SocraticGadfly: Jeff St. Clair should know better than this

February 08, 2021

Jeff St. Clair should know better than this

The Counterpunch publisher has multiple errors of fact in a nostalgic semi-screed.

The biggies are two.

One is the claim that presidents starting wars without Congress is something that only really happened after WWII. The obvious and easy refutations are Wilson first bombarding Veracruz then having Pershing chase Pancho Villa without Congressional remit.

But that would be lazy on my part.

After all, most 19th-century Indian wars had no Congressional approval.

As for executive orders?

TR really accelerated them, with Woody giving them another boost. They died down again after Truman, per this site. Wiki has the same basic numbers.

Weirdly, JSC then talks about "not winning a war since 1945," which is a third error and in two ways.

First, the Korean War was deliberately "fought to a draw" after China's entry.

Second, the Gulf War was won, by defined terms of its goals.

Third, why is the publisher of Counterpunch focused on counting coup?

===

I have seen a couple of friends and online friends boast about being published at Counterpunch. I have briefly lamented not being published before. Nuttery like this, and the fact that St. Clair will, on major issues, publish contributed items directly contradictory to each other helps me get over my non-publishing sour grapes. (I also wonder if being on a list of previous contributors is a publications factor.)

===

Finally, why is someone named Elaine Shelley writing under St. Clair's tagline at the top of a story? (And, it's clearly a regular practice.)

No comments: