Cultures of Resistance Video of the Mavi Marmara

Israeli Attack on the Mavi Marmara, May 31st 2010 // 15 min. from Cultures of Resistance on Vimeo.

CounterPunch Diary

Pariah Nation

By ALEXANDER COCKBURN

"At least half of any US president’s job is play-acting, pretending to be in charge, on behalf of We the People. Most of what actually happens in America is beyond any president’s ability or political inclination to control.

The banks run the finances. The oil companies and Israel vie for control of US foreign policy. The arms companies arrange the wars. The insurance companies figure out who should live or die."

Revolt of the Drone Operators

Some CIA Officers Say Predator Strikes Helping Al Qaeda

By GARETH PORTER

"Addicott said the drone programme has been driven by President Barack Obama, rather than by the CIA. "Obama's trying to show people that we're winning," he added.

The programme was originally authorised by President George W. Bush against a relatively short list of high-level al Qaeda officials, and with highly restrictive conditions on approval of each strike. The strike could not be approved unless the target was identified with high confidence, and a complete assessment of "collateral damage" had to ensure against significant civilian casualties."

Will Glenn Beck’s Common Nonsense Change Our Nation?: An Interview With Alex Zaitchik

Monday 24 May 2010

by: Sara Robinson | The Campaign for America's Future

SR: Beck has set himself up as this sort of revisionist history and civics teacher. What do you think it means for the country that we've got two million people watching his fractured-fairy-tale versions of history every day?

AZ: It doesn't speak very well for the state of conservatism, that's for sure. It wasn't all that long ago that the most high-profile representatives of conservatism were people like Bill Buckley, who—disagree with him as you might have on the issues—was very educated, and didn't routinely make wildly idiotic statements. Here's another difference: Instead of smearing those with whom he disagreed, as Beck did with Van Jones, Buckley invited Huey Newton, who really was a black-power revolutionary, onto Firing Line and actually talked to him, not about him, for an hour, like an adult. So I think first and foremost, Beck's stature and influence is a statement on conservatism more than it's a statement on the country. It's important to keep in mind that it's only a very small percentage of the country at large that's watching this guy, and those people tend to be the more hardcore, less-educated conservatives.

The Lobby Strikes Again...

Intelligence Chief Walks Plank Without Ceremony

Wednesday 26 May 2010

by: Ray McGovern, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis

Last year, the neocons had their feathers ruffled big time by Blair's choice of independent-minded former Ambassador Chas Freeman to be chair of the National Intelligence Council (NIC), without clearing this first with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. The NIC has purview over the preparation of National Intelligence Estimates (NIE) and the President's Daily Brief - the two premier intelligence publications.

Blair's choice of Freeman raised the ire of Washington's still-influential neoconservatives and their allies in the Obama administration because he was regarded as a "realist" on the Middle East, rather than someone who would side reflexively with Israel.

Noam Chomsky, "Remembering Fascism: Learning From the Past"

"For over 30 years, real incomes for the majority of the population have stagnated or declined, social indicators have steadily deteriorated since the mid-1970s after closely tracking growth in earlier years, work hours and insecurity have increased along with debt. Wealth has accumulated, but into very few pockets, leading to probably record inequality. These are, in large part, consequences of the financialization of the economy since the 1970s and the corresponding hollowing out of domestic production. What people see before their eyes is that the bankers who are primarily responsible for the current crisis and who were saved from bankruptcy by the public are now reveling in record profits and huge bonuses, while official unemployment stays at about 10 percent and in manufacturing is at depression levels, one in six, with good jobs unlikely to return. People rightly want answers and they are not getting them, except from voices that tell tales that have some internal coherence, but only if you suspend disbelief and enter into their world of irrationality and deceit. Ridiculing Tea Party shenanigans is a serious error, I think. It would be far more appropriate to understand what lies behind them and to ask ourselves why justly angry people are being mobilized by the extreme right and not by forces like those that did so in my childhood, in the days of formation of the CIO and other constructive activism."

Tomgram: Alfred McCoy, Our Man in Kabul

"There was -- and is -- a fundamental structural flaw in any American alliance with these autocrats. Inherent in these unequal alliances is a peculiar dynamic that makes the eventual collapse of such American-anointed leaders almost inevitable. At the outset, Washington selects a client who seems pliant enough to do its bidding. Such a client, in turn, opts for Washington’s support not because he is strong, but precisely because he needs foreign patronage to gain and hold office."