In The God Delusion he displays what a formidable adversary he is. It is a spirited and exhilarating read. In the current climate of papal/Islamic stand-off, it is timely too.

There is no hesitancy or doubt here. Dawkins comes roaring forth in the full vigour of his powerful arguments, laying into fallacies and false doctrines with the energy of the polemicist at his most fiery.

"My earlier books did not set out to convert anyone ... this book does," he declares. Its tone is chattier than usual, given to conversational asides, even urgent pleadings - "Please, please raise your consciousness about this!" he begs about the religious indoctrination of tiny children.

And should you doubt his intent, an appendix lists "friendly addresses for individuals needing support in escaping from religion".   more »

A politically sophisticated leftist in Washington, DC, wrote to thank me for my attack, but added, "To me the most interesting thing (in the US) is how many people are willing to believe that Bush either masterminded it [the 9/11 attacks] or knew in advance and let it happen.

If that number or anything close to that is true, that's a huge base of people that are more than deeply cynical about their elected officials. That would be the real news story that the media is missing, and it's a big one."

"I'm not sure I see the silver lining about cynicism re government," I answered. "People used to say the same thing about the JFK conspiracy buffs and disbelief in the Warren Commission. :

"Actually, it seems to demobilize people from useful political activity. I think the nuttishness stems from despair and political infantilism. There's no worthwhile energy to transfer from such kookery."

I'm sure that the Bush gang, and all the conspirators of capital, are delighted at the obsessions of the 9/11 cultists. It's a distraction from the 1,001 real plots of capitalism that demand exposure and political challenge.   more »

There are only a few politicians that are truly opposed to war. Some people are amazed or even angry when I state my position; that war is not the fault of just Bush and the Republican Party, but the Democratic Party as well; they are equally responsible for starting, fueling, and funding the war machine.

If my memory hasn't failed yet, it wasn't just the Republican Party that got us into this horrible mess.

The Democrats voted for it as well, promoted it as a necessity, and even bombed Iraq on a regular basis throughout the 1990s; all the while aggressively supporting UN sanctions that resulted in over one million innocents dead.

Not only did both parties authorize the invasion en masse, they continue to join together to overwhelmingly approve billions more dollars to continue the killing.

So, even though Bush will someday leave office and cease being a "war president," we must start facing the fact that it's not just him or his neo-conned Republican party that are guilty of war crimes.

It's the American political machine, fronted by both the Republicans and Democrats, that is completely addicted to the power and profits of warfare. It's the American political machine that we must resist.   more »

So the New York Times has finally roused itself and laid out the straight facts about the presidential tyranny that has been erected around the pathetic figure of George W. Bush: Rushing Off a Cliff.

The Times is be lauded for this eloquent and powerful depiction of our degraded political state, and we'll quote it liberally below. But a few vital points must mitigate our praise of this otherwise remarkable editorial.

First, and most importantly: it comes very, very late in the game – perhaps too late. All of the tyrannical powers enumerated by the editorial were claimed – and put into practice – by Bush and Cheney five years ago.

I began writing columns about these very claims in October 2001. In November 2001, I wrote of Bush's claim that he could not only declare anyone on earth an "enemy combatant" and jail them forever in black holes without charges, but he could also have them summarily killed.   more »

From Havana to New York to Beirut, the voices of resistance to U.S. imperialism and the Bush administration took center stage in mid-September.

With clarity and militancy, world leaders in the struggle laid out the crimes of Washington and other “great powers,” especially aiming their oratory at the institution of the United Nations Security Council.

While leaders from Cuba, Iran, Venezuela, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Lebanon, Syria and other countries persuasively presented the arguments of the oppressed against a world dominated by oppressors, it was not just the logic of these presentations that compelled the media and the politicians in Washington, London, Paris and Berlin to pay attention.

It was that these voices represent hundreds of millions of people in struggle who are steadily weakening the grip of world imperialism, headed by the U.S. ruling class.   more »

The leftist presidential front-runner in Ecuador said Wednesday that the devil should be insulted by comparisons to President Bush, whom he called a “dimwitted” leader who has done “great damage” to the world.

Rafael Correa, speaking to Channel 8 television, referred to a U.N. speech last week by his friend, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who caused an uproar in the United States by calling Bush “the devil.”

“Calling Bush the devil is offending the devil,” said Correa, a U.S.-trained economist who leads 12 other candidates in polls ahead of the Oct. 15 election. He said “the devil is evil, but intelligent.”

“I believe Bush is a tremendously dimwitted president who has done great damage to his country and to the world,” Correa said.   more »