Rep. Ron Paul came in one percentage point behind Rep. Michelle Bachmann in the Iowa Republican straw poll, but as Jon Stewart has noted was still excluded from the Big Media’s list of who’s to be taken seriously in the GOP race. The…
TV Networks ‘Monetize’ Politics
More than a year before the traditional start of the U.S. campaign season Labor Day 2012 the political horse race is already heating up with an early measure of the field determined by how much money each contender can raise.…
In Case You Missed…
Some of our special stories in July explored the double standards regarding “freedom” in the Middle East, exposed new evidence on the 1980 October Surprise mystery, examined the spread of right-wing extremism, and more.
Real Plans for Putting People to Work
Ironically, just as government-spurred technology opened up prospects of greater wealth for all, an anti-government movement took hold, making sure most benefits went to the rich while leaving millions unemployed and the economy a wreck. Michael Winship lists ideas for…
The Myopic Madness of the GOP
Pretty much the entire field of Republican presidential candidates embraces hostility toward the federal government, driven either by religious fervor or a belief in unregulated capitalism. The GOP hopefuls are appealing to a large subset of the U.S. population that…
Lemmingly, We Roll Along
Exclusive: When soldiers die, the politicians who sent them to their deaths typically use euphemisms, words like “fallen” or “ultimate sacrifice.” On one level, the avoidance of blunt language may be seen as a sign of respect, but on another,…
The World at a Tipping Point
America and the world seem precariously balanced between those who wish to deny the many problems facing mankind and those who insist that the human race address the multiple crises confronting the planet. Winslow Myers sees reason to hope that…
Truth Still a Casualty at Dieppe
Special Report: Sixty-nine years ago, British commanders dispatched mostly Canadian troops on a raid against German coastal defenses at the French city of Dieppe. The attack was a fiasco, losing more than half the landing force, but well-connected British officers…
Pakistan Demands Veto on Drone Strikes
The U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2 aroused anger in Pakistan over unilateral American military actions. But bilateral tensions have been growing for years over U.S. drone strikes against Pakistani targets and have now reached…
Did Tenet Hide Key 9/11 Info?
Exclusive: With few exceptions like some salacious rumor about the Kennedy family the mainstream U.S. news media has little interest in historical stories. Such was the case when an ex-White House terrorism official accused a former CIA director of withholding…
Human Rights, Lost History, Media, Obama Administration, Politics, Right Wing, Secrecy, The Bush-43 Administration
The Dangerous Reagan Cult
Exclusive: Ronald Reagan’s anti-government philosophy inspires Tea Party extremists to oppose any revenue increase, even from closing loopholes on corporate jets. Democrats try the spin that “even Reagan” showed flexibility on debt and taxes. But Robert Parry says it is the “Reagan…
Common Ground in Anti-War Appeal
The major U.S. news media is again focusing Campaign 2012 on personalities, gaffes and poll-measured momentum, a superficiality that has contributed to America’s dysfunctional politics for several decades. But ex- FBI agent Coleen Rowley describes her work with an anti-war…
Back to Big Media’s Political Circus
As the United States careens toward another economic crisis, the big-time U.S. news media is back to trivializing politics as some inconsequential sporting event where the competing sides score points measured by daily tracking polls. Danny Schechter dissects the madness.
What’s Worse? Looting or Invading?
Politicians take great umbrage when poor people violate property laws (as in the British riots) but the same leaders readily absolve themselves of guilt over much more serious crimes (like aggressive war in Iraq that killed hundreds of thousands). Such…
A Battle for America’s Lost History
For more than 15 years now, Consortiumnews.com has been fighting to recover what we call “lost history,” particularly the narrative of how the United States stumbled away from its noblest principles and abandoned a commitment to fact and logic.
Strange Death of American Revolution
At the heart of the American experiment was always a tension between oligarchy and democracy, with the oligarchs usually holding the upper hand. However, in recent decades, the struggle has taken a curious turn with the oligarchs largely obliterating the people’s…
Should Christians Defend the Rich?
Republican presidential contenders Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann profess their Christian fundamentalist faith, but denounce efforts by the government to restrain the power of the rich. The Rev. Howard Bess looks at this enduring contradiction between Christianity’s principles and…
Does Israel Teach Anti-Arab Bigotry?
Israel is experiencing a protest movement for “social justice” as are other countries in the Middle East and Europe. But the Israeli version seeks a more equitable society for Jewish citizens while sidestepping the plight of Palestinians, what Lawrence Davidson sees…
Keeping a Curious Bush Secret
Exclusive: One of the strange mysteries from the Reagan-Bush era is where did George H.W. Bush go on one Sunday in October 1980 when some witnesses placed him meeting with Iranians in Paris. More than three decades later, Bush’s supposed…
Life in an Age of Looting
The ugly scenes of rioting and arson in Great Britain are a preview of the societal breakdown that can be expected from today’s staggeringly inequitable economic/political system, where stock-market sharpies get away with plundering pension funds but the poor get nailed for looting consumer goods,…