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AP photo / David Furst, pool
By Chris Hedges —
The Gilbert and Sullivan charade of statesmanship played out by George W. Bush and his enabler, Condoleezza Rice, as they wander the Middle East is a fitting end to seven years of misrule.
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This video makes the case that Democrats should do everything in their power to keep Mitt Romney, and his millions in negative campaign ads, in the race.
Confused by all the conflicting messages about Iran’s actual threat to the U.S. and, on a broader scale, to global security? It’s no wonder, given the sturm und drang coming from the Bush administration. Now, thankfully, former weapons inspector and Truthdig contributor Scott Ritter makes sense of the situation in this video of a still timely talk he gave in July.
CNN’s ubiquitous anchor Wolf Blitzer point-blanked Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney last weekend about what exactly constitutes torture and whether techniques like waterboarding are ever defensible, but Romney deferred to the popular national security rationale, implying that in “ticking time bomb” circumstances, a president may elect to use certain unpopular techniques.
Ronald Reagan may be dead, but he’s running for president. At least he might as well be, given the nonstop competition among Republican candidates, captured here, to worship him.
After an uncharacteristic moment of empathy for the left, Stephen Colbert reminds us that there are other newsworthy events besides the primaries: The world is full of other countries—which, it turns out, are also obsessing about the U.S. primaries.
The BBC takes a look at the documentary “No End in Sight,” which features Bush administration insiders who offer a behind-the-scenes look at the incompetent invasion and occupation of Iraq.
When Barack Obama first started running for the White House, Fox News tried to paint him with the terrorism brush. Rather than play games with the network, the Obama campaign simply blackballed Fox. Robert Greenwald’s “Fox Attacks” brings us up to date after Bill O’Reilly’s manhandling of an Obama staffer last weekend.
After a (seemingly endless) hiatus, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are back on Comedy Central, even as striking writers continue to picket outside the network’s mothership. Here, “Daily Show” correspondent John Oliver endures a heated confrontation with ... himself, actually, as he covers the strikers outside the show’s studio.
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It’s surprising this didn’t happen earlier: Multimedia mogul Oprah Winfrey is launching a television network, simply and logically called the Oprah Winfrey Network, in conjunction with Discovery Communications. Oprahphiles can look forward to a 2009 launching for OWN, which Winfrey calls “a natural extension of my show.”
By Doug Henwood —
Just how sick is the U.S. economy? Just how deep is the divide between the super-rich and the rest of us? Just how bad would a meltdown of our political economy be? And what, if anything, can be done about it?
With top-tier talent unwilling to cross picket lines for the sake of a gala awards ceremony, the folks who put together the Golden Globes (the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, NBC and Dick Clark Productions) scrambled to work around the whole no-actors-showing-up issue but had to settle for a newscast announcing the winners.
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By Chris Hedges —
Truthdig columnist Chris Hedges sits down with Dennis Kucinich to get his thoughts on the campaign, corporate America, the state of our democracy and more.
By Scott Ritter —
The Truthdig columnist (and WMD expert) warns that war with Iran could be inevitable, despite the National Intelligence Estimate report that says Iran dismantled its nuclear program in 2003. Bush, Ritter argues, doesn’t let facts get in the way of what he wants.
By James Harris —
The “Game of Shadows” co-author shares his thoughts on Barry Bonds’ legal woes, the impact of steroids on sports and how Nancy Pelosi helped to keep him (Williams) out of jail.
James Harris and Josh Scheer —
"Spying Blind” author Amy Zegart gives Truthdig a status report on America’s intelligence agencies and explains why our intelligence system is so broken and why our democracy may be to blame.
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By Gore Vidal —
Building on his “President Jonah” theme, Gore Vidal offers another angle on Bush’s presidency, illuminated by the recent spate of wildfires in Southern California.
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By The Rev. Madison Shockley —
Barack Obama represents not just a bridge between America’s various cultural, racial and spiritual communities. According to Madison Shockley, the eminently qualified Sen. Obama holds out the promise of a much-needed healing for America by “just standing there allowing us to say ‘Yes’ to him.”
By E.J. Dionne —
The turmoil in the Republican presidential contest, which seems to produce a new front-runner every month, owes to President Bush’s unpopularity and the fact that even members of his own party want to turn the page on the last seven years.
By Eugene Robinson —
It turns out that Toni Morrison’s famous line about Bill Clinton as “our first black president” was just a bon mot. If the Clintons took it as a sign of African-Americans’ unconditional fealty, they were mistaken.
By Marie Cocco —
With the economy teetering on recession, there’s a way out of the usual political impasse, if the politicians want to find it.
By Bill Boyarsky —
Hopefully, the results of the New Hampshire primary will eliminate the words hope and change from his presidential campaign. Maybe I am too cynical or too old or too disillusioned from being burned by past failed crusades. But words and elevated oratory are not enough for me.
By Andy Borowitz —
The humorist looks into his crystal ball and tells us what to expect from the candidates, George W. Bush and even Monica Lewinsky.
By Eugene Robinson —
Pollsters and pundits were quick to discount race and the so-called Bradley effect as factors in Barack Obama’s narrow loss to Hillary Clinton in the New Hampshire primary. Given that the same pollsters and pundits (OK, me too) were so wrong about the outcome, I think we ought to take a closer look.
By David Sirota —
This real-life regular guy is forthrightly emphasizing the issue of class in America—which makes the Establishment mighty uncomfortable but invigorates the presidential campaign.
By Marie Cocco —
If there’s a reason women came out to support Hillary in New Hampshire, it might be the unabashed sexism she has had to endure.
By Robert Scheer —
Hillary Clinton, and now Gloria Steinem, have chosen to play the women’s card against the race card. Let me throw in a third one: Neither of those issues trumps that of economic class in considering the traumas of this nation.
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Mitt Romney has captured a crucial victory in Michigan. He had desperately needed to win in a big state. The outcome of the latest primary means Republicans have three proven candidates in contention for the nomination.
Rep. Dennis Kucinich just can’t catch a break in Nevada. First NBC invited him to its debate there, then told him to stay away. A court intervened and said he could appear, but then just an hour before the event, the Nevada Supreme Court decided that NBC could bar Kucinich.
Lebanon is going through a particularly volatile period because of internal politics, and President Bush’s Mideast visit has apparently caused further turmoil. A car bomb aimed at an American Embassy vehicle in Beirut on Tuesday killed four Lebanese in the city’s northern Doura region and injured six more, according to the BBC.
As President Bush continues to issue stern warnings to Iran about its current threat level, some key questions persist about the alleged confrontation between American and Iranian vessels in the Strait of Hormuz early Jan. 6—not the least of which has to do with the U.S. Navy’s claim that the American ships were in international waters at the time of the incident.
Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney is engaged in a make-or-break contest in Michigan, and his eleventh-hour mailers to supporters are striking an urgent note, as evidenced by this recent swipe at rivals John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee over their stands on immigration.
You know the economy is in trouble when investors and analysts are relieved that Citigroup lost only $9.83 billion in the last quarter of 2007. The banking giant managed to squeeze a few billion out of Abu Dhabi and Singapore, and will still pay a dividend on its stock, so for now the mood is upbeat.
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Why Romney Is Good for Democrats
