A Bone of Contention
      I heard it. I knew I would. John Kerry said it. George W. Bush said it. And myriad others will join the chorus. They told us it’s now a time of healing. But, I don’t want to heal, and I don’t intend to be healed. [ more ]

A Decent Person—Some Indecent Programs
      I never voted for Ronald Reagan. Not the first time he ran for governor in 1966, nor for his re-election in 1970. I didn’t vote for him for president in 1980 or 1984. But, it was Mr. Reagan who was responsible for me becoming involved in my first political race. [ more ]

A Dinner of Hotdogs
       For weeks, you dreaded going to a formal dinner party because you knew the main course was liver. No seasonings. No bacon wrap. No fried onions. Just liver. You tried every excuse, but finally realized you just had to take your antacids and go to dinner. [ more ]

A Failure to Support the Troops
       As usual, Donald Rumsfeld was in control. At a “town hall” meeting with almost 2,000 American combat soldiers in northern Kuwait, the Secretary of Defense and his PR machine were going to give a “pep rally” to troops about to go into combat. He would prove he cared about the individual troops, that the Bush Administration supported them, and that God and country, at least 51 percent of the mortal voters, were patriots who supported George W. Bush and, thus, the war. [ more ]

A Good Ole Sport
      The day after he delivered the State of the Union, George W. Bush was in Mesa, Ariz., to push one of his programs and to campaign for re-election—although the White House was firm in stating the trip was presidential not political. Had it been political, the Republicans, not the taxpayers, would have had to pay for it. [ more ]

A Lott of Questions
      It was just an off-the-cuff comment. A throw-away line, actually. Just something to honor retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond at his 100th birthday bash.
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A Nation of Polls and Predictions
      The national TV networks, with the print media drooling in their shadows, began “predicting” the presidential winner in each state nanoseconds after the polls closed. They based their pretend-scientific analyses upon exit polls, directed by consulting companies populated by statisticians, mathematicians, and academicians of all types. They could just as well have hired a bevy of bright beauticians for all the accuracy we saw in Florida. [ more ]

...And a Justice for All
       The president of the United States was adamant about how he was conducting his so-called “War on Terror.” [ more ]

A Slice of Life in a Mini-Mart
       It was just a chance meeting in a 24-hour convenience mart at a truck stop on a Sunday evening outside Bloomsburg, Pa. [ more ]

A Wealth of Blindness
      The farther the Bush administration tries to distance itself from Enron, the Houston-based energy trader now in bankruptcy, the more apparent the ties become. [ more ]

Abrogating Their Responsibility
       Much of the establishment press has been especially critical of Michael Moore. In the past few days, it has questioned every word he has said, every line in his fourth documentary, “Fahrenheit 9/11.” The film attacks President George W. Bush, the Bush Administration, corporate America, and the media. It has been called propaganda and manipulative; Moore has been called obnoxious, arrogant, and detestable. [ more ]

Addressed to the 9’s
      The Supreme Court received advice from constitutional scholar, civil rights analyst, and national educator George W. Bush. Yes, that George W. Bush.
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An Ill Wind and American Policy
      America has already spent more than $80 billion in the past year on its “war on terrorism,” and the president has asked Congress for another $87 billion, most of it to rebuild Iraq. The appropriated budget for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), dwindling each year, is $1.8 billion. [ more ]

An Uncivil Administration
       Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) was furious. Once again, the Bush Administration managed to subvert not only American civil liberties, but the democratic process as well. Nadler, one of the nation’s leading advocates of social justice, and whose district includes the area where the World Trade Center once stood, called the Republican leadership “shameful,” their tactics “corrupt.” [ more ]

Applauding Only the ‘Right’ Entertainers
      They call themselves Patriotic Americans Boycotting Anti-American Hollywood, or PABAAH for short. If it was anything but an acronym, PABAAH would be on the Homeland Security “no-fly” list. [ more ]

Bush-Whacking the Environment
       George W. Bush says it will take years.
       He says there will be many casualties.
       He says it will be costly for Americans. [ more ]

Conspiracy in the White House
       Anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of Americans, according to a variety of polls, including those conducted by the Gallup organization, believe the moon landings were faked. Influenced by a combination of greater knowledge of media technology and an increasing mistrust of government, a vocal minority of Americans believe Neil Armstrong and the other astronauts performed in a TV studio, possibly set up in the Nevada desert. [ more ]

Crumpling Constitutional Guarantees
       With one word, a federal judge has described not only John Ashcroft’s handling of the Department of Justice, but also the Bush administration’s policy of citing national security as the reason why it’s trying to hide the Constitution from Americans. [ more ]

Down on Our Knees: An American Tale
      Standing before more than 1,400 loyalists and lobbyists who threw him more than $3.5 million, President Bush claimed he “got the economy going again . . . laid the foundation for greater prosperity” and defended the country against terrorism. Assuming he was neither drunk or stoned, he may have believed what he was spinning. [ more ]

Facing a McBlimp Attack
      Beneath a clear blue Fall afternoon, I was lying face down on the parkway outside city hall. On top of me, cursing and screaming they’ll never take us alive, was Marshbaum. The last thing I had remembered before being hit with a flying tackle was looking up. So, I looked up again. [ more ]

Flip-Flop Flap
       About a week after the nation’s 229th Independence Day celebration the media got a story fit to feed the insatiable interest in scandalous minutiae, unwittingly provided by the national champion Northwestern University women’s lacrosse team. Beneath a headline that quoted the lawyer-brother of one of the players—“You Wore Flip-Flops to the White House?!”—was a well-crafted front-page story in the Chicago Tribune about the team’s meeting with President Bush. [ more ]

George W. Bush—By the Numbers
     George W. Bush likes numbers. A day after he received 50.7 percent of the vote in the 2004 general election, he decided he had a mandate.
      At a White House press conference, one of the few he held in four years, President Bush told America, “[T]here is a feeling that the people have spoken and embraced your point of view, and that's what I intend to tell the Congress” His victory, he said, “is like earning capital. . . . I earned capital in the campaign, political capital, and now I intend to spend it. It is my style.” [ more ]

Gifts for the Holidays
      Spurred by President Bush and America’s corporations which tell us it’s patriotic to buy during this recession, and that we must return to our daily activities, 270 million Americans are dribbling into stores to buy whatever the advertising agencies say we need to express our Christmas cheer. If we buy enough and go into even more debt we will be happier people and will have defeated terrorism. [ more ]

Gigolos on the Campaign Trail
       The presidential candidates, once promising eternal love to Iowa and New Hampshire voters, deserted their betrothed faster than a gigolo ditching a plain rich girl for a plain richer one. [ more ]

Government-Approved Slaughter
        Almost every day, a dozen or so wild burros come down from the foothills of the Black Mountains of northwestern Arizona onto the main street of Oatman, a revitalized high desert mining town about 15 miles from where California, Nevada, and Arizona meet. [ more ]

Hollywood’s Patriots
      Sandra Bullock and Leonardo DiCaprio each donated about $1 million for disaster relief following the recent tsunami in Southeast Asia. The Steven Spielberg family donated $1.5 million. Jet Li donated more than $125,000; Jackie Chan added at least $64,000. Among several dozen rock bands which donated proceeds of their concerts or made outright donations, U-2 and Linkin Park each donated $100,000; Ozzie and Sharon Osborn donated almost $200,000. At the Laugh Factory in both L.A. and New York, major comedians donated their time, with proceeds benefiting the victims. The Red Cross says innumerable celebrities made anonymous donations. [ more ]

Janet Jackson, George Bush, and No. 524:
There Are No Half-Time Shows in War
      On the day that Justin Timberlake ripped open Janet Jackson’s blouse during the half-time of the Super Bowl to reveal a bejeweled breast and create a national firestorm of protest, American Soldiers 523 and 524 died in Iraq. Along with the two American soldiers, 14 were wounded. Also that day, two suicide bombers killed more than 100 Kurds and wounded more than 200. [ more ]

Kicking Around a Peace Prize
       The wire services distributed it.
      The news media published it.
      Even Netscape put it on its front page.
      George W. Bush was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.
      Yes, that George W. Bush. [ more ]

Leafing Through the Bush Legacy
      Usually, it takes years, even decades, for a political leader to develop his legacy. George W. Bush, over-achiever that he is, has done it in about 18 months. And, there’s still two and one-half years left for him to expand that legacy. [ more ]

Macho, Macho Man
      During the general election season, the president of the United States asks the CIA to brief the opposition candidate about national security and foreign affairs. President George Bush did it for Gov. Bill Clinton; President Clinton did it for Sen. Bob Dole and now for Gov. George W. Bush. [ more ]

Marshbaum’s Fine Line
       Surrounded by maps and monitors, Marshbaum was directing the search for Osama bin Laden.
       As the only journalist allowed into the super-secret War Room, located 250 yards north of the intersection of routes 45 and 518, just inside Coal Breaker Mountain in Molly Twp., it was my responsibility to observe and report every factoid to the public. I might win a Pulitzer if I did my job well. If not, I would get several offers to be a TV news anchor. [ more ]

On the (Far) Right Hand of God
      She’s a pleasant enough person. Likes animals. Seems to care about people. Does an excellent job as an administrative assistant for a state agency. [ more ]

Personal Possessions
      Two weeks before Christmas 1990, we received a duffel bag in the mail. Thirty-two pounds of dirty civilian clothes and freshly-creased never-worn Class A uniforms, cassette tapes, souvenirs from Japan, about five dollars in pennies, a combat helmet—and a set of dog-tags. [ more ]

Playing Spin the Battle:
The Shock and Awe of American Ignorance
      More than half of all Americans believe that Saddam Hussein was personally involved in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. According to an Associated Press poll conducted shortly after the conclusion of the successful invasion of Iraq, 53 percent of the nation pin the 9/11 murders on Saddam, something the CIA and most of the world intelligence gathering organizations have consistently discounted. [ more ]

President Bush’s ‘Appropriate’ Response
      On Sunday, Dec. 26, 2004, an earthquake-triggered tsunami with an effect of 1,000 miles from its epicenter in the Indian Ocean near Sumatra devastated 12 countries. Within hours, numerous countries and private social service agencies had begun massive relief operations. President George W. Bush, vacationing on his ranch in Crawford, Texas, made no public statements. [ more ]

Presidential Letters: The Day I Was Asked to Fund an Elephant
      On April 21, I finally became part of the establishment. At least the Republican National Committee believes I did. [ more ]

Protecting America From Partisan Zealousness
      President Bush call the decision “ridiculous.”
      Sen. Maj. Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said it was “just nuts.”
      New York Gov. George Pataki called it “junk justice.”
      Calif. Gov. Gray Davis, in whose state the decision was issued, said he was “extremely disappointed.” [ more ]

Running the Ship-of-State Aground
      Let’s pretend it’s wartime, and the nation’s largest aircraft carrier has just run aground. [ more ]

Scoring the U.S. - Iraq War
      Now that the police believe they have in custody the Suburban Sniper, George W. Bush can once again try to get the people to focus on his message that as many as 24 million Iraqis need to be wiped off the earth in order to destroy Saddam Hussein and avenge the uncompleted work of George the Elder. [ more ]

Signs of our Times
      On a frigid Saturday afternoon, about 150 people stood in front of a 150-year-old brick courthouse in rural Bloomsburg, Pa., and called for an end to George W. Bush’s impending war. [ more ]

Sinking the Ship of State
      Standing before more than 1,400 loyalists and lobbyists who threw him more than $3.5 million, President Bush claimed he “got the economy going again . . . laid the foundation for greater prosperity” and defended the country against terrorism. Assuming he was neither drunk nor stoned, he may have believed what he was spinning. [ more ]

Star-Spangled America
       Jose Feliciano gave it a new beat.
      Roseanne Barr shrilled it.
      And hundreds, maybe even thousands, of featured soloists have bobbled it or failed to hit the high-G.
      “It” is the “Star-Spangled Banner.” [ more ]

The Compassionate Exerciser
       George W. Bush, the self-proclaimed compassionate conservative who doesn’t want government intruding into private lives, has just mixed government into private lives. [ more ]

The Dutiful Wife: More Than Just a Comedy
       Laura Bush has shown that her husband isn’t the only one who can do stand-up comedy. In her case, it was deliberate, performed before the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents Association. [ more ]

The Fiction Behind National Security
       Between a diner and an empty store that once housed a shoe store, video store, and tanning salon, in a small strip mall in Bloomsburg, Pa., is Friends-in-Mind, an independent bookstore. [ more ]

The ‘Morally Treasonable’ Bush Administration
       On a blatant campaign of exploiting 9/11, and a subversive campaign to undermine the nation’s civil liberties, George W. Bush expects to win a second term. Jingoism is encouraged; dissent is not tolerated. [ more ]

The Pretend Captain
      Former Texas Air National Guard Lt. George W. Bush showed up on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. He was trim, the result of long daily workouts. He was dressed immaculately, the result of having aides, valets, and costumers. [ more ]

The Truth of Joseph Goebbels
      The CIA said there was no connection. The 9/11 Commission said there was “no credible evidence.” Counter-terrorism expert Richard Clarke, advisor to four presidents, said there was no link. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) said, “We made serious mistakes.” Even Donald Rumsfeld grudgingly said there probably wasn’t “any strong, hard evidence.” [ more ]

‘Unacceptable’: The Federal Response to Katrina
      Not even George W. Bush, who believes he is the most macho of all gunslingers, could have stood at the mouth of the Mississippi River and held back Hurricane Katrina's winds and floods. But, his policies during four and a half years as president led to destruction of people and property that were greater than should have been.
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Uncle Sam Wants You:
The Identity Stripping of American Citizens
      A little-known provision of the No Child Left Behind Act, signed by President Bush in 2001, requires all public high schools to provide to the Department of Defense the names, ages, phone numbers, and addresses of all males. The government has the data for about 4.5 million high school students. Few parents are aware the data is routinely provided to the government; even fewer are aware they have the right to “opt-out” by signing a form that prohibits the school district from sending personal information to the Department of Defense. [ more ]