Category: Uncategorized

In spite of my natural inclination to say something in response to some of the ominous developments in the wake of Katrina, I’m going to hold my tongue until Monday. I haven’t had a real vacation in years, and this is an opportunity to survey the terrain, collect my thoughts, and return on Wednesday with … Continue reading “A Death Threat”

"What are words for, when no one listens anymore?" – Missing Persons Michael Ignatieff is, by almost any measure, much smarter than the average bear. I am likely to be one of those bears, as are you. Dr. Ignatieff, in fact, is a well-regarded professor of "human rights" at Harvard’s School of Government. Despite his … Continue reading “Thomas Jefferson, Warmonger?”

Impeachee Bill Clinton probably wishes he’d never met Monica. George Bush may rue the day he met Katrina. Why? Because at a time when Louisiana and Mississippi National Guardsmen were desperately needed in their home states to do the job they were trained to do – to mitigate the consequences of an unprecedented natural disaster … Continue reading “Now Comes Katrina”

The man in the Oval Office is fond of condemning "killers." But his administration continues to kill with impunity. "They can go into Iraq and do this and do that," Martha Madden, former secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, said Thursday, "but they can’t drop some food on Canal Street in New Orleans, … Continue reading “Ending the Impunity of the Bush White House”

ARBIL – Despite the signing of a draft constitution by the Iraqi constitutional panel comprising mainly Shi’ite and Kurdish leaders, Sunnis are still seeking amendments to the text. Iraqi leaders agreed to a common text Sunday, but did not send it to parliament for ratification. They said it would be put to referendum directly Oct. … Continue reading “Sunnis Hard to Include, Harder to Leave Out”

In the "old days" of the U.S. peace movement, when many people focused on the threat of a global nuclear "exchange" an organization called Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) postulated what would happen if a major American city was actually blasted by an atomic bomb. The doctors described utterly horrific scenarios extending far beyond the … Continue reading “Waiting for the Outside World”

Cindy Sheehan’s valorous work at Crawford has not only set off the beginning of a new antiwar movement, but has revealed a deep chasm in American society.  Not a single important Democratic leader traveled to Crawford to support Cindy Sheehan (unless you count Al Sharpton).  Failing to fulfill their role as the opposition, the Democrats … Continue reading “The Bipartisan Consensus”

It is important to be responsible in discussing the aftermath of what seems to be developing into the worst, most destructive national disaster in this nation’s history. There is a human tendency to fix blame, and in the political arena to fix blame on one’s political opponents, even if it takes a lot of stretching. … Continue reading “Making Disasters Worse”

Holed up on the tenth floor of a building in downtown New Orleans, one Michael Barnett, a former Special Forces soldier who works for the domain registrar Directnic.com, sends out this distress signal: “In case anyone in national security is reading this, get the word to President Bush that we need the military in here … Continue reading “Katrina, Iraq, and the
Know-It-All Syndrome”

With state, local, and federal officials still grappling with the extent of the devastation and human suffering inflicted by Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans and points east, suggestions that the already plunging political standing of President George W. Bush could also be a major casualty of the disaster have begun taking hold. While few observers … Continue reading “Iraq War Splurge Hits Home at 150 MPH”