George H. W. Bush war hawk

Requiem for a Hawk

Intro by b. traven Bill Clinton, that paragon of marital fidelity, could not wait when he was president to rush to Richard Nixon’s funeral to pay his respect to the man who was drummed from the of Presidency for his alleged crimes and misdemeanors while in office. Clinton has now, in concert with his equally…

Trump or Clinton: They are Us!

Peter Van Buren You hear the expression “lesser of two evils” when people talk about how they will vote in November. Poll after poll shows a growing number of voters saying they will vote negatively – they’re against Hillary, so they’ll hold their nose and vote Trump, and vice-a-versa. It is also likely a large…

Today’s Republican Party: A Dystopian Carnival

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…

Bernie Sanders — Halfway There?

Michael Brenner Is Bernie Sanders halfway there?  No – not to the nomination, much less the White House. What Sanders has done is to establish himself as a force in the Democratic Party’s selection process. He has done so by demonstrating two qualities that have largely disappeared from America’s political life over the past few…

The Misfortune Teller

Polemical Poetry XI: Remembering Bush’s Iraq War

Michael Murry.  Introduction by William Astore. It’s fascinating to witness Republican candidates for president continuing to swing and miss as they’re tossed softball questions about George W. Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003.  Jeb Bush was first at bat.  He initially said he’d invade Iraq all over again; then he got testy about answering “hypothetical”…

Republican Presidential Candidates Are Scaring Me

W.J. Astore Yes, I know Republican candidates for president are currently feeding “red meat” to the base, a base that consists of evangelical Christians who vote in the primaries come hell or high water.  But the rhetoric used recently by Jeb Bush and Mike Huckabee is more rancid than red meat. And it’s dangerous. Jeb…

The 2016 Presidential Frolic Is Here

Michael Brenner The roulette wheel that is Presidential politics is spinning faster now that we are only one year and eight months from election day. Bets are being placed as the main stakeholders look to their future financial and career investments. The media play to the hilt this longest running spectacle that our pop culture…