Politics in Black and White by Paul Krugman Last Thursday there was a huge march in Jena, La., to protest the harsh and unequal treatment of six black students arrested in the beating of a white classmate. Students who hung nooses to warn blacks not to sit under a “white” tree were suspended for three days; on the other hand, the students accused in the beating were initially charged with second-degree attempted murder.
Fla. Democrats Set to Stick to Jan. 29 Vote by Brendan Farrington The Florida Democratic Party will stick with a Jan. 29 presidential primary even if it means losing all its nominating convention delegates, a party source said Saturday.The Democratic National Committee voted last month to strip Florida of its 210 delegates if the state party held a primary before Feb. 5, but it gave state officials until next Saturday to come up with an alternative delegate selection plan, such as caucuses or a vote-by-mail primary, to stay within DNC rules.
Why the Silence? by Arthur Waskow It is August, just a few weeks before the awesome Holy Days, and I am checking my e-mail. I am also, as those days approach, counting up the time since March 2003, when The Shalom Center placed a full-page ad in the New York Times, signed by hundreds of Jews, warning that the impending invasion of Iraq would be a disaster. I am counting up, as we are taught to do, not only days and years but what we have accomplished and what we have failed to accomplish in those days and years.
The War in Iraq: A Cost-Benefit Analysis by Larry Beinhart The War in Iraq has cost about $453,000,000,000 (four hundred and fifty-three billion dollars) to date.That's pretty hard to grasp. Especially on my income and probably on yours. Let's bring that home and make it a little more understandable.I live in Ulster County, New York. Our share of that is $372,000,000 (three hundred and seventy-two million dollars).
Freedom as Theft: Honoring American Liberators by Tom Engelhardt Let's take a trip down memory lane.The Presidential Medal of Freedom is America's highest civilian award, ranking second only to the Congressional Medal of Honor. According to its official website, the medal "is reserved for individuals the President deems to have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors." In 2004, George W. Bush had already awarded the medal to Estee Lauder, Arnold Palmer, Norman Podhoretz, and Doris Day, among others, when, on December 14 in a ceremony at the White House, he hit the trifecta.
Fred Thompson: Desperate Republicans Cheer for a Reagan Wannabe by Matt Taibbi I can say exactly when I first knew that Fred Dalton Thompson is dangerous. It is 12:07 p.m. on Sunday, September 9th, in Manchester, New Hampshire, just outside a restaurant called Chez Vachon. Thompson has just served up another mumbling, noncommittal tour through a packed diner of breakfasting locals, sitting glumly through the requisite this-sure-is-great-coffee shot. Then, once the needed photos are banked, the lumbering B-list character actor -- who plays a video called "The Hunt for Red November" at every campaign stop and sells buttons that, in an unsettlingly McLuhanian twist, pimp him as the "Law and Order candidate" -- tries to make a quick beeline back to his bus. But a cheeky local TV reporter shouts at him before he can reach the door.
Hard Lessons from MoveOn Fiasco by Robert Parry The furor over MoveOn.org’s silly “General Betray Us” ad – which led to a bipartisan Senate condemnation of MoveOn after Republicans blocked a move to include right-wing smears against military veterans like Democrats Max Cleland and John Kerry – carries a bitter lesson for the American Left.
America's Mercenary Police: Why Aren't We Banning Blackwater Here? by Dave Lindorff Let's give the Iraqi puppet government some credit: At least they have the sense to delicense and order out of the country the Blackwater mercenary outfit.The real question is why we allow them here in the US.Recall that FEMA and Homeland Security used heavily armed Blackwater troops in the aftermath of the Katrina disaster in New Orleans. They were seen wandering around in flak jackets and helmets, with no identifying tags, carrying heavy weapons and M-16s. It is not clear how many people they may have killed or injured in those terrible days.
Did Speaking Spanish Lead To Teen Fight? by AP The Turner School District and police are investigating whether a conversation in Spanish led to the beating of a 15-year-old girl.Susan Borjas said she spoke Spanish to a friend on a school bus on Thursday. Susan said she was threatened and then attacked by a girl she didn't know.
In 2008, Bush v. Gore Redux? by Bob Herbert Right now it’s just a petition drive on its way to becoming a ballot initiative in California. But you should think of it as a tropical depression that could develop into a major storm that blows away the Democrats’ chances of winning the White House next year.
