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American Militarism: Part Two (Charles Krauthammer)
In 1990, thirteen years before President George W. Bush made his fateful decision to order an illegal, immoral war of choice in Iraq, prominent neoconservative columnist Charles Krauthammer had helped to pave the way for such wars by writing an article for Foreign Affairs which urged the United States to “unashamedly” lay “down the rules of world order and … [be] prepared to enforce them.” His views were embraced by many influential neoconservatives. In 2001, two years before President George W. Bush ordered an illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq, Mr. Krauthammer blithely asserted, “we are not just any hegemon. We run a uniquely benign imperium.” But, once in Iraq, nearly 4,500 American soldiers died under that so-called “uniquely benign imperium”. And under that “uniquely benign imperium” tens … Read entire article »
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Three False Assertions by the Grand Jury turned the Press and Public against Joe Paterno and Penn State
On 5 November 2011, all hell broke loose for alumni and die-hard supporters of Pennsylvania State University and its legendary football coach, Joe Paterno. It was on that date that … Read more »
Examining Jesus’ Passion through the Crucible of Doubt
No writer has had a greater impact on my life than Fyodor Dostoevsky – arguably the greatest of the world’s novelists and one of its most imposing defenders of Christianity. … Read more »
The Myths That Buttress America’s First National Pastime: A Review of Baseball in the Garden of Eden by John Thorn
It was Cardinal Fleury, adviser to the king of France, who observed (around 1720) that “a man of mediocre status needs very little history; those who play some part in … Read more »
Rick Santorum Flunks “The History of the American Family”
Readers of Senator Rick Santorum’s book, It Takes a Family: Conservatism and the Common Good, should examine it closely, including its concluding “Bibliographical Note.” Then they should ask themselves: “Is … Read more »
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Three False Assertions by the Grand Jury turned the Press and Public against Joe Paterno and Penn State
On 5 November 2011, all hell broke loose for alumni and die-hard supporters of Pennsylvania State University and its legendary football coach, Joe Paterno. It was on that date that … Read more »
Part 1 of 5: What Did Joe Paterno Know, and When Did He Know It?
The Mid-1970's Through 1998 As a Penn State alumnus, I have four personal priorities concerning the Jerry Sandusky scandal. First, I want to do my part to assure that all the … Read more »
BIG LIES in the Grand Jury and Freeh Reports, a New Poll and "Framing Paterno"
At the behest of John Ziegler, owner of the website named “Framing Paterno” (to which this writer is affiliated), a reputable polling organization, Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research (WPA Opinion Research), recently … Read more »
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American Militarism: Part One (Rachel Maddow)
On April 14th my better half and I dined with another couple at Tre Scalini in South Philadelphia before scurrying over to Irvine Auditorium on the University of Pennsylvania campus to listen to Rachel Maddow speak about her book, Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power. Ms. Allyson Schwartz, currently a member of the U. S. House of Representatives and a recently announced candidate for Governor of Pennsylvania, gave Ms. Maddow a glowing introduction. So, too, did Philadelphia’s Mayor, Michael Nutter. Although she charmed her audience with wit, humor and a velvety-fisted critique of the many idiocies that pass for policies in the Republican Party these days, one might guess that the people … Read entire article »
Republicans and the Iraq War: Ten Years Later
Last October three scholars issued a report, which found that 79% of Republicans were explicit racists (see: http://www.walter-c-uhler.com/?p=666 ). This past January a university poll found that as many as 64% of Republicans could be considered “birthers.” (Most birthers are pathetic racist morons who, obsessed by their need to delegitimize America’s first black president, refuse to accept any evidence which proves that President Barack Obama was born in the United States.) However, both of these morally bankrupt values pale in significance, when compared with the overwhelming support that Republicans continue to give to President Bush’s illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq. Ten years ago this week, President George W. Bush … Read entire article »
Fox News, Benghazi and President Reagan
Approximately five years ago I began following Nate Silver’s independent “FiveThirtyEight” blog. Not being a statistician capable of running thousands of computer simulations, I decided to trust a fact-based aggregator of polls whose very reputation rested on making accurate political predictions, rather than rely on a specific poll or the biased estimates of liberal or conservative pundits. Thus, I confidently told a worried African-American friend that, notwithstanding news reports of a tightening race between John McCain and Barack Obama, Mr. Silver was predicting a near landslide victory for Obama. Indeed, Senator Obama trounced Senator McCain in a near landslide. As a consequence, Mr. Silver and his blog were hired by the New … Read entire article »
Thinking About Racism as the Election Draws Near
Last month professors Josh Pasek, Jon Krosnick and Trevor Thompson published a remarkable paper titled, “The Impact of Anti-Black Racism on Approval of Barack Obama’s Job Performance and on Voting in the 2012 Presidential Election.” The paper is based upon three online surveys of at least 1,000 Americans; one conducted in 2008, one in 2010 and a third that ended in early September of this year. The surveys enabled the authors to measure the existence of both explicit and implicit racism among people who call themselves Democrats, Independents and Republicans. Explicit racism, as measured in these surveys, is nothing like the explicit racism that existed fifty years ago. Lee Atwater, a bare knuckles campaign … Read entire article »
Mendacious Mitt Politicizes Benghazi
On November 22, 2011, Mitt Romney’s campaign released an ad that criticized President Obama’s handling of the economy. To support its critique, Romney’s people inserted a snippet from a speech by Obama, which appeared to suggest that even Obama knew that the economy was a losing issue: “If we keep talking about the economy, we’re going to lose.” However, when the fact-checkers looked into the ad, they found that it grossly misrepresented Obama’s statement. First, Obama spoke those words on October 16, 2008, three weeks before being elected President. Thus, he could not possibly have been referring to bad economic performance during his time in office. Second, Obama used those words in the course of quoting … Read entire article »
Did Mike McQueary Commit Perjury?
On 12 June 2012, defense attorney Karl Rominger conducted a devastating cross examination of Mike McQueary in the course of attempting to defend the indefensible Jerry Sandusky. The actual transcript of that cross examination was not released until 21 September 2012, which explains why virtually nobody, except Barry Bozeman (See http://www.notpsu.blogspot.com/ ), has written about the deliberate deception Rominger exposed. Mr. McQueary was the graduate assistant at Penn State who, according to the 4 November 2011 grand jury presentment, “saw a naked boy, Victim 2, whose age he estimated to be ten years old, with his hands up against the wall, being subjected to anal intercourse by a naked Sandusky” on 9 February 2001. But, in fact, … Read entire article »