Global
Vote for President Bush and Republican Senators and Congressmen if:
You think $900/month ($10,800/year) is a fair price for a health insurance policy.
* You believe drug companies should prevent you from buying Canadian drugs at half price.
* You are a senior citizen and you think you are about to receive all your medication for free because President Bush has passed the “prescription drugs for seniors under Medicare” legislation.
* You think large tax breaks for CEO’s making over $50 million are good, but your own CEO may have to cut the company budget and eliminate your position.
* You never work or get paid for overtime so you don’t care about the recent Bush bill that will eliminate overtime pay for 8 million workers. You don’t know any of the 9 million unemployed U.S. and don’t know anyone in Iraq.
* Your state has a budget deficit of $2 billion but we should spend $600 billion in Iraq.
* You know Iraq has more oil than any other country in the world, but no one knows where it ends up after it comes out of the ground or who got the money for it.
You think $900/month ($10,800/year) is a fair price for a health insurance policy.
* You believe drug companies should prevent you from buying Canadian drugs at half price.
* You are a senior citizen and you think you are about to receive all your medication for free because President Bush has passed the “prescription drugs for seniors under Medicare” legislation.
* You think large tax breaks for CEO’s making over $50 million are good, but your own CEO may have to cut the company budget and eliminate your position.
* You never work or get paid for overtime so you don’t care about the recent Bush bill that will eliminate overtime pay for 8 million workers. You don’t know any of the 9 million unemployed U.S. and don’t know anyone in Iraq.
* Your state has a budget deficit of $2 billion but we should spend $600 billion in Iraq.
* You know Iraq has more oil than any other country in the world, but no one knows where it ends up after it comes out of the ground or who got the money for it.
Remember the hullabaloo about The End of History? There were many of us who scoffed then at its hubris, the sheer arrogance of thinking we
were “it.” Now, of course, even the adherents of such triumphalism are back in the trenches, forecasting their own gloom-and-obscene-profit
version of Permanent War. It’s as if the Cold War never ended—and just in the nick of time for them, too. This gives the right the opportunity to
revive that most heinous of Cold War anachronisms, the Loyal Opposition. Now the LO can be permanently kept toothless by the ever-present
threat of the New Cold War (remember: they have actually used these words). Some have even promised World War IV.
Citing the "clear and present danger" of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Arianna
Huffington has sounded the alarm on the Republican threat to what remains of
democracy in California. By withdrawing her own candidacy to work against the
gubernatorial recall, she's done it with class and savvy.
Gone are the days when activists can dismiss a Hollywood macho man as a mere side show. That lesson has been driven home by the "compassionate conservatism" of the "Texas lightweight" now in the White House.
In 2000, the United States was an apparently stable democracy. The government was fiscally sound. The Bill of Rights was still in tact. Eight years of relative peace and prosperity lulled much of the nation, including the left, into complacency. After all, it had removed Nixon and survived Reagan/Bush I, albeit at great cost. But there had been light at the end of the tunnel.
Gone are the days when activists can dismiss a Hollywood macho man as a mere side show. That lesson has been driven home by the "compassionate conservatism" of the "Texas lightweight" now in the White House.
In 2000, the United States was an apparently stable democracy. The government was fiscally sound. The Bill of Rights was still in tact. Eight years of relative peace and prosperity lulled much of the nation, including the left, into complacency. After all, it had removed Nixon and survived Reagan/Bush I, albeit at great cost. But there had been light at the end of the tunnel.
Strong critics of U.S. foreign policy often encounter charges of
“anti-Americanism.” Even though vast numbers of people in the United
States disagree with Washington’s assumptions and military actions, some
pundits can’t resist grabbing onto a timeworn handle of pseudo-patriotic
demagoguery.
In a typical outburst before the war on Iraq last spring, Rush Limbaugh told his radio audience: “I want to say something about these anti-war demonstrators. No, let’s not mince words, let’s call them what they are -- anti-American demonstrators.”
Weeks later, former Congressman Joe Scarborough, a Republican now rising through the ranks of talking heads, said on MSNBC: “These leftist stooges for anti-American causes are always given a free pass. Isn’t it time to make them stand up and be counted for their views, which could hurt American troop morale?”
In a typical outburst before the war on Iraq last spring, Rush Limbaugh told his radio audience: “I want to say something about these anti-war demonstrators. No, let’s not mince words, let’s call them what they are -- anti-American demonstrators.”
Weeks later, former Congressman Joe Scarborough, a Republican now rising through the ranks of talking heads, said on MSNBC: “These leftist stooges for anti-American causes are always given a free pass. Isn’t it time to make them stand up and be counted for their views, which could hurt American troop morale?”
Filipinos reclaim their heritage, history and culture with a weekend of performance and people power
New York City -- The voices of spoken word artists,
musicians and former political prisoners resounded
over a room packed with people at the Brecht Forum
last Saturday night. RECLAIM: (Re)Affirming Our
Culture of Resistance, organized by the Justice Not
War in the Philippines Campaign, drew over 200 people
to an evening that was a fundraiser, party,
performance and lesson on the Filipino people's
continued struggle for justice.
The ad in the airline magazine shows a young boy on a swing, the backdrop
for an interactive pager being held by a man's hands. "Maybe you don't have
to send an e-mail right now," says BellSouth's ad for their interactive
paging service. "But isn't it cool that you can?" The ad, with its headline
of work@lifespeed, celebrates a world where our jobs engulf our every waking
moment.
It's not just our workplaces. Our lives in general seem faster, more complicated, more at the mercy of distant powers and principalities. We have less time for our families, and less room to ask where we want to go as a society and as a planet. The very pace of environmental crises, global economic shifts and the threats of war and terrorism make it harder to address them. If we're to act effectively as engaged citizens, we're going to have to slow down our lives, our culture, and a world that seems to be careening out of control.
It's not just our workplaces. Our lives in general seem faster, more complicated, more at the mercy of distant powers and principalities. We have less time for our families, and less room to ask where we want to go as a society and as a planet. The very pace of environmental crises, global economic shifts and the threats of war and terrorism make it harder to address them. If we're to act effectively as engaged citizens, we're going to have to slow down our lives, our culture, and a world that seems to be careening out of control.
As we head into our own experiment with regime change, gay issues will be pushed yet again towards the forefront of American political debate. But this will not be a rehashing of the '92 cycle, with a potential president making lofty promises to the gay community only to break them when a conservative wind blows his way. Instead, candidates will rush to assure the American voter that they will oppose any attempt to legalize homosexual unions or support a codified definition of marriage as between one man and one woman. Unfortunately, with the conservative Republican party entrenched against them and the more moderate Democratic party having abandoned them, gays and lesbians can be assured that this promise will remain inviolate.
LONDON -- The postwar travails of the Bush and Blair regimes
have been moving at roughly the same tempo. Last Saturday, the Financial
Times announced on its front page, "Blow for Blair as 50 percent want him to
go." At that same moment, U.S. headlines were assigning the same collapse in
popular esteem for Bush.
On the business of faked intelligence, the chickens have been slowly but inexorably coming home to roost, albeit with much irksome pomposity about some supposed new corruption of such intelligence estimates from former high standards. Never forget, U.S. intelligence created or endorsed some of the most brazen lies of the twentieth century, starting with Kennedy's "missile gap" thrown in Eisenhower's face.
Now, from the U.S. Congress, indeed from a former CIA officer, have come indignant charges that U.S. intelligence estimates were willfully perverted.
On the business of faked intelligence, the chickens have been slowly but inexorably coming home to roost, albeit with much irksome pomposity about some supposed new corruption of such intelligence estimates from former high standards. Never forget, U.S. intelligence created or endorsed some of the most brazen lies of the twentieth century, starting with Kennedy's "missile gap" thrown in Eisenhower's face.
Now, from the U.S. Congress, indeed from a former CIA officer, have come indignant charges that U.S. intelligence estimates were willfully perverted.
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- For Democrats only: I think our field is
shaping up quite nicely. Several of our candidates are starting to look
promising indeed. Of course, only a political junkie would have sat through
the entire two-hour debate, and the fact that there are 10 of them works
against any one standing out. If the field isn't winnowed down soon, they
might want to consider dividing themselves into two groups for a debate so
we get more than these unsatisfactory soundbites.
I think they ought to keep Al Sharpton in just for the entertainment value. Carol Moseley Braun is obviously the weakest link. But you know, guys, she wouldn't stand out so painfully as the only one who ever brings up women's issues if some of the rest of you did so occasionally, too. I really like Bob Graham, but for some reason he doesn't come across well. He voted against the Iraq war resolution, against the tax cuts and against confirming John Ashcroft -- a much higher profile in courage than several others in office. But even with all his electoral experience, he doesn't sound sharp.
I think they ought to keep Al Sharpton in just for the entertainment value. Carol Moseley Braun is obviously the weakest link. But you know, guys, she wouldn't stand out so painfully as the only one who ever brings up women's issues if some of the rest of you did so occasionally, too. I really like Bob Graham, but for some reason he doesn't come across well. He voted against the Iraq war resolution, against the tax cuts and against confirming John Ashcroft -- a much higher profile in courage than several others in office. But even with all his electoral experience, he doesn't sound sharp.
Over 50 GLBT and allied community members attended a Candidate’s Night on Thursday evening at the King Avenue United Methodist Church hosted by Stonewall CAN (Community Action Network), Stonewall Democrats of Central Ohio and the Log Cabin Republicans. Sixteen candidates and campaign representatives attended the forum and presented on various issues, including, discrimination against GLBT persons, domestic partner benefits and ensuring a safe environment for GLBT youth in Columbus public schools.