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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! From Nixon to Sarah Palin
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
From Nixon to Sarah Palin
What’s happened to the Republican Party? What’s happened to populism? Read Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair on the life and death of Nixonland, and the class politics of the war over Sarah Palin. ALSO in our new subscriber-only CounterPunch newsletter, read Serge Halimi on how Russia gave Georgia and the U.S.a well-deserved black eye. PLUS Carrie Dann’s wonderful first-hand account of the fight of the Western Shoshone to reclaim their land. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
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Today's Stories September 5, 2008 Bill Quigley September 4, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair Paul Craig Roberts Ron Jacobs M. Junaid Levesque-Alam Andy Worthington Osama Dawoud Stephen Lendman Fidel Castro Website of the Day September 3, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Sen. Mike Gravel Vijay Prashad Nikolas Kozloff Ralph Nader Howard Lisnoff Steve Early / Cal Winslow Shepherd Bliss Bill Quigley Website of the Day
September 2, 2008 Marjorie Cohn Jonathan Cook Robert Weitzel Corey D. B. Walker John Ross Eric Walberg Judith Scherr Richard Morse B. R. Gowani Michael Greenberg Website of the Day September 1, 2008 Nikolas Kozloff C. G. Estabrook Manuel Garcia, Jr. David Macaray B. R. Gowani Saul Landau Charles Orloski Gloria La Riva Website of the Day August 30 / 31, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Bill Quigley Jeffrey St. Clair Andy Worthington Deepak Tripathi Stanley Howard Dave Lindorff Wajahat Ali Robert Fantina Josh Schlossberg Benjamin Dangl Missy Beattie Howard Lisnoff Suzan Mazur Rev. Jim Rigby David Yearsely Serge Quadruppani B.R. Gowani Richard Rhames Poets' Basement Website of the Day
August 29, 2008 Mike Whitney Brian Cloughley David Ker Thomson Joanne Mariner Neve Gordon Chris Genovali Ron Jacobs Michael Donnelly August 28, 2008 Judy Gumbo Albert Paul Cantor Saul Landau / Andy Worthington Ben Terrall Leonard Peltier Niranjan Ramakrishnan Donna J. Volatile Website of the Day
August 27, 2008 Anthony DiMaggio Jordan Flaherty Ralph Nader Melissa Checker Bob Sommer Cynthia McKinney Ali Khan M. Junaid Levesque-Alam Dave Lindorff David Macaray Website of the Day
August 26, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Michael D. Yates Paul Craig Roberts Andy Worthington Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Huwaida Arraf Joseph Grosso Sheldon Richman Binoy Kampmark Website of the Day August 25, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Bill Quigley Jonathan Cook James McEnteer Uri Avnery Will Potter Robert Jensen Stephen Lendman Wajahat Ali Carl Finamore Website of the Day August 23 / 4, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patty O'Grady Nicole Colson Steve Conn Deepak Trapathi Robert Fantina Jonathan M. Feldman Joshua Frank Osama Qashoo Howard Lisnoff David Michael Green Dave Lindorff Christopher Brauchli Alan Farago Michael Winship Richard Rhames David Rosen Patrick B. Barr Jamie Newlin Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 22, 2008 Boris Kagarlitsky Laura Carlsen Bob Barr Marwan Bishara Peter Morici Manuel Garcia, Jr. Charles Mostoller Sumbul Ali-Karamali Keith Rosenthal John F. Miglio Website of the Day August 21, 2008 Allan J. Lichtman Dave Lindorff Loserville: How Obama Blew It Ralph Nader Joanne Mariner Wajahat Ali Ron Jacobs Rostam Purzal Anthony Papa Website of the Day August 20, 2008 Michael Neumann Ray McGovern Eric Walberg Fidaa Abed Daniel Haack Mike Whitney Website of the Day August 19, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Deepak Tripathi Marwan Bishara Saul Landau William S. Lind Martha Rosenberg James Brittain Pratyush Chandra David Macaray Website of the Day August 18, 2008 Tariq Ali Gary Leupp Uri Avnery John Ross Farooq Sulehria Luis Rodriguez Manuel Garcia, Jr. Noah Baker Merrill Charles Thomson Website of the Day August 16 / 17, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Deepak Tripathi Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Ray McGovern Nicole Colson Fatima Bhutto Jean-Luis Rocca David Michael Green Ramzi Kysia Dave Lindorff Lisa Martinovic Richard Rhames Don Santina Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud John Stanton Howard Lisnoff Ron Jacobs Seth Sandronsky Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
August 15, 2008 Steve Niva David Remington Michael Winship Paul Craig Roberts Farzana Versey Harvey Wasserman Felice Pace Julian Critchley Website of the Day August 14, 2008 Saul Landau / Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Reza Fiyouzat Ralph Nader Christopher Brauchli The Cheerleader in China Jack Bradigan Spula Patrick Irelan John Walsh Dan Bacher Website of the Day
August 13, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts David Remington Brian Cloughley Glen Ford Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Tom Lewis Stan Cox Alan Farago Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day August 12, 2008 Uri Avnery Anthony DiMaggio Bill Christison Eric Walberg Kate Connolly Diane Farsetta Peter Morici Thom Rutledge Lee Patton Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day August 11, 2008 Ishmael Reed Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Douglas Kammen William Willers Greg Moses Jeff Leys Cynthia McKinney Alan Farago Website of the Day August 9 / 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Bruce Jackson Kevin Young Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Robert Fantina Brendan Cooney Mark Almond Lois Gibbs Rev. William Alberts Kathy Kelly John Ross David Michael Green Bill Moyers / Ron Jacobs Richard Rhames David Yearsley Lee Sustar Brenda Norrell Ben Terrall Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 8, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia, Jr. M. Shahid Alam Andy Worthington Lawrence J. Korb David Model Alan Farago Diop Olugbala Firmin DeBrabander Website of the Day August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond William Blum Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Robert Weitzel Jacob G. Hornberger Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ace Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day
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September 5, 2008 The Fantasy of John and SarahNothing Means AnythingBy ALAN FARAGO John McCain says it plainly: he is running against the status quo, he is running against the lobbyists in Washington, D.C., and he can't wait to unleash Palin on its culture. What McCain is really saying to top donors in states like Florida is that he is running against what they built: a red state majority based on the Rove/Cardenas/Bush plan to put campaign money spigots in every infrastructure project from the Panhandle (St. Joe) to Homestead (LBA/sprawl). Florida's top donors must believe, as in other red states; McCain doesn't mean it. And maybe he doesn't, because nothing means anything in the McCain/Palin campaign. In Florida it is result of the Hurricane Hoffman/ WCI Communities effect. In 2003, Al Hoffman-- then chair of WCI Communities, a condo/ home builder, and also finance chair for both Bush brothers (now, top fundraiser for McCain)-- crowed to the Washington Post that suburban sprawl was "an unstoppable force". Why is sprawl an issue? Because insta-grow communities in Miami's suburbs and the American south and West-- in places like Pheonix, Las Vegas and Sacramento-- are littered with foreclosures, crashing neighborhood values, and the seeds of a financial tsunami. Bloomberg reports, "Foreclosures accelerated in the second quarter to the fastest pace in almost three decades as interest rates increased and home values fell, prompting more Americans to walk away from homes they couldn't refinance or sell. New foreclosures increased to 1.19 percent, rising above 1 percent for the first time in the survey's 29 years, the Mortgage Bankers Association said in a report today." (US Mortgage Foreclosures, Deliquencies Rise to 29 Year High, Sept. 5) Those crushed dreams belong to Republicans, too. Today Hoffman's former company is bankrupt and the entire array of special interests related to development and speculation is dazed as a bee colony hit by a cloud of smoke. Most political observers have no idea how it happened, but the results are clear and articulated, partially, in today's report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: "Today’s extremely disappointing employment report shows that the economy remains mired in a slump and still waiting for something to jump start a sustainable recovery. Consumer spending supported by the stimulus payments that Congress enacted earlier this year helped keep the economy growing in the second quarter, but the headwinds from still-high energy prices, a weak housing market, tight credit markets, and continuing financial market uncertainty will make it difficult to sustain economic growth as the effects of the first round of stimulus wear off." "Financial market uncertainty" euphemistically refers to the biggest threat to the nation's financial system since the 1930's. Most people don't have any idea how to buy a Collateral Mortgage Obligation, a type of financial instrument at the heart of the multi-trillion dollar credit crisis and housing market crash, but the top donors from the real estate development industries do: at financial institutions like Bear Stearns (defunct) or Lehman Brothers, where Jeb Bush took a paid consultancy after leaving the Florida governor's office, now raising billions from Korea just to stave off bankrupcy. And Korea is just the latest in a long line of foreign investors with accounts bulging with dollars, from Abu Dhabi to Beijing, who have their own concept of what the ownership society means. This is what the foundation for Florida's future rests upon: the quicksand of capital "rescue plans" from vultures and sovereign wealth funds. Yesterday, Bill Gross, manager of the world's biggest bond fund, told Bloomberg News: "The U.S. government needs to start using more of its money to support markets to stem a burgeoning "financial tsunami". (U.S. Must Buy Assets to Prevent `Tsunami,' Gross Says) Fiscal conservatives should be apoplectic. This isn't-- as Sarah Palin, George Bush, and John McCain claim-- the "angry left" talking. I'm not sure the Republicans cheering at their national convention understand this part: that nationalization of private financial institutions is happening right now, under the supervision of the Bush administration and the shield of US taxpayers, while the party values continue to tout the "free market". Free market, to whom? Today, the Republican spin machine is struggling to pin the socialization-- nationalization, if you will-- of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on someone else. How dare the Republicans accuse "liberals" for being angry about the fire sale of US assets to Asia, the Middle East, and even Russia? Filled up your car at Lukoil recently? The fact is that lefties and liberals have been no where in view, except as community organizers and neighborhood activists. We didn't hear John McCain, last night in St. Paul, nor will Florida top donors hear Sarah Palin in Miami next week utter a solitary word of the fiscal irresponsibility that pushed the US economy into the biggest crisis since the Great Depression while making many of them a fortune in the process. What I heard John McCain say, was that his campaign is running away from the Republican status quo lickety-split: change we can trust. What I heard was a convention full of Republican party faithful cheering against the performance and record of their own party and against the windfall profits that enriched their top donors. So it is going to be interesting to watch Alaska Governor Sarah Palin vacuum political money from those top Florida Republicans before Hurricane Ike, whose name recalls a real Republican hero who precisely understood the threats of powerful vested interests against representative democracy. Palin comes in the fundraising footsteps of her own political Alaskan enemies: Senator Ted Stevens and Congressman Don Young, both of whom have very close connections to wealthy South Florida Republicans donors. I'm not sure what her sales pitch will be, but it is not likely along the lines of the truth: "write your check to the Republican National Committee or a 527 committee so we can continue to hold power even if it means running TV ads against what we represent." Nor is she likely to say anything along the lines of Bill Gross', "If we are to prevent a continuing asset and debt liquidation of near historic proportions, we will require policies that open up the balance sheet of the U.S. Treasury." No. When Sarah Palin arrives for her coming out party by Miami's Republican elite, the media is likely to be shut out from everything but the choreographed entry of a shooting star. This is what the Rovian politics of the past decade proved: how, if you control the mainstream media-- overtly through ownership (Fox News) or through intimidation (access to Larry King Live) and say a thing often enough; most Americans can be persuaded it is true. In Miami on Monday, Sarah Palin will not be aiming against "all those special interests" because all those special interests are going to be her audience. Alan Farago, who writes on the environment and politics from Coral Gables, Florida, and can be reached at alanfarago@yahoo.com
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