Boy, Scottie McClellan’s decision to come clean — well, I say clean, I mean slightly less dirty — on his role as the Mouth of Sauron, and how the press corps passed along the White House’s propaganda to sell the invasion and occupation of Iraq, has really opened all sorts of floodgates. In addition to […]
Entries Tagged as 'Foreign Policy'
McClellan, Yellin, and the Press Under Pressure
May 29th, 2008 · 2 Comments · Foreign Policy, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, Video
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Mr. Fish on Obama-Wright, That Ad, and the Big Gas Tax Swindle
May 5th, 2008 · 2 Comments · Comics, Culture, Energy, Foreign Policy, Infrastructure, News, Politics, The Economy, Stupid, Video
The brilliance of Mr. Fish! I really need to start including him in my cartoon roundups. His take on Obama v. Wright is especially trenchant. I’m not necessarily saying that I absolutely agree with the cartoon’s comically reductive expression of certain religious beliefs, but its portrayal of the double standard regarding what’s considered fair game […]
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Freedom Is Slavery (Doubleplus for Iraqi Women)
April 6th, 2008 · 1 Comment · Feminism, Foreign Policy, News, Peace, Politics
Newsweek on what life is like for women in Iraq in these days of the glorious surge: The insurgents have been driven out of her southwest Baghdad neighborhood, but the 30-year-old shop assistant is still frightened. A year ago Al Qaeda in Iraq ruled the streets outside her home, and Mahdi Army militia units kept […]
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Chicago Notes: Spukt, Sweat Girls, Mr. Fluxus, Andy Bayiates, and More
November 10th, 2007 · Comments Off on Chicago Notes: Spukt, Sweat Girls, Mr. Fluxus, Andy Bayiates, and More · Astrology, Blogs, Books, Chicago, Comedy, Culture, Fantasy, Fiction, Foreign Policy, Fringe, History, Journal, Lit, Neo-Futurists, News, Performance, Politics, Theater
It’s been ages since I’ve done one of these little Chicago roundups, but there are so many head-splittingly good things going on this week that it seems like a dandy time to reinstate the tradition. • First up, this weekend is the opening of the brand-new Theater Oobleck show Spukt, written by the mercurial Dave […]
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On My Reading List: Naomi Klein’s New Book, The Shock Doctrine
October 16th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Activism, Books, Climate Change, Culture, Film, Foreign Policy, Human Rights, Infrastructure, Journalism, News, Politics, TV, Video
Daily Kos has a review up of Naomi Klein’s new book The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. Harper’s ran an excerpt from The Shock Doctrine in the October issue which was, as the DKos review says, riveting, and immediately put the book on my must-read list. I’m planning to pick up a copy […]
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Video of the Week
September 24th, 2007 · Comments Off on Video of the Week · Culture, Foreign Policy, History, Journalism, Media, News, Politics, TV, Video
In case you missed it, Keith Olbermann was on fire this week. His special comment was possibly the most powerful I’ve seen him deliver. And his ultimate point about the sacred dividing line between the civilian leadership and the military is one that needs to be heard more often — too many people don’t seem […]
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Roundup: Swiftly Tilting Planet Edition
September 17th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Swiftly Tilting Planet Edition · Activism, Books, Chicago, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Fantasy, Film, Foreign Policy, Hate Crimes, Health, History, HIV/AIDS, Infrastructure, Journalism, LGBT, Lit, Media, Nature, News, Peace, Politics, Public Transportation, Roundup, Science, Science Fiction, Tech
Eric Alterman has an outstanding column in The Nation on how the media’s mean girls (of all genders) develop the narratives they use to bring down the presidential candidates they take a dislike to. With examples of what they did to Gore in 2000, and what they’re doing to Obama and Edwards right now. Two […]
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Colbert on the Klingon-Republican Alliance
September 12th, 2007 · Comments Off on Colbert on the Klingon-Republican Alliance · Comedy, Culture, Foreign Policy, Media, Peace, Politics, TV, Video
Stephen notices the Republicans’ rhetorical reliance on the word honor, and points out who else tends to use that word a lot.
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Roundup: Pink Elephant Edition
September 10th, 2007 · 3 Comments · Activism, Books, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Energy, Film, Foreign Policy, Health, History, HIV/AIDS, Human Rights, Internet, Journalism, Language, LGBT, Media, Music, Nature, News, Peace, Performance, Politics, Racism, Roundup, Science, Tech, Theater
General Petraeus says that “victory” in Iraq will require 9-10 more years. I’m trying to imagine how ten more years of bloody occupation can possibly work out to a victory. More on that subject here. A bill has been introduced in Venezuela to restrict baby names to a list of 100 approved choices. “The bill’s […]
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Roundup: Dinosaur Corsage Edition
August 31st, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Dinosaur Corsage Edition · Activism, Advertising, Comics, Culture, Doctor Who, Energy, Film, Foreign Policy, Health, Healthcare Crisis, History, Human Rights, Law, LGBT, Media, Nature, News, Peace, Pets, Politics, Roundup, Science, TV
Scary stuff: There’s a lot of buzz and speculation that starting just after Labor Day, the Bush administration is going to be rolling out a major PR campaign to pave the way for war with Iran. See here and here for starters. Grand Moff Texan at DKos says the Bushies will be using the same […]
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Video: Fox’s War Drums, Colbert’s Water Fight, and Stewart on Bush’s Magical History Tour
August 26th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Comedy, Culture, Foreign Policy, History, Journalism, Media, News, Peace, Pets, Politics, TV, Video
A few video clips from the past week: First up, here’s a scary video compiled by documentarian Robert Greenwald showing how Fox “News” is beating the drum for war with Iran … watch them repeatedly engaging in the same kind of propaganda and scaremongering they used during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in […]
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Roundup: Fantasy History Edition
August 23rd, 2007 · 1 Comment · Apple, Blogs, Books, Business, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Energy, Food, Foreign Policy, Health, History, LGBT, Macintosh, Media, Nature, News, Peace, Pets, Politics, Racism, Roundup, Science, Tech, TV
Bush has suddenly decided that the Iraq occupation is kinda like Vietnam after all, but of course he’s careful to draw the wrong conclusions from the comparison. The article quotes American University historian Allan Lichtman as saying that Bush’s spin on the situation “is not revisionist history. It is fantasy history.” On a related note, […]
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Olbermann on O’Reilly, Colbert on Huckabee, and Stewart on Kristol
August 17th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Comedy, Culture, Foreign Policy, Journalism, Media, Politics, TV, Video
Keith Olbermann explains why Bill O’Reilly is no less than two of the three worst people in the world. (Hint: It includes defaming someone as being anti-semitic … who was actually attacking anti-semitism!) I Stomach Huckabee: Colbert on the Iowa straw poll. Oh, and watch for the moment when the Governor threatens to break […]
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Roundup: Picketing Flamingo Edition
July 23rd, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Picketing Flamingo Edition · Apple, Blogs, Chicago, Climate Change, Comics, Culture, Design, Essays, Foreign Policy, Health, HIV/AIDS, Illinois, LGBT, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Politics, Roundup, Science, Tech, Travel
“Iraq hasn’t even begun”: Writing in the LA Times, Timothy Garton Ash, a professor of European studies at Oxford University, examines the long-term consequences of the debacle in Iraq, and concludes, “Looking back over a quarter of a century of chronicling current affairs, I cannot recall a more comprehensive and avoidable man-made disaster.” Digby on […]
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