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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers! How Cops Extort Confessions;
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The New Print Edition of CounterPunch, Only for Our Newsletter Subscribers!
How Cops Extort Confessions;
How the U.S. “Justice System” Really WorksNinety-two per cent of felony convictions in the U.S. are obtained by plea bargains or confessions. Without them the “justice system” would grind to a halt. In an important piece in our latest newsletter, available only to subscribers, Emily Horowitz shows how totally innocent people will “confess” under police pressure, even without physical torture. Horowitz outlines the powerful case for banning confessions altogether. Also in this new edition Marcus Rediker, co-author of the legendary The Many Headed Hydra, writes of popular heroism and resistance in the favelas of Medellin, Colombia. Alexander Cockburn reports on how America’s oldest bank, patronized by the global elites, washed billions smuggled out of Russia, and how the Russians might win their money back, shaking the world’s banking system if they do so. Serge Halimi describes the real battle for the soul of Europe. Get your copy today by subscribing online or calling 1-800-840-3683 Contributions to CounterPunch are tax-deductible. Click here to make a donation. If you find our site useful please: Subscribe Now! CounterPunch books and gear make great presents.
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Today's Stories August 30 / 31, 2008 Andy Worthington August 29, 2008 Mike Whitney Brian Cloughley David Ker Thomson Joanne Mariner Neve Gordon Chris Genovali Ron Jacobs Michael Donnelly August 28, 2008 Judy Gumbo Albert Paul Cantor Saul Landau / Andy Worthington Ben Terrall Leonard Peltier Niranjan Ramakrishnan Donna J. Volatile Website of the Day
August 27, 2008 Anthony DiMaggio Jordan Flaherty Ralph Nader Melissa Checker Bob Sommer Cynthia McKinney Ali Khan M. Junaid Levesque-Alam Dave Lindorff David Macaray Website of the Day
August 26, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Michael D. Yates Paul Craig Roberts Andy Worthington Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Huwaida Arraf Joseph Grosso Sheldon Richman Binoy Kampmark Website of the Day August 25, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Bill Quigley Jonathan Cook James McEnteer Uri Avnery Will Potter Robert Jensen Stephen Lendman Wajahat Ali Carl Finamore Website of the Day August 23 / 4, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patty O'Grady Nicole Colson Steve Conn Deepak Trapathi Robert Fantina Jonathan M. Feldman Joshua Frank Osama Qashoo Howard Lisnoff David Michael Green Dave Lindorff Christopher Brauchli Alan Farago Michael Winship Richard Rhames David Rosen Patrick B. Barr Jamie Newlin Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 22, 2008 Boris Kagarlitsky Laura Carlsen Bob Barr Marwan Bishara Peter Morici Manuel Garcia, Jr. Charles Mostoller Sumbul Ali-Karamali Keith Rosenthal John F. Miglio Website of the Day August 21, 2008 Allan J. Lichtman Dave Lindorff Loserville: How Obama Blew It Ralph Nader Joanne Mariner Wajahat Ali Ron Jacobs Rostam Purzal Anthony Papa Website of the Day August 20, 2008 Michael Neumann Ray McGovern Eric Walberg Fidaa Abed Daniel Haack Mike Whitney Website of the Day August 19, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Deepak Tripathi Marwan Bishara Saul Landau William S. Lind Martha Rosenberg James Brittain Pratyush Chandra David Macaray Website of the Day August 18, 2008 Tariq Ali Gary Leupp Uri Avnery John Ross Farooq Sulehria Luis Rodriguez Manuel Garcia, Jr. Noah Baker Merrill Charles Thomson Website of the Day August 16 / 17, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Deepak Tripathi Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Robert Fantina Ray McGovern Nicole Colson Fatima Bhutto Jean-Luis Rocca David Michael Green Ramzi Kysia Dave Lindorff Lisa Martinovic Richard Rhames Don Santina Rannie Amiri Ramzy Baroud John Stanton Howard Lisnoff Ron Jacobs Seth Sandronsky Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend
August 15, 2008 Steve Niva David Remington Michael Winship Paul Craig Roberts Farzana Versey Harvey Wasserman Felice Pace Julian Critchley Website of the Day August 14, 2008 Saul Landau / Conn Hallinan Mike Whitney Reza Fiyouzat Ralph Nader Christopher Brauchli The Cheerleader in China Jack Bradigan Spula Patrick Irelan John Walsh Dan Bacher Website of the Day
August 13, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts David Remington Brian Cloughley Glen Ford Brendan Cooney Dave Lindorff Tom Lewis Stan Cox Alan Farago Martha Rosenberg Website of the Day August 12, 2008 Uri Avnery Anthony DiMaggio Bill Christison Eric Walberg Kate Connolly Diane Farsetta Peter Morici Thom Rutledge Lee Patton Niranjan Ramakrishnan Website of the Day August 11, 2008 Ishmael Reed Paul Craig Roberts Gary Leupp Douglas Kammen William Willers Greg Moses Jeff Leys Cynthia McKinney Alan Farago Website of the Day August 9 / 10, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Bruce Jackson Kevin Young Chris Floyd Joshua Frank Robert Fantina Brendan Cooney Mark Almond Lois Gibbs Rev. William Alberts Kathy Kelly John Ross David Michael Green Bill Moyers / Ron Jacobs Richard Rhames David Yearsley Lee Sustar Brenda Norrell Ben Terrall Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 8, 2008 Patrick Cockburn Manuel Garcia, Jr. M. Shahid Alam Andy Worthington Lawrence J. Korb David Model Alan Farago Diop Olugbala Firmin DeBrabander Website of the Day August 7, 2008 Dr. Trudy Bond William Blum Paul Craig Roberts Ralph Nader Robert Weitzel Jacob G. Hornberger Binoy Kampmark David Macaray Howard Lisnoff Website of the Day August 6, 2008 Marc Herold Greg Moses Sheldon Rampton Kevin Young Michael Estrada Robert Weissman Dr. Susan Block Cindy Sheehan Ace Hoffman Website of the Day August 5, 2008 Paul Craig Roberts Jeff Halper Patrick Cockburn Nancy Welch Peter Morici Sousan Hammad Eamon Martin Shepherd Bliss Tim Matson Website of the Day August 4, 2008 Uri Avnery Saul Landau David W. Remington Rev. Jesse Jackson Dave Lindorff Peter Morici Joanne Mariner Ramzy Baroud Christian Wright Website of the Day August 2 / 3, 2008 Alexander Cockburn Jeffrey St. Clair Patrick Cockburn Winslow T. Wheeler James Abourezk Andy Worthington Brian Cloughley Robert Fantina Benjamin Dangl Marlene Martin David Yearsley Fatemeh Keshavarz David Michael Green Obama as Dukakis Harvey Wasserman Jason Hribal Phyllis Pollack Laray Polk Ron Jacobs David Macaray David Rosen Dan Bacher Joe Allen Poets' Basement Website of the Weekend August 1, 2008 Jonathan Cook Nikolas Kozloff Rannie Amiri Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli M. K. Bhadrakumar Patrick Cockburn James J. Brittain Dan Bacher Website of the Day
July 31, 2008 Michael Hudson Carl Finamore Mike Whitney Joshua Frank Andy Worthington Ralph Nader Bill Moyers / Robert Weissman Dave Lindorff Website of the Day July 30, 2008 Brian M. Downing Chuck Spinney William S. Lind David Ker Thomson Karl Grossman Mike Whitney Martha Rosenberg James Murren Dave Lindorff Ron Jacobs Website of the Day July 29, 2008 Jeffrey St. Clair John Ross Peter Morici Alison Weir Gary Leupp David Macaray Brenda Norrell Marjorie Cohn Eric Ruder Website of the Day July 28, 2008 Dr. Bryant Welch Kathy Kelly Mike Whitney Peter Morici Christopher Brauchli Clifton Ross Stephen Lendman Website of the Day
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Weekend Edition Something That Roars and StinksEmpty Political CaloriesBy RICHARD RHAMES
The Democrat convention droned on nightly this week. As the faithful, the hopeful, the seduced cheered from the floor of the Denver Pepsi Center, corporate candidates and their wives announced surrender from the podium. Balloons and confetti sometimes drop from the rafters like the ashes of popular-sovereignty-cremated at such anti-climactic moments. The party hopes for “unity” as it sends its war criminal candidates against the self-confessed war criminal John (”McNasty”) McCain in November. They quest for the right to finger the nuclear trigger, roll bail-out packages at banks, screw poor people (for their own good of course), and maintain the health of the insurance industry. There is loose talk of something they call “our democracy” and fevered expressions of fealty to a civic religion; the pre-modern American constitutional order. In a country as profoundly on the skids as this one --- spending borrowed money careening from one testosterone-laced, greed-drunk blood-fest to another and squandering our childrens’ legacy that other children might be killed in their beds half a world away ---- you might think that gatherings of politically-inclined people could yield something more bracing. But this is the USA. So, you’d be wrong. Sadly, majority rule democracy is, to the American system roughly what sunlight is to vampires. It’s, shall we say, “unwelcome.” Here, unlike more modern countries, majority rule and popular sovereignty are shunned by responsible people as frankly totalitarian. If people could vote themselves a better life, such power would threaten what the Framers called “the opulent.” In a land dedicated to the “rights of property” over people, such threats are generally unconstitutional. Thus, whether at the local, state, and federal level the hide-bound American system of checks and balances carefully attends to the wants and needs of the business class. Money screams and government listens. Over 20 years ago now, a huge regional trash incinerator was sited here on the banks of Maine's Saco River. The slicksters from the trash burner beguiled the local city councils with their honeyed words. They promised state-of-the-art garbage processing and flaming using methods guaranteed to render the operation nearly invisible, inaudible, and pollution/odor-free. It was all a lie of course. Other lies followed as the dioxin burping stench manufactory outraged and offended the local citizenry over decades. Local government, however, continued to talk of “partnership” with the refuse importer, meekly hoping that one day it might become what they called “a good corporate citizen.” Over the years, the people of my hometown repeatedly had it demonstrated to them that their elected officials were essentially powerless (or ragingly disinclined) to do anything about this “knife in the heart of the downtown” or the malodorous pall of putrescing swill that regularly assaulted Main Street pedestrians. Finally, this past Wednesday, neighboring Saco’s former mayor Mark Johnston announced that he was trying something unprecedented. He remarked, “I... a private citizen... have filed a lawsuit in York County Superior Court against Maine Energy [Recovery Company], the belching, polluting, stench-producing garbage incinerator you can see right across the river, in downtown Biddeford.” “Here in downtown Biddeford-Saco, the locals just call it the Blue Monster.” Johnston was asked essentially, “Why this, why you, why now?” The former mayor patiently described the three branches of (gridlock) government that we are taught in grade school to revere: The executive, the legislative, the judicial. Though he had wielded executive authority for years as well as serving legislatively on Saco’s city council, he had to admit that after 20 years the effort hadn’t really come to much. The Blue Monster droned on. So now, politely despairing effective action in the public interest from elected officials, he had decided to use the judicial branch, assuming not unreasonably that an unelected judge (who would quickly shut down a pig farmer’s operation if it reeked this way) might intervene. Johnston and his attorney, Eric Cote concluded that if a procession of local residents swore under oath to MERC’s repeated olfactory outrages, that the “justice” might order an end to the nuisance. Later that day, Johnston sent a letter to arch corporate lackey, Governor John Baldacci. He described the problem: “...MERC stinks. It has stunk, it does stink, and unless something is done it will always stink. This summer has been particularly bad and last week was horrendous.” He referred to (Twin City) Biddeford’s shiny new contract with the garbage processor and its utterly toothless “odor protocol” --- a slightly tweaked bona fide surrender system. “The odor protocol does not work... it is useless. The passage of time has proven that,” he wrote. Further, “...Maine people are not being protected by the (State’s) Department [of Environmental Protection]...” “Weary of government’s inability to deal with this glaring problem,” Johnston continued, “I will press forward with my lawsuit as a private citizen. No business should get a free pass to flaunt the rules that everybody else has to live by.” The episode presents a local illustration of our infamous and regularly demonstrated political paralysis-by-design, forcefully described in Daniel Lazare’s profound 1996 book The Frozen Republic. As Lewis Lapham suggested to Harper’s readers after reading Lazare’s masterwork, the author had neatly explained the central feature of our political life: American government doesn’t work because, frankly, it was never intended to. As hope dies and decays the odor is foul. But a beaten people can get used to almost anything. They have to. Richard Rhames is lives in Biddeford, Maine.
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