For once, the views of the New York Times editorial board and Focal Points align perfectly. From an op-ed today: Despite the pumped-up threats and quickening military preparations, President Obama has yet to make a convincing legal or strategic case for military...
After Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s historic and heroic 1967 “Beyond Vietnam” speech against the U.S. war in Southeast Asia, he received a barrage of criticism from editorial boards, donors, and even other civil rights leaders. Ralph Bunche (who in 1950 became the...
This commentary was originally published by TomDispatch in 2009. In light of the draconian Bradley Manning verdict, we are republishing it now. However ambitious President Barack Obama's domestic plans, one unacknowledged issue has the potential to destroy any reform...
Like a mirage, whenever it seems within reach nuclear disarmament recedes further into the distance. But, at least nuclear hawks no longer feel comfortable speaking on the record about nuclear “warfighting.” In fact, to keep the money flowing into the industry, they...
The 12-year U.S. occupation of Afghanistan is slowly coming to a close, with most U.S. troops slated to leave the country by 2014. Since 2001, over 2,200 U.S. soldiers have been killed occupying the country, and nearly 18,000 have been wounded. By some estimates the...
Privacy: Destined for the “Dustbins of History” Civil libertarians can protest about how the government will track us on these devices, too, but as long as the public and the political Establishment of both parties remain indifferent, the prospect of substantial...
As people near retirement age, they enter the twilight years. Sometimes, they rebel against retirement. They want to keep working. They’re not interested in shuffling out of their office never to return. And if they’re in fact the owner of the workplace, conflicts...
You remember James Sensenbrenner, don’t you? A Republican from Wisconsin, he introduced the Patriot Act in the House of Representatives 42 days after 9/11. Among his other “accomplishments” was authoring the Real ID Act in 2005 and acting as a general thorn in the...
“Conscience laundering” is what Peter Buffett (son of Warren) calls “feeling better about accumulating more than any one person could possibly need to live on by sprinkling a little around as an act of charity.” He provides perspective from inside the world of...
In a lengthy piece for Slate, Errol Morris, the author and filmmaker, writes about a controversial new movie for which he served as an executive producer. Directed by Josh Oppenheimer, The Act of Killing is an examination of an atrocity, in this case, the 500,000 to a...