The latest casualty of the War in Iraq appears to be Cindy Sheehan, who fell at the hands of those Revolutionaries and Antiwarriors for Democrats, whom Jan Baughman keeps lambasting in her cartoons -- the coterie of activists that somehow wants us to believe that the Democratic Party is the Party of Peace. Sheehan learned the hard way that the party of Wilson, FDR, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, all the way to Bill Clinton, talks much about peace but consistently votes for and wages wars, and that the antiwar pros she had worked with in the "movement" had suckered her into becoming an instrument of that warring party. As Phil Greenspan has long said and is repeating here, the war will end when a worn out military will force the elites to "suddenly declare victory, sing the "Star Spangled Banner," lead triumphant parades for the booboisie, and pull out!" But at what staggering costs in blood and treasure! Both Carol Christen and Eli Beckerman observe the increasingly chaotic, even anarchic, state in which corporatism is relentlessly leading the world, and it falls upon Martin Murie to bring a joyous sense of optimism to the fore.
Meanwhile, you do remember Yugoslavia and Kosovo, another Democratic war in the name of genocide, a charge that holds as much water as the WMDs in Iraq, don't you? Dimitri Oram and Aleksandar Jokic certainly do. The former reviews the role of reporter Marlise Simons of The New York Times -- the Liberals for War -- in sticking it to the Serbs once again through cheap propaganda; and the latter, who knows something and more about the "Unbanality of Genocidalism," looks at the current state of affairs in Kosovo as the debate about its independence is largely ignored by the media.
In the cultural corner, Charles Marowitz reviews the fascinating saga of Yiddish Theatre, brilliantly chronicled by Stefan Kanfer in Stardust Lost, and Peter Byrne follows the utopian journey of a young family man who's seeking a more fulfilling life in various communes in Italy and the U.K. We end with the picturesque poetry of Marie Rennard and Guido Monte, as well as your letters.
As always, please form your OWN opinion, and let your friends (and foes) know about Swans.
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Gilles d'Aymery: Welcome Back To Reality, Cindy
A look at the incestuousness of so-called progressive, antiwar individuals and organizations, their ties to the Democratic Party, and the fall from grace of Cindy Sheehan, who acknowledged reality and widened her criticism of the Republicans to include the Democrats. More...
Jan Baughman: Mandate 2006
Editorial Cartoon: The Democrats have spent their 2006 election mandate capital -- on additional funding for the War on Iraq, of course. Will the so-called Revolutionaries who supported them ever learn, or will they keep justifying their actions and perpetuating the status quo? More...
Philip Greenspan: The Politicians Cannot Prevent An Unsatisfactory End
One success story of antiwar activists' perseverance is their pressure on the School of the Americas (aka School of Assassins) and the resulting refusal of some Latin American countries -- Venezuela, Argentina, Bolivia, and Uruguay to date -- to send their officers for training. More...
Carol Warner Christen: Has Mankind Become Inhumanly Serious?
On the origin of liberals and conservatives, the meaning of anarchy, the implementation of fascism, the disappearance of checks and balances, and the impact of all this on We the People. More...
Eli Beckerman: The Greening Of The Peace Movement
While the Republicans and Democrats are committed to corporate interests in which war is profitable, the Green Party remains a well articulated vehicle for change that is yet to be embraced by the fractionated peace movement. More...
Martin Murie: Walking And Talking
Antiwar activists battle to promote multiplicity in the face of the persistent American trait known as rugged individualism. More...
Dimitri Oram: Attacking The ICTY And The ICJ
Though Serbia was acquitted by the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide in Bosnia, the NATO propaganda and the presumption of Serbia's guilt perdure with the help of New York Times reporter Marlise Simons. More...
Aleksandar Jokic: The Real Solution For Kosovo
There are practical and acceptable options for settling Kosovo's political status, and one must question the specious arguments from the West that the only war forward is independence from Serbia. More...
Charles Marowitz: Stefan Kanfer's Stardust Lost
A review of Stefan Kanfer's Stardust Lost and the early origins of Yiddish theatre in New York. More...
Peter Byrne: The Uncertain Heart of Utopia
Tobias Jones's Utopian Dreams: A Search for a Better Life blends first-person travel writing with contemporary politics in a community-hopping search for an alternative lifestyle that is rather indicative of a mid-life crisis. More...
Marie Rennard: Holy The One
The poetry of Marie Rennard and the photography of Jean-Claude Seine join together in a poignant depiction of the loved one left behind. More...
Guido Monte & Francesca Saieva: Mémoire - Oubli (Memory - Oblivion)
The special meanings of memory and oblivion, through Borges, Montale, Celan and a Sanskrit sparking of Baghavad Gita. With a photo by Giovanni M. Russo. More...
Discovering a genocide museum that recognizes Native Americans; resources on the US penal system; Israeli Refusniks embrace Boris Vian and Le Déserteur; and some thoughts on anger and A Different Kind of War. More...
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