Protest Politics 101: An Interview with Frances Fox-Piven
Editor's note: Frances Fox Piven is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Sociology at the City University of New York. She is author of a number of books on class, including Regulating the Poor, Poor Peoples’ Movements, and The New Class.
1676: The Dark Shadow of America’s Creation Myth
The pilgrims were tenacious and industrious. Their work ethic remains one of the enduring values of America. But their escape for freedom was not for liberty. It was for purity. Ironically, out of this dark, intolerant society came America’s purest value – idealism.
Karl Rove Disinforms Again
Karl Rove, who serves as Bush’s key political strategist and unofficial minister of propaganda, hit a particularly low note, even by his standards, last week. At Conservative party meeting in New York, Rove said 'conservatives saw the savagery of 9/11 and the attacks and prepared for war; liberals saw the savagery of the 9/11 attacks and wanted to prepare indictments and offer therapy and understanding for our attackers.'
The Bush Administration vs. Human Rights: The Double Standard that Threatens America
The Bush administration has rejected bipartisan calls for an independent Guantanamo Bay prison commission. The White House insists that the military, the very organization suspected of systematically violating human rights, is perfectly capable of investigating the situation and punishing any offending parties.
The New Deal and the Holocaust
When dealing with the historical background to the Jewish Holocaust, it is important to remember that anti-Semitism in Europe,particularly,was deeply intertwined with class struggle and political development...Thanks most of all to the victory over fascism in World War II, anti-Semitism and racism are no longer “normal,” in the Euro-American world...
Bolton Vote: White House Withholds Pertinent Information
While Bolton is a poster boy for everything wrong with Bush’s foreign policy, rewarding him with such a sensitive post would indicate approval for the Bush administration’s continuing challenge of the UN’s role as arbiter of international disputes. It mocks the concept of international law and peaceful resolution of conflict.
Challenge to Guantanamo 'Gulag' Continues
Human rights organization, Amnesty International, last week described the Bush administration’s decision to expand the prisons at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba as a 'wrong decision.' Amnesty International calls for closing the Guantanamo prisons and for charging the prisoners held there under US laws in US courts or release them.
Rep. Bob Ney: A DeLay in Sheep’s Clothing
Corruption in the Republican Party isn’t a new story. Calls for much needed investigations of Vice President Cheney’s relationship to big oil and its creation of the administration’s energy policy have been ignored. Investigations into the payment of journalists to propagandize for the administration didn’t go far as GOP leaders sat on efforts to get at the truth.
PBS: Why the Republicans Hate Elmo
Perhaps it is because the little cuddly monster is red. Maybe they fear his ideology of letters, imaginary friends, and childish creativity. The decade-long war the Republicans have waged against Elmo and his friends at Sesame Street and other PBS shows that inhabit the imaginations of millions of children may be nearing its end.
Top Ten Problems With John Bolton
Bolton’s role in the Bustani Affair helped block alternatives to the Iraq war. It reflected his personal as well as the administration’s bullying style of 'diplomacy' when it came to clearing obstacles to attacking Iraq and demonstrates his personal disdain for international law and institutions, especially the UN.
