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July 10, 2002
Gary Leupp
European
Worries and
Bush's Terror War
July 9, 2002
St. Clair / Cockburn
The Atomic
Clock is Ticking:
All Roads Lead to Yucca Mtn.
Jack McCarthy
Florida:
a Terrorist Sanctuary for Bush's Bloody Pals?
Robert Fisk
How a Saudi
Billionaire
Does Beirut
Stanton and Madsen
God, Incorporated
Kurt Nimmo
IDF, Gangbanging
with Tanks
Bill Christison
Disastrous
Foreign Policies
of the US Part 3:
What Can We Do About It?
July 8, 2002
Rick Mercier
Yucca
Mountain Bound
Lev Grinberg
The
BUSHARON Global War
Tariq Ali
How Bush
Used 9/11 to Remap the World
Lori Allen
The Tugs
of War:
Palestinian Life Under Curfew
July 7, 2002
Alexander Cockburn
White
House Crooks
July 6, 2002
Gavin Keeney
Loose
Lips:
Liberty, Democracy & Bush
Michael Neumann
What's
So Bad About Israel?
Steve Baughman
Ashcroft's
Vendetta:
Lynching John Lindh
July 5, 2002
Ahmad Faruqui
Bush Freezes Peace Process
Todd May
Independence
and Terrorism
Rahul Mahajan
Why I
Won't Celebrate the Fourth of July This Year
July 4, 2002
S. Brian Willson
What
the Flag Means to Me
Philip Farruggio
Independence Day and
the Working Poor
Tom Gorman
The Uncommon
Pledge
of Allegiance
Chris Floyd
Jungle
Fever:
Bush's Bolivian Mercenaries
July 3, 2002
Francis Boyle
The Death
of the Oslo Accords
Mokhiber / Weissman
Cracking
Down on Corp. Crime
Robert Jensen
Lynne
Cheney's Primer
Behzad Yaghmaian
An Alternative
to the G-8s Africa Initiative
Toward a Global AIDS Fund and a Living Wage
John Borowski
Public
Schools Under Seige
Norman Madarasz
Brazil,
the Workers' Party and the Financial Times
July 2, 2002
Leah Wells
The Wedding
Was a Bomb
CounterPunch Wire
Trial of
the SOA 37
Edward Hammond
Bombing
the Mind:
The Pentagon's Drug Warfare
Sam Bahour
Ramallah
Occupied:
Uninvited Guests Become Neighbors
July 1, 2002
Norman Madarasz
Brazil's
Triumph
June 28/30, 2002
Kathleen Christison
The True Story of Resolution
242 or How the US Sold Out
the Palestinians
Cockburn / St. Clair
Death,
Juries and Scalia
Tarif Abboushi
Bush's
Double Standard
on Israel
N.D. Jayaprakash
Seething
with Rage:
The Palestinian Saga
Michael Yates
Taking
the Pledge:
Teachers and the Flag
Stephen Zunes
Bush's
Speech a Setback
for Peace
Walt Brasch
The Pledge
v. The Constitution
Cockburn / St. Clair
Strikers
as Terrorists?
Tom Ridge Calls Longshoremen
Resources:
100s of Links
About 9/11
CounterPunch:
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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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Reviews of Gore:
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July
10, 2002
The Tarantula Tango:
Despair &
Hope in the Body Politic
by Bernard Weiner
Rather than rant at length about the daily Bush&Co.
outrage or scandal -- they come so fast, it's hard to keep up
-- let's take a step back for some longer-range perspective.
The Dance of
the Tarantulas
Why do we use the term "reactionaries"
to describe so much of the political Right? Because so often
all they seem capable of doing is "reacting" to events,
often with a close-minded heavy hand of violence and repression.
In our current situation, it's the old
Bush "vision thing" again -- that is, the lack thereof.
Poppy didn't have "the vision thing," and Sunnyboy
doesn't have it either. Bereft of a vision, all they're left
with is stomping down on opponents and hanging on to power,
by any means necessary.
Entering the world of vision, doing something
different, requires some imagination, cleverness, knowledge
of political jiu-jitsu. You see your enemy approaching, you
divert him, engage him in other areas, distract him, build
up alliances against him, etc. etc. But in Bush country, you
simply take your club and smash him over the skull. Doesn't
matter that behaving in such a lunkish manner may come back
to bite you later, when the victims regroup or when their friends
decide to attack you by using horrendous guerrilla tactics.
You feel great, believing that you've "won." You've
crushed the little bastards.
And that's why the U.S. (and Israel)
will never see peace. If you act like a bully, you enrage others.
If you seek war, you get war back. Besides, it's easier to do
the dance of denial.
You need the enemy to do what you do;
they need you to do what they do. You lock yourselves in that
grotesque dance of the tarantulas and stumble around the floor,
not having to use your imagination. It's easier this way. Each
diseased soul feeds the other. Were you to alter your policies,
suddenly you would have to use brain power, things get real
complex, it's difficult.
No, those weak in areas outside power
and destructiveness prefer this clunky dance. It's comforting
in a way. The simple, black-and-white, fundamentalist divisions
provide comfort, act as a container that holds you. (In addition
to Bush, think Sharon, think Arafat, think bin Laden.)
And, most importantly, it postpones the
day of reckoning, so each can continue to do what they want
to do while the world is distracted by meaningless rhetoric
and things that look like initiatives. And so the dance of death
and destruction continues. That's why the extreme Right needs
the extreme Left, why Bush needs bin Laden, why Sharon needs
Hamas, and vice versas all the way around.
Why are Sharon and Bush&Co. proposing
a three-year delay to Palestinian statehood, for example? Because
in the interim, while they pretend to move toward that goal,
not much energy really has to be expended figuring out a road
to peace, and the real goals -- smashing Saddam by the U.S.,
further decimation and repression of the Palestinians by Sharon
-- can move forward, unimpeded. Why inside the U.S. are environmental
regulations weakened and more "studies" authorized?
Because greed operates only in terms of short-term bottom lines;
you can worry about tomorrow tomorrow.
Global warming, for instance? Deny it
exists and, if the pressure gets too great, appoint a panel
of scientists to examine it to death. You've bought a couple
of years during which oil&car manufacturing interests can
fatten their bottom line -- and your campaign coffers.
But wait! The scientists' committee comes
back with a stinging report that global warming is real and
here's what needs to be done quickly to help alleviate the problem.
If you're Bush, you denounce the report as coming from "the
bureaucracy" -- great, little Rightwing buzzword, ignoring
the fact that it's YOUR committee, YOUR "bureaucracy"
-- and simply ignore the findings. Instead of beginning to move
toward reduction of fossil-fuel burning, and improved mileage
standards on motor vehicles, you delay by saying there's a new
technology that will bear fruit in a decade or so. Delay, make
money; delay, make money. React, delay, no need for the "vision
thing."
In foreign policy, it's a dance of mirrors.
You know that guy looking at you with his fist raised -- that's
YOU, looking angrily at him. You don't know how to deal with
those who are not like you. Ergo, deal with what you know,
yourself, in the guise of The Other. Whatever he does, you do,
even worse. If he ratchets it up, you ratchet even higher. React.
React. Reaction. Reactionary. No need to get complex, visionary.
That would be too scary. Outside the container.
[ In the Middle East, the Bush Administration's
head is locked in only one position: forward to Baghdad. Bush&Co.
permitted Israel to destroy the Palestinian infrastructure,
which gives the U.S. a free-and-clear path to continue its
run-up to smashing Saddam Hussein. Doesn't matter that by postponing
a just Israel/Palestinian settlement, the war that will come
there will be grotesquely violent, and even put U.S. oil interests
at risk. Bush&Co. have donned their costumes, and their
blinders, as they move toward the dance floor. They'll worry
about the rest tomorrow.
[ To tamp down the fires of war and destruction
and terrorism emenating from the Middle East would require (as
Secretary of State Powell seems to understand) diplomatic energy
of massive proportions, altering of U.S. policy in the region,
creative problem-solving, and so on. But the U.S. leadership,
astride the world like a Colussus, feels it doesn't have to
do anything but threaten and bluster and then stomp those who
persist in questioning its neo-imperialist policies. Once there
was another bullyboy in the global schoolyard, but now there
is no one. Out of the way, or risk our wrath. ]
Those seeking to grow in counseling know
that the first weeks are spent in denunciation of those who
have mistreated them: parents, bosses, lovers, clergymen, et
al. Only later can one begin an honest look into the mirror,
and see where one's own actions might also have played a role
in self-development. At that point, growth begins, based on
honesty, increased self-esteem, a firmer grasp on reality.
Imagine if the United States were to
face its own shadow matter, recognize where it behaves badly,
alter policies accordingly, think beyond the immediate bottom-line.
In so many areas of the world, peoples would think better of
the U.S., the extreme fringe groups would be marginalized,
hopelessness for the downtrodden would turn to hope, young people
could visualize futures (and thus fewer young suicide-bombers
and terrorist rebels), more peoples around the world would have
more income, more markets for U.S. goods would become available,
etc. etc.
But, as is obvious, to get there, our
leadership structure would have to change drastically. Bush&Co.
and their ilk would have to go. Men and women of vision, of
larger possibilities, would have to come to the fore. It's happened
before, it will happen again.
A Mile Wide
and Inches Deep
There are stirrings, there are glimmers,
there is a bit more hope. The Teflon seems to be wearing away
quickly on the Bush Administration.
There's not a Movement yet. There's not
a groundswell of opposition yet. But you can begin to feel more
and more cracks in the Bush&Co. facade. More maintream news
stories contain just a hint of journalistic objectivity, which
is to say incredulity at the Administration's spinning of the
facts. A few more Democrats, and others, seem willing to raise
questions and objections to Bush&Co. policy. Al Gore has
come out swinging, Jim Jeffords is throwing a few haymakers,
Democratic presidential hopefuls are speaking out forcefully,
Tom Daschle (that Titan of Timidity) locates his spine on occasion,
even Bill Buckley's National Review published a roundhouse-right
/ libertarian attack on Bush's evisceration of the Constitution's
due-process guarantees.
True, by and large, these are not frontal
attacks on Bush's "war on terrorism" -- Democrats
are maintaining a detached silence, not wanting to risk losing
their very good chance of picking up seats in the November election
-- but they ARE more oppositional and they ARE building a kind
of slow momentum.
Bush's high approval ratings are a mile
wide and mere inches deep, and more of the citizenry seems daily
to sense this. Part of that public assessment derives from observing
the thorough-going incompetency of the Administration in everything
from economic policy to foreign affairs. It's like King Midas
in reverse; in virtually every area of concern, Bush&Co.
seem to be bumbling and stumbling, exhibiting uncertainty and,
at times, even chaos within the Administration itself. Ari Fleisher
is in such a constant spin mode that you expect his head will
do a Linda Blair-180 at any moment.
In short, the post-9/11 honeymoon is
over. In those early days after the WTC/Pentagon attacks, Bush
could, and did, get whatever he wanted. The nation was willing,
both out of fear and gratitude, to grant him a wide measure
of latitude in running the country, even when it didn't make
rational sense. Want a tax cut (mostly for the wealthy) extended
ten years out, even though we have no idea what the economy
will look like in a decade? Got it. Want to shred the Constitution
as we gear up for a war against terrorists? No problem.
But, slowly, the realities of what it's
going to cost average folks -- in terms of economic slowdown,
real income, environmental degradation, loss of their civil
liberties, the cutting of popular programs, the dipping into
Social Security and Medicare funds to help pay for the "war
on terrorism," etc. -- is beginning to hit home.
The public could maybe accept Enron as
a one-off catastrophe. But then came Arthur Andersen, and the
disgusting saga of cooked books by auditors in league with
crooked executives and boards of directors. And, over the past
few weeks and months, one giant company after another is revealing
itself to be engaged in similar financial crimes -- and, hold
your hats, there are a lot more to come. And the ones left holding
the bag are individual investors and employees and pension-fund
holders -- in short, ordinary people who get hurt real bad,
unlike the guys at the top who cash in big time and may get
off with just paying some fines.
Suddenly, the culture of greed -- applauded
by the Reagan Administration and now by Bush&Co. -- smells
a bit rank. It's the culture that gives over everything to big
polluters and big corporations (the same ones that just happen
to be the biggest supporters of Bush&Co. -- quelle surprise!).
And, lo and behold, what have we here: Army Secretary White
(who was an executive at Enron, closely tied to the scandal)
misbehaving in office, Dick Cheney at the heart of several
of the biggest scandals (Enron, Halliburton), and Mr. Bush himself,
self-smeared by his behavior in the Harken Oil insider-trading
of the early-'90s.
Now, children, listen up: Mr. Bush says
he wants those corporate CEOs to pay a heavy price, maybe even
go to jail, for their misdeeds. Do you think that politically-popular
position will include or exclude White, Cheney and Bush from
any investigations or indictments? How smart you are: you got
the answer on the first try.
Yes, the public will support Mr. Bush
"in times of war" (though, of course, the Congress
has not declared the country to be in a State of War), but even
here there are cracks in the facade of full backing: Bush&Co.
knew months in advance of 9/11 that a major terrorist attack
was coming from Al-Qaida and did nothing -- and more than 3000
Americans died! That revelation has kinda shook up lots of
folks and made them think twice about an Administration that
has made the "war on terrorism" its major aim and
claim to fame. Then there's the hunt for Osama bin Laden --
remember him? Can't seem to locate the guy. Probably for the
best, as the FBI and CIA might well lose him somewhere between
Karachi and Kansas City.
In sum, the disenchantment with Bush&Co.
is growing. Even the coming next-phase terrorist attacks might
not save their behind, as so much of the present "war on
terrorism" has been largely botched. No "vision thing,"
you see, to reduce the threats, only react, react. The coming
attack on Iraq, which you can bet will happen before the November
elections, may give the GOP a boost, but it may not be enough.
The U.S. electorate, if the early polls are accurate, is starting
to get the message: Not much will change at the top unless the
bottom begins to voice its discontent.
And so the chances for the Democrat party
to take the House and keep the Senate, thus putting sand in
the Bush&Co. gears, are improving. More and more of those
hoping and wishing for a Bush&Co. stumble are starting to
contribute money and energy to help defeat GOP candidates in
state after state. In some cases, they're having to hold their
noses while supporting the Democrat candidate, but these new
activists know what has to be done to break the Bush&Co.
stranglehold on the political agenda, what is required to bring
the country back closer to a rational center and away from the
self-defeating extremes.
In short, there is hope in the midst
of despair. Let us keep that momentum building -- so that the
next dance's partners will not have to be hairy spiders toxic
to America's body politic. #
Bernard Weiner,
Ph.D., has taught politics and international relations at Western
Washington University and San Diego State University; a poet
and playwright, he was the San Francisco Chronicle's theater
critic for nearly 20 years.
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