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Special Report (for Adults Only) on the Politics of Oil by Jeffrey St. Clair in the New Print Edition of CounterPunch! Kerry and the Oil Men: "Drill Everywhere Like Never Before"; Bush's Oil Cabinet: 27 Political Appointees from Big Oil; Getting Paid for Plunder: the Profitable Life of Steve Griles; The Race for the Arctic: How Clinton Opened the Gate; Enron's Political Partners: Bush Gave Ken Lay His Nickname and Teresa Heinz Gave Him a Seat on Her Green Foundation's Board; Kerry's Energy Guru: How He Screwed California and Oregon. 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 (tax deductible) donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! Introducing CounterPunch Books! Call Toll Free 1-800-840-3683 or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558

Now Available! Dime's Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils Order Here! Today's Stories October 5, 2004 Gary Leupp What Edwards Should Ask Cheney   October 4, 2004 Diane Christian The Gates of Hell Joshua Frank An Interview with David Cobb Doug Giebel Incurious George: What If Bush Didn't Lie? John Chuckman Strange Victory: Sen. Obvious and the Pathetic Lump Ramzy Baroud Reverse the Picture: Anatomy of a Palestinian Outrage Julia Stein Remembering Mario Savio and the FSM Sean Donahue Outsourcing Terror: Kerry and Special Forces Website of the Day Mapping Mt. St. Helens as She Rocks   October 2 / 3. 2004 Paul Wright John Kerry on Criminal Justice Kathleen and Bill Christison An Exchange with Israeli Historian Bennie Morris Kathie Helmkamp My Son Trent: a Marine Who Doesn't Want to Kill Phillip Cryan Indigenous Mobilization in Colombia Lenni Brenner The First Ex-Catholic Saint: Memories of Mario Savio Fred Gardner Pot Shots: In Case You Missed "Montel" Ron Jacobs It Did Happen Here: When Neo-Nazis Terrorized Olympia Ben Tripp Sticker Shock William S. Lind The Grand Illusion: Iraqi Security Forces Dave Zirin The Swindle of the Century: Baseball Comes to DC Dave Lindorff Lies from the Great Debate Luscon Pierre-Charles Haiti's Elections: a High-Tech Sham is Underway Zoe Moskovitz & Sasha Kramer Separating Lies from Truth About Haiti Nelson P. Valdes Habana Night vs. Latin American Scholars in Vegas: 61 Banned Cuban Academics Alan Farago The "Ownership Society" and the End of the Everglades Nancy Haley What is the Historical Jesus Trying to Tell Us? Alex Billet Long Live The Clash: London Still Calling After 25 Years Steve Fesenmaier Save and Burn: The War on Libraries Poets' Basement Smith, Holt, Albert   October 1, 2004 Steve Breyman Kerry's Missed Opportunities Rose Gentle My Son Died for a Lie Lee Sustar Iran in the Crosshairs Ralph Nader What We Didn't Hear at the Debate: Where's the Exit Strategy? Walter Andrews We Are Less Secure Now Than Ever Mike Whitney Pandora's Government Mickey Z. Debate This Saul Landau The Iraq Invasion: Lessons from the Pinochet Cases   September 30, 2004 Ralph Nader 10 Ways to Beat Bush: a Gift to the Kerry/Edwards Campaign Patrick Cockburn The Kidnap Capital of the World: Iraq's One Growth Industry Gideon Levy When You Have Breast Cancer in Gaza Joshua Frank Presidential Debates? Pass the Remote Niranjan Ramakrishnan I Dreamed They Had a Debate Ali Khan Dershowitz's Jihad: Inventing Exceptions to International Law Steve Perry An Interview with Sibel Edmonds   September 29, 2004 Behrooz Ghamari Playing Politics with Nukes: A Collision Course with Iran? Ray McGovern More Troops to Iraq...After the Election Walter Brasch Tinseltown Traitors?: Applauding Only the Right Entertainers Chris Floyd The Deceivers: Chronicle of a Quagmire Foretold Stacey Reynolds The Story of a Mercury-Poisoned American M. Junaid Alam Disrupting America's Fateful Non-Debate on the Roots of Terrorism John L. Hess They've Already Called It Paul Craig Roberts Delusion Rules: War, Outsourcing an Debt   September 28, 2004 Mike Whitney Kerry's Moral Compass Fred Gardner Pot Shots: the Civics Teacher Dan Meek How Democrats Kicked Nader Off the Oregon Ballot Greg Bates Choking on Progressives for Kerry Alan Farago Jeanne in Haiti: Where is the World? Lori Berenson The Cajamarca Protest Wayne Madsen Where is the Florida National Guard? Robert Fisk Why Have We Suddenly Forgotten Abu Ghraib?     September 27, 2004 Gary Leupp The Expulsion of Cat Stevens Patrick Cockburn As British Muslims Plead for Bigley's Life, US Airstrikes Pound Fallujah Sam Husseini The Problem with Public Opinion Polls Lee Sustar Putting Bosses First: Latter Day Democrats and Labor Dave Lindorff A Progressive Case for (Gag) Kerry? Norman Madarasz Talking International: Contra Kerry Kevin Pina The Tragedy of Gonaives, Haiti   September 25 / 26, 2004 Alexander Cockburn C'mon Ralph, You've Got Nothing to Lose Dave Zirin The Courage of the NBA's Etan Thomas: "I Am Totally Against This War" Saul Landau The Reality of Empire and Campaign Rhetoric Dave Lindorff Our Heroic Baby-Killers Brian J. Foley Bush at the UN: the Sound of No Hands Clapping William Blum Progressives and the Election Alan Maass Why is Kerry Running Such a Lame Campaign? You Can't Blame It All on Bob Shrum Lucson Pierre-Charles Haiti: Another Lost Story Solange Echeverria An Interview with Kevin Pina on the Floods in Haiti Nicole Colson What About the Supreme Court? Justin Smith The New Sparta Joshua Frank Iraq: From Clinton to Bush Karyn Strickler Momma, Don't Let Your Babides Grow Up to be Cannon Fodder Michael Donnelly Rather Disingenuous: "Remember in November" Greg Bates The Politics of Nader's Republican Support Todd Chretien Lesser Evilism: We Are Living in the Logical Conclusion William Loren Katz Dire Warnings from the Past: From Wilson to Bush Omar Barghouti Americans, You've Lost Your Alibi! Poets' Basement Holt, Clarke, Albert, Laymon and Ford Website of the Weekend Carnival of Chaos   September 24, 2004 Dr. Teresa Whitehurst The Value of One Life: Keeping Up Appearances and Leaving Hostages to the Wolves William S. Lind Destroying the National Guard Mike Whitney The Bush Tent Show Nancy Welch What's at Stake for Women in 2004? Niranjan Ramakrishnan Logical Limbo Joshua Frank Fear Mongering 101 Victor Kattan An Interview with Afif Safieh Ben Terrall Kerry and Haiti: Will He Stand Up? Kathleen and Bill Christison "Finally It Broke My Heart": Random Impressions from Palestine     September 23, 2004 Patrick Cockburn Why Are They Still Holding "Mrs. Anthrax?" Christopher Brauchli Ashcroft's "Distressing Lack of Care": Hamdi and the Phony War on Terrorism Derek Seidman Fighting for a Union at Starbucks: an Interview with Daniel Gross Michael Neumann Three Years and Counting? How Time Flies   September 22, 2004 Patrick Cockburn Zarqawi's War: the Mysterious Sadist from Jordan Neve Gordon The Wall, the Court and Sharon Joshua Frank History Repeating: New York, 1832 and Now Ron Jacobs Stormy Seas on the Citizen Ship Jack Random Defending Dan? Rather Not Tarif Abboushi Kerry's Final Straw: Confessions of a Despairing Voter Mickey Z Stupid White Guy Quiz John L. Hess Faking the Difference: a Serious Debate? Jeffrey St. Clair High Plains Grifter: The House Rules     September 21, 2004 Gary Leupp "We Are Not Secure": Kerry's "Unwavering Commitment" to Securing a Middle East Realm Robert Jensen Large Dams in India: Temples or Burial Grounds? Elaine Cassel Fourth Circuit to Moussouai: Ask Your Questions; Prepare to Die Stanley Heller Reagan and the Killing Fields of Lebanon Adam Federman America Will Disappoint the World, Again David Whitehouse What's Behind the Horror in Darfur? M. Junaid Alam How to Avoid Becoming an Anti-American Paul Craig Roberts Attention Deficit America Website of the Day True American War Heroes: the Iraq Refuseniks     September 20, 2004 Cockburn / Buncombe Get Fallujah David Price Relying on Phonies: What If The Problem with Phone Polls is That They Are Phone Polls Dave Lindorff How Dems Fight: Tigers Against Nader, Pussycats Against Bush Harry Browne Pre-Nup at Leeds: Talked Out, But Does IRA Give Up? Mark Wesibrot Bush's Ownership Society: No Taxes for Owners, Only Workers Karyn Strickler The Keys to the White House v. the Shrum Curse? Uri Avnery The Temple Mount Bombers       September 18 / 19, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Forgeries, Fingerprints and Forensic Fakery Jeffrey St. Clair High Plains Grifter: Bush's Mask of Anarchy Patrick Cockburn Into the Abyss: the Week Iraq's Dream of Peace Fell Apart Fred Gardner Pot Shots: Financial Torture (Asset Forfeiture) Joe Allen The Comrades Kerry Abandoned: the Real Story of Vietnam Vets Against the War George Corsetti Poletown Revisited: Finally, Some Vindication Scott Handleman The Knock-Knock of a Sledgehammer: Sequestered in Nablus Richard Ward Two Weeks in Beit Arabiya Conn Hallinan Ashcroft and Indonesia Lori Smith Health Care in America: And Then I Got Sick... Dave Zirin Hold the Booyah!: SportsCenter Out of the Middle East John L. Hess Rather Will Take the Heat, As Bush's War Deteriorates Brian J. Foley W is for Wimp: So Why do Manly Men Love Him? Mickey Z. Pat Tillman and Osama bin Laden: Odd Juxtapositions Poets' Basement Vest, Landau & Albert Website of the Weekend Eye on the NYTs       Septemeber 17, 2004 Ray McGovern Gossing Over the Record Patrick Cockburn The New Iraqi Economy: Baghdad's Thriving Kidnapping Industry Lee Sustar The State of Working America: an Autopsy of the American Dream Mike Whitney John Kerry: 195 Lbs. of Political Helium, Not an Ounce of Sincerity Victor Kattan Black September Ray Hanania Israel's Demographics Greg Bates Nader's Victories: a Mid-Campaign Assessment Website of the Day The Road to Hell     September 16, 2004 Landau / Hassen Meet the New Villain: Syria Joanne Mariner Inside Darfur: a Photo Essay Patrick Cockburn US Offers Conflicting Accounts of Baghdad Bloodbath Greg Moses Four Million Children Might Be News Joshua Frank Nader in the Battleground States Christopher Brauchli The Bush Drug Lottery Flops David Himmelstein Folke Bernadotte: a Rosh Hashonah Remembrance Website of the Day The Abu Ghraib Index     September 15, 2004 Patrick Cockburn Hell on Haifa Street Ron Jacobs Oppose War, Not Just Bush David Lindorff Blanking Out Dissent Joanne Mariner Talking About Darfur: Is Genocide Just a Word? Angela Godfrey-Goldstein An Open Letter to Madonna: Please Don't Support Israeli Apartheid Dave Zirin Is the NFL Ready for Us? Yigal Bronner "They Are Building Walls Around Us"     September 14, 2004 Gary Leupp The Problem of Chechnya Jennifer van Bergen What's Wrong with Torture? Stan Goff Wake Up and Smell the Jungle Rot Patrick Cockburn The Punishment of Fallujah: US Precision Strickes...on Ambulances Anis Memon Nader in Michigan Michael Donnelly The Nuance Comes Off: Former Naderites Beg for Kerry Votes Werther Zell Miller: the Peckerwood Pericles Website of the Day Osama Bin Forgotten?       September 13, 2004 Gabriel Kolko Elections, Alliances and the American Empire Phillip Cryan How Do You Say "Death Squad?": Language in Colombia's War Patrick Cockburn One of Baghdad's Bloodiest Days: "I'm a Journalist! I'm Dying! I'm Dying" Noah Leavitt The War on Civil Liberties Robert Jensen Highjacking Catastrophe: Bush, the Neo-Cons and 9/11 Mike Whitney Alan Greenspan: Fed-Master to the Wealthy John Chuckman Stop Talking About the "Election" Mike Burke Kerry/Edwards Website Censors Discussion of Israel/Palestine Issues CounterPunch Wire The Quotations of David Cobb: "I Don't Care How Many Votes I Get" Website of the Day Keep It In Your Pants: the Bush Plan to Combat Teen Promiscuity   September 11 / 12, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Swatting at Flies Fred Gardner Yet Another Prozac Scandal Saul Landau When Our Assassins Go Free Jennifer Van Bergen How to Beat Bush: a Simple Strategy for the Average American Roger Burbach / Jim Tarbell The Real Dead Enders: Iraq and the Crisis of Empire Christopher Reed 9/11 in an Historical Context: a Minor Event When Compared to Worldwide War Casualties Francisc Catalin An ABC of American Interventions Carl Estabrook Big Science and Government Terror Bernard Chazelle Anti-Americanism: a Clinical Study Sharon Smith Third Party Blues Dave Lindorff Perhaps This Time We're the Silent Majority Mike Whitney Fallujah: an Iraqi Beslan? Frederick B. Hudson Their Sons Perished in the Flames, But Not Their Faith Mickey Z. Round Up the Usual Suspects: a Look Back at 9/11 Ron Jacobs Redneck Music for the New Century Greg Moses Soap Opera Moments in Texas School Funding Trial Benjamin Dangl / Andrew Kennis An Interview with Leslie Cagan Poets Basement Del Papa, Albert, Gelman     September 10, 2004 Patrick Cockburn Disappointment at Samarrah? Michael Donnelly Democrats v. Democracy Alan Farago Mosquitoes in a Hurricane Doug Giebel Karl Rove's Terror Playbook Mike Whitney Bob Graham's Political Tsunami David Domke God's Will, According to the Bush Administration     September 9, 2004 Joe Bageant Karaoke Night in Bush's America Ed Kinane Abducted in Baghdad Peter Bohmer The Cuban Revolution: Present and Future Todd May The Emerging Case for a Single-State Solution Jeremy Scahill The New York Model: Indymedia and the Text Message Jihad Joshua Frank Green House Party Gasses Fran Shor The Crisis in Public Dissent: When Protest is Considered a Terrorist Act Patrick Cockburn Welcome to the Dirtiest City in the World: Despair in Baghdad Website of the Day Liberty Street Protest: No to War at Ground Zero   September 8, 2004 Patrick Cockburn This Doesn't Smell Like Victory: A War on Two Fronts in Iraq Dave Lindorff Bush Confuses; Kerry Mute: Spinning 1000 Dead Bulent Gokay Russian and Chechnia After Beslan Lisa Viscidi Land Reform and Conflict in Guatemala Niranjan Ramakrishnan Byrd's Eye View Mike Whitney Afghanistan: American's Drug Colony Stan Goff Body Count: 1001 Website of the Day Bush and the Love Doctors     September 7, 2004 Diane Christian Hostage Tactics: a Game of Mortal Poker Joshua Frank Greens Unravel from Within Patrick Cockburn Fallujah Erupts Again: US Death Toll in Iraq Nears 1000 Ron Jacobs Bush and Putin: "We're Not Girlie Men" Chris Floyd Cry Havoc: Bush's Own Personal Janjaweed Dr. Carol Wolman No Blood for Oil at Paul Bunyan Day Parade John Ross The Politics of Darkness North / South     September 6, 2004 Alexander Cockburn An Anti-Labor Day That Lives in Infamy: How Many Democrats Voted For Taft-Hartley? Ralph Nader The Cruel Legacy of Taft-Hartley: a Labor Day Call for Rights for Working People Lee Sustar What's Driving the Attack on Pensions? Kathleen and Bill Christison Dual Loyalties: the Bush Necons and Israel     September 4-5, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Elephants and Gramsci Ted Honderich The Way Things Are Sasan Fayazmanesh The Holy Empire: Who We Are and What We Do Douglas Valentine What the World Should Know About Guantanamo Patrick Cockburn New Iraqi Police State Flexes Its Muscles Gary Leupp Neo Cons Under Fire Fred Gardner Pot Shots: the Hempstead T-Shirt William A. Cook The Day of the Lemming Dave Zirin Kobe Bryant and the Price of Freedom John Chuckman The Day the World Ended Karyn Strickler God Save the Endangered Species Act Vanessa Jones Bad Day with an Ikea Cup Mike Whitney Kerry: the "Better" War Candidate Mark Donham Dear John (Kerry): Start Explaining and Fast Mickey Z. McBypass Nation: Feeling Clinton's Pain Alan Farago Can the Everglades be Fixed? Poets' Basement Landau and Albert     September 3, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair High Plains Grifter: Jesus Told Him Where to Bomb Rahul Mahajan Bush's RNC Speech: an Annotated Response Carl Estabrook The Book of Slaughter and Forgetting Joshua Frank The Florida of the Northwest: Oregon Dems Sabotage Nader Again Gary Leupp Music to My Ears: Sunday's March James Hollander Deja Vu in Manhattan: Assisted Political Suicide? Mark Engler Republicans Among Us: a Week at the RNC, Inside and Out Jesse Sharkey Making Students and Teachers Pay for the Crisis in Education Jane Stillwater Calling the Cops on Your Own Kid Stephen Green Serving Two Flags: the Bush Neo-Cons and Israel     September 2, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair High Plains Grifter: Part 3: More Pricks Than Kicks Max Gimble Et Tu, Menchu? Extrajudicial Killings and Clandestine Graves in Guatemala James Petras President Chavez and the Referendum: Myths and Realities Christopher Brauchli Bush and the Afghan Electoral Model: "If They Want to Vote Twice, Let Them" Todd Chretien & Jessie Muldoon Will the Democrats Expel Zell Miller? Jack Random Spite and Venom Day: the Turncoat and the Profiteer Alan Maass The Real Vietnam Christa Allen Contre Bush Website of the Day [Redacted]     September 1, 2004 Alexander Cockburn The Stench of Doom Kathleen and Bill Christison Poor Larry Franklin Dave Lindorff Kerry's Litmus Test Josh Frank Protest in White: Not All of New York Rises Up John L. Hess Moles, Scoops and Flip Flops Mike Whitney Deconstructing Arnold Jack Random Kindergarten Night at the RNC Andrew Wilson War on the Pachyderms: Why Do Elephants Hate Us? Jeffrey St. Clair High Plains Grifter: Part Two: Mark His Words     August 31, 2004 Joseph Nevins Escapism and Global Apartheid: The Dominican Republic & the NYTs Matt Vidal Beyond Bush's Rhetoric on the Economy Neve Gordon Kerry and the Middle East Dave Lindorff Bush the Peace Candidate? Mike Whitney NPR Leads the Charge for War Against Iran Jack Random Opening Night: Playing the War Card Jeffrey St. Clair High Plains Grifter: the Life and Crimes of George W. Bush (Part One) CounterPunch Photo of the Day Pete Seeger in NYC     August 30, 2004 Justin Podhur The Disappeared Mayor Shaun Joseph The Hypocrites at TheNaderbasher.com Mike Whitney Israeli Moles in the Pentagon: What More Could They Possibly Want? Ron Jacobs Live, From New York: the Majority of Protesters Claimed No Candidate David Lindorff Sunday in Manhattan: the Sound of Marchin', Chargin' Feet, Boy Dave Zirin USA Basketball: The Team White America Loved to Hate Sam Husseini Israeli Spying on the US: a Long History     August 28 / 29, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Zombies for Kerry Patrick Cockburn Najaf Ceasefire Good for Iraq, But Weakens Allawi and US Ray McGovern Blowing Smoke on Intelligence Dr. Juan Romagoza From El Salvador to Abu Ghraib: Reflections of Torture Survivor Ray Hanania An Israeli Spy in the Pentagon? Ridiculous! Fred Gardner Eddie Lepp Busted by DEA: Facing Life for Growing Medical Pot Diane Christian Big Men: the Better Leader Lets You Live William S. Lind The Desert Fox Paul D'Amato The Left Takes a Dive for Kerry Joshua Frank Greens at the Crossroads Mickey Z. Media Declares War on Anti-War Protests Winslow T. Wheeler Sen. McCain's Pork Chops: an Exchange Justin E.H. Smith The New Age Racket and the Left Thomas St. John Burning Slaves at the Stake: On "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" Ali Tonak Help the NYPD? Mark Engler New York Says "No" Justin Felux Haiti: the Attica of the Americas Poets' Basement Gelman, Albert, Ford and Hamod     August 27, 2004 Gary Leupp Neocon Musings Robin Cook The Ghosts of Abu Ghraib Diane Christian Disarming Michael Donnelly Situational Democracy: the Show Me the Green Party? Jack Random 4F and Other Heroes: an Army of War Resisters Mike Ferner "To the Swift Boats!" Mazin Qumsiyeh 7000 Palestinian Political Prisoners Veronza Bowers, Jr. "You Won't Be Leaving Tomorrow"   August 26, 2004 M. Shahid Alam The Clash Thesis: a Failing Ideology? Diane Christian War Rules: Bush is No Sun Tzu Derek Seidman "They're As Bad As Wal-Mart:" Starbucks Workers Get Organized David Lindorff Court to RNC Protesters: Drop the Rally Christopher Brauchli Signs of Dissent: the Bush in the Bubble Stew Albert Reporting Suspicious Activity Mark Donham Judgement in Athens: Give the Koreans Their Day in Court Saul Landau Pinochet: the Al Capone of the Southern Cone Website of the Day The Kerry 527 Ad You'll Never See     August 25, 2004 Amelia Peltz Can I Have 9.8 Seconds of Your Time? Noah Leavitt Defining and Redefining Torture Ron Jacobs Takin' It to the Streets: It's Not About the Election, It's About Democracy James Brooks Coronado Crosses the Jordan Akiva Eldar How to Win the Jewish Vote: Turn Gaza into a "Mini-Afghanistan" Gemma Araneta Chavez's New Brand of Populism Philip Cryan Uribe's Boys: the Death Squads of Colombia CounterPunch Wire Cheney Opens the Closet Door     August 24, 2004 Jeremy Scahill John Kerry: the Warchurian Candidate Gary Leupp "We Want Them to Go Away" David Domke God Willing: an Echoing Press and Political Fundamentalism William Loren Katz The Meaning of Hugo Chávez: Black and Indian Power in Venezuela Jonah Gindin With Chavez? Reading the International Private Media Fran Schor Denying Atrocities: From Vietnam to Fallujah Joe Bageant Driving on the Bones of God Website of the Day The Great America Lockdown: a Primer for the RNC   August 23, 2004 Winslow Wheeler Don't Mind If I Do: Porkbarrel and the War on Terror John Pilger Bush May Be the Lesser Evil Stan Goff Swift Boat Dogfight Bill and Kathleen Christison Notes from the West Bank: Build, Demolish, Rebuild Mike Whitney The Unraveling of Afghanistan William Blum Brave New World of Iraqi Sovereignty Ralph Nader A Letter to the Washington Post: a Shameful and Unsavory Editorial     August 21 / 22, 2004 Cockburn / St. Clair "They Want Blood:" The Bi-Partisan Origins of the Total War on Drugs Landau / Hassen Failing the Mission? Form a Commission Brian Cloughley The Bush Team in Iraq: Moral Cowardice, as Practiced by Experts Josh Frank Nader as David Duke? The ADL Wants You to Think So Mike Whitney Reincarnating Mengele: the Torture Doctors of Abu Ghraib Ron Jacobs Day Labor Blues Mickey Z. Shooting at Whales: 40 Years After Tonkin Fred Gardner Dr. Wolman Comes Out: The Cannabis Consultants Dave Zirin Uprising in Athens: Iraqi Soccer Team Gives Bush the Boot Josh Saxe Witnessing Police Brutality in LA Yanar Mohammed Letter from Baghdad: a Democracy of Killings and Bombings Helen Williams Ali's Story: a Taste of Reality from Baghdad Michael Donnelly Elemental and NaturalForests, Fire and Recovery Elizabeth Schulte The Crisis in Affordable Housing Poets' Basement Adler, Albert, Virgil, Ford and Krieger                                   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

October 5, 2004 Pre-emptive War on Nader in Wisconsin Dirty Politics in Land of "Clean" Government By BILL LINVILLE The Supreme Court of Wisconsin ruled 7-0 last Thursday to put Ralph Nader on the ballot, putting an end to the extended ballot access fight for the Nader campaign. Hopefully the ruling will put an end to the intervention of both parties into the Nader campaign. In the days immediately following our turn-in of 4000 signatures on September 7, twice that required under state law, the Democratic Party called petition signers, claiming to be the "Clean Ballot Organization". They asked petition signers, among other things, the name of the person who had circulated the petition. After this exercise proved unfruitful, the Democratic Party hired at least 3 well-connected law firms to challenge our petitions forming a legal dream team for anti-democracy. One of our 10 presidential electors, whose only role is to cast a predetermined vote in the case of a Nader victory, mistakenly believed he lived in the seventh congressional district. Due to recent redistricting, he actually lived in the eighth. The Democrats decided that the only remedy for this technicality was to boot Nader/Camejo off of the ballot. The State Elections Board disagreed, arguing we had "substantially complied" with the requirements. After firing ! the first attorney who argued and lost in front of the State Elections Board, the Democrats hired Lester Pines as their lead attorney. (To give the reader a sense of the character of this legal team, Pines was involved in arguing against a proposed sister city relationship between Madison, WI and Rafah, the refugee camp in Palestine, one of the most impoverished and decimated areas in the globe, due to Israeli occupation. At a hearing he claimed that "the real issue is virulent worldwide anti-Semitism".) The Dems then filed a lawsuit that made its way to circuit court, where Democratic Judge Michael Nowakowski essentially decided that Nader/Camejo ticket should be thrown off of the ballot because the head of the State Elections Board forgot the word "substantial" in front of the word "compliance" in a memo. He claimed to have no access to the hearing where the idea of "substantial compliance" was discussed at length by the Board. If he had wanted to, he could have spent an hour and a half to listen to the tape. Apparently such matters are trifling when there are the First Amendment rights of voters to trample on. Only a last-minute appeal to the Supreme Court restored a degree of sanity to the situation and saved Wisconsin from setting a new precedent in ballot access restriction and disenfranchising thousands of Nader voters. The Republicans had some tricks of their own. After claiming in the press for a month that they weren't going to help our campaign, they attempted to give us 3000 signatures to get Nader on the ballot the day before the filing deadline (we had already collected over 4000), possibly in violation of state law that says signature gatherers "intend to support" the candidacy of the person they are collecting signatures for. (There you are, Democrats. Go after the Republicans. I dare you.) Knowing that we weren't taking Republican help, the Republicans sent a college-aged student to a meeting of Nader volunteers the night before the deadline. I had met him earlier while collecting signatures and he claimed to support Nader, telling me that "me and some friends" had collected "a few" signatures that he would give me at this meeting. Doing his best to conform to his pre-conceived notion of the typical Nader stereotype, he decided to wear a "Keep Milwaukee Green" shirt to the meet! ing. It turned out that "a few" signatures meant 3000 and "his friends", the signature collectors, included elected Republican officials and the head of the College Republicans at UW-Madison. Later, the Republicans submitted an unsolicited brief to the Supreme Court. (It should be noted that this brief wasn't the basis of the court's decision). They also asked our independent lawyer, Robert Bernhoft if we needed any legal help. On both occasions we flatly turned these invitations to "help" down. We are unappreciative of the interference of either party with our campaign. The Democratic Party claimed that their challenge to Nader's ballot access was only about upholding the law, and they weren't afraid of the issues that Nader brings up. No sane person believed them. Apparently, the Democrats don't think that George W. Bush should live up to the same standards. Because the Republican National Convention was so late this year, Bush missed or would have missed the filing deadline in several states. In each of those states, the Democrats helped ensure that Bush got on the ballot. In Illinois, where an amendment was passed to allow Bush on the ballot, Democratic Governor Rod Bagojevich's spokesperson said, "(Bagojevich) thinks President Bush should be on the ballot. He should be a choice." Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 showed that not one Democratic Senator was willing to challenge the disenfranchisement of Black voters in Florida that allowed Bush to get elected. Yet, the Democrats have waged an all-out war of dirty tricks' to keep Nader off of the ballot and limit voter choice. What lesson should progressives take away from this? It should be abundantly clear that the only thing the Democrats can be relied on to do is to attack Ralph Nader. They surely can't be relied on to oppose Bush's policies. Nader's Vice Presidential candidate Peter Camejo notes that the Democrats gave Bush eighteen standing ovations during Bush's 2003 State of the Union speech, where he lied and stumped for illegal war. An opposition party would have "walked out of the State of the Union address in protestñcalled on the American people to demonstrate in every single city..." The Democrats don't pose much of an opposition because they maintain broad agreement with Bush's policies. Neither candidate fundamentally opposes the Iraq or Afghanistan war and occupation, or our right to invade and occupy other countries willy-nilly. In fact, Kerry was the only candidate during the debate to call for increasing size of our military. Both parties take little issue with record corporate profits and stagnating wages. Would Kerry place the tax burden onto corporations? When thousands of corporations pay no taxes, Kerry calls for more corporate tax cuts! Neither candidate opposes the Patriot Act, which has led to the detention of thousands of Arabs and Muslims. Kerry drafted part of that act and Bill Clinton was responsible for passing its precursor in 1996, the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. Both parties support Israel's "separation barrier" that is further decimating the Palestinian population. This might have something to do with the latest polls showing that 13% of the Arab-American population supports Nader in Florida. If there is ever to be a truly progressive agenda advanced in this country, the left will have to set its standards higher than John Kerry and the Democrats. Supporting the Democratic Party not only means that the left has supported someone who doesn't oppose Bush's policies, it has lowered its own expectations, consciously or not, and conformed its demands to fit Kerry's agenda. How else do you explain its unbridled display of excitement for John Kerry's "victory" in the debates (where he said we need to increase our military size and "get the terrorists before they get us")?. These lowered expectations will allow for pre-ordained excuses for the Democratic dismantling of the remnants of our social safety net and the imposition of American imperialism, as occurred under Clinton. To begin building a positive alternative that can oppose the rightward drift of American politics, the left must completely free itself from the two-party system. Ralph Nader's candidacy is the only opportunity in this presidential election cycle to provide a significant voice and alternative to those who oppose the occupation of Iraq, demand justice for Palestine, demand an end to corporate rule and demand a better world. No matter how many dirty tricks they employ, the two parties will not be able to forever silence that voice. Bill Linville is the Wisconsin Field Coordinator for Nader/Camejo 2004 and a member of the International Socialist Organization in Madison, Wisconsin. He can be reached at bill_linville@yahoo.com. Weekend Edition Features for September 18 / 19, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Forgeries, Fingerprints and Forensic Fakery Jeffrey St. Clair High Plains Grifter: Bush's Mask of Anarchy Patrick Cockburn Into the Abyss: the Week Iraq's Dream of Peace Fell Apart Fred Gardner Pot Shots: Financial Torture (Asset Forfeiture) Joe Allen The Comrades Kerry Abandoned: the Real Story of Vietnam Vets Against the War George Corsetti Poletown Revisited: Finally, Some Vindication Scott Handleman The Knock-Knock of a Sledgehammer: Sequestered in Nablus Richard Ward Two Weeks in Beit Arabiya Conn Hallinan Ashcroft and Indonesia Lori Smith Health Care in America: And Then I Got Sick... Dave Zirin Hold the Booyah!: SportsCenter Out of the Middle East John L. Hess Rather Will Take the Heat, As Bush's War Deteriorates Brian J. Foley W is for Wimp: So Why do Manly Men Love Him? Mickey Z. Pat Tillman and Osama bin Laden: Odd Juxtapositions Poets' Basement Vest, Landau & Albert Website of the Weekend Eye on the NYTs WWW http://www.counterpunch.org   /