Commemorating the American War in Vietnam

Most peace advocates are unaware that our government has commenced a 13-year program of commemorating the Vietnam War at a cost of $65 million. The effort seems focused primarily on the sacrifices made by American troops in a battle for American ideals. There is nothing revealed about Vietnamese nationalism, sacrifice, casualties or ultimate success – not to mention the ongoing deprivation, Agent Orange poisonings, cluster bombs left behind as signs of inhumanity. Nor is there mention of the peace movement, the historic rallies, the unity across racial lines, the GI revolts inside the armed forces, the unconstitutional domestic spying and indictments, the McGovern campaign, or the Pentagon Papers.

Click to read more ...

Obama to Mexico, at Last

President Barack Obama is scheduled to make a brief “pivot” to Mexico this week where he faces widespread impatience with the US-dominated drug war, anger at Arizona, and token progress on immigrant rights legislation in Washington. Obama’s security advisers are alarmed that Mexico is rejecting the current levels of US control of the militarized drug policy as an invasion of Mexican sovereignty, which escalated in the Bush era.

Click to read more ...

U.S. Policies Allow Sweatshop Fires

Updated on Thursday, May 2, 2013 at 6:15AM by Tom Hayden

The latest sweatshop disaster in Bangladesh, which claimed the lives of over 400 workers, primarily young women, calls into question the foundations of US globalization policies since the Clinton era. It is not enough to blame the corruption of Bangladesh factory owners, nor sufficient to suggest better training and factory codes from Walmart or the Gap. It is time to ban the US sale of garments made in Bangladesh until enforceable labor codes are imposed on that country.

Click to read more ...

Boston Bombings Boost Terror Paradigm

As questions about the Boston Marathon bombings continue to unfold, one point seems clear. The bombings have increased national support for the Global War on Terror just as public anxiety was on the wane and questioning by Congress and the mainstream media was on the rise.

Click to read more ...

Guantanamo’s Death Row

President Barack Obama's Guantanamo choice – to release the hunger strikers or let them die – reminds me of Margaret Thatcher’s similar choice in 1981 when “the Iron Lady,” as her admirers called her, allowed 10 Irishmen to slowly starve to death because she would not recognize their most basic human rights. Thatcher’s stubborn reputation was preserved. But the whole world was watching. One of the strikers, Bobby Sands, was elected to parliament as he lay dying. The agony caused massive sympathy for Irish Republicans and led directly to the political success of Sinn Fein and the Good Friday peace agreement.

Click to read more ...

Lessons From Iraq

Thank you, Reps. Maxine Waters and Barbara Lee, for your organized forum reflecting on the Iraq war experience. My comments are these.

Click to read more ...

In Memory of Hugo Chavez

President Hugo Chavez was a man in a hurry to change his country, his region and the world. Perhaps he knew he would die at a youthful age, but I believe it was because he recognized that time was always standing still for the poor. He wanted the blind to see, the children to read, the homemakers to have refrigerators, and “les miserables” of his world to live proudly. He faltered while running.

Click to read more ...

Disney, Gap Blamed in Bangladesh Sweatshop Fires

Activists took to the streets of Los Angeles on April 8 to protest Disney and the Gap’s negligence in fires that have killed scores of workers in Bangladesh.

Click to read more ...

As Pressure Grows, Drone Attacks Decline

Public protest, critical media coverage and Congressional hearings are contributing to what the New York Times calls a “sharp decline” in US drone attacks during recent weeks.

Click to read more ...

Why I Love Social Security

I have never been a life-long, card-carrying member of anything, with the exception of Social Security. 

Click to read more ...