The year was 1955, the dawn of the cold war, and an old prophet was writing what would be his last book. It was a volume of history – The American Story, he called it – in which he reviewed the cavalcade of twists and turns that had brought us to that moment when we...
Originally posted at TomDispatch.Let’s start with the basics. In an era when the U.S. seemed to have no great power rivals on the horizon, its national security state was expanded to monstrous proportions and given the "right" to commit acts ranging from...
Zionism was a revolutionary idea. It proposed that the "Jewish people" should create a new Jewish entity in the land of Palestine. The Zionist project was very successful indeed. By 1948 the embryo nation was strong enough to create a state. Israel was born....
Give The New York Times’ David Brooks credit for referring to the aesthetic trappings of American nationalism as "religion." Well, a civic religion, but a religion none the less. He’s right that is qualifies as one, even if he’s blissfully, happily accepting...
Oh, it was a very big deal, one of those Defining Moments our media likes to chortle over. There was Libertarian Party presidential candidate Gary Johnson on “Morning Joe” being interviewed by a panel of pundits including Mike Barnicle. “What,” asked Barnicle, “would...
With no end in sight for the war in Syria, the Obama administration continues to approach the conflict in a way that is prolonging the fighting. As it pursues its stated goal of removing the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad from power, the Obama administration is...
