Matthew Jacobson The present state of national political dysfunction is not something Americans have drifted into by chance, or as a result of pressures in the random currents of political developments. No: It is the result of the debilitating visions and destructive search for power carried on by the leaders of the Modern Republican Party…
W.J. Astore The world is still trying to digest the horrifying news from Paris of terrorist attacks by ISIS. We sympathize with all the victims of terrorism and other forms of violence, and we stand with France and its desire to bring the perpetrators and their accomplices to justice. Yet we also must be careful…
Katie Stuart My 23 year old son, Gillen, is in the Air National Guard. He is four years into a six year commitment. A few weekends ago, he came home from “drill” with the news that he may have to go to Afghanistan for six months in the spring of 2017. A few days later,…
A poem by Myron (Mike) Swack. Introduction by b. traven. Mike and I were raised in a Jewish orphan home. Mike was a year younger than I. I volunteered for the U.S. Army Air Corps cadet program and was accepted in early 1943. Mike volunteered for the army shortly after me but he was only…
W.J. Astore Greg Grandin has a new book on Henry Kissinger and a new article at TomDispatch.com. Kissinger, writes Grandin, had an affinity (or perhaps an avidity) for power, especially air power, as a way of demonstrating his (and America’s) resolve. Notes Grandin: Henry Kissinger is, of course, not singularly responsible for the evolution of…
W.J. Astore Back in January 2010, I wrote the following article for TomDispatch.com on the possibility of “a very American coup” occurring in conjunction with the presidential election of 2016. I make no claims to prescience: for example, the “great recession” I predicted didn’t come to pass, and there are as yet very few protesters…
W.J. Astore The year was 1915. Europe, indeed much of the world, was embroiled in the devastating Great (or World) War. Under President Woodrow Wilson, the United States was proud to have stayed out of the war, the massive bloodletting of which seemed peculiarly European, an “Old World” form of militarized madness that most Americans…
W.J. Astore It’s Halloween, America, which perhaps explains the gruesome results of the latest Republican presidential debate. I watched a sliver of them (terrifying!), and read as much as I could stand of the debate transcript (horrifying!). As usual, the Republicans want you to be afraid, very afraid, of the bogeyman. With respect to the…
W.J. Astore I recently received an update from the National Priorities Project reminding me of this startling fact: “The president announced last week that American troops will remain in Afghanistan beyond the planned withdrawal at the end of 2016. This is a devastating blow. We’ve already spent $716 billion and counting on the war in…
Jacek Popiel Editor’s Introduction: Russia has been much in the news lately, with Vladimir Putin described as equal parts Machiavellian dictator and strategic chess master, especially with regards to his moves in Syria and the greater Middle East. Is the Cold War, in a word, back? Enmity between the U.S. and Russia is hardly…
The Contrary Perspective 