When pundits name-check “the welfare-warfare state,” we usually mean, and are usually understood to mean, something along the lines of “bread and circuses at home, military adventurism abroad.” That’s as good a definition as any, I suppose, and certainly an accurate...
About That ‘Foreign Money’
Syria: Let’s You and Him Fight
The usual suspects are at it again -- doing their damnedest to escalate a war they have no intention of either fighting in or paying for themselves, and to involve you in it. US Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Joe Lieberman (of the "Connecticut for...
Syria: There Are No ‘Good Guys’
Well, OK, yes, there are some “good guys” in Syria: People trying to live their lives in the midst of civil war, doctors treating the wounded, and, yes, almost certainly some who are genuinely fighting for freedom. But neither of the two sides of that civil war are...
If You Have to Ask Why, the Answer is Usually ‘Money’
One major problem with writing political commentary is that it's often difficult look at something that seems … well, crazy … and find a rational explanation for it. It's easier to just write off what looks like craziness as craziness and move on. But in the real...
Manning Prosecutors: The Enemy is Us
Having held Private First Class Bradley Manning prisoner for nine months, under conditions tantamount to torture and beyond doubt intended to break his will, the US Army recombobulated its allegations against him on Wednesday, adding 22 counts to an already lengthy...
Let My People Go
As I write this, the Egyptian state seemingly totters on the brink of collapse. One last push from what appears to be a genuine, spontaneous popular uprising may be all it takes to send “president for life” Hosni Mubarak into exile or to a wall with (perhaps) a...
If This Be Treason…
Iraq: The Never-Ending Story
The Valley of the Shadow of WikiLeaks
Leave it to the U.S. Department of “Defense” to continue fighting a war it's already irretrievably lost. On Friday, the Pentagon “asked” online whistleblowing facilitator WikiLeaks to “do the right thing” by erasing all classified U.S. government documents from its...


