US politics

(By Alan M. Wald) In Memory of Edward Said (1935-2003) “You cannot continue to victimize someone else just because you yourself were a victim once—there has to be a limit.” –Edward W. Said, “The Myth of ‘The Clash of Civilizations,’” 1998 “A man once jumped from the top floor of a burning house in which […]

Barack Obama

Broken Democracy: Republicans poised to take Senate, Americans Reject their Platform

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) A lot of political analysts think it is entirely possible that the Republicans will take the senate next November. This development won’t change much, in all likelihood, if it does occur. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives can already block most legislation, and in 2013 it dedicated itself the the […]

Economy

Billionaire Victimology is the Worst

contributors

(By Robert Freeman) Protesters calling for higher wages for fast-food workers stand outside a McDonald’s restaurant in Oakland, California December 5, 2013 (Photo: Reuters)The Tom Perkins “billionaires-as-victims” charade couldn’t be more surreal. It goes without saying that his comparing the 1% to victims of Hitler’s genocide is tasteless. That it is oblivious is obvious. And […]

Barack Obama

Dear President Obama: Tar Sands & Keystone XL are more Dangerous than an Iranian Atomic Bomb

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) Dear President Obama: You have said repeatedly that if negotiations with Iran do not limit its nuclear enrichment activities solely to peaceful uses, i.e. production of fuel for energy plants, that you would be willing to go to war with that country to ensure that it does not develop an atomic bomb. […]

Barack Obama

The Cheapening of American Politics: Why did Obama reward O’Reilly with an Interview?

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) President Obama subjected himself to an interview by Bill O’Reilly of Fox “News” on Sunday before the Superbowl. Obviously, intellectually it was Obama Seahawks rolling over O’Reilly Broncos. And maybe it felt good to tell Fox News off for its serial propaganda against the administration. But I just regret that he lent […]

Domestic Surveillance

Christie, Clapper and other Officials who should be in Jail instead of Snowden

Juan Cole

(By Juan Cole) The vindictiveness toward Edward Snowden in official Washington has nothing to do with law-breaking and everything to do with the privileges of power. The powerful in Washington may spy on us, but we are not to know about it. Snowden’s sin in their eyes was to level the playing field, to draw […]

Economy

US Scam: Give the Rich Money & and they might Make us Slightly Less Poor (David “The Wire” Simon)

Juan Cole

Bill Moyers interviews David Simon on “America as Horror Show” and the fate of the “extra people” left over once the jobs were shipped to the Pacific Rim (they are hunted and 2.2 million incarcerated)

Islamophobia

Ms. Marvel Comics a lightning Rod for Islamophobic Intolerance

contributors

(By A. David Lewis for IslamiCommentary) A. David Lewis Kamala Khan is not the first Muslim superhero. She’s neither the first American Muslim superhero, the first teenage Muslim superhero, nor the first Muslima superheroine. In fact, even as the all-new Ms. Marvel, Kamala is not the first Muslim character to inherit the mantle and legacy […]

Climate Change

Dirty Fuel Corporations to American Public: Frack You!

contributors

(By Ellen Cantarow) For the past several years, I’ve been writing about what happens when big oil and gas corporations drill where people live. “Fracking” — high-volume hydraulic fracturing, which extracts oil and methane from deep shale — has become my beat. My interviewees live in Pennsylvania’s shale-gas fields; among Wisconsin’s hills, where corporations have […]