>As Wikipedia, the popular online encyclopedia, puts it, "Oligarchies are often controlled by a few powerful families whose children are raised and mentored to be heirs of the power of the oligarchy, often at some sort of expense to those governed." Does that sound like the administration of George W. Bush?

For all my life, ever since grade school, I've been taught that the United States of American is a paragon of democracy. We have popular elections on every level-local, state and Federal.

We have two houses of Congress, a President and a Supreme Court, a system of checks and balances, a Constitution second to none, and a Bill of Rights, the pride of our forefathers. Most Americans see our country as Ronald Reagan did-the shining city on the hill-beacon to the world.

But here we are, today, when, according to the most recent CNN/USA Today poll, six of ten Americans see the Iraq war as a huge mistake and want our troops out of there, yet they are incapable of making that happen.

Why? It's simple. It's the oligarchy that's keeping them there-that tight little group around Bush in the White House and Rumsfeld in the Pentagon, who run things for corporate feeders.   more »

Network News will officially go Cable with Katie Couric playing the role of Edward R. Murrow.

That's right, Katie will be "anchor" and "managing editor" of CBS Evening "News". And she's already hard at work.

"It's very exciting," she says, "because you're benefiting from all the terrific people and systems already in place, yet hopefully creating something different and fresh.

Whether you're talking about the music and saying 'Can the trumpets be a little brighter?' or figuring out the sets and the graphics, it's a lot of fun."   more »

So if the failure to support a government’s wrongful policies makes me a terrorist—so be it. If speaking truth to power makes one a terrorist—sign me up.

Move me to top of the NSA and FBI lists of suspects. Send forth the assassins with their rifles.

If exposing the lies and corruption that attends power makes me a terrorist—I will proudly wear the crown and bear the cost.

I will cheerfully take my place alongside other terrorists with names like Thoreau, Debs, King, Gandhi, Einstein, Zinn, and Christ.

I'm proud to be an American dissident.   more »

The U.S. military has lost control over the volatile al-Anbar province, Iraqi police and residents say.

The area to the west of Baghdad includes Fallujah, Ramadi and other towns that have seen the worst of military occupation, and the strongest resistance.

Despite massive military operations which destroyed most of Fallujah and much of cities like Haditha and al-Qa'im in Ramadi, real control of the city now seems to be in the hands of local resistance.

In losing control of this province, the U.S. would have lost control over much of Iraq.

"We are talking about nearly a third of the area of Iraq," Ahmed Salman, a historian from Fallujah told IPS. "Al-Anbar borders Jordan, Syria and Saudi Arabia, and the resistance there will never stop as long as there are American soldiers on the ground."   more »

Of course, lefties, liberals, peaceable libertines and ethical hedonists, those of us wearing the "I Hated Bush Before It Was Cool" t-shirts, have deplored the Shrub since he was born again as a political favorite son after failing dismally as a businessman.

We stewed as he stole and smirked his way into the White House, with the judicious assistance of Uncle Nino (Scalia).

When his "response" to 9/11 was to cluster-bomb Afghanistan, murdering over 3500 civilians (according to a study to be released December 10 by University of New Hampshire Economics Professor Marc W. Herold) while letting Osama and Mullah Omar slip free, we seethed, but were far outnumbered in America by the battle-cheering hordes..   more »

The revolutionary moment in America's foreign policy has neared its end.

The American quagmire in Iraq, the offence that Bush has stirred among most of his allies by terrorising most peoples of the world with a war that does not concern them, the despair he has spread by the damage he has done to the cause of democracy and freedom through the blatant cynicism of his campaign to spread democracy.

His encouragement of Israel into waging a war that added another stinging loss to America's lengthy record of military losses -- all this signals that Bush has reached the end of the road and his extremist foreign policy has cost the US and the rest of the world dearly.   more »

4 SEPTEMBER

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