We return this week to the conservative crusade to destroy the reputation of financier and philanthropist George Soros. The Hungarian-born billionaire has driven Republicans to distraction for two reasons. First, after decades of dedicating his fortune to fighting for democracy and civil society in his native Eastern Europe, he has turned his attention to the United States, where he is spending as much as $15 million to help various liberal groups improve their efforts to expose the malfeasance of the Bush Administration and defeat it in 2004. Second, in response to some surprise questioning at a meeting with Jewish leaders last year, Soros offered his opinion that Israeli foreign policy is in significant measure responsible for increasing anti-Semitism around the world. [continues 1069 words]
Forget The Traditional Forums; For Real News, Substantive Talk Look To Alternative Political Confabs Who knows what lurks in the hearts of Democratic and Republican convention goers this summer? The Shadow knows. The Shadow Convention 2000, that is. CONVENED by public interest groups like the faith-based Call to Renewal, Common Cause, Public Campaign, Lindesmith Center-Drug Policy Foundation, National Campaign for Jobs and Income Support and United for a Fair Economy, these gatherings are about everything the Democratic and Republican conventions should be addressing but aren't. The brainchild of the crusading columnist and rightist-turned-leftist, Arianna Huffington, each Shadow convention will deploy gadfly politicians, actors, public policy experts, community leaders and the assorted oddball or two to shine a light on the great unspoken issues of the 2000 campaign. [continues 1056 words]
At home and abroad, flawed vision and dangerous tactics Anti-narcotic police use guns and fungicide to limit the cultivation of coca in Colombia, thanks to new anti-drug funding from the United States. July 8 -- The drug war is spinning out of control. At home, the office of the White House anti-drug czar was caught expanding its wire-tapping powers, tracing our Web site visitations, rewarding magazine editors and televisions producers for ideologically acceptable content. Inequities in our legal system result in vast numbers of young black men being given longer jail terms than white offenders. And in Colombia, as we once did in Vietnam, we're using armaments and chemicals to take aim at an elusive enemy. [continues 1090 words]
