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Should the Left Cheer the Dollar's Drop? How to make the bankers scream: Robert Pollin, world's best obituarist of Clintonomics, explains it all for you. Do police states make people feel safer? Vicente Navarro on Franco's Spain, Cockburn on Ireland in the Fifties under the Catholic Hierarchy, Alevtina Rea on growing up in Brezhnev-time. Capitalism's true utopia? St Clair on the Pentagon's no-bid arms contracts. How's the press doing in Iraq? Patrick Cockburn tells all to Omar Waraich. Get the answers you're looking for in the latest subscriber-only 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!
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Other Lands Have Dreams: From Baghdad to Pekin Prison by KATHY KELLY  Today's Stories May 19, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts
May 18, 2005 Jean
Bricmont Laura
Carlsen Mike
Whitney Joshua
Frank George
Galloway Manuel
Garcia, Jr. Dwight
D. Eisenhower Dave
Lindorff
May 17, 2005 Mickey
Z. Petuuche
Gilbert Paul
Craig Roberts Ramzy
Baroud Robert
Jensen / Pat Youngblood Stan
Cox Dave
Zirin Diana
Barahona Website
of the Day
May 16, 2005 Michael
Gillespie Jason
Leopold Jesse
Muldoon Norman
Solomon Robert
Cray Patrick
Cockburn Website
of the Day
May 14 / 15, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Saul
Landau Gary
Leupp JoAnn
Wypijewski Ben
Tripp Brian
J. Foley Tom
Barry Mitchell
Verter Mike
Ferner Dan
Smith Mark
Scaramella Don
Fitz Diane
Farsetta Michael
Dickinson Ron
Jacobs Fred
Gardner Farrah
Hassen Douglas
Valentine Poets'
Basement Website
of the Weekend
May 13, 2005 Tom
Stephens Patrick
Cockburn Mike
Whitney Chris
Floyd Jenna
Orkin Dave
Lindorff Joshua
Frank Website
of the Day
May 12, 2005 Paul
Craig Roberts Uri
Avnery Greg
Moses Carolyn
Baker Pat
Williams William
S. Lind Jack
Random Gary
Leupp
May 11, 2005 Patrick
Cockburn Kevin
Zeese Christopher
Brauchli Zalman
Amit Robert
Shull Mike
Whitney Dr.
Teresa Whitehurst Norman
Solomon
May 10, 2005 Richard
Drayton Dave
Zirin Jackie
Corr Dave
Lindorff Michael
Donnelly Reza
Fiyouzat Scott
Parkin Stephen
Babcock Alan
Farago Michael
Neumann Website
of the Day
May 9, 2005 Louis
Proyect Robert
Fisk Kevin
Zeese Joshua
Frank Sasha
Kramer Andrew
Wimmer Jeffrey
Webber Jeffrey
St. Clair
May 7 / 8, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Gary
Leupp Saul
Landau Joe
DeRaymond Daniela
Ponce Heather
Williams Gregory
Elich Anis
Memon John
Chuckman Mike
Whitney Ron
Jacobs Colin
Kalmbacher Lance
Selfa Fred
Gardner Ben
Tripp Mickey
Z. Richard
Joseph Dr.
Susan Block Poets'
Basement
May 6, 2005 Patrick
Cockburn Erin
Yoshioka Sam
Husseini Dave
Lindorff Kevin
Zeese Joshua
Frank Dan
Bacher P.
Sainath
May 5, 2005 Carles
Mutaner Carl
G. Estabrook Farrah
Hassen Kevin
Zeese Michael
Leonardi Bennett
Ramberg Ray
McGovern Norman
Solomon Nicole
Colson Brian
Concannon, Jr.
May 4, 2005 Colin
Kalmbacher John
Walsh Greg
Moses Ali
Khan Chris
Floyd Linda
S. Heard Dave
Zirin William
S. Lind Gary
Leupp Website
of the Day
May 3, 2005 Dave
Lindorff Brian
Cloughley Ira
Kurzban Seth
Sandronsky Gilad
Atzmon Michael
Donnelly Alex
Sanchez Peter
Linebaugh
May 2, 2005 Ron
Jacobs Stan
Goff Karyn
Strickler Joshua
Frank Kevin
Zeese Vicente
Navarro
April 30 / May 1, 2005 Alexander
Cockburn Gabriel
Kolko Jennifer
Loewenstein Lee
Sustar Saul
Landau T.W.
Croft Nikolas
Kozloff William
Blum Dave
Lindorff Joshua
Frank Doug
Giebel Steven
Erlanger Fred
Gardner Mike
Whitney Kurt
Nimmo Joe
DeRaymond Michael
Dickinson Mickey
Z. Justin
Taylor Poets
Basement Website
of the Weekend
Hot Stories Alexander Cockburn Subcomandante
Marcos Norman Finkelstein Steve Niva Dardagan,
Slobodo and Williams Steve
J.B. Sheldon
Rampton and John Stauber Wendell
Berry CounterPunch
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May 19, 2005 An Interview with Alexander CockburnAdvice for the Left-LornBy
BILL FORMAN One of the left's most prominent commentators, Alexander Cockburn possesses a wild iconoclasm that can be as much tonic for the soul as it is toxic to the system. The Irish-born journalist, whose Village Voice columns in the '70s and '80s blazed a trail for contemporary media criticism, continues to expose the hypocrisies of politicians and pundits in CounterPunch as well as his biweekly "Beat the Devil" in The Nation magazine. Come next week, on May 20, he'll be offering Sacramentans his thoughts on "How to Change the World in Six Easy Lessons." At the time of our interview, Cockburn hadn't entirely figured out what those six easy lessons would be "What's the name of it again?" he asked. "How to Save the World ... ?" but promised listeners would "leave with their chests absolutely bursting with purpose and optimism." Cockburn was in a good mood himself, having just attended the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (Irma Thomas' rendering of the gospel spiritual "Beams of Heaven" left nary a dry eye, he said) and picked up a 1982 Mercedes in South Carolina. These days, Sacramento is practically a backyard for the 63-year-old journalist, who has a home in Humboldt County and extols the Internet-age joys of accessing information from virtually anywhere. In the following interview, Cockburn talks about how he stays cheerful in the face of catastrophe. SN&R: CounterPunch just did a piece on Air America cheerleading the Democratic Party. Yet, mainstream media continue to portray the network as some sort of fringe outpost. Cockburn: Right, as the cutting edge of revolutionary activism! Isn't it insane? I mean, Air America? My darling niece Laura Flanders is on it as a hostess, but Al Franken? I mean, really. And now Laura Bush gives this great comedy routine where she makes fun of George Bush, Dick Cheney and her horrible mother-in-law and all these liberal wusses like David Corn in The Nation all say it was very shocking, and they wouldn't want to tell children what she said. If you want one single portrait of the utter decay of the liberal progressive so-called left, it's that they can't even laugh happily when Laura Bush makes a few jokes. They churn up inside and say that she was perhaps indecent. And now they're organizing a letter-writing campaign about her raunchy language. They're not being ironic? No, they're not! This is what the left has come to. It's sickening. So, where do you go? I don't know. Go back and read the speeches of Robespierre, I suppose. Sure, but what about "saving the world"? Well, it helps to have an optimistic attitude. And where did you get that from? I've always been an optimist. You have to be an optimist. Because most people on the left, they tend to take a rather grim view of the world, as you may have noticed. You want to just generally be bushy-tailed about things, I think. And how do you do that? Well, think of all the things in life that actually have changed for the better. The food's got better. Absolutely beyond question, the food's got better in America. The coffee is better. Bread is better. I'll bet you could go out from where you're sitting in Sacramento right now, I'll bet you could walk 500 yards and probably be able to find a decent loaf of bread. You could, couldn't you? If I said that to you 20 years ago, you would probably have had to taken an airplane and flown all the way to France. Now, why did this happen? It's because hippies in the '60s decided they wanted to have whole-grain bread and be healthy, and then they also wanted to have properly roasted coffee. And so, they gradually got organic-food stores that actually were quite good, and the bread got better, and there were farmers' markets. Now, all this happened in the teeth of political onslaughts by both parties who were, of course, in the pay of the food industry. In my local town of Eureka, Calif., the other day, I went into Pierson's, which is the main building supply place where you buy stuff if you're redoing your house and all the rest of it. I looked at their coffee booth. They were selling coffee from nine beans from nine different countries. Nine! This is not some hippie hangout. This is where mighty men with measuring tapes in their waist belts and huge hammers hanging from their trousers that's where they go. And you could have nine different kinds of coffee. Now that's progress. So, globalism isn't such a bad thing? Yeah, globalism is great. It's been going on for hundreds of years. Oh yeah, I'm against globalism of the bad sort: some company in America going and screwing people in the Third World and not paying them properly. But globalism, I mean, it was very good when the Spanish and the Portuguese well, it had a bad impact on Latin America but it was good that potatoes and peppers got to Europe. That was early, early globalism. It was much more rapid in those days. You know, the first housewives n the Indian subcontinent got chilis, a basic for what we regard as the eternal Indian diet in about 1550, and not long thereafter it was on every household menu in the whole of India. Cortez brought turkeys back to Europe in 1519, from the New World, and by about 1535, they were on every German Christmas table as the old traditional turkey dinner, right? And then the Puritans took the turkeys back to America in cages, and when the Indians gave them turkeys for Thanksgiving, there was a tame turkey looking out of its cage at them. That's globalism. Well, I can puncture your optimism ... Oh, I know you can. ... by switching the topic to journalism. Oh, yeah. Ha! Well, no, no, no. I can detect a silver lining there, as well. Of course, as far as the mainstream press is concerned, it's as degraded as it ever was. But actually I'm against all the endless press criticism today, although I'm partly responsible for it because I did a lot of press criticism in the '70s when people weren't doing it so much. But, you know, attacking The New York Times. I mean, so what? The New York Times has always been a disgusting paper from day one, and its function is to tell lies on behalf of the ruling class. Why do we have to have incredibly intelligent people like Noam Chomsky explaining to us every day that The New York Times has got it wrong? I mean, I said to him one time, why don't you just write a piece every six months saying they've got it right? Let's turn to the Village Voice, which to me was always the prototype for the alternative weekly. When Dan Wolf and Norman Mailer and the other guys started the Voice in 1957, it was a genuinely countercultural magazine, although Wolf himself in many ways was quite a conservative guy actually. But Dan was a very good editor. That was a period when you had Ed Sanders doing Fuck You: A Magazine of the Arts, and then of course you had all the underground press, the antiwar press and the gay lib press and the feminist press ... And then gradually as the 70s wore on it went from being underground journalism to what my friend Andrew Kopkind called "sea-level journalism". You know, these papers began to figure out their markets, and make a bundle of money from ads aimed at well heeled constituencies like the gays in the west Village and other zones of inner-city-gentrification . Of course, the mainstream papers have copied this a lot now. ... When I joined the Voice in 1973, it had just been sold to Carter Burden, who was a scion he's now dead of the Vanderbilts, and he bought it for I think $3 million. Then it was sold to Clay Felker for $15 million. Then Rupert Murdoch bought it for, I think, $45 million. This was in the late '70s. And then it was sold to the dog-biscuit king of New Jersey you know, the Hartz dog-collar guy [Leonard Stern]. That was for $144 million, I think. And in 2000 I think there was another buy-out for around $160 million. When there's that much money wrapped up in something, how can you possibly do anything of any real radical content? You can't. Which brings us to the Internet, yes? The Internet, yes. I came late to the Internet, unlike my coeditor at CounterPunch, Jeffrey St. Clair. Ken Silverstein, who had been my intern at The Nation, actually started it. I said, you get the newsletter going, and if it works I'll step on board the raft. And it did work. And we were very happy to be selling 5,000 copies of the newsletter. Ken went on to do fantastic investigative work, currently for the LA Times. Jeffrey came aboard and soon showed what we could do with the Web. And now we have a million hits a day, which translates to about 80,000 unique visitors a day. This week it's been higher. The best numbers we've ever had. People read it all over the world, including 30,000 people on U.S. military bases. What percentage of your readers did you say are on military bases? Last time we looked, there were about 30,000 a month on U.S. military bases reading CounterPunch. Now that's pretty good, isn't it? If I said to you 30 years ago, "We're gonna get pamphlets, and we're gonna go stand outside a U.S. military base and leaflet and hopefully we won't get our brains beaten in," we'd have been happy if we'd have given away 500 leaflets. If we had actually managed to get 500 leaflets into 500 hairy military hands or delicate military hands, like Lynndie England's, maybe we'd have counted it a good day's work. And here you've got 30,000 reading our seditious prose. So, now that we all have access to the Internet, is that why things seem so much worse politically than they did when only Noam Chomsky could access that much information? Is Iraq that much worse than Vietnam? No, no. But I think politics in the mainstream, the whole center of gravity has moved to the right over the last 25 years. I'll give you an example. In 1976, I followed the candidates in the Democratic primary around, Jimmy Carter and Jerry Brown and Scoop Jackson and Fred Harris a whole range of people. And during that primary, there was a public interest group on the left called Energy Action, and these guys were going around asking all the Democratic candidates to sign on to their program. And their program included vertical and horizontal divestiture of the energy companies. That meant that if you were an Exxon, if you had an oil well, you couldn't own a filling station, or a refinery, or a coal company. So, in other words, it was breaking up the oil companies. Every single candidate, from Scoop Jackson, who was of course totally in the pay of Boeing, to Jimmy Carter to the lot of them. They all felt it necessary to sign on to that. Even though of course they didn't have the slightest intention of doing anything about it, with the possible exception of Fred Harris. And Fred Harris did not fare well, as I recall. Yeah, he had a great joke. He said, "I was the guy for the little people, and they couldn't jump high enough to reach the levers." And to complete the story, around 1978 or 1979 my old friend Jim Abourezk, a one-term senator from South Dakota, put a bill through the Senate calling for vertical and horizontal divestiture of the oil companies, and on one reading it failed by four votes. ... Jim said that the next day Texcaco put up a $100 million for a pro oil campany barrage. Can you imagine now the U.S. Senate even admitting that resolution into consideration? No, no, of course not. Can you imagine any candidate assenting to this stuff? Uh, no. No, these days, we have the Democrats about to sell out on Social Security. They sold out last month on Chapter 7 bankruptcy. You know, they're incapable of even the most basic and primitive gestures of protection for ordinary people . They can't do it. I think they're a dead letter. They're a huge rotting albatross hanging around the neck of every single left person in this country. And the left are putting a handkerchief to their nose trying to ignore this festering carcass, dripping with worms, reeking, hanging around their necks: "No, it's not dead. I like it. It doesn't smell bad." And it's just getting worse and worse. If you put Hillary Clinton and Laura Bush together, I'd vote for Laura Bush any day of the week. What's Clinton's program? It's build higher fences at the borders and join the militias in Arizona and drive the illegals out. That's points one, two and three of their program. She's calling for an attack on North Korea. She called for an attack on Syria. I mean, I'm just talking Hillary Clinton, because she comes to mind. But, I mean, how can you possibly even think of voting for this party? So, what's that leave you? I don't know. Not much. A few organic potatoes. You know, people have to start thinking creatively. I mean, I think a lot of things can be done. All the best things in life have absolutely nothing to do with any conventional politics in the last 35 or 40 years. So, why do you keep writing about it? Why have I written about it? Well, you know, Edward Gibbon wrote about the fall of the Roman Empire. He didn't say it all ended well, did he? Alexander Cockburn, noted author
and columnist, will reveal "How to Change the World, In
Six Easy Lessons." 7 p.m. Friday, May 20; at the Coloma
Community Center Auditorium, 4623 T Street in Sacramento. Contact
Ruth Holbrook, of the Sacramento Community Forum, at (916) 455-1396
or (916) 456-9282.
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