Tag: usa

“The public, regardless of party, overwhelmingly opposes cuts to Social Security and Medicare. But elected officials of both parties are hell-bent on conspiring to bring the programs to an end. They seem to have come to grips with a fact that the public has not: their tenure in office depends on carrying out the wishes of oligarchical elites.”
-Jane Hamsher, on the death of the Democratic party, and democracy itself

“What we have in academia, in other words, is a microcosm of the American economy as a whole: a self-enriching aristocracy, a swelling and increasingly immiserated proletariat, and a shrinking middle class. The same devil’s bargain stabilizes the system: the middle, or at least the upper middle, the tenured professoriate, is allowed to retain its prerogatives – its comfortable compensation packages, its workplace autonomy and its job security – in return for acquiescing to the exploitation of the bottom by the top, and indirectly, the betrayal of the future of the entire enterprise.”
-William Deresiewicz, in The Nation

Justice Will Be Served

“Was Shadadi’s mother and father terrorist? They were killed by the US drone. They are both over 60 years old.” -Abdul Hadi Mohammed, neighbor of al Qaeda suspect Nader Shadadi, whose father, mother and sister were killed by a US drone strike in Yemen last week. Over 100 Yemenis have been killed in such bombings… Continue reading Justice Will Be Served

Our Current Paradigm

The brilliant inventor Thomas Edison transfixed the world with his miraculous inventions which captured sound and created light. His noble efforts, and those of his “muckers” at his laboratory in New Jersey, grew eventually into the Titan of American Business, General Electric, creator of ovens, toasters, and medical image scanners, provider of many thousands of… Continue reading Our Current Paradigm

A Rich Embarrassment

In the final days of negotiation on the healthcare bill, President Obama twice postponed diplomatic trips to Indonesia and Australia, in order to close a deal that had engulfed the first 15 months of his presidency. The achievement noticeably improved Obama’s standing on the international stage, giving him much-needed credibility with foreign governments, but to… Continue reading A Rich Embarrassment

Afghanistan: Time to Leave

“If you are the 4th-poorest country in the world, you have a long way to go. When you try to train an army, they have an 80% illiteracy rate… It’s gonna take a long time.” Former White House Press Secretary Dana Perino, on Afghanistan. We’ve been fighting in Afghanistan for seven years, five months, and… Continue reading Afghanistan: Time to Leave

Back into the Light

At an alumni function last year, I spoke with a friend I had not seen in over a decade. He had spent many of the intervening years in Afghanistan with the US Army, in an intelligence unit. I asked him his opinion of “Matthew Alexander” – the anonym of the military interrogator who had just… Continue reading Back into the Light

Vote Obama, But Don’t Stop There

Sarah Palin has been traveling around what she calls the Real America – the “pro-America” parts of the country, where they “grow good people” who “fight our wars.” These are the Real Americans, Sarah tells us. Real Americans know that Barry Hussein Obama is a Muslim, and therefore by definition a terrorist – and not… Continue reading Vote Obama, But Don’t Stop There