Huffington Post, November 12, 2008, by Stephen Zunes [source]
Growing up in Mississippi and North Carolina in the late 1950s and early 1960s, I have vivid memories of African-Americans hoping to participate in their first election being turned away at the polls, denied their most basic right to vote. Little did I know that near fifty years later, in 2008, my daughter would similarly be prevented from voting…
Month: November 2008
Is Obama Screwing His Base with Rahm Emanuel Selection?
Huffington Post November 11, 2008, by Stephen Zunes [source]
I had really wanted to celebrate Barack Obama’s remarkable victory for a day or so before becoming cynical again. And yet, less than 24 hours after the first polls closed, the president-elect chose as his chief of staff — perhaps the most powerful single position in any administration — Rahm Emanuel, one of the most conservative Democratic members of Congress.
Bush’s Unauthorized Attack on Syria Killed Civilians; Dems Silent
Alternet.org, November 10, 2008 by Stephen Zunes [source]
A raid by U.S. forces into Syria last month was not only a major breach of international law, but has resulted in serious diplomatic repercussions which will likely harm U.S. strategic interests in the region. On October 25, four U.S. Army helicopters entered Syrian airspace from Iraq, firing upon laborers at the Sukkariyeh Farm near the town of Abu Kamal; two of the helicopters landed and eight commandoes reportedly stormed a building. By the time it was over, eight people had been killed, at least seven of whom were civilians, including three children. It is believed to be the first time the United States has ever engaged in ground combat operations in Syria…
The Cooties Effect
Foreign Policy in Focus November 3, 2008 by Stephen Zunes [source]
During the McCarthy era of the 1950s, in what became known as “guilt by association,” simply being friends with someone suspected of being a Communist could ruin your career. Today that’s been extended to guilt by spatial proximity, which could appropriately be called the “cooties effect.” If you sit on the same board, have appeared on the same panel, or otherwise have been in close physical proximity to someone deemed undesirable, you therefore must have been infected by their politics or, at minimum, have no problems with things they may have done in their past.
Rashid Khalidi: The Republicans’ Latest Smear of Obama
Huffington Post, November 2, 2008, by Stephen Zunes [source]
The smear campaign by John McCain, Sarah Palin and their supporters reached a new low this past week with their attacks on Democratic nominee Barack Obama for his former ties with Palestinian American scholar Rashid Khalidi. This is just one in a series of desperate guilt-by-association tactics by the Republicans to make the staunchly pro-Israel Obama appear to be anti-Israel and may be designed less to harm the Democratic nominee’s chances of election as to limit politically his options for addressing urgent matters of Israeli-Palestinian peace upon becoming president.