Category: Obama Administration

Will Holiday Splurge Save US Economy?

As the United States has de-industrialized over the past several decades, an illusion of prosperity was maintained by rampant consumerism fueled by easy credit and bubble economies. Now U.S. businesses are hoping for another fix from shoppers rushing to the…

Questions to Ask the Candidates

Exclusive: During recent presidential debates, moderators have asked mostly predictable questions and except for some notable gaffes have elicited mostly talking-point answers. But ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern says it’s time for citizens to put politicians on the spot with some…

The New Industry of High-Tech Spying

The post 9/11 spending splurge by the U.S. national security state has given rise to a new industry devoted to developing technology for spying on almost everyone. These gizmos now represent a threat to what’s left of personal privacy, writes…

OWS Shatters the Political Frame

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and right-wing talk-show hosts are whipping up their supporters against Occupy Wall Street, while some Democrats support  the OWS goals but fear the backlash. However, poet Phil Rockstroh says this movement transcends traditional politics.

Slanting the Case on Iran’s Nukes

Special Report: The U.S. news media shows no skepticism as it accepts the toughly worded report by the International Atomic Energy Agency on Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program. Ignored is the fact that the IAEA’s new chief appears to have…

The Trashing of the People’s Library

Facts and the written word have long been enemies of injustice, as they are now with critiques that the economic game is rigged to concentrate money and power at the top. So, it was no surprise when the New York…

Israeli Democracy Fades Toward Black

America’s Founders understood that creating a nation that favored one religion over others was a recipe for repression. Israel’s founders rejected that wisdom and sought a Jewish state with democratic ideals. But it is turning out that America’s Founders were…

Cracks Open in Iran Nuke Charges

Many Washington pundits who championed the false tales about Iraq’s WMD have returned to center stage in the new accusations about Iran’s alleged nuclear weapons program. And some of the Iran charges are falling apart just like the Iraq ones,…

How Israel Out-Foxed US Presidents

From the Archive: At the G20 summit, French President Nicolas Sarkozy commiserated with President Barack Obama about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Sarkozy called a “liar,” prompting Obama to say: “You’re fed up with him? I have to deal with him…

No Room for Smugness on Iran

There’s a “Lucy-yanks-the-football-away-from-Charlie-Brown” quality to how Americans are handled each time a new war with a foreign “enemy” is being sold. There’s a slightly varied pitch and the public belatedly learns it’s been conned, as is now happening with Iran, notes ex-U.S. intelligence analyst Elizabeth…