Category: The Bush-43 Administration

America’s Post-9/11 Catastrophe

President George W. Bush’s response to the 9/11 attacks by launching two open-ended wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, plus the sustained Republican assault on government domestic spending, have contributed to a decline in safety and health at home and abroad,…

Running from Right-Wing Clowns

By the late 1970s, there was a serious national debate about the blood-soaked Vietnam War, but then came Ronald Reagan rebranding it a “noble cause” and right-wing accusations against critics who “blame America first,” followed by the panicked retreat of…

The Dark Legacy of Reaganomics

Exclusive: For half a century from the depths of the Great Depression until the rise of Ronald Reagan the U.S. government invested in building the nation and funding key research. And the country flourished. But Reagan then reversed those priorities. The…

A Christian Reflection on 9/11

The tenth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks stirred up some powerful and painful memories of that day and the 3,000 victims. But the Rev. Howard Bess says his Christian faith has compelled him to think also about the carnage that…

Dick Cheney: Son of the New Deal

Exclusive: Dick Cheney is an inspiration to right-wing Republicans set on dismantling the New Deal and getting rid of as many government jobs as possible. But Cheney’s memoir traces his success in life back to the security created by the…

Cheney’s Unintended Admissions

Exclusive: Former Vice President Dick Cheney’s memoir is filled with accounts about the great and wonderful people who agree with him — and the evil buffoons who don’t. But the book offers some unintentional insights into how the American Republic got…

Answering ‘Why Do They Hate Us?’

After the 9/11 attacks when many Americans wondered “why do they hate us?” they were fed pabulum by President George W. Bush about them “hating our freedoms,” as a frightened (or complicit) U.S. news media didn’t dare contradict. That has…

On Libya, Now They Tell Us

Exclusive: The Washington Post now admits that the key role of Islamists in Libya’s uprising “went largely unnoticed” before Muammar Gaddafi was toppled last month. But Robert Parry asks whose fault was that, since it was the Post and other…

The Lost Innocence of 9/11

Perhaps it was inevitable in America’s self-absorbed culture that the tragedy of 9/11 would be politicized and counter-politicized, forged into a weapon by ideological forces to wield against their enemies in the never-ending “culture wars.” But Michael Winship laments how that process…

Surrendering Liberties After 9/11

After the 9/11 attacks, many Americans were ready to surrender constitutional liberties for an extra measure of security and the Bush administration was more than willing to accept that deal. But the Independent Institute’s Ivan Eland says the trade-offs haven’t…