Former Sen. John Edwards was supposed to speak in Denver at the Democratic National Convention, but he had an affair. Will the Democrats now forget about his signature issue?
Filed under Weekly Column
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is on a book tour, where she is being hounded by activists and questioned about her pledge that “impeachment is off the table.” She responded on the TV talk show “The View,” “If somebody had a crime that the president had committed, that would be a different story.” Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ron Suskind may have provided the evidence she doesn’t want to see.
Filed under Weekly Column
Open opposition, the right to challenge those in power, is a mainstay of any healthy democracy. The Democratic and Republican conventions will test the commitment of the two dominant U.S. political parties to the cherished tradition of dissent. Things are not looking good.
Filed under Weekly Column
Rep. Gene Green (D–TX) is calling on the Pentagon to explain why a military recruiter was given a promotion despite being found to have illegally threatened a teenage boy with jail time if he decided to go to college instead of joining the military. The recruiter was eventually promoted to head a different recruiting station. Green sent the letter questioning Kelt’s new job after his Wednesday appearance on Democracy Now!
Filed under D.N. in the News
With no end in sight in Afghanistan and Iraq, military recruiters must be prevented from using desperate and aggressive measures to lure our nation’s young people—the poorest and most vulnerable—into the line of fire.
Filed under Weekly Column
Amy Goodman reports from the Baltics: “When I arrived in Estonia last week—a former Soviet republic that lies just south of Finland—everyone had an opinion on Barack Obama’s speech in Berlin.”
Filed under Weekly Column
The nominating conventions have become elaborate, expensive marketing events, but most people don’t know the extent to which major corporations fund them, pouring tens of millions of dollars into a little-known loophole in the campaign-finance system.
Filed under Weekly Column
While the presidential candidates trade barbs and accuse each other of flip-flopping, they agree with President Bush on their enthusiastic support for nuclear power.
Filed under Weekly Column
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The Israeli government has effectively frozen visitation and re-entry of foreign nationals of Palestinian origin to the West Bank and Gaza. We go to Ramallah to speak with two coordinators of the “Campaign for the Right of Entry and Re-Entry to the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” We’re also joined by a leading Israeli human rights attorney and a Palestinian-American filmmaker recently detained by Israeli officials and deported. [includes rush transcript]
Democratic Congressmembers Barbara Lee, Lynn Woolsey and Maxine Waters of California have introduced a bill calling for the withdrawal of all U.S. troops and military contractors within six months. The measure is one several new resolutions showing increased opposition to the White House plan to escalate the war in Iraq. We play an excerpt of Rep. Woolsey’s speech introducing her bill on the House floor. [includes rush transcript]
A Boston jury has awarded $400,000 to a Portuguese-born US citizen in what is being described as the first legal victory in an airline racial profiling case since 9/11. John Cerqueira was removed from an American Airlines flight at Boston’s Logan Airport in 2003 along with two Israeli passengers who were seated next to him. All three were held by state police, interrogated for two hours, and then denied further service by American Airlines. [includes rush transcript]
The Bush administration has reversed its policy to eavesdrop on US citizens without court-approved warrants. On Wednesday, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced wiretaps will now be approved by the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as required by law. But questions remain over the extent of the reversal. [includes rush transcript]