The New World Order, Piety, Packaging & Politics

Part Sixteen Presidential candidate George H. W. Bush hired evangelist Doug Wead, a divorced Assemblies of God preacher as a consultant in order to “galvanize the Religious Right.” [1] Wead helped prepare Bush by acting out the part of televangelist Pat Robertson in a months-long series of exhaustively researched and well-financed mock presidential debates. [2] He coached the elder Bush on evangel-speak to help him connect with Christian fundamentalists. A little more than a decade later, George W. Bush, already proficient... Read article

Stealing Elections Texas Style: Mrs. Blankenship goes out to vote

Mrs. Marilyn B. Blankenship noticed what a lovely day it was as she went into vote early at the Renner-Frankford Branch Dallas Public Library at 6400 Frankford Rd. two blocks from her home in Collin County, Texas near Dallas. Mr. Arthur Edwards, the widower of her oldest friend from the 4th grade, accompanied her on the short ride to the Library; he waited in the car for her to finish her brief civic obligation. A native Texan, Mrs. Blankenship appreciated the mild autumn weather. Growing up in Texas, the daughter of two... Read article

Home of the Brave?

Economists concede that economics is an inexact science. What does that mean? Perhaps it means their economic forecast is better than yours or mine. Recently, economic indicators have been rising and people have their fingers crossed. Economists have given us reason to hope that the job market will improve and that the stock market will continue on a steady climb. Yet, the newspapers continue to report more layoffs and more jobs going overseas. Meanwhile, our economy is getting more and more complex. We associate complexity... Read article

The Tour-Bus Diaries: Visiting Jim Crow In His New Bethlehem Condo

Author’s note: Like Che Guevara’s legendary tour of South America, my tour of the Holy Land began innocuously enough – I just wanted to spend some quality time with my Aunt Helen and I also wanted to know what it is like to stand next to the exact spot where Christ was born, raised, crucified and buried. Instead, I ended up being chased by irate Jewish fundamentalists in Hebron and by irate Muslim fundamentalists at the Al Aqsa mosque. I also saw the Wailing Wall, the Occupation Wall, Arafat’s tomb, the... Read article

The Hate Machine

Somewhere in the bowels of the White House, there must be a machine that monitors everything that is said and done in the nation that expresses dissatisfaction with any policy or practice of President Bush or the Republican Party. Once the slightest thing is sensed, the word goes out across the country, “Hate that!” The hate switch goes on and immediately the media is flooded with articles, the calls are made to the right-wing talk shows, and soon the slime of another hatred is oozing all over the place. Recently... Read article

Video: ‘American Blackout’

‘American Blackout’ is one of the most important of the deluge of political docs that have flooded the cultural landscape over the last several years. Kicking off with the detailed argument that black voters in Florida were systematically disenfranchised in the 2000 presidential election, the film then pulls double duty: It’s a fine-tooth examination of both the continued, unconstitutional marginalization of black voters in America and the attempts by various political and media machines to crush McKinney in... Read article

The Spoils of Corruption

Like many Americans, since early childhood I was taught that good always triumphs over evil. But as I grew older and acquainted myself with the history of my country, my perspective became less naïve and better informed. My perceptions of reality were altered forever, and I am forced to live, like so many of my readers, with the burden of knowledge that often makes reality painful to bear. America could have been very different, but it has become a land of unfathomable corruption. It is a place where money rules and lords... Read article

The Enlightenment of Resistance

Exorcising Our Demons Into the infancy of the 21st century has humanity somehow managed to reach, despite our insatiable addiction for violence and suffering that has for millennia been both endemic and devastating, in spite of the continued tribalism, now called the nation state, that fosters competition, ignorance, fear, hatred and war among the peoples of the world, even with the hierarchical need among peoples to perpetually follow corrupt, immoral and warmongering leadership that continues to lay ruin the vast potential... Read article

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