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Video: Alternative
Views
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Censured Casualties
features rare footage
of war crimes against the Iraqi people suffered during
and after the Gulf War. The footage is from former Attorney
General Ramsey
Clark in his attempt to document the injustice
of United States military actions in the region.
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Video: Alternative
Views
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Another Unknown
War
features a film on the
struggle of the indigenous people of West Papua to remain
sovereign in the face of an Indonesian invasion backed
by world capital. Footage of Noam
Chomsky on Western involvments in the region and
the relation to East Timor.
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Doug's New Books & Related
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TV/Radio
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Saturday, November 29, 2003
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Friday, November 28, 2003
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Gore Says Bush Using Fear as Political Tool
Gore vs Bush: Al's right, Bush is using fear to manipulate the public, pushing through extreme rightwing domestic and foreign policy
Gore Says Bush Using Fear as Political Tool
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Billionaire Soros stakes fortune on 'matter of life and death' - defeating George Bush
Soros vs. Bush: Soros is right, defeating Bush is a matter of life or death
Independent News
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Op-Ed Columnist: Name That War
Op-Ed Columnist: Name That War
What do you call the Iraq disaster? Some names sent to Nicholas Kristoff: "Hundreds of people offered 'Bush's Folly,' 'Burning Bush,' 'Bush League War,' 'Bubba's War,' 'Shrub's War,' 'Operation Quicksand' or 'The Crawford Conflict.' Then there were zillions of 'Iraqmire,' 'Iraqgate' and 'Iraqnam.'"
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Tapping into Voter Anger
A fierce anti-incumbent anger and growing focus on Bush's lies may do him in
Tapping into Voter Anger
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Salon.com | Bush's new frontier
It's good to see Sidney Blumenthal applying his sharp wit and knowledge of politics to critically dissecting Bush; here, he compares JFK's foreign trips with the hapless Bush, pointing out that his trips are largely to gain images for re-election [like yesterday's trip to Iraq], as he never says anything of substance and is so hated that he cannot mingle with the crowds a la JFK or Clinton; Blumenthal also catches Bush quoting philosophers that he no doubt has never read and then attacks his Medicare bill as " the most significant attack on the social compact since the New Deal. It will drop about one-quarter of workers from their coverage for prescription drugs; 6 million elderly will lose coverage; another 3.8 million will have it reduced or eliminated; the whole $400 billion program will be financed by regressive taxation in contrast to the current untaxed entitlement; and $125 billion will flow directly into the coffers of the private healthcare industry and pharmaceutical companies, who are major Bush campaign donors. Such is Bush's tribute to Kennedy. Meanwhile, Karl Rove, Bush's senior political aide, announced that "reform" of Social Security, foundation stone of the New Deal, is the next target.'
This optic makes it clear that although Bush is a clown he is a dangerous one who is destroying the US system of democracy
Salon.com | Bush's new frontier
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Thursday, November 27, 2003
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washingtonpost.com: A Defining Moment in A War and Presidency
Bush ties his presidency even more tightly to Iraq, perhaps a fatal mistake. The secrecy of the trip highlights the terrible security situation in Iraq and how dicey the whole mess is
washingtonpost.com: A Defining Moment in A War and Presidency
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Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Privatisation won't make you popular
This article explains why Rumsfeld et al allowed all the looting and destruction to take place in Iraq after the collapse of the Saddam regime: the neocons wanted public Iraqi institutions to be destroyed so they could be replaced by privatized ones; this is one of the more underreported and scandalous aspects of the generally failed and corrupt Bush Iraq policy
Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Privatisation won't make you popular
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Guardian | America's enemy within
Naomi Klein reports on the collapse of free-trade negotiations at the recent Miami summit and the incredible political repression there of demonstrators; we posted some other first-person accounts of the repression and there have even been more graphic circulations of police violence circulating via Indy-Media and other sources
Guardian | America's enemy within
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Los Angeles Times: Bush's Brother Has Contract to Help Chinese Chip Maker
Here's a juicy Bush family scandal story: while the rightwing fumes about a Chinese woman who sold sensitive computer chip technology to the Chinese after Bush Jr. helped get her out of jail in China on supposed Human Rights charges, Bush's brother is revealed to be involved in a computer chip company in China [that he has no qualifications to work with]. Obviously, influence is being sought and peddled and the story below also cites claims that the Taiwan president paid $1 million to meet with Neil Bush [a claim denied]. Neil was caught in the S&L scandals earlier, so he just won't stop his corrupt wheelin' and dealing.'
Most interesting, however, in the story is the detailing of shenanigans of another Bush brother Prescott Bush Jr who has been involved in many kinds of shady Chinese/Japanese business deals over the years: "Neil Bush, the third of George H.W. Bush's four sons (George W., Jeb, Neil and Marvin), is the latest family member to hitch his fortunes to China.
In 1974, President Nixon named George H.W. Bush as his ambassador to China, a position he held for two years. In the 1980s, George H.W. Bush's brother, Prescott Bush Jr., began pursuing business opportunities on the mainland. In 1988, he teamed up with Japanese businessmen to build China's first golf course in Shanghai. He struck up a long friendship with former President Jiang, whose son is now a business partner of Neil Bush.
Prescott Bush Jr.'s Chinese ties generated their own share of controversy. He was criticized for meeting with Chinese business and government leaders just three months after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
The Shanghai golf venture became an embarrassment when allegations surfaced that his Japanese partners were trying to get business contracts by bribing Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega. Prescott Bush Jr.'s ties to an American firm, Asset Management, were scrutinized in 1989 because it was the only U.S. firm able to skirt sanctions and import communications satellites into China.
When Asset Management later went bankrupt, Prescott Bush Jr. arranged a bailout through a Japanese investment firm later accused of having ties to organized crime. There was no evidence he was aware of the alleged mob connection."
So the Bush family oozes with sleaze and corruption, it is unbelievable that three generations of this crime family have been able to get away with so much. Hopefully, the Day of Reckoning will come. Happy Thanksgiving
Los Angeles Times: Bush's Brother Has Contract to Help Chinese Chip Maker
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Attacks on G.I.'s in Mosul Rise as Good Will Fades
situation in Northern Iraq worsens as all of Iraq becomes a Killing Field
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Wednesday, November 26, 2003
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G.O.P. Worries Face From Past Will Haunt Florida Senate Race
I've been wondering whatever happened to Katherine Harris? Well, she's still there and still ambitious and this worries the Bushies concerning her association with the stolen election
G.O.P. Worries Face From Past Will Haunt Florida Senate Race
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Tuesday, November 25, 2003
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Cynically, GOP rolls the dice on Medicare bill
This commentary by Tom Curry seems to me to hit the crux of the issue about why the Repubs have postioned themselves as the free-spenders on medicare.
...Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2003, may go down in history as one of the most important dates in modern American politics. The bill could
[1] help the Republican Party capture the Medicare issue from the Democrats or,
[2] if the new $400 billion entitlement for senior citizens works badly, it could alienate older voters from the GOP.
Either way, the bill will likely have a significant effect on next year’s elections....
BUSH’S MOTIVATION
Given all that, why have Bush and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist made this new entitlement for older people a top priority?
One obvious answer: According to the Census Bureau, the peak age group for voting participation is 65 to 74 years. An estimated 72 percent of people in that age group voted in the 2000 election. The bill will provide substantial new taxpayer-paid benefits to older people — the very people who are most likely to vote next year. ...
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Op-Ed Columnist: The Uncivil War
Paul Krugman catches the hyprocrisy of the Right and the Bush administration: They viciously savage all their opponents and now call for civility toward Bush and his cronies
Op-Ed Columnist: The Uncivil War
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Nuclear Weapons: Theft of Cobalt in Iraq Prompts Security Inquiry
Cobalt on the loose in Iraq: lax US security and not enough troops allowed Iraqis to loot weapons depots of Saddam regime and now it appears dangerously radioactive Cobalt has been looted and is circulating somewhere in Iraq
Nuclear Weapons: Theft of Cobalt in Iraq Prompts Security Inquiry
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Monday, November 24, 2003
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Doonesbury and DK go after Arnold
So far, the mainstream media has given Arnold S a pass and not done any investigative reporting or raised critical questions, at least as far as I've seen, since his inauguration as California governor; it is therefore refreshing to see Doonsebury go after him
Doonesbury@Slate - Daily Dose
And here's my analysis of the Arnold phenomenon
“The Terminator as Governor”
By Douglas Kellner
Arnold Schwarzenegger’s California recall election gubernatorial victory demonstrates the increasing collapse of the boundaries between entertainment and politics in an era of media spectacle.
Over the past decades, major struggles around politics, race, gender, and sexuality have played out in the media. In the 1990s, the O.J. Simpson trial, the Clinton sex scandals, and the proliferation of tabloid journalism made serious political issues and conflicts the stuff of popular entertainment and culture.
Moreover, presidential politics on the level of campaigns and governing have also exhibited a growing politics of the image and spectacle. In our media-saturated society, politicians become celebrities who fine tune their image through daily photo opportunities, spin out their message of the day, and, like celebrities, employ image management firms to make sure that their performance is playing well with the public.
In an era of media politics, celebrities can become politicians and take on increasingly political roles. Hollywood stars of film and television were prominent opponents of the Bush administration’s 2003 Iraq war, while teams of celebrities were employed by both sides in the California recall election.
Arnold Schwarzenegger had a familiar role to play in the California recall election scenario. The people were angry at higher taxes, energy costs, and what appeared to be a deteriorating economy and were looking for a savior. Arnold presented himself as the hero on the white horse who would ride into California and solve the problems.
His “Rescue California” pitch thus played into a standard action/adventure genre where the outsider lone hero arrives in a chaotic situation and through his agency and magical powers defeats the evil forces, solves the problem, and returns the situation to stability and normalcy.
As with the action-adventure hero of his films, Schwarzenegger appeared as the outsider, not beholden to “special interests.” Arnold was “the terminator” who would stride in, chase out the villains, and restore order to the polis. In the media frenzy surrounding the election, viewers and voters saw Schwarzenegger wade into crowds, make entertaining statements while playing on economic fears and amorphous anger, and repeating to audiences his stock phrases like “Hasta la vista, baby!” (to Gray Davis) or his famous “I’ll be back.”
In particular, men were angry because of economic woes or cultural grievances projected onto women, immigrants, gays and lesbians, or other groups associated with liberals and Democrats. Schwarzenegger presented himself as the tough enforcer who would take on the bureaucrats and “special interests” and restore strong leadership to California. Schwarzenegger had cultivated a manly, macho image since his days as a professional body-builder and his political persona reflected this ideal.
Five days before the election, The Los Angeles Times published an article citing reports that six women claimed that they had been physically groped by Schwarzenegger on movie sets and over the next few days more women came forward with similar reports, with at least 15 women making the charge against the actor.
Yet evidently revelations of his sexual groping and brutal mistreatment of women only angered his male supporters more. Schwarzenegger represented a macho male action hero and large numbers of men and women identified sexual aggression with manliness. His supporters turned on the messenger, waging a campaign against The Los Angeles Times, claiming that the paper had sat on the reports until the final days of the election to ambush Schwarzenegger, a charge the paper denied.
The mainstream media neglected, however, previous stories published in various tabloids and magazines documenting Schwarzenegger’s numerous affairs that went past crude groping, and as Guardian correspondent Duncan Campbell noted in a October 20 report, “stories that appeared in the British tabloid press about alleged love children barely surfaced in the U.S. press.” Moreover, U.S. mainstream media also tended to neglect a report that Schwarzenegger met with Enron president Ken Lay and others during the California energy crisis.
Schwarzenegger was enabled in his campaign by culture industry mavens and the sheer amount of daily focus on his spectacle and sound-bytes. He announced his candidacy on the Jay Leno show and the faithful Leno was there to introduce him on election night. His loyal wife Maria Shriver remained by his side and on camera throughout the campaign, deflecting criticisms of Schwarzenegger’s brutal treatment of women and assuring the public that Arnold was a “great guy” and “great husband.” On the Oprah Winfrey show, Schwarzenegger was able to tell viewers how he brought his wife coffee in bed in the morning as Maria sat by his side beaming. And on the campaign/media trail, one-time liberal actor Rob Lowe tirelessly appeared in the media touting the virtues of his fellow actor.
Schwarzenegger carried the aura of the Kennedy family as his wife Maria Shriver’s family turned out to campaign for their son-in-law and celebrities like Rob Lowe endowed Schwarzenegger with the aura of celebrity liberalism, as well as his bed-rock Republican conservativism, long affirmed in his political pronouncements and campaigning for Republicans like George H.W. Bush. Bush I earlier showered Arnold with praise and awarded him a government appointment as physical fitness advisor.
Not only did celebrity royalty promote the Schwarzenegger campaign, but the media followed Schwarzenegger wherever he went and while there was some effort to question him, the broadcasting media dutifully played his daily photo opportunities and lines of the day.
Moreover, rightwing talk radio and an omnipresent media whipped up voters passions to a frenzy and the Schwarzenegger campaign was successfully able to channel voter anger against Governor Gray Davis and to present Schwarzenegger as a viable candidate. Davis was immensely unpopular, so it was relatively easy to blame him, if albeit unfairly, for California’s problems. And in the fantasy mindset of media spectacle politics, voters saw Arnold as the hero who would come to the rescue of California, just as he did in films.
In this political morality tale and drama, Schwarzenegger did not have to present actual political positions, although it was no doubt useful that he held his own and was indeed highly entertaining in the one heavily watched political debate. Schwarzenegger campaigned daily, drew large audiences and provided engaging sound bites in the daily media. Getting maximum media exposure while entertaining potential voters helped secure his base and win voters frustrated with politics as usual. Exit polls reveal that Schwarzenegger especially appealed to disenfranchised and cynical youth and men of many income groups and ethnicities. Hence, exposes of predatory sexual behavior following the debate published in the Los Angeles Times and widely publicized seemed to have little effect, perhaps because in the world of Hollywood media spectacle such sexual behavior is expected as part of the movie scene, or perhaps because many men find such behavior acceptable.
Moreover, Schwarzenegger tapped into anger against politics as usual and presented himself as the ultimate anti-political candidate, refusing to take specific positions on issues and serving to position himself as the anti-politics and anti-special interests candidate. Of course, there were specific political advisors, groupings, and interests behind him, ranging from former Gov. Pete Wilson’s advisors and staff to energy and land development corporations who wanted a Republican governor in office to pursue their interests and helped fund his campaign.
In addition, as a November 16 Los Angeles Times opinion piece by Josh Benson noted, the Democratic Left turned against Davis as well, angered over his centrist politics and refusal to push a more progressive agenda, despite Democratic party majority. Thus legislators, liberal interest groups, and left-leaning voters shared the distaste for Davis and participated in the populist anger, hoping to send a message to Democrats that they needed to push genuinely progressive agendas to earn their support.
As for the public, they sought a break with politics as usual and choose a celebrity governor, partly because sectors of the U.S. public live in media phantasmagorias and believe in the myths of the strong male hero who will cut through red tape, solve problems, and produce a happy ending. Schwarzenegger symbolized power and strength to many, presenting the hopes of a California rescue fantasy and voters who lived in media fantasy worlds bought into this narrative, embracing the myth while ignoring the disquieting reality that the actor had no political experience and no clearly delineated solutions to California’s budget problems.
In any case, Arnold Schwarzenegger is now governor of California. It remains to be seen how Hollywood fantasy scenarios will play out in the day-to-day politics. Working through complex problems of the budget do not lend themselves to magical solutions and media politics can only go so far in dealing with the problems of the California economy and political system. Once again, California is undergoing an experiment in which the implosion of entertainment, media spectacle, and politics has produced a celebrity actor governor. It is likely the resulting story will provide a cautionary political morality tale about the dangers of celebrity politics just as Schwarzenegger’s victory confirms its power in an age of Big Media and Celebrity, but unlike Hollywood films, real politics are complex, open-ended, and difficult to predict.
Of course, having celebrity politicians in California is not novel. Ronald Reagan became governor of the state in the 1960s and went on to become president of the United States. Song and dance man George Murphy became senator of California in the 1960s and singer Sonny Bono of Sonny and Cher fame became a congressman and Clint Eastwood won election as mayor of Carmel, California. The Schwarzenegger campaign, however, was more attuned to the ethos of the actor’s action adventure films then in previous celebrity campaigns and there was little of the usual give and take of political debate and media interaction, a fast track spectacle campaign that no doubt aided Schwarzenegger.
Schwarzenegger is famously arrogant and a strong believer in the power of the will. Using exercise regimes and with more than a little help from steroids, Schwarzenegger remade himself into one of the world’s premier bodybuilders and then with the help of culture industry promoters became a major Hollywood action hero film star. It remains to be seen if he can emerge from the cocoon of fame and celebrity that envelops him to play the role of politician in the complex and hardball game of California politics. So far, he has shown limited abilities to give and take, compromise, subject his positions to criticism, and reach consensus solutions. Will he be a front man for California Republican politics as usual, an acting governor whose strings are pulled by the usual conservative Republican suspects, or will Schwarzenegger be able to call his own shots and make his own deals? The scenario of the action/adventure political thriller would dictate the latter, but in the real world of partisan California politics many suspect Schwarzenegger is merely a tool for another Republican coup d’etat.
In the current media and celebrity culture, those who ascend to power through media spectacle often are undone by the very forces that elevate them. O.J. Simpson ascended to the pinnacles of media celebrity and was taken down by bad publicity in an intense media morality tale. Stars like Michael Jackson have used the media to cultivate celebrity and watched as the media created career-threatening negative spectacles. Likewise, political spectacles like Bush Senior’s Gulf War and his son’s 2002 war on Iraq can also flip from spectacles of military triumph to spectacles of quagmire and chaos. The reversal of the spectacle means that spectacle politics are always contestable, subject to negotiation, can get out of control, and switch to their opposites.
As Schwarzenegger becomes governor of California, one of the six major economic powerhouses in the global economy, there will no doubt be intense media focus on him. How he does will in part result from how he controls and uses the media, but also how the media present his policies, actions, and colorful past. Schwarzenegger has allegedly paid over a million dollars to purchase the original and outtakes from his 1976 film Stay Hungry that allegedly has him singing “Springtime for Hitler” and prancing about in Nazi regalia and poses, and there are Nazi poses of Schwarzenegger floating through the Internet. In an era of political spectacle, image is all and negative images can produce critical views of politicians and their policies as George W. Bush is learning from images of daily carnage and mayhem in Iraq that put in question his foreign policy decisions. Schwarzenegger too will become an important part of the spectacle of contemporary politics and what role he plays will be determined by his policies and politics, the media, and how a volatile and fickle public perceives him.
Douglas Kellner is author of the recent book Media Spectacle and George K. Kneller Chair in the philosophy of education at UCLA
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washingtonpost.com: Medicare Bill Would Enrich Companies
Here's what the business Medicare Bill is all about: $125 billion to enrich private companies and employers who would get subsidies to help pay health expenses; this is beginning of privatization of Medicare and another Bush boondoggle
washingtonpost.com: Medicare Bill Would Enrich Companies
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Control of Drug Prices is on the Table, But Evidently Not Possible Right Now
This conundrum pivots on the matter of strategy: is it better to get what you can now, regardless? Or, is it better to filibuster, and perhaps spoil ever getting the outlines of a national health insurance program for another decade? With the amount of wiggle room available to Dems like Kennedy, it's a hard decision.
Medicare Debate Turns to Pricing of Drug Benefits
With Congress poised for final action on a major Medicare bill this week, some of the fiercest debate is focused on a section of the bill that prohibits the government from negotiating lower drug prices for the 40 million people on Medicare.That provision epitomizes much of the bill, which relies on insurance companies and private health plans to manage the new drug benefit. They could negotiate with drug companies, but the government, with much greater purchasing power, would be forbidden to do so.
Supporters of the provision say it is necessary to prevent the government from imposing price controls that could stifle innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. Critics say the restriction would force the government and Medicare beneficiaries to spend much more for drugs than they should....
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More power to the FBI
Jim Lobe on legislative threats to civil liberties in the name of 'security from terrorism'
... The United States Congress is poised to approve new powers that would let the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) search and seize business records without court approval in the name of the administration's "war on terror".
The legislation amounts to the first substantive expansion of the controversial USA Patriot Act since it was approved just after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and the Pentagon.
Acting at the behest of the administration of President George W Bush, a joint House-Senate conference committee has approved a provision in the 2004 Intelligence Authorization bill permitting the FBI to demand records from certain businesses without the approval of a judge or grand jury if it deems them relevant to a counter-terrorism probe. ...
"This Patriot Act expansion was the only controversial part of this legislation, and it prompted more than a third of the House, including 15 conservative Republicans, to change what is normally a cakewalk vote into something truly contested," said ACLU Legislative Counsel Timothy Edgar. "One need look no further than this vote to get an effective gauge of the Patriot Act's lack of popularity on Capitol Hill and among the American people," he said. The Patriot Act gives unprecedented powers to the FBI and the entire federal government. ...
The measure would extend the FBI's power to seize records from banks and credit unions to securities dealers, currency exchanges, travel agencies, post offices, casinos, pawnbrokers and any other business that, in the government's eyes, has a "high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax or regulatory matters"...
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Sunday, November 23, 2003
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Treatment of Canadian 'symbol of post-9/11 excess'
Today's review of weblogs and the press in the csm is especially good, covering the deportation of Syrian-born Canadian, Maher Arar, to Syria, alleging that he had ties to Al Qaeda. Evidently it was all a mistake, but -- after disclosure of the torture of Arar -- the Justice Dept and Canadian officials are back-peddling, while in his recent interview with The New York Times, Maher Arar says his life will never be the same.
"My life and career are destroyed," he said matter-of-factly. "To brand someone as a terrorist after 9/11 – I don't think it will be easy to return to normal life."
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washingtonpost.com: Violence Shadows Kandahar's Revival
Aid workers are being driven out of Afghanistan, just as they are from Iraq; Afghanistan was never stabilized and the US invasion of Iraq just riled things up more all over the Arab/Muslim world, thus promoting Jihad against the West; Bush is bin Laden's greatest asset
washingtonpost.com: Violence Shadows Kandahar's Revival
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On Medicare Bill, Senate Filibuster Goes From Threat to Action
(1) (2)
from abc news, link # 1, above: The Senate Democratic leader promised a vigorous fight Sunday against the Medicare prescription drug bill, one of President Bush's top priorities, which passed the House only after an unprecedented three-hour vote.
Sen. Tom Daschle acknowledged, however, that Democrats lack the votes to sustain a filibuster threatened by Sen. Edward Kennedy and his fellow Massachusetts Democrat, presidential contender John Kerry. Republicans can stop the filibuster with 60 of the Senate's 100 votes.
"A number of our colleagues believe that we ought to focus on the flaws, and there are many, many flaws today," said Daschle, D-S.D. "But I must say we will fight this bill as hard as we possibly can. We have a number of procedural options available to us, and we're going to use them all."...
Kerry and Edwards Will Pull Out Campaigning In Iowa To Filibuster in Senate (1) (2) [for edwards move, scroll down on link #2] and now lieberman (3)
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Maybe a Senate Filibuster on the Medicare Bill Isn't Such a Bad Idea!
Haste Could Doom Medicare: Administration hopes that rushing through a special-interest bill will gut a revered system
Robert Kuttner, co-editor of the American Prospect, writes cynically about the motives and proposects of the current medicare reform bill.
Cynically, Kutner notes, "The Bush administration's Medicare bill is a calculated first step toward ending universal Medicare in favor of vouchers. President Bush and his congressional allies have baited this hook with prescription drug benefits. And with legislators wanting to go home for Thanksgiving, the White House hopes to force a vote next week."
The haste is understandable: The more time legislators have to study this Trojan horse of a bill, the less likely they are to vote for it.
Consider its provisions:
• Skimpy drug benefits. The administration refused to confront the pricing power of drug companies. So the government would be billed at exorbitant prices, and the new $40 billion a year in benefits would cover only a fraction of consumers' drug expenses.
Under the formula, if you incurred $3,600 of annual drug costs, the program would cover only $1,285, leaving you to pay $2,735 out-of | |
