Published on Friday, February 29, 2008 by CommonDreams.org

Lately, in spite of my better judgment, I’ve found myself inflicted with a major case of “Obamania.” I cannot help but be excited at the prospect of a brilliant, younger-than-average, black president who could unite this polarized country against the failed policies of George W Bush. But each time I get optimistic that we are finally on the verge of entering a saner era, Obama makes a terribly foolish statement about the US occupation of Afghanistan.

His latest quip is a prime example: in retaliating against McCain’s attacks on his position on the Iraq war, Obama responded: “I intend to bring [the Iraq war] to an end so that we can actually start going after al Qaeda in Afghanistan and in the hills of Pakistan like we should have been doing in the first place.”

He simply wants to swap one failed war for another: …

Paul Rogat Loeb on Obama, Clinton, and the rest of the primary elections; this week’s Empire Notes; a local Korean American youth gets shot by OC Police; and more.

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The Power of Nightmares

We end our bit in the fund drive today with the most popular thank you gift of the drive. Over 1000 KPFK listeners have already made a pledge for the station to receive this 3 hour DVD. I’m talking about of course, The Power of Nightmares, a three-part documentary produced by British film maker Adam Curtis for the BBC, which lays out a comprehensive, chronological, and compelling account of the rise of the two sides of the so-called war-on-terror, going back decades to today. The Power of Nightmares: The Rise of The Politics of Fear, traces the origins of the American Neo-conservative Movement, and Islamic Fundamentalist terrorism in three hour long episodes, which we are pleased to …

“All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of society. We can vulgerize that society. We can brutalize it. Or we can help lift it onto a higher level.” — William Bernbach quotes (American advertising executive, 1911-1982)

Our weekly edition is a nationally syndicated one-hour digest of the best of our daily coverage.

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This week on Uprising:

* Gang Leader for a Day – an in-depth conversation with rogue sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh
* Black Agenda Report on Barack Obama’s campaign

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Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets

GUEST: Sudhir Venkatesh, sociology professor, author of “Gang Leader for a Day: A Rogue Sociologist Takes to the Streets”

Cities across the US like Austin, Texas; Seattle, Washington; San Bernadino, California, and Baltimore, Maryland, are grappling with the problems of gang violence. The problem …

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The Legacy of Malcolm X

Malcolm X was born Malcolm Little in 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska to Earl and Louise Little. Like all black Americans, his family experienced violent racism even from before his birth. Malcolm’s mother was threatened by the KKK while pregnant with him. The Klansmen warned the family to leave Omaha, because of Malcolm’s father’s political activities with the Universal Negro Improvement Association. Three of Malcolm X’s uncles died violently at the hands of white men and his grand uncle was lynched. When he was 4 years old, after his family moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, they were harassed by a white supremacist group called The Black Legion; two years later, his father died a violent death …

“We declare our right on this earth…to be a human being, to be respected as a human being, to be given the rights of a human being in this society, on this earth, in this day, which we intend to bring into existence by any means necessary.” — Malcolm X

“Peoples of the Americas are rising once again, saying no to imperialism, saying no to fascism, saying no to intervention — and saying no to death.” – Hugo Chavez

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John Pilger’s War on Democracy

After almost half a century in power, Cuba’s leader Fidel Castro stepped down recently, handing the reins to his brother Raul Castro. The US mainstream media coverage of the leadership change has been interesting. On the one hand, Raul Castro is being characterized as a simple continuation of his brother’s regime, “[having] surrounded himself with hardline communists and made it clear he will consult his brother on virtually every important decision.” Other media are cautious about a change they hope is positive for US corporate interests and the Cuban American community. But what nearly all the media are ignoring, is the US’s role pre-Castro Cuba, and its incessant attempts over the years at assassinating Fidel …

This is a Re-Broadcast

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Mad About Chomsky

Today we spend the hour hearing in-depth analysis of domestic and foreign policy over 4 decades by philosopher, political activist, author, and lecturer, Noam Chomsky. Chomsky is professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The year he will turn 80 years old, we celebrate the brilliance of Chomsky, who has become so much an institution, that Robert Barsky wrote a book last year called “The Chomsky Effect.”

Chomsky is well known for several things – in his field of academic study, he is credited with the creation of the theory of generative grammar, considered to be one of the most significant contributions to linguistics made in the 20th century. He also helped …