“It would have been nice to let Bush’s two terms marinate a while before invoking Herbert Hoover and James Buchanan from the cellar of worst presidents. But then—over the last two weeks—he completed the trilogy of national disasters that will be with us for a generation or more.” Timothy Egan assesses the Bush Presidency.
egan.blogs.nytimes.com
Tag Archives: politics
We had the very best of intentions
“We did not go into Iraq to impose representative government on the Iraqis. We went there to manage a threat to our own safety.” Richard Perle explains why, in his view, the United States of America had to invade Iraq and topple Sadam Hussein.
commentisfree.guardian.co.uk
Diary of a collapsing superpower
“Gorbachev has been a persona non grata in his own country ever since. In the West he remains a hero, a respected historical figure, a man who peacefully cut a superpower down to its true size.” Newly published minutes from meetings of the Politburo reveal what really happened behind closed doors.
www.spiegel.de
Privatsphäre ist wie Sauerstoff
In German
“Der politische Stand ist eine Symbiose mit der Medienindustrie eingegangen, die aus finanziellen Gründen den Terrorismus in einem Maße ausschlachtet, das objektiv nicht zu rechtfertigen ist.” Privacy is like oxygen, argues Pär Ström. You’ll miss it when it’s gone…
www.bundestag.de
What the terrorists want
“Defense against terrorism is to refuse to be terrorized. Our job is to recognize that terrorism is just one of the risks we face. And our job is to fight politicians who use fear as an excuse to take away our liberties and promote security theater that wastes money and doesn’t make us any safer.” Bruce Schneier is not about to give in. Are you?
www.schneier.com
Fireworks in Washington, despair around the World
“The president and his speechwriters have yet to confront the tension between their rhetoric about freedom, which is universally popular, and their practice of projecting US firepower, which is resented in equal measure.” Former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook on the day George Bush began his second term in office.
www.guardian.co.uk
Robin Cook is dead
Robin Cook, one of few political figures to command my lasting respect, has suddenly died on August 6, 2005. If you are only ever going to read one political statement made to the House of Commons, read Robin Cooks’s resignation speech from 18 March, 2003.
Low taxes do what?
Was Ross Perot right in suggesting that NAFTA would result in a “giant sucking sound”, with US jobs fast disappearing over the border to Mexico? Or did the number of jobs increase after NAFTA went into effect? Thomas Sowell is in search of the facts.
www.hoover.org
Mission accomplished: Langan in Iraq
The journalist Sean Langan spent the months from November 2003 to February 2004 in Iraq filming a documentary to be broadcast on BBC television. In this interview he talks about the making of the programme.
www.bbc.co.uk
Bush wins Florida
“With Jeb Bush as governor, and voting machine maker Diebold contributing to the Republican party, this might be what voting is like across Florida on Nov 2.”
A global power shift in the making
“The transfer of power from West to East is gathering pace and soon will dramatically change the context for dealing with international challenges—as well as the challenges themselves.” James Hoge highlights some of the main issues facing today’s foreign policy makers in the US and around the world.
www.foreignaffairs.org
The Power and the Glory
“Divine ordination is a very dangerous idea, especially when combined with military power. With God’s approval, you need no human standard of morality.” Howard Zinn expands on the myths of American exeptionalism.
www.bostonreview.net
Cartoon network?
It’s hard to open any newspaper these days and think that what you are reading really happened that way. Steve Bell’s cartoons, however, consistently seem to reflect a greater-than-average degree of objectivity.
Fotoshow: Nein zum Krieg
In German
In February 2003 millions around the world were united in protest against going to war in Iraq. Take a look at this gallery of pictures taken during that period.
www.geo.de
People protesting against going to war with Iraq in Hamburg, February 2002.
The real reasons Bush went to war
“Oil and the dollar were the real reasons for the attack on Iraq, with weapons of mass destruction as the public reason now exposed as woefully inadequate.” A disturbingly coherent explanation put forward by John Chapman.
www.guardian.co.uk
A cloud over civilisation
“Wars are a major threat to civilised existence, and a corporate commitment to weapons procurement nurtures this threat.” Economist John Kenneth Galbraith argues that companies control the state.
www.guardian.co.uk