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Inside the New Print Edition of CounterPunch: Labor's Crisis Questions Labor's Leaders Daren't Ask: Where and Why Did We Go Wrong? by JoAnn Wypijewski; Oil on Ice: How Bush Won ANWR, with an Assist from the Dems by Jeffrey St. Clair; The Self-Rehab of George Kennan by Alexander Cockburn; The State and Terri Schiavo: a Conversation with Ralph Nader; Lisa Frittko: She Escorted Walter Benjamin Across the Pyrennes by Lawrence Reichard. Remember these stories are available exclusively in the print edition of CounterPunch. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! Call Toll Free 1-800-840-3683 or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558

Coming Soon from CounterPunch Books Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison by KATHY KELLY Click Here to Order! Today's Stories April 11, 2005 Paul de Rooij Undermining Civil Society: Horowitz's Corrosive Projects April 9 / 10, 2005 Jeffrey St. Clair Torture Air, Incorporated William A. Cook Janus at the State Dept.: Glossing Over Israel's Human Rights Abuses Gary Leupp My Favorite Papal Moment: a Bonfire in Peru Alan Maass Pope-a-Dope: John Paul 2, Death of a Reactionary Laura Carlsen Democracy Sinking in Mexico Joe DeRaymond Death and Displacement in Colombia Nikolas Kozloff Bush Rebuffed in Venezuela (Again) Dave Lindorff The Price of Oil and the Bush Dollar Greg Moses Growling at Hallliburton Fred Gardner Southern Station Session Justin Smith The US Prison System: a Hesitant Defense of the Not-Quite-as Bad Old Days Ron Jacobs George Bush's True Religion: From Bob Jones to Jim Jones M. Junaid Alam No Intelligence Failure in Iraq; Political Failure in the US Ira Kay West Point's Bad Geography: the Conqueror's Warped View of the World Elizabeth Schulte From McCarthyism to COINTELPRO: the Ongoing War on the Left Jackie Corr Stranger in a Strange Land: What Bush Didn't See in Montana Christopher Brauchli From Darfur to Iraq: Crime Without Punishment Leslie A. Fiedler On Saul Bellow: "The Age of the Jewish-American Novel is Over" Ben Tripp Pocket Furniture Poets Basement Lamantia, Engel, Louise, Albert and Curtis Website of the Weekend Military Free Zones   April 8, 2005 Rob Eshelman Made in Palestine: the First Exhibition of Palestinian Art in the US Hom Raj Acharya / Sally Acharya The Elephant in Nepal's Parlor Felice Pace A Golden Opportunity for Justice on the Klamath Neve Gordon Israel is the Key to Iraq Mike Whitney The Economic Tsunami: Coming Sooner Than You Think Don Monkerud God's Shock Troops: the Religious Right and US Foreign Policy Adam Engel The Code of Frank Conroy Vicente Navarro Opus Dei and John Paul II: a Profoundly Rightwing Pope Website of the Day Mountain Justice Summer   April 7, 2005 Joshua Frank The DeLay Scandal Isn't a Partisan Issue Yitzhak Laor Racism by Any Other Name Alan Maass Tug of War with Terri Schiavo Steven Sherman An Open Letter to Daniel Okrent: Why the Times is Not "Assertively Left" Dave Lindorff Bush's Potemkin Town Meetings Gerry Adams The IRA Should Change from "Volunteers" to "Activists" John Chuckman Hanoi Jane and the City of God Michael Dickinson Two Weddings and a Funeral John Ross Lost and Found in the Arizona Desert Website of the Day Genetically-Engineered Small Pox?   April 6, 2005 Peter Camejo The Crisis in the Green Party Kevin Wehr The Eco-Terror Hoax: Domestic Security and the Culture of Fear Matt Vidal Bush's Legacy: Dead Bodies, Dead Wrong, Dead Logic Robert Creeley / Bruce Jackson On the Subject of Company Nikolas Kozloff Chavez's Oil Gambit Sea Shepherd Crew Attack of the Hak-a-Piks Brenda Child Ojibwe Have Dealt With Grief Before: From Boarding School Abuse to School Shootings Terry Eagleton The Pope with Blood on His Hands David Swanson Why the Media Can't Read the Banktuptcy Bill Cindy Ellen Hill On the Lists: What's the Patriot Act in Belfast Website of the Day The New Nike?     April 5, 2005 Jim Connolly The Pope Who Revived the Office of the Inquisition: an American Catholic on the Papacy of John Paul II Paul Craig Roberts "Partnering" the Destruction of the American Economy Gary Leupp Bombing the Malwiya Minaret Dave Lindorff The Grassroots Resistance to the Patriot Act Ron Jacobs The Terrorism of War Dan Smith Riding the Dragon, Soaring on the Eagle: US Economic Decline and the Rise of China Mark Engler John Paul II's Economic Ethics: Moral Values and Global Capitalism Richard Oxman Bono for Pope Greg Moses Narcowars vs. Civil Rights Website of the Day Impeach Cheney and Bush     April 4, 2005 Kevin Zeese Liberals and Neocons for a Draft Paul Craig Roberts American Rot: When Opposing Voices Do Not Oppose Larry Birns / Sarah Schaffer Bush's Arms Sales Hypocrisy Karyn Strickler Blood on Ice: Seal Pup Slaughter on the St. Lawrence Joshua Frank The Minuteman Project: Paramilitaries on the Border Michael Dickinson It's Too Late Now for John Paul II to Repent Surendra R. Devkota Ending the Deadlock in Nepal Derrick O'Keefe Haiti, Yesterday and Today: an Interview with Laura Flynn Uri Avnery Djinn in the Box Website of the Day Libby, Montana: America's Most Toxic Town?   April 2 / 3, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Death, Depression and Prozac Jeffrey St. Clair Trippwired Stan Goff A Trojan Jackass for the Anti-War Movement John Ross How to Change the World Without Taking Power Saul Landau Guns, Vitamins and God Robert Creeley Goodbye Mike Roselle Riding Shotgun with Woody Harrelson Joshua Frank Dead Wrong Intelligence Fred Gardner The Obvious Green Issue Greg Moses Photo ID Movement as White Privilege Fran Quigley The Economics of Global Poverty: an Interview with Jeffrey Sachs Kurt Nimmo The Strange Allure of Paul Wolfowitz Nicole Colson Pentagon Greenlights Murder in Iraq Chris Genovali Killing Grizzlies for Fun Alan Farago Dirty Water and Land Speculators in the Florida Keys Lawrence Reichard The M-19 and the Siege of Bogota Ben Tripp Civilization and War Avantika Regmi Chaos in Nepal Lee Sustar Off the Script in Kyrgyzstan Ron Jacobs Death of a Revolutionary: Vermont Loses an Honest Man Dave Lindorff The Black Arrow: a Review Poets' Basement Smith-Ferri, Curtis, Louise, Engel and Albert Website of the Day O2 Collective: No Breathing Tube Required       April 1, 2005 Tom Barry Michael Chertoff: Legal Storm Trooper Rahul Mahajan WMD Commission: Yet Another Intelligence Failure Charlie Cray / Jim Vallette Dancing with Wolfowitz Dave Lindorff News Media Anguish Over Schiavo's Death Zeynep Toufe The Terri Schiavo Success Story Suzan Mazur Pension Funds and the Price of Oil Michael Dickinson Shut Your Mouth or Go to Prison! Stan Cox Iraq Reconstruction Funds Invested on Wall Street Ra Ravishankar Et Tu, George? Daniel Wolff Patti Scialfa's Conversation with America     March 31, 2005 Sharon Smith Leftwing Apologists for the Occupation Ron Jacobs Rounding Out Iraq's History Tariq Ali British Elections: Punish the Warmongers Michael Dickinson Cartoon Capers: Turkey's War on Political Cartoonists Kanak Mani Dixit The Struggle for Nepal's Future Mitchell Zimmerman The Bizarre Legal Philosophy of Justice Janice Rogers Brown Xuan-Trang Ho Guatemala and CAFTA: Return to the Bad Old Days? Dave Zirin Pay the Damn Players! Joe Bageant In Praise of Holy Madness Jeff Halper The End of a Viable Palestinian State Website of the Day Free Nepal     March 30, 2005 Gary Leupp Curing Those People of Their Hatred: Condi's Pitch for a "Different Kind" of Middle East Ralph Nader / Kevin Zeese Report on Iraq Intelligence Failure: No One to Blame Chase Madar Wolfowitz's Career Move: From Failed Warrior to Humanitarian Banker Toni Solo Bush in Latin America Jackie Corr Blessed are the Rich: George Bush's Montana Visit Ahmad Faruqui Much Ado About F-16s Mike Roselle Refuting Dave Foreman: Days of Whine and Posers Jude Wanniski America's Gunboat Diplomacy Francis A. Boyle Why You Should Boo Illinois Jeffrey St. Clair Downwinders be Damned Website of the Day Help! Nicaraguan Workers Are Being Poisoned   March 29, 2005 Ralph Nader Is the End of the Iraq War / Occupation Near? Gary Leupp Terri Schiavo's Death and the Birth of an "Elected" Iraqi Government Sonia Cardenas A Pandora's Box of Abuses: the Geneva Trap Stew Albert Take Back the Life Force! Mark Weisbrot Owning Up to the "Ownership Society" Dave Lindorff China's Report on Human Rights in US is No Cariacture Carl G. Estabrook The Subversive Commandments     March 28, 2005 Jeremy Scahill Sgrena Sets the Record Straight: "There was No Checkpoint; No Self-Defense" Sonali Kolhatkar Forgetting Afghanistan...Again Sasha Kramer The UN's Betrayal of Haiti Kevin Zeese Don't Just Blame the Democrats Tom Stephens Sacred Law; Traditional Wisdom: Environmental Justice and Indigenous Peoples Dr. Teresa Whitehurst We're Walking Into a Trap Newton Garver Reflections on Bolivia Paul Craig Roberts A Bail Out Draft for a Cakewalk War? Website of the Day Stumped? Ask a Librarian, 24/7     March 26 / 27, 2005 Gary Leupp God's Imperialists Peter Linebaugh To Render, to Impeach, to Habeas Corpus Marc Robert A European Student's Experience at Columbia University Laura Carlsen The Threesome in Crawford: Summit as Traveling Stage Show Saul Landau / Puja Patel The Price of Privatized "Development" Dave Foreman Nature's Crisis Fred Gardner Will San Francisco Pander to the Prohibitionists? Jennifer Matsui Terri Schiavo: America's Most Desperate Housewife? Dave Lindorff Provoking Iran Dharma Adhikari The Reversal of Democracy in Nepal Joshua Frank The Howard Dean Doctrine Patrick Barr Have Box Cutter, Will Travel: a True Story Christopher Brauchli F-16s to Pakistan Ramzy Baroud Israel's Record is "Not Reassuring" Jackie Corr When the Gov. of Montana Declared Martial Law in Butte Ben Tripp Off with Your Appurtenances! Dr. Susan Block Break a Taboo for Easter: Springtime for Sex and God Mickey Z. How Three Unrelated Books Relate Justin Taylor Beware of "Beware of God" Richard Joseph Cochabamba!: the Water War in Bolivia Poets' Basement Martin, Smith, Ford, Bortz and Albert     March 25, 2005 Scott Richard Lyons Horror and Hope at Red Lake Nation Yoshie Furuhashi No Troops; No Wars Pat Williams How a Town Got Poisoned: Libby, MT and the Labor Movement Mark Engler Remembering Archbishop Romero: 25 Years After His Assassination Rahul Mahajan Culture of Life or Culture of Living Death? Lance Selfa Can the Democrats be Moved to the Left? Ralph Nader Corporate Cyborg: Cal Nurses Take on Schwarzenegger John R. Llewellyn Why Utah's Prosecutors are Soft on Polygamy: a Former Sheriff Speaks Out Jo Guldi Beyond Belief: Holy Week in France   March 24, 2005 Joshua Frank The Selling (Out) of the Antiwar Movement Talli Nauman Vicente and George: Security by Any Other Name Would Smell Sweeter Martin Espada Why I Refused Coke's Money: a Poet Speaks Out About Colombia Dave Lindorff Another Social Security Snow Job Elaine Cassel When Fools Rush In: the Legal Implications of the Schiavo Case Jack McCarthy Jeb Bush's Mob: Snatch, Grab, Insert Tube Jack Random Juxtaposition: Terri Schiavo and the Red Lake Massacre Barbara Ferguson Wolfowitz Dating Muslim Woman and World Bank Employee Suzan Mazur Peak Oil: Debate or Vendetta? Dorreen Yellow Bird Suffering Red Lake Nation Endures the Worst of Days Andrew Wimmer and Mark Chmiel Torture: Old Hat or Open Wound?   March 23, 2005 Patrick Bond A New War? On Wolfowitz's World Bank Mike Whitney Railroading Moussaoui Becky White Why I Hung from a Bridge to Defend the Wild Forests of the Siskiyou Mountains Michael Donnelly Dissecting the Changeling: How the AuCoin Express Was Really Derailed Niranjan Ramakrishnan Remembering Ram Manohar Lohia: the Che of Non-Violence Ashley Smith Bush is What Hypocrisy Looks Like David Swanson The More Bush Talks, the Less Popular Privatization Becomes Derrick O'Keefe Enter Bono, Stage Right Paul A. Moore The Fire This Time: the Bush Bros. Racist Crackdown in Florida Dalton Walker My Reservation Will Never Be the Same Patrick Cockburn The US Frees Iraqi Kidnappers to Become Spies     March 22, 2005 William Blum Anti-Empire Report: Democracy--or is it the US Military--on the March Jim Vallette Cheney's Oil Change at the World Bank Greg Moses A Palm Sunday Chat with Sis Levin John Farley Bush's Culture of Life: Let the Insurance Companies Pull the Plug When the Sick Cost Too Much Ron Jacobs Halt the Anniversary Rallies and Stop the Damn War M. Junaid Alam How the Democratic Party Fosters Conservatism Rep. Cynthia McKinney An Immoral and Illegal War: Destroying Iraq Isn't Enough for Them Dave Lindorff "Saving" Schiavo; Killing the News James Petras Fateful Quadrangle: Cuba and Venezuela Face Off Against the US and Colombia     March 21, 2005 John Walsh In the Bars on the Road to Fayettevile: War Support Paper Thin Werther The Legacy of George Kennan, Chief Architect of the Cold War Mike Stark Where is the "Culture of Life" in Maryland? Time is Running Out for Vernon Evans David Swanson Feeding Tubes for the Third World: Put the Hungry into Comas, Then Feed Them! James T. Phillips Happy Meals: Behind the Grill at a Baltimore Diner Mike Ferner Serving, Refusing, Impeaching Robert Jensen The World Waits for an Answer Paul Craig Roberts A Threat Greater Than Terrorism Stew Albert Vegetable Nation Website of the Day American Press Blotter: Jacko, Terry and Steroids vs. the World     March 19, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Three-Card Monte and the One-Party State Tom Reeves Exposing the Coming Draft: a Draft by Any Other Name is Still Wrong Saul Landau The Grandchildren of Roy Cohn: the Politics of the Repressed Alan Maass Making Bankruptcy a Life Sentence Ron Jacobs Submit or Else: the Nuclear Demon that Won't Go Awayy David Green The Holocaust Industry Comes to the University of Illinois John Blair Hey, Dick! I'm Still Free: a Blow for Freedom of Speech in Indiana Steve Greenfield The Decline of the Green Party: the Numbers are In Ben Tripp Nature isn't Real Mike Roselle A History of White People in the Conservation Movement Joshua Frank Hope in Red State America: Lessons from the Big Sky Country Mark Weisbrot The World Bank: a Bigger Problem Than Wolfowitz Dave Lindorff Congress on Steroids Sarah Schaffer Lula's Nukes: Bush Bullies Iran, Ignores Brazil's Nuclear Ambitions Warren Hastings Why the Queen Should Chop Off Tony Blair's Head for Treason Poets' Basement Lodge, Albert. Landau, Engel, Davies, Capaccio   March 18, 2005 Dave Zirin The Congressional Urine Testers: Baseball's Theater of the Absurd Richard Thieme The Church Committee Candidate: I was a Victim of the KGB John Walsh Misdirecting the Anti-War Movement David Swanson Hunger Striking for a Living Wage at Georgetown Ben Terrall In the Spirit of Rachel Corrie: Confronting Caterpillar in San Leandro David Boyle Just Say "No" to Harvard Dorreen Yellow Bird Coping with Teen Suicide on the Standing Rock Reservation Mokhiber / Weissman Global Bully Goes to Guatemala Greg Moses They Don't Shoot Donkeys...Do They? Website of the Day 800 Protests: Find One Near You   March 17, 2005 Christopher Brauchli Rendered Unto Caesar: the Etymology of Torture Bill Quigley The St. Patrick's Four and the Resistance to the War in Iraq Brian Cloughley Bush's Herds: Willing to Kick Anyone in the Face Gary Bass / Adam Hughes Inside the Bush Budget: Rhetoric vs. Reality Dave Lindorff The Incredible Shrinking Coalition Jude Wanniski Wolfowitz at the World Bank: a Perfect Fit Alexander Billet Irish Republicanism at the Crossroads John Ross Wal-Mart Invades Mexico Website of the Day Campus Resistance   March 16, 2005 Ralph Nader Filling the Congressional Cop-Out Gap: an Idea for Local Peace Activists William Cook Resurrecting the Neo-Con Failures Kevin Zeese Two Years of Occupation: Both US and Iraq are Worse Off Jackie Corr Why is Dick Cheney Laughing? The New Tax Cut Patriotism Alan Maass Bush's Class War Budget David R. Kolker Jailed Without Charges in Haiti Cindy Ellen Hill Speculative Policing in Northern Ireland Paul Craig Roberts America's Has-Been Economy     March 15, 2005 Gary Leupp The Plan is Still on Track Dave Lindorff Free John Walker Lindh! Greg Moses The Fix-It Guys and Their Electoral Filters Hadas Their / Katrina Yeaw Military Recruiters Target Campus Activists Alison Weir Uprising on the Anniversary of Rachel Corrie's Death Matt Koehler A Line in the Ancient Forest: 50 Arrested in Blockade to Save the Siskiyous Evelyn Pringle Labeling Kids Mentally Ill for Profit Harry Browne War and Peace in Ireland     March 14, 2005 Ralph Nader Restarting the Anti-War Movement David Miller Ministry of Defence in the Control Booth: Did the BBC Broadcast Fake News Reports? Stan Cox Look Deeper, Mr. Moyers Mike Roselle Why Women Should Take Over the Environmental Movement David Swanson Nursing Against the Odds: the Workers' View Simona Sharoni To End the War, Listen to Soldiers Dave Lindorff Corporate Surveillance Dorreen Yellow Bird Incidents at Standing Rock: Suicide on the Reservation Tom Barry John Bolton's Baggage Website of the Day Spinwatch     March 12 / 13, 2005 David H. Price The CIA's Campus Spies Noam Chomsky The Toothpaste Election Laura Carlsen Women's Rights Eroding in Latin America Stan Goff On Revolutionary Optimism: the View from Cumberland Co, NC Valentina Nicoli The Game of Role-Playing and the Ambush of Giuliana Sgrena Michael Leonardi Head Shot: Lifting the Veil on the Sgrena / Calipari Incident Saul Landau / Sarah Anderson Blood Money and the Riggs Bank: Pinochet's Bank Finally Pays Up Joe Bageant It Ain't Easy Being White Manuel García, Jr. The Question of American Guilt Greg Moses Electoral Lessons from Cuyahoga and Harris Counties James J. Brittain Run, Fight or Die in Colombia Ben Tripp Communist Watch Joshua Frank A Red State Paradox: Montana on the Cusp Fred Gardner Pesticides Made Her Sick; Pot Got Her Well Walter Brasch Bush's Horse Killers Ramzy Baroud Reining in Syria on Behalf of Israel Christopher Brauchli Going All the Way for Usurers Michael Donnelly The Humiliation of Les "Timber Toad" AuCoin Ron Jacobs ZAP Comics: Still Kicking US Culture in the Ass Richard Oxman The Eternal Reciprocity of Tears Poets' Basement Smith-Ferri, Davies, Ford, Louise and Albert   March 11, 2005 Jerry Fresia Targeting Giuliana Ron Jacobs Making Lebensraum in the Middle East for Tel Aviv's Fears & Washington's Dollars Dave Lindorff America's Magical Kingdom William James Martin Ben Gurion and the Origin of the "Pushing into the Sea" Myth Muqtedar Khan Modi's Operandi: American Business and Genocide Linked Again Kathryn Ledebur Bolivia on the Brink Mike Whitney Saddam's Capture: Just Another Bush Lie? Dave Zirin Neo-McCarthyism Slugs Baseball Website of the Day William Rivers Pitt, Another Hack for the Occupation     March 10, 2005 Paul Craig Roberts So Much for the New Bush Economy John Marc Leas, Colleen McLaughlin and Ashley Smith Vermont Vs. the War Larry Birns The Pathological John Bolton Michael Donnelly The Re-Reinvention of an Oregon Timber Beast Luis Gomez In Bolivia, Reality Changes Once Again Jackie Corr Whatever Happened to the Social Security Trust Fund? Uri Avnery Bush's Guru: Natan Sharansky Website of the Day Red Alert in the Siskiyous!     March 9, 2005 Jeffrey St. Clair Dirty Harry's Fear of Flying: Making Love, War and Profits at Boeing Ward Churchill Who's the Terrorist? Robert Fisk Another Species of Cedar: a Half Million Lebanese March for Syria Bernice Powell Jackson No Justice for America's Nuclear Guinea Pigs in the Marshall Islands Mickey Z. The Revolutionary of Potential Art Dave Zirin NHL Says: "Bring On the Scabs!" Michael Donnelly Standing Up to Ecocide in Oregon James Reiss Stopping by Words in Favor of Privatizing Social Security Vijay Prashad Get Modi: a State Terrorist Visits Florida   March 8, 2005 Paul Craig Roberts Bush's Syrian Delusion Robert Fisk Lebanon's Nightmare Kurt Nimmo War is Peace: John Bolton to the UN Suzan Mazur Time for a Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Polygamy? Evelyn Pringle Neil Bush and Crest: Another Profiteering Scheme Giuliana Sgrena My Truth: "The Americans Don't Want You to Return" Elaine Cassel The Appalling Case of Abu Ali     March 7, 2005 Dave Zirin Bloodlust in Annapolis: Gov. Ehrlich Wants to Kill Vernon Lee Evans Brian Cloughley More War Crimes John Chuckman The Creature Walks Among Us Mike Whitney Jose Padilla and the 10 Commandments Mark Weisbrot Haiti's Torment: Why Are US Human Rights Groups Silent? Fred Gardner The Cannabinoid Messenger Richard Neville The Italian Job Uri Avnery The Next Crusades     March 5 / 6, 2005 Alexander Cockburn Arnold vs. the Nurses Gary Leupp What's Happening in Lebanon: an Interview with Fadi Agha, Advisor to President Lahoud Ron Jacobs Lies Military Recruiters Tell Tom Reeves Haiti: One Year After the Coup Jenna Orkin Memories of Kawaggi, Saudi Arabia Tom Barry Negroponte: Intel Czar or Policy Hack? Joshua Frank The Trials of Max Baucus Moshe Adler When Pfizer Came to New London: Corporate Giveways vs. Eminent Domain Jane Stillwater My Jury Questionnaire: "Do You Agree that a Corporation is a Person?" Omar Barghouti / Jacqueline Sfeir Double Standards on S. Africa and Israel: an Open Letter to UNESCO Christopher Brauchli Target: Al Jazeera John Pilger The Fall of Saigon: 30 Years Later Raúl Zibechi Colombia: Militarism and Social Movements David Krieger Saving the Nuclear Nonproliferation Agreement Three Takes on Nepal Surendra R. Devkota Another Blow to the King of Nepal Bhishma Karki Nepal in Twilight Joseph Pietri Murder at the Palace Ben Tripp The Good Old Days Poets' Basement Hassen, Chief Running Late, Wuest, Albert and Collins Website of the Weekend O'Shaughnessy's: All About Medical Pot     March 4, 2005 Frederick Hudson Caught in a Cage   March 3, 2005 Pat Williams "Social Security Protects the Young as Much as the Old" Brian Cloughley Headlines, Beliefs and Deceptions Dave Lindorff Why Do the Democrats Pamper Greenspan? Amira Hass Oslo All Over Again Greg Moses In Oscar Texas: One Down, One to Go? Lynne Landes Exit Poll Madness Nelson P. Valdés Rapture Takes Leftists John Ross Mexico's Fox Schemes to Jail Front-Running Leftist   March 2, 2005 Saul Landau / Farrah Hassen The "Noble Liars" Attack Syria Mike Roselle The State of Oregon vs. Mike Roselle: Criminalizing Environmental Dissent M. Junaid Alam Columbia University and the New Anti-Semitism Suzan Mazur Inside the Polygamy Cults of Southern Utah Jackson Thoreau Texas Congressman Calls for "Nuking Syria" Michael Donnelly No Love for Teresa Heinz; John Edwards Gets a Pass Jeffrey St. Clair Uncle Bucky Makes a Killing Website of the Day The Ghosts of Karl Marx & Ed Abbey     March 1, 2005 Scott Richard Lyons Million Dollar Bigotry David Lindorff Stealing Workers' Pensions Patrick Cockburn / David Enders Bloodbath in Iraq Ron Jacobs The Last Poets Recalled Tanya Garcia USA Next: the Industry Front Group to Privatize Social Security Joseph Pietri The Drug Trail Ends in Kathmandu: Golden Tar Heroin and the Black Prince Kona Lowell Woody: Broken in Vietnam Paul Craig Roberts The Coming End of the American Superpower Website of the Day Petition: No US Intervention in Iran                                                     Hot Stories Alexander Cockburn Behold, the Head of a Neo-Con! Subcomandante Marcos The Death Train of the WTO Norman Finkelstein Hitchens as Model Apostate Steve Niva Israel's Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings? Dardagan, Slobodo and Williams CounterPunch Exclusive: 20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians Steve J.B. Prison Bitch Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber True Lies: the Use of Propaganda in the Iraq War Wendell Berry Small Destructions Add Up CounterPunch Wire WMD: Who Said What When Cindy Corrie A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter I Can't Hear From Gore Vidal The Erosion of the American Dream Francis Boyle Impeach Bush: A Draft Resolution Click Here for More Stories.     Subscribe Online

April 11, 2005 Contempt for the Rest of Us Love for the Unborn and Brain Dead By SAUL LANDAU Pomona, California As science opens new frontiers and thus human capability, life situations emerge that demand clarification of traditional ethics--outside of science's domain. To "keep Terri Schiavo alive", the "right to life" mob had challenged previous limits by both appealing to science--or God -- for a miracle. Their demands for extraordinary, disproportionate measures have even frightened traditional and libertarian Republicans. These Soldiers of God, after all, served as the shock troops who mobilized voters in 2004. Ironically, they use all the benefits of science--digital mass media -- while challenging its premises with superstition, "faith." Goaded on by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, weeping throngs prayed outside of the hospice where Terri Schiavo had lain comatose for fifteen years before she died on March 31. DeLay, the hard liner in the imperial coalition, shows no concern for process, either in the House where he controls with an iron had, or outside where his ethical lapses have led to a cascade of charges against him in the courts. Aside from his Nazi-like manner of enforcing his will on other Members, DeLay's derives his political strength from that sector of society that has received the "fundamentalist" label. If law gets in the way of God's will, as fundamentalists interpret it, then make a new law, whether or not it fits into the Constitution. But that didn't prove quite as easy as Bush making war on Iraq, for example. In the Schiavo case, the courts did not cooperate or yield to the supposedly moral bullying. With the full support of the ultra reactionary but informal Republican caucus, Terri's parents and siblings claimed that US, state and local governments had violated God's law by removing the feeding tube from the woman who doctors deemed in "a persistent vegetative state." They demanded that the courts reinsert the feeding tube that had sustained Terri for 15 years. DeLay, whose own father had his life support mechanism removed, claimed on the House floor that "God has brought us to Terri Schiavo to help elevate the visibility of what is going on in America." By this he means the current legal cases against him for corruption and ethics violations will hopefully receive less media coverage and the prosecutors will feel intimidated. Along with other so-called true Christians, including the President and his Florida Governor brother, Jeb, DeLay exhorted the faithful to rally behind Terri, and forced the House to vote on a law that would replace Terri's tube, effectively emasculating the courts and nullifying the few existing states rights--a cause that once excited the far right and still gets Jesse Jackson into the m ore-Christian than thou publicity game. DeLay characterized as "an act of medical terrorism" the removal of Schiavo's feeding tube. Then the Bushes and even DeLay read the poll results, showing an overwhelmingly negative response to his rhetoric and tactics. Since then silence from the White House, Florida State House and even DeLay has been deafening. Rightwing AM radio commentators, however, kept the beat going since the ratings experts assure them that a large audience continued to tune in to participate vicariously in the Schiavo drama. Shock AM radio jock Michael Savage made Terri his personal crusade, criticizing his previously beloved Bush brothers as "phonies." They really didn't care about human life because, Savage asserted, "they refused send in troops to save Terri­by re-plugging her feeding tube." This case involved saving a "life," pleaded Savage, a rabid supporter of the death penalty and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq--as well as others that even Bush hasn't yet started. Savage blamed "the radical Democratic left an army of soulless ghouls," and intoned that "being of the living dead, they live in a world of death and try to impose it on we the living." Savage did not transfer the love he felt for Terri to that "radical homosexual" Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA) or Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA), "radical abortion Mafiosa." Savage continued: "They have said that the tears of Terri Schiavo are mechanical. They have said that her smile is reflexive. They can rip an emerging child from the womb, murder it, and call this a compassionate act. Like Mengele -- the doctor of death from the Nazi concentration camps -- the radical, soulless Democrats keep referring to "the doctors," as if a medical degree guaranteed humanity." Ann Coulter repeated DeLay's "medical terrorism" barb and compared the gravity of Terri's situation to that of racial segregation in the south in the early 1960s. "Democrats have called out armed federal agents in order to prevent black children from attending a public school in Little Rock, ArkSo how about a Republican governor sending in the National Guard to stop an innocent American woman from being starved to death in Florida? The decadent buffoon Bill Clinton sent armed agents from the INS to seize a small boy from an American family - [Elian Gonzalez] despite rulings by the majestic and infallible Florida courts granting custody of the boy to that very family" (March 24 ann coulter.com). Rush Limbaugh's audience ratings showed radio gold in the Schiavo hills. Rush questioned "those of you who are our friends on the left. How many of you want Terri Schiavo to die simply because some Christian conservatives want her to live? Do you want Terri Schiavo to die because some Christian conservatives want her to live?" Rush preaches family values and Christian morality, but recently divorced his third wife and was convicted of illegal drug use." Limbaugh continued his assault on the left. "You just despise the red-state, hayseed, holy-roller crowd that you think is steamrollering the country you want this woman to die because Christian conservatives want her to live. And, since you don't like Christian conservatives so much you want them to be disappointedYou want them to find out what it's like to not get away with everything they want just because they're Christians" (March 23 radio show). I listened and watched several "Christian stations." "God wants Terri's tube re-plugged," the preachers averred. Digital technology--radio and TV ­attacking science and reason! After watching one pious televangelist, I thought of country singer Ray Stevens: "Would Jesus Wear a Rolex on His Television Show?" For much of the media, however, unplugging Schiavo meant getting one of its own feeding tube inserted. Another gore-blood-death issue to exploit! Following the jury's "not guilty" verdict in the Robert Blake murder case, editors felt downright unplugged from an on-going source of nutrition. Michael Jackson's child molestation trial continues to provide daily media protein, but with the winding down of the Schiavo case, newsroom bosses worried about what vicarious "news item" next would draw the attention of its audience. Stories of mass deaths in Africa, millions who die from lack of proper drinking water, nutrition and basic medicine do not concern mass media or "real Christians." The media prefers dime store dramas with pictures of crowds holding "She's still alive" posters or signs defaming Michael Schiavo, the villain in the modern Christian epic. Did he abuse Terri and cause her death, as the "save Terry at all costs" gang allege? The pious, life-loving Randall Terry became a spokesman for Terri's parents. One of his associates, according to Paul Krugman, murdered an abortion doctor (NY Times March 29). This Christian love pertains only to those who do not have the ability to think sinful thoughts: the unborn and the brain dead. Those who can envision sin get what's coming to them from the Bushes and Tom DeLay as soon as they're out of the womb: not a penny of help from the government and execution at an early age if they misbehave. DeLay wanted to keep Terry alive but cut off Medicaid funds that would pay for her medical care. As Governor of Texas, Bush didn't even read the appeals of the 152 people executed during his reign. He extols others to love the unborn while advocating drastic reductions for the post-born. A highly selective "love of life!" My friends smile over the language of anti-evolutionism and other ultra "Christian" rhetoric. They study the principles of law and science; subjects worthy of human development. "How can you listen to those garbage mouths on the radio?" colleagues inquire. As people of reason, they don't see why millions hate them in the name of Christ for believing in the scientific method and accepting the complexities of the human condition. Watch out! These "Christians" have amassed enormous media power and have become vital to the electoral success of Republicans. Their seemingly insane agenda should not be dismissed. Saul Landau teaches at Cal Poly Pomona University, where he is the director of Digital Media Programs and International Outreach, and is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies. He is also the co-author of "Assassination on Embassy Row," which is about the Letelier and Moffitt murders. His new book is The Business of America.