In this first-ever biography of the religious leader many predict will take over Iraq after the Americans leave, Patrick Cockburn, one of the most-respected correspondents in the Middle East, provides a dramatic look at a man Paul Bremer denounced as a “Bolshevik Islamist.”
Looks like Sen. John McCain is being endorsed by more than one controversial preacher—the apparent “must-have” of leading presidential hopefuls this election cycle. Meet the Rev. Rod Parsley, whose support McCain sought and won, according to Brave New Films and Mother Jones, which have launched a collaborative effort to expose Parsley’s alarming beliefs about Islam and America’s role on the world stage.
However one feels about Hillary Clinton, there’s something sad about former presidential candidate George McGovern’s announcement that he no longer supports Clinton and is backing her rival. Clinton worked for McGovern 36 years ago, when he campaigned against another unpopular war.
Mary Tillman made a sharp and moving appearance Tuesday morning on the “Today” show to talk about her new book, “Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman,” about the friendly-fire death of her son, Pat, and the U.S. military’s subsequent cover-up in 2004.
Gee, it sure is hard sometimes to figure out exactly how the rich get richer in American society! Good thing there’s Larry the Loophole, who hails from a politician dad and a lobbyist mom, to show us how buyout industry executives like Henry Kravis make gajillions of dollars (well, not gajillions, but so far this year Kravis has made over $33,205,800, with ol’ Larry’s help. As funny as it is scary, this animated short from Brave New Films breaks it all down.
Author Stephen King made an appearance last month at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where he discussed, among other things, the importance of literacy. As King put it: “I don’t want to sound like an ad, a public service ad on TV, but the fact is if you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don’t, then you’ve got, the Army, Iraq, I don’t know, something like that.”
Studio honcho Harvey Weinstein is a force to be reckoned with—it was no coincidence that Disney subsidiary Miramax became a major player in the film industry under his watch, for example—and recently, he reportedly attempted to use his powers of persuasion to convince House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to follow his plan for a Democratic primary revote in Florida and Michigan ... or else.
Entertainment Weekly has released first-look photos of actor Josh Brolin in character for his lead role in Oliver Stone’s new movie, “W.” Portraying the current president is no small challenge, but director Stone, who has been accused of courting controversy in his previous big-screen presidential portrayals, has promised to treat his subject fairly.
Hollywood stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, George Clooney and Nicole Kidman are now personae non gratae in Rome, according to the Italian capital’s new mayor, Gianni Alemanno, a former fascist who thinks American stars shouldn’t be hyped at Rome’s annual film festival at the expense of Italian actors and directors.
Tom Hanks has a preferred candidate, but what makes his endorsement interesting is not the person he chooses, but how he frames that choice. This video, which appeared on the actor’s MySpace page, seems as much a comment on the celebrity endorsement as it is an endorsement by a celebrity.
Building on his “President Jonah” theme, Gore Vidal offers another angle on Bush’s presidency, illuminated by the recent spate of wildfires in Southern California.
Hillary Clinton has campaigned as if the Democratic nomination were hers by divine right. That’s why she is falling short—and that’s why she should be persuaded to quit now, before her majestic sense of entitlement splits the party along racial lines.
The first important election result for the senator in May—coming before his North Carolina victory—was the outcome of a little-noticed U.S. House contest in Louisiana.
American politics is as polarized as a red and blue election map. On one side are those who try to distract from the issue; on the other side are those who work to sensationalize it. What unifies both is bigotry.
Throughout the primary campaign, Democrats have been explaining, equivocating and ultimately fretting over the role of superdelegates, but those unelected power brokers are themselves the result of previous party contortions. Perhaps the time has come for a new model.
In the increasingly unlikely event of a McCain-Clinton election, folks who care about the peace issue would have serious reason to worry. Both of these candidates are inveterate hawks, and what we would be up against is a choice between the neoconservatives and the neoliberals as to who could be more adventurous in getting us into unjustifiable foreign wars.
In this protracted and often dispiriting prelude to the general election, few remarks have been as poorly chosen as Sen. Hillary Clinton’s threat to “totally obliterate” Iran.
Barack Obama cannot win the White House without the support of women, many of whom have identified with Hillary Clinton. What better way to reach those voters than the story of the fascinating woman who raised him?
There is no mystery to the missing lightning rods. John McCain neglects to volunteer the names of Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas as model jurists for an obvious reason.
More than a dozen American soldiers have died or received severe electrical shocks in Iraq, reportedly as a result of faulty electrical work often done by ill-trained Iraqis and Afghans under the supervision of Houston-based contractor KBR. American electricians who worked for KBR, which is responsible for maintaining US bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, said they repeatedly warned company managers and military officials about the dangers to GIs from the shoddy work.
The U.N. has announced it will resume aid to Burma after conflicts over how food and equipment were to be distributed grounded relief flights to the country. Cyclone Nargis has killed at least an estimated 22,000 Burmese, and the junta who holds power over the country has been categorically criticized for their ineptitude in dealing with the disaster and its aftermath.
Evo Morales, the first indigenous president of Bolivia, will face a confidence vote in the next 90 days as opposition groups continue their push to remove him from power. The vote comes on the tails of last week’s unofficial and meaningless referendum for autonomy, where the wealthy state of Santa Cruz voted for greater independence from the federal government.
Hillary Clinton is under immense pressure to exit the campaign, but thanks in part to one of her rivals, she would be saying goodbye to more than the presidency. Because of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, Clinton has until the convention in August to recoup her loans. After that, she could be out more than $11 million.
Four years after Pat Tillman’s death by friendly fire in Afghanistan, his mother, Mary Tillman, is still asking questions—primarily about the U.S. government’s initial cover-up of the details of Pat’s death and about how far up the chain of command the deception extended. Here, New York Times sports writer George Vecsey praises Mary Tillman and her new memoir, “Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman.”
Hillary Clinton will surely stir controversy with racially charged comments that appeared Thursday in USA Today. The candidate noted an article “that found how Sen. Obama’s support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me.” “There’s a pattern emerging here,” she added. Audio update.
McCain’s ‘Spiritual Guide’ Has a Big Issue with Islam
