During the Battle of Stalingrad, Soviet officers gave one inviolable order: not one step backward. Any soldiers who did retreat were shot down by their own comrades. The enemy was at the gates.

The situation today is reversed. The enemy is within the gates, and the rule is: not one step forward. Take as many back as you can. And begin with civil liberties.

The liberty to communicate in a civil society? You can still e-mail or telephone whomever you like. Anything you write or say, though, will be collected and mined for possible terrorist content, a terrorist being defined as anyone who disagrees with Bush Administration policies. But U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor recently ruled that the government's warrantless wiretapping program is unconstitutional. She has quite clearly recognized and stated with her decision that the enemy is deep within the gates, resides at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and is in no way, shape or form a King.

The Bush Administration immediately appealed her verdict, and added its usual coda: you can trust us, we just want to protect you from those horrible terrorists “out there”.

In the aftermath of the onslaught on Lebanon you can open up the Israeli newspapers, particularly the Hebrew-language editions, and find fierce assaults on the country's elites from left, right and center.

The overall panorama is one of chickens of all ages coming home to roost. Small pustules highlight larger rot. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, a narcissistic bully, secretly took time off the morning he ordered the terror bombing of south Beirut to tell Bank Leumi to sell his stock portfolio before the market plunged, which it soon did by nearly 10 percent.

The capacity of the U.S. armed forces to fight intelligently and effectively has been almost destroyed by a system of graft-ridden procurement that favors expensive weapons systems validated by bogus tests. Israel's supposed military requirements have been a particularly ripe sector of that racket, and the consequences are plain to see.

Voters Insist On Right To Observe Vote Counting
Plus Other Findings From This Unique Poll
Part I of a II part series

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A recent Zogby poll documents ground breaking information on the attitudes of American voters toward electronic voting. They are quite clear in the belief that the outcome of an entire election can be changed due to flaws in computerized voting machines. At a stunning rate of 92%, Americans insist on the right to watch their votes being counted. And, at an overwhelming 80%, they strongly object to the use of secret computer software to tabulate votes without citizen access to that software.

The American public is clear in its desire for free, fair, and transparent elections. An 80%-90% consensus on the right to view vote counting and opposition to secrecy by voting machine vendor is both rare and remarkable in American politics. If only the public knew that these options are virtually non existent in today’s election system.

I understand that the NAACP and other “Black” organizations are fighting for quality education, fair minimum wages, etc; but they are overlooking the key element of all successful communities – and that is an intact family unit. Child Protective Service agencies (CPS) are destroying minority families from coast to coast. The fabric or foundation of our country, the family unit, is being completely torn apart and destroyed. How can we expect to continue as a Global Superpower when our nation’s children are being emotionally and physically abused by the very government that will one day expect these children to be productive members of society. I would like to see the NAACP, The Rev. Jessie Jackson, Oprah, Montel, Tavis Smiley, and ALL powerful Black leaders and concerned citizens join us in our fight to put an end to the unnecessary destruction of American children and their parents. It is time to put the NAACP Image Awards, the BET Awards, etc., on hold and start tackling this very serious issue.

Five years into the “war on terror,” it’s still at the core of American media and politics.

Yeah, I’ve seen the recent polls showing a drop in public support for President Bush’s “war on terror” claims. And I’ve read a spate of commentaries about Bush’s current lack of political traction on the terrorism issue, like the New York Times piece by Frank Rich on Aug. 20 triumphantly proclaiming that “the era of Americans’ fearing fear itself is over.”

That’s a comforting thought, hovering somewhere between complacent and delusional.

Reflexive fear may be on vacation, but it hasn’t quit. The “war on terror” motif is fraying -- but it remains close at hand as a mighty pretext for present and future warfare.

The U.S. war effort in Iraq is, if anything, more horrific than it was a year ago. Back then, in late summer, Frank Rich wrote a Times column -- under the headline “Someone Tell the President the War Is Over” -- mocking Bush’s assertion on Aug. 11, 2005, that “no decision has been made yet” about withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq. Responding in print days later, Rich concluded: “The country has