President Barack Obama’s speech on a “new chapter” in U.S. policy toward the Middle East was filled with platitudes befitting a New Year’s resolution, but there is little expectation that he will follow through, especially on the hardest issues like…
Category: Obama Administration
Asking Obama to Protect Gaza Relief Ship
Former CIA analyst Ray McGovern, who has signed on to participate in a new attempt to bring relief supplies to Palestinians living in Gaza, asks President Barack Obama to intercede with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to allow the ship,…
Leaving a Church of Free-Market Miracles
A significant part of the U.S. population is stuck in angry denial, unwilling to acknowledge scientific realities (like global warming), embracing fictions (like Barack Obama’s Kenyan birth), and refusing to acknowledge America’s diminished situation (like the crumbling infrastructure of roads…
Rand Paul’s ‘Health Right=Slavery’ Rant
Sen. Rand Paul, a Tea Party favorite, likens the idea that every American should have a right to healthcare to the imposition of “slavery” on doctors like him and their staffs, a bizarre and extreme analogy that Lawrence Davidson dissects…
Mitch Daniels, Architect of US Debt Crisis
Exclusive: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels is the new Republican darling of the Washington establishment, which hails him as a “fiscal conservative” who would be “serious” about addressing the nation’s staggering debt problem. But his many admirers forget to mention what…
How Fox News Outfoxes Americans
To understand how so many average Americans can be duped into embracing right-wing positions that go against their own interests, you must look at how Fox News (and right-wing media outlets) use faux populism and phony outrage as propaganda techniques,…
Turning a Blind Eye to Bahrain’s Abuse
The Sunni-ruled kingdom of Bahrain is adopting repressive tactics to ensure that the island’s Shiite majority doesn’t gain significant political power. But Official Washington has been fairly muted in its criticism of Bahrain’s king because the island is a strategic…
The War Against Taxing the Rich
The Republicans have dug in their heels against any proposal to raise taxes on the rich, even opposing efforts to close loopholes for the oil industry which has been chalking up stunning profits simply by riding the wave of rising…
Declaring Victory Over Osama
World War II concluded with “V-E Day” and “V-J Day,” marking the victories in Europe and Japan, respectively. The Bush administration said no such definitive success would finish the “war on terror,” which was defined as essentially an endless conflict.…
Post-Bin Laden Peace Hopes Dim
U.S. demands for an Afghan “footprint” dims hopes that Osama bin Laden’s death had opened a path to peace, reports Gareth Porter. May 9, 2011