Marie Cocco, Author at

Cheney Plays to His Crowd

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Sep 3, 2009 Dick Cheney represents a significant number of conservatives who still believe that the United States can bomb, invade, occupy and torture its way to security.Dick Cheney believes that the United States can bomb, invade, occupy and torture its way to security. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Why We Must Stay in Afghanistan

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Sep 1, 2009 A slim majority now says the Afghanistan war isn't worth fighting. This is alarming, and inexplicable. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The Eternal Flame

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Aug 27, 2009 Ten summers ago, I asked Ted Kennedy's office to provide an account of key legislation he had sponsored in what already was a long and distinguished career. I received a very humble 32-page fax. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Status Quo Is Not an Option

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Aug 25, 2009 The summer of disinformation seems to have accomplished its goal: to preserve for the private insurance industry an effective monopoly over how much most Americans pay for health care, and on what terms they can buy it. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Enabling the Gun Nuts

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Aug 20, 2009 The Secret Service says it is quite capable of protecting the president, but the rest of us don't have armed guards. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Phantom of the Health Care Soap Opera

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Aug 18, 2009 Red-faced people are now hurling the same falsehoods at the nonexistent Obama plan that they hurled at Clinton's plan -- and Harry Truman's national health insurance proposal, and Lyndon Johnson's Medicare. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

The Marvel That Is Medicare

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Jul 30, 2009 Medicare is where political posturing runs headlong into historical truth: It is, along with Social Security, the most successful government program that the United States has ever created. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

A Rebound Without Recovery

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Jul 28, 2009 The arithmetic of this recession still looks pretty dismal and the politics and psychology of it are starting to become disconnected from reality in a scary way.The politics and psychology of this recession are starting to become disconnected from reality in a scary way. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Health Plan: Ask ‘What,’ Not ‘When’

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Jul 23, 2009 Now that it's gripped the imaginations of politicians and the media, the politics of the calendar has overtaken the plain truth that Congress already is moving -- barely moving, and not necessarily to a triumphal finish -- toward reform. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

When Trust and Media Were One

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Jul 21, 2009 The greatest sorrow in marking Walter Cronkite's death is the necessity of acknowledging that we have replaced his work ethic and wisdom with puffery and ideological pontification. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Stains From the Bush Era Won’t Fade

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Jul 16, 2009 The legacy of that administration's anti-terrorism tactics cannot be washed away in a tide of feel-good rhetoric about moving on, nor will it fade eventually if we apply Obama's spiritual wisdom that this should be a time for "reflection, not retribution." Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )

Closet Racism in the Age of Obama

Marie Cocco / Truthdig Jul 14, 2009 Unless Sotomayor suffers a "complete meltdown," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina predicted, she will be confirmed. The price, though, is barely coded race baiting that has been part of the assault on Sotomayor since her nomination was announced. Dig deeper ( 3 Min. Read )