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EXCLUSIVE! HOW THE FBI SPIED ON EDWARD SAID First look at secret files: How G-Men kept Said under surveillance from 1971. David Price traces years of snooping on US's best known Palestinian Is the US Constitution worth saving? Hmmm, maybe ... New York Times takes a year to make up its mind. Cockburn and St Clair on NYT and NSA ... 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! or write CounterPunch, PO BOX 228, Petrolia, CA 95558 |
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January 9, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts January 9, 2006 Behzad Yaghmaian George Bisharat Dave Lindorff Norman Solomon Christopher Brauchli Aharon Shabati Andrew Cockburn
January 7 / 8, 2006 Lawrence Velvel James Petras J.L. Chestnut Mike Ely Andrew Wilson Lila Rajiva William Cook Ramor Ryan Thomas Kleine-Brockhoff Peter Montague Ron Jacobs Neve Gordon Fred Gardner Josh Mahon Dr. Susan Block Jeffrey St. Clair Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
January 6, 2006 José
Pertierra Joe Allen Winslow T. Wheeler John Bomar Jason Leopold Norman Solomon Robert Pollin
January 5, 2006 Scott Boehm Zoltan Grossman Heather Gray Haninah Levine Pierre Tristam Remi Kanazi Gilad Atzmon Kathleen and
Bill Christison
January 4, 2006 Ron Jacobs Lila Rajiva Huibin Amee
Chew Pat Williams Linda Milazzo Nick Dearden James Petras Website of
the Day
January 3, 2006 James Ridgeway Laith al-Saud Dick J. Reavis Joshua Frank Rochelle Gause Missy Comley
Beattie Paul de Rooij
January 2, 2006 Paul Craig
Roberts Clancy Sigal Cindy Sheehan Alexander Cockburn
Dec. 31 / Jan. 1, 2005/6 Patrick Cockburn Alexander Cockburn Ralph Nader James Petras Peter Montague J.L. Chestnut, Jr. Vijay Prashad P. Sainath James Brooks Eileen E. Schell Christopher
Brauchli Jo Guldi Fred Gardner Ben Tripp St. Clair /
Walker / Pollack Poets Basement Website of
the Weekend
December 30,2005 Evo Morales Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Dave Lindorff Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs Brian Concannon Sandra Lucas T.W. Croft Website of
the Day
December 29, 2005 Norman Solomon Missy Comley
Beattie Dave Zirin Kevin Zeese Derrick O'Keefe Sam Bahour Macdonald Stainsby Bill &
Kathleen Christison Website of the Day
December 28, 2005 Jeffrey St.
Clair Lila Rajiva Amira Hass Joshua Frank David Swanson Richard Thieme Paul Craig
Roberts Website of the Day
December 27, 2005 Evan Jones Uri Avnery Mike Whitney Gideon Levy David Swanson Norman Solomon
December 26, 2005 Lawrence R.
Velvel Lance Olsen Ben Terrall Scott Boehm Charlie Ehlen Tom Kerr
December 24/25, 2005 Aleander Cockburn James Petras Ralph Nader Lila Rajiva Fred Gardner Ron Jacobs Dave Lindorff Gary Leupp Saul Landau John Chuckman Dr. Susan Block St. Clair / Vest / Pollack
/ Donnelly Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
December 23, 2005 John Ross Chris Floyd Lawrence Mishel
/ Ross Eisenbrey Joanne Mariner Eric Johnson-Debaufre Ray McGovern J. L. Chestnut,
Jr. Website of
the Day
December 22, 2005 Ingmar Lee Elisa Salasin Christopher
Brauchli Robin Blackburn Evelyn Pringle Amira Hass Francis A.
Boyle Stew Albert Website of
the Day
December 21, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts Lila Rajiva Joshua Frank Dave Zirin Ramzy Baroud Sonia Nettnin Ben Saul Jonathan Cronin Patrick Cockburn Website of
the Day
December 20, 2005 Jackie Corr Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Michael Donnelly Gian Paulo
Accardo Pierre Tristam Norman Solomon Sen. Robert Byrd Dave Lindorff Website of the Day
December 19, 2005 Mike Marqusee Gary Leupp Ron Jacobs John Blair Gideon Levy Kevin Zeese Missy Comley Beattie Don Santina Website of the Day
December 17 / 18, 2005 Cockburn /
St. Clair Gabriel Kolko Susan Alcorn Werther Ralph Nader Patrick Cockburn Fred Gardner Dave Lindorff Ned Sublette Lee Sustar Jason Leopold Laura Carlsen Jeff White Ray McGovern Chris Floyd William Loren Katz Rose Miriam
Elizalde Greg Moses Heather Gray Alison Weir St Clair /
Walker / Pollack Poets' Basement Website of
the Day
December 16, 2005 Tom Kerr Mark Engler John Bomar Patrick Cockburn Pierre Tristam William S. Lind Cyril Neville Robert Jensen Saul Landau Website
December 15, 2005 Oren Ben-Dor Stan Cox Joshua Frank Ben Terrall Patrick Cockburn Monica Benderman Walter A. Davis Vijay Prashad Website of
the Day
Patrick Cockburn Paul Craig
Roberts Lawrence R. Velvel Wayne Garcia John Sugg Gary Leupp Ray McGovern Alan Maass April Hurley, MD Kevin Alexander
Gray
December 13, 2005 Stephen T.
Banko, III Patrick Cockburn Laura Carlsen Karl Grossman Niranjan Ramakrishnan Kevin Zeese Norman Solomon Michael G.
Smith Stew Albert Bob Dylan Phil Gasper Website of
the Day
December 12, 2005 Paul Craig
Roberts Lawrence R.
Velvel Jessica Stewart George Bisharat Nate Mezmer Earl Ofari
Hutchinson Alison Weir Seth Sandronsky Patrick Cockburn Website of
the Day
Alexander Cockburn Landau / Hassen Ralph Nader Linn Washington, Jr Bill Christison Mike Ferner Elizabeth Schulte Neve Gordon / Yigal Bronner Linda S. Heard Ingmar Lee Ray McGovern John Chuckman John Ryan Dick J. Reavis Christopher
Brauchli Behzad Yaghmaian Aseem Shrivastava John Ross Ben Tripp St. Clair / Pollack / Vest
/ Despair Poets' Basement Website of the Week
December 9, 2005 Linn Washington,
Jr. Dave Zirin
/ Mike Stark Patrick Cockburn Alexander Cockburn Lila Rajiva Gary Leupp Jason Leopold Bruce K. Gagnon Andrew Cockburn Website of the Day
December 8, 2005 Kathy Kelly James Petras William S.
Lind Laura Carlsen Justin Akers Thomas Graham, Jr Norman Solomon Tariq Ali /
Robin Blackburn Website of
the Day
December 7, 2005 John Ryan Gary Leupp Fran Quigley Jeremy Brecher
/ Brendan Smith Joshua Frank William W.
Morgan Dave Lindorff Patrick Cockburn Harold Pinter Website of
the Day
December 6, 2005 Ron Jacobs Patrick Cockburn Yifat Susskind Mike Whitney Pat Williams Paul Craig
Roberts Website of
the Day
December 5, 2005 John Walsh Brian Cloughley Mokhiber /
Weissman Robert Jensen Norman Solomon Peter Rost, MD Lila Rajiva Website of the Day
Alexander Cockburn Lawrence R.
Velvel Rev. William Alberts Saul Landau Ralph Nader Paul Craig
Roberts Mike Whitney Allan Lichtman Dave Lindorff Brian Concannon,
Jr. Fred Gardner Manuel Garcia,
Jr. Carol Wolman St. Clair /
Vest / Walker / Pollack Poets' Basement Website of
the Weekend
December 2, 2005 Stan Goff Mike Ferner Christopher Brauchli Niranjan Ramakrishnan Manuel Talens Peter Phillips J.L. Chestnut,
Jr. Website of
the Day
December 1, 2005 John Walsh,
MD Ron Jacobs Jenna Orkin Joshua Frank Tiffany Ten
Eyck Missy Comley Beattie Eli Stephens Elaine Cassel Website of
the Day
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January 10, 2006 The Careless PresidencyDifferent AmericasBy SAUL LANDAU George W. Bush, like the old European monarchs, claimed he possessed inherent rights and implied that those who question such prerogatives might have treasonous motives. "As President and Commander-in-Chief, I have the constitutional responsibility and the constitutional authority to protect our country," Bush responded to stories of his authorizing wiretaps on US citizens without getting legal permission. Bush then turned on the leakers. "It was a shameful act for someone to disclose this very important program in a time of war," said Bush. "The fact that we're discussing this program is helping the enemy." Bush did not consider "shameful" the 2003 disclosure of a covert CIA operative's name to the media (Valerie Plame) by members of his staff. Nor did he recall that he assured the public that "a wiretap requires a court order It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in the place" April 20, 2004 W didn't seem to sense any contradiction between what he said and did. He also denied that the US practiced torture as the press revealed that his war on terrorism had spawned torture at Guantanamo, Cuba, Abu Ghraib, Iraq and at secret CIA-run prisons throughout the world. He also did not like the medias reporting on US agents kidnapping suspected terrorists and shipping them elsewhere (rendition) for torture and interrogation. For the Bush family such issues did not merit discussion as holiday conversation. Indeed, the inner circle felt satisfied that on December 17, Bush had defined the proper position in his national radio address (and on TV). Wire tapping US citizens without warrants was "fully consistent" with his "constitutional responsibilities and authorities" (cnn.com, December, 17, 2005). A week earlier he had snapped at a reporter who raised the constitutional question. "I don't give a goddamn. I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way." One aide apparently said. "There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution." "Stop throwing the Constitution in my face," Bush screamed back. "It's just a goddamned piece of paper!" (Doug Thompson, Capitol Hill Blue, Dec 8, 2005). A Democratic Member of Congress told me that Bush's display of arrogant power exceeded Nixon. "Bush justified his violation of laws by referring to a Congressional resolution to fight al-Qaeda, passed after 9/11, that he claims transcends the Fourth Amendment, the right to spy on US citizens because Presidents have inherent powers to fight wars that Congress did not declare. Constitutional law? Or fascism?" Bush's imperial managers invoke "national security" without defining other than as "combating terrorism" to justify circumvention of court warrants and congressional oversight. The "important" people, however, bank presidents and corporate CEOs, ignore such trivia. They had deciphered Bush's feeble "compassionate conservative" code before he ran for the presidency. They assured their stockholders that the Bush Administration aimed above all else to enhance the worldly proprietary interests of the super rich. Bush has allowed an atmosphere of tolerance in awarding defense contracts, coincidentally, many of them to corporations that had also heavily contributed to the Bush political coffers or had close ties to the Administration. (Vice President Cheney's old company, Halliburton, got no-bid contracts in Iraq.) "Executives at some companies with military contracts have increased their salaries by 200 percent since 9/11," wrote Sarah Anderson (Alternet, Dec. 17). The big oil companies also got huge windfall profits after Bush invaded Iraq. The film "Syriana" dramatizes oil tycoons and other corporate bosses paying fortunes to lobbyists to get the powerful to support Middle East war. The rest of the business elite takes for granted as it normally does -- that the government will protect the interests of the very propertied classes. The moguls therefore seem uninterested when the Bushies disregard traditional rules and abdicate conventional responsibility. Congress, for example, under Bush's guidance, cut food stamps and Medicare as Members rushed to adjourn at the end of the year parties at home and a little campaigning for the 2006 elections. That's Washington's political culture. The vast public, more than half of which will not vote, gets distracted and possesses little memory. In Oakland, California, part of that public, some not yet of voting age, struts down a street where the faces are black, Asian or Hispanic. Many do not speak English. The teenagers dressed in baggy pants, grew up in these grey streets, flanked by decaying warehouses, garages, body shops and taquerias. A group of Central American day laborers wait for work on a corner where old newspapers blow and empty plastic soda cups litter the sidewalk. Occasional cars stop and hire some of them to help move furniture or clean a back yard. The Central Americans ignore the black teenage posse. A passing patrol car slows down. The cops stare at the men on the corner illegals? -- and at the swaggering teenagers. If the boys change their choreography to indicate that cops intimate them it would amount to surrender. So they maintain hip hop rhythms. The cops ooze by, then speed up. A radio alert to stop a real crime? Two boys run combs through their carefully coiffed hair, as if to call attention to the expensive sculpting on the tops of their heads. Several turn up the volume on their digital music players so they can parade in rhythm to the hip hop. The kids don't demonstrate any overt acknowledgement that they might have won a very minor stare-down skirmish in their never-ending struggle for respect. Later, they will probably discuss it at length. On the street, however, they maintain the cool façade, based on protocols that predate them. They will retreat to someone's house, smoke weed, or crack and talk shit about possible future crimes and fantasies of owning expensive cars. No one will mention Bush or his policies, which have curtailed their access to medical care and cut down on the food stamps their mothers can obtain. Their street lives focus on the enemy gangs and the ubiquitous cops. When cops stop them, it means automatic search. If cops find drugs or drug paraphernalia, it means Juvie. A Public Defender usually won't have time to prepare a case, so the kid serves time. That's American life. In Piedmont's hills, teenagers don't walk the streets in groups. They drive expensive cars and wear whatever their expensive tastes dictate. They don't achieve identity, respect and self-esteem through things. They've always had everything they wanted. Unlike the teenagers in the flats, the Piedmonters understand that the primary job of police is to protect them and their property in case larcenously intentioned kids from the flats should wander up there. The Piedmont kids drink and use drugs, just like the gang bangers. But the police stop them only if they're driving out of control for their own protection. When a rare bust occurs for DUI or possession, high priced lawyers convince judges to offer their young clients probation or find technicalities on which to get them released. Such class segregation, with a heavy racial component, has existed for centuries. So, what's new? Some African Americans have acquired wealth and even own houses in Piedmont. Millions more have joined the middle classes. But the destiny of the majority, the poor black, the Hispanic and Native American people, remains unchanged. In Washington, the Bushies hope the political class will forget or overlook the policy peccadilloes and instead count their money made from tax cuts and the loose atmosphere provided by Bush's incompetent regulators to get rich on insider trading. The boys in Oakland have little to trade. Many will not graduate from high school and will find their way into the California prison system. "The majority of inmates come from the poorest sectors and are mainly Hispanic and black," said a nurse who has worked at two California state prisons. "In the Youth Authority [men between 18 and 25] at Chino lots of the guys expect to join their fathers and grandfathers at Folsom and San Quentin [state prisons]." Two of the baggy pants wearers tell me, smiling, that they have friends and family in the system [prison]. One considers joining the army "and going to Iraq or wherever." The others laugh when a boy yells: "Someone gonna put a cap in your ass over there." The Piedmont kids will go to expensive colleges, graduate and become CEOs and professionals like their parents. On New Year's Eve, both sets enjoyed parties, booze and drugs, sex and making resolutions. They, like the Bushies, were F. Scott Fitzgerald's "careless people." In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald described how "they smashed up things and creatures and retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness and let other people clean up the mess they had made." So Happy Clean Up for 2006! Saul Landau is a fellow of the Institute for Policy Studies.
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from CounterPunch Books! The Case Against Israel By Michael Neumann  Grand Theft Pentagon: Tales of Greed and Profiteering in the War on Terror by Jeffrey St. Clair                           Sick of sit-on-the-Fence speakers, tongue-tied and timid? CounterPunch Editors Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair are available to speak forcefully on ALL the burning issues, as are other CounterPunchers seasoned in stump oratory. Call CounterPunch Speakers Bureau, 1-800-840-3683. Or email beckyg@counterpunch.org. |
