Guest Commentary (3283)
Norman Solomon: The New Media Offensive for the Iraq War
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Norman Solomon
The American media establishment has launched a major offensive against the option of withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.
In the latest media assault, right-wing outfits like Fox News and the Wall Street Journal editorial page are secondary. The heaviest firepower is now coming from the most valuable square inches of media real estate in the USA -- the front page of the New York Times.
Danny Schechter: Al Jazeera Takes on the World -- In English
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Danny Schechter, Editor, Mediachannel.org
As they say when the Olympics convene, "Let The Games Begin." A new Olympics gets underway today, the news Olympics, as the anglo-American hegemony of the big news cartels has for the first time a challenger in the form of well-packaged professional network. al Jazeera international goes on the air globally (but not yet in the USA) to offer another perspective.
Cindy Sheehan: In-Curious George Goes to Vietnam
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION by Cindy Sheehan
Q: What is the difference between Vietnam and Iraq?
A: George Bush had an exit plan for Vietnam.
This is an old joke that has made the circuits. It is amusing, but not really one hundred percent accurate. George didn't have a strategy for exiting Vietnam...he had a very clear and orchestrated plan between his father's friends and his illicit drug problems to not even go to Vietnam. In my journey since Casey was killed, I have met many fine men and women who didn't dodge their duty to be dragged off to Vietnam, although most of them disagreed with that tragic war. However, most of them were conscripted against their wills and they didn't have the "advantages" of being wealthy and having influential friends to keep them out of combat.
Peter Rost: Whistleblowers -- Who Are They?
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Peter Rost, M.D., author of "The Whistleblower, Confessions of a Healthcare Hitman."
Most people wonder how anyone can become a whistleblower -- ever. After all, most stories of whistleblowers don't end well. And that's the reason most people keep quiet.
Ray McGovern: Don't Look for Much From the "Bipartisan" Iraq Study Group
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Ray McGovern
President George W. Bush conferred yesterday with members of the James Baker-led Iraq Study Group against a background of chaos in Baghdad, a quisling government demonstrably incapable of stemming the violence, and an Iraqi resistance emboldened by the vote of no confidence given to the president's Iraq policy. As expected, yesterday's meeting was primarily photo-op.
Michael Winship: In Flanders Fields and London, But Not Iraq, the Poppies Blow
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Michael Winship
LONDON -- The British take the honoring of military veterans and especially the commemoration of their war dead very seriously. As in the States, this past Saturday, November 11, was Armistice Day, or Veterans Day as we usually call it. At 11 am, two minutes of silence were observed, marking the armistice that ended the First World War at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, 1918.
Peter Michaelson: Why God Chose George
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Peter Michaelson
Yes -- George was right, God wants him to be president. For many years God has not been happy with the American Empire and its false gods of capital, globalization, and weaponry. Nor has He been pleased with America's world leadership in global-warming denial. So He sent one of his woe-begotten sons, George, to mismanage it all.
Dave Zirin: Tons of Guns: The NBA Arms Race
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION*
by Dave Zirin
[Profanity warning: Rap lyrics follow]
It's crazy there ain't no time to really chill
Jealous motherfuckers always want to act ill
What the fuck you gonna do in a situation
It's like you need to have steel just to feel
relaxation
Tons o' guns everybody's getting strapped
Tons o' guns got to watch the way you act
Tons o' guns real easy to get
Tons o' guns bringing nothing but death"
Guru spit those lyrics ten years ago backed by a soul-scraping beat from DJ Premier. Today it seems like the GangStarr track could replace that damn Black Eyed Peas "Let's Get Retarded" song as the soundtrack of the National Basketball Association.
Cindy Sheehan: Open Letter to Reps Pelosi and Conyers; We the People are Setting the Table Now
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Cindy Sheehan
Dear Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Conyers,
I am writing this open letter to you both on the day after Veteran's Day. A day that has so much more meaning to me since my son Casey was KIA in Iraq for absolutely no reason but to line the pockets of the war machine. I cried in front of his symbolic tombstone at Arlington Northeast in Philadelphia and I dreamed of him before I awakened. Casey's "tombstone" was planted in the ground directly across from Liberty Hall which was the birth place of our Republic. How tragic it was to see 2842 tombstones of our brave young people who have been killed by people who are trampling all over our Constitution and making a mockery out of the separations of power and the original intent of that document. 2842 citizens who were willing to volunteer for service and were killed by people who lied to the world to send them to invade and occupy a country in a war of aggression that has killed almost a million Iraqi citizens. How tragic it is that you both, our newly elected Democratic leadership are already talking about abrogating their Constitutional responsibilities, again.
Poltergeist in the White House? by Symbolman of Takebackthemedia.com
A BUZZFLASH GUEST CONTRIBUTION
by Symbolman of Takebackthemedia.com
I'm getting a picture in my mind.
It's that scene so famous in the Poltergeist movie where the little girl is kneeling in front of the TV between channels and saying, "They're HERE.."
