home / subscribe / donate / about us / books / archives / search / links / feedback / events

Inside the New Print Edition of CounterPunch: a Special Double Issue on the US at War Encounters Outside Fort Sill: the Case of Camilo Mejia by David Smith-Ferri; A Marine's Time in Iraq: Jim Talib's Story: by Derek Seidman; The Marines or Jail: Take Your Pick Young Man by Ron Jacobs; Pie in the Sky: the Pentagon's Latest Star Wars Scam: by Jeffrey St. Clair; The Strategy of Tension in Bolivia by Forrest Hylton; How the Other Half Talks: HRC's War on Immigrants & Libertarians Debate Lincoln as War Criminal: by Alexander Cockburn. Remember these stories are available exclusively in the print edition of CounterPunch. CounterPunch Online is read by millions of viewers each month! But remember, we are funded solely by the subscribers to the print edition of CounterPunch. Please support this website by buying a subscription to our newsletter, which contains fresh material you won't find anywhere else, or by making a donation for the online edition. Remember contributions are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch Books a Holiday Gift They Won't Put Down! Call Toll Free 1-800-840-3683 or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558

How the Press & the CIA Killed Gary Webb's Career   Today's Stories January 1 / 2, 2005 Gary Leupp Meaning and Meaninglessness in the Tsunami December 31, 2004 Farrah Hassen The Palestinian Right of Return: a View from Syria Dave Lindorff US Air's Bold New Idea: Work for Your Boss for Free! George Capaccio Tsunami Hits Iraq Mike Whitney Iraq v. Tsunami: Media Duplicity Peter Phillips The Tsunami and the Corporate Media: Waves of Hypocrisy Christopher Deliso War and the Tsunami: Putting It in Perspective   December 30, 2004 Lila Rajiva Unnatural Disaster? Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Nuclear Testing Robert Fisk The Ghosts of Vietnam Roger Burbach Argentina v. the IMF Stan Cox 9/11 and 12/26: How to React Walter Brasch Bush and Tsunamis: Heartless in Crawford Christopher Brauchli Empire of the Misers Alexandra Spieldoch NAFTA Through a Gender Lens: "Free Trade" Pacts and Women Paul Kincaid Jameison Grief, Relief and the Stingy West Dan Bacher The Water Kings of California Paul Craig Roberts Unbecoming Conduct   December 29, 2004 Dave Lindorff Us, Stingy?: It's All Relative M. Shahid Alam America and Islam: Seeking Parallels Ronald D. Hoffman Tsunamis and Nuclear Power Plants Sam Bahour / Todd May Elections Without Democracy Fred Gardner Ricky Does 60 Minutes Ali Khan Who's Feeding the Bin Laden Legend? John Hansen Family Farms Are Being Fed to Corporate Sharks Sam Lewin How the Justice Department Continues to Screw the Sioux Richard Oxman As Time Goes By With Andy Goldsworthy Mickey Z. A Wave of Questions: Putting a Disaster in Context Website of the Day Banking While Muslim   December 28, 2004 Brian Cloughley The Chief Weirdo at the Pentagon: Rumsfeld Must Go Joshua Frank Privacy Piracy? What Howard Dean May Bring to the DNC Jessica Leight The Chilean Miracle: Less Than Meets the Eye Dave Lindorff A Shameful Response to Disaster John Walsh Disappearing the Anti-War Movement at the NYTs Dave Zirin The Death of Reggie White: an Off the Field Obituary Dr. Teresa Whitehurst Be Careful Not to Get Too Much Education: It's Happened to a Lot of Good Christians Ron Jacobs Iran 2004: The Resistance and the Western Anti-War Movement     December 27, 2004 M. Junaid Alam "Civilization v. Barbarism": an Interview with Noam Chomsky Michael Donnelly Greens and Greenbacks: How Nonprofit Careerism Derailed the "Revolution" Greg Moses Texas Election Scandal: Forty Faxes and a Whisper Toni Solo Colombia's Appalling Vista: Justice With Eyes Wide Open Brian Kwoba Blaming the Victims of the 2004 Elections Genna Goodman-Campbell Honduras Validates Its Banana Republic Status, Again Mike Whitney Disappearing Act: Fallujah and the Media Ari Shavit "Zionism Has Exhausted Itself": an Interview with Amos Elon Richard Oxman Reflections on a Handful of Activists Saul Landau James Cason's Cuban Delusions     December 25 / 26, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Yup, It's Moral Outrage Time Diane Christian The Christmas Christ Dr. Susan Block Faith-Based Sex Gary Leupp Rumsfeld, His Critics and the Draft Ron Jacobs Music in Wartime Elaine Cassel Articles I Didn't Write Jim Minick Beyond Organic Poets Basement Louise, Landau, Orloski, Albert and Collins     December 24, 2004 Diane Christian Winning: Rummy and John Milton Chad Nagle Ukraine's Real Underdog Saul Landau My Friend Richard Barnet Greg Moses Ramsey Muniz Speaks Joe DeRaymond The Endless War in Colombia: a View From Within Borzou Daragahi Iraq's Christians: Tolerated by Saddam; Targets Under Occupation Mike Whitney Rummy's Quagmire of Lies Francis A. Boyle O Little Town of Bethlehem: Another Christmas Under Occupation William Loren Katz Florida 1837: Christmas Eve Resistance to the First US Occupation     December 23, 2004 Chad Nagle Report from Kiev: Yushchenko's Not Quite Ready for Sainthood David Smith-Ferri The Real UN Disgrace in Iraq Bill Quigley Death Watch for Human Rights in Haiti Mickey Z. Crumbs from Our Table Christopher Brauchli Merck's Merry X-mas Greg Moses When No Law Means No Law Alan Singer An Encounter with Sen. Schumer: a Very Dangerous Democrat David Price Social Security Pump and Dump Website of the Day Gabbo Gets Laid   December 22, 2004 James Petras An Open Letter to Saramago: Nobel Laureate Suffers from a Bizarre Historical Amnesia Omar Barghouti The Case for Boycotting Israel Patrick Cockburn / Jeremy Redmond They Were Waiting on Chicken Tenders When the Rounds Hit Harry Browne Northern Ireland: No Postcards from the Edge Richard Oxman On the Seventh Column Kathleen Christison Imagining Palestine Website of the Day FBI Torture Memos     December 21, 2004 Greg Moses The New Zeus on the Block: Unplugging Al-Manar TV Dave Lindorff Losing It in America: Bunker of the Skittish Chad Nagle The View from Donetsk Dragon Pierces Truth* Concrete Colossus vs. the River Dragon: Dislocation and Three Gorges Dam Patrick Cockburn "Things Always Get Worse" Seth DeLong Aiding Oppression in Haiti Ahmad Faruqui Pakistan and the 9/11 Commission's Report Paul Craig Roberts America Locked Up: a System of Injustice     December 20, 2004 Gary Leupp Japan in Iraq Robert Fisk An Army Without Compassion Uri Avnery The Mountain and the Mouse Francisco Letelier My Case Against Pinochet Patrick Cockburn The Polls of Fear Bill Conroy Charles Bowden on the Legacy of Gary Webb: "He Drew Blood" Yoshie Furuhashi Chokeholds of a Giant: Attacking Wal-Mart's Supply Chain David Swanson Media Blackout of Bush's War on Labor Chad Nagle Did Yushchenko Poison Himself?     December 18 / 19, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Why They Hated Gary Webb Saul Landau Gen. Pinochet Should Also Face Charges in DC Patrick Cockburn Losing Mosul: Once They Called It a Model for the Occupation Douglas Valentine Wolves and Revolution in Venezuela: a Caracas Romance Ray McGovern Laughing Dragon, Dancing Bear: the New China / Russia Alliance Fred Gardner DEA Upholds Grower's Marijuana Monopoly Jean-Guy Allard Locked Up Naked in a Hole Within a Hole: Have the Cuban 5 Been Tortured in US Prisons? Ron Jacobs Drifters Escape, Again: Encounters with Berkeley's Police Raymond G. Helmick, S.J. The Law and Peace in the Middle East Sean Sellers Values Voters, Desperate Housewives and Sweatshop Tacos Lee Sustar Christmas on the Picket Line at CNH: "They Want to Break Our Unions" Richard Thieme Webb's Wife: "Gary Was Never the Same After They Attacked Him" Sam Bahour WANTED: Middle East Negotiator Joshua Frank The Spin Doctor: an Interview with Mickey Z. Dave Lindorff A Man Who Confers with God Should Have Good Hearing Stan Cox What Kids Cost: Dallas v. Delhi Chris Frasier Farming By Numbers: More Poets, Fewer MBAs Poets' Basement Katz, Melek, Harley, Albert and Ford     December 17, 2004 Cockburn / St. Clair CounterAttack: How the Press and the CIA Killed Gary Webb's Career Dave Lindorff Racism: Philly Style Dan Bacher Bush Abandons Salmon Restoration Marisa Jacott NAFTA and the Environment: Trade Still Runs Roughshod Francis Thicke How Now, Industrial Cow? Rupert Cornwell The Inuit Strike Back Website of the Day Franz Boas Unrolls Over in His Grave     December 16, 2004 Michael Neumann How We Became Barbarians Merlin Chowkwanyun An Interview with Ralph Nader Gabriel Espinoza Gonzales The Dubious Career of John Bolton Christopher Brauchli Louis Freeh's New Gig: Usurer Patrick Cockburn Allawi's Pre-Election Ploy: Putting "Chemical Ali" on Trial Mike Whitney Gearing Up for a Draft? Walter Brasch Hillbilly Humvees and Rumsfeld's New Physics Bill Conroy How Gary Webb Saved My Ass from the FBI Website of the Day Saturday Memorial for Gary Webb     December 15, 2004 Robert Fisk Who Killed Baha Mousa? Jennifer Van Bergen The Monster Under the Bed Heather Gray Will the Real Christians Please Stand?: a Personal Testimony Dave Lindorff The DNC, Albright and the Iraq Elections Luis Hernandez Navarro To Die a Little: Migration and Coffee in Mexico and Central America Joshua Frank The Ohio Recount: an Exercise in "Dumbocracy" Greg Moses Eighty-Sixing Civil Rights in Ohio? George Caffentzis The Petroleum Commons   December 14, 2004 Dave Lindorff DNC Meddling in the Ukraine Elections Larry Birns / Seth DeLong Haiti is Unraveling and No One is Saying Anything Richard Thieme My Last Talk with Gary Webb: "I Knew It Was the Truth and That's What Kept Me Going" Patrick Cockburn A Year After Saddam's Capture, Iraq is Getting Worse Chris Floyd Client State: Moral Values and Voluntary Servitude in Bush's America Akiva Eldar A One-time Hanukkah Miracle Burbach / Cantor The Legacy of Pinochet: Kissinger and the Teflon Tyrant     December 13, 2004 Cockburn / St. Clair Gary Webb: a Great Reporter, Trashed by the CIA's Claque David Phinney "Contract Meal Disaster" for Iraqi Prisoners: Rancid Food Sparked Abu Ghraib Riots Paul Craig Roberts A Dose of Non-Delusional Reality for Douglas Feith M. Junaid Alam The War is the War Crime Robert Jensen The US Has Lost the Iraq War...and That's a Good Thing Richard Oxman Kafkaesque Lessons for the Left Greg Moses Send No Messengers of Defeat Douglas Lummis The Pentagon's Neurosis: Fallujah Gulag   December 11 / 12, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Running an Empire on the Cheap Ron Jacobs The Drugs of War: Getting High in the Green Zone? Saul Landau Listening and Talking to God About Invading Other Countries Gary Leupp Bush's Capital Sharon Smith The Horrible Toll on US Troops Dave Lindorff Deja Vu All Over Again: 5,000 Desertions and Counting Uri Avnery The Boss Has Gone Crazy Jude Wanniski The Neo-Con Smear on Kofi Annan: What Food-for-Oil Scandal? Heather Gray How the South Became Republican: an Interview with John Egerton Patrick Cockburn / Ken Sengupta Fallujah: the Homecoming and the Homeless John Pilger Return to Kosovo: Calling the Humanitarian Bombers to Account Joshua Frank All the Rage: Mr. Solomon, Say You're Sorry Ben Tripp O Canada!: the Truth About the Election of 2004 John Stanton God Speaks! Laura Nathan Porn Stars are People, Too: a Talk with Christi Lake Poets' Basement Capaccio, Davies, Louise, Ford and Albert Website of the Day Fallujah Photos: Killed in Their Beds   December 10, 2004 Ralph Nader President Bush, Stop Destroying the Mosques of Iraq Greg Moses Whitewashing Voter Fraud Nicole Colson Rebellion in the Ranks: Grunts Are Resisting Stop-Loss Orders Frederick B. Hudson "They Still Got Those Dogs": A New Book Probes Old Civil Rights Lessons Patrick Cockburn Iraq's Insurgents Oppose the Occupation, Not the Elections Kathy Kelly From Haiti to Iraq: Burying Water     December 9, 2004 Greg Moses Ask Not Who Bankrolled Fallujah Joshua Frank Cobb and the Ohio Recount: Vote Fraud as Fundraiser! Ralph Nader An Open Letter to Bush: It's Time to Disclose the Real Casualty Figures Lee Sustar Bhopal: the Making of a Disaster Tom Barry Restrictionist Resurgence Mickey Z. Sander Hicks and the 9/11 Truth Movement Christopher Brauchli Bush in the Bubble Mark Donham Why are House Democrats Trying to Deny Cynthia McKinney Seniority? Gary Corseri On the Anniversary of John Lennon's Death, 2012 Paul de Rooij The Voices of Sharon's Little Helpers       December 8, 2004 Ralph Nader Will the Real Michael Moore Ever Re-Emerge? Ann Harrison The Ohio Recount: Reluctant Officials and Few Rules Paul Craig Roberts War Crime Dave Lindorff They've Got a Secret: Inside the $40 Billion Black Budget for Spying Patrick Cockburn / Andrew Buncombe CIA Warning on Iraq: Fallujah Did Not Break the Back of the Insurgency Col. Dan Smith Rules of Engagement in Iraq Emily Alves / Michael Johnson Paradise Lost: Corruption and Clientelism in Costa Rica Richard Oxman The Dylan Bob Wouldn't Mention: Up With Dylan Thomas Ron Jacobs In Fallujah, Freedom Isn't Free     December 7, 2004 Patrick Cockburn Running Battles in Baghdad Behrooz Ghamari Lost Muslim Voices of Dissent Dave Lindorff American Fantasies: Psst! Hey Buddy, Did You Hear How Well the War's Going? Joshua Frank Dean at the DNC? Richard Oxman Down with Dylan: the Insufferable Interview Ray McGovern All Mosquitoes, No Swamp John Chuckman The Invasion of Hallifax: The Imperial Wizard Visits Canada James Petras Latin America: the Empire Changes Gears Website of the Day ToxMap: Who's Poisoning You     December 6, 2004 Paul Craig Roberts Paranoia and Pre-emption: Is the Bush Administration Certifiable? December 4 / 6, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Politicize the CIA? You've Got to be Kidding Joe Bageant Dining with the Rhinos Alan Maass Reporting from the Ground in Iraq: an Interview with Patrick Cockburn Brian Cloughley Democracy, Bush-style, in the Gulf Laura Carlsen Latin America Shifts Left Lenni Brenner Jefferson, Madison, Bush and Religion Anna Ioakimedes Brazil's Haitian Mission: Doing God's Work or Washington's? Uri Avnery Widow of Opportunity? Fred Gardner Supreme Court Hears Medical Pot Case Dave Zirin Steroids to Heaven Jackie Corr Mining Camp Blues: the Red State Variation Don Fitz Will Greens Abandon IRV? Lucy Herschel "Art can be a Weapon of the Oppressed": an Interview with Artist Anthony Papa Richard Oxman No Angels in America: Bashing the Gay Play Ron Jacobs Holiday Greeting Card Poets' Basement Collins, Albert, LaMorticella   December 3, 2004 Dave Lindorff Lie Then Escalate Ben Tripp Fun With Boycotts: How to Shop in a Time of Crisis Joe Allen Murder in El Salvador: the Assassination of Teamster Organizer Gilberto Soto Matthew B. Riley Human Rights Court Fails Lori Berenson Meir Shalev In the End, It is the Violin that Wins Bob Wing The White Elephant in the Room: Race and Election 2004 Christopher Brauchli When McCain Bit His Tongue Sasan Fayazmanesh The EU, the US, Israel and Iran   December 2, 2004 Tito Tricot No Justice in Chile: I'm a Torture Survivor in a Country Where Torturers Still Run Free Behzad Yaghmaian The Murder of Theo Van Gogh and Muslim Migration Dr. Susan Block Lana and Me: Meetings with Remarkable Apes Frank / Chowkwanyun Liberalism and Its Bounds Lee Sustar Standoff in Ukraine: the Bad v. the Corrupt Patrick Cockburn Another Grim Record in Iraq Mark Engler Seattle at Five Michael Donnelly Something Stinks in South Bend: the Firing of Tyrone Willingham Nate Collins The Bay Area Mall on an Ohlone Burial Grounds Saul Landau The Assassination of Danilo Anderson   December 1, 2004 Phillip Cryan Associated with Whom? Rightist Bias in Wire Coverage of Colombia Dave Zirin What's the Matter with "Leon"?: Budweiser's Racist Commercial Ghali Hassan Iraq's Health Care Under the Occupation: 200 Children Die Every Day Donna J. Volatile Beware Western Nations Threatening "Democracy" Patrick Cockburn How Saddam Tried to Arm the Insurgency Nick Meo Chemical War Over Afghanistan Mike Ferner The Battle of Toledo Mokhiber / Weissman Shame and Determination on Global AIDS Day: 40 Million and Rising Kathy Kelly Looking the Other Way: the Real Crimes of the UN in Iraq   November 30, 2004 Jennifer Van Bergen The Veil of Secrecy Toni Nelson Herrera Meeting Kurtz: When Art is a Crime Paul Craig Roberts The Bush Delusions: Successful at Incompetence Patrick Cockburn The Insurgency Strikes Back: There Are No Safe Havens in Iraq Chuck Munson WTO Protests Five Years Later: Seattle Weekly Trashes Anti-Globalization Movement Adam Williams Citizenship Sold: Back to Business in Indiana Gregory Elich A Dangerous Turn in the US Plans for North Korea Website of the Day Read Lynne Cheney's Lesbian Novel Online!   November 29, 2004 Dave Lindorff Blowback in Ukraine: The Hand of the CIA? Omar Barghouti "The Pianist" of Palestine: Roadblock Concerto at Gunpoint Mike Whitney The US Media and Fallujah: How to Market a Siege Uri Avnery The Abu Mazen Style: "Give Me Some Credit!" Matt Vidal Globalization and Economic Inequality: a Look at the Numbers Patrick Cockburn An Interview with Iraq's Foreign Minister Alan Farago Sex Change and Salvation: God, Girly Men and Endocrine Disrupters Justin Huggler Bhopal 20 Years Later Antony Loewenstein How Australia Reported Arafat's Death and Legacy Gary Leupp Ukraine: Poll Results Aren't the Real Issue Website of the Day Mosul: Images from a Kill Zone     November 27 / 28, 2004 Peter Linebaugh Torture & Neo-Liberalism with Sycorax in Iraq Alexander Cockburn What Happened to O'Reilly's Loofa? Fred Gardner Ashcroft v. Raich: Medical Marijuana and the Supreme Court Kathy Kelly What We Can Control Diane Christian The Other Cheek: "Empire Doesn't Analyze, It Acts" Gary Leupp One More Neocon Target: South (Yes, South) Korea Lenni Brenner Equality and Rights of Return: Jefferson Instructs the New York Times Ron Jacobs Death Squads and Iraq's Elections: the Mysterious Murders of the AMS Clerics Joshua Frank An Interview with Kevin Zeese on Nader, Kerry and the ABB Crowd Toni Solo The Murder of Danilo Anderson Saul Landau Fallujah, the 21st Century Guernica JoAnn Wypijewski Matthew Shepard Case 6 Years Later: Why Hate Crimes Laws are No Cure for Homophobia Justin Taylor Empire's Lawless Opportunities Amos Harel The Case of Captain R. Walter A. Davis Tabloid Justice Stephen Hendricks God's Kind of Men Poets' Basement Albert, LaMorticella and Ford     November 26, 2004 Peter Feng Gavin Newsom: Man or Machine? Greg Moses It's the White Vote, Stupid Liaquat Ali Khan The Devil's Work: Bush's Minority Appointments Michael Mandel / Gail Davidson Why Bush Should Be Banned from Canada: a Memo to the Ministry of Immigration Dave Lindorff Nation of Sheep, Turkey of an Election: Urkrainians Show the Way Gary Corseri When Black Friday Comes... Paul Craig Roberts Whatever Happened to Conservatives? Website of the Day Iraq Pipeline Watch     November 25, 2004 Willliam Loren Katz Giving Thanks to Whom?: "Thanks to God We Sent 600 Heathen Souls to Hell Today" Mitchel Cohen Why I Hate Thanksgiving Mike Ferner An Uncommon Mom     November 24, 2004 Gila Svirsky License to Kill: the Example of Violence is Set by the State Winslow T. Wheeler The Other Mess in Congress Christopher Brauchli The Company He Keeps: the Syndicate of Tom Delay Dave Lindorff Double Standards on Exit Polls: Hypocrisy Sans Irony Ron Jacobs The Occupation of Iraq is the Root of t he Problem Ken Sengupta Witnesses: War Crimes in Fallujah Diana Barahona The Final Holocaust or Why I Voted for Ralph Nader John L. Hess Safire the Shameless Jason Leopold Did Harvard Hire (Another) War Criminal? Jeffrey St. Clair The Mark of McCain: the Senator Most Likely to Start a Nuclear War Map of the Day Now and Then: 2004 v. 1860   November 23, 2004 Forrest Hylton Bush and Uribe at the Beach         November 22, 2004 Dave Zirin Fight Night in the NBA: Selective Outrage in Detroit Paul Craig Roberts On to Iran: We Won't Get Fooled Again? Michael Mandel / Gail Davidson Why Bush Should be Banned from Canada Kathie Helmkamp Our Son: a Marine Who Won't Kill Ken Sengupta The Triangle of Death: "This is Now the Most Dangerous Place in Iraq" Mike Whitney Greenspan's Hammer Roger Burbach Why They Hate Bush in Chile Website of the Day Fed Up with Government Lies and Corporate Spin?     November 20 / 21, 2004 Alexander Cockburn The Poisoned Chalice Todd May Religion, the Election and the Politics of Fear Abbas Ahmed Ibrahim The Horrors of Fallujah: a First-Hand Account Kevin Zeese Mishandling Nader Landau / Hassen After Arafat Tom Barry The Vulcans Consolidate Power: The Rise of Stephen Hadley Fred Gardner Pot Shots: Ask Dr. Todd Justin E.H. Smith Triumph of the Will: the Sequel Carl Estabrook Where We Are Now Gary Leupp Imperial History-Making vs. Reality-Based Thought: a Dialogue Dave Lindorff Apocalypse Soon Jenna Michelle Liut Plans Colombia and Patriota: Wanton Wastes of Money, Manpower and Lives Mickey Z. The Granma Moses of Radical Writing: an Interview with William Blum Greg Moses The Same Old Struggle Against Imperial America Sharon Smith Abortion Rights and the Election: What Now? Ron Jacobs Sandwiches and Car Bombs Ben Tripp Raising d'Etre: Finding Money in Hollywood These Days Richard Oxman Basketbrawl Two Pointer: Iraq Rules! Gilad Atzmon Politics and Jazz Poets' Basement LaMorticella, Albert, Ford, & Anon. Website of the Day Voice of the Forest                                                     Hot Stories Alexander Cockburn Behold, the Head of a Neo-Con! Subcomandante Marcos The Death Train of the WTO Norman Finkelstein Hitchens as Model Apostate Steve Niva Israel's Assassination Policy: the Trigger for Suicide Bombings? Dardagan, Slobodo and Williams CounterPunch Exclusive: 20,000 Wounded Iraqi Civilians Steve J.B. Prison Bitch Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber True Lies: the Use of Propaganda in the Iraq War Wendell Berry Small Destructions Add Up CounterPunch Wire WMD: Who Said What When Cindy Corrie A Mother's Day Talk: the Daughter I Can't Hear From Gore Vidal The Erosion of the American Dream Francis Boyle Impeach Bush: A Draft Resolution Click Here for More Stories.     Subscribe Online

Weekend Edition January 1 / 2, 2005 On "Moral Values" Code Words for Emerging Authoritarian Tendencies in Americans By Rev. WILLIAM E. ALBERTS President Bush knowingly lied to the American people to gain their support for his administration's unnecessary pre-emptive war against Iraq: by falsely accusing Saddam Hussein of possessing "mushroom cloud" threatening weapons of mass destruction, and of being involved with Al Qaeda in the 9/11 attack against America. In spite of all the evidence refuting his basis for war, a majority of Americans voted to re-elect him president particularly because of his faith-based "moral values." During the presidential campaign, President Bush repeatedly tortured the truth in stump speeches to pre-screened, applauding, laughing and booing on cue Republican audiences: about his administration's having shared the same pre-war "intelligence" regarding Iraq's assumed weapons of mass destruction with Congress and his opponent, who also saw the "threat," about his then going "to the United Nations, and I did so because force is the last resort for America," and about Saddam Hussein continuing "to deceive the weapons inspectors" ("In West Virginia, President Bush Advocates for Education and Health Care Reform and Results," Aug. 17, 2004, www.georgewbush.com); "Raw Data: Bush Speech in Springfield," July 30, 2004, www.fox.com.) The emerging contradictory facts caught up with Bush's lies but evidently not with enough of the electorate: he was rewarded with "four more years" in office especially for his evangelical Christian "moral values." A pre-election study revealed that, since the American-led March 2003 invasion, the lives of 100,000 Iraqi civilians, most women and children, have been violently aborted, mainly by US-led air strikes and artillery ("Iraqi Coalition Deaths Increase Dramatically After Invasion," Oct. 28, 2004, www.hgph.edu). A week later Americans voted to return President Bush to the White House notably because of his opposition to abortion, i.e. his religiously based "moral values." The belief that President Bush's "moral values" helped him to win re-election has led certain political and theological pundits to conclude that the Democrats must "get religion" and bridge the "God gap" if they are to regain the presidency. They are being told to get a grip on God and morality and, like the Republicans, let their light of faith shine for all religiously-motivated voters to see if they are ever to achieve a political resurrection. Those who interpret the presidential election in these terms appear to miss a critical point: rather than faith-based "moral values," the election appears to reveal a growing morality gap in America. We may not be witnessing the ascendancy of "moral values" but the rise of authoritarian tendencies in Americans. It is this apparent phenomenon, and the moral and spiritual crisis it represents, that need to be examined and addressed. Following World War II, social scientists conducted a landmark study of how great masses of supposedly enlightened, Christian people willingly tolerated the systematic oppression and extermination of millions of their fellow citizens and others (Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, Jehovah's Witnesses, Black persons, mentally and physically-impaired people, and political dissenters). A related concern was how masses of other people, who profess freedom as a God-given birthright, could stand by for so long and allow such religious, racial, ethnic, ideological and homophobic hatred to continue. The aim of the study was to employ the scientific method to understand what in an individual causes him to be prejudiced, and to use the findings to help in seeking solutions to inter-group prejudice and hatred. The study revealed that authoritarian tendencies in an individual's personality make him receptive to anti-democratic propaganda and policies that target out-groups for discrimination and destruction. (The Authoritarian Personality, Adorno, et al, pp v-viii, Harper and Brothers, New York, 1950). The personality tendencies of the authoritarian-disposed individual were found to include: --"Desire for a strong leader" [italics added] resulting in "submissive, uncritical attitude toward idealized moral authorities of the in-group" (Ibid, pp 231, 228); --"Cultural narrowness" [italics added] seen in rigid acceptance of the conventional middle-class values of "the culturally 'alike'" and the tendency to reject and punish "the culturally 'unlike' . . . who violate conventional values." (Ibid, pp 102, 228); --Unreflective ethnocentric patriotic conformity, rooted in the belief that one's own nation is superior and should rightly dominate and that other nations are inferior and threatening out-groups (Ibid, pp 107-109); --Negative stereotyped perceptions of the members of "unlike" out-groups (Ibid, pp 228, 235, 236), rather than seeing them as individuals who also laugh and cry and love and hate, or who, in the words of Joseph Berger, "lived, laughed, cursed, fought, who did the things human beings do" ("At Holocaust Museum, Turning a Number into a Name," The New York Times, Nov. 21, 2004); --Anti-introspection, i.e. resistance to self-understanding, to soul- searching, to cause-and-effect analysis of individual and group behavior, unable to tolerate ambiguity, belief in mystical, unexplainable phenomenon, disparaging intellectual attempts to perceive life's nuances and complexities (Ibid, pp 236, 235); and --Aggression, involving "the ethnocentric need for an out-group" who represents "the intrinsic evil (aggressiveness, laziness, power-seeking, etc.) of human nature . . . [that] is unchangeable [and] must be attacked, stamped out, or segregated, wherever it is found, lest it contaminate the good." (Ibid, pages 232-234, 148). If these characteristics of the individual with authoritarian personality tendencies sound familiar, there is more. The post-World War II scientists found a positive relationship between individuals with authoritarian personality tendencies and religious practice. For example, they discovered that churchgoers especially tended to agree with authoritarian-laden statements: those calling for uncritical acceptance of conventional values and submission to their representative moral authorities, deep faith in a supernatural power whose dictates are to be obeyed without question, and those asserting that much of life is beyond human understanding and part of a spiritual realm to be revered and not reviewed. (The Authoritarian Personality, pp 218ff). The findings of the above social scientists indicated that "belonging to a religious body in America today certainly does not mean that one thereby takes over the traditional Christian values of tolerance, brotherhood and equality. On the contrary," they state, "it appears that these values are more firmly held by people who do not affiliate with any religious group." Their measurement of anti-democratic tendencies in the groups studied led them to conclude, "People who reject organized religion are less prejudiced than those who accept it." (Ibid, pages 219, 220) That finding is believed to help make the critical point that after-election pundits miss in advising Democrats to become more "spiritually-minded" and ­"active" if they are to save their political souls. The presidential election did not signal the growth of "moral values" in American life, but the widening of a morality gap. The parallels between authoritarian tendencies and "moral values" are readily seen. "Moral values" did not propel President Bush to victory but hatred of other human beings-"the culturally unlike" gay and lesbian persons especially who defy conventional values. The Republicans made sure constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage were on the ballot in 11 states; and all easily passed, with Bush winning 9 of the 11 states. Afterwards, Karl Rove, his chief political advisor, reportedly said "that opposition to gay marriage was one of the most powerful forces in American politics today and that politicians ignored it at their peril." (" 'Moral Values' Carried Bush, Rove Says," by Adam Nagourney, The New York Times, Nov. 16, 2004) Gay and lesbian persons and other Americans ignore Karl Rove's observation and sentiment at their peril. Those, mostly White, church-going Americans who voted to deny another group of Americans their indivisible constitutional rights actually reveal their own hatred of democracy itself. So they seek to use the freedom guaranteed by democracy to deny freedom to members of a perceived morally unfit out-group. The political process provides them with a "democratic" way to gain power over gay-and pro-choice-persons, and not to respect their beliefs and equal right to access and empowerment. The issue here is power! Therein lies the peril. If such, predominantly White, correct-belief-centered Christians and their "self-avowed practicing heterosexual partners" acquire enough political power, what is now a "sin," to be checked by religious decree, may become a civil crime to be punished by imprisonment, or by a more severe measure-lest this "evil" contaminate the traditional institution of marriage and family life. It is the spiritual violence of many Christian denominations, with their institutionalized exclusionary policies, that not only sanctioned legal discrimination against gay and lesbian persons but also encourages physical violence against them as well. What is perilous is the inability of a growing number of "moral values" voters to realize what should be obvious: the issue of same-sex marriage is not about the protection of traditional marriage and "the preservation of the family," but about the inclusion and honoring of all members of the family born in those traditional marriages. It is not an issue involving a majority's right to be heard and to vote but a minority's full right to be seen ­ the "self-evident truth" of a minority's constitutional and divinely "endowed right" to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." Nor is the issue of homosexuality about Christian theology regarding "loving the sinner and hating the sin." The issue is about introspection: overcoming culturally ingrained, unconscious homophobic fear that harms another person's identity, development, and fulfillment as a human being. "Loving the sinner and hating the sin" are actually code words used to inflict spiritual violence on gay and lesbian persons with a "straight" face. Reacting with dismay to the flurry of amendments banning same-sex marriage, an Episcopal mother of a married lesbian daughter emphasized matter-of-factly, "It's (same-sex marriage) about love!" When a minister or politician or another person with "moral values" discovers his or her son or daughter is gay or lesbian, there is often the painful but deepening discovery that "it's about love!" It would seem that more personalizing and less theologizing about homosexuality is needed. Jesus said it plainly: "Love your neighbor as yourself." He did not specify one's straight neighbor only. Yet, according to Karl Rove, 22% of "moral values" voters believe that is obviously what Jesus meant. That which is obvious to many Christians, who voted their "moral values," is to be ignored at one's own peril. Karl Rove is quoted as summing up the perceived electoral victory for "moral values": "I think people would be well advised to pay attention to what the American people are saying" (Ibid) "The American people?"[italics added] Or those predominantly White, evangelical Christians for whom "moral values" were their homophobic call to arms to the voting booth? What are they really saying? Something believed to be far different from what a generalizing Karl Rove meant. As indicated above, many evangelical, fundamentalist and "born again" Christians who voted for so-called "moral values" seem to be really saying that they cannot tolerate democracy: because it not only guarantees their freedom of belief and practice, but presupposes the legitimacy of the independent thought and belief and values others live by. The Christian beliefs of these churchgoers are actually authoritarian. They entertain, if not take for granted, the aspect of democracy that offers them the right to believe and worship and live as they choose, but they hate the fact that it offers the same freedom and rights to those with contrary beliefs and values. Thus, their commitment is not to respect the democratic rights of others but to use the democratic process to gain political power over them, to impose their superior, divinely-revealed "moral values" on others and society. They think of democracy in terms of the will of the majority, not also the rights of the minority. Ironically, the "moral values" that helped to re-elect President Bush president were directed against people's rights not for them. They deny the constitutional right of "the pursuit of happiness" to gay and lesbian persons. Their intent also is to impose a "pro-life" will on other people that would deny their freedom to determine their own reproductive health. Or more specifically, impose their pro-heterosexual-life will. These "moral values" seem not to be about correcting historic, institutionalized discrimination against Black persons, for example, and other people of color. These religiously-directed "values" appear to be oblivious to an ingrained White-controlled hierarchy of access to political and economic power that has perpetuated a job gap-and thus an education and a health gap. Nor do such "moral values" appear to apply their "culture of life" to a recent survey "by Norwegian researchers, the United Nations and the Iraqi government," which "discovered the rate of acute malnutrition in Iraqi children under five years old shot up to 7.7 per cent from four per cent since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq." ("Iraq: children suffer most under US occupation: report," CBC News, Nov. 28, 2004, www.cbc.ca). Never mind the 12-year long US-controlled UN sanctions imposed against Iraq until the invasion that resulted in the deaths of some 500,000 Iraqi children under age 5. (UNICEF report on the devastation caused by the sanctions, Aug. 12, 1999). An underlying critical need for security is believed to drive such "moral values"-possessed Christians. Their emphasis on "moral values"-that, in reality, discriminate against other Americans-is rooted in insecurity. For whatever reasons, they have a strong need for security, driving a search for certainty, which is met by their holding the right belief and belonging with other true Christians to the assumed superior faith in-group. The very word "evangelical" means to spread the Christian gospel and convert nonbelievers. And the word "convert" implies that one's own faith is superior to all others and to be accepted. Here there is no recognition of another's right to live by his and her own truth because there is only one truth-the evangelizer's God-revealed, biblically-or church-based truth. Others are not seen as equal. The aim is to gain power over them "in Jesus name" and to punish those who refuse to conform to the religiously sanctioned conventional values of the in-group. Those who have a need to impose their will on others and convert them are driven by correct theological belief not motivated by ethical behavior. Theirs is a personal, other-worldly destination, not an interpersonal journey with others-unless they are, or become like-minded. And it is here that faith-based "moral values"--crusading churchgoers actually reveal ethnocentric-like tendencies: in their uncritical submission to the absolute belief handed down through/by their religious leaders, in their interpreting (with negative stereotypes) rather than experiencing the reality of perceived "unlike" out-groups, and in their hierarchical view of relationships wherein their faith in-group possesses the true revelation of God and good and is therefore superior and should rightly impose their "moral values" on and dominate out-groups (The Authoritarian Personality, p 150) Many White, evangelical churchgoers who were moved by "moral values" to vote for George W. Bush may actually be seen as "Christocentric." Since ethnocentrism is the belief that "one's own ethnic group, nation or culture is superior" (Webster's New World College Dictionary, fourth edition, Macmillan, 1999), these churchgoers appear to be "Christocentric" in their belief in Jesus as the only Son of God and savior of the world. A favorite authoritative Bible passage is John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." The "world" means everybody, not just those Christians who hold this belief but all Christians, and not just all Christians but Jews as well as Muslims, Hindus, et al, everyone. "Only Son" means Jesus is the greatest revelation of God: born of a virgin, " 'his name shall be called Emmanuel' (which means God with us)" (Matthew 1:23). "Shall not perish but have eternal life" is the bottom line of this belief: God sent Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of the inherently evil whole world and whoever believes in his sacrificial act of atonement as the only Son of God, will not perish in hell but inherit eternal life. Confessing one's inherently sinful nature and accepting Jesus as one's personal savior is the only way hell-bent humanity can be transformed and escape the eternal damnation of an otherwise loving God. "Christocentric" persons are not content to be saved in themselves, and to allow other individuals the right to a different pathway. Their salvation depends on the damnation of those who are not saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Their one true faith automatically divides people into superior and inferior in-groups and out-groups-and sets the psychic stage for evangelizing and domination "in Jesus name," or in the name of "freedom." A super religion displaying tendencies similar to Hitler's super race with its fascist ideology of superiority. This is the "Christocentric" belief that led George W. Bush, in 1993, to tell a Jewish reporter, when preparing to run for governor of Texas, "Heaven is open only to those who accept Jesus Christ." ("Go to Hell: The Gospel according to George W." by Michael Kinsley, July 24, 1999, www.slatemsn.com). At a 2000 presidential campaign debate, it also was a "Christocentric" Bush who reacted when pressed to explain how his ideal "political philosopher" Jesus changed his life: "Well, if they don't know, it's going to be hard to explain." The same rigid "Christocentric" mentality led Baptist evangelist Rev. Franklin Graham to give the following Invocation at President Bush's January 2001 Inauguration: ". . . We pray this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. Amen." This is the same pre-emptive war-supporting, Bible-waving evangelizing carpetbagger who later called Islam "a very evil and a very wicked religion" ("Anti-Islam," Religion and Ethics, Dec. 20, 2002, www.pbs.org) and whose intent is converting Muslims to Christ. The very same Christian evangelist who was invited to lead the Good Friday services at the Pentagon on April 18, 2003. "Christocentric" fervor also inspired United Methodist minister Kirbyson Caldwell's Benediction at the same January 2001 Inauguration of President Bush: "We respectfully submit this humble prayer in the name that's above all other names [italics added], Jesus, the Christ. Let all who agree say amen." How many Jews, Muslims and other citizens of different religions and of no religion, attending and watching the inauguration of the President of the United States, said "amen"? Access to power emboldens and blinds "Christocentric" believers, who may succumb to arrogance. A Christian minister or priest, who is unaware, for example, of the Muslims and Jews in an audience before him (or her) is far more likely to be oblivious to the Muslims or Jews being oppressed around him-or beyond him by his government in his name. Thus can an unquestioned President Bush say, "I pray daily . . . for peace," and two weeks later launch an unprovoked, costly war against non-threatening Iraq under false pretenses. And when no weapons of mass destruction are found in Iraq and no ties between Iraq and 9/11, this idealized moral Christian in-group leader in the White House can change his battle cry: by repeatedly challenging anyone to disagree that "the world is better off without [a brutal] Saddam Hussein in power," and then win reelection by cloaking his administration's crime against the Iraqi and American people as an act of God: "Freedom is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to every man and woman in the world." (Acceptance Speech to Republican Convention Delegates, The New York Times, Sept. 3, 2004) And thousands of 2004, mostly White, churchgoing Republican Convention delegates stood and gave their "strong leader" with clear "moral values" a standing ovation. "Let all who agree say amen," the United Methodist preacher had prayed. Christian denominations are not only guardians of conventional values but sanctifiers of patriotism. In most churches, the Christian flag drapes one side of the altar and the American flag the other. A good Christian is believed to be a good citizen. God and country call forth strong allegiances and share a strong alliance. One provides freedom of faith and the other faith in freedom. And both are being exploited by an administration committed to empire and domination not to reverence for life and democracy. The "ethnocentric" and "Christocentric" converge in the person of President Bush. He works both sides of the authoritarian personality. He reinforces the authoritarian need for certainty and supremacy over other groups by saying, "I want to remind the people of America, we're still the greatest nation on the face of the Earth." (weekly radio address, Sept. 22, 2001) He refuses to examine how United States' foreign policy contributes to the creation of enemies-as if the planes used in the horrific attack against America came from out of the blue. He stereotypes all who resist United States' military aggression, occupation and domination as "evildoers," "the evil ones," "killers," and "terrorists" who "hate our success [and] our liberty" ("George W. Bush's Insights on evil," Oct. 5, 2004, www.irregulartimes.com) and whom "you can't talk sense to." ("President's Remarks in Canton, Ohio," July 21, 2004, www.whitehouse.gov). He thinks in rigid terms about in-groups and out-groups: "This is a war between good and evil," and he made it clear to every nation, "Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." ("George W. Bush's Insights on evil," Oct. 5, 2004, www.irregulartimes.com; "You're with us or against us, Bush says," by Scott Fornek, Staff Reporter, Sept. 21, 2001, www.suntimes.com). President Bush constantly reminds the American people of the threat of terrorism and that "it's my job as president to protect the American people." And many "moral values"- professing Christians responded by voting for him because of his "strong leadership" and "clarity" and his sharing of their values of "Marriage. Life. Faith." (Moral Values Propelled Bush to Re-election, Nov. 4, 2004, www.newsmax.com; " 'Values' Helped Shape Bush Re-Election," by Kelley Beauear Viahes, Nov. 4, 2004, www.foxnews.com; "GOP Won With Accent On Rural and Traditional," by Paul Farhi and James V. Grymefdi, Nov. 4, 2004, www.washingtonpost.com). Idealizing one's in-group as the truest and greatest, requiring uncritical submission to in-group authorities, stereotyping out-groups as "evil" and to be destroyed so they cannot "contaminate" the good, resistance to introspection regarding one's own behavior (i.e. inability to admit mistakes, relying on instinct not information, faith not facts, inspiration not insights) and willed obliviousness to the reality of out-groups-those are qualities of the current president of the United States. A president with an American flag always on his lapel and a custom-made "Commander in Chief" military jacket at the ready for appearances with his favorite audience. A certain amount of deception and lip service are required to be authoritarian in a democratic society-especially as president. George W. Bush learned that, even in Texas, he could not get elected governor on a "Jesus only saves" platform no matter how big an evangelical base that may build-never mind becoming president of the most religiously diverse country in the world. Thus he evidently never publicly repeated his statement made to the Jewish reporter that only born again Christians and not Jews go to heaven. His belief obviously excluded not only Jews but everyone else as well, including liberal-minded Christians. The political reality of diversity in America evidently led President Bush to undergo another kind of conversion. In his "journey to the White House," he describes a 1998 visit to Israel with an interfaith delegation, during which a critical "point was driven home" to him: "America is a great country because of our religious freedoms. It is important for any leader to respect the faith of others." (Autobiography, A Charge to Keep, p. 138) Such code words allow him and his constituency to hide the very opposite tendencies-from each other, if not from themselves. And spreading "freedom" and "democracy" in the Middle East can be added to that vocabulary. A classic example of ritualizing code words is President Bush awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to three men who played instrumental roles in the invasion and occupation of Iraq: "General Tommy R. Franks, the overall commander of the invasion of Iraq; L. Paul Bremer III, the chief civilian administrator of the American occupation of the country; and George J. Tenet, the longtime director of central intelligence who built the case for going to war." Bush said, "Today this honor goes to three men who have played pivotal roles in great events. . . . and whose efforts have made our country more secure and have advanced the cause of human liberty." (The New York Times, Dec. 15, 2004) The interpretation of reality is in the eyes of the beholders of power. "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED." Disguising reality with code words is seen in the militarizing of the 2005 Presidential Inauguration. The theme is "Celebrating Freedom. Honoring Service." And "this year's event will have one brand new addition, the Commander-in-Chief Ball," free to 2000 members of the military and their families, and featuring those just back from Iraq and Afghanistan, or about to be deployed there. ("Bush's inauguration to reflect nation at war," by Nina Bradley, Dec. 15, 2004, www.msnbc.msn.com). UN Secretary General Kofi Annan evidently will not be invited to the Inaugural's Commander-in-Chief Ball. He has condemned the Bush administration's pre-emptive war against Iraq as "illegal," a violation of international law because it lacks UN Security Council approval. Rather than "celebrating freedom&quo