Just now on "60 Minutes" Leslie Stahl was shown walking up to the blade of a Caterpillar earthmover as a Caterpillar executive talked about exporting heavy equipment all over the world. You might think that the Rachel Corrie story had finally made it to network television, right? An exploration of the case of the eloquent American human-rights activist who was killed by Israeli soldiers driving a Caterpillar bulldozer in Gaza in 2003?
No. It's about our struggling economy. And Caterpillar is getting away with murder by putting itself front and center in these efforts. Obama visited Caterpillar last week. Here's a great piece by Stephen Zunes saying just that, that Obama's visit was a "thumb in the eye" of all the people who are fighting Caterpillar's role in the occupation.
And of course the Center for Constitutional Rights has sued Caterpillar on the behalf of Rachel Corrie's parents.
Note to 60: There's a great story here about human-rights violations, a young writer's murder, a heartless corporation, the Israeli occupation, and a valiant American family.
(Phil Weiss)
