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Calling All CounterPunchers!
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Calling All CounterPunchers!
Nearing the Half-Way PointWe are now entering our second week of fundraising. As you can see from the donation gauge there on the right, some of you have given us a great start. Some of you, but not enough of you! To those
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Today's Stories November 4, 2008 Conn Hallinan November 3, 2008 Patrick Cockburn John Kennedy O'Hara Peter Montague Steve Conn Andrew Gebhardt Ron Jacobs Ralph Nader Niranjan Ramakrishnan Uri Avnery Dave Lindorff Fred Gardner DC Larson David Michael Green Val Strange Tuli Kupferberg / Website of the Day
October 31 , 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Douglas Valentine Ismael Hossein-Zadeh Dr. Ignacy Nowopolski Alan Maass William P. O’Connor Patrick Irelan Brian Cloughley Mats Svensson Binoy Kampmark Steve Conn Alan Farago Morton Skorodin Robert Bryce Wajahat Ali David Yearsley Dennis Loo Pam Martens Stephen Martin Richard Rhames Ramzy Baroud Missy Beattie Howard Lisnoff Richard Neville Saul Landau / Kim Nicolini Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 30, 2008 Cockburn / St. Clair Vijay Prashad Paul Craig Roberts Glen Ford Stanley Heller William Loren Katz Joshua Frank James McEnteer Felice Pace Jonathan Cook Reza Fiyouzat Website of the Day
October 29, 2008 Arno J. Mayer Eric Toussaint Matt Gonzalez Steven Conn Jonathan Cook Patrick Bond Ramzi Kysia Douglas Valentine Stephen Martin Margaret Dooley-Sammuli Amee Chew Website of the Day
October 28, 2008 James G. Abourezk Andy Worthington Gary Leupp Paul Craig Roberts Mike Whitney Gregory V. Button Ralph Nader P. Sainath Martha Rosenberg Charles R. Larson Website of the Day October 27, 2008 Michael Hudson Barbara Rose Johnston John Dinges Mike Whitney Mary Lynn Cramer Greenspan's Higher Power Alan Farago David Michael Green Andy Worthington George Wuerthner Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day October 24 / 26, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Ishmael Reed Mike Whitney Don Santina Scott Boehm Saul Landau Ron Jacobs Binoy Kampmark Linn Washington Jr. Nicole Colson Bernard Chazelle Brian Jones Christopher Brauchli Benjamin Dangl Val Strange Steve Early David Macaray Allison Kilkenny Richard Rhames Jim Bell Kris De Welde Barry Clemson Adam Engel Mark Scaramella Tuli Kupferberg Lorenzo Wolff Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend October 23, 2008 Allan J. Lichtman Todd Chretien John Ross Peter Morici Mats Svensson Marlene Martin Robert Jensen / Margaret Kimberley Deepak Tripathi David Morris Website of the Day October 22, 2008 Brian Cloughley Heather Gray Jeff Birkenstein Ralph Nader DC Larson David Swanson Keeanga-Yamatta Taylor Race and the Election: When the "Real" America Enters the Voting Booth Larry Everest Robert Fantina Martha Rosenberg Stephen Martin Website of the Day October 21, 2008 Vijay Prashad Paul Craig Roberts Corey D. B. Walker Steve Breyman Eric Toussaint Wajahat Ali Robert Weitzel Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Marqueece Harris-Dawson / Bob Wing Patrick B. Barr Omar Barghouti Website of the Day October 20, 2008 Michael Hudson Anthony DiMaggio Tariq Ali Uri Avnery Bill Quigley Ben Rosenfeld David Michael Green William S. Lind Chris Genovali Stephen Martin Howard Lisnoff David Yearsley Website of the Day October 17 / 19, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Pam Martens Paul Craig Roberts Mike Whtney Michael D. Yates Suzanne Smith Carl Boggs Ralph Nader Fidel Castro Dave Marsh Saul Landau Jo Guldi Kevin Zeese Larry Everest Steve Early David Macaray Ben Terrall Missy Beattie Don Monkerud Helen Redmond Dan Bacher Wajahat Ali Farzana Versey Vladimir Frolov Kim Nicolini Poets Basement Website of the Day
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November 4, 2008 An Obama Victory Will Transform the Face of the Nation More Than Its PoliciesA New World?By JAMES RIDGEWAY If the United States today elects an African American man to the presidency, that event will mark a turning point in US history and culture. It will genuinely represent a triumph of hope over fear - all the more so because Barack Obama for the most part ran a dignified and inclusive campaign, in the face of the hateful and divisive rhetoric of John McCain. It's significance cannot be overstated, Yet, as Ken Silverstein of Harpers observes, an Obama victory is "not about politics but about the man." Ironically, Obama may transform the face and spirit of a nation, without dramatically changing the substance of its policies. As everyone knows, Obama is a cautious politician. He doesn't look like a leader who is ready to launch anything as bold as FDR's New Deal. But then, Roosevelt didn't initially look like that kind of leader, either. Perhaps if Obama wins the White House he will be emboldened by the remarkable groundswell of support that put him there. Perhaps he will be one of those men who has greatness thrust upon him, and will become fully worthy of the faith and optimism that so many millions have invested in him. But in the humdrum world of political reality, what happens in the Some of these facts can be blamed on the presence of a rightwing Republican in the White House and a Democratic congressional majority too slim to survive a Senate filibuster, much less a presidential veto. Others, mostly likely, have deeper causes. What obstacles to real change would remain with a Democratic president and a stronger majority in Congress? * In Iraq, it means mustering a sizeable coalition that can implement a policy to bring the troops home. But does that mean leaving Iraq altogether? Probably not. The key to Iraq has always been oil, and we still need the oil. One way or another, obtaining that oil will depend on divvying up what were under Saddam nationalized reserves and putting them into the hands of the international oil companies, returning essentially to the days at the beginning of the 20th century when those companies created a cartel. The US military already has set down a long-term policy of maintaining permanent bases in the region. That is unlikely to change any time soon, although meaningful changes in energy policy could begin to gradually have their effect. As for Afghanistan, the west has tried without success to dominate the place for centuries. A stalemate is likely to continue indefinitely. * The debate over universal healthcare has been carried on nonstop since before Medicare was enacted in the 1960s. Everyone in Washington knows the clear course here: improve and extend Medicare to everyone. To make that work, the government must reign in the drug prices and eliminate the participation of the insurance industry. But the unwritten deal on Capitol Hill is that token reforms - getting rid of the gap in Medicare Part D, for example, or negotiating better drug prices - can be discussed, but only if everyone agrees to the participation of the insurance and pharmaceutical companies. Only the most incremental changes, therefore, are even remotely possible. * The financial mess requires direct government participation in reorganising defaulting mortgages with public financing if need be. It requires reinstatement in one form or another of the New Deal Glass Steagall Act that separated investment banking from banking. And most of all it requires a drastic reform in the Federal Reserve System, the central bank that is run not by Congress but by the banking industry. Wall Street is unlikely to stand for any of these changes - and a Congress and a president with campaigns so lavishly financed by the finance industry is unlikely to force them through. The Democrats will undoubtedly pursue some modest regulatory improvements, but nothing like what $700bn ought to buy. * Finally, creating a fairer and sounder tax system would mean taking on the formidable bloc of conservative Democrats in the House. These fiscal conservatives can be counted on to join with conservative Republicans to fight for fiscal conservative measures which in the past often end up as cuts to the social welfare programs. What might happen under an Obama presidency is certainly a preferable alternative to the warmongering free-market free-for-all promised by John McCain. But the promised change, when it boils down to policy, will be modest, slow, and hard-won - and no doubt disappointing to many who expected more of the new world they worked so hard to create. James Ridgeway is the author of 5
Unanswered Questions About 9/11, It's
All For Sale: The Control of Global Resources and A
Guide to Environmental Bad Guys, co-written with Jeffrey
St. Clair. Ridgeway can be reached through his
website.
New in the Print Edition of CounterPunch For his 20-year stretch as Fed chairman, they all fawned on him – presidents, Congress, the press. Only a handful of left economists said he was pushing the economy over the cliff. Now Greenspan admits it in a humiliating confession. As the world’s financial structure tumbles in ruins, guess what? “I found a flaw in the model… To the extent that I figure out where it happened and why, I will change my views.” Read Frederick Claremont’s savage assessment of the fool who has plunged millions into misery. Also in our new issue: Bill Hatch on the story of one foreclosure; Kristian Williams on police torture in Chicago. Only in CounterPunch newsletter! 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. Order CounterPunch By Email For Only $35 a Year !
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New in the CP Print Edition! For his 20-year stretch as Fed chairman, they all fawned on him – presidents, Congress, the press. Only a handful of left economists said he was pushing the economy over the cliff. Now Greenspan admits it in a humiliating confession. As the world’s financial structure tumbles in ruins, guess what? “I found a flaw in the model… To the extent that I figure out where it happened and why, I will change my views.” Read Frederick Claremont’s savage assessment of the fool who has plunged millions into misery. Also in our new issue: Bill Hatch on the story of one foreclosure; and Kristian Williams on police torture in Chicago. Only in CounterPunch newsletter! Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Now Available from CounterPunch Books! Waiting for Lightning
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