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Today's
Stories
March 1, 2004
Heather Williams
Haiti as Target Practice: How
the US Press Missed the Story
February 28 / 29, 2004
Stephen Green
Serving
Two Flags: Neo-Cons, Israel and the Bush Team
Gary Leupp
Another Senseless Bush Battle: Defining and Protecting Marriage
William A. Cook
Israel:
America's Albatross
Ron Jacobs
Kucinich: Good Fight; Wrong Battlefield
Ben Tripp
A Nosegay of Posies: Queer Weddings at Last!
Leilla Matsui
Dances with Crucifixes
Mike Whitney
Dismantle
the Military Goliath
Yoel Marcus
Down and Out in the Hague
Uri Avnery
The Dancing Bear
Linda S. Heard
Britons and Americans Condemned to a Hobson's Choice
Al Krebs
Unmasking a Secret American Empire: Land, Water & Cotton
Stan Cox
Life (Pat. Pend.): Genetic Commandeering
JG
The Haiti Boomerang: "After The Looting & Pillaging,
Your Hunger Will Remain"
Rick Giombetti
Censorship at the Seattle P-I on Forced Psychiatry
Keith Hoeller
The Bankruptcy of Mental Health Insurance Parity
Dave Zirin
Colorado Football: Buffalo Swill
NADERAMA
Alan Maass
Nader and the Politics of Lesser
Evils
Michael Donnelly
Regime
Rotation: Anybody But Bush...Again?
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Exeunt Serenaders; Enter Nader
Doug Giebel
So Nader's Running? Get Over It
Bruce Jackson
An Open Letter to Naderites
CounterPunch Wire
Stalinists for Kerry! and Other Roars from the Crowd
Poets' Basement
Davies, Scarr, Kearney & Albert
February 27, 2004
Thomas C. Mountain
A
White Jesus During Black History Month?
Laura Carlsen
Americans
Abroad: Bush is Persona Non Grata
John B. Anderson
Nader's Campaign Brings Back Memories: Creating an Open Electoral
Process
Jason Leopold
Spying
on Kofi Annan
John Chuckman
Nader,
Risk and Hope
Standard Schaefer
An
Interview with Michael Hudson on Putin's Russia
Ray McGovern
Punished
for Honest Intelligence
Saul Landau
The
Haiti Redux
Website of the Day
Bush: Why I'm Running for Re-election
February 26, 2004
Brandy Baker
Is Nader
on to Something?
Jacques Kinau
AEI
to Colombia: "Can't Give You Anything But Guns, Baby"
Norman Solomon
Bugging Kofi Annan: UN Spying
and the Evasions of US Journalism
Greg Weiher
A Purloined Letter: the Zarqawi Gambit
Walt Brasch
Janet Jackson, Bush & No. 542: There are No Halftime Shows
in War
Shadi Hamid
The Music World Explodes in Anger
Norman Madarasz
As Canadian as Corruption
Chris Floyd
Bullets and Ballots
Virginia Tilly
The
Deeper Meaning of the Wall
Amy Goodman / Jeremy
Scahill
Haiti's
Lawyer Says US is Arming Haiti's Anti-Aristide Paramilitaries
Website of the Day
Clear Channel Sucks
February 25, 2004
Dr. Susan Block
Saddam's
Sex Therapist and the Rape of Free Speech
Bruce Anderson
Treacherous Bastards: The Greens and the Dems and Nader
Ron Jacobs
Our Power is on the Streets and
in Our Hearts
Mike Whitney
Bush
and Gay America: the Politics of Duplicity
Sam Husseini
Jesus in 100 Words
John L. Hess
Kick Off or Flub?
Sam Hamod
Bush's Newest Red Herring
Cockburn / St. Clair
Winning
with Nader
Website of the Day
VotePact
February 24, 2004
Ralph Nader
Why
I'm Running for President
Greg Moses
Rally
the Mob! Bush, Gay Marriage and the Constitution
Douglas O'Hara
The
Merchants of Fear: Smearing Nader
Phillip Cryan
Frozen in Time: The WSJ's Paranoid
Lens on Latin America
David Lindorff
John Kerry's China Connection
Jason Leopold
Cheney's Shame: Halliburton Faces New Charges
Gary Younge
Haiti: Throttled by History
Kromm, Masri & Purohit
Why No Democracy in Iraq?
Steve Perry
Tangled Up in Red and Blue: Beware the Electoral College
February 23, 2004
Neve Gordon
Israel's Apartheid Wall on Trial
at The Hague
Kurt Nimmo
Richard Perle, Executioner: "Heads Should Roll"
Jonathan Franklin
US Soldier Seeks Refugee Status in Canada
Al Krebs
The Liberal "Intelligentsia" v. Nader
Josh Frank
Nader's Nadir? Not a Chance
Bruce Jackson
Nader, Another View: "He's as Evil as Bush"
Gary Leupp
A Misguided
Attack, The Passion, Rabbi Lerner and the Gospels
February 20 / 22, 2004
Cockburn / St. Clair
Kerry:
He's Peaking Already!
Derek Seidman
Chasing
Judith Miller from the Stage: Watch Her Run!
Ghada Karmi
Sharon is not the Problem
Vanessa Jones
This Week in Redfern, a Boy Dies, Chased by Cops
Ben Granby
Anatomy of a Night Raid on Balad, Iraq
John Holt
An Air That Kills: Greed, Apathy, Dead People
Saul Landau
Entry from a White House Diary
Tom Jackson
Why They Couldn't Wait to Invade Iraq
Frederick B. Hudson
Slave Power and the Constitution: Jefferson, Slaves, Haiti and
Hypocrisy
Roger Burbach
Argentina Fights Back
Kate Doyle
Lessons on Justice from Guatemala
Mike Whitney
Operation Enduring Misery: the Afghanistan Debacle
Greg Moses
What Gives Texas A&M the Right to Trample the Civil Rights
Act?
David Krieger
US Elections: an Opportunity to Debate Nuclear Weapons
Sam Bahour
Palestinian Issue Riddles Bush's Budget
David Grenier
You Could Get 10 Years in Prison Just for Reading This
Charles Sullivan
Corporatism vs. Single Party Politics
Poet's Basement
Hilda White, Larry Kearney & Stew Albert
Website of the Weekend
The Rumsfeld Fighting Technique
February 19, 2004
Cecilie Surasky
Anti-Semitism
at the World Social Forum? That's Not What I Saw
Ray McGovern
Iraq
Hawks and Deceptive Intelligence: Did They Really Think They'd
Get Away With It?
Tariq Ali
How Far
Will Bush Go in Iraq?
Ralph Nader
Whither
the Nation?
Wayne Madsen
Would Kerry Purge the Neo-Cons?
Norman Solomon
The Collapse of Dean's Cyber-Bubble
Christopher Brauchli
Cheney, Halliburton and the NYT
Mike Whitney
Bush's Iraq Strategy: "I Hope They Kill Each Other"
Lewis Carroll
Bush the Mighty Helmsman from Yale
Website of the Day
Sex Toy Horoscope
February 18, 2004
William Wilgus
Bush:
AWOL and Dereliction of Duty
William Blum
Mush-Minded
Liberals
Dave Lindorff
Bush's China Syndrome
Greg Weiher
Why
is Kerry Getting a Pass?
Mike Griffin
Killing the Messenger: the AFL-CIO's Attack on Harry Kelber
Mark Hand
Kerry Tells Peace Movement to "Move On"
February 17, 2004
Mike Ferner
The
Countryside Murders in Iraq
Mokhiber / Weissman
Corporation
as Psychopath
Marjorie Cohn
DrakeGate:
a Victory for Free Speech
Kurt Nimmo
Bush's
Endgame: a Review of Chalmers Johnson's "Sorrows of Empire"
Greg Bates
Nader Ambush: a New Low for The
Nation
Ximena Ortiz
A Bush
Doctrine, of Sorts
Gary Leupp
Whatever Happened to Gen. Khazraji?
Sen. John Kerry
"The Cause of Israel is the Cause of America"
Steve Perry
Kerry
1, Drudge 0
February 16, 2004
James Johnston
Huddling
with the Cheeseheads in a NASCAR World
Sara Eltantawi
To
Wear the Hijab or Not
Bruce Anderson
Kevin
Cooper and the Midnight Needle
Elaine Cassel
Feds
on Campus: the Drake Subpoenas
Rahul Mahajan
Bush,
Is the Tide Finally Turning?
Kevin Cooper
The Ritual of Death
Stan Cox
Goodbye, Howard Dean
Larry David
My War
Steve Perry
Bush and the Guard: the Cover-Up's the Thing
Website of the Day
Prison Patriots: Help This Vital Film Get Made
Hot Stories
Alexander Cockburn
Behold,
the Head of a Neo-Con!
Subcomandante Marcos
The
Death Train of the WTO
Norman Finkelstein
Hitchens
as Model Apostate
Steve Niva
Israel's
Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings?
Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams
CounterPunch Exclusive:
20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians
Steve
J.B.
Prison Bitch
Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber
True Lies: the Use of Propaganda
in the Iraq War
Wendell
Berry
Small Destructions Add Up
CounterPunch
Wire
WMD: Who Said What When
Cindy
Corrie
A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter
I Can't Hear From
Gore Vidal
The
Erosion of the American Dream
Francis Boyle
Impeach
Bush: A Draft Resolution
Click Here
for More Stories.
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March
1, 2004
Thanking McNamara?
Oscar's
Obituary
By RICHARD OXMAN
I knew it the moment I saw Michael Moore crushed
underfoot by a huge monster. Or was it a dinosaur? The action
was so fast-paced, I honestly can't remember what it was that
shut him up in mid-speech. But what I do remember is that he
allowed Hollywood to bury his anti-Bush banter/blather of 2003.
In allowing Oscar to ridicule his remarks during its prelude
to this year's presentations (by taking part in a filmed montage),
he joined hands with reactionary forces in La La Land to move
in lockstep with our sitting / squatting / snotting-on-the-world
president. At that early point, I knew the whole show --in spite
of our simultaneous stripping of Aristide-- was slated to be
a Patriotic Parade.
Psst. If you want a hot tip for next
year, take note. If the Statue of Liberty doesn't go down during
the interim and/or if enough NYC subway cars aren't sufficiently
contaminated this year, I'd say Oscars #77 is a prime candidate
for being selected as the setting for Charnel House 2005. And
that's whether or not Bush, Kerry or Nader is calling the shots.
Central Cast(ket)ing might very well choose Stephen King to
host if they had a clue about the Nightmare Before 2006.
The clean sweep pulled off by "Lord
of the Rings" doesn't bode well. To quote Leilla Matsui
("Dances With Crucifixes"),
its installments "cast good and evil in spectacular race-based
terms." Hollywood is truly Mover and Shaker for what Ward
Churchill has referred to as "Fantasies of the Master Race."
And those wanting to deal another stunning blow to this so-called
civilization of ours could do a lot worse than sending the whole
Cast and Crew to the cemetery overnight. I mean, if you agree
that the symbolic value/real impact of WTC #2 could not be outdone,
what about the devastation to be wrought from eliminating all
those sources of distraction in the blink of an evil eye? Imagine
Princess Diana's bones times a thousand. Conjure up the limbs
of so many luminaries lying around for the most macabre of photo
ops. Dwell for a moment on the blow it would be to the national
psyche.
How could they hate our moviemakers so,
you ask? What's wrong here?...
*I must interrupt myself here to make
absolutely certain that the reader understands that the two
paragraphs above are neither wishful thinking nor hyperbole.
I am using the words above for the same reason that I would
choose to show the body bags coming home from Iraq, and provide
the John Pilger "collateral damage" footage that some
Europeans have had access to of late.
"Two Soldiers" won in the Live
Action Short Film category. It was described as a work which
focuses on "an unprovoked attack on the U.S." The
U.S. has never been attacked without provocation, has it? Even
the most common suspect of Pearl Harbor was put to bed long
ago by "Day of Deceit." Of course, one too many Ben
Affleck flicks will make this impossible for a given person
to understand.
Sasheen Little Feather, the Native American
woman who refused Brando's award for him in the seventies, was
denigrated by host Billy Crystal when he invoked her name,
picturing her in the negative light of a casino saying, "Hit
me, double down."
Saddam Hussein? Easy target here for
Billy Boy. His favorite movie this year? "Holes."
"And he can stay there," added an arrogant B.C.
And speaking of holes, Best Documentary
"The Fog of War" brought Director Errol Morris to
the podium...where he actually thanked Robert McNamara. His feeble
anti-war gesture about how we're about to go down a rabbit hole
because of our activity overseas was made heavy hay of by Host
Billy immediately following the director's departure. "I
can't wait for his tax audit," joked the comedian. "We're
all going down the rabbit hole together," he continued,
making light of Morris' attempt to criticize the Powers. And
in case anyone missed his previous point about the reach of
government agencies, Billy underscored the thrust of his remark
with "Scary times!".
Regardless of the above, the fact that
the Academy so ignorantly chose to honor Morris film is a sign
of great disease in the nation. All of McNamara's World Bank
sins (which far exceed his abominations related to the Vietnam
War) are completely omitted. Those interested in details should
see Alexander Cockburn's piece on the film at <www.counterpunch.org>.
Sean Penn snuck in a single reference
to WMDs early in his acceptance speech, but it only served to
leave the question of should we or shouldn't we have on the
shelf of doubt, and open to academic debate.
Tim Robbins wore a peace button on his
lapel. When he spoke he addressed the dilemma faced by those
who are abused, in keeping with the role he played in Eastwood's
"Mystic River." But, oddly, he only directed his remarks
to the victims, giving them injunctions to obey; he had no advice
for the perpetrators of crimes against children. Once again,
the Church --which has done more, arguably, to promote war
in the world than any other single institution-- got off scot
free. And there was total silence --the greatest sin of omission--
respecting the role that ex-military people play in such realms.
The impact of war on all of us was allowed to go unmentioned.
This, while the horror in Haiti and all else elsewhere ensues.
It is too much for tears.
Yes, the priveleged will pay dearly.
Those who would sit in the dark and be distracted by drama,
and not be annoyed by atrocities in the real world, will have
their black day.
Gregory Peck, one of my favorites, was
honored somewhat. His dignity, decency and grace were noted
as admirable qualities. Would that that all applied to more
in the industry these days. But things are moving in a different
direction.
One evening in the heat of a 1936 summer,
a guest at the home of Helen Hayes and her husband, playwright
Charles MacArthur, stumbled as he entered their home in Nyack,
New York. Helen was standing in their doorway greeting everyone
when the guest landed, embarrased, at her feet. At that moment,
he came face to face with one of her Oscars; it was being used
as a doorstop. That's how most of the world feels it is being
used by us.
I don't know how many viewers noticed
the giant Oscar that loomed to the left of the three others
which were placed at center stage, but its head appeared to
be emerging through a specially-cut hole in the fake ceiling.
Head too big for its circumstances? Well, there are real ceilings
when it comes to the environment, militarism and all else, but
you'd never know it --would you?-- watching our fantasy figures.
Why, it's like being in the movies.
I enjoy films as much as anyone, probably
much more than most on a deep level. And I have great respect
for those who create the beauty on celluloid. However, the day
is long past when Hollywood will be able to continue compounding
ignorance with ignorance with no accountability. Of course
some good is done, and intentions are often on the mark, in
the midst of all the real murder and mayhem. But, essentially,
the vast majority are selling capitalist, pigsty product and
selling themselves in the process. And the whores of Hollywood,
I'm afraid, will not be able to make grand entrances much longer.
Richard Oxman
is a former Professor of Cinema History and a former New York
City taxi driver. He currently resides in so-called progressive
Santa Cruz, California, and can be reached at mail@onedancesummit.org.
Weekend
Edition Features for February 28 / 29, 2004
Stephen Green
Serving
Two Flags: Neo-Cons, Israel and the Bush Team
Gary Leupp
Another Senseless Bush Battle: Defining and Protecting Marriage
William A. Cook
Israel:
America's Albatross
Ron Jacobs
Kucinich: Good Fight; Wrong Battlefield
Ben Tripp
A Nosegay of Posies: Queer Weddings at Last!
Leilla Matsui
Dances with Crucifixes
Mike Whitney
Dismantle
the Military Goliath
Yoel Marcus
Down and Out in the Hague
Uri Avnery
The Dancing Bear
Linda S. Heard
Britons and Americans Condemned to a Hobson's Choice
Al Krebs
Unmasking a Secret American Empire: Land, Water & Cotton
Stan Cox
Life (Pat. Pend.): Genetic Commandeering
JG
The Haiti Boomerang: "After The Looting & Pillaging,
Your Hunger Will Remain"
Rick Giombetti
Censorship at the Seattle P-I on Forced Psychiatry
Keith Hoeller
The Bankruptcy of Mental Health Insurance Parity
Dave Zirin
Colorado Football: Buffalo Swill
NADERAMA
Alan Maass
Nader and the Politics of Lesser
Evils
Michael Donnelly
Regime
Rotation: Anybody But Bush...Again?
Niranjan Ramakrishnan
Exeunt Serenaders; Enter Nader
Doug Giebel
So Nader's Running? Get Over It
Bruce Jackson
An Open Letter to Naderites
CounterPunch Wire
Stalinists for Kerry! and Other Roars from the Crowd
Poets' Basement
Davies, Scarr, Kearney & Albert
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