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(1 comments) SHARE Sunday, April 27, 2008 Reconsidering "Leo Strauss and the 'Crazies in the Basement'"
In response to my recent op-ed commentary, "Leo Strauss And the 'Crazies in the Basement'," I received an email with a simple and fair request: "What's a good book on Strauss? One that enumerates his positions (like calling for perpetual war, etc.)?" The question was a wake-up call. For one, I could find no direct quote from Strauss 'calling for perpetual war.'
(4 comments) SHARE Thursday, April 24, 2008 Leo Strauss and the "Crazies in the Basement"
From the beginning of his presidency, George W. Bush has surrounded himself with radical neo-conservatives, with what his father, the first President Bush, called "crazies in the basement." They have advised him on everything from political strategy to foreign policy. What they have in common is the warped worldview of Leo Strauss.
SHARE Monday, September 25, 2006 Another Century of War
You cannot grasp the magnitude, the scope, and the implications of Bush/Cheney policy unless you are familiar with three things: The Project for a New American Century (PNAC), The Carlyle Group, and America's historic involvement in the Middle East, complicated by this administration's intimate association with the Religious Right.
(3 comments) SHARE Friday, September 22, 2006 An Unholy Alliance: The Marriage of the Political and Religious Right
Politicians who embrace the Religious Right---whether out of opportunism or sincere belief---have let the genie out of the bottle. The foundation of democracy has been undermined: honest debate has been replaced by authoritarian pronouncement, by appealing to emotion rather than reason.
SHARE Wednesday, September 13, 2006 "Voodoo" Politics
Remember "voodoo economics?" Apply that "trickle-down" mythology to representation and you have a good picture of our current political scene.
SHARE Monday, September 11, 2006 Branding America
The "branding" of America is dumbing America. Like Pavlov's dog, our freedom has become an illusion. Rational debate has been short-circuited as the science of advertising has overtaken the political process; reason has been replaced by reflex. Whether conservative or liberal, from focus groups to "push-polls," East Coast to the Central Coast, branding is undermining democracy.
SHARE Sunday, September 10, 2006 Our Right to Know, and Debate: The Media's Role in a Democratic Society
"Inch-by-inch, just a teensy-weensy bit, we lower our standards," to paraphrase Albert Brooks' character, Aaron Altman, in the 1987 film classic, Broadcast News---referring to the sorry state of corporate media. He might as well have been referring to democracy itself.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, September 6, 2006 It's No Panacea, but..."P-l-e-a-s-e, Bring Back the Draft!"
Learning from the experience of the 1960s, the draft was a major factor in the peace movements' power. Without a stake in national policy, many feel no incentive to engage in protest.