The Guerrilla Campaign

- by Stephen Lendman 5/31/07 Probably no word better defines or underscores the Bush presidency than "terrorism" even though his administration wasn't the first to exploit this highly charged term. We use to explain what "they do to us" to justify what we "do to them," or plan to, always deceitfully couched in terms of humanitarian intervention, promoting democracy, or bringing other people the benefits of western civilization Gandhi thought would be a good idea when asked once what he thought about it. Ronald Reagan exploited it in the 1980s to declare "war on international terrorism" referring to it as the "scourge of terrorism" and "the plague of the modern age." It was clear he had in mind launching his planned Contra proxy war of terrorism against the democratically elected Sandinista government in Nicaragua and FMLN opposition resistance to the US-backed El Salvador fascist regime the same way George Bush did it wag...

The Cold War and Modern Moral Cowardice by Chris Floyd Wednesday, 30 May 2007 http://www.chris-floyd.com/Articles/Articles/Five_Gears_in_Reverse%3A_The_Cold_War_and_Modern_Moral_Cowardice/ Perhaps it was the end of the Cold War that did it. After all, it's been almost 20 years since the Berlin Wall came down. You'd have to be well over thirty to remember the feel of those times, and what's more, to be steeped in the unspoken assumptions that pervaded the era. Whole generations have been raised up now for whom the mores of that time, good and bad, are little more than nostalgic fashions to pick and choose from -- or simply discard -- as they assemble their ideological wardrobe for the present day. This is inevitable and natural -- and a good thing on the whole, given the many monstrosities perpetrated by both sides in the actually-pretty-hot Cold War, in which millions died around the world. (Although not within the boundaries of the two main protagonists. Why die when oth...

by Richard L. Franklin 5/28/07 I was finally stirred to briefly come out of retirement after listening to a one hour interview with Al Gore discussing his latest book, 'The Assault on Reason'. As one who has dedicated himself to the encouragement and preservation of clear thinking, arguably the greatest gift entrusted to us by the Enlightenment, I was naturally curious about the apparent subject of his book. I've certainly had never thought of Gore as a rationalist, although he certainly can be quite rational about climate change. I've always viewed him as an aristocratic member of the Washington establishment. His deep interest in climate change was actually anomalous for one of his background and class ethos, but that hardly detracts from the great value of his missionary work in that area. Nonetheless, a leopard does not normally change his spots overnight. If it is a politician who is claiming to work toward X, his or her promise usually lacks credibility. True pols...

Sine Die and Good Riddance - by Stephen Lendman 5/28/07 Venezuelan TV station Radio Caracas Television's (known as RCTV) VHF Channel 2's operating license expired May 27, and it went off the air because the Chavez government, with ample justification, chose not to renew it. RCTV was the nation's oldest private broadcaster, operating since 1953. It's also had a tainted record of airing Venezuela's most hard right yellow journalism, consistently showing a lack of ethics, integrity or professional standards in how it operated as required by the law it arrogantly flaunted. Starting May 28, a new public TV station (TVES) replaces it bringing Venezuelans a diverse range of new programming TV channel Vive president, Blanca Eckhout, says will "promot(e) the participation and involvement of all Venezuelans in the task of communication (as an alternative to) the media concentration of the radio-electric spectrum that remains in the hands of a (dominant corporate) mi...

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A man died and went to Heaven. As he stood in front of Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates, he saw a huge wall of clocks behind him. He asked, " What are all those clocks?" St. Peter answered, "Those clocks are Lie Clocks. Everyone on earth has a Lie-Clock. Every time you lie, the hands on the clock will move." "Oh," said the man, "whose clock is that?" "That's Nelson Mandela's. The hands have never moved, indicating that he never told lie." "Incredible, said the man. "And whose clock is that one?" St Peter responded, "That's Abraham Lincoln's clock. The hands have moved twice, telling us that Abe told only two lies in his entire life." "Where's Bush's clock?" asked the man. St. Peter responded, "Bush's clock is in Jesus' office. He's using it as a ceiling fan."

- by Stephen Lendman 5/23/07 This June will mark an anniversary that will live in infamy for the people affected by the event it commemorates following a far greater one 19 years earlier on May 14, 1948. On June 5, 1967, Israel launched its so-called "Six-Day (preemptive) War" against three of its neighboring Arab states - Egypt, Jordan and Syria - claiming it was in self-defense to avoid annihilation Israeli leaders later admitted was spurious and false cover for a large-scale long-planned, calculated war of aggression it believed it could easily win and did. [...] On June 5, 1967, Israel launched its third major war of aggression but hardly its last with another one always planned and ready to unleash on the flimsiest pretext almost no other nation could get away with. It did it for the usual reasons nations go to war when under no external threat to do it - territory, resources (for Israel Golan's water was key), and a desire for unchallengeable regional dominance. A...

by Christopher Cooper Published on Friday, May 18, 2007 by CommonDreams.org http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/05/18/1290/ I guess we’ll annoy some people here today. Ah, well, yes, and who’s surprised about that? Anybody expecting this corner of the page to deliver comfortable conciliation will long since have learned to seek elsewhere. We come seldom to encourage enthusiasm for the quality of our present accommodation and the solidity of its ride. Alarm more often is our message as we hurry from car to car crying out that the trestle is gone, the engineer drunk or dead, the fireman and conductor about to jump into the puckerbrush with the mailbags full of payroll cash and pension checks. What may surprise even regular readers, if I can tie my thoughts into a coherent package before the editor comes ‘round to tell me I’ve used up my space and the patience and tolerance of God Almighty his own self, will be just how comprehensively offensive I can be, perhaps alienating right, le...

How horrifying is it when Bush's unwinnable disaster becomes so dreary and forgettable ? By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist http://www.sfgate.com/columnists/morford/ Wednesday, May 16, 2007I think it was Keith Olbermann who said it first, who said yes wow that Virginia Tech shooting rampage was horrible and shocking and brutal and oh my God we lost a lot of really good, honest American kids and Something Should Be Done. And maybe let’s start with the wide-eyed gun-rights maniacs and the conservative pseudo-cowboys and those twitchy Second Amendment paranoids who somehow still think that we all must cling to our nasty little Glocks ‘cuz gosh, what might happen if our own government turns on us and nobody has their little handgun to protect their kids from the tanks and the missiles and the heat-ray guns? Right. But hey wait (Olbermann went on to say), then again, in the 10 days prior to that horrific shooting, didn’t we also lose nearly exactly that same number of young people over...

A Review of Alexander Cockburn's and Jeffrey St. Clair's End Times - by Stephen Lendman 5/16/07 [...] End Times - A Collection of Essays from Cockburn and St. Clair On the Dismal State of the Dominant Print Media "End Times - The Death of the Fourth Estate" is a collection of 50 wide-ranging essays written in recent years under six topic headings, mostly by Cockburn and St. Clair with a few by other contributors, on the dismal state of the corporate print media today. They were dominant at their zenith in the mid-1970s Pentagon Papers - Watergate era but now, the authors say, are in an inevitable state of decline agreeing with media mogul (Cockburn-labeled "WORLD-SCALE MONSTER") Rupert Murdock's characterization of a long twilight at best. Even more, their current state is symptomatic of our overall societal decay with unprecedented wealth disparities, the nation in endless wars of illegal aggression, predatory corporate giants ruling the world, and ou...

by Stephen Lendman 5/9/07 In a post-9/11 climate, the right of free expression is under attack and endangered in the age of George Bush when dissent may be called a threat to national security, terrorism, or treason. But losing that most precious of all rights means losing our freedom that 18th century French philosopher Voltaire spoke in defense of saying "I may disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Using it to express dissent is what noted historian Howard Zinn calls "the highest form of patriotism" exercising our constitutional right to freedom of speech, the press, to assemble, to protest publicly, and associate as we choose for any reason within the law. Even then, there are times more forceful action is needed, and Thomas Jefferson explained under what circumstances in the Declaration of Independence he authored. When bad government destroys our freedoms, we the people have the right and duty to disobey civilly an...

By Sheila Samples May 08, 2007 The gutters are clogged with the dead The ones who couldn't join in The others refusing to sing The ones who are losing their voice The ones who've forgotten the tune. - Excerpt "God Bless America," Harold Pinter, January 2003 Preceeding generations had every reason to believe those following them would step into the breach and continue the vigil over this nation's Constitutional freedoms and, if necessary, fight to preserve them. They believed, like George Washington warned -- "Government is a "force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action." And they remembered, from generation to generation. Unfortunately, those following our generation will have no such luxury. We blew it. We forgot to remember when history goes around, it inevitably comes back around. We forgot to remember that the U.S. Constitution is the beating heart of the United Sta...

by Mary Pitt 5/6/07 The 2008 campaign season must have started too soon. Neither party seems to be prepared as both have trotted out their second string to make public appearances on all the talk shows, festivals, county fairs, and well-scripted television "debates". First, there is no real debate in them, just a few controlled questions designed to show them all in their best light. To one who lives out here in the real world, it is simply another version of American Idol. The Democrats were a motley crew. Hillary Clinton was her usual, well-prepared self as she sent the message that, if you liked Bill, you'll love her. (As if the Great Unwashed had learned nothing about nepotism when George W. "took" the presidency.) Barack Obama, the great writer and orator, couldn't seem to find the words which usually rolled off his tongue so easily, perhaps due to beginner's stage fright. And there was Joe Biden. There is always Joe Biden. The only interesting part...

"RudyMcRomney" - just a perfect name for the republican candidates. Eventually, we are going to be watching the RudyMcRomney campaigning against the democratic candidate. As things look now, it’s going to be one of the most dismal circus seasons. The democrats, having sourly disappointed many of their supporters so far, seem determined to go head-to-head with the RudyMc for best sound bite. What this country needs more than ever is a down and dirty debate, one on one, like we used to have in this country. Sometimes, they went on for hours. We think we keep electing the person with the best “hey, look at me, I feel your pain, I’ll protect you, and won’t raise your taxes” sound bite. Actually, all we’re really doing is just voting for the best sound bite. Now, with more and more early primaries, we’re going to be watching that show for more than a damned year. Watching, because we really aren’t going to be doing anything about the situation. People ask, “Don’t you support the...

by McClatchy Newspapers This is not a comprehensive list of all violence in Iraq, much of which goes unreported. It’s posted without editing as transmitted to McClatchy’s Washington Bureau. http://tmars.iwarp.com/theMagazine/archive/07/violence-Iraq-28April-4May2007.html

- by Stephen Lendman 5/4/07 The Wall Street Journal's main Hugo Chavez antagonist is its self-styled Latin American "expert" Mary Anastasia O'Grady who makes up for in imagination and vitriol what she lacks in knowledge and journalistic integrity. She, however, wasn't assigned to write the May 1 Journal attack piece reporters David Luhnow in Mexico City and Peter Millard in Caracas got to do titled "How Chavez Aims to Weaken US." Of course, when it comes to Venezuela, the issue is oil and Chavez's having the "audacity" to want his people to benefit most from their own resources, not predatory foreign oil companies the way it used to be when the country's leadership only served the interests of capital ignoring essential social needs. No longer. Chavez, of course, announced months ago his government would complete renationalizating his country's oil reserves when state oil company PDVSA became the majority shareholder May 1 in fou...