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What's Inside the New Post-Election Print Edition of CounterPunch! How Bush Might Have Been Defeated by Robin Blackburn; Terror and Death: Iraq Falls Apart: Patrick Cockburn reports from Baghdad; From Detroit to Baghdad: Death of an Interrogator by Alexander Cockburn. 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 (tax deductible) donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! Call Toll Free 1-800-840-3683 or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558

Read Why It Happened! Dime's Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils Order Here! Today's Stories November 13 / 14, 2004 David Domke Bush, God and the Election: a Theology of War?   November 12, 2004 Forrest Hylton / Sinclair Thomson Insurgent Bolivia: the Roots of Rebellion November 11, 2004 Peggy Thomson Encounters with Arafat Joe Bageant Hung Over in the End Times: Heaven's Foot Soldiers Escape the Dog Patch Ben Tripp The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grief Edwin Krales Cuba's Response to AIDS: a Model for the Developing World Jordan Green How They Tried to Suppress the Black Vote in South Carolina Gary Leupp Guzman's Fist Mike Whitney Meet Your New AG: Alberto Torquemada Sam Bahour Palestine is Bigger Than Arafat Sylvia Shihadeh and Robert Jensen The Irony of Arafat Russ Wellen Why Do They Laugh at Us? Mark Scaramella Kerry's Enablers: the Clinton Cult Factor   November 10, 2004 Joshua Frank The Bright Side of Bush's Reelection Mickey Z. The Worst President Ever?: Bush + Clinton = Bubya Stan Goff Debating a Neo-Con Mike Whitney Exit Ashcroft Dave Lindorff Taking a Leak on the Bush Bulge Ghada Karmi After Arafat Fr. Gerard Jean-Juste Letter from a Haitian Jail Rev. Bob Jones, III A Letter to President Bush: "God Has Granted America a Reprieve" Bernestine Singley Tampa Vote: Dispatches from the Ground Website of the Day Free Camilo Mejia   November 9, 2004 Meredeth Kolodner Rebuilding the Anti-War Movement Saul Landau The Appeal of George W. Bush: a Mystery for the World to Solve Brian Cloughley Diego Garcia and Freedom, Bush-Style Charles Glass US is Failing the Test of History in Iraq Robert Fisk Arafat Died Years Ago Paul Craig Roberts The American Century is Over Adam Federman Witch Hunt at Columbia: Middle East Profs Smeared as Anti-Semites M. Junaid Alam The Discredited Logic of ABB Tony Kevin Fallujah and the Making of a War Crime Pierre Tristam Zealots on the Mount: Get Voltaire on Speed Dial! Patrick Cockburn Crushing Fallujah Will Not End the Iraq War Website of the Day Don't Blame the Voters!   November 8, 2004 Roger Burbach Out of the Ashes: Bush Win is a Defeat for Democrats, Not the Left Dave Lindorff Lessons from a Quagmire: Fallujah, the Hue of Iraq Greg Moses After the Morning After: On the Homefront of the Civil War Greg Bates Nader's Election Legacy: Something to Stand On Michael Donnelly The Hit-and-Run Left: From ABB to CYA Nick Schwellenbach Gutting FOIA: the Harm of Too Much Secrecy Adam Jones Men vs. Civilians in Fallujah Amelia Peltz Note from Palestine: This Is Not the Time for Despair David Swanson The Media Black Out on Vote Fraud Brian Rainey The Devil Made Them Do It? Elections, Religion and the American People Poets' Basement Albert, Landau, Hamod Website of the Day A Report on the US Supply of Toxic Weapons to Iraq   November 6 / 7, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Don't Say We Didn't Warn You Jeffrey St. Clair Green Out Carl G. Estabrook Who Killed Cock Robin? Saul Landau Che: the Man and the Movie Gary Leupp Let There Be Conflict! Ben Tripp You Call This a Party? Paul Craig Roberts The October Numbers: Continuing Stress on the Jobs Front Jordan Green Heroin, Cocaine and Espanola, NM Fred Gardner Haul of Justice J.A. Miller Cults of the Jealous God: the Balfour Decision Reconsidered Ramzy Baroud Life Without Arafat Dave Zirin Out at the Ballgame: Pro Sports and the Gay Athelete Ron Jacobs The Arrow on the Doorpost Robert Oscar Lopez How White Liberals Became a New Racial Minority Niranjan Ramakrishnan The November Surprise Dave Lindorff Silver Linings Richard Oxman Invitation to the Bodily Snatched John Whitlow Value Wars: the View from Lexington, Kentucky Rahul Mahajan Fallujah and the Reality of War Leila Matsui Political "Ju-On": Carrying a Grudge November 5, 2004 David Vest The Not-Bush Brothers: a Fond Farewell Elizabeth Boylan The Dems and Faith-Based Politics Conn Hallinan War Crimes and Iraq David Zonsheine Poetry and the Courage to Refuse Cynthia McKinney It's a New Day! Elaine Cassel Running from the Religious Right Chris Geovanis First Protect Your Vote: Lessons for Democrats on Fixing Elections from Chicago Rob Ritchie Election 2004 by the Numbers Jo Guldi The Beast of History is In     November 4, 2004 Sharon Smith The Self-Fulfilling Prophesy of Lesser-Evilism CounterPunch Wire Bush Voters: 2000 v. 2004 Ben Tripp My Fellow Americans...Get Stuffed! Michael Donnelly Why Not Blame Rosie? Vijay Prashad An Election of Homophobia and Misogyny Jules Rabin De Profundis: the Morning After Robert Jensen Politics and Professions of Faith: "Your Rich Men are Full of Violence" Zoltan Grossman Blue State Secession: the Only Solution? Jonah Birch 1968 and Today Dave Lindorff What Went Wrong? Jack McCarthy I Knew It Was Over When Michael Moore Showed Up: He Was For Nader...Before He Was Against Him Donna J. Volatile Ahoy Kerrycrats! Welcome to Our Nightmare Paul Craig Roberts The Bright Side of Black Tuesday     November 3, 2004 James Hodge / Linda Cooper The CIA and Abu Ghraib: 50 Years of Training Torturers Ann Harrison The Ghost Votes in the Machine: Voting Snafus Across the Nation Greg Moses Blues for Fallujah Anis Memon The Moral (Values) of This Election Mickey Z. Post Mortem Josh Frank The Dems Should be Ashamed Chris Floyd No Ways Tired: Defeat, Dissent and the Bush Machine spArk Smoke Signals from Portland: Karmic Blowback and the Democrats Friedrich von Schiller Folly, Thou Conquerest Cockburn / St. Clair Democrats in End Time: Who to Blame Now?   November 2, 2004 Gary Leupp Democratic Elections in Historical Perspective: The Wrong Side Wins Lance Selfa Selling the War on Terror Laura Carlsen The US Elections and Latin America: Can the US Ever be a Good Neighbor? James Davis To Control the Event: Attention Bicyclists Richard Oxman Getting Up with Osama Dr. Ira Kay A Mental Map of the Bush Presidency Jesse Walker Frankenstein v. Chucky: the Halloween Election Thomas C. Mountain Election '24, Deja Vu?: LaFollette, Nader, & the "Most Important Election of Our Lifetimes"   November 1, 2004 Cockburn / St. Clair How Bush Was Offered Bin Laden and Blew It Dave Lindorff Bulgegate Confirmed; Press Yawns Greg Bates Nader Voter Survey Results Roger Morris Novel Politics: Only Fiction Can Do This Election Justice Diane Christian Death Tolls Lenni Brenner Secularists Be Warned: Christlike Kerry Roams Spiritual Universe Christopher C. Conway Can the Left Sink Any Lower? Francis Boyle Legal Elites and the Iraq War: the Nazis Had Their Law Professors, Too Jason Leopold Rummy's Failed War Plan Website of the Day Dylan Resurrects "Masters of War"     October 30 / 31, 2004 JoAnn Wypijewski The Long March and the Million Worker March Winslow T. Wheeler Spartacus Tells All Bruce Anderson Notes from the Big Empty: When the Hippies Invaded NoCal Vicente Navarro They Worked for Franco: How Sec. of State Cordell Hull and Nobel Laureate Camilo Jose Cela Collaborated with the Fascist Regime Robin Blackburn How Monica Lewinsky Saved Social Security Greg Bates A Question of Character: What Makes Nader Tick? Nancy Welch The American Health Care Crisis: an Interview with Dr. David Himmelstein William Lind Election Day: Which Menendez Brother Will You Vote For? Brian Cloughley Uzbekistan and Bush Hypocrisies Suzan Mazur Oops They Did It Again: the NYTs the Paper of Record and Rip-Offs Greg Moses Standing at the Graves of Iraq John Chuckman Osama's Endorsement Richard Oxman Why Not Accept Osama's Offer? Ken Avidor Landscape of Fear: When Ugly is Suspicious Niranjan Ramakrishnan Bush, Ba'ath and Beyond Hope Bastian Strangling Cuba's Economy P. Sainath Tower of Gabble: Toward a Sustainable Rhetoric Dave Zirin Bush League: Why MLB Owners Support the Prez Jon Swift The Dry Drunk Thang: Put a Cork in It Ron Jacobs The Joke's on Me: a Review of Bob Dylan's Chronicles Vol. 1 Alexander Billet Taking Theatre Back: Are the States Ready for "Stuff Happens"? Poets' Basement Jones, Laymon, Norris, Ford and Albert Website of the Weekend The Origins of Halloween   October 29, 2004 Harry Browne No Justice for Peace Activist in County Clare October 28, 2004 Forrest Hylton "The Gas is Ours:" Bolivia's Ghosts of October Col. Dan Smith Rebellion in the Ranks Alan Maass Jon Stewart v. the Pundits Ron Jacobs Ecstasy in Red Sox Nation Alexander Cockburn Kerrycrats and the War     October 27, 2004 Jules Rabin Crammed with Distressful Politics Dave Lindorff Bulgegate: the Lies Continue Katherine Van Tassel On the Home Front: Both Parties Ignore Working Parents Jeffrey St. Clair The Bi-Partisan Politics of Oil   October 26, 2004 Brian Cloughley Three Weddings and Lots of Funerals: Atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan William Blum Fear Factors Lenni Brenner The 1964 Berkeley Free Speech Movement: Lessons for 2004 Ben Tripp The Chicken Salad Election Fidel Castro After the Fall Greg Bates The Nation's Flawed Calculus Walter Brasch Gag the Public: the War on Dissent Niranjan Ramakrishnan An Open Letter to Pat Buchanan Mickey Z. Rumble in the Jungle at 30: Ali, Foreman and the Congo Amir Taheri The Boom in Conspiracy Theories Alexander Billet Say It Ain't So, Bruce!: the Boss Endorses Kerry Doug Giebel The Religion of G.W. Bush Kathleen Christison Why I Liked Thomas Friedman's Latest Column Before I Didn't   October 25, 2004 Ralph Nader Letter from a Minnesota Highway Werther West Texas Wahabbism Dave Zirin Boston's Killer Cops: Death of a Fan Fred Gardner Pot Shots: Oregon Revokes Dr. Leveque's License Omar Barghouti Executing Another Child in Rafah William J. Nottingham Lori Berenson's Story John Chuckman A Foolish Consistency Uri Avnery On the Road to Civil War   October 22 / 24, 2004 Alexander Cockburn You Can't Blame Nader for This Rev. William Alberts On Bended Knee: Faith-Based Deceptions Willliam A. Cook Killing for Christ Saul Landau George W. Bush: a Man of His Words? Bill Quigley I Held the Bullet in My Palm: Masked Haitian Police Shoot Children While Arresting Priest Christopher Brauchli Seal It With a Frown: What Compassionate Conservativism Really Means William S. Lind Fallujah and the Moral Level of War Sharon Smith Guilt Trippers for Kerry Greg Bates Kerrynomics: "Hurt the Ones Who Vote for Us" Justin E.H. Smith Is Lesser Evilism a Compromise with Evil? Rebecca Evans Tarnished Legacy: Pinochet and the Chilean Military Mike Whitney Al Hurra TV: the Second Invasion M. Junaid Alam Purchasing Individuality in America David Krieger Nuclear Non-Proliferation: Examining the Policies of Bush and Kerry David J. Ledermann The Emperor's New Crumbs Lawrence Reichard Same Old FBI Story Website of the Weekend Lie Girls: the Real Coalition of the Willling     October 21, 2004 Ben Tripp The Undecided Voter Examined Joshua Frank Kerry and the Environment: It's Not Easy Pretending to be Green Stan Cox What the Left Doesn't Get About Small Businesses Bill Martinez State Depart and Cuban Visas: Only Anti-Castro Agitators Need Apply Mark Engler The War and Globalization Lina Britto and Lucia Suarez Bolivia: a Year After the October Insurrection Website of the Day Two Pampered Children of Wealth     October 20, 2004 Yitzhak Laor "Did You Two Squabble?": a Bullet Fired for Every Palestinian Child Jason Leopold Sinclair Broadcasting's Air War: a Long History of Journalistic Deception Jesse Sharkey A Teacher's Account of How Military Recruiters Prey on High School Students Col. Dan Smith Choking Free Speech About the Draft Dr. Teresa Whitehurst Using My Religion David Vest If Bush Wins, Blame Me Jack Random The Jackson 17: Reflections on a Mutiny Ron Jacobs Time to Kick It Up a Notch James Brittain Plan Patriota and the FARC: a Change in the Countryside? Christopher Dols Bombing Madison: Michael Moore's Fright Fest Dave Lindorff First They Came for the Nurses... Website of the Day Banana Republican Catalogue     October 19, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair Party Favors: the Political Business of Terry McAuliffe Jeff Taylor Confessions of a Swing State Voter Matt Vidal American Myopia: "More Money in Your Pocket" Victor Kattan "It's Not Who You're Against; It's Who You're For": Palestine Takes Center Stage At Euro Social Forum William Loren Katz What Goes Around Comes Around Sean Carter O'Reilly Should Shut Up About Extortion Claiims CounterPunch Wire Who's Really in Bed with Republican Funders: Kerry or Nader?       October 18, 2004 Saul Landau Facts and Lies; Slogans and Truth Dave Lindorff Bulletin on the Bush Bulge Diane Christian Sheep and Goats: On the Language of Goodness Greg Bates / Dave Lindorff Betting on War: a Wager on the Fallout of a Kerry Presidency Uri Avnery Ariel Sharon's Philosophy Peter LaVenia Leaving the Greens So Soon? a Response to Josh Frank Mike Whitney O'Reilly at the Whipping Post Elaine Cassel The Other War: Civil Liberties Three Years After 9/11   October 16 / 17, 2004 Alexander Cockburn The Free Speech Movement and Howard Stern Leslie Brill Unmerciful Judge, Merry Executioners: the Death Penalty as the True Measure of Bush's Character Jules Rabin Reckoning Deaths in an Agitated World Dave Lindorff About the Bush Bulge: Was There a Pucker in That Jacket or Was the President Just Glad to be There? Peter Linebaugh Judging Judges: a Few Pages from The Mirror of Justices Gary Leupp Iran and Syria: How to Effect Regime Change and Expand the Empire M. Shahid Alam America, Imagine This! Ron Jacobs Trying to Cross Lake Champlain Fred Gardner The Flu Vaccine Question: How Bush Blew It Jenna Orkin The Toxic Legacy of 9/11 Dave Zirin Name the DC Baseball Team: Contest Results David Hamilton Alone and Exposed: Bush as a Strong Leader? Ralph Nader Criticizing Israel is Not Anti-Semitism Doug Giebel Thinking the Unthinkable Mark Engler Crimes in Freedom's Name: Dick Cheney's El Salvador Derek Tyner Blacks Didn't Get the Vote by Voting: an Interview With Clarence Thomas on the Million Worker March Evan Jones Gimme That Ole Time Religion: Cash and "The Mind of the South" Poets' Basement LaMorticella, Klipschutz and Albert Website of the Weekend No More Bush Girls   October 15, 2004 Paul Craig Roberts Where Did These "Conservatives" Come From?: The Brownshirting of America Laura Carlsen Wal-Mart vs. the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon Greg Bates Empire of Insanity: Kerry's Iraq Troop Numbers Michael Donnelly News from a Swing State: Does Anyone Here Have a Spine? Katherine Lahey The Venezuelan "Threat": Why Do Kerry and Bush Fear Hugo Chavez? Robert Jensen / Pat Youngblood Election Day Fears Leah Caldwell From Supermax to Abu Ghraib: the Masterminds of Torture and Abuse Website of the Day An Anti-Billionaire Policy? Why That Would Be Economic Racism     October 14, 2004 Darcy Richardson The Other Progressive Candidate: the Lonely Crusade of Walt Brown Willliam A. Cook Turning Myths into Truth Laura Santina Water, Women and War Evelyn Pringle Free Speech Banned by Big Pharma: What You Can't Say About Drug Importation Alan Farago Lessons from Nature Rep. Maxine Waters A Letter to Colin Powell on Haiti Nicole Colson Maimed for Oil and Empire       October 13, 2004 Bishop Thomas Gumbleton and Bill Quigley Aftermath of a Coup: The Other Disaster in Haiti Sharon Smith Barak O-Bomb-a?: Democrats Target Iran Christopher Brauchli God and the Bush Administration Mike Whitney The Real Meaning of the Hamdi Case Paul de Rooij Amnesty International: a False Beacon? Website of the Day Operation Truth     October 12, 2004 Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz "Indian Country" Greg Bates The Year of Voting Dangerously: a Survey Request of Nader Voters in Swing States Steven Conn Progressives as Pawns: Kerry's War on Nader Jason Leopold Under Cheney, Halliburton Helped Saddam Siphon Billions from UN Oil-for-Food Program Security Scholars for a Sensible Foreign Policy Time for a Change of Course Timothy J. Freeman Dying for a Mistake Pierre Tristam Deconstructing Bush Niranjan Ramakrishnan The 2nd Debate: the Blurring of Act and Audience Bill and Kathleen Christison Israel as Sideshow Website of the Day John Kerry's Personal Off-Shore Tax Shelters   October 11, 2004 Robert Fisk Iraq: Unforgivable Betrayals and Broken Promises Kevin Pina The Untold Story of Aristide's Departure from Haiti Patrick Gavin Rethinking Columbus Day Chris Floyd Tribes with Flags in the New Afghanistan Daniel Wolff Radioactive Money: Entergy, Political Cash and America's Most Dangerous Nuclear Plant Walter Brasch The Only Ones Who Believe Saddam Had WMDs are Bush, Cheney...and 40% of All Americans Mike Whitney The Phony Afghan Elections: Ballot of the Disappearing Ink Ari Shavit "He Talks to Condi Rice Every Day": an Interview with Sharon's Lawyer Paul Craig Roberts The Debates and the Big Lie Website of the Day Dylan's Greatest Recording?     October 9 / 10, 2004 Alexander Cockburn "There Are No Innocents" Paul de Rooij Northern Ireland is Still the Issue: a Conversation with Gerry Adams M. Shahid Alam Making Sense of Our Times Laura Carlsen Protest and Populism in Latin America Fred Gardner Pot Shots: ASA Goes to Court Col. Dan Smith Bush's Credibility Gap Paul Craig Roberts Faith-Based Economics Greg Bates What If Nader Critics Get What They Demand? Joshua Frank Cobb, the Greens and the Collapse of the Left Felice Pace Wilderness, Politics and the Oligarchy: How the Pew Charitable Trust is Smothering the Grassroots Environmental Movement Walter A. Davis Of Pynchon, Thanatos and Depleted Uranium William A. Cook The Agony of Colin Powell Phyllis Pollack Twas No Crank Call Love Affair: London Calling, 25 Years Later Poets' Basement Klipschutz, Albert, Ford Website of the Weekend Abu Ghraib: the Taguba Annexes   October 8, 2004 Jennifer Loewenstein The Israeli Invasion of Gaza Moshe Adler Edwards' Gambit: He Hoped No One Would Notice the Similarities David Swanson Media Blackout: Press Continues to Ignore Labor's Opposition to Iraq War Dave Zirin CounterPunch Contest: Let's Name the New DC Baseball Team! Rep. Ron Paul The Draft is a Form of Slavery William S. Lind Keeping Our SA Up Samar Assad Kerry v. Bush: No Difference When It Comes to Israel / Palestine Jim Ingalls and Sonali Kolhatkar The Elections in Afghanistan     October 7, 2004 Dave Lindorff All Out of Volunteers: A Draft is in the Air Masha Hamilton Fear in Kandahar Christopher Brauchli Master of Corruption: the Ripening Scandals of Tom Delay Jason Leopold Is There Still Time to Impeach Bush? Bruce K. Gagnon Bombing the Panhandle: Fighting the Pentagon in Rural Florida Meredith Kolodner Where is the Urgency?: The Anti-War Movement's Election Year Challenge     October 6, 2004 Jeffrey St. Clair "Please, Dude, Can I Take Them Out?": Targeting Civilians in Fallujah Ron Jacobs Going Nuclear: the Ghost of Edward Teller Lives Michael Colby The National Flip-Flop: Suddenly Bush is Unfit to Lead? Tarif Abboushi More of the Same: Israel Wins the Debates Matthew Behrens Canadian Firms Profit from Iraqi Blood Mike Whitney Rethinking WMDs John Pilger Stealing Diego Garcia Ben Tripp Kerry's "Triumph" Kevin McKiernan Cheney's Poison Lab: Wrong Time, Wrong Target Patrick Cockburn Elections Will Not End the Fighting in Iraq Website of the Day Is There an Islamic Problem?   October 5, 2004 Anthony Loewenstein Rupert Murdoch and the Marginals: "Personally Creating Outcomes" Mark Clinton and Tony Udell The Suicide of an Iraq War Veteran Greg Bates Trading Idiots: an Open Letter to Eric Alterman Dave Lindorff What's the Frequency, Karl? Norm Dixon Why Washington Won't Save Darfur Villagers Larry Kearney God Talk and Burning Children Bill Linville Dirty Politics in the Land of "Clean" Government Gary Leupp What Edwards Should Ask Cheney Website of the Day A Guide to Halliburton for Tonight's Debate   October 4, 2004 Diane Christian The Gates of Hell Joshua Frank An Interview with David Cobb Doug Giebel Incurious George: What If Bush Didn't Lie? John Chuckman Strange Victory: Sen. Obvious and the Pathetic Lump Ramzy Baroud Reverse the Picture: Anatomy of a Palestinian Outrage Julia Stein Remembering Mario Savio and the FSM Sean Donahue Outsourcing Terror: Kerry and Special Forces Website of the Day Mapping Mt. St. Helens as She Rocks   October 2 / 3. 2004 Paul Wright John Kerry on Criminal Justice Kathleen and Bill Christison An Exchange with Israeli Historian Bennie Morris Kathie Helmkamp My Son Trent: a Marine Who Doesn't Want to Kill Phillip Cryan Indigenous Mobilization in Colombia Lenni Brenner The First Ex-Catholic Saint: Memories of Mario Savio Fred Gardner Pot Shots: In Case You Missed "Montel" Ron Jacobs It Did Happen Here: When Neo-Nazis Terrorized Olympia Ben Tripp Sticker Shock William S. Lind The Grand Illusion: Iraqi Security Forces Dave Zirin The Swindle of the Century: Baseball Comes to DC Dave Lindorff Lies from the Great Debate Luscon Pierre-Charles Haiti's Elections: a High-Tech Sham is Underway Zoe Moskovitz & Sasha Kramer Separating Lies from Truth About Haiti Nelson P. Valdes Habana Night vs. Latin American Scholars in Vegas: 61 Banned Cuban Academics Alan Farago The "Ownership Society" and the End of the Everglades Nancy Haley What is the Historical Jesus Trying to Tell Us? Alex Billet Long Live The Clash: London Still Calling After 25 Years Steve Fesenmaier Save and Burn: The War on Libraries Poets' Basement Smith, Holt, Albert   October 1, 2004 Steve Breyman Kerry's Missed Opportunities Rose Gentle My Son Died for a Lie Lee Sustar Iran in the Crosshairs Ralph Nader What We Didn't Hear at the Debate: Where's the Exit Strategy? Walter Andrews We Are Less Secure Now Than Ever Mike Whitney Pandora's Government Mickey Z. Debate This Saul Landau The Iraq Invasion: Lessons from the Pinochet Cases                   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 November 13 / 14, 2004 Hot Love, Not Perma War Blue Values By Dr. SUSAN BLOCK "Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) "As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) "Morality is a venereal disease. Its primary stage is called virtue; its secondary stage, boredom; its tertiary stage, syphilis." Karl Kraus (1874-1936) Like most folks I know, I've been singing the Blues since Red Tuesday. Yes indeed, Brothers & Sisters, Lovers & Sinners, I got dem Dem-dumb Blue State Blues...I'll get over it. I'm essentially optimistic. But let me tell you: When I'm Blue, I don't need some red-faced Red State redneck, who voted for the nastiest gaggle of chickenhawk war criminals and crony-nesting thieves ever to perch upon the Executive Branch, lecturing me about "moral values." Nor do I need any lily-livered, "Time for Healing," down-n-defeated Dems trying to turn my deep Blue Values purple with acquiescence, or render them vomit green with a dollop of cowardly yellow. And speaking of cowardly lions, hey Cowboy King George: Now's the time to hop on your horse and ride through town, spending all that political capital you claim you earned! What's the matter, Georgy, 'fraid of horses? Not daring to question the "mandate" of their horse-fearing Moral Leader, American pundits in both Red and Blue States have taken refuge in bloviating upon the importance of Moral Values in politics. As if the phrase "honest politician" is anything but an oxymoron. Though this is not about honesty, of course. Honesty is only a Red Issue when you're talking about a Democrat, and it has something to do with sex. Nor does it seem that Red State Moral Values have anything to do with torturing, raping or killing innocent people. As the pundits never tire of telling us, one in five American voters (obviously, a small minority of Americans) cited "moral values" as a major issue, and eight out of 10 of these Solomonic adjudicators voted for a President who, independent studies had just revealed, had summarily, and quite merrily executed over 100,000 men, women and children (mostly the latter) upon invading the wrong country in his terrorist War on Terror. And that's just a count for the first year. But who cares about counting dead people? Not General Tommy Franks who says, "We don't do body counts." Even if we did, Barbara Bush (the Matriarch Medusa, not the cute Yalie half of the Bush Twins) doesn't want to "waste my beautiful mind on something like...body bags and deaths and how many and when..." Nor does moral Red America, who much prefers counting sexual sins, in which any kind of sex--outside of married, monogamous, missionary position intercourse with the lights out, for procreation only-counts against you, if you're caught. And that's a big IF. As a Blue State sex therapist who counsels a lot of Red State clients, I know that more than a few exurbs-full of these pink-cheeked moralizers are screwing their neighbors' wives, as well as their neighbors' sons, not to mention their sheep, in between voting-as-sacrament for the horse-phobic cowboy with the trigger-happy soul. And no, I won't name names. Though I'm their trusted Mother Confessor in private, the Red Statists spare no effort in excoriating my profession in public. Typical Madonna/Whore complex, I suppose, but it's getting medieval. In the World According to the Red States, sex therapists, educators, entertainers and other Americans like me (especially those of us who reside in the azure-Blue State of California) are more dangerous than Osama, Saddam, John Kerry or even Hillary Clinton. With the supreme assurance of the ignorant, they assert our lack of values. Correct me if I'm wrong (and please, no anthrax or horse poop in my email), but as far as I can see, Red State Values come down to the 10 A's: antiabortion, anti-female, anti-secular, anti-science, anti-environment, anti-poor-people, anti-gay, anti-art, anti-porn & anti-sex (aka abstinence only). Now excuse me for not helping with the "healing" here, but these are some sorry, terrorized excuses for values. Any political compromise that bows down to these values is as immoral and irrational as saying your candidate would be "better and smarter" at conducting Dubya's depraved War on Iraq. To hear the pundits tell it, one could assume that Americans who don't genuflect to the 10 A's have no values (or value) at all. It's just Red Values and Blue Flipflops. It's true that many Democrats don't seem to know which end is up these days, which is one reason why their candidate could barely inspire the mammoth Anybody But Bush (ABB) vote. Just imagine if he really had represented Blue Values. We actually might have "Licked Bush, Beat Dick" and taken the bastards out. So what about Blue Values? What about good old-fashioned Jeffersonian, radical-liberal, democratic (with a small d), progressive, populist, personal, Constitution-enshrined, science-based, heartfelt, sexual values? Yes, SEXUAL. After all, VALUES is code for SEX, isn't it? Or is it WAR? Well, it depends on the color of your glasses So let me bring these colors into focus, Brothers & Sisters, Lovers & Sinners, at least as I see them. And remember: I'm a sex therapist, so don't be shocked if my values turn you on. MY BLUE VALUES Note: The following is a personal free-associated list, not necessarily in order of importance, and not necessarily representing YOUR BLUE VALUES When I talk about Blue Values... I'm talking about the values of the Enlightenment, and not the Apocalypse; I'm talking about the value of Hot Love, and not Perma-War; I'm talking about the values of the U.S. Constitution, and not the Bible, the Koran, the Bhagavad-Gita, The Book of Thoth, or the Gospels According to Anybody; I'm talking about the value of lust, and not greed; I'm talking about the value of explosive orgasms, and not exploding ordnance; I'm talking about the value of bare beauty, and not naked aggression; I'm talking about the value of pussy juice and lube, and not our blood for their oil; I'm talking about the value of hard dicks, and not hardnosed dickheads; I'm talking about the value of "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness," and not "God, Guns and Gay-Bashing"; I'm talking about the value of Ethical Hedonism, and not Unethical Puritanism; I'm talking about the value of dildos and vibrators, and not cruise missiles and killing machines; I'm talking about the value of intelligent erotica and smokin' BLUE movies, and not Mel's Christian death porn or U.S. military snuff films showing the village greens of Iraq running RED with blood; I'm talking about the value of the Bonobo Way, and not acting like a baboon; I'm talking about the value of masturbation, and not occupation; I'm talking about the value of consensual BDSM games, and not colonial-style torture; I'm talking about the value of people in bed with their lovers, and not TV news shows "embedded" with the government; I'm talking about the value of science, innovation, open-mindedness and courage, and not superstition, creationism, bigotry and fear; I'm talking about the value of governance based upon sweet reason, thrift and compassion, and not religious hysteria, acid-induced ecstasy, or even the rose-colored glasses of love; I'm talking about the value of sexual connection, and not gender competition; I'm talking about the value of good wine and good weed, and not jamming more than 2 million Americans in prison, many for victimless "crimes"; I'm talking about the value of blue skies and a clean environment, and not red skies radiating pollution; I'm talking about the value of sex research and education, and not enforced sexual stupidity; I'm talking about the value of marriage, and not banning "certain people" from getting married; I'm talking about the value of helping those less fortunate, and not blaming the poor for being poor; I'm talking about the value of stem cell research, and not valuing the so-called "rights" of the unborn over the living And... I've got plenty more values I could talk about...though I don't want to get too preachy (hehe). But speaking of abortion, let me indulge my Blues State Blues for just a moment here, since being "pro-life" is being touted, in hushed tones, as the #1 Moral Values Issue rallying the Red State "values voters." I've often wondered why Corporate America supports the Religious Right's war on women's reproductive freedom. I mean, what do all these rich folks get out of forcing all these poor women-even raped women--to have kids they don't want to have? Of course, they don't help these reluctant moms raise their unwanted kids; on the contrary, they take away their aid. It's not possible that all these corporate fat cats who support the rabid anti-abortionites are just sadists (though as a therapist, I happen to know that more than a few of them are). There has to be a solid, practical reason. But I just didn't get it. Then Kelpie Wilson reminded me to look to history, specifically Ancient Rome, so often compared to modern America. Abortion was very popular in Rome and throughout the ancient world. It was neither immoral nor illegal. Unwanted children were a problem then as they are now. Many families sold their "extra" kids into slavery. Was abortion less moral than selling one's own child into brutal slavery? You decide. History tells us that more and more Roman women decided in favor of abortion, as well as contraception. They enjoyed their sex, those Romans. But as the Imperial Empire spread and the Imperial economy slowed, they stopped having large families they couldn't afford. Thus the Roman slave population was drastically reduced. What was practical and moral for Roman women and their families became an obstacle for the Empire. The Empire needed slaves. At its height, about 20% of the Roman Empire's subjects were slaves. When fewer women bore unwanted children that they had to sell into slavery, many Roman systems (like the military) started to falter. That's when the Roman government stepped in to outlaw abortion, as well as some forms of contraception. Lawmakers forced women, especially poor women, to bear unwanted children, precisely because they wanted these women to sell these same children into slavery to the state-and at a cheap price. Is that what the Reds mean by "value"? Obviously, American Evangelicals, despite the fact that their movement made its name by being avid "abolitionists" instrumental in awakening the nation to the evils of slavery before the Civil War, don't see it this way. But the fact is that all empires need slaves. They need militaries filled with poor young people who have virtually no other options. Of course, we don't call them "slaves" here in modern America. We call them the Volunteer Army. When a young poor person is enticed to enlist to "be all they can be," then sent to Iraq to do Dubya's dirty work and die, that's slavery. So: when women have the right to abortion and contraception, they produce fewer slaves. They tend to match the size of their families to the resources available, to Mother Nature. They do not breed for the state's slave army naturally; that sort of breeding tends to be forced upon them. The Nazis also criminalized abortion. I know, it's not very sporting to utter the N-word in the wake of Kerry's defeat and the desire of the jubilating Reds and certain obsequious Blues for "healing." But there's no doubt that Hermann and Adolf rode the wave of Red Values (Rote Werte!), just like Karl and George II. In both Nazi Germany and Bush's America, a militant, political Protestantism was and is used to try to destroy "evil" and dominate the world. Of course, the Nazis didn't ultimately succeed, and neither will the Bushites. But our Blue Values place us rather close in spirit to the academies and theaters of Weimar Berlin that flourished in the 1920s, and look what happened to them when the German Christian Brownshirts stormed in to "clean" up the town. It's scary enough to make us Blue Staters spend hours drawing and redrawing maps featuring the United States of Canada, with a short front "leg" reaching into the Northeast and a longer hind leg picking up the Pacific. We Californians are threatening secession, and only half-joking when we do. We're the beautiful, blue-eyed, battered wife, beaten black-and-blue by the redneck husband with a pistol under his pillow. Beaten and belittled! So enough already, we want a divorce! To add insult to injury, this battered wife here is paying the bills! That is, almost every one of the Blue States, led by California, sends more tax dollars to Washington than Washington sends back to us, meaning we hedonistic but hardworking Blues are subsidizing our Red church-hugging counterparts (so ignorant they can't support themselves), even as they slap us around, spend our hard-earned money on stupid wars and other extravagances, and call us sluts and whores and bitches. If a woman like California asked me for advice on what to do about a husband like, say, Mississippi, I'd counsel her to "Cut your losses and leave, honey." And I must say, it's tempting. But I think I'll give it another year. Ever the optimist, I see a silver-blue lining in Electile Dysfunction '04. It has made me, and many Blue Staters like me, stand just a little taller for our true Blue Values than we did during the height of the election season when the ABB mantra effectively shut us up. I'm true Blue, and I stand by my Blue Values with as much passion and conviction as Red Staters believe that the Virgin Birth was a fact of life, and Dubya is an honest man And I believe that Jesus is on my side; after all, wasn't his "best friend" Mary Magdalene? Mohammed, too; that harem thing isn't so bad if the women are bi and like each other. Brothers and Sisters, Lovers and Sinners, we are all Children of Sex. We may or may not be Children of God, but no matter what color our state, no matter whom we vote for or whether our votes are counted or stolen, or whether we're of the majority of Americans that don't bother to vote at all, no matter how many people we kill or liberate or touch or heal, no matter whom we hate or how much we love, we are ALL Children of SEX. Praise the Lord and the Lady. Now we true Blues just need a few sexy, smart, media-friendly candidates to represent our values. Let's start a Blue Party! Let's mount our horses, and battle on, as indecent insurgents in our own land, doing what we can to protect our Enlightenment-inspired Constitution and hard-won political and sexual freedoms. Let us ride like Paul Revere, singing out to the world that not all Americans are Red with love for the murderous policies of George W. Bush. Let us conspire, preach, protest, party and inform. And let us not take up arms (except in self-defense or the defense of our loved ones), for that is against our values. Suing for our rights is another matter. Let us cultivate the friendship of lawyers and/or sue for our rights in pro per. Actually, I sued the LAPD in pro per for infringement of my 4th amendment rights last year, and negotiated a very good financial settlement, as well as reached a more respectful understanding (more on that later). And let us fight-in the courts and in the media, in the streets and in the cornfields, in the boardrooms and in the bedrooms, in the churches and in the strip clubs--for what we believe. And let us continue to do so with pleasure, compassion, art and lots of lube, because these are things we value. Can I hear an Amen? Can I hear an Awomen? All right then, Brothers & Sisters, Lovers & Sinners, I want you to roll up your sleeves and pull down your pants! There's lots of work and play to be done, and less and less freedom to do it. Note from Dr. Suzy: This column was extrapolated from my monologue "Bottoms Up For Blue Values," broadcast live on November 6, 2004 on The Dr. Susan Block Show. Please Write Me! Send me your tired, your poor, your hate mail, love letters, commentary, photos, questions and confessions at liberties@blockbooks.com. Dr. Susan Block is a sex educator, cultural commentator, host of The Dr. Susan Block Show and author of The 10 Commandments of Pleasure. Her essay on John Ashcroft's "breast fetish" is included in CounterPunch's Serpents in the Garden: Liaisons with Sex and Culture. Visit her website at http://www.drsusanblock.com. © November 10, 2004, Dr. Susan Block. For reprint rights, please contact rox@blockbooks.com   Weekend Edition Features for October 30 / 31, 2004 November 6 / 7, 2004 Alexander Cockburn Don't Say We Didn't Warn You Jeffrey St. Clair Green Out Carl G. Estabrook Who Killed Cock Robin? Saul Landau Che: the Man and the Movie Gary Leupp Let There Be Conflict! Ben Tripp You Call This a Party? Paul Craig Roberts The October Numbers: Continuing Stress on the Jobs Front Jordan Green Heroin, Cocaine and Espanola, NM Fred Gardner Haul of Justice J.A. Miller Cults of the Jealous God: the Balfour Decision Reconsidered Ramzy Baroud Life Without Arafat Dave Zirin Out at the Ballgame: Pro Sports and the Gay Athelete Ron Jacobs The Arrow on the Doorpost Robert Oscar Lopez How White Liberals Became a New Racial Minority Niranjan Ramakrishnan The November Surprise Dave Lindorff Silver Linings Richard Oxman Invitation to the Bodily Snatched John Whitlow Value Wars: the View from Lexington, Kentucky Rahul Mahajan Fallujah and the Reality of War Leila Matsui Political "Ju-On": Carrying a Grudge WWW http://www.counterpunch.org