Elizabeth de la Vega calls for prosecution and possible
impeachment of President Bush for conspiracy to defraud the nation,
Christian Parenti reports on the situation in Kurdistan and
Stephen Holmes reviews books exploring the moral reasoning of
liberals who support the Iraq War.
Elizabeth de la Vega:
The Bush Administration should be prosecuted for conspiracy to defraud
the United States by using half-truths and recklessly false statements
to lead the country into an illegal war. This article is a
collaboration with TomDispatch.com.
Christian Parenti:
The Kurds have almost no natural resources and suffer from a culture of
corruption. But their call for autonomy is a serious threat to the
building of a united Iraq.
Dave Zirin:
Strip-mining the Dominican Republic for talent, Major League Baseball
periodically plucks one lucky boy from his home and family and gives
him a dream for a better life. But what happens the other 99 left
behind in "baseball factories," still hoping?
Hilary Wainwright:
Luis Inacio Lula da Silva came into power in 2002 on a wave of populist
support for an era of socialist politics and participatory democracy.
But da Silva has offered the people of Brazil a corrupt leadership
instead.
Scott Sherman:
An exhibit at the International Center of Photography
showcasing the brutal images of the civil war in El Salvador should
remind the Pentagon and the public that the "Salvador Option" currently
considered by the military leads directly to the charnel house.
:
The deceit and misinformation evidenced in the CIA leak scandal is
poison to an open society. We need a tough investigation of how the
American people were misled on the Iraq war, a more skeptical media
and real leadership from Democrats.
Eyal Press:
Bush's lavish subsidies and reckless attempts to export democracy
through the barrel of a gun violate conservative principles. Republican
realists are finally catching on.
Tariq Ali:
The Pakistan earthquake has left 3.3 million people homeless--far more
than the tsunami. But suffering Pakistanis are either being preyed upon
by Islamist groups or ignored by the uniformed establishment--with no
sign of recovery.
Victor Navasky:
On both sides of the Atlantic, liberal news magazines facing declining
circulation have started to play into the celebrity culture. But there
are gems that have the power to carry our culture through its Las
Vegas-ization.
David Sirota:
The attempt to fashion a distinct Democratic identity was temporarily
halted when Elaine Kamarck and William Galston published a self-serving
call for Democrats to move to the "center." But nearly every Senate
Democrat voted for a raise in the minimum wage, a clear move exclusive
to the party.
Stephen Holmes:Power and the Idealists clings to the notion that the Iraq War was
waged for humanitarian ideals, while At the Point of a Gun
documents the inner torment of humanitarian interventionists who,
without forgetting Rwanda and Bosnia, have gazed into the Iraqi abyss.
Pankaj Mishra:
By writing a novel about a conventional novelist writing about a
conventional man, J.M. Coetzee's latest work illuminates the role of
the novel and cuts through typical and tired theories on fiction.
Alexander Cockburn:
On Capitol Hill there's open warfare among various factions of the
Republican Party. With midterm elections looming and Bush's approval
ratings tumbling, the collapse of discipline will only accelerate amid
the general panic.
Katha Pollitt:
As the backlash against women gets daily more open and absurd, our
real-life female politicians seem paralyzed. It's up to television now:
Run, Geena, run!
Liliana Segura:
In a landmark ruling, Colombia's Constitutional Court has allowed
President Alvaro Uribe to seek a second term.
That's good news for the Bush Administration, which considers Uribe a
staunch ally. But others in Colombia are not so sure.
John Nichols:
Senate minority leader Harry Reid forced Republicans into a closed-door
session Tuesday to examine the Administration's use and misuse of
intelligence on Iraq. Could Democrats finally be acting like an opposition party?
Nicholas von Hoffman:
Interest rates nosed higher today as the Federal Reserve Board
sought to control inflation. But the impact of runaway inflation is
already being felt by workers whose wages will stagnate and whose
earning power is on a steep decline.
Morton Mintz:
Questions for Supreme Court nominee Samuel A. Alito Jr.: What are the
rights of an individual before the law? Are these rights any
different from what Alito views as the rights of a corporation?
Robert Scheer:
Reporters like Judith Miller who fought to avoid testifying in the CIA
leak case were knowing accomplices in the White House's attempt to
punish a whistle-blower. By failing to report the truth, they bear
responsibility for leading us into an illegal war.
David Corn:
If the nomination of Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court becomes the
titanic battle that both sides in the judicial wars have been
anticipating for years, Democrats must create a new playbook. If they
stick to the same old strategies, they could end up wishing that
Harriet Miers had fared better.
David Corn:
The indictment of I. Lewis Libby indictment casts Vice President Dick
Cheney in a key role in the CIA leak investigation: It suggests Cheney
had reason to suspect Valerie Wilson was a covert officer.
Bruce Shapiro:
What have Bush and his allies learned from this sorry
epidode? Intellectual substance matters. Executive privilege is not
absolute. Roe v. Wade is a bear trap for the GOP.
Iraq is a nation on fire, a conflagration of America's making that threatens to consume everything the nation stands for. How did we get there? How do we get out? Can we get out?