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A Fateful Crossroads for America
August 19, 2008
As I wrote last week, the Georgian-Russian conflict has led to a humanitarian tragedy in the region that demands a careful and calibrated response--not a reaction that heightens existing geopolitical tensions. But the latter is exactly what we have seen. The conflict has morphed into a justification for a renewed cold war by the mainstream media, John McCain and his neocon brethren, and it threatens to add fuel to a new arms race. Yet crises also present opportunities, and we should seize this moment to rethink our approach to national security and US-Russian relations.
Since the end of the cold war, US policies toward Russia have done more to jeopardize the security of the people of both nations--and those living in nations of the former Soviet Union--rather than enhance it. It's time to pursue an alternative, more sane and effective course. Instead of expanding NATO to Russia's border, shredding arms control agreements, and generally hyper-militarizing relations between our two nations, we need leaders who have the moxie to lay out a just foreign policy for the region.
There are three key elements to such a foreign policy:
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Winter Storm Warning
August 13, 2008
As John McCain and the Republicans trumpet their election year boldfaced lie--drill now so we can lower prices at the pump today--they continue to ignore a looming energy disaster with lives hanging in the balance.
Currently, eight million homes rely on heating oil during the winter months, and last winter's prices forced too many citizens to choose between heat, food, and medicine .
According to the New York Times, heating oil prices are now 36 percent higher than they were last winter and bills will be up to $1500 higher than they were last year. As for the 54 million households heating with natural gas, prices are expected to be 67 percent higher this winter. Current funding for the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is below 1980's levels--"a time when fuel prices were just a tiny fraction of what they are now," The Timberjay newspapers point out. In fact, last year's $2.5 billion in LIHEAP funding allowed just 16 percent of eligible recipients to receive aid. Congressional representatives of New England states have sought as much as $6.5 billion in additional LIHEAP funding to meet the anticipated needs of the upcoming winter. With both lower-income and middle-class people now unable to afford this basic necessity--a requirement for security in one's own home--newspapers in the Northeast are sounding a clarion call to head-off the impending disaster.
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“Make Way for the Trucker”
July 30, 2008
In these times, when the number of women in Congress has leveled off, it is great to see Diane Benson waging a spirited fight for Congress in traditionally Republican Alaska.
In 2006, Benson ran an impressive race against Republican Representative Don Young for Alaska's single at-large seat. She spent approximately 10% as much as her opponent but still won over 40% of the vote – only the third time in 33 years a Democratic challenger had crossed that threshold in vying for the seat.
This time around, Rep. Young has spent over $1 million – including campaign funds – as he faces criminal investigations for bribery and extortion. He's also tarnished by rampant Republican corruption in Alaska on the state and federal levels – the latest case involving Senator Ted Stevens who was indicted last Tuesday on federal corruption charges. Benson's candidacy offers a refreshing contrast to the abuse of power that Alaskans have grown weary of. But in 2008 she has also faced stiffer competition in the Democratic field – now whittled down to two candidates. On August 26, she and former State House Democratic leader Ethan Berkowitz will square off in the primary. Congressional Quarterly wrote that the race is too close to call.
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Americans, Government, and the American Dream
July 27, 2008
According to a new Time/Rockefeller Foundation poll, 85% of Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track.
And it is.
Our economy is cratering, homes and jobs are being lost, pensions ravaged, and opportunities dimmed. Conservative free market assumptions and shibboleths are being exposed, questioned, and recognized for their bankruptcy.
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Rethinking Afghanistan
July 22, 2008
If elected, Senator Barack Obama has the possibility of reengaging with a world that seeks an America which isn't defined by Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo – but by the democratic ideals to which we aspire. His election, allied with smart and humane policies, could help restore this country's global reputation – and turn a page on the reckless and destructive policies of mad men.
Obama has shown how capable he is of good judgment. His original opposition to the war and his still-firm commitment to an expeditious withdrawal of US combat forces from Iraq – a war which long ago lost any strategic purpose – are both good measures of that judgment. (His position on keeping residual forces and mercenary troops in Iraq is one The Nation disagrees with.)
So it is troubling that as he shows sound thinking on Iraq, Obama also continues to talk about escalating the US military presence in Afghanistan. (This holds true not just for Senator Obama, but for most Democrats in Washington, who argue mantra-like that we need to leave Iraq in order to free additional troops to serve in Afghanistan.) Shouldn't serious thought be given to how Senator Obama's necessary agenda for healthcare and progressive economic reform might be sacrificed to yet another trillion-dollar war without end?
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Going Green
July 20, 2008
In his Washington Post column last Friday, EJ Dionne writes that Al Gore is playing "his usual role of unpaid party visionary by arguing that we can ease the climate crisis, the economic crisis and the crisis of dependence on foreign energy all at once." While Republicans attempt to exploit high gas prices with a "drill, drill, drill" election year slogan, Gore explained in a speech yesterday at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC "that the technology for alternative fuels – wind, solar and geothermal – is far more advanced than we realize," and that we should pursue a 10-year goal of obtaining 100 percent of our electricity from renewable sources and clean fuels.
Gore said: "…when we look at all three of these seemingly intractable challenges at the same time, we can see the common thread running through them…. our dangerous over-reliance on carbon-based fuels is at the core of all three of these challenges – the economic, environmental and national security crises. We're borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change... But if we grab hold of that common thread and pull it hard, all of these complex problems begin to unravel and we will find that we're holding the answer to all of them right in our hand. The answer is to end our reliance on carbon-based fuels."
In the audience was Senator Bernie Sanders, who spoke with Vice President Gore backstage about his new bill, the 10 Million Solar Roofs Act of 2008. A truly independent voice in the Senate, Sen. Sanders has been a leader in pushing the Democratic Congress in a progressive direction – and energy policy is no exception.
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NOLA Watch: Gulf Stream Fails the Smell Test
July 14, 2008
Last Wednesday, on Capitol Hill, at a hearing packed with reporters, photographers, constituents, and industry reps, Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) zeroed in on a key moment in April 2006 that contradicted the testimony of Jim Shea, CEO of Gulf Stream.
Shea's company was paid $500 million to supply the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with 50,000 trailers housing displaced persons in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Residents in some trailers would later complain of health problems including bloody noses, burning eyes, acute respiratory illnesses, and even miscarriages – as Amanda Spake reported in The Nation months before most in the mainstream media paid attention to this scandal. Shea testified that his company did nothing to hide any pertinent information about health issues associated with Gulf Stream trailers.
Yet in April 2006, as CNN prepared to air a story on elevated formaldehyde levels found in the trailers, Gulf Stream sent a statement to the network which Rep. Welch read aloud at the hearing: "We are not aware of any complaints of illness from our many customers of… travel trailers over the years, including travel trailers provided under our contracts with FEMA." Rep. Welch asked Shea, "Did your company make that statement?"
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Our Warrantless Wiretapping Lawsuit
July 10, 2008
This afternoon, President Bush signed the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, a piece of legislation that will needlessly expand the government's ability to spy on Americans and ensure that the country never learns the full extent of Bush's unlawful wiretapping. There were many good Senators who showed courage in standing up to the White House and for the Constitution, but not enough.
A few hours after Bush's signing, The Nation joined with the ACLU in a lawsuit filed in the US District Court (Southern District) of New York challenging the constitutionality of the Act. The Nation is suing on behalf of itself, our staff and two of our contributing writers--Chris Hedges and Naomi Klein. The defendants are the Attorney General of the United States, Michael Mukasey; John M. "Mike" McConnell, Director of National Intelligence; and Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, Director of the National Security Agency and Chief of the Security Service. We filed suit along with a coalition of other plaintiffs including Amnesty International USA, Human Rights Watch, Global Fund for Women, PEN American Center, Washington Office on Latin America, Service Employees International Union and several private attorneys.
Why are we joining this lawsuit?
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Iraq Reconstruction Corruption, Part 7
July 7, 2008
In January, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, a Green Beret, was electrocuted when he stepped into a shower at his barracks in Baghdad. He wasn't the first. In all, 13 Americans have died from electrocution in Iraq, including 10 in the Army, a Marine, and two contractors. James Risen of the New York Times reports, "In addition to those killed, many more service members have received painful shocks," according to Army officials. The Pentagon has now ordered the inspection of all buildings maintained by KBR.
In the last few years, I've looked at what I call Iraq Reconstruction Corruption, and though this won't surprise, KBR – known until last year as Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root – emerged as one of the most egregious profiteers at the expense of taxpayers and the soldiers they were paid billions of dollars to serve.
I've reported on the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) questioning hundreds of millions of dollars in charges by the company; KBR's attempt to cover-up tainted water it provided troops that a Halliburton water expert called a "near miss" that could have "result[ed] in mass sickness or death"; KBR providing water used by soldiers to bathe and brush their teeth that contained coliform and E. coli bacteria and led to an outbreak of bacterial infections; and now, tragically, it seems shoddy electrical work – and a failure to make repairs despite complaints – has resulted in the death of at least one soldier due to electrocution.
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To Israel, via J Street
July 1, 2008
For too long now, when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other issues of war and peace in the Middle East, the mainstream media and too many politicians in the US have deferred to the most extreme right-wing positions represented by organizations such as The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and Christian Zionist communities.
In fact, there is a far more open and dynamic debate about the peace process in Israel than in the US. (For example, over 64 percent of Israelis favor direct talks with Hamas.) But a new lobby organization and PAC – J Street – aims to end the right-wing monopoly and give voice to the substantial number of Jewish and non-Jewish Americans with more moderate views on these issues.
Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami told me last week, "The important thing is that there's a diversity of opinion in the American Jewish community. There's no monolithic view… there's an argument. And that's what J Street's about – it's about the fact that we deserve representation too in this debate. We understand that there are a substantial number of American Jews who hold very right-wing positions when it comes to Israel and they should have a voice in the public policy process. But there's also a very substantial number of American Jews who hold very moderate views on Israel and they also need a voice, and we should have that argument just like we do on any other public policy issue without resorting to name-calling, without labeling one side antisemitic or self-hating Jews and all of that. We should discuss the merits."
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Katrina vanden Heuvel
Thoughts on politics, current affairs, riffs and reflections on what’s in the news and what’s not--but should be.
