Stories by Alexander Zaitchik

Alexander Zaitchik is a Brooklyn-based freelance journalist and AlterNet contributing writer. His book, Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck and the Triumph of Ignorance, is published by Wiley & Sons.

Cynical Companies Are Already Scheming How Getting Rich off Global Warming

Posted on: May 5, 2013, Source: Salon

Local officials and enviros are making plans for a post-global warming America. And so are profit-seeking businesses.

Inside ALEC's Powerful, Right-Wing Indoctrination Machine

Posted on: Aug 20, 2012, Source: Media Matters

The ultimate return sought by ALEC is nothing less than the rollback of the state and the establishment of unfettered corporate rule.

The World Is Vulnerable -- UN Arms Trade Treaty Talks Fail, Again

Posted on: Jul 16, 2012, Source: Media Matters for America

The "global gun grab" that isn't.

"The Whole System Relies on These Arrests": The NYPD's Racist Marijuana Arrest Crusade And Its National Implications

Posted on: May 15, 2012, Source: American Independent News Network

New York’s marijuana arrests, says a growing chorus of critics, are a prime example of how the nation’s drug laws disproportionately impact black and Latino communities.

Guns, Paranoia and Obama Assassination Jokes: Inside the NRA's Annual Convention

Posted on: Apr 18, 2012, Source: Media Matters for America

In recent years, the NRA's leadership has expertly cultivated a very profitable hatred and paranoia among its membership.

Censorship at 'Fox News U'

Posted on: Jul 28, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Students at ultra-right Harding University planned a conference on poverty, but school administrators had other ideas.

15 Conservative State Legislatures Trying to Upend the Constitution (And the Right-Wing Ideologues That Fuel Their Fringe Ideas)

Posted on: Jul 8, 2011, Source: Southern Poverty Law Center

Around the U.S., state legislators are proposing laws influenced by radical-right ideas. Most are flatly unconstitutional.

How Christopher Hitchens Could Help His Fellow Cancer Patients by Promoting Psychedelic End-of-Life Therapy

Posted on: May 17, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Hitchens underwent waterboarding to experience the torture of terror suspects -- now dying of cancer, he could help the cause of psychedelic research with a dose of psilocybin.

GOP Hitman Andrew Breitbart's Confessional Memoir: I Wouldn't Be a Foul, Raging Jerk If I Had Made It in Hollywood

Posted on: May 10, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Andrew Breitbart serves up thin gruel in his clownish memoir-manifesto, "Righteous Indignation."

The Bizarre Religious Myths Mormon Right-Wingers Are Pushing on Tea Partiers -- With Glenn Beck's Help

Posted on: Mar 22, 2011, Source: SPLC Intelligence Report

With the rise of the right, the National Center for Constitutional Studies' bizarre version of U.S. history is gaining adherents.

Confessions of a Raving, Unconfined Nut: Paul Krassner's 50 Years of Misadventures in Satire and Counterculture

Posted on: Feb 20, 2011, Source: AlterNet

An interview with co-founder of the Yippies and legendary satirist Krassner on his new book and his recent forays into journalism and activism.

Is Glenn Beck Sinking?

Posted on: Feb 9, 2011, Source: AlterNet

Has Beck gone too far even for Fox News and his conservative viewers?

The Xenophobic Right's Weird Reaction to Hollywood Blockbuster 'Machete'

Posted on: Sep 10, 2010, Source: SPLC's Hate Watch

Robert Rodriguez's new film is madcap Mexploitation, but the paranoid crowd sees propaganda for the coming "race war."

Glenn Beck Has a Long History of Racial Mockery on the Radio -- His Civil Rights Talk Is Pure Fraud

Posted on: Aug 24, 2010, Source: SPLC's Hate Watch

Despite his lame efforts to try to capitalize on the MLK legacy at an upcoming DC rally, Glenn Beck cannot hide his deep-seated racism.

Top 10 Right-Wing Conspiracy Theories

Posted on: Aug 15, 2010, Source: Southern Poverty Law Center

The American radical right has to be considered a strong contender for the title of modern conspiracy champion.

5 Passages from the WikiLeaks "Afghan Diary" That Bring the Bizarre, Tragic Reality of War to Life

Posted on: Aug 6, 2010, Source: AlterNet

From accounts of prison life to tales of drug smuggling, the Wikileaks memos bring the Afghan war home.

Glenn Beck's Disturbing Plans to Co-opt MLK's 'I Have a Dream' Speech

Posted on: Jul 8, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Beck is making a grotesque attempt to co-opt the legacy of MLK. "We will reclaim the civil rights moment. We are on the right side of history."

How Glenn Beck Re-Invented Himself as a Crying Conservative

Posted on: May 5, 2010, Source: Killing the Buddha

Glenn Beck's strange TV: Mormon masterpiece theater.

Thousands Rally in New York for Showdown with Wall St.

Posted on: Apr 29, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Over 10,000 protesters gathered in New York's financial district to demand financial reform.

The Five Creepiest Moments of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference

Posted on: Apr 11, 2010, Source: AlterNet

If anything can make you forget 3,500 Republicans chomping reindeer jerky, it's Sarah Palin screaming "Who dat!"

How Stanislav Grof Helped Launch the Dawn of a New Psychedelic Research Era

Posted on: Apr 9, 2010, Source: AlterNet

The world of medicine may finally be ready to catch back up with psychedelic pioneers, whose work was rejected a half-century ago.

Obama and Dems Put a Stop to the Republicans' Kickback Cash Cow in the College Loan Industry

Posted on: Mar 30, 2010, Source: AlterNet

For years, Sallie Mae fed on taxpayers to finance Republican campaigns and private golf courses for their executives. No more.

How the IRS Helps H&R Block Scam Taxpayers

Posted on: Mar 16, 2010, Source: AlterNet

Tax preparation giants are making a killing on short-term, high-interest, fee-laden loans on tax returns.

Where Did David Brooks Get the Bizarre Idea That the Tea Party Crowd Resembles '60s Movements?

Posted on: Mar 10, 2010, Source: AlterNet

The Tea Party that worships Sarah Palin and screams for Barack Obama's birth certificate doesn't merit comparison to positive social movements of the 1960s.