Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill)
An Interview with David Cay Johnston
By John W. Whitehead
07/17/2008
How does a strong and growing economy lend itself to job uncertainty, debt, bankruptcy and economic fear for a vast number of Americans? In Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense (and Stick You with the Bill) (Portfolio, 2007), David Cay Johnston argues that the answer lies in today’s governmental policies and spending that reaches deep into the wallets of the many for the benefit of what he calls the “rapacious rich.”
Johnston shows how, under the guise of deregulation, a whole new set of governmental regulations quietly went into effect—regulations that thwart competition, depress wages and reward misconduct. From how George W. Bush got rich off a tax increase to a $100 million taxpayer gift to Warren Buffett, Johnston puts a face on all the “dirty little tricks” that business and government pull. A lot of people are getting free lunches. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch. So who is paying the bill? You and me, the American taxpayer. More.
I Don’t Believe in Atheists
An Interview with Chris Hedges
By John W. Whitehead
06/02/2008
In I Don’t Believe in Atheists (Free Press, 2008), best-selling author Chris Hedges identifies the “New Atheists,” including Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, as those who attack religion to advance the worst of global capitalism, intolerance and imperialist projects. He accuses them of a disturbing agenda—embracing a belief system as intolerant, chauvinistic and bigoted as that of religious fundamentalists.
Hedges identifies the main pillars of the new atheist belief system, including a simplified world view of us versus them, intolerance and an irrational belief in science as the force that will resolve all problems, including the irredeemable flaws of human nature. He argues that this belief is itself an act of faith. Most of these atheists, like the Christian fundamentalists, support the preemptive wars of the United States as a necessity in the battle against terrorism and irrational religion. They divide the world into superior and inferior races, those who are enlightened by reason and knowledge and those who are governed by irrational and dangerous religious beliefs. Hitchens and Harris describe the Muslim world in language that is as racist, crude and intolerant as that used by Pat Robertson or the late Jerry Falwell. They misuse Darwin and evolutionary biology, which never posits that moral evolution is possible, just as the Christian fundamentalists misuse the Bible. Hedges argues that they are a secular version of the religious Right. More.
Life Before Life
Does Science Prove Reincarnation?
By John W. Whitehead
03/21/08
Many believe in the possibility of an after-life, but what about the possibility of a before-life? Is reincarnation possible? Jim B. Tucker, MD, attempts to provide answers to these questions and more in his book Life Before Life: A Scientific Investigation of Children’s Memories of Previous Lives (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2005).
Dr. Tucker is a board-certified child psychiatrist and research director at the University of Virginia Division of Personality Studies. He serves as Assistant Professor of Psychiatric Medicine at the University of Virginia Health System, as well as the medical director of the Child & Family Psychiatry Clinic. Dr. Tucker is currently conducting research into children’s reports of past lives throughout the globe, focusing on the United States. More.
Humility: The Quiet Virtue
By John W. Whitehead
02/19/08
In today’s winner-take-all world, where personal advancement is highly rewarded and individuals actively seek to perform and advertise altruistic measures in order to gain their 15 minutes of fame, appreciation for virtues such as honesty and humility has been steadily declining. Over the past few decades, American society has become one which increasingly promotes self-progress over the service and advancement of others—ultimately condoning narcissistic attitudes and thwarting the very virtues which are fundamental to the advancement of humanity as a whole. In his book Humility: The Quiet Virtue, Everett L. Worthington, Jr. strives to revive the virtue of humility by drawing attention to its importance and meaning, as well as educating the public on its ultimate attainment. More.
The Passing of the Christian Right
By John W. Whitehead
02/05/08
We are witnessing the end of an era. The deaths of Jerry Falwell (May 15, 2007) and Dr. D. James Kennedy (September 5, 2007) augured a decided downward shift in the Christian Right's steady march to power. Yet long before these men were laid to rest, the movement they helped energize had begun its steady decline.
In the early 1980s, an emergent generation of evangelists lit up television screens, appeared on university campuses, and infiltrated syndicated radio waves. Among these leaders were Falwell, Kennedy, James Dobson, and Pat Robertson, evangelical figures who both predicted and embodied the formation of a new political religion that has transformed the national political scene. More.
“I am an audience”
The sensual sustenance of Richie Havens
By Jayson Whitehead
02/07/08
I saw Richie Havens perform in the early ’90s in a small club in Alexandria, and arrived early enough to sit in the front row and watch him play guitar up close. Havens has massive hands that he uses to bar up and down the fret, and uses his thumb to press down over the neck and onto the strings. While doing so, he strums swiftly and rhythmically as he sings of “Handsome Johnny” or “Freedom,” the song he rocked Woodstock with. It all makes for an entrancing experience, his raspy voice and jangling guitar spreading out like luminescent waves of sound.
“I started out in doo wop, which is pure harmony,” explains the 67-year-old Havens, who performs at the Gravity Lounge on February 7, during a phone interview. After quitting doo-wop, Havens became a part of the Greenwich Village beatnik scene and, while sitting inside a small folk club one night, was approached by its owner, a musician named Fred Neil. “Richie, you’ve been singing my songs from the audience, in harmony no less,” Neil said to him. “Take this damn guitar home and learn to play it yourself.” More.
Target
An Interview with Kathleen Willey
By John W. Whitehead
12/19/07
In her new book, Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton, Kathleen Willey looks back on her years as a Clinton supporter and fundraiser, describes in vivid detail her allegations of being subjected to unwanted sexual advances in the Oval Office and speaks candidly about the fallout that arose after she went public with her charges of sexual harassment.
Kathleen and her husband Ed Willey, a successful real estate lawyer, had been working together in support of Democratic campaigns throughout Virginia when she first met Bill Clinton at a major fundraiser in 1989. The Willeys helped with fundraising for Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign, and once he was elected, Kathleen obtained a volunteer position at the White House.
As Willey recalled in the interview, “My family was in the middle of a very, very severe financial crisis. I had been a volunteer at the White House and had worked real hard to get Bill Clinton elected. And I went to see him to ask for his help. I told him I couldn’t afford to volunteer anymore and asked if he would be able to help me find a paying job. As I was leaving, he sexually assaulted me. I go into detail about it in the book—his hands all over me and the things he said to me that just were not proper.” More.
FROM THE ARCHIVES: Starting a Brush Fire for Freedom
An interview
with US Rep. Ron Paul
By John W. Whitehead
02/09/04
When asked what advice he would give to
Americans concerned about the growing power of the federal government
and the various threats to our liberties, Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex.)
quoted Samuel Adams: “Every individual has a responsibility to be
informed, to know what is going on and to know the issues.
As Samuel Adams once
said, ‘Go out and start a brush fire.’ And you can do
that with one individual or many. You can become a teacher or a writer
or help somebody in politics. But you can only start a brush fire
for freedom if you feel confident that you understand the issues and
really can defend liberty as being the best system for all of us." More.
What Would Jesus Buy?
An Interview with Reverend Billy and Savitri Durkee
By John W. Whitehead
11/28/07
Preaching a message of “buy less and give more,” Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping took their show on the road, embarking on a cross-country tour that concluded with a musical anti-Disney march down Disneyland’s Main Street in late 2005. They’re now featured in a new film documentary covering this journey and others. What Would Jesus Buy? is produced by Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Morgan Spurlock and directed by Sundance award winner Rob VanAlkemade. The film focuses on materialism—specifically the commercialization of Christmas, large corporations and their harmful effects on society and globalization. It premiered in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles on November 16, 2007. Taking a short break from their protesting and promoting, Billy and Savitri sat down to talk to me about their mission, their movement and their new movie. More.
Crazy for God
An Interview with Frank Schaeffer
By John W. Whitehead
New York Times best-selling author Frank Schaeffer, the son of Francis and Edith Schaeffer, is a “survivor of both polio and an evangelical/fundamentalist childhood,” an acclaimed writer who overcame severe dyslexia, a home-schooled and self-taught documentary movie director, a feature film director and producer of four low budget Hollywood features that Frank has described as “pretty terrible.”
OldSpeak hosts a provocative interview with Schaeffer regarding his most recent book, Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back. The interview, “Crazy for God,” is a candid discussion of the evolution of the evangelical movement between two individuals, Schaeffer and John W. Whitehead, who were present when the movement began and, in fact, played key roles in its growth. More.
Common Ground
An Interview with Cal Thomas
By John W. Whitehead
With the elections of 2008 a little over a year away, presidential campaigns are already swinging into full gear. The media is abuzz with negative campaigning and discussions of “red” states versus “blue” states. With this emphasis on partisanship and polarization, however, issues of real substance are often obscured while meaningful debate, constructive compromise and thoughtful decision-making are all made impossible. When polarization paralyzes a government and focuses campaigns on division and negativity, what are the costs to the American people? Where did this partisan war begin, and how can it come to an end?
In their book Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That Is Destroying America, Cal Thomas and Bob Beckel analyze the causes and effects of the existing partisan war in Washington. They decry what they see as the polarizers of today— the media, lobbyists, corporations and more—for fostering this division in their organizations’ own interests. They also hope to expose self-interested originators of political rancor, claiming they “know the gig, and the gig is up.” More.
Is There a War on the Bill of Rights?
An Interview with Bruce Fein
By John W. Whitehead
07/27/07
Bruce Fein has worked in an impressive assortment of areas in constitutional law, both in the local and international arena. Many distinguished national publications such as the New York Times, Financial Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and Newsweek, among others, recognize his expertise.
Presently, he writes weekly columns for The Washington Times and Politico.com and is a guest columnist for numerous other periodicals. He is invited to testify regularly before Congress and administrative agencies by both Democrats and Republicans. He appears frequently on national and international television, cable and radio programs as an expert in foreign affairs, international and constitutional law, telecommunications, terrorism, national security and related subjects. He is a regular guest at the BBC, C-SPAN, CNN, Reuters, MSNBC and NPR. In March 2007, he co-founded the American Freedom Agenda, which calls for Republicans to turn back to traditional conservative values, particularly limited government.
His books include Constitutional Peril: The Life and Death Struggle Over the Constitution and Democracy. He has authored several volumes on the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Constitution and international law. Some notable writings include articles advocating the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Mr. Fein took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to discuss current issues surrounding constitutional freedoms and the current war on terrorism. More.
Come Together: The Art of John Lennon
By Jayson Whitehead
05/23/07
“Love, love, love... Love, love, love… Love, love, love.” So went the rather simplistic beginning to the Beatles’ “All You Need Is Love.” As a BBC TV camera closed in on John Lennon, bedecked with a tiara of some sort, he followed with a verse that began, “There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done, nothing you can sing that can’t be sung.”
The apotheosis of the appropriately titled Summer of Love, the June 25, 1967 “Our World” telecast was broadcast live to 400 million people worldwide. Of course, it followed the June 1 (June 2 in the United States) release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, a worldwide happening if there ever was one.
It was a Beatles summer. As kids marched on the Pentagon, they sang “Yellow Submarine” for inspiration: “As we live a life of ease, every one of us is all we need.” The utopian fantasy in practice, the Beatles as patron saints, even Ringo. Especially Ringo! If anything, the Beatles looked like they were having tremendous fun, and whatever they did seemed right.
As the story goes, it all came crashing down rather quickly. “All You Need Is Love” morphed into the all-too-vivid paranoia of “I Am the Walrus” only two months later. By the next summer, the same kids shouting about a submarine were screaming “the whole world is watching” to cameras outside the Democratic Convention in Chicago, where many of them had been beaten by police. More.
America: Freedom to Fascism
An Interview with Aaron Russo
By John W. Whitehead
03/19/07
Born in Brooklyn and raised on Long Island, producer Aaron Russo began promoting rock ‘n’ roll shows at local theaters while still in high school. He helped launch the careers of many legendary performers, such as Led Zeppelin, and also promoted some of the Sixties’ most successful rock acts, including the Who, Janis Joplin, the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane.
In 1972, Russo began his seven-year partnership with Bette Midler, who attained superstar status during his management of her career. When Russo turned to producing feature films, his production of The Rose introduced Bette Midler to motion picture audiences. Midler received an Academy Award nomination as best actress for The Rose, which is considered by many to be the classic rock ‘n’ roll film. Russo also produced Trading Places starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, which has become a Christmas classic, and Teachers, starring Nick Nolte, Morgan Freeman and Ralph Macchio.
Russo has received numerous awards for his achievements, including a Grammy, a Tony and an Emmy. To date, his films have been nominated for six Academy Awards, as well as seven Golden Globes. His films have won three Golden Globes, as well as the Image Award.
Russo also wrote, produced and directed the 2006 documentary America: Freedom to Fascism. In the film, which is positioned as an expose of the Internal Revenue Service, Russo alleges that there is no law requiring American citizens to pay a direct, unapportioned tax on their labor.
Aaron Russo took a few minutes from his busy schedule to speak with oldSpeak about his documentary, America: Freedom to Fascism. More.
Is the Christian Right a Fascist Movement?
An Interview with Chris Hedges
By John W. Whitehead
03/06/07
Polls indicate that about 40 percent of the American public agree that the Bible should be taken literally, word for word, and that almost a third of all Americans believe in the rapture, which is the doctrine that those who have accepted Jesus Christ will be raised up into heaven and those who have not will be left to suffer on earth. There are at least 80 million evangelical Christians in the United States attending more than 200,000 evangelical churches. And among the leaders of those churches, there is a core group of fundamentalist ideologues, argues Chris Hedges, who are taking advantage of the despair, isolation and fear that drive many people into these churches and are using it to further a frightening political agenda.
In his new book American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America (Free Press, 2007), veteran journalist and bestselling author Hedges argues that the Christian fundamentalist movement emerging today in the United States resembles the early fascist movements in Italy and Germany in the beginning of the last century. Chris Hedges took a few moments out of his busy schedule to talk with oldSpeak. More.
Did George W. Bush Engineer the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks?
An Interview with David Ray Griffin
By John W. Whitehead
02/06/07
"When I came to the conclusion that the Bush-Cheney administration had orchestrated 9/11 in order to promote this empire under the pretext of the so-called war on terror, I decided that I needed to say so by means of summarizing the evidence for this conclusion," said David Ray Griffin, Professor of Philosophy of Religion and Theology, Emeritus, at Claremont School of Theology.
Griffi essays and interviews about 9/11 have appeared in such disparate publications as Conversations in Religion and Theology, Global Outlook, LA Times Magazine and Zion’s Herald. He has also been featured on “The Richard & Judy Show” (London), C-Span, ABC News Radio, and about 200 radio talk-shows. Dr. Griffin has been a leading proponent of the concept that the United States government orchestrated the events of 9/11. He took time out of his busy schedule to discuss his book The Christian Faith and the Truth Behind 9/11. More.
