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June 7, 2002
Tom Turnipseed
A Crisis of Confidence
in US Leadership
June 6, 2002
Michael Colby
White House
vs. EPA:
Political Hot Air and
Global Warming
Ron Jacobs
The Indo-Pakistan Conflict:
It's Just a Shot Away
Francis Boyle
Take Sharon
to The Hague:
Prosecute Israeli War Crimes
at Jenin
CounterPunch Bulletin
60 Minutes and President Chavez's
Censored F-Word
Mark Weisbrot
Spying
and Lying:
The FBI's Shameful Past
June 5, 2002
Robert Fisk
Berlusconi the Censor
Danielle Brian
Nuclear
Plants and Terrorism
Ardeshir Cowasjee
For What Do We Fight?
George Monbiot
Kashmir
on the Brink
Michael Neumann
What is Antisemitism?
June 4, 2002
Dave Marsh
Bono the Useful Idiot
William Evan / Francis
Boyle
Kashmir:
Invoking Intl. Law to Avoid Nuclear War
Cockburn / St. Clair
The Future Wellstone Deserves
June 3, 2002
Ramdas / Makhijani
India,
Pakistan and Nukes:
A Road Map to Peace
Fran Shor
Meanwhile, Back in Afghanistan
Neve Gordon
The Caterpillar
Effect
June 2, 2002
Fidel Castro
From FDR to Mister "W.":
Cuba, the US and Democracy
Arundhati Roy
Under the
Nuclear Shadow
Bernard Weiner
Bush 9/11 Scandal for Dummies
June 1, 2002
Norman Madarasz
The
Strange Math of Roberto Carlos: Brazil v. Turkey
Gavin Keeney
Bush and Mies van der Rohe:
Architecture and Ideology
Jeff Halper
Sharon's
Post-Incursion Plan:
Incarceration or Transfer?
Walt Brasch
Crumpling the Constitution
Resources:
100s of Links
About 9/11
CounterPunch:
Complete
Coverage of 9/11 and Its Aftermath
Five
Days That
Shook The World:
Seattle and Beyond
By Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
Photos by Allan Sekula
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How the CIA's Backing of the Mujahideen Created the World's Most
Robust Heroin Market and Helped to Finance the Rise of the Taliban
and Osama bin Laden
Whiteout:
CIA, Drugs & the
Press
by Alexander
Cockburn
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The Memphis Blues Again:
Six Decades of Memphis Music Photographs
Photos by Ernest Withers
Text by Daniel Wolff
The New Intifada:
Resisting Israel's Apartheid
Edited by Roane Carey
A Pocket Guide to
Environmental Bad Guys
by James Ridgeway
and Jeffrey St. Clair
The
Phoenix Program
by Douglas Valentine
Al Gore:
A User's Manual
by Cockburn
and St. Clair
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This Explosive
New Book at an
Amazing Discount!
Reviews of Gore:
a User's Manual
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June 7, 2002
Bush to the
Nation:
You're
All Cops Now
by Michael Colby
We've all been deputized. Like some bad imitation
of Sheriff Taylor of Mayberry RFD, Bush walked to the podium
last night and asked us all to do the jobs the FBI so thoroughly
botched last fall. Oh yes, there was more, he also wants more
status, power, and funding for the same ninnies who couldn't
shoot straight. Go figure.
Last night's speech was nothing short
of excruciating to watch. Bush's advisors have obviously deduced
that September 11 means one thing to them: ratings. And if that
means pushing the president out before the primetime cameras
with little or nothing new to say, then so be it.
In case you missed it, Bush elbowed his
way onto national television last night to back track on his
earlier opposition to making the homeland security department
a cabinet-level agency. Now, it seems to Bush, it makes perfect
sense to make the federal government that much bigger when it
comes to law enforcement and security.
My favorite line of the speech came when
Bush warned the American people to stay on our toes and take
whatever threat we may see as serious and credible. It's too
bad, however, that this son-of-a-CIA-dad didn't give that same
speech to the FBI last summer. Why the hell was he lecturing
us? It reminded me of the ridiculous comment he made last fall
about watching out for any suspicious activity around crop dusters.
How many people out there have ever even seen someone about to
get into a crop duster? I haven't, and I lived in Iowa where
crop dusters are seen as godsends from heaven.
Obviously, the point of last night's
speech was purely political. Karl Rove and the Bush handlers
needed something good to deflect attention away from what was
a miserable month for the president. First, he had one embarrassing
appearance after another in Europe where he was greeted with
hecklers and fierce opposition to his warmongering. About the
warmest reception he got in Europe came from the crouching Pope,
and, given his current mental and physical state, I'm not even
sure the Pope knew who he was sitting next to.
Next, Bush has been taking a beating
for his fumbling of the intelligence data surrounding 9/11. If
you think it's a coincidence that Bush decided to have this speech
just at the Congressional hearings on the intelligence mishaps
were gaining publicity, well, pinch yourself and wake up soon.
It's called cutting the legs out from under a damaging story.
The White House is certainly growing weary of the daily headlines
pointing to an administration that seems as disorganized and
undisciplined as - gasp - Clinton's. Remember, Bush promised
to be a CEO more than a president.
For a man who loved to rail against the
size of government, Bush can't seem to resist the urge to make
it bigger and bigger. At least, that is, when it comes to the
military, law enforcement, and intelligence (sic). Sooner or
later, we're all either going to be working for law enforcement
or subjects of law enforcement.
The Republican mouthpieces out there
keep cheering about how "the Democrats don't have an issue"
for the upcoming elections. That's only because the Democrats
have crawled so deeply into bed with the Republicans on so many
of the issues surrounding this bogus "war on terrorism."
But any good oppositional candidate should have a field day putting
forward issues that resonate with the 99% of the American public
who aren't millionaires.
Let's see, there's the issue of jobs,
the environment, the unequal distribution of wealth, the criminal
malfeasance on Wall Street, an educational system that fixates
on testing before teaching, the dirty deeds of 9/11 (both from
Al Qaeda and the Bush team's FBI and EPA), energy policy, fair
trade vs. free trade, the economy, and, yes, agricultural issues.
Oh yes, there are issues all right. The problem is that there
aren't mainstream politicians willing to address these issues.
Yet.
But, for now, we're all stuck in the
same game of political posturing, where the president can get
away with lecturing the public about what we did wrong on 9/11
rather than explain what his multi-billion dollar agencies did
wrong. Sure, George, we'll all help out, but could you tell those
clowns at the FBI to stay out of our way.
Michael Colby
is the editor of Wild
Matters . He can be reached at mcolby@wildmatters.org.
Today's Other Features:
Tom Turnipseed
A Crisis of Confidence
in US Leadership
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