"If we want more progressive officeholders, then elections are part of the process: beginning with Democratic primaries this year. Support genuine progressive candidates -- and if you don’t see any, maybe you should do some recruiting. There’s no time to lose."

"The problem is that Canada’s political spectrum, like that of the U.S., has shifted so far to the right that rational debate and informed opposition have become delegitimized. We used to speak of “right-wing” and “left-wing” to describe political differences, but in the absence of a political centre “right” and “left” have no meaning. “Left” and “leftist” have now become epithets used to stigmatize and delegitimize those who oppose extremist “right-wing” dogmata."

"There have already been calls for more extensive use of “profiling”, an overly broad expansion of the “no-fly” lists and a lowering of the threshold of what constitutes sufficient grounds to be placed on the terrorism “watch list”, and more extensive use of more sophisticated scanning equipment that some have complained are highly intrusive, in that they create a virtual “strip search” image of passengers. Some of the proposals are but a worn out rehashing of the kind of alarmist and bigoted ideas that surfaced after 9/11. They were shot down then, and more thoughtful Congressional leaders have shot them down again in recent days."

"In Washington, the conventional wisdom of top Democratic strategists has run amok, continually splitting the difference with Republicans. All year long we’ve seen Congress undermine basic progressive principles, whether for healthcare or peace or economic justice or environmental protection or civil liberties."

"The answers to this problem are, therefore: to keep it in context, to provide young people with alternatives to alienation, and to continue to develop close ties between affected communities and law enforcement to address problems as they occur. It is most certainly not, as some would suggest, to change who we are or how we react, but to be more of who we are and to continue to do what we do best."

So “disproportionate” was Israel’s assault that 1,800 Israelis and Palestinians, including 500 Sderot residents, signed petition calling for end to Cast Lead. Boycott movements are gaining strength. Venezuela expelled the Israeli ambassador and Qatar broke off diplomatic relations. No amount of self-defence double-talk can excuse what Israel did, as if it ever could.

"When Israel speaks of Jerusalem, they often frame their concerns as based either on religion or historical attachment. Jerusalem is, they will say, “our eternal undivided capital,” and they will add “we longed to return for 2000 years.” While not dismissing the religious importance of the city, given its pivotal role in all three Abrahamic faiths, the disturbing reality that emerges from an examination of Israeli practices in the area around Jerusalem exposes, quite simply, that their efforts speak more of a naked land grab of Palestinian territory than they do of religion."

"In the name of pragmatism, Obama spoke of “the world as it is” and threw a cloak of justification over the grisly escalation in Afghanistan by insisting that “war is sometimes necessary” -- but generalities do nothing to mitigate the horrors of war being endured by others."