and against feeder funds, against insurance companies, and possibly suits against Wall Streeters who deeply, accurately suspected Madoff of a Ponzi scheme and therefore refused to do business with him but who warned nobody of what they had good reason to suspect. This writer predicted earlier on that there will be a lawyers’ relief act, and this easy-to-make prediction is both true already and likely to become even more true in the future.</p>
<p>From the standpoint of injured persons, however, there are two problems with this lawyers’ relief act. One is that it will take such a long time: cases will not be finished for years — I would estimate between five and ten years. In the meanwhile, many people who have been made desperately poor will remain desperately poor, and some among the many older ones will die. The other problem is that some of the defendants, even if they lose cases, will be what is called judgment proof. That is, they will have little or no money to pay the judgments against them, so that injured parties will get little or nothing though they won the case.</p>
<p>In addition to lawsuits, there are some fledgling legislative efforts. Congressman Ackerman (God bless him) has introduced a bill to allow refunds of taxes paid on phony income for about the last ten years. The bill now has about a dozen cosponsors. But whether anyone will really push it, and whether it will get somewhere (i.e., whether it will be enacted) remains to be seen. Nor does it help persons whose investments were legitimately tax free such as investors through IRAs and pension funds, and charities.</p>
<p>Congressman Meeks introduced a bill to extend the theft deduction for more years into the past. It has a few cosponsors (fewer than Ackerman’s I think), whether it will be pushed and will be enacted remains to be seen, and part of the drive for this bill probably evaporated because of the IRS’ enactment of a safe harbor provision, even one that some of us recognize to be inadequate for or completely useless to many victims such as tax free investors and investors through feeder funds.</p>
<p>There has as yet, as far as I know, been no introduction of any bill raising the amount of money obtainable from SIPC from the $500,000 that is the amount enacted in 1978, before dramatic further inflation, to some greater amount such as the $1.6 million dollars that it would take in today’s dollars to equal the $500,000 of 1978.</p>
<p>So, judicial efforts have major weaknesses and legislative efforts, though laudable, are not yet strong, or are nonexistent, and fail to cover thousands of deeply injured persons. What, therefore, should now be done?</p>
<p>I can only give you one man’s opinion, although it is an opinion I have tried to further in practice for the last few months and intend to try to further much more extensively in the future. This writer thinks a legislative effort is the only way to solve the problem within any kind of reasonable time frame. He also thinks that the Ackerman bill, the Meeks bill, and a possible bill to increase the SIPC payout are all laudable, and one should support anyone who seeks to push these efforts. But any of these three legislative efforts, and likewise even all of them together, would leave huge numbers of people in the lurch. There is, in my judgment, only one kind of legislation that will resolve the problem: enactment of a bill providing bonds to replace the amounts of money reflected on the November 30th statements and lost on December 11th. (Straight cash would be better than bonds, but I don’t think this is feasible even if the companies and banks which caused the economic meltdown are getting hundreds of billions or trillions in cash.) If this solution is called a bailout, so be it, although in truth it is restitution for a disaster to which the federal government was a major contributing cause along with Bernie Madoff. The trillions that the banks and auto companies are getting to rescue them from the losses caused by their own horrible greed and mistakes are a bailout from the federal government. What my proposal seeks in order to assist innocent investors who suffered losses due to a crime to which the federal government was a malfeasant cocontributor is restitution. There is a difference.</p>
<p>For the last few months I have been circulating a letter to various New England legislators detailing a restitutionary bond proposal, and have spoken with two legislators personally and with the staff of several others. Now I think the time has come to create a major lobbying effort to seek enactment of the restitutionary proposal (which should probably cover victims of Stanford and other Ponzi schemes too, as well as Madoff’s victims). The letter about the proposal which I gave to legislators (and certain others) expanded on an idea written of here on March 30, 2009, and I shall now set forth here the latest version of the letter, so that people will know precisely what I am talking about. After setting forth the letter here, I will briefly discuss a method of financing the proposal, and possibilities for lobbying.</p>
<p>The latest version of the letter regarding the restitutionary bond proposal is as follows:</p>
<p>June 4, 2009</p>
<p>Dear:</p>
<p>Knowing how incredibly busy you are (and being aware of the importance of the work you are doing), I am particularly appreciative that you made time to call me on Tuesday.</p>
<p>As said on the phone, I am one of the victims of Bernard Madoff. I therefore have been studying and writing about the Madoff matter for many months now, and in consequence have created a proposal that would obviate the need for victims to receive tax relief or relief through the Securities Investors Protection Corporation (SIPC). The proposal would also put an end to almost all litigation, thereby preventing what has already started to become a lawyers’ relief act that is likely to go on for ten years while many people will be hard pressed to obtain even the basic necessities of life.</p>
<p>As said on the phone, I hope you will find the proposal to be a potentially useful idea and will therefore pass on the idea, perhaps with a favorable comment, and possibly even with a copy of this letter, to people who could cause the proposal to be seriously considered and enacted. I am thinking of people such as Tim Geithner, Rahm Emanuel, Barney Frank and others like them.</p>
<p>Before describing the proposal, let me briefly detail an important prefatory matter. Most of Madoff’s victims are not the billionaires, “centamillionaires,” hedge funds, and banks that the celebrity-driven mass media has focused on, thereby causing the public to believe that the victims of Bernard Madoff are all wealthy plutocrats. Most Madoff victims are, instead, “small people.” They are people who usually started with little or nothing, as members of the working class or lower middle class, as immigrants, as children of holocaust survivors. They are people who worked like dogs all their lives, finally saved up enough money to make an investment in Madoff, and now find themselves wiped out. Many — perhaps even most — are elderly, in their late 60s, 70s, or 80s. Many had no other savings or income except what they had in or received from Madoff. Many are completely devastated, financially and psychologically. They are selling their homes in order to obtain money to live. They are attempting to reenter the work force, sometimes in menial jobs, in their 60s, 70s and 80s, in order to obtain money for food and shelter. (There is one man in his 90s who took a job in a supermarket passing out fliers in order to sustain himself.) They are the victims of both a terrible crime and a terrible tragedy.</p>
<p>The crime and tragedy of which they are victims were caused by Bernard Madoff, but not by Bernard Madoff alone. They also were extensively caused by the government, beginning with a widely circulated 1992 public statement by a governmental body, the SEC, which was a contributing cause to the disaster. When it undertook an investigation in the early 1990s of two accountants who gathered and forwarded monies to Madoff, the SEC had initially expected to find a Ponzi scheme. But on December 1, 1992, in a statement that securities lawyers tell me is never made by the SEC, it publicly said through the Wall Street Journal that there was no fraud involved, i.e., no Ponzi scheme. That statement by the government, which placed the imprimatur of honesty on Bernard Madoff (who was disclosed two weeks later, in the WSJ of December 16th, to be the money manager for the two accountants), caused untold numbers of people to continue their investments in Madoff, to invest with Madoff for the first time, and/or to increase investments with Madoff over time. (It was a major reason why I myself invested initially and subsequently increased my investment.) The government — the SEC — never retracted its statement, not even after Harry Markopolos began warning it in 2000 that Madoff likely was a Ponzi scheme.</p>
<p>The SEC’s remarkable, unique, and never retracted statement of December 1, 1992, and its failure to stop Madoff when warned to a fare-thee-well by Markopolos starting in 2000, were a major cause of the disaster which subsequently occurred. The SEC’s 1992 statement was instrumental in the Ponzi scheme growing from about $450 million in 1992 to between three and seven billion dollars in 2000, and the 1992 statement, plus the SEC’s ignoring of Markopolos, caused the scheme to grow from three to seven billion dollars in 2000 to $65 billion in 2008.</p>
<p>So the government, through the SEC, was a major cause of Madoff’s success and of the enormous harm which has befallen thousands of “small people.”</p>
<p>The “small people,” of course, invested in Madoff through a variety of differing vehicles. Some were direct investors. Some invested through feeder funds. Some through IRAs. Some through pension funds. Some through partnerships. Because of the difference in investment vehicles, many are not eligible for tax recovery, e.g., those who invested through IRAs, charities, pension funds and feeder funds. Some are not eligible for SIPC recoveries, e.g., feeder fund investors or investors who were part of a single “group” investment. In addition, such restitution as is obtainable through tax recoveries or SIPC recoveries will often be but a small portion of the losses suffered. Many people still will find it very difficult or impossible to meet daily expenses.</p>
<p>In addition, litigation is likely to go on for the better part of a decade (as has occurred in other cases), while victims continue to lack resources to meet everyday expenses. No one can doubt that there will be, for example, long lasting litigation against SIPC on the questions of whether it is proper to exclude investors through feeder funds from the definition of customers, and whether the definition of net equity can be the restrictive and unusual cash in/cash out definition that has been adopted by the Trustee in order to deny recovery to thousands — and that many think wholly illegal — or whether SIPC must instead use the standard definition of net equity and thereby adhere to the well established securities law principle of honoring “legitimate expectations” of customers.</p>
<p>There is likewise sure to be a decade worth of litigation against the government on the question of liability arising from the prior causative actions and inactions of the SEC. Those litigations will revolve around such questions as the government’s responsibility under the Federal Tort Claims Act for negligence or for intentional misconduct, responsibility arising from its extraordinary, and extraordinarily wrong, public statement in 1992 which caused the Ponzi scheme to grow by leaps and bounds and its failure to act against Madoff from 2000-2008 though warned time and again by Harry Markopolos.</p>
<p>There will also be extensive litigation against the IRS (i) because many people will not accept the “safe harbor” theft deduction provisions which it has created and which will be harmful to many even though the provisions are well intended, and (ii) because if people are not wealthy, they will not be much helped or even helped at all by the “safe harbor” provisions. The cases will involve such questions, which the government in its safe harbor provisions sought to elide, as claim of right, equitable estoppel, equitable tolling (in the present circumstances of governmental culpability), negative tax benefit, the constitutionality under the 16th Amendment of levying a tax, and now keeping the tax, on money that is now known not to have been income, even though the amendment explicitly permits only the taxation of money that is income, and whether the government can force people into giving up doctrinal rights, and rights to interest on refunds of unlawfully assessed taxes, in order to be allowed to use safe harbor theft deduction provisions.</p>
<p>There will also be litigation on the question of whether the government has a right to calculate theft losses in the particular way it has in its safe harbor provisions. In the latter regard, the questions to be litigated will include whether it was proper for the government to calculate theft losses in such a way that, if two persons invested the same amount of principal and earned at the same percentage rate, but one was wealthy enough to pay tax on Madoff income from other income while not withdrawing money from Madoff, but the other, less affluent investor had to withdraw money from Madoff in order to pay tax on Madoff income, the wealthier taxpayer will benefit far more from the IRS’ safe harbor provision, thus creating serious inequality between the two investors to the detriment of the less affluent one. And there obviously will be litigation on the additional question of whether the government’s action was the result of pressure from extraordinarily wealthy contributors to the Democratic Party who immediately placed pressure on the government and who will benefit to the tune of scores or even hundreds of millions of dollars from the safe harbor calculations promulgated by the government, while those who have little money and had to live off of their Madoff earnings over the years will get very little benefit and certainly not enough to live on.</p>
<p>There will also be very important questions raised in litigation as to why the IRS’ program of approval of non bank custodians did not expose the Ponzi scheme. This is a remarkable and potentially highly explosive point. Madoff was approved by the IRS in 2004 — in the midst of Markopolos’ revelations to the SEC — to be one of only about 260 non-bank custodians for IRAs and pension funds throughout the entire United States. How did that happen — i.e., how could Madoff possibly have been approved by the IRS in 2004 — especially since the IRS has claimed, since 1984, the right to inspect the books and records of non bank custodians? Such inspection of Madoff would have shown that Madoff was in major violation of the IRS’ own governing regulations and would have blown open the Ponzi scheme. It would have shown, directly contrary to governing IRS regulations, that Madoff himself owned 90 to 100 percent of the business rather than the maximally allowable 50 percent designed to insure corporate continuity, had no trust department, had no vault for customers’ securities (and indeed had no securities being held for customers), did not keep fiduciary IRA records separate from other records, and had been acting as an illegal non-approved custodian of IRAs and pension funds for decades. It would inevitably have shown that Madoff was acting illegally under the IRS’ own rules and was not doing what he claimed to be doing. It would have exposed the Ponzi scheme.</p>
<p>Yet the IRS approved Madoff, contrary to Congress’ specific intent that it act in a fiduciary capacity in overseeing non-bank custodians of IRAs and pension funds. Does the IRS, contrary to Congress’ intent that it exercise careful fiduciary oversight, simply approve companies to be non bank custodians without looking at their books and records to insure they are legitimate and that the owners of IRAs and other accounts are protected? Did the IRS look at Madoff’s books and records and, like the SEC, the NASD and FINRA, negligently miss the Ponzi scheme? Whatever the IRS failed to do, its negligence (or worse?) is bound to be explosive. For the nation’s tax collector to have been the facilitator of a Ponzi scheme, as appears to have occurred here, will necessarily be regarded as awful. (I note that one Congressman already has written to the IRS about this situation although it was disclosed (by me) less than two weeks ago.)</p>
<p>These questions, as said, are sure to be raised in litigation. Another question that will be raised is this. There are tax lawyers who claim the IRS has a program which matches corporate reports of dividends and interest paid against taxpayers’ reports of dividends and interest received. We have been unable to locate information on such a program. But if it does exist, how could it have failed to expose Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, since the reports of dividends and interest paid by companies would have had to be far smaller than the reports of dividends and interest received by taxpayersbecause Madoff was making up the latter out of whole cloth? Since the program of matching, if it exists, is largely shrouded in obscurity, people outside the IRS cannot know how it works or its capabilities; thus the question of why (if it exists) it didn’t catch Madoff will surely be raised in litigation.</p>
<p>There will also be extensive litigation against FINRA. It and its predecessor, the NASD, inspected Madoff every two years since 1962. Yet it never uncovered the largest Ponzi scheme in the history of the world. How could this possibly be? This question, and FINRA’s liability for negligence or worse to every single victim of Madoff, will be the subject of lengthy litigation.</p>
<p>The entire process of ironing out all these questions, relating to governmental and quasi governmental agencies, in a variety of forums is bound to take a decade or so, while those who are not highly wealthy suffer immensely and the process becomes, as it is already becoming, mainly a lawyers’ relief act.</p>
<p>Surely there must be a better way than a decade of widespread hassling and litigation.</p>
<p>There in fact is a better way. It is a way that, at one and the same time, will enable deeply injured people to obtain enough income to live on, while costing the government far less for several years than the provision of tax relief would. It would also, though large in absolute number, be a drop in the bucket compared to the trillions being spent in bailouts. I hope, as said, that you will look upon it with favor.</p>
<p>The idea I have in mind, even though it is simplicity itself, will greatly assist direct investors, feeder fund investors, IRA investors, pension fund investors, charities — everyone. It will nullify the need for tax refunds. It will nullify the need for tax deductions. It will nullify the need for SIPC payments. Rather than provide any of these, the government would instead provide victims with government bonds whose principal is not payable for ten years, and whose interest rate, payable annually, would be seven percent tax free. To satisfy the principle of legitimate expectations, the bonds’ principal would be the amount shown in an investor’s final, November 30, 2008 statement (minus amounts already obtained in tax refunds or from SIPC). All private or other litigation rights against potentially culpable parties would be transferred to the government, which is best situated to and can pursue them in court through the Department of Justice if it wishes, and may be able to recover immense amounts by doing so. (The SIPC trustee has already filed suits seeking ten billion dollars or so.) The victims, however, will simply get bonds whose principal will come due in ten years, with interest payable annually.</p>
<p>This is simple, clean, direct and would achieve crucial goals. Let us start with victims. Whether they were direct investors or investors through feeder funds, many of them, who are now wiped out, were literally living off of their Madoff earnings, which they would take out every year for living expenses. In recent years Madoff claimed to be earning, roughly speaking, about ten to twelve percent taxable, about eight or nine percent after taxes. Victims, whether direct investors or feeder fund investors, will continue to get roughly similar amounts (a bit less actually) under the bond proposal, but enough to live on.</p>
<p>Pension funds and charities will be able to continue to obtain money tax free, just as before. Partnerships and trusts will likewise receive the same treatment as before.</p>
<p>For those who do not want to hold on to their government bonds for ten years, there is likely to develop — there almost surely will develop — a secondary market, an over the counter market, on which the bonds can be sold, depending on the situation, for their appropriately discounted value or their appropriately higher-than-face-value value.</p>
<p>As for the government, it will make out reasonably well in comparison with the situation otherwise. The government has estimated the amount of loss shown in statements from Madoff at being $65 billion. It was also estimated early on that the government might have to pay out a total of 20 billion or more in tax refunds and SIPC recovery, though this estimate may now be far different. (If the government itself has made knowledgeable estimates that are different, it has not disclosed them to the public or Congress). Under the bond proposal, at 7 percent tax free, the government, for ten years, will pay out only $4.55 billion a year (seven percent of $65 billion). It will not pay out a total of the previously estimated $20 billion until the fifth year — not until then will the total interest reach $20 billion. The principal of $65 billion will not be paid by the government for ten years and, if my understanding is correct, is only the same amount the FDIC expects to pay out in the next five yearsdue to bank closings. And each year the government will pay out in interest an amount that, very roughly, is only about one-tenth of one percent of the total of ten trillion dollars (or even more) which it is now estimated the government will provide, as an investor, lender, and/or insurer, to the financial oligarchs who caused the current economic meltdown.</p>
<p>The present value to the investors of receiving a collective total of $4.55 billion per year for ten years at a rate of seven percent is approximately $32 billion. Also, the present value to the investors of $65 billion in principal to be received in ten years, calculated at a discount rate of seven percent, is $33 billion. So investors receive a total present value of about $65 billion. This total present value of $65 billion “replaces” the present value possessed by the investors on December 10th (the day before the fraud was disclosed). On December 10th investors had accounts worth $65 billion plus, assuming an after tax “return” from Madoff of eight percent, another $5.2 billion per year every year for the next ten years, or a present value of $36.5 billion, for a total present value on December 10th of $101.5 billion. So the total present value on December 10th of $101.5 billion ($65 billion plus $36.5 billion) would be replaced by present value of $65 billion ($32 billion plus $35 billion). Accordingly, investors are much less well off under the bond proposal than they expectably would have been had Madoff been for real. Yet they will be able to live.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>In conclusion, I would be very grateful if you were to look with favor upon the proposal discussed here, and were to pass on the idea to persons who are high level decisionmakers. As is evident, the proposal has many advantages. It will provide wiped-out investors with annual monies on which to live. It will cost the government less for many years than likely will otherwise be the cost in tax deductions, tax refunds and possible government financing of SIPC payments. It will provide restitution for the governmental conduct which helped cause the disaster — the incredible SEC statement of December 1992, the phenomenal SEC negligence, or worse, of 2000-2008, and IRS actions or inactions that allowed Madoff to become a non bank custodian. It will end all private litigation, leaving only litigation that the government chooses to pursue. It will help restore confidence in the securities markets, confidence essential to recovery from the current economic meltdown. It will show that the people who caused the meltdown, and who in one way or another are receiving an estimated ten trillion dollars or more in bailout monies, are not the only ones whom the government will assist. And it is the moral thing to do.</p>
<p>Finally, let me say that I greatly appreciate your willingness to take the time to consider this, and, as said, hope that will look upon it with favor.</p>
<p>Sincerely yours,</p>
<p>LAWRENCE R. VELVEL Dean, Massachusetts School of Law</p>
<p>Having set forth the letter about the bond proposal, let me now turn to the question of financing the proposal.</p>
<p>One of the last legislative assistants I spoke to asked me a question that nobody else had. She asked how the bonds would be financed, how they would be paid for. This, she said, would be a very important consideration. I replied that I had always assumed they would simply be issued by the government (just as it issues savings bonds, Treasury bills, etc.), but would give consideration to the question of how to finance them. After some consideration, it seems to me that they could be financed by a technique similar or identical to the way in which SIPC itself is financed — by the brokerage industry — or to a way in which people are speaking of financing healthcare — by a tax on companies issuing the gilt-edged plans costing $25,000 or more per year.</p>
<p>The government could require that, let us say, $100 billion in 20-year, two percent bonds must be bought by the industry whose philosophy, practices and greed gave rise to the general economic meltdown and to the culture which let Madoff get away with fraud for 20 to 45 years, which is receiving hundreds of billions or trillions in bailout monies (which it often is not lending though lending was a major goal in giving the industry trillions in bailout monies) and which is again making money hand over fist and will be giving out huge pay packages. The government would thus require the investment banking/banking/brokerage industry (“ib/b//b industry”) — the once three separate groups that Sandy Weill and friends (including Alan Greenspan, Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers) thought it would be great to and did combine or allow to combine, thereby bringing disaster to ordinary people — to buy the $100 billion or so in bonds at two percent interest, with the principal payable in twenty years. The government would then invest the 100 billion dollars and earn interest on it at the best rate it can get.</p>
<p>Then the government would issue, to Madoff victims, bonds with a face value of $65 billion, at seven percent interest payable annually and tax free, with the 65 billion dollars in principal being payable to the victims after ten years.</p>
<p>The 100 billion dollars the government receives by selling bonds to the culprit ib/b/b industry would be used to pay victims the seven percent they are to receive annually for ten years, and then to pay them the $65 billion principal of their bonds. $100 billion plus the annual earnings on the $100 billion would, I suspect, suffice to pay the victims seven percent per year (which is $4.55 billion a year or just over $45.5 billion in ten years, plus pay 2 percent interest payable to the investment bankers each year, or another $2 billion per year for a total of $6.55 billion per year ($2 billion plus $4.5 billion equals $6.5 billion), or a total of $65.5 billion over ten years. This would leave, at the end of ten years of interest payments, $34.5 billion of the original amount obtained from the ib/b/b industry, plus the amount of interest earned over the ten years on the money obtained from the ib/b/b industry. This overall total, as indicated, would, I suspect, be enough to pay the Madoff victims the $65 billion in principal owed to them after ten years.</p>
<p>After paying the Madoff victims the principal owed to them after ten years, the government would then continue paying the members of the ib/b/b industry two percent a year for another ten years and, at the end of that ten years, would pay them the $100 billion principal on the bonds they hold.</p>
<p>I do not know the extent to which amounts left in government coffers from the initial $100 billion sale of bonds to the ib/b/b industry, plus interest earned on that money, would cover the interest paid to the ib/b/b industry from years 11-20 and the repayment of principal to the ib/b/b industry after year 20. All of this is a matter for mathematicians and financial experts, who would use such financial tools as discount rates, etc. to decide how much in bonds should be sold to the ib/b/b industry if we want the initial sale to the industry, plus earnings, to cover repayment to the industry after 20 years. (A lesser amount than otherwise could be sold to the industry if we don’t care about that.) Allthat I am trying to do here is to set forth a basic idea: that the guilty industry should be required to buy an amount of low interest rate bonds sufficient to provide the money to pay Madoff victims seven percent a year for ten years, and to pay $65 million in principal to victims after ten years, and that the principal of the bonds held by the guilty ib/b/b industry should be paid after 20 years.</p>
<p>I conclude with a brief discussion of an all-important ingredient in obtaining enactment of a bond proposal (or any proposal relating to Madoff victims): lobbying. Without a major lobbying effort, there will be no enactment of a bond proposal (or, in all probability, of the Ackerman or Meeks proposals or of a proposal to increase the amount paid by SIPC to reflect inflationary changes since 1978). Lobbying is the way Congress works; for practical purposes, lobbying and huge expenditures on lobbyists — plus gigantic campaign contributions — is the way Washington as a whole works. I strongly recommend that any political tyro interested in the possibility of obtaining enactment of anything in regard to Madoff read Robert Kaiser’s recent book called So Damn Much Money in order to learn how the lobbying game works, including obtaining the support of key Congressional players and their staffs, persuading one or more of the legislators to be the point person for the effort, contacting many or most of the rest of the members of Congress and their staffs, providing Congress and its staff with memos of the reasons in favor of a bill and of the answers to criticisms, providing them with a draft of a bill, drafts of floor speeches about a bill and drafts of committee reports on it, and continuously keeping in close touch with Congressmen and Congresswomen. (I interviewed Kaiser, for several years the Managing Editor of the Washington Post, about his book for the better part of two hours for a television program I regularly do on books. Watching a DVD of the program (DVDs will be available to others in a few weeks) would give you much information more quickly than reading the entire book, but I nevertheless strongly recommend reading the entire book if you are a political novice who wants to get a fix on what would be involved in a lobbying campaign regarding Madoff. I know people don’t like to read books, but . . .)</p>
<p>There are only two ways that a significant lobbying campaign in favor of the bond proposal can be mounted. One way, the standard one, is to enlist the services of a professional lobbyist, often, even usually, a Washington lobbying group or a Washington law firm that lobbies (or perhaps a lobbyist located elsewhere with extensive experience in and contacts required for lobbying in Washington). I have been part of a small group of people who pursued this earlier this year. The problem is that the lobbyists want, in the words of Kaiser’s title, so damn much money. The price ran between one and two million dollars. People who have been wiped out by Madoff do not have that kind of money.</p>
<p>There are, of course, some persons who were and still are so rich that, despite huge losses to Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, the one to two million dollars needed for a massive lobbying campaign by professional lobbyists on behalf of the bond proposal would be pocket change to them. None of these people have yet stepped forward publicly, in connection with lobbying, in regard to any aspect of Madoff (though I believe some of them have done some things behind the scenes). Whether they would be willing to step forward to fund a lobbying effort on behalf of the bond proposal remains to be seen. In absolute terms they would benefit monetarily more than anybody else from the success of the bond proposal, since it would restore scores or even hundreds of millions of dollars to each of them in return for what is to them pocket change.</p>
<p>There are some who think that the reason such very wealthy people have not stepped forward in the past is that so far there has been little focus on obtaining restitutionary legislation, as opposed to focus on lawsuits, SIPC, etc., and that the relevant wealthy persons may step forward in future if and when the focus changes to obtaining legislation. But, as said, this remains to be seen.</p>
<p>Another way to finance a lobbying campaign is for lobbyists to work on a contingency fee basis. My clear recollection is that there is no federal law against this (although some states, like New York, have such a law governing their own citizens). Given that scores of billions of dollars are involved — $65 billion on the November 30th statements, $100 billion or so in a bond sale to the culpable ib/b/b/ industry – – even a contingency fee that is miniscule in percentage terms would be a gigantic absolute sum. (One-tenth of one percent of $65 billion dollars is $65 million, which would be a gigantic contingency fee in absolute terms. One percent of $100 billion would be an even more gigantic contingency fee of $100 million.)</p>
<p>Payment of the fee could be assured in either of two ways. One would be to have an earmark for the fee in the bond proposal legislation itself. The other would be as follows: It is probable that the legislation should contain provisions setting up a very small temporary organization — of not more than four or five people or perhaps fewer even than that — to calculate the amount of bonds to be received by each victim and to insure that all goes as it should. Not all the victims would get the amount shown on their November 30th statements (even when they are completely innocent victims rather than participants in Madoff’s fraud), because some will already have had part of their losses covered by SIPC or tax refunds. The job of the small group would be somewhat analogous to the job of Kenneth Feinberg and his people in regard to payments to the families of victims of 9/11 (though the small group’s job would be infinitely simpler than Feinberg’s was). With regard to assuring payment of a contingency fee, the small organization of five or fewer persons could be given the duty of determining and arranging for payment, from the bonds bought by the culprit ib/b/b industry, or from general federal coffers if bonds are not sold to the industry, of a contingency fee that can be no greater than some small percentage established in the legislation (analogously to limits on payments to trustees established in the Bankruptcy Code).</p>
<p>If no way is found, or accepted, to finance a lobbying campaign by professionals, then a victims’ group would have to be formed to lobby. The problem here, as relayed to me by people who have been active in victims’ groups (and as I have in part seen myself by reading the traffic on the groups’ websites) is that some people don’t do the jobs they say they will do, some people are uncooperative, etc. In my judgment, therefore, a new and very small group of persons would have to run the lobbying campaign if it is to succeed. That is, in order to succeed, the campaign would have to be under the ultimate centralized control of one person or at most a very few people. The concept of “centralized control” is perhaps obnoxious to many, but is essential to getting the job done lest there otherwise be disorganization and lack of accomplishment. This is little different, if different at all, from oft-present requirements for success in corporations, the military (where it is called unity of command), law firms, etc.</p>
<p>Persons who agree to work would be given particular substantive assignments (drafting the reasons for the legislation and responses to opponents, producing initial drafts of legislation, producing floor speeches and committee reports, continuously pursuing and dealing with particular assigned legislators, etc.). People who agree to work with the group would have to perform the tasks they are assigned to do or else they would be required to resign from the effort.</p>
<p>Creating and “operating” a successful grass roots victims’ group to lobby for what is needed (as the Jersey Girls did with regard to 9/11) may be the hardest of the various ways to create a lobbying campaign in behalf of a bond proposal, but it will nonetheless be the only way if one to two million dollars cannot be raised to finance a professional group of lobbyists and if professional groups are not attracted by the possibility of even a gigantic contingency fee. But, regardless of any of these difficulties, I believe a bond proposal supported by a major lobbying effort is the only way, and at minimum is far and away the quickest way, to obtain anything like adequate restitution for people who have suffered greatly because of Madoff’s fraud and the extraordinary governmental facilitation of that fraud. Thus, despite other major calls on my time in future (e.g., overseeing the law school, starting a new history college), part of my own time will in future be spent pursuing the bond proposal and, crucially, the establishment of a major lobbying campaign by professionals or by victims. I shall soon send out a formal request for much-needed help in establishing a lobbying campaign, and of course hope that competent and diligent people will offer the needed assistance.</p>
<p>Lawrence Velvel, dean of the Massachusetts School of Law, is the author of <a href="" type="internal">Thine Alabaster Cities Gleam</a> and <a href="" type="internal">An Enemy of the People.</a> He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:Velvel@VelvelOnNationalAffairs.com" type="external">Velvel@VelvelOnNationalAffairs.com</a></p>
<p>* This posting represents the personal views of LAWRENCE R. VELVEL.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | shall people injured bernard madoffs massive fraud let start cursory statement already happening already numerous lawsuits suits feeder funds putative custodians insurance companies sec sipc andor trustee recently read number suits already 130 also suits future suits finra suits irs cases sec feeder funds insurance companies possibly suits wall streeters deeply accurately suspected madoff ponzi scheme therefore refused business warned nobody good reason suspect writer predicted earlier lawyers relief act easytomake prediction true already likely become even true future standpoint injured persons however two problems lawyers relief act one take long time cases finished years would estimate five ten years meanwhile many people made desperately poor remain desperately poor among many older ones die problem defendants even lose cases called judgment proof little money pay judgments injured parties get little nothing though case addition lawsuits fledgling legislative efforts congressman ackerman god bless introduced bill allow refunds taxes paid phony income last ten years bill dozen cosponsors whether anyone really push whether get somewhere ie whether enacted remains seen help persons whose investments legitimately tax free investors iras pension funds charities congressman meeks introduced bill extend theft deduction years past cosponsors fewer ackermans think whether pushed enacted remains seen part drive bill probably evaporated irs enactment safe harbor provision even one us recognize inadequate completely useless many victims tax free investors investors feeder funds yet far know introduction bill raising amount money obtainable sipc 500000 amount enacted 1978 dramatic inflation greater amount 16 million dollars would take todays dollars equal 500000 1978 judicial efforts major weaknesses legislative efforts though laudable yet strong nonexistent fail cover thousands deeply injured persons therefore done give one mans opinion although opinion tried practice last months intend try much extensively future writer thinks legislative effort way solve problem within kind reasonable time frame also thinks ackerman bill meeks bill possible bill increase sipc payout laudable one support anyone seeks push efforts three legislative efforts likewise even together would leave huge numbers people lurch judgment one kind legislation resolve problem enactment bill providing bonds replace amounts money reflected november 30th statements lost december 11th straight cash would better bonds dont think feasible even companies banks caused economic meltdown getting hundreds billions trillions cash solution called bailout although truth restitution disaster federal government major contributing cause along bernie madoff trillions banks auto companies getting rescue losses caused horrible greed mistakes bailout federal government proposal seeks order assist innocent investors suffered losses due crime federal government malfeasant cocontributor restitution difference last months circulating letter various new england legislators detailing restitutionary bond proposal spoken two legislators personally staff several others think time come create major lobbying effort seek enactment restitutionary proposal probably cover victims stanford ponzi schemes well madoffs victims letter proposal gave legislators certain others expanded idea written march 30 2009 shall set forth latest version letter people know precisely talking setting forth letter briefly discuss method financing proposal possibilities lobbying latest version letter regarding restitutionary bond proposal follows june 4 2009 dear knowing incredibly busy aware importance work particularly appreciative made time call tuesday said phone one victims bernard madoff therefore studying writing madoff matter many months consequence created proposal would obviate need victims receive tax relief relief securities investors protection corporation sipc proposal would also put end almost litigation thereby preventing already started become lawyers relief act likely go ten years many people hard pressed obtain even basic necessities life said phone hope find proposal potentially useful idea therefore pass idea perhaps favorable comment possibly even copy letter people could cause proposal seriously considered enacted thinking people tim geithner rahm emanuel barney frank others like describing proposal let briefly detail important prefatory matter madoffs victims billionaires centamillionaires hedge funds banks celebritydriven mass media focused thereby causing public believe victims bernard madoff wealthy plutocrats madoff victims instead small people people usually started little nothing members working class lower middle class immigrants children holocaust survivors people worked like dogs lives finally saved enough money make investment madoff find wiped many perhaps even elderly late 60s 70s 80s many savings income except received madoff many completely devastated financially psychologically selling homes order obtain money live attempting reenter work force sometimes menial jobs 60s 70s 80s order obtain money food shelter one man 90s took job supermarket passing fliers order sustain victims terrible crime terrible tragedy crime tragedy victims caused bernard madoff bernard madoff alone also extensively caused government beginning widely circulated 1992 public statement governmental body sec contributing cause disaster undertook investigation early 1990s two accountants gathered forwarded monies madoff sec initially expected find ponzi scheme december 1 1992 statement securities lawyers tell never made sec publicly said wall street journal fraud involved ie ponzi scheme statement government placed imprimatur honesty bernard madoff disclosed two weeks later wsj december 16th money manager two accountants caused untold numbers people continue investments madoff invest madoff first time andor increase investments madoff time major reason invested initially subsequently increased investment government sec never retracted statement even harry markopolos began warning 2000 madoff likely ponzi scheme secs remarkable unique never retracted statement december 1 1992 failure stop madoff warned faretheewell markopolos starting 2000 major cause disaster subsequently occurred secs 1992 statement instrumental ponzi scheme growing 450 million 1992 three seven billion dollars 2000 1992 statement plus secs ignoring markopolos caused scheme grow three seven billion dollars 2000 65 billion 2008 government sec major cause madoffs success enormous harm befallen thousands small people small people course invested madoff variety differing vehicles direct investors invested feeder funds iras pension funds partnerships difference investment vehicles many eligible tax recovery eg invested iras charities pension funds feeder funds eligible sipc recoveries eg feeder fund investors investors part single group investment addition restitution obtainable tax recoveries sipc recoveries often small portion losses suffered many people still find difficult impossible meet daily expenses addition litigation likely go better part decade occurred cases victims continue lack resources meet everyday expenses one doubt example long lasting litigation sipc questions whether proper exclude investors feeder funds definition customers whether definition net equity restrictive unusual cash incash definition adopted trustee order deny recovery thousands many think wholly illegal whether sipc must instead use standard definition net equity thereby adhere well established securities law principle honoring legitimate expectations customers likewise sure decade worth litigation government question liability arising prior causative actions inactions sec litigations revolve around questions governments responsibility federal tort claims act negligence intentional misconduct responsibility arising extraordinary extraordinarily wrong public statement 1992 caused ponzi scheme grow leaps bounds failure act madoff 20002008 though warned time harry markopolos also extensive litigation irs many people accept safe harbor theft deduction provisions created harmful many even though provisions well intended ii people wealthy much helped even helped safe harbor provisions cases involve questions government safe harbor provisions sought elide claim right equitable estoppel equitable tolling present circumstances governmental culpability negative tax benefit constitutionality 16th amendment levying tax keeping tax money known income even though amendment explicitly permits taxation money income whether government force people giving doctrinal rights rights interest refunds unlawfully assessed taxes order allowed use safe harbor theft deduction provisions also litigation question whether government right calculate theft losses particular way safe harbor provisions latter regard questions litigated include whether proper government calculate theft losses way two persons invested amount principal earned percentage rate one wealthy enough pay tax madoff income income withdrawing money madoff less affluent investor withdraw money madoff order pay tax madoff income wealthier taxpayer benefit far irs safe harbor provision thus creating serious inequality two investors detriment less affluent one obviously litigation additional question whether governments action result pressure extraordinarily wealthy contributors democratic party immediately placed pressure government benefit tune scores even hundreds millions dollars safe harbor calculations promulgated government little money live madoff earnings years get little benefit certainly enough live also important questions raised litigation irs program approval non bank custodians expose ponzi scheme remarkable potentially highly explosive point madoff approved irs 2004 midst markopolos revelations sec one 260 nonbank custodians iras pension funds throughout entire united states happen ie could madoff possibly approved irs 2004 especially since irs claimed since 1984 right inspect books records non bank custodians inspection madoff would shown madoff major violation irs governing regulations would blown open ponzi scheme would shown directly contrary governing irs regulations madoff owned 90 100 percent business rather maximally allowable 50 percent designed insure corporate continuity trust department vault customers securities indeed securities held customers keep fiduciary ira records separate records acting illegal nonapproved custodian iras pension funds decades would inevitably shown madoff acting illegally irs rules claimed would exposed ponzi scheme yet irs approved madoff contrary congress specific intent act fiduciary capacity overseeing nonbank custodians iras pension funds irs contrary congress intent exercise careful fiduciary oversight simply approve companies non bank custodians without looking books records insure legitimate owners iras accounts protected irs look madoffs books records like sec nasd finra negligently miss ponzi scheme whatever irs failed negligence worse bound explosive nations tax collector facilitator ponzi scheme appears occurred necessarily regarded awful note one congressman already written irs situation although disclosed less two weeks ago questions said sure raised litigation another question raised tax lawyers claim irs program matches corporate reports dividends interest paid taxpayers reports dividends interest received unable locate information program exist could failed expose madoffs ponzi scheme since reports dividends interest paid companies would far smaller reports dividends interest received taxpayersbecause madoff making latter whole cloth since program matching exists largely shrouded obscurity people outside irs know works capabilities thus question exists didnt catch madoff surely raised litigation also extensive litigation finra predecessor nasd inspected madoff every two years since 1962 yet never uncovered largest ponzi scheme history world could possibly question finras liability negligence worse every single victim madoff subject lengthy litigation entire process ironing questions relating governmental quasi governmental agencies variety forums bound take decade highly wealthy suffer immensely process becomes already becoming mainly lawyers relief act surely must better way decade widespread hassling litigation fact better way way one time enable deeply injured people obtain enough income live costing government far less several years provision tax relief would would also though large absolute number drop bucket compared trillions spent bailouts hope said look upon favor idea mind even though simplicity greatly assist direct investors feeder fund investors ira investors pension fund investors charities everyone nullify need tax refunds nullify need tax deductions nullify need sipc payments rather provide government would instead provide victims government bonds whose principal payable ten years whose interest rate payable annually would seven percent tax free satisfy principle legitimate expectations bonds principal would amount shown investors final november 30 2008 statement minus amounts already obtained tax refunds sipc private litigation rights potentially culpable parties would transferred government best situated pursue court department justice wishes may able recover immense amounts sipc trustee already filed suits seeking ten billion dollars victims however simply get bonds whose principal come due ten years interest payable annually simple clean direct would achieve crucial goals let us start victims whether direct investors investors feeder funds many wiped literally living madoff earnings would take every year living expenses recent years madoff claimed earning roughly speaking ten twelve percent taxable eight nine percent taxes victims whether direct investors feeder fund investors continue get roughly similar amounts bit less actually bond proposal enough live pension funds charities able continue obtain money tax free partnerships trusts likewise receive treatment want hold government bonds ten years likely develop almost surely develop secondary market counter market bonds sold depending situation appropriately discounted value appropriately higherthanfacevalue value government make reasonably well comparison situation otherwise government estimated amount loss shown statements madoff 65 billion also estimated early government might pay total 20 billion tax refunds sipc recovery though estimate may far different government made knowledgeable estimates different disclosed public congress bond proposal 7 percent tax free government ten years pay 455 billion year seven percent 65 billion pay total previously estimated 20 billion fifth year total interest reach 20 billion principal 65 billion paid government ten years understanding correct amount fdic expects pay next five yearsdue bank closings year government pay interest amount roughly onetenth one percent total ten trillion dollars even estimated government provide investor lender andor insurer financial oligarchs caused current economic meltdown present value investors receiving collective total 455 billion per year ten years rate seven percent approximately 32 billion also present value investors 65 billion principal received ten years calculated discount rate seven percent 33 billion investors receive total present value 65 billion total present value 65 billion replaces present value possessed investors december 10th day fraud disclosed december 10th investors accounts worth 65 billion plus assuming tax return madoff eight percent another 52 billion per year every year next ten years present value 365 billion total present value december 10th 1015 billion total present value december 10th 1015 billion 65 billion plus 365 billion would replaced present value 65 billion 32 billion plus 35 billion accordingly investors much less well bond proposal expectably would madoff real yet able live conclusion would grateful look favor upon proposal discussed pass idea persons high level decisionmakers evident proposal many advantages provide wipedout investors annual monies live cost government less many years likely otherwise cost tax deductions tax refunds possible government financing sipc payments provide restitution governmental conduct helped cause disaster incredible sec statement december 1992 phenomenal sec negligence worse 20002008 irs actions inactions allowed madoff become non bank custodian end private litigation leaving litigation government chooses pursue help restore confidence securities markets confidence essential recovery current economic meltdown show people caused meltdown one way another receiving estimated ten trillion dollars bailout monies ones government assist moral thing finally let say greatly appreciate willingness take time consider said hope look upon favor sincerely lawrence r velvel dean massachusetts school law set forth letter bond proposal let turn question financing proposal one last legislative assistants spoke asked question nobody else asked bonds would financed would paid said would important consideration replied always assumed would simply issued government issues savings bonds treasury bills etc would give consideration question finance consideration seems could financed technique similar identical way sipc financed brokerage industry way people speaking financing healthcare tax companies issuing giltedged plans costing 25000 per year government could require let us say 100 billion 20year two percent bonds must bought industry whose philosophy practices greed gave rise general economic meltdown culture let madoff get away fraud 20 45 years receiving hundreds billions trillions bailout monies often lending though lending major goal giving industry trillions bailout monies making money hand fist giving huge pay packages government would thus require investment bankingbankingbrokerage industry ibbb industry three separate groups sandy weill friends including alan greenspan robert rubin lawrence summers thought would great combine allow combine thereby bringing disaster ordinary people buy 100 billion bonds two percent interest principal payable twenty years government would invest 100 billion dollars earn interest best rate get government would issue madoff victims bonds face value 65 billion seven percent interest payable annually tax free 65 billion dollars principal payable victims ten years 100 billion dollars government receives selling bonds culprit ibbb industry would used pay victims seven percent receive annually ten years pay 65 billion principal bonds 100 billion plus annual earnings 100 billion would suspect suffice pay victims seven percent per year 455 billion year 455 billion ten years plus pay 2 percent interest payable investment bankers year another 2 billion per year total 655 billion per year 2 billion plus 45 billion equals 65 billion total 655 billion ten years would leave end ten years interest payments 345 billion original amount obtained ibbb industry plus amount interest earned ten years money obtained ibbb industry overall total indicated would suspect enough pay madoff victims 65 billion principal owed ten years paying madoff victims principal owed ten years government would continue paying members ibbb industry two percent year another ten years end ten years would pay 100 billion principal bonds hold know extent amounts left government coffers initial 100 billion sale bonds ibbb industry plus interest earned money would cover interest paid ibbb industry years 1120 repayment principal ibbb industry year 20 matter mathematicians financial experts would use financial tools discount rates etc decide much bonds sold ibbb industry want initial sale industry plus earnings cover repayment industry 20 years lesser amount otherwise could sold industry dont care allthat trying set forth basic idea guilty industry required buy amount low interest rate bonds sufficient provide money pay madoff victims seven percent year ten years pay 65 million principal victims ten years principal bonds held guilty ibbb industry paid 20 years conclude brief discussion allimportant ingredient obtaining enactment bond proposal proposal relating madoff victims lobbying without major lobbying effort enactment bond proposal probability ackerman meeks proposals proposal increase amount paid sipc reflect inflationary changes since 1978 lobbying way congress works practical purposes lobbying huge expenditures lobbyists plus gigantic campaign contributions way washington whole works strongly recommend political tyro interested possibility obtaining enactment anything regard madoff read robert kaisers recent book called damn much money order learn lobbying game works including obtaining support key congressional players staffs persuading one legislators point person effort contacting many rest members congress staffs providing congress staff memos reasons favor bill answers criticisms providing draft bill drafts floor speeches bill drafts committee reports continuously keeping close touch congressmen congresswomen interviewed kaiser several years managing editor washington post book better part two hours television program regularly books watching dvd program dvds available others weeks would give much information quickly reading entire book nevertheless strongly recommend reading entire book political novice wants get fix would involved lobbying campaign regarding madoff know people dont like read books two ways significant lobbying campaign favor bond proposal mounted one way standard one enlist services professional lobbyist often even usually washington lobbying group washington law firm lobbies perhaps lobbyist located elsewhere extensive experience contacts required lobbying washington part small group people pursued earlier year problem lobbyists want words kaisers title damn much money price ran one two million dollars people wiped madoff kind money course persons still rich despite huge losses madoffs ponzi scheme one two million dollars needed massive lobbying campaign professional lobbyists behalf bond proposal would pocket change none people yet stepped forward publicly connection lobbying regard aspect madoff though believe done things behind scenes whether would willing step forward fund lobbying effort behalf bond proposal remains seen absolute terms would benefit monetarily anybody else success bond proposal since would restore scores even hundreds millions dollars return pocket change think reason wealthy people stepped forward past far little focus obtaining restitutionary legislation opposed focus lawsuits sipc etc relevant wealthy persons may step forward future focus changes obtaining legislation said remains seen another way finance lobbying campaign lobbyists work contingency fee basis clear recollection federal law although states like new york law governing citizens given scores billions dollars involved 65 billion november 30th statements 100 billion bond sale culpable ibbb industry even contingency fee miniscule percentage terms would gigantic absolute sum onetenth one percent 65 billion dollars 65 million would gigantic contingency fee absolute terms one percent 100 billion would even gigantic contingency fee 100 million payment fee could assured either two ways one would earmark fee bond proposal legislation would follows probable legislation contain provisions setting small temporary organization four five people perhaps fewer even calculate amount bonds received victim insure goes victims would get amount shown november 30th statements even completely innocent victims rather participants madoffs fraud already part losses covered sipc tax refunds job small group would somewhat analogous job kenneth feinberg people regard payments families victims 911 though small groups job would infinitely simpler feinbergs regard assuring payment contingency fee small organization five fewer persons could given duty determining arranging payment bonds bought culprit ibbb industry general federal coffers bonds sold industry contingency fee greater small percentage established legislation analogously limits payments trustees established bankruptcy code way found accepted finance lobbying campaign professionals victims group would formed lobby problem relayed people active victims groups part seen reading traffic groups websites people dont jobs say people uncooperative etc judgment therefore new small group persons would run lobbying campaign succeed order succeed campaign would ultimate centralized control one person people concept centralized control perhaps obnoxious many essential getting job done lest otherwise disorganization lack accomplishment little different different oftpresent requirements success corporations military called unity command law firms etc persons agree work would given particular substantive assignments drafting reasons legislation responses opponents producing initial drafts legislation producing floor speeches committee reports continuously pursuing dealing particular assigned legislators etc people agree work group would perform tasks assigned else would required resign effort creating operating successful grass roots victims group lobby needed jersey girls regard 911 may hardest various ways create lobbying campaign behalf bond proposal nonetheless way one two million dollars raised finance professional group lobbyists professional groups attracted possibility even gigantic contingency fee regardless difficulties believe bond proposal supported major lobbying effort way minimum far away quickest way obtain anything like adequate restitution people suffered greatly madoffs fraud extraordinary governmental facilitation fraud thus despite major calls time future eg overseeing law school starting new history college part time future spent pursuing bond proposal crucially establishment major lobbying campaign professionals victims shall soon send formal request muchneeded help establishing lobbying campaign course hope competent diligent people offer needed assistance lawrence velvel dean massachusetts school law author thine alabaster cities gleam enemy people reached velvelvelvelonnationalaffairscom posting represents personal views lawrence r velvel 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 | 3,578 |
<p>When the Florida recount fiasco was in full-throttle, the Bush team called in one of its top fixers to deal with the media and help put the finishing touches on the brusque strategy that helped seal the election. That man was Marc Racicot, the former governor of Montana. Many thought would be rewarded for his efforts with a top post in the Bush White House. Although he was on the short list for both Secretary of the Interior and Attorney General, Racicot ended up in the cushy post as head of the Republican National Committee, where his deft fundraising abilities fattened the RNC vaults with a record $250 million in soft money contributions for the 2002 election cycle.</p>
<p>Racicot didn’t just sit on that mountain of cash; he used it like a MOAB bomb on Democrats. He is credited along with Karl Rove of with devising the media strategy that yielded such great triumphs for the Republicans in the 2002 elections.</p>
<p>In early June, Bush tapped Racicot as the chairman of his reelection campaign and already the corporate loot is pouring into the Bush campaign coffers. It was an astute choice. Although his name is hard to pronounce (Ross-Co), Racicot presents a kinder media presence than the other visigoths in the Bush camp. One Republican staffer called him “the white Colin Powell, the only two Bush advisers with any kind of sex appeal.”</p>
<p>Racicot, whose hair is as delicately managed as John Kerry’s, may look benign next to the frightful visages of Rove and Rumsfeld but he’s a ruthless politician who is as far to the right as anyone in the Bush inner circle. Just ask those who know him best: the people of Montana.</p>
<p>Racicot served as governor of Montana from 1994 through 2000, where he slashed taxes, carried water for big timber, deregulated the state’s electric utilities and moaned ceaselessly about the oppressive hand of the federal government. Prior to that Racicot served two terms as attorney general for the Big Sky state.</p>
<p>These days Montana’s once robust economy is in ruins. The current governor, Racicot’s bumbling protégé Judy Martz, gets most the blame for the crisis and lumbers along with an approval rating of 23 percent. But Racicot’s savage economic policies laid the foundations for the wreck that now plagues the state: record deficits, bankrupt schools and a senescent economy.</p>
<p>While Racicot slashed services and taxes, he also funneled what little money remained in the Montana treasury into costly projects that benefited political donors. For example, Racicot spent tens of millions of dollars on a new software system for the state government that was supposed to minutely track agency budgets and expenditures. Nearly a decade and $50 million later, the system still doesn’t function and the workings of state’s budget (now deep in the red) remains as opaque as the rituals of Eleusis.</p>
<p>Although the state of Montana was veering toward bankruptcy, Racicot sank $100 million into the construction of new prisons, which were built by political donors. The problem was that Montana was one of the few states with an overcapacity of prison beds. The prisons went up anyway and despite a slate of harsh new laws passed under Racicot and Martz to lock up more Montanans the new prisons remain underbooked. Now, Montana is desperately looking to rent out its empty cells to other states.</p>
<p>His cavalier approach to the state’s health care services was even more disastrous. Racicot pushed through a $400 million scheme to privatize Montana’s mental health care system. But less than two years after it was put into place, the new program collapsed, pushing schizophrenics and other patients out onto the streets and off of needed medications. The state is now faced with recreating a system that Racicot destroyed.</p>
<p>When Montana’s schools began to falter from the budget squeeze, Racicot offered a quick fix: log off the remaining old growth on state lands and cycle the receipts to the schools. This scheme, dubbed clearcuts for classrooms by local environmentalists, ravaged Montana’s forests, but did almost nothing to help the state’s beleaguered school system. Using the same rationale, Racicot also began selling off state park and forestlands near urban areas to his corporate cronies for shopping centers, office buildings and subdivisions.</p>
<p>Montana once enjoyed the toughest clean water laws in the country. Racicot dismantled them in 1995 when he signed a bill backed by mining and oil companies which raised limits on the discharge of toxins and carcinogens into Montana’s streams, allowed corporations the right to police their own conduct and at the behest of the coal methane producers expanded the luxury to foul groundwater to the very boundaries of polluter’s property.</p>
<p>This was followed by Racicot’s big gift to the strip-mining lobby. Despite the fact that Montana, which bears the historical scars of the strip-and-run coal companies, is the only state in the nation whose constitution requires the reclamation of all lands disturbed by mining, Racicot signed into a law a measure that exempts open pit mines from any responsibility to restore the mess they make, often contaminated with cyanide and other toxic debris.</p>
<p>But perhaps the biggest fiasco of Racicot’s tenure as governor was his role in deregulating Montana’s electric utilities, which allowed Montana Power Company to sell off it’s generating stations, dams, powerlines and water rights to PPL (Pennsylvania Power and Light). In exchange, Montana ratepayers saw their utility bills soar by more than 50 percent, from one of the lowest in the nation to the highest.</p>
<p>Racicot forged a close friendship with Bush in 1995, when the two men began working together on anti-regulatory initiatives for the Western Governor’s Association and the National Governor’s Association. The relationship between the two governors proved so cozy that there was speculation in Montana that Bush might pick Racicot as his running mate in the 2000. Ultimately, Cheney picked himself for that position and the golden boy from Montana went to work in the DC office of Bracewell &amp; Patterson, a Houston law firm with close ties to Bush that specializing in advancing the agendas of oil and gas companies.</p>
<p>One of Racicot’s chief clients during those tumultuous early days of the Bush administration was in dire need of a well-placed hand: Enron. Even after Racicot was selected to head the RNC, he refused to drop Enron as a client. His efforts to protect Enron during its time of tribulation certainly paid off for the company’s executives. While Martha Stewart faces federal charges over a $200,000 stock deal, Enron executives Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling, who bilked investors out of billions, enjoy afternoons on the most exclusive golf courses in Houston.</p>
<p>After Racicot became chairman of the RNC he moved his office to the party’s headquarters a couple of blocks from the White House. Even though he rarely went into the law office and had no official roster of clients, Racicot continued to pull down a six-figure paycheck from Bracewell &amp; Paterson.</p>
<p>“I have certainly provided advice and counsel to some private people with private business activities that have not been governmentally related,” Racicot said. “So I have done some things, but it has been very limited. So as a result of that I have honored the terms of the employment agreement and they were in such a frame of mind that they thought (leading the Republican Party) was something constructive for me to be engaged in and they acquiesced to my involvement.”</p>
<p>The new head of the Bush campaign sees no reason to recuse himself from such easy money now.</p>
<p>JEFFREY ST. CLAIR is author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512585/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Been Brown So Long It Looked Like Green to Me: the Politics of Nature</a> (Common Courage Press) and coeditor, with Alexander Cockburn, of <a href="" type="internal">The Politics of Anti-Semitism</a> (AK Press). Both books will be published in October.</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | florida recount fiasco fullthrottle bush team called one top fixers deal media help put finishing touches brusque strategy helped seal election man marc racicot former governor montana many thought would rewarded efforts top post bush white house although short list secretary interior attorney general racicot ended cushy post head republican national committee deft fundraising abilities fattened rnc vaults record 250 million soft money contributions 2002 election cycle racicot didnt sit mountain cash used like moab bomb democrats credited along karl rove devising media strategy yielded great triumphs republicans 2002 elections early june bush tapped racicot chairman reelection campaign already corporate loot pouring bush campaign coffers astute choice although name hard pronounce rossco racicot presents kinder media presence visigoths bush camp one republican staffer called white colin powell two bush advisers kind sex appeal racicot whose hair delicately managed john kerrys may look benign next frightful visages rove rumsfeld hes ruthless politician far right anyone bush inner circle ask know best people montana racicot served governor montana 1994 2000 slashed taxes carried water big timber deregulated states electric utilities moaned ceaselessly oppressive hand federal government prior racicot served two terms attorney general big sky state days montanas robust economy ruins current governor racicots bumbling protégé judy martz gets blame crisis lumbers along approval rating 23 percent racicots savage economic policies laid foundations wreck plagues state record deficits bankrupt schools senescent economy racicot slashed services taxes also funneled little money remained montana treasury costly projects benefited political donors example racicot spent tens millions dollars new software system state government supposed minutely track agency budgets expenditures nearly decade 50 million later system still doesnt function workings states budget deep red remains opaque rituals eleusis although state montana veering toward bankruptcy racicot sank 100 million construction new prisons built political donors problem montana one states overcapacity prison beds prisons went anyway despite slate harsh new laws passed racicot martz lock montanans new prisons remain underbooked montana desperately looking rent empty cells states cavalier approach states health care services even disastrous racicot pushed 400 million scheme privatize montanas mental health care system less two years put place new program collapsed pushing schizophrenics patients onto streets needed medications state faced recreating system racicot destroyed montanas schools began falter budget squeeze racicot offered quick fix log remaining old growth state lands cycle receipts schools scheme dubbed clearcuts classrooms local environmentalists ravaged montanas forests almost nothing help states beleaguered school system using rationale racicot also began selling state park forestlands near urban areas corporate cronies shopping centers office buildings subdivisions montana enjoyed toughest clean water laws country racicot dismantled 1995 signed bill backed mining oil companies raised limits discharge toxins carcinogens montanas streams allowed corporations right police conduct behest coal methane producers expanded luxury foul groundwater boundaries polluters property followed racicots big gift stripmining lobby despite fact montana bears historical scars stripandrun coal companies state nation whose constitution requires reclamation lands disturbed mining racicot signed law measure exempts open pit mines responsibility restore mess make often contaminated cyanide toxic debris perhaps biggest fiasco racicots tenure governor role deregulating montanas electric utilities allowed montana power company sell generating stations dams powerlines water rights ppl pennsylvania power light exchange montana ratepayers saw utility bills soar 50 percent one lowest nation highest racicot forged close friendship bush 1995 two men began working together antiregulatory initiatives western governors association national governors association relationship two governors proved cozy speculation montana bush might pick racicot running mate 2000 ultimately cheney picked position golden boy montana went work dc office bracewell amp patterson houston law firm close ties bush specializing advancing agendas oil gas companies one racicots chief clients tumultuous early days bush administration dire need wellplaced hand enron even racicot selected head rnc refused drop enron client efforts protect enron time tribulation certainly paid companys executives martha stewart faces federal charges 200000 stock deal enron executives ken lay jeffrey skilling bilked investors billions enjoy afternoons exclusive golf courses houston racicot became chairman rnc moved office partys headquarters couple blocks white house even though rarely went law office official roster clients racicot continued pull sixfigure paycheck bracewell amp paterson certainly provided advice counsel private people private business activities governmentally related racicot said done things limited result honored terms employment agreement frame mind thought leading republican party something constructive engaged acquiesced involvement new head bush campaign sees reason recuse easy money jeffrey st clair author brown long looked like green politics nature common courage press coeditor alexander cockburn politics antisemitism ak press books published october 160 | 750 |
<p>Rendition is one of those words that bureaucracies craft to hide official monstrosities. As an artistic term, rendition means “a performance of a dramatic role.” Webster’s 1913 dictionary defines rendition as “the act of surrendering fugitives from justice at the claim of a foreign government.” In its brand new usage, rendition has come to mean surrender of aliens. It is a quasi-legal practice under which US intelligence agencies “render terrorists” to friendly governments, mostly in the Islamic world, for detention and interrogation and more.</p>
<p>Ghastly stories have surfaced how Egypt, Syria, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and other Muslim states abuse and torture rendered men, inflicting more indignities on them than Muslim inmates have suffered at Guantanamo. Beatings, physical suspensions, electric shocks, and other cruel and degrading treatments have been reported. International human rights groups claim that in Uzbekistan two rendered prisoners were boiled to death. Renditions are now firmly associated with America, torture and Muslim states. (See, Jeffrey St. Clair’s <a href="" type="internal">Torture Air.</a>).</p>
<p>More than anything else, the law (or lawlessness) around renditions is most intriguing. Rendered men cannot be lawfully extradited because they have committed no crime in the Muslim state to which they are rendered. Sometimes, the friendly government has no clue about the identity or activities of the person before he is rendered. Sometimes, the rendered man is not even a national of the receiving state. Hence the contrast between extradition and rendition is vivid. Extradition is an open procedure under which a fugitive is lawfully sent to a requesting state where he has committed a serious crime. Rendition is a covert operation under which even an innocent person may be forcibly transferred to a state where he has committed no crime. It is like a bully dispatching a helpless prey to another bully in another town.</p>
<p>Rendition is not even deportation. A person may be deported under US immigration laws for a variety of reasons including charges of terrorism. Deportation however implies that the person is in the United States. Rendition is not territorial. US agencies can abduct a Muslim anywhere in the world and render him to a friendly government. In December 2003, US agents pulled Khaled el-Masri from a bus on the Serbia-Macedonia border and flew him to Afghanistan where he was drugged and tortured. But the man was a tad lucky. Though born in Lebanon, el-Masri had obtained German nationality. Germany came to his rescue for he was no terrorist. El-Masri was released, though he would still be languishing in Afghan torture chambers if he were, say, the national of a Muslim state that does not care.</p>
<p>Defying international treaties and US laws, rendition works on dark fringes of legality. The Torture Convention specifies that no signatory state shall expel, return or extradite a person to another state where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture. The Convention is so strict in its prohibition of torture that it allows no exceptions under which any such transfer may be justified. Additionally, it is a crime under US laws to commit torture outside the United States. If the victim dies of torture, the crime is punishable with death. It is also a crime for US officials to conspire to commit torture outside the United States. Under both the Convention and US laws, therefore, rendition is strictly prohibited if the rendered person would be subjected to torture.</p>
<p>Sadly, such has become the nature of law in the United States that fertile minds trained in top law schools can find believable exceptions to even clearest provisions of law. Law is a game and talent lies in finding loopholes. Accordingly, the laws against shipping detainees to torture chambers tickle the legal imagination of government lawyers and, surely, they find ways to dodge legal texts. To escape the reach of law, US agents seek verbal assurances from friendly governments that no torture would be committed. Friendly governments nod and receive the cargo. No one winks an eye but all know the script. As soon as men are thrown into torture chambers, lips are sealed. US agencies do not ask and friendly governments do not tell what is being done to “terrorists.”</p>
<p>One might ask why the US is abducting and rendering men to friendly states. There are many answers. Sometimes, men are rendered because they have nothing more to tell to US agents but still out of caution they cannot be freed; it is cheaper for the US to detain these men in Muslim prisons than here in America. Sometimes, the rendered men need pressure’ to disgorge their stories, and the torture techniques employed in friendly states are just perfect to do the job. Sometimes, men are rendered as a loyalty test, just to make sure that Muslim intelligence agencies are indeed supportive of the US war on terror. Sometimes, it is safer to tuck away minor terrorists elsewhere because lawsuits in America may pester for truth and embarrass the government. No such pestering exists in friendly Muslim states where pro-American, autocratic governments are well removed from public accountability and would love to oblige their friends and masters.</p>
<p>And for American neo-conservatives, rendition stories are fun. Don’t be surprised if at dinner tables, they drink and laugh and talk about Muslims degrading Muslims. Some of them are even talking about closing the Muslim prison at Guantanamo. Thomas Friedman of New York Times, who vigorously supported the neo-conservative invasion of Iraq, recently wrote a column suggesting that the Guantanamo camp be shut down for it has become “corrosive” for America’s standing abroad. Many good-hearted Americans who have nothing to do with neo-conservatives also favor the closure of this eyesore.</p>
<p>Ironically, though, the timing for shutting down the Guantanamo Gulag is near perfect. The inmates have emptied their minds and their spirits are broken beyond repair. They are no longer useful though they are still considered dangerous. The time is ripe for their renditions. Men in orange, shown coiled in fetal position, will perhaps go home where, surely, no Quran will be desecrated but where their limbs will be hung on hooks, their genitals will be shocked with erratic electricity, and their fingernails will be plucked off with primitive pliers. America will get rid of its guilt, claiming moral superiority over the rest of the world. And the name of Islam will be further smeared with barbaric details coming from torture chambers, serving America, but maintained by friendly governments in not Kafir but Muslim states.</p>
<p>Ali Khan is a professor of law at Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas. His book, A Theory of International Terrorism, will be published in 2005 by Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. Send comments to <a href="mailto:ali.khan@washburn.edu." type="external">ali.khan@washburn.edu.</a></p> | true | 4 | rendition one words bureaucracies craft hide official monstrosities artistic term rendition means performance dramatic role websters 1913 dictionary defines rendition act surrendering fugitives justice claim foreign government brand new usage rendition come mean surrender aliens quasilegal practice us intelligence agencies render terrorists friendly governments mostly islamic world detention interrogation ghastly stories surfaced egypt syria afghanistan uzbekistan muslim states abuse torture rendered men inflicting indignities muslim inmates suffered guantanamo beatings physical suspensions electric shocks cruel degrading treatments reported international human rights groups claim uzbekistan two rendered prisoners boiled death renditions firmly associated america torture muslim states see jeffrey st clairs torture air anything else law lawlessness around renditions intriguing rendered men lawfully extradited committed crime muslim state rendered sometimes friendly government clue identity activities person rendered sometimes rendered man even national receiving state hence contrast extradition rendition vivid extradition open procedure fugitive lawfully sent requesting state committed serious crime rendition covert operation even innocent person may forcibly transferred state committed crime like bully dispatching helpless prey another bully another town rendition even deportation person may deported us immigration laws variety reasons including charges terrorism deportation however implies person united states rendition territorial us agencies abduct muslim anywhere world render friendly government december 2003 us agents pulled khaled elmasri bus serbiamacedonia border flew afghanistan drugged tortured man tad lucky though born lebanon elmasri obtained german nationality germany came rescue terrorist elmasri released though would still languishing afghan torture chambers say national muslim state care defying international treaties us laws rendition works dark fringes legality torture convention specifies signatory state shall expel return extradite person another state substantial grounds believing would danger subjected torture convention strict prohibition torture allows exceptions transfer may justified additionally crime us laws commit torture outside united states victim dies torture crime punishable death also crime us officials conspire commit torture outside united states convention us laws therefore rendition strictly prohibited rendered person would subjected torture sadly become nature law united states fertile minds trained top law schools find believable exceptions even clearest provisions law law game talent lies finding loopholes accordingly laws shipping detainees torture chambers tickle legal imagination government lawyers surely find ways dodge legal texts escape reach law us agents seek verbal assurances friendly governments torture would committed friendly governments nod receive cargo one winks eye know script soon men thrown torture chambers lips sealed us agencies ask friendly governments tell done terrorists one might ask us abducting rendering men friendly states many answers sometimes men rendered nothing tell us agents still caution freed cheaper us detain men muslim prisons america sometimes rendered men need pressure disgorge stories torture techniques employed friendly states perfect job sometimes men rendered loyalty test make sure muslim intelligence agencies indeed supportive us war terror sometimes safer tuck away minor terrorists elsewhere lawsuits america may pester truth embarrass government pestering exists friendly muslim states proamerican autocratic governments well removed public accountability would love oblige friends masters american neoconservatives rendition stories fun dont surprised dinner tables drink laugh talk muslims degrading muslims even talking closing muslim prison guantanamo thomas friedman new york times vigorously supported neoconservative invasion iraq recently wrote column suggesting guantanamo camp shut become corrosive americas standing abroad many goodhearted americans nothing neoconservatives also favor closure eyesore ironically though timing shutting guantanamo gulag near perfect inmates emptied minds spirits broken beyond repair longer useful though still considered dangerous time ripe renditions men orange shown coiled fetal position perhaps go home surely quran desecrated limbs hung hooks genitals shocked erratic electricity fingernails plucked primitive pliers america get rid guilt claiming moral superiority rest world name islam smeared barbaric details coming torture chambers serving america maintained friendly governments kafir muslim states ali khan professor law washburn university school law topeka kansas book theory international terrorism published 2005 martinus nijhoff publishers send comments 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<p>RWhen our daughter Rachel Corrie was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza strip on March 16 2003, an immediate impulse was to get her words out to the world. She had been working in Rafah with a nonviolent resistance organisation, the International Solidarity Movement, trying to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes and wells. Her emails home had had a powerful impact on our family, making us think about the situation in the Middle East in ways we had never done before. Without a direct connection to Israel and Palestine, we had not understood the devastating nature of the Palestinians’ situation. Coming from the US, our allegiance and empathy had always been with the people of Israel.</p>
<p>After Rachel died we realised that her words were having a similar effect on others whose lives were being changed, as ours have been–not just by Rachel’s death, but by the window her writing provided on the Palestinian experience and by her call to action.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, when a play created entirely from Rachel’s emails and journals first opened in London, we saw in a very immediate way the impact that Rachel’s words can have on others. Theatre can reach people in a different and deeper place than reading a news article or listening to a speech: there is an emotional aspect that for some people can be more long-lasting and motivating.</p>
<p>Theatre humanises; all art humanises. It takes us away from the merely logical and rational. In the Israel-Palestine conflict there is often a very logical calculus of death and war–and you must step out of the constructs of that logic in order to construct a logic for peace.</p>
<p>The play, My Name Is Rachel Corrie, is not just about how Rachel died, even if that is why she is known and remembered. It also illuminates her humanity, tracing her evolution from typical teenage self-exploration through to her search for a political voice. The play includes some of her writing that might be considered uncomplimentary to us, and even to her. Far better that, though, than being a symbol of one dimension.</p>
<p>It is disconcerting, but also comforting, to watch an actor who looks much like Rachel–Megan Dodds–play our daughter on stage. In the opening scene, when Rachel awakens in her messy bedroom, the resemblance is almost too much. But Megan lives Rachel’s words in ways that are sometimes familiar but also sometimes surprising, so that we learn from her what Rachel may have been thinking. At several points in the play, Megan enacts receiving emails from us–real emails that we actually sent to Rachel. We had never before imagined our daughter’s reactions to receiving our messages until we saw them on stage.</p>
<p>Rachel was a real human being. Sometimes, when people idealise her, we feel vulnerable for her. Knowing the complete human being, would they feel the same? Through My Name is Rachel Corrie, people can know a more complete Rachel.</p>
<p>Clearly, our daughter has become a positive symbol for people. Her story and her words seem to motivate others to do something, not just sit and talk about the world’s situation in their living rooms and feel unhappy. The weekend after Rachel was killed, we discussed with old friends what we should do. We needed to find a response. In some ways we may have been more fortunate than other parents who have lost children, for the response in our situation was apparent. With her efforts to educate and to build permanent connections with Palestinians in Rafah, Rachel provided us with a path.</p>
<p>In an email from Rachel to her friend Todd, she tells him 10 times over that he must come to Gaza. “Come here!”, she repeats over and over. That is what Rachel would have wanted us to do, too: to try to carry on what she started.</p>
<p>We recently spent time in the US with members of the family who were behind the wall of the home Rachel stood to protect. For a month we ate, played and travelled with 15-month-old Sama. What future does she have, living in what now amounts to a mass prison in Gaza?</p>
<p>The recent disengagement may provide some relief for Gazans at the most obvious level. But it is hard not to contrast the media coverage afforded to the Israeli settlers’ leaving, with that given to the many Palestinian families who have lost their homes to demolition in Gaza. What has been happening in the West Bank under cover of the disengagement–the building of the wall and the expansion of settlements–is also very worrying.</p>
<p>And when the Israeli prime minister’s close aide Dov Weisglass said that the real intent of the Gaza disengagement was to place the peace process in formaldehyde, we have to take him at his word. We must keep insisting on a peace process and work towards a viable Palestinian state that will benefit Palestinians, Israelis and the rest of the world.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, we are still asking our government for a US-led investigation into Rachel’s killing. The US state department is on record saying that the report of the Israeli military police does not reflect an investigation that was “thorough, credible and transparent”, despite that being promised to President Bush by Ariel Sharon. In March we initiated a lawsuit against the Israel Defence Force and the government of Israel, to seek justice for Rachel and also information. We still would like to know what happened on March 16 2003, and why the international eyewitness reports differ so radically from the statements of the soldiers involved.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the Israeli parliament, counter to international law, has passed retroactive legislation making it impossible for most Palestinians and others to file suit against the IDF for injury that occurred in the occupied territories after September 2000.</p>
<p>In the US we have taken legal action against Caterpillar Inc, which manufactured the D-9R bulldozer which killed Rachel. Under existing US law, corporations can be, and are being, held responsible when they knowingly continue to provide goods and services that are used in a pattern of human-rights violations.</p>
<p>The month before she was killed, Rachel wrote the following in an email to us: “I look forward to seeing more and more people willing to resist the direction the world is moving in, a direction where our personal experiences are irrelevant, that we are defective, that our communities are not important, that we are powerless, that our future is determined, and that the highest level of humanity is expressed through what we choose to buy at the mall.” Action has already flowed.</p>
<p>Please visit the <a href="http://www.rachelcorriefoundation.org/" type="external">Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice</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 | rwhen daughter rachel corrie killed israeli bulldozer gaza strip march 16 2003 immediate impulse get words world working rafah nonviolent resistance organisation international solidarity movement trying stop demolition palestinian homes wells emails home powerful impact family making us think situation middle east ways never done without direct connection israel palestine understood devastating nature palestinians situation coming us allegiance empathy always people israel rachel died realised words similar effect others whose lives changed beennot rachels death window writing provided palestinian experience call action earlier year play created entirely rachels emails journals first opened london saw immediate way impact rachels words others theatre reach people different deeper place reading news article listening speech emotional aspect people longlasting motivating theatre humanises art humanises takes us away merely logical rational israelpalestine conflict often logical calculus death warand must step constructs logic order construct logic peace play name rachel corrie rachel died even known remembered also illuminates humanity tracing evolution typical teenage selfexploration search political voice play includes writing might considered uncomplimentary us even far better though symbol one dimension disconcerting also comforting watch actor looks much like rachelmegan doddsplay daughter stage opening scene rachel awakens messy bedroom resemblance almost much megan lives rachels words ways sometimes familiar also sometimes surprising learn rachel may thinking several points play megan enacts receiving emails usreal emails actually sent rachel never imagined daughters reactions receiving messages saw stage rachel real human sometimes people idealise feel vulnerable knowing complete human would feel name rachel corrie people know complete rachel clearly daughter become positive symbol people story words seem motivate others something sit talk worlds situation living rooms feel unhappy weekend rachel killed discussed old friends needed find response ways may fortunate parents lost children response situation apparent efforts educate build permanent connections palestinians rafah rachel provided us path email rachel friend todd tells 10 times must come gaza come repeats rachel would wanted us try carry started recently spent time us members family behind wall home rachel stood protect month ate played travelled 15monthold sama future living amounts mass prison gaza recent disengagement may provide relief gazans obvious level hard contrast media coverage afforded israeli settlers leaving given many palestinian families lost homes demolition gaza happening west bank cover disengagementthe building wall expansion settlementsis also worrying israeli prime ministers close aide dov weisglass said real intent gaza disengagement place peace process formaldehyde take word must keep insisting peace process work towards viable palestinian state benefit palestinians israelis rest world meanwhile still asking government usled investigation rachels killing us state department record saying report israeli military police reflect investigation thorough credible transparent despite promised president bush ariel sharon march initiated lawsuit israel defence force government israel seek justice rachel also information still would like know happened march 16 2003 international eyewitness reports differ radically statements soldiers involved unfortunately israeli parliament counter international law passed retroactive legislation making impossible palestinians others file suit idf injury occurred occupied territories september 2000 us taken legal action caterpillar inc manufactured d9r bulldozer killed rachel existing us law corporations held responsible knowingly continue provide goods services used pattern humanrights violations month killed rachel wrote following email us look forward seeing people willing resist direction world moving direction personal experiences irrelevant defective communities important powerless future determined highest level humanity expressed choose buy mall action already flowed please visit rachel corrie foundation peace justice 160 160 160 160 160 160 160 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 | 651 |
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<p>The sheer criminality of the entire project was plain for all to see. Sunday night the CBS television show 60 Minutes re-broadcast an interview with Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, the patrol leader in the massacre of twenty-four civilians in Haditha, Iraq on November 19, 2005. The overall tone of the 60 Minutes segment was relatively objective, refusing to either exonerate the Marine patrol or condemn the men and their leader. At the same time, it was a fair representation of the thinking involved in the murder of civilians in modern warfare–a phenomenon that not only occurs more often than those of us in the homeland are led to believe, but is also part and parcel of modern warfare. Why else would the term “collateral damage” have been coined?</p>
<p>Sgt. Wuterich was apologetic for the deaths yet remains convinced that he followed Marine engagement rules to the letter. Not only do I believe him, I am also convinced that he followed those rules. When the people you are supposed to kill are the people that live in the cities and towns your troops move in to and take over their homes and schools, then any one of those people is a potential enemy. In a Clintonian moment, Scott Pelley asked if the killings in Haditha constituted a massacre. Wuterich told Pelley and the 60 Minutes audience that “A massacre in my mind, by definition, is a large group of people being executed, being killed for absolutely no reason and that’s absolutely not what happened here.” This discussion of nuance may seem peculiar in light of what was being discussed (the murders of 24 men, women and children), but when considered in terms of the spin dispensed daily by the White House and Pentagon press offices regarding Iraq and Afghanistan, it is not surprising.</p>
<p>There was no nuance involved, however, when Wuterich described the process used by Marines to clear a house. After breaking down the front door, the men “prepped” the inside rooms by opening the door a crack and rolling a grenade inside. “But when you roll a grenade in a room through the crack in the door, that’s not positive identification, that’s taking a chance on anything that could be behind that door,” Pelley responded. Wuterich’s answer was clear. “Well that’s what we do. That’s how our training goes.” Just like the pilots of bombers and helicopter gunships, the lives of those on the ground not in friendly uniforms are not important. Their fate is determined by their proximity to those buildings and people the imperial forces are determined to destroy. Furthermore, many of the air wars targets are primarily civilian in nature, but are destroyed in order to prevent a country’s ability to maintain basic services. Perhaps the clearest evidence of this strategy can be found in the US destruction of Iraq’s water purification and electrical systems. As most readers know, Iraqis continue to suffer from this destruction unless they live in the fully serviced Green Zone.</p>
<p>As of this writing, only Wuterich still faces charges. The other accused men on patrol that day have been cleared. Meanwhile, the killing continues. And so does the criminality an dour complicity as long as we do nothing to stop it.</p>
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<p>Hakim to the Rescue?</p>
<p>The Los Angeles Times ran an article over the weekend of September 2, 2007 that spoke of the assumption of leadership of the Iraqi Supreme Council by Ammar Hakim. For those of you who might not recognize Hakim, he is a Shia cleric whose father was a sworn enemy of Saddam Hussein and helped form the feared Badr Brigades. It is the Badr Brigades that constitute much of the current Iraqi security forces and are considered responsible for many of the death squad killings in the past couple years. Ammar Hakim lived in Iran from 1979 until the US invasion in 2003. He returned to Iraq around the same time as Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, who was killed shortly thereafter during a pilgrimage to Najaf. Ammar’s father stepped into the vacuum left by Baqir al_Hakim’s death, but is suffering from cancer. Since that time, the Badr Brigades have consolidated their power while Ammar Hakim slowly rose to the top of The Supreme Council (formerly SCIRI)–the party that serves as the political wing of the Brigades.</p>
<p>During the US buildup to the 2003 invasion, the forerunners of the SCIRI organization received US monies and were major players in the Iraqi National Congress–the exile organization formed by the White House and CIA designed to take over Iraq after Saddam was taken down. Unlike Shia leader al-Sadr’s organization, the Supreme Council’s appeal is to the Shia merchant class. This helps explain their friendship with elements of the Iranian government, given the dominance of that government by similar elements in Iran. Indeed, in a general way, it is fair to say that the element in Iran that financially supports Rafsanjani and other such clerics is similar to the element that supports the Supreme Council in Iraq. Likewise, the element that supports Iran’s populist president Ahmenijad is similar to those in the Iraqi Shia population that support al-Sadr. The difference is not in religious beliefs but in class differences.</p>
<p>Besides Hakim, there is Allawi. If one recalls this man, hew was put in place by the US and could very well be the CIA’s man for the job if and when al-Maliki meets his fate. Secular to a fault, this man not only has no support among Iraqis, his only allegiance seems to be to Washington. Given this fact, if he does end up taking over the Green Zone government, it’s a pretty safe bet that his tenure would be brief and his end might well be quite bloody.</p>
<p>Back to that spin machine. George Bush landed in Iraq today for a surprise visit. We all know he saw nothing of Iraq and very little of the men and women he and his Congressional cohorts have sent over there to install some kind of American dream. Nonetheless, you can be certain that the visit was all part of the plan revealing itself as Washington and its media machine prepares to release the Petraeus report in the next ten days. It is a report that will most likely guarantee the continued escalation of the war accompanied by the requisite handwringing from Democrats elected to end this debacle.</p>
<p>RON JACOBS is author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1859841678/counterpunchmaga" type="external">The Way the Wind Blew: a history of the Weather Underground</a>, which is just republished by Verso. Jacobs’ essay on Big Bill Broonzy is featured in CounterPunch’s collection on music, art and sex, <a href="http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/CP_Books.html" type="external">Serpents in the Garden</a>. His first novel, <a href="" type="internal">Short Order Frame Up,</a> is published by Mainstay Press. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:rjacobs3625@charter.net" type="external">rjacobs3625@charter.net</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 160 sheer criminality entire project plain see sunday night cbs television show 60 minutes rebroadcast interview staff sgt frank wuterich patrol leader massacre twentyfour civilians haditha iraq november 19 2005 overall tone 60 minutes segment relatively objective refusing either exonerate marine patrol condemn men leader time fair representation thinking involved murder civilians modern warfarea phenomenon occurs often us homeland led believe also part parcel modern warfare else would term collateral damage coined sgt wuterich apologetic deaths yet remains convinced followed marine engagement rules letter believe also convinced followed rules people supposed kill people live cities towns troops move take homes schools one people potential enemy clintonian moment scott pelley asked killings haditha constituted massacre wuterich told pelley 60 minutes audience massacre mind definition large group people executed killed absolutely reason thats absolutely happened discussion nuance may seem peculiar light discussed murders 24 men women children considered terms spin dispensed daily white house pentagon press offices regarding iraq afghanistan surprising nuance involved however wuterich described process used marines clear house breaking front door men prepped inside rooms opening door crack rolling grenade inside roll grenade room crack door thats positive identification thats taking chance anything could behind door pelley responded wuterichs answer clear well thats thats training goes like pilots bombers helicopter gunships lives ground friendly uniforms important fate determined proximity buildings people imperial forces determined destroy furthermore many air wars targets primarily civilian nature destroyed order prevent countrys ability maintain basic services perhaps clearest evidence strategy found us destruction iraqs water purification electrical systems readers know iraqis continue suffer destruction unless live fully serviced green zone writing wuterich still faces charges accused men patrol day cleared meanwhile killing continues criminality dour complicity long nothing stop 160 hakim rescue los angeles times ran article weekend september 2 2007 spoke assumption leadership iraqi supreme council ammar hakim might recognize hakim shia cleric whose father sworn enemy saddam hussein helped form feared badr brigades badr brigades constitute much current iraqi security forces considered responsible many death squad killings past couple years ammar hakim lived iran 1979 us invasion 2003 returned iraq around time mohammed baqir alhakim killed shortly thereafter pilgrimage najaf ammars father stepped vacuum left baqir al_hakims death suffering cancer since time badr brigades consolidated power ammar hakim slowly rose top supreme council formerly scirithe party serves political wing brigades us buildup 2003 invasion forerunners sciri organization received us monies major players iraqi national congressthe exile organization formed white house cia designed take iraq saddam taken unlike shia leader alsadrs organization supreme councils appeal shia merchant class helps explain friendship elements iranian government given dominance government similar elements iran indeed general way fair say element iran financially supports rafsanjani clerics similar element supports supreme council iraq likewise element supports irans populist president ahmenijad similar iraqi shia population support alsadr difference religious beliefs class differences besides hakim allawi one recalls man hew put place us could well cias man job almaliki meets fate secular fault man support among iraqis allegiance seems washington given fact end taking green zone government pretty safe bet tenure would brief end might well quite bloody back spin machine george bush landed iraq today surprise visit know saw nothing iraq little men women congressional cohorts sent install kind american dream nonetheless certain visit part plan revealing washington media machine prepares release petraeus report next ten days report likely guarantee continued escalation war accompanied requisite handwringing democrats elected end debacle ron jacobs author way wind blew history weather underground republished verso jacobs essay big bill broonzy featured counterpunchs collection music art sex serpents garden first novel short order frame published mainstay press reached rjacobs3625charternet 160 160 | 606 |
<p>In the spring of 2014, the White House announced a task force on campus gender violence and the Department of Education released the list of then 55 schools under investigation for sexual assault-related violations of Title IX. I was studying for my second set of law school finals – for my Anti-discrimination Law and Criminal Law exams, to be precise – but put everything on hold for two days after the announcements. For 10 months, fellow student activists and I at our organization, <a href="http://knowyourIX.org" type="external">Know Your IX</a>, had lobbied the Department to release exactly that list. Based on months of research, we believed transparency would help students hold schools, and the agency, accountable. The Department had told us no, again and again, after protests and conference calls and petitions. And finally, suddenly, they said yes.</p>
<p>A producer from a well-known NPR show gave me a call. Would I come on the air to discuss the recent developments? Of course. But I was soon disinvited when, during a preparatory call, the producer made clear she expected me to talk, and only talk, about my experience reporting an attempted rape to my school five years before as a freshman. I wasn’t interested. I wanted to talk about the policy change my colleagues and I had championed. “We already have an expert,” the producer told me, exasperated. “We need a survivor.”</p>
<p>What I realized in that moment was that, to the public, being a survivor is a totalizing identity. I could not be an expert at the same time. To me, what happened in a freshman dorm room more than seven years ago was certainly formative, but no more so than my parents’ divorce, my first love, or any one of my close friendships. Without a doubt, it is certainly less constitutive of my sense of self and role in the world than my legal education and policy work. My expertness. To the producer, those other, ancient events defined me entirely.</p>
<p>That lesson has been confirmed to my activist friends and me again and again. The magazines that won’t publish articles by or about student organizers unless they disclose their personal trauma histories first. The documentary crew that promised they needed accounts of personal experience in order to provide “context” for activism, but then included only the clips of interview subjects discussing their assaults. The online news anchor who, after my clear message that I would not answer questions about my personal history, started a segment on consent (the irony!) by asking about the attempted rape.</p>
<p>Reporters aren’t the only ones. Policymakers sometimes exclude Know Your IX, which is run by survivors, from meetings for expert non-profits but invite the group to listening sessions for victims – even though we are a policy and legal literacy organization. Multiple (male) classmates have admitted they don’t think that “people like me” should be allowed to make decisions about issues on which we are, presumably, unexpert because of our intimate knowledge and emotional investment.</p>
<p>After so many episodes like these, my group of organizer friends jokingly call ourselves the “sad rape girls.” (Even the boys and non-binary activists are assumed to be sad rape girls. There is only one narrative available.) In a <a href="http://www.theestablishment.co/2016/03/14/what-its-really-like-being-a-survivor-in-the-public-eye-lady-gaga-oscars/" type="external">recent article</a> on her experience as a public survivor, my friend Wagatwe Wanjuki put it bluntly: “[I]t’d be incredibly comforting to be recognized for my capabilities . . . beyond just telling my story.”</p>
<p>I am set to graduate law school in May and soon after start work as a civil rights attorney. I hope that, in accumulating these credentials, a reporter may be able to find my opinion as important as my history. Perhaps someday my Google results will reflect how I understand myself: first and foremost an advocate, with a story of violence on page five.</p>
<p>I recognize I’m not a very sympathetic figure here. I’m a white girl from Yale with access to NPR producers. Many students, and many survivors, would love the chance to talk to a national audience about their personal experiences with gender violence. Inconsiderate treatment by major media corporations is what my mom would call a high-class problem.</p>
<p>There are high stakes beyond my feelings, though. A generation of young, feminist activists have cut their political teeth on campus rape organizing. Many “came out” as survivors out of true desire or strategic sacrifice: organizers know that concern has been reserved for those campuses with a public face of trauma.</p>
<p>The cost of admission to the movement has been exposing personal histories, but organizing is far more than confession. Students have learned to write laws, build grassroots momentum, and advocate through the media. And, lucky for us, Title IX activists are invested in issues from immigration justice to abortion access to police brutality to Wall Street regulation to, yes, gender violence. They can be leaders of future movements, putting to work the tools they developed on campus to further a wider progressive agenda.</p>
<p>Student activists will be experts ready to serve our communities – if only we let them be more than sad rape girls forever. If not, we will miss out on everything these young people can do with the skills they’ve developed on campus. How many years will have to pass until former activists can advise policymakers or speak publicly without first retelling their rape stories? When does their introductory bio no longer need to include “victim”? We should listen when survivors speak about their experiences, but we should recognize that they, like any person, contain more than one history.</p>
<p>None of this is to say that survivors shouldn’t speak out about their experiences. For me, as for many others, the first public declaration of my history was thrillingly cathartic. Telling that story was a rebellion in itself. I forget now—it was so long ago—but I spent nearly four years on a small campus certain my secret could never be more than that. The first time I spoke about my assault to a group larger than my roommate, as a new member of an intimate feminist club, I felt like I’d defied the laws of physics.</p>
<p>I <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/06/18/was_yale_really_cleared_on_sexual_harrassment_.html" type="external">wrote publicly</a> about my experience reporting to Yale only after my graduation, which coincided with a disappointing end to a Department of Education civil rights investigation. I hadn’t meant to reveal anything, but my editor sent a quick note as I drafted. “Maybe something personal,” she said. Finally, away from him, I felt I could.</p>
<p>Three years later, another editor from the same publication took me out to coffee to talk about a story she was writing. Did I ever worry, she asked, if others would take me seriously now? Would they dismiss me as “just” a survivor?</p>
<p>I never want to be that woman, shaming in the name of protection. For those reasons, I’m sensitive to how hard it is to talk about the very real costs of coming forward without unduly discouraging others from doing so. Stories matter. They matter for those who tell them, they matter for the movements propelled by their fuel, they matter for the readers moved to act. Part of the irony is that, in the social justice circles in which I run, a personal claim to the trauma is a source of authority. Who better to design responses to gender violence, or any other problem, than those who have experienced it first-hand?</p>
<p>I want survivors to speak, if they so desire and safely can. But these activists can only flourish – and we can only benefit from their capabilities – if there is room for survivors to be full humans with multiple identities, capable of growth and change, of vulnerability and expertise, of telling and then not telling – and perhaps even of moving on. &#160;</p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | spring 2014 white house announced task force campus gender violence department education released list 55 schools investigation sexual assaultrelated violations title ix studying second set law school finals antidiscrimination law criminal law exams precise put everything hold two days announcements 10 months fellow student activists organization know ix lobbied department release exactly list based months research believed transparency would help students hold schools agency accountable department told us protests conference calls petitions finally suddenly said yes producer wellknown npr show gave call would come air discuss recent developments course soon disinvited preparatory call producer made clear expected talk talk experience reporting attempted rape school five years freshman wasnt interested wanted talk policy change colleagues championed already expert producer told exasperated need survivor realized moment public survivor totalizing identity could expert time happened freshman dorm room seven years ago certainly formative parents divorce first love one close friendships without doubt certainly less constitutive sense self role world legal education policy work expertness producer ancient events defined entirely lesson confirmed activist friends magazines wont publish articles student organizers unless disclose personal trauma histories first documentary crew promised needed accounts personal experience order provide context activism included clips interview subjects discussing assaults online news anchor clear message would answer questions personal history started segment consent irony asking attempted rape reporters arent ones policymakers sometimes exclude know ix run survivors meetings expert nonprofits invite group listening sessions victims even though policy legal literacy organization multiple male classmates admitted dont think people like allowed make decisions issues presumably unexpert intimate knowledge emotional investment many episodes like group organizer friends jokingly call sad rape girls even boys nonbinary activists assumed sad rape girls one narrative available recent article experience public survivor friend wagatwe wanjuki put bluntly itd incredibly comforting recognized capabilities beyond telling story set graduate law school may soon start work civil rights attorney hope accumulating credentials reporter may able find opinion important history perhaps someday google results reflect understand first foremost advocate story violence page five recognize im sympathetic figure im white girl yale access npr producers many students many survivors would love chance talk national audience personal experiences gender violence inconsiderate treatment major media corporations mom would call highclass problem high stakes beyond feelings though generation young feminist activists cut political teeth campus rape organizing many came survivors true desire strategic sacrifice organizers know concern reserved campuses public face trauma cost admission movement exposing personal histories organizing far confession students learned write laws build grassroots momentum advocate media lucky us title ix activists invested issues immigration justice abortion access police brutality wall street regulation yes gender violence leaders future movements putting work tools developed campus wider progressive agenda student activists experts ready serve communities let sad rape girls forever miss everything young people skills theyve developed campus many years pass former activists advise policymakers speak publicly without first retelling rape stories introductory bio longer need include victim listen survivors speak experiences recognize like person contain one history none say survivors shouldnt speak experiences many others first public declaration history thrillingly cathartic telling story rebellion forget nowit long agobut spent nearly four years small campus certain secret could never first time spoke assault group larger roommate new member intimate feminist club felt like id defied laws physics wrote publicly experience reporting yale graduation coincided disappointing end department education civil rights investigation hadnt meant reveal anything editor sent quick note drafted maybe something personal said finally away felt could three years later another editor publication took coffee talk story writing ever worry asked others would take seriously would dismiss survivor never want woman shaming name protection reasons im sensitive hard talk real costs coming forward without unduly discouraging others stories matter matter tell matter movements propelled fuel matter readers moved act part irony social justice circles run personal claim trauma source authority better design responses gender violence problem experienced firsthand want survivors speak desire safely activists flourish benefit capabilities room survivors full humans multiple identities capable growth change vulnerability expertise telling telling perhaps even moving 160 160 | 672 |
<p>Vijay Prashad is the Executive Director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social Research and is also chief editor of LeftWord Books. Vija He is the author of over 18 books among them The Death of a Nation and the Future of the Arab Revolution (University of California Press, 2016).</p>
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<p /> JESSICA DESVARIEUX, TRNN PRODUCER: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Jessica Desvarieux in Baltimore.
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<p />On Wednesday, President Obama addressed the United Nations General Assembly, calling for the world to join the U.S. and its partner nations to confront the extremist group ISIS, also known as ISIL.
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<p />Here with us to take a close look at the president's speech and what he did and did not say Wednesday morning is our guest, Vijay Prashad. Vijay joins us from Northampton, Massachusetts. He is the George and Martha Kellner Chair in South Asian History and professor of international studies at Trinity College. His most recent book is The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South.
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<p />Thank you so much for being with us, Vijay.
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<p />VIJAY PRASHAD, PROF. INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, TRINITY COLLEGE: Pleasure. Thanks, Jessica.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: So, Vijay, we already know that the president has ordered airstrikes over Syria for the first time, and the president is now saying that he wants the international community's support to degrade and destroy the extremist group known as ISIS. Let's take a listen to a part of the president's speech.
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<p />BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: Too often, we have failed to enforce international norms when it's inconvenient to do so. And we have not confronted forcefully enough the intolerance, sectarianism, and hopelessness that feeds violent extremism in too many parts of the globe.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: We just heard the president say we need to be more forceful--forceful, but also, at the same time, he's saying that the international community has failed to enforce international norms. So what do you make of this? Essentially, is what United States is doing by bombing Syria adhering to international norms?
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<p />PRASHAD: Funny thing for the American president to talk about adhering to international laws. Also, Mr. Obama at the UN said that the large nations should not trample small ones in pursuit of what he called "territorial ambition". These are curious statements coming from the American president at this time. There's no UN resolution that allows the United States to carry out operations in Syria. You'll remember that in Libya in 2011 there was a great hoopla made about the importance of getting a UN resolution. Here there was no attempt to get any resolution. They simply bombed in Syria. The question of international norms or international resolutions, you know, coming from Mr. Obama is not really about whether there are international norms or resolutions to uphold.
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<p />But why is Mr. Obama saying this? What is his audience? It's plain that the American right wing, the Republicans and some sections of the Democratic Party, don't really care about international norms. They believe in the executive authority of the president. They don't even believe the United Nations or international law should play any role vis-à-vis American policymaking.
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<p />And then you have the world community. You know, when they hear things like big countries shouldn't trample small countries, people keep thinking of Iraq. I mean, from 1991 till the present, Iraq sovereignty has been trampled by the United States. However you define territorial ambitions, it need not be a country that's right next to the U.S. for it to exercise its extraterritorial or territorial ambitions. So most people around the world would not see the credibility of that statement.
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<p />I think this particular gesture comes towards the liberal wing of the American population that's maybe a little anxious about this escalation into warfare. You know, there are people who are saying that they voted twice for Mr. Obama and they are now feeling a great sense of regret, not only over Guantanamo, etc., but now perhaps the entry into a new war in West Asia.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: Alright. Vijay, he also was talking about his strategy for defeating ISIS. Let's take a look to what the president mapped out.
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<p />OBAMA: In this effort, we do not act alone. Nor do we intend to send U.S. troops to occupy foreign lands. Instead, we will support Iraqis and Syrians fighting to reclaim their communities. We will use our military might in a campaign of airstrikes to roll back ISIL. We will train and equip forces fighting against these terrorists on the ground. We will work to cut off their financing, and to stop the flow of fighters into and out of the region. And already over 40 nations have offered to join this coalition.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: So, Vijay, you just heard the president talk about no boots on the ground, we're going to cut funding, and all of these possible tactics. What do you make of this, the president's strategy? Are there some parts of the strategy that you like? Or are there things that he could be doing differently?
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<p />PRASHAD: Well, let's take this from the ground upward rather than from aerial bombardment downward. I think most analysts looking at this from the plane's point of view--we have to do something; now we've bombed the city of, Raqqah, Aleppo, etc. But if you look at it from below, what I think is going to happen is these precipitous airstrikes in Raqqah, and particularly in Aleppo and Idlib, these airstrikes are, I think, going to create a greater sense of unity among the Islamist sections, which had had some divisions. So, rather than play upon the divisions, I think the U.S. airstrikes has united this section of Islamists, and they're going to now fight very hard to maintain their sections and to expand. So this is, of course, going contrary to the stated aims of the United States. So the air campaign, I think, is going to unite people that the U.S., if it was serious about concentrating on the Islamic State, would have done something different to break apart the possibility of unity.
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<p />And then the question of financing and the people coming in to fight, this is all very well. And the United States has been saying that, you know, in a sense, since August. But meanwhile, a principal NATO ally of the United States, Turkey, has not really closed its borders. And all evidence suggests that Turkey has allowed ISIS fighters, when they've been injured, to return into Turkey and to get treated in Turkey's hospitals. So there's very good evidence that the border is porous. I don't really see the credibility in this particular instance of the strategy.
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<p />I think a far more important strategic way to deal with the Islamic State would be to bring some of these regional partners and explain to them that Turkey's own contradictory foreign policy has to end. I mean, if United States is serious, it has leverage over Turkey. And apparently it has not been able to move Turkey sufficiently. That shows (A) the lack of seriousness in terms of this project that Obama has constructed, and (B) it shows a very narrow approach to the politics of the region, having allied simply with the Gulf Arab states in Jordan.
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<p />I mean, how must this play in the region where the United States' major allies are countries not one of which is a democracy? Not one of the Democratic countries has come on board fully and enthusiastically to join a coalition. I mean, the only way Iraq is going to be a full-fledged and dynamic partner to a coalition: if there's a new strategic outlook towards the government in Damascus and Syria. And that is, of course, not going to happen. So the credibility of the strategy strikes me as not very well worked out if you look at it from the ground upwards.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: Alright. Let's pivot from Obama's speech and talk about some comments that UN Ambassador Samantha Power made on the NBC Sunday morning talkshow Meet the Press. Here's what she said about the administration's strategy of arming, quote-unquote, arming, moderate rebel opposition.
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<p />SAMANTHA POWER, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UN: They have pushed ISIL out of strategic areas. The reason that they've lost--the moderate opposition have lost territory over time is that they have been fighting ISIL and taking the fight to ISIL, on the one hand, and then also fighting a regime that is backed by Hezbollah, Iran, Russia, etc. So we think, with an infusion of support, these fighters, who have actually held their own against this wide array of actors fighting all fronts, will be in a much stronger position both to go after ISIL and to put pressure on the regime so we can get back to the negotiating table for a political solution.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: Getting back to the negotiating table for a political solution--that's what Samantha Power said. And this is sort of their strategy, Vijay. Do you look at this strategy and think that it's a good one at the end of the day?
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<p />PRASHAD: Well, the question of a moderate opposition is a very important idea to, I mean, investigate. The Obama administration hasn't really laid out what they mean by "moderate opposition". You know, who are the principal partners on the ground? Who is going to, among the groups that are there now, be recognized as moderate? They use, I think, very cliched statements, such as, for instance, there will be robust vetting, things like that. What they mean by these things?
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<p />Over the course of three years, the United States has started and then failed to produce a substantial armed opposition group that they would consider to be moderate. So you can't really have an expectation that three years hence, having turned over much of this creation of a moderate force to Saudi Arabia, that you're going to have a different outcome now. So unless you have an understanding that a moderate resistance force, a rebel force, is not going to be able to be created by Saudi Arabia under the auspices of the United States, it's going to be hard to change the political calculation from the ground downwards, meaning that Mr. Assad is not going to be able to feel like there is a moderate opposition that actually threatens him. Currently, the Assad government looks out at the landscape, sees the rise of ISIS, sees that much of the rebel force has become largely Islamist, and then turns to the West and says, well, you know, they look toward the West and say, well, look, what you have is a terrorist group that's fighting against us. So in this context, I think, to talk about moderate opposition being created to put pressure on Damascus is rather illusionary.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: Let's go back to the speech, Vijay, because the president also talk about funding extremism. Let's take a listen to what he had to say.
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<p />OBAMA: It is time for a new compact among civilized peoples of this world to eradicate war at its most fundamental source, and that is the corruption of young minds by violent ideology.
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<p />That means cutting off the funding that fuels this hate. It's time to end the hypocrisy of those who accumulate wealth through the global economy, and then siphon funds to those who teach children to tear it down.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: So the president is talking about cutting off the funding for those that fuel the hate, and specifically talking about ending the hypocrisy. Who is the president talking about, Vijay?
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<p />PRASHAD: Well, I mean, he reads The New York Times. He reads The Wall Street Journal. He reads The Washington Post. Each of these papers have run stories about how there is so-called private funding coming from the Gulf Arab states. This was there at an early point in the career of the Islamic State of al-Qaeda in Iraq. You know, that's how--it was when it was at a startup position [that] Gulf Arab funding was essential. Of course, now the funding question is not essential, because the Islamic State is able to raise finances through taxation, through theft of banks, and certainly through oil sales from the Omar oilfields in eastern Syria. So right now the question of funding isn't of the essence.
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<p />The most important issue is to seal the border between Turkey and Syria. And, of course, that was not part of his agenda. You know, the United States is facing serious pushback from Turkey, which is not comfortable with the view that the Islamic State is a terrorist organization. If you were to ask me to give you an analogy, I'll give you something that I got from a Kurdish official, who said that in a sense it's looking like turkey is using the Islamic State in the same way as Pakistan used the Taliban in Afghanistan. You know, that's perhaps Turkey's strategy. Mr. Obama needs to make a phone call to Ankara and have a serious conversation about why the current government in Turkey isn't going to seal its border, why it doesn't take a stronger position against the Islamic State. That not being part of his speech reveals the great hole in the Obama strategy.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: So, Vijay, let's switch gears and talk about Israel and Palestine, because the president actually mentioned the Israeli public in his comments towards the end of the speech. Let's take a listen.
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<p />OBAMA: The violence engulfing the region today has made too many Israelis ready to abandon the hard work of peace. And that's something worthy of reflection within Israel, because let's be clear: the status quo in the West Bank and Gaza is not sustainable.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: So, Vijay, you just heard the president criticizing the Israeli public. What do you make of this criticism?
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<p />PRASHAD: Well, I mean, it's important that he said that it's Israelis who are ready to abandon the hard work of peace. You know, that's a very important thing. I don't recall an American president basically coming out and criticizing the Israeli public. I think that's quite significant. And it's equally significant that he talked about--when he said that it's important to reflect about what's happening inside Israel. I think this is something that people like Max Blumenthal in his book Goliath have been pointing out for a long time. There's a right-wing shift in Israeli society, very hard right shift. I think it's good that Mr. Obama, standing there at the GA, made comments like that. It's important that he would say that Israel has a problem it needs to deal with.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: Alright. Vijay Prashad, joining us from Northampton, Massachusetts.
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<p />Thank you so much for your analysis.
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<p />PRASHAD: Thanks a lot.
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<p />DESVARIEUX: 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 | vijay prashad executive director tricontinental institute social research also chief editor leftword books vija author 18 books among death nation future arab revolution university california press 2016 jessica desvarieux trnn producer welcome real news network im jessica desvarieux baltimore wednesday president obama addressed united nations general assembly calling world join us partner nations confront extremist group isis also known isil us take close look presidents speech say wednesday morning guest vijay prashad vijay joins us northampton massachusetts george martha kellner chair south asian history professor international studies trinity college recent book poorer nations possible history global south thank much us vijay vijay prashad prof international studies trinity college pleasure thanks jessica desvarieux vijay already know president ordered airstrikes syria first time president saying wants international communitys support degrade destroy extremist group known isis lets take listen part presidents speech barack obama us president often failed enforce international norms inconvenient confronted forcefully enough intolerance sectarianism hopelessness feeds violent extremism many parts globe desvarieux heard president say need forcefulforceful also time hes saying international community failed enforce international norms make essentially united states bombing syria adhering international norms prashad funny thing american president talk adhering international laws also mr obama un said large nations trample small ones pursuit called territorial ambition curious statements coming american president time theres un resolution allows united states carry operations syria youll remember libya 2011 great hoopla made importance getting un resolution attempt get resolution simply bombed syria question international norms international resolutions know coming mr obama really whether international norms resolutions uphold mr obama saying audience plain american right wing republicans sections democratic party dont really care international norms believe executive authority president dont even believe united nations international law play role visàvis american policymaking world community know hear things like big countries shouldnt trample small countries people keep thinking iraq mean 1991 till present iraq sovereignty trampled united states however define territorial ambitions need country thats right next us exercise extraterritorial territorial ambitions people around world would see credibility statement think particular gesture comes towards liberal wing american population thats maybe little anxious escalation warfare know people saying voted twice mr obama feeling great sense regret guantanamo etc perhaps entry new war west asia desvarieux alright vijay also talking strategy defeating isis lets take look president mapped obama effort act alone intend send us troops occupy foreign lands instead support iraqis syrians fighting reclaim communities use military might campaign airstrikes roll back isil train equip forces fighting terrorists ground work cut financing stop flow fighters region already 40 nations offered join coalition desvarieux vijay heard president talk boots ground going cut funding possible tactics make presidents strategy parts strategy like things could differently prashad well lets take ground upward rather aerial bombardment downward think analysts looking planes point viewwe something weve bombed city raqqah aleppo etc look think going happen precipitous airstrikes raqqah particularly aleppo idlib airstrikes think going create greater sense unity among islamist sections divisions rather play upon divisions think us airstrikes united section islamists theyre going fight hard maintain sections expand course going contrary stated aims united states air campaign think going unite people us serious concentrating islamic state would done something different break apart possibility unity question financing people coming fight well united states saying know sense since august meanwhile principal nato ally united states turkey really closed borders evidence suggests turkey allowed isis fighters theyve injured return turkey get treated turkeys hospitals theres good evidence border porous dont really see credibility particular instance strategy think far important strategic way deal islamic state would bring regional partners explain turkeys contradictory foreign policy end mean united states serious leverage turkey apparently able move turkey sufficiently shows lack seriousness terms project obama constructed b shows narrow approach politics region allied simply gulf arab states jordan mean must play region united states major allies countries one democracy one democratic countries come board fully enthusiastically join coalition mean way iraq going fullfledged dynamic partner coalition theres new strategic outlook towards government damascus syria course going happen credibility strategy strikes well worked look ground upwards desvarieux alright lets pivot obamas speech talk comments un ambassador samantha power made nbc sunday morning talkshow meet press heres said administrations strategy arming quoteunquote arming moderate rebel opposition samantha power us ambassador un pushed isil strategic areas reason theyve lostthe moderate opposition lost territory time fighting isil taking fight isil one hand also fighting regime backed hezbollah iran russia etc think infusion support fighters actually held wide array actors fighting fronts much stronger position go isil put pressure regime get back negotiating table political solution desvarieux getting back negotiating table political solutionthats samantha power said sort strategy vijay look strategy think good one end day prashad well question moderate opposition important idea mean investigate obama administration hasnt really laid mean moderate opposition know principal partners ground going among groups recognized moderate use think cliched statements instance robust vetting things like mean things course three years united states started failed produce substantial armed opposition group would consider moderate cant really expectation three years hence turned much creation moderate force saudi arabia youre going different outcome unless understanding moderate resistance force rebel force going able created saudi arabia auspices united states going hard change political calculation ground downwards meaning mr assad going able feel like moderate opposition actually threatens currently assad government looks landscape sees rise isis sees much rebel force become largely islamist turns west says well know look toward west say well look terrorist group thats fighting us context think talk moderate opposition created put pressure damascus rather illusionary desvarieux lets go back speech vijay president also talk funding extremism lets take listen say obama time new compact among civilized peoples world eradicate war fundamental source corruption young minds violent ideology means cutting funding fuels hate time end hypocrisy accumulate wealth global economy siphon funds teach children tear desvarieux president talking cutting funding fuel hate specifically talking ending hypocrisy president talking vijay prashad well mean reads new york times reads wall street journal reads washington post papers run stories socalled private funding coming gulf arab states early point career islamic state alqaeda iraq know thats howit startup position gulf arab funding essential course funding question essential islamic state able raise finances taxation theft banks certainly oil sales omar oilfields eastern syria right question funding isnt essence important issue seal border turkey syria course part agenda know united states facing serious pushback turkey comfortable view islamic state terrorist organization ask give analogy ill give something got kurdish official said sense looking like turkey using islamic state way pakistan used taliban afghanistan know thats perhaps turkeys strategy mr obama needs make phone call ankara serious conversation current government turkey isnt going seal border doesnt take stronger position islamic state part speech reveals great hole obama strategy desvarieux vijay lets switch gears talk israel palestine president actually mentioned israeli public comments towards end speech lets take listen obama violence engulfing region today made many israelis ready abandon hard work peace thats something worthy reflection within israel lets clear status quo west bank gaza sustainable desvarieux vijay heard president criticizing israeli public make criticism prashad well mean important said israelis ready abandon hard work peace know thats important thing dont recall american president basically coming criticizing israeli public think thats quite significant equally significant talked aboutwhen said important reflect whats happening inside israel think something people like max blumenthal book goliath pointing long time theres rightwing shift israeli society hard right shift think good mr obama standing ga made comments like important would say israel problem needs deal desvarieux alright vijay prashad joining us northampton massachusetts thank much analysis prashad thanks lot desvarieux thank joining us real news network end disclaimer please note transcripts real news network typed recording program trnn guarantee complete accuracy | 1,300 |
<p>This is the second of three articles by Anna Malyukova about her memories of the Soviet Union, where she grew up and lived before its collapse in 1989. Anna's account is not a detached political analysis of the situation in the former Soviet Union but rather a story of her personal experiences, which illustrate the deep contradictions that marked the society and the everyday lives of the people.</p>
<p>The Russian Revolution has been subject to multiple misrepresentations, particularly in the United States. The anti-communist policies of successive U.S. administrations during the second half of the twentieth century made it possible for socialism to be identified with totalitarianism, oppression, and lack of freedoms. American capitalism, by contrast, has presented itself as the best possible social system. However, after eight years of economic recession and after the election of Donald Trump, things seem to be changing.</p>
<p>People across the world, including in the United States, know that capitalism is a system that deserves to die. The most sinister face of the "American way of life" is the exploitation and precarization of millions of workers, the rampant police violence, systemic racism, the mass incarceration of America's Black population, and the persecution of immigrant workers. Globalization has enabled American transnationals to enrich themselves by exploiting millions of workers, while oppressed people everywhere, especially in the Global South, suffer under the yoke that is the criminal economic and political hegemony of the US - the superpower that is sometimes commanded by Democrats and sometimes by Republicans.</p>
<p>In this context, it is useful to shed some light on what was the most impressive working-class revolution in history. It is true that the Communist Party was the main agent of capitalist restoration in Russia; however, some of the achievements of the Revolution endured into the 1980s, such as access to education, healthcare, and recreation. These important public goods and services, which are effectively withheld from millions of workers in the US, in particular from people of color and Latinx, were a lasting feature of Soviet society, and this was possible only because the revolution had expropriated the capitalist class. The laboring masses had taken their destiny into their own hands by taking political power and making the means of production the property of the state.</p>
<p>While the Russian Revolution of 1917 remains a most impressive testament to the profound changes that the working class is capable of bringing about, the subsequent developments in the Soviet Union are evidence of the nefarious role of the Stalinist bureaucracy, which used the theory of "Socialism in one country" in order to isolate the country in the world. As a result of the Stalinist counter-revolution, revolutionary movements all around the world were stopped in their tracks, as socialism was supposed to exist in "peaceful coexistence" with imperialism.</p>
<p>There are profound lessons to learn from the Bolshevik revolution. First and foremost among these lessons is the fact that a society without capitalist exploitation is possible. This is of immense importance especially for new generations of workers and young people who begin to embrace the idea of ""socialism and are looking to study the history of the Russian Revolution and of the Soviet Union in order to understand better how to build revolutionary movements that are prepared to take up the fight against global capitalism today. *************************************************************************** You can read the first part of Anna's narrative <a href="" type="internal">here</a></p>
<p>I was a healthy child, which was a relief for my parents. Mothers are given 18 months of maternity leave, while receiving half of their salary, and another 18 months with a quarter pay, if they decide to stay at home longer. Most women returned to work after 18 months, because the state provided daycare facilities for very little pay. Stay at home mothers were a rarity. Homeschooled children were even a bigger rarity. Most adults worked and unemployment was virtually nonexistent. To not have a job was synonymous with being useless to the state and everyone wanted to be useful to the state and participate in the economy. Cultural capital played a tremendous role in social life when finding a job of finding the right health specialist. Corruption did exist, but the scale of it is modest compared to what it seems to be now.</p>
<p>Early childhood education was very structured and very traditional. We were brought up to follow the footsteps of young Vladimir Ulyanov, who is known to the world as Lenin, learning stories about him from the time we were toddlers. Children prepared regular performances for adults, where they presented perfectly memorized lines and sang songs in choirs in perfect synchrony. Creativity was not nurtured in us and often seen as something devious, at least in my experience. But we were provided a great preparation for schooling and, most importantly, it allowed both of our parents to work full time and not worry about providing care for us. I always hated daycare and talked a few kids into digging under the fence to run away from the center (my building was right across the road from the daycare). Unfortunately, we never actually got to do it. What I liked was to stay home with my mom and play the way I wanted, which was mostly by myself. There, I could let my creativity take any shape I wanted.</p>
<p>Each building had a little playground for children with swings, slides, and a sandbox. In the afternoon most kids were there, playing, with adults overseeing them as they sat on the benches in front of the buildings. Our neighborhood was very clean because on Saturdays everyone got together for a Subotnik - event when everyone collected garbage and cleaned up the neighborhood. It was a fun event with a big fire of collected sticks and paper garbage at the end of the day, burning in the dark. Adults were usually signing, drinking was usually involved, and children running around, playing.</p>
<p>There were plenty of stores in my hometown, but the shelves were never full of items. My parents often took a 5 hour trip to Moscow on a train to get some groceries and delicatessens like cured meats, bananas, oranges, etc. Now, when I go shopping at Costco (or even a local grocery store) I often come back with bags and bags of food, only to go back to a supermarket in a day or two, when my parents came back with less stuff from the capital of Russia back in 1980s. There was a dry cleaning store and a hair salon in the next building form us. My parents would visited the hair salon regularly, but dry cleaning was a luxury for us. Most people owned washing machines, as did we, and the clothes would dry in special fenced up areas next to the buildings. On a sunny day, women would hang their bedding and towels to dry up in the sun. Small items will dry up in apartments or on balconies. Nowadays these spaces are used for parking, but back in the day, you can find women hanging clothes in the sun, kids playing in the sandboxes, riding bikes around the building, trees, flowers, and bushes surrounding the neighborhood, cats taking their walks, dogs warming up in the sun, men playing dominoes and smoking.</p>
<p>I realize that this image is romanticized by the memories of my childhood, but this is how I remember my life in a small provincial town in a classless Soviet Union. It was more of a community then than it is now in Russia, where capitalism replaced group consciousness with individualism and competition for resources and jobs. People didn't have much, but enough to live a respectable life. And everyone was pretty much in the same boat. I believe that all these benefits are due to the fact that the workers and the Russian people had a great revolution and as a product of it, they achieved great conquests that today do not exist in capitalist countries, for example, in the United States where education and health care are for a few.</p>
<p>At the same time, as I said at the beginning, there were social inequalities as well. It had a lot to do with who you knew and that often meant belonging to the Communist Party, which by the time I was born, was corrupted as well. Once you were well connected, it provided you with additional income, often in terms of bribes, as well as opportunities to have access to luxurious items which gave you other options to make money or use them as bribes.</p>
<p>One thing that as a child then and as a parent now I find amazing is that Soviet Union had in place a structure to help families and children to have extracurricular activities and after-school programs. Each state agency or factory had a cultural center, where concerts, political and social events took place, but it also had free programs for children. There were dance, art, drama, circus, and any kind of sport classes set up in those centers. Some were better than others, but every child had access to them. My parents enrolled me in a music school outside of those centers, which I attended for seven years and that was an intense experience where I attended classes four days a week, and this was something that we had to pay for. That was probably true about any activity if one wanted to get really good at something - music, gymnastic or anything else - find private schools or tutors. However, to find free after-school activities for you child and allow them to try and find for themselves what may be interesting to them, was quite easy.</p>
<p>My parents lived half of their lives under the communist regime and reaped benefits from a lot of social structures and systems set up by the state. It was a stable time, when one knew what to expect from the next day. When Soviet Union collapsed, life as we knew it ended and stability was gone. With the stability a lot of benefits of the socialistic country vanished as well. In the United States, people have heard of the bad things about the Soviet Union. Some are real and some have to do with the "war against communism" that worried U.S. capitalism so much. I think one of the bad things is precisely that there existed this privileged sector, a caste. However, what was great is often overlooked. This is, along with the huge social progresses in the Soviet Union, is a compelling lesson which must be learned.</p>
<p>Related</p>
<p><a href="Art-Culture" type="external">Art &amp; Culture</a>&#160;&#160;&#160;/&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="Former-USSR" type="external">Former USSR</a>&#160;&#160;&#160;/&#160;&#160;&#160; <a href="Russia" type="external">Russia</a></p> | true | 4 | second three articles anna malyukova memories soviet union grew lived collapse 1989 annas account detached political analysis situation former soviet union rather story personal experiences illustrate deep contradictions marked society everyday lives people russian revolution subject multiple misrepresentations particularly united states anticommunist policies successive us administrations second half twentieth century made possible socialism identified totalitarianism oppression lack freedoms american capitalism contrast presented best possible social system however eight years economic recession election donald trump things seem changing people across world including united states know capitalism system deserves die sinister face american way life exploitation precarization millions workers rampant police violence systemic racism mass incarceration americas black population persecution immigrant workers globalization enabled american transnationals enrich exploiting millions workers oppressed people everywhere especially global south suffer yoke criminal economic political hegemony us superpower sometimes commanded democrats sometimes republicans context useful shed light impressive workingclass revolution history true communist party main agent capitalist restoration russia however achievements revolution endured 1980s access education healthcare recreation important public goods services effectively withheld millions workers us particular people color latinx lasting feature soviet society possible revolution expropriated capitalist class laboring masses taken destiny hands taking political power making means production property state russian revolution 1917 remains impressive testament profound changes working class capable bringing subsequent developments soviet union evidence nefarious role stalinist bureaucracy used theory socialism one country order isolate country world result stalinist counterrevolution revolutionary movements around world stopped tracks socialism supposed exist peaceful coexistence imperialism profound lessons learn bolshevik revolution first foremost among lessons fact society without capitalist exploitation possible immense importance especially new generations workers young people begin embrace idea socialism looking study history russian revolution soviet union order understand better build revolutionary movements prepared take fight global capitalism today read first part annas narrative healthy child relief parents mothers given 18 months maternity leave receiving half salary another 18 months quarter pay decide stay home longer women returned work 18 months state provided daycare facilities little pay stay home mothers rarity homeschooled children even bigger rarity adults worked unemployment virtually nonexistent job synonymous useless state everyone wanted useful state participate economy cultural capital played tremendous role social life finding job finding right health specialist corruption exist scale modest compared seems early childhood education structured traditional brought follow footsteps young vladimir ulyanov known world lenin learning stories time toddlers children prepared regular performances adults presented perfectly memorized lines sang songs choirs perfect synchrony creativity nurtured us often seen something devious least experience provided great preparation schooling importantly allowed parents work full time worry providing care us always hated daycare talked kids digging fence run away center building right across road daycare unfortunately never actually got liked stay home mom play way wanted mostly could let creativity take shape wanted building little playground children swings slides sandbox afternoon kids playing adults overseeing sat benches front buildings neighborhood clean saturdays everyone got together subotnik event everyone collected garbage cleaned neighborhood fun event big fire collected sticks paper garbage end day burning dark adults usually signing drinking usually involved children running around playing plenty stores hometown shelves never full items parents often took 5 hour trip moscow train get groceries delicatessens like cured meats bananas oranges etc go shopping costco even local grocery store often come back bags bags food go back supermarket day two parents came back less stuff capital russia back 1980s dry cleaning store hair salon next building form us parents would visited hair salon regularly dry cleaning luxury us people owned washing machines clothes would dry special fenced areas next buildings sunny day women would hang bedding towels dry sun small items dry apartments balconies nowadays spaces used parking back day find women hanging clothes sun kids playing sandboxes riding bikes around building trees flowers bushes surrounding neighborhood cats taking walks dogs warming sun men playing dominoes smoking realize image romanticized memories childhood remember life small provincial town classless soviet union community russia capitalism replaced group consciousness individualism competition resources jobs people didnt much enough live respectable life everyone pretty much boat believe benefits due fact workers russian people great revolution product achieved great conquests today exist capitalist countries example united states education health care time said beginning social inequalities well lot knew often meant belonging communist party time born corrupted well well connected provided additional income often terms bribes well opportunities access luxurious items gave options make money use bribes one thing child parent find amazing soviet union place structure help families children extracurricular activities afterschool programs state agency factory cultural center concerts political social events took place also free programs children dance art drama circus kind sport classes set centers better others every child access parents enrolled music school outside centers attended seven years intense experience attended classes four days week something pay probably true activity one wanted get really good something music gymnastic anything else find private schools tutors however find free afterschool activities child allow try find may interesting quite easy parents lived half lives communist regime reaped benefits lot social structures systems set state stable time one knew expect next day soviet union collapsed life knew ended stability gone stability lot benefits socialistic country vanished well united states people heard bad things soviet union real war communism worried us capitalism much think one bad things precisely existed privileged sector caste however great often overlooked along huge social progresses soviet union compelling lesson must learned related art amp culture160160160160160160 former ussr160160160160160160 russia | 905 |
<p>By Michael T. Klare, TomDispatchThis piece first appeared at TomDispatch. Read Tom Engelhardt’s introduction <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175791/tomgram%3A_michael_klare%2C_have_the_obits_for_peak_oil_come_too_soon/#more" type="external">here</a>.</p>
<p>Among the big energy stories of 2013, “peak oil” — the once-popular notion that worldwide oil production would soon reach a maximum level and begin an irreversible decline — was thoroughly discredited. &#160;The explosive development of shale oil and other unconventional fuels in the United States helped put it in its grave.</p>
<p>As the year went on, the eulogies came in fast and furious. “Today, it is probably safe to say we have slayed ‘peak oil’ once and for all, thanks to the combination of new shale oil and gas production techniques,” <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/death-of-peak-oil-2013-3" type="external">declared</a> Rob Wile, an energy and economics reporter for Business Insider.&#160; Similar comments from energy experts were commonplace, prompting an R.I.P. <a href="http://science.time.com/2013/05/15/the-iea-says-peak-oil-is-dead-thats-bad-news-for-climate-policy/" type="external">headline</a> at Time.com announcing, “Peak Oil is Dead.”</p>
<p>Not so fast, though.&#160; The present round of eulogies brings to mind the Mark Twain’s famous line: “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”&#160; Before obits for peak oil theory pile up too high, let’s take a careful look at these assertions.&#160; Fortunately, the <a href="http://www.iea.org" type="external">International Energy Agency</a> (IEA), the Paris-based research arm of the major industrialized powers, recently did just that — and the <a href="http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/publications/weo-2013/#d.en.36200" type="external">results</a> were unexpected.&#160; While not exactly reinstalling peak oil on its throne, it did make clear that much of the talk of a perpetual gusher of American shale oil is greatly exaggerated.&#160; The exploitation of those shale reserves may delay the onset of peak oil for a year or so, the agency’s experts noted, but the long-term picture “has not changed much with the arrival of [shale oil].”</p>
<p />
<p>The IEA’s take on this subject is especially noteworthy because its <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/business/energy-environment/report-sees-us-as-top-oil-producer-in-5-years.html" type="external">assertion</a> only a year earlier that the U.S. would overtake Saudi Arabia as the world’s number one oil producer sparked the “peak oil is dead” deluge in the first place. &#160;Writing in the <a href="http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/publications/weo-2012/" type="external">2012 edition</a> of its World Energy Outlook, the agency claimed not only that “the United States is projected to become the largest global oil producer” by around 2020, but also that with U.S. shale production and Canadian tar sands coming online, “North America becomes a net oil exporter around 2030.”</p>
<p>That November 2012 report highlighted the use of advanced production technologies — notably <a href="http://geology.com/articles/horizontal-drilling/" type="external">horizontal drilling</a> and <a href="http://www2.epa.gov/hydraulicfracturing/process-hydraulic-fracturing" type="external">hydraulic fracturing</a> (“fracking”) — to extract oil and natural gas from once inaccessible rock, especially shale.&#160; It also covered the accelerating exploitation of Canada’s <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_sands" type="external">bitumen</a> (tar sands or oil sands), another resource previously considered too forbidding to be economical to develop.&#160; With the output of these and other <a href="http://carnegieendowment.org/2012/05/03/understanding-unconventional-oil/ao4f" type="external">“unconventional” fuels</a> set to explode in the years ahead, the report then suggested, the long awaited peak of world oil production could be pushed far into the future.</p>
<p>The release of the 2012 edition of World Energy Outlook triggered a global frenzy of speculative reporting, much of it announcing a new era of American energy abundance. “ <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323894704578114591174453074" type="external">Saudi America</a>” was the headline over one such hosanna in the Wall Street Journal.&#160; Citing the new IEA study, that paper heralded a coming “U.S. energy boom” driven by “technological innovation and risk-taking funded by private capital.”&#160; From then on, American energy analysts spoke rapturously of the capabilities of a set of new extractive technologies, especially fracking, to unlock oil and natural gas from hitherto inaccessible shale formations.&#160; “This is a real energy revolution,” the Journal crowed.</p>
<p>But that was then. The <a href="http://www.worldenergyoutlook.org/publications/weo-2013/" type="external">most recent edition</a> of World Energy Outlook, published this past November, was a lot more circumspect.&#160; Yes, shale oil, tar sands, and other unconventional fuels will add to global supplies in the years ahead, and, yes, technology will help prolong the life of petroleum.&#160; Nonetheless, it’s easy to forget that we are also witnessing the <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2013/0318/Behind-the-oil-boom-lurks-oil-well-depletion" type="external">wholesale depletion</a> of the world’s existing oil fields and so all these increases in shale output must be balanced against declines in conventional production.&#160; Under ideal circumstances — high levels of investment, continuing technological progress, adequate demand and prices — it might be possible to avert an imminent peak in worldwide production, but as the latest IEA report makes clear, there is no guarantee whatsoever that this will occur.</p>
<p>Inching Toward the Peak</p>
<p>Before plunging deeper into the IEA’s assessment, let’s take a quick look at peak oil theory itself.</p>
<p>As developed in the 1950s by petroleum geologist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._King_Hubbert" type="external">M. King Hubbert</a>, peak oil theory <a href="http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/What-Is-Peak-Oil-Theory-A-Thorough-Look-At-This-Heavily-Debated-Topic.html" type="external">holds</a> that any individual oil field (or oil-producing country) will experience a high rate of production growth during initial development, when drills are first inserted into a oil-bearing reservoir. &#160;Later, growth will slow, as the most readily accessible resources have been drained and a greater reliance has to be placed on less productive deposits.&#160; At this point — usually when about half the resources in the reservoir (or country) have been extracted — daily output reaches a maximum, or “peak,” level and then begins to subside.&#160; Of course, the field or fields will continue to produce even after peaking, but ever more effort and expense will be required to extract what remains.&#160; Eventually, the cost of production will exceed the proceeds from sales, and extraction will be terminated.</p>
<p>For Hubbert and his followers, the rise and decline of oil fields is an inevitable consequence of natural forces: oil exists in pressurized underground reservoirs and so will be forced up to the surface when a drill is inserted into the ground.&#160; However, once a significant share of the resources in that reservoir has been extracted, the field’s pressure will drop and <a href="http://www.adventuresinenergy.org/exploration-and-production/Extracting-Oil-and-Natural-Gas.html" type="external">artificial means</a> — water, gas, or chemical insertion — will be needed to restore pressure and sustain production.&#160; Sooner or later, such means become prohibitively expensive.</p>
<p>Peak oil theory also holds that what is true of an individual field or set of fields is true of the world as a whole.&#160; Until about 2005, it did indeed appear that the globe was edging ever closer to a peak in daily oil output, as Hubbert’s followers had long predicted. &#160;(He died in 1989.)&#160; Several recent developments have, however, <a href="http://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Debunking-The-Myth-Of-Peak-Oil-Why-The-Age-Of-Cheap-Oil-Is-Far-From-Over-Part-1.html" type="external">raised questions</a> about the accuracy of the theory.&#160; In particular, major private oil companies have taken to employing advanced technologies to increase the output of the reservoirs under their control, extending the lifetime of existing fields through the use of what’s called “ <a href="http://energy.gov/fe/science-innovation/oil-gas/enhanced-oil-recovery" type="external">enhanced oil recovery</a>,” or EOR.&#160; They’ve also used new methods to exploit fields once considered inaccessible in places like the Arctic and deep oceanic waters, thereby opening up the possibility of a most un-Hubbertian future.</p>
<p>In developing these new technologies, the privately owned “ <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/briefing/21582522-day-huge-integrated-international-oil-company-drawing" type="external">international oil companies</a>” (IOCs) were seeking to overcome their principal handicap: most of the world’s “ <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052748704436004576299421455133398" type="external">easy oil</a>” — the stuff Hubbert focused on that comes gushing out of the ground whenever a drill is inserted — has already been consumed or is controlled by state-owned “ <a href="http://pesd.stanford.edu/research/noc/" type="external">national oil companies</a>” (NOCs), including Saudi Aramco, the National Iranian Oil Company, and the Kuwait National Petroleum Company, among others.&#160; According to the IEA, such state companies control about 80% of the world’s known petroleum reserves, leaving relatively little for the IOCs to exploit.</p>
<p>To increase output from the limited reserves still under their control — mostly located in North America, the Arctic, and adjacent waters — the private firms have been working hard to develop techniques to exploit “ <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/174829/michael_klare_tough_oil_on_tap" type="external">tough oil</a>.” &#160;In this, they have largely succeeded: they are now bringing new petroleum streams into the marketplace and, in doing so, have shaken the foundations of peak oil theory.</p>
<p>Those who say that “peak oil is dead” cite just this combination of factors.&#160; By extending the lifetime of existing fields through EOR and adding entire new sources of oil, the global supply can be expanded indefinitely.&#160; As a result, they claim, the world possesses a “relatively boundless supply” of oil (and natural gas).&#160; This, for instance, was the way Barry Smitherman of the Texas Railroad Commission (which regulates that state’s oil industry) <a href="http://www.ogj.com/articles/2013/09/world-hydrocarbon-supply-relatively-boundless-seg-told.html" type="external">described</a> the global situation at a recent meeting of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists.</p>
<p>Peak Technology</p>
<p>In place of peak oil, then, we have a new theory that as yet has no name but might be called techno-dynamism.&#160; There is, this theory holds, no physical limit to the global supply of oil so long as the energy industry is prepared to, and allowed to, apply its technological wizardry to the task of finding and producing more of it.&#160; Daniel Yergin, author of the industry classics, The Prize and The Quest, is a <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/news/425509/peak-oil-debunked/" type="external">key proponent</a> of this theory.&#160; He recently <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424053111904060604576572552998674340" type="external">summed up</a> the situation this way: “Advances in technology take resources that were not physically accessible and turn them into recoverable reserves.”&#160; As a result, he added, “estimates of the total global stock of oil keep growing.”</p>
<p>From this perspective, the world supply of petroleum is essentially boundless.&#160; In addition to “conventional” oil — the sort that comes gushing out of the ground — the IEA identifies six other potential streams of petroleum liquids: <a href="http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=5930" type="external">natural gas liquids</a>; tar sands and extra-heavy oil; <a href="http://www.westernresourceadvocates.org/land/oilshalebasics.php" type="external">kerogen oil</a> (petroleum solids derived from shale that must be melted to become usable); shale oil; <a href="http://www.worldcoal.org/coal/uses-of-coal/coal-to-liquids/" type="external">coal-to-liquids</a> (CTL); and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_to_liquids" type="external">gas-to-liquids</a> (GTL).&#160; Together, these “unconventional” streams could theoretically add several trillion barrels of potentially recoverable petroleum to the global supply, conceivably extending the Oil Age hundreds of years into the future (and in the process, via climate change, turning the planet into an uninhabitable desert).</p>
<p>But just as peak oil had serious limitations, so, too, does techno-dynamism.&#160; At its core is a belief that rising world oil demand will continue to drive the increasingly costly investments in new technologies required to exploit the remaining hard-to-get petroleum resources.&#160; As suggested in the 2013 edition of the IEA’s World Energy Outlook, however, this belief should be treated with considerable skepticism.</p>
<p>Among the principal challenges to the theory are these:</p>
<p>1. Increasing Technology Costs: While the costs of developing a resource normally decline over time as industry gains experience with the technologies involved, Hubbert’s law of depletion doesn’t go away.&#160; In other words, oil firms invariably develop the easiest “tough oil” resources first, leaving the toughest (and most costly) for later.&#160; For example, the exploitation of <a href="http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=CA" type="external">Canada’s tar sands</a> began with the strip-mining of deposits close to the surface.&#160; Because those are becoming exhausted, however, energy firms are now going after deep-underground reserves using far costlier technologies.&#160; Likewise, many of the most abundant shale oil deposits in North Dakota have now been depleted, requiring an <a href="http://peakoilbarrel.com/bakken-update-production-slowing/" type="external">increasing pace of drilling</a> to maintain production levels.&#160; As a result, the IEA reports, the cost of developing new petroleum resources will continually increase: up to $80 per barrel for oil obtained using advanced EOR techniques, $90 per barrel for tar sands and extra-heavy oil, $100 or more for kerogen and Arctic oil, and $110 for CTL and GTL.&#160; The market may not, however, be able to sustain levels this high, putting such investments in doubt.&#160;</p>
<p>2. Growing Political and Environmental Risk: By definition, tough oil reserves are located in problematic areas.&#160; For example, an <a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2008/3049/" type="external">estimated 13%</a> of the world’s undiscovered oil lies in the Arctic, along with 30% of its untapped natural gas.&#160; The environmental risks associated with their exploitation under the worst of weather conditions imaginable will quickly become more evident — and so, faced with the rising potential for catastrophic spills in a melting Arctic, expect a commensurate increase in political opposition to such drilling.&#160; In fact, a recent increase has sparked protests in both Alaska and Russia, including the much-publicized September 2013 attempt by activists from Greenpeace to <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/21/world/europe/russia-seizes-greenpeace-ship-for-investigation.html" type="external">scale</a> a Russian offshore oil platform — an action that led to their seizure and arrest by Russian commandos.&#160; Similarly, expanded fracking operations have provoked a steady increase in <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175618/" type="external">anti-fracking activism</a>.&#160; In response to such protests and other factors, oil firms are being forced to adopt increasingly stringent environmental protections, pumping up the cost of production further.</p>
<p>3. Climate-Related Demand Reduction: The techno-optimist outlook assumes that oil demand will keep rising, prompting investors to provide the added funds needed to develop the technologies required.&#160; However, as the effects of rampant climate change <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/31/planet-will-warm-4c-2100-climate" type="external">accelerate</a>, more and more polities are likely to try to impose curbs of one sort or another on oil consumption, suppressing demand — and so discouraging investment. &#160;This is already happening in the United States, where <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2011/07/29/autos/2025_fuel_economy_standards_obama/" type="external">mandated increases</a> in vehicle fuel-efficiency standards are expected to significantly reduce oil consumption.&#160; Future “demand destruction” of this sort is bound to impose a downward pressure on oil prices, diminishing the inclination of investors to finance costly new development projects.</p>
<p>Combine these three factors, and it is possible to conceive of a “technology peak” not unlike the peak in oil output originally envisioned by M. King Hubbert.&#160; Such a techno-peak is likely to occur when the “easy” sources of “tough” oil have been depleted, opponents of fracking and other objectionable forms of production have imposed strict (and costly) environmental regulations on drilling operations, and global demand has dropped below a level sufficient to justify investment in costly extractive operations.&#160; At that point, global oil production will decline even if supplies are “boundless” and technology is still capable of unlocking more oil every year.</p>
<p>Peak Oil Reconsidered</p>
<p>Peak oil theory, as originally conceived by Hubbert and his followers, was largely governed by natural forces. &#160;As we have seen, however, these can be overpowered by the application of increasingly sophisticated technology.&#160; Reservoirs of energy once considered inaccessible can be brought into production, and others once deemed exhausted can be returned to production; rather than being finite, the world’s petroleum base now appears virtually inexhaustible.</p>
<p>Does this mean that global oil output will continue rising, year after year, without ever reaching a peak?&#160; That appears unlikely.&#160; What seems far more probable is that we will see a slow tapering of output over the next decade or two as costs of production rise and climate change — along with opposition to the path chosen by the energy giants — gains momentum.&#160; Eventually, the forces tending to reduce supply will overpower those favoring higher output, and a peak in production will indeed result, even if not due to natural forces alone.</p>
<p>Such an outcome is, in fact, envisioned in one of three possible <a href="http://www.iea.org/publications/scenariosandprojections/" type="external">energy scenarios</a> the IEA’s mainstream experts lay out in the latest edition of World Energy Outlook. The first assumes no change in government policies over the next 25 years and sees world oil supply rising from 87 to 110 million barrels per day by 2035; the second assumes some effort to curb carbon emissions and so projects output reaching “only” 101 million barrels per day by the end of the survey period.</p>
<p>It’s the third trajectory, the “ <a href="http://grist.org/climate-change/2011-11-09-ieas-bombshell-warning-were-headed-toward-11f-global-warming-and/" type="external">450 Scenario</a>,” that should raise eyebrows.&#160; It assumes that momentum develops for a global drive to keep greenhouse gas emissions below <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2008/06/10/202757/iea-report-part-2-climate-progress-has-the-solution-about-right/" type="external">450 parts per million</a> — the maximum level at which it might be possible to prevent global average temperatures from rising above 2 degrees Celsius (and so cause catastrophic climate effects).&#160; As a result, it foresees a peak in global oil output occurring around 2020 at about 91 million barrels per day, with a decline to 78 million barrels by 2035.</p>
<p>It would be premature to suggest that the “450 Scenario” will be the immediate roadmap for humanity, since it’s clear enough that, for the moment, we are on a highway to hell that combines the IEA’s first two scenarios. &#160;Bear in mind, moreover, that many scientists <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/dec/03/un-2c-global-warming-climate-change" type="external">believe</a> a global temperature increase of even 2 degrees Celsius would be enough to produce catastrophic climate effects.&#160; But as the effects of climate change become more pronounced in our lives, count on one thing: the clamor for government action will grow more intense, and so eventually we’re likely to see some variation of the 450 Scenario take shape.&#160; In the process, the world’s demand for oil will be sharply constricted, eliminating the incentive to invest in costly new production schemes.</p>
<p>The bottom line: global peak oil remains in our future, even if not purely for the reasons given by Hubbert and his followers.&#160; With the gradual disappearance of “easy” oil, the major private firms are being forced to exploit increasingly tough, hard-to-reach reserves, thereby driving up the cost of production and potentially discouraging new investment at a time when climate change and environmental activism are on the rise. &#160;</p>
<p>Peak oil is dead! &#160;Long live peak oil!</p>
<p>Michael T. Klare, a <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175773/tomgram%3A_michael_klare%2C_a_climate_change-fueled_revolution/" type="external">TomDispatch regular</a>, is a professor of peace and world security studies at Hampshire College and the author, most recently, of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1250023971/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">The Race for What’s Left</a>.&#160; A documentary movie version of his book Blood and Oil is available from <a href="http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&amp;key=124" type="external">the Media Education Foundation.</a></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, Ann Jones’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608463710/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">They Were Soldiers: How the Wounded Return From America’s Wars — The Untold Story</a>.</p>
<p>Copyright 2014 Michael T. Klare</p> | true | 4 | michael klare tomdispatchthis piece first appeared tomdispatch read tom engelhardts introduction among big energy stories 2013 peak oil oncepopular notion worldwide oil production would soon reach maximum level begin irreversible decline thoroughly discredited 160the explosive development shale oil unconventional fuels united states helped put grave year went eulogies came fast furious today probably safe say slayed peak oil thanks combination new shale oil gas production techniques declared rob wile energy economics reporter business insider160 similar comments energy experts commonplace prompting rip headline timecom announcing peak oil dead fast though160 present round eulogies brings mind mark twains famous line reports death greatly exaggerated160 obits peak oil theory pile high lets take careful look assertions160 fortunately international energy agency iea parisbased research arm major industrialized powers recently results unexpected160 exactly reinstalling peak oil throne make clear much talk perpetual gusher american shale oil greatly exaggerated160 exploitation shale reserves may delay onset peak oil year agencys experts noted longterm picture changed much arrival shale oil ieas take subject especially noteworthy assertion year earlier us would overtake saudi arabia worlds number one oil producer sparked peak oil dead deluge first place 160writing 2012 edition world energy outlook agency claimed united states projected become largest global oil producer around 2020 also us shale production canadian tar sands coming online north america becomes net oil exporter around 2030 november 2012 report highlighted use advanced production technologies notably horizontal drilling hydraulic fracturing fracking extract oil natural gas inaccessible rock especially shale160 also covered accelerating exploitation canadas bitumen tar sands oil sands another resource previously considered forbidding economical develop160 output unconventional fuels set explode years ahead report suggested long awaited peak world oil production could pushed far future release 2012 edition world energy outlook triggered global frenzy speculative reporting much announcing new era american energy abundance saudi america headline one hosanna wall street journal160 citing new iea study paper heralded coming us energy boom driven technological innovation risktaking funded private capital160 american energy analysts spoke rapturously capabilities set new extractive technologies especially fracking unlock oil natural gas hitherto inaccessible shale formations160 real energy revolution journal crowed recent edition world energy outlook published past november lot circumspect160 yes shale oil tar sands unconventional fuels add global supplies years ahead yes technology help prolong life petroleum160 nonetheless easy forget also witnessing wholesale depletion worlds existing oil fields increases shale output must balanced declines conventional production160 ideal circumstances high levels investment continuing technological progress adequate demand prices might possible avert imminent peak worldwide production latest iea report makes clear guarantee whatsoever occur inching toward peak plunging deeper ieas assessment lets take quick look peak oil theory developed 1950s petroleum geologist king hubbert peak oil theory holds individual oil field oilproducing country experience high rate production growth initial development drills first inserted oilbearing reservoir 160later growth slow readily accessible resources drained greater reliance placed less productive deposits160 point usually half resources reservoir country extracted daily output reaches maximum peak level begins subside160 course field fields continue produce even peaking ever effort expense required extract remains160 eventually cost production exceed proceeds sales extraction terminated hubbert followers rise decline oil fields inevitable consequence natural forces oil exists pressurized underground reservoirs forced surface drill inserted ground160 however significant share resources reservoir extracted fields pressure drop artificial means water gas chemical insertion needed restore pressure sustain production160 sooner later means become prohibitively expensive peak oil theory also holds true individual field set fields true world whole160 2005 indeed appear globe edging ever closer peak daily oil output hubberts followers long predicted 160he died 1989160 several recent developments however raised questions accuracy theory160 particular major private oil companies taken employing advanced technologies increase output reservoirs control extending lifetime existing fields use whats called enhanced oil recovery eor160 theyve also used new methods exploit fields considered inaccessible places like arctic deep oceanic waters thereby opening possibility unhubbertian future developing new technologies privately owned international oil companies iocs seeking overcome principal handicap worlds easy oil stuff hubbert focused comes gushing ground whenever drill inserted already consumed controlled stateowned national oil companies nocs including saudi aramco national iranian oil company kuwait national petroleum company among others160 according iea state companies control 80 worlds known petroleum reserves leaving relatively little iocs exploit increase output limited reserves still control mostly located north america arctic adjacent waters private firms working hard develop techniques exploit tough oil 160in largely succeeded bringing new petroleum streams marketplace shaken foundations peak oil theory say peak oil dead cite combination factors160 extending lifetime existing fields eor adding entire new sources oil global supply expanded indefinitely160 result claim world possesses relatively boundless supply oil natural gas160 instance way barry smitherman texas railroad commission regulates states oil industry described global situation recent meeting society exploration geophysicists peak technology place peak oil new theory yet name might called technodynamism160 theory holds physical limit global supply oil long energy industry prepared allowed apply technological wizardry task finding producing it160 daniel yergin author industry classics prize quest key proponent theory160 recently summed situation way advances technology take resources physically accessible turn recoverable reserves160 result added estimates total global stock oil keep growing perspective world supply petroleum essentially boundless160 addition conventional oil sort comes gushing ground iea identifies six potential streams petroleum liquids natural gas liquids tar sands extraheavy oil kerogen oil petroleum solids derived shale must melted become usable shale oil coaltoliquids ctl gastoliquids gtl160 together unconventional streams could theoretically add several trillion barrels potentially recoverable petroleum global supply conceivably extending oil age hundreds years future process via climate change turning planet uninhabitable desert peak oil serious limitations technodynamism160 core belief rising world oil demand continue drive increasingly costly investments new technologies required exploit remaining hardtoget petroleum resources160 suggested 2013 edition ieas world energy outlook however belief treated considerable skepticism among principal challenges theory 1 increasing technology costs costs developing resource normally decline time industry gains experience technologies involved hubberts law depletion doesnt go away160 words oil firms invariably develop easiest tough oil resources first leaving toughest costly later160 example exploitation canadas tar sands began stripmining deposits close surface160 becoming exhausted however energy firms going deepunderground reserves using far costlier technologies160 likewise many abundant shale oil deposits north dakota depleted requiring increasing pace drilling maintain production levels160 result iea reports cost developing new petroleum resources continually increase 80 per barrel oil obtained using advanced eor techniques 90 per barrel tar sands extraheavy oil 100 kerogen arctic oil 110 ctl gtl160 market may however able sustain levels high putting investments doubt160 2 growing political environmental risk definition tough oil reserves located problematic areas160 example estimated 13 worlds undiscovered oil lies arctic along 30 untapped natural gas160 environmental risks associated exploitation worst weather conditions imaginable quickly become evident faced rising potential catastrophic spills melting arctic expect commensurate increase political opposition drilling160 fact recent increase sparked protests alaska russia including muchpublicized september 2013 attempt activists greenpeace scale russian offshore oil platform action led seizure arrest russian commandos160 similarly expanded fracking operations provoked steady increase antifracking activism160 response protests factors oil firms forced adopt increasingly stringent environmental protections pumping cost production 3 climaterelated demand reduction technooptimist outlook assumes oil demand keep rising prompting investors provide added funds needed develop technologies required160 however effects rampant climate change accelerate polities likely try impose curbs one sort another oil consumption suppressing demand discouraging investment 160this already happening united states mandated increases vehicle fuelefficiency standards expected significantly reduce oil consumption160 future demand destruction sort bound impose downward pressure oil prices diminishing inclination investors finance costly new development projects combine three factors possible conceive technology peak unlike peak oil output originally envisioned king hubbert160 technopeak likely occur easy sources tough oil depleted opponents fracking objectionable forms production imposed strict costly environmental regulations drilling operations global demand dropped level sufficient justify investment costly extractive operations160 point global oil production decline even supplies boundless technology still capable unlocking oil every year peak oil reconsidered peak oil theory originally conceived hubbert followers largely governed natural forces 160as seen however overpowered application increasingly sophisticated technology160 reservoirs energy considered inaccessible brought production others deemed exhausted returned production rather finite worlds petroleum base appears virtually inexhaustible mean global oil output continue rising year year without ever reaching peak160 appears unlikely160 seems far probable see slow tapering output next decade two costs production rise climate change along opposition path chosen energy giants gains momentum160 eventually forces tending reduce supply overpower favoring higher output peak production indeed result even due natural forces alone outcome fact envisioned one three possible energy scenarios ieas mainstream experts lay latest edition world energy outlook first assumes change government policies next 25 years sees world oil supply rising 87 110 million barrels per day 2035 second assumes effort curb carbon emissions projects output reaching 101 million barrels per day end survey period third trajectory 450 scenario raise eyebrows160 assumes momentum develops global drive keep greenhouse gas emissions 450 parts per million maximum level might possible prevent global average temperatures rising 2 degrees celsius cause catastrophic climate effects160 result foresees peak global oil output occurring around 2020 91 million barrels per day decline 78 million barrels 2035 would premature suggest 450 scenario immediate roadmap humanity since clear enough moment highway hell combines ieas first two scenarios 160bear mind moreover many scientists believe global temperature increase even 2 degrees celsius would enough produce catastrophic climate effects160 effects climate change become pronounced lives count one thing clamor government action grow intense eventually likely see variation 450 scenario take shape160 process worlds demand oil sharply constricted eliminating incentive invest costly new production schemes bottom line global peak oil remains future even purely reasons given hubbert followers160 gradual disappearance easy oil major private firms forced exploit increasingly tough hardtoreach reserves thereby driving cost production potentially discouraging new investment time climate change environmental activism rise 160 peak oil dead 160long live peak oil michael klare tomdispatch regular professor peace world security studies hampshire college author recently race whats left160 documentary movie version book blood oil available media education foundation follow tomdispatch twitter join us facebook tumblr check newest dispatch book ann joness soldiers wounded return americas wars untold story copyright 2014 michael klare | 1,682 |
<p>It seemed too good to be true. Pakistan had a judiciary asserting itself. The media was feeding a nascent democracy movement. The military was being challenged. Even the intelligence services were being asked to produce those it had been “disappearing” for years.</p>
<p>If you were accustomed to CNN quiescence and had grown up in a Pakistan with one state channel on which hyper-formal anchor-people mechanically read the news in an Urdu inaccessible to most of the nation, this new noise was evidence of a genuine political vitality.</p>
<p>This might seem a strange thing to say; there was much to be depressed about this year. Islamist radicals, the product of Zia-ul-Haq’s era, were holed up in Lal Masjid (the Red Mosque) in the heart of Islamabad, and were demanding the imposition of Sharia upon the land. They had accused Chinese nationals of running brothels posing as massage parlours, abducted the “madam” of another joint which might actually have been a brothel and made her apologize in a public shaming ritual, were now unleashing women in burqas armed with sticks upon the city.</p>
<p>There were reports that male students of the madrassa attached to the mosque had been recording the license plate numbers of women drivers in Islamabad-presumably to cleanse the city of this obscenity.</p>
<p>But if all this seemed like the long expected outcome of the plague unleashed upon Pakistan by the joint forces of the U.S. and Zia-ul-Haq, further fuelled by an ever growing rage at the U.S.’s war on terror and the Musharraf government’s forced alliance with George Bush, it was still hard not to feel some glimmer of hope at the fierceness of the media, which criticized the government and the U.S. and asked tough questions of various religious leaders.</p>
<p>The media’s alliance with the judiciary even made one feel proud. Perhaps, just perhaps, there would be an end to military rule. And then came Saturday’s announcement of the Emergency-effectively an imposition of martial law.</p>
<p>It’s tempting to blame all of Pakistan’s political woes on the military, but to understand the reason military rule continues in Pakistan, it’s useful to think about the corruption and complacency of the country’s elites: military, business, political.</p>
<p>The authoritarianism that is right now so much in evidence-as the government cracks down on the political opposition, jails lawyers, tear gases political protesters out on the streets-is also rife in the drawing rooms of the rich and affluent or just (no easy task) the borderline comfortable.</p>
<p>An example, which is quite typical, from this summer: right after the Lal Masjid nightmare I was at a dinner in Karachi. The event was nominally religious-an evening-long open house of great food and people I hadn’t seen for years. In waltzed a woman, resplendent with long bob and bangs, dressed in the height of Karachi fashion, who started proclaiming very loudly that the mosque should just have been flattened (bombs, bazookas, bulldozers-she didn’t specify; it seemed any weapon would do). She then went on to say that the only thinking people in Karachi lived in Defence Housing Society-which is a bit like arguing that the only thinking people in L.A. live in Bel Air. It turned out that she was a civil servant and had done some work with the Pakistani embassy in DC-she managed to insinuate all of this loudly without any prompting into a conversation with a husband conveniently tucked at the far end of the room. All of this information could then be shared with her hapless audience trapped on sofas and armchairs strewn in the path of the soundwaves. The civil service resume, especially with its American stamp, was presumably meant to shore up her mosque flattening credentials. She then proceeded to praise the Prime Minister, Shaukat Aziz, solely on the basis of his World Bank affiliations, which conferred, it seemed, an automatic guarantee of brilliance. The media was roundly criticized. Business was lauded. English was spoken, and the non-English speaking mass outside Defense Housing Society consigned to the dustbin of bare, lumpen existence. The problem was also democracy (we aren’t ready for it the room was told and many assented). The people are uneducated, primitive, foolish.</p>
<p>And these sentiments-that the people aren’t ready for democracy, that the media illustrates this unreadiness in its reckless agitation, that politics is the business of the educated (meaning English speaking elites)-find more takers than we might want to think.</p>
<p>The fact is that democracy is noisy and Pakistan’s elites (rather like America’s at this point) are not used to any noise but their own.</p>
<p>Let’s add to the mosque flatteners-who are not, it must be noted, secular either-the people who often assert Pakistanis don’t want Taliban rule or Islamist vice squads banning music and shrouding women. These people may seem similar but are not always the same. They produce as counterevidence South Asian Sufism, Pakistan’s shrine culture, its wonderful tradition of devotional and antinomian music. But this vision is also balanced on the wobbliest foundation: all it takes is a determined and destructive minority to shut down the traditions of religious openness and dissent, to turn them into memories held in huddled solitude. This is, in fact, what has slowly been happening since the eighties when Zia-ul-Haq launched his assault on Pakistani culture.</p>
<p>What faces Pakistan, then, is a kleptocratic military, arteries pumped with money from the US, a reckless, inbred and corrupt middle class, feudals, (Benazir Bhutto included) who seem to belong in a Transylvanian nightmare, exercising their seigneurial rights, and a growing body of petty bourgeois Islamist clerics who want their piece of the national and global pie, and are determined to leave anything that’s heterodox and wonderful about the Muslim tradition smouldering and ruined.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, as in Swat, where an Islamist cleric is trying to set up a little mini state, the radical Islamists of the Pakistani kind try to ensure that children don’t get polio vaccinations and forbid education for girls in the name of God. One of the most heartwrenching sights during the Lal Masjid catastrophe was that of parents and family members of students of the madrassa who had come to get their children back-they seemed lost and reduced, caught between a contemptuous bureaucracy they didn’t know how to negotiate and clerics who had promised their children a free education and turned them, instead, into indoctrinated cannon fodder.</p>
<p>Most striking, though, was that they had sent their sons and daughters from villages across the NWFP for an education. It is in the absence of a functional educational system and the presence of tremendous poverty that such crises thrive. Yet the Musharraf government and its supporters seem to think that BMW and Porsche outlets in the major cities that are now, more than ever, centres of consumption will fix the ills of the nation. Segments of Karachi have begun to seem like a giant mall-people dashing back and forth in greedy paroxysms while the poor watch the carnival of consumption. It’s not even so much that we have mimic men and women-we always had those-our cities are becoming mimic malls.</p>
<p>There is for dissenters then-especially of the secular stripe who want music and all it symbolizes, education for girls (and not just snuck in under the cover of a women’s piety group) and economic justice-a much bigger problem: when people like Musharraf don the mantle of the secular or of the moderate (not always, it must be said, the same) the very foundations of the heterodox and humane traditions seem diseased. The problem, then, is simply one of credibility: how can an alliance (still being pushed) of a deluded military despot and a corrupt and blank feudal princess deliver Pakistan from the very real threats that engulf it? How can those who are seen as at the very source of the violences that assail ordinary Pakistanis, claim the moral authority to deliver them from the violence of the barbershop burning militant?</p>
<p>We had an alliance like this once: Benazir’s father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was ushered in by Yahya Khan (the military leader) as Chief Martial Law Administrator. That alliance gave us half a nation, unparalled atrocities against the soon to be Bangladeshis and (eventually) Zia-ul-Haq-the most systematically destructive leader in a nation glutted on destructive leaders. Bhutto shattered the left, had his own ministers tortured, gave Pakistan the prohibition on alcohol and the declaration that Ahmadis were non-Muslims in an attempt to revive his wilting political career.</p>
<p>The PPP, the party he helped build, and whose principles he systematically betrayed, is still one that has tremendous following-precisely because it is the party that has a language of economic emancipation. And that emancipation is what the alliance between the dictator and the princess being pushed by the United States is unlikely to provide. It is not that Pakistan is not facing tremendous dangers-it is-it is rather that these leaders, and their US backers, cannot deliver us from them.</p>
<p>SADIA ABBAS can be reached at: <a href="mailto:Sadia.Abbas@williams.edu" type="external">Sadia.Abbas@williams.edu</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | seemed good true pakistan judiciary asserting media feeding nascent democracy movement military challenged even intelligence services asked produce disappearing years accustomed cnn quiescence grown pakistan one state channel hyperformal anchorpeople mechanically read news urdu inaccessible nation new noise evidence genuine political vitality might seem strange thing say much depressed year islamist radicals product ziaulhaqs era holed lal masjid red mosque heart islamabad demanding imposition sharia upon land accused chinese nationals running brothels posing massage parlours abducted madam another joint might actually brothel made apologize public shaming ritual unleashing women burqas armed sticks upon city reports male students madrassa attached mosque recording license plate numbers women drivers islamabadpresumably cleanse city obscenity seemed like long expected outcome plague unleashed upon pakistan joint forces us ziaulhaq fuelled ever growing rage uss war terror musharraf governments forced alliance george bush still hard feel glimmer hope fierceness media criticized government us asked tough questions various religious leaders medias alliance judiciary even made one feel proud perhaps perhaps would end military rule came saturdays announcement emergencyeffectively imposition martial law tempting blame pakistans political woes military understand reason military rule continues pakistan useful think corruption complacency countrys elites military business political authoritarianism right much evidenceas government cracks political opposition jails lawyers tear gases political protesters streetsis also rife drawing rooms rich affluent easy task borderline comfortable example quite typical summer right lal masjid nightmare dinner karachi event nominally religiousan eveninglong open house great food people hadnt seen years waltzed woman resplendent long bob bangs dressed height karachi fashion started proclaiming loudly mosque flattened bombs bazookas bulldozersshe didnt specify seemed weapon would went say thinking people karachi lived defence housing societywhich bit like arguing thinking people la live bel air turned civil servant done work pakistani embassy dcshe managed insinuate loudly without prompting conversation husband conveniently tucked far end room information could shared hapless audience trapped sofas armchairs strewn path soundwaves civil service resume especially american stamp presumably meant shore mosque flattening credentials proceeded praise prime minister shaukat aziz solely basis world bank affiliations conferred seemed automatic guarantee brilliance media roundly criticized business lauded english spoken nonenglish speaking mass outside defense housing society consigned dustbin bare lumpen existence problem also democracy arent ready room told many assented people uneducated primitive foolish sentimentsthat people arent ready democracy media illustrates unreadiness reckless agitation politics business educated meaning english speaking elitesfind takers might want think fact democracy noisy pakistans elites rather like americas point used noise lets add mosque flattenerswho must noted secular eitherthe people often assert pakistanis dont want taliban rule islamist vice squads banning music shrouding women people may seem similar always produce counterevidence south asian sufism pakistans shrine culture wonderful tradition devotional antinomian music vision also balanced wobbliest foundation takes determined destructive minority shut traditions religious openness dissent turn memories held huddled solitude fact slowly happening since eighties ziaulhaq launched assault pakistani culture faces pakistan kleptocratic military arteries pumped money us reckless inbred corrupt middle class feudals benazir bhutto included seem belong transylvanian nightmare exercising seigneurial rights growing body petty bourgeois islamist clerics want piece national global pie determined leave anything thats heterodox wonderful muslim tradition smouldering ruined meanwhile swat islamist cleric trying set little mini state radical islamists pakistani kind try ensure children dont get polio vaccinations forbid education girls name god one heartwrenching sights lal masjid catastrophe parents family members students madrassa come get children backthey seemed lost reduced caught contemptuous bureaucracy didnt know negotiate clerics promised children free education turned instead indoctrinated cannon fodder striking though sent sons daughters villages across nwfp education absence functional educational system presence tremendous poverty crises thrive yet musharraf government supporters seem think bmw porsche outlets major cities ever centres consumption fix ills nation segments karachi begun seem like giant mallpeople dashing back forth greedy paroxysms poor watch carnival consumption even much mimic men womenwe always thoseour cities becoming mimic malls dissenters thenespecially secular stripe want music symbolizes education girls snuck cover womens piety group economic justicea much bigger problem people like musharraf mantle secular moderate always must said foundations heterodox humane traditions seem diseased problem simply one credibility alliance still pushed deluded military despot corrupt blank feudal princess deliver pakistan real threats engulf seen source violences assail ordinary pakistanis claim moral authority deliver violence barbershop burning militant alliance like benazirs father zulfikar ali bhutto ushered yahya khan military leader chief martial law administrator alliance gave us half nation unparalled atrocities soon bangladeshis eventually ziaulhaqthe systematically destructive leader nation glutted destructive leaders bhutto shattered left ministers tortured gave pakistan prohibition alcohol declaration ahmadis nonmuslims attempt revive wilting political career ppp party helped build whose principles systematically betrayed still one tremendous followingprecisely party language economic emancipation emancipation alliance dictator princess pushed united states unlikely provide pakistan facing tremendous dangersit isit rather leaders us backers deliver us sadia abbas reached sadiaabbaswilliamsedu 160 160 | 801 |
<p>Although it may appear as casual “tit for tat” tactics, Middle East violence cannot always be explained with such simplicity. The nature of the recent escalation at the Lebanon-Israel border is more complicated than it may appear.</p>
<p>Let’s be a bit bold while unveiling the context that might have influenced the most recent violence engulfing the Lebanon-Israel border, which so far, has resulted in the killing of a young Israeli man and the wounding of four others.</p>
<p>The Roadmap peace initiative–introduced by the United States and accepted by Israel and the Palestinian leadership–is not going very well, for either party.</p>
<p>Palestinians say that Israel’s release of 350 prisoners–keeping in prison 6,000 more, is simply not sufficient, especially as Israeli forces have arrested more than the number of Palestinian prisoners it released since its acceptance of the roadmap.</p>
<p>Israel seems a bit too nervous because of the lull in violence. The right-wing government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon thrives on violence. Under the banner of shielding Israel, Sharon managed to pull off a separation wall that is currently in the process of swallowing up 10 percent of the West Bank. He is expanding illegal settlements while cracking down on Palestinian resistance groups with a free hand, under the pretext that he is “fighting terror”.</p>
<p>But none of the pretexts of the past are of much relevance anymore, at least during this stage; Palestinian groups halted their attacks, almost completely. Those who wished to violate the ceasefire–signed by Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and various Palestinian factions on June 29–were caught and sent back. Even Israel’s frequent raids on the West Bank, most recently in Nablus, which killed several Palestinians, are bearing Israel no fruit. Once more, Hamas, along with other groups, assured Prime Minister Abbas that they would adhere to the ceasefire. Instead of a violent response, they simply handed Abbas, during a meeting in Gaza on August 5, a long list of Israeli violations of the ceasefire.</p>
<p>Confused by the Palestinian reaction, Sharon kept on playing an old tune, declaring that his government “will not tolerate roadmap violations.” Whose violations?</p>
<p>Despite the complicity of pro-Israeli media in the Western hemisphere, Israel is slowly regaining the image of the aggressor, an image maintained by Israel for too long, yet interrupted occasionally by Palestinian suicide bombings.</p>
<p>But it is not only the PR campaign that is occupying Israel’s mind. Rumors in Washington that were circulated by the media, indicated that the U.S. government might withhold aid to Israel over its insistence on constructing the separation wall in the West Bank. (AFP–5 August). Although President Bush distanced himself from the reports, his repeated use of the word “problem” while referring to Israel’s wall might have not been a slip of a tongue after all.</p>
<p>True, the right-wing alliance of the current Israeli and American government is too robust to be hampered by a lousy 1000km long wall–so what if 100,000 Palestinians will be encaged by tons of steal and concrete–but Israel who labored to forge that alliance is not the least ready to be in a defensive mode again, alone taking the flak while Palestinians are lauded.</p>
<p>On August 02, Ali Hussain Salih, a top Hezbollah official was assassinated in Beirut when a bomb ripped through his car. Since the Israeli intelligence is known to be active in Beirut, Hezbollah was convinced that Israel is the one responsible for the assassination.</p>
<p>A few days later, Hezbollah fired on Israeli positions in the occupied Shebba farms (the only remaining Lebanese territory in Israel’s hands.) Israel fired back, bombing villagers in South Lebanon. Hezbollah, once again fired, this time reaching a population center in northern Israel, killing a 16-year-old teenager. Hezbollah dubbed its attacks the “Martyr Ali Hussain Salih Operation,” after the man believed to have been assassinated by Israel.</p>
<p>Was Israel taken by a surprise by these sudden attacks? Not in the least.</p>
<p>What was truly sudden about these attacks is how Israel, (with the help of its friends in the United States government) managed to change the standings in the Middle East game of politics.</p>
<p>First, the escalation at the border helped transfer the pressure onto Lebanon, Syria and Iran, evoking condemnation from the U.S. government and top U.N. and European officials. The question of linking Iran and Syria to terrorism has once more resurfaced, which has played well in the hands of pro-Israeli pundits in the U.S. government and media.</p>
<p>Second, the separation wall, which has occupied the imagination of politicians in the Middle East and around the world for weeks, has been cast aside. The construction of the giant wall continues unabated with little or no criticism.</p>
<p>Third, Israel is once more the victim, as portrayed in the media. In fact, the Jerusalem Post tells us that Sharon doesn’t intend on retaliating with a major military strike. Instead he’ll allow the diplomatic channels to help “neutralize” Hezbollah; a sound move, indeed. A major strike against Lebanon will archive the border violence under the “tit for tat” file. Israel wants to prolong the fiasco by engaging the United Sates, the United Nations, Syria, Iran, Lebanon, the Arab League, the European Union and the world’s media in the less urgent matter as long as possible, so that it avoids the accountability pressures of the Roadmap.</p>
<p>But in the midst of all this, few have noticed that Israel has practically “froze” the Roadmap for peace, with Sharon telling his Cabinet on Sunday, August 10, that the Roadmap of peace is “on hold” until the Palestinians dismantle all of the anti-Israeli occupation groups, even though the occupation continues.</p>
<p>It no longer matters who provoked the border violence starting with the assassination of the Hezbollah official on August 02. What matters, at least to Israel, is that for now, it won an important round. Now, Sharon, a pressure-free man, is likely to pressure the Palestinians further over dismantling resistance groups, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad in particular.</p>
<p>Sharon’s call is likely to resonate, this time much stronger in Washington and its influential media, for as far as the untrained-eye of U.S. media and officials believe, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, are all synonymous to al-Qaeda.</p>
<p>This is what Israel has been pushing for since September 11 until this day, and by far, this has been its most valuable card.</p>
<p>RAMZY BAROUD is the editor-in-chief of <a href="http://www.PalestineChronicle.com/" type="external">PalestineChronicle.com</a> and the editor of the anthology “ <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1885942338/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Searching Jenin: Eyewitness Accounts of the Israeli Invasion 2002</a>.” 50 percent of the editor’s royalties will go directly to assist in the relief efforts in Jenin.</p>
<p>He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:ramzy5@aol.com" type="external">ramzy5@aol.com</a></p>
<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | although may appear casual tit tat tactics middle east violence always explained simplicity nature recent escalation lebanonisrael border complicated may appear lets bit bold unveiling context might influenced recent violence engulfing lebanonisrael border far resulted killing young israeli man wounding four others roadmap peace initiativeintroduced united states accepted israel palestinian leadershipis going well either party palestinians say israels release 350 prisonerskeeping prison 6000 simply sufficient especially israeli forces arrested number palestinian prisoners released since acceptance roadmap israel seems bit nervous lull violence rightwing government prime minister ariel sharon thrives violence banner shielding israel sharon managed pull separation wall currently process swallowing 10 percent west bank expanding illegal settlements cracking palestinian resistance groups free hand pretext fighting terror none pretexts past much relevance anymore least stage palestinian groups halted attacks almost completely wished violate ceasefiresigned palestinian prime minister mahmoud abbas various palestinian factions june 29were caught sent back even israels frequent raids west bank recently nablus killed several palestinians bearing israel fruit hamas along groups assured prime minister abbas would adhere ceasefire instead violent response simply handed abbas meeting gaza august 5 long list israeli violations ceasefire confused palestinian reaction sharon kept playing old tune declaring government tolerate roadmap violations whose violations despite complicity proisraeli media western hemisphere israel slowly regaining image aggressor image maintained israel long yet interrupted occasionally palestinian suicide bombings pr campaign occupying israels mind rumors washington circulated media indicated us government might withhold aid israel insistence constructing separation wall west bank afp5 august although president bush distanced reports repeated use word problem referring israels wall might slip tongue true rightwing alliance current israeli american government robust hampered lousy 1000km long wallso 100000 palestinians encaged tons steal concretebut israel labored forge alliance least ready defensive mode alone taking flak palestinians lauded august 02 ali hussain salih top hezbollah official assassinated beirut bomb ripped car since israeli intelligence known active beirut hezbollah convinced israel one responsible assassination days later hezbollah fired israeli positions occupied shebba farms remaining lebanese territory israels hands israel fired back bombing villagers south lebanon hezbollah fired time reaching population center northern israel killing 16yearold teenager hezbollah dubbed attacks martyr ali hussain salih operation man believed assassinated israel israel taken surprise sudden attacks least truly sudden attacks israel help friends united states government managed change standings middle east game politics first escalation border helped transfer pressure onto lebanon syria iran evoking condemnation us government top un european officials question linking iran syria terrorism resurfaced played well hands proisraeli pundits us government media second separation wall occupied imagination politicians middle east around world weeks cast aside construction giant wall continues unabated little criticism third israel victim portrayed media fact jerusalem post tells us sharon doesnt intend retaliating major military strike instead hell allow diplomatic channels help neutralize hezbollah sound move indeed major strike lebanon archive border violence tit tat file israel wants prolong fiasco engaging united sates united nations syria iran lebanon arab league european union worlds media less urgent matter long possible avoids accountability pressures roadmap midst noticed israel practically froze roadmap peace sharon telling cabinet sunday august 10 roadmap peace hold palestinians dismantle antiisraeli occupation groups even though occupation continues longer matters provoked border violence starting assassination hezbollah official august 02 matters least israel important round sharon pressurefree man likely pressure palestinians dismantling resistance groups hamas islamic jihad particular sharons call likely resonate time much stronger washington influential media far untrainedeye us media officials believe hamas islamic jihad hezbollah synonymous alqaeda israel pushing since september 11 day far valuable card ramzy baroud editorinchief palestinechroniclecom editor anthology searching jenin eyewitness accounts israeli invasion 2002 50 percent editors royalties go directly assist relief efforts jenin reached ramzy5aolcom 160 | 611 |
<p>November 11. Most people would probably think of this date as the two-month anniversary of “the day that changed everything”. It is also Veterans Day. It used to be called Armistice Day, celebrating the end of World War I, the “war to end all wars”. Funny how these pronouncements can seem so foolish over time.</p>
<p>I have always had somewhat conflicted feelings about Veterans Day. I am a veteran, a veteran of Vietnam. I had volunteered to fight in that war, full of youthful exuberance and patriotic machismo. My grandfathers had fought in World War I, my father fought in World War II. Vietnam was my war. It was a no-brainer.</p>
<p>I came home from Vietnam, physically whole, thank God, but spiritually changed forever. In war, all wounds do not pierce the skin. My patriotism had been spent like chump change in a penny arcade, wasted on a futile effort in a dirty war where survival was the only measure of success. My first Veterans Day back from Vietnam, I was arrested for the first time in my life. I was arrested for trying to march in the Veterans Day parade under a banner that said Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Perhaps you can see where my ambivalence towards the day derives.</p>
<p>Veterans Day is a day that few notice and fewer celebrate. It is usually left to the pigeon-breasted politicians looking to score a few patriotic brownie points, and to the veterans themselves, who typically use the occasion to play the traditional role that society assigns to them–that of cheerleaders for the next war. I, for one, have never deigned to pick up the pom-poms.</p>
<p>A friend of mine recently asked me what I thought about this “new war”. It reminds me rather much of the old, cold one. It is not a war against a state, it’s a war against an “ism”. These are much more preferable for the politicians, allowing for sweeping rhetorical flourishes about “fighting against evil” and “defending our way of life.” Everything, however, remains conveniently amorphous, undefined. Nobody knows what “victory” means, or when it will be achieved, if ever. I hate to sound cynical, but I rather suspect that the “war on terrorism” will extend at least through the next presidential election. Don’t think George W. didn’t learn a thing or two from his father. Don’t want these wars to end too soon, and lose the popularity spike before it can do you any political good.</p>
<p>We have our “grand coalition” going, fragile as it may be. Of course, as in the Cold War, the coalition contains a number of unsavory governments and characters (the enemy of my enemy…). Given the fact that during the war on communism, the US managed to count among its allies some of the most totalitarian regimes and brutish louts of the latter half of the 20th century — among them, of course, old Osama himself — one wonders which of our current “grand coalition” partners will become the next international boogieman. Our former allies are now are enemies, and our former enemies are now are allies, in an Orwellian merry-go-round where the only constant is the shedding of blood.</p>
<p>Of course, the lies have started. Why would anyone think otherwise? In war, truth is the first casualty. What is truly astonishing is how easily people seem willing to believe them. How could anyone my age–who lived through Johnson’s Vietnam, Nixon’s Watergate, Reagan’s Iran-Contra, Clinton’s sex life–take any assertion by the government at face value? And these are only examples of the lies we caught them in. What are the lies of the “war on terrorism”? We have found out the first little one–that there was no “credible evidence” that Air Force One was a target of the terrorists. That was just a little public relations spin, so that Bush’s erratic flight around the US in the first hours after the terrorist attacks wouldn’t look so unpresidential. One wonders, of course, what the big lies are.</p>
<p>The national media, as usual, have suspended their skepticism in favor of playing the role of propaganda ministry for the government. One wishes they would apply their mantra “This report could not be independently verified” to the Pentagon spokesman as well as the Taliban spokesman. “The war is going well, the war is going according to plan.” This report could not be independently verified.</p>
<p>The bombing of Afghanistan is not a just war; it is just another war. It is yet another act of terror against the people of the world. Each innocent person that is killed must be added to, not set off against, the grisly toll of civilians who died in New York and Washington. It is a classic confirmation of the essential lesson I learned in Vietnam: that soldiers are required to do their jobs because politicians fail to do theirs. Make no mistake, the war on terrorism is the desperate act of politicians who failed miserably in the leadership responsibilities to those who elected them, and who, by the very act of starting the war, have failed us even again.</p>
<p>Conveniently lost in the post-catastrophe patriotic orgy orchestrated by the government is the fact that this happened because of the government’s utter failure to protect its citizens. Consider this: one of the terrorists was apparently on the FBI’s “watch list”. This man was flying in and out of the country, sometimes with an expired visa, having meetings with Iraqi intelligence officers in Prague, visiting jailed terrorists in Spain, and all the while taking pilot lessons in Florida. And nobody noticed? It was a “failure of bureaucracy” they tell us. And their response? Create more bureaucracy to watch over the other bureaucracies.</p>
<p>It takes no deep thinker to recognize that the ham-handed retaliation our government is engaged in is precisely the reaction the terrorists were trying to provoke. They want a holy war between Islam and the West, and by God, we will help them recruit their forces. The war on terrorism will do nothing except create more terrorists, and the tragedy we have just experienced will pale in comparison to the tragedy before us.</p>
<p>All this will be branded by some as “unpatriotic”. I beg to differ. This is my patriotism. With all due respect to some of my well-meaning neighbors, my patriotism is more meaningful, more appropriate than the mindless flapping of ragged American flags from the antennae of SUVs and pick-up trucks. In a democracy, dissent is the highest form of patriotism.</p>
<p>This Veterans Day, I will think of my friend Sasha. I first met Sasha when I went to the then Soviet Union in 1988 as part of a delegation of Vietnam veterans to meet with Soviet Afghanistan veterans–Afghantsi, they called themselves. I remember the first few moments when we met at the airport in Moscow. Everything was a bit awkward and formal, neither side knowing quite what to do. Then one Afghantsi–his eyes blazing with the look I knew all too well–suddenly pulled up his shirt to show several bullet wounds. “You see these,” he said fiercely, “These bullets were fired from an America-made M-16.” One of the Vietnam veterans who accompanied me quickly pulled up his shirt. “You see these,” he said, “These bullets were fired by a Soviet-made AK-47.” The two men stared at one another briefly, then fell in each other’s arms and wept.</p>
<p>I remember standing in a frigid wind-swept Moscow park , my arm around Sasha, in front of a peculiarly irregular boulder, standing on end with a plaque on it. This was the Afghantsi Memorial, put up by the Afghantsi themselves when the Soviet government failed to honor their request for a government sponsored memorial. There was a large group there — Afghantsi and Vietnamsi–and the former soldiers each took turns speaking from the heart. The message from all was the same: We must honor those who died, we must take care of those who survived. We must promise to each other that our sons will never go through what we did.</p>
<p>Empty words, it seems. The sons of the Afghantsi are now dying in Chechnya, and the children of the Vietnamsi are soon to be Afghantsi. Yet it is the one idea I still find worth fighting for.</p>
<p>The most relevant way to celebrate Veterans Day is to fight to make it irrelevant.</p> | true | 4 | november 11 people would probably think date twomonth anniversary day changed everything also veterans day used called armistice day celebrating end world war war end wars funny pronouncements seem foolish time always somewhat conflicted feelings veterans day veteran veteran vietnam volunteered fight war full youthful exuberance patriotic machismo grandfathers fought world war father fought world war ii vietnam war nobrainer came home vietnam physically whole thank god spiritually changed forever war wounds pierce skin patriotism spent like chump change penny arcade wasted futile effort dirty war survival measure success first veterans day back vietnam arrested first time life arrested trying march veterans day parade banner said vietnam veterans war perhaps see ambivalence towards day derives veterans day day notice fewer celebrate usually left pigeonbreasted politicians looking score patriotic brownie points veterans typically use occasion play traditional role society assigns themthat cheerleaders next war one never deigned pick pompoms friend mine recently asked thought new war reminds rather much old cold one war state war ism much preferable politicians allowing sweeping rhetorical flourishes fighting evil defending way life everything however remains conveniently amorphous undefined nobody knows victory means achieved ever hate sound cynical rather suspect war terrorism extend least next presidential election dont think george w didnt learn thing two father dont want wars end soon lose popularity spike political good grand coalition going fragile may course cold war coalition contains number unsavory governments characters enemy enemy given fact war communism us managed count among allies totalitarian regimes brutish louts latter half 20th century among course old osama one wonders current grand coalition partners become next international boogieman former allies enemies former enemies allies orwellian merrygoround constant shedding blood course lies started would anyone think otherwise war truth first casualty truly astonishing easily people seem willing believe could anyone agewho lived johnsons vietnam nixons watergate reagans irancontra clintons sex lifetake assertion government face value examples lies caught lies war terrorism found first little onethat credible evidence air force one target terrorists little public relations spin bushs erratic flight around us first hours terrorist attacks wouldnt look unpresidential one wonders course big lies national media usual suspended skepticism favor playing role propaganda ministry government one wishes would apply mantra report could independently verified pentagon spokesman well taliban spokesman war going well war going according plan report could independently verified bombing afghanistan war another war yet another act terror people world innocent person killed must added set grisly toll civilians died new york washington classic confirmation essential lesson learned vietnam soldiers required jobs politicians fail make mistake war terrorism desperate act politicians failed miserably leadership responsibilities elected act starting war failed us even conveniently lost postcatastrophe patriotic orgy orchestrated government fact happened governments utter failure protect citizens consider one terrorists apparently fbis watch list man flying country sometimes expired visa meetings iraqi intelligence officers prague visiting jailed terrorists spain taking pilot lessons florida nobody noticed failure bureaucracy tell us response create bureaucracy watch bureaucracies takes deep thinker recognize hamhanded retaliation government engaged precisely reaction terrorists trying provoke want holy war islam west god help recruit forces war terrorism nothing except create terrorists tragedy experienced pale comparison tragedy us branded unpatriotic beg differ patriotism due respect wellmeaning neighbors patriotism meaningful appropriate mindless flapping ragged american flags antennae suvs pickup trucks democracy dissent highest form patriotism veterans day think friend sasha first met sasha went soviet union 1988 part delegation vietnam veterans meet soviet afghanistan veteransafghantsi called remember first moments met airport moscow everything bit awkward formal neither side knowing quite one afghantsihis eyes blazing look knew wellsuddenly pulled shirt show several bullet wounds see said fiercely bullets fired americamade m16 one vietnam veterans accompanied quickly pulled shirt see said bullets fired sovietmade ak47 two men stared one another briefly fell others arms wept remember standing frigid windswept moscow park arm around sasha front peculiarly irregular boulder standing end plaque afghantsi memorial put afghantsi soviet government failed honor request government sponsored memorial large group afghantsi vietnamsiand former soldiers took turns speaking heart message must honor died must take care survived must promise sons never go empty words seems sons afghantsi dying chechnya children vietnamsi soon afghantsi yet one idea still find worth fighting relevant way celebrate veterans day fight make irrelevant | 706 |
<p>Jay Mallin/ZUMAPress</p>
<p />
<p>Along with her reputation <a href="" type="internal">as a crusader for the middle class and scourge of bad banks,</a>Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) also has a history as a personal finance guru. In 2005, the former Harvard law professor, who is worth between $2.8 and $12 million, cowrote with her daughter a no-nonsense, no-magic-bullets financial advice book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/All-Your-Worth-Ultimate-Lifetime/dp/0743269888" type="external">All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan</a>. We’ve cross-referenced Warren’s recently released <a href="http://www.ethics.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/financial-disclosure-forms" type="external">financial disclosure forms</a> with the book to distill the essence of her financial-planning wisdom. Now you, too, can invest like a populist defender of the public interest.</p>
<p>FIRST THINGS FIRST</p>
<p>Get debt free: “Drain your savings account, empty your checking account, and sell any stocks or bonds,” Warren writes in All Your Worth. “Cash out the bar mitzvah money, crack open Mr. Piggy, and shake out the cushions from the couch…It’s time to focus some laser-beam intensity on paying off your debt.” What about credit cards? “Okay, we’re not fanatics (although we’re close). One credit card may be okay for emergencies.”</p>
<p>Warren has followed her own advice—she has essentially no debt: no mortgage debt, no credit card debt. She is paying off a $15,000 student loan, but—get this—it has a zero percent interest rate. “Wouldn’t everybody love to have that?” says Chris Farrell, the economics editor of American Public Media’s Marketplace. When you’re worth millions, he says, “That’s more of a rounding error rather than a liability!” Other senators’ financial disclosures list hundreds of thousands of dollars of credit card and mortgage debt.</p>
<p>Don’t buy a sailboat if you work at Wendy’s (or are a journalist): Fifty percent of your income should go to Must Haves, Warren says—that is, things like food and housing. Thirty percent should go to Wants. Examples from Warren’s book include: light beer, dinner at Olive Garden, a hamster, a Madonna CD, and a pot of begonias. The remaining 20&#160;percent should go to savings. If this formula means you have to sell your car, so be it, Warren argues.</p>
<p>Pay off your mortgage if you have one: Once you’re out of debt, take 5 percent of your monthly savings and use it to pay extra on your mortgage. “You may think that paying a couple hundred dollars extra every month is like trying to bail out the ocean with a teaspoon. But you may surprised just how far that little extra can go.”</p>
<p>HERE’S HOW TO INVEST</p>
<p>Visualize: “Take a moment to savor your dream. Picture the sunlight reflecting on the lake while your husband proudly holds up a string of trout. Imagine Katie, all grown up in her robe and cap, proudly accepting her diploma.”</p>
<p>Create a retirement fund: Now, steer 10 percent of your monthly&#160;savings into an&#160;individual retirement account (IRA) or 401(k). “If you have a retirement account and you are putting money in it, then you have just made it into the upper half (financially speaking) of all adults in the US. Hot dog!”</p>
<p>According to Warren’s financial disclosure forms, she has between $96,000 and $265,000 invested in various retirement funds through the <a href="https://www.tiaa-cref.org/public/about-us/how-we-serve-you#tab1" type="external">Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund</a> (TIAA-CREF), a financial services organization that is also the leading retirement provider for people in academic fields. She also has between $15,000 and $50,000 of her retirement savings invested in a Vanguard&#160; <a href="https://personal.vanguard.com/us/funds/snapshot?FundId=0303&amp;FundIntExt=INT" type="external">mutual fund</a>. Farrell approves of the amount Warren has tucked away for her golden&#160;years and the companies she has chosen to invest&#160;with, which he says are “low-fee and transparent.” Warren “is going to have pretty good retirement income,” he says.</p>
<p>This page in Warren’s financial disclosure shows a few of her retirement funds:&#160;</p>
<p>Invest prudently in the stock market: Take the remaining 5 percent (or 10 if you’ve paid off your mortgage) of your monthly savings and invest it in the stock market. “Picking an investment is not so different from picking a car. There are people who love nothing more than searching for an exotic car,” Warren writes. “They dedicate their days and nights to studying muscle cars and antique cars, and maybe after all those hours, they drive something really cool. It is even possible that some of them make a little money when they happen upon something really special that they can buy for a good price. Then again, most of them lose their shirts at the repair shop.” It’s probably a better idea to “buy something safe and reliable with good gas mileage and enough room for the groceries.”</p>
<p>Warren recommends investing in an indexed mutual fund, which buys stocks from hundreds or thousands of different companies, so that even though individual stocks fluctuate, over the long-run&#160;you’re probably safe. “The index fund is essentially the Honda Civic of the investment world.”</p>
<p>Warren has a total of between $1,517,000 and $6,180,000 invested in several accounts through TIAA-CREF.&#160;She has the largest share invested in an annuity, which is a payment to a life insurance company that then is distributed back in fixed payments to the buyer later in life. And she has money in various mutual funds and <a href="http://annuities.about.com/od/annuityprofiles/a/Are-Variable-Annuities-Better-Than-Mutual-Funds.htm" type="external">variable annuities</a>, which work a lot like mutual funds. Sean O’Shaughnessey, a private investor and author of the book <a href="http://www.confident-investor.com/about/" type="external">The Confident Investor</a>, says the way Warren has invested her money is a little too conservative for him, but calls it a “prudent investment strategy.” Farrell says Warren has a “low-worry” portfolio. “She has pretty much set it up so that she doesn’t have to worry,” he says. “I like it.” Here’s a list of Warren’s biggest investments:</p>
<p>Here is the&#160;page of Warren’s financial disclosure forms showing her investments&#160;in annuities and mutual funds:</p>
<p>Not everyone can expect their portfolio to look like Warren’s.&#160;The senator has been able to pack away a significant amount of money because she has made a pretty penny teaching and writing books. At Harvard, her annual salary was&#160; <a href="http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2012/01/13/elizabeth-warren-salary-harvard/" type="external">$430,000</a>; in 2012, she took in $9,000 from the school as an&#160; <a href="http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/301385-elizabeth-warren-angus-king-among-freshmen-in-senate-millionaires-club" type="external">emeritus professor</a>. Last year, Warren got about&#160; <a href="http://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/301385-elizabeth-warren-angus-king-among-freshmen-in-senate-millionaires-club" type="external">$64,000 in royalties</a>&#160;and salary from&#160; <a href="http://www.aspenpublishers.com/author.asp?catalog_name=aspen&amp;author_id=1952&amp;product_id=0735576548&amp;cookie_test=1" type="external">Aspen Publishers</a>, which has published many of her academic books. In 2011, she took in around&#160; <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/27/elizabeth-warren-wealth-income_n_1237607.html" type="external">$700,000</a>&#160;total from Harvard, book royalties and consulting fees. As a senator, she earns&#160; <a href="http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/senate_salaries.htm" type="external">$174,000 a year</a>.</p>
<p>Oh, and avoid investing in these:</p>
<p>AND IF YOU GET NERVOUS ABOUT ANY OF THIS</p>
<p>Here are some ways to avoid “negative-thinking traps”:</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | jay mallinzumapress along reputation crusader middle class scourge bad bankssen elizabeth warren dmass also history personal finance guru 2005 former harvard law professor worth 28 12 million cowrote daughter nononsense nomagicbullets financial advice book called worth ultimate lifetime money plan weve crossreferenced warrens recently released financial disclosure forms book distill essence financialplanning wisdom invest like populist defender public interest first things first get debt free drain savings account empty checking account sell stocks bonds warren writes worth cash bar mitzvah money crack open mr piggy shake cushions couchits time focus laserbeam intensity paying debt credit cards okay fanatics although close one credit card may okay emergencies warren followed adviceshe essentially debt mortgage debt credit card debt paying 15000 student loan butget thisit zero percent interest rate wouldnt everybody love says chris farrell economics editor american public medias marketplace youre worth millions says thats rounding error rather liability senators financial disclosures list hundreds thousands dollars credit card mortgage debt dont buy sailboat work wendys journalist fifty percent income go must haves warren saysthat things like food housing thirty percent go wants examples warrens book include light beer dinner olive garden hamster madonna cd pot begonias remaining 20160percent go savings formula means sell car warren argues pay mortgage one youre debt take 5 percent monthly savings use pay extra mortgage may think paying couple hundred dollars extra every month like trying bail ocean teaspoon may surprised far little extra go heres invest visualize take moment savor dream picture sunlight reflecting lake husband proudly holds string trout imagine katie grown robe cap proudly accepting diploma create retirement fund steer 10 percent monthly160savings an160individual retirement account ira 401k retirement account putting money made upper half financially speaking adults us hot dog according warrens financial disclosure forms 96000 265000 invested various retirement funds teachers insurance annuity associationcollege retirement equities fund tiaacref financial services organization also leading retirement provider people academic fields also 15000 50000 retirement savings invested vanguard160 mutual fund farrell approves amount warren tucked away golden160years companies chosen invest160with says lowfee transparent warren going pretty good retirement income says page warrens financial disclosure shows retirement funds160 invest prudently stock market take remaining 5 percent 10 youve paid mortgage monthly savings invest stock market picking investment different picking car people love nothing searching exotic car warren writes dedicate days nights studying muscle cars antique cars maybe hours drive something really cool even possible make little money happen upon something really special buy good price lose shirts repair shop probably better idea buy something safe reliable good gas mileage enough room groceries warren recommends investing indexed mutual fund buys stocks hundreds thousands different companies even though individual stocks fluctuate longrun160youre probably safe index fund essentially honda civic investment world warren total 1517000 6180000 invested several accounts tiaacref160she largest share invested annuity payment life insurance company distributed back fixed payments buyer later life money various mutual funds variable annuities work lot like mutual funds sean oshaughnessey private investor author book confident investor says way warren invested money little conservative calls prudent investment strategy farrell says warren lowworry portfolio pretty much set doesnt worry says like heres list warrens biggest investments the160page warrens financial disclosure forms showing investments160in annuities mutual funds everyone expect portfolio look like warrens160the senator able pack away significant amount money made pretty penny teaching writing books harvard annual salary was160 430000 2012 took 9000 school an160 emeritus professor last year warren got about160 64000 royalties160and salary from160 aspen publishers published many academic books 2011 took around160 700000160total harvard book royalties consulting fees senator earns160 174000 year oh avoid investing get nervous ways avoid negativethinking traps | 601 |
<p>Donald Trump on election night with Vice President-elect Mike Pence (right) and Reince Priebus, then-chair of the Republican National Committee (center). Investigative reporter Greg Palast questions the validity of the voting results that led to Trump’s win. (Julie Jacobson / AP)</p>
<p>Editor’s note: On Thursday, Truthdig will be sitting down with Greg Palast to discuss the 2016 election — tune in <a href="" type="internal">here</a>.</p>
<p>Americans who think the 2016 presidential election was far too reminiscent of the 2000 edition might be on to something. What’s more, like a busted clock, President-elect Donald Trump could actually be right twice: that the “swamp” of Washington, D.C., needs draining, and that U.S. elections can be stolen. In fact, investigative reporter Greg Palast thinks Trump and his party may have just made off with this one.</p>
<p>In the turbulent days since last Tuesday’s shocker brought roiling national tensions and divisions out in the open, politicians and pundits have lurched about in an effort to explain the results. Everything from woefully flawed polling models to a complacent electorate, intolerable nominees and third-party “spoiler” candidates has been trotted out in explanation, amounting to a confusing and jumbled picture. What for some constituted an earth-shattering national disaster appeared to others as the dawn of a welcome new era. As anyone with a social media account knows, there hasn’t been much gray area in between. (Among many other things, this campaign season was marred by extremes.)</p>
<p />
<p>For Palast, all that speculation misses the point. According to his research, which he’s been conducting since the last time Florida hogged the spotlight on Election Day, there are many ways in which the U.S. voting apparatus can be manipulated to produce a desired result.</p>
<p>In other words, in Palast’s view, Trump was right about the system being “rigged.” Or at least that’s what the president-elect vigorously insisted — until he won.</p>
<p>READ: <a href="" type="internal">From White Sheets to Spreadsheets</a></p>
<p>Back in 2012, Palast helpfully boiled down his data to warn citizens about the imminent failure of the American democratic experiment, and he included that data in his book, “Billionaires &amp; Ballot Bandits: How to Steal an Election in 9 Easy Steps.” (Watch <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/18/greg_palast_on_billionaires_ballot_bandits" type="external">this clip</a> for a comprehensive rundown.) Since then, the list of steps has grown because of the Supreme Court’s catastrophic gutting in 2013 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The 2013 decision removed crucial safeguards that had prevented balloting practices from being gamed in ways that would discriminate against minority voters.</p>
<p>But the stakes were jacked up even higher by the introduction in 2014 of the Interstate Voter Registration Crosscheck Program. That scheme was <a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2016/2/11/a-partisan-strategy-of-voter-suppression.html" type="external">spearheaded</a> by Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach (whose name has been floated as a short-list possibility for Trump’s administration), and involves the cooperation of his counterparts in 27 other states. Their stated mission is to remedy a nationwide epidemic of voter fraud that some analysts say <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/issues/voter-fraud" type="external">doesn’t actually exist</a>. (Click <a href="" type="internal">here</a> to read and watch Truthdig’s earlier interview with Palast about the Crosscheck program.)</p>
<p>What they’ve really accomplished, according to Palast’s calculations, is the systematic purging of tens of thousands of voters from the rolls in this latest presidential election. Many of them are people of color, who have been deemed more likely to cast ballots for Democrats — and scores of them live in the swing states that Trump claimed by razor-thin margins on Election Day.</p>
<p>In short, Palast believes Americans have just witnessed a hugely consequential heist on a national scale. He’s been on the trail of alleged voter suppressors and election poachers for years; he landed a <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-gops-stealth-war-against-voters-w435890" type="external">cover story</a> in Rolling Stone’s September issue; and he <a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/greg-palasts-best-democracy-money-can-buy-coming-to-theaters-starting-sept-23-in-nyc-sept-30-in-la/" type="external">released a documentary</a> this fall, “The Best Democracy Money Can Buy: A Tale of Billionaires and Ballot Bandits.” But he says the fix was in on Nov. 8 despite all these efforts.</p>
<p>Palast talked with Truthdig’s Kasia Anderson just after the election to offer his take on how the voting tallies added up as they did.</p>
<p>Editor’s note: Interview transcript was edited for clarity.</p>
<p>Greg Palast: I want to follow up on key things—obviously, you saw <a href="http://www.democracynow.org/2016/11/8/greg_palast_in_ohio_on_gop" type="external">the report on Democracy Now!</a> from Ohio. And even more important, of course, our film spends a lot of time in North Carolina. But here’s the story … <a href="http://www.gregpalast.com/greg-palasts-best-democracy-money-can-buy-coming-to-theaters-starting-sept-23-in-nyc-sept-30-in-la/" type="external">My film</a> talks, and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Billionaires-Ballot-Bandits-Steal-Election/dp/1609804783" type="external">my book</a> talks, about 10 ways to steal the vote.– basically, 10 methods of voter suppression. The number one thing to remember: This is the very first election, presidential election, following the gutting of the <a href="https://www.aclu.org/issues/voting-rights/voting-rights-act" type="external">Voting Rights Act</a>.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Right.</p>
<p>Greg Palast: … by The Supreme Court. That has made an intense difference, believe me. Let me just give you some numbers here. So what we have is, for example, we have a Trump margin of victory in Michigan of 13,107. The crosscheck purge list in Michigan was 449,922. Now, I want to be careful — when you go through that list, there’s a lot of people who have actually moved or something … in fact, most people on this list were not removed. I figure about, from my experience, the absolute minimum number of removals is only about 12 percent. But only 12 percent of 449-450,000 — you’re talking 50,000 people [removed from the Michigan voter rolls], almost all voters of color, overwhelmingly.</p>
<p>So, the Trump margin of victory — any application of the crosscheck list whatsoever — that’s it, that’s the margin of victory in Michigan. Arizona: 85,000 is his margin — 85,257. The crosscheck list: 270,000.</p>
<p>Crosscheck purge list is — I’m looking at … the 2014 summary from crosscheck itself, and then we apply … Obviously, in Michigan you’re talking a crosscheck list of 449,922 suspected double-voters or double-registered [voters], conservatively based on the Virginia purge, which is a very … it’s the most conservative method of all. There’s a competitor to crosscheck called <a href="http://www.ericstates.org/news-room" type="external">ERIC</a> [Electronic Registration Information Center], and that pretty much cleaned up the people who have moved.</p>
<p>So, a lot of states only use crosscheck or use crosscheck first, and their crosscheck eliminations are much bigger. But I want to take out the ones that ERIC did, because the ERIC list, I’d say, is 90 percent reliable. I mean, they take out people that shouldn’t be taken out, but they’re fairly reliable. So, if you’ve cleaned out the people who are on the ERIC list … [If] crosscheck has someone on the list that wasn’t on ERIC, they’re not a double-voter – they haven’t moved. Then you’re getting into the pure first-name, last-name match.</p>
<p>Now, you’ve seen the movie and heard this a couple times, so you know that the crosscheck list is basically a match of people with [the same] first and last names, and they purge those people. Or, they send them postcards, and those who don’t return those postcards can be purged, either in one election cycle or in the second election cycle.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Right.</p>
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<p>Greg Palast: So, in Virginia we were looking at one single cycle. This was very conservative. So, with Michigan, crosscheck basically handed Trump a victory. Arizona — I would not say that crosscheck handed the victory to Trump. What handed it to him was crosscheck plus citizen voter requirements, plus ID. … The problem I have with a lot of the material is you have to make a tremendous number of estimates. Plus, normally, for example, when I wrote the book “Billionaires and Ballot Bandits,” I gave a very exact, quite exacting number of the votes that were shifted away from Obama in 2008. What I had was the advantage of the states’ numbers and the <a href="https://www.eac.gov/about_the_eac/" type="external">EAC</a> — the Elections Assistance Commission — numbers for provisional ballots, spoiled ballots, absentee ballots, rejected ballots of various types.</p>
<p>Unlike the rest of the world, the U.S. and the [local] sites are not swift at all to publish the votes that never get counted or the votes that they rejected. It’s huge — the number of provisional ballots in this election will number in the several million … the number of rejected absentee ballots will number in the several million.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that chance of your vote spoiling — that is, you cast it but it doesn’t get tallied — is 900 percent higher if you’re black then if you’re white. And that’s the [ <a href="http://www.usccr.gov" type="external">U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’</a>] statistical analysis.</p>
<p>So, in that case, we’re looking at… from the experience of looking at the Arizona numbers, previously — and I can go back, there are other purge numbers, and provisional ballots — there is little doubt that Arizona is basically decided not by votes but by votes not counted, or the people turned away from the polls or purged from the voter rolls.</p>
<p>Same with North Carolina. Michigan. North Carolina … without question Michigan, without question Arizona, without question Florida. Probably — I don’t want to go out, because I’m looking at preliminary numbers — I would say probably North Carolina, and possibly Ohio. And of course, we haven’t looked at Minnesota yet. But I don’t think there’s any question in these states. Pennsylvania.</p>
<p>And the problem is, one of the big things that happened is that in 2000 … Over the past four years, you’ve had two major shifts. Two major shifts are: the demolition of the Voting Rights Act; and the second major shift is that the voting officials, the number of Republican voting officials taking office absolutely surged. One of the reasons Obama is president, is that in 2008 there’s a Democrat secretary of state in Ohio, and black people did not have a problem voting. For example, there were several early, you know there were lots of early voting stations. People didn’t wait in line five hours, six hours. You know, that’s just the truth of it, and … so you … definitely had these major shifts in who’s controlling these voting offices.</p>
<p>Interestingly, by the way, in fact to show how powerful that shift is in terms of who controls the vote: The … one swing state that swung to Hillary was Virginia, and that’s because Democrats took over the voting apparatus.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Was that attributable in some way to [Virginia] <a href="http://www.terrymcauliffe.com" type="external">Gov. [Terry] McAuliffe</a> and other people down the chain?</p>
<p>Greg Palast: It took him a while. McAuliffe is not — and you can quote me on this — he’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer. And I met with McAuliffe on voter suppression issues a few years ago, and he didn’t appear to understand the issue at all. But he did appoint — it took him about a year to take over … the office of the State Elections Board was switched to an African-American Democrat, and that changed the entire voting structure of Virginia. Now, I don’t want to say both parties… for those saying, well, that means Democrats are stealing it, well basically the … advantage that Democrats have is they simply let people vote. Now, you could say that they’re allowing people to vote a second time from another state, or aliens, etc. but we haven’t seen — you know, again, where are the arrests for these crimes?</p>
<p>So, Trump laid out a clear path about how they’re gonna basically shoplift this election. It’s always the same way. Whenever you hear someone yell “The vote’s rigged! Aliens are voting … people are voting twice,” etc., Trump said … [it] got mushed, because the same day that he that the tape came out about him groping women was the day that he said, in my opinion, something more important, which is that he claimed that … Mexicans were <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/trump-immigrants-pouring-over-border-to-vote-229274" type="external">crossing the border to vote</a> for Hillary. …</p>
<p>That got lost, but whenever someone says … you have what in the film we call the “hysteria factory,” that’s always a cover. Every time that there’s a claim of fraud, what you have is then a solution to stop the fraud — in the case of Arizona to stop …</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: That enables Republicans to put more restrictions …</p>
<p>Greg Palast: Right, so you have more restrictions, and one of the devastating things that happened also is that the head of the … the executive of the Elections Assistance Commission who was appointed this year was a protégé of <a href="http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a48232/kris-kobach-voter-suppression/" type="external">Kris Kobach’s</a> — Trump’s … what I call the “Purge-on General.” The guy who put together crosscheck, the guy who wrote <a href="https://www.aclu.org/feature/arizonas-sb-1070" type="external">SB 1070</a>, the guy who wrote the laws for Alabama, Arizona and Kansas saying you have to prove your citizenship to vote. The vote suppression—you know, we use the term vote suppression and it’s a clean, it’s a legalistic term – but when someone steals your car, you don’t say “someone suppressed my car!” Suppression is a funny word. They take the vote. They knock people off the voter rolls.</p>
<p>There is also, and this is very, very important … I’m a numbers guy. By the way, you might consider this a positive imprimatur or not, but I did … I was a professor of statistics at Indiana University, so numbers are my thing, and so I like to work from numbers, which is why I do the kind of reporting I do — it’s all kind of numbers-based and statistics- and probability-based, too. And so, for example, this latest — you know, the pundits were all wrong, right? …</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Yes, that was going to be my question for you: Based on your statistical background, what is your take on how wrong all these polls and all the punditry was?</p>
<p>Greg Palast: They were wrong.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Yeah. But, why … how did we get in this?</p>
<p>Greg Palast: Let me tell you something. Here’s the thing that’s going on: The polls, okay, the polls … moving into the election polls were wrong, okay, they were erroneous, because the number one adjustment factor that they make, which they must make – it’s not incorrect — but the number one adjustment factor they make is that they have to determine who is likely to vote. And they underestimated the likeliness of the vote for … the likeliness of the vote for Trump. In other words, they said … they would ask, for example, did you vote in 2012? If someone said no, they put them down as less likely to vote in this election. But a lot of the white middle America simply wouldn’t vote for Romney or Obama. They came out to vote this time.</p>
<p>Okay, so that was an error in the polls leading up to the election. What about exit polls? Now, exit polls are used, are the gold standard of measuring whether an election’s been fixed. And suddenly there’s a brand-new trope out there that explains away difference between the exit polls and and the final count. Now, as we know, we also have a big, big problem, that the number-one exit polling company, Edison … conforms data — that is, the final exit poll always conforms to the count, which is terrible, because how do you measure – we need to know the difference between the exit polls and the count, because that’s the margin of steel — everyone’s accepted that for decades. Okay, so now we don’t do that because the exit polls are supposedly wrong in Ohio in 2004, wrong in Florida in 2000, but they were right — and what is the difference?</p>
<p>OK let me … it’s very simple. We have a massive non-count in America. A massive non-count. So for example, if you’re given a provisional ballot, and you come out and you talk to an exit pollster, they say, “Who’d you vote for?” So if you say, “Well, I voted for Hillary,” the exit pollster does not know, and they never ask — for reasons I don’t understand they don’t ask, “Were you given a provisional ballot?” Right? And so, with millions of provisional ballots, millions — and overwhelmingly those are given to voters of color — that is, Hillary voters, so you have voters … [interview momentarily disrupted after phone disconnects]… Anyway, so you have the problem that votes spoil, you don’t … When someone says, “I voted for Hillary,” they don’t know if their vote was counted. This is very important. The non-count of votes in America is huge and vital and determinative in at least two elections we know of – ‘04 and 2000 – and by the way, don’t forget, in 2000, no one doubted if you counted every single ballot, you know, that … on the recount that Gore won. It’s just that they said if you go by the Florida rule, you know there’s this discussion about, well, what happened in that recount.</p>
<p>And in that review by the media people — I was there, I was part of it — the ballots thrown out … there were 179,000 ballots spoiled. I’m not talking about my whole story of the felon voters who weren’t allowed to vote, because they didn’t have provisional ballots at the time. 179,000 ballots were spoiled, and again, 900 percent … the chance that they were black was 900 percent higher than for a white voter. So just that — the spoilers — forget my story of the felon count. The spoiler factor was determinative there. And the same in Ohio. What people don’t realize in Ohio in 2004 is that … they were still using punch-card machines. Hanging chads actually had more to do with that election than … these people run around saying it was the electronic voting machines.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Right.</p>
<p>Greg Palast: I’m not going to piss on the people who say it was the electronic voting machines. All they have is a smell, not a hard piece of evidence for me to say I can look at the amount of votes that were thrown in the spoilage bin — and we know where they came from, they came from the inner cities and punch-cards.</p>
<p>So, what’s happening now? We have massive spoilage, and we know where that goes. We have this … huge purge issues, including, in particular, this brand-new crosscheck system, which has totally slipped under the radar except for my reporting. I’m sure it will be looked back — just like my reports of the felon purges of Florida were not picked up in the U.S. press for four years, okay. This is the same type of story …</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Why isn’t it being picked up? Because, I mean, it seems like there’s a lot of interest in examining what happened, and there’s a …</p>
<p>Greg Palast: No there isn’t! I disagree — there’s no interest at all. In fact, just the opposite – there is a trope that, how dare anyone challenge the idea that American elections are anything but the envy of the world?</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Well, there’s a <a href="https://www.change.org/p/electoral-college-electors-electoral-college-make-hillary-clinton-president-on-december-19" type="external">petition</a> going around about [how] the electoral college could still vote Hillary as the winner, come December — there’s a whole petition running for that.</p>
<p>Greg Palast: Yeah but that’s hardly something that has become mainstream news. I mean Truthdig — I love you guys, but because you are not mainstream, okay?</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Right. No, I’m not saying it’s mainstream – I’m saying there seems to be, on social media and through other channels …</p>
<p>Greg Palast: Now look, not that my story is being ignored, it was the <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/features/the-gops-stealth-war-against-voters-w435890" type="external">cover story of Rolling Stone</a>. But that’s — and I was just on Democracy Now! on election morning. And, you know, so within the non … and of course, this year’s the first year I’m not directly reporting for BBC and the Guardian — and you know, so I am mainstream, just in the rest of the world which doesn’t ignore it. I’m just saying it doesn’t become part of The New York Times parlance or The Washington Post. All my stuff — for years, it takes years to drip in, just like ‘04 in Ohio. So, you know, and one of the things I really always resent is when people say, “Well, if your story was legit, how come it’s not in The New York Times? And my answer is always the same: It will be.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: So, why can’t you get their interest now, do you think? I have my ideas, but I want to know from your experience.</p>
<p>Greg Palast: Well there’s tropes … in fact, when we got cut off I didn’t finish something. The liberal media is beating itself up, the liberal mainstream, with a false, false line. I went back to the idea that exit polls are the gold standard. And the raw exit polls — they were saying, “Gee, the exit polls showed Hillary Clinton winning.” Now, the exit polls are always the gold standard of how people thought they voted. It doesn’t tell you if their vote got counted, it tells you if they thought they voted. And those exit polls are shockingly accurate — if you correct for the monkey business in Ohio and Florida, those exit polls are shockingly accurate. And for good reason – you just told someone how did you vote a few minutes ago — you don’t have to guess whether they voted, because they just told you. What they don’t know is if their vote counted. Now, what happened here? There’s a brand-new trope that says, oh, people told pollsters that people are afraid to say that they voted for Donald Trump …</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Right, the leaners, right?</p>
<p>Greg Palast: This is one thing that’s been pushed by Joe Scarborough – he’s the number-one promoter that everyone has repeated — oh people are afraid to tell pollsters! And his line was this: They’re told every day that Donald Trump is a freak and a racist and a sexist and a bad guy who doesn’t like Muslims, right? And so they’re afraid to say that they’re voting for Trump. I’m sorry — how many people watch Joe Scarborough? How many people read The New York Times as opposed to, okay let’s look – the number of people who watch MSNBC — you have as few as 32,000 people watching Rachel Maddow, okay? You have five million people — five million people — listening to Alex Jones.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Right.</p>
<p>Greg Palast: And you’re telling me that Alex Jones’ listener is afraid to say that they’re voting for Trump. Yes, if you’re at a cocktail party in Martha’s Vineyard, it’s hard to say you’re voting for Trump. But I was … I’m sorry, these people never leave the fucking coast – they are in Los Angeles, they’re in Washington and they’re in New York, and they think that that’s America. Okay, this has been the problem. And by the way, I will say that that’s also Hillary Clinton’s problem. It shouldn’t have been close enough to steal, okay — I said this about Gore, I said this about Kerry. I haven’t talked about how the elections were stolen, but why the hell were these candidates [making elections] close enough to steal?</p>
<p>So in the case of Trump, I was just in Ohio. You walk outside, okay, I went with the … when I was in Dayton, I went to the black churches where of course they’re scared of Trump, they’re scared of Trump, and they all voted overwhelmingly [against him]. And if you’re a black person, in where I went in the [inaudible] Missionary Baptist Church in Dayton, and you stood up and said, “I’m voting Trump,” you would’ve gotten pretty razzed by the other people there. By the way, you would not have been attacked, you would’ve been just — they would’ve made fun of you.</p>
<p>I also went to — what was not in my Democracy Now! report — is I went to the white churches. The big megachurches. The giant megachurches just outside Dayton. They are filled, they are filled — you walk in and it’s nothing but Republican Party propaganda. The black churches, by the way, don’t have the political propaganda. But everyone knows how they’re voting.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Right.</p>
<p>Greg Palast: In the white churches … because of the <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/SpeechNOW.org_v._Federal_Election_Commission" type="external">SpeechNOW</a> and other directives of the Supreme Court which allow basically churches to be political now, this is covered with Republican propaganda. If you voted, if you said you’re voting for Hillary and you were in the megachurches and the evangelical churches in the suburbs of Dayton, in the suburbs of Toledo if you said you voted for Hillary Clinton, you would be ostracized, damned, people would be spitting on you. They’re not afraid to say they’re voting for Trump! There are literally afraid to say they’re voting for Hillary I actually thought that there was a hidden vote for Hillary among women who don’t like that guy because they’ve all had bosses that tried to grab their stuff and then didn’t give them a promotion if they didn’t go along, but I thought there might be a hidden vote for Hillary. There’s not a hidden vote for Trump. Yes, in Silicon Valley, Peter Thiel got a lot of crap for supporting Donald Trump. Okay? But let’s leave San Francisco a minute, okay, let’s leave the coasts. These people are talking about people being afraid that they’re voting for Trump in Idaho, where he won two to one? What are they talking about? I was … when I was in Dayton, and I was with the auto workers who lost their goddamn jobs to NAFTA, there wasn’t a white worker … You know what? The union guys, the labor union guys, I’m telling you right now, and this is worth understanding. The labor union guys were solid for Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. They all said, “I’m voting Sanders — if there’s no Sanders, I’m voting Trump.” Period. They weren’t afraid to tell me that!</p>
<p>The <a href="https://uaw.org/" type="external">UAW</a> today issued a statement that Donald Trump … we, this union and Donald Trump, see eye-to-eye on trade, and we want to meet with him. And let me tell you, that was determinative in places like Ohio. Places like Pennsylvania. That determined the white vote.</p>
<p>And in fact, while the coastals were all talking about Trump and dissing Muslims, he was talking to the people in the Rust Belt about losing their jobs because of Clinton’s free trade policies. And Hillary Clinton, even though she clearly gave a phony statement — it was so phony it dripped — that she wasn’t going to support TPP … she then … when she said she’s not gonna support TPP because it doesn’t meet her standards, she then gave a long lecture on the wonders of globalization.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Right … I want to be sure that we get all the most important – not that this isn’t important – but the aftermath stuff. Can you…</p>
<p>Greg Palast: Well, I’m gonna tell you right now: [The 2016 election] was stolen in Florida, it was stolen in Arizona, it was stolen in North Carolina, Pennsylvania. Possibly Ohio, Wisconsin and Michigan. And you can’t discount things like also the massive attack on student voters and the failure … basically the push to and prevention of not only students voting but students registering. This is a big, big deal like in Wisconsin … I can, I’m not want to go with anecdotal stuff normally, but I can tell you that my daughter spent three months fighting to register to vote in Georgia, where she lives and studies. Three months of fighting back-and-forth, and so she said she was the only student at her large school – I don’t want to identify her as to where she lives, but she is in a large school in Georgia with thousands of students, and she says she’s the only one she knows who succeeded in registering to vote.</p>
<p>And to even vote, she had to take an Uber cab off campus even though there are thousands of students there to, you know — it was a hellish job to register and to vote and it’s not minor in this country</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: So, let’s just say that miraculously mainstream media tuned into this discussion or to one of your articles and decided, okay, we really need to get on the story. Would it be readily … would it be possible for them to follow the same crumb trails you did to arrive at the same conclusions? Would they need you to guide them? Is this something that … you know, obviously you’ve been steeped in this for years and years, but how accessible would this be for another news agency to follow you through it, for example, and verify?</p>
<p>Greg Palast: The one thing … problem I have with my fellow American journalist in most parts is that they’re number-phobic. This is a big problem, that you have to kind of crunch numbers for them. And I’m going to try to do as much of that as I can. And I really wish that they knew how to look at raw numbers and tables and analyze and understand how probabilities work and everything else, and statistics.</p>
<p>Lately there’s been a subgroup of people like 360 and others, and, you know, with [The New York Times’] Charles Blow and others who are statistics-savvy, and I would love them to jump on this, but they’re so busy beating themselves up and saying that their exit polling is all wrong, their polling is wrong — the polling is not wrong; these guys know what they’re doing. Yes, they absolutely made some mistakes in the algorithm on likeliness to vote, no question about it. They did underestimate Trump’s votes, because they’re using an old algorithm.</p>
<p>Other than that, the savvy, the statistics-savvy reporters should be able to repeat everything, because I don’t go by anecdotal, I go by — I’m a numbers guy and I go by lists and numbers. If they understand those numbers, I think that they will come to the same conclusions and stop beating themselves up. It’s just like in 2004, you had these reporters, and in Florida: “Oh, our exit polls are wrong! Our exit polls are wrong! Are exit polls are wrong! How come our exit polls are always wrong?” How about their exit polls are always right?</p>
<p>The Brexit exit polls, for example, were accurate to a hundredth of a percent. How did that happen? The answer is because in Britain, they count every vote. They do it in the open, they open the pieces of paper, everyone sees the vote, and if a vote is spoiled they announce it. When they announce vote totals in Britain they say: “X for Brexit, X against Brexit,” and you know, “726 votes in this precinct were not recorded for the following reasons.” And these are given — a list of reasons. And we don’t get that in the U.S.; we get something called 100 percent reporting, when a hundred percent reporting just means the precincts said, “We’re closed, and here’s our numbers,” you know — it doesn’t tell you what’s counted what’s tallied.</p>
<p>And it’s like in California the night of the June primary, we had almost every poll, almost everyone showed 100 percent precincts reporting, and yet two and a quarter, two million votes were not tallied. And there’s a difference between tallied, counted and reported, you know, these are technical, statistical concepts, but basically … in America we don’t get a full number. I’m trying to get invalid votes right now from each secretary of state — it’s not so easy. They don’t want to give them to you, and it’s not easy to get, but we’ll get them. But I’m telling you, this is all repeatable if anyone understands the statistical information. That’s what they have to go by. It’s not anecdotal. I told you the story of my daughter, but you know, there’s a way to calculate everything, and I just want these pollsters to stop beating themselves up for being right. They’re coming up with, with post hoc, post hoc, bullshit untested theories about why they’re wrong. You know, like people won’t tell us the truth. Why? We have no — zero, zero, zero evidence of people being afraid to tell the truth to pollsters. The one thing you get from polling which they never announced on the air is the number of people who simply won’t talk to you. That’s a big number, okay. A lot of people that exit those polls would say, “Who did you vote for?” “Fuck you!” That’s never reported, and that oughta be, but other than that, these pollsters should stop making up, stop beating themselves up, because the exit polls are accurate and have been accurate for years, and they’re always accurate. Period.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: What do you think about all the talk about Donald Trump — you know, something pundits were saying before the Election Day and during, I guess, was, you know, “Donald Trump hasn’t spent enough money, and he has no ground game.” And this is one of the ideas that they marshaled to prove that Clinton was going to win. But would you say that if some of this crosscheck, etc., was going on, that maybe that kind of resources and spending [weren’t] necessary on his part? That’s speculation but…</p>
<p>Greg Palast: He knew where to put his effort. He knew where the effort goes. There’s not enough white — it’s a simple trope, a simple idea — statistically there’s not enough white guys to elect Donald Trump. And so he has two choices: to win over the non-white-guy vote or make sure those votes don’t count and those people — either those people can’t vote or the votes don’t count. That’s the only way to run this election, I mean, it really didn’t matter if he had more ads. People weren’t undecided. You didn’t have a massive undecided vote. It wasn’t undecided, so there was no, you know, what are you going to do — have literally… Hillary Clinton was hitting people with 200 ads! What was that for? She had all this money, she didn’t spend it — and her so-called get-out-the-vote, by the way, campaign was a fucking joke. She had all these people pretending to get out the vote — it was incredibly ineffective. I didn’t see any of Hillary’s people getting the black vote out in Ohio, or protecting the black vote in Ohio. It didn’t exist. She didn’t have a get-out-the-vote and that’s all baloney — she spent money on organizers and professionals and posters and companies that are supposed to get out the vote but they didn’t get out the vote, okay?</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: Right.</p>
<p>Greg Palast: It was — and like I say, it shouldn’t have been close enough to steal. But Hillary’s campaign reminded me of her campaign against Barack Obama, which was that — you have a bunch of wannabe people who want to have jobs in the administration, the party hats and payrollers, who actually don’t get off their tuchuses. And [they] say, “Oh I spent all day going and knocking [on] doors,” and they’re basically in a bar playing fucking poker, you know … I saw this when I was in the Democratic machine in Brooklyn. These people don’t get out the vote, that’s all bullshit. She didn’t have a get-out-the-vote operation.</p>
<p>Kasia Anderson: So, what’s next for you with everything you’re doing? What remains to be investigated from this election?</p>
<p>Greg Palast: Well, I want to go — I need to deep dive into the uncounted vote. The invalid spoiled vote, the provisional ballots. And I also resent the fact that she conceded without those votes being counted. They’re not her goddamn votes, are they? Gore did the same thing — he conceded black people’s votes, not his vote! I don’t even know how he had standing. But we need to get the provisional ballot count and how it’s split and where it came from and where the counties it comes from in terms of race. We need to get the spoiled vote, the votes that were never counted. We need to get the absentee vote, which was always tends to be heavily Democratic, and we need to know how many of those votes were not counted and thrown out.</p>
<p>And one of the big problems is that the EAC, which gathers this on a national basis, has been defunded by the Republicans. And so, literally we don’t have the agency which gathers statistics gathering the statistics. And it’s, so, it’s a much harder thing to do — look, I’m a statistician at heart and I’m an investigator. I’m not an investigative reporter, I’m a reporting investigator. I was an investigator long before I was a reporter.</p>
<p>And I’m going to use my statistical abilities to take a deep dive into that data, and that’s what I do — data. And like I say, the pollsters should shut the fuck up, because how many posters tell you, “Oh, here’s our estimate of provisional ballots; here’s our estimate of spoiled ballots; here’s our estimate of the people turned away from the polls because they didn’t have ID?” That should be in their calculations too, and instead they’re just saying, “Oh we got it wrong.” Please, give me a break, you know? Their commentary is stupid — their numbers are correct.</p> | true | 4 | donald trump election night vice presidentelect mike pence right reince priebus thenchair republican national committee center investigative reporter greg palast questions validity voting results led trumps win julie jacobson ap editors note thursday truthdig sitting greg palast discuss 2016 election tune americans think 2016 presidential election far reminiscent 2000 edition might something whats like busted clock presidentelect donald trump could actually right twice swamp washington dc needs draining us elections stolen fact investigative reporter greg palast thinks trump party may made one turbulent days since last tuesdays shocker brought roiling national tensions divisions open politicians pundits lurched effort explain results everything woefully flawed polling models complacent electorate intolerable nominees thirdparty spoiler candidates trotted explanation amounting confusing jumbled picture constituted earthshattering national disaster appeared others dawn welcome new era anyone social media account knows hasnt much gray area among many things campaign season marred extremes palast speculation misses point according research hes conducting since last time florida hogged spotlight election day many ways us voting apparatus manipulated produce desired result words palasts view trump right system rigged least thats presidentelect vigorously insisted read white sheets spreadsheets back 2012 palast helpfully boiled data warn citizens imminent failure american democratic experiment included data book billionaires amp ballot bandits steal election 9 easy steps watch clip comprehensive rundown since list steps grown supreme courts catastrophic gutting 2013 voting rights act 1965 2013 decision removed crucial safeguards prevented balloting practices gamed ways would discriminate minority voters stakes jacked even higher introduction 2014 interstate voter registration crosscheck program scheme spearheaded kansas secretary state kris kobach whose name floated shortlist possibility trumps administration involves cooperation counterparts 27 states stated mission remedy nationwide epidemic voter fraud analysts say doesnt actually exist click read watch truthdigs earlier interview palast crosscheck program theyve really accomplished according palasts calculations systematic purging tens thousands voters rolls latest presidential election many people color deemed likely cast ballots democrats scores live swing states trump claimed razorthin margins election day short palast believes americans witnessed hugely consequential heist national scale hes trail alleged voter suppressors election poachers years landed cover story rolling stones september issue released documentary fall best democracy money buy tale billionaires ballot bandits says fix nov 8 despite efforts palast talked truthdigs kasia anderson election offer take voting tallies added editors note interview transcript edited clarity greg palast want follow key thingsobviously saw report democracy ohio even important course film spends lot time north carolina heres story film talks book talks 10 ways steal vote basically 10 methods voter suppression number one thing remember first election presidential election following gutting voting rights act kasia anderson right greg palast supreme court made intense difference believe let give numbers example trump margin victory michigan 13107 crosscheck purge list michigan 449922 want careful go list theres lot people actually moved something fact people list removed figure experience absolute minimum number removals 12 percent 12 percent 449450000 youre talking 50000 people removed michigan voter rolls almost voters color overwhelmingly trump margin victory application crosscheck list whatsoever thats thats margin victory michigan arizona 85000 margin 85257 crosscheck list 270000 crosscheck purge list im looking 2014 summary crosscheck apply obviously michigan youre talking crosscheck list 449922 suspected doublevoters doubleregistered voters conservatively based virginia purge conservative method theres competitor crosscheck called eric electronic registration information center pretty much cleaned people moved lot states use crosscheck use crosscheck first crosscheck eliminations much bigger want take ones eric eric list id say 90 percent reliable mean take people shouldnt taken theyre fairly reliable youve cleaned people eric list crosscheck someone list wasnt eric theyre doublevoter havent moved youre getting pure firstname lastname match youve seen movie heard couple times know crosscheck list basically match people first last names purge people send postcards dont return postcards purged either one election cycle second election cycle kasia anderson right make sure show support truthdigs independent journalism visiting donation page greg palast virginia looking one single cycle conservative michigan crosscheck basically handed trump victory arizona would say crosscheck handed victory trump handed crosscheck plus citizen voter requirements plus id problem lot material make tremendous number estimates plus normally example wrote book billionaires ballot bandits gave exact quite exacting number votes shifted away obama 2008 advantage states numbers eac elections assistance commission numbers provisional ballots spoiled ballots absentee ballots rejected ballots various types unlike rest world us local sites swift publish votes never get counted votes rejected huge number provisional ballots election number several million number rejected absentee ballots number several million keep mind chance vote spoiling cast doesnt get tallied 900 percent higher youre black youre white thats us commission civil rights statistical analysis case looking experience looking arizona numbers previously go back purge numbers provisional ballots little doubt arizona basically decided votes votes counted people turned away polls purged voter rolls north carolina michigan north carolina without question michigan without question arizona without question florida probably dont want go im looking preliminary numbers would say probably north carolina possibly ohio course havent looked minnesota yet dont think theres question states pennsylvania problem one big things happened 2000 past four years youve two major shifts two major shifts demolition voting rights act second major shift voting officials number republican voting officials taking office absolutely surged one reasons obama president 2008 theres democrat secretary state ohio black people problem voting example several early know lots early voting stations people didnt wait line five hours six hours know thats truth definitely major shifts whos controlling voting offices interestingly way fact show powerful shift terms controls vote one swing state swung hillary virginia thats democrats took voting apparatus kasia anderson attributable way virginia gov terry mcauliffe people chain greg palast took mcauliffe quote hes sharpest knife drawer met mcauliffe voter suppression issues years ago didnt appear understand issue appoint took year take office state elections board switched africanamerican democrat changed entire voting structure virginia dont want say parties saying well means democrats stealing well basically advantage democrats simply let people vote could say theyre allowing people vote second time another state aliens etc havent seen know arrests crimes trump laid clear path theyre gon na basically shoplift election always way whenever hear someone yell votes rigged aliens voting people voting twice etc trump said got mushed day tape came groping women day said opinion something important claimed mexicans crossing border vote hillary got lost whenever someone says film call hysteria factory thats always cover every time theres claim fraud solution stop fraud case arizona stop kasia anderson enables republicans put restrictions greg palast right restrictions one devastating things happened also head executive elections assistance commission appointed year protégé kris kobachs trumps call purgeon general guy put together crosscheck guy wrote sb 1070 guy wrote laws alabama arizona kansas saying prove citizenship vote vote suppressionyou know use term vote suppression clean legalistic term someone steals car dont say someone suppressed car suppression funny word take vote knock people voter rolls also important im numbers guy way might consider positive imprimatur professor statistics indiana university numbers thing like work numbers kind reporting kind numbersbased statistics probabilitybased example latest know pundits wrong right kasia anderson yes going question based statistical background take wrong polls punditry greg palast wrong kasia anderson yeah get greg palast let tell something heres thing thats going polls okay polls moving election polls wrong okay erroneous number one adjustment factor make must make incorrect number one adjustment factor make determine likely vote underestimated likeliness vote likeliness vote trump words said would ask example vote 2012 someone said put less likely vote election lot white middle america simply wouldnt vote romney obama came vote time okay error polls leading election exit polls exit polls used gold standard measuring whether elections fixed suddenly theres brandnew trope explains away difference exit polls final count know also big big problem numberone exit polling company edison conforms data final exit poll always conforms count terrible measure need know difference exit polls count thats margin steel everyones accepted decades okay dont exit polls supposedly wrong ohio 2004 wrong florida 2000 right difference ok let simple massive noncount america massive noncount example youre given provisional ballot come talk exit pollster say whod vote say well voted hillary exit pollster know never ask reasons dont understand dont ask given provisional ballot right millions provisional ballots millions overwhelmingly given voters color hillary voters voters interview momentarily disrupted phone disconnects anyway problem votes spoil dont someone says voted hillary dont know vote counted important noncount votes america huge vital determinative least two elections know 04 2000 way dont forget 2000 one doubted counted every single ballot know recount gore said go florida rule know theres discussion well happened recount review media people part ballots thrown 179000 ballots spoiled im talking whole story felon voters werent allowed vote didnt provisional ballots time 179000 ballots spoiled 900 percent chance black 900 percent higher white voter spoilers forget story felon count spoiler factor determinative ohio people dont realize ohio 2004 still using punchcard machines hanging chads actually election people run around saying electronic voting machines kasia anderson right greg palast im going piss people say electronic voting machines smell hard piece evidence say look amount votes thrown spoilage bin know came came inner cities punchcards whats happening massive spoilage know goes huge purge issues including particular brandnew crosscheck system totally slipped radar except reporting im sure looked back like reports felon purges florida picked us press four years okay type story kasia anderson isnt picked mean seems like theres lot interest examining happened theres greg palast isnt disagree theres interest fact opposite trope dare anyone challenge idea american elections anything envy world kasia anderson well theres petition going around electoral college could still vote hillary winner come december theres whole petition running greg palast yeah thats hardly something become mainstream news mean truthdig love guys mainstream okay kasia anderson right im saying mainstream im saying seems social media channels greg palast look story ignored cover story rolling stone thats democracy election morning know within non course years first year im directly reporting bbc guardian know mainstream rest world doesnt ignore im saying doesnt become part new york times parlance washington post stuff years takes years drip like 04 ohio know one things really always resent people say well story legit come new york times answer always kasia anderson cant get interest think ideas want know experience greg palast well theres tropes fact got cut didnt finish something liberal media beating liberal mainstream false false line went back idea exit polls gold standard raw exit polls saying gee exit polls showed hillary clinton winning exit polls always gold standard people thought voted doesnt tell vote got counted tells thought voted exit polls shockingly accurate correct monkey business ohio florida exit polls shockingly accurate good reason told someone vote minutes ago dont guess whether voted told dont know vote counted happened theres brandnew trope says oh people told pollsters people afraid say voted donald trump kasia anderson right leaners right greg palast one thing thats pushed joe scarborough hes numberone promoter everyone repeated oh people afraid tell pollsters line theyre told every day donald trump freak racist sexist bad guy doesnt like muslims right theyre afraid say theyre voting trump im sorry many people watch joe scarborough many people read new york times opposed okay lets look number people watch msnbc 32000 people watching rachel maddow okay five million people five million people listening alex jones kasia anderson right greg palast youre telling alex jones listener afraid say theyre voting trump yes youre cocktail party marthas vineyard hard say youre voting trump im sorry people never leave fucking coast los angeles theyre washington theyre new york think thats america okay problem way say thats also hillary clintons problem shouldnt close enough steal okay said gore said kerry havent talked elections stolen hell candidates making elections close enough steal case trump ohio walk outside okay went dayton went black churches course theyre scared trump theyre scared trump voted overwhelmingly youre black person went inaudible missionary baptist church dayton stood said im voting trump wouldve gotten pretty razzed people way would attacked wouldve wouldve made fun also went democracy report went white churches big megachurches giant megachurches outside dayton filled filled walk nothing republican party propaganda black churches way dont political propaganda everyone knows theyre voting kasia anderson right greg palast white churches speechnow directives supreme court allow basically churches political covered republican propaganda voted said youre voting hillary megachurches evangelical churches suburbs dayton suburbs toledo said voted hillary clinton would ostracized damned people would spitting theyre afraid say theyre voting trump literally afraid say theyre voting hillary actually thought hidden vote hillary among women dont like guy theyve bosses tried grab stuff didnt give promotion didnt go along thought might hidden vote hillary theres hidden vote trump yes silicon valley peter thiel got lot crap supporting donald trump okay lets leave san francisco minute okay lets leave coasts people talking people afraid theyre voting trump idaho two one talking dayton auto workers lost goddamn jobs nafta wasnt white worker know union guys labor union guys im telling right worth understanding labor union guys solid bernie sanders donald trump said im voting sanders theres sanders im voting trump period werent afraid tell uaw today issued statement donald trump union donald trump see eyetoeye trade want meet let tell determinative places like ohio places like pennsylvania determined white vote fact coastals talking trump dissing muslims talking people rust belt losing jobs clintons free trade policies hillary clinton even though clearly gave phony statement phony dripped wasnt going support tpp said shes gon na support tpp doesnt meet standards gave long lecture wonders globalization kasia anderson right want sure get important isnt important aftermath stuff greg palast well im gon na tell right 2016 election stolen florida stolen arizona stolen north carolina pennsylvania possibly ohio wisconsin michigan cant discount things like also massive attack student voters failure basically push prevention students voting students registering big big deal like wisconsin im want go anecdotal stuff normally tell daughter spent three months fighting register vote georgia lives studies three months fighting backandforth said student large school dont want identify lives large school georgia thousands students says shes one knows succeeded registering vote even vote take uber cab campus even though thousands students know hellish job register vote minor country kasia anderson lets say miraculously mainstream media tuned discussion one articles decided okay really need get story would readily would possible follow crumb trails arrive conclusions would need guide something know obviously youve steeped years years accessible would another news agency follow example verify greg palast one thing problem fellow american journalist parts theyre numberphobic big problem kind crunch numbers im going try much really wish knew look raw numbers tables analyze understand probabilities work everything else statistics lately theres subgroup people like 360 others know new york times charles blow others statisticssavvy would love jump theyre busy beating saying exit polling wrong polling wrong polling wrong guys know theyre yes absolutely made mistakes algorithm likeliness vote question underestimate trumps votes theyre using old algorithm savvy statisticssavvy reporters able repeat everything dont go anecdotal go im numbers guy go lists numbers understand numbers think come conclusions stop beating like 2004 reporters florida oh exit polls wrong exit polls wrong exit polls wrong come exit polls always wrong exit polls always right brexit exit polls example accurate hundredth percent happen answer britain count every vote open open pieces paper everyone sees vote vote spoiled announce announce vote totals britain say x brexit x brexit know 726 votes precinct recorded following reasons given list reasons dont get us get something called 100 percent reporting hundred percent reporting means precincts said closed heres numbers know doesnt tell whats counted whats tallied like california night june primary almost every poll almost everyone showed 100 percent precincts reporting yet two quarter two million votes tallied theres difference tallied counted reported know technical statistical concepts basically america dont get full number im trying get invalid votes right secretary state easy dont want give easy get well get im telling repeatable anyone understands statistical information thats go anecdotal told story daughter know theres way calculate everything want pollsters stop beating right theyre coming post hoc post hoc bullshit untested theories theyre wrong know like people wont tell us truth zero zero zero evidence people afraid tell truth pollsters one thing get polling never announced air number people simply wont talk thats big number okay lot people exit polls would say vote fuck thats never reported oughta pollsters stop making stop beating exit polls accurate accurate years theyre always accurate period kasia anderson think talk donald trump know something pundits saying election day guess know donald trump hasnt spent enough money ground game one ideas marshaled prove clinton going win would say crosscheck etc going maybe kind resources spending werent necessary part thats speculation greg palast knew put effort knew effort goes theres enough white simple trope simple idea statistically theres enough white guys elect donald trump two choices win nonwhiteguy vote make sure votes dont count people either people cant vote votes dont count thats way run election mean really didnt matter ads people werent undecided didnt massive undecided vote wasnt undecided know going literally hillary clinton hitting people 200 ads money didnt spend socalled getoutthevote way campaign fucking joke people pretending get vote incredibly ineffective didnt see hillarys people getting black vote ohio protecting black vote ohio didnt exist didnt getoutthevote thats baloney spent money organizers professionals posters companies supposed get vote didnt get vote okay kasia anderson right greg palast like say shouldnt close enough steal hillarys campaign reminded campaign barack obama bunch wannabe people want jobs administration party hats payrollers actually dont get tuchuses say oh spent day going knocking doors theyre basically bar playing fucking poker know saw democratic machine brooklyn people dont get vote thats bullshit didnt getoutthevote operation kasia anderson whats next everything youre remains investigated election greg palast well want go need deep dive uncounted vote invalid spoiled vote provisional ballots also resent fact conceded without votes counted theyre goddamn votes gore thing conceded black peoples votes vote dont even know standing need get provisional ballot count split came counties comes terms race need get spoiled vote votes never counted need get absentee vote always tends heavily democratic need know many votes counted thrown one big problems eac gathers national basis defunded republicans literally dont agency gathers statistics gathering statistics much harder thing look im statistician heart im investigator im investigative reporter im reporting investigator investigator long reporter im going use statistical abilities take deep dive data thats data like say pollsters shut fuck many posters tell oh heres estimate provisional ballots heres estimate spoiled ballots heres estimate people turned away polls didnt id calculations instead theyre saying oh got wrong please give break know commentary stupid numbers correct | 3,150 |
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<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSD21zp89zM" type="external">Nice video</a> from <a href="http://www.savesfbay.org/site/pp.asp?c=dgKLLSOwEnH&amp;b=474297" type="external">Save The Bay</a>. It’s the latest in their campaign to <a href="" type="internal">reduce plastic bag pollution</a> in San Francisco Bay Area. You know, the <a href="" type="internal">endless crap</a> that traps wildlife and never biodegrades and breeds like rabbits because we insist on accepting a new one of the evil airborne, waterborne immortals every time we buy any little thing.</p>
<p>Did you know the average plastic bag has a use-time of 12 minutes?</p>
<p>California taxpayers spend approximately $25 million every year to collect and landfill plastic bags. San Jose City staff estimates that it costs at least $3 million annually to clean plastic bags from creeks and clogged storm drains. Single-use bag production depletes resources and contributes to carbon emissions and global warming. We consume 14 million trees&#160; and 12 million barrels of oil to produce the billions of plastic and paper bags we throw away in the United States every year.&#160;</p>
<p>Save The Bay is trying to get Bay Area cities to charge 25 cents on paper and plastic bags from all retailers. Hopefully that’ll encourage more people to use less plastic and pony up for durable reusables.</p>
<p>Accompanying the video, a few busted myths: Myth: Recycling plastic bags is the best solution to the litter problem Fact: Plastic bag recycling is expensive and doesn’t work</p>
<p>Despite a 15-year effort in California, recycling plastic bags has failed. Less than 5 percent of all single-use plastic bags are actually recycled. Plastic bags cost municipal recycling programs millions each year because bags jam sorting equipment. The frak ups cost San Jose about $1 million a year. Failed recycling means billions of plastic bags are thrown away to blow onto streets and float into waterways. &#160;</p>
<p>Myth: Recycled plastic bags are a valuable commodity Fact: The market for recycled plastic bags is small and unstable</p>
<p>Only one manufacturer purchases 70 percent of plastic bags recovered nationwide. They make outdoor decking. Newsweek reported the company lost $75 million in 2007. Will it survive? Who knows. Meanwhile, some curbside programs take plastic bags if they’re bundled but the commodity is low grade and brings a low price and even the plastic bag industry won’t use its own post-consumer material. Myth: Bans or fees on plastic bags push people to use more paper bags Fact: Well-designed policies get consumers to switch to reusable cloth bags</p>
<p>The legislation supported by Save The Bay covers all single-use bags, paper and plastic. This decreases the use of both kinds of bags in favor of inexpensive reusables.</p>
<p>Myth: A fee on plastic bags didn’t work in Ireland Fact:&#160; Ireland’s bag fee dramatically reduced plastic bag usage and plastic bag litter</p>
<p>Ireland’s Environmental Protection Agency submitted a letter to the San Jose City Council rebutting the American Chemistry Council’s false claims about Ireland’s bag fee. Ireland confirms that plastic bag litter dropped by 93 percent and plastic bag use decreased by ~90 percent the year following the Plastic Bag Levy.&#160;</p>
<p>Myth:&#160; Fees on single use bags will negatively impact low income people Fact:&#160; No one has to pay the fee</p>
<p>A single-use bag fee is only charged if you do not bring your own bag. Lower income communities are some of the most blighted by plastic bag litter and are already paying for plastic bags through city taxes and increased food and retail prices. Every bag-fee policy currently under consideration at local and state levels would either subsidize reusables for low-income people or exempt low-income residents from paying the fees.&#160; Myth:&#160; Single-use bag bans or fees are bad policy during an economic crisis Fact:&#160; Reducing the use of single-use plastic and paper bags will save us all money</p>
<p>Retailers currently embed 2 to 5 cents per plastic bag and 5 to 23 cents per paper bag in the price of goods—adding $30 or more per person annually in hidden costs. Many grocers offer a 5-cent rebate for bringing your own bag, which can add up to about $60 in savings per year for an average family.</p>
<p>Myth: Plastic bag litter isn’t really a problem for the environment Fact: 1.37 million plastic bags were removed from coastal areas worldwide in one day last year</p>
<p>Plastic trash entangles, suffocates, and poisons at least 267 animal species worldwide.&#160;&#160; According to the California Coastal Commission, up to 80 percent of all marine debris is plastic, which never biodegrades.&#160; Plastic bags were the second largest item of litter picked up by volunteers during the Ocean Conservancy’s 2008 International Coastal Cleanup Day.&#160;&#160; It is estimated that one million plastic bags pollute the Bay every year.&#160; Scientists recently measured 334,271 pieces of plastic per square mile in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.</p>
<p>Myth: Education about responsible use and disposal of plastic bags will reduce litter Fact: Unfortunately, public education hasn’t worked, despite massive public investment</p>
<p>Huge amounts of money have been spent on public education about litter. One example is CalTrans’ “Don’t Trash California” campaign.&#160; Yet, we still see filthy highways.</p>
<p>Let’s face it, if disposable bags weren’t available, we wouldn’t use them. &#160;</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | nice video save bay latest campaign reduce plastic bag pollution san francisco bay area know endless crap traps wildlife never biodegrades breeds like rabbits insist accepting new one evil airborne waterborne immortals every time buy little thing know average plastic bag usetime 12 minutes california taxpayers spend approximately 25 million every year collect landfill plastic bags san jose city staff estimates costs least 3 million annually clean plastic bags creeks clogged storm drains singleuse bag production depletes resources contributes carbon emissions global warming consume 14 million trees160 12 million barrels oil produce billions plastic paper bags throw away united states every year160 save bay trying get bay area cities charge 25 cents paper plastic bags retailers hopefully thatll encourage people use less plastic pony durable reusables accompanying video busted myths myth recycling plastic bags best solution litter problem fact plastic bag recycling expensive doesnt work despite 15year effort california recycling plastic bags failed less 5 percent singleuse plastic bags actually recycled plastic bags cost municipal recycling programs millions year bags jam sorting equipment frak ups cost san jose 1 million year failed recycling means billions plastic bags thrown away blow onto streets float waterways 160 myth recycled plastic bags valuable commodity fact market recycled plastic bags small unstable one manufacturer purchases 70 percent plastic bags recovered nationwide make outdoor decking newsweek reported company lost 75 million 2007 survive knows meanwhile curbside programs take plastic bags theyre bundled commodity low grade brings low price even plastic bag industry wont use postconsumer material myth bans fees plastic bags push people use paper bags fact welldesigned policies get consumers switch reusable cloth bags legislation supported save bay covers singleuse bags paper plastic decreases use kinds bags favor inexpensive reusables myth fee plastic bags didnt work ireland fact160 irelands bag fee dramatically reduced plastic bag usage plastic bag litter irelands environmental protection agency submitted letter san jose city council rebutting american chemistry councils false claims irelands bag fee ireland confirms plastic bag litter dropped 93 percent plastic bag use decreased 90 percent year following plastic bag levy160 myth160 fees single use bags negatively impact low income people fact160 one pay fee singleuse bag fee charged bring bag lower income communities blighted plastic bag litter already paying plastic bags city taxes increased food retail prices every bagfee policy currently consideration local state levels would either subsidize reusables lowincome people exempt lowincome residents paying fees160 myth160 singleuse bag bans fees bad policy economic crisis fact160 reducing use singleuse plastic paper bags save us money retailers currently embed 2 5 cents per plastic bag 5 23 cents per paper bag price goodsadding 30 per person annually hidden costs many grocers offer 5cent rebate bringing bag add 60 savings per year average family myth plastic bag litter isnt really problem environment fact 137 million plastic bags removed coastal areas worldwide one day last year plastic trash entangles suffocates poisons least 267 animal species worldwide160160 according california coastal commission 80 percent marine debris plastic never biodegrades160 plastic bags second largest item litter picked volunteers ocean conservancys 2008 international coastal cleanup day160160 estimated one million plastic bags pollute bay every year160 scientists recently measured 334271 pieces plastic per square mile great pacific garbage patch myth education responsible use disposal plastic bags reduce litter fact unfortunately public education hasnt worked despite massive public investment huge amounts money spent public education litter one example caltrans dont trash california campaign160 yet still see filthy highways lets face disposable bags werent available wouldnt use 160 | 581 |
<p>This week marks the centennial of a fateful landmark in U.S. history, the nation’s first drug prohibition law.&#160; On February 9, 1909, Congress passed the Opium Exclusion Act, barring the importation of opium for smoking as of April 1.&#160; Thus began a hundred-year crusade that has unleashed unprecedented crime, violence and corruption around the world —a war with no victory in sight.</p>
<p>Long accustomed to federal drug control, most Americans are unaware that there was once a time when people were free to buy any drug, including opium, cocaine, and cannabis, at the pharmacy.&#160; In that bygone era, drug-related crime and violence were largely unknown, and drug use was not a major public concern.</p>
<p>The Opium Exclusion Act applied only to the opium processed for smoking that was favored by Chinese immigrants —not the medicinal opium that white Americans commonly kept in their household medicine cabinets. Smoking opium had attracted unfavorable notice from temperance advocates, missionaries and moral reformers. Inflamed by anti-Chinese sentiment, San Francisco had outlawed public opium dens in 1875 and many other communities with Chinese settlements followed suit. Nonetheless, the private use and commercial sale of smoking opium remained legal, with import duties yielding a million dollars per year to the U.S. Treasury.</p>
<p>Congress was moved to Act in 1909 not by any drug abuse crisis, but by foreign policy concerns.&#160; Per capita opium use had begun to decline by 1900, and only one in a thousand Americans indulged in smoking opium.&#160;&#160;&#160; Nonetheless, the State Department determined that an initiative against opium smoking would be useful in opening the door to China, which had long chafed under British compulsion to allow the opium trade. At the invitation of Theodore Roosevelt’s administration, an international commission was convened in Shanghai in December 1908 to sign a treaty ending the trade –the first step in what would become a far-reaching international system of drug control.&#160; As a gesture of good faith, the State Department called on Congress to pass legislation that would ban the importation of smoking opium, thereby creating the first illegal drug.</p>
<p>The Opium Exclusion Act was the opening shot in the U.S. war on drugs.&#160; Across the country, Customs and pharmacy agents moved aggressively to arrest smugglers, confiscate contraband, and raid and bust dealers and dens.&#160; California, at the forefront of the war on Chinese smoking opium, went beyond the federal ban on importation by outlawing simple possession as well,&#160; thereby inventing a new class of criminals, illegal drug consumers.&#160; The new law was challenged by Yun Quong,&#160; a Chinese Californian who plausibly argued that it violated his rights to liberty and property. The state Supreme Court ruled otherwise, opening the way for mass criminalization of illegal drug users in subsequent years,</p>
<p>In the short run, the crackdown produced dramatic results, creating a shortage that forced prices through the roof.&#160;&#160; The LA Times pronounced the new law as “the death sentence of Chinatown,” reporting that “dozens of them are dying monthly because forced to abstain from the ‘dream pipe’.” (“Without Opium, Chinamen Die,” Aug 17, 1909).&#160;&#160; Before long, however, it became obvious that the opium trade hadn’t halted, but rather been taken over by criminal traffickers.</p>
<p>Authorities responded by escalating the war with an unprecedented wave of raids and arrests. In California, a new law was passed to ban opium paraphernalia.&#160; Pharmacy agents were duly dispatched into Chinatown, where they staged gigantic public bonfires of seized opium, pipes, and outfits.&#160;&#160; While the dens managed to survive for years to come, many users moved on to other, more potent forms of opium,&#160; such as morphine, which was more legal and readily available.</p>
<p>Congress moved to close this loophole in 1914 by passing the Harrison Act, which prohibited all non-medicinal use of opium, morphine, and cocaine.&#160; Once again, a short-term shortage developed, followed by longer-term black market problems.&#160; Before long, the Los Angeles Times reported a “saturnalia of violent crime” by drug fiends, which police attributed to the price pinch caused by state and federal restrictions. (“Drug Fiends Make Crime Wave,” Nov. 30, 1919).</p>
<p>Drug crime and violence would become a staple item in the press in coming years as drug prohibition took root. An ever-expanding list of new drugs was prohibited, from cannabis to coca leaves to mushrooms and peyote. Penalties escalated from misdemeanors to felonies.&#160; Yet none of this prevented an explosion of drug use in the 1960s and ‘70s. In response,&#160; yet more laws and penalties were enacted, causing drug cases to skyrocket once again in the ‘80s and ‘90s, by over 300%.</p>
<p>International Failure</p>
<p>The U.S. government has spearheaded the major international drug prohibition efforts.&#160; Following the Shanghai Commission, another anti-drug conference was convened at U.S. urging, the Hague Convention of 1912. U.S. representatives imposed a tough prohibitionist line, overcoming reluctance by other nations like Britain.&#160; U.S. narcotics authorities, led by the infamous Federal Bureau of Narcotics Commissioner Harry Anslinger, drafted the Single Convention treaty of 1961, which obliges every country in the world (except North Korea, the only non-signatory) to tow the U.S. line on drugs&#160; —ignoring alcohol and tobacco, but prohibiting drugs traditionally allowed in foreign cultures, such as coca and ganja.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; U.S.-inspired United Nations treaties in 1971-2 and 1988 added a long list of other prohibited drugs and also required signatory countries to criminalize their possession.</p>
<p>The result of this so-called “international drug control” has been unprecedented prohibition-related drug crime, corruption and violence around the world. In Colombia, U.S. taxpayers have spent more than $3.5 billion in anti-narcotics aid fighting a decade-long insurgency funded by the coca crop. In Afghanistan, the U.S. has been losing the hearts and minds of farmers who would rather profit from the sale of opium than see their fields bombed and destroyed.&#160;&#160; Under new rules, U.S. forces can now bomb drug labs if their analysis shows that it would not kill “more than 10 civilians.” In Mexico, more than 6,800 have been killed by drug gangs fighting to meet the demands of U.S. consumers.&#160; Innocents are killed in botched drug raids and prohibition-related gang wars and robberies on both side of the border.</p>
<p>Early 20th-century Americans would be astounded to see what a problem drugs have become since the establishment of drug prohibition. Every year, two million Americans are arrested and 400,000 imprisoned for drug offenses that did not exist in their time.&#160; Drug laws are now the number-one source of crime in the U.S., with one-half of the entire adult population having violated them.&#160;&#160; Long gone are the days when Americans were free to keep opium in their closet; today, even gravely suffering patients are denied pain-killing narcotics by their doctors out of fear of federal prosecution. While smoking opium has faded from the scene,&#160; the country is now rife with more potent and lethal narcotics, which are widely sold on the illegal market.</p>
<p>In 1937 the federal government banned all uses of cannabis —medicinal and industrial, as well as social relaxant.&#160; Federal courts have upheld this policy by ruling that Americans have no right to use government-unapproved drugs even when necessary to save their own lives.&#160; Yet despite the growth of the drug-police-state, Americans are no less free from addiction than they were when the market prevailed. The drug addiction rate of a century ago has been estimated by historians at around one-half per cent. Today the rate is said by NIDA researchers to be 2%.</p>
<p>Seen in retrospect, drug prohibition ranks as one of the great man-made disasters of the 20th century.&#160;&#160; This March, on the 100th anniversary of the Shanghai Commission,&#160; the U.N. Committee on Narcotics will be meeting in Vienna, to discuss the next decade of&#160; international drug control.&#160; Last year, a U.N. Conference of North American NGO’s in Vancouver expressed “great dissatisfaction” with the current system and suggested replacing prohibition with a “regulated market respectful of human right and public health principles.”&#160; &#160;Discussion of such fundamental reforms is nowhere near the table due to the powerful opposition of the drug-law-enforcement establishment.</p>
<p>European countries are proposing modest steps towards harm reduction, such as approving needle exchange.&#160; In opposition to this hopeful development, the U.S. delegation, still under the influence of holdover Bush administration hardliners, is reported to be insisting on a tough prohibitionist line. A century after the Opium Exclusion Act, the U.S. government should abandon its bankrupt and counterproductive policies of drug prohibition.&#160; It’s time to end the 100 years’ war on drugs.</p>
<p>DALE GIERINGER, Ph.D.,&#160; is the director of the Drug Policy Forum of California and author of numerous articles on the history of prohibition and marijuana control. He is also the California coordinator for the National Organization for Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML).&#160; He lives in Oakland California. He can be reached at <a href="mailto:dale@canorml.org" type="external">dale@canorml.org</a>.</p> | true | 4 | week marks centennial fateful landmark us history nations first drug prohibition law160 february 9 1909 congress passed opium exclusion act barring importation opium smoking april 1160 thus began hundredyear crusade unleashed unprecedented crime violence corruption around world war victory sight long accustomed federal drug control americans unaware time people free buy drug including opium cocaine cannabis pharmacy160 bygone era drugrelated crime violence largely unknown drug use major public concern opium exclusion act applied opium processed smoking favored chinese immigrants medicinal opium white americans commonly kept household medicine cabinets smoking opium attracted unfavorable notice temperance advocates missionaries moral reformers inflamed antichinese sentiment san francisco outlawed public opium dens 1875 many communities chinese settlements followed suit nonetheless private use commercial sale smoking opium remained legal import duties yielding million dollars per year us treasury congress moved act 1909 drug abuse crisis foreign policy concerns160 per capita opium use begun decline 1900 one thousand americans indulged smoking opium160160160 nonetheless state department determined initiative opium smoking would useful opening door china long chafed british compulsion allow opium trade invitation theodore roosevelts administration international commission convened shanghai december 1908 sign treaty ending trade first step would become farreaching international system drug control160 gesture good faith state department called congress pass legislation would ban importation smoking opium thereby creating first illegal drug opium exclusion act opening shot us war drugs160 across country customs pharmacy agents moved aggressively arrest smugglers confiscate contraband raid bust dealers dens160 california forefront war chinese smoking opium went beyond federal ban importation outlawing simple possession well160 thereby inventing new class criminals illegal drug consumers160 new law challenged yun quong160 chinese californian plausibly argued violated rights liberty property state supreme court ruled otherwise opening way mass criminalization illegal drug users subsequent years short run crackdown produced dramatic results creating shortage forced prices roof160160 la times pronounced new law death sentence chinatown reporting dozens dying monthly forced abstain dream pipe without opium chinamen die aug 17 1909160160 long however became obvious opium trade hadnt halted rather taken criminal traffickers authorities responded escalating war unprecedented wave raids arrests california new law passed ban opium paraphernalia160 pharmacy agents duly dispatched chinatown staged gigantic public bonfires seized opium pipes outfits160160 dens managed survive years come many users moved potent forms opium160 morphine legal readily available congress moved close loophole 1914 passing harrison act prohibited nonmedicinal use opium morphine cocaine160 shortterm shortage developed followed longerterm black market problems160 long los angeles times reported saturnalia violent crime drug fiends police attributed price pinch caused state federal restrictions drug fiends make crime wave nov 30 1919 drug crime violence would become staple item press coming years drug prohibition took root everexpanding list new drugs prohibited cannabis coca leaves mushrooms peyote penalties escalated misdemeanors felonies160 yet none prevented explosion drug use 1960s 70s response160 yet laws penalties enacted causing drug cases skyrocket 80s 90s 300 international failure us government spearheaded major international drug prohibition efforts160 following shanghai commission another antidrug conference convened us urging hague convention 1912 us representatives imposed tough prohibitionist line overcoming reluctance nations like britain160 us narcotics authorities led infamous federal bureau narcotics commissioner harry anslinger drafted single convention treaty 1961 obliges every country world except north korea nonsignatory tow us line drugs160 ignoring alcohol tobacco prohibiting drugs traditionally allowed foreign cultures coca ganja160160160160 usinspired united nations treaties 19712 1988 added long list prohibited drugs also required signatory countries criminalize possession result socalled international drug control unprecedented prohibitionrelated drug crime corruption violence around world colombia us taxpayers spent 35 billion antinarcotics aid fighting decadelong insurgency funded coca crop afghanistan us losing hearts minds farmers would rather profit sale opium see fields bombed destroyed160160 new rules us forces bomb drug labs analysis shows would kill 10 civilians mexico 6800 killed drug gangs fighting meet demands us consumers160 innocents killed botched drug raids prohibitionrelated gang wars robberies side border early 20thcentury americans would astounded see problem drugs become since establishment drug prohibition every year two million americans arrested 400000 imprisoned drug offenses exist time160 drug laws numberone source crime us onehalf entire adult population violated them160160 long gone days americans free keep opium closet today even gravely suffering patients denied painkilling narcotics doctors fear federal prosecution smoking opium faded scene160 country rife potent lethal narcotics widely sold illegal market 1937 federal government banned uses cannabis medicinal industrial well social relaxant160 federal courts upheld policy ruling americans right use governmentunapproved drugs even necessary save lives160 yet despite growth drugpolicestate americans less free addiction market prevailed drug addiction rate century ago estimated historians around onehalf per cent today rate said nida researchers 2 seen retrospect drug prohibition ranks one great manmade disasters 20th century160160 march 100th anniversary shanghai commission160 un committee narcotics meeting vienna discuss next decade of160 international drug control160 last year un conference north american ngos vancouver expressed great dissatisfaction current system suggested replacing prohibition regulated market respectful human right public health principles160 160discussion fundamental reforms nowhere near table due powerful opposition druglawenforcement establishment european countries proposing modest steps towards harm reduction approving needle exchange160 opposition hopeful development us delegation still influence holdover bush administration hardliners reported insisting tough prohibitionist line century opium exclusion act us government abandon bankrupt counterproductive policies drug prohibition160 time end 100 years war drugs dale gieringer phd160 director drug policy forum california author numerous articles history prohibition marijuana control also california coordinator national organization reform marijuana laws norml160 lives oakland california reached dalecanormlorg | 898 |
<p>&#160;</p>
<p>Give me 5 minutes and I’ll convince you that you should sell your house immediately and invest your life-savings in gold or a Swiss bank-account.</p>
<p>Okay?</p>
<p>For some time now we’ve been hearing about the so-called housing bubble and what effect it could have on your net worth and future. Well, the numbers are finally in and you can decide for yourself whether its time to sell now or try to ride out the storm.</p>
<p>In 2000 the total value of homes in the US was $11.4 trillion. Today that number has shot up to $20.3 trillion; nearly double.</p>
<p>At the same time, mortgage-debt in 2000 was a trifling $4.8 trillion (about half) while in 2006 it skyrocketed to a whopping $9.3 trillion.</p>
<p>So, how do we explain these enormous increases in value? After all, wasn’t the housing boom just the natural outcome of “supply and demand”?</p>
<p>No it wasn’t. That’s an unfortunate myth that should be interred with the withered remains of Milton “free-market” Friedman.</p>
<p>If we really want to know what’s going on, we need to look back at the machinations at the Federal Reserve in 2001, that’s when Greenspan lowered interest rates to 1.5% to soften the blow from the stock market meltdown. Rather than tighten interest rates and let the country to go through a period of recession, Greenspan lowered rates and ramped up the printing presses to “full-throttle”.</p>
<p>Voila; the housing bubble! Or what the conservative “Economist” magazine calls “the largest equity bubble” in history.</p>
<p>The housing bubble has nothing to do with supply and demand or with the fictional increase in workers salaries. (which have actually gone down since Bush took office) Rather, it is the predictable result of dramatically increasing the money supply while expanding personal debt via home-mortgages.</p>
<p>Remember, the central banks are not in the mortgage business; they are in the “money-pedaling” business. And the way you sell more money is by making it as cheap as possible. The Fed intentionally inflated the bubble with cheap money so they could keep the printing presses whirring-along. They worked in concert with the banks to lower the requirements for mortgages so they could attract an endless swarm of “unqualified” customers who wanted to join the feeding-frenzy.</p>
<p>Isn’t that what happened?</p>
<p>And, didn’t that make it possible for every Tom, Dick and Harry to borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars on “no-down payment”, “interest only”, ARMs or other equally risky mortgage-packages?</p>
<p>Of course it did.</p>
<p>There are some who will argue that the Federal Reserve just made an honest mistake and were merely trying to steer the country away from impending recession.</p>
<p>That may be true, but let’s consider the facts before we draw any hasty conclusions.</p>
<p>Did the Federal Reserve double the money supply in the last 7 years?</p>
<p>Yes.</p>
<p>Did they know what they were doing?</p>
<p>Yes.</p>
<p>Did they know that printing more money creates inflationary pressures and reduces the value of money already in circulation?</p>
<p>Yes.</p>
<p>Did they realize that the money was going directly into the real estate market where it was creating an “unsustainable” equity bubble that would eventually crash and destroy the lives’ of hundreds of thousands of Americans whose greatest asset is their home?</p>
<p>Of course, because it’s the Federal Reserve which produces all the relevant facts and figures, charts and graphs, about increases (and trends) in the housing market. How could they NOT know?!?</p>
<p>In other words, they doubled the money supply and then sat back and watched while $4.5 trillion went directly into the real estate market via mortgage loans to people who were “under-qualified”.(knowing that these same people would eventually fail to meet their payments and adversely effect the entire market)</p>
<p>The Federal Reserve knew all of this. In fact, they knew where every dime was going, but decided to persist in their swindle to the bitter end.</p>
<p>Have the real effects of this monster-bubble been softened by the huge trade deficit?</p>
<p>Yes, because America currently borrows $800 billion a year from China, Japan etc. which keeps the economy sputtering along while our manufacturing sector continues to be ransacked.</p>
<p>The $800 billion account deficit is like a sedative which lulls us to sleep while the country is looted right in front of our eyes. For example, in the last 12 years, foreign ownership of US assets has soared from $3 trillion to over $12 trillion.(400%) At the same time, over 13,000 major US companies have been sold to foreign corporations since 1980. Nevertheless, Americans are only-too-happy to ignore these unpleasant facts as long as they can totter off to Wal-Mart to buy little Johnny his new video-game. It’s only a matter of time before the scattered, bleached bones of American industry appear everywhere across the American heartland.</p>
<p>And, does the Fed realize that Americans borrowed another $825 billion from their home equity in the last 12 months (to spend on house repairs, shopping, boats etc) and that without that consumer spending the nation’s growth rate (GDP) will shrivel to nothing?</p>
<p>Yes, because they provide all that data, too.</p>
<p>So, what does this mean for the homeowner whose future depends on the steady increase in his home equity? What can he expect?</p>
<p>Well, first of all, you can ignore all the gibberish you hear on the business channel about “soft landings” and a “temporary downturn”.</p>
<p>There’ll be no soft landings. This is the Big One; Real Estate Armageddon followed by a plague of locusts.</p>
<p>JUST LOOK AT THE NUMBERS! There’s a $10 trillion difference between the aggregate in 2000 and 2006! $4.5 trillion of that is new mortgage-debt! That’s more than a little “froth” as Greenspan likes to say. In an economy that’s currently growing at a feeble 1.6%, a plummeting housing market could pave the way for another (dare I say it) Great Depression.</p>
<p>$10 trillion!?! Some things are worth repeating.</p>
<p>First of all, (if we compare our situation to what happened in Japan during the 1990s) we can expect that prices will continue to fall for years to come, perhaps, a decade or more. Many of the slower markets are already showing a decline of 10% to 20%. This is a trend that is likely to speed up dramatically in 2007 when $1 trillion in ARMs reset. That’s when we’ll begin to see a truly new phenomenon in the US, that is, people who’ve always been solid members of the middle class sliding downwards into the ranks of the working poor.</p>
<p>By 2008, if the present trend-lines persist, housing prices will probably drop to 25% to 30% of their 2005 value; diminishing equity value by approximately 45% to 50% for most homeowners.</p>
<p>If you own your home outright; you can sweat it out, but if you got into the market late; you’re toast. You’ll be joining the throng of mortgage-slaves who are shackled to loans that are significantly higher than the current value of their house.</p>
<p>Imagine paying off a loan for $400,000 when your house has been reassessed at $250,000 or $300,000; that’ll be the reality for an estimated 30 million Americans. Meanwhile, inventory will continue to grow (already at an 8 month backlog) the economy will continue to contract, and the dollar will continue to weaken. (Many of the major home builders; Centex, Beazer and Toll Bros, are reporting that profits are down by nearly 65%.)</p>
<p>At the same time the Fed just issued another $10 billion in Treasury Bonds last week raising the national debt to a mind-boggling $8.6 trillion. This loosey-goosey approach to printing fiat money and creating debt explains the recent surge in the markets. As “The Daily Reckoning’s” Richard Daughty says, the “bull market is manufactured from rampant government deficit-spending and financed by the Federal Reserve creating the money.”</p>
<p>Amen. Its all fluff and there’s nothing to it. It’s just loose money finding a temporary perch before the approaching squall. Don’t trust the smoke and mirrors. Behind the merriment and gusto, Wall Street analysts are expecting a collapseand soon.</p>
<p>How soon, you ask?</p>
<p>Well, Daughty also notes that “revolving credit like credit card loans grew by $2.85 billion, or at an annual rate of 4.00%, to $857 billion.”</p>
<p>So, credit card debt is going up, which is an indication that the people who were siphoning money from their home equity have switched over to plastic. That’s sure sign the writhing consumer-beast is in its last throes. The end is near.</p>
<p>Why should I care about Net Long-term Capital Inflows?</p>
<p>In another bit of disheartening news the net long-term capital inflows fell short of what the US needs to cover the current account deficit. The inflows were only $65 billion when we need $70 billion to make ends meet. This is another way of saying that foreigners are no longer mopping up our red ink. Interestingly, foreign central banks are buying considerably fewer Treasurys; $9 billion in US securities and a paltry $8 billion in Treasury bonds.</p>
<p>What does it mean? It means that no is dim-witted enough to buy our debt anymore because we’re no longer a good risk.</p>
<p>That’s a very bad sign. Under different stewardship the “full faith and credit” of the US Treasury meant something. That’s no longer true.</p>
<p>Also, according to Marketwatch, “US residents purchased a net $22.9 billion in foreign securities, up from $2.7 billion in August. Foreign holdings of dollar-denominated short-term securities, including Treasury bills, fell by $10.8 billion.”</p>
<p>Foreign investments are up $20 billion in one month?!? Are you kidding me?</p>
<p>So, the smart money is getting out of Dodge pronto; leaving the rest of us behind in a leaky canoe.</p>
<p>Thanks, Greenspan.</p>
<p>Some of you may have seen Alexander Cockburn’s shocking article “Lame Duck” last week on Counterpunch. Cockburn refers to a report published by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) “a body set up under the purview of the British Treasury to monitor financial markets and protect the public interest by raising the alarm about shady practices and any dangerous slides towards instability.”</p>
<p>The report “Private Equity: A Discussion of Risk and Regulatory Engagement” states clearly:</p>
<p>“Excessive leverage: The amount of credit that lenders are willing to extend on private equity transactions has risen substantially. This lending may not, in some circumstances, be entirely prudent. Given current levels and recent developments in the economic/credit cycle, the default of a large private equity backed company or a cluster of smaller private equity backed companies seems inevitable. This has negative implications for lenders, purchasers of the debt, orderly markets and conceivably, in extreme circumstances, financial stability and elements of the UK economy.”</p>
<p>The problem is even greater in the US where unregulated fractional lending has allowed banks to loan unlimited amounts of money on measly reserves. Hence, “the default of a large private equity company is inevitable”. The whole deregulated banking scam has turned the system into a Vegas-style “crap shoot” with no guarantees that you’ll ever see your money again. The same is true with the new-fangled investment “instruments” like hedge funds which contain few tangible assets and more and more “collateralized debt”. That means that they depend heavily on the “worker bees” at the bottom of the economic Totem Pole, who are expected to continue making their payments even while the economy begins to swoon.</p>
<p>The present system is fraught with peril and likely to come crashing down in a heap. As Cockburn sagely notes, “The world’s credit system is a vast recycling bin of untraceable transactions of wildly inflated value.”</p>
<p>“Market transparency” has gone the way of the Dodo. The new “deregulated” markets are intentionally opaque so the medicine men and hucksters who designed them could fleece the public from the comfort of their Wall Street enclaves. No one should be too surprised that the whole rickety contraption is tilting towards the dumpster.</p>
<p>Happy Days in the Weimar Republic</p>
<p>So, what was the “Grand Plan” the Fed had in mind when they decided to anesthetize the American public with low interest rates and flood the planet with worthless green scrip?</p>
<p>Did they think that Bush would corner the oil market and, thus, force the rest of the world to take our anemic greenbacks? Or were they just planning to steal every last farthing from the American people before they loaded the boats and fled to more promising markets in Asia?</p>
<p>Or perhaps they were delusional enough to believe that really wonderful things would happen if they just kept tossing banknotes into the Jet-stream like New Year’s confetti?</p>
<p>Whatever the madcap rationale might have been, the country is now facing an agonizing wake-up call as the full-effects of Greenspan’s tenure materialize and the stronghold of global consumerism deteriorates into Weimar USA.</p>
<p>In the long run, Greenspan’s treachery will loom larger then that of his “would-be” understudy, Bin Laden. He put the country on the fast-track to disaster.</p>
<p>Just watch as the “For Sale” signs go up on lawns across America in Dear Alan’s honor.</p>
<p>MIKE WHITNEY lives in Washington state. He can be reached at: <a href="mailto:fergiewhitney@msn.com" type="external">fergiewhitney@msn.com</a></p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | 160 give 5 minutes ill convince sell house immediately invest lifesavings gold swiss bankaccount okay time weve hearing socalled housing bubble effect could net worth future well numbers finally decide whether time sell try ride storm 2000 total value homes us 114 trillion today number shot 203 trillion nearly double time mortgagedebt 2000 trifling 48 trillion half 2006 skyrocketed whopping 93 trillion explain enormous increases value wasnt housing boom natural outcome supply demand wasnt thats unfortunate myth interred withered remains milton freemarket friedman really want know whats going need look back machinations federal reserve 2001 thats greenspan lowered interest rates 15 soften blow stock market meltdown rather tighten interest rates let country go period recession greenspan lowered rates ramped printing presses fullthrottle voila housing bubble conservative economist magazine calls largest equity bubble history housing bubble nothing supply demand fictional increase workers salaries actually gone since bush took office rather predictable result dramatically increasing money supply expanding personal debt via homemortgages remember central banks mortgage business moneypedaling business way sell money making cheap possible fed intentionally inflated bubble cheap money could keep printing presses whirringalong worked concert banks lower requirements mortgages could attract endless swarm unqualified customers wanted join feedingfrenzy isnt happened didnt make possible every tom dick harry borrow hundreds thousands dollars nodown payment interest arms equally risky mortgagepackages course argue federal reserve made honest mistake merely trying steer country away impending recession may true lets consider facts draw hasty conclusions federal reserve double money supply last 7 years yes know yes know printing money creates inflationary pressures reduces value money already circulation yes realize money going directly real estate market creating unsustainable equity bubble would eventually crash destroy lives hundreds thousands americans whose greatest asset home course federal reserve produces relevant facts figures charts graphs increases trends housing market could know words doubled money supply sat back watched 45 trillion went directly real estate market via mortgage loans people underqualifiedknowing people would eventually fail meet payments adversely effect entire market federal reserve knew fact knew every dime going decided persist swindle bitter end real effects monsterbubble softened huge trade deficit yes america currently borrows 800 billion year china japan etc keeps economy sputtering along manufacturing sector continues ransacked 800 billion account deficit like sedative lulls us sleep country looted right front eyes example last 12 years foreign ownership us assets soared 3 trillion 12 trillion400 time 13000 major us companies sold foreign corporations since 1980 nevertheless americans onlytoohappy ignore unpleasant facts long totter walmart buy little johnny new videogame matter time scattered bleached bones american industry appear everywhere across american heartland fed realize americans borrowed another 825 billion home equity last 12 months spend house repairs shopping boats etc without consumer spending nations growth rate gdp shrivel nothing yes provide data mean homeowner whose future depends steady increase home equity expect well first ignore gibberish hear business channel soft landings temporary downturn therell soft landings big one real estate armageddon followed plague locusts look numbers theres 10 trillion difference aggregate 2000 2006 45 trillion new mortgagedebt thats little froth greenspan likes say economy thats currently growing feeble 16 plummeting housing market could pave way another dare say great depression 10 trillion things worth repeating first compare situation happened japan 1990s expect prices continue fall years come perhaps decade many slower markets already showing decline 10 20 trend likely speed dramatically 2007 1 trillion arms reset thats well begin see truly new phenomenon us people whove always solid members middle class sliding downwards ranks working poor 2008 present trendlines persist housing prices probably drop 25 30 2005 value diminishing equity value approximately 45 50 homeowners home outright sweat got market late youre toast youll joining throng mortgageslaves shackled loans significantly higher current value house imagine paying loan 400000 house reassessed 250000 300000 thatll reality estimated 30 million americans meanwhile inventory continue grow already 8 month backlog economy continue contract dollar continue weaken many major home builders centex beazer toll bros reporting profits nearly 65 time fed issued another 10 billion treasury bonds last week raising national debt mindboggling 86 trillion looseygoosey approach printing fiat money creating debt explains recent surge markets daily reckonings richard daughty says bull market manufactured rampant government deficitspending financed federal reserve creating money amen fluff theres nothing loose money finding temporary perch approaching squall dont trust smoke mirrors behind merriment gusto wall street analysts expecting collapseand soon soon ask well daughty also notes revolving credit like credit card loans grew 285 billion annual rate 400 857 billion credit card debt going indication people siphoning money home equity switched plastic thats sure sign writhing consumerbeast last throes end near care net longterm capital inflows another bit disheartening news net longterm capital inflows fell short us needs cover current account deficit inflows 65 billion need 70 billion make ends meet another way saying foreigners longer mopping red ink interestingly foreign central banks buying considerably fewer treasurys 9 billion us securities paltry 8 billion treasury bonds mean means dimwitted enough buy debt anymore longer good risk thats bad sign different stewardship full faith credit us treasury meant something thats longer true also according marketwatch us residents purchased net 229 billion foreign securities 27 billion august foreign holdings dollardenominated shortterm securities including treasury bills fell 108 billion foreign investments 20 billion one month kidding smart money getting dodge pronto leaving rest us behind leaky canoe thanks greenspan may seen alexander cockburns shocking article lame duck last week counterpunch cockburn refers report published financial services authority fsa body set purview british treasury monitor financial markets protect public interest raising alarm shady practices dangerous slides towards instability report private equity discussion risk regulatory engagement states clearly excessive leverage amount credit lenders willing extend private equity transactions risen substantially lending may circumstances entirely prudent given current levels recent developments economiccredit cycle default large private equity backed company cluster smaller private equity backed companies seems inevitable negative implications lenders purchasers debt orderly markets conceivably extreme circumstances financial stability elements uk economy problem even greater us unregulated fractional lending allowed banks loan unlimited amounts money measly reserves hence default large private equity company inevitable whole deregulated banking scam turned system vegasstyle crap shoot guarantees youll ever see money true newfangled investment instruments like hedge funds contain tangible assets collateralized debt means depend heavily worker bees bottom economic totem pole expected continue making payments even economy begins swoon present system fraught peril likely come crashing heap cockburn sagely notes worlds credit system vast recycling bin untraceable transactions wildly inflated value market transparency gone way dodo new deregulated markets intentionally opaque medicine men hucksters designed could fleece public comfort wall street enclaves one surprised whole rickety contraption tilting towards dumpster happy days weimar republic grand plan fed mind decided anesthetize american public low interest rates flood planet worthless green scrip think bush would corner oil market thus force rest world take anemic greenbacks planning steal every last farthing american people loaded boats fled promising markets asia perhaps delusional enough believe really wonderful things would happen kept tossing banknotes jetstream like new years confetti whatever madcap rationale might country facing agonizing wakeup call fulleffects greenspans tenure materialize stronghold global consumerism deteriorates weimar usa long run greenspans treachery loom larger wouldbe understudy bin laden put country fasttrack disaster watch sale signs go lawns across america dear alans honor mike whitney lives washington state reached fergiewhitneymsncom 160 160 | 1,228 |
<p>Part Three: More Pricks Than Kicks</p>
<p>Relations inside the Bush cabinet have not always collegial and harmonious. Take Richard Armitage, the longtime diplomatic fixer. Armitage had originally been slated by the Bush transition team for installation as the number two man at the Pentagon. But Armitage despised Donald Rumsfeld’s megalomaniacal style and reportedly denounced openly him as “a prick.” Armitage ended up back at State and Paul Wolfowitz, the crafty neo-con, became Rumsfeld’s slavishly devoted deputy.</p>
<p>Rumsfeld had good reason to fear Armitage and some of the other old hands at State. Not because Armitage and Powell weren’t itching for war with Iraq. Oh, no. It was a tussle over who would call the shots and how it would be launched: Powell’s office wanted a reprise of the 1990 coalition; Rummy wanted war on his own terms. The men and women at Foggy Bottom knew some unsavory tidbits about Rumsfeld’s past relations with two pillars in Bush’s Axis of Evil: Iraq and North Korea.</p>
<p>In the early 1980s, Rummy was grazing in the corporate pastures as a top executive fixer at G.D. Searle, the drug giant involved in the aspartame scandal. Then Reagan called. The Gipper summoned Rumsfeld to serve as his special emissary for the Middle East, assigned with the delicate mission of delivering back channel communications from the White House to Baghdad. This was the beginning of the so-called Iraq Tilt, the subtle backing of Saddam during the gruesome Iran/Iraq war.</p>
<p>December 20, 1983 found Rumsfeld in Baghdad supping with Saddam and Iraq’s foreign minister Tariq Aziz. By all accounts the day long session was amiable and cordial. Rumsfeld chose not to issue a remonstrance about Iraq’s lethal use of chemical weapons against Iran. Rumsfeld, known as the Prince of Darkness by some of his staffers, was well acquainted with the slaughter. He was in possession of a State Department memo dated November 1, 1983 by Middle East specialist Jonathan Howe who warned the administration of “almost daily use of CW by Iraq against Iranian forces.”</p>
<p>Rumsfeld blew off the reports of atrocities and instead encouraged Saddam to press his war on Iran. By February 1984, a UN investigation publicly confirmed the gassings, but that didn’t deter Rumsfeld from meeting with Tariq Aziz again on March 26, 1984, where he again failed to reprimand the Iraqis (now essentially pursuing a proxy war for the US) for the war crimes. Two decades later, Rumsfeld, without cracking a grin, repeatedly invoked Saddam’s use of poison gas in the 1980s as a justification for Bush’s pre-emptive war.</p>
<p>Cut to 1994. Now Rumsfeld plying his craft back in the corporate milieu, this time for the Swiss engineering giant ABB, which specializes in the construction of nuclear power plants. In the fall of that year, ABB received a $200 million contract to construct two light-water reactors for the Pyongyang government, under a deal sanctioned by the State Department during the Clinton years. Oddly, Rumsfeld was later to cite the reactors as evidence of North Korea’s malign intention to pursue the development of nuclear weapons and used the reactors as justification for sinking billions in Bush’s Star Wars scheme. When confronted by the fact that the reactors under scrutiny had been sold to North Korea by his very own company, Rumsfeld feigned ignorance, just has he had done when presented with a videotape of him greeting Saddam. But the boys at the State Department knew the score on both counts and Rummy didn’t like it.</p>
<p>Indeed, Rumsfeld, the Polonius of the Bush team, so distrusted the ecumenicalists in the State Department that he set up an off-the-shelf operation sequestered firmly under his control called the Office for Special Plans, headed by Douglas Feith. Sound familiar? It should. The OSP is not all that different from the William Casey/Oliver North operation that had its stealthy hands in illegal meddlings from Iran and Afghanistan to Honduras and Nicaragua. But see how far we’ve matured as a nation in 20 years. Rumsfeld’s group was an open secret, shedding even the pretense of covertness.</p>
<p>The OSP operates as kind of cut-and-paste intelligence shop that served up as fact any gothic tale peddled by Ahmed Chalabi or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). Feith made a pest of himself, meddling in the affairs of the war planners. He was reviled by Gen. Tommy Franks, who called him “the dumbest motherfucker on the face of the Earth.”</p>
<p>This didn’t deter Feith in the least. He recruited a roster of pliant neo-cons into his office, who generated the phantasmagorical briefs for the war to topple Saddam, which he had hungered for since at least 1994. Feith’s OSP office was known by State Department hands as the Fantasy Factory. Among Feith’s pack of underlings, two have received special attention, Harold Rhode and Larry Franklin, for their intimate relationship with the state of Israel. Franklin, perhaps the scapegoat for a larger scandal, finds himself the target an FBI investigation into Israeli espionage ring in the Pentagon and National Security Council.</p>
<p>Feith himself is no stranger to such inquiries into leaking classified information to the Israeli. In 1982, Feith was fired from his position as an analyst on Middle East issues in the Reagan administration’s National Security Council on suspicion of leaking material to the an official with the Israeli embassy in Washington. Don’t cry for Feith. He simply moved out of the White House and over to the Pentagon as a “special assistant” to Richard Perle, then assistant secretary of Defense for International Security Policy.</p>
<p>When the Republicans were driven from office in 1992, Feith settled into a comfortable niche as a DC lawyer/lobbyist with the firm Feith and Zell, where he represented the interests of many Israeli firms hot to see the demise of Saddam. After Feith joined the Bush 2 administration, his former law partner, Marc Zell, moved the firm to Tel Aviv.</p>
<p>During the war on Iraq, Feith was given the responsibility’s planning for the occupation of Iraq and its reconstruction. Obviously, Feith spent little of his attention on the troublesome details of the occupation, swallowing the line that Iraqis would welcome their conquistadors. Instead, Feith devoted himself to the lucrative task of awarding many of the Coalition Provisional Authority’s reconstruction contracts. He steered many of the most lucrative deals, often on a no-bid basis, to clients associated with his former law firm, including Diligence, New Bridge Strategies and the Iraqi International Law Group, headed by Salem Chalabi-the nephew of Ahmed Chalabi. No sooner had Salem Chalabi, whose Law Group billed itself as “your professional gateway to the new Iraq,” been appointed chief prosecutor in war crime trial of Saddam Hussein than he found himself indicted by an Iraqi prosecutor for involvement in a strange political murder plot. Now Salem Chalabi is on the lam in London.</p>
<p>Feith is one of those Washington creatures who seems to live his political life on the ropes, always saved by the paranoid solidarity of the neo-con claque, which suspects, rightly, that if one of their number topples he may take the rest down with him. Of course, even if Feith is forced to walk the plank at the Pentagon, he will almost certainly make a soft landing in the private sector, embraced by the firms he abetted while in office.</p>
<p>Sometimes even the stupidest motherfucker on the face of the earth can make out like a bandit.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Even Bush Sr. stood in line to profit handsomely from his son’s war-making. The former president on retainer with the Carlyle Group, the largest privately held defense contractor in the nation. Carlyle is run by Frank Carlucci, who served as the National Security advisor and Secretary of Defense under Ronald Reagan. Carlucci was also Donald Rumsfeld’s college roommate at Princeton.</p>
<p>Bush Sr. serves as a kind of global emissary for Carlyle. The ex-president doesn’t negotiate arms deals; he simply opens the door for them, a kind of high level meet-and-greet. His special area of influence is the Middle East, primarily Saudi Arabia, where the Bush family has extensive business and political ties. According to an account in the Washington Post, Bush Sr. earns at least $100,000 for each speech he makes on Carlyle’s behalf.</p>
<p>One of the Saudi investors lured to Carlyle by Bush was the BinLaden Group, the construction conglomerate owned by the family of Osama bin Laden. According to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal, Bush convinced Shafiq Bin Laden, Osama’s half brother, to sink $2 million of BinLaden Group money into Carlyle’s accounts. In a pr move, the Carlyle group cut its ties to the BinLaden Group in October 2001.</p>
<p>One of Bush Sr.’s top sidekicks, James Baker, is also a key player at Carlyle. Baker joined the weapons firm in 1993, fresh from his stint as Bush’s secretary of state and chief of staff. Packing a briefcase of global contacts, Baker parlayed his connections with heads of state, generals and international tycoons into a bonanza for Carlyle. After Baker joined the company, Carlyle’s revenues more than tripled.</p>
<p>Like Bush Sr., Baker’s main function was to manage Carlyle’s lucrative relationship with Saudi potentates, who had invested tens of millions of dollars in the company. Baker helped secure one of Carlyle’s most lucrative deals: the contract to run the Saudi offset program, a multi-billion dollar scheme wherein international companies winning Saudi contracts are required under terms of the contracts to invest a percentage of the profits in Saudi companies.</p>
<p>Baker not only greases the way for investment deals and arms sales, but he also plays the role of seasoned troubleshooter, protecting the interests of key clients and regimes. A case in point: when the Justice Department launched an investigation into the financial dealings of Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, the Saudi prince sought out Baker’s help. Baker is currently defending the prince in a law suit brought by the families of the victims of the 9/11 attacks that he used Islamic charities as a pass-through for sending millions of dollars to al-Qaeda linked operations.</p>
<p>Baker and Carlyle enjoy another ace in the hole when it comes to looking out for their Saudi friends. Baker prevailed on Bush Jr. to appoint his former law partner, Bob Jordan, as the administration’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>Carlyle and its network of investors is well-positioned to cash in on Bush Jr.’s expansion of the defense and Homeland Security department budgets. Two Carlyle companies, Federal Data Systems and US Investigations Services, hold multi-billion dollar contracts to provide background checks for commercial airlines, the Pentagon, the CIA and the Department of Homeland Security. USIS was once a federal agency called the Office Federal Investigations, but it was privatized in 1996 at the urging of Baker and others and was soon gobbled up by Carlyle. The company is now housed in “high-security, state-of-the-art, underground complex” in Annandale, Pennsylvania. USIS now does 2.4 million background checks a year, largely for the federal government.</p>
<p>* * *</p>
<p>Thanks to Paul O’Neill, Bush’s former treasury secretary, we now know what we’d suspected all along: that the Iraq war was plotted long before al-Qaeda struck New York and Washington. Bush himself is depicted as entering office seething with vindictive rage like a character in a Jacobean revenge play. After all, he believed that Saddam had tried to kill his daddy in a bungled bomb plot during Bush Sr.’s triumphal entry into Kuwait City in 1993. Here we have one of the colorful features of the new dynastic politics of America: familial retribution as foreign policy.</p>
<p>O’Neill’s version is backed up by Richard Clarke, the former NSC terrorism staffer. Clarke charges that Iraq was an idée fixe with the Bush team since their entry into Washington. In his book, Clarke describes a meeting with the president a few days after the 9/11 attacks when it was clear to nearly everyone that they had been orchestrated by Bin Laden. Bush needled Clarke about finding a link to Saddam. Clarke said there was none. But his answer seemed to bounce off Bush’s brain like a handball off the back wall.</p>
<p>A few months later the invasion on Iraq seemed set in stone. “Fuck Saddam,” Bush fumed at a meeting of the National Security Council in March of 2002. “We’re taking him out.” Call it a case of pre-meditated pre-emption.</p>
<p>The game plan for deposing Saddam, seizing his oil fields and installing a puppet regime headed by a compliant thug such as Ahmed Chalabi or, as it turned out, the CIA favorite Ahmed Allawi, was drafted and tweaked by the National Security Council within weeks of taking office. Cheney’s shadowy energy task force even produced maps allocating Iraqi reserves to different oil companies. Of course, they didn’t offer an exit strategy. Perhaps, they didn’t plan on leaving?</p>
<p>On the remote chance that impeachment charges are ever leveled against this coven of pre-emptive warriors, Bush may have a minor case for plausible deniability here. According to O’Neill, the president drifts off during the excruciating tedium of these sessions. Bush only perks up during cabinet meetings when Condi Rice strolls into the room, whereupon he cleaves to each sanguinary phrase, nodding excitedly like his very own bobblehead doll.</p>
<p>Not that Bush seems to care all that much about the veracity of his briefings, but Rice’s information is not always noted for its reliability. For example, Rice, who got her start in politics working on the 1988 presidential campaign of Gary Hart, persisted for months in pushing the the preposterous notion that Iran was working with Pakistan to inflame anti-American sentiments across Southwest Asia. Of course, the rulers of Iran are Shiites and the elites of Pakistan are Sunni Muslim and, thus, as bitter rivals as Iran and Iraq-that is, until, the Bush administration succeeded in congealing their desperation and rage.</p>
<p>Tomorrow: Jesus Told Me Where to Bomb</p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Part One: The Ties That Blind</a></p>
<p><a href="" type="internal">Part Two: Mark His Words</a></p>
<p>JEFFREY ST. CLAIR is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1567512585/counterpunchmaga" type="external">Been Brown So Long It Looked Like Green to Me: the Politics of Nature</a> and, with Alexander Cockburn, <a href="http://www.easycarts.net/ecarts/CounterPunch/CP_Books.html" type="external">Dime’s Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils</a>.</p>
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<p>&#160;</p> | true | 4 | part three pricks kicks relations inside bush cabinet always collegial harmonious take richard armitage longtime diplomatic fixer armitage originally slated bush transition team installation number two man pentagon armitage despised donald rumsfelds megalomaniacal style reportedly denounced openly prick armitage ended back state paul wolfowitz crafty neocon became rumsfelds slavishly devoted deputy rumsfeld good reason fear armitage old hands state armitage powell werent itching war iraq oh tussle would call shots would launched powells office wanted reprise 1990 coalition rummy wanted war terms men women foggy bottom knew unsavory tidbits rumsfelds past relations two pillars bushs axis evil iraq north korea early 1980s rummy grazing corporate pastures top executive fixer gd searle drug giant involved aspartame scandal reagan called gipper summoned rumsfeld serve special emissary middle east assigned delicate mission delivering back channel communications white house baghdad beginning socalled iraq tilt subtle backing saddam gruesome iraniraq war december 20 1983 found rumsfeld baghdad supping saddam iraqs foreign minister tariq aziz accounts day long session amiable cordial rumsfeld chose issue remonstrance iraqs lethal use chemical weapons iran rumsfeld known prince darkness staffers well acquainted slaughter possession state department memo dated november 1 1983 middle east specialist jonathan howe warned administration almost daily use cw iraq iranian forces rumsfeld blew reports atrocities instead encouraged saddam press war iran february 1984 un investigation publicly confirmed gassings didnt deter rumsfeld meeting tariq aziz march 26 1984 failed reprimand iraqis essentially pursuing proxy war us war crimes two decades later rumsfeld without cracking grin repeatedly invoked saddams use poison gas 1980s justification bushs preemptive war cut 1994 rumsfeld plying craft back corporate milieu time swiss engineering giant abb specializes construction nuclear power plants fall year abb received 200 million contract construct two lightwater reactors pyongyang government deal sanctioned state department clinton years oddly rumsfeld later cite reactors evidence north koreas malign intention pursue development nuclear weapons used reactors justification sinking billions bushs star wars scheme confronted fact reactors scrutiny sold north korea company rumsfeld feigned ignorance done presented videotape greeting saddam boys state department knew score counts rummy didnt like indeed rumsfeld polonius bush team distrusted ecumenicalists state department set offtheshelf operation sequestered firmly control called office special plans headed douglas feith sound familiar osp different william caseyoliver north operation stealthy hands illegal meddlings iran afghanistan honduras nicaragua see far weve matured nation 20 years rumsfelds group open secret shedding even pretense covertness osp operates kind cutandpaste intelligence shop served fact gothic tale peddled ahmed chalabi american israel public affairs committee aipac feith made pest meddling affairs war planners reviled gen tommy franks called dumbest motherfucker face earth didnt deter feith least recruited roster pliant neocons office generated phantasmagorical briefs war topple saddam hungered since least 1994 feiths osp office known state department hands fantasy factory among feiths pack underlings two received special attention harold rhode larry franklin intimate relationship state israel franklin perhaps scapegoat larger scandal finds target fbi investigation israeli espionage ring pentagon national security council feith stranger inquiries leaking classified information israeli 1982 feith fired position analyst middle east issues reagan administrations national security council suspicion leaking material official israeli embassy washington dont cry feith simply moved white house pentagon special assistant richard perle assistant secretary defense international security policy republicans driven office 1992 feith settled comfortable niche dc lawyerlobbyist firm feith zell represented interests many israeli firms hot see demise saddam feith joined bush 2 administration former law partner marc zell moved firm tel aviv war iraq feith given responsibilitys planning occupation iraq reconstruction obviously feith spent little attention troublesome details occupation swallowing line iraqis would welcome conquistadors instead feith devoted lucrative task awarding many coalition provisional authoritys reconstruction contracts steered many lucrative deals often nobid basis clients associated former law firm including diligence new bridge strategies iraqi international law group headed salem chalabithe nephew ahmed chalabi sooner salem chalabi whose law group billed professional gateway new iraq appointed chief prosecutor war crime trial saddam hussein found indicted iraqi prosecutor involvement strange political murder plot salem chalabi lam london feith one washington creatures seems live political life ropes always saved paranoid solidarity neocon claque suspects rightly one number topples may take rest course even feith forced walk plank pentagon almost certainly make soft landing private sector embraced firms abetted office sometimes even stupidest motherfucker face earth make like bandit even bush sr stood line profit handsomely sons warmaking former president retainer carlyle group largest privately held defense contractor nation carlyle run frank carlucci served national security advisor secretary defense ronald reagan carlucci also donald rumsfelds college roommate princeton bush sr serves kind global emissary carlyle expresident doesnt negotiate arms deals simply opens door kind high level meetandgreet special area influence middle east primarily saudi arabia bush family extensive business political ties according account washington post bush sr earns least 100000 speech makes carlyles behalf one saudi investors lured carlyle bush binladen group construction conglomerate owned family osama bin laden according investigation wall street journal bush convinced shafiq bin laden osamas half brother sink 2 million binladen group money carlyles accounts pr move carlyle group cut ties binladen group october 2001 one bush srs top sidekicks james baker also key player carlyle baker joined weapons firm 1993 fresh stint bushs secretary state chief staff packing briefcase global contacts baker parlayed connections heads state generals international tycoons bonanza carlyle baker joined company carlyles revenues tripled like bush sr bakers main function manage carlyles lucrative relationship saudi potentates invested tens millions dollars company baker helped secure one carlyles lucrative deals contract run saudi offset program multibillion dollar scheme wherein international companies winning saudi contracts required terms contracts invest percentage profits saudi companies baker greases way investment deals arms sales also plays role seasoned troubleshooter protecting interests key clients regimes case point justice department launched investigation financial dealings prince sultan bin abdul aziz saudi prince sought bakers help baker currently defending prince law suit brought families victims 911 attacks used islamic charities passthrough sending millions dollars alqaeda linked operations baker carlyle enjoy another ace hole comes looking saudi friends baker prevailed bush jr appoint former law partner bob jordan administrations ambassador saudi arabia carlyle network investors wellpositioned cash bush jrs expansion defense homeland security department budgets two carlyle companies federal data systems us investigations services hold multibillion dollar contracts provide background checks commercial airlines pentagon cia department homeland security usis federal agency called office federal investigations privatized 1996 urging baker others soon gobbled carlyle company housed highsecurity stateoftheart underground complex annandale pennsylvania usis 24 million background checks year largely federal government thanks paul oneill bushs former treasury secretary know wed suspected along iraq war plotted long alqaeda struck new york washington bush depicted entering office seething vindictive rage like character jacobean revenge play believed saddam tried kill daddy bungled bomb plot bush srs triumphal entry kuwait city 1993 one colorful features new dynastic politics america familial retribution foreign policy oneills version backed richard clarke former nsc terrorism staffer clarke charges iraq idée fixe bush team since entry washington book clarke describes meeting president days 911 attacks clear nearly everyone orchestrated bin laden bush needled clarke finding link saddam clarke said none answer seemed bounce bushs brain like handball back wall months later invasion iraq seemed set stone fuck saddam bush fumed meeting national security council march 2002 taking call case premeditated preemption game plan deposing saddam seizing oil fields installing puppet regime headed compliant thug ahmed chalabi turned cia favorite ahmed allawi drafted tweaked national security council within weeks taking office cheneys shadowy energy task force even produced maps allocating iraqi reserves different oil companies course didnt offer exit strategy perhaps didnt plan leaving remote chance impeachment charges ever leveled coven preemptive warriors bush may minor case plausible deniability according oneill president drifts excruciating tedium sessions bush perks cabinet meetings condi rice strolls room whereupon cleaves sanguinary phrase nodding excitedly like bobblehead doll bush seems care much veracity briefings rices information always noted reliability example rice got start politics working 1988 presidential campaign gary hart persisted months pushing preposterous notion iran working pakistan inflame antiamerican sentiments across southwest asia course rulers iran shiites elites pakistan sunni muslim thus bitter rivals iran iraqthat bush administration succeeded congealing desperation rage tomorrow jesus told bomb part one ties blind part two mark words jeffrey st clair author brown long looked like green politics nature alexander cockburn dimes worth difference beyond lesser two evils 160 160 | 1,396 |
<p>Illustration By: Steve Brodner</p>
<p />
<p>“W. Is for Women,” said the Bush campaign buttons in 2000. True, he didn’t seem to have much to offer women, but the affable, moderate-seeming candidate didn’t seem hostile either. He spent no time railing against feminists, and though known to oppose abortion, he didn’t appear interested in doing anything about it. In fact, he got through the entire campaign without bringing up abortion.</p>
<p>Even after four years in office, George W. Bush’s record on women doesn’t leap out at you. It’s composed almost entirely of little things, small enough to fly well under the media’s radar screen, so few of us have any sense of their cumulative impact. But when you step back, the pattern emerges, and it is large, ugly, and unmistakable. Behind a smoke screen of high-profile female appointees and soothing slogans, George W. Bush is waging war on women.</p>
<p>One reason you may not have noticed is that W’s record on women is getting harder and harder to find. Who knows whether women are doing better or worse? You can’t find the information anymore—the Bush administration has simply stopped counting, stopped keeping track, dropped the records. When you go to the places where the government used to keep the information you find the damnedest things—fake sociology, phony science, erroneous health information, and pathetically bad economics.</p>
<p>Try a different route to the record—who has Bush placed in important posts involving women’s health, education, and employment? Well, darling, according to Bush appointees, when you get PMS, pray. If your husband beats the crap out of you, just agree that wives should be submissive to their husbands, and besides, as everybody in the Bush administration knows, women beat up men just as often as men beat up women. Oh, and if you get breast cancer, it’s your fault because you had an abortion—a conclusion that particularly startled people who study the disease.</p>
<p>Okay, but it can’t be all bad. I mean, look at the man—he’s surrounded by women. Elaine Chao, secretary of labor; Ann Veneman, secretary of agriculture; Gale Norton, secretary of interior, why, that’s almost as many women as Bill Clinton appointed to the Cabinet. Except the women in Bush’s administration have two important traits in common: They’ve sworn their allegiance to the corporate world, and they have connections to right-wing foundations that espouse antifemale policies.</p>
<p>Well, okay, but his momma and his wife are in favor of abortion rights, give him a break. Unfortunate pattern there. Laura Bush, it seems, is used to cast a softer light on her husband, who then proceeds to reverse whatever she’s just promised. Right before the Bush inauguration, many women were greatly reassured when Laura said of Roe v. Wade on the Today show, “No, I don’t think it should be overturned.” Three days later, her husband reimposed the “global gag rule” on groups abroad that receive U.S. funding for family planning. They may no longer so much as mention abortion, even when it is medically necessary.</p>
<p>In April 2001, Laura, the librarian, kicked off the Campaign for America’s Libraries. A week later, her husband cut funding for the Library Services and Technology Act, the Reading Is Fundamental program, and the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science. Oops.</p>
<p>Laura Bush was most famously used to put a female-friendly face on policy before the war in Afghanistan, when she substituted for her husband in his weekly radio address and spoke eloquently about the Taliban’s oppression of women. Unfortunately, the much-heralded Afghan Women and Children’s Relief Act, signed by Bush, had no dollar figures attached to it, and only a tiny amount of money was ever committed. Meanwhile, Afghan women’s groups consistently report that women are almost as badly off under the renewed rule of the warlords as they were before. At least the Taliban did not commit rape as a matter of policy.</p>
<p>Maybe it’s better Laura not stand up for anything.</p>
<p>Let’s look at a few lesser-known Bushies. In August 2002, Attorney General John Ashcroft named two women from the Independent Women’s Forum (IWF) to the National Advisory Committee on Violence Against Women. An imaginative move. IWF twice opposed the Violence Against Women Act and continues to lobby against its enforcement. An antifeminist group funded by the usual consortium of right-wing foundations—Olin, Bradley, Scaife, Coors—IWF also vehemently opposes affirmative action; Title IX, which provides for equal educational opportunity; Take Our Daughters to Work Day; and women in combat. Bush appointed Nancy Pfotenhauer, president and CEO of IWF, to be a delegate to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. Writing in the Chicago Tribune, Chris Black notes that IWF “debunk[s] ‘feminist myths’ and say[s] reports of rape, wage discrimination, domestic violence, and gender bias in schools are either flat-out wrong or wildly exaggerated.” With alert watchdogs like these looking out for women’s interests, how can we go wrong?</p>
<p>Anyone who watched George W. and Karl Rove while the former was governor of Texas will recognize a familiar pattern. Like much of Bush’s social policy—from faith-based social services to railing against gay marriage—women’s issues are one of the bones they’ve decided they can throw to the Christian right. (The “serious stuff,” such as taxes, the environment, and economic and labor policy are a different matter: Those are reserved for nonreligious ideologues.)</p>
<p>On the health front, take the appointment of Dr. W. David Hager to the Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory Committee. Hager coauthored a book that prescribes scripture and prayers as a cure for headaches and PMS. (For more on Hager, see “Christian Science?” page 20.) He opposes prescribing contraceptives to unmarried women, and voted to prohibit emergency contraception being sold over the counter, as it would be used by “individuals who did not want to take responsibility for their actions and wanted a medication to relieve those consequences.” Right. Let the irresponsible sluts suffer.</p>
<p>Another example of morality trumping science came when a fact sheet on condoms suddenly disappeared from the Centers for Disease Control’s website. The fact sheet, based on a large pool of scientific study, encouraged condom use since they are 98 to 100 percent effective in preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections, including HIV. “The primary reason condoms sometimes fail is incorrect or inconsistent use, not failure of the condom itself,” said the fact sheet. Eighteen months later, a new fact sheet appeared, stating that abstinence is the surest way to avoid STDs and that evidence on condoms is inconclusive. The CDC also removed a summary of studies showing no increase in sexual activity among teenagers taught about condoms. James Wagoner, head of Advocates for Youth, which works for comprehensive sex education, has called it “a deeply unsettling trend where public-health science is being supplanted by politics and ideology.” Since Wagoner’s group began criticizing Bush’s policies, it has been audited three times. Advocates for Youth also had its CDC funding for AIDS prevention yanked because “young people [in the project’s video] used the correct terminology for male and female anatomy.” “It’s absurd,” said Wagoner. “What is the president going to do? Issue an executive order that every man, woman, and child should refer to the penis as a dingaling?”</p>
<p>In Texas, thanks to W’s stint as governor, we are well ahead in the abstinence-only sex education field. The happy result is that Texas is now tied with Mississippi for having the highest teen birthrate in the nation. Four percent of all 15- to 17-year-old girls in Texas give birth. We’re so proud.</p>
<p>On the economic front, the case of disappearing information recurs. The Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor used to post 25 fact sheets on topics including “Women’s Earnings as Percent of Men’s,” “Domestic Violence: A Workplace Issue,” “Women in Management,” “Care Around the Clock: Developing Child Care Resources,” and so on. These have been replaced by peppy new Cosmo-like titles such as “Hot Jobs for the 21st Century” and “20 Leading Occupations for Women.” In a recent report, the National Council for Research on Women further notes that a required study by the Justice Department on discrimination in the insurance industry against domestic violence victims has vanished. A congressionally mandated report on how employers should handle such abused women has also been held up by the Justice Department for more than two years. Without explanation, the Department of Education archived its guidelines on sexual harassment in the schools.</p>
<p>The Bush administration is notorious for secrecy, but this is not some exercise in executive privilege. This information is being disappeared. As was the President’s Interagency Council on Women and the White House Office of Women’s Initiatives and Outreach. No more. The Pentagon attempted to disband its Advisory Committee on Women in the Services. Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-N.M.), herself a veteran, managed to save it. However, the committee’s work was redirected from issues of employment equity and job access to the effects of deployment on family life.</p>
<p>In April, the National Women’s Law Center released a report called “Slip-Sliding Away,” on the erosion of women’s rights. Among its findings: The Department of Labor—under the steady hand of Elaine Chao—has refused to use tools at its disposal to identify violations of equal pay laws. The Department of Labor has also repealed regulations that allowed paid family leave to be provided through state unemployment compensation funds, proposed new regulations that deprive millions of women of the right to overtime pay, and even provided tips to employers on how to avoid paying overtime when the law still requires it.</p>
<p>Should some poor fool nonetheless seek pay equity—say an employee of Wal-Mart or Merrill Lynch or Morgan Stanley—corporations need not worry: The Justice Department has weakened the enforcement of laws against job discrimination and abandoned pending sex discrimination cases.</p>
<p>The cumulative effects of broader Bush policies on women are also stunning. Since women are disproportionately poorer than men, the constant erosion of programs that help poor people hurt women more than men. Child-care, early-learning, and after-school programs are particularly critical for women trying to get off welfare. But at least 300,000 children will be knocked off child-care assistance under the administration’s new budget, which also freezes funding for Head Start and cuts funding for after- school programs. Meanwhile, the Bushies want to impose new work requirements on families who receive welfare.</p>
<p>Add in cuts to housing subsidies, to prenatal and early childhood nutrition programs, to college grants, to career education, to domestic violence programs, and lower federal grants that result in cuts to public schools, and it all adds up to a mountain of new trouble for low- and moderate-income women and their families.</p>
<p>According to Frank Luntz, Republican pollster and spinmeister, these younger working women with small children are critical swing voters. By dint of focus groups and shrewd professional questioning, Luntz has determined what these women need most—more time in their lives. He seemed to regard this finding as a considerable coup.</p>
<p>When asked on PBS’s Now how the Republicans propose to court this demographic, Luntz conjured up an imaginary focus group. “You actually ask the question,” said Luntz. “‘So, I want to talk to the ladies in the room’—the women in the room is how I would put it—‘I want you to tell me what really matters to you. What’s your greatest challenge? Because I think I know what it is. Ladies here, I’d say that your lack of free time is one of the greatest challenges.’ And they’ll all sit there and they’ll raise their hands and they’ll nod yes. At that moment you have bonded with those women. At that moment, when they hear that you understand the challenges that face them, they are ready to listen to your solution.”</p>
<p>That’s the Bush solution for overstressed working moms. No overtime pay, no child care, no Head Start, no after-school programs, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. But hey, at least he’s willing to bond.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | illustration steve brodner w women said bush campaign buttons 2000 true didnt seem much offer women affable moderateseeming candidate didnt seem hostile either spent time railing feminists though known oppose abortion didnt appear interested anything fact got entire campaign without bringing abortion even four years office george w bushs record women doesnt leap composed almost entirely little things small enough fly well medias radar screen us sense cumulative impact step back pattern emerges large ugly unmistakable behind smoke screen highprofile female appointees soothing slogans george w bush waging war women one reason may noticed ws record women getting harder harder find knows whether women better worse cant find information anymorethe bush administration simply stopped counting stopped keeping track dropped records go places government used keep information find damnedest thingsfake sociology phony science erroneous health information pathetically bad economics try different route recordwho bush placed important posts involving womens health education employment well darling according bush appointees get pms pray husband beats crap agree wives submissive husbands besides everybody bush administration knows women beat men often men beat women oh get breast cancer fault abortiona conclusion particularly startled people study disease okay cant bad mean look manhes surrounded women elaine chao secretary labor ann veneman secretary agriculture gale norton secretary interior thats almost many women bill clinton appointed cabinet except women bushs administration two important traits common theyve sworn allegiance corporate world connections rightwing foundations espouse antifemale policies well okay momma wife favor abortion rights give break unfortunate pattern laura bush seems used cast softer light husband proceeds reverse whatever shes promised right bush inauguration many women greatly reassured laura said roe v wade today show dont think overturned three days later husband reimposed global gag rule groups abroad receive us funding family planning may longer much mention abortion even medically necessary april 2001 laura librarian kicked campaign americas libraries week later husband cut funding library services technology act reading fundamental program national commission libraries information science oops laura bush famously used put femalefriendly face policy war afghanistan substituted husband weekly radio address spoke eloquently talibans oppression women unfortunately muchheralded afghan women childrens relief act signed bush dollar figures attached tiny amount money ever committed meanwhile afghan womens groups consistently report women almost badly renewed rule warlords least taliban commit rape matter policy maybe better laura stand anything lets look lesserknown bushies august 2002 attorney general john ashcroft named two women independent womens forum iwf national advisory committee violence women imaginative move iwf twice opposed violence women act continues lobby enforcement antifeminist group funded usual consortium rightwing foundationsolin bradley scaife coorsiwf also vehemently opposes affirmative action title ix provides equal educational opportunity take daughters work day women combat bush appointed nancy pfotenhauer president ceo iwf delegate united nations commission status women writing chicago tribune chris black notes iwf debunks feminist myths says reports rape wage discrimination domestic violence gender bias schools either flatout wrong wildly exaggerated alert watchdogs like looking womens interests go wrong anyone watched george w karl rove former governor texas recognize familiar pattern like much bushs social policyfrom faithbased social services railing gay marriagewomens issues one bones theyve decided throw christian right serious stuff taxes environment economic labor policy different matter reserved nonreligious ideologues health front take appointment dr w david hager reproductive health drugs advisory committee hager coauthored book prescribes scripture prayers cure headaches pms hager see christian science page 20 opposes prescribing contraceptives unmarried women voted prohibit emergency contraception sold counter would used individuals want take responsibility actions wanted medication relieve consequences right let irresponsible sluts suffer another example morality trumping science came fact sheet condoms suddenly disappeared centers disease controls website fact sheet based large pool scientific study encouraged condom use since 98 100 percent effective preventing pregnancy sexually transmitted infections including hiv primary reason condoms sometimes fail incorrect inconsistent use failure condom said fact sheet eighteen months later new fact sheet appeared stating abstinence surest way avoid stds evidence condoms inconclusive cdc also removed summary studies showing increase sexual activity among teenagers taught condoms james wagoner head advocates youth works comprehensive sex education called deeply unsettling trend publichealth science supplanted politics ideology since wagoners group began criticizing bushs policies audited three times advocates youth also cdc funding aids prevention yanked young people projects video used correct terminology male female anatomy absurd said wagoner president going issue executive order every man woman child refer penis dingaling texas thanks ws stint governor well ahead abstinenceonly sex education field happy result texas tied mississippi highest teen birthrate nation four percent 15 17yearold girls texas give birth proud economic front case disappearing information recurs womens bureau department labor used post 25 fact sheets topics including womens earnings percent mens domestic violence workplace issue women management care around clock developing child care resources replaced peppy new cosmolike titles hot jobs 21st century 20 leading occupations women recent report national council research women notes required study justice department discrimination insurance industry domestic violence victims vanished congressionally mandated report employers handle abused women also held justice department two years without explanation department education archived guidelines sexual harassment schools bush administration notorious secrecy exercise executive privilege information disappeared presidents interagency council women white house office womens initiatives outreach pentagon attempted disband advisory committee women services congresswoman heather wilson rnm veteran managed save however committees work redirected issues employment equity job access effects deployment family life april national womens law center released report called slipsliding away erosion womens rights among findings department laborunder steady hand elaine chaohas refused use tools disposal identify violations equal pay laws department labor also repealed regulations allowed paid family leave provided state unemployment compensation funds proposed new regulations deprive millions women right overtime pay even provided tips employers avoid paying overtime law still requires poor fool nonetheless seek pay equitysay employee walmart merrill lynch morgan stanleycorporations need worry justice department weakened enforcement laws job discrimination abandoned pending sex discrimination cases cumulative effects broader bush policies women also stunning since women disproportionately poorer men constant erosion programs help poor people hurt women men childcare earlylearning afterschool programs particularly critical women trying get welfare least 300000 children knocked childcare assistance administrations new budget also freezes funding head start cuts funding school programs meanwhile bushies want impose new work requirements families receive welfare add cuts housing subsidies prenatal early childhood nutrition programs college grants career education domestic violence programs lower federal grants result cuts public schools adds mountain new trouble low moderateincome women families according frank luntz republican pollster spinmeister younger working women small children critical swing voters dint focus groups shrewd professional questioning luntz determined women need mostmore time lives seemed regard finding considerable coup asked pbss republicans propose court demographic luntz conjured imaginary focus group actually ask question said luntz want talk ladies roomthe women room would put iti want tell really matters whats greatest challenge think know ladies id say lack free time one greatest challenges theyll sit theyll raise hands theyll nod yes moment bonded women moment hear understand challenges face ready listen solution thats bush solution overstressed working moms overtime pay child care head start afterschool programs etcetera etcetera etcetera hey least hes willing bond | 1,189 |
<p>This <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/archive/175233/" type="external">story</a> first appeared on the <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/" type="external">TomDispatch</a> website.</p>
<p>The crisis has come suddenly, almost without warning. At the far edge of American power in Asia, things are going from bad to much worse than anyone could have imagined. The insurgents are spreading fast across the countryside. Corruption is rampant. Local military forces, recipients of countless millions of dollars in US aid, shirk combat and are despised by local villagers. American casualties are rising. Our soldiers seem to move in a fog through a hostile, unfamiliar terrain, with no idea of who is friend and who is foe.</p>
<p>After years of lavishing American aid on him, the leader of this country, our close ally, has isolated himself inside the presidential palace, becoming an inadequate partner for a failing war effort. His brother is reportedly a genuine prince of darkness, dealing in drugs, covert intrigues, and electoral manipulation. The US Embassy demands reform, the ouster of his brother, the appointment of honest local officials, something, anything that will demonstrate even a scintilla of progress.</p>
<p>After all, nine years earlier US envoys had taken a huge gamble: rescuing this president from exile and political obscurity, installing him in the palace, and ousting a legitimate monarch whose family had ruled the country for centuries. Now, he repays this political debt by taunting America. He insists on untrammeled sovereignty and threatens to ally with our enemies if we continue to demand reforms of him. Yet Washington is so deeply identified with the counterinsurgency campaign in his country that walking away no longer seems like an option.</p>
<p>This scenario is obviously a description of the Obama administration’s devolving relations with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in Kabul this April. It is also an eerie summary of relations between the Kennedy administration and South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem in Saigon nearly half a century earlier, in August 1963. If these parallels are troubling, they reveal the central paradox of American power over the past half-century in its dealings with embattled autocrats like Karzai and Diem across that vast, impoverished swath of the globe once known as the Third World.</p>
<p>Our Man in Kabul</p>
<p>With his volatile mix of dependence and independence, Hamid Karzai seems the archetype of all the autocrats Washington has backed in Asia, Africa, and Latin America since European empires began disintegrating after World War II. When the CIA mobilized Afghan warlords to topple the Taliban in October 2001, the country’s capital, Kabul, was ours for the taking—and the giving. In the midst of this chaos, Hamid Karzai, an obscure exile living in Pakistan, gathered a handful of followers and plunged into Afghanistan on a doomed CIA-supported mission to rally the tribes for revolt. It proved a quixotic effort that required rescue by Navy SEALs who snatched him back to safety in Pakistan.</p>
<p>Desperate for a reliable post-invasion ally, the Bush administration engaged in what one expert <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20100419/polk" type="external">has called</a> “bribes, secret deals, and arm twisting” to install Karzai in power. This process took place not through a democratic election in Kabul, but by lobbying foreign diplomats at a donors’ conference in Bonn, Germany, to appoint him interim president. When King Zahir Shah, a respected figure whose family had ruled Afghanistan for more than 200 years, returned to offer his services as acting head of state, the US ambassador had a “showdown” with the monarch, forcing him back into exile. In this way, Karzai’s “authority,” which came directly and almost solely from the Bush administration, remained unchecked. For his first months in office, the president had so little trust in his nominal Afghan allies that he was <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/EA04Ag01.html" type="external">guarded by</a> American security.</p>
<p>In the years that followed, the Karzai regime slid into an ever deepening state of corruption and incompetence, while NATO allies rushed to fill the void with their manpower and material, a de facto endorsement of the president’s low road to power. As billions in international development aid poured into Kabul, a mere trickle escaped the capital’s bottomless bureaucracy to reach impoverished villages in the countryside. In 2009, Transparency International <a href="http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2009/cpi_2009_table" type="external">ranked</a> Afghanistan as the world’s second most corrupt nation, just a notch below Somalia.</p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175225/tomgram:_alfred_mccoy,_afghanistan_as_a_drug_war__/" type="external">opium production soared</a> from 185 tons in 2001 to 8,200 tons just six years later—a remarkable 53% of the country’s entire economy—drug corruption metastasized, reaching provincial governors, the police, cabinet ministers, and the president’s own brother, also his close adviser. Indeed, as a senior US antinarcotics official assigned to Afghanistan <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/magazine/27AFGHAN-t.html" type="external">described the situation</a> in 2006, “Narco corruption went to the very top of the Afghan government.” Earlier this year, the U.N. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8466915.stm" type="external">estimated</a> that ordinary Afghans spend $2.5 billion annually, a quarter of the country’s gross domestic product, simply to bribe the police and government officials.</p>
<p>Last August’s presidential elections were an apt index of the country’s progress. Karzai’s campaign team, the so-called warlord ticket, included Abdul Dostum, an Uzbek warlord who <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/11/world/asia/11afghan.html" type="external">slaughtered countless prisoners</a> in 2001; vice presidential candidate Muhammed Fahim, a former defense minister linked to drugs and human rights abuses; Sher Muhammed Akhundzada, the former governor of Helmand Province, who was <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/magazine/09Karzai-t.html" type="external">caught with nine tons</a> of drugs in his compound back in 2005; and the president’s brother Ahmed Wali Karzai, reputedly the reigning drug lord and family fixer in Kandahar. “The Karzai family has opium and blood on their hands,” one Western intelligence official <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/09/magazine/09Karzai-t.html" type="external">told</a> the New York Times during the campaign.</p>
<p>Desperate to capture an outright 50% majority in the first round of balloting, Karzai’s warlord coalition made use of an extraordinary array of electoral chicanery. After two months of counting and checking, the U.N.’s Electoral Complaints Commission <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/world/asia/20afghan.html" type="external">announced</a> in October 2009 that more than a million of his votes, 28% of his total, were fraudulent, pushing the president’s tally well below the winning margin. Calling the election a “foreseeable train wreck,” the deputy U.N. envoy Peter Galbraith <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/6259530/US-diplomat-claims-UN-tried-to-gag-him.html" type="external">said</a>, “The fraud has handed the Taliban its greatest strategic victory in eight years of fighting the United States and its Afghan partners.”</p>
<p>Galbraith, however, was sacked and silenced as US pressure extinguished the simmering flames of electoral protest. The runner-up soon <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8336388.stm" type="external">withdrew</a> from the run-off election that Washington had favored as a face-saving, post-fraud compromise, and Karzai was declared the outright winner by default. In the wake of the farcical election, Karzai not surprisingly tried to stack the five-man Electoral Complaints Commission, an independent body meant to vet electoral complaints, replacing the three foreign experts with his own Afghan appointees. When the parliament rejected his proposal, Karzai <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/01/AR2010040101681.html" type="external">lashed out</a> with bizarre charges, accusing the U.N. of wanting a “puppet government” and blaming all the electoral fraud on “massive interference from foreigners.” In a meeting with members of parliament, he reportedly <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/05/world/asia/05karzai.html" type="external">told</a> them: “If you and the international community pressure me more, I swear that I am going to join the Taliban.”</p>
<p>Amid this tempest in an electoral teapot, as American reinforcements poured into Afghanistan, Washington’s escalating pressure for “reform” only served to inflame Karzai. As Air Force One headed for Kabul on March 28th, National Security Adviser <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/j/james_l_jones/index.html?inline=nyt-per" type="external">James Jones</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/world/asia/29prexy.html" type="external">bluntly</a> told reporters aboard that, in his meeting with Karzai, President Obama would insist that he prioritize “battling corruption, taking the fight to the narco-traffickers.” It was time for the new administration in Washington, ever more deeply committed to its escalating counterinsurgency war in Afghanistan, to bring our man in Kabul back into line.</p>
<p>A week filled with inflammatory, angry outbursts from Karzai followed before the White House changed tack, concluding that it had no alternative to Karzai and began to retreat. Jones now <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/10/world/asia/10prexy.html" type="external">began telling</a> reporters soothingly that, during his visit to Kabul, President Obama had been “generally impressed with the quality of the [Afghan] ministers and the seriousness with which they’re approaching their job.”</p>
<p>All of this might have seemed so new and bewildering in the American experience, if it weren’t actually so old.</p>
<p>Our Man in Saigon</p>
<p>The sorry history of the autocratic regime of Ngo Dinh Diem in Saigon (1954-1963) offers an earlier cautionary roadmap that helps explain why Washington has so often found itself in such an impossibly contradictory position with its authoritarian allies.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0299234142/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external" />Landing in Saigon in mid-1954 after years of exile in the United States and Europe, Diem had no real political base. He could, however, count on powerful patrons in Washington, notably Democratic senators Mike Mansfield and John F. Kennedy. One of the few people to greet Diem at the airport that day was the legendary CIA operative Edward Lansdale, Washington’s master of political manipulation in Southeast Asia. Amid the chaos accompanying France’s defeat in its long, bloody Indochina War, Lansdale maneuvered brilliantly to secure Diem’s tenuous hold on power in the southern part of Vietnam. In the meantime, US diplomats sent his rival, the Emperor Bao Dai, packing for Paris. Within months, thanks to Washington’s backing, Diem won an absurd 98.2% of a rigged vote for the presidency and promptly promulgated a new constitution that ended the Vietnamese monarchy after a millennium.</p>
<p>Channeling all aid payments through Diem, Washington managed to destroy the last vestiges of French colonial support for any of his potential rivals in the south, while winning the president a narrow political base within the army, among civil servants, and in the minority Catholic community. Backed by a seeming cornucopia of American support, Diem proceeded to deal harshly with South Vietnam’s Buddhist sects, harassed the Viet Minh veterans of the war against the French, and resisted the implementation of rural reforms that might have won him broader support among the country’s peasant population.</p>
<p>When the US Embassy pressed for reforms, he simply stalled, convinced that Washington, having already invested so much of its prestige in his regime, would be unable to withhold support. Like Karzai in Kabul, Diem’s ultimate weapon was his weakness—the threat that his government, shaky as it was, might simply collapse if pushed too hard.</p>
<p>In the end, the Americans invariably backed down, sacrificing any hope of real change in order to maintain the ongoing war effort against the local Viet Cong rebels and their North Vietnamese backers. As rebellion and dissent rose in the south, Washington ratcheted up its military aid to battle the communists, inadvertently giving Diem more weapons to wield against his own people, communist and non-communist alike.</p>
<p>Working through his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu—and this should have an eerie resonance today—the Diems took control of Saigon’s drug racket, pocketing significant profits as they built up a nexus of secret police, prisons, and concentration camps to deal with suspected dissidents. At the time of Diem’s downfall in 1963, there were some 50,000 prisoners in his gulag.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, from 1960 to 1963, the regime only weakened as resistance sparked repression and repression redoubled resistance. Soon South Vietnam was wracked by Buddhist riots in the cities and a spreading Communist revolution in the countryside. Moving after dark, Viet Cong guerrillas slowly began to encircle Saigon, assassinating Diem’s unpopular village headmen by the thousands.</p>
<p>In this three-year period, the US military mission in Saigon tried every conceivable counterinsurgency strategy. They brought in helicopters and armored vehicles to improve conventional mobility, deployed the Green Berets for unconventional combat, built up regional militias for localized security, constructed “strategic hamlets” in order to isolate eight million peasants inside supposedly secure fortified compounds, and ratcheted up CIA assassinations of suspected Viet Cong leaders. Nothing worked. Even the best military strategy could not fix the underlying political problem. By 1963, the Viet Cong had grown from a handful of fighters into a guerrilla army that controlled more than half the countryside.</p>
<p>When protesting Buddhist monk Quang Duc <a href="http://pakalert.files.wordpress.com/2008/11/3.jpg" type="external">assumed the lotus position</a> on a Saigon street in June 1963 and held the posture while followers lit his gasoline-soaked robes which erupted in fatal flames, the Kennedy administration could no longer ignore the crisis. As Diem’s batons cracked the heads of Buddhist demonstrators and Nhu’s wife applauded what she called “monk barbecues,” Washington began to officially protest the ruthless repression. Instead of responding, Diem (shades of Karzai) began working through his brother Nhu to open negotiations with the communists in Hanoi, signaling Washington that he was perfectly willing to betray the US war effort and possibly form a coalition with North Vietnam.</p>
<p>In the midst of this crisis, a newly appointed American ambassador, Henry Cabot Lodge, arrived in Saigon and within days approved a plan for a CIA-backed coup to overthrow Diem. For the next few months, Lansdale’s CIA understudy Lucien Conein met regularly with Saigon’s generals to hatch an elaborate plot that was unleashed with devastating effect on November 1, 1963.</p>
<p>As rebel troops stormed the palace, Diem and his brother Nhu fled to a safe house in Saigon’s Chinatown. Flushed from hiding by promises of safe conduct into exile, Diem climbed aboard a military convoy for what he thought was a ride to the airport. But CIA operative Conein had vetoed the flight plans. A military assassin intercepted the convoy, spraying Diem’s body with bullets and stabbing his bleeding corpse in a coup de grâce.</p>
<p>Although Ambassador Lodge hosted an embassy celebration for the rebel officers and cabled President Kennedy that Diem’s death would mean a “shorter war,” the country soon collapsed into a series of military coups and counter-coups that crippled army operations. Over the next 32 months, Saigon had nine new governments and a change of cabinet every 15 weeks—all incompetent, corrupt, and ineffective.</p>
<p>After spending a decade building up Diem’s regime and a day destroying it, the US had seemingly irrevocably linked its own power and prestige to the Saigon government—any government. The “best and brightest” in Washington were convinced that they could not just withdraw from South Vietnam without striking a devastating blow against American “credibility.” As South Vietnam slid toward defeat in the two years following Diem’s death, the first of 540,000 US combat troops began arriving, ensuring that Vietnam would be transformed from an American-backed war into an American war.</p>
<p>Under the circumstances, Washington searched desperately for anyone who could provide sufficient stability to prosecute the war against the communists and eventually, with palpable relief, embraced a military junta headed by General Nguyen Van Thieu. Installed and sustained in power by American aid, Thieu had no popular following and ruled through military repression, repeating the same mistakes that led to Diem’s downfall. But chastened by its experience after the assassination of Diem, the US Embassy decided to ignore Thieu’s unpopularity and continue to build his army. Once Washington began to reduce its aid after 1973, Thieu found that his troops simply would not fight to defend his unpopular government. In April 1975, he carried a hoard of stolen gold into exile while his army collapsed with stunning speed, suffering one of the most devastating collapses in military history.</p>
<p>In pursuit of its Vietnam War effort, Washington required a Saigon government responsive to its demands, yet popular with its own peasantry, strong enough to wage a war in the villages, yet sensitive to the needs of the country’s poor villagers. These were hopelessly contradictory political requisites. Finding that civilian regimes engaged in impossible-to-control intrigues, the US ultimately settled for authoritarian military rule which, acceptable as it proved in Washington, was disdained by the Vietnamese peasantry.</p>
<p>Death or Exile?</p>
<p>So is President Karzai, like Diem, doomed to die on the streets of Kabul or will he, one day, find himself like Thieu boarding a midnight flight into exile?</p>
<p>History, or at least our awareness of its lessons, does change things, albeit in complex, unpredictable ways. Today, senior US envoys have Diem’s cautionary tale encoded in their diplomatic DNA, which undoubtedly precludes any literal replay of his fate. After sanctioning Diem’s assassination, Washington watched in dismay as South Vietnam plunged into chaos. So chastened was the US Embassy by this dismal outcome that it backed the subsequent military regime to a fault.</p>
<p>A decade later, the Senate’s Church Committee uncovered other US attempts at assassination-cum-regime-change in the Congo, Chile, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic that further stigmatized this option. In effect, antibodies from the disastrous CIA coup against Diem, still in Washington’s political bloodstream, reduce the possibility of any similar move against Karzai today.</p>
<p>Ironically, those who seek to avoid the past may be doomed to repeat it. By accepting Karzai’s massive electoral fraud and refusing to consider alternatives last August, Washington has, like it or not, put its stamp of approval on his spreading corruption and the political instability that accompanies it. In this way, the Obama administration in its early days invited a sad denouement to its Afghan adventure, one potentially akin to Vietnam after Diem’s death. America’s representatives in Kabul are once again hurtling down history’s highway, eyes fixed on the rear-view mirror, not the precipice that lies dead ahead.</p>
<p>In the experiences of both Ngo Dinh Diem and Hamid Karzai lurks a self-defeating pattern common to Washington’s alliances with dictators throughout the Third World, then and now. Selected and often installed in office by Washington, or at least backed by massive American military aid, these client figures become desperately dependent, even as they fail to implement the sorts of reforms that might enable them to build an independent political base. Torn between pleasing their foreign patrons or their own people, they wind up pleasing neither. As opposition to their rule grows, a downward spiral of repression and corruption often ends in collapse; while, for all its power, Washington descends into frustration and despair, unable to force its allies to adopt reforms which might allow them to survive. Such a collapse is a major crisis for the White House, but often—Diem’s case is obviously an exception—little more than an airplane ride into exile for the local autocrat or dictator.</p>
<p>There was—and is—a fundamental structural flaw in any American alliance with these autocrats. Inherent in these unequal alliances is a peculiar dynamic that makes the eventual collapse of such American-anointed leaders almost inevitable. At the outset, Washington selects a client who seems pliant enough to do its bidding. Such a client, in turn, opts for Washington’s support not because he is strong, but precisely because he needs foreign patronage to gain and hold office.</p>
<p>Once installed, the client, no matter how reluctant, has little choice but to make Washington’s demands his top priority, investing his slender political resources in placating foreign envoys. Responding to an American political agenda on civil and military matters, these autocrats often fail to devote sufficient energy, attention, and resources to cultivating a following; Diem found himself isolated in his Saigon palace, while Karzai has become a “president” justly, if derisively, nicknamed “the mayor of Kabul.” Caught between the demands of a powerful foreign patron and countervailing local needs and desires, both leaders let guerrillas capture the countryside, while struggling uncomfortably, and in the end angrily, as well as resentfully, in the foreign embrace.</p>
<p>Nor are such parallels limited to Afghanistan today or Vietnam almost half a century ago. Since the end of World War II, many of the sharpest crises in US foreign policy have arisen from just such problematic relationships with authoritarian client regimes. As a start, it was a similarly close relationship with General Fulgencio Batista of Cuba in the 1950s which inspired the Cuban revolution. That culminated, of course, in Fidel Castro’s rebels capturing the Cuban capital, Havana, in 1959, which in turn led the Kennedy administration into the catastrophic Bay of Pigs invasion and then the Cuban Missile Crisis.</p>
<p>For a full quarter-century, the US played international patron to the Shah of Iran, intervening to save his regime from the threat of democracy in the early 1950s and later massively arming his police and military while making him Washington’s proxy power in the Persian Gulf. His fall in the Islamic revolution of 1979 not only removed the cornerstone of American power in this strategic region, but plunged Washington into a succession of foreign policy confrontations with Iran that have yet to end.</p>
<p>After a half-century as a similarly loyal client in Central America, the regime of Nicaragua’s Anastasio Somoza fell in the Sandinista revolution of 1979, creating a foreign policy problem marked by the CIA’s contra operation against the new Sandinista government and the seamy Iran-Contra scandal that roiled President Reagan’s second term.</p>
<p>Just last week, Washington’s anointed autocrat in Kyrgyzstan, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, fled the presidential palace when his riot police, despite firing live ammunition and killing more than 80 of his citizens, failed to stop opposition protesters from taking control of the capital, Bishkek. Although his rule was brutal and corrupt, last year the Obama administration <a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/b/kurmanbek_s_bakiyev/index.html" type="external">courted</a> Bakiyev sedulously and successfully to <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/LC17Ag01.html" type="external">preserve</a> US <a href="http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/LC17Ag01.html" type="external">use</a> of the old Soviet air base at Manas critical for supply flights into Afghanistan. Even as riot police were beating the opposition into submission to prepare for Bakiyev’s “landslide victory” in last July’s elections, President Obama sent him a personal letter praising his support for the Afghan war. With Washington’s imprimatur, there was nothing to stop Bakiyev’s political slide into murderous repression and his ultimate fall from power.</p>
<p>Why have so many American alliances with Third World dictators collapsed in such a spectacular fashion, producing divisive recriminations at home and policy disasters abroad?</p>
<p>During Britain’s century of dominion, its self-confident servants of empire, from viceroys in plumed hats to district officers in khaki shorts, ruled much of Africa and Asia through an imperial system of protectorates, indirect rule, and direct colonial rule. In the succeeding American “half century” of hegemony, Washington carried the burden of global power without a formal colonial system, substituting its military advisers for imperial viceroys.</p>
<p>In this new landscape of sovereign states that emerged after World War II, Washington has had to pursue a contradictory policy as it dealt with the leaders of nominally independent nations that were also deeply dependent on foreign economic and military aid. After identifying its own prestige with these fragile regimes, Washington usually tries to coax, chide, or threaten its allies into embracing what it considers needed reforms. Even when this counsel fails and prudence might dictate the start of a staged withdrawal, as in Saigon in 1963 and Kabul today, American envoys simply cannot let go of their unrepentant, resentful allies, as the long slide into disaster gains momentum.</p>
<p>With few choices between diplomatic niceties and a destabilizing coup, Washington invariably ends up defaulting to an inflexible foreign policy at the edge of paralysis that often ends with the collapse of our authoritarian allies, whether Diem in Saigon, the Shah in Tehran, or on some dismal day yet to come, Hamid Karzai in Kabul. To avoid this impending debacle, our only realistic option in Afghanistan today may well be the one we wish we had taken in Saigon back in August 1963—a staged withdrawal of US forces.</p>
<p>Alfred W. McCoy is the J.R.W. Smail Professor of History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/1556524838/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">The Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade</a>, which probes the conjuncture of illicit narcotics and covert operations over the past 50 years. His latest book, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/0299234142/ref=nosim/?tag=tomdispatch-20" type="external">Policing America’s Empire: The United States, the Philippines, and the Rise of the Surveillance State</a>, explores the influence of overseas counterinsurgency operations on the spread of internal security measures here at home.</p> | true | 4 | story first appeared tomdispatch website crisis come suddenly almost without warning far edge american power asia things going bad much worse anyone could imagined insurgents spreading fast across countryside corruption rampant local military forces recipients countless millions dollars us aid shirk combat despised local villagers american casualties rising soldiers seem move fog hostile unfamiliar terrain idea friend foe years lavishing american aid leader country close ally isolated inside presidential palace becoming inadequate partner failing war effort brother reportedly genuine prince darkness dealing drugs covert intrigues electoral manipulation us embassy demands reform ouster brother appointment honest local officials something anything demonstrate even scintilla progress nine years earlier us envoys taken huge gamble rescuing president exile political obscurity installing palace ousting legitimate monarch whose family ruled country centuries repays political debt taunting america insists untrammeled sovereignty threatens ally enemies continue demand reforms yet washington deeply identified counterinsurgency campaign country walking away longer seems like option scenario obviously description obama administrations devolving relations afghan president hamid karzai kabul april also eerie summary relations kennedy administration south vietnamese president ngo dinh diem saigon nearly half century earlier august 1963 parallels troubling reveal central paradox american power past halfcentury dealings embattled autocrats like karzai diem across vast impoverished swath globe known third world man kabul volatile mix dependence independence hamid karzai seems archetype autocrats washington backed asia africa latin america since european empires began disintegrating world war ii cia mobilized afghan warlords topple taliban october 2001 countrys capital kabul takingand giving midst chaos hamid karzai obscure exile living pakistan gathered handful followers plunged afghanistan doomed ciasupported mission rally tribes revolt proved quixotic effort required rescue navy seals snatched back safety pakistan desperate reliable postinvasion ally bush administration engaged one expert called bribes secret deals arm twisting install karzai power process took place democratic election kabul lobbying foreign diplomats donors conference bonn germany appoint interim president king zahir shah respected figure whose family ruled afghanistan 200 years returned offer services acting head state us ambassador showdown monarch forcing back exile way karzais authority came directly almost solely bush administration remained unchecked first months office president little trust nominal afghan allies guarded american security years followed karzai regime slid ever deepening state corruption incompetence nato allies rushed fill void manpower material de facto endorsement presidents low road power billions international development aid poured kabul mere trickle escaped capitals bottomless bureaucracy reach impoverished villages countryside 2009 transparency international ranked afghanistan worlds second corrupt nation notch somalia opium production soared 185 tons 2001 8200 tons six years latera remarkable 53 countrys entire economydrug corruption metastasized reaching provincial governors police cabinet ministers presidents brother also close adviser indeed senior us antinarcotics official assigned afghanistan described situation 2006 narco corruption went top afghan government earlier year un estimated ordinary afghans spend 25 billion annually quarter countrys gross domestic product simply bribe police government officials last augusts presidential elections apt index countrys progress karzais campaign team socalled warlord ticket included abdul dostum uzbek warlord slaughtered countless prisoners 2001 vice presidential candidate muhammed fahim former defense minister linked drugs human rights abuses sher muhammed akhundzada former governor helmand province caught nine tons drugs compound back 2005 presidents brother ahmed wali karzai reputedly reigning drug lord family fixer kandahar karzai family opium blood hands one western intelligence official told new york times campaign desperate capture outright 50 majority first round balloting karzais warlord coalition made use extraordinary array electoral chicanery two months counting checking uns electoral complaints commission announced october 2009 million votes 28 total fraudulent pushing presidents tally well winning margin calling election foreseeable train wreck deputy un envoy peter galbraith said fraud handed taliban greatest strategic victory eight years fighting united states afghan partners galbraith however sacked silenced us pressure extinguished simmering flames electoral protest runnerup soon withdrew runoff election washington favored facesaving postfraud compromise karzai declared outright winner default wake farcical election karzai surprisingly tried stack fiveman electoral complaints commission independent body meant vet electoral complaints replacing three foreign experts afghan appointees parliament rejected proposal karzai lashed bizarre charges accusing un wanting puppet government blaming electoral fraud massive interference foreigners meeting members parliament reportedly told international community pressure swear going join taliban amid tempest electoral teapot american reinforcements poured afghanistan washingtons escalating pressure reform served inflame karzai air force one headed kabul march 28th national security adviser james jones bluntly told reporters aboard meeting karzai president obama would insist prioritize battling corruption taking fight narcotraffickers time new administration washington ever deeply committed escalating counterinsurgency war afghanistan bring man kabul back line week filled inflammatory angry outbursts karzai followed white house changed tack concluding alternative karzai began retreat jones began telling reporters soothingly visit kabul president obama generally impressed quality afghan ministers seriousness theyre approaching job might seemed new bewildering american experience werent actually old man saigon sorry history autocratic regime ngo dinh diem saigon 19541963 offers earlier cautionary roadmap helps explain washington often found impossibly contradictory position authoritarian allies landing saigon mid1954 years exile united states europe diem real political base could however count powerful patrons washington notably democratic senators mike mansfield john f kennedy one people greet diem airport day legendary cia operative edward lansdale washingtons master political manipulation southeast asia amid chaos accompanying frances defeat long bloody indochina war lansdale maneuvered brilliantly secure diems tenuous hold power southern part vietnam meantime us diplomats sent rival emperor bao dai packing paris within months thanks washingtons backing diem absurd 982 rigged vote presidency promptly promulgated new constitution ended vietnamese monarchy millennium channeling aid payments diem washington managed destroy last vestiges french colonial support potential rivals south winning president narrow political base within army among civil servants minority catholic community backed seeming cornucopia american support diem proceeded deal harshly south vietnams buddhist sects harassed viet minh veterans war french resisted implementation rural reforms might broader support among countrys peasant population us embassy pressed reforms simply stalled convinced washington already invested much prestige regime would unable withhold support like karzai kabul diems ultimate weapon weaknessthe threat government shaky might simply collapse pushed hard end americans invariably backed sacrificing hope real change order maintain ongoing war effort local viet cong rebels north vietnamese backers rebellion dissent rose south washington ratcheted military aid battle communists inadvertently giving diem weapons wield people communist noncommunist alike working brother ngo dinh nhuand eerie resonance todaythe diems took control saigons drug racket pocketing significant profits built nexus secret police prisons concentration camps deal suspected dissidents time diems downfall 1963 50000 prisoners gulag nonetheless 1960 1963 regime weakened resistance sparked repression repression redoubled resistance soon south vietnam wracked buddhist riots cities spreading communist revolution countryside moving dark viet cong guerrillas slowly began encircle saigon assassinating diems unpopular village headmen thousands threeyear period us military mission saigon tried every conceivable counterinsurgency strategy brought helicopters armored vehicles improve conventional mobility deployed green berets unconventional combat built regional militias localized security constructed strategic hamlets order isolate eight million peasants inside supposedly secure fortified compounds ratcheted cia assassinations suspected viet cong leaders nothing worked even best military strategy could fix underlying political problem 1963 viet cong grown handful fighters guerrilla army controlled half countryside protesting buddhist monk quang duc assumed lotus position saigon street june 1963 held posture followers lit gasolinesoaked robes erupted fatal flames kennedy administration could longer ignore crisis diems batons cracked heads buddhist demonstrators nhus wife applauded called monk barbecues washington began officially protest ruthless repression instead responding diem shades karzai began working brother nhu open negotiations communists hanoi signaling washington perfectly willing betray us war effort possibly form coalition north vietnam midst crisis newly appointed american ambassador henry cabot lodge arrived saigon within days approved plan ciabacked coup overthrow diem next months lansdales cia understudy lucien conein met regularly saigons generals hatch elaborate plot unleashed devastating effect november 1 1963 rebel troops stormed palace diem brother nhu fled safe house saigons chinatown flushed hiding promises safe conduct exile diem climbed aboard military convoy thought ride airport cia operative conein vetoed flight plans military assassin intercepted convoy spraying diems body bullets stabbing bleeding corpse coup de grâce although ambassador lodge hosted embassy celebration rebel officers cabled president kennedy diems death would mean shorter war country soon collapsed series military coups countercoups crippled army operations next 32 months saigon nine new governments change cabinet every 15 weeksall incompetent corrupt ineffective spending decade building diems regime day destroying us seemingly irrevocably linked power prestige saigon governmentany government best brightest washington convinced could withdraw south vietnam without striking devastating blow american credibility south vietnam slid toward defeat two years following diems death first 540000 us combat troops began arriving ensuring vietnam would transformed americanbacked war american war circumstances washington searched desperately anyone could provide sufficient stability prosecute war communists eventually palpable relief embraced military junta headed general nguyen van thieu installed sustained power american aid thieu popular following ruled military repression repeating mistakes led diems downfall chastened experience assassination diem us embassy decided ignore thieus unpopularity continue build army washington began reduce aid 1973 thieu found troops simply would fight defend unpopular government april 1975 carried hoard stolen gold exile army collapsed stunning speed suffering one devastating collapses military history pursuit vietnam war effort washington required saigon government responsive demands yet popular peasantry strong enough wage war villages yet sensitive needs countrys poor villagers hopelessly contradictory political requisites finding civilian regimes engaged impossibletocontrol intrigues us ultimately settled authoritarian military rule acceptable proved washington disdained vietnamese peasantry death exile president karzai like diem doomed die streets kabul one day find like thieu boarding midnight flight exile history least awareness lessons change things albeit complex unpredictable ways today senior us envoys diems cautionary tale encoded diplomatic dna undoubtedly precludes literal replay fate sanctioning diems assassination washington watched dismay south vietnam plunged chaos chastened us embassy dismal outcome backed subsequent military regime fault decade later senates church committee uncovered us attempts assassinationcumregimechange congo chile cuba dominican republic stigmatized option effect antibodies disastrous cia coup diem still washingtons political bloodstream reduce possibility similar move karzai today ironically seek avoid past may doomed repeat accepting karzais massive electoral fraud refusing consider alternatives last august washington like put stamp approval spreading corruption political instability accompanies way obama administration early days invited sad denouement afghan adventure one potentially akin vietnam diems death americas representatives kabul hurtling historys highway eyes fixed rearview mirror precipice lies dead ahead experiences ngo dinh diem hamid karzai lurks selfdefeating pattern common washingtons alliances dictators throughout third world selected often installed office washington least backed massive american military aid client figures become desperately dependent even fail implement sorts reforms might enable build independent political base torn pleasing foreign patrons people wind pleasing neither opposition rule grows downward spiral repression corruption often ends collapse power washington descends frustration despair unable force allies adopt reforms might allow survive collapse major crisis white house oftendiems case obviously exceptionlittle airplane ride exile local autocrat dictator wasand isa fundamental structural flaw american alliance autocrats inherent unequal alliances peculiar dynamic makes eventual collapse americananointed leaders almost inevitable outset washington selects client seems pliant enough bidding client turn opts washingtons support strong precisely needs foreign patronage gain hold office installed client matter reluctant little choice make washingtons demands top priority investing slender political resources placating foreign envoys responding american political agenda civil military matters autocrats often fail devote sufficient energy attention resources cultivating following diem found isolated saigon palace karzai become president justly derisively nicknamed mayor kabul caught demands powerful foreign patron countervailing local needs desires leaders let guerrillas capture countryside struggling uncomfortably end angrily well resentfully foreign embrace parallels limited afghanistan today vietnam almost half century ago since end world war ii many sharpest crises us foreign policy arisen problematic relationships authoritarian client regimes start similarly close relationship general fulgencio batista cuba 1950s inspired cuban revolution culminated course fidel castros rebels capturing cuban capital havana 1959 turn led kennedy administration catastrophic bay pigs invasion cuban missile crisis full quartercentury us played international patron shah iran intervening save regime threat democracy early 1950s later massively arming police military making washingtons proxy power persian gulf fall islamic revolution 1979 removed cornerstone american power strategic region plunged washington succession foreign policy confrontations iran yet end halfcentury similarly loyal client central america regime nicaraguas anastasio somoza fell sandinista revolution 1979 creating foreign policy problem marked cias contra operation new sandinista government seamy irancontra scandal roiled president reagans second term last week washingtons anointed autocrat kyrgyzstan kurmanbek bakiyev fled presidential palace riot police despite firing live ammunition killing 80 citizens failed stop opposition protesters taking control capital bishkek although rule brutal corrupt last year obama administration courted bakiyev sedulously successfully preserve us use old soviet air base manas critical supply flights afghanistan even riot police beating opposition submission prepare bakiyevs landslide victory last julys elections president obama sent personal letter praising support afghan war washingtons imprimatur nothing stop bakiyevs political slide murderous repression ultimate fall power many american alliances third world dictators collapsed spectacular fashion producing divisive recriminations home policy disasters abroad britains century dominion selfconfident servants empire viceroys plumed hats district officers khaki shorts ruled much africa asia imperial system protectorates indirect rule direct colonial rule succeeding american half century hegemony washington carried burden global power without formal colonial system substituting military advisers imperial viceroys new landscape sovereign states emerged world war ii washington pursue contradictory policy dealt leaders nominally independent nations also deeply dependent foreign economic military aid identifying prestige fragile regimes washington usually tries coax chide threaten allies embracing considers needed reforms even counsel fails prudence might dictate start staged withdrawal saigon 1963 kabul today american envoys simply let go unrepentant resentful allies long slide disaster gains momentum choices diplomatic niceties destabilizing coup washington invariably ends defaulting inflexible foreign policy edge paralysis often ends collapse authoritarian allies whether diem saigon shah tehran dismal day yet come hamid karzai kabul avoid impending debacle realistic option afghanistan today may well one wish taken saigon back august 1963a staged withdrawal us forces alfred w mccoy jrw smail professor history university wisconsinmadison author politics heroin cia complicity global drug trade probes conjuncture illicit narcotics covert operations past 50 years latest book policing americas empire united states philippines rise surveillance state explores influence overseas counterinsurgency operations spread internal security measures home | 2,361 |
<p>Patrick Bond is Professor of Political Economy at Wits University in South Africa. Bond is the author of the recent books, South Africa - The Present as History (with John Saul) and the 3rd edition of Elite Transition. He is also the co-editor of BRICS: An Anti-Capitalist Critique.</p>
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<p /> PAUL JAY, SENIOR EDITOR, TRNN: Welcome to The Real News Network. I'm Paul Jay in Baltimore. And welcome to The Bond Report with Patrick Bond, who now joins us from South Africa—Johannesburg.
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<p />Patrick's the director of the Centre for Civil Society and a professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. He's also the author of the recently released books Politics of Climate Change Justice and Durban's Climate Gamble.
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<p />Thanks for joining us, Patrick.
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<p />PATRICK BOND, DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR CIVIL SOCIETY: Great to be with you again, Paul.
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<p />JAY: So this weekend will be the big protest about the tar sands and the pipeline. I assume you're all over that.
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<p />BOND: It's a very important day for activists to show muscle. And they began that, in fact, on Thursday with the arrests of several high-profile activists, as well as the politicians and some well-known actresses like Darryl Hannah. There's Julian Bond there, especially Michael Brun from Sierra, and Bill McKibbons, being the key organizer from 350.org. And that's the spirit, really, that's I think going to be required, a persistent nuisance factor from very important personalities.
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<p />But if that's not backed up by mass action—and here on Sunday we will see whether in Washington tens of thousands will join to protest the tar sands imports. And that will be, as James Hanson, a great climate scientist put it, a real carbon bomb if Barack Obama goes ahead and authorizes and constructs this big pipeline from the Canadian tar sands.
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<p />JAY: So the—just quickly, again, why is this such an issue, the pipeline and the tar sands?
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<p />BOND: Well, as you know, with Barack Obama's State of the Union address, he certainly pushed the idea that energy security for the United States was critical. And that means not just the import from Canada, a much safer site than the Middle East or Africa, but of course it's—.
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<p />JAY: Politically more safer.
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<p />BOND: That's right, and easier, because it's just a pipeline, easier to extract, although, of course, the actual extraction process is amazingly destructive and requires a vast amount of energy just to get some energy out of it. And I think the other factors that Obama mentioned were fracking will increase, the export of coal from the West Coast, deep offshore drilling, the kind of things that got BP into such trouble, such that they've basically been banned from new drilling.
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<p />And these are the sorts of things that on the one hand will mean Obama's rule for the next four years will be characterized by much greater emissions level. On the other hand, he did say that there would be some executive authorities he can impose to try to bring emissions down through more efficient energy, trying to get methane out of various production processes. And then, if the Congress doesn't comply by passing the legislation he wants, he can actually move in and direct the power plants to cut their emissions directly, and automobiles as well, through the EPA.
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<p />JAY: But he didn't quite say that's what he was going to do. I mean, in theory, he could do, but he seemed to be—actually, instead of saying what he said, let's take a look at what he said.
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<p />BARACK OBAMA, U.S. PRESIDENT: Now, the good news is we can make meaningful progress on this issue while driving strong economic growth. I urge this Congress to get together, pursue a bipartisan, market-based solution to climate change, like the one John McCain and Joe Lieberman worked on together a few years ago. But if Congress won't act soon to protect future generations, I will. I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.
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<p />JAY: So, I mean, it seemed to me his main thing he would act on, I thought, is what he calls market-based solutions, [incompr.] cap and trade. I didn't get from that he was going to use executive action to regulate actual reduction. Did you?
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<p />BOND: Well, that would be indeed what his EPA administrator until last month, Lisa Jackson, was trying to do, by especially going directly to coal-fired power plants, and at one point even using the Clean Water Act to try to stop the mountaintop removal, blowing up of mountains in West Virginia, because they not only destroy the climate but also the water systems nearby.
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<p />So those would be the things that are possible with executive authority that the street heat on Sunday would then have to direct itself towards after the pipeline battle is either won or lost. And that's the struggle for years ahead.
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<p />And the reason is because his desired legislation that he began back in 2009 with allies like Senator John Kerry, now the secretary of state, Joe Lieberman, especially the congressman Waxman and Markey—and they put a bill forward in 2009, and what they called for was a market-based strategy. And, of course, this was the worst possible time, with markets collapsing. And it's called cap and trade, and in Europe it's called Emissions trading scheme.
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<p />And what we've learned since 2009, which was around the peak for the European emissions trading scheme adventure—and that was trying to sell carbon credits, so that if you cut back your pollution and then you have some extra, you can sell it to those who haven't cut back. You're selling in effect the right to pollute, if you can think of the air being privatized. Then big corporations have the power and the money to go and buy the right to pollute. And this even extends to places like South Africa, all over the third world, where clean development mechanism strategies to, again, buy the right to pollute from poorer countries have been in operation.
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<p />Have they worked? Not at all. And this is the extraordinary moment where Barack Obama should have been briefed that the European Union scheme has crashed by around 90Â&#160;percent from highs about €35 in 2008 down in the last couple of weeks to around €3 for some of the lower-price credits. So we're really seeing a tremendous crash. Even the Chicago climate exchange set up by some of Barack Obama's own former colleagues at University of Chicago, that crash was put to sleep, basically. It's dead as of 2010.
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<p />The only real life in the United States is from California. Some of the other regional carbon trading schemes, these experiments have also floundered. And Californians, I think, are concerned that racism is built into this system, because it keeps some of the power plants and the polluters in neighborhoods of color still operating, because they can buy the right to pollute there.
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<p />JAY: How much is this being debated in the environmental movement? I know that it is, but, you know, on Sunday, when the big protest takes place, how much are we going to hear which we've been hearing over the last few days, that some environmentalists are so happy that President Obama just said the words climate change, which I understand why they are, 'cause he barely said them over the last four years? But if saying the words climate change and what it amounts to is the financialization of solving climate change and, you know, under this rubric of market-based, then how happy should they be?
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<p />BOND: Well, they should be sensible and ask: is it appropriate to let bankers solve the climate crisis when they can't even run their own financial system? Because that's effectively what's happening. Institutions like Goldman Sachs are right at the core of this system, cap and trade, especially the proposals from 2009, 2010.
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<p />And this is exactly the right question to pose to these extraordinary activists like Bill McKibbon. Bill McKibbon supported a tax and dividend, which would have not been cap and trade, but rather a higher carbon tax that was paid back to the consumers by virtue of a cheque being sent to them every month. And now that's the proposals that a couple of other senators put forward back in 2010.
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<p />So the question is whether these big environmental movements—and 350.org is now very impressive with its big divestment movement of students at over 230 campuses, and of course Sierra Club one of the big organizations as well. And these organizations really could shift the debate.
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<p />In earlier years they supported emissions trading, and there were many what we could call yuppy greens that think that if you've got a market problem, an externality, you can solve it with a market solution like a cap and trade scheme. And they say it worked for sulphur dioxide in a few select locations—Los Angeles about 20Â&#160;years ago. That's debatable, because regulatory strategies can be just as effective. And Germany showed that with the acid rain problem from sulfur dioxide.
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<p />And so I think it boils down to whether progressives who've demanded climate justice and are suspicious of the Climate Action Network strategy that is insider legislative market-based, whether those climate justice activists can come back and make the point to the big group that comes out on Sunday that the future's not going to be an insider-led legislation of the sort Obama wants to see happen, but rather in direct regulation to make the cuts that are going to be required to save the planet from global warming.
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<p />JAY: And just quickly, do you think a big mass protest like this could shift Obama on the pipeline, the tar sands pipeline?
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<p />BOND: Well, that remains to be seen. What Bill McKibben can claim is that the big protests that had 1,200 arrests in August-SeptemberÂ&#160;2011 did force Obama to look at the issue, and he actually postponed decisions. Then, a few months later, he went ahead after the pressure was off. And Obama has said to McKibben and his ilk, make me do it.
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<p />And that is the pressure question: will McKibben not only motivate the tens of thousands to do more militant mass action civil disobedience again and again, as was done on Thursday, but will the rest of the United States citizenry wake up and understand that the tar sands is the first line in the battle to save the planet? And if they do, and if they are aware because of superstorm Sandy and droughts and floods and all of the other chaos in the United States but all over the world getting worse and worse—300,000, 400,000 people dying each year due to climate change, the scientists say—then it is a matter of whether there is a democracy in the United States; and whether, as is often said now—with the last poll 64Â&#160;percent of those who are asked, do you want a market solution to climate change, they said no; and whether that voice can be made louder and louder, louder even than the corporations who are pushing Obama in the other direction.
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<p />JAY: Alright. Thanks for joining us, Patrick.
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<p />BOND: Thank you.
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<p />JAY: 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 | patrick bond professor political economy wits university south africa bond author recent books south africa present history john saul 3rd edition elite transition also coeditor brics anticapitalist critique paul jay senior editor trnn welcome real news network im paul jay baltimore welcome bond report patrick bond joins us south africaâjohannesburg patricks director centre civil society professor university kwazulunatal south africa hes also author recently released books politics climate change justice durbans climate gamble thanks joining us patrick patrick bond director centre civil society great paul jay weekend big protest tar sands pipeline assume youre bond important day activists show muscle began fact thursday arrests several highprofile activists well politicians wellknown actresses like darryl hannah theres julian bond especially michael brun sierra bill mckibbons key organizer 350org thats spirit really thats think going required persistent nuisance factor important personalities thats backed mass actionâand sunday see whether washington tens thousands join protest tar sands imports james hanson great climate scientist put real carbon bomb barack obama goes ahead authorizes constructs big pipeline canadian tar sands jay theâjust quickly issue pipeline tar sands bond well know barack obamas state union address certainly pushed idea energy security united states critical means import canada much safer site middle east africa course itsâ jay politically safer bond thats right easier pipeline easier extract although course actual extraction process amazingly destructive requires vast amount energy get energy think factors obama mentioned fracking increase export coal west coast deep offshore drilling kind things got bp trouble theyve basically banned new drilling sorts things one hand mean obamas rule next four years characterized much greater emissions level hand say would executive authorities impose try bring emissions efficient energy trying get methane various production processes congress doesnt comply passing legislation wants actually move direct power plants cut emissions directly automobiles well epa jay didnt quite say thats going mean theory could seemed beâactually instead saying said lets take look said barack obama us president good news make meaningful progress issue driving strong economic growth urge congress get together pursue bipartisan marketbased solution climate change like one john mccain joe lieberman worked together years ago congress wont act soon protect future generations direct cabinet come executive actions take future reduce pollution prepare communities consequences climate change speed transition sustainable sources energy jay mean seemed main thing would act thought calls marketbased solutions incompr cap trade didnt get going use executive action regulate actual reduction bond well would indeed epa administrator last month lisa jackson trying especially going directly coalfired power plants one point even using clean water act try stop mountaintop removal blowing mountains west virginia destroy climate also water systems nearby would things possible executive authority street heat sunday would direct towards pipeline battle either lost thats struggle years ahead reason desired legislation began back 2009 allies like senator john kerry secretary state joe lieberman especially congressman waxman markeyâand put bill forward 2009 called marketbased strategy course worst possible time markets collapsing called cap trade europe called emissions trading scheme weve learned since 2009 around peak european emissions trading scheme adventureâand trying sell carbon credits cut back pollution extra sell havent cut back youre selling effect right pollute think air privatized big corporations power money go buy right pollute even extends places like south africa third world clean development mechanism strategies buy right pollute poorer countries operation worked extraordinary moment barack obama briefed european union scheme crashed around 90Â160percent highs â35 2008 last couple weeks around â3 lowerprice credits really seeing tremendous crash even chicago climate exchange set barack obamas former colleagues university chicago crash put sleep basically dead 2010 real life united states california regional carbon trading schemes experiments also floundered californians think concerned racism built system keeps power plants polluters neighborhoods color still operating buy right pollute jay much debated environmental movement know know sunday big protest takes place much going hear weve hearing last days environmentalists happy president obama said words climate change understand cause barely said last four years saying words climate change amounts financialization solving climate change know rubric marketbased happy bond well sensible ask appropriate let bankers solve climate crisis cant even run financial system thats effectively whats happening institutions like goldman sachs right core system cap trade especially proposals 2009 2010 exactly right question pose extraordinary activists like bill mckibbon bill mckibbon supported tax dividend would cap trade rather higher carbon tax paid back consumers virtue cheque sent every month thats proposals couple senators put forward back 2010 question whether big environmental movementsâand 350org impressive big divestment movement students 230 campuses course sierra club one big organizations well organizations really could shift debate earlier years supported emissions trading many could call yuppy greens think youve got market problem externality solve market solution like cap trade scheme say worked sulphur dioxide select locationsâlos angeles 20Â160years ago thats debatable regulatory strategies effective germany showed acid rain problem sulfur dioxide think boils whether progressives whove demanded climate justice suspicious climate action network strategy insider legislative marketbased whether climate justice activists come back make point big group comes sunday futures going insiderled legislation sort obama wants see happen rather direct regulation make cuts going required save planet global warming jay quickly think big mass protest like could shift obama pipeline tar sands pipeline bond well remains seen bill mckibben claim big protests 1200 arrests augustseptemberÂ1602011 force obama look issue actually postponed decisions months later went ahead pressure obama said mckibben ilk make pressure question mckibben motivate tens thousands militant mass action civil disobedience done thursday rest united states citizenry wake understand tar sands first line battle save planet aware superstorm sandy droughts floods chaos united states world getting worse worseâ300000 400000 people dying year due climate change scientists sayâthen matter whether democracy united states whether often said nowâwith last poll 64Â160percent asked want market solution climate change said whether voice made louder louder louder even corporations pushing obama direction jay alright thanks joining us patrick bond thank jay thank joining us real news network end disclaimer please note transcripts real news network typed recording program trnn guarantee complete accuracy | 1,012 |
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<p>Photo by Paul Sableman | <a href="" type="internal">CC BY 2.0</a></p>
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<p>Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to the United States Constitution, passed February 19, 1967, gives the U.S. Vice President, the presidential Cabinet, and Congress the power to remove the President of the United States from office without impeachment. One provision in the Amendment allows the Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet to send a letter to Congress stating that the President is “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” This letter would immediately initiate a transfer of power to the Vice President, subject to Congressional review.</p>
<p>A different provision in the Amendment empowers Congress to form its own body to evaluate the President’s fitness for office, eliminating the need for the Cabinet’s involvement in the process (emphasis ours):</p>
<p>“Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments&#160;or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.”</p>
<p>The amendment does not specify any specific form of disability. It permits Congress to determine and enforce its own criteria for presidential fitness. Congress could deem the President “unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office” if they conclude that he cannot be trusted with classified information from intelligence agencies. Congress can use the threat of removal to enhance it leverage over the President’s actions. There’s no medical diagnosis required. Truth be told, the Amendment leaves the door open for the president to be kicked out of the White House for being too stupid, too vicious, or just too much of a jackass – for being someone like Donald Trump.</p>
<p>Do not misunderstand me. I am no fan of the U.S. Constitution, an archaic and <a href="" type="internal">openly anti-democratic document</a> introduced in the 1780s explicitly to keep the wealthy propertied Few in controlling power over and against the property-less and property-poor Many.&#160; I do not wish to defend “the power and duties” of the U.S. presidency, an office whose occupants have committed war crimes and other crimes against humanity on a vast scale for many decades. &#160;Let the imperial presidency collapse. I hold both major capitalist U.S. political organizations in total contempt.&#160; I agree with the American expat playwright John Steppling when <a href="" type="internal">he writes that</a> “The strange sight of liberal America participating in a neo-McCarthyite assault on Trump appointees, not on the grounds of their inherent racism and stupidity, but because they have contacts with Russia, is among the more surreal spectacles of modern political history… the result of this new Russophobic hysteria is to create a precedent for the CIA and even more shady and shadowy forces to unseat an elected President…common cause is being made with the worst actors in American politics.” And I am no fan of the lethal white Christian nationalist Mike Pence, who would become president if Trump were removed.</p>
<p>At the same time, it strikes me that a national ruling class with any reasonable sense of duty to the entity called the United States – or with any serious concern at least for the public relations image of the United States – would push now for the permanent 25th Amendment, sec. 4 removal of the noxious racist idiot Donald J. Trump from the White House.</p>
<p>The Open Madness of Candidate Donald</p>
<p>Of course, candidate Trump gave numerous glaring indications that he was unfit for the job, which includes putting at least a veneer of decency and sophistication on the highly indecent, brutal, and exploitative system of <a href="" type="internal">American Empire and Inequality</a> at home and abroad. The unabashed madness of candidate Trump was epic. Herr Donito the presidential contender:</p>
<p>+&#160;said that immigrants from Mexico are rapists and murderers and went on bizarre rants claiming that “criminal aliens” are wreaking havoc in the United States.</p>
<p>+&#160;first rose to political notoriety as a leader of the insane “birther movement,” which claimed that Barack Obama wasn’t born in the United States.</p>
<p>+&#160;accused fellow contender Ted Cruz’s father of being linked to the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy.</p>
<p>+ suggested (against all evidence) that Blacks and Latinos would commit massive voter fraud.</p>
<p>+ attacked a Mexican-American federal judge for ruling against the scam “Trump University,” attributing the magistrate’s decision to his ethnicity.</p>
<p>+ advocated banning adherents of an entire world religion (Islam) from the United States.</p>
<p>+ offered to pay the legal bills of a white man who viciously sucker-punched a Black protester at a Trump rally.</p>
<p>+ failed to properly distance himself from the Ku Klux Klan.</p>
<p>+ responded to the racial turbulence sparked by repeated video-captured police killings of Black Americans by calling for “a national stop and frisk law” – that is, for a declaration of national racist martial law.</p>
<p>+ continued to defend the railroading of the “Central Park Five” – five young Black men who were wrongfully convicted (with Trump leading the charge) of raping a white woman in New York City in 1989. (The subsequently exonerated five spent years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit).</p>
<p>+ engaged in the ugly racist imitation of an Asian accent in front of a hot microphone.</p>
<p>+ mocked a disabled reporter in a chillingly juvenile way in front of a hot microphone.</p>
<p>+ called climate change “weather,” saying that global warming was a hoax perpetrated by Chinese to harm U.S. manufacturing.</p>
<p>+ promised to honor the results of the presidential election only if he won, egging his more extreme backers to engage in violence if the count didn’t go his way.</p>
<p>+ called his political opponents “losers” and gives them nasty, juvenile nicknames and</p>
<p>+ insulted the looks of a fellow Republican presidential candidate and those of other candidates’ wives.</p>
<p>+ behaved like a lazy and boorish adolescent during his “presidential” “debates” with Hillary Clinton – events for which he openly failed to prepare.</p>
<p>+ followed his first hideous “debate” performance by going on a bizarre Twitter tirade the next the morning against a former Miss Universe he once labelled “Miss Piggy.”</p>
<p>+ wondered aloud why the U.S. couldn’t use nuclear weapons and says it might be good for Saudi Arabia, South Korea, and Japan to be equipped with nuclear weapons.</p>
<p>+ advocated the use of torture and even the killing of terrorists’ families and relatives in the U.S. war on (of) terror.</p>
<p>+ boasted that he’d “shoot” Iranian naval ships if they ever again interdicted “our beautiful destroyers with their little boats.”</p>
<p>+ questioned John McCain’s status as a war hero, saying that he preferred military personnel “who don’t get captured.”</p>
<p>+ claimed that he too had “sacrificed” by employing “thousands and thousands of people” while feuding with the parents of a Muslim U.S. soldier killed in Iraq,</p>
<p>+ said this to a military veteran who give Trump his Purple Heart medal, given to those injured in “battle”: “I always wanted to get the Purple Heart. This was much easier” – a remarkable statement for a Vietnam era draft-dodger like Donald.</p>
<p>I could go on.</p>
<p>Insane Clown President</p>
<p>Perhaps you thought it was all some crazy comedy act, calculated to win the election with the moron vote, and that Trump would become presidential when he became president.</p>
<p>Wrong. Since taking the oath, Insane Clown President (ICP) Donald Trump’s presidency has been a great homage to the American reality television series “Jackass.” The witless Big Brother -in-Chief:</p>
<p>+ spent his first full day in office claiming like a petulant grade-schooler that the media underestimated the size of his Inauguration crowd.</p>
<p>+ complained about the above alleged media slight in a weird, rambling Day 1 speech to the Central Intelligence Agency – a speech in which he told stone-faced intelligence officials that the U.S. might get “another chance” to go into Iraq and “get its oil.”</p>
<p>+ replaced the White House website’s climate change page with a pledge to drill for oil on federal lands.</p>
<p>+ has repeatedly claimed, against all evidence, to have won the popular vote in the presidential election (by as many as 5 million votes, he ludicrously purports) and to have been cheated of a popular vote victory by voter fraud.</p>
<p>+ created an absurd diplomatic crisis with Australia by complaining publicly over a private phone call with that nation’s Prime Minister.</p>
<p>+ has brandished openly bogus crime data in making authoritarian, not-so subtly racist calls for “law and order.”</p>
<p>+ farcically threatened to send the U.S. military down to Mexico to “deal with some bad hombres.”</p>
<p>+ went on Twitter to complain about how a major U.S. retail firm dropped his daughter’s losing perfume brand.</p>
<p>+ ordered an ill-prepared, un-vetted, discriminatory and unconstitutional travel ban on Muslims, eliciting mass protests and judicial veto.</p>
<p>+ referred to a distinguished federal jurist who blocked his travel ban as a “a so-called judge,” something that even Trump’s own Supreme Court nominee called “discouraging” (Trump then denied that this nominee opposed his attack on the courts).</p>
<p>+ chillingly framed judicial review of presidential actions as a threat to national security and as a sign of national decline.</p>
<p>+ violated court orders against his moronic travel ban.</p>
<p>+ conducted a nuclear strategy session with Japan’s prime minster not in the White House but in the public dining room of Trump’s Florida resort.</p>
<p>+ allowed one of his super-wealthy resort guests to post a picture to Facebook of the Army officer tasked with carrying America’s “nuclear football.”</p>
<p>+ trashed a key nuclear arms treaty (New START) during a call with Vladimir Putin — this after putting the phone down to ask his advisers what that treaty was.</p>
<p>+ allowed his press secretary Sean Spicer to claim that Iran had committed an “act of war” against the United States.</p>
<p>+ upbraided Spicer for being impersonated by a woman (Melissa McCarthy) on Saturday Night Live.</p>
<p>+ appointed blithering morons with no serious knowledge of relevant policy subject matter to Cabinet positions (examples include Betsy DeVos [Education], Ben Carson [Housing and Urban Development], and Rick Perry [Energy]).</p>
<p>+ barred CNN, the New York Times, Politico, the Los Angeles Times, and other mainstream media from a White House briefing – this because these media outlets were considered too unfriendly to the White House.</p>
<p>+ referred to the nation’s mainstream media as “enemies of the people” (an <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Corporate-Media-Threat-Democracy-Open/dp/1888363479" type="external">accurate enough description from a democratic left perspective</a> though that’s not Trump’s perspective, to say the least).</p>
<p>+ approved a poorly planned, mass-murderous, and child-killing commando raid in Yemen over dinner.</p>
<p>+ distanced himself from the Yemen operation after it went bad (even while claiming it as a great success at his opening de facto State of the Union Address).</p>
<p>+ said this to an assembly of the nation’s fifty state governors in support of his preposterous call for a 10 percent increase in the hyper-bloated Pentagon budget: “We have to start winning wars again…We never win…When I was young, in high school and in college, everybody used to say we never lost a war. America never lost. Now, we never win a war.”</p>
<p>+ said this about the great 19th century Black abolitionist and social critic Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) in comments on Black History Month: “Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who’s done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I noticed… And he’s continuing to do an amazing job, I noticed. Good” (It sounded like the president thought Douglass (a) is still alive and (b) might do well on “Celebrity Apprentice.”)</p>
<p>Saturday Morning Meltdown: Bad Grandpa Launches PhoneTapGate</p>
<p>Dunce Cap Donald has continued with his malignantly childish and narcissistic habit of serial Tweeting in pouty and undignified ways that help make a joke out of the U.S. presidency. In his creepy quest for constant attention, he persists in making outlandish claims like a teenage “mean girl” going after her enemies online.</p>
<p>The president’s latest Tweet storm is the wackiest yet. It’s like something out of the Bad Grandpa movies. Without evidence, Trump accused his predecessor Barack Obama of having wiretapped his telephones prior to the 2016 election. Trump made no effort to offer any proof to support the allegation. He said that “bad” and “sick” Obama’s alleged bugging of him was a scandal on the scale of Richard Nixon’s Watergate.</p>
<p>The next day, the White House wheeled out a junior spokesperson to walk back the orange-haired beast’s latest online meltdown.&#160; The spokesperson could only say that the raging Twitter Twit in the Oval Office “believes” the bugging occurred and that Congress should investigate. FBI Director James Comey (who helped elect the Trumpkin last October) James Comey has asked the Justice Department to repudiate the fantastic allegation made against Obomber44 by Trumpenstein45.</p>
<p>Bad Grandpa says he doesn’t believe Comey’s denial of any knowledge that a FISA judge permitted the executive branch to tap Trump’s phones.</p>
<p>Even if Trump has some hint of evidence consistent with his charge (unlikely), it is ridiculously inappropriate for him to have a teenage Twitter Tantrum over such a – one would think- grave matter of high state conduct.</p>
<p>If it came out that the Obama administration did have a FISA wiretap on Trump, that would show that a high-level federal judge agreed (speaking of McCarthyism) that the campaign had suspicious links to “foreign agents.” Either way, proof or no proof, Trump shows that he’s a certifiable dumb-ass.</p>
<p>It’s like having your demented old uncle who watches FOX News and listens to raving right- wing talk radio lunatics like Mark Levin all day in the Oval Office.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, Trump followed his remarkable Twitter-launched charges against Obama (who I have also long loathed for different and evidence-based reasons from the left) claims with the following Tweet the very same morning: “Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t voluntarily leaving the Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to great show.”</p>
<p>Insane.&#160; Clownish. Unreal. Dystopian.&#160; The world’s and history’s top Superpower has “commander-in-chief” who goes on Twitter to make wild accusations against the previous White House occupant and takes a Tweet swipe at a reality television personality in the same online breath. Aldous Huxley and George Orwell could have an interesting email exchange over that.</p>
<p>As Joseph Welch, chief counsel for the U.S. Army, said to said to the drunken, power-mad Joe McCarthy in 1954: “at long last, have you left no sense of decency?”</p>
<p>A Great Regressive Opportunity</p>
<p>So when does the wise, benevolent, and far-seeing American ruling class, gravely and properly concerned for the legitimacy and outward decency of the American System, make use of the Constitutional Amendment that Lyndon Johnson gave them to get rid of the outrageous, knuckle-dragging atrocity – the abject national embarrassment – currently occupying the White House?&#160; Three things stand in the way of rapid removal. First, the remarkably unpopular and indeed widely loathed party in Cabinet and Congressional power cannot resist its current opportunity to ram through a right-wing regulation- and tax-cutting, pro-business agenda in the name of the “free market.” It doesn’t want to blow the current shining moment in its longstanding battle to smite the common good and the hapless Many yet further in service to the nastiest among the wealthy Few.</p>
<p>The short-term, bottom-line benefits of the current deregulatory, tax-cutting and diversionary, populace-dividing and public -degrading promises on offer from the unexpected TrumPence-Paul Ryan-Mitch McConnell moment are very attractive indeed for much of the business class.</p>
<p>It’s got nothing to do with decency. Quite the opposite. Decency went out the door a long time go in this nasty neoliberal age.</p>
<p>Bad and Distant Entertainment</p>
<p>Second, it’s not clear that an adequate mass of the U.S. populace is sufficiently agitated or equipped to wade through all the bizarre nonsense and force the matter from below. It’s all just a blur to most ordinary Americans, who are too busy trying to keep their heads above water in the current “ <a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/693-the-long-depression" type="external">long depression</a>” to try to figure out what in Hell the ICP and the rest of political and chattering classes are going on about.&#160; “What’s a FISA court? He said what? What’s that she said? Oh well.”&#160; Life goes on.&#160; It all seems pretty removed from relevant daily experience and struggles – kind of like, well, like some stupid reality television show. It’s bad entertainment and background noise for millions.</p>
<p>One of Trump’s greatest assets has always been the (ex-?) citizenry’s systematically encouraged disdain for – and inability to understand and engage with – the purposefully noxious idiocy of U.S. politics. The right has long been working with often unwitting allies in the corporate media to turn the reigning political culture into an endless senseless freak show that threatens the mental health of anyone who focuses on it to more than a passing extent.&#160; Untangling the cobwebs of madness behind the constant “ThisWeekInTrump” (Ted Rall’s clever phrase) spectacle takes time and energy few Americans possess, preoccupied as they are by absurdly long working and commuting hours and often by multiple low-wage jobs. The Latest Trump Abomination Report is just another soul- and brain-deadening energy suck. Call it the banalization of dystopia. Brave New Shrug.</p>
<p>What Benevolent American Elite?&#160;</p>
<p>Third, it’s not clear that the ruling class I posited three paragraphs above exists anymore if it ever really did. A “business elite” that truly cared about the United States of America and its future would never have let the nation become mired in many years of mindless ideological debate promoted by religious and social conservatives over things like creationism versus evolution. &#160;It would not have allowed U.S high school math and science capabilities fall through the floor. It would not have let the nation’s public investment in social and technical infrastructure decline to the current breaking points.</p>
<p>It would not have permitted religious fundamentalists to mount serious political challenges to stem cell research. It would not have let Big Oil wage a disastrous propaganda war on climate science. &#160;It would not have let the county be plagued by endemic illiteracy and innumeracy. It would not have permitted levels of historical ignorance so extreme that most Americans can no longer tell you who fought on what side during World War II or when or why the American Civil War was fought. It would not have allowed millions to become addicted to violent video games and attached to terrible pre-fascist television spectacles like “The Jerry Springer Show,” Maury Povich (the inner-city-shaming paternity test king), and pussy-grabber Donald’s “The Apprentice.” It would not permit elections to fall to the level of beer and car commercials and, come to think of it, the Springer Show.</p>
<p>It would not have permitted the nation to become saturated with assault weapons even as it throws millions out of work and shreds mental health care services. It would not permit the nation’s waterways to become hopelessly polluted with industrial and agricultural run-off. It would not make health care unavailable and un-affordable to millions of its citizens. &#160;It would not have let the so-called land of liberty become history’s greatest monument to mass incarceration and home to a giant, still burgeoning militarized police state. It would not have presided over the destruction of basic living and working standards for millions upon millions of ordinary Americans as wealth and power concentrated upward to the absurd point where the top tenth of the upper U.S. 1 Percent owns more wealth than the nation’s bottom 90 percent.</p>
<p>It would not let the “world’s richest country” <a href="" type="internal">rank absurdly low</a> in basic measures of social and physical health, including life expectancy, infant mortality, drug addiction, violence, suicide, inequality, social mobility, and poverty. &#160;It would not have let the nation’s political and policy systems be turned into an <a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/princeton-experts-say-us-no-longer-democracy" type="external">openly plutocratic oligarchy</a> transparently beyond the influence of citizens (regardless of which party or party configurations holds nominal power).&#160; It not have turned the Democratic Party into a pathetic junior partner in the full Wall Street-led corporate takeover of politics and policy.</p>
<p>As Noam Chomsky told Occupy Boston five and a half years ago, the financial elite atop the corporate sector and the political system has been <a href="" type="internal">de-developing and dismantling the United States since the 1970s</a>. The harsh reality in the neoliberal era is that the economic elite that rules America is global and transnational and feels much more in common with fellow opulent masters of capital in other nations than it does with ordinary folks in “the homeland.”&#160; It is all too willing to let much of the ever more poisoned and used-up national territory that is the United States sink in the mire.</p>
<p>Perhaps He’s Gone Too Far?</p>
<p>Still, even this neoliberal and transnational ruling class can’t have the United States – still very much the world’s most powerful and governing, system-underwriting capitalist state – become an openly Kardashian farce. Along with real policy concerns over his promises to normalize relations with Russia and launch an economic nationalist agenda, that’s why it overwhelmingly supported the far more boring but Establishment-vetted and reliably ruling class, Yale Law-trained, and Council of Foreign Relations- and Brookings-approved arch-neoliberal candidate Hillary Clinton over the Orange-Tinted Twitter- Addicted Circus Freak in the election.</p>
<p>There were, perhaps, some hopes that the Madness of King Don could be contained after he seemed to have calmly read a seemingly ruling class-approved, NATO-backing teleprompter speech to Congress on the first Tuesday in March.&#160; The 70-year-old Toddler-in-Chief even won praise for seeming “presidential” from silly liberal pundits like Van “Man Ho” Jones on the Trump-demonized network CNN. &#160;Maybe, it seemed, the beast had been drugged and tamed, brought to heel.</p>
<p>But then came the wild, recklessly un-and anti-presidential Saturday morning <a href="" type="internal">Towergate</a> assault, followed by the weird further attack on poor steroid-poisoned Arnold. It was perhaps the craziest Trumpenstein moment yet – and that’s saying quite a bit.</p>
<p>Thus, I am not surprised to hear well-placed rumors that “a bloc is forming between Republicans and Democrats to remove Trump because he is viewed as incompetent and mentally unstable” (Louis Proyect via “social media”). &#160;Or to read a <a href="" type="internal">March 7th Time Magazine piece by two Yale Law students</a> telling readers about Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, arguing that “it is important to understand the constitutional mechanisms that would allow removal of a president if a broad bipartisan consensus emerges that he or she is unable to lead our nation.”</p>
<p>President Jackass has gone too far, perhaps, even for an American wealth and power elite that has been giving American and world citizens the double-fisted middle finger(s) for as long as we can remember &#160;(From the beginning really, but with special viciousness since we so ungratefully rose up in <a href="" type="internal">many-sided democratic rebellion during the 1960s</a>, that scary decade of democratic protest that the top corporate attorney and future Supreme Court Justice <a href="http://billmoyers.com/content/the-powell-memo-a-call-to-arms-for-corporations/" type="external">Lewis Powell wrote a famous ruling class memo</a> about [and against] and that presidential candidate and current <a href="" type="internal">Richard Branson kite-surfing pal Obama</a> [recently rewarded for his dedicated service to the nation’s unelected dictatorship of money with <a href="" type="internal">a $65 million contract to write his third book</a> – his third book about himself – along with Michelle Obama doing a book about herself and Barack] made sure to <a href="" type="internal">distance himself from while praising Ronald Reagan</a>.)</p>
<p>We shall see. I’m not holding my breath.</p>
<p>A Ruling Class That Deserves to Die</p>
<p>What about us, we the people, the working and ever more lower-class majority in whose name the U.S. government acts?&#160; What do we need. If the oligarchy’s masters won’t remove the nation’s eco-exterminist president, the orange-faced Ignoramus-in-Chief, then we’d have to do that ourselves, through mass rebellion. But if we developed the capacity and willpower to unseat this nauseating petro-plutocratic/ <a href="" type="internal">Exxon-plagiarizing</a>&#160;jackal, what would the point and purpose be?&#160; To install Mike Pence and a new coalition of Christian white-nationalist neocons allied with neoliberal imperialists to ramp up the New Cold War with Russia, flirting with catastrophic consequences? To bring back the same old warmongering, Russia-hating dismal dollar Democrats, who serve capital and empire with a different, more politically correct and multi-cultural and bi-coastal and metropolitan mask – and whose right-leaning failures recurrently return visible state power back to the evermore wacky rightmost party after one or two presidential terms?</p>
<p>No, our goal should be something far more meaningful, radical, and democratic. &#160;A system that posits the choice between outwardly liberal corporate-imperialist populace-betrayers like the Clintons and Obama on one hand and wicked Republican thugs like George W. Bush and Donald Trump on the other hand is a system that deserve to be overthrown in the name of (imagine) popular sovereignty (the U.S. Founders’ ultimate nightmare). A ruling class that degrades political discourse to the current new Springer-Trump low and grants us either the <a href="" type="internal">“lying neoliberal warmonger”</a> Hillary Clinton or the malignant pre-fascist and geocidal narcissist Donald Trump as our “choices” for president is a ruling class that deserves to die. A ruling class that is willing to let the Earth be pushed past irrevocable tipping points of environmental destruction is a ruling class long past it moral expiration date. We need to organize not just to bring down an administration and a government but to bring down ­the government and the broader domestic and global profit and empire system the U.S. government both reflects and serves.</p> | true | 4 | photo paul sableman cc 20 section 4 25th amendment united states constitution passed february 19 1967 gives us vice president presidential cabinet congress power remove president united states office without impeachment one provision amendment allows vice president majority cabinet send letter congress stating president unable discharge powers duties office letter would immediately initiate transfer power vice president subject congressional review different provision amendment empowers congress form body evaluate presidents fitness office eliminating need cabinets involvement process emphasis whenever vice president majority either principal officers executive departments160or body congress may law provide transmit president pro tempore senate speaker house representatives written declaration president unable discharge powers duties office vice president shall immediately assume powers duties office acting president amendment specify specific form disability permits congress determine enforce criteria presidential fitness congress could deem president unable discharge powers duties office conclude trusted classified information intelligence agencies congress use threat removal enhance leverage presidents actions theres medical diagnosis required truth told amendment leaves door open president kicked white house stupid vicious much jackass someone like donald trump misunderstand fan us constitution archaic openly antidemocratic document introduced 1780s explicitly keep wealthy propertied controlling power propertyless propertypoor many160 wish defend power duties us presidency office whose occupants committed war crimes crimes humanity vast scale many decades 160let imperial presidency collapse hold major capitalist us political organizations total contempt160 agree american expat playwright john steppling writes strange sight liberal america participating neomccarthyite assault trump appointees grounds inherent racism stupidity contacts russia among surreal spectacles modern political history result new russophobic hysteria create precedent cia even shady shadowy forces unseat elected presidentcommon cause made worst actors american politics fan lethal white christian nationalist mike pence would become president trump removed time strikes national ruling class reasonable sense duty entity called united states serious concern least public relations image united states would push permanent 25th amendment sec 4 removal noxious racist idiot donald j trump white house open madness candidate donald course candidate trump gave numerous glaring indications unfit job includes putting least veneer decency sophistication highly indecent brutal exploitative system american empire inequality home abroad unabashed madness candidate trump epic herr donito presidential contender 160said immigrants mexico rapists murderers went bizarre rants claiming criminal aliens wreaking havoc united states 160first rose political notoriety leader insane birther movement claimed barack obama wasnt born united states 160accused fellow contender ted cruzs father linked assassination john fitzgerald kennedy suggested evidence blacks latinos would commit massive voter fraud attacked mexicanamerican federal judge ruling scam trump university attributing magistrates decision ethnicity advocated banning adherents entire world religion islam united states offered pay legal bills white man viciously suckerpunched black protester trump rally failed properly distance ku klux klan responded racial turbulence sparked repeated videocaptured police killings black americans calling national stop frisk law declaration national racist martial law continued defend railroading central park five five young black men wrongfully convicted trump leading charge raping white woman new york city 1989 subsequently exonerated five spent years prison crime didnt commit engaged ugly racist imitation asian accent front hot microphone mocked disabled reporter chillingly juvenile way front hot microphone called climate change weather saying global warming hoax perpetrated chinese harm us manufacturing promised honor results presidential election egging extreme backers engage violence count didnt go way called political opponents losers gives nasty juvenile nicknames insulted looks fellow republican presidential candidate candidates wives behaved like lazy boorish adolescent presidential debates hillary clinton events openly failed prepare followed first hideous debate performance going bizarre twitter tirade next morning former miss universe labelled miss piggy wondered aloud us couldnt use nuclear weapons says might good saudi arabia south korea japan equipped nuclear weapons advocated use torture even killing terrorists families relatives us war terror boasted hed shoot iranian naval ships ever interdicted beautiful destroyers little boats questioned john mccains status war hero saying preferred military personnel dont get captured claimed sacrificed employing thousands thousands people feuding parents muslim us soldier killed iraq said military veteran give trump purple heart medal given injured battle always wanted get purple heart much easier remarkable statement vietnam era draftdodger like donald could go insane clown president perhaps thought crazy comedy act calculated win election moron vote trump would become presidential became president wrong since taking oath insane clown president icp donald trumps presidency great homage american reality television series jackass witless big brother inchief spent first full day office claiming like petulant gradeschooler media underestimated size inauguration crowd complained alleged media slight weird rambling day 1 speech central intelligence agency speech told stonefaced intelligence officials us might get another chance go iraq get oil replaced white house websites climate change page pledge drill oil federal lands repeatedly claimed evidence popular vote presidential election many 5 million votes ludicrously purports cheated popular vote victory voter fraud created absurd diplomatic crisis australia complaining publicly private phone call nations prime minister brandished openly bogus crime data making authoritarian notso subtly racist calls law order farcically threatened send us military mexico deal bad hombres went twitter complain major us retail firm dropped daughters losing perfume brand ordered illprepared unvetted discriminatory unconstitutional travel ban muslims eliciting mass protests judicial veto referred distinguished federal jurist blocked travel ban socalled judge something even trumps supreme court nominee called discouraging trump denied nominee opposed attack courts chillingly framed judicial review presidential actions threat national security sign national decline violated court orders moronic travel ban conducted nuclear strategy session japans prime minster white house public dining room trumps florida resort allowed one superwealthy resort guests post picture facebook army officer tasked carrying americas nuclear football trashed key nuclear arms treaty new start call vladimir putin putting phone ask advisers treaty allowed press secretary sean spicer claim iran committed act war united states upbraided spicer impersonated woman melissa mccarthy saturday night live appointed blithering morons serious knowledge relevant policy subject matter cabinet positions examples include betsy devos education ben carson housing urban development rick perry energy barred cnn new york times politico los angeles times mainstream media white house briefing media outlets considered unfriendly white house referred nations mainstream media enemies people accurate enough description democratic left perspective though thats trumps perspective say least approved poorly planned massmurderous childkilling commando raid yemen dinner distanced yemen operation went bad even claiming great success opening de facto state union address said assembly nations fifty state governors support preposterous call 10 percent increase hyperbloated pentagon budget start winning wars againwe never winwhen young high school college everybody used say never lost war america never lost never win war said great 19th century black abolitionist social critic frederick douglass 18181895 comments black history month frederick douglass example somebody whos done amazing job recognized noticed hes continuing amazing job noticed good sounded like president thought douglass still alive b might well celebrity apprentice saturday morning meltdown bad grandpa launches phonetapgate dunce cap donald continued malignantly childish narcissistic habit serial tweeting pouty undignified ways help make joke us presidency creepy quest constant attention persists making outlandish claims like teenage mean girl going enemies online presidents latest tweet storm wackiest yet like something bad grandpa movies without evidence trump accused predecessor barack obama wiretapped telephones prior 2016 election trump made effort offer proof support allegation said bad sick obamas alleged bugging scandal scale richard nixons watergate next day white house wheeled junior spokesperson walk back orangehaired beasts latest online meltdown160 spokesperson could say raging twitter twit oval office believes bugging occurred congress investigate fbi director james comey helped elect trumpkin last october james comey asked justice department repudiate fantastic allegation made obomber44 trumpenstein45 bad grandpa says doesnt believe comeys denial knowledge fisa judge permitted executive branch tap trumps phones even trump hint evidence consistent charge unlikely ridiculously inappropriate teenage twitter tantrum one would think grave matter high state conduct came obama administration fisa wiretap trump would show highlevel federal judge agreed speaking mccarthyism campaign suspicious links foreign agents either way proof proof trump shows hes certifiable dumbass like demented old uncle watches fox news listens raving right wing talk radio lunatics like mark levin day oval office worth trump followed remarkable twitterlaunched charges obama also long loathed different evidencebased reasons left claims following tweet morning arnold schwarzenegger isnt voluntarily leaving apprentice fired bad pathetic ratings sad end great show insane160 clownish unreal dystopian160 worlds historys top superpower commanderinchief goes twitter make wild accusations previous white house occupant takes tweet swipe reality television personality online breath aldous huxley george orwell could interesting email exchange joseph welch chief counsel us army said said drunken powermad joe mccarthy 1954 long last left sense decency great regressive opportunity wise benevolent farseeing american ruling class gravely properly concerned legitimacy outward decency american system make use constitutional amendment lyndon johnson gave get rid outrageous knuckledragging atrocity abject national embarrassment currently occupying white house160 three things stand way rapid removal first remarkably unpopular indeed widely loathed party cabinet congressional power resist current opportunity ram rightwing regulation taxcutting probusiness agenda name free market doesnt want blow current shining moment longstanding battle smite common good hapless many yet service nastiest among wealthy shortterm bottomline benefits current deregulatory taxcutting diversionary populacedividing public degrading promises offer unexpected trumpencepaul ryanmitch mcconnell moment attractive indeed much business class got nothing decency quite opposite decency went door long time go nasty neoliberal age bad distant entertainment second clear adequate mass us populace sufficiently agitated equipped wade bizarre nonsense force matter blur ordinary americans busy trying keep heads water current long depression try figure hell icp rest political chattering classes going about160 whats fisa court said whats said oh well160 life goes on160 seems pretty removed relevant daily experience struggles kind like well like stupid reality television show bad entertainment background noise millions one trumps greatest assets always ex citizenrys systematically encouraged disdain inability understand engage purposefully noxious idiocy us politics right long working often unwitting allies corporate media turn reigning political culture endless senseless freak show threatens mental health anyone focuses passing extent160 untangling cobwebs madness behind constant thisweekintrump ted ralls clever phrase spectacle takes time energy americans possess preoccupied absurdly long working commuting hours often multiple lowwage jobs latest trump abomination report another soul braindeadening energy suck call banalization dystopia brave new shrug benevolent american elite160 third clear ruling class posited three paragraphs exists anymore ever really business elite truly cared united states america future would never let nation become mired many years mindless ideological debate promoted religious social conservatives things like creationism versus evolution 160it would allowed us high school math science capabilities fall floor would let nations public investment social technical infrastructure decline current breaking points would permitted religious fundamentalists mount serious political challenges stem cell research would let big oil wage disastrous propaganda war climate science 160it would let county plagued endemic illiteracy innumeracy would permitted levels historical ignorance extreme americans longer tell fought side world war ii american civil war fought would allowed millions become addicted violent video games attached terrible prefascist television spectacles like jerry springer show maury povich innercityshaming paternity test king pussygrabber donalds apprentice would permit elections fall level beer car commercials come think springer show would permitted nation become saturated assault weapons even throws millions work shreds mental health care services would permit nations waterways become hopelessly polluted industrial agricultural runoff would make health care unavailable unaffordable millions citizens 160it would let socalled land liberty become historys greatest monument mass incarceration home giant still burgeoning militarized police state would presided destruction basic living working standards millions upon millions ordinary americans wealth power concentrated upward absurd point top tenth upper us 1 percent owns wealth nations bottom 90 percent would let worlds richest country rank absurdly low basic measures social physical health including life expectancy infant mortality drug addiction violence suicide inequality social mobility poverty 160it would let nations political policy systems turned openly plutocratic oligarchy transparently beyond influence citizens regardless party party configurations holds nominal power160 turned democratic party pathetic junior partner full wall streetled corporate takeover politics policy noam chomsky told occupy boston five half years ago financial elite atop corporate sector political system dedeveloping dismantling united states since 1970s harsh reality neoliberal era economic elite rules america global transnational feels much common fellow opulent masters capital nations ordinary folks homeland160 willing let much ever poisoned usedup national territory united states sink mire perhaps hes gone far still even neoliberal transnational ruling class cant united states still much worlds powerful governing systemunderwriting capitalist state become openly kardashian farce along real policy concerns promises normalize relations russia launch economic nationalist agenda thats overwhelmingly supported far boring establishmentvetted reliably ruling class yale lawtrained council foreign relations brookingsapproved archneoliberal candidate hillary clinton orangetinted twitter addicted circus freak election perhaps hopes madness king could contained seemed calmly read seemingly ruling classapproved natobacking teleprompter speech congress first tuesday march160 70yearold toddlerinchief even praise seeming presidential silly liberal pundits like van man ho jones trumpdemonized network cnn 160maybe seemed beast drugged tamed brought heel came wild recklessly unand antipresidential saturday morning towergate assault followed weird attack poor steroidpoisoned arnold perhaps craziest trumpenstein moment yet thats saying quite bit thus surprised hear wellplaced rumors bloc forming republicans democrats remove trump viewed incompetent mentally unstable louis proyect via social media 160or read march 7th time magazine piece two yale law students telling readers section 4 25th amendment arguing important understand constitutional mechanisms would allow removal president broad bipartisan consensus emerges unable lead nation president jackass gone far perhaps even american wealth power elite giving american world citizens doublefisted middle fingers long remember 160from beginning really special viciousness since ungratefully rose manysided democratic rebellion 1960s scary decade democratic protest top corporate attorney future supreme court justice lewis powell wrote famous ruling class memo presidential candidate current richard branson kitesurfing pal obama recently rewarded dedicated service nations unelected dictatorship money 65 million contract write third book third book along michelle obama book barack made sure distance praising ronald reagan shall see im holding breath ruling class deserves die us people working ever lowerclass majority whose name us government acts160 need oligarchys masters wont 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discourse current new springertrump low grants us either lying neoliberal warmonger hillary clinton malignant prefascist geocidal narcissist donald trump choices president ruling class deserves die ruling class willing let earth pushed past irrevocable tipping points environmental destruction ruling class long past moral expiration date need organize bring administration government bring government broader domestic global profit empire system us government reflects serves | 2,510 |
<p>Earlier this month, grassroots climate and anti-extraction activists in the Pacific Northwest scored a victory over one of the world’s most powerful industries. Kinder Morgan, an energy company that operates 26,000 miles of pipelines and owns 170 largely energy-related export terminals, announced it is scrapping plans to build a large coal export terminal on the Columbia River. The company has downplayed the role of community opposition to its terminal, claiming logistical considerations led to abandonment of the project. But local activists see more to the story than that.</p>
<p>Kinder Morgan’s decision to walk away from the Columbia came after months of steady grassroots opposition, and the company made the announcement two days after locals turned out in large numbers at a hearing to oppose the project. For environmental groups in the region, this looks like the culmination of a well-coordinated effort to protect communities along the Columbia from coal pollution.</p>
<p>“This announcement is great news for the Columbia Gorge and its communities who face the impacts of coal train traffic, coal dust and diesel pollution,” said Michael Lang, Conservation Director for Friends of the Columbia River Gorge, one of the groups that opposed the Kinder Morgan terminal. Along with other nonprofits like the Sierra Club, Columbia Riverkeeper, Climate Solutions, as well as a diverse coalition of volunteer-led community groups, Friends of the Gorge has been rallying citizens to speak out against the Kinder Morgan terminal and other proposed coal export projects in the region.</p>
<p>To reach Kinder Morgan’s terminal, which would have been located at the Port of St. Helens in Oregon, open-top trains carrying coal would have passed through the Columbia Gorge, exposing communities to pollution from coal dust and diesel fumes, holding up traffic in rail line neighborhoods, and raising the specter of a possible coal spill or train derailment in the Gorge. The terminal was designed to send up to 30 million tons of coal overseas each year.</p>
<p>It is one of several coal export terminals proposed on or near the West Coast since 2010, as the coal industry has turned its attention to energy markets in China, Korea and other countries across the Pacific. With coal demand declining in the United States, the industry hopes to flood the international market with its dirty product, tempting developing nations to build coal plants that lock them into decades of coal dependency.</p>
<p>But the industry isn’t exactly having an easy time of it, as coal export plans in the Pacific Northwest have encountered opposition from the start. When Australia-based Ambre Energy first announced in 2010 that it was seeking permits for a coal terminal in Longview, Wash., local environmental groups united to oppose the project. Landowners and Citizens for a Safe Community — a grassroots organization that got its start fighting liquefied natural gas pipelines — kicked into gear and began rallying local opposition. It was a preview of things to come, as the Northwest became ground zero in the fight over coal exports.</p>
<p>Ambre’s Longview project was the first of six coal export proposals to emerge in the Northwest. Backers of the projects have included Arch Coal, Peabody Energy, and Kinder Morgan. But communities have proven themselves capable of taking on some of the world’s most powerful energy companies. In fact, of the six coal export proposals originally on the table, three are now dead or indefinitely stalled.</p>
<p>The Kinder Morgan victory provides a good case study for how communities have been able to beat back the coal industry. Kinder Morgan announced plans to pursue the St. Helens project in January 2012. As in the case of the Longview terminal, the announcement triggered a backlash from affected communities — not only from the site of the proposed terminal itself, but also from towns and cities that would have seen increased coal train traffic had the project gone through. To bring coal to the St. Helens terminal, coal trains would likely have passed through Portland and other cities in Oregon, as well as dozens of towns in Montana, Idaho and eastern Washington.</p>
<p>Attempting to bring coal trains through Portland may have been a particularly short-sighted move on Kinder Morgan’s part. “If Kinder Morgan had any pulse on public opinion around coal exports in Portland, they would know their project would be opposed every step of the way,” said Jasmine Zimmer-Stucky, an organizer with Portland Rising Tide. Along with other groups, Rising Tide has organized mass canvasses, guerrilla flyering campaigns and creative direct actions like billboard modifications to alert Portland neighborhoods to the threat posed by coal exports.</p>
<p>Opposition to fossil fuels may not be surprising in green-leaning Portland, but Kinder Morgan soon found out it would encounter opposition at the site of the terminal as well. When the Port of St. Helens sought to rezone new port lands as industrial — a move seen by many as designed to ease the way for Kinder Morgan — the Sierra Club and other groups turned out 100 locals at a hearing to oppose the rezoning. Two days later, the company announced it was shelving the coal export project.</p>
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<p>“This decision translates into healthier air and water for Oregonians,” said Dr. Andy Harris of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility, in response to the announcement. “It means there will be fewer patients with asthma, lung cancer, heart disease, strokes and sleep disorders in affected communities. We’re celebrating a victory for public health today.”</p>
<p>Kinder Morgan’s announcement came barely more than a month after another a coal export project in Coos Bay, Ore., was tabled. Had the terminal been built, it would have meant coal trains passing through Eugene, Ore., where citizens formed a grassroots group called No Coal Eugene.</p>
<p>A third West Coast coal export project died last summer, when RailAmerica dropped plans to build a coal terminal at the Port of Grays Harbor in Washington. That leaves three proposed terminals still on the table: the Longview project, which is backed by Ambre Energy and Arch Coal; Peabody’s Gateway Pacific Terminal in Bellingham, Wash.; and a project at the Port of Morrow, Ore., also backed by Ambre Energy.</p>
<p>The Longview and Bellingham projects are both the largest and the longest-standing West Coast coal export proposals, and would each handle about 50 million tons of coal per year. That’s almost five times what the largest coal-fired power plant in North America — the Robert W. Scherer plant in Georgia — burns annually. The Port of Morrow project is smaller, but would still produce an alarming 8.8 million tons of coal per year.</p>
<p>All three projects have drawn heavy opposition. Last fall, hundreds of Oregonians turned out to hearings on the Port of Morrow project, convened by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality. Thousands attended hearings in Washington about the Pacific Gateway project, held by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since the Army Corps is a federal body, tens of thousands of people from around the country — though mainly in the Northwest — submitted comments opposing Gateway Pacific. Ranchers whose lands would be impacted by coal mining came from as far away as eastern Montana to speak out against the project at an Army Corps hearing in Spokane, Wash.</p>
<p>“At the hearings about coal exports in the Portland area, sometimes as many as 800 people showed up to express opposition,” said Rodger Winn, a volunteer activist with the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign. “The Oregon DEQ had to change venues because so many people showed up to testify.”</p>
<p>Of course, the fight against Northwest coal exports isn’t over yet — and it won’t be, until all three remaining projects are defeated. For now the abandonment of Kinder Morgan’s terminal has allowed local activists to focus on the remaining coal projects in the region, while some groups simultaneously expand their focus to other fossil fuel export infrastructure.</p>
<p>“For folks along the Columbia River,” said Rising Tide’s Zimmer-Stucky, “having Kinder Morgan walk away allows us to put all our energy into fighting Australia-owned Ambre Energy, which is behind both of the remaining projects on the Columbia.”</p>
<p>In addition to the Longview, Bellingham and Morrow coal projects, energy companies are looking to export oil and liquefied natural gas through West Coast ports. There are currently five proposed or existing oil export terminals in the Pacific Northwest. Rising Tide is looking to harness some of the momentum from Kinder Morgan’s defeat to build a broader movement against fossil fuel exports of any kind, expanding its scope to include oil infrastructure as well.</p>
<p>The defeat of Kinder Morgan may also serve as an inspiration for climate activists fighting fossil fuel projects elsewhere in the United States, such as mountaintop removal, fracking and tar sands pipelines. “That Kinder Morgan scrapped plans for the St. Helens terminal is a testament to the power of communities to stand up and make a difference,” said Stephan Michaels, a freelance writer and journalist who has written about coal exports for the Seattle Times. “This latest coal port being dumped might continue a much larger domino effect.”</p>
<p><a href="http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/big-coal-loses-to-grassroots-power-in-the-pacific-northwest/" type="external">http://wagingnonviolence.org/feature/big-coal-loses-to-grassroots-power-in-the-pacific-northwest/</a></p>
<p /> | true | 4 | earlier month grassroots climate antiextraction activists pacific northwest scored victory one worlds powerful industries kinder morgan energy company operates 26000 miles pipelines owns 170 largely energyrelated export terminals announced scrapping plans build large coal export terminal columbia river company downplayed role community opposition terminal claiming logistical considerations led abandonment project local activists see story kinder morgans decision walk away columbia came months steady grassroots opposition company made announcement two days locals turned large numbers hearing oppose project environmental groups region looks like culmination wellcoordinated effort protect communities along columbia coal pollution announcement great news columbia gorge communities face impacts coal train traffic coal dust diesel pollution said michael lang conservation director friends columbia river gorge one groups opposed kinder morgan terminal along nonprofits like sierra club columbia riverkeeper climate solutions well diverse coalition volunteerled community groups friends gorge rallying citizens speak kinder morgan terminal proposed coal export projects region reach kinder morgans terminal would located port st helens oregon opentop trains carrying coal would passed columbia gorge exposing communities pollution coal dust diesel fumes holding traffic rail line neighborhoods raising specter possible coal spill train derailment gorge terminal designed send 30 million tons coal overseas year one several coal export terminals proposed near west coast since 2010 coal industry turned attention energy markets china korea countries across pacific coal demand declining united states industry hopes flood international market dirty product tempting developing nations build coal plants lock decades coal dependency industry isnt exactly easy time coal export plans pacific northwest encountered opposition start australiabased ambre energy first announced 2010 seeking permits coal terminal longview wash local environmental groups united oppose project landowners citizens safe community grassroots organization got start fighting liquefied natural gas pipelines kicked gear began rallying local opposition preview things come northwest became ground zero fight coal exports ambres longview project first six coal export proposals emerge northwest backers projects included arch coal peabody energy kinder morgan communities proven capable taking worlds powerful energy companies fact six coal export proposals originally table three dead indefinitely stalled kinder morgan victory provides good case study communities able beat back coal industry kinder morgan announced plans pursue st helens project january 2012 case longview terminal announcement triggered backlash affected communities site proposed terminal also towns cities would seen increased coal train traffic project gone bring coal st helens terminal coal trains would likely passed portland cities oregon well dozens towns montana idaho eastern washington attempting bring coal trains portland may particularly shortsighted move kinder morgans part kinder morgan pulse public opinion around coal exports portland would know project would opposed every step way said jasmine zimmerstucky organizer portland rising tide along groups rising tide organized mass canvasses guerrilla flyering campaigns creative direct actions like billboard modifications alert portland neighborhoods threat posed coal exports opposition fossil fuels may surprising greenleaning portland kinder morgan soon found would encounter opposition site terminal well port st helens sought rezone new port lands industrial move seen many designed ease way kinder morgan sierra club groups turned 100 locals hearing oppose rezoning two days later company announced shelving coal export project decision translates healthier air water oregonians said dr andy harris oregon physicians social responsibility response announcement means fewer patients asthma lung cancer heart disease strokes sleep disorders affected communities celebrating victory public health today kinder morgans announcement came barely month another coal export project coos bay ore tabled terminal built would meant coal trains passing eugene ore citizens formed grassroots group called coal eugene third west coast coal export project died last summer railamerica dropped plans build coal terminal port grays harbor washington leaves three proposed terminals still table longview project backed ambre energy arch coal peabodys gateway pacific terminal bellingham wash project port morrow ore also backed ambre energy longview bellingham projects largest longeststanding west coast coal export proposals would handle 50 million tons coal per year thats almost five times largest coalfired power plant north america robert w scherer plant georgia burns annually port morrow project smaller would still produce alarming 88 million tons coal per year three projects drawn heavy opposition last fall hundreds oregonians turned hearings port morrow project convened oregon department environmental quality thousands attended hearings washington pacific gateway project held us army corps engineers since army corps federal body tens thousands people around country though mainly northwest submitted comments opposing gateway pacific ranchers whose lands would impacted coal mining came far away eastern montana speak project army corps hearing spokane wash hearings coal exports portland area sometimes many 800 people showed express opposition said rodger winn volunteer activist sierra clubs beyond coal campaign oregon deq change venues many people showed testify course fight northwest coal exports isnt yet wont three remaining projects defeated abandonment kinder morgans terminal allowed local activists focus remaining coal projects region groups simultaneously expand focus fossil fuel export infrastructure folks along columbia river said rising tides zimmerstucky kinder morgan walk away allows us put energy fighting australiaowned ambre energy behind remaining projects columbia addition longview bellingham morrow coal projects energy companies looking export oil liquefied natural gas west coast ports currently five proposed existing oil export terminals pacific northwest rising tide looking harness momentum kinder morgans defeat build broader movement fossil fuel exports kind expanding scope include oil infrastructure well defeat kinder morgan may also serve inspiration climate activists fighting fossil fuel projects elsewhere united states mountaintop removal fracking tar sands pipelines kinder morgan scrapped plans st helens terminal testament power communities stand make difference said stephan michaels freelance writer journalist written coal exports seattle times latest coal port dumped might continue much larger domino effect httpwagingnonviolenceorgfeaturebigcoallosestograssrootspowerinthepacificnorthwest | 931 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<p>It’s game day in Baton Rouge, and the bro in the purple shirt wants Mary Landrieu’s help doing a keg stand.</p>
<p>Landrieu, elected three times by the narrowest of margins, is once again locked in a tight reelection campaign, this time against GOP Rep. Bill Cassidy. With six weeks until Election Day, every moment counts. She spent her Saturday morning at a beach near Lake Charles, in the state’s southwest corner, taking part in a cleanup effort cosponsored by Citgo, the Venezuelan oil company, pegged to the anniversary of Hurricane Rita. As a member of the president’s party in a state where the president is deeply unpopular, this event neatly encapsulates Landrieu’s strategy: Keep it local. She’ll fight for coastal restoration, but she’ll also fight for the oil and gas industry, and with her seniority and connections, she’ll cut deals to help out both.</p>
<p>The other part of her pitch is that she is an independent-minded daughter of Louisiana who is in touch with the needs and traditions of her constituents. Over the last month or so, that part of her messaging has taken a hit. First, the Washington Post <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/landrieu-claims-parents-home-as-her-own-raising-questions-of-louisiana-residency/2014/08/28/423d8552-2e08-11e4-9b98-848790384093_story.html" type="external">reported</a> that Landrieu listed her primary residence as her parents’ New Orleans home but spent most of her time in Washington, DC. Seeing an opportunity, a one-time Republican challenger filed a lawsuit to have her taken off the ballot (that suit was <a href="http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2014/09/landrieu_residency_court_case.html" type="external">thrown out</a>). Thus, here we are on the edge of the LSU’s quad, four hours before the Tigers kick off against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, contemplating keg stands.</p>
<p>I had caught up to Landrieu a few minutes earlier in a more subdued environment, at a tent filled with campaign volunteers manned by her younger brother, Mark, a real estate broker. Landrieu has eight siblings, all of whom have names that start with the letter “M,” taking after their father, Moon, who was formerly known as Maurice. The plan is to fan out across campus—which on game days draws nearly 100,000 people—and hand out stickers that say “I’m with Mary.”</p>
<p>Landrieu, also wearing one of those stickers, introduces herself to strangers with a straightforward, “Hi, I’m Mary.” There are plenty of supporters—longtime friends, fellow members of the Delta Gamma sorority, folks who recognize her from television and want a selfie. There are also plenty of drunk kids; visitors from Mississippi; and the politically oblivious—who smile as if to say, “Of course you’re Mary,” and return to their conversations.</p>
<p>Landrieu asks a volunteer whether we should head toward the quad. “The quad’s a little crazy,” the volunteer warns. “I mean, there are some wild and crazy people.”</p>
<p>A wise man. As we forge deeper and deeper into the maze of solo cups and cornhole, a group of bros, head to toe in purple and gold, recognize Landrieu and take up the chant LSU fans reserve for rivals. “Tiger bait! Tiger bait!”</p>
<p>She drifts toward friendlier territory. “Hey Mary! Mary, go do a keg stand!” says a student in a gold polo shirt. A volunteer offers him a sticker, which he declines. “Tell her I don’t support her!” he tells the volunteer. I ask him if he’d support her if she did a keg stand, and he says, “Fuck no!” Then he grabs my arm and shouts at me. “Hey! Write it down: ‘SNT! Saturday! Night! Tailgate!'”</p>
<p>Landrieu has by this point been swallowed by the crowd. She is surrounded by raucous fans on three sides and a pile of pizza boxes on the other. The pressure mounts, again, for a keg stand. A chant begins. “Mary! Mary! Mary!” The senior United States senator from the great state of Louisiana picks up the nozzle of the keg, and…does not do a keg stand. <a href="http://cqrollcall.photoshelter.com/image?&amp;_bqG=0&amp;_bqH=eJxVj1trAyEQhX9N9nkjLiUBH4xjt5Kstl4C.yShWeglLcVkSemvr7NJWys4nvPNHGFks95reHlL9Px19_qxoJ96PBHaHgldkpvlvK7x5qoiOMEOu_d9eh7GSkUH3MtZs.q6WQOsXhQIABGpC9Tnc4FzmrH8Fy7AJQpQoJ8ovhkL5XtMOJ_bKIQJ2ts.KmfQGqukzj1lNFrlopUbyZ2Eq70vvTPWM8v1upoWjFwDO2UdnLRRAQu4fHoYI3GDSIdzbm2V9YFvIm.lFj0OVVGsosof5.hVhl9pb_9kh5ILz47DLj0.Vdsp3U5VYP0GZSRyFA--&amp;GI_ID=" type="external">But she does help a purple-shirted bro do one</a>. So, points for that.</p>
<p>Perhaps sensing the expedition to the quad veering into Animal House terrain, Landrieu grabs a volunteer, who in turn grabs me, to bear witness to something more genteel. She puts her arms around three young students. “These are my sorority sisters, and we are trading stickers,” Landrieu says. “I’m gonna get a Delta Gamma, and they’re getting an ‘I’m with Mary.'”</p>
<p>“My first keg stand,” Landrieu says, as we walk away. “He wanted me to do it, but I said absolutely not—at least not in front of the national press.” What if it would’ve won her some votes? “That’s all right—I’m not that desperate.”</p>
<p>Then again, running against the cookie-cutter Cassidy, whose ads attacking Landrieu basically consist of him saying “Barack Obama” over and over again (a pretty good strategy, it turns out), maybe the quad isn’t the worst place for Landrieu. No one’s going to confuse her with Huey Long reciting “Evangeline” on the stump, but it’s good to look human. Landrieu is a Democratic politician from the South, which is to say she tailgates for a living. She makes a point, she tells me, to go at least once a year to every major college football program in the state—Lafayette and Monroe and Tech and so on—but is by nature a Tigers fan. I ask her if the Tigers players who take the field against Mississippi State should, as many have suggested, be paid for their labor.</p>
<p>“Oh, I am not gonna talk to you about any of that right now—I do not have time for that today, mister,” she says, pounding me on the arm. “We are here to have fun!”</p>
<p>But not for too much longer. She shakes a few more hands, says goodbye to her brother, strolls past one last crowd of chanting bros throwing cans of beer high into the air, and hops in a car back to New Orleans.</p>
<p>Ultimately, though, the action on the field may do as much to determine the winner of the Senate race than any meet and greet. If, as looks exceedingly likely, neither Landrieu nor Cassidy reach 50 percent on Election Day, they’ll meet in a runoff on December 6th. Get-out-the-vote efforts might face an obstacle that day—that’s the Southeastern Conference championship game.</p>
<p /> | true | 4 | game day baton rouge bro purple shirt wants mary landrieus help keg stand landrieu elected three times narrowest margins locked tight reelection campaign time gop rep bill cassidy six weeks election day every moment counts spent saturday morning beach near lake charles states southwest corner taking part cleanup effort cosponsored citgo venezuelan oil company pegged anniversary hurricane rita member presidents party state president deeply unpopular event neatly encapsulates landrieus strategy keep local shell fight coastal restoration shell also fight oil gas industry seniority connections shell cut deals help part pitch independentminded daughter louisiana touch needs traditions constituents last month part messaging taken hit first washington post reported landrieu listed primary residence parents new orleans home spent time washington dc seeing opportunity onetime republican challenger filed lawsuit taken ballot suit thrown thus edge lsus quad four hours tigers kick mississippi state bulldogs contemplating keg stands caught landrieu minutes earlier subdued environment tent filled campaign volunteers manned younger brother mark real estate broker landrieu eight siblings names start letter taking father moon formerly known maurice plan fan across campuswhich game days draws nearly 100000 peopleand hand stickers say im mary landrieu also wearing one stickers introduces strangers straightforward hi im mary plenty supporterslongtime friends fellow members delta gamma sorority folks recognize television want selfie also plenty drunk kids visitors mississippi politically obliviouswho smile say course youre mary return conversations landrieu asks volunteer whether head toward quad quads little crazy volunteer warns mean wild crazy people wise man forge deeper deeper maze solo cups cornhole group bros head toe purple gold recognize landrieu take chant lsu fans reserve rivals tiger bait tiger bait drifts toward friendlier territory hey mary mary go keg stand says student gold polo shirt volunteer offers sticker declines tell dont support tells volunteer ask hed support keg stand says fuck grabs arm shouts hey write snt saturday night tailgate landrieu point swallowed crowd surrounded raucous fans three sides pile pizza boxes pressure mounts keg stand chant begins mary mary mary senior united states senator great state louisiana picks nozzle keg anddoes keg stand help purpleshirted bro one points perhaps sensing expedition quad veering animal house terrain landrieu grabs volunteer turn grabs bear witness something genteel puts arms around three young students sorority sisters trading stickers landrieu says im gon na get delta gamma theyre getting im mary first keg stand landrieu says walk away wanted said absolutely notat least front national press wouldve votes thats rightim desperate running cookiecutter cassidy whose ads attacking landrieu basically consist saying barack obama pretty good strategy turns maybe quad isnt worst place landrieu ones going confuse huey long reciting evangeline stump good look human landrieu democratic politician south say tailgates living makes point tells go least year every major college football program statelafayette monroe tech onbut nature tigers fan ask tigers players take field mississippi state many suggested paid labor oh gon na talk right nowi time today mister says pounding arm fun much longer shakes hands says goodbye brother strolls past one last crowd chanting bros throwing cans beer high air hops car back new orleans ultimately though action field may much determine winner senate race meet greet looks exceedingly likely neither landrieu cassidy reach 50 percent election day theyll meet runoff december 6th getoutthevote efforts might face obstacle daythats southeastern conference championship game | 552 |
<p>Any analysis of the current state of the ongoing U.S. occupation of Iraq that relied solely on the U.S. government, the major candidates for president or the major media outlets in the United States for information would be hard pressed to find any bad news. In a State of the Union address which had everything except a “Mission Accomplished” banner flying in the background, President Bush all but declared victory over the insurgency in Iraq. His recertification of the success of the so-called surge has prompted the Republican candidates to assume a cocky swagger when discussing Iraq. They embrace the occupation and speak, without shame or apparent fear of retribution, of an ongoing presence in that war-torn nation. Their Democratic counterparts have been less than enthusiastic in their criticism of the escalation. And the media, for the most part, continue their macabre role as cheerleaders of death, hiding the reality of Iraq deep inside stories that build upon approving headlines derived from nothing more than political rhetoric. The war in Iraq, we’re told, is virtually over. We only need “stay the course” for 10 more years.</p>
<p>This situation is troublesome in the extreme. The collective refusal of any constituent in this complicated mix of political players to confront Bush on Iraq virtually guarantees that it will be the Bush administration, and not its successor, that will dictate the first year (or more) of policy in Iraq for the next president. It also ensures that the debacle that is the Bush administration’s overarching Middle East policy of regional transformation and regime change in not only Iraq but Iran and Syria will continue to go unchallenged. If the president is free to pursue his policies, it could lead to direct military intervention in Iran by the United States prior to President Bush’s departure from office or, failing that, place his successor on the path toward military confrontation. At a time when every data point available certifies (and recertifies) the administration’s actions in Iraq, Iran and elsewhere (including Afghanistan) as an abject failure, America collectively has fallen into a hypnotic trance, distracted by domestic economic problems and incapable, due to our collective ignorance of the world we live in, of deciphering the reality on the ground in the Middle East.</p>
<p>Rather than offering a word-for-word renouncement of the president’s rosy assertions concerning Iraq, I will instead initiate a process of debunking the myth of American success by doing that which no politician, current or aspiring, would dare do: predict the failure of American policy in Iraq. With the ink on the newspapers parroting the president’s words barely dry, evidence of his misrepresentation of reality begins to build with the announcement by the Pentagon that troop levels in Iraq will not be dropping, as had been projected in view of the “success” of the “surge,” but rather holding at current levels with the possibility of increasing in the future. This reversal of course concerning troop deployments into Iraq highlights the reality that the statistical justification of “surge success,” namely the reduction in the level of violence, was illusory, a temporary lull brought about more by smoke and mirrors than any genuine change of fortune on the ground. Even the word surge is inappropriate for what is now undeniably an escalation. Iraq, far from being a nation on the rebound, remains a mortally wounded shell, the equivalent of a human suffering from a sucking chest wound, its lungs collapsed and its life blood spilling unchecked onto the ground. The “surge” never addressed the underlying reasons for Iraq’s post-Saddam suffering, and as such never sought to heal that which was killing Iraq. Instead, the “surge” offered little more than a cosmetic gesture, covering the wounds of Iraq with a bandage which shielded the true extent of the damage from outside view while doing nothing to save the victim.</p>
<p>Iraq is dying; soon Iraq will be dead. True, there will be a plot of land in the Middle East which people will refer to as Iraq. But any hope of a resurrected homogeneous Iraqi nation populated by a diverse people capable of coexisting in peace and harmony is soon to be swept away forever. Any hope of a way out for the people of Iraq and their neighbors is about to become a victim of the “successes” of the “surge” and the denial of reality. The destruction of Iraq has already begun. The myth of Kurdish stability — born artificially out of the U.S.-enforced “no-fly zones” of the 1990s, sustained through the largess of the <a href="http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hW29ilQLmxjTWAf35k8erh7qqomgD8UJQC2G1%20" type="external">Oil-for-Food</a> program (and U.S.-approved sanctions sidestepped by the various Kurdish groups in Iraq) and given a Frankenstein-like lease on life in the aftermath of the U.S. invasion and occupation — is rapidly unraveling. Like Dr. Frankenstein’s monster, present-day Iraqi Kurdistan has been exposed as an amalgam of parts incompatible not only with each other but the region as a whole.</p>
<p />
<p>Ongoing Kurdish disdain for the central authority in Baghdad has led to the Kurds declaring their independence from Iraqi law (especially any law pertaining to oil present on lands they control). The reality of the Kurds’ quest for independence can be seen in their support of the Kurdish groups, in particular the PKK, that desire independence from Turkey. The sentiment has not been lost on their Turkish neighbors to the north, resulting in an escalation of cross-border military incursions which will only expand over time, further destabilizing Kurdish Iraq. Lying dormant, and unmentioned, is the age-old animosity between the two principle Kurdish factions in Iraq, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP). As recently as 1997, these two factions were engaged in a virtual civil war against one another. The strains brought on by the present unraveling have these two factions once again vying for position inside Iraq, making internecine conflict all but inevitable. The year 2008 will bring with it a major escalation of Turkish military operations against northern Iraq, a strategic break between the Kurdish factions there and with the central government of Baghdad, and the beginnings of an all-out civil war between the KDP and PUK.</p>
<p>The next unraveling of the “surge” myth will be in western Iraq, where the much applauded “awakening” was falling apart even as Bush spoke. I continue to maintain that there is a hidden hand behind the Sunni resistance that operates unseen and uncommented on by the United States and its erstwhile Iraqi allies operating out of the Green Zone in Baghdad. The government of Saddam Hussein never formally capitulated, and indeed had in place plans for ongoing active resistance against any occupation of Iraq. In October 2007 the Iraqi Baath Party held its 13th conference, in which it formally certified one of Saddam’s vice presidents, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izzat_Ibrahim_ad-Douri%20" type="external">Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri</a>, as the supreme leader of the Sunni resistance. The United States’ embrace of the “awakening” will go down in the history of the Iraq conflict as one of the gravest strategic errors made in a field of grave errors. The U.S. military in Iraq has never fully understood the complex interplay between the Sunni resistance, al-Qaida in Iraq, and the former government of Saddam Hussein. Saddam may be dead, but not so his plans for resistance. The massive security organizations which held sway over Iraq during his rule were never defeated, and never formally disbanded. The organs of security which once operated as formal ministries now operate as covert cells, functioning along internal lines of communication which are virtually impenetrable by outside forces. These security organs gave birth to al-Qaida in Iraq, fostered its growth as a proxy, and used it as a means of sowing chaos and fear among the Iraqi population.</p>
<p>The violence perpetrated by al-Qaida in Iraq is largely responsible for the inability of the central government in Baghdad to gain any traction in the form of unified governance. The inability of the United States to defeat al-Qaida has destroyed any hope of generating confidence among the Iraqi population in the possibility of stability emerging from an ongoing American occupation. But al-Qaida in Iraq is not a physical entity which the United States can get its hands around, but rather a giant con game being run by Izzat al-Douri and the Sunni resistance. Because al-Qaida in Iraq is derived from the Sunni resistance, it can be defeated only when the Sunni resistance is defeated. And the greatest con game of them all occurred when the Sunni resistance manipulated the United States into arming it, training it and turning it against the forces of al-Qaida, which it controls. Far from subduing the Sunni resistance by Washington’s political and military support of the “awakening,” the United States has further empowered it. It is almost as if we were arming and training the Viet Cong on the eve of the Tet offensive during the Vietnam War.</p>
<p>Keeping in mind the fact that the Sunni resistance, led by al-Douri, operates from the shadows, and that its influence is exerted more indirectly than directly, there are actual al-Qaida elements in Iraq which operate independently of central Sunni control, just as there are Sunni tribal elements which freely joined the “awakening” in an effort to quash the forces of al-Qaida in Iraq. The diabolical beauty of the Sunni resistance isn’t its ability to exert direct control over all aspects of the anti-American activity in Sunni Iraq, but rather to manipulate the overall direction of activity through indirect means in a manner which achieves its overall strategic aims. The Sunni resistance continues to use al-Qaida in Iraq as a useful tool for seizing the strategic focus of the American military occupiers (and their Iraqi proxies in the Green Zone), as well as controlling Sunni tribal elements which stray too far off the strategic course (witness the recent suicide bomb assassination of senior Sunni tribal leaders). 2008 will see the collapse of the Sunni “awakening” movement, and a return to large-scale anti-American insurgency in western Iraq. It will also see the continued viability of al-Qaida in Iraq in terms of being an organization capable of wreaking violence and dictating the pace of American military involvement in directions beneficial to the Sunni resistance and detrimental to the United States.</p>
<p>One of the spinoffs of the continued success of the Sunni resistance is the focus it places on the inability of the <a href="http://hnn.us/articles/934.html%20" type="external">Shiite</a>-dominated government in Baghdad to actually govern. The U.S. decision to arm, train and facilitate the various Sunni militias in Iraq is a de facto acknowledgement that the American occupiers have lost confidence in the high-profile byproduct of the <a href="http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/01/31/opinion/edbull.php" type="external">“purple finger revolution”</a> of January 2005. The sham that was that election has produced a government trusted by no one, even the Shiites. The ongoing unilateral cease-fire imposed by the Muqtada al-Sadr on his Mahdi Army prevented the outbreak of civil war between his movement and that of the Iranian-backed Supreme Council of Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), and its militia, the Badr Brigade.</p>
<p>When Saddam’s security forces dissolved on the eve of the fall of Baghdad in March 2003, the security organs which had been tasked with infiltrating the Shiite community for the purpose of spying on Shiites were instead instructed to embed themselves deep within the structures of that community. Both the Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigade are heavily infiltrated with such sleeper elements, which conspire to create and exploit fractures between these two organizations under the age-old adage of divide and conquer. A strategic pause in the conflict between the Mahdi Army and the U.S. military on the one hand and the Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigade on the other has served to strengthen the hand of the Mahdi Army by allowing time for it to rearm and reorganize, increasing its efficiency as a military organization all the while its political opposite, the SCIRI-dominated central Iraqi government, continues to falter.</p>
<p>Further exacerbating the situation for the American occupiers of Iraq is the ongoing tension created by the war of wills between the United States and Iran. The Sunni resistance has no love for the Shiite theocracy in Tehran, or its proxies in Iraq, and views creating a rift between the Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigade as a strategic imperative on the road to a Sunni resurgence. Any U.S. military strike against Iran will bring with it the inevitable Shiite backlash in Iraq. The Shiite forces that emerge as the most independent of the American occupier will be, in the minds of the Sunni resistance, the most capable of winning the support of the Shiites of Iraq. Given the past record of cooperation between the Mahdi Army and the Sunni resistance, and the ongoing antipathy between Sunnis and SCIRI, there can be little doubt which Shiite entity the Sunnis will side with when it comes time for a decisive conflict between the Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigade, and 2008 will be the year which witnesses such a conflict.The big loser in all of this, besides the people of Iraq, is of course the men and women of the armed forces of the United States. Betrayed by the Bush administration, abandoned by Congress and all but forgotten by a complacent American population and those who are positioning themselves for national leadership in the next administration, the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who so proudly wear the uniform of the United States continue to fight and die, kill and be maimed in a war which was never justified and long ago lost its luster. Played as pawns in a giant game of three-dimensional chess, these brave Americans find themselves being needlessly sacrificed in a game where there can be no winner, only losers.</p>
<p>The continued ambivalence of the American population as a whole toward the war in Iraq, perhaps best manifested by the superficiality of the slogan “Support the Troops,” all the while remaining ignorant of what the troops are actually doing, has led to a similar amnesia among politicians all too willing to allow themselves to seek political advantage at the expense of American life and treasure. January 2008 cost the United States <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/244/story/26030.html%20" type="external">nearly 40 lives</a> in Iraq. The current military budget is unprecedented in its size, and doesn’t even come close to paying for ongoing military operations in Iraq. The war in Iraq has bankrupted Americans morally and fiscally, and yet the American public continues to shake the hands of aspiring politicians who ignore Iraq, pretending that the blood which soaks the hands of these political aspirants hasn’t stained their own. In the sick kabuki dance that is American politics, this refusal to call a spade a spade is deserving of little more than disdain and sorrow.</p>
<p>While the American people, politicians and media may remain mute on the reality of Iraq, I won’t. There is no such thing as a crystal ball which enables one to see clearly into the future, and I am normally averse to making sweeping long-term predictions involving a topic as fluid as the ongoing situation in Iraq. At the risk of being wrong (and, indeed, I hope very much that I am), I will contradict the rosy statements of the president in his State of the Union address and will throw down a gauntlet in the face of ongoing public and media ambivalence by predicting that 2008 will be the year the “surge” in Iraq is exposed as a grand debacle. The cosmetic bandage placed over the gravely wounded Iraq will fall off, and the damaged body that is Iraq will continue its painful decline toward death.</p>
<p>If there is any winner in all of this it will be the Sunni resistance, or at least its leadership hiding in the shadow of the American occupation, as it continues to exploit the chaotic death spiral of post-Saddam Iraq for its own long-term plan of a Sunni resurgence in Iraq. That the Sunni resistance will continue to fight an American occupation is a guarantee. That it will continue to persevere is highly probable. That the United States will be able to stop it is unlikely. And so, the reality that the only policy direction worthy of consideration here in the United States concerning Iraq is the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of American forces continues to hold true. And the fact that this option is given short shrift by all capable of making or influencing such a decision guarantees that this bloody war will go on, inconclusively and incomprehensibly, for many more years. That is the one image in my crystal ball that emerges in full focus, and which will serve as the basis of defining a national nightmare for generations to come.</p> | true | 4 | analysis current state ongoing us occupation iraq relied solely us government major candidates president major media outlets united states information would hard pressed find bad news state union address everything except mission accomplished banner flying background president bush declared victory insurgency iraq recertification success socalled surge prompted republican candidates assume cocky swagger discussing iraq embrace occupation speak without shame apparent fear retribution ongoing presence wartorn nation democratic counterparts less enthusiastic criticism escalation media part continue macabre role cheerleaders death hiding reality iraq deep inside stories build upon approving headlines derived nothing political rhetoric war iraq told virtually need stay course 10 years situation troublesome extreme collective refusal constituent complicated mix political players confront bush iraq virtually guarantees bush administration successor dictate first year policy iraq next president also ensures debacle bush administrations overarching middle east policy regional transformation regime change iraq iran syria continue go unchallenged president free pursue policies could lead direct military intervention iran united states prior president bushs departure office failing place successor path toward military confrontation time every data point available certifies recertifies administrations actions iraq iran elsewhere including afghanistan abject failure america collectively fallen hypnotic trance distracted domestic economic problems incapable due collective ignorance world live deciphering reality ground middle east rather offering wordforword renouncement presidents rosy assertions concerning iraq instead initiate process debunking myth american success politician current aspiring would dare predict failure american policy iraq ink newspapers parroting presidents words barely dry evidence misrepresentation reality begins build announcement pentagon troop levels iraq dropping projected view success surge rather holding current levels possibility increasing future reversal course concerning troop deployments iraq highlights reality statistical justification surge success namely reduction level violence illusory temporary lull brought smoke mirrors genuine change fortune ground even word surge inappropriate undeniably escalation iraq far nation rebound remains mortally wounded shell equivalent human suffering sucking chest wound lungs collapsed life blood spilling unchecked onto ground surge never addressed underlying reasons iraqs postsaddam suffering never sought heal killing iraq instead surge offered little cosmetic gesture covering wounds iraq bandage shielded true extent damage outside view nothing save victim iraq dying soon iraq dead true plot land middle east people refer iraq hope resurrected homogeneous iraqi nation populated diverse people capable coexisting peace harmony soon swept away forever hope way people iraq neighbors become victim successes surge denial reality destruction iraq already begun myth kurdish stability born artificially usenforced nofly zones 1990s sustained largess oilforfood program usapproved sanctions sidestepped various kurdish groups iraq given frankensteinlike lease life aftermath us invasion occupation rapidly unraveling like dr frankensteins monster presentday iraqi kurdistan exposed amalgam parts incompatible region whole ongoing kurdish disdain central authority baghdad led kurds declaring independence iraqi law especially law pertaining oil present lands control reality kurds quest independence seen support kurdish groups particular pkk desire independence turkey sentiment lost turkish neighbors north resulting escalation crossborder military incursions expand time destabilizing kurdish iraq lying dormant unmentioned ageold animosity two principle kurdish factions iraq patriotic union kurdistan puk kurdish democratic party kdp recently 1997 two factions engaged virtual civil war one another strains brought present unraveling two factions vying position inside iraq making internecine conflict inevitable year 2008 bring major escalation turkish military operations northern iraq strategic break kurdish factions central government baghdad beginnings allout civil war kdp puk next unraveling surge myth western iraq much applauded awakening falling apart even bush spoke continue maintain hidden hand behind sunni resistance operates unseen uncommented united states erstwhile iraqi allies operating green zone baghdad government saddam hussein never formally capitulated indeed place plans ongoing active resistance occupation iraq october 2007 iraqi baath party held 13th conference formally certified one saddams vice presidents izzat ibrahim aldouri supreme leader sunni resistance united states embrace awakening go history iraq conflict one gravest strategic errors made field grave errors us military iraq never fully understood complex interplay sunni resistance alqaida iraq former government saddam hussein saddam may dead plans resistance massive security organizations held sway iraq rule never defeated never formally disbanded organs security operated formal ministries operate covert cells functioning along internal lines communication virtually impenetrable outside forces security organs gave birth alqaida iraq fostered growth proxy used means sowing chaos fear among iraqi population violence perpetrated alqaida iraq largely responsible inability central government baghdad gain traction form unified governance inability united states defeat alqaida destroyed hope generating confidence among iraqi population possibility stability emerging ongoing american occupation alqaida iraq physical entity united states get hands around rather giant con game run izzat aldouri sunni resistance alqaida iraq derived sunni resistance defeated sunni resistance defeated greatest con game occurred sunni resistance manipulated united states arming training turning forces alqaida controls far subduing sunni resistance washingtons political military support awakening united states empowered almost arming training viet cong eve tet offensive vietnam war keeping mind fact sunni resistance led aldouri operates shadows influence exerted indirectly directly actual alqaida elements iraq operate independently central sunni control sunni tribal elements freely joined awakening effort quash forces alqaida iraq diabolical beauty sunni resistance isnt ability exert direct control aspects antiamerican activity sunni iraq rather manipulate overall direction activity indirect means manner achieves overall strategic aims sunni resistance continues use alqaida iraq useful tool seizing strategic focus american military occupiers iraqi proxies green zone well controlling sunni tribal elements stray far strategic course witness recent suicide bomb assassination senior sunni tribal leaders 2008 see collapse sunni awakening movement return largescale antiamerican insurgency western iraq also see continued viability alqaida iraq terms organization capable wreaking violence dictating pace american military involvement directions beneficial sunni resistance detrimental united states one spinoffs continued success sunni resistance focus places inability shiitedominated government baghdad actually govern us decision arm train facilitate various sunni militias iraq de facto acknowledgement american occupiers lost confidence highprofile byproduct purple finger revolution january 2005 sham election produced government trusted one even shiites ongoing unilateral ceasefire imposed muqtada alsadr mahdi army prevented outbreak civil war movement iranianbacked supreme council islamic revolution iraq sciri militia badr brigade saddams security forces dissolved eve fall baghdad march 2003 security organs tasked infiltrating shiite community purpose spying shiites instead instructed embed deep within structures community mahdi army badr brigade heavily infiltrated sleeper elements conspire create exploit fractures two organizations ageold adage divide conquer strategic pause conflict mahdi army us military one hand mahdi army badr brigade served strengthen hand mahdi army allowing time rearm reorganize increasing efficiency military organization political opposite sciridominated central iraqi government continues falter exacerbating situation american occupiers iraq ongoing tension created war wills united states iran sunni resistance love shiite theocracy tehran proxies iraq views creating rift mahdi army badr brigade strategic imperative road sunni resurgence us military strike iran bring inevitable shiite backlash iraq shiite forces emerge independent american occupier minds sunni resistance capable winning support shiites iraq given past record cooperation mahdi army sunni resistance ongoing antipathy sunnis sciri little doubt shiite entity sunnis side comes time decisive conflict mahdi army badr brigade 2008 year witnesses conflictthe big loser besides people iraq course men women armed forces united states betrayed bush administration abandoned congress forgotten complacent american population positioning national leadership next administration soldiers sailors airmen marines proudly wear uniform united states continue fight die kill maimed war never justified long ago lost luster played pawns giant game threedimensional chess brave americans find needlessly sacrificed game winner losers continued ambivalence american population whole toward war iraq perhaps best manifested superficiality slogan support troops remaining ignorant troops actually led similar amnesia among politicians willing allow seek political advantage expense american life treasure january 2008 cost united states nearly 40 lives iraq current military budget unprecedented size doesnt even come close paying ongoing military operations iraq war iraq bankrupted americans morally fiscally yet american public continues shake hands aspiring politicians ignore iraq pretending blood soaks hands political aspirants hasnt stained sick kabuki dance american politics refusal call spade spade deserving little disdain sorrow american people politicians media may remain mute reality iraq wont thing crystal ball enables one see clearly future normally averse making sweeping longterm predictions involving topic fluid ongoing situation iraq risk wrong indeed hope much contradict rosy statements president state union address throw gauntlet face ongoing public media ambivalence predicting 2008 year surge iraq exposed grand debacle cosmetic bandage placed gravely wounded iraq fall damaged body iraq continue painful decline toward death winner sunni resistance least leadership hiding shadow american occupation continues exploit chaotic death spiral postsaddam iraq longterm plan sunni resurgence iraq sunni resistance continue fight american occupation guarantee continue persevere highly probable united states able stop unlikely reality policy direction worthy consideration united states concerning iraq immediate unconditional withdrawal american forces continues hold true fact option given short shrift capable making influencing decision guarantees bloody war go inconclusively incomprehensibly many years one image crystal ball emerges full focus serve basis defining national nightmare generations come | 1,466 |
<p><a href="http://wp.me/p3bwni-fd3" type="external">21st Century Wire</a> says…</p>
<p>Here’s a key story we ran previously, and it’s even more relevant today.</p>
<p>Back in late 2013, an independent investigation revealed that at least 22 defense industry stakeholders were used by the likes of CNN, FOX News and others – as ‘experts’ and ‘correspondents’ in order to help sell another war in Syria (or anywhere else for that matter).</p>
<p>Just remember the following when you see the usual corporate media operatives on TV trying to sell you another next war…</p>
<p><a href="http://36s81n24kn0c1i9se62v6acw.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/MSNBC-war-Syria-GE-O-Bagy-McCain.jpg" type="external" />NOTE: The Pentagon should really sell sponsorship on US missiles and bombs to its trove of corporate partners (Image: 21WIRE)</p>
<p>Before the White House’s Syrian War flop, networks like CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and Bloomberg TV wheeled out at least 22 different men who they claimed were “pundits” and “commentators”, but in actuality were merely bomb and missile salesmen – who held director, board and shareholding positions with military giants like Raytheon, DC Capital Partners and BAE Systems.</p>
<p>Yes, you heard that right.</p>
<p>Watchdog organisation, the Public Accountability Initiative, a non-profit research group, details this and many more disclosures in <a href="http://public-accountability.org/2013/10/conflicts-of-interest-in-the-syria-debate/" type="external">its recent and damning report on US media coverage to hype a war in Syria</a>.</p>
<p>Should CNN, MSNBC, FOX lose their broadcasting licenses in the US for this gross breach of ethics, particularly when it’s used to sell something as violent and abhorrent as war? We say YES. Will that happen in the US? Well, no, because the media in the US is far from bias and is tightly linked in ownership and sponsorship to the war industry. Start with General Electric and work your way around the table from there. Add to this, another long line of “experts” deployed by Rupert Murdoch’s perennially pro-war media shop FOX, and now the Wall Street Journal. Most notably here is John Kerry and John McCain’s belle de jour, pro-war spokesmodel, <a href="" type="internal">Elizabeth O’Bagy</a>, who aside from being a key operative in <a href="" type="internal">helping to pad Washington and Israel’s militarised policy regarding Syria</a> by constructing the “moderate rebel” myth, was dumped by Kimberly Kagan and William Kristol’s neoconservative and pro-Israeli think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) after it was discovered O’Bagy had claimed a nonexistent PhD from Georgetown University. In addition to this media darling and ‘Syria expert’ O’Bagy is policy director for a suspected CIA operation front and money-raising machine called the <a href="http://syriantaskforce.org/" type="external">Syrian Emergency Task Force</a> (SETF).</p>
<p>Below is a rather educational map, showing the relationships and the pay lines of the ISW crowd, which, in addition to the disgraced O’Bagy, it features war ‘expert’ and director at Raytheon, Stephen Hadley:</p>
<p>Once again, remember all of this each time they media come with a full court press of “experts” – who are nothing less than military salesman hyping their stock portfolios.</p>
<p><a href="http://rt.com/usa/media-failed-pundits-defense-syria-011/" type="external">RT</a> reports…</p>
<p>Nearly two dozen of the commentators who appeared on major media outlets to discuss a possible US military strike on Syria had relationships with contractors and other organizations with a vested interest in the conflict, according to a new report.</p>
<p>The Public Accountability Initiative, a non-profit research group dedicated to “investigating power and corruption at the heights of business and government,” determined that <a href="http://public-accountability.org/2013/10/conflicts-of-interest-in-the-syria-debate/" type="external">22 of the pundits</a> who spoke to the media during the public debate over whether the US should bomb Syria appeared to have conflicts of interest. Seven think tanks with murky affiliations were also involved in the debate.</p>
<p>Some analysts held board positions or held stock in companies that produce weapons for the US military, while others conducted work for private firms with the relationships not disclosed to the public.</p>
<p>Raytheon director Stephen Handley.</p>
<p>Perhaps the most notable example is that of Stephen Hadley, a former national security advisor to President George Bush who argued in favor of striking Syria in appearances on CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and Bloomberg TV. He also wrote an editorial in The Washington Post with the headline, “To stop Iran, Obama must enforce red lines with Assad.”</p>
<p>Nowhere in those appearances was it disclosed, according to the report, that Hadley is a director with Raytheon, a weapons manufacturer that produces the Tomahawk cruise missiles the US almost certainly would have used had it intervened in Syria. Hadley earns an annual salary of $128,5000 from Raytheon and owns 11,477 shares of Raytheon stock. His holdings were worth $891,189 as of August 23.</p>
<p>“We found lots of industry ties. Some of them are stronger than others. Some really rise to the level of clear conflicts of interest,” Kevin Connor, co-author of the report, told The Washington Post. “These networks and these commentators should err on the side of disclosure.”</p>
<p>The report found that, out of 37 appearances of the pundits named, CNN attempted to disclose that individual’s ties a mere seven times. In 23 appearances on Fox News there was not a single attempt to disclose industry ties. And in 16 appearances on NBC or its umbrella networks, attempts at disclosure were made five times.</p>
<p>Retired General Anthony Zinni, former Commander-in-Chief of US Central Command, made multiple appearances on CNN and CBS. He is an outside director at BAE Systems, which is among the largest military service companies in the world and one that received $6.1 billion in federal contracts in 2012, serves on the Advisory Board of DC Capital Partners, a private equity firm that invests in defense contractors, and a Distinguished Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.</p>
<p>Zinni advocated a strike not just on Syria, but told CNN’s Candy Crowley that American hesitation in the Middle East has pushed US adversaries to act.</p>
<p>“Knowing the Iranians, they see everything as a potential opportunity to exploit,” he said. “And I’m sure they are calculating much how they could take advantage of this and maybe push the edge of the envelope.”</p>
<p>The retired general, speaking to the Post via email, said his membership is publicly available online.</p>
<p>“The media who contact me for comment should post any relevant info re my background including my board positions if they desire,” he wrote.</p>
<p>This report comes after Syria researcher Elizabeth O’Bagy was fired from the Institute for the Study of War think-tank for lying about her credentials. Multiple US lawmakers, most notably Secretary of State John Kerry [and Senator John McCain], cited an opinion piece O’Bagy wrote in the Wall Street Journal when calling for a military intervention. It was soon revealed that O’Bagy did not disclose her ties to a lobby group advocating for Syrian opposition forces when penning the column for the Journal.</p>
<p>READ MORE PENTAGON NEWS AT: <a href="" type="internal">21st Century Wire Pentagon Files</a></p> | true | 4 | 21st century wire says heres key story ran previously even relevant today back late 2013 independent investigation revealed least 22 defense industry stakeholders used likes cnn fox news others experts correspondents order help sell another war syria anywhere else matter remember following see usual corporate media operatives tv trying sell another next war note pentagon really sell sponsorship us missiles bombs trove corporate partners image 21wire white houses syrian war flop networks like cnn msnbc fox news bloomberg tv wheeled least 22 different men claimed pundits commentators actuality merely bomb missile salesmen held director board shareholding positions military giants like raytheon dc capital partners bae systems yes heard right watchdog organisation public accountability initiative nonprofit research group details many disclosures recent damning report us media coverage hype war syria cnn msnbc fox lose broadcasting licenses us gross breach ethics particularly used sell something violent abhorrent war say yes happen us well media us far bias tightly linked ownership sponsorship war industry start general electric work way around table add another long line experts deployed rupert murdochs perennially prowar media shop fox wall street journal notably john kerry john mccains belle de jour prowar spokesmodel elizabeth obagy aside key operative helping pad washington israels militarised policy regarding syria constructing moderate rebel myth dumped kimberly kagan william kristols neoconservative proisraeli think tank institute study war isw discovered obagy claimed nonexistent phd georgetown university addition media darling syria expert obagy policy director suspected cia operation front moneyraising machine called syrian emergency task force setf rather educational map showing relationships pay lines isw crowd addition disgraced obagy features war expert director raytheon stephen hadley remember time media come full court press experts nothing less military salesman hyping stock portfolios rt reports nearly two dozen commentators appeared major media outlets discuss possible us military strike syria relationships contractors organizations vested interest conflict according new report public accountability initiative nonprofit research group dedicated investigating power corruption heights business government determined 22 pundits spoke media public debate whether us bomb syria appeared conflicts interest seven think tanks murky affiliations also involved debate analysts held board positions held stock companies produce weapons us military others conducted work private firms relationships disclosed public raytheon director stephen handley perhaps notable example stephen hadley former national security advisor president george bush argued favor striking syria appearances cnn msnbc fox news bloomberg tv also wrote editorial washington post headline stop iran obama must enforce red lines assad nowhere appearances disclosed according report hadley director raytheon weapons manufacturer produces tomahawk cruise missiles us almost certainly would used intervened syria hadley earns annual salary 1285000 raytheon owns 11477 shares raytheon stock holdings worth 891189 august 23 found lots industry ties stronger others really rise level clear conflicts interest kevin connor coauthor report told washington post networks commentators err side disclosure report found 37 appearances pundits named cnn attempted disclose individuals ties mere seven times 23 appearances fox news single attempt disclose industry ties 16 appearances nbc umbrella networks attempts disclosure made five times retired general anthony zinni former commanderinchief us central command made multiple appearances cnn cbs outside director bae systems among largest military service companies world one received 61 billion federal contracts 2012 serves advisory board dc capital partners private equity firm invests defense contractors distinguished senior advisor center strategic international studies zinni advocated strike syria told cnns candy crowley american hesitation middle east pushed us adversaries act knowing iranians see everything potential opportunity exploit said im sure calculating much could take advantage maybe push edge envelope retired general speaking post via email said membership publicly available online media contact comment post relevant info background including board positions desire wrote report comes syria researcher elizabeth obagy fired institute study war thinktank lying credentials multiple us lawmakers notably secretary state john kerry senator john mccain cited opinion piece obagy wrote wall street journal calling military intervention soon revealed obagy disclose ties lobby group advocating syrian opposition forces penning column journal read pentagon news 21st century wire pentagon files | 664 |
<p><a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-290.ZS.html" type="external">District of Columbia v. Heller</a> the Supreme Court’s 2008 decision that upended decades of Second Amendment law and handed a major victory to supporters of gun rights, was “ <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2016-05-20/hillary-clinton-believes-pivotal-gun-rights-ruling-was-wrong-adviser-says" type="external">wrongly decided</a>,” according to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign.</p>
<p>It’s a remarkable moment for the campaign itself and in the evolution of gun politics in the United States. Hillary Clinton’s husband, President Bill Clinton, reportedly believed that his party’s support for an assault weapon’s ban <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/bill-clinton-assault-weapon-ban-newtown-shooting" type="external">cost Democrats about 20 seats</a> in the 1994 U.S. House elections. Now, more than two decades later, the former Secretary of State has apparently decided that there is no margin to trying not to anger the gun lobby. Short of promising to send federal agents to every gun owner’s home to personally seize their firearms, it’s hard to imagine another statement the Hillary Clinton campaign could have made that is more likely to antagonize the National Rifle Association and its allies.</p>
<p>As recently as three years ago, President Clinton sang a cautious tune on guns, warning Democratic donors “not be self-congratulatory about how brave you [are] for being for” gun regulation because “the <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/01/bill-clinton-to-democrats-dont-trivialize-gun-culture-086443?o=1" type="external">only brave people are the people who are going to lose their jobs if they vote with you</a>.” A few months later, four Senate Democrats joined the overwhelming majority of the chamber’s Republicans in <a href="" type="internal">filibustering a popular background checks bill to death</a>.</p>
<p>Yet, despite this history of many Democrats being reluctant to cross the NRA and its supporters, the organization has spent the last several years seemingly doing everything in its power to discourage Democrats from playing ball with the gun lobby.</p>
<p>Early in the Obama presidency, for example, they sent a message that any official — or, at least, any Democrat — who departs from the gun lobby’s most maximalist stances would be labeled a heretic and subjected to the NRA’s full wrath. The NRA opposed Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination to the Supreme Court because, as a lower-court judge, Sotomayor <a href="" type="internal">followed a binding Supreme Court precedent that the NRA disagreed with</a>. They opposed Justice Elena Kagan’s nomination in part because, as Solicitor General of the United States, <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-07-01/national-rifle-association-opposes-kagan-nomination-citing-87-clerk-memo" type="external">Kagan remained neutral</a> in a case seeking to overrule this precedent, rather than actively calling for an expansion of gun rights.</p>
<p>The NRA even <a href="" type="internal">ran ads against Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN)</a>, a long-serving Republican, criticizing Lugar for supporting Sotomayor and Kagan. These ads contributed to Lugar’s loss to a much weaker primary candidate, who went on to lose to now-Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-IN).</p>
<p>Why shouldn’t Hillary Clinton come out against the most significant victory for gun rights supporters in American history when she knows that, no matter what she does, she will be castigated by the&#160;NRA?</p>
<p>One of the NRA’s most telling moments, however, involved a much more obscure nomination fight. Caitlin Halligan is a former Solicitor General of the state of New York that President Obama nominated to serve on a federal appeals court. As New York’s top litigator, she <a href="" type="internal">twice argued positions against gun manufacturers</a>. This was enough to earn the NRA’s ire, and her work on these cases was repeatedly cited by Republican senators who filibustered her nomination.</p>
<p>The important thing to understand about Halligan — or, indeed, anyone who serves as a government lawyer — is that she was representing her client while she had a job that called on her to defend the state’s positions, regardless of whether she personally agreed with the arguments she advanced in that job. By opposing Halligan, the NRA sent a message to all lawyers in similar positions — if you get a guns case, you better either betray your client or resign in protest if you don’t want to incur our wrath.</p>
<p>With respect to lawmakers and other officials who are already sympathetic to the NRA’s views, there’s a logic to punishing even the most minor of heresies. Lawmakers and potential judges who want to stay in the NRA’s good graces are now on notice that they risk being shunned if they do not obey the NRA’s wishes 100 percent of the time.</p>
<p>There is also, however, tremendous risk in this strategy for the NRA. For it also sends a message that, once a lawmaker has done anything that may have angered the gun lobby group at any point in their career, they might as well just give up trying to work with the NRA. Why shouldn’t Hillary Clinton come out against the most significant victory for gun rights supporters in American history when she knows that, no matter what she does, she will be castigated by the NRA?</p>
<p>Or, to put the NRA’s predicament another way, they are now all-in with just one of the nation’s two political parties. If Democrats run this table in this election, they have no reason to work with or even to fear the gun lobby. After all, no matter what Democratic lawmakers do, the NRA will still treat them the exact same way.</p>
<p>The NRA’s transformation from an organization that saw value in maintaining good relationships with some Democrats into its current, more partisan, and more absolutist form did not happen overnight. So it is difficult to pinpoint a single moment when the group most unambiguously told Democrats to stop caring what the NRA has to say. But, if you had to pick a date, a good choice would be <a href="" type="internal">September 16, 2014</a>.</p>
<p>That’s the day that the NRA announced that it would spend $1.3 million to defeat former Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR) and replace him with now-Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR).</p>
<p>Pryor was one of the four Democrats who opposed President Obama’s background check bill in 2013. It was a risky decision to place the interests of the gun lobby ahead of the preferences of his constituents. Polls around the time of the vote showed that <a href="" type="internal">60 percent of Arkansas voters supported</a> “requiring background checks for all gun sales, including gun shows and the internet.” And yet the NRA rewarded Pryor’s decision to go out on a limb for them by spending a fortune to defeat him.</p>
<p>It’s a wonder why any Democrat would ever make common cause with the gun lobby ever again, after the NRA treated Pryor so poorly.</p> | true | 4 | district columbia v heller supreme courts 2008 decision upended decades second amendment law handed major victory supporters gun rights wrongly decided according democratic presidential candidate hillary clintons campaign remarkable moment campaign evolution gun politics united states hillary clintons husband president bill clinton reportedly believed partys support assault weapons ban cost democrats 20 seats 1994 us house elections two decades later former secretary state apparently decided margin trying anger gun lobby short promising send federal agents every gun owners home personally seize firearms hard imagine another statement hillary clinton campaign could made likely antagonize national rifle association allies recently three years ago president clinton sang cautious tune guns warning democratic donors selfcongratulatory brave gun regulation brave people people going lose jobs vote months later four senate democrats joined overwhelming majority chambers republicans filibustering popular background checks bill death yet despite history many democrats reluctant cross nra supporters organization spent last several years seemingly everything power discourage democrats playing ball gun lobby early obama presidency example sent message official least democrat departs gun lobbys maximalist stances would labeled heretic subjected nras full wrath nra opposed justice sonia sotomayors nomination supreme court lowercourt judge sotomayor followed binding supreme court precedent nra disagreed opposed justice elena kagans nomination part solicitor general united states kagan remained neutral case seeking overrule precedent rather actively calling expansion gun rights nra even ran ads sen dick lugar rin longserving republican criticizing lugar supporting sotomayor kagan ads contributed lugars loss much weaker primary candidate went lose nowsen joe donnelly din shouldnt hillary clinton come significant victory gun rights supporters american history knows matter castigated the160nra one nras telling moments however involved much obscure nomination fight caitlin halligan former solicitor general state new york president obama nominated serve federal appeals court new yorks top litigator twice argued positions gun manufacturers enough earn nras ire work cases repeatedly cited republican senators filibustered nomination important thing understand halligan indeed anyone serves government lawyer representing client job called defend states positions regardless whether personally agreed arguments advanced job opposing halligan nra sent message lawyers similar positions get guns case better either betray client resign protest dont want incur wrath respect lawmakers officials already sympathetic nras views theres logic punishing even minor heresies lawmakers potential judges want stay nras good graces notice risk shunned obey nras wishes 100 percent time also however tremendous risk strategy nra also sends message lawmaker done anything may angered gun lobby group point career might well give trying work nra shouldnt hillary clinton come significant victory gun rights supporters american history knows matter castigated nra put nras predicament another way allin one nations two political parties democrats run table election reason work even fear gun lobby matter democratic lawmakers nra still treat exact way nras transformation organization saw value maintaining good relationships democrats current partisan absolutist form happen overnight difficult pinpoint single moment group unambiguously told democrats stop caring nra say pick date good choice would september 16 2014 thats day nra announced would spend 13 million defeat former sen mark pryor dar replace nowsen tom cotton rar pryor one four democrats opposed president obamas background check bill 2013 risky decision place interests gun lobby ahead preferences constituents polls around time vote showed 60 percent arkansas voters supported requiring background checks gun sales including gun shows internet yet nra rewarded pryors decision go limb spending fortune defeat wonder democrat would ever make common cause gun lobby ever nra treated pryor poorly | 572 |
<p>Late last month, Prime Healthcare Services filed an unusual <a href="https://pdf.yt/d/PA9_1x2bP20Un546" type="external">complaint</a> with a California federal court. The health care conglomerate, California’s most profitable and the owner of seventeen hospitals in the state, brought suit against the Service Employees International Union- <a href="http://www.seiu-uhw.org/" type="external">United Healthcare Workers West</a>, accusing it of racketeering violations under the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racketeer_Influenced_and_Corrupt_Organizations_Act" type="external">RICO Act</a>.</p>
<p>To date, the parties have <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/05/business/la-fi-mo-prime-20130405" type="external">traded</a> multiple lawsuits, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/01/us-nlrb-hospital-idUSBRE91001320130201" type="external">slugged</a> out their differences in front of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), and made repeated attempts to legislate each other <a href="http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/11-12/bill/sen/sb_0401-0450/sb_408_bill_20110908_enrolled.html" type="external">out of existence</a>. And now Prime has accused the SEIU, which represents nursing staff, caregivers, and environmental services workers, of attempting to unionize Prime hospitals in an effort to extort money from the conglomerate.</p>
<p>The nature of Prime’s squabbles with labor are unique among health care organizations, just as Prime itself is sui generis, both for its approach to the business of healthcare and the singularly noxious reputation that approach has engendered. A hospital geared toward the production of profit, Prime has taken the ethos of capitalism to its logical conclusion.</p>
<p>Founded in 2001, Prime in short order upset the Californian health care market by managing its hospitals as foundries for wealth. Long the province of religious organizations, charities, and administrators who viewed their roles as straddling business and public service, hospitals have traditionally failed to notch impressive profits, even in America’s privatized health care market.</p>
<p>As of 2013, a full quarter of American hospitals lost money on their operations. Returns for those that did achieve profitability <a href="http://seton.dochs.org/2013/02/american-hospital-association-responds-to-time-magazine-story" type="external">hovered</a> around 5.5&#160;percent. Prime tipped this model on its head by eschewing several assumptions that underpinned traditional hospital management.</p>
<p>After acquiring a hospital, Prime’s typical first move was to cancel its insurance contracts. These contracts allowed insurance companies to pay hospitals lump sums for the care they provided patients. Once canceled, they paved the way for Prime to collect enormous reimbursements.</p>
<p>Like a private equity firm stripping a newly acquired business, Prime removed anything that acted as a drag on profitability. It axed mental health facilities, birthing centers, and chemotherapy units, and it began providing preferential treatment to insured patients.</p>
<p>Inspectors found that uninsured patients faced far longer waiting times than insured patients in Prime Healthcare emergency rooms. In one <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/08/business/fi-reddy8" type="external">widely reported</a> incident, a Prime hospital discharged an uninsured patient suffering from kidney failure, suggesting that he continue his treatment in a free facility nearby.</p>
<p>Prime has repeatedly run afoul of regulators. Four times over, inspectors noted that Prime facilities failed to meet federal safety standards. A 2012 Department of Justice subpoena called on Prime to account for its billing practices, which <a href="http://californiawatch.org/health-and-welfare/hospital-chain-already-under-scrutiny-reports-high-malnutrition-rates-8786" type="external">seemed to charge</a> Medicare for costly procedures at a suspiciously high rate.</p>
<p>In 2013, Prime <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jun/11/business/la-fi-mo-prime-healthcare-patient-privacy-20130611" type="external">paid</a> $275,000 to resolve claims that it violated a patient’s privacy by mass-emailing her medical data to the hospital’s employees. A whistleblower lawsuit filed earlier this summer by a former Prime executive accused the company of having reaped millions by overbilling Medicare.</p>
<p>Reports have also charged Prime facilities with harboring record-breaking rates of septicemia and malnutrition. Prime argues that these accusations misconstrue the available data; its detractors maintain that the data <a href="http://californiawatch.org/health-and-welfare/hospital-chain-already-under-scrutiny-reports-high-malnutrition-rates-8786" type="external">betray</a> Prime’s tendency to over-report ailments that demand costly remedies.</p>
<p>Viewed in précis, Prime Healthcare’s history suggests an organization determined to view the sick as a resource for exploitation, an attitude that has led, unsurprisingly, to a dramatic rift between Prime’s management and the workers that staff its hospitals.</p>
<p>Since SEIU began organizing at Prime Healthcare in 2010, relations between the company and the union have devolved into a guerilla war. The two have fought over access to Prime hospitals for the purpose of union recruitment, the collection of union dues after the expiration of collective-bargaining agreements, and Prime’s reputation in the media.</p>
<p>As outlined in Prime’s grievance against the union, SEIU has run a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_campaign#Corporate_campaigns" type="external">corporate campaign</a> in an attempt to induce the company to accept unionization. Under this strategy, unions pressure companies from the inside and outside in an attempt to bypass NLRB elections, during which employers <a href="http://pages.uoregon.edu/lerc/public/pdfs/freeandfair.pdf" type="external">often intimidate</a> workers. The majority of California’s hospital conglomerates have arrangements with their unions, making Prime an obstinate outlier.</p>
<p>Calculated to pressure Prime’s leadership into accepting an organizing agreement, SEIU’s campaign called for action on several fronts. The union sponsored <a href="http://www.seiu-uhw.org/files/2011/10/Care-and-Coding-at-Prime_050311.pdf" type="external">studies</a> of Prime’s questionable Medicare billings, which it then disseminated to the press. It targeted the real-estate investment trust that serves as the landlord for several of Prime’s hospitals, alleging the hospitals failed to meet California’s earthquake safety standards.</p>
<p>Enlisting the help of California lawmakers, SEIU first assisted in <a href="http://www.seiu-uhw.org/archives/2267" type="external">blocking</a> Prime’s purchase of a bankrupt California hospital, then managed to waylay the company’s planned acquisitions in Kansas and New York. Again working with sympathetic members of the California legislature, SEIU pushed legislation that would have obligated hospital owners to obtain new licenses for the operation of freshly acquired facilities. The hospital workers union also pushed a bill that would have limited the amount hospitals could charge for providing out-of-network emergency care.</p>
<p>Of Prime’s multiple labor infractions that the SEIU reported to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), two elicited official decisions. In January 2013, the NLRB ordered Prime to continue collecting union dues from its workers, and to provide unions with information during internal investigations. Prime <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/01/us-nlrb-hospital-idUSBRE91001320130201" type="external">refused</a>.</p>
<p>Media coverage has been one of the most fiercely contested fronts in the Prime-SEIU battle. SEIU’s narrative paints Prime as an organization whose policies prove detrimental not only to its workers, but to the communities in which it operates.</p>
<p>Citing the poor quality of Prime’s care, and the company’s tendency to bill exorbitant amounts to Medicare, SEIU argues that Prime’s actions imperil everyone but its shareholders, and that legislators and the public should treat the company accordingly.</p>
<p>Prime’s response has been to treat SEIU, quite literally, as an organized crime ring.</p>
<p>Drawing ammunition from SEIU handbooks and PowerPoint presentations, transcriptions of interviews with union leaders and mainstream news reports, Prime describes in the seventy-page complaint a paranoid version of its own history, wherein the SEIU exists for the purpose of waging an “extortionate” campaign against its business.</p>
<p>As one reads Prime Healthcare’s litany of grievances against SEIU, it begins to seem that Prime, or at least whoever is in charge of crafting Prime’s litigation strategy, is unable&#160;to imagine that an organization could have any motivation other than the profit principle.</p>
<p>Time and again, the complaint uses descriptions of SEIU’s tactics as proof of the union’s greed. References to the SEIU’s “business model” abound. Union dues are described as “revenue.” Absent is any acknowledgement that SEIU could be concerned not just with the wellbeing of its members, but with the patients at Prime hospitals.</p>
<p>In the words of Prime’s complaint:</p>
<p>[Unionization] campaigns seek to create an environment where a union can achieve any number of objectives, only one of which may be organizing. Very often… the objective is to enrich the campaign participants by exercising control over a target or an industry so as to prevent market-based decision making.</p>
<p>Ah yes, market-based decision making — a habit that has rewarded Prime handsomely. In 2010, the company saw <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2013/mar/19/business/la-fi-hiltzik-20130320" type="external">profits</a> of $283&#160;million, on revenues of $1.6&#160;billion — a profit margin nearly unheard of in the health care industry.</p>
<p>If SEIU’s relationship with Prime has been acrimonious, the union has come under scrutiny for being too conciliatory with other companies. Last year, the California Nurses Association and the National Union of Healthcare Workers went so far as to <a href="http://talkingunion.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/cna-and-nuhw-join-forces-against-seiu-in-california/" type="external">launch</a> a decertification drive for a 43,000-member SEIU local at a for-profit health care chain. (It failed.)&#160;Here, the two groups charged, SEIU was more concerned with maintaining its partnership with management than boosting standards for workers and patients.</p>
<p>In the case of Prime, however, there’s hardly a willing partner on the other side, even if SEIU wanted to cozy up to the company.</p>
<p>The seeds of both Prime’s prosperity and the controversy surrounding it can be found in the conglomerate’s founder and chairman, Dr Prem Reddy. A native of southeast India’s Nellore district, Reddy immigrated to the United States in the mid-1970s, intent on practicing as a cardiologist. His entrepreneurial zeal fit with the mood of his adopted homeland.</p>
<p>As he <a href="http://www.hindunet.org/hvk/articles/0503/165.html" type="external">told</a> the India Tribune in 2003:</p>
<p>I want to impress upon fellow immigrant citizens and especially minorities that the “American Dream” is still alive and achievable.&#160;.&#160;. This great nation of ours gives everyone the opportunity to accomplish his or her fullest potential and I am a clear testimony to this belief.</p>
<p>In the land of market imperative, Reddy has thrived. When profiled by the Los Angeles Times in 2007, he <a href="http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/08/business/fi-reddy8/4" type="external">was already</a> commuting via private helicopter between his hospitals, his Southern California mansion, and his second residence in Beverly Hills. An active Republican, he made signification contributions to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial campaigns.</p>
<p>Though Prime Healthcare has received reams of negative press coverage, the most striking aspect of the company’s narrative is the simple obviousness of what Reddy has done: He has established a health care company that runs according to free-market principles — principles that are particularly grotesque when applied to a sector that is supposed to value patient care over bottom lines.</p>
<p>The most frightening aspect of Prime’s success is that, if unchecked, it will likely spawn imitators. It has so depreciated industry standards that other hospitals may begin to ape its business model, or entrepreneurs may jump in and try their hand at health care profit-making.</p>
<p>And organized labor is about the only thing&#160;standing in its way.</p> | true | 4 | late last month prime healthcare services filed unusual complaint california federal court health care conglomerate californias profitable owner seventeen hospitals state brought suit service employees international union united healthcare workers west accusing racketeering violations rico act date parties traded multiple lawsuits slugged differences front national labor relations board nlrb made repeated attempts legislate existence prime accused seiu represents nursing staff caregivers environmental services workers attempting unionize prime hospitals effort extort money conglomerate nature primes squabbles labor unique among health care organizations prime sui generis approach business healthcare singularly noxious reputation approach engendered hospital geared toward production profit prime taken ethos capitalism logical conclusion founded 2001 prime short order upset californian health care market managing hospitals foundries wealth long province religious organizations charities administrators viewed roles straddling business public service hospitals traditionally failed notch impressive profits even americas privatized health care market 2013 full quarter american hospitals lost money operations returns achieve profitability hovered around 55160percent prime tipped model head eschewing several assumptions underpinned traditional hospital management acquiring hospital primes typical first move cancel insurance contracts contracts allowed insurance companies pay hospitals lump sums care provided patients canceled paved way prime collect enormous reimbursements like private equity firm stripping newly acquired business prime removed anything acted drag profitability axed mental health facilities birthing centers chemotherapy units began providing preferential treatment insured patients inspectors found uninsured patients faced far longer waiting times insured patients prime healthcare emergency rooms one widely reported incident prime hospital discharged uninsured patient suffering kidney failure suggesting continue treatment free facility nearby prime repeatedly run afoul regulators four times inspectors noted prime facilities failed meet federal safety standards 2012 department justice subpoena called prime account billing practices seemed charge medicare costly procedures suspiciously high rate 2013 prime paid 275000 resolve claims violated patients privacy massemailing medical data hospitals employees whistleblower lawsuit filed earlier summer former prime executive accused company reaped millions overbilling medicare reports also charged prime facilities harboring recordbreaking rates septicemia malnutrition prime argues accusations misconstrue available data detractors maintain data betray primes tendency overreport ailments demand costly remedies viewed précis prime healthcares history suggests organization determined view sick resource exploitation attitude led unsurprisingly dramatic rift primes management workers staff hospitals since seiu began organizing prime healthcare 2010 relations company union devolved guerilla war two fought access prime hospitals purpose union recruitment collection union dues expiration collectivebargaining agreements primes reputation media outlined primes grievance union seiu run corporate campaign attempt induce company accept unionization strategy unions pressure companies inside outside attempt bypass nlrb elections employers often intimidate workers majority californias hospital conglomerates arrangements unions making prime obstinate outlier calculated pressure primes leadership accepting organizing agreement seius campaign called action several fronts union sponsored studies primes questionable medicare billings disseminated press targeted realestate investment trust serves landlord several primes hospitals alleging hospitals failed meet californias earthquake safety standards enlisting help california lawmakers seiu first assisted blocking primes purchase bankrupt california hospital managed waylay companys planned acquisitions kansas new york working sympathetic members california legislature seiu pushed legislation would obligated hospital owners obtain new licenses operation freshly acquired facilities hospital workers union also pushed bill would limited amount hospitals could charge providing outofnetwork emergency care primes multiple labor infractions seiu reported national labor relations board nlrb two elicited official decisions january 2013 nlrb ordered prime continue collecting union dues workers provide unions information internal investigations prime refused media coverage one fiercely contested fronts primeseiu battle seius narrative paints prime organization whose policies prove detrimental workers communities operates citing poor quality primes care companys tendency bill exorbitant amounts medicare seiu argues primes actions imperil everyone shareholders legislators public treat company accordingly primes response treat seiu quite literally organized crime ring drawing ammunition seiu handbooks powerpoint presentations transcriptions interviews union leaders mainstream news reports prime describes seventypage complaint paranoid version history wherein seiu exists purpose waging extortionate campaign business one reads prime healthcares litany grievances seiu begins seem prime least whoever charge crafting primes litigation strategy unable160to imagine organization could motivation profit principle time complaint uses descriptions seius tactics proof unions greed references seius business model abound union dues described revenue absent acknowledgement seiu could concerned wellbeing members patients prime hospitals words primes complaint unionization campaigns seek create environment union achieve number objectives one may organizing often objective enrich campaign participants exercising control target industry prevent marketbased decision making ah yes marketbased decision making habit rewarded prime handsomely 2010 company saw profits 283160million revenues 16160billion profit margin nearly unheard health care industry seius relationship prime acrimonious union come scrutiny conciliatory companies last year california nurses association national union healthcare workers went far launch decertification drive 43000member seiu local forprofit health care chain failed160here two groups charged seiu concerned maintaining partnership management boosting standards workers patients case prime however theres hardly willing partner side even seiu wanted cozy company seeds primes prosperity controversy surrounding found conglomerates founder chairman dr prem reddy native southeast indias nellore district reddy immigrated united states mid1970s intent practicing cardiologist entrepreneurial zeal fit mood adopted homeland told india tribune 2003 want impress upon fellow immigrant citizens especially minorities american dream still alive achievable160160 great nation gives everyone opportunity accomplish fullest potential clear testimony belief land market imperative reddy thrived profiled los angeles times 2007 already commuting via private helicopter hospitals southern california mansion second residence beverly hills active republican made signification contributions arnold schwarzeneggers gubernatorial campaigns though prime healthcare received reams negative press coverage striking aspect companys narrative simple obviousness reddy done established health care company runs according freemarket principles principles particularly grotesque applied sector supposed value patient care bottom lines frightening aspect primes success unchecked likely spawn imitators depreciated industry standards hospitals may begin ape business model entrepreneurs may jump try hand health care profitmaking organized labor thing160standing way | 952 |
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