Richard Silverstein. Introduction by b. traven. The truth that all fear to talk about. The Democrats waltz around it. The Republicans embrace it. The Israelis hint at anti-Semitism for those who speak it. The world is aware of it and possibly a majority of Americans would acknowledge it but fear to rock the boat. What…
W.J. Astore I served for twenty years in the Air Force. Service in the military involves sacrifice even when combat isn’t involved, but it also conveys privileges and provides opportunity, or at least it did so for me. I can’t recall people thanking me for my service when I wore a uniform, nor did I…
P.J. Sullivan The controversy over health care in America misses an important point, that the human body is a self-healing organism. Americans think that doctors and medicines are the only options for the sick. They are not. There will always be a role for doctors, but the majority of illnesses are preventable and curable without…
Michael Murry As I believe either Barbara Tuchman or Frances FitzGerald wrote about Vietnam: once a war has gone on for more than a couple of years it can only repeat itself indefinitely. This poem focuses on America’s War on Southeast Asia (Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos), but it has much to say about America’s current…
W.J. Astore Out shopping today at my local used bookstore and came across an early paperback copy (from 1952) of George Orwell’s 1984. A little overpriced at $15.00, but the cover called to me. What a classic! If you click on the picture, you can just make out, if you look closely, the slogans on…
Richard Sahn The other night I was watching the movie “Platoon” on television. An American soldier was killed every few seconds while the platoon was immersed in a firefight with North Vietnamese regulars near the Cambodian border. In one scene the body of a dead GI was used as a shield as bullets were being…
Michael Gallagher I’m just mild about Francis: Pope Francis, that is. I’m afraid I can’t get that excited about either the Synod of Bishops, whose first session just ended, or the Pope himself. I don’t deny that gay marriage, admitting divorced Catholics to Communion, and the like are serious issues that warrant discussion and should…
Mimi Madduck. Introduction by b. traven. Allow me to introduce Mimi Madduck to our TCP audience. Mimi is a dear friend who has chosen a line of professional work that those of you who are veterans of one of our incessant “wars” will appreciate. It is work that is both emotionally challenging and personally rewarding. Mimi…
Steve Naidamast Frank Drake, in the development of his famous equation in the early 1960s for the search for extra-terrestrial life, included what is known as the “L” variable. This variable stipulates, in addition to the viability of a civilization’s life-span, the concept that if an earth-like planet is found with no life upon it, this lack…
W.J. Astore In my latest article for TomDispatch, I examine why the Iraqi security forces that the U.S. trained and equipped at a cost of $25 billion performed so poorly when attacked by ISIS in June. Read on! And be sure to check out other articles at TomDispatch, a contrarian site edited by the inestimable…
The Contrary Perspective 