Walter C Uhler » Archive
Even Confiding With God Doesn’t Compensate for Bush’s Brain
Writing in today’s New York Times, Bob Herbert observed: “There’s a disturbing remoteness to President Bush,” that has reduced him to “little more than a bundle of talking points.” Reduced? Anyone even remotely familiar with the life story of this 43rd and worst of all American presidents knows that George W. Bush has never succeeded on his own. Yes, he normally puts up a good, if false, front that initially fools most people until they are compelled to examine his actual performance. But make no mistake, Bush’s string of failures—both of character and performance—would have long ago disqualified anyone else lacking his family’s political and financial clout in our American plutocracy. As Senator Joseph Biden observed, Bush … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bush Administration, Iraq War
The “Stinky Inky,” Part 2
Were one to read Davis Merritt’s recent book, Knightfall: Knight Ridder and How the Erosion of Newspaper Journalism is Putting Democracy at Risk, he or she would realize that the reasons for The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s deterioration extend far beyond the irredeemable right-wing slop that so often besmirches its Commentary page. Merritt’s insights take on added significance, given the recently announced editorial staff reductions that have shaken the Inky. But they must await my future evaluation, because the Inky‘s stinky Commentary page of October 20, 2005 demands an immediate response. Stinky? Yes, simply consider its outrageously uniformed and insipid right-wing essays by Kathleen Parker and Jonah Goldberg . . . First, a cheerleading Ms. Parker asked why no newspaper headlines read: “Iraqi democracy takes bow to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Media
The U.S. Has Plans to Invade Iran Before Bush’s Term Ends
Bill Gertz is a right-wing national security reporter for the Rev. Sun Yung Moon’s neo-fascist newspaper, The Washington Times. He’s also a spigot from which flows much classified information illegally leaked by like-minded “patriots” seeking to advance their hawkish agenda in the military-industrial-congressional complex. And, frankly speaking, that’s the only reason I pay any attention to him. So I was hardly surprised when, on September 16, 2005, Gertz reported on the Bush administration’s “computer slide presentation.” which was aimed at persuading whoever would listen that Iran is working feverishly to build nuclear weapons. According to Gertz, the report claims: “Iran’s nuclear program is well-scaled for a weapons capability, as a comparison to [Pakistan's] nuclear weapons infrastructure shows…When one also considers … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bush Administration, Foreign Policy, Iran
America’s ‘Mental Defectives’ Confront Iran
On a recent visit to a periodicals room in the Joe Paterno wing of Penn State’s Pattee Library I ran across a fascinating journal, The Long Term View, published by the Massachusetts School of Law at Andover. Its Spring 2004 issue was entirely devoted to the question, “Why We Seek War” and its editor, Lawrence R. Velvel, commenced his introduction by asserting: “The United States is a nation which seeks war. We better change or we may end up destroying ourselves and perhaps even the world.” [p.3] Mr. Velvel provides some twenty-one reasons why Americans seek war, but I was especially intrigued by reason number six: “Government is incompetent and its leaders stupid.” [p.9] Velvel offers many persuasive reasons for … Read entire article »
Filed under: Bush Administration, Foreign Policy, Iran, Iraq War
Big Talking, Poor Performing America
You can’t fool the precious few Americans who really know their country’s history. They know that America’s big talk (dating from Puritan times) about God’s plan for America to redeem the world is largely the product of religiously inspired self-delusion or outright propaganda. They also know that, far too often, the big talk has been belied by extremely low-class performance. Now it’s happening once again in the events surrounding hurricane-ravaged New Orleans. “Third world” TV images beamed from the Crescent City—where the rich and white escaped Hurricane Katrina, while the poor and black suffered and died in apartheid—have exposed years of banana republic-like neglect by America’s political elite, from President George W. Bush on down. Thus, … Read entire article »
Filed under: American History, Cultural Criticism
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 there any evidence in the text or bibliographical note to suggest that Mr. Santorum has ever read a serious, comprehensive history of the American Family?” This reviewer found no evidence whatsoever. Yet lack of comprehensive knowledge doesn’t prevent Mr. Santorum from pontificating about the current crisis of the American family by sketching “the past forty years of American history in light of our founders’ vision.” [Santorum, p. xi] Yet, even if one assumes that Mr. Santorum has mastered both the past forty years and the founder’s vision (which he hasn’t), there’s … Read entire article »
Filed under: Book Reviews, Featured, Politics
The Nation: Editor's Picks
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- Will Obama Blow His Chance With Iran's New President? June 17, 2013 Bob Dreyfuss