Chomsky is by far the most eloquent and well researched of all commentators. An MIT linguist and author of reams of volumes exposing the hypocrisy of governments and the ill effects of their policies, I’ll refrain from a bio here and urge the uninitiated to research him themselves. This is definitely the best audio CD I’ve heard from him yet. His poignancy and timeliness is unmatched and this is essential listening/radio play. This stuff is beyond any “lefty” cliché parroting, beyond the crap you might hear ad nauseum from your usual sources. He is saying the stuff we all know but the press is afraid to say, its well researched, intelligent, and well spoken (if not typically “dry”, if anything Chomsky’s ironic trademark). Most of all, if there is a recurring theme, its that the current administration, as well as the ones for the last 40 years, would be hung for war crimes for what they’ve done in any other era or by the tenets of the Geneva Convention. Essential stuff.

1) comments on world public opinion, how the iraq war was protested by the world intensely before it even started (unprecedented), comparison to Vietnam/history, how Reagan patterned his aggression in Central America after JFK’s in SE Asia,
press links about “wars with much weaker enemies”
2) Bush’s extremism, Gonzales is viewed as a “moderate”, nazi’ism correlations to Bush administration, offensive weapon’s in space
3) Attorney General Gonzales urging to rescind Geneva Convention because Bush would qualify for the death penalty under the laws passed by the Republican Congress of 1996 as well the Nueremburg trials, how the powerful have become “self-immunized” from International Law (‘war crimes’ perpetrators in WWII were hung),, a lot of really scary stuff about Faluja General Hospital “creating bad propaganda”, SerboCroation analogies to Faluja, NY Times pandering,
4) looking at the pretext of the US/UK “pre-emptive war”, Kissinger comments that are explicitly a call for Genocide during the Vietnam War
5) principles, nobody goes out and celebrates japans attacking of pearl harbor but we may as well be doing it as Japan was definitely defending itself far more than Bushco has been doing
6) “political campaigns are designed by the same companies that sell toothpaste”, advertising, the point isn’t to sell the car the point is to deceive you, to project images while sideling images, 10% of voters say their votes are based on policies, the rest rely on “qualities, values” , image, bullshit basically, Bush is carefully trained to say “Nuke-you-lar” and “misunderestimate” not a “spoiled fratboy from Yale”, imagery of a guy “just like us”, about as real as a toothpaste ad, undermining democracy
7) middle east “spigot”, controlling Iraq is controlling Asia and Europe, “those who were voting for someone who would protect them from terror or for their moral values were severely deceived”
8) deceiving of public during the election, public attitudes versus reality, examples: Kyoto protocols, World Court, etc, US should use force only if attacked, etc.
9) “the new Europe” as in spain going to war with the US despite popular opinion (ended up getting the boot),
“democracy is fine if youre sure the results will come out the way you want”, bringing democracy to iraq
10) “cultural backwardsness” present in US regarding democracy according to the Iraqui populace
11) the public is excluded from the polical arena to form policy, needs to change