Europe Lurches Right
by Maria Margaronis
LondonTrying to divine the political future from the results of European Parliament elections always involves an element of entrail-gazing. Across the continent, people take the opportunity to register protest votes; many don't vote at all. The turnout for the June elections (43 percent) was at a historic low. But even with those caveats, two things are obvious: the center-right has won at the expense of social democrats, even in France, Germany and Italy, where voters might have been expected to give ruling conservatives a kicking; and the collapse of the left vote has let in an unprecedented number of far-right and neofascist candidates, as well as a few more Greens. |
Obama's Mideast Reset
by Juan Cole
In the Middle East the American presidency has gone from being pelted with shoes to receiving a standing ovation. President Obama addressed the Muslim world from Cairo on June 4, attempting to reverse the plummeting popularity of the United States in the vast zone stretching from Morocco to Indonesia. His serene, common-sense address pleased mainstream Muslims but elicited howls of outrage from Al Qaeda and the Israeli right wing and skeptical dismissals from Iranian and Hezbollah leaders. Will Obama be able to achieve at least some foreign policy success in the Middle East, the Bermuda Triangle of White House diplomacy? |
Worst Vice President Ever? How Do You Pick Just One?
by Jeff Kisseloff
In his guise as Irish barkeep Mr. Dooley, the great Finley Peter Dunne once wrote about the vice presidency, 'It isn't a crime exactly. Ye can't be sint to jail f'r it, but it's a kind iv a disgrace…At a convintion nearly all th' dillygates lave as soon as they've nommynated th' prisidint f'r fear was iv thim will be nommynated f'r vice-prisidint…' |
Bibi's Media Manipulations
by Neve Gordon
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is beginning to sweat.Notwithstanding the agreement between President Barack Obama and Netanyahu on issues such as the recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and the insistence that the Palestinians renounce violence, there are currently points of serious contention between the two leaders. These include Obama's position that the two-state solution is the only way to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, his demand that Israel stop building settlements and his intimation that all the settlements are illegal. Other points of strife include Obama's call for regional nuclear nonproliferation (which, in effect, assumes that Israel's nuclear capacity will be part of the negotiations with Iran), his recognition of the plight of Palestinians, including the refugees, and his claim that Hamas is a legitimate rather than a terrorist organization. |
Iran's Ex-Foreign Minister Yazdi: It's A Coup
by Robert Dreyfuss
It's Saturday afternoon in Tehran, and the streets are generally quiet. But the aftermath of Iran's rigged election, in which radical-right President Ahmadinejad and his paramilitary backers were kept in office, has left Iran's capital steeped in anger, despair, and bitterness. |
Why Vote 'Yes' for the War and the IMF?
by John Nichols
The Obama administration and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are aggressively whipping House Democrats to support the 2009 war supplemental bill that seeks to steer another $10o billion in US tax dollars into the quagmires of Iraq and Afghanistan while at the same time squandering at least $5 billion on the failed economic schemes of the International Monetary Fund. |
The Way We Are
by Bob Herbert
Stephen Johns, known as 'Big John,' was opening the door for a man he thought was just an elderly visitor to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington when he was shot dead on Wednesday afternoon. Mr. Johns was a security guard. The bullet that killed him was a reminder of the continuing menace of bigotry and violence that pervades this country — and that we insist on underestimating. |
Mr. Dodd’s Best/Worst Year
by Gail Collins
Big week in Washington, what with final action on the tobacco regulation bill, under the leadership of Senator Christopher Dodd. Congress has really been on a roll. Remember how they passed that consumer credit card bill under the leadership of Senator Christopher Dodd and the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act sponsored by Senator Christopher Dodd? There is, of course, still so much to do. We’re hoping for a strong health care bill like the one co-written by Ted Kennedy and Senator Christopher Dodd. And the Obama plan to create a new agency to protect consumers of financial products. It got a big boost Friday when it received the strong support of the banking committee chairman, Senator Christopher Dodd. |
Judge: Ex-Bush Lawyer Can be Sued Over Torture
by Bob Egelko
A prisoner who says he was tortured while being held for nearly four years as a suspected terrorist can sue former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo for coming up with the legal theories that justified his alleged treatment, a federal judge in San Francisco ruled Friday. |
Lawmakers Reveal Health-Care Investments
by Paul Kane
Key Players Have Stakes in IndustryAlmost 30 key lawmakers helping draft landmark health-care legislation have financial holdings in the industry, totaling nearly $11 million worth of personal investments in a sector that could be dramatically reshaped by this summer's debate. |
