Matthew Rothschild, editor of the venerable Madison-based The Progressive magazine weighs in on Michael Moore and Fahrenheit 911 saying he came away “disappointed.” Matt’s a smart and gutsy guy who doesn’t submit meekly to leftist orthodoxies in spite of his mag’s radical pedigree (which makes him an authentic radical). His take on Moore’s flick, I [...]

Ralph Nader’s attempted bank shot to run for President around the Green Party but to nevertheless pick up its endorsement and get on its ballot line in 22 states crashed this past weekend. Nader was outmaneuvered by Texas lawyer David Cobb (who?) who was chosen to be the party’s official candidate at its national convention [...]

After two false starts, finally something impressive from the new editorial page director of the Los Angeles Times, Michael Kinsley. His aborted debut ten days ago was an ill-conceived piece trying to extract some facile allegory about Hollywood from the gruesome June 15 decapitation murder of 91 year old former blacklisted screenwriter Bobby Lees. Bobby [...]

I’m going to let all you folks see Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11 and then report back to me, thank you very much. It’s enough that I have to wallow through Bill Clinton’s bloated self-apologia this weekend. I don’t think I could stand an additional two hours of political hectoring from the likes of Michael Moore [...]

My latest L.A. Weekly column has just been posted. I invite you to take a read. An odd alliance of the Governator, liberal Democrats and organized labor are backing new deals with Indian gambling tribes. California and its communities will now get back more from the Indian casinos. In return, California may now become the [...]

British writer Elena Lappin tells a harrowing tale of how she got tossed into 26 hours of detention last month by paranoic U.S. officials when she flew into LAX without the new visa for foreign journalists demanded by Homeland Security. The piece came out a few weeks ago in the Guardian but I hadn’t seen [...]

What’s up with Ralph Nader? He’s making less sense every day. While he eschewed the Green Party this time around to run an “independent” presidential campaign, and even as he insists he’s capable of peeling off substantial numbers of disgruntled Republican voters, Nader nevertheless tapped Peter Camejo, a Green Party honcho with an exclusively leftist [...]

I’ve made it a point of principle that my “private” politics perfectly coincides with my public positions. I think the truth, nettlesome as it might be, always has priority and that nothing is ever gained from a pulled punch. This campaign season, however, is a torturous test. Thinking to myself, I am drawn every day [...]

Just back from a week of reporting in the Palm Springs-Indio area on Governor Terminator’s tough-love dealings with Indian gambling tribes topped off by a morning fishing trip out of Ensenada, Baja California. (Fish Report: 2 anglers, 16 calico bass, 35 barracuda, 1 [20lb] white sea bass). Now, back to politics. I haven’t been shy [...]

This is a rather long (but hopefully provocative) posting so make yourself comfortable. As the media frenzy around Bill Clinton’s biography cranks into high gear I’m reminded just how much I despise the man. And, more importantly, how much you should as well, especially if you (like me) find yourself disgusted with the Bush administration. [...]

I’m doing some reporting on the politics of Indian casinos this week in Southern California’s Coachella Valley. Posting will be light over the next few days.

On Day Two of the Post-Reagan Period, the Abu Ghraib torture story, as predicted, is back where it merits at the top of the news agenda. Newsweek’s just-released story on the scandal by Michael Hirsh, John Barry and Daniel Klaidman reveals bloody turf battles inside the Bush Administration. Shortly after 9/11 White House lawyers proposed [...]

“Is it safe?” One of the great lines from the film Marathon Man as Laurence Olivier, a Nazi “dentist” (and hunted war criminal) relentlessly tortures innocent Dustin Hoffman. “Is it safe?” Olivier asks as he rips out Hoffman’s teeth — wanting to know if it’s safe for him to show up at an espionage drop. [...]

My full meditation over Ronald Reagan’s corpse remains posted at L.A. Weekly. It still seems pointless to talk much about any other subject like the White House memos justifying torture, or the admission by the commanding U.S. general that he has failed to train an effective Iraqi police force, or how the Kurds —once again””got [...]

The prolonged funeral games of Ronald Reagan continue stretching through this week as if Old Dutch was, in reality, Princess Diana. But you knew that already. The electronic media continues its non-stop beatification. The print media, predictably, is giving a generally more balanced picture. But not completely. The L.A. Times today went right into the [...]

My defintive send-off to Uncle Ronnie has just been posted. Please read the entire column to experience the full blast of my vitriol. Here’s a taste: Some of us remember Reagan in very different terms. The single moment that most stands out in my mind was the early evening of March 23, 1983. Not a [...]

Every death diminishes us. And it is only fitting that on the day of his demise, a former U.S. President be afforded a modicum of respect and dignity. But after scanning the broadcast and print media coverage of the first 5 hours after Ronald Reagan’s death, I now know what it must feel like to [...]

Friends, forget anthrax and VX, here is the REAL face of terror, the real weapons of mass destruction: PEANUTS! You laugh, eh? That smirk of yours will evaporate when you take a look at this chilling terror training film that the fiends have brought right into our classrooms, teaching our youngest how to mix the [...]

Does the composition of the new interim government in Iraq reflect a waning of Neocon clout inside the Bush White House? Has State nudged out Defense as manager of the occupation? Or am I just hallucinating? Read my new column in L.A. Weekly.

I’m joining with friends and fellow bloggers Micah Sifry, Michael J. Totten, and Roger L. Simon, among others in endorsing and supporting Spirit of America. This is a people-people project just put together by renown blogger the Armed Liberal (who has now revealed himself to be Marc Danziger). I challenge everyone who clicks on this [...]