(Part 1 of a three part series on religious boundary violations in the U.S. military and what soldiers are doing to fight back.) When American soldiers come forward with tales of divisive evangelism run amuck in the military — for example, proselytizing by commanding officers, coerced attendance at revival meetings, distribution of Bibles to Afghanis [...]
Crossposted with TomDispatch.com. When I try to figure out why we are still in Afghanistan, though every ounce of logic says we ought to get out, an unexpected conversation I had last year haunts me. Doing neighborhood political canvassing, I knocked on the door of a cheerful man who was just about to tune in [...]
“American exceptionalism” — the narcissistic soundtrack of several presidential aspirants for 2012 — is Un-American. The boast betrays ignorance of the Founding Fathers and the tarnished history of the United States. In any event, to overlook faults because other nations are more flawed is juvenile, and leads nowhere. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney scribbles in, [...]
This would be less grim to talk about if Bush weren’t still with us. But he is, in every way that matters. The Bush Doctrine lives. No leading American politician can disavow the two key aspects of the Bush Doctrine: that we cannot distinguish terrorists from the countries where they live, and that we must [...]
America (as, likely, everywhere else) always has a seamy underside, crawling with metaphoric maggots, to anything that is mostly seen as good by the majority of the populace. One of those maggots crawled out this week in the religious world, down in Florida. Its proper name is bigotry, or perhaps hatred. It is the direct [...]
A recent forum in The Nation includes commentaries by seven public intellectuals about the ways Obama is progressing. At least five of them blame his failing on The System and urge that more attention be paid to his “major achievements.” They are not doing any favors to the Democrats’ and the President’s reelection prospects or [...]
Last week, I heard an interesting take on the political scene: that both parties seem to be trying mightily to lose the upcoming midterm elections. Republicans, in a natural Republican cycle, are nominating some candidates who are so extreme they may lose races which should have been easy Republican wins. Democrats seem paralyzed with fear, [...]
No, I don’t think either of the stars of last Saturday’s “Restoring Honor” gathering in DC will run for office this year. I do think that they have revealed a compelling narrative just in time for campaign season, however. The well produced plot — funded by billionaires with an eternal grudge — has primed the [...]
