Politics and Commentary
A Brit Dissects America • 2/16/06
Pond Scum: Another Day of Death
By Steve Finbow"The Norman conquerors and the vanquished Arabs lived peacefully together, sharing their knowledge of food (it was the Arabs who invented pasta, not the Chinese – Marco Polo suffered from poor translators, apparently), farming, seafaring, geography, and the arts. Abu Abdallah Muhammad ibn Idris, an Arab writer in the court of the Arabophile Norman emperor Roger II, wrote a book that synthesized Christian and Islamic culture..."
Media • 1/13/06
The Content King: Sumner Redstone, Viacom, and CBS
By Sarah Stodola"The split does make two mega-companies where before there was just one. And this begs the question: Could the Viacom/CBS split signal the beginning of the end for media conglomerates?"
Terrorism • 1/4/05
An Interview with Charles Webel
By James WillsJames Wills speaks with Webel about his new book on terror and terrorism and about the state of these phenomena in the current political climate.
2004 Presidential Campaign • 11/10/04
After the Fact: The Election Sane
By Mark Grueter"Before public financing of campaigns was instituted in 2016, political candidates were forced to solicit money from wealthy patrons in order to fuel their efforts. This fact excluded, for the greater most part, candidates critical of powerful and moneyed interests from our political process. Furthermore, the conventional wisdom of the time believed that candidates must run “centrist” campaigns in order to win elections..."
2004 Presidential Election • 10/27/04
Only Six Days To Go: Advantage Bush (on Paper Anyway)
By Mark Grueter"My sense is that the New England liberal Kerry has a better shot in Ohio than in Florida because of the north/south dynamic. Al Gore (who lost Ohio to Bush) fared well against Bush in Florida because of his southern roots, his preacher-like speeches, and the simple fact that Bush was then a challenger, not an incumbent. Kerry is doing well in Florida, but he is not carrying the black vote as dominantly as Gore did and is not even close in most other southern states (Gore, at least, got close in the south)..."
Politics • 10/21/04
Jon Stewart: Phony
By Mark Grueter"Jon pretends that people don’t watch his program to learn something (while laughing). Jon would have us believe he and his cohort don’t deliberately criticize certain aspects of our political system and our society. 'We’re just a comedy show, man!' (Um, Jon, you just 'wrote' and released a satirical book that openly criticizes the American political system, remember? In fact, you’re hawking it on the very show on which you’re pretending to be a mere disinterested comedian)..."
2004 Presidential Race • 10/6/04
Just 13 Days Left
The Crowd-Pleaser: George W. Bush
By Mark Grueter"John Kerry’s national poll numbers were, it appears, adversely affected by his solid performance in the final debate. This is surprising because “likely” voters overwhelmingly agree that he won not only the final debate, but all three of the contests. So how is it that these victories hurt the senator? The question is a frustrating one for the Democrats, but it is not without an answer. Many Americans are simply impervious to evidence and argumentation. They like their Bush, and they don’t care what you intellectuals say..."
2004 Presidential Race • 9/22/04
Just 27 Days Left: The Veep Debate
By Mark Grueter (with Sarah Stodola)Me Three editors Mark Grueter and Sarah Stodola sat down last night to discuss the vice presidential debate. This exchange occured before either of them watched or read any post-debate analysis...
Politics • 10/5/04
The E.U. of the Middle East
By Rebecca Carter"Similar to the European countries that would seek strength in numbers by joining together as a union two decades later, these countries of the Middle East realized that they needed to stick together. So in May of that year, six nations – Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates – joined forces and created the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Together, the six nations of the GCC represent 45% of the world's oil reserves -- a fact that should single-handedly assure the Council a certain amount of attention from developed countries..."
Just 34 Days to Go: The Debates, Iraq, Hitchens, and Lie Detector Tests
By Mark Grueter"The first thing to insist about Thursday’s debate between George Bush and John Kerry is that it will not be a debate. According to the New York Times, the two candidates are not allowed to talk to each other while “debating,” from which of course follows that they cannot possibly engage in debate. Bush demanded this peculiar stipulation as a prerequisite for his participation. So the “events” will be more akin to a joint Q and A session where - and this adds a nice touch - the questions themselves are fixed ahead of time..."
Just 41 Days Left, Honk if You Love the Status Quo: McCain and Powell
By Mark Grueter"(John McCain and Colin Powell) are the two leading political figures in America today. Exceedingly popular within government and media circles, remarkably high public favorability ratings, either one of these registered Republicans could hand John Kerry the presidency if they so chose to abandon Bush. Only George Bush himself, and only by resigning, yields as much power as either of these men. But, soldiers to the end, Powell and McCain back their bumbling commander-in-chief..."
9.15 Just 48 Days Left, Deck the SOBs: Does Kerry Have What it Takes to Fight Back? By Mark Grueter
9.3 2004 Republican Convention: On Bush's Bullshit Speech, the Losst Ways of Kerry, and the Stupidity of Zell Miller, By Mark Grueter
9.2 HOW TO IGNORE THE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION
9.1 2004 Republican Convention: Be a Part of It..., By Nicholas Allanach
8.30 Just 63 Days Left: Throwing Baths, By Mark Grueter
8.24 Response to "War Lies," By Sarah Stodola
8.23 Just 71 Days to Go: War Lies, By Mark Grueter
8.16 Just 78 Days Left: On the Enemies of Dissent, By Mark Grueter
7.30 Just 95 Days To Go: Against Division, By Mark Grueter
7.30 Unconventional, Day Five: All's Hell That Ends Well, By Chris Fara1
7.30 Player Haters: Mark Grueter vs. Chris Fara1
7.29 Unconventional, Day Four: A Top 20 List, By Chris Fara1
7.29 Just 96 Days Left: The Terrible Gibberish of Unity, By Mark Grueter
7.28 Unconventional, Day Three: One Lonely Me Three I Be, By Chris Fara1
7.28 Just 97 Days Left: Convention Blues, By Mark Grueter
7.27Just 98 Days To Go: An Article for Serious People, By Mark Grueter
7.27 Unconventional, Day Two: We're In, We're Out, It's Not Over, By Chris Fara1
7.26 Unconventional, Day One: The Unassociated Press Arrives on the Scene, By Chris Fara1
7.26 Just 99 Days Left: Put Your Hands on the Wheel, By Mark Grueter
7.19 Just 108 Days Left: A Column of Mini-Columns, By Mark Grueter
6.28 Just 127 Days Left: Beyond Iraq, By Sarah Stodola
6.21 Just 134 Days To Go: The Iraq-Al Queda Non-Connection, Michael Moore, and Bill Clinton, By Mark Grueter
6.14 Just 141 Days Left: Thank You Ronald Reagan, By Mark Grueter
1.22 Just 41 Weeks Left: The Election Year Begins, By Mark Grueter
1.15 Just 291 Days Left: Wes Clark and the Third Way, By Mark Grueter
6.25 Noninterventionist Thought in American History, By Mark Grueter
6.11 Is Nike a Person? By Sarah Stodola
4.23 It's Not Three Years Ago Anymore, by Sarah Stodola
A Humanitarian Effort, or a Humanitarian Catastrophe? By Sarah Stodola
Destroying Monsters, By Mark Grueter
The Debate Continues, By Mark Grueter
In Response, By Andrew Gold
Of the People, By the Electoral College, By Sarah Stodola
Siding With Hitchens, By Mark Grueter
