Nick Turse. Courtesy of TomDispatch.com. [Editor’s Note: In his recent address to the nation, President Obama expressed his belief in the U.S. as an exceptional nation. Inherent to that belief is the idea the U.S. is a shining city on a hill, a moral exemplar to the world, a beacon of freedom, a nation whose…
W.J. Astore My wife and I watched the president’s speech last night. Overall, it was a solid, even praiseworthy, performance. First, we had to get past the NBC pre-speech fear-mongering. Lester Holt and Chuck Todd, the NBC commentators, were talking about how afraid Americans were, hinting that we all feared our holiday parties would be…
Jacek Popiel (Editor’s Note: This is the final installment of Jacek’s examination of U.S. and Russian relations. Parts 1 and 2 are here and here.) Russia’s rejection of Marxism has given her and the U.S. three options in their mutual relations: Return to a friendly coexistence such as existed before 1917. Continue playing Cold War…
Stuart Lyle There is a day-long debate in the British House of Commons today on the Cameron government’s motion to send the Royal Air Force to drop bombs in Syria. The Opposition Leader, Jeremy Corbyn has stood against the rush to war, but has backed down from forcing all party members to vote against the…
Chris Hedges (Courtesy of Truthdig) The increase in nihilistic violence such as school shootings and Friday’s lethal assault on a Planned Parenthood clinic, the frequent executions of poor people of color by police, and the rise of thuggish demagogues such as Donald Trump are symptoms of the collapse of our political and cultural institutions. These…
Tom Engelhardt (Courtesy of TomDispatch.com) Here is what’s grimly fascinating in this year’s dystopian carnival of a Republican presidential primary. When it comes to what can be said in America, all bets are off. These days, the concept of “beyond the pale” couldn’t look more wan. All of a sudden, there’s nothing, no matter how…
Peter Van Buren. Introduction by b. traven. Introduction (updated): In this article Peter Van Buren ( wemeantwell.com) graphically lays out the physical and philosophical ties between Saudi Arabia, a backward, medieval nation-state and the newly proclaimed medieval “caliphate” of ISIS. There is method to Peter’s “Saudi versus ISIS” approach. By showing how closely they are related –…
W.J. Astore In his latest introduction at TomDispatch.com, Tom Engelhardt reveals a remarkable double standard — perhaps craziness is a better term — in the U.S. approach to terrorism in the wake of the Paris attacks. Prominent “conservative” leaders are calling for a major U.S. military invasion of territory controlled by ISIS, even though they…
Jacek Popiel Today we introduce a new feature: an original article by Jacek Popiel on U.S./Soviet relations, followed by a counterpoint by the editors, and then a coda by Jacek. The goal is to stimulate discussion among our readers. We’d like to thank Jacek for agreeing to this format, and our readers for contributing to…
W.J. Astore Over the last ten years in the United States. more than 280,000 Americans have died because of guns. Over that same period, roughly 350,000 Americans have died on the roads in vehicular accidents. That’s roughly 630,000 Americans dying every decade either in road accidents or by gunshots, which is roughly the number of…
The Contrary Perspective 