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"Imperial Crusades: a Diary of Three Wars" by Cockburn and St. Clair
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Today's Stories December 21, 2007 John Ross Dick J. Reavis
December 20, 2007 David Rosen Alan Farago Laura Carlsen Ashley Dawson Wayne Smith Website of
the Day
December 19, 2007 Saul Landau Paul W. Lovinger Norman Solomon Dave Zirin Marjorie Cohn Sen. Russell
Feingold Sonja Karkar Anthony Papa Christopher Ketcham Davey D Website of
the Day
December 18, 2007 R. F. Blader George Wuerthner Steven Higgs Vijay Prashad David Macaray Ralph Nader Eva Liddell Martha Rosenberg Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Website of
the Day
December 17, 2007 Mike Whitney Tom Barry Uri Avnery Greg Moses Allan Nairn Patrick Bond Stephen Lendman Charles Jonkel Laray Polk Stephen Fleischman December 15 / 16, 2007 Peter Linebaugh Howard Zinn Standard Schaefer Raymond J.
Lawrence Alan Farago Saul Landau Jenna Orkin Ahmad Samih
Khalidi Robert Fantina Missy Comley
Beattie Ramzy Baroud James L. Secor Elijah Wald Website of
the Weekend
December 14, 2007 JoAnn Wypijewski John Ross Jacob Hornberger Andy Worthington Allan Nairn Dave Zirin Dave Lindorff Misty MacDuffee Ben Terrall Dr. Mustafa
Barghouthi Website of the Day
December 13, 2007 Paul Craig
Roberts Mike Whitney Ron Jacobs Norman Solomon Peter Morici Sandy Mayes Franklin Lamb Jacob Hornberger Nadim Rouhana Dave Zirin Website of the Day
Allan
Nairn Alan
Farago Ray
McGovern Winslow
T. Wheeler Evan
Jones James
Petras Joel
Hirschorn Joshua
Frank Sherry
Wolf Dan
Bacher Website
of the Day
December 11, 2007 Patrick
Cockburn Diana
Johnstone Paul
Craig Roberts David
Macaray Ralph
Nader Andy
Worthington Martha
Rosenberg Steve
Champion / Kim
Nicolini Michael
Dickinson Website
of the Day
Uri
Avnery Debbie
Nathan JoAnn
Wypijewski Steve
Kelly Donna
J. Volatile
December 8 / 9, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Brenda
Norrell Saul
Landau R.
F. Blader Ray
McGovern Allan
Nairn Linn
Washington, Jr Paul
Craig Roberts
December 7, 2007 Sean
Penn Arthur
Versluis M.
G. Piety Pam
Martens Alan
Farago Allan
Nairn Col.
Dan Smith Alice
Slater Robert
Weissman Website
of the Day
December 5, 2007 Mike
Whitney Sharon
Smith James
Petras Ron
Jacobs Dave
Zirin John
V. Whitbeck Peter
Zinn Niranjan
Ramakrishnan Alan
Farago Heather
Gray Website
of the Day
December 4, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Andy
Worthington Paul
Craig Roberts Ray
McGovern Winslow
T. Wheeler Allan
Nairn Russell
Mokhiber Nikolas
Kozloff John
V. Walsh Ghada
Ageel Stephen
Soldz Website
of the Day
December 3, 2007 Tariq
Ali Bill
Quigley Eric
Walberg Uri
Avnery Marjorie
Cohn Dave
Lindorff Stephen
Fleischman Martha
Rosenberg Website
of the Day
December 1 / 2, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Jeffrey
St. Clair Mike
Whitney Shemon
Salam Roger
Burbach Benjamin
Dangl Brian
M. Downing Greg
Moses Sonja
Karkar Saul
Landau Margaret
Kimberley John
Ross Reza
Fiyouzat Judith
Scherr Lance
Olsen Christopher
Brauchli Robert
Fantina Dan
Bacher Michael
Donnelly Website
of the Weekend
November 30, 2007 Peter
Stone Brown Wajahat
Ali Allan
Nairn Alan
Farago John
Ross Corporate
Crime Reporter Lucia
Alvarez James
Rothenberg Website
of the Day
November 29, 2007 R.
F. Blader Ismael
Hossein-Zadeh Stephen
Soldz Sheldon
Richman George
Wuerthner Felice
Pace Col.
Dan Smith Harvey
Wasserman Nikolas
Kozloff Paul
Krassner Dave
Lindorff CP
News Service Website
of the Day November 28, 2007 James
Petras Jeff
Halper Pam
Martens Peter
Morici Mohammed
Khatib Helen
Redmond William
S. Lind Ben
Tripp Liaquat
Ali Khan Jeff
Berg Website
of the Day
November 27, 2007 Joe
DeRaymond Paul
Craig Roberts Marjorie
Cohn Mike
Whitney Ron
Jacobs Col.
Dan Smith Ralph
Nader Karim
Makdisi Christopher
Ketcham Ronan
Bennett Website
of the Day
November 26, 2007 Kathleen
and Bill Christison Paul
Craig Roberts David
Macaray Sameer
Dossani Roger
Burbach Mark
Scaramella Brian
McKinlay Rick
Kuhn Binoy
Kampmark Monica
Benderman Brenda
Norrell Website
of the Day
November 24 / 25, 2007 Alexander
Cockburn Robert
Fisk Saul
Landau Jeffrey
St. Clair Rannie
Amiri Christopher
Brauchli Daniel
Gross Mike
Whitney Marjorie
Cohn David
Rosen David
Michael Green Kenneth
Rexroth Muhammad
Iqbal Website
of the Day
Gary
Leupp Laura
Carlsen David
Macaray Andy
Worthington Clifton
Ross Seth
Sandronsky Dan
Bacher William
A. Cook Website
of the Day
November 22, 2007 Alan
Farago Greg
Moses Dave
Lindorff Mike
Ely Omar
Azfar
November 21, 2007 Vijay
Prashad Martha
Rosenberg Manuel
Garcia, Jr. John
Ross Brian
McKenna Stephen
Soldz Monica
Benderman Ben
Terrall Website
of the Day
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December 21, 2007 Michael Gordon, Chris Matthews and Lou Dobbs: Come on Down!The 2007 P.U.-litzer PrizesBy JEFF COHEN and NORMAN SOLOMON Many journalists qualified for the sixteenth annual P.U.-litzer Prizes, but only a few were able to win recognition for turning in one of the truly stinkiest media performances of the year. As the judges for this un-coveted award, we have done our best to confer this honor on the most deserving. And now, the winners of the P.U.-litzers for 2007: SPINNING FOR ANOTHER WAR AWARD -- Michael Gordon of The New York Times Continuing where he left off before the Iraq invasion, when he used unnamed official sources to produce wildly inaccurate page-one articles on Iraq's alleged weapons threat, Gordon in February wrote a front-page story with the stunning claim that Iran's Supreme Leader had approved sending lethal explosives into Iraq to attack U.S. soldiers. (Even President Bush soon backed away from the claim.) Readers might have had trouble assessing Gordon's charges -- which were, as usual, almost entirely based on anonymous sources: "United States intelligence asserts ... Administration officials said ... Some American intelligence experts believe ..." After analyzing the article, blogger Jonathan Schwarz speculated that "Gordon is not an actual person, but rather a voice-activated tape recorder." "SOMETHING ABOUT A RETRO MACHO MAN" AWARD -- Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC's "Hardball" With a worshipful media wind pushing actor and former senator Fred Thompson toward the presidential race in June, Matthews lauded Thompson's "sex appeal" and "star quality." The hardballer was nearly rapturous as he said: "Can you smell the English Leather on this guy, the Aqua Velva, the sort of mature man`s shaving cream, or whatever, you know, after he shaved? Do you smell that sort of -- a little bit of cigar smoke? You know, whatever." Four years earlier, when George Bush flew onto an aircraft carrier to celebrate "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq, Matthews had gushed at length about the president's looks and how Americans love "a guy who has a little swagger. We like having a hero as president. We're not like the Brits." "AMERICANS DON'T WANT UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE" AWARD -- Jeff Greenfield of CBS, et al. Reflecting what became mainstream media's conventional wisdom in the wake of Michael Moore's "SiCKO" documentary, CBS correspondent Greenfield explained that the U.S. lacks a universal healthcare system not because of the powerful insurance lobby -- but because "Americans are just different." He quoted an academic who said Americans, unlike Canadians and Europeans, don't want government involvement in healthcare: "It's a cultural difference." Actually, CBS's own poll of Americans had found 64 percent supporting the view that the federal government should "guarantee health insurance for all" -- with 60 percent approving of higher taxes to pay for it. A CNN poll found 64 percent American support for the idea that "government should provide a national health insurance program for all Americans, even if this would require higher taxes." "3-H CLUB" PRIZE -- Too Many to Name At the same time they're imposing their own fixations on candidates, elite political reporters like to pretend that they have absolutely no idea why the candidates are struggling to overcome those fixations. A Dec. 11 Washington Post article deadpanned: "[John] Edwards has faced challenges of his own, namely 'the three H's' -- his expensive haircut, his hedge fund work after the 2004 election, and his sprawling homestead." Dozens of news reports in major outlets have deployed the "three H's" shorthand, many implying that Edwards -- unlike the wealthy candidates who never mention the poor -- is a hypocrite when he discusses poverty. In July, the Post's John Solomon devoted an entire investigative article to Edwards' pricey haircuts: "It is some kind of commentary on the state of American politics that as Edwards has campaigned," mused the reporter, "his hair seems to have attracted as much attention, as say, his position on healthcare." Gee, how did that happen? RISKY DEMOCRATS AWARD -- L.A. Times, Washington Post If you believe certain political pundits and reporters, Democrats are continuously pushing "risky" proposals that are off-putting to the American public. In November, a Los Angeles Times report -- headlined "Democrats Calculate Risk on Tax Hikes" -- called proposed Democratic tax hikes on wealthier Americans "a major political gamble." (Unmentioned was the fact that Bill Clinton raised taxes on the rich and was re-elected, or that a Gallup poll shows 66 percent of Americans think "upper income people" don't currently pay enough taxes.) Days later, a Washington Post report was headlined "Climate is a Risky Issue for Democrats; Candidates Back Costly Proposals." (Unmentioned was the Post's own poll showing that 70 percent of Americans think the federal government "should do more" on global warming; only 7 percent said "it should do less.") Listening to press corps cautions may heighten Democratic timidity -- but it hasn't won many national elections. SPINNING HAWKS INTO DOVES AWARD -- ABC, CNN, Fox, CBS and others There'd be little news value in Iraq war boosters returning from a brief trip to Iraq and endorsing troop escalation. But by presenting two self-acknowledged Iraq war supporters -- Ken Pollack and Michael O'Hanlon -- as doves, national outlets created a fictitious story line and major media push this summer in support of the war. Few media "experts" had argued more relentlessly for war in 2002 than Pollack, author of "The Case for Invading Iraq." Yet here was ABC anchor Charles Gibson this July: "A bit of a surprise today on Iraq. Two long and persistent critics of the Bush administration's handling of the war today wrote a column in The New York Times saying that after a recent eight-day visit to Iraq, they find significant changes taking place." CNN called them "two fierce critics." A Fox reporter claimed the duo had "changed their views after seeing some of the military successes first-hand." CBS spoke of how O'Hanlon "now believes [the troop surge] should be continued" -- even though he'd written a national column seven months earlier: "A Skeptic's Case for the Surge." PUTTING CLOTHES ON THE EMPEROR PRIZE -- New York Times After numerous inside accounts of the Iraq invasion and other policies had exposed Vice President Cheney as a true believer who often put ideology ahead of data and facts, readers may have thought The New York Times was joking when it reported in February on the impact that the perjury trial of Cheney's chief of staff would have on the vice president. According to the newspaper of record: "The trial has chipped away at the public image of Mr. Cheney as a sober-minded policy architect." "IT'S TRUE BECAUSE WE SAID IT" AWARD -- CNN's Lou Dobbs To prove his claim that illegal immigrants were bringing "once eradicated diseases" into our country, Dobbs featured a CNN reporter in 2005 who claimed that the U.S. had seen only 900 cases of leprosy for 40 years -- but that "there have been 7,000 in the past three years." This year, in May, Dobbs was challenged on the shocking statistic by Lesley Stahl on "60 Minutes," who cited a federal report saying there were 7,000 leprosy cases over the last 30 years.
You do, Lou. The Centers for Disease Control report that new leprosy cases in the U.S. have been on the decline for close to 20 years (with 166 cases in 2005). THE LOU DOBBS US-vs.-THEM AWARD -- Bill O'Reilly of Fox News Talking to Sen. John McCain in May, O'Reilly said: "But do you understand what The New York Times wants, and the far-left want? They want to break down the white, Christian, male power structure, which you're a part of, and so am I. And they want to bring in millions of foreign nationals to basically break down the structure that we have. In that regard, Pat Buchanan is right." "WHO'S AFRAID OF THE BIG BAD WOLFOWITZ" AWARD -- Newsweek As he was being forced out of his job as World Bank president in May, Paul Wolfowitz was described by Newsweek as "a man whose managerial talents do not appear to rise to the level of his analytical prowess. By most accounts, Wolfowitz is a genteel, brilliant figure ..." The Newsweek piece -- headlined "With the Best of Intentions" -- didn't mention how the brilliant and analytical former Deputy Defense Secretary had insisted just before invading Iraq that the country had no history of ethnic strife, that the U.S. would not need to deploy more than 100,000 troops, or that the war might cost as little as $10 billion. (So far it has cost about $500 billion.) Jeff Cohen is the author of "Cable News Confidential: My Misadventures in Corporate Media." Norman Solomon is the author of War
Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death.
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How the Press Led the US into War ![]() Buy End Times Now! CounterPunch Books of the Crossroads: HOW THE IRISH INVENTED SLANG By Daniel Cassidy AMERICAN BOOK AWARD! ![]() Click Here to Buy! Click Here for Dates & Venues Michael Neumann's Devastating Rebuttal of Alan Dershowitz ![]() Click Here to Buy! Saul Landau's Bush and Botox World with a Foreword by Gore Vidal ![]() Click Here to Order! How They Made a Killing on the War on Terrorism ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() The Occupation by Patrick Cockburn ![]() ![]() ![]() Humanitarian Imperialism By Jean Bricmont ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() CITY BEAUTIFUL By Tennessee Reed ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Bruce Springsteen On Tour By Dave Marsh ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |