Exclusive: By obsessing over Iran gaining a nuclear weapon “capability” even with no actual bomb while ignoring Israel’s undeclared nuclear arsenal, the U.S. news media proves the point of its own bias. There’s also the usual hostility toward dissenting voices,…
Constitution, Human Rights, Lost History, Obama Administration, Politics, Religion, Right Wing, The Bush-43 Administration
The Roots of US Religious Tolerance
From the Archive: Ex-Sen. Rick Santorum’s accusation that President Obama follows a “phony theology,” one not “based on the Bible,” revives the right-wing notion that the United States must be a “Christian nation” and that “separation of church and state”…
Taking a Bite Out of Apple
The late Steve Jobs was perhaps the most acclaimed businessman of his generation, making the iconic Apple products both stylish and efficient, even if that meant pushing his work force to extremes. But those extremes sometimes meant cruelly exploiting overseas…
A Dangerous Resolution
Neoconservative Joe Lieberman is leading a group of nearly one-third of the U.S. Senate in demanding that President Obama stop Iran from achieving even a nuclear weapon “capability.” But ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar says such loose rhetoric can put…
Madison: Father of the Commerce Clause
Exclusive: The Tea Party has been fueled by the idea that key Founders, like James Madison, opposed a strong central government and thus laws like “Obamacare” are unconstitutional. But Madison was the framer who devised the Commerce Clause upon which…
Intelligence, Lost History, Media, Obama Administration, Right Wing, Secrecy, The Bush-43 Administration
Slanting the Case on Iran’s Nukes
From the Archive: As the International Atomic Energy Agency clashes with Iran over access to a military site, the U.S. government and mainstream news media are denouncing Iran. But no one recalls the WikiLeaks documents that exposed the bias of the new…
Tempest over an Iran Military Site
Iran’s refusal to grant U.N. inspectors access to the Parchin military facility is churning up new suspicions about a concealed nuclear weapons program, but the impasse can be explained as the frustration by Iran over how previous inspections of the site have been…
Onward-Marching Christian Soldiers
From the Archive: In 2008, Rick Santorum declared, “Satan has his sights on the United States of America.” Though sounding odd to many, Santorum’s Satan talk is common among right-wing Christians who have intervened in U.S. politics before, like President Clinton’s impeachment, as…
Santorum Abuses ‘E Pluribus Unum’
Exclusive: In 1776, when America’s 13 colonies were uniting to fight for independence, they adopted a slogan, “E Pluribus Unum, from many, one.” Now, GOP presidential frontrunner Rick Santorum has hijacked the motto to mean that a diverse United States…
Need to Talk Sense to Netanyahu
Recalling President George Washington’s farewell advice against tying the United States too closely to any foreign nation, Veterans for Peace urges President Obama to publicly warn Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu against attacking Iran with the expectation of U.S. military support.
Americans Abandon International Law
After a decade of “war on terror” rhetoric and President Obama’s failure to reverse many of George W. Bush’s extrajudicial policies the U.S. public has come to accept that American “exceptionalism” puts the nation beyond the reach of international law,…
Santorum’s Anti-Environmentalism
Exclusive: Now topping many Republican presidential polls, ex-Sen. Rick Santorum is taking aim at what he calls President Obama’s “false theology” not “based on the Bible” which supposedly elevates the environment of the Earth above man’s needs, a charge that…
Beating the Drums of War, Again
The U.S. news media is in harness again, pulling the latest bandwagon for war, this time with Iran. So, Americans should expect soft coverage of U.S.-Israeli provocations of Iran and media outrage over any Iranian retaliation, as the Independent Institute’s…
‘Night Raids’ Stall Afghan War Talks
The Obama administration’s hopes for a negotiated end to the Afghan War are hung up on a dispute with the Karzai government over the future use of night raids by U.S. Special Forces, a tactic very unpopular with Afghans, as…
Manipulating Reality; Hurting Democracy
Over the past few decades in America, reality has been put in play as never before, with powerful interests using sophisticated “perception management,” the shaping of how the public perceives the outside world, a threat that Lawrence Davidson says is again leading…
America’s Road to Nowhere
The fact that the American Left lacks the media outreach to the public that the Right has is proving decisive as conservatives consolidate their influence in blue-collar communities that, ironically, are suffering from right-wing excesses of the past three decades, as…
Ronald Reagan: Worst President Ever?
From the Archive: On Presidents’ Day, opinion polls rate the greatest U.S. presidents, with Ronald Reagan now typically scoring at or near the top — and George W. Bush at or near the bottom. Though the Bush rating is hard…
Lieberman Edges US to War with Iran
Exclusive: American neocons have moved the United States closer to war with Iran via a subtle change in the “red line” phrasing, inserting the word “capability” after the usual threats to take out an Iranian “nuclear weapon.” Now, Sen. Joe…
Theocracy Comes to Virginia
Exclusive: Virginia’s Republican-controlled government is moving to enact extreme anti-abortion laws based on a doctrinal belief that human life begins at conception, even if that judgment conflicts with the personal beliefs of many state residents — the latest round of…
Triumphalism Over Talking
Even as Iran expresses new interest in negotiations over its nuclear program, neocons and others eager for a war for “regime change” seem to hope those peace prospects can be dismissed quickly, an issue that ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar…