The false hope of a long rope
In my daily conversations with ordinary people, I've discovered that many don't know how much a billion or a trillion dollars is. It means the same thing to them as a gazillion. So they don't begin to understand the stimulus package that is promising to inject $789 billion into the economy, nor what kind of impact it is supposed to...
Why Steve Rosen is suing AIPAC
April 11th, 20090 On March 2, former American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) foreign policy chief Steve Rosen filed a civil lawsuit in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. Rosen accuses his former employer, directors, and outside public relations firm of libel and slander. Rosen seeks damages of $5 million from AIPAC and punitive...
FINAL FOUR PREDICTIONS
April 4th, 20090 Michigan State guard Korie Lucious cuts down part of the net after the Spartans defeated the Louisville Cardinals during their NCAA men's Midwest Regional finals basketball game in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 29, 2009. REUTERS/Jeff Haynes Michigan State (30-6 record) vs. Connecticut (31-4) 6:07 p.m. Saturday Not many people...Obama’s stance toward Iran is the same as Bush’s
President Bush leaves the White House for the last time as president with Barack Obama on the way to the swearing in of the 44th president on Jan. 20. By brushing aside the official government of Iran last week, President Obama...U.S. Muslim coalition considers suspending relations with FBI
WASHINGTON — A coalition of major national Muslim organizations this week announced that it is considering suspending outreach relations with the FBI, citing recent incidents in which American mosques and Muslim groups have been targeted. In a statement, the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights and Elections (AMT),...Israeli policy gives Jews a bad name
Most Jews I know get little pleasure from the existence of Israel; just the opposite. They feel disgusted by the behavior of their tribal kin toward Palestinians. This antipathy doesn't concern Israel's right to exist, a phony argument still maintained by hard line Zionists. Israel exists, period. Most of the world recognizes that....
Video: Arab culture celebrated in nation’s capital
March 7th, 20090 Last Friday, the "Weekend" section of the Washington Post featured a cover story on "Arabesque: Art of the Arab World," the Kennedy Center's three-week-long festival of Arab arts and culture. There is no better way to begin a reflection on the program, than to quote the opening lines of the marvelous "Weekend" review by Ellen McCarthy....Divestment from the Israeli occupation of Palestine
A coalition of Columbia University students released a series of demands this week that clearly and forcefully lay the groundwork for the divestment of the University's endowment funds from those corporations currently profiting from the illegal occupation of Palestine. This step is long overdue. The recent assault on the...Memo to Obama: Urgent action needed in Mideast
We do not know what special envoy George Mitchell told President Barack Obama after his tour of the Middle East. But here is what I hope he is telling the president now. "Mr. President, unfortunately I do not have good news. It is easy to misjudge Israel. It is indeed a country that thrives in certain respects, but politically it has...Obama not likely to change Mideast policy
Almost a thousand Palestinian civilians were dead from Israel's recent Blitz on Gaza before Barack Obama interrupted his mantra, that there's only one president at a time, to bemoan what he called a tragedy for both sides. Israel suffered civilian losses, too, after all. Three to be exact. And if Obama, the consummate underdog, didn't...Will Obama break the law for Israel’s sake?
U.S. President Barack Obama answers a question from Hearst columnist Helen Thomas (L) during his first news conference as president in the East Room of the White House in Washington, February 9, 2009. REUTERS/Jason Reed Since entering office, President Barack Obama has promised sweeping changes in three aspects of governance:...How Israel’s propaganda machine works
As in past Mideast conflicts, both the media story line and political commentary here in the U.S. has closely followed Israel's talking points on the war. This has been an essential component in Israel's early success and in its ability to prolong fighting without U.S. pushback. Because it recognizes the importance of the propaganda war,...
Pro-Israel pardons and leniency too costly to continue
January 17th, 20090 Palestinians mourn in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, after their relative was killed during Israel's offensive January 14, 2009. International efforts to stop the Gaza war intensified on Wednesday and Israel pressed its demand that Hamas not be allowed to rearm under a ceasefire, sending warplanes to drop bunker-busting...Improving the United States’ image in the Middle East
Concern about the United States's image in the Middle East is not simply a frothy concern about being liked, because the United States's image is crucial to its soft power. When the United States is unpopular in the region, it is more difficult for governments there to cooperate with it and it becomes politically rewarding for leaders to...Will Obama end pay-to-play in Mideast policy?
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich The incoming Obama administration is scrambling to distance itself from the scandal emanating from the president-elect's home state. It is still too early to tell how much Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's alleged attempt to sell the president-elect's Senate seat in exchange for $1 million may taint......
Economy, ecology go hand-in-hand
Imagine a world that employs logic, knowledge, science and common sense to face the challenges of global warming, which is threatening to bring famine and disaster in biblical proportions. Imagine a world without the Federal Reserve. The world is so focused on dealing with the financial collapse caused by the flawed design of the...JFK episode suggests Obama’s Iraq plan at risk
WASHINGTON (IPS) — The decision by President-elect Barack Obama to keep Robert M. Gates on as defense secretary has touched off a debate over whether Obama can pursue his commitment to rapid withdrawal from Iraq even though Gates has defended George W. Bush's surge policy and opposed Obama's 16-month timetable for...Dems owe Carter an apology
Carter's controversial views on Israel cost him a place on the podium at the Democratic Party convention Jimmy CarterNow that the season of electoral expediency is over, Barack Obama owes Jimmy Carter an apology. At the Democratic National Convention in Denver, the Party denied Jimmy Carter the traditional invitation to...It’s time to end the Fed
The wild fires raging in California no doubt have the finger prints of arson, as did the wildfires that preceded them. A person who is facing foreclosure figures instead of burning his own house and risk being convicted of insurance fraud, he lights up a nearby dry brush, and nature does the rest. The same scenario is taking place in......
Obama’s Attorney General pick encouraging to Arabs, Muslims and all Americans
Despite the failures on all fronts of the Bush administration, nothing will stigmatize the legacy of the outgoing president and his party more than the un-American assault on civil liberties and the unjustified stigmatization and isolation of Arab Americans and American Muslims. Eric Holder, former Deputy Attorney General at the...
The problem with keeping Gates
November 22nd, 20080 Press reports say Barack Obama may retain George W. Bush's Defense Secretary Robert Gates as a gesture to war-time continuity, bipartisanship and respect for the Washington insider community, which has embraced Gates as something of a new Wise Man. However, if Obama does keep Gates on, the new President will be employing someone who......
Have we been conned again?
If the change President-elect Obama has promised includes a halt to America's wars of aggression and an end to the rip-off of taxpayers by powerful financial interests, what explains Obama's choice of foreign and economic policy advisors? Indeed, Obama's selection of Rahm Israel Emanuel as White House chief of staff is a signal that...You can stop the foreclosures
It was always happening to them, not us. Hurricanes, tornadoes, factory closings and foreclosures. We paid attention but didn't really care. People who had their sights on retirement have seen their life savings disappear right in front of their eyes, and people who worked for the Big Three, and felt secure, are now running in panic.......
